SKETCHES
OF
V I R G I N IA
HISTORICAL
AND
BIOGRAPHICAL.
BY THE
REV. WILLIAM HENRY FOOTE, D. D.
Pastor of Presbyterian Church, Romrney, Virginia.
PHILADELPHIA:
WILLIAM S. MARTIEN, 142 CHESTNUT STREET.
1850.




Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1849,
BY WILLIAM S. MARTIEN,
In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.




CHAPTER OF CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER,                                  - PAGE 1
CHAPTER  I.
Virginia, in 1688,                                            5
CHAPTER II.
Rev. Francis Makemie and his Associates, -     -             40
CHAPTER III.
The Confinement and Trial of Rev. Francis Makemie for
Preaching in New York, 1707,   -       -       -         63
CHAPTER IV.
The Scotch Irish,                -      -      -       -     84
CHAPTER V.
Siege of Londonderry,                                        86
CHAPTER  VI.
Presbyterian Colonies ill Virginia, -                        98
CHAPTER  VII.
Rise of the Presbyterian Church in Hanover County; and
Rev. William Robinson,                                 119
CHAPTER VIII.
Ministers visiting Hanover after Mr. Robinson, and previous
to Rev. Samuel Davies,                     -      -    132




i-v                       CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
Virginia in 1743; Commissary Blair; William and Mary
College,  -      -                                     147
CHAPTER X.
Rev. Samuel Davies from his Birth to his Voyage to England,    157
CHAPTER XI.
The Mission of Messrs. Davies and Tennent to Great Britain,  221
CHAPTER XII.
Journal of the Rev. Samuel Davies from July 2d, 1753, to
February 13th, 1755,                       -      -    228
CHAPTER XIII.
Rev. Samuel Davies-From his Mission to Great Britain to
his Death, -. 281
CHAPTER XIV.
Three Auxiliaries to the Cause of Liberty of Conscience, -    307
CHAPTER XV.
Progress of Freedom of Conscience during the Times of the
Revolution, and the aid given by Mr. Jefferson and Mr.
Madison,                                               319
CHAPTER XVI.
James Waddell, D.D., and the Churches of the Northern
Neck,        -                     -              -    349
CHAPTER XVII.
Log Colleges,.                                            388
CHAPTER XVIII.
Hampden Sidney College,         -       -      -.    393
CHAPTER XIX.
Rev. John Blair Smith, and the Revival of 1787-8            408




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XX.
Rev. William Graham-Liberty Hall and Washington College,                                                   438
CHAPTER XXI.
Rev. Drury Lacy,                                             489
CHAPTER XXII.
Mary Moore,                                                  505
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Commission of Synod-with Sketches of Legrand, Marshall, and Lyle,   -     -      -       -      -        525
CHAPTER XXIV.
Moses Hoge, D.D.          -             -       -      -    554








ADVERTISEMENT.
IT was in contemplation that the Sketches in this
volume should be continued to a later period. Materials
were procured in abundance; and a number of sketches
prepared, viz: James Turner —Cary Allen —The old
Churches and Church Yards in the Valley —List of all
the members of Hanover Presbytery, fromn its formation
to the year 1786, with short notices of many of the
brethren-and Cornstalk, the Shawanee Chief. But
the size of the volume forbids their insertion.  The
appearance of a second volume will depend upon the
reception the present volume may meet with from an
indulgent public.
ROMNEY, Hampshire Co., Virginia,
December 1849.








SKETCHES
OF
V I R G I N I A.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
THERE have lived men, in Virginia, whose names are worthy
of everlasting remembrance.  There have been events that
should never be forgotten. There have been principles avowed,
whose influence will be felt through all time. There have been
historians of Virginia —there have been volumes of Biography worthy of the writers, and of the men whose lives they
record.  The materials for these volumes have been found
abundant, and are not yet exhausted. Mines of literary wealth
remain untouched.
Virginia claims the veneration and love of her children.
Situated in the medium latitude between the extremes of the
Union, she borders on the Atlantic, and six of her sister States.
In her bosom was the first of those colonies, that have increased and multiplied into the United States of America. As
the mother of great men, and theatre of great events, in
Church and State, all posterity will acknowledge her claims.
While political events have had their historians, and political
men their biographers, the great struggle for Religious Liberty
which preceded the Bill for Religious Freedom, has never been
set forth. It has been but slightly referred to in the record of
those very events over which it had a controlling influence.
And while it remains unknown, Virginia, both past and present, remains unknown. The power of the religious principle
in moulding the civil and political institutions in Virginia has
not been appreciated. The law for religious freedom, in the
Statute book, cannot be duly estimated, while the history of
the men, that thought and laboured and suffered for the unrestrained liberty we enjoy, remains unwritten. This liberty
was not the offspring of mere greatness of mind, or of political
1




2                 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
sagacity.  It was a child of principle, cradled in sufferings,
and fed on tears.  Afflicted beyond endurance, it fled from the
old world, and suffered, and toiled in patience, and gained the
victory in the new.  It is the glory of Virginia that the contest for civil and religious liberty began so early in her
borders, and was so soon followed by that phenomenon, entire
freedom of conscience, novel to herself and strange to the old
world.
The object of the following sketches is to delineate some of
the scenes witnessed in Virginia, and portray the characters
of some of her children, and of some, who captivated by her
beauty and fertility, cast in their lot, for life or for death, for
glory and wealth, or poverty and suffering, and aided in the
working out the system of things which has been, and is, the
glory of Virginia. These have not been given in any volume
of History or Biography presented to the public; and their
omission has rendered the history of Virginia enigmatical.
Effects have been delineated for which no sufficient cause has
been given. And readers of voluminous histories of Virginia
have risen from this enjoyment, or task, with very imperfect, if
not utterly erroneous views of the principles and doings of the
past. CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY have been
made to illustrate the character, doings, and fate, of that denomination, which, established by law, with the settlement of
the province, was sustained by the legislature with paramount,
and almost uncontrolled, influence, for nearly a century and
a half.  Some reference has been made in history to classes of
people that, at different times, previous to 1700, appeared,
were opposed, persecuted, in part put down, in part driven
away, but not annihilated; but history has not said that they
finally wrought a change in the sentiments of the freeholders
of Virginia, and consequently in her constitution.  These
sketches will attempt to set forth these men and their doings.
And if they appear to be sketches of a denomination, it is
because the men whose acts have been worthy of something
better than vituperation and forgetfulness were of that denomination.
The materials for these sketches have been gathered in
every section of the State.  Records of Civil Courts and
Ecclesiastical Judicatories, in manuscript, have been examined,
volume after volume. Private journals, diaries, memoranda,
and family genealogies have been fully consulted and freely
used. Magazines of unquestioned standing, and pamphlets to
be relied on, have contributed largely. Comparatively little
has been taken from any political history, in general circulation. The events described in such history are supposed to be
known; and are here introduced only to show the reader where



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.                 3
abouts in the civil history of the State, the events, here recorded, find their place and give their moulding influence.
The writings of Captain John Smith are an exception. The
sources of traditionary information have been examined. Over
these the grave is rapidly closing; already the memory of what
was done and said in the Revolution speaks out, at distant intervals, from here and there a solitary representative of the last
century.  Traditions have been compared with written documents, and nothing has been received from conjecture, or preconcieved hypothesis. The sources of information are faithfully given, in all cases, where the knowledge of the source
is supposed to be of any importance.
No invidious comparisons are designed in these sketches,
whose object is to rescue from oblivion the names and virtues
of noble men,-" Sons of Liberty"-of that liberty which
rejoices all good men. In making this rescue, facts and characters will be brought into view worthy of the study of the
aged and the young, of the minister of the gospel and the
statesman. The principles of liberty, in matters of religion
and the State, will be seen struggling against error and misconceptions, gaining the ascendency step by step, conflict by conflict,-" the blood of the slain multiplying the martyrs,"-till at
last the groans are lost in the shouts of victory. And if in
doing this, the names of men not yet recorded in their proper
place in history, and the relation of events, not hitherto noticed, or slightly passed over, hold a prominent place, there
can be no complaint.  Truth is stronger and more strange
than fiction. Every writer gives what he supposes, or wishes
others to suppose, the most important in the past. Political
writers seem to labour under a great difficulty in making record
of the principles and doings of religious men,-at least of
some religious men,-and also in stating the proper influence
of religion, either in principle or in practice. It has of late
years become a matter of earnest inquiry,-What has the religious principle done? That strange, abused, inexplicable Carlyle has turned the current of English history for generations.
The obscure past outshines the present. The clouds that overhung the Puritans are dissolving, and long defamed names
are resplendent in letters of glory.
The labours of the man, who uncheered by any companions,
through many years of toil and suffering, unstimulated by ap-'plause, in the colony or the mother land, laid the corner stone
of a majestic spiritual building to the honour of the Lord Jesus,
in the New World, are not now appreciated, because unknown.
The importance of the congregations, gathered by his sufferings
and solitary labours, is not felt because not understood.  To
understand these, and to appreciate the labours of such men as




4                 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
Davies, Robinson, Waddel, Craig, Brown, Henry, and Todd,
and the congregations gathered by them, and multiplied by the
Smiths and Grahams and Hoge, and the men trained by their
teaching and their example, it will be necessary to take a view
of the civil and'religious condition of Virginia during the first
seventy years of her colonial existence. Reference must be
made to the condition of Ulster, Ireland, during the same
period, and some preceding and some succeeding years, because
so many Virginia families and Virginia principles claim Ireland, and through her Scotland, as their Mother Land.
The cavaliers of Virginia and the Puritans of New England
agreed in thinking religion an essential part of the State; and
that the will of the majority should decide in all ecclesiastical
concerns. They each established their forms, and resolutely
defended them. They each drove out from their borders, as
far as practicable, all dissenters, and called it self-defence, the
liberty of the majority. The emigrant from Ulster, contended
for the liberty of the minority, and in this differed from the
Cavaliers and the Puritans. On the subject of civil liberty, the
Puritan and the Presbyterian agreed, and both for a time disagreed with the Cavalier. The union of the three wrought the
American Revolution, and established the liberty of law. The
part of history, not yet written, contains the developement of
the principles of these people, modified by education and circumstances. And if these sketches shall throw any light on
important facts hitherto imperfectly known, they will have
fulfilled the object for which they were designed.
To a great extent, and generally as far as practicable, or
useful, the important facts are given in the words of the original writer, or author of the tradition, that the reader may
make his own construction.  By this mearfs numerous footnotes are avoided, the searching out authorities for verification
less necessary, and the liability to misconstruction greatly
lessened. Due acknowledgment is made, or intended to be
made, of the assistance rendered by friends of truth, in the
chapters in which their assistance was given. The reader will
perceive that the treasury, from which these sketches have been
drawn, is not exhausted. Whether another volume shall follow
in succession will depend, other things being equal, much upon
the reception this may meet with from an indulgent public.
It is proper to state that great use has been made of Hening's
Statutes at large. The laws of Virginia that appear in the following sketches have been taken from that work. They are
quoted by their number, and the year. It will be understood
without continual reference, that the Extracts are from the
laborious collections of W. W. Hening.
I have also made frequent use of the labours of the Rev.




INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.                 5
Richard Webster, where an acknowledgment of the obligation
was inconvenient. His collections are a treasury of facts for
an American Ecclesiastical historian.  It is not impossible
there may be valuable papers, illustrating particular facts,
hereafter brought to light, which may modify or strengthen the
statements made in these sketches. All things bow to the
majesty of truth.
CHAPTER I.
VIRGINIA IN SIXTEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-EIGHT.
THE year 1688 is an epoch in English history. The protestant
succession was then secured to the crown of England. The
protestant religion was established as the religion of the State;
in England, under the form of prelacy, in Scotland, of presbytery. Civil liberty made a great advance, and the anglo-saxon
race ascended in the sight of all Europe, regaining what had
been lost after Cromwell, and thenceforward holding the balance of power.
The civil and ecclesiastical condition of Virginia, at that
time, cannot fail to be interesting to those, who take pleasure
in noticing the progress of the human race, in the discovery,
the possession, and the defence of the rights of man. Virginia, as she was then, and as she is now, exhibits strongly by
contrast, colonial dependence on arbitrary power, and republican liberty.  About that time, commenced in Virginia, a
contest for religious liberty, which, after a hundred years of
conflict, ended in the famous law entered on her statute book
in 1785, declaring the citizens of the commmonwealth as free
in mind as in body, in religion as in politics. Four score and
two years had passed since the little fleet of three ships,
whose whole capacity for burden did not exceed one hundred
and sixty tons, set sail from Blackwall in England on the 19th
of December, 1606, under the command of that experienced
navigator, Christopher Newport, bearing a company of adventurers to the wilderness of Virginia. Three of these enter-,prising men will be famous to all posterity, Bartholomew Gosnold, Rev. Robert Hunt, and Captain John Smith.  The
names of the others have been saved from  absolute oblivion
by the famous Smith in his history of Virginia.
On the 26th of April 1607, the fleet, driven by a storm,
entered the Chesapeake.  On the 30th they cast anchor at a




6                 SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
point well known in modern times. The voyagers named it
Point Comfort, because after their long voyage and the late
storm it had-"put them in good comfort." On the 13th of
May the colony was landed on a peninsula, on the north side
of James' river, about forty miles from its mouth. There they
commenced the first permanent colony in North America. In
honour of the king, James I., the place was called Jamestown.
Here was a theatre, on which the enterprise, courage, and
magnanimity of Smith, and the piety and patriotic devotion of
Hunt displayed themselves. Here was the residence of the
Governor, and the place of the meeting of the Burgesses, who
claimed and exercised in the wilderness all the privileges of
Englishmen. Here at the time of the accession of the Prince
of Orange, in 1688, was the only place in the colony that
might be called a town.
In 1688 the plantations in Virginia were scattered along
the shores of the Chesapeake,-across the narrow strip of land,
that separates the bay from the ocean,-along the banks of the
rivers and creeks that fall into that noble bay, and on their
tributary streams to the head of tide water. No settlement
had been made above the falls where the river Powhatan,
" falleth from the rockes farre west." The neighbourhood of
some navigable water being esteemed essential to the successful operations of planters, the most fertile portions of land
between the rivers, were occupied only in scattered positions.
The expectation of finding abundant mines of the precious
metals had allured multitudes, of the early adventurers, to
Virginia. This had passed away, and the more sober, and
ultimately more enriching, pursuits of agriculture occupied the
public mind. The colony had become permanent in its inhabitants, and in its occupations. Few emigrants came, as at first,
with the expectation of sudden wealth, and a speedy return to
England. A cheerful independence, in the new country, in
preference to poverty in the old, was the more reasonable
expectation and desire. The emigrants also came in families,
or sought to unite themselves, by marriage, with the older colonists. They were encouraged to do this, by the patrons in
England, to give importance to the colony and increase their
income; and by the colonists, to add to their numbers, their
pecuniary strength and warlike means. The importation of
wives by the cargo, that stroke of policy in the patrons, had
long ceased, and men wooed and won their wives, according to
the usages of civilized life. Children, grand children, and
great grand children claimed Virginia as their home, England
as the fatherland.
Of all the productions, which the earth brought forth in
abundance, tobacco received the greatest attention.  The first




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-PLANTATIONS.            7
specimen of this plant peculiar to America was taken to
England, from Carolina, by Ralph Lane, in 1586. It met the
entire reprobation of the Queen. In less than ten years after
the settlement of the colony, at Jamestown, tobacco was the
principle article of export. The demand increased with the
consumption, and the cultivation with the demand.  The
making of tar, pitch, and turpentine, and the hunting of mines,
the objects of the first emigrants, were abandoned for the
occupation of the planter.  Governor Berkely says, in 1671,
" commodities of the growth of our own country we never bad
any, but tobacco, which yet is considerable that it yields his
Majesty a great revenue." The planters, being absorbed in
the cultivation of tobacco, repeatedly suffered the evils of
famine through their neglect to cultivate corn in sufficient
quantities for home consumption. The supply from the savages,
always scanty and precarious, became wilfully less, as the
wants of the planters increased. The Indians desired by all,
and every means, to drive the intruders from their fields and
rivers. Laws were passed by the House of Burgesses to enforce the production of corn, and limit the amount of tobacco.
In 1624, at the first Assembly, whose records have been preserved, it was resolved, by act 16th-" That three sufficient
men of every parish shall be sworne to see that every man
shall plant and tende sufficient corne for his family. Those
men that have neglected so to do are to be by the said three
men presented to be censured by the Governour and Counsell."
By act 18th —" Every freeman shall fence in a quarter of an
acre of ground before Whitsuntide next to make a garden for
planting vines, herbs, roots, &c. sub poena ten pounds of
tobacco a man." The evil not being remedied by these enactments, it was ordered, in the year 1630, by act 6th-" That
two acres of corne or neere thereabouts bee planted for every
head that worketh in the ground, and the same to bee sufficiently
tended weeded and preserved from hoggs cattell and other inconveniences. And if any planter shall be found delinquent
therein, hee shall forfeit all his tobacco, which bee made of his
cropp that yeare the one halfe to the informer, the other to bee
employed to publique uses for the good of the country." In
the revisal of the laws in 1632 the wording of this law was
altered, but the spirit retained. In the revisal of 1642, Act
8th, the penalty was changed to-"five hundred pounds of
tobacco per acre defective." In 1647 the act for enforcing
the planting of two acres,-" either in Indian or English
grayne" —is renewed. Act 6th with the additional penalty"and for the neglect of any constables in not presenting both
the planting and sufficient tending thereof, that the commissioners of the county doe impose a fine of five hundred pounds




8                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of tob'o upon each constable so defaulting-and in case the
commissioners do not take a strict care in taking accompt of
the constables in the execution of this act, that then the said
commissioners shall be fined at the discretion of the Gov'r
and Council." In the same year the exportation of corn was
forbidden on penalty of five hundred pounds of tobacco; and
the price, at home, was limited to one hundred pounds of tobacco per barrel containing five Winchester bushels. In 1657,
during the Commonwealth of England, the act for planting two
acres of corn was renewed, with the same penalty on the
planters; the constables not being mentioned.
Tobacco became the standard of value, and supplied, in part
at least, the place of a circulating medium of the precious
metals. By act 64, in 1632 —"The Secretaries fees shall be
as followeth, viz-ffor a warrant 05lbs of tobacco,-ffor a passe
lOlbs,-ffor a freedom 20, —for Commission of Administration
20,-The Marshalls fees shall be, ffor an arrest 10lbs of Tobacco,-ffor warning the cort 02,-imprisonment, coming in
10, going out 10,-Laying by the heels 5, —whippinge 10,Pillory 10,-Duckinge 10. —The Prisoner lying in prison,
Marshalls attendance per day 5, —ffor every 5lbs of tobacco
the Marshall may require 1 bushel of corne." By act 61st
1642, Attorney's fees, in the county court, for any kind of service, was not to exceed 201lbs of tobacco, upon penalty of 500
lbs of tobacco; and in the quarter court not to exceed 50lbs,
upon penalty of 2000lbs of tobacco. The house of Burgesses
was slow in admitting Lawyers to plead in the courts, on any
terms.  One of the charges, —"Duckinge 10lbs,"-refers to
the English law for the punishment of turbulent women.
The price of tobacco was always fluctuating on account of
the varying quantity and quality of the crops. Some years,
immense crops were tended, and the supply of good tobacco
was greater than the demand; in other years the quantity was
less, and the quality inferior. Keeping accounts in tobacco
became inconvenient, especially if payment were delayed for a
length of time. It was therefore enacted 1633, Act 4th"Whereas it hath beene the usuall custome of marchants and
others dealinge intermutually in this colony to make all bargains, contracts, and to keep all accounts in tobacco and not
in money, contrary to the former custome of this plantation
and manner of England, and other places within the Kings
dominions, which thinge hath bredd many inconvenienceys in
the trade, and occasioned many troubles as well to the marchants as to the planters, and inhabitants amongst themselves.
It is thought fitt by the Governor and Couneill and the Burgesses of this Grand Assembly, That all accounts and contracts be usually made and kept in money and not in Tobacco,




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-TOBACCO.              9
That all pleas and actions of debt or trespass be commenced
and sett downe in lawful money of England onlie, and in no
other commoditie."  In order to preserve an equality in the
price of tobacco the Legislature frequently attempted to regulate the quantity of the crops, by determining, by Statute, how
many hills of tobacco might be tended for each poll on a
plantation.
In 1688 there were no large towns in Virginia, nor any number of small ones, or even villages. The Legislature, in conformity to the wishes of the mother country, encouraged the
gathering of numerous families, in close community, for the
purpose of traffic and mechanical trades. It layed out towns
and made regulations for them. It directed that foreign traffic
should be carried on, exclusively at these towns.  Ports of
entry were made in sufficient numbers to accommodate the
country, and secure the revenue. But the places, called towns,
or ports of entry often consisted of a single dwelling-house with
a store, or office; and not a single flourishing town was to be
found in the whole province, Jamestown, the capital, not
excepted.  The trade now collected in cities, as centres, was
then scattered over the whole country. The planters preferred
making sale of their own tobacco directly to the foreign trader;
and welcomed the vessels that cast anchor, for the purpose of
trade, in the nearest river, or at the most convenient landing,
not very scupulous whether the port was established by law or
chosen for convenience. A statute of Assembly required the
planters to report, on pain of fines, the number of hogsheads
they sold these foreign vessels. Whether the change effected,
by transferring the principal business of the whole country to
a few cities, either within or without the state, has proved
beneficial to community at large, by confining to a few hands
the business once shared by all, is a matter for discussion.
The popular feeling is, however, in favour of cities, and the
course of trade is settled on the principle, the more merchants
the more traffic, and the better business.
The inhabitants of the colony were all planters. Scattered
over the country as suited their interest or convenience, they
lived unrestrained, fed by their plantations and the abundance
of the sea. Their first exposure had been to the pressure of
famine; and the next to massacre from savage hands. The
plentiful crops gathered, in consequence of the watchful care
of the legislature, and the remembrance of past sufferings from
their improvidence, had removed the fears of want; and their
increasing numbers, and the wasting strength of the Indian
tribes, had relieved them from the alarms of midnight attacks.
Governor Berkeley says, in 1671,-" We suppose, and I am very
sure we do not much miscount, that there are in Virginia above
2




10                 SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
forty thousand persons, men women, and children, and of
which there are two thousand black slaves, six thousand Christian servants for a short time, the rest are borne in the country
or have come in to settle and seat in bettering their condition
in a growing country. Yearly, we suppose, there comes, of
servants, about fifteen hundred, of which most are English, few
Scotch, and fewer Irish, and not above two or three ships of
negroes in seven years. Eight thousand horse could be easily
called together on alarm." These planters cherished a spirit
of personal independence, in all their communications. Each
lived on his own freehold, and could draw from the soil abundant provisions; and from the neighbouring streams and
marshes, fish and fowl in variety; and from the surrounding
forests, the wild deer, and innumerable smaller game. Captivated with this kind of life, few mechanics, that came to the
colony would continue to carry on their trade. The planters
purchased in England, or from-vessels direct from the motherland, what their necessities required; and indulged in luxuries as
far as their tastes demanded, or their resources permitted. They
delighted in an isolated life. The aversion to living in contiguous dwellings, or even in neighbourhoods, was carried to an
extent, that required legislative interference. Act 5th, 1667,
says-" Whereas the despatch of business in this country is
much obstructed for want of bridle wayes to the severall houses
and plantations, It is enacted by the Grand Assembly and the
authority thereof, that every person having a plantation shall
at the most plaine and convenient path that leades to his house
make a gate in his ffence for the convenience of passage of
man and horse to his house about their occasions at the discretion of the owner." To this may be added an enactment expressive of indignant hospitality. Act 16th, 1663-" Whereas it
is frequent with diverse inhabitants of this country to entertaine
strangers into their houses without making any agreement with
the party what he shall pay for his accommodations, which (if
the party live) causeth many litigious suites, anid if the stranger
dye lays a gap open to many avaricious persons to ruyne the
estate of the person deceased, ffor remedy whereof for the
future,-Be it enacted that noe person not making a positive
agreement with any one he shall entertayne into his house for
dyett or storeage shall recover any thing against any one soe
entertayned or against his estate, but that every one shall be
reputed to entertayne those of curtesie with whom they make
not a certain agreement."
This predeliction of the Planters for isolated life raised an
almost insuperable barrier to the instruction of the mass of the
people.  Neither the King in Council, nor the Legislature
of the Province had taken any effective steps for the education




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-MANNER OF LIVING.        11
of even a portion of the people. Some preparatory movements
had been made for the erection of a college, in the early days
of the colony; some donations were mnade for that purpose; and
the subject had been repeatedly agitated in succeeding years,
without success. Efforts had been made by individuals to
establish free schools, as appears from Act 18th, 1642, 3"' Be it also enacted and confirmed upon consideration had of
the Godly disposition and good intent of Benjamin Symme,
deceased, in founding by his last will and testament a free
school in Elizabeth county, for the encouragement of all others
in the like pious performances, that the said will and testament
with all donations therein contained concerning the free school
and the situation thereof in the said county and the land
appertaining to the same, shall be confirmed according to the
true meaning and godly intent of the said testator without any
alienation or conversion thereof to any place or county." That
this plan failed of its designed good, appears from Governor
Berkeley's letter about thirty years after. He says, in 1671in answer to the inquiry what was done in education-" The
same course that is taken in England out of the towns; every
man according to his ability instructing his children. But I
thank God there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope
we shall not have these hundred years; for learning has
brought disobedience and heresy, and sects, into the world,
and printing has divulged them, and libels against the best
government, God keep us from them both." This opinion of
the Governor was no idle abstraction; for in February, 1682,
according to Hening, vol. 2d, p. 518-" John Buckner was called
before Lord Culpepper and his Council for printing the laws of
1680 without his Excellency's license, and he and the printer
ordered to enter into bonds in ~100 not to print any thing
thereafter until his majestie's pleasure should be known."
Without a printing press, college, or free schools, or public
schools of any kind, it is not to be supposed that the benefits of
education were diffused further than the piety and enterprise of
the different families, or some members of them, found opportunity. Instruction of children was a domestic duty.
The government of the colony, in 1668, was the same as
Berkeley tells us it was in 1671, being in-" a Governor and
sixteen Counsellors, who have, from his sacred majestie, a commission of Oyer and Terminer, who judge and determine all
causes that are above fifteen pounds sterling; for what is under
there are particular courts in every county, which are twenty
in number. Every year, at least, the Assembly is called, before whom lye appeals, and this Assembly is composed of two
Burgesses out of every county. These lay the necessary taxes,




12                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
as the necessity of the war with the Indians, or other exigencies require."
Captain Smith in his History of Virginia, pp. 38, 39, tol. 2d,
has preserved the concise account given by John Rolfe, of the
meeting of the Burgesses in the year 1619, under Governor
Yeardly; —"Then our Governour and Councell caused Burgesses to be chosen in all places, and met at a Generall Assembly, where all matters were debated thought expedient for the
good of the colony." This meeting was called on the authority
of the Company in London; but its powers were not fully
defined.  Previously to the year 1645, the number of Burgesses to be sent by each neighbourhood, or plantation, as the
settlements were called, or by shires after they were formed,
was indefinite.
The first Assembly, whose records have been preserved, was
held in 1624. Ten years afterwards, by act of Assembly, the
country was divided into eight shires-" which are to be governed as the shires in England. The names of the shires are,
James City, Henrico, Charles City, Elizabeth City, Warwick
River, Warrosquyoake, Charles River, Accawmack. And as in
England, sheriffs shall be elected to have the same power as
there; and serjeants, and bailiffs where need requires." In
the year 1643, the number of shires was ten. The burgesses
were sent from,-Henrico 3, Charles City 3, James City 6,
Warwick 2, Elizabeth City 2, Isle of Wight 2, Upper Norfolk 2, Lower Norfolk 2, York 3, Northampton 2. At the
time Berkeley wrote, in 1671, there were twenty counties, or
shires, Henrico, Charles City, York, New Kent, James City,
James County, Warwick, Surry, Isle of Wight, Nansemond,
Lower Norfolk, Elizabeth City, Gloster, Lancaster, Rappahannock, Stafford, Westmoreland, Northumberland, Northampton,
and Accomack.
In the year 1645, the number of burgesses from each county,
was limited to four, except James City county, which might
send five, and the city one. Act 84th, in the year 1662, declares —"that hereafter noe county shall send above two burgesses who shal be elected at those places in each county where
the county courts are usually kept." By the same law the
metropolis was entitled to one burgesse; and the counties
severally were empowered-" to lay out one hundred acres of
land, and people it with one hundred tithable persons"-and
the place, thus laid out, was entitled to one burgesse. By the
85th Act of the same year-" Whereas, the immoderate
expences of the burgessesses causing diverse heartburnings
between them and the people occasioned an injunction to
make agreement for the allowance before the election which




VIRGINIA IN 168S.-HOUSE OF BURGESSES.      13
may hereafter probably induce interested persons to purchase votes by offering to serve at low rates, by which
means the candour and ffreedomne which should be in the
choice of persons credited with soe honorable and greate a
trust might be very much prejudiced and that place itself
become mercenary and comtemptable,-Be it therefore enacted
that the maintenance of every burgesse shal be one hundred
and fifty pounds of tobacco and caske per day, besides the
necessary charge of goeing to the Assembly and retorning."
Each county paid its own delegates from the county levy.
All freemen, at first exercised the right of suffrage. They
sent their suffrage to the place of election, in writing, when it
was most convenient not to attend personally.  Neither the
place of election, or the qualifications of candidates for the
Assembly were established by law, till necessity compelled.
Act 8th, 1654, declares-" The persons who shall be elected to
serve in Assembly shall be such and no other than such as are
persons of known integrity and of good conversation and of
the age of one and twenty years." By the same act the Right
of Suffrage was restricted-" all housekeepers whether ffreeholders, leaseholders, or otherwise tenants, shall onely be
capable to elect Burgesses-Provided that this word housekeeper repeated in this act extend no further than to one
person in a ffamily."  The next year this restriction was
repealed.  In the Revisal of 1657, 8, the right of suffrage was
extended to-" all persons inhabiting in the colony that are
freemen." But by Act 3d, 1670 the right of suffrage was
confined to freeholders-" Whereas the usuall way of chuseing
burgesses by the votes of all persons who having served their
time are ffreemen of this country who having little interest in
the country doe oftener make tumults at the election to the
disturbance of his majestie's peace, then 1AS their discretions in
their votes provide for the conservative thereof, by making
choyce of persons fitly qualified for the discharge of soe great
a trust, and whereas the lawes of England grant a voyce in
such election only to such as by their estates real or personall
have interest enough to tye them to the endeavour of the publique good: —it is hereby enacted that none but ffreeholders and
housekeepers who only are answerable to the publique for the
levies shall hereafter have a voice in the election of any burgesses in this country; and that the election be at the Courthouse." This restriction was enforced by the instructions from
King Charles 2d to Governor Berkeley in 1676. In article 2d,
he says —" You shall take care that the members of the Assembly be elected only by Freeholders as being more agreeable to
the custome of England, to which you are as nigh as conveniently you can to conforme yourselfe."




14                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
In 1688 the Indians in Virginia were a subdued people.
They never welcomed the English to a permanent settlement.
They met, with warlike demonstrations, the little band that
stepped on shore at Cape Henry the 26th of April, 1607, and
woundced them with arrows. For about seventy years, they
resisted the English at every advance into the country, as enemies whose destruction they would gladly compass at all hazards.
Their power and spirits were broken by Nathaniel Bacon in
1676. Powhatan never loved the whitemen. He made every
effort, a sagacious savage could devise, for their destruction.
The influence of that admirable girl, Pocahontas, was wonderful
and extensive but temporary. It is an exhibition of the power of
loveliness and gentleness over barbarians. She was the beauty
of her tribe,-of Virginia; as gentle and kind as she was beautiful. Her father loved her passionately. The nation admired
her. The father's love, and the nation's admiration were the
Englishman's shield. The Virginia Indians, in their almost
numberless tribes, had, from the head of tide water to the
ocean, been brought under the dominion of the warlike Powhatan. The fierce Opechankanough, in his implacable enmity,
breathed the true spirit of the savages. Brave in war, open in
his enmity, he carried the hearts of the redmen with him. He
knew well there could be no divided empire with the English.
He turned the chafed spirits of the subjugated tribes against
these intruders. The fires of exterminating war burned in every
savage breast. They asked no peace while the habitation of a
whiteman encumbered their cornfields, or his footsteps were
traced in their forests. Opechankanough died as he lived, a
brave, implacable savage.
The doings of the English, in the early years of their settlement, were not calculated to win the confidence of the natives,
or break their courage. The ease with which they would be
surprised, provoked the depredations of the savages. And the
unwise and feeble revenge of the colonists embittered the
already aggravated and cruel spirits of barbarous men, that
fought for their forest fields and comfortless homes. The seacaptains, and traders, and explorers seemed to forget that the
Natives had rights or feelings, and that revenge is the darling
passion of the savage. Corn grew luxuriously, in the Indians'
fields, along the river banks, yielding abundance for the tribes,
but not enough to supply the colonists, and the vessels visiting
the coast. When traffic and persuasion, and threats, failed
to procure the wished supply, resort was had to violence.
Rolfe's narrative, as given by Smith, says,-" In December
(1619) Captain Ward returned from Patawomeek the people
there dealt falsely with him, so that he took eight hundred
bushels of corne from them by force." One man alone was




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-INDIANS.            15
more terrible to them than all the colony beside, in its early
years, Captain John Smith. They trembled at his very name.
His bravery, his strength, his power of command, his excellence in every thing a savage admired,'united to his accomplishments as an Englishman, entirely overawed their fierce
spirits. Ardently desiring his death, they knew not how to
kill him when in their power. The rest they hated, and murdered as occasion offered.
The early charters speak of christainizing the savages as
part of the objects designed in making settlements in Virginia.
In the letters patent to Sir Thomas Gates, 1606, the beginning of a plantation in America, between thirty-eight and five
and forty degrees of north latitude, is spoken of as-"a work
which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter
tend to the glory of his divine majesty, in propagating Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and
may in time bring the infidels and savages living in those
parts, to human civility, and to a settled quiet government."
In the third charter dated March 12th, 1611-12-"- and for
the propagation of Christian religion, and reclaiming of people
barbarous to civility and humanity we have by our letters
patent, &c." In the commission, to Sir Francis Wyatt and
his Council, dated July 24th, 1621,- "which said Council are
to assist the Governor in the administration of justice, to advance christianity among Indians, to erect the colony in
obedience, &c."  In the instructions given him, the third is" To use means to convert the heathen, viz. to converse with
some; each town to teach some children fit for the college
intended to be built." The history of this college shows kind
and benevolent designs which were not successful and is worthy
of remembrance.
Efforts, for the conversion of the savages, were early made,
by some ministers, and some pious laymen. Opechankanough
pretended a desire to become a christian. He beguiled the pious
head of the college, Mr. Thorpe, to take much pains in instructing him, in hopes of numerous converts, till the fatal Friday,
March 22d, 1622.  That good man, with multitudes of others,
was horribly massacred, according to the secret plans of this
wily chief, who under the mask of religion plotted the complete
and sudden destruction of the English.
~ Rev. Robert Hunt is one of the few of that company who
landed at Jamestown on the 18th of May, 1607, whose biography posterity will desire. He appears to have been equal
to his station as pastor of the colonists. Whatever may have
been his desires for the conversion of the savages, the difficulties of his situation and his short life prevented the accomplish



16                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ment of any good. Mr. Whitaker instructed and baptized
Pocahontas, in preparation for her marriage; but neither the
baptism nor the marriage exercised any happy influence towards
the conversion of her nation to Christianity.  Capt. Smith, in
vol. 1st, p. 58, gives us-" the opinion of Master Jonas Stockham a minister in Virginia, who even at this time when all
things were so prosperous, and the salvages at the point of conversion, against all their governours and councels opinion, writ
to the councell & company in England to this effect, May 28th,
1621. As for those lasie servants who had rather stand all
day idle, than worke, though but an houre in this Vineyard, &
spend their substance riotously, than cast the superfluity of their
wealth into your treasury, I leave them as they are to the eternall judge of the world. But you right worthy that hath
adventured so freely, I will not examine, if it were for the
glory of God, or your desire of gaine, which it may be you
expect should flow unto you with a full tide, for the conversion
of the Salvages: I wonder you use not the means. I confess
you say well to have them converted by faire means, but they
scorne to acknowledge it, as for the gifts bestowed on them
they devoured them, and so they would the givers if they could,
and though many have endeavoured by all means they could
by kindnesse to convert them, they find nothing from them but
derision and ridiculous answers. We have sent boies amongst
them to learne their language, but they return worse than they
went; but I am no Statesman, nor love I to meddle with any
thing but my bookes, but I can find no probability by this
course to draw them to goodnesse; and I am persuaded if Mars
and Minerva goe hand in hand they will effect more good in
one houre than these verbal Mercurians in their lives, and till
priests and ancients have their throats cut, there is no hope to
bring them to conversion." Smith appears to have adopted
this opinion. It spread over the colony, and through England;
and efforts for the conversion of the Indians were few previous
to the eighteenth century. That individuals felt deeply interested for the salvation of this unhappy race is unquestionable;
but public sympathy was not with them for a century after the
fatal massacre of 1622.
The Acts of Legislature passed in 1623, 4, show the terror of
the colonists and their hostile feelings towards the authors of
their sufferings. Act 23d says, "that every dwelling house
shall be pallizaded in for defence against the Indians." Act
24th —"that no man go or send abroad without a sufficient
party well armed." In 1632 the citizens were required to
carry their arms to church. Act 25th —" that men go not to
worke in the ground without their arms (and a centenell upon
them.)  Act 26 says —"that the inhabitants go not aboard




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-INDIANS.            17
ships or upon any other occasions in such numbers, as thereby
to weaken and endanger the plantations." Act 27th —"that
the commander of every plantation take care that there be
sufficient powder and ammunition within the plantation under
his command and their pieces fixt and their arms complete."
Act 29-" that no commander of any plantation do either himselfe or suffer others to spend powder unnecessarily in drinking
or entertainments." Act 32d contemplates the entire destruction of the Indians-" that at the beginning of July next the
inhabitants of every corporation shall fall upon their adjoyning
salvages, as we did last yeare, those that shall be hurt upon
service, to be cured at the public charge; in case any to be
lamed to be maintained by the country according to his person
and quality."
This war of extermination was carried on, with spirit, for
years. At last it became disgusting. The savages were less
spirited in their attacks and defence, and the colonists began
to feel the savages were men, barbarous indeed, but men possessed of rights. The 1st Act of the Session 1655, 6, was in
their favour;-" Whereas wee have bin often putt into great
dangers by the invasions of our neighboring and bordering
Indians which humanely have been only caused by these two
particulars our extreme pressures on them and theire wanting
of something to hazard and loose beside their lives; Therefore
this Grand Assembly on mature advice doth make these three
ensuing acts, which by the blessing of God may prevent our
dangers for the future and may be a sensible benefitt to the
whole country for the present: ffirst, for every eight wolves
heads brought us by the Indians, the king or great man (as
they call him) shall have a cow delivered him at the charge of
the publick. This will be a step to civilizing them and to
making them Christians, besides it will certainly make the commanding Indians watch over their own men that they do us no
injuries, knowing that by their default they may be in danger
of losing their estates, and therefore be it enacted as aforesaid
only with this exception that Accomack shall pay for no more
than what are killed in their own county."
" Secondly-If the Indians shall bring in any children as
gages of their good and quiet intentions to us and amity with
us, then the parents of such children shall choose the persons
to whom the care of such children shall be entrusted, and the
cguntrey by us their representatives do engage that wee will not
use them as slaves but do their best to bring them up in Christianity, civility, and the knowledge of necessary trades: And
on the report of the commissioners of each respective county
that those under whose tuition they are, do really intend the
bettering of the children in these particulars then a salary shall
be allowed to such men as shall deserve and require it."
3




18                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Thirdly —" What lands the Indians shall be possessed of by
order of this or other ensuing assemblyes, such land shall not
be alienable by them the Indians to any man de futuro,'for this
will putt us to a continuall necessity of allotting them new
lands and possessions, and they will be alwaies in feare of what
they hold not being able to distinguish between our desires to
buy or enforcement to have, in case their grants and sales be
desired: Therefore be it enacted that for the future no such
alienations or bargaines and sales be valid without the assent
of the Assembly. This act not to prejudice any Christian
who hath land allready granted by patent."
In the session of 1657, 8, acts were passed forbidding any
person, to whom an Indian child had been committed, assigning or any way transferring that child; and that the child
should be free at twenty-five years of age: —also to prevent the
stealing of Indian children, or the buying them  from the
Indians or others for traffic, or the selling them in any condition by the English, on penalty of five hundred pounds of
tobacco.
But in 1676, in consequence of the exasperation arising
from Bacon's war, the Assembly resolved-" and bee it further
enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all Indians taken in
warr shall be held and accounted slaves during life." This act
was repealed by the general act setting aside all the acts of
Assembly that sat in 1676 under the auspices of Bacon. But
it is believed that there are slaves living who are descended
from Indian captives, in this, or previous wars.
Nothing had been done for Christianizing the Indians, that
produced any effect, from the settlement of the colony till the
English Revolution in 1688. Besides Pocahontas, no name of
an individual is given that embraced Christianity. Their numbers had decreased; their power and spirits were broken.
While they ceased to make war upon the English, they hated
them no less, and loved their religion and desired their civilization no more. After the death of the famous Powhatan, and
the fierce Opechankanough, no warrior or statesman of eminence arose among the Indians east of the mountains.  The
feeble tribes after Bacon's war were esteemed helpless enemies
rather than terrible foes, for whose civilization or conversion
there was no hope. Among all the Indian women of Virginia,
Pocahontas had no rival, and posterity will love to think that
few of any race either in England or America could claim to
be her superior.
The names and power of the tribes that hunted on the banks
and fished in the streams of the beautiful rivers occupied by
the colony in 1688 is thus given by Smith, Vol. Ist, pp. 116118. He begins with the James, which-" falleth from rockes




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-INDIANS.           19
farre west in a country inhabited by a nation they call Monacans-but where it commeth into our discovery it is Powhatan.
In a peninsula on the North side of this river are the English
planted in a place they call James Towne. The first, and next
the river's mouth are the Kecoughtans, who besides their women and children have not past 20 fighting men. The Paspaheghes (on whose land is seated James Towne some 40 myles
from the Bay) have not past 40. The river called Chickahawania, the backe river of James Towne neare 250.  The
Weanocks 100.  The Arrowhatocks 30. The place called
Powhatan, some 40.  On the south side this river the Appamatuchs have 60 fighting men.  The Quiyoughcohanocks
25. The Nansamunds 200.  The Cheropeacks 100.  Fourteen myles northward from the river Powhatan is the river
Pamounkee. On the south side inhabit the people of Youghtenund, who have about 60 men for warres. On the north
branch Mattapament, who have 30 men. Where the river is
divided the country is called Pamounkee, and nourisheth neare
300 able men. About 25 myles lower on the north side of this
river is Werawocomico, where their king inhabited when I was
delivered him prisoner; yet they are not past 40 able men.
Ten or twelve myles lower on the south side of this river, is
Chiskeack, which hath some 40 or 50 men. These, as also
Apamatuck, Irrohatuck and Powhatan, are the great King's
chief alliance, and inhabitants. The rest his conquests. There
is anuther river, some 30 myles navagable that commeth from
inland, called Payankatanke, the inhabitants are about 50 or 60
servicable men. The third navigable river is called Tappahanock, this is navigable some 130 myles. At the top of it inhabit
the people called Mannahoacks amongst the mountaines. Upon
this river on the north side are the people Cuttatawomen, with
30 fighting men. Higher are the Moraughtacunds, with 80.
Beyond them Rappahanock with 100. Far above is another
Cuttatawomen with 20. On the south is the pleasant seat of
Nantaughtacund having 150 men. The fourth river is called
Patawomeke. It is inhabited on both sides. First on the
south side at the very entrance is Wighcocomico and hath
some 130 men, beyond them  Sekacawone with 30.  The
Onawmanient with 100.  And the Patawmokes more than
200."
On the eastern shore in Accomac, he reckons on the river
Tants Wicomico with 100 men; the Acohanock -with 40; Accomack 80.  Southward, the Chawonocks and Mangoags.
There were numberless small divisions of these tribes whose
names are occasionally mentioned in history.
The effort to convert the Indians was made in good faith.
Stith tells us, pp. 1623, that the king had formerly issued




20                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
letters to the bishops in his kingdom-" for collecting money
to erect and build a college in Virginia, for the training up and
educating infidel children in the true knowledge of God. And
according there had been paid near fifteen hundred pounds
towards it." The Bishop of Litchfield promised Sir Edwin
Landys that a collection should be made in his diocese for the
purpose. And he (Sir Edward) likewise moved and obtained,
that ten thousand acres of land should be laid off for the University at Henrico, a place formerly resolved on for that
purpose. This was intended, as well for the college for the
education of Indians, as also to lay the foundation of a seminary of learning for the English."  Fifty men were sent in
1619 and fifty more the next summer to work these lands" as tenants at halves."  From each of these hundred hands it
was expected that five pounds would be gained. Thus five
hundred pounds a year would be secured to the college. Mr.
George Thorpe, a kinsman of Sir Thomas Dale, and a gentleman of his Majesty's privy chamber, and one of the Council in
England for Virginia, was sent over in 1620 as the company's
deputy and superintendent of the colony. For his support
the company allowed three hundred acres with ten tenants.
" And (p. 166) he particularly mentioned one unknown gentleman alone, who promised five hundred pounds, on demand, for
the conversion and education of threescore Indian children.
There had been (p. 171) presented, by an unknown person the
former year (1619) a communion cup, with a cover and case, a
trencher plate for the bread, a carpet of crimson velvet, and a
damask table-cloth, for the use of the college. And now in
the beginning of this year (1.620) another unknown person sent
five hundred pounds directed, To Sir Edwin Landys, the faithful Treasurer of Virginia. This was for the maintenance of a
convenient number of young Indians, from seven or under to
twelve years of age, to be instructed in reading and the principles of the Christian religion, and then to be trained and
brought up in some lawful trade, with all gentleness and
humanity, till they attained the age of twenty-one; and
after that to have and enjoy the like privileges with the native
English in Virginia." The company ordered a treaty to be
made with Opechankanough in order to promote the design,
and also that presents be made him. " Mr. Nicholas Farrar
who bequeathed three hundred pounds for converting the infidel children in Virginia, to be paid at such time as it should
appear by certificate that ten Indian children were placed in
college."  Mr. Thorpe entered upon his office with spirit;
made the treaty, gave the presents, and as he supposed won
the confidence of the savage chief. In the fearful massacre




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-THE AFRICANS.         21
perpetrated by the savage chief in 1622, this friend of the
Indians was cruelly murdered. With him expired the college,
for the civilization of the Indians.
Servants of the African race, in 1688, composed about one
twentieth of the population. The first company of Negroes
were brought into the colony in the month of August succeeding the first meeting of the Burgesses, under Governor Yeardly.
Beverly, in his history of Virginia, says that the introduction of
Negroes was in the summer after the first meeting of the house
of Burgesses, and that these two events took place in 1620.
Smith in his history of Virginia says the two events took place
in 1619: vol. 2, pp. 37, 38, 39- "For to begin with the
yeare of our Lord 1619 there arrived a little pinnace privately
from England about Easter for Captain Argall, who taking
order for his affairs, within four or five daies returned in her,
and left for his deputy Captain Nathaniel Powell. On the
eighteenth of Aprill, which was ten or twelve daies after,
arrived Sir George Yearly, by whom we understood Sir Edward Sands was chosen Treasurer, and Master John Farrar
his deputy. Sir George Yearly to beginne his government
added to be of his Councell Captaine Francis West, Captain
Nathaniel Powell, Master John Porey, Master John Rolfe and
Master William Wickham and Master Samuel Macoike, and
propounded to have a Generall Assembly with all expedition.
In May came in the Margaret of Bristoll, with four and thirty
men, all well and in health, and also many devout gifts, and
we were much troubled in examining some scandalous letters
sent to England, to disgrace this country with barrennesse, to
discourage the adventurers. The 25th of June came in the
Triall with corne and cattell all in safety, which took from us
cleerely all feare of famine; then our Governor and Councell
caused Burgesses to be chosen in all places, and met at a
Generall Assembly, where all matters were debated thought
expedient for the good of the colony. About the last of
August came in a Dutch man-of-warre that sold us twenty
Negroes." Stith in his history of Virginia says on the fourth
page of his preface-" the inquisitive reader will easily perceive how much of this volume is founded on Captain Smith's
materials. They are large and good and of unquestionable
authority, for what is related while he staid in the country.
The latter part of his history especially from Captain Argall's
government is liable to some just suspicions. Not that I question Captain Smith's integrity; for I take him to have been a
very honest man and a strenuous lover of truth." In his 182d
page of history Mr. Stith relating the doings of 1620 says" In May this year, there was held another General Assembly,
which has through mistake, and the indolence and negligence




22                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of our historians, in searching such ancient records as are still
extant in the country, been commonly reputed the first General
Assembly of Virginia. But the privilege was granted'sooner,
&c."; and in his history of the doings of 1619 he follows
Smith's account of the calling the Assembly. At the close of
the sentence he adds-"And we are likewise told by Mr.
Beverly, that a Dutch ship putting in this year sold twenty
Negroes to the colony, which were the first of that generation,
that were ever brought to America;" —but he does not give
the reason why he follows Beverly in this matter and Smith in
the other. Modern historians have followed Beverly without
giving a reason. The oldest authority is for placing the introduction of Negroes in 1619.
Until the introduction of Negroes the labours of the plantation were thrown as much as possible on hired servants, as in
England; or on bought servants, persons, who by previous
agreement with ship-owners, were sold to planters for a term of
years sufficient to pay for their transportation.  The tending
tobacco is particularly irksome and was gladly consigned to
redemptioners and heathen Africans. In 1619, says Stithp. 167-8, "the Treasurer and Council received a letter from
his Majesty, commanding them  forthwith to send away to
Virginia a hundred dissolute persons, which Sir Edward Zouch
the Knight Marshal would deliver to them. In obedience to
his Majesty's command, it was resolved to send them over with
all conveniency to be servants, which the Treasurer understood, would be very acceptable to the colony. And I cannot
but remark, how early that custom arose of transporting loose
and dissolute persons to Virginia as a place of punishment and
disgrace. It hath laid one of the finest countries in British
America under the unjust scandal of being a mere hell upon
earth." These dissolute persons arrived in the year 1620.
Those servants who were sold for their passage commanded
different prices at different times. We are told by Smith, vol.
2, pp. 104, 5, that the passage money was six, eight, or ten
pounds; but that the demand for them was so great in a few
years, that they were sold in Virginia for forty, fifty, and sixty
pounds. In page 38 he tells us —"an industrious man not
otherwies imploied may well tend four akers of corne, and
1000 plants of tobacco." The produce of corn on new ground,
he says was-" thirty or forty bushels an aker, and a barrell
of pease and beanes, which we esteem as good as two of corne,
so that one man may provide corne for five and apparell for
two by the profit of his tobacco." The price of the Africans
at their introduction is not given. The thousand plants of
tobacco would produce about one hundred weight of merchantable tobacco. In 1672 the price of a servant to serve five




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-THE AFRICANS.          23
years was about ten, and of an African, according to Bancroft,
vol. 1, p. 115, about twenty-five pounds.
In 1688 about one in twenty of the inhabitants of Virginia
were of the African race.  Vigorous efforts were made by
pains and penalties to prevent the intermingling of the white
and black races.  The Anglo Saxon and the African was to be
kept pure,'the one as master, and the other as slave. The
result of servitude, beyond the present gain, and the possible
intermingling, of the two races, in some small degree, appears
never to have been anticipated. The gain from the African
labour outweighed all fears of evil from the intermixture.
There appears to have been no question about the morality and
right of purchasing them for life, any more than of purchasing
for a term of years those servants that come from England,
who ultimately became freemen.
When a mixed breed appeared, it was enacted in 1662, in
order to render all such connexion opprobrious, that-"Negro
womens children serve according to the condition of their
mother."  Greater severity in the management of Negroes
was judged advisable, and in 1669 it was enacted-" Whereas
the only law in force for the punishment of refractory servants
resisting their master, mistress or overseer cannot be inflicted
upon Negroes, nor the obstinacy of many of them by other
than violent means supprest,-Be it enacted and declared by
this Grand Assembly, if any slave resist his master (or other
by his masters order correcting them) and by the extremity of
the correction should chance to die, that his death shall not be
accompted ffelony, but the master (or that other person appointed by the master to punish him) be acquit from molestation, since it cannot be presumed that prepensed malice (which
alone makes murther ffelony) should induce any man to destroy
his own estate."
Act 3d, 1667 declares that-"-Whereas some doubts have
arisen whether children that are slaves by birth, and by the
charity and piety of their owners, made partakers of the
blessed sacrament of baptisnme, should in virtue of their baptisme be made ffree. It is enacted and declared by the Grand
Assembly, and the authority therof, that the conferring of
baptisme doth not alter the condition of the person as to his
bondage or fireedom; that divers masters ffreed from this doubt
may more carefully endeavour the propagation of Christianity
by permitting children, though -slaves, or those of greater
growth if capable to be admitted to that sacrament."
What persons were to be held as slaves is thus set forth by
Act 12th, 1670-" Whereas some dispute having arisen whether the Indians taken in warr by any other nation, and by that
nation that taketh them sold to the English, are servants for




24                 SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
life or term, of years,-It is resolved and enacted that all servants not being Christians imported into this colony by shipping shall be slaves for their lives; but what shall come ty land
shall serve, if boyes or girles until thirty yeares of age; if men
or women twelve yeares and no longer."
But in the year 1682 the Legislature went at length into
this subject, and determined what persons shall be held slaves
for life in Virginia. Act 1st, after reciting the act of 1670,
goes on to say —"and forasmuch as many negroes, moores,
mullatoes and others borne of and in heathenish, idollatrous,
pagan, and mahometan parentage and country have heretofore,
and may hereafter be purchased, procured or otherwise obtained of, from or out of such their heathenish country by some
well disposed christians, who after such their obtaining and
purchasing such negroe moor or molatto as their slave, out of
a pious zeale have wrought the conversion of such slaves to the
christian faith, which by the laws of the country doth not
manumit them or make them free, and afterwards seeck their
conversion, it hath and may often happen that such master or
owner of such slaves being by some reason inforced to bring
or send such slaves into this country to sell or dispose of for
his necessity or advantage, he the said master or owner of
such servant which notwithstanding his conversion is really his
slave, or his factor or agent must be constrained either to carry
back or export againe the said slave to some other place where
they may sell him for a slave, or else depart from their just
right and tytle to such slave, and sell him here for no longer
time than the English, or other christians are to serve, to the
great losse and damage of such masters or owners; and the
great discouragement of bringing in such slaves for the future
and to no advantage at all to the planter or buyer;-and
whereas also those Indians that are taken in warre or otherwise
by our neighboring Indians confederates or tributaries to his
majestie, and this his plantation of Virginia are slaves to the
neighbouring Indians that soe take them and by them are likewise sold to his majesties subjects here as slaves,-Bee it
therefore enacted &c.-that all the said recited act of the 5th
of September 1670 be, and is hereby repealed and made utterly
voyd to all intents and purposes whatsoever.   And be it
enacted &c.-that all servants except Turkes and Moores
whilst in Amity with his majesty which from and after the
publication of this act shall be brought or imported into this
country, either by sea or land, whether Moores, Molattoes or
Indians, who and whose parentage and native country are not
christian at the time of the first purchase of such servant by
some christian although afterwards and before such their importation and bringing into this country, they shall be con



VIRGINIA IN 1688.-FORM OF RELIGION.        25
verted to the christian faith; and all Indians which shall
hereafter be sold by our neighbouring Indians or any other
trafiqueing with us as for slaves are hereby adjudged deemed
and taken, and shall be adjudged deemed and taken to be
slaves to all intents and purposes, any law usage or customs to
the contrary notwithstanding.
By the 3d Act of the same legislature, masters and overseers were forbidden to —'permitt or suffer, without leave or
license of his or their master or overseer, any negroe or slave
not properly belonging to him or them, to remain or be upon
his or their plantation above the space of four houres at any
one time." The penalty was two hundred pounds of tobacco.
This act was intended as a safeguard against insurrection. It
made the plantation of the master both the home, and the
world, to the slave.
So the state of servitude stood in 1688. There were indented servants, redemptioners or those sold for a term of time
for their passage, the dissolute and convicts and rebels sent
away from England, and the African slaves. The last finally
became predominant. They have done the hard work, and
have in a measure moulded the habits and manners of Virginia.
Toleration, in the forms of Religion, was unknown in Virginia in 1688. From the commencement of the colony, the
necessity of the religious element was felt.  The company
knew not how to control the members composing the colony,
but by religion and law. They exercised a despotism in both.
The colonist left England from no ecclesiastical or political
grievance.  The advantages they expected to gain was a
release from poverty and debt. The hope of improving their
condition cheered them to undertake the perilous enterprise.
In their habits, manners, tastes, and style of living, they as
nearly resembled England, as their possessions, and the soil,
climate and productions of their new home, would permit. By
force of circumstances they changed much, intentionally nothing. They had been educated in the Church of England.
They chose her forms, and her creed. The minister, Robert
Hunt, that came with them, had been set apart by Diocesan
authority.
That many of the colonists disliked the restraints of that religion, all required for their well being, is evident from Smith.
He says, vol. 1st, p. 150 —" On the 19th of December, 1606, we
Bet sayle from Blackwall, but by unprosperous winds were kept
six weeks in the sight of England; all which time, Mr. Hunt
our preacher was so weake and sicke, that few expected his
recovery. Yet although he was but twentie myles from his
habitation (the time we were in the Downes) and notwithstanding the stormy weather, nor the scandalous imputations (of
4




26                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
some few little better than Atheists, of the greatest rank
amongst us) suggested against him, all this could never force
from him so much as a seeming desire to leave the business,
but preferred the service of God, in so good a voyage, before
any affection to contest with his godlesse foes, whose disasterous designs (could they have prevailed) had even then overthrown the businesse, so many discontents did there arise, had
he not with the water of patience, and his godly exhortations
(but chiefly by his true devoted example) quenched those
flowers of envie and dissention."
At first the adventurers laboured and lived and traded in
common stock.  This state of things was to continue for five
years, by the King's order. The King in his directions in
1606, according to Stith, pp. 37, and 40, required-"that the
said presidents, councils, and the ministers, should provide,
that the true word and service of God be preached, planted,
and used, not only in the said colonies but also, as much as
might be, among the savages bordering upon them, according
to the Rites and Doctrine of the Church of England. That
all persons should kindly treat the savage and heathen people
in those parts, and use all proper means to draw them to the
true service and knowledge of God, and that all just and charitable courses should be taken with such of them, as would
conform themselves to any good and sociable traffick, thereby
the sooner to bring them to the knowledge of God and the
obedience of the King."
Sir Thomas Dale who came over as high marshal of Virginia,
introduced rules and regulations drawn up for him by Sir
Thomas Smith, under the title of " Lawes, divine, morall, and
marshall for Virginia." The first section of this document
says-" I do strictly command and charge all captaines and
officers of what qualitie or nature soever, whether commanding
in the field, or in towne, or townes, forts, or fortresses, to
have care that the Almighty God bee duly and daily served,
and that they call upon their people to hear sermons; as that
also they diligently frequent morning and evening prayer
themselves, by their own exemplar and daily life and duty,
herein encouraging others thereunto; and that such who shall
often and wilfully absent themselves, be duly punished according to the marshall law in that case provided." By the second
law, death was the penalty of speaking "impiously" against
the Trinity, or the known articles of religion. By the third
law, boring the tongue with a bodkin was the penalty for profanity, the second offence. And for blaspheming God, the
third offence was death by sentence of "Martiall Court."
By the fifth law unbecoming treatment of ministers of religion
was punished by whipping the offender three times publicly,




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-FORM OF RELIGION.       27
and he " aske public forgiveness in the assemblie of the congregation three several Sabbath daies." By the sixth, absence
from church " on the first towling of the bell upon the working
daies to heare divine service" —for the second offence, whipping,-for the third, six months in the gallies. For neglecting
divine service on the Sabbath,-the third offence, death. By
the thirty-third law, a failure to give satisfactory account of
religious knowledge to the minister,-whipping; the second
offence, two whippings and public acknowledgment; for the
third offence whipping every day till the offender comply with
the law. While Stith exclaims against these laws as subversive of the rights of Englishmen, he admits that-" had not
these military laws been so strictly executed at this time, there
were little hopes or probability of preventing the utter subversion of the colony."
The little we know of the first ministers that came to Virginia makes us wish we knew more. Rev. Robert Hunt, that
saved the first colony from a mutiny while yet in sight of
England, has left scarce a memorial. After the burning of
Jamestown in 1607, 8, Smith says of him,-""Master Hunt
our preacher lost all his library and all he had but the cloathes
on his backe; yet none never heard him repine at his loss."
We know not the time of his death.
A brief but honourable testimony is borne of Mr. Whitaker,
minister of Bermuda Hundred, who instructed Pocahontas in
the principles of the Christian religion, administered to her the
ordinance of baptism, and performed for her the marriage
ceremony.  Smith, vol. 2d, p. 32, says-" Master Whitaker
their preacher —(under date of June 18th 1614) complaineth,
and much museth, that so few of our English ministers, that
were so hot against the surplice and subscription come hither,
where neether is spoken of. Doe they not wilfully hide their
talents, or keep themselves at home for feare of losing a few
pleasures; be there not any among them of Moses his minde,
and the Apostles, that forsook all to follow Christ, but I refer
them to the Judge of all hearts, and to the King that shall
reward every one according to his talent."  Mr. Whitaker had
the charge of the town of Henrico, built in the year 1611.
He enclosed a hundred acres of land, and built a parsonage
which he called Rockhall. In the Epistle dedicatorie of W.
Crashawe to the "Good Newes from Virginia" there is this
eulogium. "I hereby'let all men know that a schollar, a graduate, a preacher, well borne and friended in England; not in
debt, nor disgrace, but competently provided for, and liked
and beloved where he lived; not in want, but (for a schollar
and as these days may be) rich in possession, and more in possibilitie; of himself, without any persuasion (but God's and his




28                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
own heart) did voluntarily leave his warme nest; and to the
wonder of his kindred and amazement of them that knew him,
undertooke this hard, but, in my judgement, heroicall resolution to go to Virginia, and helpe to beare the name of God
unto the Gentiles."  A memoir of this man would find readers
every where.
In 1619 —the year the first colonial assembly was held —the
year African servants were brought into the colony-the year
that the king determined to send dissolute persons to Virginia, and the company determined to send the colonists wives,
Mr. Stith tells us there were about six hundred persons in the
colony divided into eleven parishes, and for the supply of these
there were five preachers.  The doings of the colonial assembly
before the year 1623, 4, are not known; but from after reference it appears the salary of the ministers was ten pounds of
tobacco per poll and a bushel of corn, provided it did not exceed
fifteen hundred pounds of tobacco and sixteen barrels of corn.
In 1623, 4, the first assembly, whose records have been preserved, held its meeting in the month of March. The first
Act says-" There shall be in every plantation, where the
people use to meete for the worship of God, a house or room
sequestered for that purpose, and not to be for any temporal
use whatever, and a place empaled in, sequestered only for the
buryal of the dead."
"'Act 2d. That whosoever shall absent himselfe from divine service any Sunday without an allowable excuse shall forfeite a pound of tobacco, and he that absenteth himselfe a
month shall forfeite 50 pounds of tobacco."
"Act 3d. That there be an uniformity in our church as
neere as may be to the canons in England, both in substance
and circumstances, and that all persons yield readie obedience
to them under paine of censure."
" Act 5th. That no minister be absent from his church above
two months in all the yeare upon penalty of forfeiting halfe his
means, and whosoever shall absent above foure months in the
yeare shall forfeit his whole means and cure."
" Act 7th. That no man dispose of any of his tobacco before
the minister be satisfied, upon pain of forfeiture double his part
of the ministers means, and one man of every plantation to
collect his means out of the first and best tobacco."
The meaning of the word "poll" is defined in Act 1st,
1642, 3 —'"be it also enacted and confirmed, that there be ten
pounds of tob'o per poll and a bushell of corne per poll paid to
the ministers within the severall parishes of the collony for all
titheable persons, that is to say, as well for youths of sixteen
years of age as upwards, as also for all negro women at the age
of sixteen years."  By Act 8th, 1662, the tithables were




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-PURITANS.           29
intended to include all males imported and all negroes males
or females imported.
In the year 1632, there was a revisal of the laws. The act
for conformity was re-enacted, somewhat varying in words but
not in spirit. The penalty for non-attendance at church was
changed to "one shillinge for every tyme of any person's
absence from church having no lawfull or reasonable excuse to
bee absent." By Act 6th, The minister was required to
preach one sermon every Sunday in the year-" havinge no
lawfull impediment." By Act 7th, The ministers were required to catechise the youth and others every Sabbath "' halfe
an houre or more before evening prayer." By Act 13th, " All
preachinge, administeringe of the communion baptizinge of
children and marriages shall be done in the church except in
cases of necessilie."
Act 11th, 1632 —" Ministers shall not give themselves to
excesse in drinkinge or ryott, spending their tyme idelie by
day or by night playinge at dice, cards, or any other unlawfull
game, but at all tymes convenient they shall heare or reade
somewhat of the holy scriptures or shall occupie themselves
with some other honest studies, or exercise, always doinge the
things which shall appertayne to honestie and endeavour to
profitt the church of God, havinge alwayes in mynd that they
ought to excell all others in puritie of life, and should be examples to the people, to live well and christianlie."
By Act 56, 1632 —"It is ordered, That no person or persons shall depart out of this colony to inhabit or abide within
any other plantations of New England or elsewhere, unlesse he
obtayne a lysense or passe for his departure under the Governor's hand."
In the Revisal of 1642, the Act for conformity was made
more severe on ministers.  "Ffor the preservation of the
puritie of doctrine and unitie of the church, It is enacted that
all ministers whatsoever which shall reside in the collony are to
be conformable to the orders and constitutions of the church of
England, and the laws therein established, and not otherwise to
be admitted to teach or preach publicly or privately, And that
the Gov. and Counsel do take care that all nonconformists
upon notice of them shall be compelled to depart the collony
with all convenience."
This law was not a dead letter as will be seen in the treatinent of the Puritans. These people began early to emigrate
to Virginia hoping to find a resting place. And although in
1614 Mr. Whitaker —"complaineth and museth much, that so
few of our English ministers that were so hot against the surplice and subscriptions come hither where neither is spoken
off" —in ten years the colonial Legislature resolved to con



30                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
form the Church —" as neere as may be to the forms and
ceremonies of the Church of England. There is no intimation
given by historians of any persons in the colony to whom this
law could apply but the Puritans. Cotton Mather in his
Magnalia, vol. 1st, pp. 538, 539, tells us —"In the year 1741,
one Mr. Bennet, a gentleman from Virginia, arrived at Boston,
with letters from well disposed persons there, unto the ministers
of New England, bewailing their said condition, for the want
of the glorious gospel, and entreating that they might hence
be supplied with ministers of that gospel. These letters were
openly read at Boston, upon a lecture day; whereupon the
ministers agreed upon setting apart a day for fasting and
prayer, to implore the direction of God about this business;
and then the churches of Watertown, Braintree and Rowley,
having each of them two ministers apiece, Mr. Philips of Watertown, Mr. Thompson of Braintree, and Mr. Miller of Rowley
were pitched upon for the intended services, whereof the General Court so approved, that it was ordered the Governor should
recommend these persons by his letters to the Governor and
council of Virginia.  Mr. Philips being indisposed to the
voyage, Mr. Knowles went in his room; and Mr. Miller's
bodily weakness caused him also to decline the voyage. But
the two churches of Watertown and Braintree, though they
loved their ministers very well, yet cheerfully dismissed them
unto this great concern; accounting it their honour that they
had such desirable persons, by whom they might make a mission of the gospel, unto a people that sat in the region and
shadow of death. On October 7th, 1642, they began their
voyage:-at Rhode Island they lay long wind bound; and
they met with so many other difficulties, that they made it
eleven weeks of dangerous passage before they arrived at Virginia; nevertheless they had this advantage on the way, that
they took in a third minister for their assistance, namely Mr.
James then at New Haven.
"Though their hazardous retardation in this voyage, made
them sometimes to suspect whether they had a clear call of
God unto their undertaking, yet the success of their ministry,
when they came to Virginia, did sufficiently extinguish that
suspicion. They had little encouragement from the rulers of
the place, but they had a kind entertainment with the people;
and in the several parts of the country where they were bestowed, there were many persons brought home to God. But
as Austin told mankind, the devil was never turned Christian
yet; the powers of darkness could not count it for their interest,
that the light of the gospel powerfully preached, should reach
those dark places of the Earth. The rulers of that province
did not allow of their publick preaching; but instead thereof




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-PURITANS.           31
an order was made,-That such as would not conform to the
ceremonies of the Church of England, should by such a day
depart the country.  By which order, these holy, faithful,
painsful ministers, were driven away from the Virginia coast.
But when they returned, as they left behind them not a few
seals of their ministry, so they brought with them some who
afterwards proved blessings to New England." Mr. Winthrop
tells us, that two years previous some Emigrants from Massachusetts had sought a residence in Virginia. It is not improbable that the messenger Mr. Bennet was one of these. Or he
might have been sent in their behalf.  He also remarks" that though the state did silence the ministers, because they
would not conform to the order of England, yet the people
resorted to them  in private houses to hear them."  This
mission from Massachusetts took place about the time of the
last war of Opechankanough, which resulted in his capture.
About this time also a great sickness prevailed in the colony,
which Mather connects with the driving away of the missionaries.
Mr. Calamy in his life of Baxter tells us-in a sketch of the
life of Mr. Knowles-that in Virginia, "Mr. Harrison, that
was the Governor's Chaplain, openly moved they might have
full liberty, but secretly endeavoured they might be dismissed,
as he owned afterwards with concern and sorrow. This was
that Mr. Harrison that was afterwards so useful a man in England and Ireland. Mr. Knowles and Mr. Thomson being discharged from public preaching in Virginia, continued a while
preaching, privately and did much good." After having referred to the massacre in the Indian war that followed-he
says-" five hundred are reported to have been murdered on
this occasion. Among those that escaped this miserable massacre, some were gathered into church order by Mr. Harrison,
who became quite another man after this providence than he
was before.  But the Governor dismissed his chaplain who
was now grown too serious for him."
In 1648, as Mr. Holmes tells us in his annals, the Puritans
were still numerous.  About one hundred and eighteen were
associated in church fellowship under the Pastoral care of Mr.
Harrison. The greatest numbers were in Nansemond County.
This year Mr. Harrison, being driven from the colony, went to
New England and thence to England. Mr. Durand one of its
Elders having been banished by the Governor, retreated to
TIorth Carolina and took his abode on a neck of land which
still bears his name.  The Congregation was scattered, and
nothing more is heard of any puritan preacher from New
England, or elsewhere, unless some that came over in the time
of Cromwell were such.  John Hammond, the author of a




32                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
pamphlet called Leah and Rachel, published in 1656, says"And there was in Virginia a certaine people Congregated into
a church calling themselves Independents, which dailydincreasing, severall consultations were had by the State of that colony,
how to suppress and extinguish them, which was duely put in
execution; as first their pastor was banished; next their other
teachers; then many by information clapt up in prison, then
generally disarmed (which was very harsh in such a country
where the heathen live round about them) by one Colonel
Samuel Matthews, then a Counsellor of Virginia, so that they
knew not in those straights how to dispose of themselves."
MIr. Winthrop tells us-that Mr. Harrison reported that many
of the council were favourable to him and his opinions, and
that by conjecture about a thousand of the people were of a
similar mind. Mr. Hubbard tells us that Mr. Harrison after
spending a year or two in New England, went to England and
received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and finally settled in
Ireland. These events signalized the early part of Sir William
Berkeley's administration.
During the protectorate of Cromwell the legislat'e of Virginia made efforts that were in part successful, to obtain a
supply of proper ministers. Act 5th 1656 declared-" Whereas many congregations in this colony are destitute of ministers
whereby religion and devotion cannot but suffer much impairment and decay, which want of the destitute Congregations
ought to be supplied by all means possible to be used, As also
to invite and encourage ministers to repaire hither and merchants to bring them in, Bee it therefore hereby Enacted for
the reasons aforesaid that what person or persons soever shall
at his or their proper cost and charge transport a sufficient
minister into this collony without agreement made with him
shall receive for satisfaction of his or their said charges of him
the said minister or they that shall entertain him for their
minister, twenty pounids sterling by bill of exchange or two
thousand pounds of tobacco, and also for what money shall be
disbursed for them besides their transportation to be allowed
for."  By act 1st the power of managing the affairs of the
parish was lodged in the hands of the vestry. This was productive both of good and evil. The vestry were supposed to.consult the wishes of the parishioners, and thus was there an
approach to freedom of conscience. But the power of oppressing the whole parish in the choice of a minister was lodged in
the hands of the vestry. "Be it enacted by this present
Grand Assembly concerning church Government as followeth,
that all matters concerning the vestry, their agreement with
the minister, touching the Church Wardens, the poore, and
other things concerning the parishes or parishioners respec



VIRGINIA IN 1688.-THE CLERGY.           33
tively be referred to their owne ordering and disposeing from
time to time as they shall think fit."
These efforts to bring over proper ministers were in part
successful.  Berkeley says —"the persecution in Cromwells
tiranny drove divers worthy men hither." But in general the
clergy were little better than before. Hammond in his Leah
and Rachel, says-"Many came such as wore black coats, and
could babble in a pulpit, roare in a tavern, exact from their
parishioners, and rather by their dissolutenesse, destroy than
feed their flocks. Loath was the country to be wholly without
teachers, and therefore rather retain them, than be destitute;
yet still endeavours for better in their places, which were
obtained and those wolves in sheeps clothing by their assemblies questioned, silenced, and some forced to depart the
country."
Stith tells us, p. 173-that the company as early as 1620' had ordered an hundred acres of land, in each of the Burroughs, to be laid off for a glebe."  In 1656, Act 9th says"Wherea, there are many places destitute of ministers, and
like to continue soe, the people content not payinge their accustomed dues, which makes them negligent to procure those
which should teach and instruct them, soe by this improvident
saving they loose the greatest benefitt and comfort a Christian
can have, by hearing the word and use of the blessed sacraments, —therefore be it enacted &c. that all countys not yet
laid out into parishes shall be divided into parishes &c.-and
that all tithable persons in every parish within this collony,
respectively, in the vacancy of their minister, pay 15 lbs of
tobacco per poll yearly &c. —this to go to building a parish
church and purchasing a glebe and stock-for the next minister
that shall be settled there." After this particular care was
taken by the Legislature that glebes should be provided for all
the parishes.
By the revisal of 1662 the uniformity of worship was
guarded with much circumspection. By act 2d, "twelve of
the most able men were to be chosen as vestry men in each
parish. None shall be admitted to be of the vestry that doe
not take the oath of allegeance to his Majesty and subscribe to
be conformable to the doctrines and discipline of the Church of
England." By act 3d, glebes were to be laid out in every
parish, "and a convenient house built upon them for the reception and abode of the minister; and that such provision be
made for his maintenance in the valuable and current commodityes of the country as may be really worth at least fourescoure pounds per annum, besides his perquisites and glebe."
Act 4th says-"Noe minister be admitted to officiate in this
country but such as shall produce to the Governour a testimo5




34                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
niall that he hath received his ordination from some Bishopp in
England; and if any person pretending himself a minister
shall contrary to this act presume to teach or preach pAbliquely or privately, the Governour and councell are desired and
impowered to suspend and silence the person soe offending,
and upon his obstinate persistance to compell him to depart the
country with the first conveniency, as it hath been formerly
provided by the 77th act made at James Citty the second of
March 1642."  By act 9th, persons absent from the prayers
and preachings of the parish churches on the Sabbath and the
four holidays were subject to a fine of fifty pounds of tobacco.
By act 4th, December 1662-" Whereas many scismaticall
persons out of their aversenesse to the orthodox established
religion, or out of the new fangled conceits of their owne
hereticall inventions refuse to have their children baptized, be
it &c. that all persons that, in contempt of the divine sacrament of baptisme, shall refuse when they may carry their child
to a lawfull minister in that county to have them baptized, shall
be amerced two thousand pounds of tobacco; halfe to the informer, halfe to the publique."
Governor Berkeley in 1671, in answer to the inquiry,
"What course is taken about the instructing the people within
your government in the Christian religion?" says-" We have
forty-eight parishes, and our ministers are well paid, and by my
consent should be better, if they would pray oftener and preach
less. But of all other commodities, so of this, the worst are
sent to us, and we had few that we could boast of since the
persecution in Cromwell's tyranny drove divers worthy men
hither."
There is an excuse however, or rather a palliation for the
condition of the established church. The executive officer of
the Episcopal Church did not reside in Virginia; nor till after
the revolution in England, in 1688, did a commissary reside in
the province. Proper discipline therefore could not be kept
up. Multitudes of cases, that could not be judged in England,
required attention on the spot; and in their neglect the
church suffered.
The Quakers came in for their share of legislative opposition. Uniformity in religion, after the manner of the Church
of England, was the determined purpose of the majority of the
colony. The estimation in which the Qakers were held, by the
Legislature, can be best understood from the preamble of
Act 6th, 1659, 60 —" Whereas there is an unreasonable and
turbulent sort of people, commonly called Quakers, who contrary to the law do dayly gather together unto them unlaw'll
assemblies and congregations of people, teaching and publishing lies, miracles, false visions, prophecies and doctrines, which




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-SEPARATISTS AND QUAKERS.     85
have influence upon the communities of men both ecclesiasticall
and civil endeavouring and attempting thereby to destroy religion, lawes, comunities and all bonds of civil societie, leaving
arbitrarie to everie vaine and vicious person whether men shall
be safe, lawes established, offenders punished, and governours
rule, hereby disturbing the publique peace and just interest, to
prevent and restraine which mischiefe be it enacted" &c. 1stthat any master of a vessel bringing a Quaker into the colony
should be subject to a fine of one hundred pounds sterling:
2d-that all Quakers be arrested and imprisoned without bail,
" till they do adjure the country, or putt in security with all
speed to depart the colonie and not to return again;" 3d-if a
Quaker returned, he was to be punished and sent away; 4thif he returned the third time he was to be proceeded against as
a felon; 5th-that no one should entertain a Quaker or permit
their assemblies at his house under the penalty of one hundred
pounds sterling; and 6th —"that no person do presume on
their peril to dispose or publish their bookes, pamphlets or
libells bearing the title of their tenets and opinions."
Act 9th of 1661, 2 after forbidding all unnecessary journeys
on the Sabbath-" And that noe other thing, be used or done
that may tend to the prophanation of that day, -but that all
and every person and persons inhabiting in this country diligently resort to their parish church or chappell,"-imposes a
fine of fifty pounds of tobacco for absence from the church on
Sabbath,-" and the fower holy days," but excepts Quakers
and others for a greater punishment-" Quakers or other recusants who out of noncomformitie to the church totally absent
themselves, —shall be liable to such fines and punishments as
by the statue of 23d of Elizabeth are imposed on them, being
for every months absence twenty pounds sterling, and if they
forbeare a twelvemonth then to give good security for their
good behaviour, besides their payment for their monthly absences, according to the tenure of said statute. And that all
Quakers for assembling in unlawfull assemblyes and conventicles be fined and pay each of them there taken, two hundred
pounds of tobacco for each time they shall be for such unlawfull meeting taken or presented by the church wardens to the
county court and in case of the insolvency of any person
among them, the more able then taken to pay for them."
More severity was, in the opinion of the legislature called
for against Separatists. Act 1st, 1663, declares-" that certain
persons under the name of Quakers and other names of separation have taken up and maintained sundry dangerous opinions
and tenets, and-under pretence of religious worship, doe
often assemble themselves in great numbers, —separating and
dividing themselves from the rest of his Majesties good and




36                 SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
loyall subjects-Be it enacted,-that if any person or persons
called Quakers, or any other separatists whatsoever in this
colony,-shall departe from the places of their severll habitations and assemble themselves to the number of five or more
of the age of sixteen yeares or upwards at any one tyme in
any place under pretence of joyning in a religious worship
not authorized by the laws of England nor this country, —shall
for the first offence fforfeit and pay two hundred pounds of
tobacco,-for the second offence forfeit and pay five hundred
pounds of tobacco." Quakers or Separatists of ability were
held responsible for those that were poor. For the third
offence, the punishment was banishment "to the places the
Governor and Councell shall appoint." The penalty for bringing in a Quaker was increased; and all persons were forbidden to-" entertaine any Quakers in or near their houses, that
is, to teach or preach"-on penalty of five thousand pounds of
tobacco. A proviso concluded the law-" if Quakers or other
Separatists shall after such conviction as aforesaid give security that he, she, or they,. shall for the time to come forbeare
to meet in any such unlawfull assemblies" —then they were
to be discharged from all penalties.
These laws were not dead letters. The Quakers suffered as
the Puritans years before. Their historians complain much of
fines levied under these laws. That their complaints are not
without foundation will appear from the record of the House
of Burgesses given by Hening, Sept'r 12, 1663-" Whereas
Mr. John Hill high sheriff of Lower Norfolk hath represented to the House that Mr. John Porter, one of the Burgesses of that county was loving to the Quakers and stood well
affected to them and had been at their meetings, and was so far
an Anabaptist as to be against the baptizing of children, upon
which representation the said Porter confessed himself to have
and be well affected to the Quakers, but conceived his being at
their meetings could not be proved, upon which the oaths of
Allegiance and Supremacy were tendered to him which he
refused to take; whereupon it is ordered that the said Porter
be dismissed this house." The refusal to swear allegiance to
the King, or to acknowledge him  as head of the Church
visible, in the English dominions, was a political offence, of
which all the nonconformists in Virginia might be made guilty.
Others besides Puritans and Quakers, or for other offences
than Puritanism or Quakerism, suffered under the laws of
Virginia as will appear from Hening, vol. 1st, " Oct. 7th, 1634,
Henry Coleman excommunicated forty days, for using scornful
speeches and putting on his hat in church, when according to
an order of court, he was to acknowledge and ask forgiveness
for an offence. In 1640, Stephen Reekers put in pillory two




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-CIVIL LIBERTY.         37
hours with a paper on his head expressing his offence, fined
~50 sterling and imprisoned during pleasure for saying that
his Majesty was at confession with the Lord of Canterbury.
March 25th, 1630, Thos. Tindall to be pillory'd two hours for
giving my Lord Baltimore the lye and threatening to knock
him  down. 1640, Francis Wildes, clerk of Charles River
Court, turned out of his place and fined for speaking against
the laws of the last Assembly and the persons concerned in
making them." A State religion can be maintained only by
severe laws.
The Governor and Council acted out to the extent of their
ability, the state and parade of the King and his Lords. The
GHouse of Burgesses filled, in the colony, the place of the
House of Commons in the mother land, and the wealthy planters according to their means, that of the nobility and gentry.
The more wealthy planters flocked to the seat of government,
particularly during the meeting of the House of Burgesses,
and sessions of the General Court, and learned to imitate the
profusion and elegance of the Governor. All the elements of
the Virginia character, in its excellencies and follies, were in
operation in 1688, wealth, love of ease, profusion of expense,
generosity, unrestrained passions, chivalric attention to the
fair, high sense of honor, personal independence, carelessness
of money, sense of superiority and easy manners. These
governed by devoted attachment to the crown, and the religion of the State because it was the religion of the State, and
of their fathers, and of the IKing, formed a state of society
interesting and peculiar. It exhibited in strong contrast the
scholar and the unlearned; the vulgar and the gentleman; the
African slave and his Anglo-Saxon master. Compelled by
their location, and the nature of their society, to the daily use
of the horse, the Virginians became lovers of that noble animal, and daring in his exercise. Self-possessed from their
daily exposures, they were in danger of over-confidence in
their own judgment and capabilities. They knew nothing in
America greater and grander than their own beautiful and
luxuriant colony. They talked independently to the mother
country, bowing to the majesty of the crown, from whose splendor the ocean alone separated them.
In civil matters, there was, in 1688, the idea and the exercise of Liberty. From the first meeting of the Legislature in
1619 the colonists enjoyed all the priviliges of Englishmen.
They were Royalists.  They were loyal to the king.  The
inconveniences, arising from their distance from the throne,
were counterbalanced by advantages resulting from the same
distance and their wilderness home. The king could raise a
revenue only through the house of Burgesses.  They were




38                SKETCHES IN VIRGINIA.
always slow to load their fellow-citizens and themselves with
duties and imports.  Act 8th of the first assembly, whose
records are preserved, 1623, 4, declares-" The Governor shall
not lay any taxes or ympositions upon the colony their lands
or commodities other way than by the authority of the General
Assembly, to be levyed and employed as the said assembly shall
appoynt."  And by the next act they declare that the Governor should not withdraw the inhabitants from their labours for
his own services —" and in case the publick service require
ymployments of many hands before the holding a General
Assemblie to give order for the same, in that case the levying
of men shall be done by order of the Governor and whole
body of the counsell and that in such sorte as to be least burthensome to the people and most free from partiality." To
save the expense of calling the assembly-" the charge of which
doth most times equal itt, if not exceed all other taxes of the
country"-the house gave permission in the years 1660 and
1661, to the governor and council to lay the taxes, provided he
did not exceed twenty pounds of tobacco per poll.  " November
9th, 1666, Die Jovis-The honourable Governour sent knowledge of his pleasure to the house that two or more of the
councel might join with the house in granting and confirming
the sums of the levy. The humble answer of the house is,
that they conceive it their privilege to lay the levy in the
house, and that the house will admit nothing without reference
from the honourable Governour and councel unless it be before
adjudged and confirmed by act or order, and after passing in
the house shall be humbly presented to their honors for approbation or dissent. Mr. Ballard, major Weir and captain Bridger are appointed to present this answer to the honourable
Governour and councel. This is willingly assented to and
desire4 to remain on record for a rule to walk by for the future,
which will be satisfactory to all. William Berkeley."
The Legislature of Virginia early showed respect to age and
enterprise. Act 10th, 1623, 4, says-" That all the old planters that were here before or came in at the last coming of Sir
Thomas Gates they and their posterity shall be exempted from
their personal service to the warrs and any public charge
(church duties excepted) that belong particularly to their persons (not exempting their families) except such as shall be
ymployd to command in chief." In 1631 this act was amended
by leaving out the words —" they and their posterity." The
spirit of this exemption law reserved an aged Quaker from the
penalties of the law enacted against that sect, —as the Quaker
accounts say that the first born male that grew to adult years
became a Quaker, and in compliment to his birth was liberated
from the penalties of the law.




VIRGINIA IN 1688.-CIVIL LIBERTY.        39
Thus Virginia appeared in 1688. The inhabitants occupied
but a small portion of her immense territories.  They were
rapidly increasing in wealth, and slowly extending their plantations toward the mountains. The protestant religion was universal. The forms of the church of England as general as
the supply of ministers from England would allow; and were
guarded by penal laws. The dissenters from the forms and
creed of the State religion, oppressed by fines, and in some
cases uncompromisingly driven from the colony. The rights
of men in civil Wratters better understood than the rights of
conscience. The Indian tribes East of the Blue Ridge broken
in spirit and wasted. Not a congregation of them gathered
for the worship of God, or civilization, from all the numerous
tribes that once dwelt along the bay shore and the river banks.
No college in the colony; and education but partially diffused.
The citizens independent in their thoughts, habits and actions,
enjoying the privileges of Englishmen, in their distant wilderness. With all the imperfections of society a foundation was
laid for a great and noble State, that retains many traits of its
colonial infancy. The community at large were sensible of
some great defect in their religious matters, and desirous of a
change. Averse to any fundamental revolution in creed or
forms or State patronage, they longed for a purer ministry,
and many desired more effect in ordinances, and more spiritual
exposition of Scripture. In the preamble to the Revisal of
1661, 2, they say-" And because it is impossible to honor the
king as we should unlesse wee serve and feare God, as wee
ought, and that they might show their equall care of church
and state they have set downe certaine rules to be observed in
the Government of the church, until God shall please to turne
his majesties pious thoughts towards us and provide a better
supply of ministers among us."  And in the 18th Act entitled
"provisions for a colledge," they say-"Whereas the want of
able and faithful ministers in this country deprives us of those
great blessings and mercies that always attend upon the service of God; which want by reason of our great distance from
our nation, cannot in probability be always supplied from
thence: Bee it enacted that for the advance of learning, education of youth, supply of the ministry, and promotion of
piety, there be land taken up or purchased for a colledge and
free school."  From the first source, the king, they never
obtained "a better supply."  From  the second, the college,
which was soon after reared by Commissary Blair, the State
has been drinking, as from a fountain of pearls; she has
gathered gems that sparkle in her crown as an independent
State. Relief in matters of Religion and Conscience was
sought in vain from England; help came from another quarter.




40                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
The causes that has wrought most strongly to make Virginia
what she is, have been partly moral and partly physical. Those
that made her what she was in 1688 Aere all in operation in
1619. Previous to that date, tobacco planting became the
absorbing occupation of the colonists, and in its operation was
hostile to towns and villages and mechanical arts. In 1619,
the Company in London at the instance of Sir Edward Landys,
took steps to make the colony permanent by sending the colonists wives. In the same year the King determined to send a
company of dissolute persons to act as servants to the colonists,
making labour disreputable, and rendering Virginia for a time
the receptacle of malefactors.  In 1619 the first cargo of
Africans was brought to Virginia and sold to the colonists as
slaves for life. The servitude of Englishmen had a bound;
that of the Africans no limits, as his children were slaves. In
1619 the most vigorous efforts were made to christianize the
Indians, and erect a college for the use of the colony. All
these influences acting under the moulding power of a state
religion made Virginia what she was on the accession of the
Prince of Orange to the crown of England. After that event
another element was infused, whose influence though last was
not least, the Republicanism of the Religious principle. Its
influence will be portrayed in the following sketches.
CHAPTER II.
REV. FRANCIS MAKEMIE AND HIS ASSOCIATES.
THE first minister, dissenting from the Church of England, that
had leave, from the constituted authorities, to preach in Virginia, was a Presbyterian.  He is the first, on the Geneva
model, that is known to have taken his residence in Virginia,
or the United States of America. This was Francis Makemie.
The churches gathered by his labors, were in Barbadoes, in the
West Indies, —in that part of Maryland between the Atlantic
and the Chesapeake,-and in Accomac county, Virginia. He
has no lineal descendant on earth. Not a sermon, or a page
of a diary, and but a single letter, from his hand, is in existence. No biographical sketch, drawn by a cotemporary, has
given a portraiture of the man, or a connected history of his
services. What remains of him, —and there are remains,-is
like the ruins of an ancient temple, that awakes admiration by
the beauty of the fragments, and the symmetry of the particu



FRANCIS MAKEMIE.                  41
lar parts, while the uniqueness of the sculpture almost forbids
an imagination of the grandeur of the whole.
Perhaps however it is not a matter of disquietude, that all
that Makemie possessed in common with his race has passed
away to the compend of all history,-he was born, he lived,
and died; or that all he possessed in common with preachers
of the Gospel in every age, is preserved only in meager notices
in the records of Ecclesiastical bodies. We are left to suppose
that he had his share of the troubles and joys of life, in his
person and his family; that he knew the perplexities and excitements of the ministerial race, and came to his end with hope
triumphant over the fears, and troubles, and doubts, which
beset the human soul in his course of purification for heaven.
The history of a man's life becomes interesting to his own
generation, or to posterity, only as he has done uncommon
things well, or common things better than his compeers. The
interest attached to the name, birth place, and labours of
Makemie arises from the circumstance, that he was, in all probability, the first consistent Presbyterian minister in the United
States; certainly the first in Virginia.  The Presbyterian
ministers, mentioned by Mather and others as residing in
Massachusetts, at an early date, were more or less Congregational in their forms and discipline. They were intermingled
with Congregationalists, and ultimately became entirely blended
with that denomination. Had Makemie been a man of less
than mediocrity of talent, and had he been called only to the
trials incident to a church of emigrants, his being first in a
series of ministers, whose progression has been so noble, would
encircle him with a halo bright from surrounding darkness.
First in the series of worthies is not the only honor of
Makemie. Called to pass through scenes of trial and perplexity, such as cannot be the lot of the present generation,
he acquitted himself with honor. His imitators were clothed
with honor.  "The Attorney has met his match to-day" —was
the exclamation of the bar, when Davies stood before the
Governor and Council of Virginia and plead, as Makemie did
in Virginia and before Lord Cornbury in New York, the true
meaning and extent of the Act of Toleration, and vindicated
the rights of conscience as acknowledged, imperfectly indeed,
yet acknowledged by the English law. Makemie established
the great truth, that it was no crime against the State, or known
law, for him to preach the gospel to those who desired to hear,
and avowed that desire to the magistrates. Davies followed
his example, and the bar said he was a " capital lawyer spoiled."
Reed, in his history of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland,
tells us that Makemie was from the neighborhood of Ramilton
in Donegal. His name, which has been spelled differently, by
6




42                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
different writers evidently meaning the same man,-Mackamy,
-Mackamie,-and McKemie, —was, as appears from the records
of Accomac Court, spelled by himself, Makemie. It indicates
his origin from that race whiich emigrating from Scotland to
Ireland and from Ireland to America, bears, in America, the
appellation, Scotch Irish.  There is no record of the condition
or baptismal names of his parents. His mental exercises, in
his early days are unknown, with one single exception. In
reply to a charge brought against him in Virginia, of denying
the influence af the Holy Spirit, because he rejected baptismal
regeneration, he declared, that so far from denying the influence
of the Spirit, he fully believed them to be indispensable to all
religion; and that he had reason to thank God that at the age
of fourteen, under the instruction of a pious schoolmaster, he
felt their power on his own soul.
Mr. Reed informs us that he was introduced to the Presbytery of Lagan, by his pastor, the Rev. T. Drummond, in the
year 1680, and that he was licensed by that Presbytery in the
year 1681. Application had been made to that body, in 1678,
by a Captain Archibald Johnson, for assistance in procuring a
minister for Barbadoes.  In December, 1680, Colonel Stevens from Maryland, "near Virginia," applied to the same
Presbytery for a minister to settle in that colony. In consequence of these applications, Makemie was ordained as Evangelist for America. The precise date of his ordination is not
known. There is a deficiency in the records of the Presbytery
of Lagan arising from the imprisonment of the Stated Clerk
and some other members. Their crime had been the holding
a fast on account of the peculiar situation of the country.
They were fined, they suffered imprisonment for months, and
then gave security for good behaviour for an act which could
be an offence only to a tyrant. Mr. Reed tells us that Makemie removed to America, resided for a time on the Eastern
shore of Virginia; that the ministers from Europe uniting with
him in the formation of the first Presbytery in America according to the Westminster Confession, were from the Province of
Ulster, Ireland; and there he pauses.
From the circumstances of the case, it appears that he
must have been ordained for his mission to America as early
as 1682 or 3. He laboured in Barbadoes, in Maryland and
Virginia. Mr. Spence in his Letters tells us, that the churches
in Somerset county, Maryland, were organized at a period of
time when there was no other Presbyterian minister to organize than Francis Makemie.   Snowhill was established by
act of the provincial assembly, 1684, then in Somerset, now
in Worcester, the latter having been set off as a county in
1742.  "It was,-Mr. Spence tells us,-settled by English
Episcopalians, and Scotch and Irish Presbyterians, and it is




FRANCIS MAKEMIE.                  43
certain that persons resided there at the time, or soon after
the time, in which' the town was laid out, who were afterwards
members of the Presbyterian church. My ancestor was a
ruling elder in that church,-he was the father of five children, all of them natives of Snowhill, or its neighbourhood,
the youngest of whom was born in 1698. I am persuaded that
he lived in Maryland the last twenty years of the seventeenth
century."  To this church at Snow Hill Mr. Makemie performed the duties of a minister, after he had assisted in its
organization.  "I doubt"-says Mr. Spence-" whether the
memory of any gospel minister was ever held in higher honour
by an American congregation, than was that of Makemie by
the people of Snow Hill.  His praises have not yet left the
church, although he has rested from his labours almost a hundred and thirty years. Tradition has made a record of his
labours and many'excellencies of his character; one generation has uttered his praises in the ears of its successor, and you
may even yet hear its echo. Parents made his surname the
Christian name of their children, until in the neighbourhood of
Snow Hill it has become a common one. Information derived
from aged lips, which it was once my pleasure to listen to, and
my duty to honour, produces peculiar feelings whenever I hear
the name of Francis Makemie."  The "ancestor" of whom
Mr. Spence speaks, was Adam Spence, an emigrant from
Scotland,-"-who had probably affixed his name to the Solemn
League Covenant,"-and had settled at or near Snow Hill,
as a merchant about the year 1680.
Mr. Makemie preached in Barbadoes. He declared, on his
trial in New York, that he had certificates according to law,
both for Barbadoes and for Virginia. He does not mention
the date of his certificate; that was not called for. The
records of Accomac Court mention the fact of his preaching
in Barbadoes, bnt does not give the date. Long after Makemie's death the Presbytery and the Synod of Philadelphia,
gave the congregation in Barbadoes their assistance, but their
records make no mention of the time of his labours there.
The first mention of Makemie's name by any record in the
United States, is found in the county of Accomac, Virginia,
and bears date Feb. 17th, 1690. It is in the record of a suit
brought by him to recover from  one William  Finney, the
amount due him for molasses sold.  He had other suits, in
the same court, to recover debts, from careless or unjust
debtors. These debts were the consequence of his being engaged in commerce. There is also a record of a certificate for
four hundred acres of land bearing date Feb. 21st, 1692.
Mr. Makemie was united in marriage to Naomi, the eldest
daughter of William Anderson, a wealthy merchant of Acco



44                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
mac. Mr. Anderson, by will admitted to record Oct. 16, 1698,
gave to Francis Makemie and his wife Naomi, a tract of land,
containing one thousand acres, at Matchatouk, a cre'ek that
empties into the Chesapeake, a little south of the village of
Onancock, the county seat, and made a port of entry in 1680.
Near this village they had their residence, five or six miles from
Drummondstown the present county seat. He also gave them
the "plantation at Pocomoke, containing nine hundred and
fifty acres, for and during their or either of their natural lives;
in remainder to the child or heir of my daughter Naomi, if
such she have, and its hereditable issue forever. But for want
of such, then to revert and descend to my grand daughters, by
my daughter Comfort Taylor, and to her heirs forever." The
will goes on to say-" Item, my Lotts being three at Onancock
town, I give unto Mr. Francis Makemie and his heirs and
assigns forever. Item, I give and bequeath to my daughter
Naomi Makemie, four Negro Slaves, viz: —Dollae, Hannah the
Elder, Darkeih, young Sarah. Item, I make, constitute, ordain, and appoint my son in law, Mr. Francis Makemie *****
to be my joint and several executors of this my last will and
testament, desiring them to be kind and assisting to my wife."
In his will Mr. Anderson makes mention of three sisters, by
the names of Barons, Hope, and Nock, to each of whom he
makes a small legacy. No other person is named as executor
with Makemie.
How Mr. Makemie became engaged in trade, and whether
before or after his marriage, are questions not now to be
answered. Mr. Anderson's will says-" I also give, unto said
Makemie, all the money lent him, in full of all or any accounts, that may be between us, upon consignments or any
other ways; and my will is, that he may have his sloope with
what may appertain to her at my death. Likewise whatever
my daughter can claim as hers in my house,-without let or
delay, and all-on both sides to be ballanced."
The next important notice, in the records of Accomac bears
date Oct. 15th, 1699. "Whereas Mr. Francis Makemie made
application by petition to this court, that being ready to fulfill
what the law enjoynes to dissenters, that he might be qualified
according to law, and prayed that his own dwelling house at
Pocomoke, also his own house at Ononcock, next to Captain
Jonathan Liveley's, might be the places recorded for meeting,
and having taken the oaths enjoyned by act of Parliament instead of the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and subscribed
the Test as likewise that he did in compliance with what the
said Law enjoynes, produce certificate from Barbadoes of his
qualifications there, did declare in open court, of the said
county and owned the articles of religion mentioned in the




FRANCIS MAKEMIE.                  45
statute made in the 13th year of Queen Elizabeth, except the
34th, 35th and 36th and those words of the 20th article, viz:
the church hath power to decide rites and ceremonies, and
authority in controversies of faith, which the court have
ordered to be registered and recorded, and that the Clerk of
the court give certificate thereof to the said Makemie according as the Law enjoynes."  This is the first certificate of
qualification under the Toleration Act, known to be on record.
The two places mentioned in the preceding certificate were his
own property under the will of his father in law. The dwelling
house at Pocomoke was in Virginia, not far from the present
Village of Rehoboth, which is on the Maryland side of the
river. In that village Makemie owned property.  There was
a meeting house. And there, at this day, is a Presbyterian
church, organized in the time of Makemie. In his will which
bears date April 27th 1708, Makemie says —"as also my lot
joining the new meeting house lot in Pocomoketown, called
Rehoboth, empowering my executrix to make over and alienate
that lot on which the meeting house is built, in as ample a
manner, to all intents and purposes as shall be required for
the ends and uses of a Presbyterian congregation, as if I were
personally present, and to their successors forever, and none
else, but to such of the same persuasion in matters of religion."
After the death of Makemie, his dwelling house on Pocomoke
ceased to be a place of worship; the public ministrations being
confined to "Pocomoketown," or Rehoboth.
Mr. Makemie mentions two other places in his will,-" my
house and lot in the new town in Princess Anne county, on the
Eastern branch of Elizabeth River; as also my lot and house,
or frame of a house, in the new town on Wormley's creek,
called Urbana." Whether he used these houses for merchandise or for public worship is not declared. But as he told Lord
Cornbury on his trial in New York,-" but to give bond and
security to preach no more in your excellency's government,
if invited and desired by any people, we neither dare nor can
do,"-we cannot suppose he was backward to preach whenever
he had an opportunity in Virginia.  Around where Norfolk
stands there was a congregation of Presbyterians.  After
Makemie's death, the people enjoyed the labours of Mr. Macky.
How long Mr. Macky served them is unknown.
In Maryland the places of Presbyterian preaching were
Srow Hill, Rehoboth, or Pocomoketown, head of Monokin,
Wicomico, and on Joseph Venable's land. The churches in
these places have retained their light through many vicissitudes.
They have witnessed in their seclusion the spread of the Presbyterian church; and have rejoiced in the wonders of grace.
Of this part of Maryland, Spence in his letters says-" There




46                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
is no body of land, of the same size, in the State, the soil of
which was, and is, so poor." Yet on account of its position,
and the laws of Maryland, it presented inducements to Emigrants, who desired freedom of conscience. Here they could
find a residence convenient for commerce, and could worship
God according to the conviction of judgment and not sin
against the State. Here was the chosen spot for the first congregation of the Presbyterian Church, now so numerous and
scattered over a wide country of inexhaustible richness. The
Roman Catholic proprietor of the colony to insure freedom of
religious worship for his own sect, the papists, obtained in the
charter granted him by Charles the 1st, June 20th, 1632, a
clause for entire religious freedom. In Maryland, "a man
might live in peace, whether Jew, Mohammedan, or Pagan;
whether Atheist, Deist, or Polytheist; provided he neither
molested his neighbour, nor endangered the public morals."
The severity of the Virginia laws were strongly in contrast
with this lenity. Dissenters from the established Church of
England found in Maryland a quiet abode till the Revolution
in England in 1688.
The congregations that first worshipped in America according to the forms of the Presbyterian Church, on the Geneva or
Scotch model, still have a name and a place among the people
of God. He, that would visit these mother churches of the
Presbyterian body in America, must go down to the narrow
neck of land between the ocean and the Chesapeake. There
he will find Snow Hill, in Worcester, formerly Somerset, and
may walk among the monuments and burial mounds so tenderly
referred to by Mr. Spence. Thence let him take an excursion
to the head of Wicomico (or Salisbury), and to the head of
Monokin (or Princess Anne), and he will be walking over
ground consecrated by such men as Makeinie, McNish, Hampton, Henry, Robinson, Davies, Finley, and Rodgers. Let him
go to Rehoboth and he may find the spot, given, by the first
preacher, for the "'New Meeting House;" and then let him
cross the Virginia line,-but, alas! he will not find Makemie's
" dwelling house at Pocomoke," —he may go to Onancock and
Drummondstown, and walk around where Makemie lived and
preached; and find in Accomack a congregation of Presbyterians rising, phoenix like, from the ashes of those who heard
Makemie preach and pray. The simplicity and hospitality of
the inhabitants of the Peninsula are as unchanged as the plains
and streams on which they dwell; and the pious stranger shall
be welcome now as in the days of the first preacher who succeeded in organizing Presbyterian churches in America.
Mr. Makemie came to America before any society, of which
we have any knowledge, was formed in England to assist Evan



FRANCIS MAKEMIE.                  47
gelists in their preparation for their work in America, or in
seeking their fields of labour, or during the years of their ministry. By what pecuniary means he entered the ministry, or
crossed the ocean, we cannot say. Perhaps in reaching the
field of his labours he might have been assisted by the persons
that afterwards formed the London Union. It is probable that
the people petitioning from Barbadoes, and Col. Stephens of
Maryland, exerted themselves to remove all obstacles in the
way of their proposed missionary. It is supposed that he
passed the earlier years of his Evangelical labours in Barbadoes, and Somerset county Maryland, by whose united voice
he had sought the new world. From the high regard with
which his name is mentioned at Snow Hill, it is natural to conclude, that it was a place of his protracted labours, and perhaps
also of his residence. Notwithstanding the rigorous laws of
Virginia, as detailed in the preceding chapter, Makemie made
that State his home, after his marriage. What support his
congregations gave him is unknown. Judging from the arrangements he made with the society in London, when he introduced
his co-labourers into Maryland, his congregations were not prepared to give a very liberal support. After his marriage his
necessities were supplied by the fortune of his wife and the
labours of his own hands. HIe is a singular instance of a man
engaging in the work of an Evangelist and of a merchant, and
prospering in both. Like Paul, he laboured, that he might
preach the gospel, where, a competent support for a minister
could not be obtained from the hearers, and God blessed him
in his ministry and in his traffic. At his death there were
congregations, gathered by his labours, and fostered by his
pastoral care, sufficient to give employment to three ministers;
and a sufficient amount of property acquired by marriage and
by his enterprise to leave his family above want.
Uniformity of worship had been attempted in Virginia, and
maintained by severe laws. The Puritans had been driven
from the colony, and the Quakers oppressed and enfeebled.
Scotch and Irish merchants, or factors for English merchants,
allured by the advantages of trade, were scattered through the
colony. There was a most appalling necessity for faithful
ministers of the Gospel, whose orthodox doctrines should be
commended by their consistent lives. Clergymen, that required the enactment of such laws, by a civil tribunal, as have
been preserved in the statute book of Virginia, to restrain their
dissipation, and prevent neglect of duty, could scarcely be
expected to promote vital godliness. It is a matter of tradition
that Makemie suffered often under the laws of Virginia.  "He
durst not deny preaching, and hoped he never should, while it
was wanting, and desired." In defence of himself he appeared




48                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
before the magistrates and before the Governor, and tradition
says made a favourable impression. We have historical and
legal evidence of his appearing before the magistrates in
Maryland and the court in New York, but only strong conjectural evidence, besides tradition, of his being called before
legal tribunals in Virginia.
The Act of Toleration, entitled-" An Act for exempting
their Majesties Protestant subjects, dissenting from the Church
of England, from penalties of certain laws"-passed 1st of
William and Mary, chap. 18th, 1689, under some unpleasant
restrictions, secured to protestant ministers and churches, permission to worship God according to their own consciences..
The first public acknowledgment, in Virginia, of this law as a
law of the State, or of England, that is now known, appears
in 1699, ten years after its becoming the law of the British
dominions. When it does appear, its position and accompaniments, are any thing but honorable to those to whom its
provisions extended. All that dissented from the established
forms of the Church of England, as they were in Virginia,
were classed with the drunkard and swearer. Act 1st, 1699,
entitled "an Act for the more effectuall suppressing of blasphemy, swearing, cursing, drunkenness and Sabbath breaking,"
-in its first section declares —" That if any person or persons
brought upp in the Christian religion shall by writing, printing, teaching or advisedly speaking, deny the being of a God
or the holy Trinity, or shall assert or maintain there are more
gods than one or shall deny the Christian religion to be true,
or the holy scriptures of Old and New Testament to be of
divine authority, and be thereof lawfully convicted upon indictment or information in the General Court"-for the first
offence, disqualification for office civil, ecclesiastical, or military; for the second offence, additional disabilities and " three
years imprisonment without bail or mainprize." By the fourth
section, profane swearing and drunkenness were punished by
fines and lashes on "theire beare back well laid on."  By the
fifth section Sabbath breaking is provided for as follows-viz:
" That if any person or persons of the age of twenty-one years
or more doe neglect or refuse to resort to their parish church
or chapell once in two months to heare devine service upon the
Sabbath day, every person or persons soe neglecting or refuseing and being thereof lawfully convicted by confession or
otherwise before one or more justice or justices of the peace
where such offence shall be committed shall forfeit and pay for
every such offence the sume of five shillings or fifty pounds of
tobacco to be payed to the church warden of that parish, &c.
-Provided always-that if any person or persons dissenting
from the Church of England being every way qualified accord



FRANCIS MAKEMIE.                  49
ing to an act of Parliament made in the first year of the reigne
of our sovereigne lord the King that now is, and the late Queen
Mary of blessed memory, entituled an act for exempting their
Majesties Protestant subjects dissenting from the Church of
England from penaltyes of certain laws, shall resort and meet
at any congregation or place of religious worship permitted and
allowed by the said act of Parliament once in two months, that
then the said penaltyes and forfeitures imposed by the act for
neglecting or refuseing to resort to their parish church or
chappel as aforesaid shall not be taken to extend to such
person or persons, any thing in this act to the contrary notwithstanding."
On this Mr. Hening well observes-" Nothing could be more
intolerant than to impose the penalties by this act prescribed
for not repairing to church, and thus hold out the idea of
exemption by a compliance with the provisions of such a law,
as the statute of William  and Mary, adopted by a mere
general reference, when not one person in a thousand could
possibly know its contents."
In this same year, 1699, an act was passed providing for a
thorough revisal of the laws. In the preamble of that act, the
province is styled "his Majestie's ancient and great colony
and dominion;" the origin probably of the phrase of the "Ancient Dominion." This revisal, which was the fifth, was completed in 1705. In this revisal the 30th Act is for the suppression of vice &c. In the clause about Sabbath breaking,
the time of absence from church was limited to " the space
of one month." The proviso for dissenters is in a parenthesis,
thus, (excepting as is excepted in an act of parliament passed
in the first year of King William and Queen Mary, intituled,
An act for exempting their Majestys' protestant subjects
dissenting from the Church of England, from the penalties
of certain laws"). The provisions of the Toleration Act are
no where given in the statute book. It was left for the dissenters to find them when their protection became necessary.
It is not probable that even this reference would have appeared
upon the statute book, had it not have been demanded by
the dissenters, "who knew law," and had plead the provisions
of the act of parliament for their defence. We know of no
other dissenters in the colony at this time but the Quakers and
Makemie and his Presbyterian friends.
The Proviso made its appearance in April 1699. In the
October following, Mr. Makemie obtained his license according
to the requirements of the toleration act. "Accomack county,
s. c. These may certify to all to whom these presents may concern, That Mr. Francis Makemie, a dissenter and preacher in
the aforesaid county of Accomack, hath, at a court held in the
7




50                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
aforesaid county, October 5th 1699, performed and answered
by taking the oaths, &c. enjoined by a certain act of parliament, made the 24th day of May Anno Domini 1689, in the
first year of the reign of King William, and Queen Mary, entitled an Act for exempting their Majesties' protestant subjects,
dissenting from the Church of England, from the penalties of
sundry laws. And by his application to the Court, by petition,
obtained order in October Court last, that his own house at
Accomack town, and his dwelling house at Pocomoke, should
be registered and recorded to be the first place of his constant
and ordinary preaching. Which is attested, this 10th day of
October A. D. 1699.
Per me JOHN WASHBURN, C. C. C. Accomack."
On the 15th of the same month (October) 1699, the following record appears, as given by Spence from an attested copy;
viz. "Whereas Mr. Francis Makemie made application by
petition to this Court, that being ready to fullfill what the law
enjoynes to dissenters, that he might be qualified according to
law, and prayed that his own dwelling house at Pocomoke, also
his own house at Ononcock, next to Capt. Jonathan Liveley's, might be the places recorded for the Meeting, and having
taken the oaths enjoyned by act of parliament instead of the
oaths of allegeance and supremacy, and subscribed the Test,
as likewise that he did in compliance with what the said law
enjoynes, produce certificate from Barbadoes of his qualifications there, did declare in open court of the said county and
owned the articles of religion mentioned in the statute made in
the 13th year of Queen Elizabeth, except the 34th, 35th and
36th, and those words of the 20th article, viz. —the Church
hath power to decide rights and ceremonies, and authority in
controversies of faith,-which the Court have ordered to be
registered and recorded, and that the clerk of Court give certificate thereof to the said Makemie, according as the law
enjoynes."
These papers recognise Makemie as having been a preacher
among dissenters,-that he had been previously qualified, or
licensed, at Barbadoes to preach-and that now he was shielded
by law in Virginia.
Beverly, in his History and Present State of Virginia, published in 1705 says, Book 4th, Part 1st, Chap. 7th, p. 27"' The people are generally of the Church of England, which is
the religion established by law in the country, from which there
are very few dissenters. Yet liberty of conscience is given to
all other congregations pretending to Christianity, on condition
they submit to all parrish duties."  Free to exercise conscience, by paying an equal share to the support of the ministers of the established church, however much they disapproved




FRANCIS MAKEMIE.                  51
of him personally or officially,-by receiving marriage from his
hands and in the form of the state religion,-by paying all
parish rates for building and repairing the public church, and
purchasing and keeping in repair the glebe,-when'they had
done this, they might build their own meeting house and support their own minister. He goes on to say: " They have no
more than five conventicles amongst them, namely, three small
meetings of Quakers, and two of Presbyterians.'Tis observed,
that those counties where the Presbyterian meetings are, produce very mean tobacco, and for that reason can't get an
orthodox minister to stay amongst them; but whenever they
could the people very orderly went to church. As for the
Quakers,'tis observed by letting them  alone they decrease
daily." So it appears on account of the poorness of the
tobacco the established clergy left some counties, although in
1696 their salary had been fixed at sixteen thousand lb. weight
of that commodity.
If this statement be true we can the more easily understand
why Makemie had not been more molested. We suppose he
took his residence in Accomack soon after his marriage. There
was no Episcopal minister to complain of him; and many of
the inhabitants preferred to hear Makemie to passing silent
Sabbaths, and many others were true Presbyterians. His
increasing popularity awakened hostility.  And the consequence of hostility was the acknowledgment of the Toleration
Act, and the complete protection of Makemie. Beverly does
not say which two counties held the Presbyterians. We know
that Accomack was one. When he said there were but two
conventicles for Presbyterians, he may have referred only to
the public meeting houses, or he may have written loosely, as
Makemie had some four places to preach in. He certainly did
write loosely, because he omitted the congregation of French
Huguenots which by Act 2d December, 1'700, was recognised
as a distinct parish, and exempted from " publick and county
levies for the space of seven years." If he reckoned this congregation as one, then he wrote very carelessly in giving
Makemie but one place.
Notwithstanding all obstacles Mr. Makemie was abundantly
successful in his ministerial labors. His hearers and congregations multiplied; and the thoughts of all were turned to the
mother country for a supply of ministers. He prepared for a
voyage to England in the summer of 1703; and according to
custom he, August 1st, executed a power of attorney to his
wife and John Parker-" to do and transact all manner of
business for him." This projected voyage did not take place.
On the 30th May, 1704, he, according to the records of Acconmack, executed a power of attorney to his wife, Andrew




52                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Hamilton and James Kemps, reciting that he was about " to
depart for Europe." This voyage was accomplished and occupied him about a year. A warm-hearted man would very
naturally desire, after a protracted absence, to revisit his
native land, renew the associations of his early life and recount
his labours and the dealings of God with him in the colonies.
Especially would he visit the surviving brethren of the Presbytery that sent him forth as Evangelist. That he did visit
London and make arrangements for the supply of the congregations with Evangelical clergymen —and that he brought a
number of ministers from his native province are matters of
fact on record. From a letter addressed by the Presbytery of
Philadelphia to Sir Edmund Harrison, a gentleman of influence with the dissenting ministers, bearing date May 1709, in
the records of the Presbyterian Church, we learn-" The negotiation begun and encouraged by a friend, in the time when our
worthy friend, Mr. Makemie (now deceased) was with you, for
Evangelizing these colonies, was a business exceedingly acceptable to a multitude of people, and was likely to have been of
great service, if continued, which makes us much grieved that
so valuable a design was, so soon after its beginning, laid aside.
Unto whom can we apply more fitly than unto our fathers."
From a letter from the same Presbytery to the Presbytery of
Dublin, bearing date Sept. 1710, we learn —" As to the state
of the church in these parts, our interest truly is very weak,
and we cannot relate this matter without sorrow of heart,
since it is too much owing to the neglect of ministers at
home. Our late Rev. brother Mr. Francis Makemie prevailed
with the ministers of London to undertake the support of two
itinerants for the space of two years, and after that time to
send two more on the same conditions, allowing the former
after that time to settle, which, if accomplished, had proved of
more credible advantage to those parts, considering how far
scattered most of the inhabitants be. But alas they drew
back their hand, and we have reason to lament their deficiency.
Had our friends at home been equally watchful and diligent as
the Episcopal society at London, our interest in most foreign
plantations might have carried the balance."
In the letter to Mr. Harrison, the Presbytery ask for ~200
per annum,-" We doubt not but if the sum of about two
hundred pounds per annum was raised for the encouragement
of ministers in these parts, it would enable ministers and
people to erect eight congregations, and ourselves put in better
circumstances than hitherto we have been."  In the letter to
the Presbytery of Dublin, they say, what they request is"you would raise one sixty pound to support an able well
approved of young man from yourselves as an itinerant in




FRANCIS MAKEMIE.                   53
these parts, among the dispersed children of God for a year,
after which time we doubt not he may be settled comfortably."
In their letter to Mr. Harrison they say-" it is well known
what advantages the missionaries from England have of us, from
the settled fund of their church, which not only liberally supports
them here, but encourages so many insolences both against our
persons and interests, which sorrowfully looking on, we cannot
but lament and crave your remedy." To the Synod of Glasgow they say in their letter September, 1710-" "May it please
the pious and reverend Synod, in compassion to the desolate
souls in America, perishing for want of vision, to send over
one or more ministers, and support them for a longer or
shorter time. We further represent, that according to the
best of our judgment, forty pounds sterling, annually paid
in Scotland, to be transmitted in goods, will be a competency
for the support of each minister you send, provided that of
your pious and christian benevolence you suitably fit them
out." From these extracts we are led to conclude that the
assistance yielded, by the ministers in London, and the
Presbytery of Dublin, was rather occasional than systematic.
Had it have been systematic the Presbytery say they might
have had "the balance."
It the fall of 1705, after his return from England, we find
Mr. Makemie, in the month of November, before the County
Court of Somerset, with two ministerial brethren, John Hampton, and George McNish, whom the records style "his associates."   Certificates were damanded for these gentlemen,
according to law, for the unmolested exercise of their ministry. The religious aspect of Maryland had greatly changed
since Makemie began to preach on the Eastern shore. Their
consciences were unshackled. All men had liberty to worship
God according to their consciences. In 1692 the Church
of England became the Established Church of Maryland,
and a tax of-forty pounds of tabacco "per poll" was imposed on every "taxable" to meet the expense of building
and repairing churches, and supporting ministers. In 1702,
dissenters from the Church of England were declared entitled
to the benefit of the Toleration Act; but their meeting houses
were to be "unbarred-unbolted-and unlocked."  It was
necessary for these gentlemen to obtain a license, for the exercise of their office as ministers, in a State where conscience had
once been free.
Opposition to the licenses of Messrs. Hampton and McNish,
was raised by the vestry of the parish of Coventry; and the
matter was referred to the Governor and Council. The Rev.
Robert Keith, minister at Dividing Creek, was supposed to be
the author of the opposition. He certainly united in it with all




54                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
his power. The following extracts from the records of the court
show the forms and spirit of the time. "At a court held for
Somerset County, at Dividing Creek, the 14th day of'November, 1705, present Capt. John West, Major John Cornish, Mr.
Thos. Newbold, Capt. John Frankland, Capt. Chas. Ballard,
and Mr. Jos. Venables.  "The petition of George McNish
humbly sheweth,-That your petitioner craveth that the usual
oaths according to law tendered to, and to be taken by dissenting Ministers and Preachers may be tendered to your petitioner,-George McNish."  "The Rev. Robert Keith and Mr.
Alexander Adams,-exhibit as followeth, —That whereas, we
have good ground to believe, that Mr. Francis Makemy and
others his assistance are intended to address your worships on
account of a Tolleration granted to the dissenters, for preaching
and building meeting houses, and doing what else is incumbent
on them as such, and wee duly considering the import of the
matter; humbly desire that the whole as to the premises, be
remitted to his Excellency the Governor of this Province, and
the honourable Council of State thereof, By them to be
considered, ordered and determined as they shall think fitt:
And that nothing be done in the premises untill warrant or
order be obtained from them, as to whole premises, or any
part thereof. John Heath, Pro. Vestry." Upon considering
these two petitions, the Justices resolved-" Notwithstanding
the said McNish in decent manner, did require (he being a
dissenter from the Church of England) that he might be dignified as by law in this county to preach, offering to take the
oaths and subscribe the declaration, —to allow the said Vestry
petition to have its final result and determination by his said
Exncy and honble Council of State as prayed for."
On the 8th of January 1705, 6, the same justices or commissioners being present, "then did Mr. George McNish and
Mr. John Hampton their petition exhibit,"-having recounted
the provisions of the toleration act, and stated the fact that
they had previously offered themselves to the Court to take
the oaths required and perform whatever else was required by
law, they say-" we do humbly tender ourselves again to your
worships, as the proper court held by the Justices of the Peace
for this county empowered and required to administer such
oaths, and for receiving such subscriptions." The Court determined to wait the decision of his Excellency. This decision
was at length given, and bears March 13th 1705.
"Att a court held By her Majty's wor'll Justices of the
Peace for Somerset county, att Dividing Creek, the 12th day
of June, Anno Dom. 1706, —By his Exncy the Governor,
March the 13th 1705, ordered then that the worpfull Justices
of Somerset county, take the oaths of the Desenting ministers




FRANCIS MAKEMIE.                  55
according to the Act of Parliament of the first of King Winm.
and Queen Mary, exempting her Majty's Protestant subjects
from certain penaltys, &c.
"Signed per order IV. BLADEN, C1. Councell."
This decision of the Governor led the Court to enter the
following record:-" This day appeared Mr. John Hampton
and Mr. George McNish, exhibited an order from his Excellency the Governor and honorable Councill for their Qualification to preach in this county, in obedience thereunto this
Court did administer the oaths appointed per Act of Parliament, to the said Hampton and McNish, who did comply
therewith, and did likewise subscribe the Declaration, whereupon this Court did allow that the aforesaid Hampton and
McNish should preach att the meeting house near Mr. Edgar's,
the meeting house att the head of Monocan, the meeting house
att Snowhill, and the meeting house on Mr. Joseph Venable's
land, as per the Desenting preachers required."
As Mr. Joseph Venable sat on the bench, and one of the
meeting houses stood "on Mr. Joseph Venable's land," it was
well that the Court referred tlie petitions to the Governor, and
waited patiently for his decision. Governor Seymour was
greatly grieved at the conduct of the beneficed clergy, and
proposed that the Governor and Council should have power to
oversee and discipline the ministers of the established church,
in the total want of a church judicatory in the province. This
plan of the Governor was defeated on the pretence that it was
an attempt covertly to introduce Presbyterian forms. The
clergy never forgave him, and triumphing in his defeat and
their security, grew worse and worse. Tradition says, that at
Wicomico, the rector, while administering the Lord's Supper,
upon tasting the bread, cried out to the church warden,
" George-this bread is not fit for a dog."  The condition of
the clergy was such that a bishop of the Episcopal Church,
now living, expressed amazement that God spared a church
under such teachers to have any existence at all.
Some time after the return of Mr. Makemie from Europe,
the Presbytery of Philadelphia was formed. The day of its
formation will, probably, never be known, as the first leaf of
their book of records is missing. It is not probable that it was
formed till after the licensure or qualification of the ministers,
Messrs. McNish and Hampton, who came over in 1705, and
were qualified on the 12th of June 1706. It may however
have been formed in the latter part of the year 1705. The
records commence in the middle of a sentence. The business
on hand, the trials of Mr. John Boyd; these were finished the
next session of the Presbytery.-which was on the 27th of
December. The year of this meeting is supposed to be 1706.




56                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
as the next meeting took place in March 1707. It is not
known that there is any matter of importance depending on
the decision respecting either the year or the month on which
the Presbytery was formed, farther, than it must have been
formed previously to the close of the year 1706, and after the
commencement of the year 1705.
The ministers that formed this Presbytery, or were united
with it previously to December 27th, 1706, were Francis
Makemie, George McNish, John Hampton, Samuel Davis,
John Wilson, Nathaniel Taylor, and Jedediah Andrews. Makemie's residence was Ononcock, in Accomack county, Virginia. Messrs. Hampton, McNish, and Davis, preached on HMe
Eastern Shore of Maryland. Mr. Taylor was settled on the
Patuxent. Mr. Wilson resided in Newcastle. Mr. Andrews
in Philadelphia. This last mentioned gentleman became the
Stated Clerk of Presbytery and filled the office for many
years. A Mr. John Macky is mentioned in the minutes of
Presbytery, for 1712, as living on Elizabeth river. He never
became a member of the Presbytery.
IMr. Makemie was Moderator of the Presbytery in December, 1706. During the sessions of Presbytery, in March,
1707, he, together with Mr. John Wilson, preached, according
to appointment, on Hebrews, 1st chapter, 1st and 2d verses.
Between these two meetings, Mr. Makemie, on hip way to
Boston, in Massachusetts, stopped in New York city; and
suffered imprisonment for preaching a sermon. Being permitted to give bail, he returned home, attended the meeting of
Presbytery in March, returned to New York and stood trial for
the offence of preaching a sermon without leave of the Deputy
Governor. At the next meeting which took place in Philadelphia, May 1708, Mr. Makemie was not present. But the
record states that he had complied with the order made the
year previous requiring him to —"write to Scotland to Mr.
Alex. Coldin, minister of Oxam,-and to give an account
of the state and circumstances of the dissenting Presbyterian
interest among the people in, and about, Lewistown, and to
signify the earnest desires of the people, for the said Mr. Coldin's coming over to be their minister; and that Mr. Makemie
make report of his diligence herein against the next Presbytery." His absence from this Presbytery may have had connexion with his death. Before the next meeting Mr. Makemie
had gone to the general assembly and church of the first born
whose names are written on high.
The immediate cause of his death, and the manner, are
equally unknown. His will bears date April 27th, 1708. It
was proved, according to law, on the 4th of August, of the
same year. Some parts of his will are of permanent interest.




FRANCIS - MAKEMIE.                 57
Extracts shall be given from an attested copy by the Deputy
Clerk of Accomack county.
1st. After giving to his wife and two daughters, each,
forty volumes of English books, to be chosen by them from
his whole liberary, —the will adds-" and the rest of my
library of Books of all sorts, I give and bequeath unto
Mr. Jedediah Andrews minister at Philadelphia, excepting
my law books, and after his decease or removal from Philadelphia, I give and bequeath said Liberary to such minister
or ministers as shall succeed him in that place and office, and
to such only as shall be of the Presbyterian or Independent
persuasion and none else. My will is, that as soon as said
Books are remitted to Philadelphia, the number and names of
said Liberary may be put upon record, to be preserved there,
as a constant Liberary for the use of foresaid minister or
ministers successively, forever.  I give, will, and bequeath
unto Mr. Andrew Hamilton and his heirs forever, all my law
books to be found among my liberary Books, and thoes he
already hath in possession." -Do you know law? was the
sneering inquiry put to him in New York on his trial.
2d. As a farther expression of kind feelings to Mr. Andrews-"-I give and bequeath unto Mr. Jedediah Andrews,
minister at Philadelphia, and his heirs forever, my black
camlet cloak, and my new cane, bought and fixed at Boston;"-probably, when he fled from the attempt at a second
arrest by the Deputy Governor of New York.
3d. In the further disposition of property, he empowers his
Executrix-"to sell, dispose of and alien my house and lott at
the new towne in Princess Anne county, on the Eastern
Branch of Elizabeth River, as also my lott and house or frame
of house in the new towne on Wormlye's creek, called Urbana,
as also my lot Joyning to the new meeting House Lott, in
Pocomoke town." The disposition of the meeting house lot
has already been quoted.
4th. He provides residuary legatees. "And if my daughters aforesaid, die without issue of their natural Bodyes, their
parts of all Estate reall and personall given by this will, I give
and bequeath to my youngest sister Anne Makemie of the
Kingdom of Ireland, and the two eldest sons of my brother
John and Robert Makemie, both of the name of Francis Makemie, and their heirs forever."
5th. His disposition of his children. After naming his wife
as Executrix, he proceeds-" committing to her and her only,
the guardianship and the tutorship of my aforesaid children,
whilst in minority, during her natural life, and in case of the
death of my deare wife, Naomie Makemie, before this my will
is proved and executed, or the arrival of my said daughters,
8




58                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Elizabeth and Anne Makemie, at age, I do constitute, appoint
and ordaine the Honorable Colonel Francis Jenkins of Somerset county, in Maryland, and Mary Jenkins, his Lady, and
beloved Consort, Executors of this my last Will and Testament, and guardians to my said children during their minority,
and till marriage, charging all persons concerned in the presence of Almighty and Omniscient God, to give and allow my
said children a sober, virtuous Education, either here or else
where, as in Britain, New England, or Philadelphia."
His daughter Elizabeth soon followed her father to the
grave. The records of the court say that Mrs. Naomi Makemie applied for administration on the estate of her daughter
Elizabeth, on the 6th of October, 1708.
His daughter Anne married a gentleman by the name of
Holden. She lived to a great age, passing many years as a
widow, and died possessed of a large estate.  In her will,
which bears date November 15th, 1787, she bequeathed one
hundred pounds to the Pitt's Creek Congregation, the one that
worshipped-" in the Meeting house near Mr. Edgar's,-to be
disposed of by the Sessions for the support of a minister."
This fund is still in existence. She made a donation of twenty
pounds to the Rev. Jacob KIer. To the Rev. Samuel McMasters she gave-" forty six pounds, a mahogany desk, a bed and
furniture, and a Negro woman called Keziah and her children."
Col. Jenkins who is named with such marked confidence in
the will, died soon after Mr. Makemie, and left no children.
He bequeathed a great estate to his wife.
Mr. John Henry, the successor of Mr. Makemie at Rehoboth, came, in year 1710, an ordained minister, from the
Presbytery of Dublin, and was installed pastor the same year.
At the meeting of the Presbytery, Sept. 20th, 1710, in which
Mr. Henry was received, three other ministers were also united
with the judicatory, James Anderson from the Presbytery of
Irvine in Scotland, Joseph Morgan from New England, and
Paulus Van Vleek from the Dutch Reformed. After their
admission there is the following-" Memorandum; Upon the
admission of these ministers above mentioned; three Elders
more sat in Presbytery, namely, Mr. Peerce Bray, Mr. John
Foord and Mr. Lenard Van Degrift." Mr. Henry was at the
meeting of the Presbytery in 1716. His death is recorded on
the minutes of Synod in 1717. Of him Mr. Spence says-" I
remember to have seen, seventeen years ago, a manuscript
strongly bound octavo volume, of from three to five hundred
pages, entitled-Common Place. It was a mass of religious
instructions prepared by Mr. Henry for his descendants.
From my recollections of the book it enforced the prominent




MAKEMIE AND ASSOCIATES.              59
doctrines of the Confession of Faith, in their length and
breadth, urged upon those who should inherit his name or
blood, the faithful performance of the duties which result from
them,-with his advice as to the best manner of performing
those duties." He left two sons.
Rev. John Hampton came to America in 1705, was regularly invited to the congregation at Snow Hill in 1707, but
was not installed till 1708. The services of his installation
were performed by Rev. Mr. McNish alone; the other member
of committee, Mr. Davis, having failed to attend on the occasion. After the death of Mr. Henry, Mr. Hampton was
united in marriage with the widow. He was present at the
Synod in Sept. 1720. His will was admitted to record Feb.
2d, 1721. His death was reported to Synod Sept. 1721, but
the day of his decease is not mentioned.
Mrs. Mary Hampton, who had been connected in marriage,
successively, with Colonel Jenkins, Rev. John HIenry, and
Rev. John Hampton, departed this life 1744. "Her maiden
name "-says Mr. Spence-" was King. She was the daughter of an Irish Baronet. She was a distinguished woman, or
as I have heard her called-a great woman. She is uniformly
called on the public records-madam.  She left two sons, the
only descendants of herself, or Mr. Henry; they both attained
manhood; were married, and their descendants may be found
in Dorchester, Somerset, and Worcester Counties."
Rev. George McNish, the other "assistance" of Mr. Makemie, after declining calls from Monocan, Wicomoco —"the
meeting house on Mr. Venable's land" —or Salisbury and
Upper Marlborough, removed to Long Island in New York
and became pastor of Jamaica in 1712. He resided in that
place till his death in 1726. " By his exertions principally,"
says Mr. Webster, "the Presbytery of Long Island was formed
consisting, besides himself, of the Rev. Samuel Pumry (or
Pomroy) of Newtown, Rev. George Phillips of Setauket, and
the Church in Southampton over which they ordained Rev.
Samuel Gelston at their first meeting." Mr. McNish died in
1726.
Rev. Samuel Davis was a member of the Presbytery when
the records commence, and was probably an original member.
He was from Ireland. He preached in different places on the
Eastern Shore and died in 1725.
Rev. John Wilson, another of the original members of
Presbytery, was from Scotland. As early as 1704 was minister of New Castle on the Delaware.  He died in 1712.
Rev. Nathaniel Taylor, another of the ministers that united
to form the Presbytery, lived on the Patuxent. Dr. Balch of
Georgetown gives a tradition that a colony of Scotch came to




60                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
this country, about the year 1690, under the auspices of
Colonel Ninian Beall, and settled on the Patuxent. From
these was formed Upper Marlborough. Mr. Taylor came with
them, or soon after them, to be their minister. His last
attendance in Presbytery was in 1709. Dr. Hill thinks the
congregation at Upper Marlborough was organized at a later
period, by Rev. Mr. Conn. It was of Scotch material.
Rev. Jedediah Andrews was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, July 1674: was a graduate of Harvard in 1695; commenced preaching in Philadelphia 1698; was an original member of Presbytery and became its stated clerk; was- Moderator
of the first meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia in 1717; was
Moderator of the Synod at the time the Rev. Robert Cross
his copastor brought in the famous protest, by which the
Presbytery of New Brunswick was excluded; remained with
the majority when the minority withdrew; and lived to the
advanced age of seventy-two years. Mr. Makemie expressed
his great attachment to him, by the legacies of his will.
Whether the church, of which Mr. Andrews was long pastor,
was organized at time he began to preach in Philadelphia, or a
few years afterwards, has been a matter of discussion. It is
not necessary to decide the matter here. The churches of the
Eastern Shore, at least some of them, are senior sisters. Mr.
Andrews was preaching in Philadelphia at the time Mr. Makemie obtained his qualifications from the Court of Accomack.
The church at Snow Hill was able to sustain a preacher when
that of Philadelphia was not yet gathered. There can be no
question of the talents and acquirements of Mr. Andrews.
HIis long residence in Philadelphia, of itself speaks volumes for
him. His education had been in New England, where Independency predominated. There were many elements of Presbytery in the churches of his fathers. The orthodoxy of New England was then entirely unquestioned, and of the strictest sort.
The points of agreement between Makemie and Andrews were
many; the subjects of difference few. Makemie had been the
Evangelist of the Eastern Shore; Andrews the forming pastor
in Philadelphia. Makemie had been accustomed to meet opposition, and, victorious or conquered, to hold unchanged his
principles of faith and practice and forms of worship, he must
gain the victory or be defeated. Andrews was a common friend
chosen by warring elements, and was accustomed to consider
how much could be yielded with a safe faith, and what could
be done to harmonize professing christians who agree on great
principles. Makemie fell in earlier life than Andrews; but
Andrews might have wished to fall earlier than Makemie,
could he have anticipated the cloud that would hang upon his
age. Both orthodox in faith, Iakemie was Presbyterian, by




MAKEMIE'S CREED.                   31
education, ex animo; Andrews probably by position and expediency. Andrews closed his ministry and his life in 1746.
Rev. Francis Makemie held a peculiar position. He wbs
the first in a long and rapidly increasing series of ministers
that resulted in the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in North America. He was first of a church, whose
past history is full of events that have moulded rising generations. No civil State, or religious denomination, south of the
Hudson, or perhaps in the Union, has done more for the advance of civil liberty, freedom of conscience and the public
welfare. All these things give force to the inquiry-what was
his creed? That he was Presbyterian in creed, and in church
forms and church government, has never been doubted. The
records of civil and ecclesiastical courts establish that fact.
But how did he understand the Confession of Faith? Strictly
or in latitude of meaning? In absence of direct testimony the
appeal is to the circumstances of the case. During his trial in
New York in 1707 he said-" As to our doctrines, my Lord,
we have a Confession of Faith known to the Christian world,
and I challenge the clergy of York to show us any false or
pernicious doctrine therein." This Confession was the Scotch
edition of the Westminster Confession, which was in use in
Ireland. But how did he understand it? This question is
answered by the following circumstances.
Ist. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland was gathered by
such men as John Livingston and Robert Blair,-men that
acted a conspicuous part at the Kirk of Shotts in 1630. Seven
hundred persons were hopefully converted at one meeting.
And these two preachers were suspended by the prelates, for
being there. The Irish Church took its form and fashion
from Scotch materials, after the model of the Scotch Kirk, and
its prototype in Geneva. What construction the Scotch put
on their Confession then is not doubted.
2d. In 1643 the Solemn League and Covenant, was, with
due forms, taken to some extent in England. It was pressed
in Scotland, and those, that declined taking it, in that country,
were considered enemies of civil and religious liberty. Experience proved the suspicion not to be groundless. Ireland
by a particular clause was included in the league; and the
Presbyterians of Ulster took the covenant joyfully. In 1644,
it was offered to the congregations in Down, Antrim, Derry,
Donegal, Tyrone, and Fermanaugh, by commissioners sent
from Scotland for the purpose. It was received by the congregations with ceremony and great solemnity. It produced
the same effects in Ireland as in Scotland. It drew the line
between the friends and enemies of civil and religious liberty.
3d. The first Presbytery in Ireland was formed on the 10th




62                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of June 1642, and consisted of five ministers. It was not slow
to act. In 1654, when the Presbytery consisted of about
twenty-four members, a resolution respecting ministers coming
from abroad was passed, declaring-that they must come well
recommended for learning, piety, add prudence. Another resolution declared,-that young men from Scotland, received on
trials for the ministry, should be particularly tried, so that
they might not be received on slight testimonials, or small
qualifications. Another resolution declared,-that previously
to ordination, the candidates, having gone through their trials
should declare their adherence to the Solemn League and
Covenant.
4th. In 1664, four ministers of the Presbytery of Lagan,
the original Presbytery having been divided into five, were put
in confinement, by Leslie, Bishop of Raphoe, for their adherence to Presbyterial doctrine and practice. Their confinement
lasted six years. Their names were John Hart, Thomas Drummond, William Semple, and Adam White; one of these, Mr.
Drummond, was Makemie's pastor.
5th. In 1681, Mr. Makemie was licensed by the Presbytery
of Lagan, and soon after ordained to come to America in
answer to two applications for ministerial help. About the
same time four ministers of this Presbytery were put in confinement for holding a fast, according to the resolution of Presbytery, on account of the state of the country then suffering
under great grievances from the monarch and the prelates.
6th. The trials and sufferings of the Scotch and Irish
Church, were not on account of their doctrinal creed. They
might have been as Calvinistic in their doctrines of belief as they
pleased, if they had yielded to the king and the prelates, and
admitted diocesan bishops. The difficulties with the Independents, in the time of Cromwell, would have been avoided by
giving up their church sessions, or elders. Rather than submit to these things, they fled from Scotland to Ireland, and from
Ireland to Scotland, going and returning, as the difficulties
lessened in one, or hope brightened in the other. At last they
turned to America, and emigrated in crowds. They brought
their religion and their principles of liberty along with them,
and ranked among the firmest advocates and sufferers, in the
American Revolution.
It is not unfair to conclude that a man trained in these
circumstances, understood the Confession in the sense of the
Scotch Church.  In action, there was, of necessity, some
modification in Ireland, and more in America, arising from the
sparseness of the population, and the feebleness of the congregations. It can scarcely be supposed that a church, which,
during the fifty years of its existence suffered from two oppo



MAKEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORK.            63
site reasons-that she conceded too little and too much-and
amidst trouble and wounds was spreading her wings for a westward flight, should ordain a forerunner who was not supposed
to be ex animo a Presbyterian. Makemie's trials proved his
spirit. He suffered confinement like his pastor and his co-presbyters. In magnanimity and boldness he was akin with Livingston and Blair, and the host of Scotch ministers, who laid down
their lives in the Grass Market in Edinborough, in defence
of what Americans hold most dear. It is not to be supposed
that Makemie thought less of Presbyterian forms in America
than in Ireland, or would be more ready to give them up, when
the difficulties were no greater, and the reasons for adherence
no less; more especially, when the yielding of them on the one
hand for Independency would not render him less obnoxious to
the laws of the province, or on the other, for prelacy, add any
thing to his usefulness.
The fruits of Makemie's labours are seen, in the places
where he expended his strength.  Snow Hill and Rehoboth
are churches still.  Accomack has its church.  Elizabeth
always feeble, has had some witnesses; and Norfolk now
flourishes. Urbana never had a church, but on the opposite
side of the Rappahannoc, Waddel passed some years of his
most successful labours.
The landing place of the Pilgrims cannot be seen at Plymouth. Jamestown in Virginia has passed to a single church
in ruins and a grave yard. But the religious principles of
the Pilgrims have spread far and wide; and the political principles of, Virginia have influenced the nation. The facts and
principles that sustained Makemie in Somerset and Accomack
have been felt through all the South and West. He stands
first in the list of names that shine as a galaxy in the Ecclesiastical horizon; and as a defender of civil liberty and equal
rights in America he had no superior.
CHAPTER III.
THE CONFINEMENT AND TRIAL OF REV. FRANCIS MAKEMIE FOR
PREACHING A SERMON IN NEW YORK, 1707.
THE prosecution of the Rev. Francis Makemie, for preaching a
sermon, in the incipient city of New York, is a singular fact in
history. It embraces the principles and laws on which he was
called before County Courts, Deputies and Councils in Vir



64               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ginia and Maryland, and also some peculiar to New York. A
statement is here presented, that the public may have a better
understanding of the arbitrary nature of all religious establishments, by contemplating the difficulties that embarrassed dissenters from the Church of England; and that a more just
estimate may be formed of the man who stands first on the list
of the ministers of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States of America. The facts and arguments, with the exception of Lord Cornbury's statement, are taken from a pamphlet
published at the time, and republished, in New York, in the
year 1755. Mr. Makemie is supposed to be Author or Editor,
in part; or that it was drawn up under his inspection.
In the month of January, 1707, the Rev. Francis Makemie,
and Rev. John Hampton, on a tour to New England, tarried a
few days in New York. Lord Cornbury, the Deputy Governor,
hearing of these strangers, the one from Accomack, Virginia,
and the other from Somerset, Maryland, entertained them at
the castle. No preparation had then been made for either of
the gentlemen to preach. There was then no regular Presbyterian congregation in the city. After dining with the Governor, Mr. Makemie was invited by some of the citizens to
preach on the ensuing Sabbath. He consented. Application,
without his approbation or knowledge, was made to the Governor, for permission for him to preach in the Dutch Church,
and was refused. The Governor declared himself invested
with power to decide who should be permitted to preach in the
city or province.
On Sabbath, the 19th of the month, Mr. Makemie preached
in the dwelling house of William Jackson on Pearl Street, in
an open public manner; and baptized a child. Mr. Hampton,
on the same day, preached, at Newtown on Long Island, to a
regular congregation, whose house had been admitted to record,
according to the requirements of the Act of Toleration. Mr.
Makemie remained in New York, on Monday, went on Tuesday to Newtown, intending to preach there on Wednesday.
Immediately on his arrival, Thomas Cardale, High Sheriff, and
Stephen Luff, Under Sheriff of Queens County, arrested Messrs.
Makemie and Hampton, on a warrant signed by Lord Cornbury, charging them with having-" taken it upon them to
preach in a private house, without having obtained any license
for so dong, which is directly contrary to the known laws of
England:-and being likewise informed that they are gone
into Long Island with intent there to spread their pernicious
doctrine and principles to the great disturbance of the Church
by law established, and of the Government of this province"and directing the Sheriff to bring the bodies of "Makennan"
and Hampton to fort Anne.




I.MAKIEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORKo.        65
On account of the lateness of the hour, when the process
was served, the prisoners were permitted, on their parole, to
lodge that night at the house of two neighbours friendly to
them; on the next day, Wednesday, they were carried round
by Jamaica, seven or eight miles out of the way to New Yorik,.
as if to make a show of them; and being detained there that
night, they were on Thursday, about noon, taken to fort Anne,
and, about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, brought before Lord Cornbury, in the Council chamber.
Lord Cornbury's statement ought first to be perused. It
was obtained from the office in Albany by the Rev. R. XWebster.
It is as follows"To the Right Honorable Lords Commissioners for Trade
and Commerce.  On the 17th of January, 1705, 6 (6, 7) a
man of this town, one Jackson, calne to acquaint me that two
ministers were come to town and desired to know when they
might speak with me. I ordered my man to tell Jackson they
should be welcome to come and dine with me. They came and
I found one is named Francis Makenzie a Presbyterian preacher
settled in Virginia; the other is John Hampton a young Presbyterian minister lately come to settle in Marylanid.  They
pretended they were going to Boston and did not say one
syllable about preaching here.  They applied themselves to
the Dutch minister and to the Elders of the French church for
leave to preach in their churches; they were willing if they
could get my consent.  On the Monda'y following I was
informed that M. had preached at the house of Jackson a shoemaker in'this town, and that Hampton had preached on Long
Island, and that Makenzie was gone there with intent to preach
in all the towns, having spread a Report that they had a commission from the Queen to-preach all along this continent. I
was informed the same day that they had preached in several places in New Jersey, and had ordained some young men,
after their manner, who had preached among the Dissenters
there without it. When asked, they said they had no occasion
to ask leave of any Governor, they had the Queen's authority
for what they did. These reports with the information I had
of their behaviour on Long IslandC induced me to send an order
to the' Sheriff of Queens county to bring them to this place.
He did so on the 23d of January in the Evening. The Attorney
General was with me. I asked M. how he camne to preach in
this Government without acquainting me with it. He told mne
he had qualified himself according to law in Virginia, and
having done so would preach in any part of the Queen's dominions. He told me he understood the law as well as any man,
and was satisfied he had not offended against any law; that the
penal laws did not extend to, and were not in force in America.
9




66                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
I told him the Queen was graciously pleased to grant liberty of
conscience to all her subjects, except Papists; that he might be
a papist for all I knew, and that therefore it was necessary he
should have satisfied the Government what he was before he ventured to preach. He told me he would qualify himself in any
manner and would settle in this province. I told him whenever
any of the people in either of the provinces under my Government had desired leave to call a minister of their own persua-.
sion, they had never been denied; but that I should be very
cautious how I allowed a man so prone to bid defiiance to
government, as I found he was. He said he had done nothing
he could not answer. So I ordered the High Sheriff of the city
to take them into custody and I directed the Attorney General
to proceed against them. He preferred an indictment against
_M. for preaching in the city without qualifying himself as the
Act of Toleration directs. The Grand Jury found the Bill, but
the petit jury acquitted him; so he is gone towards New England uttering many severe threats against me. As I hope I
have done nothing in this matter but what I was obliged in
duty to do, especially as I think it very plain by the Act of
Toleration, that it was not intended to tolerate or allow strolling preachers, so I entreat your Lordships protection against
this malicious man, who is well known in Virginia and Maryland to be a disturber of the peace and quiet of all the places
he comes into. HIe is a Jack of all trades. He is a preacher,
a doctor of physic, a merchant, an attorney, a counsellor at
Law, and, which is worst of all, a disturber of Governments.
I should have sent your Lordships, this account sooner but that
I was willing to see the issue of the trial.
"I am my Lords
"Your Lordships most ob. Hum. Servt.
" CORNBURY.
", New York Oct. 14th, 1706," (7.)
" The brief narrative and genuine history of the several
steps of sufferings by the confinement of Francis Makemie and
John Hampton" —goes on to say, that when the ministers
appeared before Lord Cornbury in the council chamber-His
Lordship inquired "How dare you to take it upon you to
preach in my government without my license?
Makemie replied —" We have liberty from an act of parliament made in the first year of the reign of King William and
Queen Mary, which gave us liberty, with which law we have
complied.
C. "None shall preach in my government without my
license..Y[. "If the law for liberty had directed us to any particu



MAKEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORK.            67
lar persons in authority for license, we would readily have
observed the same; but we cannot find any directions in the
act of parliament, therefore we would not take notice thereof.
C. " That law does not extend to the American plantations,
but only to England.
li1. " My Lord I humbly conceive that it is not a limited nor
local act; and am well assured it extends to other plantations of
the Queen's dominions, which is evident from certificates from
courts of record of Virginia and Maryland, certifying we have
complied with the law." These certificates were produced and
read by Lord Cornbury, who was pleased to say they did not
extend to New York.
C. " I know it is local and limited, for I was at the making
thereof.
M.  "Your Excellency might be at the making thereof, but
we are assured there is no such limiting clause therein as is in
local acts, and desire that the law may be produced to determine the point.
C. (Turning to the attorney, Mr. Bekely) "Is it not so,
Mr. Attorney?
Attorney-" Yes, it is local, my Lord."  And producing an
argument he went on to say-" that all the penal laws were
local and limited, and did not extend to the plantations; and
the Act of Toleration being made to take off the edge of the
penal laws, therefore the Act of Toleration does not extend to
any plantations.
M. "I desire the law may be produced; for I am morally
persuaded there is no limitation or restriction in the law to
England, Wales and Berwick on Tweed; for it extends to sundry plantations of the Queen's dominions, as Barbadoes, Virginia, and Maryland, which is evident from certificates produced, which we could not have obtained if the act of parliament
had not extended to the plantations. I presume New York is
a part of her Majesty's dominions also; and sundry ministers
on the east end of Long Island have complied with the law,
and qualified themselves at court by complying with the directions of said law, and have no license from your Lordship.
C.  "Yes, New York is of her Majesty's dominions; but
the Act of Toleration does not extend to the plantations by its
own intrinsic virtue, or any intention of the legislators, but
only by her lajesty's instructions signified unto me, and that
is from her prerogative and clemency, and the courts which
have qualified these men are in error, and I will check them
for it.
M.  "If the- law extends to the plantations any manner of
way, whether by the Queen's prerogative clemency or otherwise, our certificates were demonstration that we had complied
therewith.




68                 SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
~C.  "These certificates were only for Virginia and Maryland; they did not extend to New York.
_5. "We presume, my Lord, our certificates do extend as
far as the law extends; for we are directed by the act of parliament to qualify ourselves in the places where we live, which
we have done; and the same law directs us to take certificates
of our qualification, which we have also done; and these certificates are not to certify to such as behold us taking our
qualifications, being performed in the face of the country at a
public court; but our certificates must be to satisfy others
abroad in the world, who saw it not, or heard any thing of it,
otherwise it were needless. And that law which obliges us to
take a certificate must allow said certificate to have a credit
and a reputation in her Majesty's dominions; otherwise it is
to no- purpose.. "Tl'hat act of parliament was made against strolling
preachers, and you are such and shall not preach in my
government.
31.  " There is not one word my Lord, mentioned in any
part of the law against travelling or strolling preachers, as your
Excellency is pleased to call them; and we are to judge that
to be the true end of the law which is specified in the preamble
thereof, which is-' for the satisfying scrupulous consciences,
and uniting the subjects of England in interest and affection.'
And it is well known to all, my Lord, that Quakers, who have
liberty by this law, have few or no fixed teachers, but are
chiefly taught by such as travel, and it is known to all, that
such are sent forth by the yearly meeting at London, and travel
and teach over the plantations, and are not molested.
C.  "I have troubled some of them, and will trouble them
nore.
1. " We hear, my Lord, one of them was prosecuted at
Jamaica, but it was not for travelling and teaching, but for
particulars in teaching for which he suffered.
C. " You shall not spread your pernicious doctrines here.
X3. " As to our doctrines, my Lord, we have our Confession
of Faith, which is known to the Christian world, and I challenge all the clergy of York to show us any false or pernicious
doctrines therein; yea, with those exceptions specified in the
law, we are able to make it appear that they are, in all doctrinal articles of faith, agreeable to the established doctrines of the
Church of England.
C.  " There is one thing wanting in your certificates, and
that is signing the articles of the Church of England.
il.  "That is the clerk's omission, my Lord, for which we
are no way accountable, by not being full and more particular;
but if we had not complied with the whole law, in all parts




MAKEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORK.            69
thereof, we should not have had certificates pursuant to said
act of parliament. And your Lordship may be assured that
we have done nothing in complying with said law but what We
are still ready to perform, if your Lordship require it, and that
ten times over. And as to the articles of religion, I have a
copy in my pocket, and am ready at all times to sign, with
those exceptions specified by law.
C. "You preached in a private house not certified according to act of parliament.
/11. "There were endeavours used for my preaching in a
more public place, and (though without my knowledge) your
Lordship's permission was demanded for my preaching in the
Dutch church, and being denied, we were under a necessity of
assembling for public worship in a private house, which we did
in as public a manner as possible with open doors; and we are
directed to certify the same to the next Quarter Sessions,
which cannot be done until the Quarter Sessions come in course,
for the law binds no man to impossibilities; and if we do not
certify to the next Quarter Sessions we shall be culpable, but
not till then. For it is evident, my Lord, that this act of parliament was made and passed the Royal assent May 24th, and
it. being some time before the Quarter Sessions came in course,
and all ministers in England continued to preach without one
day's cessation or forbearance; and we hope the practice of
England should be a precedent for America.
(Y. "None shall preach in my government without my
license, as the Queen has signified to me by her royal instructions.
M. "Whatever direction the Queen's instructions may be
to your Lordship, they can be no rule or law to us, nor any
particular person who never saw, and perhaps never shall see
them. For promulgation is the life of the law.
C. "You must give bond and security for your good behaviour, and also bond and security to preach no more in my
government.
M. "As to our behaviour, though we have no way broke it,
endeavouring always so to live, as to'keep a conscience void
of offence towards God and man,' yet if your Lordship requires
it, we would give security for our behaviour; but to give bond
and security to preach no more in your Excellency's government, if invited and desired by any people, we neither can nor
dare do.
C. " Then you must go to goal..I-. "We are neither ashamed nor afraid of what we have
done; and we have complied, and are ready still to comply,
with the act of parliament, which we hope will protect us at
last. And it will be unaccountable in England, to hear that




70               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Jews, who openly blaspheme the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and disown the whole Christian religion,-the Quakers who disown the fundamental doctrines of the Church of England, and
both the sacraments,-the Lutherans, and all others are tolerated in your Lordship's government, and only we, who have
complied and are still ready to comply with the Act of Toleration, and are nearest to and likest to the Church of England
of any dissenters, should be hindered, and that only in the
government of New York and the Jerseys. This will appear
strange indeed.
C. "You must blame the Queen for that.
M. "We do not, neither have we any reason to blame her
Majesty, for she molests none, neither countenances nor encourages any who do; and has given frequent assurances, and
of late, in her gracious speech to parliament, that she would
inviolably maintain the toleration."
Here Lord Cornbury began writing precepts for discharging
the prisoners from the custody of the sheriff of Queen's county,
and for their commitment in New York. Mr. Hampton, who
had hitherto remained silent, demanded a license to preach,
according to Act of Toleration; Lord Cornbury absolutely denied it. Mr. Makemie then moved that the law be produced
to determine the point whether it were local and limited or not.
He said he doubted not the Attorney was able soon to produce
the law; and further, he offered to pay the Attorney for a
copy of that paragraph which contains the limiting clause.
C. "You, sir, know law?
M. "I do not, my Lord, pretend to know law; but I pretend to know this particular law, having had sundry disputes
thereon."  He here refers to his appearance before the courts
of Maryland and Virginia. The mittimus being made out, the
high sheriff of York city and county, Ebenezer Wilson, took
them to his dwelling house, as the place of their confinement.
On Friday the 26th, after sundry demands, by the prisoners,
he gave them a copy of their commitment, viz.
" You are hereby required and commanded to take into your
custody the bodies of Francis Makemie and John Hampton,
and them safely keep, till further orders; and for so doing this
shall be your warrant.
Given under my hand and seal this 23 day of January
1706, 7.
CORNBURY (seal)
To Ebenezer Wilson, Esq. High Sheriff of New York.
A true copy-Ebenezer Wilson."
This was made by the supreme authority, and not by the
proper officers appointed for the commitment of offenders:there is no mention of the Queen's authority or name:-there




MAKEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORK.           71
is no crime alleged:-and they were to be discharged by the
Governor and not by "due course of law."  Finding themselves imprisoned they sent the following petition by the hands
of the High Sheriff, viz:
"To his Excellency, Edward Viscount Cornbury, Captain
General and Governor in Chief of the Province of New York
and New Jersey, and all the tracts of land depending thereon
in America and Admiral of the same-the humble petition of
Francis Makemie and John Hampton most humbly sheweth:
"That whereas your Excellency has been pleased to commit
us to prison by a precept wherein there is no crime alleged we
your Lordships most humble petitioners and prisoners, most
humbly pray we may be permitted to know our crime. And
your Excellencys most humble petitioners and prisoners further pray, as we are strangers on our journey to New England, above four hundred miles from our habitation, we may
be allowed a speedy trial, according to law, which we humbly
conceive to be the undoubted right and privilege of every English subject. And your Excellencys most humble petitioners
and afflicted prisoners shall as in duty bound, always pray.
FRANCIS MAKEMIE.
JOHN HAMPTON."
To this petition, a verbal answer was returned, after some
days,-"that Lord Cornbury did admire they should petition
to know their crime, he having so often told them,-and that
they might have a trial if they took the right way."  What
this "right way" was they could not ascertain though they
made application both to the Sheriff and Attorney. They had
no alternative, and therefore resolved to wait with patience till
the arrival of the Chief Justice, Hon. Roger Mompesson, Esq.,
who resided in another province, and could not sign a Habeas
Corpus, until he should come into the government of New York.
In the meantime the Quarter Sessions of the city and county
of New York came on, they petitioned Lord Cornbury, that in
the custody of the Sheriff they might be permitted to apply for
license, as the law directs-" which,"-say they —"we are
again ready to do, we being resolved to reside in your Lordships government." This being rejected by Cornbury, they
next addressed the Quarter Sessions, then sitting on the 5th
of February, and requested, that, as their certificates from the
courts in Virginia and Maryland were not admitted by Lord
Cornbury as extending to his government,-they might be permitted in custody of the Sheriff to appear at their bar and be
qualified again. Their petition was presented, handed about,
but not read in open court. The Attorney General laid hold
of it and was putting it in his pocket telling the court it was a
libel on Lord Cornbury,-and that it was none of their busi



72                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ness to administer the qualifications,-although the Act of
Toleration declares expressly that it is the duty of Quarter
Sessions so to do.  The magistrates were probably' not in
possession of the law.
At the same time application was made according to the
Toleration Act, for licensing the house of William Jackson,
where Makemie had preached, as the place of public worship,
for those who chose to Assemble under the Toleration Act;
this was also refused, after being under consideration two days,
and the law being presented for their inspection; although, a
short time before, a Quaker meeting house had been licensed
on application of two men, upon the same act of Parliament.
By the Act of Toleration, when application was made to the
Quarter Sessions, or other constituted authorities, the court
was required to make register of the same; and an application,
according to law, was a legal qualification in the eye of the
law.
Chief Justice Mompesson arrived at New York some days
before the March term; and to him, through their lawyer Mr.
Reigniere, the prisoners presented their petition -for a writ of
Habeas Corpus. This petition was granted, after some days,
and a writ of Habeas Corpus issued March 1706, 7.. This writ
demanding "the day and cause of their caption and detention,"
and neither having been expressed in the mittimus, the Governor made out a new mittimus dated "this 8th day of March
A. D. 1706, (7)" in which their crimes are stated "for preaching
in this province without qualifying themselves —and without my
license first obtained"-and put it into the hands of the Sheriff
on the same day he received the writ of Habeas Corpus, Saturday, March 8th, 1706, 7.  On Monday afternoon the Sheriff
told him he had another mittimus, wherein a supposed crime
was specified-and also the clause-" till they shall be discharged by due course of law,"-and they must find securities.
By this new mittimus, their imprisonment of six weeks and
four days was admitted to be false imprisonment. The Sheriff,
in presence of Mr. Reigniere their lawyer, and Dr. Wm. Johnstone and WVm. Jackson, refused to execute the writ of Habeas
Corpus until the prisoners paid him twelve pieces of Eight for
their commitment, and as many more for the return of the
writ; and refused to give a receipt for the money when paid.
They were then conducted to the Supreme Court; and on the
new mittimus, gave bonds with two securities, Dr. Johnstone,
Gentleman, and Mr. Jackson, Cordwainer, to appear the next
day, and not depart without leave of the court.
In the return, made by the Sheriff, of the writ of IJabeas
Corpus, he gives the two mittimuses, of Lord Cornbury, in full.
By the Second Mittimus, they were arrested not in the Queen's




MAKEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORK.            73
name, but by Cornbury's own authority; were accused of two
crimes-of not qualifying according to law-and of preaching
in New York without license from the Governor: whereas they
had been qualified in Maryland and Virginia, and offered themselves to qualify in New York, both before Cornbury and the
Quarter Sessions.
On Tuesday March 11th, the Supreme Court was in form,
Messrs. Makemie and Hampton made their appearance; on the
Attorney General's motion, they were required to appear the
last day of the term. Mr. Reigniere, their attorney, moved
that the writ of habeas corpus and all the proceedings of the
Judges' Chamber might be made matter of record; the Attorney General opposed the record on the ground that the thing
had not been done in open court. On the next day the Judge
delivered to the Court a record of the proceedings in his
chamber.
The grand jury were sworn the first day of the term, this
matter was given them in charge, with little business beside,
and after various meetings and consultations, the Attorney having dropped the name of John Hampton from the prosecution,
they brought in their bill against Mr. Makemie on Friday
afternoon, their vote being taken, one by one, as they came in
from dinner. Some of the grand jury were justices of the
peace, who at the Quarter Sessions had refused to have the petitions of the prisoners read, or to pay any attention to the
applications for licensing a place of public worship. Four witnesses were examined, one of them Lord Cornbury's coachman,
by name of Harris, and gave evidence that they heard no unsound doctrine, or any tahing against the government; one of
the evidences handed to the jury the act of assembly of New
York for liberty of conscience for all, except Papists. The bill
charges Mr. Makemie with having preached in New York, to an
assembly of more than five persons, without having obtained
permission, and without qualification; and also that he used
other rites and ceremonies than those found in the book of
common prayer. The date of the offence was put, in the bill,
January 22d, whereas it took place on the 20th of that month.
The bill being brought in the last day of the court, the trial
was postponed till the next term, in June. Mr. Makemie on
the bail, previously given, of ~40 for himself, and ~20 for
Mr. Johnstone, gentleman, and ~20 for Mr. Jackson, cordwainer, was permitted to return to Virginia. While the preparations for trial were going on, an order was given to Major
Sandford, of East Jersey, to examine upon their oaths certain
persons2 to discover what discourse they had with some of their
friends at the house of Mr. Jasper Crane of Newark; these
10




74                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
persons were examined, but nothing found to suit the purpose,
either of finding out a crime, or magnifying their faults.
In this stage of the business, we may suppose Lord Cornbury
was willing, and expected, the matter should rest; Hampton
was dropped from prosecution, having been punished by above
six weeks confinement for offending the deputy; —and Makemie,
the chief offender, was let out on bail, which he might forfeit,
and thus be kept from New York, and the odium of a trial
avoided. But Makemie was not the man to forfeit his bonds,
or avoid a trial where the honour of the gospel was concerned.
If Lord Cornbury had been excited against him, his spirit had
been equally aroused to resist the persecution of the tyrannical
deputy, and vindicate the right of Presbyterians in the incipient city of New York.
On his way home to Accomac, he attended the meeting of
the Presbytery in Philadelphia, which commenced its sessions
March 22, (Saturday) 1707.  "Mr. Francis Makemie and
Mr. John Wilson are appointed to preach upon Tuesday, upon
the subjects appointed them at the last Presbytery, on Heb. i.
1st and 2d, by way of exercise and addition. March 25th,
(Tuesday) —This day Mr. Francis Makemie and Mr. John Wilson delivered their discourses according to appointment." On
Wednesday he was directed to write to Scotland for the purpose of obtaining Mr. Alexander Coldin as minister for the
people about Lewistown.  On the same day the following
interesting overtures were passed; interesting in themselves,
and particularly as the last important presbyterial act performed by Makemie; viz. "First-That every minister in
their respective congregations, read and comment upon a chapter of the Bible every Lord's day, as discretion and circumstances of time, place, &c. will admit. Second over.-That it
be recommended to every minister of the Presbytery to set on
foot and encourage private Christian societies. Third over.That every minister of the Presbytery supply neighbouring
desolate places where a minister is wanting, and opportunity of
doing good offers." The next meeting of Presbytery was after
he had made his will. The supply of desolate places with the
gospel was the object of his ministerial life.
Mr. Makemie returned from Accomac "with his man," to
New York, in time to meet the Court on the first day of its
sessions; the defendant's appearance was entered, and he was
"ordered to plead to-morrow."
Wednesday June 4th 1707.
The defendant plead not guilty of any crime by preaching a
sermon at York. Lord Cornbury being in the Jerseys, the
Attorney moved that a copy of the Queen's instructions to the




MAKEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORK.             75
Governor be received as evidence at the trial. Mr. Makemie
objected-that there was time to get the original; or the Attorney might produce a certified copy. But finding that the trial
would be put off another term unless the Attorney's copy were
admitted, it was agreed that it should be received as if the
original were present: Mr. Makemie observing-"he could not
but wonder of what service these instructions, which were no
law, could be to Mr. Attorney, seeing the presentment run
upon statutes and act of parliament, and they expected to have
a trial before a court who were judges of law and not of private instructions."
On Friday June 6th, 1707 the Petit jury was called: the defendant said he was under great disadvantage, being a stranger
and not knowing either names or faces of the persons summoned
as a jury; that he knew he had not the privilege of peremptory
challenge; —but that he was informed that one of them —Mr.
Elias Neace, in, discourse with Mr. Anthony Young had prejudged the cause, by condemning him for preaching a sermon,
and justifying Lord Cornbury's proceedings against him; and
this being proved by the testimony of Mr. Young, Mr. Neace
was set aside. Mr. Makemie farther said, " he was amazed to
find that one so lately dragooned out of France for his religion, and delivered out of the galley, so soon prove a persecutor of the same religion for preaching a sermon in this city.
The names of the jury are worthy of remembrance for the verdict they had the courage to render in face of the Governor
and his attorney and the Justices of the Quarter Sessions:
they were-John Shepherd, foreman, Thomas Ives, Joseph
Wright, Thomas Wooden, Joseph Robinson, Bartholomew Larouex, Andrew Lauron, Humphrey Perkins, William Horswell,
Thomas Carrell, Thomas Bayeux, and Charles Cromline.
Mr. Attorney produced a copy of the Queen's instructions
signed by Lord Cornbury, which was allowed; these instructions were found to be the same as those given by King William to a former Governor; in the produced copy they were in
two sentences; in the former instructions they were in two sentences but a great distance from each other; 1st. " You are
to permit a liberty of conscience to all persons except Papilsts,
so that they be content with a quiet and peaceable enjoyment of
it, not giving offence or scandal to the government. 2d. You
are not to permit any minister coming from -England to preach
in your government, without a certificate, from the Right Reverend the Bishop of London; nor any other minister coming
from any other part or place without first obtaining leave from
the Governor."
The Attorney ordered four of Mr. Makemie's hearers to be
called-Capt. John Theobalds, Mr. John Vanhorne, Mr. Wil



76               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
liam Jackson, and Mr. Anthony Young; the defendant told the
Court the swearing of these witnesses was unnecessary-" I
own the matter of fact as to preaching, and more than these
gentlemen could declare on oath; for I have done nothing
therein, of which I am ashamed, or afraid; but will answer it
not only before this bar, but before the tribunal of God's final
judgement."
Attorney-" You own that you preached a sermon, and baptized a child at Mr. William Jackson's?"
Makemie-"' I did."
A. "How many hearers had you?"
M. "l    I have other work to do, Mr. Attorney, than number
my auditory when I am about to preach to them."
A.  "Were there above five hearing you?"
M. "Yes, and five to that."
A.  "Did you use the rites and ceremonies enjoined by,
and prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer by the Church
of England?"
M. "No: I never did, nor ever will, till I am better satisfied in my conscience."
A. "Did you ask leave, or acquaint my Lord Cornbury
with your preaching at York, when you dined with him at the
fort?"
M3. "I did not know of my preaching at York when I
dined with his Excellency; no, not for some days after. For
when we came to York we had not the least intention or design of preaching there, but stopped at York purely to pay our
respects to the Governor, which we did; but being afterwards
called and invited to preach, as I was a minister of the gospel
I durst not deny preaching, and I hope I never shall when it is
wanting and desired."
A.  "Did you acquaint Lord Cornbury with the place of
your preaching?"
M. "As soon as I determined to preach leave was asked
but not by me; for it was the people's business and not mine,
to provide a place for me to preach in. And I would have
been admitted to preach in the Dutch Church, but they were
afraid of offending Lord Cornbury. And Anthony Young
went to the Governor to have his leave, or permission, for
my preaching in the Dutch Church, though all this was done
without so much as my knowledge. But my Lord opposing
and denying it, I was under the necessity of preaching where
I did, in a private house, though in a public manner with open
doors."
The Attorney then entered into a full statement of the
Statutes of Henry Eighth establishing the supremacy-from
thence he asserted the Queen's supremacy in Ecclesiastical




MAKEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORK.            77
affairs and over Ecclesiastical persons,-that this supremacy
had been delegated to the Governor and expressed in her
majesty's instructions.  He produced the Statutes of Elizabeth and Charles 2d for Uniformity-and concluded by saying
"the matter of fact is plainly confessed-and I have proved it
to be repugnant to the Queen's instructions and sundry acts of
Parliament, and doubt not the jury will find for the Queen."
Mr. James Reigniere pleaded for the defendant-That the
indictment charged three separate facts.as crimes; first-that
a pretended minister endeavouring to subvert the Queen's
supremacy, did privately and unlawfully preach at Wm. Jackson's house, without license; Second, —that he did unlawfully
use other rites and ceremonies than are in the book of Common
Prayer; —and thirdly-that he was not qualified by law to
preach-and had held an unlawful assembly. He denied that
the defendant had preached privately: and also that he had
preached unlawfully,-because he had violated no law forbidding the preaching to above five.  HIe said the colony was
governed 1st by the Common law of England: 2d, By express
Statutes mentioning the Plantations: 3d, By laws of the
colony: and that he had never read that preaching without
license to above five is a crime; and it is not alleged to be
against a Statute for the Provinces; it must then, to be a
crime, be against a law of the colony; —let it be producedwhere there is no law there can be no transgression.  He
argued that the Statutes of Elizabeth and James and Charles
were either aimed at Popish recusants or restricted to England, Wales and Berwick on the Tweed. Besides there is no
Established church in New York; and liberty of conscience is
allowed by law of the Province-" That no person or persons
who profess faith in God by Jesus Christ his only Son, shall at
any time be any way molested, for any difference of opinion or
matter of religious concernment, who do not under that pretence disturb the civil peace of the province."-" And all such
persons may freely meet at convenient places within this province and there worship according to their respective persuasions." From this act the papists were excepted.
As to the third charge-he argued that as the penal statutes
did not extend hither, there was no need of Toleration.-That
the penal laws extend equally to all plantations alike, and if
the penal laws extended to the plantations, then the crown
would not tolerate the governments of Boston, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and others, which in their church affairs differ so
much from the Church of England. But these are allowed the
Liberty they always used in the church. "As therefore it does
not appear by the common law of England, or any law of the
province that his preaching is unlawful;-but on the contrary




78                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
there is an express law of the province in favour of it, I humbly
conceive that my client is not guilty of any offence against the
law and I hope and expect the jury will acquit him."
Mr. William Nicholl next pleaded for defendant and said that
as the attorney had brought history from the reign of Henry
8th he would bring some fiom the Bible, and would begin with
the Acts of the Apostles, and show that preaching the gospel
was never in itself, or by the common law, found to be a crime.
The Apostle preached a new doctrine to the Athenians and was
not condemned or imprisoned for it: it was no crime at Corinth;
but when his preaching bore on the gains of the silversmiths at
Ephesus, they made an uproar rushing into the theatre. It was
no offence by the common law, but made so by the 5th of Richard
2d-2d of Henry 4th-2d of Henry 5th; —but all these Statutes
were repealed by 1st of Edward 6th-and the acts of Elizabeth.
The four acts against Conventicles are all local and in express
words limited to England, Wales and Berwick on Tweed, "And
this is further manifest from the constitutions of the plantations
being, as it were, settled by national consent, for those whose
thoughts in religious affairs could not square with the public
establishment in church government, discipline, and ceremonies; as New England for Independents and Presbyterians;
Rhode Island and New Jersey, and we may say New York for
the several sorts of Dissenters in General; Pennsylvania for the
Quakers, and Maryland for papists in particular. As to the
Queen's instructions they are not, and cannot have the force of
law. And it is already evidently proved that the Acts of the
Assembly of New York allow of Liberty of Conscience with
freedom of public worship to all but Papists." He said that
this prosecution, (viz. on the authority of the Queen's prerogative and instructions) being the first in the plantations was made
the more remarkable.
Mr. David Jamieson appeared next to plead for the defendant. He said he did not call in question the Queen's prerogative, but could not see that the Queen's instructions were a law
to any body else but his Lordship, who is directed by them and
accountable to the Queen if he does not obey them; they are
private directions to himself, and can be no law to others; promulgation gives the finishing stroke to a law. He argued that
the Statutes of Elizabeth and Charles against Conventicles were
limited because in New York there was no established Religion
for the whole province-On the East end of Long Island, there
were, and always had been, Independent ministers, and the
Dutch and the French have their own ministers.  Part of
enactments are in express words limited; and the 18th of
Charles 2d for suppressing Conventicles, makes the third default banishment for seven years to the plantations (New Eng



MAKEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORK.            79
land and Virginia excepted.) Mr. Makemie has not offended
against the Act of Toleration; for Toleration is an exception
from some restraint; and since the penal laws are not in forc'e
here neither is the Act of Toleration. There is no established
church here-and we have liberty of conscience by act of
Assembly made in the beginning of the reign of William and
Mary, during the Government of Colonel Fletcher. This Province has not been more than about forty years in the possession
of the crown of England, and is made up chiefly of foreigners
and dissenters, and persecution would tend to disunite us all.
And as this prosecution is the first of this nature known in the
province, so it is hoped it may be the last.
Mr. Makemie then obtained permission to speak; and was
expressing great astonishment that the Attorney should construe the Act of Toleration as applying to the province of
New York, when he had produced an argument to prove that
it was local, when Lord Cornbury was examining defendant for
commitment.
Judge Mompesson. —' Gentlemen, do not trouble the Court
with what passed between you before my Lord, or at any other
time, but speak directly to the point."
JMl. "May it please your Honour, I hope to make it appear
that it is to the point; and what was Mr. Attorney's argument
then, is now mine. For whatever opinion I was of, while an
absolute stranger to New York and its constitution, now, since
I have informed myself thoroughly with its constitution, I am
entirely of Mr. Attorney's opinion, and hope he will be of the
same still. I allow of the Queen's supremacy, and in all the
Attorney has said, I cannot learn one argument or word from
all the quoted statutes, that preaching a sermon is the least
contempt or overthrow of the supremacy; and I hope it is not
unknown to any, that the oath of supremacy has been abolished
by a law ever since the Revolution. And I cannot learn from
any law yet produced, that Lord Cornbury has any power or
directions to grant license to any dissenters, or that any of
them are under any obligations to take license from his Lordship before they preach, or after." He then discussed the
Queen's instructions to Lord Cornbury, at large, and with
great force, to show that they applied only to members of the
Church of England coming from England or other places. He
also plead that the penal laws did not and could not extend to
New York, where there is no law in favour of the Church of
England, and no restriction on the liberty of dissenters. He
concluded by saying —" And if Jews, who openly.blaspheme
the Lord Jesus-Quakers, and Lutherans, and all others, or
most persuasions, are allowed even in this government, it is
matter of wonder why we only should not be allowed of, but




80                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
put to molestation, as we now are by present prosecution.  Is
it because we are Protestants? Is it because we are nearest
alike the established church of England of any dissenters? Is
it because we are the most considerable body of Protestants in
the Queen's dominions?  Is it because we have now, since the
union, a national establishment in Great Britain as nearly related and annexed to the crown of England as the Church of
England themselves? Sure, such a proceeding, when known,
will and must be a prodigy in England."
Attorney-" It is impossible for any man to answer all that
has been offered, where so much has been said; and by so
many."
iMakemie-" I verily believe it is impossible for the Attorney
to answer what has been said; it is a great truth which he has
uttered."
The Attorney then proceeded to argue that the penal laws,
at least some of them were coextensive with the Queen's dominions. He said the kings and queens of England command
their governors to grant licenses; and that it had been customary to take licenses from the governors.
Mr. Makemie replied at large; and concluded by saying,"And whereas Mr. Attorney affirms that giving and taking
license was very common and universal,-I am well assured
there never was, neither is, to this day, any such practice in
any plantations of America; and there are but few persons as
yet in York government that have license;-for beside the two
Dutch ministers who differ upon Long Island-and it is said
these licenses are the cause of their difference —there is but
one English non-conformist minister in all the government, who
has taken a license; —and it is certain that Mr. Dubois, and
sundry others of the Dutch churches have no license, neither
will they submit to any such as are granted."
The Attorney then moved that the jury bring in a special
verdict. The judges inclined that way too. The Attorney
said, " The matter of fact is plainly confessed by the defendant, as you have heard, and you are to bring it in specially,
for the jury are not judges of law."
JMr. lIlakemle —" -May it please your honours-I am a stranger, who lives four hundred miles from this place, and it is
known to the whole country what intolerable trouble I have
been put to already, and we cannot consent to a special verdict,
for that would only increase my trouble, multiply my charges,
and give me further delay. Besides it is a known maxim in
law —that strangers are always to be favoured with expedition
in justice.' This seems no way to admit of delay; and if this
should be allowed of, no man's innocence would be able to protect him; for if I should be cleared I should suffer more attaint




MAKEMIE'S TRIAL IN NEW YORK.            81
than if I were guilty of many penal laws in England. And as
to the jury's judging of the law, and confessing the fact, I cannot see one point of law to be judged.  It is true I have
confessed preaching a sermon at the house of Mr. William
Jackson,-but have not owned it to be a crime, or repugnant
to any law, or inconsistent with any of the Queen's instructions;
nor hath the attorney made any thing of this nature to appear,-for all those ancient statutes of Henry VIII. tend only
to throw off the authority, supremacy, and jurisdiction of the
Popes and See of Rome, and invest the kings and queens of
England with that usurped authority, and to bring ecclesiastical persons under the civil jurisdiction of England, who in
times of Popery were made accountable only to the See of
Rome, —therefore they do not touch, neither are any way applicable to this case."
Attorney —" These gentlemen acknowledge, and say, that
the ministers of the Church of England are to take license,
and are obliged so to do; and if so the Dissenters should alsootherwise they must expect more favours and liberty than the
ministers of the Church of England."
Makemie —" It is the constitution of the Church of England,
that the ministers, notwithstanding their ordination, do not
preach, or officiate as ministers until they procure a license
from their Bishop; and they voluntarily bring themselves under
oath of canonical obedience. But finally there is a great deal
of reason why ministers of the Church of England submit to
license; but not so with us. For it is only bare liberty which
Dissenters have; but the others have not only liberty, but a
considerable maintenance also, without which I never knew any
of them value liberty only. And Dissenters having liberty
only, without any maintenance from Government, are not at
all under obligations, neither is it required of them to take
license."
The Chief Justice then charged the jury-" Gentlemen; you
have heard a great deal on both sides, and Mr. Attorney says,
the fact is confessed by the defendant; —and I would have you
to bring it in specially, for there are some points which I am
not now prepared to answer; how far instructions may go, in
having the force of law, especially when not published or made
known;-and one objection made by Mr. Makemie-that is,
the oath of supremacy of England is abolished; and how far
it will go in this matter, I confess I am not prepared to answer.
If you will take upon you to judge of law, you may; or bring
in the fact specially. This is the first instance that I can learn
that there has been a trial or prosecution of this nature in
America."
The Jury asked for the Act of Assembly of New York; and
11




82                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the defendant desired that the jury might have a copy of the
Queen's instructions, which the Attorney opposed and denied.
A constable was sworn to attend the jury, who withdrew and
in a short time returned again; and being called, found the
defendant Not Guilty.
The Court required the reasons for the verdict. The Chief
Justice said, they might give reasons for their verdict, or not,
as they chose. The foreman said the defendant had not transgressed any law. Another of the jury said, they believed in
their consciences they had done the defendant justice. And so
the verdict was confirmed.
Mr. Reigniere moved that the defendant be discharged; the
Chief Justice referred it till to-morrow morning. Saturday,
June 7th, 1707. "Ordered that the defendant be discharged,
paying fees."
Mr. Makemie objected to paying such severe fees-but at
length agreed to pay all just and legal fees to the Court and
officers thereof, who acted indifferently as to this matter; but
said it was unreasonable he should pay his prosecutors what
they pleased.
It was affirmed that it was the practice; and no argument
would be received. Makemie prayed that the bill might be
taxed in open Court. This the Chief Justice declined; and it
was referred to Robert Milward, Esq., one of the Assistant
Judges, who was to give notice to Mr. Makemie or his attorney
of the time and place. But no notice was given-and two new
items added. The full amount was paid; and a receipt refused
the defendant, though the money was paid in presence of two
witnesses.
The amount of expenses paid by Mr. Makemie in consequence of this trial was 831. 7s. 6d.; of this the Attorney
General took 121. 12s. 6d.; the Secretary 51. 12s. 6d.; the
High Sheriff, for commitment to his house, for Habeas Corpus,
and returns and fees after trial, took 91. 17s.; the Judges,
under various pretexts, 41. 6s. This is without a parallel in
the history of the colony; that the High Sheriff and Attorney
General should take fees from a defendant who was cleared by
the jury.
Soon after his liberation, Mr. Makemie preached again in
the church allowed to the French; his sermon was printed;
great excitement followed; he was accused of being the author
of a pamphlet which was spread abroad soon after his arrival
in the province; and the Governor issued new process, and
employed his officers, all day of a Sabbath, to find and arrest
him again, and bring him to a confinement, and another trial.
He escaped their hands, and fled out of the province; and thus
gratified his persecutors by leaving York.




MAKEMIE'S LETTER TO LORD CORNBURY.          83
The following letter is the only one from the pen of Makemie known to be in existence. It was directed to Lord Cornbury; and bears date, Boston, July 28th, 1707:
"May it please your Lordship; I most humbly beg leave to
represent to your Excellency my just astonishment at the
information received from sundry hands, since my arrival in
these colonies; and after so long and so expensive a confinement-so deliberate and fair a trial, before Judges of your
Lordship's appointment, and by a jury chosen by your own
Sheriff on purpose to try the matter-I have been legally
cleared, and found guilty of no crime for preaching a sermon
at New York; though my innocence should have protected me
from unspeakable and intolerable expense, yet I am informed,
may it please your Excellency, there are orders and directions
given to sundry officers in the Jerseys for apprehending me,
and a design of giving me fresh trouble at New York.
"If I were assured of the true cause of your Lordship's
repeated resentments against me, I doubt not but my innocence
would not only effectually justify me, but remove those unjust
impressions imposed on your Lordship by some persons about
you.
" As to my preaching-being found at the trial to be against
no law, nor any ways inconsistent with her Majesty's instructions produced there; and considering the solemn obligations I
am under both to God and the souls of men, to embrace all
opportunities of exercising those ministerial gifts vouchsafed to
me from heaven-to whom I do appeal-I have no other end,
besides the glory of God and the eternal good of precious
souls; I must assure myself your Lordship insists not on this
now as a crime, especially in New York government, where all
Protestants are upon an equal level of liberty, and where there
exists no legal Establishment for any particular persuasion.
"I hear that I am charged with the Jersey paper called
Forget and Forgive.  Though the proving a negative be an
hard task, and not an usual requisition or undertaking, yet why
should there be any doubt about the thing itself; the matter it
contains being altogether foreign from me, and no way concerning me; the time of its publication, being so soon spread
abroad after my arrival, I am well assured none dare legally
accuse me, while the real authors are smiling at your Lordship's
mistake and imposition. Your informers deserve to be stigmatized with the severest marks of your Lordship's displeasure:
and the authors will find a time to confront my sworn accusers
of perjury; and besides that I never saw it until about the last
of February.
"We have suffered greatly in our reputations, and particularly by being branded with the character of Jesuits; though




84                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
my universal known reputation, both in Europe and America,
makes me easy under such invidious imputations. I have been
represented to your Lordship as being factious, both' in the
government of Virginia and Maryland.  I have peaceably lived
in Virginia; I have brought from Maryland a certificate of my
past reputation, signed by some men of the best quality in the
most contiguous county, ready to be produced at the trial, if
there had been occasion for it. A copy of which I shall presume to enclose for your Lordship's perusal and satisfaction.
"I beg leave to represent to your Lordship my just concern
at the sundry precepts for apprehending me, both in York and
the Jerseys, as one of the greatest criminals; whereby I am
prevented in performing my ministerial duties to many. in your
Lordship's government of my own persuasion, who desire it.
"I shall patiently expect your Lordship's commands and
directions, in giving me an opportunity for vindicating myself
in what is charged against me, and being always ready to comply with any qualifications enjoined and required by law.
" I beg leave of your Lordship, to subscribe myself,
Your Excellency's most humble and
Most obedient servant,
FRANCIS MAKEMIE."
CHAPTER IV.
T HE SCOTCH IRIS t t.
THE congregations gathered by Makemie, in Maryland, flourished after his death; and the Presbytery, formed principally
by his agency, increased greatly, and stretched first northward,
and then southward, and at last westward, under the auspices
of numerous Synods, and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. For about thirty years after the death of
Makemie, the number and influence of Presbyterians in Virginia were small. Not one flourishing congregation could be
found, nor one active minister lived, in her borders. Then
commenced a tide of emigration from his father land, the province of Ulster, Ireland, that spread over a beautiful section of
Virginia, and filled up her wild borders with a peculiar race.
The influence of that race of men on Virginia, in making her
what she is, invests its history with an interest perpetually increasing, as the results of the meeting,-the collision,-and the
intermingling of the Old English and Scotch Irish members of




THE SCOTCH IRISH.                 85
the British family, in the wilds of America, are manifested to
the world. A sketch of the Old English stock is given in the
first chapter.  That race had a character peculiar and imposing.
The Scotch Irish had a character equally as peculiar, and, though
less imposing, more effective of religious eminence, and literary
excellence, and not a whit behind in political aspirations, and
self-denying labours in the cause of liberty.
A true estimate of Makemie, whose sufferings and labours
and success, occupy the two preceding chapters, cannot be
formed by considering him individually, or his actions in Virginia, and other provinces, apart from that race that gave him
birth, and from the circumstances that moulded that race and
made him what he was. Looking at him as he appears in Virginia, aside from his education, he appears to be the most singular man of his day; his course cannot be well understood.
That he had principles of religion and morality of great energy
and unchangeable power, is evident. And it is equally evident
that they were not, what was anciently termed malignancy,
or in more modern times, radicalism, or personal ambition, or
enthusiasm, or bigotry, or jesuitical adherence to party. The
current of his life flowed like a pure stream from an abiding
equable fountain. To find that fountain we must cross the
ocean, and search the records of his race in the province of
Ulster, Ireland.
For a detailed account of the Scotch Irish,-their origin,their principles of religion,-their church forms and government,-their awakenings-their sufferings-their abortive, yet
almost romantic, effort at emigration to America, in the Eagle
Wing, —their political opinions,-their expectations in emigrating to America,-their influence in Ireland, —and the formation of their religious and civil character,-the reader is
referred to the Sketches of North Carolina, published the latter
part of 1846, by Carter, New York. The recent appearance of
that volume, and the fulness of detail in chapters 5th, 6th, 7th,
8th and 9th, render the attempt at further delineation unnecessary. One powerful, and proximate, cause of emigration, omitted in that volume, will be given in this,-The Siege of Londonderry and its consequences.
The two distinct families of the British Empire met in Virginia, in circumstances well calculated to stimulate to vehement
exercise the principles of both, in civil and religious matters.
Their mutual action and reaction improved both parties; and
Virginia is, now, what neither, singly, could have made her.
Both had fixed principles of civil and religious liberty; but
their views of liberty in the State, and in the Church, were somewhat different both in theory and practice. The scions of the Old
English stock, in the "ancient dominion," considered, the en



86                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
joyment of religious ordinances established, maintained, and
defended, by the State, undisturbed and unawed by any foreign
power, to be religious liberty, the liberty of the majority, the
liberty of an independent State.
The Scotch Irishman, on the frontier, thought freedom of
choice in regard to doctrines of belief,-forms of worship,-and
ordinances of religion, —and the undisputed and undisturbed
exercise of this choice, confirmed to every member of society,
and defended by law, made religious liberty.
The civil liberty of the English scion was the liberty of Englishmen, of the national church, in England,-the liberty of
King, Lords and Commons, with different grades in society,
acting independently of all foreign powers. The Scotch Irishman thought freedom of person, —the right of possession of property in fee simple,-and an open road to civil honours, secured
to the poorest and feeblest member of society, constituted civil
liberty.
When these races came in collision, and their first meeting
was a collision, there was exasperation and persecution; the
strong arm of the law avenged the complaining Establishment
on the sturdy defender of Calvinistic Presbytery. But when
the soft hand of the seaboard grasped, in friendship, the toil
hardened hand of the frontier, the " ancient dominion" gave
refinement of manners, and received back religious freedom, on
the only true and firm foundation, the Being, Attributes and
Government of God, as revealed in the Gospel of his Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ. And the blending powers gave being and
life to the civil liberty of Virginia, the mother of Presidents
and of States.
CHAPTER V.
SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY: ITS CONNEXION WITH THE VALLEY
OF VIRGINIA.
THE Siege of Londonderry, a small, badly fortified city, on
the West bank of the Foyle, in the province of Ulster, Ireland,
forms an important chapter in the history of the Protestant
succession in England. It is particularly interesting to multitudes in the United States, whose ancestors sustained the siege,
shared in the joy of the victory, but not in the advantages, and
finally became exiles, to the wilds of America, to enjoy a Protestantism too pure for England, or the nations of Europe. It
is an unquestionable fact of history, though it may be slow in




SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY.                87
finding its place in volumes written by English hands for English eyes, that the shutting the gates of Derry, Friday, Dec.
7th, 1688, by the APPRENTICE BOYS, followed by the distress'ing siege of eight.weary months, in which the Irish forces of
James II, assisted by troops from France, heaped upon the
inhabitants, and the soldiers gathered within the narrow walls,
all that can be endured by mortal famished man,-ending, as
the siege finally did, in the disgraceful departure of the popish
forces,-turned the scale in favour of William of Nassau and
secured to him the crown of England, and to the country at
large the succession of Protestant Kings and Queens that have
filled the throne to this day.
Had the gates of Derry remained open, or had the siege
terminated in the early capitulation of the city, the forces from
France and Ireland would have gone to Scotland to act in concert with the famous Claver'se in favour of James. Who can
calculate the effects of that union of forces? Even supposing
the hour of Claver'se had come, and he must fall in some indecisive victory, James might have defended his crown against
his son in law, the Prince of Orange, if not to victory, at least
to a prolonged and sanguinary contest. James had the rare
fortune to turn all favourable circumstances and events against
himself, and a singular inability to turn adversity to his favour.
But the Scotch and Irish and French forces united under able
leaders would have tasked both the courage and ability of William  and his followers. Londonderry broke up all arrangements.  Her siege consumed the money, the provisions, and
the men that were to vindicate the rights of James. Claver'se
waited, and in despair gained his last victory, and died an ignobly glorious death. Scotland was lost to James. Ireland, then
the field of contest, was abandoned after the battle of the Boyne.
James felt his crown was lost. But had Derry been possessed
in time, the battle of the Boyne could not have been fought;
the decisive battle would have been elsewhere. It is a matter
of surprise, and scarcely to be accounted for, that a place so
badly fortified as Derry could have held out so long. An experienced commander, exclaimed at a glance,-" It is impossible
a military man should have attempted its defence: or that such
an one should have failed in its reduction."
William of Orange landed in England on the 5th of November, 1688. That may be considered as the first act of hostility.
James, in the distraction of his councils, summoned his forces
from Ireland. He supposed that England or Scotland must be
the battle groundl.  Lord Mountjoy who had possession of
Derry, with a regiment of disciplined soldiers, left this little
town, in the extreme north of Ireland, vacant, and hastened to




88                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the aid of James. The aged Earl of Antrim was ordered to
occupy it with his regiment of Papists, loyal in principle, but
less disciplined and incomparably less trustworthy than the
forces of Mountjoy. The Papists of Ireland had never been
reconciled to the Protestant emigration that occupied so large a
portion of the province of Ulster.  They were continually
fomenting quarrels and making inroads. James I, the Charleses,
as well as Cromwell had found it necessary to pacify Ireland
with an armed force. James II. had no better experience of
the friendship of the Papists for the English Church; or for
himself till he made it evident he designed re-establishing the
Roman Catholic forms and ceremonies. When the Prince of
Orange took arms against James, the Papists in Ireland rallied
in his defence. France sent money and an armed force to Ireland. In the course of the military movements that succeeded,
Derry became the theatre of events great in their consequences
to the king and the people, the Church and the State.
In the great emigration from England and Scotland promoted
by James I. the northern part of the province was given to
the citizens of London on condition they would fortify Londonderry and Coleraine. The country prospered in the hands of
the Protestants who had resorted thither from London and other
parts of the kingdom. W~ith the increase of wealth, industry
and population, there were no symptoms of increased friendship
between the native Irish who were Papists and the immigrants
who were Protestants. On the 3d of December, 1688, a letter
was found in Cumber, county Down, informing Earl Mount
Alexander, that on the succeeding Sabbath, the 9th of the
month, the Irish throughout the Island, were to massacre the
Protestants, men, women, and children; and that a Captain's
commission would be the reward of him that killed the Earl,
whom the writer as a personal friend urged to be on his guard.
The Earl spread the alarm by sending co'pies of the letter
through the country as far as Dublin.  In the progress of
the news it was found that other gentlemen had received
similar warning.  Expresses were sent to all the Protestant towns. The news reached Derry, on Thursday the 6th,
while the place was yet vacant of any military force. The
alarm here, as every where else, was great. MIany circumstances concurred in producing belief in the rumoured conspiracy,-such as the massacre in 1641, which had not been general for want of power and concert,-the sermons and addresses
of the priests at the mass houses,-the directions known to be
given to the Irish every where to procure themselves good arms,
-the busy preparation of skeins, or long knives by the blacksmiths throughout the kingdom,-and the repeated declarations




SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY.               89
amongst the Papists that some great event was about to take
place advantageous to their cause. Every where the Protestants
were aroused.
The messenger that brought the news to Derry, reported
the forces of the Earl of Antrim to be near the city; that the
advanced guard was within three or four miles when he passed.
The city was filled with consternation at the double danger.
The Rev. James Gordon, Presbyterian minister of Clondomet,
near Derry, being in the town, and consulted by Alderman
Tompkins, advised to shut the gates and exclude the soldiery;
as the walls of the town were sufficient protection against
forces unprovided with artillery. The aged and pious Bishop
Hopkins, being also in town, was consulted by Alderman Norman, and gave his opinion against shutting the gates, as such
a measure would irritate the soldiers of Antrim, and the inhabitants were not prepared for a siege. The terrified inhabitants assembled in groups; and here and there is heard a
threat from the young men, the apprentices,-for Derry was
extensively engaged in the manufacture of linen, —to shut the
gates. The men in authority were engaged in discouraging
any outbreak of passion; and were miserably hesitating between submission and resistance.  Two companies of the
advancing forces having reached the river, the commanding
officers were ferried over the Foyle, and called for a conference with the city authorities, to adjust the manner of admission and the disposition of the forces. The Deputy Mayor,
John Buchanan, was for giving them an immediate and honourable reception; Horace Kennedy, one of the Sheriffs, was for
shutting the gates; the others were hesitating. The young
men were assembled waiting the result and a signal from Kennedy. The discussion was prolonged. The soldiers, anxious
to get to their expected quarters, without orders, began to
cross the river and to approach the ferry gate. The young
men took the alarm. Some ran to the guard, seized the keys,
and hasting to the gates, shut them in the face of the soldiers.
The other gates were speedily shut and secured. The names
of the apprentices that led the way in this exploit, were Henry
Campsie, William Crookshanks, Robert Sherrard, Daniel Sherrard, Alexander Irwin, James Stewart, Robert Morrison,
Alexander Coningham, William Cairns, and Samuel Harvey.
From the gates the young men hastened to the magazine,
where their leader, Henry Campsie, is wounded by the guard,
a reputed Papist. The sight of blood aggravated the populace.
All the efforts of the Deputy Mayor, the Bishop, and the officers of Antrim, who were in the town, could not prevail on the
people to open the gates. " The dull heads of the men of Londonderry"-says Makenzie —" could not comprehend how it
12




90                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
could be a great crime to shut the gates against those whom
they believed had been sent to cut their throats." Archbishop
King observes-" No man could blame the youthful her'oes for
their decision on the occasion; they were startled even at the
external appearance of the pack of ruffians now approaching
the city, attended by crowds of ferocious women and armed
boys; many of the captains and other officers of the regiment
were well known there, having been confined in the goal for
thefts and robberies."
The soldiers become impatient waiting at the gates, and
clamour for admittance. The discussion is still going on between the officers and the leaders of the people.  One James.
Morrison mounted the walls, and bid the soldiers "begone."
As they refused to leave the gates, he turned around and cried
out,-" bring about a great gun here." Immediately the soldiers fled, and re-crossed the river, to the main body. On
Saturday the 8th, the Bishop left the place for his castle of
Raphoe, and the greater part of the Papists departed from the
city. Many of the Protestants in the surrounding country
came within the walls for protection; and the inhabitants became more unanimous in the defence of the place.
The dreaded Sunday passed. There was no massacre. It
will probably remain a mystery for ever to what extent a massacre was intended, whether for the whole Protestant population, or some neighbourhoods; and also whether the conspiracy
failed from want of concert, or from the alarm that had aroused
the whole country. But with the day, the fears of the Protestants of Derry did not pass. They kept the city closed and
guarded. The forces of Antrim commenced the siege. News
that the Prince of Denmark, the Duke of Ormond, and many
of the nobility, had joined the Prince of Orange, encouraged
the inhabitants of Derry to maintain their rights and defend
their lives. The soldiers watched an opportunity to enter the
town; and the inhabitants were on the alert to prevent surprise. The number of men in the city able to bear arms was
small, not exceeding three hundred. About the same number
might have been in the suburbs. The space included by the
walls was small, of an oval form, its greatest diameter being
about two thousand feet, the shortest about six hundred,
situated on rising ground in the bend of the river on the west
bank of the Foyle.
The Protestants and Papists, in the North of Ireland,
passed the winter in military preparations and skirmishes,
ranged as they now were, the one for King William, was proclaimed in January 1689, and the other for James, who had
fled to France. The forces of James gradually got the better
of the Protestants, and wrested from  them one town after




SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY.               91
another, till few places besides Derry were left in their possession.
James, assisted by the troops and money of Lewis XIV.
landed in Ireland the 12th of March 1689. After a short
stay in Dublin, he marched with twelve thousand men, and a
train of artillery, intending to overrun the province of Ulster,
cross to Scotland, unite with Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee,
and make a descent on England. By the 18th of the month
he appeared before Derry. All other places submitted, except
Inneskillen. The Protestant forces were dispersed, or gathered
within the ramparts of these two places. The inhabitants of
the country fled, in great numbers, at the approach of James;
and when he commenced the regular siege and destructive
bombardment of the city, there were crowded in the narrow
space of the oblong walls of Derry, about twenty thousand
people, men, women, and children, besides seven thousand
three hundred soldiers armed for defence, but illy provided
with artillery or ammunition. On the fate of Derry hung the
fate of Ulster, and of Ireland. James is contending for his
crown; the Protestants for religion and the blessings of a
government of law; and neither is aware of the full importance
of the struggle that is going on around the walls of that little
city.
Colonel Lundy who commanded the forces within the city,
in council with some of his officers, drew articles of capitulation,
agreeably to a promise he had sent the king; and James waited, on horseback, through a whole drizzly day, without eating,
to receive the articles, and make his repast within the walls.
Many of the principal men were in favour of surrender; but
the great body of the people were opposed, and under the guidance of Captain Adam Murray, a gallant Presbyterian gentleman, expressed their feelings so strongly, that Lundy first
secreted himself, and then escaped from the city in disguise of
a pedlar of matches. Major Henry Baker, and the Rev. George
Walker, an Episcopal clergyman, from the county of Tyrone,
advanced in years, a strenuous defender of the Protestant
cause, who had taken refuge in Derry, were chosen governors.
The armed forces were divided into eight regiments, with proper officers; Baker and Walker each retaining the command of
one. James, wearied with the life in camp, returned to Dublin. By his inconsistent course he fixed the wavering Protestants in favour of his rival, and scarce made an attempt to gain
the affections of those whom he subdued.
As Derry was the only remaining obstacle in Ireland, its
reduction became an object of immediate importance. On the
18th of June, Count De Rosen entered the camp, with fifteen
hundred men, to take the command and press the siege to a




92                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
conclusion. The friends in Scotland were anxiously waiting the
arrival of the French forces, and the supply of money. The
siege therefore became more close, the assaults more friequent,
the bombardment more severe. The besieged endured wounds,
famine, pestilence, and all the miseries of a population crowded
into a small area, and all exposed to the fire of the enemy.
Their sufferings increased with the heat of summer. They
were aggravated by the want of pure water. The wells were
drawn low by the multitude, and the water became impure
from the shaking of the foundations of the city, by the discharge of cannon from the walls, and from the camp of the
enemy. The water from the clouds was tainted with brimstone
from the showers of balls and shells that fell upon their roofs
without intermission.
About the middle of June, Walker says in his journal"Fever, dysentery and other diseases became very general,
and a great mortality existed among the garrison and inhabitants of the city. In one day no less than fifteen commissioned
officers died." The havoc among the besieged was immense.
It is stated on good authority that upwards of twenty-seven
thousand persons were shut in the city at the commencement
of the siege. Of these, it is agreed, that about one-third
perished; more than a thousand per month, or two hundred and
fifty per week, or about thirty-five or six every day.
" On the 9th of July" —says Walker-"the allowance was a
pound of tallow dignified by the name of French butter, to
every soldier in the garrison. They mixed it with meal, ginger, pepper and anisseed, and made excellent pancakes."" Charming meat"-says Captain Ash —" for during the preceding fortnight, horseflesh was eaten; and at this time the
carcase of a dog was reckoned good meat. The famine became
more severe and was aggravated by disease. Oatmeal, which
before the siege, was sold for four pence the peck, could not be
bought for less than six shillings. Butter sold for five pence
the ounce. Other food was proportionably dear. Captain Ash
mentions a poor famished man that dressed his dog to satisfy
the cravings of his stomach. An equally hungry creditor enters and demands a debt, just as the feast was prepared. The
debtor was unable to pay; the creditor was inexorable; and
the dainty morsel was resigned to satisfy the claim.
On the 27th of July the market prices were, according to
Walker's diary-Horseflesh one shilling and eight pence per
pound; a quarter of a dog four shillings and six pence; a dog's
head two shillings and six pence; a cat four shillings and six
pence; a rat one shilling; a mouse six pence; a pound of tallow four shillings; a pound of salted hides one shilling; a
quart of horse blood one shilling; a horse pudding six pence;




SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY.                93
a quart of meal, when found, one shilling. A small fluke, a
little fish, taken in the river could not be purchased for money,
and could be got only in exchange for meal. "Mr. James
Cunningham showed them"-says Walker-" where was a considerable quantity of starch, which they mixed with tallow, and
fried as pancakes. This food proved a providential remedy for
the dysentery which prevailed in the city, from excessive fatigue,
mental anxiety, and unwholesome food."
On Sabbath, the last day of June, Governor Henry Baker
died. His prudence, resolution, gentlemanly behaviour, patience and freedom from jealousy, rendered his loss to the garrison irreparable. Some days before his death, a council, in
his sick room, united with him in appointing Col. Mitchelburn
as his successor. There had been formerly a difference between these two men; this settlement of it proclaims at once
the honourable standing of Mitchelburn, and the nobleness of
Baker.
A graphic description of the actors and events of the eight
months, appeared in a historical drama published soon after the
siege. One scene characterizes the good humour of the heroic
defenders of Derry amidst their severest sufferings. Mitchelburn
is represented as giving a dinner to Governor Walker and four
distinguished ladies. He thus addresses his guests at table," Gentlemen and Ladies-the first dish you see, in slices, is the
liver of one of the enemy's horses that was killed the other day:
it is very good meat, with pepper and salt, eaten cold. I have
seven of these livers boiled, and after they are pickled they eat
very well. This other is horse's blood fried with French butter,
otherwise tallow, and thickened with oat meal. The third dish
is what we call in French, ragout de chien,-in English, a ragout
of the haunch of my dog; it does not eat so well boiled as roasted;
but it eats best when baked. I have a horse's head in the oven,
very well seasoned, but it will not be eatable till night."
On the day Governor Baker died, Mareschal de Rosen sent a
declaration into Derry, that unless the place were surrendered
that day, he would drive all the Protestants from Inneskillen to
Charlemont, under the walls, and then make a general assault.
On the next day he issued the following order —" As I have
certain information that a considerable number of the wives and
children of the rebels in Londonderry, have retired to Belfast and
the neighbouring places, and as the hardness of their husbands
and fathers deserves the severest chastisement, I write this letter
to acquaint you, that you are instantly to make an exact search
in Belfast and its neighbourhood, after such subjects as are
rebellious to the King, whether men women boys or girls, without exception, and whether they are protected or unprotected,
to arrest them and collect them together, that they may be




94                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
conducted to this camp and driven under the walls of Londonderry, where they shall be allowed to starve, in sight of the
rebels within the town, unless they choose to open their bports to
them."  On the next days the second of July, he drove about
three thousand men, women and children, without respect to age
or condition, sickness or health, to the walls of Derry, and there
left them exposed, having first plundered them of food and
clothing. On the next day he drove about a thousand more to
join the naked starving company. Cries and lamentations resound from the walls, and from this wretched multitude. On
the one side were the horrors of a siege, on the other nakedness, and famine in the open air and upon the wet ground. Yet
no voice from the common people proposed a surrender. The
magistrates erected a gallows on a prominent part of the walls,
and sent to De Rosen for a priest to come and confess the prisoners, some of whom were officers of distinction, in preparation
for death, as unless the multitude around the walls were sent
away speedily, these prisoners should be hanged upon the gallows in sight of their friends in the camp. The distressed
people around the walls exhorted the townsmen to hold out, and
not be moved by their sufferings. The officers in De Rosen's
camp exclaimed against the barbarity exercised upon the people
under the walls and the ignominious death that awaited their
friends, prisoners in the city. On the fourth of July, De Rosen
gave permission for the unhappy people under the walls to return to their homes, having kept some of them two, and others
three days, without food. Hundreds were left dead under the
walls, from the three days' famine and exposure; hundreds
perished from hunger and fatigue before they reached their
homes; and multitudes more were soon laid in their graves from
the exposures of this dreadful pilgrimage, and the privations
they suffered after their return to their homes plundered of
every comfort, and many burned to the ground by the soldiery
and the Rapparees. De Rosen plead as his excuse for this
barbarity, the usages of the Continental commanders with whom
he had served.
The women often took part in the battles that were waged
almost daily around the ramparts. On the 4th of June this
record was made-" the fair sex shared the glory of the defence
of Londonderry on this occasion, for when the men, to whom
they had, for the whole time, intrepidly carried ammunition,
match, bread and drink, began to fall back, they rushed forward
in a considerable number and beat back the grenadiers with
stones as they attempted to climb up the trenches; and altogether they stemmed the torrent of war, till a reinforcement
rushed from the city and repelled the assailants." The courage
and endurance of the females never failed, in the sad offices of




SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY.                95
dressing the wounded and watching the sick, under the pressure
of hunger and amidst scenes shocking to delicacy.  They encouraged the men to maintain the siege and die honourably
fighting rather than fall into the hands of the besieging papists.
About the middle of June the fleet, sent under the command
of Major General Kirke, for the relief of the city, came in sight.
The famished inhabitants rang the bells for joy. In consternation they saw it speedily depart. In a few days Kirke came in
sight again, but did nothing effectual towards supplying the
perishing inhabitants from the transports laden with provisions
sent expressly for their relief. Messenger after messenger was
sent from the town, and promise after promise of speedy assistance was sent back. The fleet again disappeared, and again
returned to the sight of the famished inhabitants and mocked
their hopes with the heavily laden transports. The General
suffered in his reputation for these manoeuvres, and made no
satisfactory statement, further than his fears that his fleet could
not encounter the fortifications, nor break the boom thrown
across the harbour.
On the 16th of July, while the horrors of the siege were
accumulating on Derry, Claver'se, the firm ally of James in
Scotland, noted in the history of the sufferings of the Covenanters, impatient of waiting longer for the French and Irish
forces detained at Derry, and irritated by the advance of the
forces of King William into Scotland, gives battle at Killikrankie. Rushing on with his usual impetuosity he routed the opposing flanks, and pressing on to cut off their retreat through a
narrow pass, he outrode his troops. Wheeling and raising his
right hand above his head, to beckon his men, he received a
fatal wound through the opening in his armour, and fell about
the setting of the sun. Iis men gathered around him, carried
him to his quarters, dressed his wound, and tried to cheer his
spirits.  The route of William's forces was complete.  On the
next day, having received a detail of the victory and dictated a
letter to James, entreating a reinforcement, and stating that his
wound was severe, but, he was told, not mortal, this scourge of
the Covenanters passed to his last account. With him perished
the fruits of his victory, and all the hopes of James in Scotland.
The Siege of Derry must continue till the cause of James was
ruined.
At last, when the last rations in Derry were dealt out to the
famished inhabitants, —a half a pint of meal per man, when all
were in dismay and certain expectation of death, their relief
came. The ships were once more in sight. The starving inhabitants and unconquered soldiers gloated upon the distant
fleet that tantalized their misery. But the fleet now came into
the harbour.  The Rev. James Gordon of Clondomat, near




96                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Derry, who advised to the shutting of the gates, was compelled
to leave his congregation by the barbarity of the besieging
forces, and fled to Scotland. Hearing of the delay of Kirke,
and the assigned reasons, he took a boat at Greenock, crossed
over Loch Foyle, and got on board the fleet, and endeavoured
by arguments and reproaches to stimulate the officers and men
to afford the necessary relief. Kirke had a private interview
with him, and for a time seemed doubtful whether to consider
him a friend or a rash disorganizer. Gordon gave Kirke a plan
of the harbour from his own knowledge, and finally persuaded
him that the relief of the city was in his power. Kirke never
mentioned this interview in any of his accounts of the siege.
There is, however, no doubt of its having taken place.
About six o'clock in the afternoon of the Sabbath, July 28th,
a moderate gale springing up, from the Northwest, the Dartmouth weighed anchor and stood towards Culmore. The fort
immediately opened a brisk cannonade.  Captain Leake fired
neither great nor small shot, till he came on the wind of the
castle; then he began to batter the walls, and sheltered the
transports, casting anchor within musket shot of the fort. The
Mountjoy passed the fort accompanied by the long boat of the
Swallow prepared to cut the boom. She sailed on through a
well directed fire from both sides of the river, and striking
against the boom is repelled and runs aground. Her gallant
commander is killed at the same moment by a musket ball.
Favoured by the rising tide, and rebounding from a broadside
discharged for the purpose, the Mountjoy soon floated again;
and the boatswain's mate of the Swallow having cut the boom,
the vessel once more in motion, by its weight breaks through
that formidable barrier. The Phoenix followed by the Mountjoy, and towed all the way by the Swallow's boats, reached the
quay about ten o'clock in the evening, to the inexpressible joy
of the famished garrison, who had been watching with intense
interest every turn and pause in their progress up the river.
In two days the Siege of Derry was raised, and the cause of
James was hopeless.
De Rosen despaired of bringing the city to a surrender and
withdrew his army.  The besiegers lost about nine thousand
men around the walls of Derry, and about a hundred of
the best officers perished.  The joy of the besieged knew
no bounds.  Public thanksgivings to Almighty God were
rendered by the people at large, and private rejoicings filled
every house, that the hand of the destroyer was stayed. The
news of the relief of Derry reached William at Hampton Court,
on the 4th of August, by a messenger despatched by Kirke the
morning after the vessels reached the quay; and to him it was
the happy assurance that his crown was safe, and the war in




SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY.               97
fact decided. Scotland rejoiced in the happy termination of
that siege, which had been the indirect means of the downfa1l
of one who had hunted his fellow Protestants like a remorseless
bloodhound. The whole land echoed the praises of the brave
defenders of Derry: and William loaded some of the leading
men with rich presents. But many of the greatest labourers
shared the smallest permanent advantages.
Of the commanding officers in the Siege of Derry, such as
colonels and field officers, the majority were of the Church of
England.  Of the captains and inferior officers the majority
were-Presbyterians; and of the soldiers and the inhabitants,
there were fifteen Presbyterians to one Episcopalian.  And
yet, after this important siege, while the Episcopal Church was
established in England, and the Presbyterians in Scotland, in
Ireland,-where there was a mixture of Presbyterians and
Episcopalians,-the Presbyterians, by whose bravery and sufferings the kingdom had been secured to the Prince of Orange,
were compelled, after the Government was settled, to pay their
tithes to the established church, and maintain their own ministers, and also to suffer other disabilities consequent on an Establishment.  The soldiers in this siege were never paid the
common wages of soldiers, for their sufferings from disease and
famine, and their exposure to the worst forms of death. After
two and thirty.years of fruitless' negotiations, there remained
due to the eight regiments upwards of ~74,000 sterling, not a
farthing of which was ever paid.
The endurance of such multiplied sufferings by' the people of
Derry, in a place so small and rendered offensive by the putrid
corpses of the multitudes that perished, for whom only the
slightest burial could be obtained, and that slight burial torn
up by dogs and the shot and shells from the enemy's camp, is
marvellous; and that in the midst of their sufferings they
should answer the summons to surrender, by the resolution"that no man on the pain of death should speak of surrendering the city," cannot be accounted for except that in their
strong adherence to strong principles, the Almighty God held
them up. That the feeble looking walls, which to human appearance might so easily have been battered down, remained
unshaken; and the town which lay so fair to the shot of the
enemy, should have escaped destruction, is wonderful. When
De Rosen first beheld the place, he expressedlbis utter contempt, and declared " he would make his men bring it to him
stone by stone"-and impiously swore, "by the belly of God,"
that he would demolish it and bury the defenders in its ruins.
But the threatened walls stand yet.
After Ireland was subdued to the government of William,
and the prospects of the Presbyterians not much improved even
13




98                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
by the Toleration Act, reports full of hope from America
reached the people of Ulster, and lured them once more to try
the Atlantic. More than half a century had passed siice the
Eagle Wing had sailed and been driven back.  Once more
emigrants venture out, and the smiles of Providence are on
their voyage. A part of the work for which they had been
detained in Ireland was fully accomplished; and now they
were sent to act an important part in the wilds of America.
Ship load after ship load sailed for America from Ulster. And
not a few from Derry sought the provinces in the new world.
For half a century the emigration filled the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. One lady, whose ashes repose in the
oldest burying ground in the Valley of the Shenandoah, that of
the Opeckon church, and whose descendants in Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee, are reckoned by scores and by
hundreds, used to speak with tears of that memorable siege,
and lament in bitterness "two fair brothers," whose death filled
up in part the measure of sufferings at Derry. Devotedly
pious herself, she is honoured by the fact, that a large proportion of her descendants have professed the religion of their
mother, Mary Gamble Glass, the wife of Samuel Glass, and
sister of the Gambles that settled in Augusta. And in Augusta
those brothers reared families worthy of their ancestry; their
names are not unknown in Virginia and the South.  The
names of the "Apprentices" are familiar names in the Valley of
the Shenandoah.
The principles in exercise at Derry, were the principles to fit
men for subduing a wilderness, and building a State, where
there should be no king, no state religion.
Note.-For a more extended history of the Siege of Derry-consult Graham's History of the Siege-and Reed's History of the Presbyterian Church
in Ireland.
CHAPTER VI.
PRESBYTERIAN COLONIES IN VIRGINIA.
FOR some years after the death of Makemie there was no
congregation or colony of Presbyterians in Virginia. There
were families of Scotch and Scotch Irish scattered through
the province  engaged in trade.  Their influence in  the
colony was small. There were some families that had connected themselves with the Presbyterian church in the time
of Makemie, but not in neighbourhoods sufficient to sustain




PRESBYTERIAN COLONIES IN VIRGINIA.        99
a pastor. The colony of persecuted French Huguenots that
had been invited to Virginia, and seated on the James River
a little above Richmond, and protected in their worship,
had voluntarily scattered and become intermingled with the
English population in the neighbouring counties. The fairest
opportunity was given to the Established Church to show her
power and usefulness. Could she have possessed a sufficient
number of pious men devoted to the work of the ministry, such
as Blair attempted to provide by the College of William and
Mary, she would now be the prominent and popular church,
below the head of tide water in Virginia.
The majority of the numerous Presbyterian families, in Vir
ginia, are descendants of emigrants from Presbyterian countries in Europe. Poverty and intolerance drove them from
their mother country, and the necessity of providing a frontier
line of brave people west of the Blue Mountains, compelled
Virginia to relax her rigor and open her borders. There was
never a large colony of Scotch in Virginia, though multitudes
of Scotch families have been scattered through the land. The
Presbyterians in Ulster province, Ireland, found their situation
less agreeable than they had reason to expect, under William
and Mary, and Anne, and George 1st, and George 2d. The
Episcopal Church was favoured in England, the Presbyterian
in Scotland; in Ireland the Presbyterians of Ulster were taxed,
to support the Established Church of England, which was not
more numerous or loyal. From the time of the Eagle Wing to
the siege of Derry, the emigration to America had been small.
In the early part of the Eighteenth Century the emigration
began, and like the mighty rivers in the new world, went on in
a widening and deepening current, to pour into the vast forests
of America, multitudes of hardy enterprising people. All the
colonies from New York southward were enriched by ship loads
of these people that came with little money, but with strong
hands and stout hearts, and divine principles, to improve their
own condition, and bless the province that gave them a home.
A few congregations were formed in the New England States;
one in New Hampshire at Londonderry in 1719; —another at
Pelham, Massachusetts, and a small one in Boston about 1727.
Pennsylvania offered the greatest attractions; and the banks of
the Delaware gave the first rest to these pilgrims of "the green
isle." The beautiful unoccupied regions in Pennsylvania, east
of the mountains, were soon filled with thriving congregations.
Holmes tells us, that in 1729 —" there arrived in Pennsylvania
from Europe, 6208 persons, for the purpose of settling in that
colony." Of these more than five thousand were from Ireland.
Mr. Samuel Blair writing about the congregation of New Londonderry, in Fagg's Manor, states-" The congregation has not




100               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
been erected above fourteen or fifteen years from this time,
(1740); the place is a new settlement, generally settled with
people from Ireland, as all our congregations in Pennsylvania,
except two or three, chiefly are made up of people from that
kingdom." This congregation therefore must have been settled
previously to the year 1726.
After the choice locations in Pennsylvania and Maryland
were filled up, the emigrants crossed the Potomac, and stretched
rapidly to the Catawba, along the frontiers in Virginia and
North Carolina.  Great efforts were made by the civil authorities, in Virginia, to induce these adventurous people to take
their residence in the vast wilderness of the " Ancient Dominion."  The protection of the frontiers was an object of legislation at an early period. In 1664, in order to prevent those
murders, which the weakness of remote settlements invited
from the savages, it was ordered-"that noe person shall hereafter seate above the plantations already seated, but. with
forceable hands well armed, at his first setting down." In the
year 1679, the Legislature determined to build four houses for
garrisons, on-" the heads of the ffower greate rivers,-att the
head of Potomack river, Nicapico near Occoquon,-att the head
of Rappahannock,-att the head of the Mattapony at or above
the Indian townes, —att the head of James River, on the
South side, above Capt. William Bird's;-and that every forty
tithables within this colony be assessed and obleged to fitt out
and sett forth one able and sufficient man and horse with furniture well and completely armed with a case of good pistols,
carbine or short gunn, and a sword." This law was found inadequate, and was soon repealed, and the defence of the country
committed to a company of Rangers. The same year encouragement was given to individuals to plant villages;-" Major
Lawrence Smith will settle or seate, at or near the place on
the Rappahannock River, where the ffort was built the yeare
1676, and have in readiness upon all occasions, at beate of
drum, ififty able men well armed, in defence of the inhabitants
of Rappahannoc." The conditions was that he should " seate"
two hundred men, besides the fifty soldiers, within the space of
one mile along the bank of the river, and one fourth of a mile
back from the river's edge, over whom he should exercise military authority. For these things he was to have about fourteen thousand acres of land lying along the river five and a half
miles in length and four miles in breadth. An agreement was
made by William Bird for a military colony, at the falls on
James River, in consideration of a tract of land lying each
side of the falls, about five miles in length and four in breadth.
In 1701, large bodies of land, from ten to thirty thousand
acres with exemption from taxes for twenty years, to compa



PRESBYTERIAN COLONIES IN VIRGINIA.        101
nies settling on the frontiers,-on conditions, that there should
be, in two years, on the land, one able bodied well armed man
ready for defence, for every five hundred acres; and that these
should live in a village of two hundred acres area, in the form of
a square or parallelogram, laid off in lots near the centre of the
tract; and that a fort should be built in the centre of the town.
In 1705 it was enacted that every person, male or female,
coming into the colony, for the purpose of making settlement,
be entitled to fifty acres of land: families to have fifty acres
for each member;- no persons possessing less than five tithable
servants or slaves, were permitted to take more than five hundred acres; and no persons whatever were to take up more
than *four thousand acres in one patent. These laws did not
produce the effect designed. Villages did not spring up along
the frontier as had been expected.
The settlements in the Valley of Virginia were not made in
consequence of these laws, whose provisions were offensive.
They were effected principally by the labours of three individuals to whom Governor Gooch made grants of extensive
tracts of land, on condition that within a given time a certain
number of permanent settlers should be located on the grants;
Burden in Rockbridge County, Beverly in Augusta, and the
Vanmeters on Opeckon in Frederick.  Great efforts were
made by these gentlemen to persuade emigrants from Europe
and also frotn Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to take their residence in the Valley of the Shenandoah. Advertisements, describing in glowing terms the beauty and fertility of the valley,
and offering a home to the poor emigrant on easy terms, were
sent abroad in every direction, and attracted the attention of
the hard working tenants in England, Ireland and Germany,
to whom the offer of a farm in fee simple was the offer of wealth.
Joist Hite having obtained the grant of the Vanmeters, came
in the year 1732, with sixteen families from Pennsylvania, and
fixed his residence on the Opeckon, a few miles south of the
present town of Winchester, on the Great Valley route, at a
place now in possession of the Barton family. His three sons
in law, Bowman Chrisman and Froman went a few miles further
south. Peter Stephens took his residence where Stephensburg,
Newtown, now is. The other families were scattered on Cedar
Creek and Crooked Run. This was the first regular settlement
west of the Blue Ridge in Virginia. From this time the emigration to the Valley of the Shenandoah, and to the region at
the eastern base of the Blue Ridge, was rapid.
Michael Woods, from Ireland came in the year 1734 and
settled at Henderson's quarter near Wood's Gap, in Albemarle.
Three sons and three sons in law came with him  and settled
near. One of the sons in law, William Wallace, took his resi



102               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
dence on Mechums river, in Albemarle, and his descendants occupy in part the possessions of their ancestor. These were the
founders of Mountain Plain Congregation.
In the same year Richard Morgan led a company to the
neighbourhood of Shephendown on the Cohongoroton or Potomac, in Jefferson County. Among the families that came with
him we find the names of Harper, Stroop, Forrester, Friend,
Swearingen, Forman, Lucas, Lemon, Mercer, Stockton, Buckles,
Taylor, and Wright.
About the year 1735 William Hoge removed from Pennsylvania and settled on the Opeckon, about three miles south of
Winchester. Opeckon meeting house stands upon his track of
land. The families of Glass, Vance, Allen, Colvin, White, and
others soon joined him and formed the Opeckon Congregation,
the oldest Congregation West of the Blue Ridge.
About this time a settlement was made on Cub Creek in
Charlotte County, and one on Buffalo Creek in Prince Edward,
by the influence of Mr. Caldwell; the former was then in Lunenberg and the latter in Amelia. This was followed in quick
succession by settlements at Concord and Hat Creek in Campbell County; and Rockfish, in Nelson County, then a part of
Albemarle.
About the year 1738 the Congregations of Tinkling Spring,
Stone Church and Mossy Creek, in Augusta County; all forming the Congregation of the Triple Forks of Shenandoah took
their beginning.
Soon after, the Congregation of Timber Ridge, Forks of
James in Rockbridge, and the Congregation of Back Creek in
Berkeley County, were commenced.
On the South Branch of Potomac, in Hardy County, settlements commenced about the year 1735; and soon after on the
Cacopon, in Hardy and Hampshire Counties.
Cedar Creek, in Frederick County was first occupied by the
sons in law of Joist Hite in 1732. But about the time that
Opeckon was settled numerous families came to the creek, and
formed a Congregation. Cedar Creek and Opeckon have always been united in their pastoral relations.
In about ten or twelve years from the settlement of Opeckon,
which was 1735, Presbyterian Congregations of Irish origin,
more or less direct, had been settled, at Falling Waters, in
Berkeley; Elk Branch and Bull Skin in Jefferson; Peeked
Mountain in Rockingham; North Mountain and the Pastures
in Augusta; New Providence in Rockbridge; and Roanoke in
Botetourt; all in the Valley of Virginia. The Congregations
East of the Ridge were greatly enlarged; though the fertile
Valley allured the greater number of Emigrants.
"The people of Potomoke in Virginia" mentioned in the




PRESBYTERIAN COLONIES IN VIRGINIA.       103
minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia for the year 1719, must
have had their residence somewhere East of the Blue Ridge.
And though reported as having been "put in Church order,"'
no other mention is made of them on the records of Synod,
nor can any certain information be gathered respecting them.
It is supposed they had their residence in Fauquier or Loudon.
The families that formkl the greater part of the Settlements,
moved in companies, and fixed their residences in neighbourhood, for the purpose of defence against the dangers of the
wilderness, gratifying their social feelings, and enjoying the
privileges of religious worship. The number of emigrants became so large, and their desire for the ordinances of religion
was so strong, that the subject was brought before the Synod of
Philadelphia in the year 1738. On Friday, May 26th-" Upon
the supplication'of John Caldwell, in behalf of himself and
many families of our persuasion, who are about to settle in the
back parts of Virginia, desiring that some members of the Synod
may be appointed to wait on that Government to solicit their
favour in behalf of our interest in that place: —overtured, That
according to the purport of the supplication, the Synod appoint
two of their number to go and wait upon the Governour and
Council of Virginia, with suitable instructions in order to procure the favour and countenance of the Government of that
province to the laying a foundation of our interest in the back
parts thereof, where considerable numbers of families of our
persuasion are settling, and that something be allowed out of
our fund to bear the charges of said brethren, who shall be
appointed, and that also provision be made for supplying the
congregations of said brethren during their absence from them
while prosecuting that affair: and that Messrs. Robert Cross,
Anderson, Conn and Orme, prosecute said affair; and that
Messrs. Thompson Dickinson and Pemberton prepare instructions for the said brethren, and write a letter in the name of
the Synod to said Government, to be brought in and approved
by the Synod- and it is further overtured that these brethren
be allowed a discretionary power of using what money they have
occasion for, to bear their expenses in a manner suitable to this
design being accountable to the Synod for their conduct in this
whole affair. Approved nemine contradicente."
On Tuesday 30th, the following letter was presented and
approved-" To the Honourable William Gooch Esquire,
Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Virginia, the humble
address of the Presbyterian ministers convened in Synod, May
30th, 1738. May it please your Honour, we take leave to address you in behalf of a considerable number of our brethren
who are meditating a settlement in the remote parts of your




104              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Government, and are of the same persuasion as the Church of
Scotland. We thought it our duty to acquaint your Honour
with this design, and to ask your favour in allowing them the
liberty of their consciences, and of worshlipping God in a way
agreeable to the principles of their Education. Your Honour is
sensible that those of our profession in Europe have been remarkable for their inviolable attachment to the house of Hanover, and have upon all occasions manifested an unspotted
fidelity to our gracious Sovereign, King George, and we doubt
not but these our brethren will carry the same loyal principles
to the most distant settlements, where their lot may be cast,
which will ever influence them to the most dutiful submission to
the Government which is placed over them. This we trust will
recommend them to your Honours countenance and protection,
and merit the free enjoyment of their civil and religious liberties. We pray for the divine blessing upon your persons and
Government, and beg leave to subscribe ourselves your Honours
most humble and obedient servants."
The next year, Monday the 28th of May, —"Mr. Anderson
reports that in compliance with an order of Synod, last year,
he had waited upon the Governor of Virginia, with the Synod's
address, and received a favourable answer, the substance of
which is contained in a letter from the Governor to the Moderator of the- Synod, which is as follows:-Sir: By the hands of
Mr. Anderson, I received an address signed by you, in the
name of your brethren of the Synod of Philadelphia. And as
I have been always inclined to favour the people who have
lately removed from other provinces to settle on the western
side of our great mountains: So you may be assured that no
interruption shall be given to any minister of your profession,
who shall come among them, so as they conform themselves to
the rules prescribed by the Act of Toleration in England, by
taking the oaths enjoined thereby, and registering the place of
their meeting, and behave themselves peaceably towards the
government.  This you may please to communicate to the
Synod as an answer to theirs.
Your most humble servant,
WILLIAM Goocn.
"Mr. Anderson reports that his journey to Virginia cost
fifteen pounds,-which the Synod allows out of the fund."
The John Caldwell named in this transaction was grandfather
to the Hon. John Caldwell Calhoun of South Carolina. The
colony he was the means of introducing laid the foundation of
Cub Creek-in Charlotte,-Buffaloe, and Walker's Church in




PRESBYTERIAN COLONIES IN VIRGINIA.        105
Prince Edward,-and Hat Creek and Concord in Campbell.
He himself settled at Cub Creek; the greater part of the families that formed that settlement, ultimately removed to West
Virginia, now Kentucky.
Mr. Anderson visited the Presbyterian settlements that were
then formed in Frederick Augusta and Nelson.
The reasons that actuated Governor Gooch to promise protection, in the exercise of their religious forms, in a State whose
laws for uniformity were precise and enforced with rigour, were
two: 1st, he wished a frontier line at a greater distance from
Williamsburg; if possible, West of the great Mountains;-2d,
he knew these people to be firm, enterprising, hardy, brave,
good citizens and soldiers. To form a complete line of defence
against the savage inroads, he welcomed these Presbyterian
emigrants,-the Quakers,-and colonies from  the different
German States to the beautiful and luxuriant prairies of the
Great Valley of the Shenandoah, on the head waters of the
James, and along the Roanoke. At so great a 4istance from
the older settlements, he anticipated no danger oritrouble to the
established church of the Colony, perhaps he never seriously
considered the subject in the probable influence of the necessary
collision of religious opinions.
Allured by the advantages offered in the colonies, multitudes
of enterprising men were ready to leave their mother country.
In that age of the world it was a hard necessity, that compelled
men to abandon their birthplace, and traverse the ocean and
seek a home in a distant wilderness. But the hope of independence cheered that necessity, and some prospect of more
freedom in religion gladdened their hearts. The banks of the
Delaware became the landing place of the voluntary exiles.
After a short stay with their friends and countrymen in Pennsylvania, the families removed to the inviting Valley of Virginia, or the more distant banks of the Catawba in the Carolinas. When the most inviting regions in this southern direction
were occupied, the succeeding immigrants crossed the Alleghanies, and soon filled West Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Scotch Irish Presbyterians, and the Germans, that first
came to America, generally sought a home with the Quakers,
in the land of Penn. About the same time families from each
of these races of people were enticed, by the prospective comfort and wealth of Western Virginia, to build their cabins west
of the Blue Ridge, in the "ancient Dominion."  These have
formed the mass of community, the middle class, the yeomanry,
that body that ministers the strength and wealth and energy of
the State, that drops some of its members to the lowest condition of society, and elevates others to the pinnacle, that moves
14




106               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
on in the happy medium of wealth and poverty, the storehouse
of enterprise, and the treasury of men in the day of emergency.
From necessity the families were located in neighbourhoods.
And to this day, the Presbyterians, the Quakers, the Germans,
both Lutheran and Reformed, have preserved their identity;
though each from their proximity has exercised a silent influence over the others. In some parts of the Valley, large bodies
of these different people, fully able to maintain their forms of
religious worship, and their habits and manners and language,
have found themselves in the vicinity of each other; and have
maintained their own peculiarities, somewhat improved by their
new situation. In other places the companies were small and
became intermingled, and connected by marriage, and lost all
their peculiarities, leaving nothing to designate their origin
but their names.
In the southern part of the Valley of Virginia and in the
Mesopotamia of North Carolina, and large districts of South
Carolina, the Scotch Irish had the pre-eminence both in time
and numbers. In other sections, the other races had the
ascendency. All have exerted an influence in forming the
society that enjoys the personal freedom and religious liberty,
for which they laboured and endured, and by united efforts
gained.
These sketches must of necessity be confined to the Presbyterian part of community, and treat of their location, —their
progress,-their religious exercises, —the efforts for education
and general literature,-their emigration westward, and their
influence on society at large.
The political creed of the Presbyterian race has been given
in the Sketches of North Carolina, chapter 9th, and need not
be repeated here. Their religious creed is learned from the
Confession of Faith, which gives in detail their doctrines of
religion in regard to faith and practice, their principles of
morals, their forms of worship, their church order and discipline. This Confession has been called the Scotch Confession,
or more properly the Westminster Confession. In the interpretation of the doctrines of their Confession there was great
unanimity. Understanding their creed according to the accustomed use of words, and the grammatical construction of sentences, they received and professed, as their common faith,
those doctrines called the doctrines of the Reformation, in the
sense in which they believed the Reformers themselves understood them, and wished others to understand them. To use a
common phrase-their faith was Calvinistic. There were no
professed Arminians or Antinomians amongst them. In their
church government and forms of worship they were Presbyterians after the Scotch, or Geneva model.




PRESBYTERIAN COLONIES. IN VIRGINIA.      107
But on the subject of "experience of religion" there soon
sprung up a great division. Respecting man's fallen nature, —
the extent and influence of depravity and original sin,-th'e
necessity of the influences of the Holy Spirit, in conversion to
God, and in devotional exercises,-the imputation of Adam's
guilt and of Christ's righteousness, —justification by faith, and
the absolute necessity of the new birth,-on all these, there
was perhaps little diversity of opinion. But whether true spiritual exercises implied or admitted great excitement,-whether
conversion was a rapid or very gradual' work, —whether evidences of grace were decisive, or necessarily obscure,-whether
true revivals were attended with great alarms, deep convictions,
great distress and strong hopes and fears,-whether a collegiate course of education was a necessary preparation for
the ministry of the gospel,-and whether personal experience
of religion should form part of the examination -of candidates
for the ministry,-on all these subjects there were formed two
parties, which debated, with due vehemence, the proper exercises of a Christian man, and of a Christian minister. The
excitement of these discussions, about the time of the Presbyterian emigration to Virginia, distracted, and' finally divided the
Synod of Philadelphia, which embraced all the churches, of the
Presbyterian faith, north of South Carolina.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland, of which the Presbyterian Church in America is a scion, is the fruit of a great awakening, an account of which may be seen in the Sketches of
North Carolina, chap. 6th, taken mostly fiom Reed's History
of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Times of great excitement were not unfrequent in Ireland.  The first great awakening in the Presbyterian churches of America commenced about
the year 1732, in Freehold, New Jersey, under the preaching(t
of Rev. John Tennent, son of William  Tennent of the " Log
College" on the Neshaminy. He died the same year, and his
brother William succeeded as pastor. The good seed sown by
the deceased pastor sprung up to eternal life under the watering of his brother, and the increase of the Spirit of God. The
religious excitement in Freehold continued more than ten years,
and was remarkably free from acts and doings that were objectionable.
The Rev. Jonathan Edwards gives an account of a great
awakening under his ministry in Northampton about the year
1734, which spread into many of the neighbouring towns, ten
in Massachusetts, and seventeen in Connecticut. He. makes
mention of the work of grace in New Jersey.
About the year 1739 the awakening became very extensive
in New Jersey, under the preaching of the Tennents, Rowland,
Dickenson and Frelinghuysen. The next year it was exten



108               SKETCHES IN VIRGINIA.
sively experienced in New Londonderry, under the preaching
of the Rev. Samuel Blair. It soon spread over a large part of
the Presbyterian population in Pennsylvania. The public mind
was highly excited on the subject of religion, and most deeply
agitated by earnest inquiries about the true exercises of Christian people. The awakening was general in most of the Congregations in New Jersey; and prevailed extensively in New
England. Edwards's works, Prince's Christian History, and
Gillie's Collections, which are taken very much from Prince's
History, give glowing accounts of the excitements and hopeful
conversions, that attended the preaching of the word.  The
awakening extended to Virginia: and there it commenced without the ordinary means, preaching the word publicly. Under
the preaching of the word it became more extended; and the
effects are felt at this time all over Virginia and Kentucky and
Tennessee, North and South Carolina.
As the awakening in Virginia, that accompanied the preaching of the gospel, was more immediately connected with the
work of grace in Pennsylvania and Delaware, some extracts
will be given from an account, drawn up by the Rev. Samuel
Blair, of the work as it appeared in New Londonderry. There
it resulted in reformation of life and manners; and a creditable
profession of religion by a number in his Congregation; and
also in drawing the attention, of surrounding Congregations, to
personal religion. The man that had the greatest religious
influence on Virginia, Samuel Davies, was trained in the Congregation of Mr. Blair; and during this work of grace, he
entered Virginia with the spirit of that awakening. Extracts
from Mr. Blair's account will be read with interest by admirers
of Davies.
Extracts from Mr. Blair's Narrative.
"It was in the Spring Anno Domini 1740 when the God of
Salvation was pleased to visit us with the blessed effusions of
his Holy Spirit in an eminent manner. The very first open and
public appearance of this gracious visitation in these parts was
in the Congregation God has committed to my charge. The
Congregation has not been erected above fourteen or fifteen
years from this time: the place is a new settlement, generally
settled with people from Ireland, as all our Congregations in
Pennsylvania, except two or three are, chiefly, made up of
people from that kingdom. I am the first minister they have
ever had settled in the place. Having been regularly liberated
from my former charge in East Jersey, above an hundred miles
north eastward from hence; (the Rev. Presbytery of New Brunswick, of which I had the comfort of being a member, judging it
to be my duty, for sundry reasons, to remove from thence) at. the




EXTRACTS FROM MR. BLAIR'S NARRATIVE.       109
earnest invitation of the people here, I came to them in the
beginning of Nov. 1739,-accepted a call from them that winter,-and was formally installed and settled amongst them as
their minister, in April following. There were some hopefully
pious people here at my first coming, which was a great encouragement and comfort to me." The state of the Congregations generally, and of the neighbouring Congregations, was
mournful. Religious experience was confined to a few; such a
thing as a general attention to personal religion was unknown,
though attendance on public worship was reckoned essential to
the well being of society; formality had taken the place of
spirituality, and the mass of the people were satisfied with the
rind without ever tasting the rich meat of gospel ordinances.
A consequent dissoluteness of manners was creeping in as vital
religion was dying out; outward observances were usurping the
place of spiritual religion. " It was thought"-says Mr. Blair"that if there was any need of a heart distressing sight of the
soul's danger, and fear of divine wrath, it was only needful for
the grosser sort of sinners; and for any others to be deeply
exercised this way, (as there might sometimes be some rare instances observable) this was generally looked upon to be a great
evil and temptation that had befallen some persons. The common name for such soul concerns were, melancholy, trouble of
mind, or despair. These terms were in common, so far as I have
been acquainted, indifferently used as synonymous; and trouble
of mind was looked upon as a great evil, which all persons that
made any sober profession and practice of religion ought carefully to avoid. There was scarcely any suspicion at all, in
general, of any danger of depending upon self righteousness,
and not upon the righteousness of Christ alone, for salvation.
Papists and Quakers would be readily acknowledged guilty of
this crime, but hardly any professed Presbyterians. The necessity of being.first in Christ by a vital union, and in a justified
state, before our religious services can be well pleasing and
acceptable to God, was very little understood or thought of;
but the common notion seemed to be, that if people were aiming
to be in the way of duty as well as they could, as they imagined,
there was no reason to be much afraid. According to these
principles, and this ignorance of some of the most soul concerning truths of the gospel, people were very generally through
the land careless at heart, and stupidly indifferent about the
great concerns of eternity. There was very little appearance
of any hearty engagedness in religion; and indeed, the wise for
the most part, were in a great degree asleep with the foolish.'Twas sad to see with what a careless behaviour the public ordinances were attended, and how people were given to unsuitable
worldly discourse on the Lord's holy day. In public companies,




110               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
especially at weddings, a vain and frothy lightness was apparent
in the deportment of many professors; and in some places very
extravagant follies, as horse running, fiddling and dancing,
pretty much obtained."
"Thus," —continues Mr. Blair-" religion lay as it were
dying, and ready to expire its last breath of life in this part of
the visible church. I had some view and sense of the deplorable condition of the land in general; and accordingly the scope
of my preaching through that first winter after I came here
was mainly calculated for persons in a natural unregenerate
estate. I endeavoured, as the Lord enabled me, to open up
and prove from his word, the truths, which I judged most necessary for such as were in that state, to know and believe, in
order to their conviction and conversion. I endeavoured to deal
searchingly and solemnly with them, and, through the blessing
of God, I had knowledge of four or five brought under deep
convictions that winter."
Mr. Blair made a journey to East Jersey in March 1740.
A neighbouring minister, whose name he does not give-supposed to be either Mr. Craighead, afterwards famed in North
Carolina, or Mr. Gillespie,-" who appeared to be earnest for
the awakening and conversion of secure sinners," preached the
next Sabbath in his charge, from the words in Luke xiii. 7th.
Then said he to the dresser of his vineyard, behold, these
three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none,
cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground-Under that sermon
great feeling was expressed,-" Some burst out with an audible
noise into bitter crying; a thing not known in these parts."
The news of this appearance of deep concern met Mr. Blair a
hundred miles from home, and rejoiced his heart. Hastening
home he preached from Matthew vi. 33d, Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness; and while he was
pressing the unconverted with reasons why they should seek
the kingdom and righteousness of God, he offered as one
reason-" that they had neglected too-too long-to do so
already"-many could not contain themselves but burst out
into the most bitter mourning.  Checking this outburst of
feeling he finished his discourse.
One young man came to converse with him on his soul's concerns, who had been a light merry youth. He said he had
heard the sermon from Luke-cut it down-without concern.
On the next day-" he went to his labour which was grubbing,
in order to clear some new ground; the first grub he set about
was a pretty large one, with a high top, and when he had cut
the roots, as it fell down, those words came instantly to his
remembrance, and as a spear to his heart,-Cut it down, why
cumbereth it the ground-So thought he must I be cut down




EXTRACTS FROM MR. BLAIR'S NARRATIVE.       111
by the justice of God, for the burning of hell, unless I get into
another state than I am now in. He thus came into very great
and abiding distress, which, to all appearance, has had a happy
issue, his conversation being to this day as becomes the gospel
of Christ."
Mr. Blair goes on to say —"I think there was scarcely a
sermon, or lecture preached here through that whole summer,
but there was manifest evidence of impressions on the hearers,
and many times the impressions were very great and general;
several would be overcome and fainting; others deeply sobbing
hardly able to contain, others crying in a most dolorous manner, many others more silently weeping, and a solemn concern
appearing in the countenances of many others. And sometimes the soul exercises of some, though comparatively but few,
would so *far affect their bodies as to occasion some strange,
unusual bodily motions. I had opportunities of speaking particularly with a great many of those who afforded such outward tokens of inward soul concern in the time of public
worship and hearing of the word; indeed many came to me of
themselves in their distress, for private instruction and counsel;
and I found, so far as I can remember, that, with far the greater
part, their apparent concern in public was not just a transient
qualm of conscience, or merely a floating commotion of the
affections; but a rational fixed conviction of their dangerous
perishing estate. They could generally offer, as a convictive
evidence of their being in an unconverted miserable estate,that they were utter strangers to those dispositions, exercises,
and experiences of soul in religion, which they heard laid down
from  God's word as the inseparable characters of the truly
regenerate people of God; even such as before had something
of the form of religion; and I think the greater number were
of this sort, and several had been pretty exact and punctual in
the performance of outward duties. They saw that true practical religion was quite another thing, than they had conceived
it to be, or had any true experience of.
"In this congregation, I believe there were very few that
were not stirred up to some solemn thoughtfulness and concern
more than usual about their souls.  Those awakened were
much given to reading in the Holy Scriptures and other good
books. Excellent books, that had lain by much neglected,
were then much perused, and lent from one to another, and it
was a peculiar satisfaction to people to find how exactly the
doctrines they heard daily preached, harmonize with the doctrines maintained and taught by great and godly men in other
parts and former times."
"There was an earnest desire in people after opportunities
for public worship and hearing of the word. I appointed in




112               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the spring to preach every Friday through the summer when I
was at home; and those meetings were well attended, and at
several of them the power of the Lord was remarkablywvith us.
The main scope of my preaching, through that summer, was
laying open the deplorable state of man by nature since the
fall,-our ruined and exposed case by the breach of the first
covenant,-and the awful condition of such as were not in
Christ,-giving the marks and characters of such as were in
that condition; —and moreover laying open the way of recovery
in the new covenant, through a Mediator, —with the nature and
necessity of faith in Christ, the Mediator. I laboured much on
the last mentioned heads, that people might have right apprehensions of the gospel method of life and salvation. I treated
much on the way of a sinner's closing with Christ by faith,and obtaining a right peace to an awakened wounded conscience,-showing that persons were not to take peace to themselves on account of their repentings, sorrows, prayers, and
reformations, —nor to make these things the ground of their
adventuring themselves upon Christ, and his righteousness, and
of their expectations of life in him;-and that neither were
they to obtain or seek peace in extraordinary ways, by visions,
dreams, or immediate inspirations;-but by an understanding
view and believing persuasion of the way of life, as revealed in
the gospel, through the suretyship, obedience, and sufferings of
Jesus Christ,-with a view of the suitableness and sufficiency
of that mediatory righteousness of Christ for the justification
and life of law  condemned sinners;-and thereupon freely
accepting him for their Saviour, heartily consenting to, and
being well pleased with, that way of salvation;-and venturing
their all upon his mediation, from the warrant and encouragement afforded of God thereunto in his word, by his free offer,
authoritative command, and sure promise to those that so believe. I endeavoured to show them the fruits and evidences of
a true faith."
After some time, many professed faith in Christ, and expressed
a hope that their sins were forgiven. The evidences they gave
of true conversion, are stated by Mr. Blair.  "It was very
agreeable to hear their accounts, how that, when they were in
the deepest perplexity and darkness, distress and difficulty,
seeking God as poor condemned hell deserving sinners, the
sense of the recovering grace, through a Redeemer, has been
opened to their understandings, with a surprising beauty and
glory, so that they were enabled to believe in Christ, with joy
unspeakable and full of glory. It appeared that most generally the Holy Spirit improved for this purpose, and made use
of some one particular passage or another of the holy Scripture,
that came to their remembrance in their distress, some gospel




EXTRACTS FROM MR. BLAIR'S NARRATIVE.        113
offer or promise, or some declaration of God directly referring
to the recovery and salvation of undone sinners, by the new
covenant. But with some it was otherwise, they had not any
one particular place of Scripture more than another, in their
view at the time."
"Much of their exercise was in self-abasing, self-loathing,
and admiring the astonishing condescension and grace of God
towards such vile and despicable creatures, that had been so
full of enmity and disaffection to him;-then they freely and
sweetly, and with all their hearts, chose the ways of his commandments:-their inflamed desire was to live to him forever,
according to his will and the glory of his name. There were
others that had not had such remarkable relief and comfort,
who yet I could not but think were savingly renewed, and
brought truly to accept of, and rest upon, Jesus Christ, though
not with such a degree of liveliness and liberty, strength and
joy; and some of these continued for a considerable time after,
for the most part under a very distressing suspicion and jealousy of their case."
"I was all along very cautious of expressing to people my
judgment of the goodness of their state, excepting where I had
pretty clear evidences from them, of their being savingly
changed, and yet they continued in deep distress, casting off
all their evidences;-sometimes, in such cases I have thought it
needful to use greater freedom that way than ordinary; —but
otherwise I judged that it could be of little use, and might
readily be hurtful."
"There were some, who having very little knowledge or
capacity, had a very obscure and improper way of representing
their case. In relating how they had been exercised, they
would chiefly speak of such things as were only the effects of
their soul's exercises upon their bodies, from time to time; and
some things that were just imaginary, which obliged me to be
at much pains in my inquiries, before I could get just ideas of
their case. I would ask them, what were the thoughts, the
views, and apprehensions of their minds, and exercises of their
affections at such times, when they felt, perhaps a quivering
come over them, as they had been saying,-or a faintness,-or
thought they saw their hearts full of some nauseous filthiness,or when they felt a heavy weight and load at their hearts, —or
felt the weight taken off and a pleasant warmness rising from their
hearts,-as they would probably express themselves,-which
might be the occasion or causes of these things they spoke of;
and then when with some difficulty, I could get them to understand me, some of them would give a pretty rational account of
solemn spiritual exercises. And upon a thorough careful exam15




114               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ination this way, I could not but conceive good hopes of some
such persons."
"But there were, moreover, several others, who seemed to
think concerning themselves, that they were under some good
work, of whom yet I could have no reasonable ground to think,
that they were under any hopeful work of the Spirit of God.
As near as I could judge of their case from all my acquaintance
and conversations with them, it was much to this purpose:they believed there was a good work going on, that people were
convinced and brought into a converted state, and they desired
to be converted too;-they saw others weeping and fainting,
and heard people mourning and lamenting, and they thought,
if they could be like those it would be very hopeful with them;hence they endeavoured just to get themselves affected by sermons, and if they could come to weeping, or get their passions
so raised as to incline them to vent themselves by cries, now
they hoped they were got under convictions, and were in a very
hopeful way;-and afterwards they would speak of their being
in trouble, and aim at complaining of themselves, but seemed as
if they knew not well how to. do it, nor what to say against
themselves, and thus they would be looking and expecting to
get some texts of Scripture applied to them for their comfort;and when any Scripture text, which they thought was suitable
for that purpose, came to their minds, they were in hopes, it
was brought to them by the Spirit of God, that they might take
comfort from it. I endeavoured to correct and guard against
all such mistakes, so far as I discovered them in the course of
my ministry; and to open up the nature of a true conviction by
the Spirit of God, and of a saving conversion."
His account of those who appeared to be converts in this
great awakening, given about four years after it seemed to
come to a close, is interesting to us in forming our judgment of
the work. After stating that those who had been slightly concerned, lost all their concern; and some, who appeared to have
been deeply interested, gave up all attention to religion; and
some, who were much concerned, appeared to have settled
down on a false hope, he goes on to say-" There is a considerable number who afford all the evidence that can reasonably be
expected and required, for our satisfaction in the case, of their
having been the subjects of a thorough saving change. Their
walk is habitually tender and conscientious; their carriage toward their neighbour just and kind, and they appear to have
an agreeable peculiar love for one another, and for all in whom
appears the image of God." " Indeed the liveliness of their
affections in the ways of religion is much abated, in general,
and they are in some measure humbly sensible of this, and
grieved for it, and are carefully endeavouring to live unto God,




EXTRACTS FROM MR. BLAIR'S NARRATIVE.       115
much grieved with their imperfections, and the plagues they
find in their own hearts; and frequently they meet with some
delightful enlivening of soul: and particularly our sacramental
solemnities for communicating in the Lord's Supper, have generally been very blessed seasons of enlivening and enlargement
to the people of God.'? He also tells us that great harmony
prevailed in his congregation, and few opposers to the work
appeared amongst them, and few left his congregation to join
with those ministers who opposed the work.
Mr. Blair closes his narrative of the awakening in his charge
in the following manner-" This blessed shower of divine influence spread very much through this province that summer,
and was likewise considerable in some places bordering upon
it. The accounts of some ministers sometimes distinguished
by their searching, awakening doctrine, and solemn, pathetic
manner of address —and the news of the effects of their preaching upon their hearers, seemed in some measure to awaken
people through the country to consider their careless and formal way of going on in religion, and very much excited their
desires to hear those ministers. There were several vacant.
congregations without any settled pastors, which earnestly
begged for their visits, and several ministers who did not appear heartily to put to their shoulders to help in carrying on
the same work, yet then yielded to the pressing importunities
of their people in inviting these brethren to preach in their
pulpits, so that they were very much called abroad and employed in incessant labours, and the Lord wrought with them
mightily; very great assemblies would ordinarily meet to hear
them upon any day of the week, and oftentimes a surprising
power, accompanying their preaching, was visible among the
multitudes of their hearers. It was a very comfortable enlivening time to God's people, and great numbers of secure, careless
professors, and many loose irreligious persons, through the
land, were deeply convinced of their miserable perishing estate,
and there is abundant reason to believe, and be satisfied, that
many of them were in the issue, savingly converted to God. I
myself had occasion to converse with a great many up and
down, who have given a most agreeable account of very precious and clear experiences of the grace of God, several even
in Baltimore, a county in the province of Maryland, who were
brought up almost in a state of heathenism, almost without any
knowledge of the true doctrines of Christianity, afford very
satisfactory evidence of being brought to a saving acquaintance
with Christ Jesus."
"Knowing I must not.speak wickedly even for God, nor
talk deceitfully for Him; upon the whole I must say it is beyond all reasonable contradiction, that God has carried on a




116               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
great and glorious work of his special grace among us."
This account is dated-New Londonderry, in Pennsylvania,
August 6th, 1744.
Mr. Blair mentions the itinerating practised by some heartily
engaged in the revival. This led to great complaints, and to
extravagances that increased the complaints against the itinerants and those who justified their course; and ultimately led
to doubts about the revival itself, and to disputes about the
exercises of religion characteristic of conversion. The account
given by Mr. Blair, respecting his congregation, will, in the
general, exhibit the state of things in many other congregations
in Pennsylvania, in Delaware, and also those in New Jersey,
and some parts of New York. And the same complaints
against itinerants, and extravagances came from different quarters. It would be grateful, if the limits of these sketches
would permit, to give at least a general view of the great excitement on religion, throughout the Philadelphia Synod, particularly its appearance in the different congregations. Much
practical wisdom could be gathered from the sayings and
doings of the actors in those interesting scenes.
A vehement dispute also arose about the proper qualifications
for a candidate for the gospel ministry. Ministers and churches
took sides, with some asperity of feeling. The line of separation was nearly the same as on the question about experience
of religion and the exercises of awakened sinners and converts.
Each party charged extreme views upon the other, and in a
measure drove each other into extremes, using unkind expressions and unjustifiable means, and defending unwarrantable
positions.
The discussion of these subjects became so warm that Ministers and Elders and Congregations were alienated, and the
Synod in 1741 was rent asunder, in circumstances of great excitement. This division continued about seventeen years. The
party that retained the name of the Synod of Philadelphia, was
familiarly called the " Old Side;" and the Synod of New York
formed by the other party, the "New Side." The feelings of
the two parties, at length became calm, the matters in dispute
were amicably adjusted, and the Synods united under the name
of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia.
There is no evidence that the parties disagreed on important
doctrines.  Mr. John Davenport was guilty of most extravagant
conduct, perhaps the most objectionable known during the excitement. An opponent, the Rev. Mr. Fish, of Connecticut,
makes a statement respecting this singular man,-in the midst
of his irregularities "the good things about him was that
he was a fast friend of the doctrines of grace; fully declaring
the total depravity, the deplorable wretchedness and danger,




DAVENPORTS CONDUCT.               117
and utter inability of man by the fall.  He preached with
great earnestness the doctrines of man's dependence on the
sovereign mercy of God; of regeneration; of justification by
faith, &c. The things that were evidently and dreadfully wrong
about him were, that he not only gave full liberty to noise and
outcries but promoted them with all his power. When these
things prevailed among the people, accompanied with bodily
agitations, the good man pronounced them tokens of the presence of God. Those who passed from great distress to great
joy, he declared, after asking them a few questions, to be converts. He was a great favourer of visions, trances, imaginations, and powerful impressions in others, and made such inward
feelings the rule of his own conduct in many respects. The
worst thing, however, was his bold and daring enterprise of
going through the country to examine all the ministers in private, and then publicly declare his judgment of their spiritual
state."
Novelty of doctrine does not appear to have been the sin of
that generation of Presbyterians. Novelty of methods to promote revivals excited fears in the pious; and the breaking
through acknowledged rules disturbed society. These errors
brought a glorious awakening into disrepute, and gave opportunity to all, who were not friendly to spiritual religion, to oppose
a genuine work of God. The extreme of one side was formality
in religion; of the other, extravagant bodily exercises.
The emigrants to Virginia, though, in many cases, but a
short time from their mother country, remained long enough in
Pennsylvania and Delaware to become parties in the division;
and in their choice of residence were in a measure governed by
their religious associations and belief respecting this awakening.
Neighbouring ministers in Virginia attached themselves to the
different Synods, and their congregations sympathised with
their pastors; and while the two Synods continued separate,
were tossed with the violence of the storm that rent the congregations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In some cases, traces
of this division can be seen to this day; in most cases, however,
the difference of sentiment in their ancestors is known to their
descendants only as a matter of history.
The Presbyterian congregations in Virginia reared their
cabins on the frontiers under great excitement. They were
strangers in a strange land; they were exposed to the murderous incursions of the savages incensed against the white man
by a century of provocations; they were in search of a home
in the wilderness, where every man's cabin might stand upon
his own acres held in fee simple; they were, under a strong
religious feeling, searching for the truth in principle, and in
some good degree guiding their practice by their principles;




118               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
they expected the undisturbed exercise of their forms of religion
according to the promise of the Governor of Virginia; they
expected more freedom in political matters, than was enjoyed
in Ireland, not having fully fashioned in their own minds what
that freedom was, except no Peers of the realm, no Diocesan
Bishops were to make part of their community; they expected
equal enjoyment of civil rights, and the protection of the laws
with advantages to all according to their merits, and promotion
to the most worthy. And in less than half a century, this
excitement, and these principles, in the wilderness, moulded a
nature made firm by resistance to oppression, and hard to
roughness by toil, in their father land, into a form and shape
and temper such as Ireland and Scotland had never seen. The
children realized, in their manhood, all their fathers panted for
when they crossed the ocean, freedom in person,-freedom in
property,-freedom in knowledge and religion. They possessed
a land of rivers, plains, and mountains, which princes never
traversed but in exile, were protected by equal laws and governed by rulers of their own choice.
Presbyterian ministers followed the steps of these colonies,
first on short visits, then to become resident pastors of the
infant congregations.
1st. James Gelston was sent from the Presbytery of Donegall in the year 1737, to visit the people on Opeckon. We do
not hear of his making a second visit. The preaching place
was near where Opeckon meeting house now stands.
2d. Mr. James Anderson was sent a special delegate from
the Synod of Philadelphia in 1738, with a message to Governor
Gooch. He visited the different colonies of Presbyterians in
Virginia. He preached his first sermon in Augusta, supposed
to be the first ever preached there, in the house of Mr. John
Lewis near Staunton.
3d. A Mr. Dunlap, a probationer of the Presbytery of New
York, spent about three months in the neighbourhood of
Staunton, in the year 1739.
4th. Mr. John Thompson of the Presbytery of Donegall
visited Virginia in the year 1739, and spent some time in the
Opeckon neighbourhood, —in the neighbourhood of Staunton,on Rockfish in Nelson,-on Cub Creek,-at Buffaloe,-and in
Campbell county.  "He took up voluntary collections for
preachers of the gospel" —says the manuscript history of Lexington Presbytery —" and in doing justice to his memory it is
proper to observe; that he was active in promoting the Presbyterian cause in Virginia." He was a man of great vigour and
took an active part in the affairs of the church. Through his
instrumentality Messrs. Black and Craig were sent by Presbytery, the one to the Triple Forks, and the other to Rockfish.




THE CHURCH IN HANOVER COUNTY.           119
He lived for a short time at Buffaloe, to which place Mr.
Sankey, his son in law, removed with his congregation, and
continued their pastor for many years. He removed to North
Carolina, and there died in the bounds of Centre congregation.
5th. Mr. John Craig visited Aigusta, in 1739, as probationer, from Donegall Presbytery, and ultimately became pastor
of the Triple Forks, or Tinkling Spring and Augusta.
6th. About the same time Mr. Black took his residence on
Rockfish in Nelson.
7th. The next of whom we have any knowledge was Wm.
Robinson. He visited the congregations in the Valley near
Winchester and above Staunton-went to Carolina, and on his
return visited Hanover. His visit forms a chapter in Virginia
Church History.
8th. The next was Mr. John Roan, whose visit to Hanover
excited great bitterness in members of the Established Church.
9th. Mr. John Blair visited the Valley and places east of
the Ridge in 1745, and again in 1746; and during his last
visit organized the congregations of North Mountain, New
Providence, Timber Ridge, and Forks of James.
After this, visits were frequent; and the congregations made
efforts for stated ministers. The Governor of Virginia assured
the Synod that ministers and congregations should enjoy all
the privileges of the Act of Toleration. But in time there was
a difficulty about the construction of that law; and also whether
the common sense of men, and the law itself were to be the
interpreters, or the caprice of rulers and the majority, when
the minority claimed privileges under the law, and the majority
denied them. In another form it was the old question-whether the minority had any rights of conscience. The people in
Hanover said they had rights under the law of God, and by the
Toleration Act: Davies maintained their position with ultimate
triumph.
CHAPTER VII.
RISE OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN HANOVER COUNTY,
VIRGINIA; AND WILLIAM ROBINSON.
WHILE the settlements of the Scotch Irish were multiplying, in
the Valley of the Shenandoah, and along the eastern base of
the Blue Ridge, and on the waters of the Roanoke, forming a
frontier line in defence of the "Ancient Dominion," and plant



120               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ing the germs of many Presbyterian congregations, which flourished in after days, events of singular interest began to show
themselves in Hanover County, and in some neighbourhoods of
the adjacent Counties, whose inhabitants were of true English
descent, and in connection with the established church.
The history of the world shows, that there are times, when
the public mind is readily turned to religion; and if, in such
times, the gospel be presented in its purity and simplicity, the
concerns of the soul become the all absorbing subject. One of
these happy times of spiritual sunshine was enjoyed in Hanover
in common with many other parts of the world, both in Europe
and America. Reports of the religious exercises and excitements that prevailed in New Jersey, New England, and Pennsylvania, and some parts of Maryland, spread through Virginia.
The coming in of the Presbyterian colonies gave interest to
these reports, and reflecting men began to inquire respecting
the nature of these things and their consequent importance.
That some families, in Hanover and Louisa, were aroused to
inquire for their salvation, by means not afforded in the parish
churches, is a matter of undoubted history. The first human
agency known to have had effect upon them, next after the
reports concerning the revivals in the States to the North, was
that of religious books, followed by discussions on the weighty
truths contained. A few leaves of Boston's Fourfold State, in
possession of a Scotch woman, fell into the hands of a gentleman, who in looking over them, felt a deep interest in the truth
as there exhibited. The title of the book was on one of the
leaves. He sent to England by the next ship, for the book.
The perusal of that volume, in connection with the Bible, was
blessed of God to bring him to a knowledge of himself,-of the
way of life through Jesus Christ,-and, there is reason to believe,
to a saving faith. Another gentleman got possession of Luther
on the Galatians. Deeply affected with what he read, so different from what he had been hearing from the pulpit of the
parish Church, he never ceased to read and pray till he found
consolation in believing in Christ Jesus, the Lord his Righteousness.
Rev. Samuel Davies, in his letter to the Bishop of London,
says-" About the year 1743, upon petition of the Presbyterians in the frontier counties of this colony, the Rev. Mr. Robinson, who now rests from his labours, and is happily advanced
beyond the injudicious applauses and censure of mortals, was
sent by order of Presbytery to officiate for some time among
them. A little before this, about four or five persons, heads of
families in HIanover, had dissented from the established church,
not from any scruples about her ceremonial peculiarities, the
usual cause of nonconformity, much less about her excellent




THE CHURCH IN HANOVER COUNTY.          121
articles of faith, but from a dislike to the doctrines generally
delivered from the pulpit, as not savouring of experimental
piety, nor suitably intermingled with the glorious peculiarities
of the religion of Jesus. These families were wont to meet in
a private house on Sundays to hear some good books read, particularly Luther's; whose writings I can assure your Lordship
were the principal cause of their leaving the Church; which I
hope is a presumption in their favour. After some time sundry
others came to their society, and upon hearing these books,
grew indifferent about going to church, and chose rather to
frequent these societies for reading. At length the number
became too great for a private house to contain them, and they
agreed to build a meeting house, which they accordingly did.
Thus far they had proceeded before they had heard a dissenting
minister at all. They had not the least thought at this time of
assuming the denomination of Presbyterian, as they were
wholly ignorant of that church."
The Rev. James Hunt, of Montgomery county, Maryland,
related to a gentleman, in Albemarle County, Virginia, who
preserved the narrative, and published it in the 2d vol. of the
Evangelical and Literary Magazine, edited by the Rev. John
H. Rice, D.D.-" that in the County of Hanover four gentlemen, of whom his father was one, at the same time became convinced that the Gospel was not preached by the minister of the
parish church, and that it was inconsistent with their duty to
attend upon his ministrations. The consequence was they absented themselves on the same day. They having all been
remarkably regular in their attendance; and if I recollect truly,
having held some office in the parish, their absence was soon
noticed, and a summons issued for them to appear before the
proper officers to answer for their delinquency. As they had
absented on the same day, it was their fortune to be called on
the same day before the same officers. And here, for the first
time, each found that three of his neighbours were delinquents
as well as himself, and for the very same cause. Seeing no
reason to change their opinions, or alter the course they had
adopted, they determined to subject themselves to the payment
of the fines imposed by law, and attended the church no more.
They agreed to meet every Sabbath, alternately, at each others'
houses, and spend the time with their families in prayer and
reading the Scriptures, together with Luther's Commentary on
the Galatians,-an old volume which by some means had fallen
into their hands."
Mr. Samuel Morris, in his statement made to Rev. Samuel
Davies, says-" In the year 1740 Mr. Whitefield had preached
at Williamsburg, at the invitation of Mr. Blair, our Commissary.
But we being sixty miles distant from Williamsburg, he left the
16




122               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
colony before we had an opportunity of hearing him. But, in
the year 1743, a young gentleman from Scotland had got a
book of his sermons preached in Glasgow, taken from his'mouth,
in short hand, which after I had read with great benefit, I invited my neighbours to come and hear it; and the plainness
and fervency of these discourses being attended with the power
of the Lord, many were convinced of their undone situation,
and constrained to seek deliverance with the greatest solicitude.
A considerable number met to hear these sermons every Sabbath,
and frequently on week days. The concern of some was so
passionate and violent, that they could not avoid crying out,
weeping bitterly, &c. And that, when such indications of religious concern were so strange and ridiculous that they could
not be occasioned by example or sympathy, and the affectation
of them would be so unprofitable an instance of hypocrisy, that
none could be tempted to it."
Mr. Hunt's narrative says —" Curiosity prompted the desire
to be amongst them,-one and another begged for admission,
till their houses, on Sabbath, were crowded. And here a new
scene opened upon their astonished view.  Numbers were
pricked to the heart,-the word became sharp and powerful,-'what shall we do,' was the general cry. What to do or say
the principal leaders knew not. They themselves had been
led by a small still voice, they hardly knew how,'to an acquaintance with the truth; but now the Lord was speaking as
on Mount Sinai, with a voice of thunder, and sinners, like that
mountain itself, trembled to the centre. And it was not long
before they had the happiness to see a goodly little number
healed by the same word that had wounded them, and brought
to rejoice understandingly in Christ."
Mr. Morris says —" My dwelling house was at length too
small to contain the people, whereupon we determined to build
a meeting house merely for reading. And having never been
used to social prayer, none of us durst attempt it."
Mr. Hunt's narrative says-" And now their numbers became
too large for any private house to contain them, another step
is taken,-they build first one, and then another of what they
called reading houses. Hence the number of attendants and
the force of divine influence much increased."
Mr. Morris says-" By this single means"-that is reading-" several were awakened, and their conduct ever since is a
proof of the continuance and happy issue of their impressions.
When the report was spread abroad, I was invited to several
places, to read these sermons, at a considerable distance, and
by this means the concern was propagated."  The phrase
Morris's Reading House has come down to us, by tradition,
as connected inseparably with the rise of Presbyterianism in




THE CHURCH IN HANOVER COUNTY.          123
Hanover; it was applied first to the house erected on Mr. Morris's land, and then to another and another as they were
erected to accommodate the people.  The assemblies held
regularly in these houses, together with the desertion of the
parish churches rendered these gentlemen peculiarly obnoxious
to the laws of the colony; and as the new opinions gained
adherents in Hanover, it was urged that indulgence but encouraged the evil, and the strong arm of the law was invoked.
" Our absenting ourselves from the church"-says Mr. Morris, —"contrary as was alleged to the laws of the land, was
taken notice of, and we were. called upon by the court to assign
our reasons for it, and to declare what denomination we were
of."  Mr. Hunt says-" They were no longer considered as
individual delinquents whose obstinacy might be sufficiently
punished by the civil magistrate; but as a malignant cabal,
that required the interposition of the executive. They were
accordingly cited to appear before the Governor and Council.
The exaction of frequent, fines for non attendance at church
they bore, with patience and fortitude, for the sake of a good
conscience; but to be charged with a crime, of the nature and
extent and penalty of which they had but indistinct conceptions, spread a gloom over their minds, and filled them with
anxious forebodings more easily conceived than described.
They were certainly and obviously a religious society, separate
and distinct from the only one, the established church, which
either the government or the people knew in the country, and
yet they were without a name." Their acquaintance with the
operation of the Toleration Act of William and Mary, passed
1688, and acknowledged on the Virginia statute book in 1699,
must have been very slight; perhaps they knew neither of the
Virginia act, or the Act of Toleration, as no circumstance in
their lives had brought them to view. It is not probable they
knew any thing of Governor Gooch's promise made in 1738,
because none of the Scotch Irish had emigrated to Hanover,
and these people were descended from members of the English
church. If they knew of the unlimited toleration granted to
the German colony on the Rappahannoc, in Madison county;
or of the favour extended to the French Refugees, at the
Manakin towns, on the James River above the falls; they
looked upon these as peculiar cases, and precedents in a general way only, if at all, to people that had no church organization, or even a name. They were frequently called upon to
appear before the magistrates of the county in explanation and
defence, and to be fined. At last they were required to appear
at Williamsburg, and to declare their creed and name before
the Governor and Council, who assumed the entire control of
matters pertaining to dissenters.




124               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Mr. Morris says-in reference to the visit-" as we know
but little of any denomination of dissenters, except Quakers, we
were at a loss what name to assume. At length recollecting
that Luther was a noted Reformer, and that his book had been
of special service to us, we declared ourselves Lutherans." It
does not appear that this plea exempted them from fines, for
absence from church, while it shielded them from prosecution
as disturbers of the public peace. Mr. Hunt, in his narrative,
gives an interesting account of a visit made, by his father and
some other gentlemen, to Williamsburg, to have an interview.
with the Governor and Council. He tells us that one of the
company, travelling alone, was overtaken and detained, by a
violent storm, at the house of a poor man on the road. He
interested himself in looking over an old volume, which he found
upon a shelf covered with dust. Upon perusing it he was
amazed to find his own sentiments, as far as he had formed any
on religious things, drawn out in appropriate language; and as
far as he read, the whole summary met his approbation. Offering to purchase the book, the owner gave it to him. In Williamsburg, he examined the old book again, in company with
his friends; they all agreed that it expressed their views on the
doctrines of religion. When they appeared before the Governor they presented this old volume as their creed. Governor
Gooch, himself of Scotch origin and education, upon looking at
the volume, pronounced the men Presbyterians, as the book
was the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church of
Scotland; and that they were not only tolerated but acknowledged as a part of the established church of the realm. Mr.
Hunt thought, and used to tell the circumstance with great
earnestness, that a violent thunder storm shaking the house and
wrapping all in sheets of fire, had a softening influence on the
minds of the Governor and Council, inclining them to deal
gently with their fellow men. When the storm abated, the
men were dismissed with a gentle caution from the Governor
not to excite any disturbance in his majesty's colony, nor by
any irregularities disturb the good order of society in their
parish. And it is to be remarked that in all the varied forms
in which these men were had before the civil authorities, they
were never accused of any other crime than absenting themselves from the parish church, and meeting in private houses
for public worship, except in one case, and then the accusation
was found to be false.
The first minister, not of the Church of England, these people
heard preach was William -Robinson, of whom President Davies says-" That favoured man, Mr. Robinson, whose success,
whenever I reflect upon it, astonishes me. Oh, he did much in
a little time!-and who would not choose such an expeditious




REV. WILLIAM ROBINSON.              125
pilgrimage through the world!" Eqdal to Makemie in devotion
to the cause, his superior, in all probability, in ardour and
power over men's passions, he stands second in point of time'
on the list of those whom the Presbyterian Church in Virginia
delights to honour, as an apostolic missionary, east of the Blue
Ridge. Makemie's labours were on the sea shore; Robinson's
at the head of tide-water; we see the fruits of the former in
the still existing churches of Maryland and in the organization
of the mother Presbytery of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church; and of the latter in the organization of those
churches in Virginia, and the introduction of that master
workInan that gave character to the Presbytery of Hanover
and the Synod of Virginia, and left an impress that a century
of years has not done away. Some account of his life cannot
be unacceptable.
Born near Carlyle, England, the son of a Quaker a physician of eminence and wealth, Robinson came to the years of
maturity in expectation of an inheritance from his father and
an aunt in London. On a visit to this aunt, he became entangled in the dissipation of the great metropolis, and contracted
debts which his aunt refused to cancel, and which he had not
the hardihood to present to his father. Resolved on emigrating -to the colonies, in America, to improve his condition, he
obtained from his aunt her reluctant consent, and a small sum
of money to pay his passage. Taking his abode in New Jersey, he commenced teaching school as an honourable means of
support and regaining his character. Thus far his career had
been that of many other emigrants, who had hoped for that
competence in America, which the condition of their birth, or
their misguided actions had rendered hopeless in the land of
their fathers. But here the similarity in a great measure ends.
Though disgraced by his youthful irregularities, he was not
degraded; ardent in his feelings and generous in his sentiments, he was not reckless; necessarily restrained from higher
indulgences, he did not, like multitudes, compensate himself in
those baser gratifications within his reach; far away from the
inspection or control of relatives, he did not give himself up to
the habits and appetites that have carried so many emigrants
to an early and unhonoured grave.
Dr. Miller, in his Life of Rodgers, gives an interesting account of his conversion, during his residence in Hopewell,
now Pennington, New Jersey. Riding late one night, while
the moon and stars were shining with unusual lustre, he felt
the first deep impression of heavenly things. Multitudes have
said with the Psalmist,-" When I consider the heavens, the
work of thy fingers, the moon and stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son




126              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of man that thou visitest him."  While admiring the beauty of
the heavens, Mr. Robinson said to himself-" How transcendently glorious must be the Author of all this beauty arid grandeur!"  With the suddenness of lightning the inquiry darted
to his soul,-" but what do I know of this God?-have I ever
sought his favour?-or made him my friend?" This impression, like a voice from heaven ringing in his ears, never left
him till he found God reconciled to him in Christ Jesus. What
he felt strongly, his ardent feelings forbid his concealing.
Longing to make known the grace of that gospel in which he
believed, he devoted himself to the —service of God, in the
Christian ministry. Being in the bounds of New Brunswick
Presbytery he put himself under its care, April 1st, 1740, and
on'the 27th of the following May, at Neshaminy, he was
licensed to preach the gospel. On the 4th of August 1741, he
was ordained at New Brunswick. The next year he declined
an invitation to be successor of the Rev. William Tennent at
Neshaminy, and in November was sent as supply to the people
of Nottingham, Maryland.
His race as a preacher was short but glorious: his vehement
desires for the salvation of men consumed his body with the
flames of love; and the monuments of his usefulness excited the
astonishment of even Davies, a burning spirit in an exciting age.
He was sent, as Evangelist, by the Presbytery of New Castle, in the winter of 1742-3, in consequence of the earnest solicitations of the people, to visit the Presbyterian settlements in
the Valley of the Shenandoah, and on the south side of James
River, in Virginia; and the numerous settlements in North
Carolina, on the Haw. On entering Virginia, he was seized
near Winchester by the sheriff of Orange county, which then
extended to the north branch of the Potomac, and was sent on
his way to Williamsburg to answer to the Governor for preaching without license. Before he had proceeded far the sheriff
released him to pursue his mission. He passed the winter in
Carolina, and from the exposures to which his zeal subjected
him, he contracted a disease from which he never recovered.
On his return he preached with great success to the Presbyterian settlements in Charlotte, Prince Edward, Campbell
and Albemarle. Here he was waited upon by a deputation that
persuaded him to change his contemplated route to the head of
the Shenandoah Valley, and turn back to the people of Hanover.  He had proceeded as far as Rockfish Gap before he
turned his course.
The messengers that waited on him were instructed to hear
him preach, before they invited him to visit their county, and
not to give him an invitation unless they thought his doctrines
agreed with their views of religious truth. Mr. Hunt says



REV. WILLIAM ROBINSON.              127
"already "-that is, previous to Mr. Robinson's arrival-" difference of opinion had arisen which threatened the most serious
evils. Some of their number, carrying some of the peculiar'
and distinguishing doctrines of the gospel to a licentious extreme, began to deny, not only the merit of good works, but
their necessity-not only the efficacy of means, but their expediency, so that it was made a serious question among them,
wheth6r it was right to pray, as prayer could not, as it would
be impious to desire it should, alter the divine purposes."
When the delegates heard Mr. Robinson they were divided in
opinion respecting his doctrines.'"One," says Mr. Hunt,
"thought that he was entirely evangelical: the other thought
he dwelt too much on the necessity of works, and urged too
strongly the use of means; and was afraid that thereby he at
least clouded the doctrines of grace, and threw a veil over the
glories of divine sovereignty in the salvation of man. But it
was determined they should give him a cordial invitation in the
name of the congregations." He at first declined; but their
cordial and earnest invitation led him to think the call was from
God, and after some deliberations in secret, he made arrangements for a visit to Hanover.
On the day appointed, Mr. Robinson, after a fatigueing
journey, protracted through most of the night preceding, in
order to prevent a disappointment, arrived, and found a large
crowd assembled.  Says Mr. Hunt —"their Reading House
was soon. filled to overflowing. But a venerable spreading
oak embowered with the surrounding shades, gave him and
the people shelter."  Mr. Morris and friends proceeded immediately on Mr. Robinson's arrival to have an interview
with him in private.  In this they inquired of him his denomination, his doctrinal and practical views of religion, and
his method of procedure. He produced his testimonials which
were full and satisfactory as it regarded his ministerial standing; and gave them his creed and views of practical religion.
" Being satisfied "-says Mr. Morris,-" about the soundness of
his principles, and being informed that the method of his preaching was awakening, we were very eager to hear him." In none
of the few particulars that are left us, of the proceedings of
Mr. Robinson, does he show himself so worthy of his office as
Evangelist, as in this interview. The knowledge of human
nature, of the principles of the gospel, and the practical operations of grace in the heart, producing meekness and candour,the giving an answer about his creed to those he came to instruct,
and a reason of the hope that was in him to these people that
did not know what they were themselves, —these things exhibited in this interview, show.him to have been a man gifted
from on high to be a teacher of babes and an instructor of wise




128               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
men. It is delightful to see in this first preacher, that frankness and candour about doctrines and practice and designs in
religion, that has so long characterized the ministry that have
followed him in succession. May it ever be their glory, that
no man that hears them often need ask,-and no stranger may
inquire but once-what are their doctrinal views.
On Sabbath, July 6th, 1743, the first sermon from a Presbyterian minister, was heard in Hanover county, Virginia. The
text was Luke xiii. 3,-"_I tell you, nay: but except ye repent
ye shall all likewise perish."  What a subject for a warmhearted preacher to pour into the ears and hearts of an excited
people, assembled, for the first time, to hear an evangelical
minister proclaim the solemn truths of the gospel. " He continued "-says Mr. Morris-" with us preaching, four days successively. The congregation was large the first day, and vastly
increased the three ensuing.'Tis hard for the liveliest imagination to form an image of the condition of the assembly on
these glorious days of the Son of Man. Such of us as had been
hungering for the word before, were lost in agreeable surprise
and astonishment, and some could not refrain from publicly
declaring their transports. We were overwhelmed with the
thoughts of the unexpected goodness of God in allowing us to
hear the gospel preached in a manner that surpassed our hopes.
Many, that came through curiosity, were pricked to their heart;
and but few of the numerous assembly on these four days appeared unaffected. They returned alarmed with apprehensions
of their dangerous condition, convinced of their former entire
ignorance of religion, and anxiously inquiring what they should
do to be saved. And there is reason to believe, there was as
much good done by these four sermons, as by all the sermons
preached in these parts before or since." This statement was
made in the year 1750; by "as much good," the writer probably means, as many souls hopefully converted. "Before Mr.
Robinson left us,"-continues Mr. Morris-"he successfully
endeavoured to correct some of our mistakes; and to bring us
to carry on the worship of God more regularly at our meetings.
After this we met to read good sermons, and began and concluded with prayer and signing of psalms, which till then we
had omitted." What these mistakes were, has been stated, and
they were such as experienced men would expect to find in a
community where religious knowledge and experience were
novelties; mistakes, of which the proud are tenacious, and from
which the humble are speedily delivered by faithful teaching.
After spending four days in preaching publicly, and instructing and counselling privately, Mr. Robinson was constrained
to depart; his previous appointments called him on, and it was
rumoured that the officers of the law were preparing to arrest




REV. WILLIAM ROBINSON.            129
him as an itinerant. The people, in part to remunerate him for
fatiguing rides and incessant labours, but mostly, as an expression of gratitude, raised a considerable sum of money, and presented it to him. This, for various reasons, he refused. They
pressed the matter: he, believing it to be injudicious to take any
thing from them in the present condition of things, perseveringly
refused.
"In this dilemma" —says Mr. Hunt-"the committee entrusted with it put it into the hands of the gentleman, with whom
he was to lodge the last night of his stay in the county, with
directions to convey it privately into his saddle bags, not doubting, but when, after his departure, he should find himself in
possession of the money, he would appropriate it to his own use.
This was accordingly done. And in the morning, Mr. Robinson having taken an affectionate leave of his kind friends, his
saddle bags were handed to him, but he found them much more
ponderous than when he came there. Searching for the cause,
like Joseph's brethren of old, he found the money in the sack's
mouth. Pleased with the benevolent artifice, he smiling said-'I see you are resolved I shall have your money; I will take it;
but as I have told you before, I do not need it; I have enough,
nor will I appropriate it to my own use; but there is a young
man of my acquaintance of promising talents and piety, who is
now studying with a view to the ministry, but his circumstances
are embarrassing, he has not funds to support and carry him on
without much difficulty; this money will relieve him from his
pecuniary difficulties: I will take charge of it and appropriate
it to his use; and as soon as he is licensed we will send him to
visit you; it may be, that you may now, by your liberality, be
educating a minister for yourselves. This money was appropriated by Mr. Robinson to the education of Samuel Davies.
His promise was kept; he did not live to see the reality of his
anticipation; he died in 1746, and Davies came to Virginia
in 1747.
" This is the reason" —said a pious old lady to Dr. Rice"that Mr. Davies came to Hanover; for he often used to say
that he was inclined to settle in another place; but that he felt
under obligations to the people of Hanover."  On these facts
the Editor of the Literary and Evangelical Magazine, the Rev.
John H. Rice, D.D., remarked-"As far as we can learn this
is the first money that ever was contributed, in Virginia, for the
education of poor and pious youth for the ministry of the
gospel. And really it turned out so well we wonder the people
have not done much more in the same way."
Thus ends Mr. Robinson's personal labours in Virginia. One
short visit to a number of congregations; to a few, two visits,
in the same excursion; and he passes from the sight of these
17




130                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
people forever. But his footsteps were impressed upon a rock.
In Prince Edward, Charlotte, Campbell, and Hanover, the
fruits of his labours have been visible for more than a Century.
He planted, others watered, God gave the increase. In Carolina, Mr. Davies says Mr. Robinson-" underwent great hardship without much success. But the case is now happily altered. A new congregation, I think upon the Pedee river, sent
a petition lately to our Presbytery for a minister. Besides this
I hear of several other places in North Carolina that are ripening fast for the gospel. O that God would send forth faithful
labourers into his harvest." There is no tradition or record, in
Carolina, of the visit of this man, yet we can scarcely believe
that his fervent preaching, so effective elsewhere, was lost there.
In the great day it will be seen where the seed was sown. Some
one sowed seed there that has been as fruitful in its harvest, as
the seed sown in Virginia by this favoured man."
Mr. Robinson's health declined, after this southern visit; but
his bow abode in strength, and many arrows from the quiver of
the Almighty were shot from his withering hands, into the
hearts of the King's enemies. The accounts we have of him,
from this visit, until his death, given by Mr. Davies, and Mr.
Blair, who preached his funeral sermon, and Dr. Miller, in his
Life of Rodgers, represent him as hasting with Apostolic speed,
lighting up the horizon with his torch of fire, and expiring in
midheaven. Mr. Davies says-" In Maryland also there has
been a considerable revival (shall I call it?)-or first plantation
of religion —in Baltimore county, where I am informed Mr.
Whittlesey is likely to settle.  In Kent county, and in Queen
Anne's, a number of careless sinners have been awakened and
hopefully brought to Christ. The work was begun and mostly
carried on by the instrumentality of that favoured man Mr.
Robinson, whose success, whenever I reflect upon it, astonishes
me.  Oh! he did much in a little time; and who would not
choose such an expeditious pilgrimage through this world.
There are in these places a considerable congregation, and they
have made repeated efforts to obtain a settled minister.  But
the most glorious display of Divine grace, in Maryland, has
been in and about Somerset county. It began, I think in 1745,
by the ministry of Mr. Robinson, and was afterwards carried
on by several ministers that preached transiently there. Iwas
there about two months, when the work was at its height, and I
never saw such a deep and spreading concern. The assemblies
were numerous, though in the extremity of a cold winter, and
unwearied in attending the word. And frequently there were
very few among them that did not give some indications of distress or joy.  Oh! these were the happiest days that ever my
eyes saw. Since that, the harvest seems over there, though




REV. WILLIAM ROBINSON.             131
considerable gleanings, I hear; are still gathered. They have,
of late, got Mr. Henry for their minister, a young man who I
trust will be an "extensive blessing to that part of the colony.
There was also a great stir about religion in Buckingham, a
place on the sea shore, which has since spread and issued in a
hopeful conversion in several instances.  They also wantV a
minister." These latter named places were the scenes of the
labours of that Apostolic missionary, Francis Makemie. Buckingham, now called Berlin, the county seat of Worcester county,
had for a time the labours of one of the Tennents.
Dr. Hill relates an interesting anecdote of Mr. Robinson
while in Virginia. On the night before he was to preach in
Hanover for the first time, Mr. Robinson rode late to reach a
tavern within some eight or ten miles of the place of preaching.-" The tavern keeper was a shrewd, boisterous, profane
man. When uttering some horrid oaths, Mr. Robinson ventured to reprove him for his profanity; and although it was
done in a mild way, the innkeeper gave him a sarcastic look,
and said-' Pray, Sir, who are you, to take such authority
upon yourself?'' I am a minister of the gospel,' says Mr. Robinson.'Then you belie your looks very much,' was the reply.
It is said Mr. Robinson had had the small pox very seriously,
which had given him a very rough visage, and deprived of the
sight of one of his eyes. It was with reference to his forbidding appearance, that the innkeeper seemed to question his
ministerial character.' But'-says Mr. Robinson-' if you
wish certainly to know whether I am a minister or not, if you
will accompany me, you may be convinced by hearing me
preach.''I will,' says the innkeeper,' if you will preach from
a text which I shall give you.''Let me hear it,' says Mr. Robinson,'and if there is nothing unsuitable in it, I will.' The
waggish innkeeper gave him the passage from the Psalms-'For I am fearfully and wonderfully made.' Mr. Robinson
agreed that it should be one of his texts. The man was at
Mr. Robinson's meeting, and that text was the theme of one of
his sermons. Before it was finished, the wicked man was made
to feel that he was the monster, and that he was fearfully and
wonderfully made. It is said he became a very pious and useful member of the church; and it is thought Mr. Davies alludes
to this instance when he says,'I have been the joyful witness
of the happy effects of those four sermons upon sundry thought-,less impenitents and sundry abandoned profligates, who have
ever since given good evidence of a thorough conversion from
sin to holiness.' Thus this good man cast the gospel net and
caught of every sort, gathering whom his Lord called."
On the 19th of March 1746, he was dismissed from the
Presbytery of New Brunswick to the Presbytery of New Cas



t12               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
tle, to become the pastor of the congregation of St. George's
in Delaware. This church and congregation had been gathered
in a revival under the preaching of Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Robinson; the latter was its first minister and about to be their
permanent pastor. But in April following his course on earth
A'as finished.  His funeral sermon was preached on the 3d of
August of the same year, by Mr. Samuel Blair. He was a
martyr to the labours he voluntarily endured for the cause of
Christ; having never had his health after his tour through
Virginia and North Carolina. In pecuniary matters he was
charitable almost to a fault. Feeling deeply for the misery of
his race, he was unsparing of his property, or strength, or life,
in the deliverance of men from the wrath to come.
He bequeathed his library to the Rev. Samuel Davies, his
protege and fellow labourer.
CHAPTER VIII.
MINISTERS  VISITING HANOVER  AFTER  MR. ROBINSON, AND
PREVIOUS TO MR. SAMUEL DAVIES.
THE desire of the people of Hanover to hear the Gospel, as
preached by Mr. Robinson, did not depart with that able Evangelist. His words continued to ring in their ears, and agitate
their hearts. The efforts to compel a conformity to the established church, while its ministers preached in a manner so little
accomodated to their necessities, only made these people long
for freedom of conscience-and for a living ministry, whose
doctrines, enforced by their godly lives, might be for their purification and life. The voice of all mankind demands that the
priesthood shall be an example of the moral nature of their
God.
The first minister that visited these people after Mr. Robinson, was Mr. John Blair, educated in the famous school of his
brother Samuel Blair, at New Londonderry, in Faggs Manor, he
was for a time a settled pastor in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He then succeeded his brother in Faggs Manor; and
afterwards was Vice President of Nassau Hall, and Professor
of Theology in that institution. He ended his- days December
8th, 1771, at Wallkill, New York. An amiable man, he was well
qualified for his various stations in life.  Going from that extensive revival, that agitated, and refreshed, parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and New England, to visit a




OTHER MINISTERS VISITING HANOVER.       133
people awakened by their own reflections, and reading religious
books, and excited by the preaching of that ardent man, Mr.
Robinson, his preaching was imposing and the effects encourl
aging. Mr. Morris, in the statement to Mr. Davies, says,
"truly he came to us in the fulness of the Gospel of Christ.
Former impressions were ripened and new ones made on many
hearts. One night in particular, a whole housefull of people
was quite overcome with the power of the word, particularly of
one pungent sentence; and they would hardly sit or stand or
keep their passions under any proper restraints. So general
was the concern, during his stay with us, and so ignorant were
we of the danger of apostasy, that we pleased ourselves with
the thoughts of more being brought to Christ at that time, than
now appear to have been, though there is still the greatest
reason to hope that several bound themselves to the Lord in an
everlasting covenant never to be forgotten."
The alarm caused in Hanover by the short visit of Mr. Robinson was greatly increased by the preaching of Mr. Blair, whose
amiable deportment, genteel manners, and classical language,
united with gravity of manners forbid the idea of attaching either
vulgarity or disorder to the religion he professed and taught.
No violence or insult was offered him during his short stay. His
hearers, agitated beyond control, poured forth tears and sighs,
and often broke out into loud crying. At the time it was impossible to tell how much this expression of feeling was from
deep sympathy, and how much from the movings of the Holy
Spirit.
Opposers were roused to anxious inquiry what they would do
to arrest the propagation of these strange views and feelings on
religious things. Absences from the parish church were more
strictly observed, and the law was invoked to prevent apostasy
from the ceremonies of the Church of England. Before his
return to Pennsylvania, Mr. Blair visited the neighbourhoods
in the Valley that favoured the Synod of New York, or the
New Side, as it was called, North Mountain, which included
Bethel and Hebron, the Pastures, New Providence, Timber
Ridge, Forks of James or Monmouth, and Opeckon; and it
is supposed also the Presbyterian neighbourhooods on Cub Creek
and Buffaloe, and Hat Creek.
Some time after Mr. Blair's return to Pennsylvania, the Presbytery of Newcastle, the nearest Presbytery of the Synod of
New York, sent Rev. John Roan to pay the people in Virginia
a visit. A preacher of eminence, he had established a grammar
school on the Neshaminy a few miles from Philadelphia. Rev.
Dr. Rodgers was for some time a pupil of his. Mr. Roan remained in Virginia part of the winter of 1744 and 5, and
preached with great effect not only in Hanover, but the neigh



134               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
bouring counties. " He continued with us"-says Mr. Morris —
"longer than any of the former, and the happy effects of his
ministrations are still apparent. He was instrumental in beginning and promoting the religious concern in several places
where there was little appearance of it before. This together
with his speaking pretty freely about the degeneracy of the
clergy in this colony, gave a general alarm, and some measures
were concerted to suppress us." Mr. Roan had the warmth and
deep earnestness of Robinson and Blair, with less prudence and
caution; with the activity of Davies, he had less skill in managing an excited multitude. He spoke freely of the parish ministers, publicly and privately, inveighed against their delinquency
in morals, and their public ministrations; and turned the ridicule and scorn of his hearers against the teachers appointed and
supported by law. The parish clergy and their friends were
excited. Unable to refute the allegations, they appealed to the
strong arm of the law to protect their privileges, and restrain
both the speech and actions of their adversaries.
That there was cause for complaint against the parish ministers in Virginia, in 1744, is unquestionably true; and it is
equally true that Mr. Roan exposed their delinquency. How far
he indulged in the denunciatory spirit that prevailed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, at that time, and was the ostensible
cause of dividing the Church, cannot now be determined. But
the excitement was great. And now commenced in earnest a
discussion about the rights of citizens in matters of religion,how far conscience was free,-and how far the law of the land,
that had slumbered, in Virginia, since the days of Makemie, had
become a dead letter.
The multitude crowded to hear Roan, some from curiosity,
and some from feeling. Opposition was expressed in reproaches, sneers, ridicule, and threats. The preacher's spirit took
fire, and his invectives were not measured. He saw evidence
of the power of God in melting the hearts of sinners to the
obedience of the gospel. Converts multiplied, and the violence
of opposition increased. Report after report went down to
Williamsburg that Roan was turning the world upside down.
Neighbourhood after neighbourhood was calling upon this fiery
preacher to declare to them the everlasting gospel. Opposers
were consulting how they might effectually silence him. Multitudes were responding a hearty amen to his earnest appeals.
In this state of things charges were made against him of blasphemous words and slanderous speeches.  " A  perfidious
wretch"-says Morris-" deposed he heard Mr. Roan utter
blasphemous expressions in his sermons."
Governor Gooch had promised protection to the Presbyterian colonies. He was not forgetful of that promise which had




OTHER MINISTERS VISITING HANOVER.        135
filled the frontier counties with enterprising men that formed a
line of defence against the savages. But reports reached him
from Hanover and James City, which were not frontier counrties, and which contained no Presbyterian colony, such as
might have been found in Lunenburg, Charlotte, Prince Edward, Appomattox, Cumberland, Campbell, Nelson, Albemarle,
Rockbridge, Botetourt, Augusta, Frederick, Jefferson, and
Berkeley.  Charges of proselytism  and blasphemy followed
these reports, and roused the mild and tolerant Gooch to inquire into the cause of this excitement and disturbance. Report upon report, charge upon charge, exasperated his excited
spirit. Witnesses were named, and express words were set
down. The Governor took up the matter with vehemence, as
will appear from the following extracts from the records of
the General Court, preserved in the capitol in Richmond city.
The General Court, consisting of the Governor and Council,
commenced their regular sessions April 15th 1745. "Present,
William Gooch Lieutenant Governor, John Robinson, John
Grymes, John Custis, Philip Lightfoot, Thomas Lee, Lewis
Burwell, William Fairfax."  The grand jury did not appear
till the fourth day, Thursday April 18th.  They were-" William Beverly, gent, foreman,-Benjamin Cocke, Richard Bland,
James Skelton, Richard Corbin, MIann Page, Francis Ness,
Daniel Hornby, George Douglass, Tarlton Fleming, Richard
Bernard, Ralph Wormley, William Nelson, Edmund Berkley,
Nathaniel Harrison, John Ravenscroft, James Littlepage, Nicholas Davies, Charles Ewell, Richard Ambler, Carter Burwell,
and John HIarmer."  The Governor delivered them the following charge, which does not appear on the records of the Court,
but is copied from  Burke, vol. 3d, p. 119 and onward, who
copied it from a Williamsburg paper-" Williamsburg, April.
25th.  Thursday last being the fourth day of General Court,
his Honour the Governor was pleased to deliver the following
charge to the gentlemen of the grand jury; which they afterwards requested his Honour to permit to be published —
" Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, Without taking notice of
the ordinary matters and things, you are called to attend, and
sworn to make inquisition for, I must on this occasion turn to
your thoughts and recommend to your present service another
subject of importance, which I thank God has been unusual,
but, I hope, will be most effectual, I mean the information I
have received of certain false teachers that are lately crept into
this government; who, without order or license, or producing
any testimonial of their education or sect, professing themselves
ministers under the pretended influence of new light, extraordinary impulse, and such like satirical (Satanical, qu.?) and enthusiastical knowledge, lead the innocent and ignorant people into




136               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
all kinds of delusion; and in this frantic and prophane disguise,
though such is their heterodoxy that they treat all other modes of
worship with the utmost scorn and contempt, yet as if they had
bound themselves on oath to do many things against the religion of the blessed Jesus, that pillar and stay of the truth and
reformed church, to the great dishonor of Almighty God, and
the discomfort of serious Christians, they endeavour to make
their followers believe that salvation is not to be obtained
(except, qu.?) in their communion.
" As this denunciation, if I am rightly advised, in words not
decent to repeat, has been by one of them publicly affirmed,
and shows what manner of spirit they all of them are of in a
country hitherto remarkable for uniformity in worship, and
where the saving truths of the gospel are constantly inculcated,
I did promise myself, either that their preaching would be in
vain, or that an insolence so criminal would not long be connived at.
" And therefore, gentlemen, since the workers of a deceitful
work, blaspheming our sacraments, and reviling our excellent
liturgy, are said to draw disciples after them, and we know
not whereunto this separation may grow, but may easily foretel
into what a distracted condition, by long forbearance, this
colony will be reduced, we are called upon by the rights of
society, and what, I am persuaded will be with you as prevailing an inducement, by the principles of Christianity, to put an
immediate stop to the devices and intrigues of these associated
scismatics, who having, no doubt, assumed to themselves the
apostacy of our weak brethren, we may be assured that there
is not any thing so absurd but what they will assert and accommodate to their favourite theme, railing against our refigious
establishment; for which in any other country, the British dominions only excepted, they would be very severely handled.
"However, not meaning to inflame your resentment, as we
may without breach of charity pronounce, that'tis not liberty
of conscience, but freedom of speech, they so earnestly prosecute; and we are very sure that they have no manner of pretence to any shelter under the acts of toleration, because,
admitting they have had regular ordination, they are by those
acts obliged, nor can they be ignorant of it, not only to take
the oaths, and with the test to subscribe, after a deliberate
reading of them, some of the articles of our religion, before
they presume to officiate. But that in this indulgent grant,
though not expressed, a covenant is intended, whereby they
engage to preserve the character of conscientious men, and not
to use their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, —to that I say,
allowing their ordination, yet as they have not, by submitting
to those essential points, qualified themselves to gather a con



REV. JOHN ROAN.                 137
gregation, or if they had, in speaking all manner of evil against
us, have forfeited the privilege due to such compliance; inso-.
much, that they are entirely without excuse, and their religious professions are very justly suspected to be the result of
jesuitical policy, which also is an iniquity to be punished by
the judges.
" I must, as in duty bound to God and man, charge you in
the most solemn manner, to make strict enquiry after those
seducers, and if they, or any of them, are still in this government, by presentment or indictment to report them to the
court, that we, who are in authority under the Defender of our
faith, and the appointed guardians to our constitution and
state, exercising our power in this respect for the protection of
the people committed to our care, may show our zeal in the
maintenance of the true religion; not as the manner of some
is, by violent oppression, but in putting to silence by such
method as our law directs, the calumnies and invectives of
these bold accusers, and in dispelling as we are devoutly disposed, so dreadful and dangerous a combination.
"In short, gentlemen, we should deviate from the pious
path we profess to tread in, and should be unjust to God, to
our king, to our country, to ourselves and to our posterity, not
to take cognizance of so great a wickedness, whereby the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ is turned into lasciviousness."
In this charge the Governor admits the existence of the Act
of Toleration, and its applicability to the colony of Virginia,
and urges that the preachers visiting in Hanover and the surrounding counties, were liable to the rigour of the law, because
they had not taken license according to the provisions of the
statute.
The next day the Grand Jury brought in various presentments,
of which the following is the record on the files of the General
Court: "April 19th, 1745.  The Grand Jury appeared according to their adjournment, and were sent out of court, and
after some time returned, and presented Daniel Allen and Randal Richardson, and John Evans for assault and battery,-true
bill. They also made several presentments, not drawn into
form, in the words following,-to wit,-We, the Grand Jury,
on information of. James Axford, do present John Roan for reflecting upon and vilifying the Established Religion, in divers
sermons, which he preached at the house of Joshua Morris, in
othe parish and county of James City, on the 7th, 8th, and 9th
of January last, before a numerous audience, in the words following, to wit,-' At church you pray to the Devil'-and' That
your good works damn you, and carry you to hell,'-' That all
your ministers preach false doctrine, and that they, and all who
follow them, are going to hell,'-and' The church is the house
18




138               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of the _Devil,-that when your ministers receive their orders they
swear that it is the spirit of God that moves them to it, but it is
the spirit of the D)evil, and no good can proceed out bf their
mouth.'
" On the information of Benjamin Cocke, we present Thomas
Watkins, the son of Edward Watkins, of the parish and county
of Henrico, for reflecting on the Established Religion, on the
12th of this instant, by saying,-" your churches and chappels
are no better than the synagogues of Satan."
" We present Joshua Morris, of the parish and county of
James city, for permitting John Roan, the aforementioned
preacher, and very many people, to assemble in an unlawful
manner at his house, on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of January last
past."
Mr. Roan returned to Pennsylvania, before the meeting of
the court, at which this charge had been given. We have no record of his visiting the Presbyterian colonies along the frontiers.
The probability is, however, that he did not neglect them. Ile
never afterwards visited Virginia. He lies buried at Derry
Meeting house, near Dixon's ford, on the Swatara, in Dauphin
county, Pennsylvania.
Beneath this stone
Are deposited the remains
Of an able, faithful,
Courageous and successful minister of Jesus Christ
JOHN ROAN,
Pastor of the United Congregations of Paxton, Derry,
and Mountjoy,
From 1745, to October 3d, 1775,
Aged 59.
The Synod held its sessions in Philadelphia; and in their
sessions on Monday, May 27th, 1745 —"A letter from a gentleman in Virginia, with a printed charge given by the Governor of that colony, to the grand jury, was laid before the
Synod; by which it appears that the government of that colony
is highly provoked by the conduct of some of the new party
who preached there, and therefore the Synod judge it necessary to send an address to that Governor, informing him of the
distinction between this Synod and that separated party, that
so their conduct may not be imputed to us, nor provoke that
government to deny us the liberties and favours we have
enjoyed under it. Therefore, the Synod appoints Messrs.
Cross, Thomson, Alison, and Griffith, to be a committee to
draw up said address against the next sederunt." The next
morning-" the address to the Governor of Virginia was
brought in and approved, and is as follows; —" To the Honoura



ADDRESS TO THE GOVERNOR.             139
ble William Gooch, Esq., Lieutenant Governor of the Colony
of Virginia, &c.-The humble address, &c."May it please your honour; The favourable acceptance
which your Honour was pleased to give our former address,
and the countenance and protection which those of our persuasion have met with in Virginia, fills us with gratitude, and we
beg leave on this occasion in all sincerity to express the same.
It very deeply affects us to find that any who go from these
parts, and perhaps assume the name of Presbyterians, should be
guilty of such practices, such uncharitable, unchristian expressions, as are taken notice of in your honour's charge to the
grand jury. And in the meantime it gives us the greatest pleasure that we can assure your honour, these persons never belonged to our body, but are missionaries, sent out by some, who,
by reason of their divisive and uncharitable doctrines, and practices, were in May, 1741, excluded from our synod, upon which
they erected themselves into a separate society, and have industriously sent abroad persons whom we judge ill-qualified for the
character they assume, to divide and trouble the churches. And
therefore, we humbly pray, that while those who belong to us
and produce proper testimonials, behave themselves suitably,
they may still enjoy the favour of your honour's countenance,
and protection. And praying for the divine blessing on your
person and government, we beg leave to subscribe ourselves,
"Your honour's, &c,
ROBERT CATHCART, Moderator."
To this the Governor replied. The letter is preserved in the
records of Synod of Philadelphia for 1746.  " Gentlemen:The address you were pleased to send me as a grateful acknowledgment for the favour which teachers of your persuasion met with in Virginia, was very acceptable to me, but
altogether needless to a person in my station, because it is
what by law they are entitled to."
"And in answer to your present address, intended to justify
yourselves and members from being concerned in a late outrage
committed against the purity of our worship, and the sound
appointment of pastors for the services of the altar of the established church, which some men calling themselves ministers,
were justly accused of in my charge to the grand' jury, you
must suffer me to say, that it very nearly affects me, because it
seems to insinuate as if I was so uncharitable as to suspect men
of your education and profession could be guilty of unchristian
expressions, that can only tend to the increase of schism and
irreligion, which I give you my word was far from my thoughts."
"As the wicked and destructive doctrines and practices of
itinerant preachers ought to be opposed and suppressed by all




140               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
who have concern for religion, and just regard to public peace
and order in Church and State, so your missionaries producing
proper testimonials, complying with the laws, and performing
divine service in some certain place appropriated for that purpose, without disturbing the quiet and unity of our sacred and
civil establishments, may be sure of the protection of,
Reverend sirs, your most humble servant,
WILLIAM GooCH.
Williamsburg, June 20th, 1845."
The principal interest of these two letters rests upon the admission, by the Synod of Philadelphia,-that their members had
no fellowship with the awakening in Virginia, —and the implied
assertion, that they had members of their body in Virginia who
had enjoyed the advantage of the Toleration Act of William
and Mary: and on the Governor's part-the admission that
dissenters from the Church of England were by law entitled to
protection in their worship,-and that they should have it, in
the colony, if not disturbers of thepublic peace. Consequently
from Makemie's time there was no contention whether dissenters
could, or should be, tolerated in Virginia; but what kind of
toleration they should experience, or rather to what degree,
they should be tolerated. The excitement that accompanied
this "great awakening," made it necessary to follow the letter
of the law, on the principles of sound interpretation.  The
rights of citizens and the laws of the land, were from this time
profoundly studied and better understood.
The people in Hanover, in their excitement and trouble,
looked to the Presbyteries of New Castle and New Brunswick,
which met under the title of —Conjunct Presbytery for counsel
and aid. In the month of May 1745, the month next ensuing
the term of the indictment found against Mr. Roan, they sent
four delegates, of whom Mr. Morris says he was one, to meet
the brethren of the two Presbyteries that were then preparing
to form a Synod, which by the Union of the New York Presbytery was duly organized the next September, at Elizabethtown,
New Jersey.  Of this mission Mr. Morris says-"the Lord
favoured us with success. The Synod drew up an address to
our Governor the Honourable Wm. Gooch, and sent it with
Messrs. Tennent and Finley, who were received by the Governor, with respect, and had liberty granted them of preaching
amongst us." Mr. Morris speaks of.,the Synod as formed; he
is writing some time after the event; it would have been more
strictly correct, if he had said, the brethren that are now, or
were soon formed into-the Synod of New York. The Synod
at its first meeting, at Elizabethtown, in September 1745, upon
considering the circumstances of the people in Virginia, "and
the wide door that is opened for the preaching of the gospel in




DEATH OF MR. ROBINSON.             141
these parts, with a hopeful prospect of success, the Synod are
unanimously of the opinion, that Mr. Robinson is the most
suitable person to be sent among them, and accordingly they
do earnestly recommend it to him to go down and help them as
soon as his circumstances will permit him, and reside there for
some months." No person more acceptable to the people could
have been designated, or sent, to those, who looked, with joy,
upon him as their spiritual father. But they saw his face no
more; his radiant course was coming to its close. The next
meeting of the Synod of New York, took place, in the city of
New York, October, 1746. The death of Mr. Robinson is
made a matter of record, —and, —" a supplication and call for a
minister from Hanover, in Virginia, was brought into Synod
and read; the Synod doth earnestly recommend the assisting
of said people, to the Presbyteries of New Brunswick and New
Castle. From these Presbyteries they received their supplies
till the Presbytery of Hanover was formed."
Messrs. Gilbert, Tennent, and Samuel Finley, performed their
missions, and were kindly received by the Governor, who gave
them permission to preach in Hanover. "By this means," says
Mr. Morris, " the dreadful cloud was scattered for a while, and
our languid hopes revived. They continued with us about a
week, and though the deluge of passions, in which we were at
first overwhelmed, was by this time somewhat abated, yet
much good was done by their ministry. The people of God were
refreshed, and several careless sinners were awakened. Some
that had trusted before in their moral conduct and religious
duties, were convinced of the depravity of their nature, and the
necessity of regeneration, though indeed there were but few
ungenerate persons amongst us at that time; that could claim so
regular a character, the most part indulging themselves in criminal liberties, and being remiss in the duties of religion, which,
alas! is too commonly the case, still, in such parts of the
colony, as the late revival did not extend to. After they left us
we continued vacant for a considerable time, and kept our meetings for reading and prayer in several places, and the Lord
favoured us with his presence.
Extracts from the Records of the General Court, held in
Williamsburg, Oct. 19th, 1745.
"Present-The GOVERNOR,
JOHN ROBINSON,        LEWIS BURWELL,
JOHN GRYMES,          WILLIAM FAIRFAX,
JOHN CUSTIS,          JOHN BLAIR, and
PHILIP LIGHTFOOT,     WILLIAM NELSON, Esqcrs., and
THOMPSON LEE,         WILLIAM DAWSON, Clerk.




142               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
" Our Lord the King,-against
" John Roan, Thomas Watkins, son of Ed-   Upon several inward Watkins, James Hubbard, Joshua  formations exhibitMIorris, Charles Rice, Isaac Winston, red against them for
Sen. and Samuel Morris,             9 misdemeanours.
"The said defendants by their attorneys respectively say that
they are not guilty in manner and form as in the said information against them alleged and of this they severally put themselves upon the country-and the Attorney General of our Lord
the King, likewise." The person first named in the preceding
record, was the Rev. John Roan-the last mentioned, was Mr.
Morris, the reader to the people, from whom the Reading House
took its name, and from whose narrative frequent quotations
have been made: the others were persons, at whose houses Mr.
Roan had preached, or were implicated in the excitement. Mr.
Roan's name does not appear after this date. Mr. Morris says,
"Six witnesses were cited to prove the charge against Mr.
Roan, but their depositions were in his favour; and the witness
who accused him of blasphemy, when he heard of the arrival of
Messrs. Tennent and Finley, fled, and has not returned since,
so that the indictment was dropped."
Mr. Samuel Finley, one of the delegation, was pastor of
Nottingham, Cecil county, Maryland. Born of pious parents
in the county of Armagh, Ireland, in the year 1715, he was
deeply impressed with a sense of religion when he was six years
old. Emigrating to America, he landed in Philadelphia, September 28th, 1734. Having pursued his studies for the ministry, through many difficulties, he was licensed by New Brunswick Presbytery August 5th, 1740. Having preached with
great acceptance, he was ordained as Evangelist, October 13th,
1742, and enjoyed much success in his labours at Deerfield,
Greenwich and Cape May, New Jersey. In June 1744 he
went to Nottingham, where was a large congregation of his
countrymen and their descendants. He was installed pastor
the same year he visited Virginia. He opened an Academy in
Nottingham, and attracted scholars from a great distance,
being justly famed as a scholar, and eminently qualified as a
teacher. In this institution, Rev. Dr. McWhorter, Dr. Rush,
Governor Henry of Maryland, Col. John Bayard, and a number of other eminently useful characters, received their education. Upon the death of President Davies in 1761, Mr. Finley
was chosen his successor. In his early ministry he was much
engaged in the great revival; and during his presidency, in the
year 1762, there was a great attention to religion among the
students, nearly one half being hopefully converted.
Mr. Finley was a man of small stature, round face, and




REV. GILBERT TENNENT.              143
ruddy countenance. In the pulpit he was always solemn, and
sometimes glowing with fervor. He possessed great knowledge
of the human heart, and was remarkable for sweetness of temper, politeness and generosity. The University of Glasgow
conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1763.
At the request of some people in New Milford, Connecticut,
who had seceded from the Congregational church on account
of the Arminian doctrine of the minister, he was sent by Presbytery to preach to them a short time. Lieutenant Governor
Law, who belonged to the opposing party, taking advantage of
the strict laws then in force in Connecticut, ordered him to be
arrested, and carried from constable to constable, and from
one town to another, to the borders of the State, and there dismissed.
Going to Philadelphia for medical advice, he closed his most
useful and exemplary life, on the 17th of July 1776, in a joyful and triumphant manner. His biography would form a
choice volume of Christian experience. He was an example of
enjoyment in the profession of gospel truth, and in spiritual
exercises.
The other minister appointed by the "' Conjunct Presbytery,"
afterwards the Synod of New York, to visit Governor Gooch,
was Gilbert Tennent, son of Rev. William Tennent, of "Log
College" memory. Born in Ireland, Feb. 5th, 1703, the eldest
of four brothers that became Presbyterian ministers, he was
hopefully converted at the age of fourteen, under the ministry
of his father. His education was completed at the "Log College."  Licensed by New Castle Presbytery in the year 1725,
he was the same year settled in New Brunswick. He was the
chief instrument of the separation of the Synod in 1741, devoutly believing that a separation was necessary for the preservation and advancement of religion. He expressed his
opinions of his opponents with great vehemence, in his famous
"Nottingham  Sermon."  In 1743 he became pastor of the
church in Philadelphia, which was gathered chiefly from "those
who were denominated the converts and followers of Mr. Whitefield." A bold, ardent, practical, and unusually impressive
preacher, his labours in the great revival were productive of
visible and lasting good. In 1753 he was chosen with Samuel
Davies, to represent the College of New Jersey before the
churches in England.  The journal of Mr. Davies has been
preserved and makes a part of this volume. Nothing has yet
appeared from the pen of Mr. Tennent, in the diary or journal
form, respecting that successful visit. As Mr. Tennent had
been a leading man in the division of the Synod, he was equally
prominent in the reunion. In one he appeared a son of thunder, and in the other a son of consolation. He continued in




144               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA
the ministry about forty years. In a sermon preached before
the College, and published, by request, in 1757, he argues that
the pollution of Adam's race can be accounted for only by the
fact that Adam's sin was imputed to all his race. He never
dissented from the orthodox construction of the Confession of
Faith.
"After these left us,"-says Mr. Morris-"'we continued
vacant for a considerable time, and kept our meetings for reading and prayer in several places. And the Lord favoured us
with his presence. I was again prosecuted and repeatedly fined
in court for absenting myself from church and keeping up
unlawful meetings, as they were called.  The next that were
appointed to supply us were the Rev. William Tennent and
Samuel Blair. They administered the Lord's supper amongst
us; and we have reason to remember it as the most glorious
day of the Son of Man. The assembly was large, and the
novelty of the manner of administration did peculiarly engage
their attention. It appeared as one of the days of heaven to
some of us; and we could hardly help wishing we could with
Joshua have delayed the revolution of the heavens to prolong it."
William Tennent, here mentioned, was the second son of
William Tennent of the "Log College." In the course of his
preparation for the ministry he was taken ill and appeared to
die. Saved from burial by the importunity of one who loved
him with peculiar tenderness, he revived. All recollection of
his former acquirements was gone. By degrees his mind was
restored to its proper action, and he finished his preparation for
the ministry. More than six feet high, of a spare thin visage,
erect carriage, bright piercing eye, with a countenance grave
and solemn, he was always cheerful, and won youth to seek his
conversation. He carried through life a lively recollection of
the scenes and things that occupied his mind during the days
he lay as one dead; they were a perpetual stimulus in his ministerial work.  HIe preached with indescribable power, in a
manner peculiar to himself, and seldom failed to interest and
impress his audience.  Of scrupulous integrity, independent
mind, and an uncommonly clear perception of human character,
he was a noted peace maker. Living above the world, he finished his course March 8th, 1777, having been pastor of Freehold, New Jersey, forty-two years.
His associate, Samuel Blair, was famous in his day as an admirable preacher, a superior teacher, and a good writer. Born
in Ireland, June 14th, 1712, he was early removed to Monmouth,
New Jersey; and completed his education at the "' Log College"
of William Tennent. He was licensed in 1733 by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, which then covered New Jersey. The




REV. MR. WHITEFIELD.               145
next year he was ordained pastor at Shrewsberry, by the Presbytery of East Jersey, which had been set off from the Philadelphia Presbytery.  Five years after, the Presbytery of New
Brunswick was formed and he was a member. In the fall of
1739, by the advice of Presbytery, Mr. Blair removed to New
Londonderry in Faggs Manor Chester county, Pennsylvania.
The next year his congregation was visited with a powerful
awakening, which spread to the neighbouring congregations,
and ultimately reached Virginia under the preaching of Mr.
Robinson, who found the soil prepared to his hand. Mr. Blair
opened a school in which were educated some noted ministers
of the Presbyterian Church-Alexander Cumming, settled in
Boston,-John Rodgers, in New York,-John Blair Professor
of Divinity at Nassau Hall, —Rev. James Finley, Hugh
Henry, and Samuel Davies whose name is dear to Virginia and
Nassau Hall.  The attachment of Davies to Mr. Blair may be
seen in his Journal. The feelings of tenderness and sentiments
of respect expressed on a visit to the dwelling of the widow are
worthy of the pupil and his teacher. Dr. Green tells us, in his
History of the College of New Jersey, that Mr. Davies, on his
return from Britain, in reply to an inquiry respecting the pulpit
orators he had heard abroad, replied,-" that there was scarce
one of them who exceeded, and most of them came far short of
his old master, Mr. Blair, both as to the matter of their discourses, and the impression produced by their delivery. He
died July 5th, 1751, at the early age of thirty-nine years and
twenty-one days. His last sickness was brought on by a journey to Nassau Hall to attend a meeting of the Trustees.  He
lay a long time in Philadelphia; and feeling his end approaching, he sent for the elders of his church, and two members
from each quarter of his congregation, and gave them his dying
council.  This was preserved and printed by his brother-in-law
the Rev. Robert Smith of Pequa.  Dr. Finley says,-"strict
holiness was his choice."
These gentlemen, the Tennents and Finley and Blair, it is
supposed visited the other Presbyterians in Virginia, as well as
those in Hanover. Of this however we have no written document, or direct tradition further than-" Hat Creek in Campbell county was consecrated with the prayers of Gilbert Tennent. "
"After Mr. Tennent and Blair were gone"-says Mr. Morris- "Mr. Whitefield came and preached four or five days,
which was the happy means of giving us further encouragement, and of engaging others to the Lord, especially amongst
the church people, who received the gospel more readily from
him than from ministers of the Presbyterian denomination.
19




146               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
After his departure we were destitute of a minister, and followed our usual method of reading and prayer at our meetings,
till the Rev. Mr. Davies, our present pastor, was sent us' by the
Presbytery to supply a few Sabbaths in the spring of 1747,
when our discouragements from Government were renewed and
multiplied."
The early Presbyterians in Virginia were enlightened by a
galaxy of ministers, of which the church might glory in her best
days. In the height of the religious excitement, they were
called, in derision, by the clergy of the established church, and
others who opposed,-dissenters,-enthusiasts,-fanatics,-new
lights,-hypocrites, —while they themselves gloried in the names
of Christians —and Presbyterians. Davies in writing to the
Bishop of London acknowledged himself one of those designated by opposers-as " new lights;" but he shows that it was
a misnomer. In Virginia the word "new light," in a little
time, lost its opprobrium, and became among Presbyterians a
technical phrase; but was never recognised as their proper
name.
The labours of these men, Robinson, Roan, the Blairs, and
the Tennents, laid the foundation on which Davies builded;
and all united have had a controlling influence over Virginia
Presbyterians in creed and practice, to this day. From the
time of these men, the Virginia ministers and people have
believed in awakenings,-in spiritual exercises in religion,-and
the power of godliness in men's hearts and lives. From deep
conviction they have been believers in the depravity of human
nature,-'the sovereignty of God,-original sin,-the divinity
of Christ,-the influences of the Holy Spirit as a divine person,-and the absolute necessity of the new birth. Hoping for
justification by the righteousness of Christ made theirs by faith,
believing it would be safe to appear in it, in the judgment to
come, ministers and people rejoiced in the unsearchable riches
of Christ, through trials and difficulties that would make ordinary spirits tremble and quit the field. By the help of God
they have left us a good report.




147
CHAPTER IX.
VIRGINIA IN 1743; COMMISSARY BLAIR; WILLIAM AND MARY
COLLEGE.
AT the death of Rev. James Blair, one of the greatest benefactors of Virginia, in the year 1743, the ecclesiastical and
political condition of the colony had not ostensibly much
changed, except by expansion. Looking back upon the progress of things, we now see the colony was even then on the
eve of changes and revolutions that went on with rapidly increasing force and extending influence till consummated in
complete political and religious liberty, the liberty of choice
and of law.
The population had greatly increased, and was taking possession of the vallies beyond the Blue Ridge. The frontiers
had been removed several days journey west of the head of
tide water. Emigrations were flowing in, destined to have a
greater influence on the State, than mere numbers, or wealth
however increased. Virginia was esteemed loyal through all
the changes and revolutions that shook the throne of England
in the time of the Charleses, and the Jameses, and Cromwell,
and the Prince of Orange. There was nothing to make her
otherwise.  She had a State religion with which the overwhelming majority were satisfied, and would probably have
been forever had it been rightly administered. In her assembly
she claimed and exercised all the independence a colony in
her condition desired. Too weak to stand alone, she clung to
the throne of England by which she had not felt herself
oppressed. In the collisions with proprietors and the Board in
London, the King had appeared the friend of the colony,
which had not yet questioned his prerogative in Church and
State. She had been indulged in her Legislature more than
ever the Parliament of England had been, on account of- her
distance, and the apparent unimportance of the political bearing
of her independent acts. And yet by her increasing area and
population, by her habits of personal independence and increasing wealth, Virginia was rapidly preparing for the change
from the most loyal to the most republican colony.
In her ecclesiastical concerns the elements of change were
ready to be developed. The number of the clergy had increased with the increasing parishes, but had not improved
in general character or influence. The Bishop of London said




148               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of them, about this time, —in his letter to Dr. Doddridge"Of those who are sent from  hence, a great part are the
Scotch or Irish, who can get no employment at honre, and
enter into the service more out of necessity than choice.
Some others are willing to go abroad to retrieve either lost
fortune or lost character. For these reasons and others of
less weight I did apply to the King, as soon as I was Bishop
of London, to have two or three bishops appointed for the
plantations to reside there."
The support of the clergy was regulated somewhat differently, at this time, from the law and custom of 1688. At that
period, as stated in chapter first, a tax of sixteen pounds of
tobacco was levied on each of the titheables of the parish, for
the support of the minister. His support varied, consequently,
with the number of his titheable parishioners, as well as with
the quality of the tobacco cultivated. But in 1696, to remove
in part this inequality and secure a competent salary in all
parishes, it was enacted,-"that all and every parish minister,
or ministers, in all and every parish and parishes, in this dominion, incumbent in said parish or parishes, and therein officiating as minister, or ministers, shall have and receive for his
or their meantenance the sume of sixteen thousand pounds of
tobacco besides their perquisites." This law remained in force
till the Revolution. In the fluctuations of trade and the consequent changes in the price of tobacco, the operations of this
law were a source of great complaint to the clergy, and constant vexation to the whole country. The preamble of the law
sets forth, that this law was made for the advantage of religion
and its ministers; history declares it was the cause of sorrow
and endless disputes to both ministers and people, and embittered the revolutionary contest.  Beverly tells us-" When
these salaries were granted, the Assembly valued tobacco at
ten shillings per hundred; but in all parishes where the sweet
scented grew, since the law for appointing agents to view the
tobacco was made, it has generally been sold for double that
value. The fee for a funeral sermon is forty shillings, or four
hundred pounds of tobacco; for a marriage, by license, twenty
shillings, or two hundred pounds of tobacco; and when the
bans are proclaimed only five shillings or fifty pounds of tobacco." There was also a dwelling house and glebe lands, &c." in some parishes likewise, there are, by donation, stocks of
cattle and negroes, on the glebes, which are also allowed to the
minister, for his use and encouragement." The amount of
support given the clergy taken in connexion with their general
influence and their seeking from the Legislature greater emoluments, had an influence on the public mind preparatory to the
change which now began to appear.




VIRGINIA IN 1743.               149
In some particulars, the clergy of the established church
have not received justice, at the hands of historians.  Some of
them were men of piety, whose death was triumphant. Many
were men of classical education, who brought libraries of value
from the mother country. Some of these, from necessity, and
others from choice, opened classical schools, and taught thoroughly and extensively. The sons of the wealthy were instructed at these schools. To the parsons, whose morals were
often distressingly loose, and whose religion was but a name,
Eastern Virginia was for a long time indebted for her supply
of educated men.
The citizens of Virginia were advancing in wealth and refinement; and in courtly manners, had no peers in the colonies,
except in Boston, Massachusetts, Edenton and Newbern, North.
Carolina, and in parts of South Carolina. Williamsburg was
the centre of taste and fashion and refinement. The sessions
of the General Court, and the house of burgesses, collected the
wealth and talent of Virginia, that vied in splendour with the
representative of royalty. The entertainments of the Governor
and Council in the capital were answered by entertainments in
the country; and a season of revelry in the city was followed
by a tour of visiting in the country. Young men seeking refinement of manners had specimens of the English gentlemen to
copy. Wealth, dress, and address were every thing: and the
two latter were often obtained at the expense of the former. A
season unfavourable for tobacco brought dismay to those who
were in the habit of anticipating their income. Sometimes,
unhappily, the father left his son expensive habits, a worn out
plantation, and a heavy debt; then degradation by poverty,
premature death, or emigration to the western borders, were the
alternatives. Too spirited to be degraded, and too proud to be
mean, many families carried to new settlements, in the wilderness, easy manners, dear bought experience, and social refinement; and commencing life anew, ran a new course, less splendid and expensive, but not less amiable; less captivating, but
not the less useful to the State. The farther the removal from
Williamsburg, the less the dependence on the King: the more
embosomed in the mountains, the more resolutely did the pioneers contend against authority that was not warranted by
necessity and the plainest dictates of law. Above tide-water,
the people simple in their habits, plain in manners, and accustomed to a roving and independent life, questioned every demand made upon their property, their persons, or their enjoyments.  They were still loyal, because they had not been
provoked by oppression.  Their children were republicans; in
England they would have been styled rebels.
The Rev. James Blair led the way for improvement in lite



150               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
rature and science; and opened the path from obscurity to
renown, for some of the greatest statesmen of their age. He
did much that, in concurrence with other causes to be mentioned,
brought about the Revolution in Virginia. He wished well to
the colony, and laboured like a patriot, in all probability unconscious of the effects to be produced by his labours. He sought
for mental improvement as a means to advance morals and
religion. He accomplished what he designed, and unthinkingly
perhaps, put in motion a mighty engine to shake the throne and
set conscience free. He was the father of successful literary
enterprise in Virginia, and all the South.  Commonly called
Commissary Blair, his glory is in being the founder of William
and Mary College. Mr. Blair was born in Scotland, in the
year 1665. Having a liberal Scotch education, he obtained a
benefice in the Established Church of England, as set up in
Scotland by the Stuarts.  That form of government was never
acceptable to the great body of the Scotch; and much less so
wvere the ceremonies of worship. Mr. Blair, unwilling to perform the ministrations of his office amidst discontent and constant uneasiness, left Scotland, hoping to find in England an
opportunity to labour in usefulness and peace. This was some
time in the reign of Charles the Second. Compton, Bishop of
London, made choice of him as a missionary to the Colonies, and
prevailed on him to sail for Virginia in 1685. Mr. Blair's
ministerial labours and general deportment in Virginia being
highly acceptable to the planters and government officers, a
favourable report of him reached the Bishop of London. When
Sir Francis Nicholson was, in 1689, made Lieutenant-Governor
of Virginia, the Bishop made Mr. Blair his Commissary. The
Governor publicly entered upon his office June 3d, 1690. The
next day, says Burke, the commission of Mr. Blair as Commissary was laid before the Council. - The Commissary was the
Bishop's deputy with limited powers. He might hold conventions of the clergy for the discipline of the Church, and might
visit churches for that purpose; but could not ordain Priests or
Deacons, or depose delinquent church officers, or confirm communicants. The office was more burdensome than profitable,
and required peculiar talents for government.  It gave Mr.
Blair some advantage in his efforts to build a college, as he
appeared as the representative of the Bishop of London. The
salary was ~100 from the quit rents.
The wants of the country deeply affected his mind before he
became Commissary; and he had also contemplated the true
remedy which was, in part, with the powers in England, and
in part, with him in Virginia. To his part he addressed himself with all his strength. With the installation of the Governor
and the proclamation of his own commission as Commissary,




WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE.             151
he brought forward his proposition for a College for Protestant
Virginia. A subscription paper headed by the Governor and
his Council soon amounted to 25001. In the first assembly
held by Nicholson, in 1691, the project of the College was
highly approved and recommended to the patronage of their
majesties; and Commissary Blair was appointed to present the
address. Their majesties William and Mary highly approved
the plan of the College; and sent over an ample charter by
Governor Andress, bearing date February 14th, 1792. The
Bishop of London was Chancellor, Mr. Blair President, with
six professors, for Latin, Greek, Mathematics, Moral Philosophy, Divinity, and for the instruction of Indians. The name
was William and Mary.  The preamble of the charter says" their trusty and well beloved subjects, constituting the
General Assembly of the colony of Virginia, have had it in
their minds, and have proposed to themselves, to found and
establish a certain place of universal study, or perpetual college of Divinity, philosophy, languages, and other good arts
and sciences-to the end that the church of Virginia may be
furnished with a seminary of ministers of the gospel, and that
the youth may be piously educated in good letters and manners, and that the Christian faith may be propagated among
the Western Indians, to the glory of Almighty God." The
corporation might hold property to the amount of 20001. a
year. Trustees were appointed, with full powers, to act till
the College was completed; the whole then to pass into the
hands of the President and Professors who were then to
become a corporation. Their Majesties endowed the College
with about 20001. quit rents due them from the colony; with
20,000 acres of land; with the place of the Surveyor General
of the colony, then vacant, worth about 501. per annum;
with the duty of a penny a pound on all tobacco exported to the
sister colonies, worth about 2001. per annum; and the privilege
of a Burgess in the Assembly.  The Assembly of Virginia
added the duty on skins and furs, worth about 1001. per annum;
and from time to time made other liberal donations. The legislature determined that the College should not be located as
first designed, at Townsends lands, but at Middle Plantations,
near the church. This place was afterwards chosen as the
capital, and named Williamsburg.  The foundation of the
College was immediately laid, in the form of a square; and
two sides completed and occupied for purposes of instruction.
In erecting this College, Mr. Blair exhibited a patience and
perseverance worthy of all praise. Colleges in colonies were
not then popular either in England or the colonies themselves.
In England many said,-" Let the colonists attend to the productions of the earth, and look to England for learning and




152               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
learned men." When pressed on the subject of religion in the
colony, one of the lords of trade imprecated a curse upon their
souls-" let them make tobacco." In the colony those who
thought they would lose by the application of the imports, as
directed by their majesties, opposed the College. They said in
the colony, that the planters, by means of the College and
schools, would be drawn from their business, and the colony
would become poor; and to the powers in England that the colonists would become too knowing to be obedient and submissive
subjects. Mr. Blair urged that the English born in the colony
were capable of everything, if provided with the means of a
good education; that as Virginia lay between the colonies north
and south, her College might be a common nursery; and that
the native colonists would be put in a way of further improvement.  He also insisted on the advantages arising to religion
from such an institution, both in the colony, and also among the
Indians on its borders. The christianising the Indians was a
favourite project with the pious in England. Robert Boyle
made a handsome donation to the College, to secure the education of young Indians, and their conversion to Christianity. He
called the professorship, "Brafferton" from an estate in England purchased with the money, the income of which was to
support the professor.
After sixteen years of labour, the College was in successful
operation, with this drawback, that the scholars were mostly
young beginners. Boys commencing their education, were sent
to the professor of languages, and the College wore the aspect
of an academy or high-school. More advanced scholars would
not attend with these young beginners in a young institution.
This difficulty arose from the want of proper schools, primary and
classical, and could be remedied only by their multiplication.
A greater drawback was from a fire, in 1705, during the short
administration of Governor Nott. " Very little saved that was in
it," says Beverly, " the fire breaking out about 10 o'clock at
night, in a public time. The Governor, and all the gentlemen
in town came up to the lamentable spectacle, many getting out
of their beds. But the fire had got such power, before it was
discovered, and was so fierce, that there were no hopes of putting a stop to it, and therefore no attempts made to that end."
The College, which was commenced in Henrico, in the early
days of the colony, after receiving many endowments, was abandoned after the massacre by the Indians in 1622; and with it the
high-school in Charles city, called the East India School, to be
connected with the College, was given up. The act for a college,
passed in 1662, existed on paper; and now the College of William
and Mary, after the labours of sixteen years, was consumed. Mr.
Blair was not discouraged. Under Governor Spottswood's ad



COMMISSARY BLAIR.                 153
ministration, and by the favour of that gentleman, a new edifice
was erected, and the College exercises resumed. Beverly says
that Spottswood was a friend of the Indians.  " There had been
a donation of large sums of money, by the Hon. Robert Boyle,
Esq., to this college, for the education of Indian children therein.
In order to make use of this, they had formerly brought half a
dozen of captive Indian children, slaves, and put them into the
College. This method did not satisfy this Governor, as not answering the intent of the donor, so to work he goes among the
tributary and other neighbouring Indians, and in a short time
brought them to send their children to be educated; and
brought new nations, some of which lived four hundred miles
off, taking their children for hostages and education equally, at
the same time setting up a school in the frontiers convenient
to the Indians, that they might often see their children under
the first managements, where they learnt to read, paying fifty
pounds per annum out of his own pocket to the schoolmaster
there; after which they were brought to the College, where
they were taught till they grew big enough for their hunting
and other exercises, at which time they returned home and
smaller ones were taken in their stead." To the honour of the
founders of the " University at Henrico" and of William and
Mary College, the education of the Indian youth formed an
important integral part of their plan, and was pursued with
commendable spirit. But, as in the case of the school of Dr.
Wheelock, and of Dartmouth College, comparatively little was
effected by the benevolent effort. There was one difficulty
never surmounted. The educated Indian must either abandon
his nation, or live among barbarians. If he abandoned his
country, the object of his education, influence over his nation
for civilization, was lost. If he went to the barbarians, he
must live single or take a savage for his wife, or do what was
not thought of for a moment, marry a white woman. Modern
efforts for the civilization of Indians are carried on in a different way marked out by experience, and embrace the education
of females.
Besides performing the duties of Commissary and President
of the College, Mr. Blair found time to write for the press, In
1722 there was published-" Our Saviour's Divine Sermon on
the Mount, contained in the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters of
St. Matthew's Gospel, Explained: And the practice of it recommended in divers Sermons and Discourses. In four volumes. By James Blair, Commissary of Virginia, President of
William and Mary College, and Rector of Williamsburgh in
that colony." A second edition corrected by the author, and
published under the care of Dr. Waterland, was made in the
year 1739. The Doctor prefixed a recommendatory notice.
20




154                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Hesays that noblest of subjects, the Saviour's Sermon on the
Mount, "is here explained with good judgment, so it appears
likewise to be pressed with due force; in a clear, easy, yet
masculine style, equally fitted to the capacities of common
Christians, and the improved understanding of the' knowing
and judicious."  He observes also —" how happy a talent the
author had in deciding points of great moment in- a very few
plain words, but the result of deep consideration, and discovering great compass of thought. Dr. Doddridge, the Dissenter,
author of the Family Expositor, in his Exposition, refers to
Mr. Blair as a writer of authority-" Mr. Blair in his excellent
discourses on this chapter has:shown, what a beautiful correspondence there is between- the characters described in these
beatitudes, and the blessings connected with} them." And
again commenting on the doxology in. the Lord's prayer, he
says —"-yet it is- certainly very ancient and as Bishop IHopkins, Mr. Blair, and other excellent writers have well observed,
so admirably suits, and enforces every preceding petition, that
I could not persuade myself to omit.it."
Mr. Whitefield passed through Virginia in 1740, about three
years before the death of Mr. Blair.  In his journal for December 15th h.e says-'"Paid.my respects to Mr. Blair, ComImissary of Virgiiiia.  His discourse was savomy,  uch as tended
to the use of edifying.  He received me with joy, asked me to
preach, and wished my stay were longer."
Mr. Blair's labours in Virginia was not to prevent his people
leaning to dissent from the established church, for, except the
few colonies of Presbyterians that were on the frontiers, and
the German settlement on the Rappahannoc, and the Huguenots on the James, none of which caused any alarm, he knew
nothing of dissent, in practice.  His great labour was to supply Virginia with educated men, and the, church with a proper
ministry.  As'far as he' succeeded he did the work of a true
churchman and patriot.
M1r. Blair died, August 1st, 1743, aged eighty eight years.
He had been a missionary fifty-eight years, and a minister of
the gospel about' sixty-two years; had acted as Commissary
fifty-four years, and Presdent' of the College fifty years.
William and Mary is his enduring monument.  The influence
of that institution on the'colony was gentle in its first operations; its advance regular, and yet quite imperceptible, at
any one time. We cannot say-we see its action till the time of
the Revolution.  There is no evidence that disloyalty was ever
uttered from a Pro-cessom,;"s chair. But there is evidence, -that
literature, and science,  arnd religion, acting up*on y.outhful
minds, in:this colony, re,:c i  from the fascinatio3sa of roy:l,t:
made republicans.  The iI4ife was in its or.g "i;,z;iuon E-'S



COMMISSARY BLAIR.                  155
copal, and probably will always remain so. It has had eminent men, of that denomination, at its head, both laymen and
ministers; and is now under the supervision of a Diocesan. A
detailed history of its origin, progress, troubles, and changes,
with some notice of the eminent men that were its alumni
would prove a volume of interest to the church to which, ecclesiastically, it belongs, and of value to the cause of literature
and religion at large. Every man would like to know more of
the mother college, at the South, especially after reading from
one of the greatest politicians in America-" In the spring of
1760, went to William and Mary College, where I continued
two years. It was my great good fortune, and what probably
fixed the destinies of my life, that. Dr. William Small of Scotland, was then Professor of Mathematics, a man profound in
most of the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of
communicative, correct, and gentlemanly, manners and an
enlarged and liberal mind. IHe most happily for me, became
soon attached to me, and made me his daily companion when
not engaged in the school; and from his conversation I got my
first views of the expansion of science, and of the system of
things in which we are placed."   This gentleman penned
the Declaration of Independence and the Bill for Religious
Liberty.
The influence of the African population on the colony was
now fully seen. Politicians were sensible that slavery, as an
element of society, gave rise to new' habits, customs, laws,
and usages; made the administration of law and justice peculiar; and gave a new turn to discussions about private rights.
From being an instrument of wealth it had become a moulding
power, leaving it a vexed question, which controlled society
most, the African slave or his master. The number of slaves
in Virginia in 1743 cannot be known. Governor Berkely tells
us in 1671 there were 2000 slaves to a population of 38,000
whites. In 1790 by census there were 293,427 slaves and
454,881 whites. The increase of the slaves had been like multiplying 2000 by 146; the white, like multiplying 38,000 by 12,
nearly. What was the relative number in 1743 is conjectural.
But in that year the number of counties was thirty-six; and
the House of Burgesses consisted of eighty members, two from
each county, one from each of the towns of Norfolk, Williamsburg and Jamestown, and one from William and Mary College.
Philanthropists looked with deep interest on this new element
in English society, and found in Virginia a phase of slavery
diverse from all ancient or modern forms of servitude.  Servants for life, scattered among the whites and outnumbered by
them, the Africans in Virginia were under civilizing influences
immeasurably superior to those in the West India islands.




156               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
While by their labour they conferred affluence and ease upon
their masters; by thus being congregated in small numbers,
and intermingled with the whites they were by degrees recovered from their native savageness, and led to some more becoming ideas of civilization and propriety. The meanest servant
on a Virginia plantation, after a few years residence, knew more
of the proprieties of life than the savage chiefs in Africa.
Christian people looked upon this body of men with peculiar
sympathy, and recognised a part of their Lord's vineyard unlike any found in Europe, and requiring the services of devoted
ministers of the gospel. That such men were found, and that
the spiritual welfare of this class of people was cared for in
proportion to the white population, will appear in the history
of religious denominations in the colony.
Two events of like nature, but differing in time and circumstance, had an influence on the religious aspect of the colony,
and ultimately on its political condition. By permission of the
Legislature a colony of Huguenots was planted in Virginia east
of the Blue Ridge; and this in a few years was followed by a
colony of Germans; each of which was permitted to have its
own ministers and exercise its own forms of religion. The
Huguenots, soon left their village at Manakin town, and intermingled with the English in the neighbouring counties. The
Germans, in Madison county, have preserved their location and
in some good degree their manners, but are fast loosing their
language. They were followed by numerous colonies that made
their home in the Valley of the Shenandoah. Their numbers
and wealth prevailed to have some enactments of the Legislature
recognising their existence and influence.
These colonies, on the frontiers, and the College near the
eastern border of the province, grew together. Their influence,
like the rivers on which they flourished, spread wider and
deeper, and, at the time of Mr. Blair's death, began to assume
the form of a head stream, meandering gently yet permanently
through a rich and beautiful country of forests and intermingled
habitations of men.




157
CHAPTER X.
REV. SAMUEL DAVIES, FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS VOYAGE TO
ENGLAND.
THE month of April, 1747, in Hanover county, Virginia, was
one of those times in which, the current of human events, running on with increasing bitterness, takes an unexpected turn;
the waters of Mara are sweetened, and the night of clouds and
thick darkness has its morning of brightness and joy.
After Mr. Whitefield's visit, the Presbyterians were not only
without a minister, but grievously harassed by the pains and
penalties of the law. "Upon a Lord's day"-says Mr. Morris-" a proclamation was set up at our meeting-house, strictly
requiring all magistrates to suppress and prohibit, as far as
they lawfully could, all itinerant preachers,-which occasioned
us to forbear reading that day, till we had time to deliberate
and consult what was expedient to do. But how joyfully were
we surprised before the next Sabbath, when we unexpectedly
heard that Mr. Davies was come to preach so long amongst us,
and especially that he had qualified himself according to law,
and obtained the licensing of four meeting-houses among us,
which had never been done before."
No man had equal influence with Mr. Davies in gathering the
congregations and settling the ministers that composed the
Presbytery of Hanover, the first Presbytery south of the Potomac, in connexion with the Synods of New York and Philadelphia. His spirit and habits and tastes gave complexion to the
Presbytery, and the Synod that grew out of the Presbytery.
The incidents of his life will always be interesting to the Southern church, over which his influence is still exerted, and to the
generations to which he is still preaching by his posthumous
sermons.
Samuel Davies was born near Summit Ridge, about twelve
miles from  Drawyer's Church, New  Castle county, state of
Delaware, November 3d, 1723, of Welch extract, both by
father's and mother's side. His father was a farmer, of small
property, of moderate intellectual endowments, and of a blameless, religious life.  His mother was possessed of superior
natural abilities, and was eminently and ardently pious. Of
her, Mr. Davies says, in a letter to Dr. Gibbons, of London,
that he was blessed with a mother whom he might account,
without filial vanity or partiality, one of the most eminent




158               SKETCHES IN VIRGINIA.
saints he ever knew upon earth.  ",I cannot but mention to my
friend an anecdote known to but few; that is, that I am a son of
prayer, like my namesake, Samuel the prophet, and my mother
called me Samuel, because, she said, I have asked him of the
Lord. This early dedication to God has always been a strong
inducement to me to devote myself to him as a personal act, and
the most important blessings of my life I have looked upon as
immediate answers to the prayers of a pious mother."
The father died the month next succeeding the son's acceptance of the presidency of the College of New Jersey, August
llth, 1759, aged 79 years. The mother survived the son some
years, and was an inmate of the house of Dr. Rodgers of New
York, the intimate friend of Mr. Davies, and his companion in
their preparatory studies for the ministry, and their early exercise of the sacred office.
As there is some discrepancy in the dates given by the different notices that have been published respecting Mr. Davies,
it is proper here to observe, that the dates given in this sketch,
for his birth,-licensure,-ordination,-marriage,-settlement
in Virginia,-his departure for England,-his return to Virginia,-his acceptance of the presidency,-his father's death, and
other dates respecting his family, are copied from memoranda
made by his own hand, in an interleaved quarto Bible, now in
the possession of his descendants near Petersburg, Virginia.
Mr. Davies is represented as having been a sprightly docile
child. As there was no school in the neighbourhood, his early
instructions in the rudiments of education were from the lips of
his mother. At about ten years of age he had the opportunity
of attending an English school, some distance from home.
According to his own opinion, while he made rapid progress in
learning, during the two years of his attendance, he lost some
of the deep impressions made by his mother's teaching, example
and prayers. His habits of secret prayer were continued,
and-" he was more ardent in his supplications for being introduced into the gospel ministry, than for any thing else." At
the age of twelve years he received impressions of a religious
nature that were abiding. In his fifteenth year, having a settled confidence of being justified by faith through grace, he
made a public profession of religion by uniting with the Church.
His heart was impressible, his conscience tender, his feelings
lively; and in reviewing his own conduct, he became, at this
early period, a severe and unsparing judge of himself, in all
things pertaining to godliness.
His classical course was commenced under the tuition of an
estimable and learned Welsh minister, a Mr. Morgan, a pupil
of the Rev. Thomas Evans of the same nation. When' Rev.
Samuel Blair opened his famous school at Fagg's Manor, Ches



REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.               159
ter county, Pennsylvania, young Davies was put under his
tuition, and there completed his education. In that school strict
attention was paid to the classics and the sciences. The acqui'
sition of theological knowledge was sedulously encouraged from
the commencement of the course. The standard of classical
acquirement was high; and the acquaintance with the best
writers on systematic theology was accurate. As evidence of
the high standing of Mr. Blair's school, and its real efficiency,
in making scholars, it may be observed, that from his students
came-John Rodgers, the eminently prudent patriarch of the
churches in New York city,-Alexander Cummins, nephew of
Mr. Blair, for some time minister in New York, and afterwards
in Boston, —Hugh Henry for a long time pastor of Monakin
and Rehoboth, the ancient churches on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland,-and Robert Smith, of Pequa, the father of Samuel
Stanhope and John Blair Smith, whose names are indissolubly
connected with the two Colleges, Hampden Sidney in Virginia,
and Union in New York.
Mr. Davies was a student. Stimulated to close application, by
his narrow means, and earnest desire for improvement, his slender frame became enfeebled, and, at the time his course of preparatory studies was completed, his health was very delicate.
He was licensed by Newcastle Presbytery, July 30th, 1746.
Of the circumstances of his first marriage, nothing more is
known than the following brief record taken from his Bible," Married to Sarah Kirkpatrick, October 23d, 1746."
On the 19th of February, 1747, he was ordained Evangelist,
for the purpose of visiting the congregations in Virginia, especially those in Hanover county. He had been aided by these
people in his preparatory studies by the agency of Rev. William
Robinson; his few months of probation in the vacancies in
Delaware and Pennsylvania had answered the high anticipations
of his friends; and his prudence and piety were of that order
called for in difficult posts in the Lord's vineyard. All these
things designated him as the proper person to send to the interesting, yet perplexing field of Hanover county, Virginia. The
civil suits instituted against Messrs. Roan, Morris, Watkins and
others, in October, 1745, for holding religious worship, contrary
to the law of the province, were still pending; and the agitation
of the public mind by no means allayed. Davies was reluctant,
doubting his own experience in church and political matters, and
his bodily health; but in obedience to his presbytery, he set out
for his destined field of labour.
Before visiting Hanover county, Mr. Davies passing down
the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia, and traversing the
country once occupied by Makemie, repaired to Williamsburg,
in Virginia. " I petitioned the General Court to grant me a




160               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
license to officiate in and about Hanover, at four meetinghouses."  The Governor, Mr. William Gooch favoured the application. The council hesitated. The tall, slim, well-formed
youth, pale and wasted by disease, dignified and courteous in
manner, won the Governor's favour. It were better he should
lead the people in Hanover, according to law, than to subject
them to fines and imprisonment for receiving instructions according to the law of their conscience, but contrary to the law
of the land. The Governor remembered his promise that the
Presbyterians acting according to the provisions of the law,
should be protected, especially on the frontiers. The General
Court was in session, the highest court in the province, composed of the Governor and council. The Governor presided.
In state and parade, Virginia surpassed all the other provinces.
Davies in after years may have appeared more grand, but he
never appeared more interesting than when he modestly asked
of the court, and finally obtained by the influence of the Govenor, permission to preach the gospel unmolested, to the vexed
and harassed people of God, in Hanover. The license was
issued in the following form:
"' April 14th, 1747.
"Present-the GOVERNOR,
JOHN ROBINSON,        LEWIS BURWELL,
JOHN GRYMES,         nWILLIAM FAIRFAX,
JOHN CUSTIS,          JOHN BLAIR, and
PHILIP LIGHTFOOT,    WILLIAM NELSON, Esqrs.
THOMAS LEE.           WILLIAM DAWSON, Clerk.
"On the petition of Samuel Davies, a Dissenting Minister,
who, this day in Court, took the usual oaths to his Majesty's
person and government, and subscribed the Test, and likewise
publicly declared his assent thereunto, he is allowed to assemble and meet any congregations of Dissenters, at the several
meeting-houses, on the lands of Samuel Morris, David Rice,
and Stephen Leacy, in Hanover county, and on the lands of
Thomas Watkins in Henrico county, without molestation, they
behaving in a peaceable manner, and conforming themselves
according to the directions of the acts of parliament in that
behalf made."
In two days the trial of those indicted for worshipping contrary to law, while Mr. Roan was in the province, commenced.
The granting Mr. Davies license to preach, and the licensing
of houses, some of which were on the lands of the indicted, had
no effect with the Council or Governor towards dismissing those
arraigned for past offences of worshipping contrary to law and
custom. In'the opinion of the Court, justice required some




REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.              161
victims to preserve the sanctity of the law; and the incensed
church must be appeased by fines.
On the 17th of April, 1747, the Governor present, with same
council as above, with the exception of Messrs. Burwell and
IDawson, the case of Thomas Watkins the son of Edward Watkins, was called, and,-" continued to the next court at the
motion and costs of the said Thomas."
On the 20th of the same month, same court present as at the
signing the license, with the exception of Lightfoot, Lee, and
Burwell, the case of Joshua Morris was taken up, and-" the
Attorney General of our Lord the King saith he will not further prosecute of and upon the premises. Therefore it is ordered, that the indictment aforesaid be dismissed." The same
record is made in the case of Charles Rice.
In the case of Isaac Winston, senior, the following record is
made under the date of the 20th of the month. " This day
came as well the Attorney General of our Lord the King, as
the defendant by his attorney; and thereupon came a jury-to
wit-Thomas Guille, James Roe, Benjamin Cocke, James Patton, Theophilus Field, Thomas Addison, John Woodson, George
Waller, Peter Fontaine, Littleton Scarburgh, Major W. Harding, and Thomas Gray, who being elected, tried and sworn the
truth to speak upon the issue joined, brought in a special verdict, in these words, to wit —We find that people did assemble
at the house of the defendant, but not in a riotous manner, and
that John Roan preached in said house, but not against the
canons of the Church of England as set forth in the information; —and the cause is continued till the next court for the
matters of law arising thereupon to be argued." This case was
argued April, 1748.
On the same day, the case of Samuel Morris, labourer, was
taken up and tried. The verdict rendered (the names of the
jury omitted) was-" We find that Roan preached at defendant's house; and that he is clear of all charge against him, in
the information. The case is continued till the next court for
the matters of law arising thereupon to be argued." It was
argued April, 1748.
On the 2d day of May, of the same year, and at the same
sessions of the court, there is the following notice of Mr. Morris-" On motion of his Majesty's Attorney General, the King's
writ of Certiorari is awarded to remove hither certain presentments of the Grand Jury made in the County Court of Hanover in November last, against Samuel Morris, Bricklayer, John
Sims son of John Sims, and Roger Shackelford, Planters,Thomas Green, Tailor, and William Allen, returnable here the
sixth day of next court."
It may not be amiss to quote one more record of the General
21




162               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Court, dated April 17th, 1747. "The Grand Jury appeared,
&c.-They also presented Robert White Senr. Margaret White,
and John White Junr. for impiously and blasphemouslyreviling
our Holy Religion and the Common Prayer; for blasphemously
asserting —the Cross in Baptism to be nothing but a whore's
mark,-and for reviling the Bishops and Clergy of the Church
of England." This suit was renewed in 1749, but dismissed in
1750. Unguarded and passionate expressions, in religious controversy, were avenged by the strong arm of the law, whose aid
was invoked to sustain the privileged church; but no notice
was taken of any harsh expressions used against dissenters,
however unjust and severe.
From these scenes, in the court, Mr. Davies proceeded to
Hanover, with an excited spirit; and was received with an outburst of joy. News had spread through the county that another
preacher was expected by the people that worshipped in the
Reading Houses; and a proclamation was attached to the door
of the Reading House of Mr. Morris, warning all people against
gathering to hear "itinerants," as the law would be enforced
with rigour, on all delinquents. The Reading was omitted for a
Sabbath-the alarm, in recollections of past sufferings, and of
the suits still pending in the General and County courts, caused
the people to pause and consult. The coming of Dr. Davies,
with his license, was like a visit from the angel of mercy. His
ardent sermons refreshed the congregations, and his legal protection turned the enmity of the opposers to their own mortification.
His account of his mission is short —"I preached frequently
in IHanover, and some of the adjacent counties; and though the
fervour of the late work was considerably abated, and my
labours were not blessed with success equal to that of my
brethren, yet I have reason to hope they were of service in
several instances.  The importunities they used with me to
settle with them were invincible; and upon my departure, they
sent a call for me to the Presbytery. After I returned from
Virginia, I spent near a year under melancholy and consumptive languishments, expecting death."
Soon after his return from Virginia, his wife was taken from
him, in a sudden and afflictive manner. The brief notice in his
Bible is-" "September 15th, 1747, separated by death, and
bereaved of an abortive son." Grief for her loss oppressed his
languishing frame, and thoughts of his own speedy dissolution
mingled with his sighs for the departure of his beloved. His
hectic assumed a more alarming cast, and his prospects of prolonged usefulness vanished. Dr. Gibbons relating the circumstances, as he received them from Mr. Davies, says-" finding
himself upon the borders of the grave, and without any hopes




REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.               163
of a recovery, he determined to spend the little remains of an
almost exhausted life, as he apprehended it, in endeavouring to
advance his Master's glory in the good of souls; —and as he
told me,-he preached in the day, and had his hectic by night,
and to such a degree as to be sometimes delirious, and to stand
in need of persons to sit up with him."
Unwilling, in his weak state, to take charge of any congregation, he travelled from vacancy to vacancy, and from desolation to desolation, as much as his feeble strength would permit,
and was every where made welcome. In the spring of 1748"he began slowly to recover, though he then looked upon it
only as the intermission of a disorder that would finally prove
mortal. Many earnest applications were made for his pastoral
services. The one from Hanover, "signed by about one hundred and fifty heads of families," came with renewed importunity, and aided by the voice of the living messenger despatched
by the people to urge their call, moved his heart. He says"but upon the arrival of a messenger from Hanover, I put my
life in my hand and determined to accept their call, hoping I
might live to prepare the way for some more useful successor,
and willing to expire under the fatigues of duty rather than in
voluntary negligence." It is scarcely possible for a missionary
to have gone to Virginia in circumstances better calculated to
make an impression in favour of the gospel which he preached.
In his domestic afflictions and bodily weakness, Davies felt the
sentence of death gone out and already in execution. His soul
burned with the desire of usefulness, and his tongue uttered the
earnest persuasions of a spirit that would reconcile man to God,
and lay some trophies at the Redeemer's feet, before his lips
should be locked up in the grave. He longed to carry with
him to the heavens some gems for the eternal crown.  The
people of Hanover were ready for an elevated spirit to lead
them on through common and uncommon difficulties, through
trials incident to all men, and the trials peculiar to their situation from the laws of the province, complaints, ridicule, indictments, fines and heavy costs of court,-to virtue and honour
and eternal life. Davies was the man for the situation; for
what were all these difficulties to such a man expecting soon to
be giving in to God the account of his stewardship?
In his second visit to Virginia he was accompanied by his
fellow student and warm friend John Rodgers, whose biography
has been so ably written by his associate in the ministry, Rev.
Samuel Miller, D.D., of the Theological Seminary, Princeton,
New Jersey.
These friends had pursued their studies for the ministry in
times of the greatest religious excitement the country had ever
known, a parallel to which is seldom found in any age or any




164               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
part of the world. The great awakening in which the Presbyterian church in Ireland was gathered, more than a century
previous, and the great excitement, commonly spoken of as
"the great Revival of 1802," that spread over the Southern,
and Western, and portions of the Middle States," with a power
almost terrific, were of a similar nature, and like abiding consequences. Together, these form three links in the chain of
God's remarkable gracious dealings with the Presbyterian portion of his church, especially that part found in America. The
influence of the great Revival in Ireland was felt in every
Presbyterian band of emigrants from the "Emerald Isle," that
came in such numbers to the Middle, and Southern, and Western States, from Makemie's time to the American Revolution.
That of 1740 and onwards, in New England, New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, laid
broad and deep foundations for the spiritual church to arise in
the wilderness. And that of 1802 lighted up the fires of the
sanctury in the South and West like a pioneer chain of forts,
both a refuge and a temple for the adventurous emigrants. In
all these there were, in places, many very exceptionable things.
Extravagances in feeling and action arose in them all. Errors
in doctrine crept in; many tares were sown with the wheat.
But the seed was not all tares; neither did the tares possess
the field. There were some wild vines; but many plants of
Sorek struck deep roots, whose fruits have refreshed the world.
We do not believe the good and the evil were inseparable,
either in the nature or the circumstance of the case. But,
could it be established that the good flowing from these great
awakenings could not be separated from the evils that accompanied, a soul that loves the race of men, and reverences the
Redeemer of the lost, might, in view of these awakenings, pray
pour out thy Spirit, 0 Lord, O Lord review thy work-shake
the earth, and let the desire of all nations come.
These young friends also received their education under the
preaching and instruction of one who took a leading part in the
excitements and agitations of that peculiar period; whose piety,
and talents, and ministerial usefulness, and academical success,
made the school at Fagg's Manor a rival of the Log College of
the Tennents. Virginia can never forget Samuel Blair, or his
school, while she holds the pupil, Davies, in becoming estimation.
At the earnest solicitation of Mr. Davies, Mr. Rodgers was
appointed, by Presbytery, to accompany him, and engage, for a
few months, in the work of Evangelist in Virginia. They commenced their journey in April, 1748, and proceeded directly to
Hanover.  On their way, as related by Dr. Miller, Mr. Rodgers
was relieved from his distressing fear of thunder, by being




REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.               165
exposed to the violence of a tempest of lightning and thunder
in the thick woods, during a benighted ride. On reaching
Hanover, they rested a Sabbath,-both preached,-and proceeded to Williamsburg, to obtain a license for Mr. Rodgers to
preach in the province.  Governor Gooch received the young
ministers kindly, and favoured the application. When they
appeared before the Council, Mr. Rodgers presented his testimonials from the Presbytery, and asked that they might be
read, preparatory to his taking the oath, such as had been
required of his friend Davies. Some of the Council objected to
reading the papers, and demanded that the subject be made a
matter of private consultation.  The Governor requested the
clerk to take the papers from the young gentlemen, and read
them,-and repeated the demand; but the attorney and some of
the Council objecting strenuously to the reading, before a consultation, Sir William, bowing to the young ministers, said," Gentlemen, you shall hear from us in a day or two." They
immediately withdrew to their lodgings, shut themselves in
their chamber, and poured out their hearts unto God. A separation seemed inevitable, or Virginia must be abandoned. Was
it the will of God that the province should be left?-or that
Davis should, solitarily, and as an exile, preach the riches of
grace where a door, was by law, scarce opened to him alone,,/
and by the providence of God, opened to a host of ministers?
On the afternoon of the next day, at the invitation of the
Governor, they met him, at his residence, with three of the
Council, who were friendly to the application. The Governor
informed them, that unable to procure from the Council, a license
for Mr. Rodgers, as he had desired, it was with the greatest
difficulty he had prevented the recall of the license granted
Mr. Davies the last year. The young men insisted that they
had asked only for a right, and not a privilege; —that the Act
of Toleration was explicit in making it a right to ask, and a
duty to grant, license in such cases. The Governor admitted
their construction of the law, and expressed his regret at the
decision of the Council.
At the suggestion of the Governor, in a polite note sent to
them that evening, the young ministers prepared a memorial in
due form, and the next day presented it to the Council, while
the Governor was prudentially absent. After the reading, the
senior member of the Council filling the Governor's chair, exclaimed with warmth —"we have Mr. Rodgers out, and we are
determined to keep him out;"-and dismissed the subject.
The excitement ran high; the suits commenced, years before,
against certain gentlemen in Hanover, were in progress; at
this session of the court, Isaac Winston, sen., and Samuel
Morris were each fined twenty shillings with costs of prosecu



166               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
tion. Some of the clergy of the Established Church were vehement in their opposition to these young men. One of the clergy
of Hanover followed Messrs. Davies and Rodgers to Williamsburg, and complained that Mr. Rodgers had preached in the
province without license, and demanded the rigorous enforcement of the law. From members of the Council he met encouragement: but from the Governor a rebuke-" I am surprised
at you!-you profess to be a minister of Jesus Christ,-and
you come and complain of a man,-and wish me to punish him
for preaching the gospel! For shame, Sir! Go home, and
mind your own duty. For such a piece of conduct, you deserve
to have your gown stripped over your shoulders."
The Governor, and three members of the Council,-Mr.
Blair, nephew of Commissary Blair the founder of William and
Mary College —Rev. William Dawson, D. D., the successor of
Rev. James Blair as Commissary and President of the College,-and another gentleman whose name is not given, —sympathised with the young dissenting ministers, (as they were
termed,) treated them with great kindness, and endeavoured to.procure a reconsideration of the case before the Council.
After much consideration, however, farther efforts to obtain a
license for Mr. Rodgers was abandoned, and he prepared to
leave the province. "Almost all the intelligent men in the
colony" —says Mr. Burke in his 3d vol. pages 121, 2-" and
amongst the rest several who afterwards became distinguished
as the champions of an unqualified freedom in every thing
relating to the human mind,-and even the venerable name of
Pendleton, appear in the class of persecutors; a proof that
liberality and toleration are not instinctive qualities, the
growth of an hour; but the result of wisdom and experience."
In the month of May 1748, Mr. Rodgers parting with his
friend Davies, crossed the bay of Chesapeake, visited the
scene of Makemie's labours, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. There his preaching met with great acceptance. He
passed on to Delaware, and the next year became pastor of the
church at St. George's, gathered by the labours of Mr. Robinson, so favourably known in Virginia and Maryland. Mr.
Davies went up to Hanover, and took his residence among a
pious and inquiring people, whose pastor he continued about
eleven years, laying the foundation of the Presbytery of Hanover, and moulding the spirit of the future Synod of Virginia.
In the whole "Ancient Dominion" he had no fellow labourer
with whom his heart might rejoice. West of the Blue Ridge,
there were Miller and Craig, and on its eastern base at the
head of Rockfish, Mr. Black;-but these were members of the
Synod of Philadelphia, and for some years had no communication with Mr. Davies. Like David Brainerd, he laboured in




REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.               167
solitude; Brainerd, with savages that had no sympathy for
him, but in the neighbourhood of eminent Christian ministers;
Davies, with kind and hospitable people that appreciated him,
but no Christian brother near to counsel and to cheer. Brainerd
finished his course as a minister, when Davies commenced his.
Both laboured in weakness of body; both preached "as dying
men to dying men." And the church will forever love to dwell
upon their self-denial and success.
In writing to the Bishop of London, in whose diocese Virginia was reckoned, under date of January 10th, 1752, Mr.
Davies reveals the state of mind with which he entered upon
this solitary field of labour nearly four years previous. "I
solemnly assure your Lordship that it was not the secret thirst
of filthy lucre, nor the prospect of any other personal advantage, that induced me to settle here in Virginia. For sundry
congregations in Pennsylvania, my native country, and in
other northern colonies, most earnestly importuned me to
settle among them; where I should have had, at least an equal
temporal maintenance, incomparably more ease, leisure and
peace, and the happiness of the frequent society of my brethren; and where I should never have made a great noise or
bustle in the world, but concealed myself in the crowd of my
superior brethren, and spent my life in some little service for
God and his church, in some peaceful corner, which would
have been most becoming so insignificant a creature, and more
agreeable to my recluse natural temper. But all these strong
inducements were overweighed by a sense of the necessity of
the Dissenters, as they lay two or three hundred miles distant
from  the nearest ministers of their own denomination, and
laboured under peculiar embarrassments for the want of a
settled ministry."
In his letter to Dr. Bellamy he says: "The Honorable
William Gooch always discovered a ready disposition to allow
us all claimable privileges, and the greatest avrersion to persecuting measures; but considering the shocking reports spread
abroad concerning us, by officious malignants, it was no great
wonder the Council discovered considerable reluctance to tolerate
us. Had it not been for this, I persuade myself they would
have shown themselves the guardians of our legal privileges, as
well as generous patriots to their country, which is the character generally given of them." If in this case he thought more
favourable of the Council, than circumstances justified, or Burke
believed, his favourable opinions flowed from a charity that
thinketh no evil. That the Governor was pleased with Davies
is evident; and equally as evident that he was greatly incensed
with some of the people in Hanover.
While Messrs. Davies and Rodgers were urging their applica



168               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
tions for license for Mr. Rodgers, it has been observed that the
trial of Isaac Winston, sen., took place, April 18th, 1748, before
the Governor and Messrs. Robinson, Grymes, Lee,'Fairfax,
Blair, Nelson and Dawson, members of Council.-" The matters of law arising upon the special verdict being argued, —It
is considered by the court, that the said Isaac make his fine
with our Lord the King, by the payment of twenty shillings to
his Majestys use, and that he pay the costs of prosecution."
The same verdict was rendered in the case of Samuel Morris.
On the same day, the case of ThomasWatkins' son Edward, continued from the preceding year, was dismissed.
Mr. Morris in his narrative says: " Some who had invited
him (that is Mr. Roan) to preach at their houses, were cited to
appear before the General Court, and two of them were fined."
Again he says: "'While my cause was upon trial, I had reason
to rejoice that the throne of grace is accessible in all places, and
that helpless creatures can send up their desires in the midst
of a crowd." Again he says: I was'repeatedly fined in court
for absenting myself from church, and for keeping up unlawful
meetings as they were called."
From such tyrannical and exciting proceedings Mr. Davies
went to Hanover and took his abode. His preaching during
the summer of 1748 was blessed. The desire to hear the gospel
from the lips of the young dissenter spread in every direction;
people rode great distances to attend upon his ministry, and
became desirous to obtain some portion of his services in their
more immediate neighborhood for the benefit of their families
and neighbours. To avoid all collisions with the public authorities resolutely bent on executing the laws in favour of the
English church, petitions, from the different neighbourhoods,
were laid before the General Court for an increased number of
authorized houses of worship. The petitions were granted.
" November, 1st 1748.
" Present-of the council,-Robinson, Burwell, Fairfax,
Blair, Nelson, and Lewis. On petition of divers of the inhabitants. of the counties of Louisa, Goochland, and Carolina, Samuel
Davies, a dissenting minister, who hath qualified himself according to the Act of Toleration, is allowed to assemble and
meet any congregation of Protestant Dissenters, at the several meeting-houses to be erected on the land of Joseph
Shelton, near Owen's Creek, in the county of Louisa,-on the
land of Tucker Woodson, in the county of Goochland,-and on
the land of John Sutton, at Needwood, in the county of Caroline, without molestation, they behaving in a peaceable manner.
and conforming themselves according to the directions of the
said Act of Parliament in that behalf made."
To avoid all difficulty, Mr. Davies requested the following




REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.               169
entry, of a fact which had been omitted, which was made, —viz.,
"On motion of Samuel Davies, a dissenting minister-it is
ordered that the certificate of his reading, assenting to, and subscribing the articles of Religion according to the Act of Toleration be recorded."
This license added three places of preaching to the four previously occupied by Davies. The seven were located,-three in
Hanover, one in Henrico, one in Goochland, one in Louisa, and
one in Caroline. Of these, he says in his letter to the Bishop
of London, "' The nearest are twelve or fifteen miles apart, and
many of the people have ten, fifteen, or twenty miles to the
nearest, and thirty, forty, or sixty miles to the rest; nay, some
of them have thirty or forty miles to the nearest."
Some time after the county court of New Kent gave license
for his preaching, in St. Peter's parish, within their bounds,but the excitement had become so high on the subject, that the
General Court annulled the proceeding.
A copy of this petition from inhabitants of New Kent, is preserved among the writings of Mr. Davies. It is itself a comment on the state of society.
" To the WorshiTpful Court of New Kent; the Petition of the
Subscribers humbly showeth."
" Whereas we are Protestant Dissenters of the Presbyterian
denomination, under the ministerial care of the Rev. Mr. Davies,-and therefore humbly claim the liberties, and immunities
granted to such by the Act of Toleration, upon our taking the
qualifications therein imposed, which we are willing to do; and
whereas our distance from the meeting-houses now licensed,
renders our attendance on Public Worship, (a word or two obliterated) and sometimes impracticable, your petitioners, therefore,
pray that a place on the land of William  Clopton, in this
county, may be recorded, according to the direction of the said
Act, and licensed for our public religious use.
" And your petitioners as in duty bound shall pray &c. Blackmore Hughes-Roger Shackelford-Ricbard AMuir —William
Crumpton-Robert Brain-John Thompson-(three or four
names obliterated) Charles Cuningham, —Simon Clement,Abraham Lewis,-Thomas Francis, —Julius K. Burbidge."
At a court held for New Kent County, April 12th, 1750 —
"On the petition of divers of the inhabitants of the county of
New Kent and Hanover, Samuel Davies a dissenting minister,
who hath qualified himself according to the Act of Toleration is
allowed to assemble and meet any congregation of Protestant
Dissenters at a meeting-house to be erected on the land of Wm.
Clopton in New Kent County without molestation, they behaving in a peaceful manner and conforming themselves accord22




170               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ing to the provisions of the said Act of Parliament in that
behalf made.
Copy —Teste
JOHN DANDRIDGE, Clerk of County."
This license was revoked by the General Court.
In the case of Watkins, Morris, and others, the defence had
been confined to the matters of fact in evidence-that they
had assembled in a peaceable manner,-and had avoided all
irritating epithets in their worship.  And these facts were
proved in face of the indictments. But the jury brought in a
special verdict-guilty of the fact of assembling,-but not
guilty of the irregularities charged in the bill. On the special
verdict, they were fined, because they assembled contrary to
the statutes, in houses not licensed by the  Court.  The
Governor understood the law of the Province, and also the
extent of his promise given to the emigrating Presbyterians;
and was punctilious in the execution of both. It is not clear
that the members of Council, or of the Bar, had the right
interpretation of the Act of Toleration, in its effect upon their
own laws.
In the discussion, which took place, upon the application for
licensing the three additional places of worship, for Mr. Davies
and his friends, the rights of Dissenters were fully canvassed.
Mr. Davies and his friends contended, as Makemie had done,
in his appearance before the Virginia Courts, and in his
famous trial in New York, given in Chapter III. of these
Sketches,-that in England, the Act of Toleration took off the
edge of all the penal laws, under whatever name, made against
Dissenters, upon their taking certain oaths; —that this Act of
Toleration having been made a part of the Virginia code in
1699, also took of the edge of penal laws in Virginia, on like
like conditions.- This the Governor always admitted; and the
Attorney General admitted in theory —but denied the application in England to be such as understood by Mr. Davies. Mr.
Rodgers at the time of his application for licensure, in a
private conference with the Governor, modestly expressed his
opinion that, as a Dissenter in the eye of the Virginia law, he
had a right to a license, on complying with the terms of the
Act of Toleration. To this the Governor assented; but the
Council dissented, and took it upon themselves to determine
how many preachers the Dissenters in Hanover, and adjacent
counties, ought to have, and refused Mr. Rodgers his license,
and had some discussion about annulling that granted to Mr.
Davies the previous year,-or declaring it to have been only temporary. At the time of the second application for places for Mr.
Davies to preach in, the ground of discussion was changed; the
question was, how many places of preaching should a Dissent



REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.               171
ing minister have? The Attorney General and others would
have the Dissenters limited to a small number, some thought
with the Bishop of London, that one place of preaching was all
that a Dissenter in Mr. Davies' situation could ask for: and
of consequence, that the number of Mr. Davies places of
preaching should be lessened rather than increased.
Mr. Davies plead that he was not guilty of causing dissent
in Hanover, that it sprung up, as all knew, without a preacher;
-That the desire of people to attend on his preaching was not,
while he observed the laws of the province, to be imputed to
him as a crime:-That the ministers of the Established Church
in Hanover and other counties had some two, and one three
places of preaching, because their parishes were so extensive,
and the population so sparse;-That the members of his
church, with the families connected, were sufficient to form two
respectable congregations, were they located in the vicinity of
each other, and the places of worship;-that they were however greatly scattered, the mass being in Hanover, and the
others in ilenrico, Goochland, Louisa, Caroline, and New
Kent, and at distances too great to attend at two places, except by riding thirty or forty miles;-That the intention of
the Toleration Act was to enable the Dissenters from the
Established Church to worship according to law, and under its
provision; —that unless license was given for houses, in sufficient numbers, to accommodate the Dissenters, the intention of
the Act of Toleration would not be followed out in its spirit;and that the Dissenters would be compelled by the court to
break the laws of the province which require the citizens to be
in the regular habit of attending the parish church; —and that
it could not be the design of the court, by withholding license,
to compel the peaceable citizens to subject themselves to expensive and vexatious suits at law, or grieve their consciences.
The lawyers in attendance complimented Mr. Davies; the
Governor and majority of the council sustained him. The young
Dissenter gained laurels; and he rejoiced because it gave him
opportunity to preach the gospel to his fellow men.  The
Attorney General, Peyton Randolph, could not be prevailedt
upon to put a favourable construction upon the law, and continued, for years, to throw obstacles in the way of the Presbyterians obtaining license for meeting-houses, especially when.
the petition came from neighbourhoods originally settled by
others than colonies of Presbyterians. A great part of Mr.
Davies' labour was in counties not originally Presbyterian; and
his success was reckoned by the Attorney and others, as the
progress of dissent to the detriment of the Established Church.
Years after this petition, and after Mr. Davies had repeatedly
appeared in Williamsburg, speaking of Randolph, he calls him




172              1 SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
"my old enemy," —whose influence he dreaded in London,
when on the mission for the College.
Mr. Davies entered the second time into the matrimonial
state, being united in marriage October 4th, 1748, to Miss Jane
Holt, of Hanover. This lady, of whom he ever spoke with the
greatest affection, bore him six children, and survived him many
years. His residence was about twelve miles from Richmond,
in the neighbourhood of the meeting-house built near "Morris's
Reading House."   This meeting-house is still standing; a
plain, unpretending wooden building, capable of containing
about five hundred people.  Over the pulpit are the letters
S. D. In pleasant weather this building was quite too small for
the multitudes that assembled. The thick woods were then
resorted to; and the opposers of the Dissenters were exasperated at the sight of crowds listening to the gospel in the deep
shades of the forest.
The fact that so soon after his return to Virginia, there was
need of three additional houses, is evidence of the great excitement attending the preaching of Mr. Davies. Rev. Jonathan
Edwards, under date of May 23d, 1749, says-"I heard lately
a credible account of a remarkable work of conviction and conversion, among whites and negroes, at Hanover, Virginia,
under the ministry of Mr. Davies, who is lately settled there,
and has the character of a very ingenious and pious young man;
whose support in.his preparation for service, Mr. Robinson
contributed much if not mostly to, and on his death-bed gave
him his books."
In his lettter to Dr. Bellamy, Mr. Davies says, previously
to 1751,-" there are about three hundred communicants in
my congregation, of whom the greater number are, in the judgment of charity, real Christians, besides some, who through
excessive scrupulousness, do not seek admission to the Lord's
table. There is also a number of Negroes. Sometimes I see
a hundred and more among my hearers. I have baptized about
forty of them within these three years, upon such profession of
faith, as I then judged credible."
Mr. Davies was a very regular attendant upon the meetings of
the Synod of New York, as the records show. What was his habit
with his Presbytery cannot be known, as the records of Newcastle Presbytery are not to be found. In his attendance on
Synod he always remembered the desolations of Virginia. In
May, 1749, the year after Mr. Davies settled in Hanover, the
Synod met at Maiden Head. Upon representation of the
circumstances of Virginia-" Mr. Davenport is appointed, if he
recover a good state of health, to go and supply Virginia."
At this meeting the first proposition for reconciliation and
union with the Synod of Philadelphia was entertained. The




REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.               173
next year he Synod recommended to the Presbytery of New
Brunswick-" to endeavor to prevail with Mr. John Todd upon
his being licensed, to take a journey thither; and also to the'
Presbytery of New York, to urge the same upon Messrs. Syms
and Greenman. Mr. Davenport is appointed to go into Virginia
to assist in Supplying the numerous vacant and destitute
congregations there. The same is also recommended to Mr.
Byram."
The Synod, at its meeting, in the month of September, of
the same year,-"making inquiry how the several appointments for Virginia had been fulfilled, do find that Mr. Davenport has been there, and that Mr. Todd is licensed and preparing to go."  Of this visit of Mr. Davenport, Mr. Davies
says in his letter to Dr. Bellamy, -"I forgot to inform you in
the proper place, that the Rev. Mr. Davenport was sent by the
Synod to Hanover, last summer, and continued there about two
months. And blest be God, did not labour in vain. Some
were brought under concern, and many of the Lord's people
much revived, who can never forget the instrument of it."
The established clergy of Virginia complained loudly of the
proceedings of the General Court in the case of Mr. Davies,
and in the year 1750, appealed to their Diocesan, the Bishop of
London. Colonel Lee, the President of the Council, informed
Mr. Davies of this, some time in the summer. Mr. Davies
immediately began preparing a statement to lay before the
Bishop. But in the month of August, after having proceeded
some length, he postponed the work, and addressed the following letter:
To the Rev'd and Hon'ble Dr. William Dawson, Commissary
of His Majesty's Council and President of the College of
Winm. and Mary.
Rev'd and Honoured Sir:-As I am informed, you have written
to England for Instructions with respect to the Dissenters in
my Congregation, and particularly with respect to the meetinghouse in New Kent; and as I suppose you have transmitted
some account of them and that affair, in order to give light for
an impartial determination, I request you to send me a copy
of the representation you have made, or at least an account of
the substance of it. As each party in such a case has a legal
right to know the true state of it; and as I confidently presume
your representation need not affect concealment as its defence
and honour; I cannot look upon my request as a criminal
curiosity to pry into inviolable secrets of Government; however Sir, if it should appear so to you, your refusal with the
reasons of it will give it an easy and inoffensive check. I solemnly profess Sir, it does not proceed from a suspicion that




174               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
you have knowingly and willfully given a partial and injurious
representation of us. Your compliance Sir, or the reasons of
your denial will lay peculiar obligations on,
Rev'd and Honoured Sir,
Your already obliged and most humble servant,
SAMUEL DAVIES.
Hanover, August 19th, 17.50.
The desired answer, the representation, was never given to
MIr. Davies by Dr. Dawson.
A statement of the situation of the Dissenters in Virginia, was
sent by Mr. Davies to Dr. Doddridge, in England, a copy of
which has not been preserved. Letters were sent to other dissenting ministers in England; and much sympathy was expressed for the suffering Christians in Virginia. No answer
being received fromn Dr. Dawson, Mr. Davies completed the
statement he had begun for the Bishop of London, and sent it
to the care and discretion of his friends in England. A copy
of this was preserved among Mr. Davies's papers; it covers a
sheet of paper, and is drawn up in a historic form and in a
style of great simplicity and frankness.  The contents of it are
all embraced in his second statement which will be given in full.
Sometime in the year 1751, Mr. Davies received two letters
from Dr. Doddridge, one of which has been preserved, but in a
decayed state, and is as follows:
"Reverend and Dear Sir:-The former letter was written
many months ago and it would be too long to tell you by what
a series of providences it has been delayed. I must now tell
you by the hand of a friend, as the hurry of my journey, and
the great indisposition with which it has pleased God to afflict
me, renders it difficult for me to write myself, that I have
taken the affair of those prosecutions you mention and the refusal of your eighth license under the most serious consideration. On consulting with Dr. Avery as you desired, we both
judged that as I had some acquaintance with the Bishop of
London, it would be best I should write to his Lordship about
it, and I really thought there was such a spirit of candour and
piety in your letter as would plead your cause with him more
powerfully than any thing that could proceed from any.....
I therefore sent a large extract from it, and received the............Lordship which I here inclose, containing his answer
to...  of the letter he received from and wrote to
Virginia, on....... a copy of the licenses that were..
I will not trouble........  my reply to his Lordship, the
thing which I judge........ know with regard to it my
dear friend is,....... Act of Toleration which to be sure
you.in exact agreement with it. That (I) know
nothing of licensing...... the use of particular persons,




REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.               175
nor persons to preach in such and such places; a minister
licensed according to law has a right indifferently to preach in
any licensed place whatsoever, and every licensed place is open
to every qualified minister whom the proprietor or tenant will
employ, and therefore I apprehend that three or four persons
living one of them upon and the rest near the place for which
you desire the eighth license ought to draw up a certificate to
this purpose. We A, B, C, D, being Protestant Dissenters
under the denomination of Presbyterians do hereby signify to
his Majesty's justices of the peace (here you must determine the
words for yourself) that we intend to make use of such a place
situate in such a parish as a place of publick worship, and we
do hereby demand that this our certificate be registered according to law. If upon this the court will not register the certificate, and give you a testimonial of that register for which you
are to'pay sixpence and which is what we call a license of the
place, those whom I have consulted on this occasion apprehend
that you will have just matter of complaint in our court....
which we think you cannot have on the licenses that have..
us. As to your coming to these parts.... shall be extremely
glad to see you, and shall think....... honoured with
such a guest, but when I con...... inseparable from such
a journey and voyage....... especially when I consider
how much your...... of these new founded churches and
true g...... had two or three brethren of lea.... you
in the care of them and hope God will raise up some who may
be disposed to bear a part of your burden. In these parts we
want ministers extremely, and I never saw so great a number
of destitute churches since I have appeared under a public character. I should gladly enlarge but my time will not permit,
for this reason I must avoid saying any thing particularly of
Mr. Schultz the Jewish missionary, of whom indeed I have
heard nothing these two years but that the report we had concerning his death was false, and that he was a little while ago
living at Venice. I have long been thoughtful about some
scheme for forming a society for the propagation of the gospel
among the Dissenters, and have made some efforts towards it
this year; but it is judged most proper to defer the attempt for
a while. However I believe something pretty considerable will
be done towards encouraging the Mohawk school, in which
Colonel Williams has been a great instrument. I would beg'your prayers for me that it may please God to reestablish my
health, and to give me opportunities of pursuing those various
schemes of service as a tutor and writer as well as minister, on
which I hope he knows my heart is set, and for the sake of
which it is chiefly that I could wish to live. But it is a great
joy...... that God will never want instruments to carry




176               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
on his...... he has in you raised up one of so great eminence doe..... thanksgiving to many others as well as
myself. I..... possess the Archbishop of Canterbury
with whom...... almost two hours within these few days
with your character and the candour of your attempt.....
service if the affair should ever come before the...... that
his Grace's designs are so pacifick and his disposition.
that neither you nor any of the Dissenters will suffer any
injustice that he can prevent; and indeed his Majesty is so
strenuous an asserter of the religious rights of all his subjects
that none either in civil or ecclesiastical stations must think of
recommending themselves to him by invading them. Join with
me in praying that it may please God to reestablish his health
and prolong his life, as I am sure you will in rejoicing in that
great revival that he seems lately to have received. May God
scatter down on you and all under your care the blessings of
his providence and grace, may all the agreeable hopes you have
received by those souls which God has graciously given you be
answered and exceeded, and be assured that to be recommended to their prayers will be esteemed a happiness by
Dear Sir,
Your affectionate brother
And humble servant,
P. DODDRIDGE."
Accompanying this letter were the following extracts: first,
from a letter from Virginia, bearing date July 27th, 1750, as
follows: —"Seven meeting-houses, situated in five counties,
have been licensed by the General Court for Mr. Samuel
Davies. In those counties there are eight ministers of the
established church. The justices of New Kent county lately
granted him a license to have a meeting-house in St. Peter's
parish. But their order has been superceded by the General
Court, it being judged that this affair is not within the jurisdiction of county courts. The instructions alluded to in the
answer of Peyton Randolph, Esq., Attorney General of Virginia, to the first question, is as follows:-' You are to permit a
liberty of conscience to all persons except Papists, so they be
contented with a quiet and peaceable enjoyment of the same,
not giving offence or scandal to the government. I most earnestly request the favour of your Lordship's opinion, whether,
in licensing so many meeting-houses for one teacher, they
have not granted him a greater indulgence than either the
King's instructions or the Act of Toleration intended. It is
not to be dissembled that several of the laity, as well as clergy,
are uneasy on account of the countenance and encouragement he has met with; and I cannot forbear expressing my own
concern to see schism spreading itself through a colony which




REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.                177
has been famous for uniformity of religion. I had almost forgot
to mention his holding forth on working days to great numbers
of poor people, who, generally, are his only followers. This,
certainly, is inconsistent with the religion of labour, whereby
they are obliged to maintain themselves and families, and their
neglect of this duty, if not seasonably prevented, may, in process of time, be sensibly felt by the government."
The second extract that accompanied Dr. Doddridge's letter
is a copy of the two licenses granted to Mr. Davies for preaching in the seven meeting-houses. A copy had been sent to the
Bishop of London for his inspection, and this copy was sent
back to Mr. Davies for his inspection.
The third extract accompanying Dr. Doddridge's letter is a
part of the reply of the Bishop of London, sent to his correspondent in Virginia.  The Bishop sent this extract to Dr.
Doddridge, and he sent it to Mr. Davies. It bears date
December 25th, 1750. "As to Davies' case, as far as I can
judge, your Attorney General is quite in the right, for the Act
of Toleration confines the preachers to a particular place, to be
certified and entered, and so the practice here has been; and it
was so far admitted to be the case that the Dissenters obtained
a clause in the 10th of Queen Anne, to empower any dissenting
minister to preach occasionally in any other county but that
where he was licensed. I observe in one of the licenses, (a
copy of which you sent me) Davies is permitted to assemble,
&c., at several meeting-houses to be erected on the lands of
Joseph Shelton, &c. Now, the Act of Toleration requires that
the places of meeting shall be certified and registered, but how
houses that are not in being can be certified and registered, I
can't understand. The Act of Toleration was intended to permit the Dissenters to worship in their own way, and to exempt
them from penalties, but it never was intended to permit them
to set up itinerant preachers, to gather congregations where
there was none before. They are, by the act of William and
Mary, to qualify in the county where they live, and how
Davies can be said to live in five different counties, they who
granted the license must explain.
" In the act of William and Mary the Justices of the peace
can admit of the teacher's qualifications, which is the reason I
suppose of your Justices acting in the present case. If this
power be lodged with the Governor, as your Attorney General
takes it to be, I don't see how the Justices can interfere unless
they suppose they can do whatever the Justices in England
can do under the special authority of an act of parliament,
which in many cases would be an absurd claim.
" Since I received yours I have been confined at home, and
as the ships are soon going out, I have not time to advise upon
23




178               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
this subject, and therefore what I have said must be taken only
as my private opinion. But as this case concerns the church
abroad very much, I will soon learn what the sense of our lawyers is here."
Besides these extracts, Dr. Doddridge sent Mr. Davies a
copy of the letter from the Bishop of London, to him, inclosing
the three preceding extracts. The Bishop's letter bears date
"London, 11 May, 1751.
" Rev. Sir,
" I am very much obliged to you for the open and candid
manner in which you have communicated to me, the case of
Mr. Davies, and an extract of his letter upon the subject. I
wish all cases of this sort could be as fairly stated: it would
exclude frivolous complaints, and bring the rest to be understood, which often times they are not. The best return I can
make you, is to send you extracts, verbatim from the account I
received from Virginia, and from the answer I returned. You
have them enclosed.
" The question upon Mr. Davies's case, as far as it appears
yet, relates to the meaning and construction of the act commonly called the Toleration Act. What I conceive the meaning to be, appears in the extract from my answer. If you
consider the act, and the circumstance under which it was
granted, you will not, I believe, see reason to think me mistaken. If you judge the liberty granted not sufficient, and that
you, and every body, have a natural right to propagate their
opinions in religion in such a manner as they approve themselves, that is quite another point, and in which Mr. Davies,
who claims under the Act of Toleration, has no concern.
"' If you suppose the Church of England to be (which I am
persuaded you do not,) in the same state of corruption as the
Romish church was at the time of the Reformation, there wants
indeed no license, nor authority from the government to justify
the methods of conversion which Mr. Davies is pursuing, and
which the Methodists now do and long have pursued. But if
the Act of Toleration was desired for no other view than to
ease the consciences of those who could not conform —if it was
granted with no other view, how must Mr. Davies's conduct be
justified, who, under the colour of a toleration to his own conscience, is labouring to disturb the consciences of others, and
the peace of a church acknowledged to be a true church of
Christ? He came three hundred miles from home, not to serve
people who had scruples, but to a county where the Church of
England had been established from its first plantation, and
where there were not above four or five dissenters within one
hundred miles of it, not above six years ago. Mr. Davies says,




REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.                179
in his letter to you,'We claim no other liberties than those
granted by the Act of Toleration.' So that the state of the
question is admitted, on both sides, to be this: How far the
Act of Toleration will justify Mr. Davies, in taking upon himself to be an itinerant preacher, and travelling over many
counties, to make converts in a country, too, where till very
lately, there was not a dissenter from the Church of England?
" You will observe in the extract from my letter, that I promised to take the opinion of lawyers upon the case; but I have
not done it; which I tell you that you may not think I have
an opinion and conceal it from you.
"Mr. Davies says, sundry of the people have been indicted
and fined, and it is upon this information, I suppose, that you
express yourself apprehensive that methods of severity, not to
say of oppression, may be used. Of this I have heard nothing;
but give me leave to set you right on one thing, and to tell you
that my name neither is nor can be used for any such purpose.
The Bishop of London, nor his commissaries, have no such
power in the plantations, and I believe never desired to have it;
so that if there be any ground for such complaint, the civil
government only is concerned.
" There is another part of Mr. Davies's letter which gives me
great concern. I mean the character he gives of the clergy
and laity in Virginia. I dare say you have so much candor
as to deduct something from the general character; knowing
how hard it is not to suspect and charge corruption of principles, upon those who differ in principles from us. I have no
such account of the clergy of Virginia as will justify this character; though there may be reason in some cases for very just
complaints, and how can it be expected to be otherwise, considering the state of the Church of England abroad: the care of
it as an Episcopal church, is supposed to be in the Bishop of
London. How he comes to be charged with this care, I will
not inquire now, but sure I am that the care is improperly
lodged: for a bishop to live at one end of the world, and his
church at another, must make the office very uncomfortable to
the bishop, and, in a great measure, useless to the people.
With respect to ordinances, it has a very ill effect; the people
of the country are discouraged from bringing up their children
for the ministry, because of the hazard and expense of sending
them to England to take orders, where they often get the small
Apox, a distemper fatal to the natives of those countries.  Of
those who are sent from hence, a great part are of the Scotch
or Irish, who can get no employment at home, and enter into
the service more out of necessity than choice. Some others
are willing to go abroad, to retrieve either lost fortunes, or
lost character. For these reasons, and others of less weight, I




180               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
did apply to the king, as soon as I was Bishop of London, to
have two or three bishops appointed for the plantations, to
reside there. I thought there could be no reasonable objection
to it, not even by the dissenters, as the bishops proposed were
to have no jurisdiction but over the clergy of their own church;
and no more over them than should enable them to see the pastoral office duly performed; and as to New England, where the
dissenters are so numerous, it never was proposed to settle a
bishop in the country.
"' You are probably no stranger to the manner in which the
news of this proposal was received in New England. If you
are, I will only say, that they used all their influence to
obstruct the settling of bishops in the Episcopal church of England. Was this consistent even with a spirit of toleration?
Would they think themselves tolerated, if they were debarred
the right of settling ministers among themselves, and were
obliged to send all their candidates to Geneva or Scotland for
orders? At the same time that they exert this opposition, they
set up a mission of their own for Virginia, a country positively
Episcopal, by authority of their synod; and in their own country, where they have the power, they have persecuted and
imprisoned several members of the church, for not paying towards supporting the dissenting preachers, though no such
charge can, by any colour of law, be imposed upon them. This
has been the case in New England. I am sorry to add, that
some here, for whose characters and abilities I have due esteem,
have not upon this occasion given signs of the temper and
moderation that were expected from them.
" I do not willingly enter into these complaints even to you,
who, I am confident, will make no ill use of them. I wish there
was no occasion for them. In this wish, I am sure of your concurrence, from the love you bear to our common Christianity.
" I am, sir,
" Your most affectionate friend,
" Very humble servant,
" THos. LONDON."
Mr. Davies having received these communications drew up
at length a statement of the condition of the dissenters in Virginia, addressed to the Bishop of London, and sent it to his
friends in England, to present to the Bishop, should they, upon
perusal, think it advisable. It is as follows:
"JLy Lord,
"' My little name would probably never have been made known
to your lordship in this manner, were I not constrained by
such reasons as I humbly presume will acquit me froni the censure of a causeless instrusive application. Your lordship's




DAVIES' LETTER TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.      181
general character and the high sentiments of your candour afid
impartiality your valuable writings have inspired me with, persuade me your lordship is a patient searcher after truth both
in matters of speculation and fact; and therefore will patiently
bear the following representation, though unavoidably tedious,
especially when it is intended to reflect light upon a case, which
in your lordship's own judgment, concerns the church abroad
very much, and help to bring it to an impartial determination.
And though my being unaccustomed to such addresses may
render me awkward or deficient in some of the decent and precedented formalities with which I should approach a person of
your lordship's dignity; yet I flatter myself my inward affectionate veneration will naturally discover itself in such genuine
indications as will convince your lordship of its sincerity and
ardour, and procure your indulgence to my involuntary imperfections.
" When his Honour the President of this Colony, the late Col.
Lee, first informed me, that the case of the Protestant dissenters
here had been laid before your lordship, I drew up a representation of it with all possible impartiality, in a letter intended
for your lordship, dated August 13th, 1750. I had no suspicion
that either the President or the Rev. Dr. Dawson had knowingly and wilfully misrepresented it; yet I had reason to conclude their representation was imperfect, as they were not
thoroughly acquainted with the circumstances of the dissenters
in these parts.  This supposed imperfection I attempted to
supply in that letter. But upon farther deliberation I concluded, it would answer no valuable end to send it; as I had
then no opportunity of procuring the attestation of others, and
I know a person's speaking in his own behalf is generally deemed
a sufficient ground to suspect his veracity. Accordingly I kept
it by me until about three months ago, when I sent it with some
other papers upon the affair to a correspondent in London;
leaving it wholly to his judgment, whether to present it to your
lordship or not. I have not received any intelligence from
him as yet, what he has thought proper to do; and therefore
lest your lordship should not have received it, I shall as far as
I can recollect lay the substance of it before you, together with
such additional remarks as have been suggested to me by occurrences since that time.
" I informed my worthy friend Dr. Doddridge of the state of
affairs here with respect to the dissenters, about a year and a
half ago, and by his answer, I find he has laid a large extract
of my letter before your lordship. I wrote it with all the unreserved freedom of friendship, as I did not expect it would
have been presented to your lordship's eyes: yet I am glad
you have seen it; as by comparing it with this, which it may




182                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
be presumed I write with more caution, your lordship may be
convinced I do not act in disguise, but make substantially the
same naked artless representation of truth to all parties'.
"Dr. Doddridge has sent me a copy of your lordship's
letter to him, with the extracts of the letters from and to Virginia enclosed, as the fullest and easiest method of informing
me of your lordship's sentiments. This, my lord, will not, I
trust, weaken your' confidence that he would make no ill use'
of your lordship's freedom with him, since the matter is of a
public nature, and the reason of his writing to your lordship
was, that he might inform me of your sentiments. And as I find
some misrepresentations in your lordship's letter, and the extracts enclosed, which I apprehend I can rectify; I hope, my
lord, you will not suspect I have so much arrogance as to encounter your lordship as a disputant, if I presume to make
some free and candid remarks upon them.  My only design is to
do justice to a misrepresented cause, which is the inalienable
right of the meanest innocent; and as an impartial historical
representation will be sufficient for this purpose,'tis needless to
tire your lordship with tedious argumentation.
" The frontier counties of this colony, about an hundred miles
west and south-west from Hanover, have been lately settled by
people that chiefly came from Ireland originally, and immediately from the Northern colonies, who were educated Presbyterians, and had been under the care of the ministers belonging
to the Synod of New York (of which I am a member) during
their residence there. Their settling in Virginia has been many
ways beneficial to it, which I am sure most of them would not
have done, had they expected any restraint in the inoffensive
exercise of their religion, according to their consciences. After
their removal, they continued to petition the Synod of New
York, and particularly the Presbytery of Newcastle, which was
nearest to them, for ministers to be sent among them. But as
the ministers of said Synod and Presbytery were few, and vastly
disproportioned to the many congregations under their care,
they could not provide these vacancies with settled pastors.
And what, my lord, could they do in this case? I appeal to
your lordship, whether this was not the only expedient in their
power, to appoint some of their members to travel, alternately,
into these destitute congregations, and officiate among them as
long as would comport with their circumstances? It was this,
my lord, that was the first occasion, as far as I can learn, of our
being stigmatized itinerant preachers. But whether there was
any just ground- for it in these circumstances, I cheerfully submit to your lordship. The same method was taken for the same
reason (as I shall observe more particularly hereafter) to supply
the dissenters in and about Hanover, before my settlement




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.           183
among them; and this raised the former clamour still higher.
There are now in the frontier counties, at least five congregations of Presbyterians, who, though they have long used the'
most vigorous endeavours to obtain settled ministers among
them, have not succeeded as yet, by reason of the scarcity of
ministers, and the number of vacancies in other parts, particularly in Pennsylvania and the Jerseys: and we have no way to
answer their importunate petitions, but by sending a minister
now and then to officiate transiently among them. And as the
people under my charge are so numerous, and so dispersed, that
I cannot allow them at each meeting-house such a share of my
ministrations as is correspondent to their necessity, the said Synod has twice or thrice in the space of three years sent a minister to assist me for a few Sabbaths. These, my lord, are the
only itinerations that my brethren can be charged with in this
colony, and whether they should not rather run the risk of
this causeless charge, than suffer these vacancies, who eagerly
look to them for the bread of life, to perish through a famine
of the Word of the Lord, I cheerfully submit to your lordship.
"But as I am particularly accused of intrusive schismatical
itinerations, I am more particularly concerned to vindicate myself;and for that purpose it will be sufficient to inform  your
lordship of the circumstances of the dissenters in and about
Hanover, who are under my ministerial care.
" The dissenters here, my lord, are but sufficiently numerous
to form two distinct organized congregations, or particular
churches, and did they live contiguous, two meeting-houses
would be sufficient for them, and neither they nor myself, would
desire more. But they are so dispersed that they cannot convene for public worship, unless they have a considerable number of places licensed; and so few that they cannot form a particular organized church at each place. There are seven meeting-houses licensed in five different counties, as the letter from
Virginia, I suppose from the Rev. Dr. Dawson informs your
lordship. But the extremes of my congregation lie eighty or
ninety miles apart; and the dissenters under my care are scattered through six or seven different counties.  The greatest
number of them, I suppose about one hundred families, at least,
in Hanover, where there are three meeting-houses licensed:
about twenty or thirty families in Henrico; and about ten or
twelve in Caroline; about fifteen or twenty in Goochland, and
about the same number in Louisa; in each of which counties
there is but one meeting-house licensed: about fifteen or twenty
families in Cumberland, where there is no place licensed; and
about the same number contiguous to New Kent, where a license
was granted by the court of that county, but afterwards superseded by the General Court. The counties here are large, gene



184               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
rally forty or fifty miles in length, and about twenty or thirty
miles in breadth; so that though they lived in one county, it
might be impossible for them all to convene at one plade; and
much more when they are dispersed through so many. Though
there are now seven places licensed, yet the nearest are twelve
or fifteen miles apart; and many of the people have ten, fifteen,
or twenty miles to the nearest, and thirty, forty, or sixty miles
to the rest; nay, some of them have thirty or forty miles to the
nearest. That this is an impartial representation of our circumstances, I dare appeal to all that know anything about
them.
"Let me here remind your lordship that such is the scarcity
of ministers in the Synod of New York, and so great the number of congregations under their care, that though a part of my
congregation have, with my zealous concurrence, used repeated
endeavours to obtain another minister amongst them to relieve
me of the charge of them, yet they have not succeeded as yet.
So that all the dissenters here depend entirely on me to officiate among them,' as there is no other minister of their own
denomination within two hundred miles, except when one of my
brethren from the northern colonies is appointed to pay them a
transient visit, for two or three Sabbaths, once in a year or
two: and as I observed they cannot attend on my ministry at
one or two places by reason of their distance; nor constitute a
complete particular church at each place of meeting, by reason
of the smallness of their number.
" These things, my lord, being impartially considered, I dare
submit it to your lordship,
"'Whether my itinerating in this manner in such circumstances be illegal? And whether, though I cannot live in five
different counties at once, as your lordship observes, I may not
lawfully officiate in them, or in as many as the peculiar circumstances of my congregation, which though but one particular
church, is dispersed through sundry counties, render necessary?
"Whether contiguity of residence is necessary to entitle dissenters to the liberties granted by the Act of Toleration?
Whether when they cannot convene at one place, they may not,
according to the true intent and meaning of that Act, obtain as
many houses licensed as will render public worship accessible
to them all?  And whether if this liberty be denied them, they
can be said to be tolerated at all? i. e. Whether dissenters are
permitted to worshi'p in their own wac, (which your lordship
observes was the intent of the Act) who are prohibited from
worshipping in their own way, unless they travel thirty, forty
or fifty miles every Sunday?  Your lordship grants we would
have no reason to think ourselves tolerated, were we obliged to
send our candidates to Geneva or Scotland to be ordained; and




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.          185
is there any more reason to think so when great numbers are
obliged to journey so far weekly for public worship?
"Whether, when there are a few dissenting families in one
county and a few in another, and they are not able to form a
distinct congregation or particular church at each place, and
yet all of them conjunctly are able to form -one, though they
cannot meet statedly at one place; whether, I say, they may
not legally obtain sundry meeting-houses licensed, in these
different counties, where their minister may divide his time
according to the proportion of the people, and yet be looked
upon as one organized church? And whether the minister of
such a dispersed church, who alternately officiates at these sundry meeting-houses should on this account be branded as an
itinerant?
" Whether, when a number of dissenters, sufficient to constitute
two distinct congregations, each of them able to maintain a
minister, can obtain but one by reason of the scarcity of ministers, they may not legally share in the labours of that one, and
have as many houses licensed for him to officiate in, as their
distance renders necessary? And whether the minister of such
an united congregation, though he divides his labours at seven
different places, or more, if their conveniency requires it, be
not as properly a settled minister as though he preached but
at one place, to but one congregation? Or (which is a parallel
case) whether the Rev. Mr. Barrett, one of the ministers in
Hanover, who has three churches situated in two counties, and
whose parish is perhaps sixty milesin circumference, be not as
properly a settled parish minister, as a London minister whose
parishioners do not live half a mile from his church?
"I beg leave, my lord, farther to illustrate the case by a
relation of a matter of fact, and a very possible supposition.
"It very often happens in Virginia, that the parishes are
twenty, thirty, forty, and sometimes fifty or sixty miles long,
and proportionably broad; which is chiefly owing to this, that
people are not so thick settled, as that the inhabitants in a
small compass should be sufficient for a parish; and your lordship can easily conceive that the inhabitants 9f this infant
colony are thinner than in England. The Legislature here has
wisely made provision to remedy this inconveniency, by ordering sundry dhurches or chapels of ease to be erected in one
parish, that one of them at least may be tolerably convenient
to all the parishioners; and all these are under the care of one
minister, who shares his labours at each place in proportion to
the number of people there. In Hanover, a pretty populous
county, there are two ministers, one of whom has two churches,
and the other, as I observed has three; the nearest of which
are twelve or fifteen miles apart: and in some of the frontier
24




186               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
counties the number of churches in a parish is much greater.
And yet the number of churches does not multiply the parish
into an equal number of parishes; nor does the minister by
officiating at so many places, incur the odious epithet of an
itinerant preacher, a pluralist or nonresident. (Here again,
my lord, I appeal to all the colony to attest this representation.) Now, I submit it to your lordship, whether there be not
at least equal reason that a plurality of meeting-houses should
be licensed for the use of the dissenters here, since they are
more dispersed and fewer in number? The nearest of those
licensed are twelve or fifteen miles apart; and as, if there were
but one church in a parish, a great part of it would be incapable
of attending on public worship; so if the number of my meetinghouses were lessened, a considerable part of the dissenters here
would be thrown into a state of heathenism wholly destitute of
the ministrations of the gospel, or obliged to attend statedly on
the established church, which they conscientiously scruple.
And indeed this will be the case with some of them if more be
not licensed, unless they can go twenty, thirty, or forty miles
every Sabbath. And here, my lord, it may be proper to observe, that in the Act of Toleration it is expressly provided-'That all the laws made and provided for the frequenting divine
service on the Lord's Day, shall be in force and executed
against all persons that offend against the said laws, except
such persons come to some congregation or assembly of religious worship, allowed or permitted by this Act.' So that the
dissenters are obliged, even by that Act which was made designedly in their favour, to attend the established church unless
they come to some dissenting congregation; and this obligation
is corroborated, and the penalty increased by an act of our
Assembly, which enjoins all adult persons to come to church at
least once a month,'excepting as is excepted in an act made
in the first year of the reign of King William and Queen Mary,'
&c. But how, my lord, is it possible for them to comply with
this injunction, if they are restrained to so small a number of
meeting-houses as that they cannot attend them? If the Act
of Toleration imposes this restraint upon them, does it not
necessitate them to violate itself? And if our magistrates
refuse to license a sufficient number, and yet execute the penal
laws upon them for the profanation of the Sabbath, or the
neglect of public worship, does it not seem as though they
obliged them to offend that they may enjoy the malignant pleasure of punishing them?  The act of William  and Mary, my
lord, does not particularize the number of houses to be licensed
for the use of one congregation; but-only requires in general,
that all such places shall be registered before public worship
be celebrated in them; from which it may be reasonably pre



DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.         187
sumed, the number is to be wholly regulated by the circumstances of the congregation. It is, however, evident that such
a number was intended as that all the members of the congregation might conveniently attend. But to return. I submit it
also to your lordship, whether there be not as little reason for
representing me as an itinerant preacher, on account of my
preaching at so many places for the conveniency of one congregation, as that the minister of a large parish, where there
are sundry churches or chapels of ease, should be so called for
preaching at these sundry places, for the convenience of one
parish? Besides the reason common to both, the distance of
the people; there is one peculiarly in my favour, the small
number of our ministers; on which account almost the half of
the congregations that have put themselves under our synodical
or presbyterial care, are destitute of settled pastors: which is
far from being the case of late in the established church in
Virginia. I shall subjoin one remark more: It is very common
here, my lord, when a parish which has had sundry churches
under the care of one minister, is increased, to divide it into
two or more, each of which has a minister. And I submit it
to your lordship, whether my congregation may not be so
divided, when an opportunity occurs of obtaining another minister? And whether, till that time I may not, according to
the precedent around me in the established church, take the
care of all the dissenters at the places already licensed, and
at that petitioned for, when I do it for no selfish views, but
from the unhappy necessity imposed upon me by present circumstances, and am eager to resign a part of my charge as
soon as another may be obtained to undertake it, which I hope
will be ere long?
" I know but little, my lord, how it is in fact in England: but
I will put a case. Suppose then there are fifteen families of
dissenters at Clapham in Bedfordshire, fifteen at Wotten in
Northamptonshire, fifteen at Kimbolton in lHuntingtonshire,
and fifteen in the North corner of Buckinghamshire; (if these
places are not so pertinent as others that might be supposed,
your lordship can easily substitute others, and your candour
will overlook my blunder, as I have -never seen England but
in a map) and suppose, that these families not being able to
form a distinct church in each shire and maintain a minister at
each place, agree to unite into one organized church, and to
place themselves under the care of one minister, who shall proportion his labours at sundry meeting-houses, one being erected
in each shire for the conveniency of the families resident there:
I humbly query, whether in this case such a congregation
may not according to the act of William and Mary, claim a
license for a meeting-house in each of these shires?  Whether




188               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
this could justly be suspected as an artifice'to gather dissenting
congregations where there were none before, to disturb the
peace of the Church?'  Whether the minister of such a dispersed congregation should be stigmatized an itinerant? —or
(to adapt the illustration yet more fully to the case) suppose
twice the above number in five contiguous shires or counties,
capable of constituting two particular churches, and maintaining two ministers; and suppose the number of ministers so
small, that they can obtain but one to settle among them, may
they not, in these circumstances, unite in one church, and
place themselves conjunctly under the care of one minister,
sharing his labours among them at meeting-houses, in five
counties, in proportion to their number at each place? And
would not such a minister be justly looked upon as a settled
minister? Or would he be limited to one county in this case,
because the Act of Toleration requires him to qualify in the
county where he lives.  And this, my lord, suggests to me a
remark in your lordship's letter to Virginia-' They [dissenting ministers] are by the'Act of William and Mary to qualify
in the county where they live, and how Davies can be said to live
in five different counties, they who granted the license must
explain.'  You know, my lord, it is the judgment of our
Attorney General, that county courts here have no authority
in such matters; and your lordship has not declared your dissent from him. The council also has published an order, prohibiting county courts to administer qualifications to dissenting
ministers, and appropriating that authority to the Governor
or Commander in Chief.  And how is it possible, my lord, we
should qualify in the county where we live, since the Govern:r does not live there? It is hard, if after we are prohibited
to qualify in county courts as we desire, the validity of our
qualifications should be suspected, because we did not qualify
there. As for myself I was required to qualify by his honour
the Governor, in the general court, which consists of the
Governor and Council, and as the epithet General, intimates,
it is the supreme court of the whole province, and what is done
therein is deemed as valid through the whole colony, as the
acts of a county court in a particular county: and consequently I look upon myself, and so does the government, as
legally qualified to officiate in any part of the colony where
there are houses licensed.
"To all this, my lord, I may add, that though the Act of
Toleration should not warrant my preaching in so many counties; yet, since, as your lordship observes,'the dissenters
obtained a clause in the 10th Queen Anne, to empower any
dissenting preacher to preach occasionally in any other county
but that where he was licensed;' and since the reason of the




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.          189
law is at least as strong here as in England, and consequently
it extends hither, my conduct is sufficiently justified by it.
"All these things, my lord, furnish a sufficient answer to your
lordship's question,'How far the Act of Toleration will justify
Mr. Davies in taking upon himself to be an itinerant preacher,
and travelling over many counties to make converts, in a
country too where, till very lately, there was not one dissenter
from the Church of England?' And it'appears to have been
stated upon misinformation. When impartially stated, it would
stand thus:
" How far the Act of Toleration will justify Mr. Davies, in
sharing his labours at sundry places in different counties
among the professed dissenters, who constitute but one particular
church, though dispersed through so many counties and incapable of meeting at one place?-Or, thus:
"Whether legally qualified protestant dissenters, who are
dispersed through sundry counties, and cannot meet at one place,
and by reason of the scarcity of ministers cannot obtain but
one among them, may not legally share in the labours of that
one, and have so many houses licensed for him to officiate in
as that all of them may alternately attend on public worship?
And were the question considered in this view, I confidently
presume, your lordship would determine it in my favour, and
no longer look upon me as an itinerant preacher, intent on
making converts to a party.
"But I find I have been represented to your lordship as an
uninvited intruder into these parts: for your lordship in your
letter to Dr. Doddridge writes thus,'If the Act of Toleration
was desired for no other view but to ease the consciences of
those that could not conform; if it was granted with no other
view, how must Mr. Davies's conduct be justified? who under the
colour of a toleration to his own conscience, is labouring to disturb the consciences of others.-He came three hundred miles
from home, not to serve people who had scruples, but to a country-where there were not above four or five dissenters within
an hundred miles, not above six years ago.'
" To justify me from this charge, my lord, it might be sufficient to observe, that the meeting-houses here were legally
licensed before I preached in them, and that the licenses were
petitioned for by the people, as the last license for three of
them expressly certifies, as your lordship may see: which is a
sufficient evidence that I did not intrude into any of these
places to gain proselytes where there were no dissenters before.
"But to give your lordship -a just view of this matter, I
shall present you with a brief narrative of the rise and increase
of the dissenters in and about this county, and an account of
the circumstances of my settling among them. And though I




190               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
know, my lord, there may be some temptations to look upon
all I say as a plausible artifice to vindicate myself or my party:
yet I am not without hopes that one of your lordship's impartiality, who has found it possible by happy experience to be
candid and disinterested even when self is concerned, will believe it possible for another also to be impartial for once in the
relation of plain, public facts, obvious to all, though they concern him and his party; especially when -he is willing to venture
the reputation of his veracity on the undeniable truth of his
relation, and can bring the attestations of multitudes to confirm it.
"About the year 1743, upon the petition of the Presbyterians in the frontier counties of this colony, the Rev. Mr.
Robinson, who now rests from his labours, and is happily advanced beyond the injudicious applauses and censures of
mortals, was sent by order of Presbytery to officiate for
some time among them. A little before this about four or five
persons, heads of families, in Hanover, had dissented from the
established; church, not from any scruples about her ceremonial. peculiarities, the usual cause of non-conformity, much less
about her excellent Articles of Faith, but from a dislike of the
doctrines generally delivered from the pulpit, as not savouring
of experimental piety, nor suitably intermingled with the glorious peculiarities of the religion of Jesus. It does not concern
me at present, my lord, to inquire or determine whether they
had sufficient reason for their dislike. They concluded them
sufficient; and they had a legal as well as natural right to
follow their own judgment.  These families were wont to meet
in a private house on Sundays to hear some good books read,
particularly Luther's; whose writings I can assure your lordship were the principal cause of their leaving the Church;
which I hope is a presumption in their favour. After some
time sundry others came to their society, and upon hearing
these books, grew indifferent about going to church, and chose
rather to frequent these societies for reading. At length the
number became too great for a private house to contain them,
and they agreed to build a meeting-house, which they accordingly did.
"Thus far, my lord, they had proceeded before they had
heard a dissenting minister at all.  (Here again I appeal to all
that know any thing of the matter to attest this account.)
They had not the least thought at this time of assuming the
denomination of Presbyterians, as they were wholly ignorant of
that Church: but when they were called upon by the court to
assign the reasons of their absenting themselves from church,
and asked what denomination they professed themselves of,
they declared themselves Lutherans, not in the usual sense of




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.         191
that denomination in Europe, but merely to intimate that they
were of Luther's sentiments, particularly in the article of Justification.
" Hence, my lord, it appears that neither I nor my brethren
were the first instruments of their separation from the Church
of England: and so far we are vindicated from the charge of'setting up itinerant preachers, to gather congregations where
there was none before.'  So far I am vindicated from the
charge of'coming three hundred miles from home to disturb
the consciences of others-not to serve a people who had scruples, but to a country-where there were not above four or five
dissenters at the time of my coming here.
"Hence also, my lord, results an inquiry, which I humbly
submit to your lordship, whether the laws of England enjoin
an immutability in sentiments on the members of the established
church? And whether, if those that were formerly conformists,
follow their own judgments, and dissent, they are cut off from
the privileges granted by law to those that are dissenters by
birth and education? If not, had not these people a legal right
to separate from the established church, and to invite any
legally qualified minister they thought fit to preach among
them?-And this leads me back to my narrative again.
"While Mr. Robinson was preaching in the frontier counties,
about an hundred miles from Hanover, the people here having
received some information of his character and doctrines, sent
him an invitation by one or two of their number to come and
preach among them; which he complied with and preached four
days successively to a mixed multitude; many being. prompted
to attend from curiosity.  The acquaintance I had with him,
and the universal testimony of multitudes that heard him,
assure me, that he insisted entirely on the great catholic doctrines of the gospel, (as might be presumed from his first text,
Luke xiii. 3,) and did not give the least hint of his sentiments
concerning the disputed peculiarities of the Church of England,
or use any sordid disguised artifices to gain converts to a party.'Tis true many after this joined with those that had formerly
dissented; but their sole reason at first was, the prospect of
being entertained with more profitable doctrines among the
dissenters than they were wont to hear in the parish churches,
and not because Mr. Robinson had poisoned them with bigoted
prejudices against the established church. And permit me, my
lord, to declare, with the utmost religious solemnity, that I
have been (as I hope your lordship will be in the regions of
immortal bliss and perfect uniformity in religion) the joyful witness of the happy effect of these four sermons. Sundry thoughtless impenitents, and sundry abandoned profligates have ever
since given good evidence of a thorough conversion, not from




192               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
party to party, but from sin to holiness, by an universal devotedness to God, and the conscientious practice of all the social
and personal virtues. And when I see this the glorious concomicant or consequent of their separation, I hope your lordship will indulge me to rejoice in such proselytes, as I am sure
our divine Master and all his celestial ministers do; though
without this, they are but wretched captures, rather to be
lamented over, than boasted of. When Mr. Robinson left
them, which he did after four days, they continued to meet
together on Sundays to pray and hear a sermon out of
some valuable book read by one of their number; as they
had no prospect of obtaining a minister immediately of the
same character and principles with Mr. Robinson.  They
were now increased to a tolerable congregation, and made
unwearied application to the Presbytery of New Castle in
Pennsylvania for a minister to be sent among them, at least
to pay them a transient visit, and preach a few sermons, and
baptize their children, till they should have opportunity to have
one settled among them. The Presbytery complied with their
petitions, as far as the small number of its members, and the
circumstances of their own congregations, and of the vacancies
under their Presbyterial care, would permit; and sent ministers among them at four different times in about four years,
who stayed with them two or three Sabbaths at each time.
They came at the repeated and most importunate petitions of
the dissenters here, and did not obtrude their labours upon
them uninvited.  Sundry upon hearing them, who had not
heard Mr. Robinson, joined with the dissenters; so that in the
year 1747, when I was first ordered by the Presbytery to take
a journey to Hanover, in compliance with the petition of the
dissenters here, I found them sufficiently numerous to form
one very large congregation, or two small ones; and they had
built five meeting-houses, three in Hanover, one in Henrico,
and one in Louisa county; which were few enough considering
their distance. Upon my preaching among them, they used
the most irresistible importunities with me to settle among
them as their minister, and presented a call to me before the
Presbytery, signed by about an hundred and fifty heads of
families; which in April, 1748, I accepted, and was settled
among them the May following. And though it would have
been my choice to confine myself wholly to one meeting-house,
especially as I was then in a very languishing state of health;
yet considering that hardly the one half of the people could
possibly convene at one place, and that they had no other
minister of their own denomination within less than two hundred miles, I was prevailed upon to take the pastoral care of




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.           193
them all, and to divide my labours at the sundry meetinghouses.
" And now, my lord, I may leave yourself to judge, whether
the imformations were just, upon which your lordship has
represented me as not'coming to serve a people that had
scruples, but as disturbing the consciences of others, under the
colour of a toleration to my own, and intruding into a country
where there were not above four or five dissenters, &c." Your
lordship must see if this account be true, (and thousands can
attest it) that I had not the least instrumentality in the first
gathering of a dissenting Church in these parts. Indeed I was
then but a lad, and closely engaged in study. And I solemnly
assure your lordship, that it was not the sacred thirst of filthy
lucre, nor the prospect of any other personal advantage, that
induced me to settle here: for sundry congregrations in Pennsylvania, my native country, and in the other northern colonies,
most earnestly importuned me to settle among them, where I
should have had at least an equal temporal maintenance, incomparably more ease, leisure, and peace, and the happiness of
the frequent society of my brethren; never made a great
noise or bustle in the world, but concealed myself in the crowd
of my superior brethren, and spent my life in some little services for God and his Church in some peaceful retired corner;
which would have been most becoming so insignificant a creature, and most agreeable to my recluse natural temper: but all
these strong inducements were preponderated by a sense of the
more urgent necessity of the dissenters here; as they lay two
or three hundred miles distant from the nearest ministers of
their own denomination, and laboured under peculiar embarrassments for want of a settled minister; which I will
not mention, lest I should seem to fling injurious reflections on
a government whose clemency I have reason to acknowledge
with the most loyal gratitude.
"It is true, my lord, there have been some additions made
to the dissenters here since my settlement, and some of them
by occasion of my preaching. They had but five meetinghouses then, in three different counties, and now they have
seven in five counties, and stand in need of one or two more.
But here I must again submit it to your lordship, whether the
laws of England forbid men to change their opinions, and act
according to them when changed? And whether the Act of
Toleration was intended to tolerate such only as were dissenters by birth and education? Whether professed dissenters
are prohibited to have meeting-houses licensed convenient to
them, where there are conformists adjacent, whose curiosity
may at first prompt them to hear, and whose judgments may
afterwards direct them  to join with the dissenters?   Or
25




194               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
whether, to avoid the danger of gaining proselytes, the dissenters, in such circumstances, must be wholly deprived of the
ministration of the gospel?
"For my farther vindication, my lord, I beg leave to declare,
and I defy the world to confute me, that in all the sermons I
have preached in Virginia, I have not wasted one minute in
exclaiming or reasoning against the peculiarities of the established church; nor so much as assigned the reasons of my own
non-conformity.  I have not exhausted my zeal in railing
against the established clergy, in exposing their imperfections,
some of which lie naked to my view, or in depreciating their
characters. No, my lord, I have matters of infinitely greater
importance to exert my zeal and spend my time and strength
upon;-To preach repentance towards God, and faith towards
our Lord Jesus Christ-To alarm secure impenitents; to reform
the profligate; to undeceive the hypocrite; to raise up the hands
that hang down, and to strengthen the feeble knees;-These
are the doctrines I preach, these are the ends I pursue; and
these my artifices to gain proselytes: and if ever I divert
from these to ceremonial trifles, let my tongue cleave to the
roof of my mouth. Now, my lord, if people adhere to me on
such accounts as these, I cannot discourage them without wickedly betraying the interests of religion, and renouncing my
character as a minister of the gospel. If the members of the
Church of England come from distant places to the meetinghouses licensed for the use of professed dissenters, and upon
hearing, join with them, and declare themselves Presbyterians,
and place themselves under my ministerial care, I dare say
your lordship will not censure me for admitting them. And if
these new proselytes live at such a distance that they cannot
meet statedly at the places already licensed, have they not
a legal right to have houses licensed convenient to them,
since they are as properly professed dissenters, in favour of
whom the Act of Toleration was enacted, as those that have
been educated in non-conformity?  There is no method, my
lord, to prevent the increase of our number in this manner, but
either the prohibiting of all conformists to attend occasionally
on my ministry; which neither the laws of God nor of the land
will warrant: or the Episcopal ministers preaching the same
doctrines which I do; as I humbly conceive they oblige themselves by subscribing their own articles; and had this been
done, I am verily persuaded there would not have been one
dissenter in these parts: or my absolutely refusing to receive
those into the community of the dissenters, against whom it
may be objected that they once belonged to the Church of England; which your lordship sees is unreasonable.'Tis the conversion and salvation of men I aim to promote; and genuine




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.           195
Christianity, under whatever various forms it appears, never
fails to charm my heart. The design of the gospel is to bring
perishing sinners to heaven, and if they are but brought thither,
its ministers have but little cause of anxiety and contention
about the denomination they sustain in their way. Yet, my
lord, I may consistently profess, that as I judge the government, discipline and modes of worship in the dissenting church
more agreeable to the divine standard than those in the Episcopal, it cannot but afford me a little additional satisfaction to
see those that agree with me in essentials, and are hopefully
walking towards the same celestial City, agree with me in extraessentials too; though this ingredient of satisfaction is often
swallowed up in the sublimer pleasure that results from  the
other more noble consideration. —And here, my lord, that I may
unbosom myself with all the candid simplicity of a gospel minister, I must frankly own, that abstracting the consideration of
the disputed peculiarities of the established church, which have
little or no. influence in the present case, I am verily persuaded
(heaven knows with what sorrowful reluctance I admit the
evidence of it) those of the Church of England in Virginia
do not generally enjoy as suitable means for their conversion and edification as they might among the dissenters.
This is not because they are of that communion; for I
know the gospel and all its ordinances may be administered
in a very profitable manner in a consistency with the constitu?
tion.of that church; and perhaps her ceremonies would be so
far from obstructing the efficacy of the means of grace, that
they would rather promote it, *to them that have no scruples
about their lawfulness and expediency; though it would be
otherwise with a doubtful conscience: but because the doctrines
generally delivered from the pulpit, and the manner of delivery,
are such as have not so probable a tendency to do good, as
those among the dissenters.  I am sensible, my lord,'how
hard it is,' as your lordship observes,'not to suspect and
charge corruption of principles on those, who differ in principles from us.' But still I cannot help thinking that they
who generally entertain their hearers with languid harangues
on morality or insipid speculations, omitting or but slightly
touching upon the glorious doctrines of the gospel, which will
be everlastingly found the most effectual means to reform  a
degenerate world; such as the corruption of human nature in
its present lapsed state; the nature and necessity of regeneration, and of divine influences to effect it; the nature of saving
faith, evangelical repentance, &c.*  I cannot, I say, help
* "'I do not intend this, my lord, for a complete enumeration of evangelical doctrines, as I intimate by the &c.> annexed.-For your lordship's farther satisfaction, I must refer you to Dr. Doddridge's Practical writings,




196                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
thinking that they who omit, pervert or but slightly hint at
these and the like doctrines, are not likely to do much service
to the souls of men: and as far as I can learn by personal observation or the credible information of others, this is too
generally the case in Virginia. And on this account especially,
I cannot dissuade persons from joining with the dissenters, who
are desirous to do so; and I use no other methods to engage
them but the inculcating of these and like doctrines.'iI beg leave, my lord, to subjoin one remark more to vindicate the number of my meeting-houses, and as a reason for the
licensure of that in New Kent: that in a large and scattered
congregation, it may be necessary the minister should officiate
occasionally in particular corners of his congregation for the
conveniency of a few families that lie at a great distance from
the places where he statedly officiates for the conveniency of the
generality.  This, my lord, is frequently practised, in the
parishes in the frontier counties, which are very large, though
not equal to the bounds of my congregation.'Tis no doubt
unreasonable, that the minister should consult the conveniency
of a few rather than of the majority; and therefore I preach
more frequently at one of the meeting-houses in Hanover,
where the dissenters are more numerous, than at all the other
six. But, my lord, is it not fit I should so far consult the conveniency of a few families, who live in the extremities of the
congregation, at a great distance from the place where I statedly officiate, as to preach occasionally among them  four or
five times a year? Though one or two of a family may be able
to attend at the stated place of meeting, yet it is impossible
that all should; and why may not a sermon be preached occasionally in their neighbourhood, where they may all attend?
Again: though the heads of families may be capable of attending on public worship at a great distance themselves, yet it is
an intolerable hardship that they should be obliged to carry
their children thirty, forty, or fifty miles to be baptized. And
is it not reasonable, my lord, I should preach among them occasionally, to relieve them from this difficulty once in three or
four months? And may not houses be legally licensed for this
purpose?  The meeting-house in New Kent was designed for
such occasional meetings: and when I have given an account
of the affair, I doubt not but your lordship will justify the procedure of the County Court in granting a license for it. Some
people in and about that county, particularly two gentlemen of
particularly his Rise and Progress of Religion, his Sermons on the Power
and Grace of Christ, and on Regeneration; which I heartily approve as to
matter and manner, and would imitate, as far as my inferior genius will
admit.




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.           197
good estates and excellent characters, who had been justices of
the peace and officers in the militia, told me, that as they lived
at a great distance from the nearest place where I statedly'
officiate, and therefore could not frequently attend there, they
would count it a peculiar favour, if I would preach occasionally
at some place convenient to them, though it were on week-days.
I replied, that though I was wholly unable to perform ministerial duties fully to the people at the places already licensed, yet
I should be willing to give them a sermon now and then, if they
could obtain a license for a place. Whereupon they presented
a petition to the County Court, signed by fifteen persons, heads
of families, and professed Presbyterians, which (as your lordship
has been informed) was granted; but afterwards superseded by
the Council. Hence, my lord, you may see what was the occasion and design of this petition; and that it was not an artifice
of mine as an itinerant,'to gather a congregation where there
was none before;' but wholly the act of the people, professed
dissenters, for their own conveniency.
"I am surprised, my lord, to find any intimations in the
letter from Virginia about the validity and legality of the
licenses for seven meeting-houses granted by the General
Court, especially if that letter came from the Commissary.
These were granted by the supreme authority of this colony;
and cannot be called in question by the Council without questioning the validity of their own authority, at least the legal
exercise of it in this instance. And the Rev. Dr. Dawson
himself (whom I mention with sincere veneration) sat as a judge
in the General Court (for he is one of his majesty's Council
here) when the licenses were granted, and did not vote against
it. Whether I have since forfeited them by my public conduct,
I dare appeal to himself; and whether there be any limitations
of the number of meeting-houses for the conveniency of one
congregation, in the Act of Toleration, or his majesty's private
instructions to the Governor, I dare submit to any one that
has seen them.
"What I observed above concerning my preaching occasionally on working days, and the reason of it, reminds me, my lord,
of an unexpected charge against me in the letter from Virginia, expressed in terms contemptuous enough-' I had almost
forgot to mention his holding forth on working days to great
numbers of poor people, who generally are his only followers.
This certainly is inconsistent with the religion of labour,
whereby they are obliged to maintain themselves and families;
and their neglect of this duty, if not seasonably prevented,
may in process of time be sensibly felt by the Government.'
Here, my lord, imaginary danger is traced from a very distant
source; and I might justify myself by an argumentunz ad




198               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
hlominem: my people do not spend half as many working days
in attending on my holding forth the Word of Life, as the
members of the Church of England are obliged to keep holy
according to their calendar. But I know recrimination, though
with advantage, is but a spiteful and ineffectual method of vindication. I therefore observe, with greater pleasure, that as I
can officiate but at some one of my meeting-houses on Sundays,
and as not any one of the seven is tolerably convenient to the
half of my people; many of them cannot have opportunity of
hearing me on Sundays above once in a month or two; and I
have no way to make up their loss in some measure but by
preaching in the meeting-house contiguous to them, once or
twice in two or three months on working days. And can this,
my lord, have the least tendency to beggar themselves and families, or injure the Government, especially when such meetings
are chiefly frequented (and that not oftener than once a fortnight or month) by heads of families and others, who can easily
afford a few hours for this purpose, without the least detriment
to their secular affairs? I can assure your lordship a great
number of my hearers are so well furnished with slaves, that
they are under no necessity of confining themselves to hard
labour; and that they redeem more time from the fashionable
riots and excessive diversions of the age than they devote to
this purpose: and I wonder there is not an equal clamour raised
about the modish ways of murdering time, which are more likely
to be sensibly felt by the Government, and, which is worse, to
ruin multitudes forever. The Religion of Labour is held sacred
among us; as the temporal circumstances of my people demonstrate; which are as flourishing as before their adherence to
me, except that some of them have been somewhat injured by
the fines and concomitant expenses imposed upon them for worshipping God inoffensively in separate assemblies. But this
hardship, my lord, I will not aggravate, as I very believe it was
not the effect of an oppressive spirit in the Court, but of misinformation, and the malignant officiousness of some private persons.
"I am fully satisfied, my lord, were there a pious bishop resident in America, it would have a happy tendency to reform the
church of England here, and maintain her purity: and therefore upon a report spread in Virginia, some time ago, that one
was appointed, I expressed my satisfaction in it; and my poor
prayers shall concur to promote it. I know this is also the sentiment of all my brethren in the Synod of New York, with whom
I have conversed. I am, therefore, extremely surprised at the
information your lordship has received concerning the reception of this proposal in New England, and'that they used
all their influence to obstruct it.' I never had the least intimation of it before, though some of the principal ministers there




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.         199
maintain a very unreserved correspondence with me; and I
have also the other usual methods of receiving intelligences from
a country so near. If it be true, I think with your lordship,
that it is hardly consistent with a spirit of toleration, but it.
appears so unreasonable, and so opposite to the sentiments of
all the dissenters whom I am acquainted with (and they are
many, both of the clergy and laity) that the informers must be
persons of undoubted veracity, before I could credit it. However, my lord, I am not concerned: the Synod of New York,
to which I belong, I am confident, have used no means to oppose
it: but would rather concur to promote it, were it in their
power; and therefore, if your lordship deal with us secundum
legem talionis, we expect favourable usage. The same things
I would say concerning the prosecution and imprisonment of
sundry members of the church in New England. I never heard
so much as an uncertain rumour of it; and I am sure it is neither
approved nor practised in the bounds of the Synod of New
York. Were your lordship acquainted with the members of
that Synod, you would own them as strenuous advocates for the
civil and sacred rights of mankind, and as far from a bigoted
intolerant spirit, as perhaps any in the world. And here, my
lord, let me correct a small mistake (the effect of imperfect
or false information, I suppose) in your lordship's letter to Dr.
Doddridge; your lordship takes the persons in New England,
who have been accessory to those prosecutions, to be members
of the Synod, which sent me as a missionary to Virginia;
whereas I am a member of another synod two or three hundred
miles distant; and do not in the least act in concert with, or
subjection to the ministers in New England.
" Your lordship huddles me promiscuously with the methodists, as though I were of their party. I am not ashamed to own
that I look upon Mr. Whitefield as a zealous and successful
minister of Christ; and as such to countenance him. I love him,
and I love your lordship, (the profession, I hope, will not be
offensive) because I hope you are both good men: and if my
affection to him proves me one of his party, I hope your lordship
will conclude me one of your own too: yet I am far from approving sundry steps in Mr. Whitefield's first public conduct;
and I am glad to find by some of his late writings that he does
not approve of them himself. The eruptions of his first zeal
were, in many instances, irregular; his regulating his conduct
so much by impulses, &c., was enthusiastic, and his freedoms in
publishing his experience to the world, in his journals, were, in
my opinion, very imprudent. As to the rest of the methodists,
I know but little of them; and, therefore, must suspend my
judgment concerning them.
"Our loyalty to the Government is so well attested and uni



200               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
versally known, that I presume none have ventured to surmise
the contrary to your lordship; and this renders it needless for
me to offer anything to demonstrate it.
" Thus, my lord, in the simplicity of my heart, I have laid
before your lordship an impartial view of the state of affairs
relating to the dissenters here, as it appears to me; and made
some remarks on your lordship's letter to Dr. Doddridge, and
the letters from and to Virginia. I please myself with the
persuasion that I have not indulged the contradictious, angry
humour of a contentious disputant; nor the malignant partiality of a bigot: and it will afford me peculiar satisfaction, if
it should be equally evident to your lordship. All the apologies I could make could not atone for my tediousness, were it
impertinent or avoidable; but as one that has not naturally a
concise method of communicating his thoughts, could not fully
represent the matter in fewer words, I promise myself your
lordship's forbearance.
" I am persuaded, my lord, were you convinced the representation I have given is just, your lordship would turn advocate for the dissenters here, that the matter might be determined in their favour, I am therefore anxious to take some
method to convince your lordship it is so; and I can think of
no better method than to give those that may look upon themselves concerned to refute me, an opportunity to make the
experiment, by publishing this letter to the world. This I
should undoubtedly have done, and sent your lordship a printed
copy, had I not been scrupulous of making so free with your
private letters without your consent. If your lordship approve
of this expedient, I shall, upon the first information of it, send
it to the press.
"May the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls shed the
richest blessings of his providence and grace upon you; and
long continue your lordship to be consumed in pious services for the Church of God! —whatever reception this letter
meets with, this shall be the ardent wish and perpetual
prayer of,
"My Lord,
"Your Lordship's
"Most dutiful servant,
SAMUEL DAVIES.
" Hanover, in Virginia, Jan. 10, 1752.
" POSTSCRIPT.
"I am heartily sorry, my lord, that the character I gave of
the clergy and laity in Virginia, in my letter to Dr. Doddridge,
has given your lordship great concern. I have no doubt of its




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.          201
sincerity, though I am uncertain whether it was occasioned by
a suspicion of calumniating partiality in me, or of truth in my
account, or both. There was no part of your lordship's letter
that afflicted me so deeply as this; yet, I thought to have
passed it over in silence, and accordingly made no remarks upon
it in the preceding letter; because, as I have not been so happy
since as to see reason to retract my former account, I could
not relieve your lordship from your pious anxiety; and as it is
a tender point, and the information comes with a poor grace
from me, I thought the mentioning the many unwelcome evidences of its justice, which force themselves upon me all around,
would but increase your lordship's concern, and confirm the
suspicion of my partiality, which you intimate in your letter to
the Dr., though with tenderness. But considering that I write
to one that will not officiously spread the account, to the disgrace of religion; and who may be able to administer remedies
to so deplorable a case, if seasonably informed of it; and that
your lordship's correspondents here may be under as strong a
temptation to extenuate such matters, as I may be supposed to
be to aggravate them; and consequently a medium between
the two may appear to your lordship to be most just: considering also that it seems necessary for my own vindication,
though I do not desire to build my reputation on the infamy of
others: I have determined to give your lordship the following
brief account, which I am willing should pass under the severest
scrutiny.' I am sensible, my lord,' how hard it is not to suspect and
charge corruption of principles upon those who differ in principles from us;' and how natural it is to a party spirit (and
alas! parties are generally animated with such a spirit) to
magnify the practical irregularities of other denominations.
Sensible of this, and how inconsistent such a temper is with
the generous religion of Jesus, I have conscientiously kept a
peculiar guard upon my spirit in this respect: and yet (with
shame I confess it) I have not been entirely a stranger to its
malignant workings; though I am conscious that my prevailing
and habitual disposition is candid and generous: otherwise I
should be self-condemned in pretending to be a minister or
even follower of the Lamb of God. At present, my lord, I
feel myself calm and impartial; and could I make my letter
the transcript of my heart, your lordship would believe me. I
solemnly profess I am conscious of no indulged party spirit;
however, I am so sensible of my own weakness, that I may implicitly suspect I may be imperceptibly tinctured with it; and
therefore your lordship may, at the venture,'deduct some
things from the general character.' I shall say but little of the
differences in speculation betwixt me and the clergy and others
26




202               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
here: both because such errors may not be so pernicious as
vicious practices and the neglect of religious and moral duties;
and because these are more disputable, and I may be more
liable to mistakes about them. But, my lord, I cannot indulge
an implicit suspicion of my partiality so far as to rush into universal skepticism about plain, public, indisputible facts, obvious
to my senses. I can see, I can hear, with certainty. I cannot be so infatuated with prejudice as to be incapable of distinguishing between a religious and profane life, between a relish for divine things, and a contemptuous neglect of them, between blasphemy and prayer, drunkenness and sobriety, &c.
And I shall chiefly take notice of such obvious facts, about
which there is no dispute between the church of England and
the dissenters. I would also have it noticed, my lord, that I
would not have this account looked on as a history of the
state of religion in Virginia in general; but only in those counties (and they are not very few) where I have had opportunity
of personal observations: and these, if I may believe general
fame, are not more degenerate than the rest.
"I confess, my lord, with pleasure, that there are sundry of
the laity in the sphere of my acquaintance in the Church of
England, who are persons of good morals and have a veneration
for religion; and some of them, I doubt not, are sincere Christians, whom I cordially love: and that with more ardent affection than those of my own denomination, who appear destitute
of real religion; and alas! there are many such, I fear. These
pious conformists can witness, that I have not been officious in
endeavouring to proselyte them to my party; and that, when
conversant with them, I rather choose to dwell on those infinitely more important and delightful subjects in which we agree,
than those little angry peculiarities in which we differ. I also
cheerfully own (nor is the concession forcibly extorted from me)
that sundry of the established clergy are gentlemen of learning,
parts and morality, and I hope honestly aiming at the salvation
of men; though I cannot but disagree with them in some doctrines, and humbly conceive their public discourses generally
are not well adapted to promote their pious end.  But, my
lord, notwithstanding these concessions, religion may be in a
very languishing situation and vice triumphant in this colony.
There may be a few names even in Sardis, who have not defiled
their garments; and yet the majority have at best but a name
to live, while they are dead. I must therefore now lay before
your lordship the disagreeable part of the character; and if I
expatiate more largely upon it than the former, it is not because
I take a malignant pleasure in so doing, but because my present
design urges me on to the unwelcome task.
"If I am prejudiced in favour of any church, my lord, it is




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.         203
of that established in Scotland; of which I am  a member
in the same sense that the Established Church in Virginia
is the Church of England: and therefore, should I give your
lordship an account of the state of religion there, you would not
suspect it of excessive severity. Now, my lord, suppose I had
resided four years in Scotland, preached frequently, and obtained
a pretty extensive acquaintance in five different counties, gone
sometimes as a hearer to the established kirk, and been occasionally at courts and the like public conventions; spent a week
at sundry times in the metropolis, and a day or two in some of
the principal towns; lodged in private families frequently in
various parts of the country; and (which I may mention as of
some weight in conjunction with the other opportunities of personal observation) received frequent and well attested informations from multitudes from various parts, and of different
denominations; your lordship would grant that I had sufficient
opportunities to make some observations on the state of religion, and could not suspect that my partiality would render
me so implicitly confident that religion was in a flourishing
state, as that I should take no notice of obvious public facts,
that obtruded themselves upon my senses; or so pervert my
judgment as to conclude all was well in spite of the most
glaring evidence.-Suppose then, my lord, that by all the discoveries I can make in these circumstances, I find the generality grossly ignorant of the nature of living Christianity and
many of the most important doctrines of the gospel: if I find
a general unconcernedness about their eternal states discovered
in their discourse and practice, and no religious solemnity, no
relish for divine things, no proper anxieties about their spiritual state intimated by those genuine indications which nature
gives of such dispositions: if concern about such things, and a
life of strict holiness even in a member of the established
church, be generally ridiculed as a fanatical singularity: if the
Sabbath is prostituted by many to trifling amusements or guilty
pleasures; and if worldly discourse be the usual entertainment
without the sanctuary before and after divine service: if by far
the greatest number of families call not upon God, nor maintain
his worship in their houses: if in parishes where there are
many hundreds of adults, there be not above fifty or sixty communicants; and sundry of these too, persons of abandoned
characters: if multitudes, multitudes toss the most sacred and
tremendous things on their daring tongues by profane oaths
and shocking imprecations; and beastify themselves with excessive drinking, as though it were a venial sin: if I get me to
the great men, and find that these also generally have burst
the bonds, and broken the yoke; that they discard serious
religion as the badge of the vulgar, and abandon themselves




204                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
to lawless pleasures, to gaming, cock-fighting, horse-racing,
and all the fashionable methods of killing time, as the most
important and serious business of life: if public wdrship be
frequently neglected, or attended on with trifling levity; and
yetthe most build their hopes of heaven on these insipid formalities, regardless of the manner of their devotion: in a word,
if the trifles of time and sense engross all the thoughts and
activity of the generality; and the infinite concerns of eternity
be neglected, or attended on as matters by the by:-if, my lord,
I should find this to be the state of affairs in Scotland, could
my prejudice in favour of that church so far bias me, as that
I could not see religion to be in a most deplorable situation in
her? Or would my character of Virginia in my letter to Dr.
Doddridge be too satirical in such a case?
" This, my lord, is the just character of the generality of the
laity here; my senses tell me so; and I cannot doubt of it more
than of my own existence. I do not mean that all the parts of
this character are generally complicated in one person; but that
one part of it is the character of some, and another of others,
and that the whole promiscuously is the character of the generality of the laity here: and were I as much prejudiced in favour
of the church established in Virginia as I may be supposed to
be of that established in Scotland, I could not conscientiously
give a better account of it.
" Further; suppose, my lord, on observing religion in so melancholy a situation in Scotland, I have opportunity of observing
also what measures are taken by the established clergy there
for its revival, and to promote a general reformation, and find
to my sorrowful surprise, that the generality of them, as far as
can be discovered by their common conduct and public ministrations, are stupidly serene and unconcerned, as though their
hearers were crowding promiscuously to heaven, and there were
little or no danger;-that they address themselves to perishing
multitudes in cold blood, and do not represent their miserable
condition in all its horrors; do not alarm them with solemn,
pathetic and affectionate warnings, and expostulate with them
with all the authority, tenderness and pungency of the ambassadors of Christ to a dying world, nor commend themselves to
every man's conscience in the sight of God; that their common
conversation has little or no savour of livihg religion, and is not
calculated to excite thoughtfulness in the minds of the unthinking creatures they converse with; —that instead of intense
application to study, or teaching their parishioners from house
to house, they waste their time in idle visits, trifling conversation, slothful ease, or at best, excessive activity about their temporal affairs; —that sundry of them associate with the profane,
and those that are infamous for the neglect of religion, not like




DAVIES-TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.         205
their professed Master, to reform them, but without intermingling any thing serious in their discourse, or giving a solemn
check to their guilty liberties; nay, that some of them are com-r
panions with drunkards, and partakers in their sottish extravagances;-that they are more zealous and laborious in their
attempts to regain those that have joined with other denominations, or to secure the rest from the contagion by calumniating
the dissenters, than to convert men from sin to holiness; if, my
lord, I should find this to be the general character of the clergy
in Scotland, how could I avoid the unwelcome conclusion, that
such are not likely to be the successful instruments of a general
reformation? And who that has not sacrificed to bigotry all his
regard to the immortal weal of mankind, would not rejoice in
this case to see a reformation carried on in Scotland by a minister of the Church of England? For my part, I solemnly profess
I would; for though by this means sundry would fall off from the
established church, yet there would be a greater probability of
their escaping eternal destruction, and being made members of
the church tIiumphant in the regions of bliss; which would be
infinitely more than a reparation of that little breach of a party.
"  What I now suppose, my lord, in Scotland, is evident matter
of fact in Virginia, unless my eyes and my ears deceive me,
and I see phantoms instead of men. The plain truth is, a
general reformation must be promoted in this colony by some
means or other, or multitudes are eternally undone: and I see
alas! but little ground to hope for it from the generality of the
clergy here, till they be happily changed themselves; this is
not owing to their being of the Church of England, as I observed before: for were they in the Presbyterian Church, or
any other, I should have no more hopes of their success; but it
is owing to their manner of preaching and behaviour. This
thought, my lord, is so far from being agreeable to me that it
at times racks me with agonies of compassion and zeal intermingled: and could I entertain that unlimited charity which
lulls so many of my neighbours into a serene stupidity, it would
secure me from many a melancholy hour, and make my life
below a kind of anticipation of heaven. I can boast of no
high attainments, my lord; I am as mean and insignificant a
creature as your lordship can well conceive me to be: but I
dare profess I cannot be an unconcerned spectator of the ruin
of my dear fellow mortals: I dare avow my heart at times is
set upon nothing more than to snatch the brands out of the
burning, before they catch fire and burn unquenchably. And
hence, my lord, it is, I consume my strength and life in such
great fatigues in this jangling ungrateful colony.
" Hence, my lord, you may collect my sentiments concerning an absurdity your lordship mentions in your letter to
Dr. Doddridge, that I should attempt to make converts in a




206               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
church which I acknowledge in the meantime to be a church of
Christ. I freely grant the Church of England to be a church
of Christ: but when I see multitudes ready to perish, and no
suitable means used for their recovery, can it comfort me to
think they perish in a church of Christ? The articles and constitution of the established church are substantially good, and
her ceremonies are little or no hinderance, as I observed before,
to the edification of those that do not scruple them; but her
members in this colony are in fact generally corrupted; and I
think, were I one of her ministers, I should rather ten thousand
times see men pious dissenters, than graceless conformists.
It is true, had I no other objection against conformity but the
present degeneracy of the members of the church, it would be
my duty to endeavour to promote a reformation in her communion: but as I cannot conscientiously conform on some other
accounts, the only practicable method for me to attempt the
reformation of her members is that which I now pursue.
"I shall only add, my lord, that I humbly conceive the informations or personal knowledge upon which your lordship has
characterized a great part of the clergy in Virginia, may afford
you equal concern with my character of them. I dare avow a
more noble spirit than to catch at it with a malignant satisfaction as a confirmation of mine: and therefore I humbly request,
nay, demand as a piece of justice, that your lordship would not
look on my remark on it as the language of such a disposition.
I only remind you of it for my own defence, and it shall never
be officiously propagated by me. If, as your lordship observes,' of those that come from England,' (and the most of them come
from thence),'a great part are of the Scotch or Irish, who can
get no employment at home, and enter into the service more
out of necessity than choice;' if'others go abroad to retrieve
either lost fortunes or lost characters;' how can it be expected,
my lord, that persons who enter into holy orders, or come to
Virginia from such sordid views as these, should deserve a better
character than I gave of them to the Dr. or than I have now
given your lordship? But I forbear-your lordship will forgive
the inaccuracies of this postscript, as I have written it in unavoidable haste."
This letter, an evidence of the honesty and simplicity of
Davies' heart, rather than his worldly wisdom, was never submitted to the Bishop's inspection.
In September 1751 the Synod of New York met at Newark,
New Jersey. From the minutes of the meeting is the following
extract-"A motion being made to the Synod by Mr. Davies
of the necessity of sending to England an account relating to
the dissenting interest in Virginia, the Synod does order that
a representation of the circumstances of the Presbyterian congregations in that colony be made and signed, in the name of




DAVIES' LETTER TO DR. AVERY.          207
the Synod, by Messrs. Burr and Pemberton, to Dr. Doddridge
and Dr. Avery; and also a certificate of Mr. Davies' character. "
Of the correspondence between Mr. Davies and Dr. Benjamin Avery there remain but two letters, one from each writer.
That from Mr. Davies bears date May 21st, 1752.
"Rev. Dear and Worthy Sir:-I have been so happy as to
receive yours of February 22d, about a fortnight ago by Mr.
Holt. I also received last December the letter you mentioned
from the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, informing me of the sentiments
of the Lord Bishop of London on my affairs, and giving his
advice and yours how to proceed. Upon receiving the Doctor's
letter and the extracts enclosed from the Bishop of London, I
was surprised to find what unjust representations had been
made of my conduct, and the circumstances of the dissenters
here to his lordship; and concluded that till they were rectified
we could not expect the negotiations of our friends in England
in our behalf should succeed. I therefore wrote at large to his
lordship giving him an account of our circumstances here;
which letter I sent to Mr. Mauduit, to be communicated by him
to you and Dr. Doddridge (the melancholynews of whose decease had not then reached me) and after correction to be sent,
if you judged it proper, to the bishop. At the same time I
wrote to you soliciting your interest in behalf of the dissenters
here, which I find by yours, your generous temper rendered
needless; but whether any of them are come safe to hand I
know not.
"' Since I received yours I have been uneasy lest my letter to
his lordship should be put into his hands without your approbation; as my sentiments therein expressed, concerning the mission of bishops to North America, were different from yours in
your letter to me. When I expressed my satisfaction in the
proposal, I spoke in the simplicity of my heart and according
to my judgment, which I have had no reason to alter since, but
only your dissent; in which I put implicit confidence as you
have better opportunities to discover the consequences of such
missions than I. That the settlement of bishops in the dissenting colonies would be injurious to them I easily see; but I
find by the Bishop of London's letter to Dr. Doddridge, that
this was not proposed. And I was not able to discern what
injury the settlement of a bishop in Virginia or Maryland,
where the Church of England is established, would be to the
few dissenters in them; and I was not without hopes it might
tend to purge out the corrupt leaven from the established
church, and restrain the clergy from their extravagances, who
now behave as they please, and promise themselves impunity as
there is none to censure or depose them on this side the Atlantic.




208               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
However, dear sir, if you think me mistaken, you may take
what measure you think proper to prevent any ill consequences
that may be occasioned by the unreserved declaration of my
opinion in my letter to his lordship. And as I shall hereafter
impose upon you the trouble of receiving and reviewing the
papers I may find occasion to transmit to England on the
affairs of the dissenters in Virginia, I not only allow, but
request you, sir, to correct or suppress them as your superior
judgment may direct you. As I judge the matter is of great
importance to the interest of religion in this colony, I would
not willingly incur guilt by omitting any means in my power
to reflect light upon it; but for want of judgment and a more
thorough acquaintance with the state of affairs in England, I
may sometimes fail in the right choice or prudent use of means
for that purpose; and therefore to prevent any ill consequences,
I must call in the assistance of your judgment and that of the
committee.
"' I waited on the Governor and Council about a month ago,
in company with one of my brethren, the Rev. Mr. John Todd
who applied to their Honours to be qualified to officiate in and
about Hanover county, as my assistant; and with much difficulty our petition was granted. But they refused to license
any more meeting-houses, where either of us might officiate
occasionally, in such places as are inconvenient to the meetinghouses already licensed. I have strong expectation Mr. Todd
will settle in Hanover to relieve me of a part of my charge,
which I hope will prove a happy providence to this colony, and
particularly to the dissenters, as he is a pious, prudent youth,
and a very popular preacher; and his settlement will tend in a
great measure to remove the odium that has been unjustly
flung upon me as an itinerant, because of my officiating at so
many places.
"I am fully satisfied, sir, that as you intimate the Act of
Uniformity and other penal laws against non-conformity are
not in force in the colonies; and consequently that the dissenters have no right nor indeed any need to plead the Act of
Toleration as an exemption from those penal laws. But sir,
our Legislature here has passed an act of the same kind with
those laws, though the penalty is less, requiring all adult
persons to attend on the established church.  As this act was
passed since the Revolution, it was necessary that Protestant
dissenters should be exempted from its obligations and tolerated to worship God in separate assemblies; (though indeed,
at the time of its enaction, viz., the 4th of Queen Ann, there
was not a dissenting congregation, except a few Quakers, in
the colony) and for this purpose, our Legislature thought fit
to take in the act of Parliament made for that end in England,




DAVIES-TO AVERY.                  209
rather than pass a new one peculiar to this colony. This, sir,
you may see in my remonstrance to the Governor and Council
which I find has been laid before you. Now it is with a view
to exempt ourselves from the obligations of the above law made
by our Legislature, that we plead the Act of Toleration, and
we plead it not as an.English law, for we are convinced it
does not extend hither by virtue of its primitive enaction, but
as received into the body of the Virginia laws by our Legislature. And though for some time, some pretended to scruple,
and others denied that the Act of Toleration is in force here
even in this sense; yet now I think it is generally granted,
and all the question is about the intent and meaning of this
Act; particularly whether a dissenting congregation, that is
very much dispersed, and cannot meet at one place, may claim
a right by virtue of said act, to have a plurality of places
licensed for the convenience for the sundry parts of the congregation? And whether it allows a dissenting minister to
divide his labours among two congregations at sundry meetinghouses when by reason of the scarcity of ministers each congregation cannot be furnished with one? I hope, sir, all occasion for the latter will be removed by Mr. Todd's settlement,
but the former will still continue, as the dissenters, lMr.
Todd's congregation and mine, cannot be accommodated without a plurality of meeting-houses. Seven have been licensed,
four of which will be under his care, and three continued under
mine, and in these we purpose to officiate statedly. But there
is a number of dissenters in four or five places who cannot
obtain ministers of their own, nor attend on our ministry at the
places licensed already, by reason of distance; and they are
very desirous to have houses licensed among them, where any
qualified dissenting minister whom they shall invite, may officiate occasionally, and the only question, sir, which we would
have determined in England, is, whether the Act of Toleration
entitles them to have houses licensed among them for that purpose.
"We doubt not of your zeal, dear sir, to manage the affair;
and we cheerfully leave it to you and the gentlemen of the
committee to determine the most proper time to prosecute it.
But this, sir, I would inform you of, that we are not asking a
favour of the Government, but entering a legal claim. If it be
determined by competent authority, that the Act of Toleration
does not allow the dissenters to have meeting-houses licensed,
where they may occasionally meet for public worship, we shall
quietly resign our claim, till some favourable juncture happens,
when we may petition for the enlargement of our liberties. But
if we may legally make this claim; if dissenters enjoy this privilege in England; and if the rulers there judge that the Act of
27




210               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Toleration entitles them to it, then we humbly conceive that the
pushing the matter to a determination could be attended with no
ill consequences; as we only pressed for an explication' of the
Act of Toleration, with reference to Virginia, according to its
true intent and meaning in England, whether the determination
of such a point belongs to the lawyers, to judges, or to his
majesty and council, you, sir, can determine: though an authoritative order from the latter would be most regarded by our
rulers; and all the order we desire is this, that wherever ten or
fifteen families of Protestant dissenters, who cannot attend at
the meeting-house already licensed, apply for licenses at the
General Court, they shall be granted them. It has been confidently affirmed to me by some of the Council that the dissenters
in England have no such privilege. In this, sir, I request your
information; for if this be the case we must resign our claim.
" I send you inclosed a copy of a certificate given to the clerk
of the General Court last April, to be presented to the Court.
He showed it to the Governor and some of the Council, in my
presence, before they sat in court, and their answer was-' That
it would be in vain to present it in court, for they would grant
no more licenses till they had received answer from England,
whither they had written for instructions.' Another certificate
was presented to a county court, and rejected, and a third would
have been presented to the General Court had I not discouraged the persons concerned, by informing them it would be in
vain. The certificate is drawn up in the form prescribed by
Dr. Doddridge in his letter to me; and it was his judgment that
in case it should be refused, we should have just ground of complaint in the courts of England. I therefore send you a copy
of it, that you may make what use of it you think expedient.
The persons concerned in all these certificates live thirteen,
twenty, thirty, forty miles from the nearest of the places already
licensed, and therefore unless they can obtain places licensed
contiguous to them, they will be generally deprived of public
worship altogether.
"I also send you a narrative of the state of religion among
the dissenters here in Virginia, printed in Boston; and if it
engage your fervent prayers, intermingled with thanksgivings
for us, my end is obtained. I also present you with a collection
of poems, which, though beneath your notice in all other
respects, will, I hope, be acceptable as a token of impotent
gratitude.
"I have had some thoughts of laying our affairs before the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and soliciting
their interest in our behalf. My motives are partly that their
concurrence may enforce your attempts in our favour; and
especially to convince the world that I am a Presbyterian




DR. AVERY'S LETTER TO DAVIES.           211
minister, which some here have pretended to scruple; and I
can think of no better expedient for this end than to prevail on
the General Assembly to espouse my cause.  But in this, and
in all other affairs of the like nature, I am wholly at your direction and control; and as I shall request my friends in Scotland
to act in concert with you, it will be still in your power to follow your own judgment.
"Though I apply to you as a petitioner for a favour, yet,
when I assure you that I affectionately love you, and remember
you when I bow my knees to the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, you will not, I hope, suspect it as an artifice to
bribe your friendship. Though my warmest gratitude is due
for your generous and pious zeal for the interests of dissenters,
yet I have a disinterested esteem for you on account of your
personal worth, which universal fame has not permitted me to
be unacquainted with. I request your prayers, dear sir, for
me, that I may be faithful and successful in that part of the
Lord's vineyard which his providence has assigned me; and for
my people, that their light may so shine before men, &c.
"The news of Dr. Doddridge's death gave an incurable
wound to my spirit; and Zion through all her divisions has felt
the blow. I should be glad to know what posthumous writings
of his are put to the press, and particularly, whether he lived
to finish his Fanmily Expositor, which is very acceptable in Virginia, and of great service already to sundry families.
"I expect, dear sir, you will write to me as frequently as
you can, for my mind is uneasy till the matter be determined; till then, I hope, I shall exercise that patience, and
show that quiet submission, which you in the name of the
committee have so kindly recommended to me. I request you
to return my most grateful acknowledgments to them, and
assure yourself that I am, reverend and worthy sir, your obliged
and most humble servant,
SAMIUEL DAVIES.
"Hanover, May 21st, 1752.
"I write in a hurry, and therefore you will exercise your
candour, sir, towards my blunders and inaccuracies."
Letter frozm Dr. Avery to lMr. jDcuibes.'" REV. AND DEAR SIR —Yours of the 21st of MAay came safe
though directed in a way which for many years I have not been
used to; having not preached these thirty years past.  Mr.
IMauduit received yours of an earlier date designed for the
Bishop of London, which he communicated to me, and we
agreed that it was by no means advisable to send it to his
lordship.  I shall not enter into any debate with you concerning the scheme proposed for erecting a Bishoprick in North




212               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
America.  The less is said on that head, either on your or on
our side of the water, I believe the better. But one thing in
yours addressed to his lordship greatly surprised me.  You
represent your friends in North America, particularly in New
York, Virginia and Massachusetts, as far as your correspondence reaches, if not as desiring, yet as very willing to acquiesce, in having such an ecclesiastical superior officer sent
over to America with power to ordain, confirm, &c. Now all
my accounts from Connecticut, the Jerseys, and the Massachusetts, directly and strongly contradict this.  They uniformly speak of it as a measure quite inconsistent with their
peace and tranquillity. From both the ministry and laity in
all those colonies, I have received thanks for my having done
the little I did do, or indeed could do to prevent such an appointment taking place; and I have had the most importunate,
repeated solicitations to prevent so sore a calamity as that
seemed likely to prove to the colonies. These I have had from
many quarters; and some of them expressed in strong and
irritating terms.  Yours to his lordship is the first letter I
have seen from those parts expressing a desire, or so much as
an indifference and coolness on that head.
"' This must be my excuse for not forwarding your letter to
his lordship, though on several other accounts on which I
cannot enlarge, I should not have thought it proper to be put
into his hands; some relating to himself, and some to yourself;
but I will add one that would have been an objection to me had
I approved of every sentiment in the letter; I well knew the
length would have caused his lordship to have treated your
letter with a contempt and disregard it did not deserve. For
in cases which these great men, whether in church or state,
have most at heart, I have repeatedly seen that they cannot
bear long and minute representations.
"' The next subject of your letter is an inquiry, whether you
are not entitled according to the Act of Toleration to license
as many meeting-houses as you see fit.  Now if the Act of
Toleration be, in so many words, adopted, or wrought into
your constitution and made a proper law of your colony, and
is to be interpreted as the Act of Toleration is understood
here, nothing can be more plain than that you may certify,
record, or register as many houses for religious worship, as the
dissenters in the colony think they want, or choose to have. If
I was disposed to certify or register twenty houses in the parish
in which I live as designed for religious worship, and demand
it in the same form in which you tell me you have done, on
paying sixpence either at the Quarter Sessions or in the Session...... Court, the officers of those courts would not
dare refuse it; if they did, we know where to apply......




DR. AVERY'S LETTER TO DAVIES.           213
bench would immediately grant a manclamus, and oblige the
clerk of the peace, or the proper officer in the Ecclesiastical
Court to do as we desired. Where you are to apply for redress
according to the laws of your colony, we cannot say. Perhaps
you have no Justices of the Peace or General Quarter Sessions,
but every thing is adjudged among you by your Governor and
Council. From  them indeed you have an appeal to the King
and Council; but redress this way cannot readily and speedily
be procured. Such appeals must be attended with very great
expense.
" Though I well knew the Attorney General's and other eminent lawyers' opinion on this question before, I have taken Sir
D. Ryder's opinion on this head for your use, and herewith
send it over to you, hoping that when his excellency your
worthy Governor and the Council shall see, peruse, and consider it, they will no longer refuse your friends' request.
" When you certify places as designed for religious worship,
you are not obliged to say who is to officiate in that place, your
unnecessarily saying that has furnished the gentlemen who
refuse and oppose you, with an handle. But the design of this
proviso was not either to prevent the multiplying our places for
worship, or to oblige us to ascertain and specify the persons
who are intended to officiate in those places. In the proviso
there is not a word relating to the qualifications, much less to
the names of the persons to be employed therein.  There are
indeed other clauses of that Act relating to the qualifications
of ministers [a couple of lines wanting] mentioned in the Act.
"I cannot advise you to have any recourse to the General
Assembly of Scotland. I do not see how an application to them
will or can stand you in any stead.
"I thank you for the historical account you sent me of the
state of religion in the colony, and for the ingenious poems
which accompanied your obliging letter. I have perused both
the one and the other with pleasure, and my most fervent
prayers shall not be wanting that the cause of religion, virtue,
truth, liberty, and the most extensive charity may daily gain
ground in Virginia and all your neighbouring colonies.
" Dr. Doddridge's death is a great wound to the dissenting
interest, and indeed to the interest of religion.  Our consolation must be, that the Lord reigns, who can carry on and perfect his work even without instruments, or by the means of'such who seem to be much less fitted and qualified for such service than those which He has thought fit to remove.';"May your health be confirmed and re-established, your
valuable life prolonged, your usefulness be long continued and
daily increasing, aind your faithful endeavours to serve God and
promote the welfare of your fellow creatures with respect to




214               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
their most important interests, be attended with the most desirable success. In which wishes the gentlemen of the comnmittee concur.
"With, Rev'd and dear Sir,
"Your sincere friend
and humble servant,
" BENJ. AVERY."
" P. S. You may be pleased when you show the Attorney
General's opinion to his Excellency to let him know that you
received it from me whom I flatter myself he will recollect, as
he has seen me often both in London and at Bath; and pray
present him with my most respectful compliments."
The opinion of Sir Dudley Rider is not to be found: but its
meaning is not to be mistaken.  It evidently decided two
things, —that by the English interpretation of the Act of Toleration the dissenters might ask for the licensure of as many
houses as they they thought necessary without fear of refusal,-and
that this interpretation properly extended to Virginia. We
see from the letter of the bishop of London, that his lordship
entertained a different opinion. The Governor and Council of
Virginia claimed the right, as supreme executive and judiciary
of the colony, to determine the number of houses of religious
worship to be allowed dissenters, and also their location. From
this decision of the Governor and Council there was no redress
but by an appeal to the King and Council, which was both
troublesome and expensive. IIere the matter rested till Mr.
Davies visited England. After his return from England he
received two letters from the committee of the dissenters, which
will be given in their chronological order. They show the interest taken in the cause of the dissenters in Virginia, by the
dissenters in England; and that all hope of redress from civil
authority lay in an appeal to the King.
Amid all his labours, in seven preaching places, besides his
journies to attend upon the judicatories of the church, Mr.
Davies found time and strength and disposition to make frequent missionary excursions to the sections of country now
included in the counties of Cumberland, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Charlotte, Campbell, Nottoway and Amelia. One of his
excursions is referred to in the following account by Rev'd
Archibald Alexander, D. D., of Princeton, who from his
residence of many years in Prince Edward and Charlotte
during the latter part of the eighteenth and the beginning
of the nineteenth century, had full opportunity of becoming
acquainted with the early history of the congregations.  It
is taken from a brief memoir of Major James Morton, which
appeared in the Watchman and Observer for February 18th,




DAVIES AND LITTLE JOE MORTON.          215
1847.-"When Mr. Davies took long tours of preaching,
which he usually did in the course of the year, he was commonly accompanied by a pious young man, not merely as a
companion, but as a pioneer to ride on before, and find a place
of lodging; for many people were unwilling to receive a "lNewlight" preacher into their houses, in those days. In this service
young John Morton (father of Major Morton) was sometimes
employed, for having been converted under Mr. Davies's ministry he was delighted to have the opportunity of enjoying his
company and pious conversation. The writer has often heard
old Mrs. Morton, of Little Roanoke Bridge, called the mother
in israel, relate the circumstance of Mr. Davies's first visit to
that place. Young John Morton, who was a relative, came,
one day to know, whether Mr. Davies, the New-light preacher,
could be lodged there that night. Her husband, called, by way
of distinction, Little Joe Morton, not being at the house, she
could not answer. But when he was sent for, from the field,
and the question was proposed to him, after a few moments
consideration, he answered in the affirmative; and Mr. Morton
went back to the inn, and brought Mr. Davies to the house.
And with him Christ and salvation came to that house. Both
of the heads of the family, under the influence of the gospel,
as heard from Mr. Davies, became truly and eminently pious.
And their conversion was the foundation of the Briery Congregation, of which Little Joe Morton was the first elder, and
before they had a regular minister, was more like a pastor than
a ruling elder; for every Sabbath he would convene the people,
and read to them an evangelical sermon; and regularly catechise the children out of the Shorter Catechism. The writer
never saw this excellent man; but he can truly say he never
knew any layman to leave behind him a sweeter savour of piety.
None was ever heard to speak of him after his decease, otherwise than with respect bordering on veneration. And all the
children of this pious pair became members of the Presbyterian
Church; and if all their children and grandchildren were collected together, who are members of the church, they would
form a large congregation; and among them would be found
several preachers of the gospel."
In these circuits for preaching, it was the habit of Mr. Davies either to preach at the places where he lodged, or to give
a lecture to the family and servants, at evening worship.
These services were pre-eminently blessed; many neighbourhoods have traditions of their usefulness. Every visit enlarged
his circuit and increased the number of places that asked for
Presbyterian preaching.
In the year 1752 the Synod of New York met at Newark,
on the 29th of September, the day after the Commencement of




216               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
New Jersey College, located in that place. On the second day
of the sessions, in the afternoon-" Mr. Davies is come to the
Synod; his not coming in the beginning of this session occasioned by mistaking the time of meeting." The Rev. Jonathan
Edwards, on a visit to his son-in-law, Mr. Burr, the President,
being present at the meeting of Synod, was enrolled a corresponding member. Mr. Edwards preached before the Synod
from James ii. 19-': Thou believest there is one God; thou
doest well; the devils also believe and tremble." "The Synod
agreed to desire the Rev. Mr. Edwards to publish his sermon
preached before them." The sermon was printed under the title,
" True Grace distinguished from the Experience of Devils."
"Upon a representation of the destitute circumstances of
Virginia, the Synod appoint Mr. Greenman and Mr. Robert
Henry, to go there sometime betwixt this and the next synod."
iMr. Edwards. under date of November 24th, 1752, writes to a
gentleman in Scotland,-" When I was lately in New Jersey,
in the time of the Synod there, I was informed of some small
movings and revivals in some places, on Long Island, and in
New Jersey. I then had the comfort of a short interview with
iMr. Davies of Virginia, and was much pleased with him and his
conversation. He appears to be a man of very solid understanding, discreet in his behaviour, and polished and gentlemanly in his manners, as well as fervent and zealous in religion. He gave an account of the probability of the settlement
of Mr. Todd, a young man of good learning and of a pious
disposition, in a part of Virginia near to him. Mr. Davies
represented before the Synod the great necessities of the people, in the back parts of Virginia, where multitudes were remarkably awakened and reformed several years ago, and ever
since have been thirsting after the ordinances of God. The
people are chiefly from Ireland of Scotch extraction. The
Synod appointed two men to go down and preach among these
people; viz. Mr. Henry, a Scotchman, who has lately taken a
degree at New Jersey College, and Mr. Greenman, the young
man who was educated at the charge of Mr. David Brainerd."
This opinion of Edwards was formed of Davies in an assemblage
of great men, assembled on a great occasion, the Commencement of their College, and the meeting of their Synod.
Mr. Todd, referred to in the above extracts, was finally settled in Virginia. He was installed Nov. 12th, 1762. The
sermon preached by Mr. Davies, on the occasion, was publishlished. From the dedication, the following fine extracts show
the disposition and ministerial course of the two men. It is
addressed " To the Rev. Clergy of the Established Church of
Virginia."
"In the following sermon, and appendix, gentlemen, you




DAVIES-TO DR. DAWSON.               217
may be informed of our sentiments concerning the nature and
design and various duties of the ministerial office. The following sermon will also inform you, gentlemen, what is the substance of the doctrines we generally preach; whether they are
the rigid peculiarities of Presbyterianism, or the generous
truths of catholic Christianity; whether they are the raw innovations of'New Lights,' or the good old doctrines of the
Church of England, of the Reformation, and to say all in a
word, of the Bible. If you would know, revered sirs, what
has been that strange charm that has enchanted people in these
parts to leave the stated communion of the established church,
and to profess themselves dissenters; we can solemnly assure
you, and our hearers of every denomination are our witnesses,
that it has not been any public or private artifice of ours to
expose the liturgy and clergy of the Church of England; but
the plain, peaceable preaching of such doctrines as are mentioned in the following sermon, in weakness, and in fear, and
in much trembling. And if we may believe the united testimony of our adherents, it was an eager thirst after these doctrines, rather than a dissatisfaction with the peculiar modes of
worship in that church, which first induced them to dissent."
In the same dedication, he gives an extract from a letter he
had previously sent to the Commissary, Dr. Dawson-"'for
whose memory"-he says-" I have a sincere veneration,
written at his motion, to give him, and the other gentlemen of
the Council, to whom he promised to communicate it, an impartial account of the dissenters here; and what he was pleased to
request, I may, I hope, inoffensively present to you. I am
not fond, sir, of disseminating sedition and schism; I have no
ambition to Presbyterianize the colony. But I may declare
without suspicion of ostentation, or wilful falsification, that I
have a sincere zeal, however languid and impotent, to propagate the catholic religion of Jesus in its life and power; though
I feel but little anxiety about the denomination its genuine
members assume. The profession of Christianity is universal
in this colony; but alas, sir, if the religion of the Bible be the
test of men's characters, and the standard of their final doom,
multitudes, multitudes, are in a perishing condition. Their
ignorance, their negligence, their wrong notions of vital Christianity, their habitual neglect of its known duties, their vicious
practice proclaim it aloud; and he that can persuade himself
of the contrary, in spite of evidence, is possessed of a charity
under no rational or scriptural regulations.  For my part, sir,
should I believe that religion is in a flourishing state in this
colony, I must renounce the Bible, disbelieve my eyes, and my
ears, and rush into universal scepticism.  Could I indulge the
pleasing dream, my life below the skies would be an anticipation
28




218               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of heaven. I do not conclude religion is in so lamentable a state
because I see the generality pray by form, receive the sacrament kneeling, —or in word, because they conform. to the debated peculiarities of the established church;-no sir, I freely
grant that these things are not the test of men's characters;
these may be so far from hindering, that for what I know, they
may promote living religion, in such as have no scruples about
them;-but the unwelcome evidences that force the conclusion upon me, are, the general neglect, and stupid unconcernedness about religion, the habitual omission of its duties, and
the vicious practices that glare upon me around, and which are
utterly inconsistent with true religion in any denomination.
I pretend to no superior sanctity above the established clergy,
who are piously aiming at the great end of their office,-and I
allow myself the pleasure of hoping there are such in Virginia.
I pretend to no Apostolic powers and privileges, immediate
revelations and impulses, but renounce the claim as presumptuous and enthusiastical, I am as mean and insignificant a
creature as you can well conceive me to be. But I dare profess, sir, that even a heart so insensible as mine, is at times
dissolved into compassion and racked with agonies of zeal, when
so dismal a scene opens around me; I dare profess, I cannot
stand an unconcerned inactive spectator of the ruin of my fellow
sinners, but would very gladly spend and be spent for them,
though the more abundantly I love them, the less I should be
loved. I am bold to avow so much pious humanity, as that I
would exert myself to the utmost, in my little sphere, for their
recovery; and since I am disabled by some conscientious scruples, to attempt it in the communion of the established church, I
humbly conceive, I am warranted to attempt it in a separate
communion. This, sir, is my only design, and, as I told you in
conversation, I think it would be no great stretch of charity to
suppose, that even a dissenter may be more distressed to see
multitudes rushing on, in a thoughtless career to ruin, than to
see them conform to the Church of England; and more zealous
to convert them from sin to holiness, than from party to party."
He thus concludes his dedication to the established clergy,
in the following manner.  " This account of my conduct and
designs, gentlemen, I have seen no reason to retract, and my
procedure since it was written, which was about a year ago
(1752) has not been inconsistent with it. And till my practice
be proven inconsistent with it, these unreserved declarations of
my designs must be deemed sincere, and worthy to be credited:
unless mortals can produce authentic credentials to warrant
their assuming the prerogative of Omniscience, and judging the
secrets of men. My sole design is to give you an impartial
account of the doctrines with which we entertain our hearers:




DAVIES TO THE ESTABLISHED CLERGY.         219
that you may judge how far we deserve to be censured and
opposed as'innovators, disturbers of the peace of the church,
sowers of heresies and sedition.' And if the following sermon
answer this end, the design of its publication with respect to
you, is fully obtained. But if I should be so unhappy as to be
disappointed in this, I must support myself by reflecting upon
the inoffensiveness and integrity of my intentions; and as
Chrysostome observes, in the quotation from him in the title
page-it is a sufficient relief under all his labours, and more
than equivalent for them all, when one can be conscious to himself, that he regulates his doctrine to the approbation of the
Deity. And to translate my first motto from Clemens of Alexandria, he is in realityr a presbyter of the Church, and a true
minister of the will of God, who teaches the doctrines of the
Lord Jesus, and practices accordingly; and though he be not
honoured with the first seat upon earth, he shall be enthroned in
heaven. To that state of perfect uniformity in sentiment, and
everlasting friendship, may you be conducted, when you have
served your generation according to the will of God! And
then may divine grace afford some humble place, among the
myriads of glorified immortals, to the unworthy mortal who is,
and therefore desires to be esteemed-Reverend sirs, your affectionate brother, hearty well wisher, and humble servant,
SAMUEL DAVIES."
"Hanover, January 9th, 1753.
About a month before the installation of Mr. Todd, Mr.
Davies preached before the Presbytery of New Castle, October
11th, 1752, from these words,-" For Zion's sake I will not
hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until
the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth." By the desire of Presbytery and the congregation it was published, being printed at
the office of B. Franklin and D. Hall, in Market street, Philadelphia, 1753,-with a preface by Rev. Samuel Finley.  This
sermon is given nearly complete in the 9th vol. of the Literary
and Evangelical Magazine, by J. H. Rice, D.D. The design of
the sermon is, "I. Mention some measures which the ministers
of the gospel should pursue for the advancement of religion in
the world. II. Offer some important considerations to engage
us to use such measures with unwearied diligence and zeal." A
sermon that would well have a place in his printed volumes.
Another extract from Dwight's Life of Edwards, found on
page 498, will throw some light on the history of these times.
In writing to the Rev. John Erskine of Scotland, he expresses
himself thus-" What you write of the appointment of a gentleman, to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, who is a




920               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
friend to religion, is an event that the friends of religion in
America have great reason to rejoice in, by reason of the late
revival of religion in that province, and the opposition that has
been made against it, and the great endeavours to crush it, by
many of the chief men of the province. Mr. Davies, in a letter
I lately received from him, dated March 2d, 1752, mentions
the same thing.  His words are-' We have a new Governor,
who is a candid condescending gentleman.  And as he has
been educated in the Church of Scotland, he has a respect for
the Presbyterians; which I hope is a happy omen.'
" I was, in the latter part of last summer, applied to, with
much earnestness and importunity, by some of the people in
Virginia, to come and settle among them, in the work of the
ministry, who subscribed handsomely for my encouragement and
support, and sent a messenger to me with their request and
subscriptions; but I was installed at Stockbridge, before the
messenger came." He does not say what his feelings were
about the call, or Virginia as a place of labour. Under a previous date, July 5th, 1750, Mr. Edwards says,-" As to my subscribing to the substance of the Westminster Confession, there
would be no difficulty; and as to the Presbyterian government, I
have long been perfectly out of conceit of our unsettled, independent, confused way of church government in this land; and
the Presbyterian way has ever appeared to me most agreeable
to the word of God, and the reason and nature of things."
Mr. Robert Henry, appointed by the Synod of 1752, to
visit Virginia, was installed pastor of Cub Creek, in Charlotte,
and Briery in Prince Edward. Mr. Todd performed the services.  Mr. Todd took part of the congregations for whom
Mr. Davies obtained licensed houses on his first visit and settlement. Mr. Henry took his position on the south-western
frontier, and was not installed till June 4th, 1755, after Mr.
Davies' visit to England.
Besides these personal labours to promote the extension of
gospel truth in Virginia,-his multiplied preachings in his seven
houses for public worship,-his numerous and fatiguing missionary excursions to the frontiers east of the Blue Ridge,-his
particular attention to the coloured people,-his efforts to supply the vacancies around him with ministers from the northern
Presbyteries, —Mr. Davies began early to rear up preachers of
the gospel in Virginia. He did not desire to complete their
education under his own eye, as appears from his communications with Mr. Pattillo on that subject.  He looked to New
Jersey College, then the favourite institution of the Synod of
New York, as the proper place for the students to complete
their studies. Mr. Davies was instrumental in bringing forward and aiding in different stages of their education, Mr. John




MISSION TO GREAT BRITAIN.            221
WVright, a graduate of New Jersey College, in 1752; Mr. Pattillo, so favourably known in Carolina history; Mr. John Martin, the first licentiate of Hanover Presbytery; Mr. William
Richardson, ordained in 1758, and intimately connected with
North and South Carolina history; James Waddel, whose
name fills a chapter in Virginia history; and Mr. James Hunt,
a son of one of his elders, and a graduate of Princeton in
1759. Mr. Davies promoted classical schools, though his multiplied labours prevented his being the head of one in Virginia.
Mr. Davies endeavoured faithfully to perform the duties to
which he was called, by the providence of God, in Hanover
county, and on the frontiers of Virginia. His post was one
of arduous labours. He was brought into intimate relations with
all grades of society, from the African slave on the plantations,
to the Governor and Council; and in all he was equal to
his position. "' He seems"-as one said of him, on seeing him
pass through a courtyard-" as an embassador of some mighty
king;" and as such sustained his Master's cause with dignity
and success. By his apostolical labours he had been improved
in strength of body, activity of mind, and ardour of piety. He
had become accustomed to take large views of things, and to act
on great principles, with confidence, in great emergencies.
He had learned to govern himself, and by convincing and persuading to govern others. God gave him great success in his
ministry; every thing to which he put his hand appeared to
prosper; and as was said of the patriarch —'" whatsoever they
did there"-among the dissenters in Virginia —' he was the
doer of it." The eyes of the church, in America and England, had been turned upon the dissenters in Virginia, struggling for the rights of Christians and of freemen; and suddenly and unexpectedly, Davies found them turned upon himself,
and heard the voice of his brethren calling him to new labours
and self-denial, in another sphere.
CHAPTER XI.
THE MISSION OF MESSRS. DAVIES AND TENNENT TO GREAT
BRITAIN.
THE Synod of New York met at Newark, New Jersey, September, 1751. On the first day of the session-" a petition was
sent into the Synod, by the Trustees of the College of New
Jersey, desiring that the Rev. Mr. Ebenezer Pemberton might




222               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
be appointed to make a voyage to Europe, to solicit benefactions for said College; and likewise requesting that some members of the Synod might be appointed to go immediately to
New York, to treat with Mr. Pemberton's congregation upon
said affair. The Synod taking the matter into consideration,
do appoint Messrs. Aaron Burr, Richard Treat, William Tennent, and Samuel Davies, to be a committee to go immediately
to New York and treat with Mr. Pemberton's congregation
upon said affair." On the evening of the next day the committee returned and reported,-" that their attempts were to
no purpose in the affair of their mission."  Mr. Jonathan
Edwards, in a letter to Mr. Erskine, Scotland, July 7th,
1752, says,-" There was a design of Mr. Pemberton's going
to England and Scotland. He was desired by the Trustees, and it was his settled purpose to have gone last year;
but his people and his colleague Mr. Cummings, hindered it.
Hiis intention of going occasioned great uneasiness among his
people, and created some dissatisfaction towards him, in the
minds of some of them. Since that, President Burr has been
desired to go, by the unanimous voice of the Trustees. Nevertheless, I believe there is little probability of his consenting to
it; partly on account of his having lately entered into a married
state."
In 1752, an application was made to the Synod by the
Trustees, that a collection be taken up, in all the congregations, for the use of the College. The Synod agreed, and
directed the collection to be made previously to the ensuing
MIay. Many of the contributions, made in obedience to the
recommendation of Synod, were generous; but the sum obtained was far from being sufficient to sustain a college. The
Legislature had been applied to for patronage, repeatedly, and
had as often refused all pecuniary aid. A mission to Great
Britain was again talked of; and the eyes of the Trustees were
now turned to Messrs. Davies and Tennent, as their messengers to the motherland.
On the 4th of October, 1753, the Synod of New York, holding its meeting in Philadelphia-" application was made to the
Synod in behalf of the Trustees of the College of New Jersey,
requesting the Synod to appoint two of their members, viz:
Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Davies, to take a voyage to
Europe on the important affairs of the said College: to which
the Synod unanimously consent."
At this time, the College of New Jersey existed only on
paper, and in the hearts of the Synod of New York, and a few
pious people. There were no permanent funds, library, philosophical apparatus, faculty, building, or "local habitation."
It had a noble President, and had been sending out graduates.




COLLEGE IN NEW JERSEY.             223
Of the fifty young men who had received the degree of A. B.,
twenty-six had entered the ministry, of whom five went to
Virginia, and one as a pioneer in North Carolina. Davies felt
its importance. The instruction of youth in the classics and
sciences, as well as theological and other professional studies,
had, in all the country south of New England, with the exception of the College of William and Mary, in Virginia, been left
to the enterprise and benevolence of individuals. Those who
took the lead in the education of youth were clergymen, some
from the spirit of their station, some from necessity, and some
from both causes combined, as teaching in some of its forms is
the minister's appropriate employment.
Rev. William Tennent, sen., who opened the famous school
Neshaminy, commonly known as the "Log College," died in
1746. Rev. Samuel Blair, his pupil, towards the close of Tennent's life, opened a similar school at New Londonderry, from
which came Davies and Rodgers, and many other preachers.
Rev. Samuel Finley, afterwards President of Nassau Hall,
opened a similar school at Nottingham, which, after the death of
Mr. Blair, was the place of instruction patronised by Newcastle
Presbytery; and the fame of Finley spread far and wide. In
the meantime, Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, of Elizabethtown, New
Jersey, was engaged in giving instruction, in the liberal studies,
and became equally famous as a teacher and preacher. Sometime before his death, the members of the Synod of New York
were impressed with the conviction of a permanent collegiate
institution; and applied to the Legislature for a charter for a
a college, of which Mr. Dickenson was expected to be the President. The charter was obtained October 22d, 1746, but not
being satisfactory was never acted upon. Mr. Dickenson went
on with his course of instruction, preparing young men for the
bachelor's degree, till his death, October 17th, 1747. Governor Belcher, a man admired for the suavity of his manners, and
venerated for his piety, obtained a new charter in September,
1748. About two months afterward, the first commencement
of the College was held at New Brunswick; and six young gentlemen received their first degree. After the death of Mr.
Dickenson, the students had been under the care of Rev. Aaron
Burr of Newark, who, on this first commencement day was, by
the unanimous vote of the Trustees, chosen President.
Some of the members of Synod were not pleased with the
second charter; and though named in it as trustees, did not at
first give the College their cordial support. The Rev. Jonathan Edwards, in a letter to Mr. Erskine of Scotland, May
20th, 1749, says,-" I have heard nothing new that.is very
remarkable, concerning the College in New Jersey. It is in
its infancy. There has been considerable difficulty about set



224               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
tling their charter.  Governor Belcher, who gave the charter,
is willing to encourage and promote the College to his utmost;
but differs in his opinion concerning the constitution, which will
tend most to its prosperity, from some of the principal ministers
that have been concerned in founding the society. He insists
upon it that the Governor, for the time being, and four of his
Majesty's Council for the province should always be of the
Corporation of Trustees; and that the Governor should always
be the President of the Corporation. The ministers are all
very willing that the present Governor, who is a religious
man, should be in this standing: but their difficulty is with
respect to future governors, who, they suppose, are as likely to
be men of no religion and Deists, as otherwise. However, so
the matter is settled, to the great uneasiness of Mr. Gilbert
Tennent in particular, who, it is feared, will have no further
concern with the College on this account. Mr. Burr, the President of the College, is a man of religious and singular learning,
and I hope the College will flourish under his care."
Rev. Mr. Gilbert Tennent had not been active for the College
as had been expected. By this appointment for the mission to
Europe, this honest hearted man was compelled either to set
himself in opposition to brethren whose judgment he respected,
and whose esteem was dear, or embrace the College as the child
of his affections, and the object of his labours. He chose the
latter. Mr. Davies from his position was the most interesting
minister in the Presbyterian Church. His name, at home, and
abroad was associated with thrilling incidents and reminiscences.
Many in England desired to see the young champion of toleration
in Virginia. The friends of Mr. Tennent wished to secure the
services of that able man; and desired his being sent on the
mission as a relief from the pressure of some severe domestic
bereavements.
While the Synod of New York was thus occupied in laying
the foundation of the present flourishing College, Nassau Hall,
the Synod of Philadelphia was not idle. In the year 1739, Rev.
John Thompson, a leading man of the old-side, proposed to the
Presbytery of Donegal the erecting a school to be under the
care of Synod. The Synod, in May, of the same year, unanimously approved the design,-" And in order to the accomplishing it did nominate Messrs. Pemberton, Dickenson, Cross and
Anderson, two of which if they can be prevailed upon, to be sent
home to Europe to prosecute this affair with proper directions.
And in order to this, it is appointed that the commission of the
Synod, with correspondents from every Presbytery, meet in Philadelphia, the third Wednesday of August next. And if it be
found necessary that Mr. Pemberton should go to Boston pursuant to this design, it is ordered that the Presbytery of New




MR. ALISON'S SCHOOL.              225
York supply his pulpit during his absence." This commission
of Synod met in August, and after much prayerful consideration,
resolved to call the Synod to meet the last Wednesday in September, in Philadelphia,-" And that Messrs. Andrews, Cross
and Treat do prepare what addresses, letters, credentials, or
other instruments may be proper against the meeting of Synod."
On the minutes of Synod for the next year is the following record —" The war breaking out between England and Spain, the
calling of the Synod was omitted and the whole affair laid aside."
Dr. Coleman of Boston had assured the Synod of the co-operation of the Boston clergy in erecting the school. Here the
matter rested for some years.
In the year 1743, after the disowning of the New Brunswick
Presbytery, and the actual, though not formal divisions of
synod, the members of the Philadelphia Synod, called the
"Old-side," resumed the business of the school, by a committee
from the Presbyteries of Philadelphia, New Castle and Donegal.
This committee resolved that the school be opened. The next
year the synod approved the designs, and took the school under
its care. The first article of the plan was-" that there be a
school kept open where all persons who please may send their
children, and have them instructed gratis in languages, philosophy and divinity." The support of the school was to be
derived from yearly contributions by the congregations under
the care of the Synod. Rev. Francis Alison, the finest scholar
in the two Synods, was appointed master, with the privilege of
choosing his own usher. "The Synod agree to allow Mr. Alison
twenty pounds per annum, and the usher fifteen pounds." In
the year 1746, May 30th, the synod, in reply to a letter from
President Clapp, of Yale College, say-" Some years ago our
Synod found the interests of Christ's kingdom likely to suffer,
in these parts, for want of a college for the education of young
men. Mr. William Tennent set up a school among us, where
some were educated, and afterwards admitted to the ministry,
without sufficient qualifications, as was judged by many of the
synod. And what made the matter look worse, those that were
educated in this private way denied the usefulness of some parts
of learning that we thought very necessary. It was therefore
agreed to try to erect a college, and apply to our friends in
Britain, and Ireland, and New England. But when we were
thus projecting our plans, the war with Spain was proclaimed,,which put a stop to our proceedings then. The Synod then
came to a public agreement to take all private schools where
young men were educated for the ministry, so far under their
care as to appoint a committee of our Synod to examine all such
as had not obtained degrees in the European or New England
colleges, and give them certificates if they were found qualified,
29




226               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
which were to serve our Presbyteries instead of a college
diploma, till better provision could be made. Mr. Gilbert Tennent cried out that this was to prevent his father's school for
training gracious men for the ministry; and he and some of his
adherents protested against it, and counteracted this our public
agreement, admitting men to the ministry which we judged
unfit for that office. While these debates subsisted, Mr. Whitefield came into the country, whom they drew into their party to
encourage divisions. And by his interest Mr. Gilbert Tennent
grew hardy enough to tell our Synod he would oppose their
design of getting assistance to erect a college wherever we
should make application, and would maintain young men at his
father's school in opposition to us. This, with his and his
adherents' divisive practices, obliged the Synod to exclude him,
and others of his stamp, from their communion. Upon this the
Synod erected a school in the year 1744. It was agreed that
the said school should be opened under the inspection of the
Synod, where the languages, philosophy and divinity should be
taught gratis, to all that should comply with the regulations of
the school, being persons of good character and behaviour.
Several ministers and gentlemen have helped us to books to
begin a library; and we hope that in time we may obtain assistance from England, Ireland, and elsewhere, to enable us to
found a college. We have not obtained a charter as yet, but
have reason to hope we may procure one, if there be occasion.
We excluded from synodical communion the four Tennents,
Blair, Craighead, Treat, and Mr.. Wales. These, especially the
Tennents, Blair and Treat, being the ringleaders of our divisions, and the destroyers of good learning and gospel order
among us; and they with a few others that joined with them,
erected themselves into a separate body, and licensed and
ordained men for the work of the ministry, that were generally
ignorant and warm in the division scheme, and they have troubled
Virginia and the New English government." In the year 1749
the plan of the school was modified, Mr. Alison's salary-was
increased, and he was permitted to receive tuition from all,
except those the trustees should judge unable to bear the
expense. Mr. Alison removed to Philadelphia in the year
1752, to take charge of the academy in that city. When that
institution was erected into a college he was put at its head.
These circumstances checked the efforts of the Synod for erecting a college. This school flourished under the care of Mr.
Alexander McDowell, to whom, in 1754, Mr. Matthew Wilson
was added as assistant. In 1755 a donation of books was
received from Dublin, with which the Synod resolved to commence a public library, under the care of their own body.
This statement of a few facts respecting the action of the




DELEGATION DEPARTS FOR EUROPE.          227
two Synods, and their friends, for their favourite schools, will
throw light upon the position of Messrs. Tennent and Davies
as delegates to Europe for the advancement of the interests of
New Jersey College; the journal of Mr. Davies will be read
to greater advantage;-and the perplexities of Mr. Tennent
better understood. Mr. Tennent was at times almost overwhelmed, by meeting copies of his Nottingham sermon in England, and by the private letters sent from America calculated
to prejudice the pious people in England against him and his
cause. Before his mission to England, Mr. Tennent had become an advocate of the union of the two Synods, to whose
division he had contributed no small share. On his return to
Philadelphia, his zeal and energy contributed not a little to the
harmony of the Church and the union of the Synods under the
name of Synod of New York and Philadelphia.  "He that
confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy." The Church has
long since spread her mantle of love and sweet remembrance,
over his memory; and a reference to his imprudent zeal will
do him no harm, while it may be a warning to others against
indulgence in passionate denunciation, and hasty judgment of
character and Christian standing.
The summer of 1753 was passed by Messrs. Tennent and
Davies in preparations for their voyage. Davies parted with
his family and congregation for the long absence, with great
reluctance. Mr. Tennent, on account of his bereavements in
his family, had less to bind him to Philadelphia. On the 3d of
September, Mr. Davies says-" I took leave of some thousands,
yesterday, in public; and to-day I parted with some of my select friends, and my dear spouse, my honoured parents, and
three helpless children, and left them in a flood of tears."
The departure of the delegation was delayed. On Saturday,
November 17th, they went on board a vessel bound to London.
Mr. Davies kept a journal. That relates to his labours, trials,
and success. It was written in two small volumes; one of
which was obtained from his family by Dr. Rice, and is preserved in the library of the Union Theological Seminary in
Prince Edward, Virginia; the other was found by Dr. Cuyler,
in Philadelphia, and by him deposited in the library of Nassau
Hall. These two manuscripts are nearly entire, as they came
from Mr. Davies' pen.  "Of almost all the men mentioned
by him"-says Dr. Rice, in his Magazine, vol. 2d, pp. 334, 5"we have biographical sketches, made by their acquaintances,
since their death; and it is wonderful to observe how the hints
of Davies coincide with the fuller accounts of others. IHe
must have possessed great powers of observation, and a wonderful faculty of looking into human character."
Messrs. Davies and Tennent parted in Edinburgh: Mr. Ten



228               JOURNAL OF REV. SAMUEL DAVIES.
nent, to visit Glasgow and Ireland; Mr. Davies, the principal
towns  in  England,-as he says-"solitary  and  sad."   They
met again in London, Oct. 1754. In November Mr. Tennent
sailed directly for Philadelphia.   Mr. Davies took passage for
York in Virginia, the same month, but on account of unfavourable weather did not leave the coast for about six weeks. The
voyage was long and unpleasant. He landed in York, Feb. 13th
1755: the next day waited  on the  Governor in Williamsburg,
and on the morning of the 15th reached home-" and found all
well."
The success of the mission to Great Britain surpassed expectation. A large amount of money was secured; all doubts as to
the permanency of the College put to flight; public sympathy
was excited for the suffering dissenters in Virginia; contributions
were secured for the education of pious young men at Nassau
Hall; and a greater interest awakened for the welfare of the
Indians in the provinces. For immediate effect, or permanent
usefulness, no delegation from the colonies to the mother country
ever equalled that of Messrs. Tennent and Davies for Nassau
Hall.
CHAPTER XII.
JOURNAL OF REV. SAMUEL DAVIES, FROM JULY 2, 1753, TO
FEBRUARY 13, 1755.
July 2d, 1753.-Gratitude to the God of my mercies constrains me to own myself
the favourite child of Divine Providence; as it has generally disposed of me in a
manner different from, and sometimes contrary to my expectation, my purpose and
desire. Such an unexpected and undesired event was my separation from my
brethren and settlement in Virginia; and yet I have since looked upon it as a providential dispensation for the recovery of my health, to harden me against opposition, to increase my popularity, to make me acquainted with the world, as well as
with books, to supply the most necessitous congregation, and upon the whole, to
enlarge the sphere of my usefulness more extensively than so insignificant a creature
had reason to expect. And now as Divine Providence contrary to my expectation,
seems to call me to a very important embassy for the church and for the public;
and as it will tend much to my future satisfaction, to have the reasons of my procedure by me for a review in the hour of perplexity; I think it expedient to state
the affair in writing and to keep a diary of all the remarkable occurrences I may
meet with in my voyage, which I intendito begin about ~**   hence, unless Providence lay something in my way that may acquit me from the obligation which I seem
to lie under to undertake it. And it is my prayer to the God of my life, and the
guide of my youth, that He, who condescends to manage even my mean affairs,
would clear up my path of duty before me, and make it as agreeable as obvious,
whether it lead me to the ends of the earth, or confine me to the exercise of my
ministry at home. The College of New Jersey erected about eight years ago with
the most ample privileges, is of the greatest importance to the interests of religion
and learning in three colonies,-New York, the Jerseys, and Pennsylvania,-and
to the dissenters in Maryland, Virginia, and both Carolinas. There is now about




HIS REASONS FOR THE MISSION.                       229
~3000 in the college fund; but this will hardly be sufficient for the erection of proper buildings; and if it should all be laid out for that end, there will be nothing
left for maintenance of the professors and tutors, to furnish a college library, and
to support pious youths for the ministry, who are unable to support themselves
at learning.
Upon application made to Great Britain, there has been encouragement given to
expect some assistance, especially if some proper persons were sent over to represent the affair, and to solicit and receive contributions. The Trustees first endeavoured to employ Mr. Pemberton in the service, who was well qualified, and had
no family at the time, and was willing to undertake the embassy; but his congregation most unreasonably refused, though Mr. Cumming, his colleague, was still to
continue with them, and another minister would have been appointed to officiate
in his stead.  After this disappointment (near two years ago) some of the
Trustees importuned me to undertake the affair; but considering my youth and
other defects I could hardly think them in earnest. However, I mentioned the
personal, domestic and congregational difficulties in my way, and urged them with
as much earnestness as was necessary to resist their importunity. Last fall, they
renewed their application and I my refusal; and I never expected to hear more of
it. But last winter the Board of Trustees unanimously voted me to undertake the
voyage. When I was informed of it by a letter from worthy President Burr, it
struck me into a consternation and perplexity unknown before. All the tender
passions of the husband, the minister, the father and the son, (all which relations
centre upon me) formed an insurrection in my breast against the proposal, and
with these I have struggled ever since. My conjugal anxieties were increased by
the languishing state of my tenderer and better part, which my absence for so
long a time might perhaps increase. I was also afraid lest my dear congregation,
whose hearts are so excessively set upon me, should suffer by my absence., The
dangers of the seas likewise appeared terrible; and above all, my just conciousness
of my want of qualifications for so important an embassy, sunk my spirits; and
yet my remonstrances on this head would not be regarded by others. After all the
deliberation and consultation in my power, I determined to take no notice of the
many difficulties in my way which were superable, but to insist only on these two
things as the conditions of my compliance; the one for the support of my family,
and the other for the relief of my congregation; viz. that a proper person should
be sent to supply my pulpit during my absence: and that he should be maintained
at the expense of the College, that my salary might run on for the support of my
family. These proposals I sent to the Trustees in a letter per post; but not trusting to the loitering and uncertain medium of correspondence, I despatched a messenger off to bring me an immediate answer. Upon his return, I found the Trustees had readily consented to my proposals; and therefore expected my compliance with their vote.
I was also informed of this important incident, that Mr. G. Tennent, by the death
of his wife and mother, had no domestic incumbrance to prevent his going: and
that the Trustees had applied to him for that purpose, and he had consented to the
undertaking in conjunction with me. The expectation of so accomplished a partner in the embassy did, in a great measure, remove the despondencies arising from
my want of qualifications, and in the mean time confirmed the sense I had of this,
as I looked upon it as a very intelligent hint from divine Providence, of my unfitness for the embassy alone. On this and sundry other accounts I was very much
animated to the undertaking by the prospect of so worthy and agreeable a companion. But then upon hearing that Mr. Tennent was appointed, and that he had
consented, I had a new set of scruples about the necessity of my going: for it was
at first proposed that I should go alone; which supposed that one alone might perform the embassy; and if I, or indeed any member of the Synod could do it alone,
then undoubtedly Mr. Tennent can. But these scruples were removed by such
considerations as these, suggested by the Trustees. That the going of two would
give an air of importance to the embassy, and additional weight to our negotiations. That by this means, the affair which requires expedition, would be transacted much more speedily. That this would render the voyage more agreeable to
both: and that my refusal might furnish Mr. Tennent and his congregation with
occasion to refuse too. To these I may add, what has most weight with me, that
the dissenters in Virginia lie under such intolerable restraints, that it is necessary
to seek a redress; that now is the only proper season for it, and that none can
manage this affair as well as myself, who am concerned in it, and so well acquainted
with it.
Another consideration that had a great deal of weight with me, was this, that my
congregation, my parents and even my tender hearted weeping spouse, did either
consent to the undertaking, when it was laid before them, or discovered a kind




230                        DAVIES, JOURNAL.
of submissive reluctance. This disposition could not but extort my approbation,
even when it shocked me as an omen of my going; and it endeared the agreeable
companion of my life so much more to me that so long an absence from her will if
possible, be still more painful. The various opportunities I may have of personal
improvement, and that in things in which a pedant and a recluse is most deficient;
the various friendships that may be contracted which may tend much to the
honour and security of dissenters here, who stand so much in need of patronage,
are also considerable excitements.
I observe a strange concurrence of events happens to engage me in the embassy,
and at once to hint my insufficiency for it alone and clear the way for Mr. Tennent's going too. Had providence removed his wife and mother a little earlier,
before the Trustees had pitched upon me, they would undoubtedly have applied to
him only; as I am convinced nothing but necessity could have caused them to
make application to me, at so great a distance, and so unfit (alas! I feel myself
so) for the business. Had his wife and mother died sometime after, it would have
been too late for him to go; and I must have gone alone. If I had only written
per post, and not sent a messenger with my answer immediately, they would have
looked upon my delay as a denial, and consequently employed Mr. Tennent
alone. These and sundry other circumstances, I think I may without a tincture
of enthusiasm, look upon as providential dispensations, adjusting matters so as to
order my going, yet not alone, which I am fully convinced, would be injurious to
the affair.
Then I consider that there is so much need to make some attempts for the security and enlargement of the privileges of the dissenters in Virginia, and that if I
were obliged to undertake a voyage for that end alone, at the expense of the congregation, it would be very burdensome to them and me; I cannot but conclude
that it is with a view to this that Providence has directed the Trustees to make
application to me; for considering my known want of qualifications, and the little
acquaintance the most of the Trustees have with me, their vote appears to me utterly
unaccountable, without supposing such a providential direction. This is the more
remarkable; as this seems, on many accounts, the most proper crisis to do something in behalf of the dissenters here; as Mr. Tennent's influence in conjunction
with mine, will probably be of great service in the affair; and as it will not carry
so selfish and irritating an aspect to be managed, by the by, as if it were made the
sole business. I am also encouraged from the reflection that my congregation will
not probably suffer in my absence; as Mr. Wright, I expect, is well accomplished
for the place; and my cautious and prudent Rev. Mr. Todd, will be so near at hand
to assist in cases of difficulty. The Commissioners for Indian affairs, will be glad
of this opportunity for the propagation of the religion of Jesus among the poor
savages; and it is likely we shall succeed in raising contributions for that end. And
oh! how transporting the thought, that these barbarians may be cultivated by divine
grace, in the use of the proper means, and polished into genuine disciples of the
blessed Jesus. For this alone, it would be worth one's while to spend and be
spent. On these accounts I do generally conclude it will be my duty to undertake
the embassy, unless Providence evidently acquit me of the obligation, by laying
some insuperable obstruction in my way.
As to the temper of my mind, under this conviction of duty, I have found frequent reasons of resignation to the Divine pleasure, and a willingness to follow the
calls of duty to the ends of the earth. At other times I have been eager for the
undertaking, and afraid of a disappointment. At others I have been extremely intimidated, and shrunk away from the prospect; the dangers of sailing, and the difficulty of the mission, the pain of a separation, and the anxieties of so long an
absence from my people, my parents, my children, and especially my dearest creature, have sunk my spirits into the depth of despondency, so that my thoughts,
night and day, were hardly ever fixed upon anything else. My principal difficulty,
at present, arises from the languishing state of my dear wife, which I am afraid
has some tendency towards a consumptive illness. I think I could break through
the strongest complicated ties of the paternal and filial relation, and cast my helpless family upon the care of' Providence: but the thought that my wife should pine
away in my absence, without the satisfaction my company would afford her, or that
by the anxieties of separation, her constitution should be injured, this thought
seems utterly insupportable, and alarms all my tender and anxious passions. That
which at present appears duty to me is this, that I should go upon the mission with
this liberty reserved, that if I hear of my wife being dangerously ill, I may immediately return. 0! thou God of our life, with all the importunity so languid a soul
is capable of exerting, I implore thy gracious protection for her, that she may be
supported in my absence, and that we may enjoy a happy interview again. My
temporal affairs are much embarrassed, and if I should be removed into the eternal




LEAVES HOME.-MR. WRIGHT                           231
world in this voyage, I know not how my poor helpless family could possibly subsist; and none but such as have felt the anxieties of the father, the son, and the
husband, in such a circumstance, can conjecture what I feel at times under this
timorous apprehension. But I would check it as arguing a diffidence in Divine
Providence, and not well-grounded, for I am mortal at home, as well as abroad.
My present anxieties are collected into one point, viz., my wife's indisposition.
She was so languishing, and attended with such threatening symptoms of a growing
consumption, the day before yesterday, that I have been in the utmost perplexity
ever since, till to-day that I have set down to state the affair, and come to the conclusion before mentioned, to go with this liberty reserved, that I may return immediately, in case my wife's disorder is become dangerous.
July 11.-Through the indulgence of Divine Providence, my tenderer half, animae dimidium meae, has been considerably better for some days; and my Billy
and Johnny, that have been disordered, are recovered; which encourages me to
undertake the voyage. But alas! my conscience is this day burdened with guilt,
and I cannot apply to the, pacifying blood of Christ, which alone can purge the
conscience firom dead works, to serve the living God.
July 13.-Mr. Wright arrived here by order of Presbytery-to know whether I intended to undertake the voyage. I was exceeding glad to see my former friend and
pupil invested with the sacred character, and advanced to the-honour of an ambassador for Jesus; but it cast me into considerable perplexity to find that it was his
opinion there was no necessity for my going to Europe in behalf of the College, since
Mr. Tennent was going; and that he was very unwilling to stay here any time to supply my pulpit, and absolutely refused to stay all the time of my absence, as it would
deprive vacant congregations of his labours, and him of an opportunity to look out
for a settlement, for a considerable time. I was at length freed from my perplexities, and determined to go, by considering,-That the Trustees are the best j udges
of the necessity of my going with Mr. Tennent; and they are very eager for it,
otherwise they would not continue their application to me; for my voyage, all
things considered, will probably cost the college more than Mr. Tennent's,-That
Mr. Wright's judgment may be something perverted by his reluctance to stay here
so long,-That the affairs of the dissenters in Virginia would alone be sufficient
reason for my going.; and possibly I might be obliged to go soon, upon this
account alone, if I should not take this opportunity, -And that Mr. Todd, who, I
am sure, will be uneasy in the absence of his friend, and who knows the state of
affairs here, is fully convinced that it is my duty to go. On these accounts I
resume my former conclusion, that it will be my duty to undertake the embassy,
though I am PERPLEXED to know how my congregation can be supplied in my
absence, unless Mr. Wright determines to stay here, at least till next spring.
September 3d, 1753.-This morning I felt the painful rupture of the tender relative
ties which bind my heart to Hanover. I took my leave of some thousands yesterday, in public: and to-day I parted with some of my select friends, and my dear,
dear spouse, my honoured parent, and three helpless children, and left them in a
flood of tears. To thee, O Lord, I then solemnly committed them, and now I
renew the dedication, I know not if ever I shall see them again; but my life and
theirs are in the hands of divine Providence, and therefore shall be preserved as
long as is fit. My tender passions were melted into a flood of tears at parting; but
now through the goodness of God, they are subsided into a calm, though at times I
am twinged with a sudden pang of anxiety. Rode in company with my kind friends
Mr. Morris, Mr. Brame, and Mr. Todd, who is to go along with me to the Synod.
I have been uneasy for some time, to find that sundry in my congregation were
not pleased with Mr. Wright's preaching. But now, to my unspeakable satisfaction, I find they are generally engaged to him in a tolerable degree; and I hope
his ministrations will be of more service than mine, during the time of his continuance here; though he has met with such occasional shots as may occur in
conversation, which may deserve to be recollected. Mr. Finley told me he had
lately almost imbibed a notion which he formerly rejected, viz. —That compassion
proceeds from a selfish principle.  Because both persons in the extremity of
misery-and that know nothing of misery-are incapable of it.
Saturday.-As the committee is to meet at Mr. Finley's next Wednesday, I
intend to stay here till then. To-day, the hurries of my journey being over, my
thoughts can find leisure to make firequent excursions to Hanover, and tenderly
hover around my dear wife and family. Ah! what pangs of anxiety I frequently
feel! May the Lord bless all that are dear to me, and favour me with a happy
return to them!
Sunday.-Preached at Mr. Finley's on Deuteronomy x. 13, a sermon which I
preached in Hanover with great satisfaction and prospect of success; but alas! I
have lost the spirit with which it was first delivered; and indeed I can but very




232              AT MR. FINLEY'S-MR. TENNENT'S.
rarely retain the spirit of preaching in the hurries of a journey. The materials of
the sermon were very solemn, and nothing appears to me a more unnatural incongruity, than to speak the most solemn truths with a trifling spirit. Indeed, the
incongruity appeared to me so great, that I was obliged to omit sundry things,
though written before me in my notes, for want of a'heart to express them with
suitable tenderness and fervour. There appeared some small solemnity among the
hearers; but oh! how far short of what I have seen in this place, in the days of
the right hand of the Most High. Conversed with my ingenuous and dear friend,
Mr. Finley, in the evening; and communicated to him my sentiments upon the
great influence which the body has to deprave the soul, which I apprehend is much
greater than is generally supposed: which appears from the frequent use of the
metaphorflesh in the Scriptures to denote moral depravity; which supposes that
the flesh, literally taken, has a special causality in it; otherwise there would be no
ground for the metaphor, but it would be as proper to denote sin by the term spirit
or soul, from the different inclinations of the soul according to the different states
of the body, and as the variety of bodily habits may be the occasion of a variety of
sinful inclinations, so the habit of the body may be constantly such, amid all its
changes, that it may perpetually influence the mind to sin in general.
Monday, September 10, 1753.-Continued at Mr. Finley's-" Stung with the
thoughts of home; the thoughts of home rush on my heart"-and I can find no
relief from them but either in thoughtless levity, or in devotion. Read some part
of the appeal in favour of the Candid Disquisitions; and never was more pleased
with the candour, impartiality, and moderation of an author. How becoming, how
graceful, how advantageous is such a spirit to the cause of truth and its advocates!
May I deeply imbibe it! Alas, I have been perplexed this day with the vigorous
insurrection of sin in my heart; but my resistance and humiliation has not been
proportioned. Oh! wretched man that I am.
Tuesday.-Mr. Roan and Mr. Smith met in committee, and Mr. Finley and I in
conjunction with them revised and corrected a draft, drawn up by Mr. Blair, of a
warning or testimony of the Presbytery of New Castle against several errors and
evil practices of Mr. John Cuthbertson, a Scotch bigot, ordained by one Mr. McMullen, who was deposed by the General Assembly of Scotland, and subscribed the
deposition with his own hand; and one Mr. Nairn, who was one of the seceders,
and afterwards excommunicated by them. The errors on which the Presbytery
animadvert, are these-That God has made over Christ and all his benefits to all
that hear the gospel, by a deed of gift (as he affects to speak) so that every sinner
that hears the gospel offer, ought to put in a claim of right to him as his Saviour in
particular-That saving faith consists in a persuasion that Christ is mine and that
he died for me in particular —That Redemption is universal as to purchase-That
civil government, both heathen and Christian, is derived from Christ as Mediator.
Wednesday.-Continued revising the testimony against Mr. Cuthbertson. Preached
a sermon on Rev. i. 7, and acted the orator; but alas! I had not the spirit of
preaching. Enjoyed pleasing conversation with my dear brethren; but ah! I am
still stung with the thoughts of home. My dear wife frequently enters my mind,
and raises a passionate commotion there.
Thursday.-In the forenoon assisted in the review of the testimony against Mr.
Cuthbertson. Rode in the afternoon to Mrs. Blair's, in company with Mr. Smith,
and enjoyed much satisfaction in the free mutual communication of our Christian
and ministerial exercises. How happy am I in having so many valuable friends in
various parts! The sight of Mrs. Blair and my old walks about her house in the
happy days of my education, raised a variety of tender and solemn thoughts in my
mind. When I passed by the meeting-house where I so often heard the great Mr.
Blair, I could not help crying, " Oh! how dreadful is this place! this is no other
than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
Friday.-Rode from Mrs. Blair's to Chester. And as I was generally alone, my
spirits were very low, and my mind anxious about my dear family, my congregation
and my approaching voyage. " Lord I am oppressed, undertake for me."
Saturday.-Rode into Philadelphia, was kindly received by Mr. Tennent, and my
friends there. I visited Captain Grant, and was surprised with the clause in a letter
from Mr. De Berdt of London to him, 1" That the principles inculcated in the College
of New Jersey are generally looked upon as antiquated and unfashionable by the
dissenters in England." A dismal omen to our embassy, and I fear to the interests
of religion.
Sunday.-Heard Mr. Tennent preach an excellent sermon on —" Deliver us from
evil," or as he justly rendered it " from the evil one" 7rovtgov; in which he exposed the wiles and devices of Satan in a very judicious manner. I preached two
sermons, one in the afternoon and one by candlelight on Rev. i. 7. In the first, I
was cold hearted and abashed with the fear of man; but in the last I had some freedom and boldness. I esteem the least degree of liberty and solemnity in preaching




IN TRENTON-NEWARK.-DEGREE OF A. B.                     233
the gospel a very great blessing in the hurries of a journey. In conversation was
much pleased with the pious simplicity of my spiritual father, Mr. Tennent.
Monday, September 17.-Went with Mr. Tennent to wait on the Governor and
Secretary; but they were not at home. Waited on three Lutheran ministers, and Mr.
Stanter, a Calvinist; and was not a little pleased with their candor and simplicity.
How pleasing is it to see the religion of Jesus appear undisguised in foreigners! I
am so charmed with it, that I forget all national and religious differences; and my
very heart is intimately united with them.
Tuesday.-Rode solitary and sad from Philadelphia to Trenton. Spent the evening with Mr. Cowel, an agreeable gentleman, of the Synod of Philadelphia; but
my spirits were so exhausted that I was incapable of lively conversation, and was
ashamed of my blundering method of talking.
Wednesday.-Rode on, and came to Mr. Spencer's, at Elizabeth Town, where I
was most kindly received, and my spirits cheered by his facetious conversation.
Thursday.-Came to Newark, and was received with much affection by the worthy
President. Was honoured with a visit and free conversation with his excellency
the Governor. Was uneasy to find that the Trustees seem to expect that I should
furnish myself with clothes in this embassy. With what pleasure would I do it
were it in my power, but alas! it is not; and therefore, notwithstanding all the
pliableness of my nature, I must insist upon their providing for me in this respect,
as one condition of my undertaking the voyage.
Friday.-Waited on his Excellency, in company with the President and his lady.
Was kindly received, and the Governor insisted that I should preach for Mr. Spencer next Sunday come se'en night, that he might have an opportunity of hearing
me. O! that I may be enabled to shake off the fear of man, and preach with the
simplicity and boldness of an ambassador for Christ. Conversed with Mr. Ross,
who informed me of the spread of Arminianism among the ministers in New
England.
Saturday.-Was employed in drawing up a petition from the Synod of New York to
the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in behalf of the College. Conversed
with Mr. Hoit, a pious youth at college. Was much depressed in spirit at the
prospect of the voyage, and the thoughts of home. May the God of my life support me.
Sunday.-Heard the President preach a valedictory sermon to the candidates for
a degree, who are to leave the College this week. His subject was, " And now
my son, the Lord be with thee, and prosper thee." And I was amazed to see how
readily good sense and accurate language flowed from him extempore. The sermon was very affecting to me, and might have been so to the students. Preached
twice in the afternoon, and in the last sermon my heart was very solemn and
tender; and there appeared some signs of concern among the hearers. In the
evening I had a little dispute with the President about the truth of one proposition,
which I principally laboured to prove, " That persons in this age may be said virtually to have crucified Christ, because they have the same temper with the Jews,
and because their conduct towards Christ, is as like to that of the Jews as their
circumstances will allow."
Monday, September 24, 1753.-My drooping spirits were exhilarated by free conversation with the President. Spent the most of the day in finishing the petition
from the Synod of New York to the General Assembly. Attended in the evening on a meeting for Psalmody, and was much charmed with the power of harmony.
Amid the variety of new objects that draw my attention, my thoughts often take a
sudden flight to Hanover, and hover round my Chara, and my other friends there.
O may indulgent heaven preserve and bless them.
Tuesday.-Was confined with a sore leg which was a little hurt by a fall out of
my own door, a day or two before I left home; and though then but a slight wound,
and I took little notice of it for two or three weeks, it has been so inflamed and
irritated by travelling, preaching, &c., that I think it is now dangerous; and sometimes look upon it as a providential obstruction in my way of undertaking the
voyage.
Wednesday. —This day I delivered a thesis, (personales distinctiones sunt teternde,)
and vindicated it in a public dispute against three opponents; and afterwards was
honoured with the degree of Master of Arts. Dined with the Governor and Trustees. Heard Mr. Todd preach an honest sermon in the evening.
Thursday.-Received eighty pounds proc. from the treasurer, to bear the expenses of the voyage. Went to New York in company with Mr. Hoit, a promising young man, and I had agreeable conversation with him upon original sin,
the influence of the flesh upon the spirit to incline it to sin. Arrived at New York
in the evening; and lodged at my good friend Mr. Hazard's. Was sorry to find
the Presbyterian congregation there in such confusion.
30




234         DAVIES-NEW YORK-THE INDIANS-THE SYNOD.
Friday.-Was confined to the house by my sore leg, and took physic, &c. I had
some dangerous and gloomy apprehensions of the consequences. Mr. Pemberton,
Mr. Cumming, and Mr. Van Horn paid me a visit. In the evening took the advice
of the Honourable William Smith, Esq., upon the affair of the dissenters in Virginia. His opinion was that the reversing the order of the County Court for a meeting-house, by the General Court, would be a sufficient ground of complaint in
England.
Saturday.-Waited on Mr. Cumming; sailed to Elizabeth Town with Mr. Woodruff.  Was pleased with the company of my Br. Mr. Spencer and Mr. James
Brown.
Sunday.-Preached in Elizabeth Town according to his Excellency's order, on
Jer. xxxi. 18, but had very little freedom or solemnity.
Monday.-Took my leave of his Excellency. Rode with Mr. S. and Mr. B. to
Mr. Richards', a pious minister under the deepest melancholy and temptation,
harassed with perpetual suggestions to cut his own throat. I gave him my best
advice, and gave an account of my own melancholy some years ago. Lodged at
Mr. Brainard's, the good missionary among the Indians, and was pleased with his
account of the progress of religion among them, though now they are scattered by
reason of their land being fraudulently taken from them.
Tuesday.-Took a view of the Indian town; and was pleased at the affection of
the poor savages to their minister, and his condescension to. them.  Rode on
towards Philadelphia, and spent the time in pleasing conversation, principally on
the affairs of the Indians, with Messrs. Spencer, Brainard and Brown.
Wednesday.-Came into Philadelphia-Mr. Treat opened the Synod with a sermon in these words: "' Who was faithful to him that called him, even as Moses
also was faithful in all his house."  Saw my dear friend Mr. Rodgers and many of
my brethren.
Thursday.-Attend-ed on the Synod.
Friday.-Did the same. Heard Mr. Bostwick in the evening preach an excellent
sermon on Acts ii. 11. He has, I think, the best style extempore of any man I
ever heard.
Saturday.-Was informed that Mr. G. T. had taken some offence at my conduct as too forward and assuming; but it was soon removed by a free conversation.
Attended on the Synod and used my utmost endeavours to obtain some supplies
for my poor people, beside Mr. Wright; and succeeded so far that Messrs.
Brainard, Rodgers, Henry, Bay, Blair and J. Finley were appointed to go there
four or six weeks each. I hope this will turn to the benefit of my dear congregation. O that God may go with his messengers thither! The commissioners
from New York made application to the Synod for the redress of their grievances;
and a committee was appointed to go there for that purpose-of which Mr. Rodgers and I (much against my will) are to be members. Heard Mr. Bostwick in the
evening on "Godliness is profitable for all things, &c.," and was not a little
charmed with both his matter and language.
Sunday.-Had the- happiness of sitting as a hearer for one Sabbath, a privilege
I have often desired and needed, but could seldom enjoy. Mr. Horton preached
in the morning an honest judicious sermon on " Christ the wisdom of God and the
power of God."  Mr. Bay in the afternoon on " Behold the Lamb of God, that
taketh away the sins of the world." He was much daunted and confused. Mr.
Bostwick in the evening on " When Christ who is your life shall appear, then shall
ye also appear with him in glory."  My pleasure under his sermon was renewed
and even increased.
Monday, October 8th.-Preached a sermon in the morning from Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2.
-and through the great mercy of God my heart was passionately affected with the
subject; and what tended not a little to increase my affection was my observing
the venerable Mr. Tennent weeping beside me in the pulpit. Spiritual poverty
and humility appeared very amiable and charming to me.-Humility is not that
gloomy sullen mortifying thing which it is generally accounted; but a most sweet
and'pleasing grace. O it is no small ingredient of the happiness of a penitent, and
a most congruous ornament to a mean degenerate creature. Visited the academy
in company with sundry of my brethren, and entertained with a view of what was
remarkable in it. Heard some of the little boys declairh; and though I was
pleased with their distinct and accurate pronunciation, I thought in delivering
some- of the orations, especially those of Brutus and Anthony, they were extremely
languid, and discovered nothing of the fire and pathos of a Roman soul. Indeed
this is one defect of oratory; a defect'few seem sensible of, or labour to correct.
Rode in the evening as far as Chester on my way to the Presbytery. Sat up late,
and wrote letters to my Hanover friends, particularly to my dear spouse, full of
anxieties. How strongly does she attract my heart I




NEW  CASTLE PRESBYTERY-ST. GEORGES-CAPT. GRANT.   235
Tuesday.-Rode to the Presbytery at Fagg's Manor, solitary and pensive.
Was refreshed in the company of my dear brethren. Lodged at Mrs. Blair's,
where every thing suggested to me the image of the incomparable Mr. Blair, once
my minister and tutor, but now in superior regions.
Wednesday.-Mr. Hog, who has been discouraged by the Presbytery hitherto,
lest his genius should' not be fit for the ministry, was licensed, having given more
satisfaction as to his abilities than was formerly expected.-Voted that Mr. John
Brown should be ordained to-morrow, and that I should preside. Alas! I am confounded at the prospect of such a solemnity, as I have no time for proper preparations, and my thoughts are scattered amid so much hurry.
Thursday.-Spent two or three hours in study, and went and preached a sermon
on Acts xx. 28, with a good deal of inaccuracy and confusion; though with some
tender sense of the subject. Mr. Brown was ordained; and I have hardly ever
thought myself in so solemn a posture, as when invoking the God of heaven with
my hand upon the head of the candidate. May the Lord be his support under the
burden of that office which he has assumed, I doubt not with very honest and generous intentions. Parted with my favourite friend, Mr. Todd, not without tears.
Friday.-Continued attending on the Presbytery. Messrs. Harris and McAden
were examined with a view to trial, and acquitted themselves to universal satisfaction. The complaints of the many vacant congregations are so affecting, that the
growing number of promising candidates is a most pleasing sight. Rode in the
evening in company with Mr. Charles Tennent and Mr. Rodgers to Whiteclay Creek.
Saturday.-Was much disordered with a lax and a wind cholic, and could do
little worth mentioning. In the evening had a fit of the fever and ague. When I
am not relieved by a humble dependence on divine Providence, I am shocked at
the thought of being taken ill abroad.
Sunday.-Was very much pained with the cholic, and in that condition preached
two sermons, in Mr. Tennent's meeting-house, to a people I formerlylived among,
on Deut. xxix. 10-13. I had a little freedom considering with how much pain I
spoke; and that last night I had very little sleep, but was in a kind of delirium.
Rode in the evening to my dear brother's, Mr. Rodgers, but found that even the
pleasures of friendship cannot always support a sinking spirit.
Monday, October 15.-Stayed at Mr. Rodgers's much indisposed.
Tuesday.-Was somewhat easier.
Wednesday.-Preached a sermon on Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2-but alas! I had but little
freedom or tender affection. My soul was rejoiced to see my old friends, and observe the continuance of their respect for me.
Thursday.-Stayed in St. George's. Read in Mathew Mahew's Sermon on the
Death of the Christian, &c.-through divine goodness I am much recovered; though
still out of order with a cold. 0 that my soul might prosper.
Friday.-Mr. Rodgers and I intended to begin our journey to New York to
attend on the committee; but Mrs. Rodgers was unexpectedly taken ill, and this
morning delivered of a daughter, about a month before the expected time. I found
a disposition to bless the Lord on her account. How great is his goodness! My
own indisposition, and Mr. Rodgers not going along with me, will prevent my going to New York. Rode in the evening to New Castle, and spent s.ome time with
Mr. Bedford; but alas, felt little disposition to religious conversation. I am confounded when I think how I trifle away my time.
Saturday.-Rode to Philadelphia in solitude —my thoughts were trifling, or distressed me with anxieties about my dear friends in Hanover; and in company with
a parcel of gentlemen, I perceived myself too much a coward in the good cause of
God. Lodged at Mr. Hazzard's.
Sunday.-Preached in Philadelphia, first on Jer. xxxi. 18, 19, 20, then on verse
3d, ("' I will be their God, and they shall be my people") and in the last sermon
had a little freedom and solemnity. Was refreshed with an information from my
dear and valuable friend Captain Grant, of a person that was awakened by my sermon on Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2. O! it is unspeakable mercy, that such a creature is not
wholly thrown by as useless. Had much satisfaction in a free -and affectionate
conference with Captain Grant, upon experimental religion, &c. Lodged at his
house.
Monday, October 22.-Visited Mrs. Johnston in sickness, and had some free conversation with' her about her state. I was secretly afraid of her piety, and yet I
could find no sufficient evidence to disprove it. Mrs. Rodgers unbosomed herself
to me, and gave me an account of some affecting, overwhelming views of the wisdom of God in the work of redemption, which she had lately had, it was really
astonishing. How good is God to his poor children even in this melancholy world!
in some happy hours they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Dined at




236             DAVIES IN PHILADELPHIA-CHESTER.
Mr. Macky's with Captain Bowen. Spent an hour at Mr. Bradford's. Saw my
translation of Cleanthus' Hymn to the Creator, published in the Virginia Gazette.
Thursday, November 8.-I have been so extremely hurried for about fifteen days,
that I have not had leisure not composure to keep a regular diary. I must therefore content myself with a general review. Mr. Tennent treats me with the utmost
condescension, and the unbounded freedom of friendship; and my anxieties at the
prospect of the voyage are much mitigated by the pleasure of his conversation.
I have been treated with uncommon kindness during my stay in Philadelphia by
many, and have contracted sundry new friendships, from which I hope to receive
happiness hereafter, and especially to enjoy the benefit of many prayers. I have
preached about twenty sermons in Philadelphia; and though my being so long
delayed was extremely disagreeable as well as unexpected to me; yet, if Providence intended my stay for the good of but one soul, I desire to be content. In
sundry sermons the Lord departed from me, and I know not when I have preached
so often with so much languor. But in my six last sermons, I had more freedom,
and my popularity increased, so that the assemblies were very large.-Last Sabbath evening in particular, I was solemnized in preaching on that dreadful text,
Hebrews vi. 7, and though I was afraid it would shock many of the audience, that
they would not hear me again; to my pleasing surprise, I found them much more
eager to attend afterwards than before. At the final judgment it will be known
what was the effect. Mr. Kinersly and Mr. Jones, gentlemen of very good sense,
and of the Anabaptist persuasion attended upon my ministry constantly, and showed
me much respect. There are a number of Antinomians in town, who have been
long finding fault with Mr. Tennent.  They generally attended and approved,
except one sermon: and I cannot but think it somewhat remarkable, that though
my sermons were studied three hundred miles distant, and long ago, yet they are
generally as well adapted to oppose the Antinomian notions, as if they were
designed for that end.  To-day I left the city, conducted by Messrs. Hazzard,
Spafford, Hall, Beaty, Chambers, Bedford, Chief, Man, seven or eight of my friends,
and came to Chester. Alas! I find the insurrection of sin violent in my heart;
and my anxieties about home are sometimes extremely severe, especially when I
forebode a long absence. I find my heart at once so exceeding sinful, and insensible of its own depravity, that I am really shocked at myself; and the prospect of
death, or the dangers of the sea, in my present temper, strikes me with a shuddering horror. It is sin, alas! that intimidates me: and this removed, I could face
death in its most tremendous forms, with a calmness and intrepidity.  To be
miserable and to be a sinner is the same thing, and I feel that I can never be
happy till I am more holy.
Friday, November 9.-Was unexpectedly detained in Chester by bad weather.
Spent the day in pensive sadness, " stung with the thoughtof home'" and distressed
with my own corruptions-" Behold I am vile."  Enjoyed Mr. Rothwell's company.
Sin haunts my steps, where'er I fly,
In every place is ever nigh.
As streams from mountain springs attend
The travellers still as they descend;
So sin the source of all my woe,
Still bubbles up where'er I go.
Sin spreads a dark, tremendous cloud
Of horrors o'er my solitude:
Presents a thousand forms of death
To shock my soul from duty's path;
Wraps present time in dreadful gloom,
And damps my hope of time to come;
Intimidates my soul ashore,
And makes old ocean louder roar:
Gives darker horrors to the storm,
And danger a more shocking form.
Companion dire by land or sea!      )
No bliss, no calm, till freed from thee,
And change of place is change of misery. 
Saturday, November 10.-Rode from Chester to my dear friend Mr. Rodgers,
thoughtless alas, of the exceeding depravity of my heart. Fell into company with
Mr. Ross, an Episcopal minister, who asked me what objections I had against being
episcopally ordained, and when I mentioned some of my objections in the most calm
manner, fell into an unreasonable passion.




MR. RODGERS-WAITS FOR THE SHIP.                       237
Sundqy, November 11.-Heard Mr. Rodgers -preach a very good sermon on this
text, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, &c.," and my mind was deeply impressed with such thoughts as these, " We have heard a great deal of the extreme
sufferings of one Jesus; and what effect,has the pathetic representation upon the
hearers? Why, the generality hear it with dispassionate negligence and stupidity,
though a few here and there drop a tear at the relation. Thus it is when the agonies
of the Redeemer are represented; but were we informed that a dear friend or relative was seized by a company of ruffians and put to the most extreme torture;
what horror would strike us! what tender passions rise in every heart! Why then
are we no more affected with the sufferings of this Jesus? Who is he? is he some
worthless being that we are no way concerned with? Or is [he] a criminal that
deserved all the agonies he suffered? If this were the case our stupidity would
not be strange. But how strange must it appear, when we are told that this Jesus is
the man that is God's fellow! the Saviour of sinners! crucified for our sins!-Received the Lord's supper with some degree of dispassionate solemnity and calmness
of mind, and counted it my happiness to have an opportunity of joining in so solemn
an ordinance with my dear Mr. Rodgers. Preached in the evening on John vi. 37,
in an unstudied, confused manner; yet some seemed encouraged by it to go to the
Redeemer.'1Ionday, November 12.-Went to see my relations in the tract; and when I
passed by the places where I had formerly lived, or walked, it gave a solemn turn
to my mind. Ah! how much have I sinned wherever I have been! and what
solemn transactions have been between God and my soul in these my old walks!
Visited two graveyards in my way, to solemnize my mind among the mansions of
the dead. 0! how solemn eternity appeared! how frail and dying the race of
mortals! and how  near my own dissolution!  Returned to Mr. Rodgers', and
unbosomed ourselves to each other with all the freedom of Christian friendship.
Tuesday, November 13.-Went to Mr. Stuart's, at Reedy Island, in company with
my dear Mr. Rodgers, to wait for the ship coming down. Had a free conversation
with him about my religious exercises. My worthy friend, Mrs. Dushane, desired
me to write an epitaph for the tombstone of her sister, lately deceased, and I had
neither leisure nor composure. I wrote three, leaving it to the friends of the
deceased to make their choice.
Does beauty spread her charms? does wealth o'erflow?
Does health bloom fresh, or youthful vigour glow?
Are all earth's blessings in profusion pour'd?
And all their sweets with no affliction soured?
Ah! trust not these to guard from early death,
All these adorned the precious dust beneath.
Or,
Ye that in beauty or in youth confide,
Come view this monument to blast your pride;
The charms of beauty, youth in flowing bloom,
Wither'd at morn, lie mould'ring in this tomb,
And you may meet the same surprising doom.
Or,
This monument proclaims this solemn truth,
Beauty is fading, frail the bloom of youth;
Life short, a dream; an empty show,
And all is fleeting vanity below.
Careless spectator! learn from hence to die;
Prepare, prepare for immortality.
Wednesday, November 14.-Continued waiting for the ship, and the delay made
me uneasy; as I have been now about ten weeks from home, and yet my embassy
is as much undone as when I left home. I find the enterprise to which Providence
seems to call me more and more difficult; for my anxieties about my dear family,
and about my life as necessary to their comfortable subsistence, are hard to be
borne. May the God of heaven support me and them! Communicated to Mr.
Rodgers some new thoughts of mine about the Divine government, as adapted to
the nature of man, and about the Divine Providence towards men and angels; with
which he was pleased.
Thursday, November 15.-The ship is not yet come down, and the wind is contrary, which affords me some uneasiness; though blessed be God, I feel myself
habitually resigned to his Providence. O! that I might, with cheerful fortitude,




238                     DAVIES-ON SHIPBOARD.
endure the painful rupture of the tenderest bonds of affection for his sake, and
encounter danger and death undaunted in his cause!
Friday, November 16.-Mr. G. Tennent is come down here to wait for the ship;
and my spirit was revived with his facetious, and in the meantime spiritual conversation.
Saturday, November 17.-On board the London.-12 o'clock, A. M., the ship
came down, and we went on board; and as I went along endeavoured to commit
myself to God, and to implore his blessing and protection in this voyage. Perhaps
I may never set foot on shore more, till I land in the eternal world; solemn
thought! Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. I now seem to enter upon a
new state of existehce, when I leave my native land, and enter upon the dangerous
element of water. May I live to God while tossing upon it! may the sickness of
the sea, which I expect, be sanctified to me! and may our conversation and
preaching be useful to the company!
Sunday, November 18-5 o'clock, A; M.-The wind blew up fair and we set sail.
The novely of my situation and the noise on deck hindered my sleeping, so that I
am heavy and indisposed. I bid farewell to my native shore with a kind of pleasing horror; pleased that Providence has given us an opportunity of sailing after so
long a delay, and shocked with the thought that I may never see my dear friends,
and particularly my other self, any more. I cannot but be deeply sensible of the
kindiness of heaven in ordering my father and friend, Mr. Tennent, to be my companion in the'embassy, not only for the right management of it, but for my social
comfort..0O that I may retain a consciousness of integrity in the cause of God,
and universal devotedness to him! It is this, I find, can best support me amidst
the dangers of sea and land.
When the storm thickens, and the ocean rolls,
When nature trembles to the frighted poles,
The pious mind nor doubts nor fears assail,
Tempest are zephyrs, or a gentle gale.
Wrote some letters, particularly one of friendship to Mr. Rodgers. I never
parted with any one in a more solemn and affectionate manner than I did yesterday with him. We retired, and each of us praved in the tenderest and most
pathetic manner, giving thanks to God, for that peculiar friendship which has subsisted between us, and committing each other to the care of heaven for the future.
The hurries of preparation for the ocean deprived Mr. Tennent of an opportunity
of praying, and speaking to the company; and I was incapable of it by reason of
sea sickness. About 3 o'clock, P. M., the pilot left us, and we entered the vast
Atlantic.
Monday, November 19.-We are now out of sight of land —Celum undique et
undiquepontus. It would be particularly pleasing to me to survey the wonders of
the majestic ocean; but have been confined to bed most of the day, and am so
much out of my element that I am neither fit for conversation nor curious observation. However, I feel calm within, and resigned to the divine will-O Lord, bless
my dear family.
Tuesday.-Continued in the same condition as yesterday.-Fair weather.-In the
evening was very low spirited, and had most solemn thoughts of my own state and
the eternal world. Alas! how shocking a companion is a'sense of guilt.
Wednesday, Nov. 21.-The wind is contrary, and the waves run high. My sea
sickness continues; and I am a very heavy companion to Mr. Tennent, which is
particularly afflictive to me; but through the goodness of God he is cheerful and
courageous.
Monday, Nov. 26.-I have been so extremely sick and low spirited, and the sea
so boisterous, that I have been unable to keep a diary for these four days; but
now through the great goodness of God, I am somewhat recovered, and the violence of the winds and waves is somewhat abated. Though my bodily disorder has
not been very painful, it has utterly indisposed my whole frame, and in all my life
I never felt such a degree of lowness of spirits, proceeding not from any gloomy
imaginations, but entirely from the disorder of animal nature. I affected solitude,
had no relish for conversations no tender passions, no lively anxieties about any
thing, but seemed dead to all things in the compass of thought. I had no appetite,
and the little I eat I vomited up immediately; and the smell of the ship, whenever
I entered into the cabin was nauseous beyond expression. Now and then I forced
a little cheerfulness, but it was wholly unnatural. The perpetual motion of the
ship, which vastly exceeds all the ideas I could form of it upon land, kept me in a
constant confusion, and I could neither walk nor stand nor sit with safety, nor lie
in bed composed. Last Friday the wind blew hard, and the sea run very high, and




THE VOYAGE-THE OCEAN.                            239
frequently dashed over the ship; but an Saturday the' violence was greatly increased. We sailed about eight or nine knots an hour, over watery valleys and
mountains, that seemed insurmountable. This vast ship so deeply laden is tossed
about like a little cork, and the passengers reeled like drunken men. This morning we had no wind, though the waves swelled high; but about ten o'clock it blew
fresh and fair. My spirits are more lively, and my appetite is something better,
though I am still universally disordered. There is one thing I have reason to
bless God for, in a particular manner, viz. that though the ocean was extremely
turbulent, and dangers threatened on every hand, and though my spirits were sunk
to such an unusual degree of dejection, yet I was hardly at all terrified with danger, but calm and resigned. Yesterday Mr. Tennent sung and prayed, and made
a pertinent, plain address to the sailors, and they seemed attentive. Yesterday
and to-day we prayed together alternately in our room; and felt some tenderness
and importunity in so doing. O that we may in this inactive season be laying up
proper furniture for active life upon shore! It is a most majestic survey, to see
how the waves rise in ridges of mountains, pursue each other, and dash in angry
conflict; and it.is most amazing how we can possibly live upon so turbulent an
element. To form and rule such an ocean is a work becoming a God.
Tuesday, November 27.-Since yesterday, in- the afternoon, I have had a tolerable
flow of spirits, and been pretty well, except a lingering fever. The time begins to
pass away agreeably in conversation with dear Mr. Tennent, and the captain, who
is a very pleasant companion. The wind not very hard, and we have a little
respite from the intolerable perturbations of the angry deep. Prayer in our rooms
together, in the morning and afternoon, with some freedom.
Wednesday, November 28.-Was more refreshed with sleep last night, than since
I have been on board, and find myself to-day more free from fever than yesterday.
Blessed be the God of my mercies. It is almost quite calm, and the little wind
that blows is not fair. We are now and have been- [Here a leaf is entirely lost,
and the corner of another so torn as to render it impracticable to decypher it.]
Friday, November 30.-To-day so much distressed with a sense of guilt that I
have no turn for reading or religious conversation, nor am I anything but a burden
to myself. This evening the wind is fair; but we have had some dangerous
squalls. We now sail about....... knots an hour. Read an account of the
shipwreck and the amazing deliverance of Joseph Baily and company; and was
more sensible of the goodness of God in our preservation.'Saturday, December 1.-I am in better health than since I have been on board.
Slept comfortably last night. We have sailed before a fair wind for about thirtysix hours and have made good way. Read a sermon of Mr. Taylor's to young men
against the errors that some Antinomians maintain, and Mr. Dickinson's able defence of his sermon in answer to Mr. Beach.
Sunday, December 2.-This day has passed by very unprofitably, as we had no
opportunity of carrying on any thing like public worship, till about seven o'clock
in the evening, when I sung a psalm, gave an exhortation to the company and
prayed. Had some sense of divine things, and a desire to affect the hearers, but
no freedom of speech in proportion. Read a chapter in the Greek Testament, and
Mr. Dickinson's second vindication of sovereign grace. To-day I have been much
discouraged with a view of my unqualifiedness for the important business I am
going upon. Had sundry intervals of tender thoughts about my dear family.
O that my painful absence from them may be of service to the public! this would
be more than a sufficient compensation. To-day the wind is squally, but drives us
on our course seven or eight knots an hour. Last night was very turbulent, and I
could sleep but very little, which made me indisposed to-day.
Monday, December 3.-Was out of order. The wind turbulent, and the sea run
high. Alas! how unprofitably my life glides by in this state of inactivity.
Tuesday, December 4.-Had very little rest last night by reason of the violent
tossing of the ship.  I laboured under a sense of guilt, which made me very
fearful of the dangers of the sea. God pity me of little faith. Read Mr. Dickinson's Vindication of Sovereign Grace, &c. Since I noticed it last, Mr. Tennent and
I have prayed each of us twice in our room, and one of us alternately in the cabin
in the evening.  The tossing of the vessel is utterly inconceivable to one that
never felt it.
Wednesday, December 5.-The wind favourable; and my habit of body better
than usual. It undoubtedly rains more upon sea than land; for there has not been
one day (that I remember) since we left the capes, but we have had some rain. I
am very pensive about my dear family and congregation.-May the God of heaven
bless them!
Thursday, December 6.-Last night I was so pained with the toothache, that I
was but about an hour in bed, and then had no sleep; and all this day I have.been




240                     DAVIES ON HIS VOYAGE.
in perpetnal pain. But in the evening I sweat my head; and through mercy found
immediate relief. It has pleased the Lord to afflict me many ways in this voyage.
May it be a preparative for usefulness, when I enter upon the stage of activity on
the British coast! and may I be purged in the furnace of affliction! It is very
squally and the sea runs mountain high. It is astonishing we are not swallowed
up in this boisterous deep.
Friday, December 7.-The wind is contrary and the seas run very high. We are
obliged to lie by, and make no progress in our way.
Saturday, December 8.-Was indisposed and low spirited, unfit for reading or
society, and affected a sullen retirement. Alas! how my days pass by in a state of
inactivity! Unless I gain more life upon my arrival, I shall be but a cypher, or
an incumbrance to Mr. Tennent in our embassy. May I be enabled to show my
resignation to the Divine will in my present state, by cheerful passive obedience, and
may it be a preparative for active obedience when my circumstances admit of it!
Read Mr. Prince's excellent sermon upon the agency of God in drought and rains,
which suggested to me a variety of new thoughts, theological and philosophical.
It is the best discourse upon such a subject that I ever saw. Read some in Harris's
Collection of Voyages. About ten o'clock at night my spirits were somewhat exhilarated in conversation with my worthy companion. Found more freedom than
usual in intercession for my dear absent friends, particularly for Mr. Rodgers, and
my Chara, whom I promised particularly to remember on Saturday evenings. How
my heart longs and pines after my dearest creature, and the little pledges of our
mutual love! Oh! when shall I see them again! It is much warmer on sea than
land; for we have not needed fire above two or three days since we have been on
board. There is a great plenty of birds to be seen all over this ocean.
Sunday, December 8.-Have made but little or no proficiency in knowledge, or
holiness, or any valuable acquisition, this day, by reason of indisposition and lowness of spirits. Alas! of how little importance or usefulness am I in the world!
My soul is mortified to reflect upon my own insignificancy.-Read some of my old
notes, particularly on Psalms xx. 11, and Luke xiii. 3, and was both pleased.and
surprised to find that ever any sentiment of importance has proceeded from a mind
now so barren.-Read a sermon of Mr. Kenedy's, of Belfast, on the conclusion
of the last peace, on the words of Hezekiah, " Good is the will of the Lord, since
peace and truth shall be in my days." It is our unhappiness, on board, that we
cannot get opportunity of preaching to the crew twice on Sunday. However, in
the evening, Mr. Tennent preached on John iii. 5, and the discourse was judicious, plain, pungent and searching, and well adapted to do good. 0 that the
power of God may attend it to the consciences of the company! I would bless
the Lord that while I am useless, he enables my dear partner to do some thing for
him. At night Mr. Tennent prudently gave the conversation a religious turn, and
I endeavoured to keep it up. But alas! how ungrateful are such subjects! with
what dexterity will men avoid them, or divert the discourse from them! Rainy
weather.-Wind S. E., and a high sea for the most part of the day. My dear
Chara has often recurred to my thoughts, and frequently I imagine myself talking
with her. It is a mercy that God has made any of my fellow creatures of importance to my happiness; but my absence from' them affords me additional uneasiness. Thus the sweets of life have their stings.
Monday, December 9.-I spent the day chiefly in reviewing and improving my
notes; but the violent motion of the ship, and my indisposition, rendered me incapable of doing anything to purpose. In the evening the seas run very high, and
broke over the deck with prodigious violence. While we were at evening worship, we shipped a sea which was like to wash the carpenter overboard. It is
really an instance of the vigilant care of Providence that we are not swallowed up
in these turbulent waters.
Tuesday, December 10.-Was employed as yesterday. The wind moderate, but
not from a favourable quarter. Read in Harris's Collection of Voyages, concerning
the Dutch settlement in the East Indies, which are very large and flourishing.
Wednesday, December 11.-I have nothing new or remarkable to take notice of
with regard to myself. The wind fresh and fair N.W.
Thursday, December 12.-My mind has been in a very uneasy, timorous situation all
the day, especially in the evening. Every shock the ship received from the dashing
waves gave an equal shock to my spirit. Guilt made me afraid of sinking in these
boisterous waters. How timorous a thing is guilt! It trembles at imaginary dangers
and fears, where no fear is. We have sailed seven, eight, nine, or ten knots an
hour for about forty hours past, and it is expected we are about one hundred leagues
from the British coast.
Friday, December 13.-Much disordered and low spirited. I am quite dispirited,




ON THE COAST OF ENGLAND.                        241
when I reflect upon my own insignificancy, and am afraid I shall be of little or no
service in our embassy. Wind fresh and fair, and we have sailed about three hundred and fifty miles these last forty-eight hours. Sounded at 4 o'clock, P. M., and
found ground at ninety fathoms, sounded at 12 o'clock at night, and found bottom at
seventy fathoms. Read in Harris's Collection of Voyages the shocking account of
the barbarities of the Dutch, exercised upon the English, at Amboyna, in the East
Indies; quid non mortalia pectora cogis auri sacrafames.
Saturday, December 14.-Much indisposed in body, but peaceful in mind. Sounded
frequently, and found ground from sixty-five to forty-five fathoms. It continues
cloudy, and we can make no observation; so that we know not where we are,
though the captain conjectures we are in the British channel. There is great danger
of running aground, or upon rocks, but the Lord reigneth, and we are in his hands.
Sunday, December 15.-We find to-day that we have run up the channel, and
gone past the Scilly, and as far as the Start point, before we knew where we were.
Thus Providence has been our pilot, and we have run our course as directly, and
free from danger, as if we could have made observations of the latitude, which we
have not been able to do for sundry days. Saw sundry ships, spoke with one of
them, a Danish vessel, which told us where we were, viz., about twenty miles
S.W. of the Start. Was much indisposed, desponding and inactive in the forenoon;
but in the evening was somewhat revived in discoursing to the ship's company from
Luke xiii. 3. I had more freedom of solemnity than I expected, and the company
seemed seriously attentive. I am often afraid I have done, and shall do no service
to these precious immortals on board; and I am yet uncertain what will be the
event. I have this evening made a feeble but sincere attempt, and I leave it in the
hands of God; not expecting ever to speak to them more. Weather moderate,
though cloudy, and the wind fair.
Monday, December 16.-Found in the morning we had passed by the Isle of
Wight, in the night, we soon saw land at Beachy Head; went on towards the
Downs, &c.
Tuesday, December 17.-We entered the Downs in the morning, where lay about
thirty-three ships. Heard that one Captain Davies, from Philadelphia, was cast
away about six weeks ago, a little before us in the channel. We came up with
Captain Mesnard, who sailed from Philadelphia eight days before us. I looked
upon it as a favourable providence, that we did not take our passage with him, as
it would have been longer. This is the more remarkable, as his ship was famed
for sailing fast, which ours was not. Sundry boats came to us, and I was shocked to
hear the infernal language of the boatmen. Alas, the whole world lieth in wickedness. Was entertained in taking a view of the coast, as we sailed along. Saw Dover
Castle and town, and a seat of the Duke of Dorset. It is a pretty large town; and so
is Dale, which we saw a little after, where there is a castle, and at Walmer. Passed
by Margate, a considerable town; but did not come near enough to take a particular view of it. How pleasing does the land appear after so long a confinement
upon the ocean! especially as the landscape is beautifully variegated with towns,
churches, windmills, forests, green cornfields, &c. We passed the N. Foreland,
and cast anchor to lie all night; and the winds being contrary, the days very short,
and the darkness hindering us, it is expected that it will take us some time going
from hence to London, a distance of about seventy miles by water, and - by
land, which is very disagreeable. But I am heartily sick of the sea.
It is just four weeks and four days since I left the American shore; and though I
have hardly ever had a more melancholy time, yet I have great reason to take
notice of the goodness of Providence to me in my voyage, both as to its shortness,
safety, plenty, and indeed the moderateness of the weather, considering the season.
Alas, that I find myself so little disposed to make grateful returns. I am really
shocked at myself as a monster of ingratitude. Though I am now above three
thousand miles fiom home, and have been near four months absent, my thoughts
are often wafted thither upon eager wings, and hover round the dear objects of my
love. Whether I shall be again conducted over this spacious ocean, and see my
friends, is wholly unknown to me; but I forbear-for I can hardly bear the anxiety
of separation, and the thought of never enjoying another interview with them,
especially my other dearer half. We are about twenty souls aboard; passengers
Mr. Tennent, Mr. Matt. Clarkson, Miss Shirley, John Crosby, and a little girl in
the cabin, and two in the steerage. This morning the pilot came on board, one
Grovenor, who was captain of a little privateer in the late war, and behaved very
gallantly. At night when all were gone to bed, enjoyed an hour of most pleasant
and friendly conversation with dear Mr. Tennent, upon the arduous duties of the
ministerial office. I relate things just as they occur to a careless mind, without
any order; and though my principal design is to make religious remarks, yet, for
my future amusement or improvement, I shall take notice of the curiosities of
31




242             DAVIES-ON THE COAST OF ENGLAND.
nature and art. The English oysters differ from those in America. They are
almost round, flat, and not clustered. There is a species of fish here called the
Whiting, which is very delicate. The banks along the shore from Beachy Head to
this place are chalk.
Wednesday, December 18.-Lay at anchor, the wind and tide being against us.
Would willingly have gone to London by land, but Mr. Tennent did not choose it.
Nothing remarkable occurred to-day.
Thursday, December 20.-We weighed anchor and endeavoured to pass through
the Narrows, setting up a beacon and two buoys to push the ship along; but the
wind and tide being against us, we were obliged to cast anchor again, and lie by.
The Church of * *    *  is opposite to us, it has no steeple. Read the memoirs of
the " Fortunate Country," a romance that has a better tendency than most that are
in vogue. I think it an evidence of the chimerical taste of the present age, that it
runs mad after-these romantic pieces. Read a part of Roxana, the history of an
abandoned prostitute, pretendedly penitent. Was shocked at the wickedness of
some of the ship's crew: and sorry our endeavours had so little effect upon them.
Friday, December 21.-In the morning weighed anchor, and passed through the
Narrows with safety. The passage is but a few yards wide; and though it be
somewhat of an obstruction to the English trade, as it is attended with danger, to
pass, &c., yet this is more than compensated by its good natural fortification against
foreign invasion. There is such a number of vessels in sight that we seem to form
a kind of town upon sea, and live in good neighbourhood. About 11 the tide failed
us, and we were obliged to cast anchor, having passed by a land bank called the
Spaniard, where there is a buoy. We now lie off Shippy Island;, the land appears
high and hilly. By calculating our expenses hither we find that they have amounted
to more than ~125, which will be very burdensome to the College unless our application in Great Britain be successful. In the evening the tide favouring though the
wind was contrary, we weighed anchor, and sailed by the Nore, where there is a
vessel instead of a lighthouse, with lights fixed to her masts, as it appeared to me
at a distance. The Nore is about -    miles above the mouth of the river Thames.
At 11 o'clock we cast anchor.
Saturday, December 22.-We weighed anchor about 7 o'clock in the morning and
sailed up within about four miles of Gravesend, and the tide failing we were obliged
to cast anchor. We now see land on each side of the river, and the landscape is
beautifully variegated with green fields, forest, houses, &c. We passed by the
little town of Lee. Read in "' the Spirit of Laws," an ingenious performance, with
many new and valuable sentiments. In the evening my heart spontaneously dictated the following lines:
While objects vario.; nge and new,
In numerous prospect s rush to view,
The thoughts of friends, the thoughts of home,
Engross my heart and still find room.
Chara with what strange, magic art,
Dost thou so distant, charm my heart?
Not seas can quench, nor distance cool,
The flame of love that fires my soul;
Nor works of nature or of art
Can raze thine image from my heart.
I shrink to view those days to come,
While cruel absence is my doom.
Indulgent Heaven! contract those days,
And give my anxious bosom ease.
Sunday, December 23.-We weighed anchor in the morning, and passed by
Gravesend, a little town that has an agreeable appearance; opposite to which is a
fort, I think called Tilberry. We also passed by Northfleet and Greys, two small
villages. Saw a gibbet and the remains of a malefactor hanging on it. A shocking
sight! Pirates that commit great crimes on sea are executed near this place that
seamen may see them. The churches on both sides of t wie river are very numerous.
They seem  old gothic structures with square-steeles without spires.  The
custom house officers came on board, and the hurries and impieties on board
rendered the sanctification of this holy day extremely difficult. The Lord help
me? Spoke with a ship from Virginia, Capt. Whiting; prepared a short letter for
my dear, and overtook the ship below Gravesend. As we returned the boatmen
had occasion to go ashore at Gravesend, where an odd affair happened, fit to be
mentioned among the adventures of a knight errant. We staid in an ordinary a




IN LONDON.                             243
few minutes; but as I had but a penny about me, I could call for nothing. When
we went down to take boat again, behold the boat was gone, and the boatman
called and hallooed for her a good while, but had no answer. I was obliged to
return to the ordinary where I sat pensive and confounded with an empty pocket;
and was afraid the ship would go away and leave me, and that I should be
obliged to go to London by land, without any thing to bear my expenses. After I
had sat till about 7 o'clock the boatman with joy pictured in his countenance,
came and told me the acceptable news that he had found the boat. Some fellow
had occasion for her and took her to a vessel at some distance, and as it was very
dark it was a wonder she was found. The poor boatman anxious for his boat had
cried out, " well I would give sixpence to know where my boat is." Another
immediately held him to his word and lent him his boat to go and look for her.
As we were going up to the ship, it was so dark, that we could not see her, and
went about a mile above her. The old boatman and his son fell a scolding about
the place where the boat lay, and to decide the difference we called at two or
three sloops that lay at anchor; but after bawling sufficiently we could find nobody; and we were obliged to grope on till we got safely to the ship. And the
relation of our adventure afforded no small entertainment to the company. While
I was at Gravesend there came in the room a company of sailors belonging to the
East India ships, who cursed and blasphemed in the most infernal manner that ever
I heard in my life. My spirit was quite oppressed to hear them. Alas! to what
a shocking degree of impiety may human nature arrive! We have passed five or
six East India ships in the river; they are very large and magnificent, immensely
rich and wVll, rme4  Mr. T. had no opportunity of speaking to the ship's company, by reasif   their hurry. Indeed there is nothing that has the appearance
of a Sabbath among sailors. Mr. T. naturally remarked upon it, " that where
no good is to be'lone the door is not opened."
Monday, December 24.-We set sail in the morning and passed by Greenhive, a
little village near which Lord Concannon has a seat; we also passed by a seat that
formerly belonged to Lord Baltimore. Through Divine goodness, I find my body
recovered to usual health; and I believe the fresh provisions, we yesterday received from shore, were conducive to it. Passed by Woolwich, a town on the left
hand, beautifully varied with sundry kinds of buildings. Here is the king's dockyard; fifteen or twenty men of war lay at it. Here also is an office of ordnance,
where cannon, &c., for the king's ships are cast; we saw a vast quantity lying on
the wharf. Passed by Blackwall, a town on the right hand; where lay two men-ofwar, and a great number of East India ships in repair. We counted no less than
twelve wind-mills, which seemed to animate the air, when they were all in motion.
Passed by Greenwich on the left hand, and took particular notice of the hospital
there, which is one of the most stately edifices I believe in the world. It consists
of two vast buildings fronting one another, and the governor's house above, seems to
join them. Here lay four of the king's yachts, one of which is the most beautiful
vessel that artcan form, and in it his Majesty sails for Hanover. Hamstead House
is in sight, upon a hill above Greenwich. We saw the steeple of St. Paul's below
Blackwall. We cast anchor at Deptford, along side of a man-of-war. At Deptford
there is another of the king's dock-yards. From hence sundry of the passengers
went to London; but Mr. T. and I determined to stay till to-morrow. In the evening we heard that Mr. Dennys De Berdt had been very inquisitive about us, and
probably provided a lodging for us.
Tuesday, December 25.-We sailed up the river, and were not a little struck with
the prodigious number of ships in view. Their masts look like vast forests. About
10 o'clock Mr. Neave, one of the owners of the ship came on board and asked us
to dine at Mr. Neates, his partner, where we were kindly received. We came up
by the tower, in sight of London bridge and landed. As it was Christmas day the
bells in all the churches were ringing, and formed a concert of the most manly,
strong and noble music to my ear, that I ever heard. The steeple of St. Dunstan's
is of such curious architecture, that when the bells ring it shakes like a tree shaken
with the wind, though it consists of stone. After dinner our friends Capt. M'Pherson and Captain M'Cullock conducted us to Mr. De Berdt's, who is a most amiable
pious gentleman and entertained us very kindly till we could provide a lodging.
LMr. Tennent was extremely low spirited and silent, which afforded me no small
concern; and I was afraid of conversing freely, while he was silent, lest I should
seem to arrogate the preference.
Wednesday, December 26.-Were visited by Mr. Hall, a venerable old gentleman,
author of some of the Lime street Sermons, who seems to be of a true puritanic
pirit and full of religion. Wr'* sited by Mr. Gibbons, my dear correspondent,
who informed us of the general apostasy of the dissenters from the principles of the
Reformation. He told me that Dr. Doddridge's motto under his picture was, Dum
vivimus viva7nus: that Dr. Young had erected two schools, over the door of one of




244                    MR. WHITEFIELD-VISITS
which he had written, Doctrine filia virtus; and of the other, Filia matre pulchior.
Were visited by good Mr. Crutenden, who sent me over ten pound sterling worth
of books to be distributed among the poor in Virginia. Mr. Whitefield having sent
us an invitation last night to make his house our home during our stay here; we
were perplexed what to do lest we should blast the success of our mission among
the dissenters, who are generally disaffected to him. We at length concluded with
the advice of our friends and his, that a public intercourse with him would be imprudent in our present situation; and visited him privately this evening; and the
kind reception he gave us revived dear Mr. Tennent. He spoke in the most encouraging manner as to the success of our mission, and in all his conversation discovered so much zeal and candour, that I could not but admire the man as the
wonder of the age. When we returned, Mr. Tennent's heart was all on fire, and
after we had gone to bed, he suggested that we should watch and pray; and we
rose and prayed together till about 3 o'clock in the morning.
Thursday, December 27.-Spent the time cheerfully in private. Conversed with
Mr. Loyd, a serious man, and dear Mr. Gibbons, who spent the evening with us
revising Mr. Pearsal's Meditations for a second edition.
Friday, December 28.-Went up the monument, a vast pillar, in memory of the
dreadful fire in 1666. It has a Latin inscription signifying the beginning, and progress of the conflagration. Another as far as I remember in these words:-Furor
papisticus, qui horrenda, patravit, nondum restinguitur. And another to the same
import in English. I went up to the top along winding stairs, in the form of a screw.
From thence I could take a view of this vast overgrown city, and the people in the
streets seemed degenerated into pigmies. Went to the Virginia coffee-house to inquire for letters, &c., but alas! none were arrived. We took up our lodgings at
Mr. Thomas Cox's in Winchester street, a sober religious family;-blessed be God.
Saturday.-Continued retired, preparing for a public appearance.
Sunday, December 30.-Preached in the morning for Mr. Winter, assistant to Mr.
Hall, on Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2, but alas! I was dull and senseless. Dined with Mr. Salvage, a most valuable christian, in company with a pious youth, one Mr. Elliston,
who is at learning for the ministry, and was for some time under Dr. Doddridge's
care. In the afternoon I preached for one Mr. Dews who was indisposed, in a
Baptist congregation, with some freedom, on Jer. xxxi. 18, 20. It is grievous to see
how small the congregations are in this vast city. Spent the evening at one Mr.
Edwards's, a Turkey merchant, who treated us very kindly. He is a member of the
committee for the management of the civil affairs of the dissenters. I find Mr.
Stennet, a Baptist minister, has most influence in court of any dissenting minister.
Mr. Tennent preached in the afternoon at Mr. Hall's, and in the morning went to
hear Mr. Chandler. I find it is the custom here for the clerk to choose the psalm.
Monday, Dec. 31.-Went according to his lordship's appointment to wait upon
the Marquis of Lothian; but as we did not know the distance we did not come
soon enough, and the Marquis was gone out. We went through St. James' Park,
which is a beautiful place. Passed through the King's palace, where we saw the
footguards in waiting. Went to see the new bridge of Westminster, which is the
most noble piece of workmanship of the kind, I suppose in the world. It consists
of Portland stone neatly hewn. Went into Westminster Hall, a spacious old building, where courts are held. Though the roof is so long, it is supported without one
pillar. The walls of London are generally demolished, but here and there they
remain; and above the gates are buildings of gothic structure. There is such a
vast number of beggars here, that one cannot walk in the street without being
pained with their importunity; for he cannot supply them all, and there are so
many impostors among them that it is hard to distinguish real objects of charity.
Dined at one Mr. Lloyd's, a solid, humorous, religious old gentleman in Southwark, who seems a hearty friend to our mission. There are so many parties here
that it is very perplexing to us how to behave so as to avoid offence, and not injure
the business of our embassy. The Independents and Baptists are more generally
Calvinists, than the Presbyterians; though I fear some of them are tainted with
Antinomianism.
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 1754.-Went to hear Mr. Chandler in Salters' Hall, and was
pleasingly entertained with a sermon on the parable of the unjust steward. Mr. C.
is undoubtedly a most ingenious, accurate gentleman; but I did not discern so
much of experimental religion in this discourse as I could wish. Went afterwards
to the Amsterdam coffee-house, where the Congregational and Baptist ministers
meet on Tuesdays. Was introduced into the conversation of venerable Mr. Price,
Dr. Watts' colleague; and then went at Mr. Gibbon's invitation to dine at Mr.
Shuttlewood's in Trinity House, where the corporation meets that has the care of
lighthouses, &c. for the direction of sailors. Was entertained with sundry curiosities, viz. two Indian canoes, one of the bark of a tree-two very large globes-the
~ictures of sundry who have been benefactors of the society. Went in the evening




MR. CHANDLER-THEIR VISITS-MR. BOWLES.                     245
to hear Mr. Whitefield in the Tabernacle, a large spacious building. The assembly was very numerous, though not equal to what is common. He preached on the
parable of the barren fig tree, and though the discourse was incoherent, yet it
seemed to me better calculated to do good to mankind than all the accurate, languid discourses I have heard. After sermon enjoyed his pleasing conversation at
his house.
Wednesday, Jan. 2.-Waited on the Marquis of Lothian, at his house, and were
very kindly received. The unaffected grandeur of the nobleman, and the simplicity
and humility of the Christian, cast a mutual lustre on each other. He gave all the
encouragement in his power with regard to our embassy. This was the first time I
ever appeared before a nobleman, and I have reason to be thankful that I was not
at all dashed with the fear of man. My Lord Leven came and dined with us,
and we laid before their lordships the state of the College. Lord Leven told us
that he had delayed an application in favour of some foreigner till the ensuing Assembly, and was afraid that if he should be appointed to be his Majesty's commissioner for the ensuing year, that affair would interfere with ours. But upon the
whole their lordships gave us encouragement by intimating that they were sensible
of the importance of the design, and had it at heart. We continued with their
lordships till about five o'clock, then took coach and went to Mr. Godwin's, a
serious and reserved gentleman in conversation, but very fluent as I am told in the
pulpit. We laid before him our design, and he seemed sensible of its importance.
Thursday, January 3.-Breakfasted with Mr. Chandler, a Presbyterian minister
of uncommon sagacity and readiness. He has been formerly suspected of Arminianism and Socinianism; but now he appears to be a moderate Calvinist. He
promised his influence in favour of our design. We afterwards waited upon Dr.
Guise, and informed him of our business; but he seemed to discourage us, on
account of the many annual expenses lying upon the dissenters in this city; for the
relief of the poor; for the support of ministers in the country, the education of
youth, &c. Spent the evening very agreeably with Mr. Gibbons, in company with
Mr. Crutenden and Mr. De Berdt. I laid before them our business; and they candidly gave me their best advice. We find it a disadvantage that we have so few
letters to the Presbyterians here, who are the most numerous and rich. For the
sake of expedition, we have agreed to go separate at times, and therefore Mr.
Tennent went this evening to good Mr. Hall's. I have been so pained with the
toothache, that I had but little sleep these three nights, and I write this about
three o'clock in the morning. As we enjoyed the happiness on board to pray
together in our room twice a day, Mr. Tennent and I determined to observe the
same method in our lodgings, beside the stated devotion of the family.
Friday, January 4.-Being much indisposed with the toothache, I was obliged
to stay at home. Wrote a letter to my dearest with uncommon solicitude. 0 when
will these days of cruel absence be over! Mr. Tennent went and introduced the
affairs of our mission to Mr. Spilsbury, Mr. Stennet, and Mr. Bradbury; and had
some encouragement from them all.
Saturday, January 5.-Mr. Tennent being indisposed and fatigued, I visited Mr.
Bowles, the famous print seller, in the morning. He is a gentleman of good sense,
but of uncommon hurnour; and I verily thought, by the reception he gave the
affair of our mission, that he would be no friend to it; but before we parted he
surprised me with a present of a map of London, and a promise of five guineas
to the college. Dined at Mr. Jasper Mauduit's, the hearty friend of the dissenters in Virginia, one of the committee that have the management of the secular
affairs of the dissenters in court. He promised me something farther, if possible,
should be done on their behalf, before my return. We communicated the affair of
the college, and Mr. Tennent happening to mention repeatedly the Calvinists as the
principal persons concerned in it, it was like to engage us in an unseasonable dispute with Mr. Mauduit's brother, upon the Calvinistic principles. We found they
were both of latitudinarian, anti-Calvinistic principles, and would not countenance
the college, unless it were upon a catholic plan. We showed them the charter and
they were satisfied. One of them informed us that the king has given a considerable
sum for the support of English schoolmasters among the German Protestants in
Pennsylvania, and if we could make it appear that our college might be useful for
the education of such, we might probably have a share of it for that purpose. We
were also informed that the society here for Propagating Christian Knowledge,
would probably give something out of their fund, in case a number of Indian youth
might be educated in our college. Both these proposals would have a happy tendency, could they be carried into execution. But we are afraid the Philadelphia
Academy will interfere with the former. In the evening wrote a letter of thanks to
the Marquis of Lothian, and another to Lord Leven, enclosing a copy of our instructions which his lordship had desired.




246      CROMWELL-STENNET-PENN-JENNINGS-EARLE.
Sunday, January 6.-Heard Mr. Newman, a Presbyterian in or near Charter
House Square, on Psalm cxvi. 16, " O0 Lord truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant," and though I am informed he is an Arminian, I was much pleased with his
sermon. It was full of manly, rational and ingenious sentiments; and more in Mr.
Howe's strain than any sermon I ever heard. He is a minister of the congregation
of which good Dr. Wright was pastor. Preached in the evening in Mr. Gibbon's
meeting-house, on Luke ii. 34, 35, and had some freedom and solemnity. Conversed a little with the great grandson of Oliver Cromwell; and I remember a few
days ago, I drank tea with his great granddaughter, one Mrs. Field. Drank tea
with two granddaughters of the famous Sir Henry Ashurt, the friend of the ejected
ministers. Mr. Tennent preached for Mr. Chandler, and was kindly treated. I
am so hurried that I have no time to write my journal, but about twelve o'clock at
night. Therefore I am obliged to be very short.
Monday, January 7.-Went to visit Mr. Oswald and Mr. Buckland, booksellers;
but the former was not at home. In the evening visited Mr. Winter, a Congregational minister; but his dry orthodoxy, and severe reflections upon those that
deviated from rigid Calvinism, were disagreeable to me. Heard good Mr. Whitefield in the evening on "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and
hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.' —In the morning Mr. Tennent
and I waited on Mr. Newman, and communicated our business. He is a grave gentleman, and treated us kindly. He intimated that the Academy which the Presbyterians are about to erect, would probably interfere with our concern, and gave us
ground of discouragement.
Tuesday, January 8.-Dined at Mr. Eleazer Edwards's, a Turkey merchant in
Devonshire Square, of the Baptist persuasion. There we enjoyed Mr. Stennet's
company, and his sons. He is a judicious, prudent, and candid gentleman, and
has more influence in court than any dissenting minister in London. Mr. Tennent,
having visited Mr. Partridge, the agent of Pennsylvania, was advised to apply to
some of the court, particularly to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Halifax, and Mr. Pelham; and he seemed inclined to do it. But to me it appeared very doubtful; I was
afraid that in case the college should be discountenanced by them, they would find
some flaw in the charter, and so overset it, and that a refusal at court, would have
a bad influence on those that might otherwise contribute towards it. We consulted Mr. Stennet, and he was fully of my mind. He gave us an account of
the affair of the glebe in New England, in which the Episcopal party was cast after
a trial of some hours in the privy council. He also related a conference he had
with the Duke of Newcastle, and the Archbishop of York, about the mission of
bishops into America, which was very entertaining; but I have no time to relate
such things. In the evening we visited Mr. Ward, the bookseller; who appeared
a zealous friend to the college. At night finished a letter to my dearest, with such
tender affection, as I could hardly bear.
Wednesday, January 9.-Waited on Mr. Penn, the proprietor of Pennsylvania.
He treated us kindly, but gave us no encouragement as to our mission, on account
of the Academy in Philadelphia, which he apprehended himself under peculiar
obligations to promote. Went thence to Kensington to see Mr. Ziegenhagen, his
Majesty's German chaplain, a good old Lutheran minister. He has much of the
solemnity of the Christian, and a tender concern for the church of Christ in general.
Dined at an inn; but when we called for the reckoning, we found the generous old
gentleman had prevented us, and sent word that he would pay for all our expenses
there. Called at Mr. Pitiuis's, at the Savoy, a Lutheran minister, but he was not
at home.
Thursday, January 10.-Visited Dr. Jenning's, and were kindly received. He
appears a sociable, affectionate, and pious man. He keeps an academy of about
twenty students. He seemed to favour our design; but was apprehensive that the
privileges granted in our charter, were so ample, that he feared, if it were known
in court, they would be curtailed; especially, since the government here would not
allow the colleges in New England the power of conferring any degree above A. M.,
though it was granted them, by a law of their own province. Spent the evening
agreeably at one Mr. Gibson's, in company with Mr. and Mrs. De Berdt.
Friday, January 11.-Visited Dr. Earle, an old Presbyterian minister, of a good
character, but of a stern, incomplaisant behaviour. He received us dryly, and
would not so much as read or hear our recommendations; but afterwards cordially
promised that he would inquire of Mr. Stennet and Mr. Chandler, about the affairs
of our mission, and that if they approved of it, he would concur with them in proper measures to promote it. Visited Mr. May, a Presbyterian minister, but he plead
that he had no influence, his congregation was much in debt, &c., &c.; and absolutely
refused to concur. Went to the New England coffee-house; conversed with Mr.
Partridge, the agent for Pennsylvania. Spent the evening at Mr. Ward's, where I




GIBBONS-GUISE-PIKE-LARDNER-GROSVENOR.    247
had a short interview with one Mr. Thompson, a young minister. I forgot to mention that in the morning we waited on —-Belchier, Esq., member of Parliament,
and gave him a letter from Governor Belcher. He treated us kindly, and promised
us assistance.
Saturday, January 12.-Went to visit Mr. Streatfield, but he was not at home.
Spent an hour in agreeable conversation with Mr. Gibbons, and another with Dr.
Guise. Dined at Dr. Belchier's, but was low-spirited, and so unsociable that I was
ashamed of myself. There is such a number of ministers here, that it is rare for a
stranger to be invited to preach; and we have little prospect of usefulness that
way as yet. The Presbyterians particularly, being generally Armenians or Socinians, seem shy of us.
Sunday, January 13.-Heard Mr. Lawson in the morning, on Job i. 12, and he
seemed to aim honestly at experimental religion, and delivered himself extempore
with fluency, though not with a great deal of accuracy. In the afternoon preached
for Mr. Gibbons on these words, " I will be your God and ye shall be my people."
I had a good deal of readiness and vivacity, though alas! but little tender solemnity.
Spent the evening in pleasing conversation with dear Mr. Gibbons, who was much
affected and pleased with my sermon, and proposed to me to publish it with a
collection of his, which he intended for the press. He showed me an incomparable
elegy of a minister upon his daughter who died in her 11th year, which was commonly ascribed to Mr. Howe, and indeed is worthy of him. He told me that Dr.
Trapp composed an epitaph for himself, in which were the two lines addressed to
his people,
6" If in my life I tried in vain to save,
Hear me, at last, 0 hear me from the grave."
He read me a few letters of one Mr. Thomas, whose life he has published; which
were as excellent as any thing I ever heard of the kind. Mr. Tennent preached
for Mr. Gibbons, A. M., and for Mr. Stennet, P. M. I find a good number of the
people are displeased with his using notes.
Monday, January 14.-Visited Mr. Lawson, the minister of the Scotch Church,
and had a very friendly reception.  Spent an hour with Mr. Whitefield.  He
thinks we have not taken the best method to keep in with all parties, but should
" come out boldly" as he expressed it; which would secure the affections of the
pious people from whom we might expect the most generous contributions. Dined
and spent the evening very agreeably with Mr. Cruttenden, who is a most hearty
friend.
Tuesday, January 15.-Heard Dr. Guise in Pinners Hall preach a judicious experimental discourse on these words,-" And the peace of God shall keep your
hearts through Jesus Christ." It was well adapted to comfort the people of God;
but the languor of his delivery, and his promiscuous undistinguishing manner of
address, seem to take away its energy and pungency. Dined at Mr. Jones's, a
pious, judicious Christian, and spent the evening there with Mr. Whitefield, Mr.
Gibbons, &c. Mr. Tennent's heart was opened for free religious conversation, and
we spent a few hours very profitably. In sundry places here, we hear of Mr.
Hudson, a good minister that was lately here from Carolina, and preached with
uncommon acceptance.
Wednesday, January 16.-Mr.-Tennent went to visit Mr. Oswald, and visited Mr.
Pike, in Horten square, an Independent minister. He appears * * $ * in principle, and a great fiiend to experimental religion, and promised to promote the
college. He has a penetrating, philosophical genius, and is properly a man of
books. He made me a present of his Philosophia Sacra, and his sermon on c" charity
and zeal united." Spent about two hours in learned and religious conversation
with him. I found his method of examining any doctrine is, to read over the whole
Bible in the original, and having extracted all the texts that refer to it, to form a
judgment upon the whole. I next visited Dr. Lardner, the celebrated author of
" The Credibility of the Gospel History,"-and I was really surprised at the sight
of him, as he differed so much from the idea which I had formed of so great a
man. He is a little, pert, old gent, full of sprightly conversation; but so deaf that
he seems to hear nothing at all. I was obliged to tell him my mind and answer
his questions in writing; and he keeps a pen and paper always on the table for that
purpose. He treated me very kindly, and constrained me to dine with him. I
next visited Dr. Grosvenor, a venerable, humble, and affectionate old gent, who,
under the infirmity of old age, has declined the exercise of his ministry for two or
three years. I have hardly seen a man that discovered so much tenderness and
humility in his very aspect. He offered me Baxter's or Williams's works; but I
told him I would receive them only for the use of the College, and in that view
they would be very acceptable. He then insisted that I would accept two pieces




248         AVERY-PRICE-THE NOTTINGHAM SERMON.
of his, for my own private use, viz: The Mourner, and an Essay on Health. Spent
the evening in writing to my dear brother Mr. Todd.
Thursday, January 17.-It being rainy, we stayed at home preparing a petition
in behalf of the College.
Friday, January 18.-We submitted our petition to Mr. Chandler's correction.
He advised us to represent in it the use of the College " to keep a sense of religion
among the German Protestant emigrants, settled in the British plantations, to
instruct their children in the principles of our common Christianity, and to instruct
them in the knowledge of the English language, that they may be incorporated with
the rest of His Majesty's subjects." Mr. T. approved of the addition; but I could
not help scrupling it, because the College is not immediately intended to teach the
English language. However, I submitted.
Saturday, January 19.-Visited Dr. Avery. He is an amiable gentleman, very
affable, of a soft, ready address; and seems qualified by Divine Providence designedly to act for the dissenters in court. He said he thought it his duty, as he is now
on the confines of another world, to withdraw from the public management of their
affairs; that they might learn to manage without him before he goes off the stage.
He seemed diffident about our success in our mission, on account of the prodigous
expenses lying upon the dissenters on various accounts. Went to St. Dunstan's
coffee-house, where we had some friendly conversation with Mr. Smith, a young clergyman of the established church, the author of the poem upon visiting the Philadelphia Academy. He did not appear so great an enemy to our design as we expected.
At 2 o'clock we were sent for by a company of lords and gentlemen, who have the
disposal of the money lately given by the King for the support of schools among
the Germans in Pennsylvania. Mr. Chandler, who is the company's secretary,
introduced our affair, and our petition was read. There was no time to consider
it, and it was deferred till their next meeting. For my part, I have no hope of
success. Spent part of the night in great perplexity, not knowing what to preach
on to-morrow.
Sunday, January 20.-Preached for Mr. Price, a Presbyterian minister, on
Hebrews, xii. 14, an inaccurate, blundering discourse; and alas! I had no sense
of my subject. Heard Mr. Tennent, P. M., preach an honest and plain sermon;
and while I was pleased with its simplicity, I was uneasy lest its bluntness might
be offensive. Dined at Captain Gibson's, with Mr. Price, &c. Went in the evening, and heard Mr. Price preach at Salter's Hall, to a large auditory, (a thing
rarely seen here) on " My yoke is easy," &c. He is by far the best orator I have
heard in London; and excepting a few Arminian sentiments, his sermon was truly
excellent. He is an affable, affectionate gentleman, and is the likest man to Mr.
Pemberton, both in conversation and in the pulpit, that I have seen. Returned
home melancholy and low-spirited, from a review of my poor day's work, and
sought relief in conversation with dear Mr. Tennent. I am afraid I shall do
little good in this city. The congregations are so small that it is enough to damp
one's zeal in preaching to them.
Monday, January 21.-Spent most of the day in revising and transcribing a petition in behalf of the College, and we resolved to soften the terms in the clause
about the German Protestants. Spent the evening at Mr. Gibbons', where Mr.
Llwellen and Mr. Stennet, jr., were met for improving conversation, and I find it
is their method to meet every Monday night.
Tuesday, January 22.-We went to Mr. Chandler's, with a design to submit our
petition to his correction. We found Mr. Slaughter and Mr. Smith there, when we
introduced the conversation about the Germans, and observed that our College
would be a happy expedient to unite the Calvinists among them with the English
Presbyterians. Mr. Smith replied that a union would not be desirable; for a separation would keep up a balance of power. Mr. Tennent answered, that an union
in a good thing is always desirable. Upon which Mr. Chandler says, "I have seen
a very extraordinary sermon against union," and he immediately reached Mr. Tennent his Nottingham Sermon. It threw us both into confusion, and gave such a
damp to my spirits, as brought me in mind of my mortifications in the General
Court in Virginia. Mr. Tennent went about to vindicate himself, and when I had
recovered from my consternation, I put in a word. But all had no effect. We
found that sermon and the examination of Mr. Tennent's answer to the protest, had
been put into Mr. Chandler's hands; and he had formed his judgment so precipitately from a partial view of the case, that he told us " he would do nothing for us."
Mr. Smith alleged that the College was a party design, that though the charter was
catholic, yet so many of the trustees were Presbyterians, that they would manage
matters with arbitrary partiality,-that the trustees in New York city complained
that there were not more trustees of other denominations. We went away perplexed, and heard an excellent sermon in Pinner's Hall by Mr. Rawlins on a subject




DIFFICULTY WITH MR. CHANDLER AND OTHERS.                   249
very seasonable to us, " He will regard the prayer of the destitute." Went to the
Amsterdam coffee-house, where the ministers meet, and afterwards dined at Mr.
Ward's. Returned home, and prayed together for direction, and consulted what
measures we should take to remove Mr. Chandler's prejudices. The Lord direct
us in this difficult affair! I am shocked to think of the inveterate malignity of the
Synod of Philadelphia who have sent their accusations after Mr. Tennent so far.
Wednesday, January 23.-Waited on Mr. Chandler to remove his prejudices.
His turning against us seems to have so threatening an aspect upon our mission,
that it kept me awake part of last night, and mingled with my anxious dreams. Mr.
Tennent made honest, humble concessions with regard to the Nottingham Sermon,
as-" that it was written in the heat of his spirit, when he apprehended a remarkable work of God was opposed by a set of ministers-that some of the sentiments
were not agreeable to his present opinion-that he had painted sundry things in
too strong colours-and he plead,-that it was now thirteen years ago-and that
since he had used all his influence to promote union between the Synods; of which
he produced his Irenicum as a witness-that if the sermon was faulty, it was but
the fault of one man, and should not be charged upon the whole body." We
showed him the minutes of our Synod, to give him a viewof the state of the debates.
As he disapproves of all subscriptions of tests of orthodoxy, he disapproved of our
adopting act. I exerted all my powers of pathetic address, to give him a moving
representation of the melancholy case of the churches under our care-of the
dreadful consequence of a disappointment in our mission-of the hardships we had
exposed ourselves to, in prosecuting it, &c. Upon the whole he seemed something
softened, and promised that he would not use his influence to blast our design, but
would himself contribute towards it. He invited me to preach for him next Sunday come se'en night, which I did not expect. Waited upon Dr. Lawrence, a
Presbyterian minister, who treated us with great freedom and friendship.  He
advised us to prepare petitions, one for the Presbyterians and one for the Independents; for the animosities among some of them were so strong, that the very
sight of the names of one party would hinder the other from subscribing; and the
Independents would cry it was a Presbyterian project, when they saw the petition
recommended by Presbyterians, and vice versa.  Dined with good old Mr. Pierce,
Dr. Watts' former colleague, in company with Mr. Savage, his assistant. He is an
humble, affectionate gentlemen, and seemed to have our mission at heart; but apprehended we should have little success here at present, because the collections for
their own funds are just at hand. We requested him to recommend our petition;
but he declined it at the time. From the present view of things, I think if we can
but clear our expenses, we shall be well off. Went in the evening to Mr. Bradbury's. He is still sprightly and gay, and sings a tune now and then, though so
very aged. He subscribed a recommendation of the petition, and seemed particularly concerned for its success.
Thursday, January 24.-Went to Dr. Guyse, Dr. Lardner, Dr. Benson, and Mr.
Price, to get our petition recommended; and they all complied. Dr. Guyse is a
steady, deliberate gentleman, and now appears more in our interest than upon our
first application.  Dr. Benson talked in a sneering manner of the account of the
conversions in Northampton, New England, published here by Dr. Watts and Dr.
Guyse. He is a gentleman of great abilities, but counted a Socinian. Mr. Prior is
a sociable, sprightly, generous gentleman, of latitudinarian principles, but a hearty
friend to every laudable institution. He uninvited subscribed ten guineas to the
College. We waited also on Mr. Hall, but he declined subscribing then, to make
way for his seniors. He is an Israelite, and bitterly laments the declension of the
times. In the evening I wrote to Mr. Wright, &c. But alas! I am so hurried that
I have no time for correspondence.
Friday, January 25.-Went with much hesitation to Mr. Chandler's and he to
our agreeable surprise, recommended our petition. This will have a happy effect, not
only as his name will have influence with many, but as it will bind him to secresy
with regard to the calumnies spread about Mr. Tennent, for he cannot with a good
face give injurious representations of a design which himself has recommended.
We went next to Mr. Stennet's, and he also subscribed. But Mr. Newman, a
Presbyterian minister, chose to have more time to consider. Dr. Lawrence, one of
the few Calvinistic Presbyterians, did also cheerfully subscribe; and so did Mr. Rawlins, a good old independent minister, whom we waited upon in the evening. Dined
with Mr. Bradbury, who has been in the ministry about fifty-seven years. He read
us some letters which passed between Mr. Whitefield and him in 1741; occasioned
by Mr. Whitefield's reproving him in a letter for singing a song in a tavern, in a
large company, in praise of old English beef. The old gentleman sung it to us, and
we found it was partly composed by himself, in the high flying days of Queen Anne.
32




250                   MR. PIKE-DR. JENNINGS.
He is a man of a singular turn, which would be offensive to the greatest number of
serious people. But for my part, I would sayI knew'twas his peculiar whim,
Nor took it ill as come from him.
Saturday, January 26.-Spent the morning in writing letters; and went to Newington to dine with Mr. Bowles, who treated us kindly, and gave me five guineas for
the College.
Sunday, January 27.-Preached for Mr. Price, A. M. in Berry street; when I
entered the pulpit, it filled me with reverence to reflect that I stood in the place
where Mr. Clarkson, Dr. Owen, Dr. Watts, &c., had once officiated. My subject
was Jer. xxxi. 18, 19, 20. I was favoured with some freedom. Blessed be God, I
have not been disturbed with the fear of man, since I have been in this city. Dined
with good old Mr. Price, who treated me with all the tender affection of a father.
Preached, P. M. in the Scotch church in Founders' hall, where Mr. Lawson is minister, on Rev. i. 7. I was encouraged to see a crowded auditory, of persons from
various congregations; and though I had not much solemnity, was enabled to speak
gracefully and oratorically. Drank tea at Mr. Mauduit's; who is a very candid
serious man, though a frien:t and occasional hearer of Dr. Benson. He gave me
some enconragement that something would be done in favour of the poor dissenters
in Virginia. Heard Mr. Furnace in the evening on the case of Felix, an ingenious
discourse.
Monday, January 28.-Waited on good Mr. Pike, and he readily subscribed our
petition; but had it much at heart that only pious youth, should be admitted to
learning for the ministry; a method that has beer. pursued here for some years, by
the King's head society. He told us, that he believed all that would be given by
his friends, must be appropriated for this purpose; and that they would give upon
no other footing. The venerable Dr. Grosvenor also signed our petition. Dined
at Dr. Lawrence's, an open hearted candid gentlemen; and went thence to Mr.
Rawlin's, a judicious, experimental divine, who also signed, and promised that
what could be got among his friends, he would take the trouble to collect himself.
He married a good fortune, but a bad wife; and now, since her death, he has a
considerable estate, and keeps his coach. AV. Lawson not only subscribed, but
gave us four guineas. Visited Mr. King, a talkative minister, who amid all his pretended friendship discouraged us.
Tuesday, January 29.-Went in the morning to Dr. Jennings, a courteous, sensible gentleman, who keeps an academy. He signed the petition, and invited me
to preach for him. Went thence to Salter's Hall, and heard Dr. Earle, the oldest
minister in London, on these words:-" An inheritance among them that are sanctified through faith in me.)" He preached extempore, with much accuracy and
judgment, and what he said had a tendency to do good. I waited on him and Mr.
Barker, a celebrated minister, in the vestry room, and though the old gentleman
treated me, as he does every body else, with his natural sternness, he and Mr.
Barker readily signed the petition. Went from thence to Hamlin's coffee-house,
where the Presbyterian ministers meet on Tuesdays, and there Dr. Allen and Dr.
Benson subscribed. Dr. Benson did it with this sneer, " That he was no friend to
subscriptions," meaning tests of orthodoxy. He asked me whether an Arminian,
an Arian, or a Socinian, would be admitted into our College. The reason of his
inquiry was, that the charter says ~" that all persons of all denominations shall be
admitted to equal advantages of education;" and he apprehended that an Arminian
was not said to be of any particular denomination. Mr. Tennent went among the
honest Indepenaents at the Austrian coffee-house, and got sundry names. Dined
at Mr. Holmes', a courteous gentleman of Mr. Newman's congregation, in company with dear Mr. Gibbons, a great grandson of Oliver Cromwell. I was much
pained with a wind cholic. In the evening went to the Amsterdam coffee-house,
where the Independent ministers met for friendly conversation, and to consult
about the affairs of the churches; for they have no other associations, as the Presbyterians have no other Presbyteries. Indeed, there seems to be no government
exercised jointly among either of them. The English Presbyterians have no elders
nor judicatories of any kind; nor seem to me to agree but in very few particulars
with the church of Scotland. I find the Calvinistic Presbyterians, as well as the
Baptists, choose to frequent the Independent coffee-house, rather than associate
with their Presbyterian brethren of Arminian or Socinian sentiment, at Hamlin's.
Mr. Halford and Mr. Towle subscribed to our petition; and the rest present, particularly Dr. Guyse, appeared heartily in our interest.
Wednesday, January 30.-We waited upon Dr. Gill, the celebrated Baptist minister. He is a serious, grave little man, and looks young and hearty, though, I




DR. GILL-LOW  SPIRITED-MR. PRICE.                      251
suppose, near sixty. He signed our petition, though he modestly pleaded that his
name would be of little service, and that the Baptists in general were, unhappily,
ignorant of the importance of learning. Went thence to Mr. Price, and got his
subscription. At 12 o'clock, waited on the committee, of which Dr. Avery is
chairman. We laid before them our credentials, and requested them to recommend our petition; but they apprehended it would be improper. They cordially
gave us their best advice. They had no time to consider the case of the oppressed
dissenters in Virginia; but promised it should be done at their next meeting. There
were fourteen present. Spent the evening in writing letters; at night waited on
Mr. Savage, who is famed for his liberality to all pious undertakings. I found the
good man was cooled towards us, because we associated with the rich and great,
and persons of all denominations promiscuously;-and did not keep a more public
intercourse with Mr. Whitefield, and employ some house to preach in frequently.
He seemed also insensible of the necessity of learning in a minister; and was
doubtful whether he would give any thing towards our College.
Thursday, January 31.-Visited Mr. Richardson, an Independent minister, and
Mr. Walker, tutor of the oriental languages in Dr. Marriot's academy, who readily
signed our petition. Mr. Tennent went to Mr. Denham, but had no admission.
Dined at Mr. Hall's, and was cheered and edified with his facetious and yet heavenly conversation.
Friday, February 1.-Took a walk to Westminster, to get the names of the
Scotch ministers to our petition; but could find none at home but Mr. Crookshank
and Mr. Patrick, who readily signed. The former was indisposed, and I had not
much conversation with him; but he appears an affectionate humble man. Mr.
Patrick appears a serious man, and deeply lamented the declension of religion in
London, among the dissenters; and said that the revivals of religion which they
had were chiefly in the Church of England, by means of Mr. Whitefield. In my
return I took a walk through St. James's Park, and find it contains a vast quantity
of land.
Saturday, February 2.-Went to Westminster, and got Mr. Kippies and Mr.
Oswald to sign the petition. Mr. Kippies was a pupil of Dr. Doddridge's, and is a
very modest ahd affectionate youth. HIe succeeds the late Dr. Hughs. Mr. Oswald
seems to be a devout humble man. He is acquainted with Mr. Erskine, Mr.
McLaurin, and sundry good ministers in Scotland, his native country. Dined at
good Dr. Guise's, in company with his son, who is also a minister, and a sociable,
pleasant companion. Went thence to Mr. Burroughs, an Arminian Baptist, with
whom the late Dr. Foster was colleague for some time. Spent the evening with
Mr. Edward Calamy, the fourth of the name. He is a sensible, pleasant gentleman,
but has imbibed the modish divinity. He has declined the exercise of his ministry
for about three years, by reason of indisposition.
Sunday, February 3.-Preached A. M. for Mr. Crookshank on Luke xiii. 24, with
considerable freedom, and the assembly appeared attentive, and some of themni
affected. Preached P. M. in the old Jewry for Mr. Chandler, on Luke ii. 24, to a
very brilliant assembly, but a blunder I made in mentioning text, threw me into
confusion, which I did not recover through the whole discourse; and I felt more of
the fear of man than since I have been in this city. Drunk tea with Mr. Chandler
at one Mr. Adair's; but was so mortified with a review of my sermon, that I had
no heart for conversation; and I returned home exceedingly dejected. I was afraid
that my poor management would bring disgrace upon religion, and the affairs of
our mission. In short, I have not had so melancholy an evening for a long time.
The Lord help me!
Monday, February 4.-Visited Mr. Denham, a Presbyterian minister; but he was
so affected with the gout that he could not give me an audience; but put me off till
next Monday. Went thence to Mr. Prior's, and spent an hour with him in free
conversation. He is an amiable, candid and generous gentleman. He gave me
ten guineas for the College; and he is a learned and ingenious man. I think that
the Trustees should compliment him with the degree of A. M. as a reward to his
merit and generosity. He made me a present of three discourses of his, one of
which I heard him deliver at Salter's Hall; and I presented him with one of mine,
preached before the Presbytery. Dined with Mr. Muir, a Scotch minister, settled
in an Independent congregation; a very affectionate man, and he seems to have a
serious sense of religion. Went to Mr. Mitchel's, who is also a Scotch minister
of an Independent congregation, but not so sociable as the former to me. They
both signed the petition. Spent a social hour very pleasantly with Dr. Jennings.
who, though a great student, and a universal scholar, has nothing of the stiff pedant
in his behaviour. Spent a few minutes with good Mr. Hitchin, who is famous for
a zealous, experimental preacher, and hearty friend of Mr. Whitefield. He cheerfully signed the petition, and promised his influence. Spent the evening most




2 52            PoEMS-SUCCESS-ARGYLE-RAWLINS.
agreeably at Mr. Towle's, an ingenious young minister of the Independent persuasion. We interchanged our thoughts on sundry subjects, and particularly I
communicated to him my thoughts on the Divine government as adapted to the
nature of man, the beauty of rectoral justice, and various methods which God has
wisely taken to display it, &c. He advised me to digest my thoughts upon these
subjects, and publish them because they were new. I find to my surprise, that my
poems and sermon before the Presbytery are very acceptable to sundry here; and
I have been pressed by some to let them pass an edition here; but I am afraid of
every thing that might be looked upon as ostentation in my present circumstances.
Mr. Towle proposed to keep a correspondence with me for the future; a proposal
very acceptable to me.
Tuesday, February 5.-Heard Mr. Rawlins at Pinners' Hall, on his former text,
" He will regard the prayer of the destitute, &c.;" and though his delivery is heavy,
I have heard very few preach so solid,judicious, and experimental a discourse.
Went among the Independent ministers at the Amsterdam coffee-house, and obtained three names mare to our petition, viz.-Dr. Milner, Mr. Thompson, and Mr.
Hayward. Dined'at one Mr. Charles Buckstone's, with Mr. Gibbons, who treated
me very kindly, and gave me five guineas for the College, without solicitation. We
have now got sixty names to our petition, which I think quite sufficient; but Mr.
Tennent thinks we should get the recommendation of the principal ministers,
round about the city, as well as in it. But this, I am afraid, will take up so much
time, that we cannot finish our applications for private contributions before we are
obliged to set out for Scotland. I think it is a remarkable smile of Providence,
that we have so much success in getting the ministers of the city to recommend
our petition, as it will have weight, not only here, but with the General Assembly.
Spent part of the evening at Mr. Mauduit's, who had sent for me, to advise me to
draw up a more particular account of the College; and the sum necessary to carry
it to maturity, that people might regulate their donations accordingly.
Wednesday, February 6.-Went to Mr. Stennet's, who went with us to introduce
us to the Duke of Argyle, to deliver Governor Belcher's letter. We found eight
or ten gentlemen and noblemen waiting in his grace's levee. His Grace took us
into his library; a spacious, elegant room, about forty feet long and twenty broad,
furnished all round with books, philosophical instruments, curiosities, &c. His
Grace told us, after reading the letter, that as the college related to the plantations,
we ought first to apply to the lords of trade and plantations, and if they approved
of it, he would willingly countenance it, both here and in Scotland. He advised
us to apply to Lord Halifax, or Lord Duplin; and Mr. Stennet accordingly went to
the latter, (while we staid at a coffee-house), and showed him our instructions from
the Trustees, and the petition we had drawn up. Mr. Stennet told him he applied
to his lordship in confidence; and his lordship assured him he would do nothing to
injure us. He thereupon told him we had our charter only from a Governor; and
asked him whether he thought it would be deemed valid in court. His lordship
replied that he doubted it; but he would soon satisfy himself, by inquiring into the
extent of the Governor's commission. And in case it appeared valid, he would
advise us to lay the matter before the Archbishop of Canterbury, and he himself
would go with Mr. Stennet to Mr. Pelham, in our favour: and so introduce the
matter in court. For my part, I am afraid of all applications in that quarter, lest
we lose our charter, and stir up an opposition; and it is against my mind that the
matter has been carried so far.  Dined at Mr. Stennet's, who gave us five guineas
for the College. Went home anxious about the fate of an application to the lords
of trade and to the court.
Saturday, February 9. —My hours are so interrupted, that I cannot every day
keep an account of my proceedings. Providence has smiled upon our undertaking so far, that we have about eighty guineas promised, twenty of which are from
the Rev. Mr. Rawlin, who has a large estate without children, and a heart proportionably generous.
Sunday, February 10.-Preached in a vacant Baptist congregation, which formerly
had one Mr. Bently for their minister. They have generally, as I am informed,
imbibed some Antinomian notions, particularly that no offers of grace should be
made to the unconverted, because they are dead in sin, and incapable to receive
them. I preached before and afternoon on Isaiah xlv. 22, with some freedom; but
as my sermon was full of exhortations to sinners to look to Christ, I suppose it did
not well suit the taste of the people. Dined with good Mr. Savage, who used a
very inoffensive freedom in making remarks upon my sermon, which he seemed to
think was not sufficiently evangelical.-Preached in the evening at Shakspeare
Walk, to a very crowded auditory, on Zech. vii. 12, 13, and had unusual freedom, though my body was much exhausted, and my voice broke by a bad cough,
with which I have been afflicted ever since I left home. My subject was terrible,




DENHAM-BARKER-ANDERSON-SUCCESS.                         253
and I was afraid it might be offensive; but the uncommon security of this place
requires an alarm. The people seemed eagerly attentive; and there appeared a
greater prospect of success than I have had in this city. This lecture is attended
alternately by the ministers of the town; and is intended to support a charity
school of thirty children. I addressed myself to the little creatures and they
seemed very attentive.
Monday, February 11.-Visited Mr. Mill and delivered Mr. Donald's letter.
He and his partner, Mr. Oswald, advised us to apply to the lords of trade to encourage our embassy. But I am afraid of the consequence. Went to Mr. Denham, a Presbyterian minister, and had a long and difficult dispute with him, about
the importance and necessity of our College,-the validity of the charter without
the Royal approbation, &c., which he managed with great dexterity. It was my
happiness to have my thoughts ready, and I made such a defence as silenced him.
His name is of great importance, and I was solicitous to obtain it to our petition;
but had lost all hope of it, when, to my agreeable surprise, he subscribed. Visited
Dr. Jennings, who took me to his academy, and showed all his philosophical curiosities, two orreries,-an experiment to show that all the colours of the rainbow
blended form a white,-a mushroom petrified,-two or three Testaments in MS.
before the.art of printing, which were very elegantly written,-sundry stones in
the shape of a coiled snake,-shells, minerals, JEolus's harp, a plica pilonica, &c.
He has a most curious and philosophical turn, and is very sociable and communicative. He promised five guineas at least towards the College.-Spent the evening
agreeably with Mr. Savage, Dr. Watts's successor, and sub-tutor with Dr. Jennings.
Tuesday, Feb. 12.-Went to Salter's Hall, and heard the great Mr. Barker, on
these words, " Not as though I had already attained," &c. His sermon was very
accurate and judicious, and in the Calvinistic strain. 1 find, that though real religion, and the principles of the Reformation are better retained among the Independents, and though there be a considerable number of learned and judicious
ministers among them, yet the greatest number of learned and polite men are
among the Presbyterians; and sundry of them deserve the character, who Arminianize and Socinianize very much. Went to the Presbyterian coffee-house, as it is
called, and got Mr. Furneaux's name to the petition. Dined with my serious friend,
Mr. Manduit, who promised five guineas to the College. Had a long conversation
with Samuel Dicker, Esq., a notorious deist.
Wednesday, Feb. 13.-Waited on Mr. Towle, who gave us five guineas; but it
rained so much that we staid at home P. M., and I wrote a few letters to my
friends at Hanover. That dear place contains all that is dearest to me in the world,
my congregation, my friends, my parents, my children, and especially my dearest
Chara. Alas! my heart breaks at the thought.-Heard Mr. Whitefield in the
evening.
Thursday, Feb. 14.-Waited on Mr. Stennet to hear Lord Duplin's opinion of the
validity of our charter; but he was indisposed, and had not waited on his lordship.
Visited Mr. Brine, a Baptist minister, who is reputed a speculative Antinomian,
though a good man. Dined with Mr. Anderson, of the South Sea House, a friendly,
polite gentleman, and a secretary of the correspondents here with the Society for
propagating Christian knowledge in Scotland. I find his uncle was the grandfather
of'the Andersons in Hanover. Visited Dr. Avery, who treated me with the most
unreserved candour.  Spent the evening with Mr. Thomson, jr., an ingenious
young Baptist minister, who though educated a strict Calvinist, has imbibed the
modern latitudinarian principles. I had an amicable dispute with him about the
lawfulness and expediency of subscribing tests of orthodoxy beside the Scripture.
Friday, Feb. 15.-Visited the venerable, stern Dr. Earley, and he gave me five
guineas for the College. Went then to Mr. Spilsbury's, Presbyterian minister at
Salter's Hall.  He seemed reluctant to assist, and put me off.  Dined with
Mr. Bowles, jr., and had a very agreeable conversation with the old gentleman,
though my spirits were very low, and I had no list for action. He made some
candid remarks upon my sermons, and told me that he heard Mr. Chandler and his
people were not well pleased with my sermon there, but thought it too rigidly orthodox. Spent the evening most agreeably with my friend Mr. Cruttenden, who is
a very considerable poet, as I find by some poems of his he put into my hands
to correct.
Saturday, February 16.-We have reason to observe the goodness of God in
the success we meet with in the business of our mission, having already got near
~C200, which I really thought at first would be as much as we could get in all.
Our obtaining the attestation of so many ministers to our petition (in all sixty-seven)
appears the best expedient we could have fallen upon; and as they are of the
three denominations of dissenters, it gives us access to people of all these denominations.-We have concluded to print five hundred copies of our petition, to put into




254           CRITICISM-COLLECTIONS-DIFFICULTIES.
-the hands of our friends, to dispose among such as might contribute to the design, that the way may be prepared for our making personal application to them.
This morning I waited on Dr. Lardner, Mr. Pike, and Mr. Guyse, who gave me
about seven guineas between them towards the College.-Had some conversation
with Mr. Guyse, who is a free sociable gentleman, though very low spirited to
day. I hardly think there has been one in London these many years, who has
contracted so extensive acquaintance with the ministers of this city, as I have, in
less than two months. I am sometimes low spirited and bashful, especially in
company with my seniors, that I cannot behave so as to recommend myself.
However, I hope to settle such correspondence as may be for my future advantage.
Dined at Mr. Wright's, son-in-law to Mr. Mauduit, and spent the afternoon at
home, preparing fbr to-morrow when I am to preach for Dr. Jennings. I find
the hurries of our business, the variety of company and objects, and the want of
time for thoughtfulness and retirement have dissipated my thoughts, and deadened
my devotion. I am extremely uneasy in my situation. I long to be at home in
my study, and with my dear family; for the character of a recluse student suits
me much better than that of a man of business. But it is the providence of God
that called me to this instance of selfdenial, and I must submit, nay I would cheerfully acquiesce in it. Though I take but too superficial notice of il yet alas!
I feel sin still strong in me.  Ceelum, non animum mutant, qui lrans mare
currunt. When I seriously think how depraved I am, I hardly know what conclusion to draw about myself. God pity me, the vilest of his creatures.
Sunday, February 17.-Heard Dr. Jennings, A. M. on Rom. viii. 7, 8, and he
spoke in the language of the convictive preachers of the last age, to my great
satisfaction. Dined with one Mr. Eads, a very serious good man. Preached P. M.
on Ps. xcvii. 1, with usual freedom and clearness to the great satisfaction of the
good Doctor. Spent the evening with him; and he is so free and communicative
of knowledge, that his company is very entertaining and instructive. I meet with
none in London like him in this respect. He read me a dissertation of his upon
the tree of life. A late writer supposes that the word rendered tree, though singular, has a plural signification, and meant all the trees of the garden, except that
of knowledge. So the Greek ~vuov, and the English wood has a plural signification.
The author supposes that all the trees in Eden might be called a wood of life,
because they were sufficient for the support of life without the other productions
of the earth, which are raised by labour. The Doctor supposes that there were
other trees of pleasure and innocent luxury, but not absolutely necessary for
Adam's subsistence, and that the tree of life was a particular species of tree, the
fruit of which was the necessary support of life, as bread is now, &c.
Saturday, February 22.-This week I have been so hurried, that I could not keep
a daily journal. Last week we dispersed our petitions among the ministers to give
away among their people. We have been diligent in making private applications;
but met with many disappointments, partly from gentlemen being from home, or indisposed, or unwilling to contribute; and partly by the prejudices raised in the
minds of some by Mr. Tennent's Nottingham sermon, which is dispersed through
the town from hand to hand very officiously. Mr. Tennent was so damped with it
yesterday, that his spirits were quite sunk and he gave up the hope of success, and
wished himself in Philadelphia again. But this morning we had reason to observe
the remarkable interposition of Providence, in raising us up after a dejection. Mr.
Tennent waited on Wm. Belchier, Esq., a churchman, that seems to have no sense
of religion; and from whom we expected little or nothing; but he surprised us by
subscribing ~50. Blessed be the God of heaven, who has the hearts of all men in
his hands, and rules them as he pleases. I went to Hackney, about three miles off;
had an interview with Mr. Hunt, one of the ministers there, a serious, sociable man.
Waited on Samuel Lesingham, Esq., a gentleman in great respect among the dissenters; and Stamp Brooksbank, and - Sheafe, Esqrs., the latter of which gave
me a very cold reception. Hackney is a very agreeable place, where there are
sundry magnificent seats and gardens. This week I have waited on  -  Lamb,
Esq., Mr. Benjamin Bond, sen., Mr. -    Hollis, Sir Joshua Van-Neck, and spent
last Wednesday night very agreeably with Mr. Stennet, jun., an affectionate Baptist
minister. Dined yesterday with Mr. Robert Keen, in the Minories, a pious affectionate young gentleman, in company with good Mr. Cruttenden. We have been
solicited to preach a charity sermon next Wednesday for the dissenting school in
Bartholomew Close; and as Mr. Tennent refused, and cast it upon me, I was obliged
to consent; though when I consider my hurry, want of preparation, the number of
ministers that may attend, &c., the prospect strikes me with horror. May God
prepare me! Dined last Thursday at Mr. Brine's, a Baptist minister and a warm advocate for the doctrines of Calvinism, with something of Antinomian tincture.
Sunday, February 24.-Preached the morning lecture at Mr.. Godwin's meeting



WATTS-HOUSE OF LORDS-CASE OF DISSENTERS.                    255
house, in Little St. Helen's, at 7 o'clock, the earliest that ever I preached in my
life. There was a considerable assembly considering it was so early. My subject
was, " Yield yourselves unto God," and as I had but one hour's time for the whole
of public worship, I could handle it but superficially. Took a coach and went to
Mr. Oswald's meeting-house, where I preached both fore and afternoon. My subject A. M., was John iii. 6, and P. M., John iii. 3. I spoke with some freedom.
But alas! the spirit of awful solemnity, so commanding and impressing to an audience, which has frequently animated my sermons, seems now to be departed from
me; and when I speak on solemn subjects, with an air of unconcernedness, or. mere
natural vivacity, I feel guilty, and seem to myself to make a very ridiculous appearance. Such preaching, alas! has but little weight with an auditory. The congregation in the afternoon was very full, which encouraged me.
[Here some is wanting.]
_Monday, February 25.-Went to Hackney, but were disappointed of waiting on
several we intended. Went thence to Newington, and visited Mrs. Abney, daughter of the late Sir Thomas Abney, a courteous humble lady. The steward showed
me Dr. Watt's study, and some of his manuscripts. I find he wrote but little of
his sermons. As his books were taken away, there was nothing pleased me so
much as the pictures of sundry great men, ranged in the order the Dr. has left them.
There were two vacancies, in one of which is written, with the Dr's own hand,
Est locus pluribus umbris.-Hor.
and in the other,
Quis me doctorum propria dignabitur umbra.
This is the place the Doctor tenderly describes in his elegy upon Gunston. I
saw the turret, and the venerable oaks and elms, &c.
Tuesday, February 26.-Staid at home in the morning, preparing to preach a
charity sermon to-morrow, the prospect of which is very terrifying to me. Went,
P. M., to the House of Lords, with the Rev. Mr. Thompson, and was introduced by
a Mr. George Baskerville, a lawyer, whose company I enjoyed on the way, and
in the evening. He is the most facetious mortal I ever conversed with; and
sometimes he gives such a loose to his wit that one would think he had no respect
to any thing sacred; and yet he gave five guineas to the College, and talked at
times very pertinently on divine subjects. The House of Lords is but an ordinary
old building: but the assembly is the most brilliant and august that one can conceive. It was opened by a prayer read by the youngest bishop; at which all but members were ordered to go out; but Mr. Thompson and I were conveniently concealed behind a curtain, and were not excluded. The bishops made an odd
appearance to me in their dress of black and white! The judges were to give
their opinions and the reasons, seriatim, upon a case relating to the insurance of
a privateer,whose company mutinied. Five of them spoke, each near an hour,
and I was charmed with their clear reasoning; and one of them had a handsome
address.
Wednesday, February 27.-Preached a charity sermon at Mr. King's meeting-house,
on "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." There was a large auditory,
and a considerable number of ministers, viz. Dr. Guyse, Mr. King, Mr. Gibbons,
Mr. Guyse, Mr. Hickman, Mr. Brine, &c. I have hardly ever preached with
greater disadvantage; partly by reason of a fright, occasioned by searching my
pockets sometime before I could find my notes; and partly from my great hurry;
for I found after I had consented to preach, that the committee that have the management of the secular affairs of the dissenters, were to meet on the same day; and
Mr. Mauduit wrote to me to get Mr. Tennent to preach for me, (which he would
by no means do) or conclude exactly at 12 o'clock. These things cast me into a
perturbation of mind, and yet I had as much freedom and tenderness as I have had
in the city; for which I desire to be humbly thankful. The ministers thanked me
heartily for my sermon, and seemed well pleased with it. Immediately after sermon I took coach and went to Pinner's Hall, to wait on the Committee. They had
been consulting the Virginia laws, and reading the papers I had sent them; and'they told me they were all heartily engaged in my interest, but after the best
deliberation, they were apprehensive that the Act of Toleration was not so adopted
as to become a proper law of Virginia, but only one paragraph was received, which
exempts dissenters from penalty for absenting themselves from the established
church. This surprised me; as I still think my reasons for my former opinions are
unanswerable. They at least advised me to get a petition drawn up to the King
and Council, and subscribed by the dissenters in the frontier counties, which they
apprehended would be of more weight than one from Hanover, because they were
educated dissenters, and were a good barrier against the French and Indians. They




256                  RANDOLPH-HALFORD-SERMONS.
appointed some of their members to assist me in drawing up a petition; and I
intend to wait on them as soon as possible for that end. May the Providence of
God smile on the attempt.
[Some wanting.]
Monday, March 4.-Had but little heart for business. Visited Mr. Waugh, the
bookseller, and his father-in-law, Mr. Field. Spent the evening at Mr. Mauduit's
in conversation upon the case of the dissenters in Virginia. I find Peyton Randolph, Esq., my old adversary, is now in London  and will no doubt oppose whatever is done in favour of the dissenters in Hanover.
Tuesday, March 5.-We determined to publish a larger account of the rise and
present state of the College; as we find some are not fully satisfied with the short
account given in our petition. This has cost us some pains, and the more so, as
Mr. Tennent's style and mine are so different. Went to the Amsterdam coffeehouse, to see the ministers, and spread our petitions, about 1 o'clock.
Wednesday, March 6.-Heard Mr. Halford preach a charity sermon in Mr. Chandler's meeting-house for the fund to support the widows and children of dissenting
ministers. His text was, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do," &c. His matter
was tolerably good, but delivered in a most wretched manner. I met him at the
door, as he was coming into the meeting-house, and asked him how he did? He
answered, " I am in fear and much trembling," and when I told him, that I hoped
the Lord would be with him,-the good man burst into tears. This gave me occasion to reflect upon my own presumption, who preached there with much less diffidence. Visited Mr. Jackson, who was educated a churchman, but is now a dissenter; who has had the reading of all our papers relating to our mission, and
would do nothing implicitly. He said he was afraid our College would fall into
Episcopal hands; and that he was not well affected to Governor Belcher's character, for accepting of the place of Governor of New England, and espousing the
interests of the court, when he was sent over as agent to oppose them. But to my
agreeable surprise he gave me ten guineas for the College. Waited in the evening
on Mr. Blackwell, whom, through mistake, I took to be a dissenter, but found to
be a churchman, and one of the contributors to the Society for Propagating Christianity in foreign parts. He made as wide a mistake, and took me to be a Moravian, till I undeceived him. He appeared a very candid gentleman, and took the
affair under consideration. I have been more than usually anxious this day about
my dear wife. Oh! that I knew how she is! I find that neither time nor distance
can erase her image from my heart. This day the Honourable Henry Pelham,
Esq., prime minister, died; which has struck the town into a consternation. He
has left a general good character behind him; and the court is puzzled to know
whom to choose in his place.
[Some wanting.]
Saturday, March 16.-Last Sunday, I preached A. M., for Mr. Gibbons, on these
words, " So then is neither he that planteth any thing, &c.,"7 and as I was deeply
sensible of the withdrawing of Divine influences, and the inefficaciousness of the
means of grace without them, my tender passions were frequently moved throughout the sermon, and in the conclusion burst out into a flood of tears. Sundry of
the hearers were tenderly affected, particularly Mr. Cromwell, great grandson of
the famous Oliver; who gave Mr. Gibbons three guineas for the College, after
sermon, thanked me for my discourse with tears in his eyes. He afterwards conducted me to Dr. Stennet's, and talked freely and warmly of experimental religion.
-Dined at Mr. Samuel Stennet's, in company with his brother, who is also a minister.-Preached P. M., for Dr. Stennet, and my spirits were so exhausted with my
forenoon discourse that I had not much tender solemnity. Spent the evening with
Mr. Stennet, jr., who seems a pious ingenious youth. We have determined to
publish a larger account of the college for the satisfaction of such as have a historical curiosity, or desire to be informed of it as a matter in which they are concerned as'contributors; and we have been busy this week in preparing and
spreading it through the town. Spent the evening very agreeably with Mr. Cruttenden, who read me an ingenious dissertation of his in favour of Dr. Watts's version of the Psalms, and upon my request made me a present of it. Spent another
evening with that heavenly man, Mr. Hall, whose conversation is an agreeable
mixture of piety and wit. Had an interview with Mr. Wm. Hervey, brother to the
celebrated author of the Meditations. He is a modest, humble gentleman, and
though of the Church of England, has a zealous regard for the exploded doctrines
of Calvinism and experimental religion. Heard Mr. Read last Tuesday, at Salter's
Hall, on these words, " Enter not into judgment with thy servant," &c. But
there was such a legal spirit diffused through the sermon, that I thought it rather
calculated to promote the security, than the conversion of sinners. I could not
help thinking of a pun I have heard of a minister, who preached a sermon upon




SALTER'S HALL-MR. PRIOR.                         257
these words, c" Salt is good, but if the salt have lost its savour,', &c. and when he
was desired to publish it, he said "He believed he would, and dedicate it to the
preachers at Salters' Hall; for they wanted seasoning."-Yesterday I drew up a
petition for the dissenters in Virginia, and carried it to Dr. Avery to correct. The
death of Mr. Pelham,-the prospect of sending a bishop over to America,-the
confusion between the Governor and Assembly in Virginia,-and Mr. Randolph, my
old adversary being now in London, are all great obstructions at present to the relief of my oppressed people. And the committee, on these accounts, think this a
very improper time to make any application in their favour. As Dr. Stennet has
S great deal of influence in court, I gave him, last night, a particular account of
the rise and progress of the dissenting interest in Virginia, and the restraints and
embarrassments the people laboured under from the government. He was very
much moved with the account, and promised me his utmost influence in their favour.-He had been yesterday waiting upon the Duke of Newcastle, to condole the
death of his brother, and told me that it was the most tragical scene he ever saw.
Dined at Mr. Wm. Stead's in company with Mr. Cornthwaite, his minister, a
Seventh-day Baptist Socinian. Had an interview a few days ago with Mr. Grant,
minister in Northamptonshire. He has no learning, but is a very solid, judicious,
and pious man, and I am told popular and successful in his ministry.
Sunday, March 17.-Preached A. M., for Mr. Lawson at Founder's hall, upon
Luke xiii. 24, and the hearers were attentive, though neither they nor myself, very
solemn. Preached P.M. at Unicorn Yard, for Mr. Thomson, on Psalm xcvii. 1, and
acted the orator with a tolerable grace. Preached an evening lecture orr Jeremiah
xxxi. 18-20, for Mr. Mitchell, at Mr. Hitkin's meeting-house, and the sight of the
auditory, the most crowded I have seen in London, cast me into an agreeable ferment, and constrained me to pray in the pulpit for Divine assistance; and I hope I
was answered, for I had more than usual freedom and solemnity.
[Some wanting.]
Tuesday, March 19.-Went to the Amsterdam coffee-house among the Baptist
and Independent ministers, where I enjoy most satisfaction. Received the thanks
of the governors of the charity school, in Bartholomew's Close, for my sermon there,
which were presented to me in a very respectful manner by Dr. Guyse, as their
deputy. Though it be hard to repress the workings of vanity, even in a creature
so unworthy as I am, under so much applause, yet I think my heart rises in sincere
gratitude to God for advancing me from a mean family, and utter obscurity, into
some importance in the world, and giving me so many advantages of public usefulness. Indeed I hardly think there is a greater instance of this in the present age.
Alas! that I do not better improve my opportunities. Went to Hamlin's coffeehouse among the Presbyterians, where they are generally very shy and unsociable
to me. They have universally, as far as I can learn, rejected all tests of orthodoxy, and require their candidates, at their ordination, to declare only their belief
of the Scriptures. Mr. Prior, with the appearance of great uneasiness, told me
that he had heard we would admit none into the ministry without subscribing to the
Westminister Confession; and that this report would hinder all our success among
the friends of liberty.'I replied that we allowed the candidate to mention his
objections against any article in the Confession, and the judicature judged whether
the articles objected against were essential to Christianity; and if they judged they
were not, they would admit the candidate, notwithstanding his objections. He
seemed to think that we were such rigid Calvinists that we would not admit an
Arminian into communion, &c. I proposed to converse with him another time for
his satisfaction. Alas! for the laxness that prevails here among the Presbyterians.
Quantum 0 mutati! Spent yesterday evening with Mr. Mauduit, who had- been
waiting upon the House of Commons to obtain a repeal of a clause in a bill, that
might be injurious to the dissenters, though levelled against the Jacobites; and he
succeeded; the members of Parliament, especially now before the election, being
very unwilling to disoblige the dissenters. The court is all in confusion about
choosing one to fill up Mr. Pelham's place; and the king is much perplexed.
He says he hoped to spend his old days in peace, but all his peace is buried in Mr.
Pelham's grave. As I have received no letters, as yet, from Hanover, I am extremely
anxious about my dearest creature, my family, and congregation. Did they know
my uneasiness, they would write to me,- I am sure.
Sunday, March 24.-Preached for two gentlemen of very different sentiments,
Dr. Guyse and Dr. Benson; at the former's meeting-house, A. M., on Matthew
xxii. 37, 38, and Romans viii. 7; at the latter's, on Psalm xcvii. 1. Dr. Benson's
people make a very polite appearance; but I could see little signs of solemnity
among them; and alas! I neither had nor thought it proper to indulge a passionate
solemnity. Last Thursday evening, I preached a lecture at Depthford, on Isaiah
lxvi. 1, 2, to a number of poor, honest people. Lodged at Mr. Salway's there.
33




258                     PETITION TO THE KING.
Called in my return at Deckam, and visited Dr. Milner, who keeps a boarding
school of about twenty boys. He is a gentleman of good powers and extensive
learning, especially of the classic kind. I find he is the author of the large grammars of the Latin and Greek, which were so serviceable to me, when at learning.
Preached yesterday P. M., for Dr. Stennet, in a small congregation of Seven-day
Baptists, who seem very serious people.
[Some wanting.]
April 7, 1754.-We have had most surprising success in our mission; which,
notwithstanding the languor of my nature, I cannot review without passionate
emotions. From the best information of our friends, and our own observation upon
our arrival here, we could not raise our hopes above ~300; but we have already
got about ~1200. Our friends in America cannot hear the news with the same
surprise, as they do not know the difficulties we have had to encounter; but to me
it appears the most signal interposition of Providence I ever saw.. Preached last
Sunday A. M., for Dr. Benson, and P. M., for Mr. Gibbons, and yesterday for do.
I have sent a petition to Virginia, at the direction of the committee, to be subscribed by the dissenters there, and transmitted to be presented to the King in
council.
Sunday, April 14.-The same objects occur, and the same business engages my
attention, with little variety. Last Sunday, I went to Hackney, and heard my good
friend, Mr. Hunt, on these words, ", Ye are brought nigh by the blood of Christ."
With pleasure received the sacrament, administered in a form I have not yet
seen. Preached in the afternoon in the pulpit where Dr. Bates and Mr. Henry
once stood, and found some freedom, (1 John iii. 2.) Lodged at my kind friend's,
Mr. Bowles, and offered a few extempore thoughts to the family at his request.
Isaiah, xlv. 22. Waited upon Lord Leven, Judge Foster, Sir Joseph Hankley, &c.
The business of our mission goes on with surprising success. Spent the evening
with Dr. Benson, and had a friendly dispute with him about subscribing articles of
faith. Had an interview with Mr. Prior, and endeavoured to satisfy him about the
catholicism of our College.  Received a letter from my dear brother Mr. Todd,
which informed me of the welfare of my sjpouse and family. The very sight of it
threw me into a passionate ferment, that did not soon subside.  O how kind is
God to me and mine! To-day I preached for Mr. Towle, A. M., Genesis xix.
" Escape" &c., and P. M., for Mr. Kippis, Matthew xxv. ult. Had an interview
with Mr. Walker, a minister lately come from New England, who is no friend to
Mr. Tennent, but has been representing his character in an injurious light.
Sunday, April 21.-Preached at Peckham, (a village about three miles from
London), forDr. Milner, on Psalm xcvii. 1, and I John, xxiii. But I had not much
freedom or solemnity, though I found some of the people were pleased with
the discourses. Lodged at Dr. Milner's; but as he was not at home, I spent the
time in conversation with his son, a Doctor of Physic, an ingenious philosophical
youth.
Sunday, April 28.-Preached for Dr. Allen, at Dr. Earle's meeting-house, on
2 Cor. iii. 18, with much oratorical freedom; but alas! not with much Christian
solemnity and affection. My address caught the attention of the auditory; but I
am afraid the truth had not a proportionable impression on their hearts. The old,
good, stern Dr. Earle was one of my hearers, and cordially expressed his approbation. Went immediately to assist Mr. Oswald at his sacrament, and served two
tables, and communicated myself according to the mode of the Church of Scotland.
Preached P. M. on John xii. 32, 33, with some freedom. But amid my incessant
hurries, I had but little concern about my own immortal state. My nature is quite
fatigued and exhausted with the labours of my mission in this vast city; and I am
afraid my constitution will be broken with them. I was last week pleasingly entertained with an artificial aviary, &c.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, May 7, 1754.-The General Assembly in Scotland drawing near, and the hurries and confusions of the election of members of Parliament
for London rendering the additional applications we might otherwise have made
inexpedient at the time, we set out for Edinburgh in a post-chaise, last Friday.
This method of travelling is very expeditious, as we -have change of horses at every
twenty or fifteen miles. We have been under the special guardianship of Providence, both by sea and land, ever since we left home; but never more remarkably
than in this journey. We were twice in the most imminent danger of death; last
Saturday, near Caxton, by one of the horses becoming unruly, and his running and
kicking, breaking the shafts, harnessing, &c., all to pieces; and yesterday, by the
hostler suddenly pulling back the top of the chaise while we were in it, which
caught Mr. Tennent's head and pulled him back with such violence that he was
very much strained, and the blood gushed out of his nose. Providence, no doubt,
has some important design in these alarming trials. May they prove seasonable




JOURNEY TO EDINBURGH.                         259
mortifications before extensive success, which might otherwise exalt us above
measure!'Tis an honour to be employed in public service; and I have cause o~
grateful joy rather than complaints. But I never engaged in such a series of wasting fatigues and dangers as our present mission is attended with. And what painful
anxieties about by wife, family, congregation, and the success of our applications,
have disturbed my breast, this heart only knows, which has felt them. I have
often walked the tedious crowded streets of London from morning to evening, till
my nature has been quite exhausted, and I have been hardly able to move a limb.
It was but seldom that I could relax myself in conversation with a friend; by reason
of incessant hurries: and when I have had an opportunity, my spirits have been so
spent, that I was but a dull companion.  My hurries have also denied me the
pleasure of a curious traveller, in taking a careful view of the numerous curiosities
of nature and art in London. But all these disadvantages have been more than
balanced by the success we have had, having collected about ~1700, notwithstanding
the ungenerous opposition made against us by the pretended friends of liberty and
catholicism, which is matter of the utmost astonishment to our friends as well as
ourselves.'Tis but little that so useless a creature can do for God, during the
short day of life; but to be instrumental in laying a foundation of extensive benefit
to mankind, not only in the present but in future generations, is a most animating
prospect: and if my usefulness should thus survive me, I shall live to future ages
in the most valuable respects.
We passed through a great many villages on our way to Newcastle, but none
very remarkable. This town is considerably large, and has six dissenting ministers
in it, viz., Messrs. Ogilvie, Athrin, Arthur, Murray, Rogerson, and Lothian. The
two last are colleagues, and have imbibed the Arminian and Socinian sentiments.
Mr. Lothian is a very smart, ingenious young gentleman, and I am told a very
popular preacher.  The other four, especially Mr. Ogilvie, appear very affectionate, serious and good men. They were all unanimous to promote the business
of our mission, and treated us with uncommon respect. We are going to the General
Assembly with great discouragement, as we expect a powerful opposition; but the
Lord our God is in the heavens: he doth whatsoever he pleaseth.-Dined last week
at my affectionate father's, Mr. Price, with Mr. Thomas Morgan, of Langhore,
Carmaethanshire, in South Wales: a very agreeable young minister, who preaches
generally to about two thousand poor people. We agreed to correspond with each
other.
Thursday, May 9. —Arrived safe in Edinburgh. Passed by Preston Pans, where
Col. Gardiner was killed. Saw his seat, and the field of battle, which struck me
with a melancholy horror. Passed through Berwick upon Tweed, a considerable
town. Scotland makes a better appearance on the way that we travelled tharn I
expected: though there are a great many of the poorest huts that ever I saw. My
mind is perplexed about the success of our mission here, and all appears gloomy
before me. My spirits are generally low, though I feel a kind of stupid serenity
of mind.
Friday, May 10.-Visited the Rev. Mr. Webster, who received us with great
candour and friendship, and gave us his best advice about our design. We find it is
likely to be difficult to succeed with the General Assembly, not only by reason of
the opposition that may be occasioned by Mr. Cross's malignant letter, but also on
account of the three general collections that have been successively made of late,
and the application expected this year from Holland. We waited on Dr. Cumming,
who had received one of Mr. Cross's letters, and showed him our credentials, &c.,
to remove or anticipate his objections; and from his professed benevolence to the
design, after reading them, we had reason to hope we had succeeded. Visited Mr.
Robertson, Professor of the Oriental Languages, who showed us uncommon friendship, and seemed to know the heart of a stranger. He introduced us to Mr.
Hamilton, the Professor of Divinity, a simple, candid gentleman, who was friendly
to our design. Took a view of the Royal Infirmary, Harriot's Hospital, &c., which
are stately buildings.
Thursday, May 16.-We have visited Professor Hamilton, a very modest, pious
man, Principal Goudie, Mr. George Wishart, the favourite preacher of the polite in
this city, Mr. James Watson, an affectionate minister, Mr. Johnston, minister in the
Castle, Mr. Lindsay of Leith, and some ministers whom we have occasionally seen.
They all treat us with great respect. Last Monday dined with the Lord Provost,
and his lordship gave us a very friendly reception, and promised us all the services
in his power. Last Sunday heard Mr. Kinlough in the forenoon, who gave us an
excellent lecture and sermon; and Dr. Cumming in the afternoon, on the Preface
to the Lord's Prayer, who preached pretty much in the strain of our fashionable
moderns. Supped with our excellent friend Mr. Webster. Heard Mr. Clog open
the Synod of Lothian and Tweedale on Tuesday on these words, "Lord, I am




260          SYNOD OF LOTHIAN-GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
thy servant," &c. His sermon was simple and honest. Waited on the Synod,
and was surprised and grieved to see so much altercation about the place of Clerk
to the Synod, which is here a lucrative post. In the heat of the debate, one Mr.
Hume, a young.minister, flung out some intolerably severe reflections on the Presbytery of Dunkeith, on account of their prosecuting one Mr. Logan, a candidate,
for false doctrine. He said that the Presbytery of Dunkeith had been upon the side
of inhumanity and persecution in their treatment of as worthy a youth as ever
honoured the cloth, and he was glad to find them now upon the side of humanity,
though in the meantime of injustice. The Presbytery immediately entered a prosecution against him, and it raised a prodigious ferment in the Synod. But at
length the parties withdrew with a committee, and at length Mr. Hume gave them
satisfaction, and submitted to an openi rebuke from the Moderator. Alas! there
appears but little of the spirit of serious Christianity among the young clergy. The
Patronage Act is like to be ruinous to the Church of Scotland; for of nine hundred and eighty parishes in it, about seven hundred are in the gift of the king,
i. e. of the prime minister, and therefore they are used as engines of ministerial
power, tempting the clergy to cringe to the court, and introduce mercenaries into
the churches. Yesterday preached an evening sermon for Mr. Webster on Jeremiah
xxxi. 18, 19, 20. Sundry ministers were present. We have taken a view of the
Castle here, which is amazingly fortified by nature and art, and has the command
of the whole city, and could soon lay it in ruins. We have been busied yesterday
and to-day in writing an answer to Mr. Cross's letter; which we find is like to have
a bad effect. There is one Mr. Logan here, who shows us great respect. He has
been a preacher for many years, and preaches sometimes still; but has never
accepted of a congregation, and therefore has not been ordained. He seems to be
an excellent, holy, humble man.
Sunday, May 19.-Preached in the Tolbooth church to a very crowded auditory,
on Jeremiah xxxi. 33. I had but little tender sense of the subject; and yet, to my
surprise, I found afterwards that many were greatly pleased and edified; only some
did not like my using notes. Preached P. M. for Mr. Wishart in the Trone church
on Rev. i. 7, with a little more freedom to. a very gay and crowded auditory, and
afterwards supped with him, who treated me very kindly. Yesterday went to Lord
Drummore's country seat to wait upon him. I was pleased with his motto on the
side of his house, as well suited to a rural seat.
Seize
The plough, and greatly independent live.
Above which was written,
Deo, Patria, Amicis.
Last night received a packet from Hanover, the'very sight of which raised my
passions to such a ferment, that they are not yet subsided. Alas! I find my dearest
has been very ill; but is happily recovered. I am afraid my friends conceal the
worst from me, lest it should make me uneasy. What painful anxieties I feel
about her! Last Friday visited Mr. Gilbert Elliot, a lawyer, who is also a member
of the Assembly, and has received a letter to our prejudice from his brother in
Philadelphia. He promised us that he would review it; and if there were any objections that required an answer, he would inform us of them. Waited also on the
Rev. Mr. Kay, who was very friendly, though he had seen Mr. Cross's letter.
Thursday, May 23.-The General Assembly met. The Lord Commissioner went
in state from his house to the church, attended by a great number of the nobility,
and the streets were lined with ranks of soldiers. The crowd was very great, both
within the church and without.'The sermon was preached by Mr. Webster on
Psal. cxxxvii. 5, 6, and a very masterly, oratorical discourse it was; delivered with
a manly boldness and fluency. Professor Hamilton was chosen Moderator, nem.
con., and then the King's commission to the Lord Commissioner was read, which
was in Latin: and also the King's letter to the General Assembly. Then the Commissioner made a speech, which the Moderator answered in a very handsome manner. Then followed a long debate about the time when they should determine a
debate between Mr. Edmunstone and the Rev. Mr. Hindman about the Clerkship.
The Earl of Marchmont made a very animated speech upon the occasion.Mr. Tennent being confined by a sprained foot, I waited yesterday on the Earl of
Marchmont; and in the evening we both waited on the Lord Commissioner, where
we also found the Earl of Findlater. They read our credentials, &c. and treated
us kindly. Saw our dear friends, Messrs. McLaurin, Gillies, John Erskine, &c.,
whose conversation has been very refreshing to us.




VOTE ON PETITIONS UNANIMOUS.                       261
Saturday, May 25.-Attended upon the General Assemby, when the debate about
the Clerkship was determined in favour of Mr. Edmunstone. Sundry long speeches
were made upon the occasion by Dr. Cumming, Mr. Tremble, Mr. Trail, Mr. Me
Clagen, Prof. Murryson, Prof. Lumsden, Lord Drummore, the Earl of Breadalbine,
the Earl of Marchmont, Mr. Webster, Mr. Gordon, &c., and most of them spoke
with surprising readiness, pertinency, and argument. ( Yesterday we waited on the
Committee for Bills, where the petition from the Trustees was read, and it was
agreed that it should be transmitted to the General Assemubly, with the opinion of
the Committee in its favour, which is a happy omen. To-day it was determined
that the matter should be heard on Monday next. We find Mr. Cross's letter put
*into sundry hands, and sundry are prejudiced against Mr. Tennent, on account of
his Nottingham Sermon, which is industriously spread here.
Sunday, May 26.-Preached A. M. in the Cannon-Gate Church, for Mr. Watson,
when a great number of ministers were present. My subject was 1 John, iii. 2,
and blessed be God, I was not dashed, but had considerable freedom and solemnity.
In the afternoon, heard Mr. Ballantine, who surprised me with a torrent of strong
sense, poured out extempore, without interruption, from beginning to end. I think
Scotland may boast a greater number of good speakers, than any country I have
been in, and I believe their accustoming themselves to speak extempore, has been
of great service to them in it. Drank tea at the Rev. Mr. Blair's, in company with
Mr. Shaw, Professor of Divinity in St. Andrews, &c., who conversed with apparent
friendship about the design of our mission, and proposed that a part of the collection should be applied to the support of poor pious youth for the ministry, which
motion he promised to make in the Assembly. Supped with the Rev. Mr. Gardine,
who intimated that he expected the Assembly would be divided in their sentiments
about our petition, according as they were friends or adversaries to Mr. Whitefield,
ivhich gave us very alarming apprehensions, because his friends are the minority.
Monday, May 27.-Last night was so full of anxieties about the success of our
application, that I could not sleep. To-day the petition from the Trustees and the
Synod of New York, and our credentials, were read, and Mr. Lumisden, Professor
of Divinity at Aberdeen, got up to speak. As I knew not whether he was a friend
or foe, my heart palpitated when I saw him rise; but I soon found he was a hearty
friend. He made an ingenious speech upon the importance of a learned ministry-'
the necessity of the College of New Jersey for that end-the duty of the General
Assembly to promote such Institutions in general, and especially among the Presbyterians in those Colonies, " who (says he) are part of ourselves, having adopted
the same standard of doctrine, worship, and government with this church." Mr.
McLagan got up next, and spoke to the same purpose, and upon a motion being
made that the petitions should be agreed to, there was not one objection through the
whole house, but it passed without a vote. This was a matter of pleasing surprise,
and I could not forbear darting up my grateful praises to Heaven, for so remarkable
an interposition of Providence. A great number of the nobility and gentry were
present, (the Duke of Argyle, the Earl of Breadalbine, Lord Drummore, the Marquis
of Lothian, Sir George Preston, Mr. Dundas, &c. &c.), and we knew there were
sundry among the laity and clergy, that were not friendly to our application, but
they did not mutter a word. The collection for the German emigrants in Pennsylvania, I am informed, met with opposition, and perhaps this was the first petition
of the kind, that ever passed nem. con., though I hardly think there was ever a greater
appearance of opposition. The approbation of the General Assembly will be
attended with many happy consequences, particularly it will recommend our College
to the world, and wipe off the odium from the Synod of New York, as a parcel of
schismatics. It must, no doubt, be mortifying to Mr. Cross, to find we have succeeded, notwithstanding his ungenerous, clandestine efforts against us. Dined with
the Marquis of Lothian, at Lord Ross's, who treated me with all the kindness and
freedom of a friend. Lady Ross appears a sincere, good woman. Went with the
Marquis in his coach to the Committee appointed to draw up an act and recommendation for a national collection; but they left it to a sub-committee, consisting
of Dr. Cumming, Mr. Webster, Professor Shaw, Mr. McLagan, and Bailie Ingram.
Received a packet from Virginia, in which was a most tender, ingenious letter from
my dearest, which I could not but read over and over, with the most passionate
emotions. How good is God to me in preserving her life, so important to my happiness, notwithstanding of threatening sickness. There is one circumstance with
regard to our application to the General Assembly which seems remarkably providential, viz: that Mr. Yair, minister of Camfire, who intended to present a petition
for the Salsburgers, and which would have interfered with ours, did not arrive till
last Saturday, when ours had been presented.
Thursday, May 30.-Waited on the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge,
of which the Marquis of Lothian is President, and, at their request, gave them our




262    ADAIR-ERSKINE-THE CHARACTERISTICS-MR. TENNENT.
best advice about the best method of conducting the mission among the Indians.
They also drew up a letter recommending the College of New Jersey to be annexed
to the General Assembly. Dined with his grace, the Lord Commissioner, where
we had the most splendid entertainment I have seen.
Sunday, June 2.-Preached A. M. for Mr. Gardine, in Lady Easter's, on Luke xiii.
24, and P. M. at South Leith for Mr. Walker, on Hebrews vi. 7, 8. I had some
freedom at Leith, but much afraid lest so shocking a subject should give offence;
and yet I could not get my mind kept from it. Lodged with Mr. Walker, who is a
most humble judicious man, and I am told one of the best preachers in Scotland.
He is shortly to be removed to the High Church in Edinburgh.
Monday, June 10.-Preached yesterday A. M. for Mr. Kinlock in the High Church
before the Lord Provost and the magistrates, on 2 Cor. iv. 18. But my head was
confused and my heart languid. Preached P. M. for Mr. Glen, in the Little Kirk
on Psalm xcvii. 1, with much more vivacity; though without a tender solemnity.
Last Friday spent a few hours with Lady Francis Gardiner, who gave me an account
of many of her trials and deliverances. She seems to mind nothing but religion,
and hardly rises out of her bed, excepting to go to public worship. Last Saturday,
dined with Dr. Cumming; and had sundry hours of free conversation with him. Informed him of the opposition of the dissenters in Virginia, and solicited his interest
with the Duke of Argyle; which he freely promised me. Spent an evening with
Mr. Ramsay and lady Hume, who are a pattern of humility and piety in high life.
Mr. Robertson, professor of the Oriental languages, is a pious learned man, and I
am often conversant with him. Last Thursday preached in the College Church
on Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2, with freedom and solemnity. I find I begin to grow popular
here, especially among the religious. I spent an evening at Mr. M'Lagan's in a
society of agreeable young gentlemen, who meet for singing hymns and instructive
conversation.
Saturday, January 15th, 1754.-I left Edinburgh the day before yesterday in
company with my excellent friend Wm. Ramsay, Esq. Passed through Lithgow,
a considerable town on the way to Glasgow, where there is a stately old palace,
now going to ruin. Called at the Rev. Mr. John Adair's of Falkirk, who insisted so
earnestly upon my staying till Monday, and preaching for him, that I could not
refuse. He is a most judicious pious minister, and a friend to the liberty of mankind in opposition to the exorbitant claims of church power which the high-flying
clergy have run into. His wife, a great-grand-daughter of the famous Mr. David
Dickson, is a gentlewoman of uncommon sense and piety. In short, I have hardly
been so happy in conversation since I left home. I met with more Christian
friendship in Edinburgh than any where in Great Britain. There is too general a
decay of experimental and practical religion; and yet there is a considerable
number of pious people in the city. I preached twice again in the college-kirk, and I
have had repeated information, that my languid ministrations have been remarkably
blessed to many. I have been at Culross visiting Mr. Erskine. He really exceeds
the high character I had heard of him for a hard student, a growing genius, and
uncommon zeal for the public good. In short, he promises much service to the
Church of Scotland.-I find a great number of the clergy and laity have of late
carried church-power to an extravagant height, deny to individuals the right of
judging for themselves, and insist upon absolute universal obedience to all the
determinations of the General Assembly. I heard sundry speeches in the House
on this head, which really surprised me. The nobility and gentry who are layelders, are generally high-flyers: and have encroached upon the rights of the
people, especially as to the choice of their own ministers. Violent settlements
are enjoined by the authority of the General Assembly, and there is no prospect
of a redress.-There is a piece published under the title of the Ecclesiastical
Characteristics, ascribed to one Mr. Weatherspoon, a young minister. It is a
burlesque upon the high-flyers under the ironical name of moderate men: and I
think the humour is nothing inferior to Dean Swift. Mr. Tho. Walker has also
written well on the subject. Sundry overtures were brought into the General
Assembly: particularly-for examining into the qualifications of ruling eldersfor re-examining ministers, licensed or ordained by other churches, before they
are admitted into this-altering the form of deposition according to the nature of
the case, and making a distinction between deposition from the office of the
ministry, and deposition from the exercise of it in this church as an establishment.
I found by sundry speeches on the last overture, that even Dr. Owen or Dr.
Doddridge would have been deposed, had they lived in the Church of Scotland.
Mr, Tennent set out for Glasgow, and thence to Ireland on the 1st inst., to
attend on the General Synod there; and I am left solitary and sad to take a tour
through the principal towns in England. I am generally so extremely low-spirited,
and full of anxieties, that 1 can hardly live. This disables me from pursuing my




GLASGOW.                              263
mission with proper vigour and alacrity. My dear wife and family dwell upon my
heart night and day; and I am uneasy about my congregation lest they should not
be well supplied in my absence.
Monday, June 15.-Was conducted by Mr. Adams on my way to Glasgow; and
I have rarely parted with a friend with so much reluctance. Yesterday preached
for him to his congregation, which is very numerous (about three thousand) A. M.
on Jer. xxxi. 18-20; P. M. on Heb. vi. 8; in the evening on Josh. xxiv. —" Choose
ye this day whom ye will serve." In the two last sermons, I was helped to address
myself solemnly and convictively to impenitents; but I could see no appearances
of any promising impressions. Mr. Young, assistant to Mr. Adams, is a man of
great seriousness and extensive reading. Passed through Kirkuntilloch, a small
town where Mr. Erskine was formerly settled; but Mr. Stoddard, the present minister, being abroad, I had not the happiness of an interview with him. Passed by
Kilsythe, where good Mr. Mobe was minister, and the very sight of a place, where
the power and grace of God was so illustriously displayed, solemnized my mind.
Friday, July 5.-Lodged in Glasgow at Mr. Archibald Ingram's, one of the magistrates of the city, where I was treated with uncommon hospitality. I staid in
Glasgow about ten days, and I never was in a place where I received so many
evidences of public respect. I spent Sunday evening in company with the Lord
Provost and the other magistrates, who met on purpose to put honour upon me.
They conferred upon me the usual ceremony, the freedom of the city, and conferred the same honour upon Mr. Tennent and Mr. Burr. In Glasgow there is a considerable number of serious people; and they are very happy in their ministers.
Mr. McLaurin is a most affectionate, public-spirited gentleman, of a most facetious
turn in conversation, and an uncommon genius, though his modesty denies the
world the advantage of it. He has a surprising dexterity of introducing into prayer
all the remarkable occurrences of conversation. Mr. Gillies is a most lively image
of Christian simplicity, and is uncommonly zealous and laborious in his ministry.
Mr. John Hamilton is a man of clear judgment, and a graceful address. I heard
him preach an excellent sermon on the love of God in sending his Son to be a propitiation. Mr. Cross is a rational, argumentative preacher, without much pathos
or solemnity. Mr. James Stirling is a serious, judicious man, more fit for the closet
or the pulpit, than for conversation. Mr. Craff, whom I had not opportunity of
seeing, is the favourite of the polite. Professor Leehman is a very modest, bashful gentleman, but very accurate and judicious, and his candour is acknowledged
by all, though suspected by some of verging towards Arminianism. I spent near
a day in his company; and he showed me all the curiosities of the College. The
library-room is large, but not well filled. The most striking curiosity that I saw
was a collection of pictures lately imported from France. One was the picture of
the dead body of Christ taken off the cross and carrying to the sepulchre. The
prints of the nails in his hands and feet, the stab of the spear in his side, the effusion of the blood, &c. were so lively, that they unavoidably excited a sort of
popish devotion in me. I preached six times whilst in Glasgow; thrice for
Mr. Gillies on Jer. xxxi. 18-20, Jer. xxx. 32-" I will be their God," &c.; and
on Luke ii.-" Behold this child," &c.; once for Mr. Hamilton on Isaiah lxvi. 2.
Mr. Hill holds his sacrament in the Baronry church; there were two sermons
within and without on Saturday and Monday; and a great many sermons in the
tent on Sunday, one of which I preached on Rev. i. 7, on which text I had also
preached on Saturday. There were twenty-three tables, two of which I served.
The assembly at the tent was also very numerous. There appeared a general attention; but no great affection or solemnity. I had an opportunity once more of
communicating; but alas! I felt but little of the fervour of devotion; and in all
my ministrations in Glasgow, I perceived more of the man than the Christian, and
I could not see the same assurances of success as in Edinburgh. One thing is remarkably commendable in this city, viz. the conduct of the magistrates in general,
who very punctually attend on public worship, not only on Sundays, but week-days.
While in Glasgow, I was very much indisposed with a lingering fever, and so
languid and low spirited that I was hardly fit for any of the purposes of active life.
Sometimes I was afraid I should never see my native country, nor enjoy the company of my earthly all. I found, to my agreeable surprise that Governor Dinwiddie had kindly recommended me to his friends, particularly to the Provost, his
brother, and Mr. M'Culloch, his brother-in-law. I spent a night with the former,
and he and his family showed me the most friendly respect. I was also a night
with Mr. M'Culloch, at Cambuslang, the obscure village so famous for the late
extraordinary revival of religion. He is a humble, holy minister of Christ, not
famed for popularity; which is a strong presumption that the late religious commotion there was not the effect of oratory, but of Divine power. His wife is an
uncommonly judicious, pious woman; and his only son, a youth about fourteen, is




264          HIS SERMONS-LEITH-BERWICK-ALNWICK.
very affectionate, and parted with me with tears. I preached there on "I Neither
is he that planteth anything," &c., and I endeavoured to adapt my discourse to the
circumstances of the people. I had not much sensible freedom, and I could not
see any uncommon signs of approbation or success among the people; only they
heard with gravity and attention. The next day they sent an messenger to Glasgow, with a letter to me, signed by near thirty in the congregation, thanking me
for my sermon, and requesting a copy of it to be published, or at least for their
own use. The last part of the proposal, I consented to. The repeated solicitations I have met with in America, in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, &c., to publish
some of my. sermons, have made me think seriously of finishing and publishing a
collection of them, if Providence ever grant me a return. Perhaps they may be
of service ih places far remote from the sphere of my usual labours. There are
six churches in Glasgow. The New Church is a fine building, but not yet finished.
The High Church is an ancient structure, very large, and contains three distinct
congregations under one roof. I had a long conversation with Mr. M'Culloch upon
the affairs of the dissenters in Virginia; particularly their oppressions from the
government. I have reason to believe that Governor Dinwiddie would favour
them, were it not so opposite to his interest. Mr. M'Culloch consulted me about
a donation of ~200 for propagating the gospel among the Indians. &c. Having
stayed in Glasgow about ten days, I returned through Edinburgh; saw sundry of
my dear friends, and preached on Sunday for Mr. Webster, A. M., and for Mr.
Geo. Lindsay of Leith, P. M.; in thefirst discourse I was fervent and solemn, in the
second languid and exhausted. In Edinburgh, there are sixteen ministers; and I
think all the churches but two are collegiate. In Leith there are two churches
and three ministers. I had the honour of the Earl of Leven and his family for
my hearers last Sunday.
Monday, July 1.-Parted with my friends in Edinburgh, and as many of them,
particularly Mr. Hogg and family, are very dear to me, I have scarcely felt such
strong emotions of friendship since I left home. Rode to Haddington, about
twelve miles, in company with one Mr. Dixon, a serious, devout man, from Edinburgh, who assisted my judgment about the propriety and lawfulness of joining in
the sacrament with Mr. Gillespie, who was deposed by the General Assembly. His
excellent friend, Professor Robertson, conducted me about six miles. He is one
of the best linguists, especially in the oriental languages, in Great Britain, has an
insatiable thirst for knowledge, and has travelled far to gratify it. His soul is
formed for friendship. Lodged in Haddington, at Provost Dixon's, who treated
me with hospitality. Had an interview with the Rev. Mr. Stedman, one of the
ministers of the town; who, I find, is one of the high-flyers; but he promised me
his friendship in the business of our mission.
Tuesday, July 2.-Passed through a well-improved country, beautifully variegated
with hills and valleys, and the sea frequently in sight, and arrived in Berwick in
the evening.
Wednesday, July 3.-Waited on Mr. Somerville, and Mr. Turner, ministers in
Berwick; and proposed the business of my mission. The former has given up his
charge, partly on account of his indisposition, and partly on account of the divisions in his congregation, occasioned by one that was formerly his assistant. The
latter has but a small part of his former congregation, the rest having chosen his
assistant, Mr. Monteith, for their minister, and rejected him because he would riot
receive him for his co-pastor. These reasons discouraged him from soliciting collections for me. I applied to Mr. Monteith, who gave me some ground to hope he
would raise a public collection. I went to visit Mr. Thompson, minister of Spittal,
about a mile from Berwick, but could not see him. However, I waited on Mr.
Shatton, the principal man in his congregation, and secured his interest, and wrote
to Mr. Thompson, begging he would endeavour to have a congregational collection.
Berwick had two large congregations of dissenters, formerly; but they are sadly
weakened by their divisions. The place is surrounded with high walls and mounts,
and has sundry garrisons. The ruins of the old castle are very majestic. The
bridge is near as long as that of London, and contains fifteen arches.
Thursday, July 4.-Set out for Alnwick. Rode about ten miles on the sea-shore,
which is a very good road when it is not high water. Saw Holy-Island about three
miles off, where is a castle, that makes a considerable appearance at a distance.
Alnwick is a pretty large town, with sundry very good houses, a majestic old castle,
of great dimensions, surrounded with a wall. There are two dissenting ministers
in it; Mr. Sayr and Mr. Waugh. The latter was not at home; and I had no other
way of communicating my mission to him but by leaving a letter for him, against
his return. I waited on Mr. Sayr, who appears a judicious old gentleman. He
proposed to make a public collection. Wrote to Mr. Buckham, minister of Branton, requesting the same favour.




NEW  CASTLE-MR. BOWES.                           265
Friday, July 5.-As I passed through Morpeth, I called upon Mr. Atchinson, the
dissenting minister, who seemed willing to make a collection in his place. When
I came to Newcastle in the evening, I found a comedy called the Careless Husband
was to be acted, and as I apprehended I should not be known, and consequently
give no offence, I went to gratify my curiosity. But the entertainment was short of
my expectation.
Saturday, July 6.-Waited on Mr. Rogerson, Mr. Lothian, Mr. Atkin, &c. I
found they had affected nothing in favour of our mission; but they promised to concur with me now. My indisposition of body, the dissipation of mind occasioned by
constant company, the fatigues and anxieties that attend the prosecution of my
mission, and my solicitude about my dear family, and American friends, have so
weakened my body and depressed my spirits, that I am hardly able to walk the
streets, or keep up my part in conversation. I am often so mopish and absent in
mind, that I am heartily ashamed ofmyself, as making a very ridiculous figure. What
would I now give to spend an hour in my study, or in the endearments of society,
with my Chara, my earthly all! Were I more strongly actuated with the impulses
of a public spirit, my labour would be more tolerable; but, alas, that languishes
in the present depression of my mind. I am plagued, amid this languor, with the
vigorous insurrections of sin. I hardly know a truth attested by such long uninterrupted experience as this, that no change of climate, no public character, no
exercises, no company, and in a word, nothing that ever I have tried, can extirpate
the principle or suppress the workings of sin in this depraved heart. Spent the
evening with Michael Munzies, Esq., a very pious gentleman, who was once a
lawyer.
Sunday, July 7.-Preached A. M. for Mr. Ogilvie, who was out of town; on
Isaiah lxvi. 2, and had some sense of the subject. In the afternoon for Mr. Rogerson, on Psalm xcvii. 1, to a very gay congregation, with some freedom; but my
apprehensions that the peculiarities of the gospel would be disagreeable to their
taste, laid me under a painful restraint; lest their being offended should prejudice
my mission. Indeed, I am puzzled to know what is duty in this case. Spent the
evening at Mr. Louthian's, who is a very friendly ingenious man; but has unhappily imbibed the sentiments of Dr. Foster, and Mr. Taylor of Norwich. I had a
long dispute with him, upon original sin. I found that the principal reason of our
difference was, that those secret tendencies and workings of the heart, and that
languor in religion, which I looked upon to be sinful, he thought entirely innocent,
and apprehended that man by complaining of these, complained that they were
men and not angels; and murmured that they were placed so low in the scale of
being; and he was of Mr. Pope's mind" In pride, in reasoning pride, our error lies;
All quit their sphere, and rush into the skies.
Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell;
Aspiring to be angels, men rebel."
Friday, July 12.-I have been busy in waiting upon sundry persons to solicit
their benefactions; and I have got about thirty guineas in the English congregation. The ministers of the Scotch congregations, which are five in number, are very
friendly, but their people are poor. They intend to collect what they can, and
transmit it after me to London. Yesterday, the Right Honourable Lord Ravensworth coming to town, hearing of the design of my mission, sent for me; and I had
a long conversation with his lordship about it. He found fault with our not first
applying to the government, &c., &c.; and I was afraid from his forming so many
cavils that he would oppose. But as I took my leave of his lordship, he complimented me with five guineas.
Saturday, July 13.-Went in company with Mr. Munzies to wait on James
Bowes, Esq., member of Parliament for the county of Durham. He is a gentleman
of a vast estate; and he took an ambitious pleasure, like Hezekiah, to show me all
his glory; and indeed, I never have seen so fine a country-seat in any part of
Great Britain. Here a wilderness exhibits all the rude beauties of uncultivated
nature. There stately rows of trees disposed by art, appear in regular uniformity.
Here artificial mounts rise, and valleys descend. There verdant walks and pastures open far to the view. Here rises a pile of' buildings in the antique form; and
then an obelisk lifts its head on high.  He showed me his plate, a part of which
is gilt with gold, and the value of the whole is computed to be ~17,000 sterling.
But alas! he gave me but five guineas. He is of an ancient family, famous in the
days of William the Conqueror. He advised me to wait upon the Bishop of Durham, which afforded me a great deal of anxiety, lest I should take a wrong step.
34




266             HOME-BISHOP OF DURHAM-HULL.
Sunday, July 14.-Preached A. M. for Mr. Atkin, on Jeremiah xxxi. 18, 20, and
P. M. for Mr. Louthian, on 2 Corinthians, iv. 18, and in the evening for Mr.
Ogilvie, on Romans vi. 13; the last to a very crowded auditory, and with great
freedom, and appearance of success. Received a packet from Hanover, which
raised all my friendly passions into a ferment. I had a very soft, ingenious letter
from my Chara; and her generous self-denial in not desiring me to hasten home
till I have finished my mission, gave me an agIeeable surprise, and made me reflect
with shame upon my own impatience. I find my favourite friend Mr. Rodgers
(who still dwells on my heart) has been universally acceptable, and hopefully successful in Hanover. And that my honest brother Mr. Wright, is extensively serviceable in and about Cumberland. May God take to him his great power, and
reign!
Wednesday, July 15.-Rode to Durham, and took a view of the stately Cathedral
there. The art of painting in glass, which is lost among the moderns, discovers its
beauties on the windows in sundry pieces of Scripture history.  I am still puzzled
whether to wait upon the Bishop or not.
Tuesday, July 16.-Determined to wait on the Bishop, and his lordship gave me a
condescending reception. He particularly inquired whether the Church of England
had any share in the management of our College-complained of the intolerant
principles of the dissenters in New England-asked me if I had waited upon the
Archbishop of Canterbury, or obtained the approbation of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts; and told me that till I had done so, he could not
in a public character do anything in favour of the design. But he gave me five guineas as a private person; which afforded me no small satisfaction, as it may open
the door for further benefactions in the Established Church. It is matter of pleasing
wonder to me, that notwithstanding the present languor of my spirits, and my natural bashfulness, I can with freedom and composure converse with these great men.
Rode to Darlington, a fine little town; and came in the evening to Northallerton,
which deserves the same character. As the way is tedious without company, and
my time precious, I read as I ride, and while I am waiting; which is both instructive and amusing. I have read, since I left Berwick, an excellent piece of history,
entitled a Short Critical Review of the Life of O. Cromwell. Among other things new
to me, I find that Cromwell had some thoughts of restoring the king, until he found
him treacherous-that he had the offer of the title of king himself, but thought it
impolite to accept of it. I am now reading Dr. Watts's excellent piece on the Happiness of Separate Spirits, &c. Wrote a letter to my Chara.
Wednesday, July 17.-As I heard there is a great number of rich people that resort to the medicinal waters of Scarborough this season of the year, I determined
to go thither, in hopes of some benefactions. Arrived there in the evening, having
ridden about fifty miles, through a great number of little villages, Helmsay, Pickering, Brutton, &c. Supped with a disagreeable company of young rakes, and was
very low spirited.
Thursday, July 18.-Waited on the dissenting minister, Mr. Whittaker, a serious
old gentleman. I found his congregation was very inconsiderable; and that they
were but few strangers come to town as yet; and therefore that my journey here
will be lost. Scarborough is a fine little town, situated on the sea shore, where
they bathe, and drink the medicinal waters, which I found purgative. An old castle
now in ruins stands upon an eminence, something like that in Edinburgh, and is of
vast dimensions.
Friday, July 19.-Rode to Hull, in company with a friendly gentleman, Mr. Ellis,
minister of Cove, one of Dr. Doddridge's pupils, who like many others of them,
has imbibed the modern sentiments in divinity. The word Orthodox is a subject of
ridicule with many here. The dissenting ministers here take greater liberties than
I should choose. They make no scruple of gaming, attending on horse races,
mingling in promiscuous companies on the bowling-green, &c. The town of Beverly, through which we passed, is pretty large, and looks new and flourishing.
It has a stately ancient minster or cathedral (for I know not the difference) of a
very delicate structure.
Sunday, July 21.-I have waited on Messrs. Wildboar, Withers, Cunningham and
Dawson, ministers in Hull; and solicited them to raise a public collection in their
congregations; but they seemed to hesitate about the propriety of it, which afforded
me no small discouragement; for I can neither take tirre, nor do I think it worth,while to make private applications. I begin to fear that my expenses and fatigues
in travelling to the principal country towns will hardly be compensated; and therefore think it will be best for me to return directly to London. But I am quite uncertain which will be most expedient. Preached A. M. in the Presbyterian meeting-house for Mr. Withers, and P. M. in the Independent'meeting-house for Mr.
Wildboar, with some freedom, especially at the former. But alas! the solemn af



MR. TENNENT'S SUCCESS-LEEDS.                        267
fectionate addresses which once I was capable of, I seem now to have lost; and I
am sometimes afraid of returning to my own people, lest I should not recover it.
The Presbyterian congregation here is upon the decline; and I am told, an unhappy
difference subsists between the pastor and assistant. Here, as well as elsewhere,
the Presbyterians have gone off from the good old doctrines of the Reformation.
Hull, (or as it is properly called, Kingston-upon-Hull) is a large populous town,
surrounded with a wall and three trenches. The buildings are generally good and
new. The harbour very commodious. The river Humber, into which the Hull
empties itself, is about two-and-a-quarter miles over; about twenty miles from the
sea. There is an old castle where the invalids of the army are placed as a garrison,
with sundry pieces of cannon. Had a long conversation with Mr. Cunningham, Mr.
Wildboar's assistant, a candid friendly youth, educated in London under Dr. Marryat. He appears a hearty friend to experimental religion. How do I long for retirement in my study, and the company of my Chara!
Monday, July 22.-I went to visit sundry gentlemen of the established church;
but they were generally from home; only Alderman Purratt gave me two guineas.
Tuesday, July 23.-Received a letter from my father and friend, Mr. Tennent,
informing me that the Synod of Ulster and the Presbytery of Antrim had agreed to
make a collection through all their bounds, and that he was advised to make private applications in Dublin, which he hardly hoped to finish this month. How
solitary shall I be,till the happy hour of our meeting! After repeated importunities, the ministers in Hull seem determined to make public collections; only Mr.
Withers complains that he is not able to be active in the affair, and MIr. Dawson,
his assistant, seems very cautious, and apprehensive of imposture; and upon the
whole, I have no raised expectations. Mr. Cunningham is more and more dear to
me, as I converse with him. Had an interview with Mr. Harris, minister of Beverly; but I could not determine whether he purposed to make a collection in his
congregation.
Thursday, July 25.-Having arrived in York last night, I took a view of the city
this morning, in company with the Rev. Mr. Root. The city is large, about four
miles in circumference, surrounded with a wall, along which there is an agreeable
walk. The Cathedral is very magnificent, and the paintings in the glass are curious. There are twenty-three parishes. The houses in general have but a mean
appearance, and are not so close as in most other cities. The gaol is the most
stately building for the purpose that I have ever seen. Mr. Root, a bold, mercurial gentleman, promised to make a collection among his people. But here I may
make a remark which may be applied to all such cases. That as I know the natural negligence of mankind in the absence of the solicitor of such charities, I have
but little hope that any thing considerable will be transmitted after me to London.
Friday, July 26.-On waiting on Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Thomas Walker, ministers in Leeds, (where I arrived last night) I find they have had collections in their
congregations very lately, and are now about another; and consequently nothing
can now be done for my mission; but they promise to make a collection four
months hence. Mr. Walker is a solid, judicious man, though gone off from the old
divinity. He has the character of a very popular preacher.
Saturday, July 27.-Went to Wakefield, and proposed the affair of my mission to
Mr. Ouldrid, minister there, who, upon consulting Messrs. Mills, his principal
hearers, gave me encouragement that they would do something; though they had
lately expended a great sum in building a meeting-house. Had an interview with
Col. Beverly, from Virginia, and my old pupil, Thomas Smith. Returned to Leeds
in the evening.
Sunday, July 28.-Though I have had a more lively flow of spirits since I have
been in Leeds than for some time; yet being engaged to preach for Mr. Whitaker
in the morning, I was so much confused in the prayer before sermon, that I was
obliged to break off abruptly, lest I should speak nonsense, or run into repetitions.
I hardly remember that my understanding was ever so suddenly clouded; and I
was really afraid lest the Lord was about to take it away from me. In the sermon
I a little recovered my senses, and spoke with unexpected freedom. Preached,
P. M. for Mr. Walker, and hardly ever found my mind emerge so suddenly out of
darkness and confusion; or my body and mind better disposed to act the orator.
The dissenting ministers here have so generally imbibed Arminian or Socinian sentiments, that it is hard to unite prudence and faithfulness in conversation with
them. They are many of them gentleman of good sense, learning, candour, and
regular in their morals, entertaining and instructive companions, and friends to the
liberty of mankind. But what shall I say? They deny the proper divinity and satisfaction of Jesus Christ, on which my hopes are founded. They ascribe a dignity
and goodness to human nature in its present state, contrary to my daily sensations:
and they are not so dependent upon divine influences as I find I must be. Are




268              REFLECTIONS-SHEFFIELD-EPITAPH.
they or I mistaken? Is the mistake in such circumstances essential? It is with
the utmost reluctance I would admit the conclusion: and yet I cannot avoid it.
The denial of the divinity of Christ introduces an essential innovation into the
Christian system; and yet the greatest number of the dissenting ministers under
the Presbyterian name in England, as far as I have observed, have fallen into that
error; and the people love to have it so; and what will be the end of these things?
It is a strong presumption with me against these new doctrines, that I have observed
wherever they prevail, there practical serious religion, and generally the dissenting
interest too, declines, and people become careless about it. Some of them go off
to the Church of England, and others fall into deism. And it is matter of complaint that the deists generally, if not universally, are of the WVhig-party, and join
sation with the gentlemen of the new scheme, I am generally upon the reserve
about my own principles, lest it should prejudice them against the business of my
mission. But when I reflect upon it, I seem to despise myself as a coward. My
the Low-Churchmen. Alas! how are the principles of liberty abused! In converconscience indeed does not generally accuse me of guilt in this respect; but a
sense of honour or pride, or I know not what to call it, makes me look mean and
sneaking to myself.
Tuesday, July 30.-Communicated my business to Messrs. Haines and Wadsworth, ministers of Sheffield, about thirty miles from Leeds. They are gone off
into the new scheme; and I apprehended their suspecting me to be of the oldfashioned faith, rendered them more indifferent about my business. They complained that their people were poor-that they were just about raising a collection
for a neighbouring minister. However, they faintly promised they would try to do
something among their people about Christmas. Sheffield is a large town, rich in
cutlery ware manufactured in it.
Wednesday, July 31.-Waited on Mr. Pye, who was yesterday out of town. He
is minister of the congregation that separated from that where Messrs. Haines and
Wadsworth now officiate, about forty years ago, on account of their innovations.
Mr. Pye appears a serious man, and deeply concerned about experimental religion:
and I believe will show himself a hearty friend to our mission. Rode to Chesterfield, a little town about twelve miles off; but Mr. Haywood, minister there, not
being at home, I could only leave my printed papers for him, and write to him.
Thursday, August 1.-Rode about twenty-seven miles over the Peak of Derbyshire, and came to Derby, which is a very agreeable town, with sundry very good
houses in it. Mr. Rogerson, the Presbyterian minister, gave me encouragement
that he would collect something among his people. I was delighted with an
inscription upon a monument on the side of the church, erected by a tender husband for his wife, who died in her sixtieth year:
"' She was-but words are wanting to say what:
Think what a WIFE should be, and she was that."
The longest epitaph would not have been so striking and significant to me: and
it brought my Chara to my mind. Though I hurry on as fast as I can, yet I find it
takes a long time to negotiate my business at so many places. I often think of
Bristol with anxiety, where, I am afraid, I shall be long detained. And I am often
calculating with pensive melancholy, as I ride along, how long it will be before my
return home: for there my earthly happiness lies. I am so diffident of mankind,
that I am afraid these transient applications will turn to little account. I suspect
they will be forgotten when I turn my back. And this renders my itinerations
more discouraging.
Friday, August 2.-Breakfasted with Mr. Rogerson, at one Mr. Crompton's, who
belongs to his congregation. He seemed diffident of the recommendations, because they were in print; and would do nothing till he received the recommendation of Mr. Lawrence, &c. f'rom London. Rode to Nottingham, about sixteen
miles. It is a large town, and the buildings are generally good, and some of them
magnificent, though I have seen none equal to some in Derby. It is situated on
the river Trent, which is navigable for small vessels. The Arian and Arminian
controversy has lamentably divided the dissenters here. Mr. Ross and his people
retain the old-fashioned faith; and Dr. Eaton and his people have imbibed the newfangled notions. They both received my mission favourably; and I hope will do
something in favour of it. Dr. Eaton is a very grave and contemplative man, of a
refined magisterial behaviour. I find there are some serious people here who
warmly espouse the doctrines of grace. I spent this evening agreeably in a small
company of them, and I met with one Mr. Wells, a pious youth of the Academy at
Plasterers' Hall, who is very friendly, and kindly attends me wherever I go. Here
are the ruins of an old castle, with many subterranean edifices; and in the midst,




MR. DEAN-DR. DODDRIDGE.                         269
the Duke of New Castle has a stately palace. The castle was demolished by Oliver
Cromwell; and I was surprised to observe from what a great distance he flung his
bombs.
Saturday, August 3.-Visited Mr. Harross, Dr. Eaton's assistant, and engaged
him to make a representation of the affairs of my mission to-morrow, in order to a
public collection. Had an interview also with Mr. Radford, a good old minister
who has for some time declined the exercise of his ministry; and with Mr. Williams, who has a large estate lately fallen to him, and therefore he preaches only
occasionally.
Sunday, August 4.-Preached A. M. for Mr. Ross with some degree of freedom;
and P. M. for Dr. Eaton to a very crowded congregation, with the usual restraint
proceeding from a fear of prejudicing them against my mission by a solemn Calvinistic sermon. After sermon they collected t21 15s., which much surpassed my
expectation. Spent the evening agreeably in a religious society of a number of
serious men; who were much pleased and edified by my sermon!
Monday, August 5.-Went in company with Mr. Ross and his deacons to make
private application to his people; and collected about thirty guineas in three or four
hours. Spent an hour with Mr. Radford who has an uncommon sense of religion
upon his spirit, and a peculiar dexterity in giving the conversation a religious turn.
Tuesday, August 6.-Dined with John Dean, Esq., whose history is very extraordinary. He met with a most amazing deliverance at sea about forty years ago, of
which he has published an account, and which he now annually commemorates by
a sermon. He was about fifteen years in the service of Peter the Great of Muscovy, and at last banished by him because he would not join in a war against the
English. He was for many years his Majesty's Consul at Ostend. Has been at
most of the courts in Europe, and by conversation with various nations has learned
five or six languages. He is now near eighty, and has from nothing raised such a
fortune, that he has a very handsome living, and has retired from business about
fifteen years. The history of his deliverance at sea is, I think, by far the most
extraordinary that I have ever seen. Spent the evening in a religious society.
Wednesday, August 7.-Preached for Mr. Ross to a numerous auditory on Jeremiah xxxi. 18-20; but not with proper solemnity. I was honoured with the presence of three or four ministers. I afterwards found some of the rigid Calvinists
were not pleased with my sermon; because not explicit upon original sin. And I
doubt not but another party were displeased upon quite a different account. How
impossible is it to please men! My success in Nottingham has far exceeded my
most sanguine expectations. I have received above ~;60, which is more than has
ever been collected there on such an occasion.
Thursday, August 8.-Breakfasted with Mrs. Hallows, a lady belonging to Dr.
Eaton's congregation. She has studied Dr. Clark, and is a dexterous disputant in
the Trinitarian controversy. I have seldom been so closely attacked upon the
proper Divinity of the Son of God; and it cast me afterwards into a pensive melancholy study upon the point. Rode to Loughborough, thirteen miles, and waited on
Mr. Statham, the dissenting minister; but his congregation is so small that he
could do little for my mission; though very friendly and sociable. Lodged in
Leicester, a large town (eleven miles), but the minister, Mr. Worthington, not being
at home, I could only leave my papers for him.
Friday, August 9.-Rode to Northampton (thirty-two miles) through Harborough.
The town looked desolate and melancholy to me, when I thought upon the removal
of the excellent Dr. Doddridge into a better world. The dear remembrance of him
engaged my tender thoughts as I rode along, and threw me into pensive melancholy. How much has my mission suffered by his death! I think I never felt such
friendly sensations towards an entire stranger. Waited on Mr. Gilbert, his successor, but found him in company; so that I had no time for conversation.
Saturday, August 10. —In conversing with Mr. Gilbert, I found there is but little
prospect of success in this town; the people being lately put to very great expense
about their own affairs. Visited the Rev. Mr. Hervey at Weston Favel, and spent
most of the day in endearing conversation with him. I have observed that when I
have contracted personal acquaintance with great authors, they have seldom answered the idea I had formed of them from their writings. But Mr. Hervey greatly
exceeded it. The spirit of devotion animates his conversation; and the greatest
modesty and delicacy of imagination adorns it. The Scriptures are his favourite
topic, and he charms one with his remarks upon their beauties. He also frequently
throws out some pertinent quotation from the Latin and Greek classics, of which
he is an excellent master. Blessed be God that there is such a man on this guilty
globe.
Sunday, August 11.-Preached A. M. in Dr. Doddridge's pulpit; and the sight
of his monument with a very significant inscription, struck my mind with uncom



270         MRS. DODDRIDGE-YARMOUTH-COLCHESTER.
mon energy. My subject was " I will be your God," &c., and I had some freedom,
but little solemnity. The congregation is decreased since the Doctor's death; as
they can find none to supply his place fully. And some of the people have left the
society, pretending that Mr. Gilbert does not preach the doctrines of grace. But
I hope it is but a pretence; for I heard him P. M. preach an ingenious experimental discourse on " Look unto me and be ye saved," &c. He also administered
the sacrament and spoke very judiciously and pertinently on the occasion. And
I was not a little pleased to find him a weeping petitioner to heaven in prayer.
Drunk tea with Mrs. Doddridge, for whom I found a greater friendship than I could
decently express. A great number of the people jointly requested me to give them
a sermon in the evening; with which I complied, and preached on Isaiah lxvi. 2,
with considerable freedom. Many gave me the warmest expression of their satisfaction, and seemed quite revived. Spent the evening after sermon in conversation
with Mr. Gilbert (who is naturally grave and reserved) and his assistant, Mr. War.
burton.
Monday, August 12.-Went in company with Mr. Warburton and Mr. Wilkinson
to make private applications among the people, and received about ~16, of which
Mlrs. Doddridge procured me three guineas. Dined with her, and found her conversation animated with good sense and piety. She remembered me as a correspondent of the dear deceased (as she calls the Doctor), and treated me with
uncommon friendship. I was surprised that she could talk of him with so much
composure, notwithstanding her flowing affections. She told me she never had
a inore comfortable season, than when returning from Lisbon, on the boisterous
ocean, after the Doctor's death.
Tuesday, August 13.-Finished my application in which I was much obliged to
Mr. Warburton for his company. Spent an hour with dear Mrs. Doddridge, and
at her requst, parted with prayer, in which I found my heart much enlarged.
She made a remark that has often occurred to me since, " that she rejoiced that
the dear deceased was called to the tribunal of his Master with a heart full of
such generous schemes for the good of mankind, which he had zeal to project,
though not life to execute."  May this be my happy case! There are such
charms in a public spirit, that I cannot but wish I could imbibe more of it. And
in this view, I rejoice in the fatigues and anxieties of my present mission: though
I am quite unmanned, when the thoughts of my Chara rush upon my heart: and
the prospect of so long an absence is hardly supportable. Rode through Newport,
a considerable town, and came to Holbourn in the evening, on my way to London.
Thither I find the attraction of friendship strongly draws me.
Wednesday, August 14.-Called at St. Albans, a large town, and a prodigious
thoroughfare. Mr. Hirons, the minister, was not at home; and therefore I could
do nothing there to promote my mission. The country has a delightful appearance
to a traveller at this season of the year. The turnpike roads are good, and almost
surrounded with fine houses, especially between St. Albans and Ikndon. The
fields are covered with all sorts of grain, and white ready for harvest. It is indeed
the land of plenty. But oh! it is a sinful land. I am shocked with the blasphemy
and profaneness of the inhabitants; especially the vulgar, who are not under the
restraint even of good manners. Arrived in London in the evening, and was
revived at the sight of my friends.
Wednesday, August 21.-Set out for Yarmouth, and came twenty-nine miles to
Chelmsford. The people in London think we have received enough; and there is
little prospect of further benefactions there. Visited sundry of my friends, and had
great pleasure in their company; particularly Dr. Avery, Mr. Ward, Mr. Forfeit, Mr. Thomson, Mr. Samuel Stennet, Mr, Savage, Mr. De Berdt, &c. Preached
last Sunday for Mr. Hall, on Hebrews, xii. 14, and saw their mode of public baptism. Mr. Hall made a long discourse, like a sermon, on the nature, design, subjects, mode, &c., of the ordinance; prayed, and without laying any particular obligations on the parent, took the child in his arms, and baptised it, and then concluded with prayer. Waited on Sir Joseph Hankey, knight and alderman, and
received ~5 5s. Last Tuesday heard Mr. Bradbury, at Pinner's Hall.
Thursday, August 22.-Visited Mr. Hukford, an old minister, and Mr. Phillips,
his assistant; who seemed favourable to the business of my mission, and promised
to do something against my return that way. Proceeded to Colchester (twentyone miles) and visited Mr. Cornel, who appears a warm friend to experimental religion, though I am told, he is, or at least has been, of a very peevish, unminisrerial temper. He was once assistant with Mr. Hall, in London. He promised to
solicit benefactions for the College. Colchester is a pretty large town, I am told
of considerable trade. The old wall is almost demolished. Here is also a church
or two in ruins, destroyed by Oliver Cromwell, because the place stood out very
obstinately against him. Here is an Independent, a Presbyterian, and a Baptist




IPSWICH-A RESOLUTION-HIS COLLECTIONS.                   271
congregation. But the Presbyterian is vacant, and the Baptist is supplied only by
a layman; and therefore, I thought it not worth my while to apply to them.
Tuesday, August 27.-From last Friday till this morning, I have been in Ipswich,
a very considerable town; and I have hardly spent so many days so happily, and
with such a flow of spirits in England. Here lives good Mr. Notcult, whose pious
sermons I have seen in America. He is in his eighty-third year; and brought me
in mind of old Simeon. He breathes a spirit of devotion, and is waiting for a dismission from earth, with patient and yet eager expectation. His people love their
old prophet, and cheerfully afford him a maintenance, though he has been laid
aside from public labour above a year. Mr. Gordon is assistant, and now invited
to be pastor. He kindly invited me to lodge at his house: and I was greatly edified with his free and pious conversation.  He has experimental religion much at
heart, and preaches it honestly, and with some success to his people. He is remarkably punctual in private devotion; and upon the whole seems to walk with
God. I contracted a friendship with him, which I trust will be immortal; and
which I shall endeavour to cultivate by correspondence, when I return to my
native country. 0 how delightful is the conversation of such a minister after I
have seen so many of a contrary character. Preached for him last Sunday, A. M.,
on Jeremiah xxxi. 33, and in the evening, on Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2, with some freedom;
and the good people seemed to eagerly drink in the doctrine, and were much
pleased. This gave me hope that they would be generous to the College; and I
was not disappointed: for on Monday, Mr. Gordon and his clerk went among the
people, and collected ~23 9s., which is very considerable for people in their circumstances. It is their practice, on Monday evening, to repeat the sermon of the
preceding day: with which I complied at their request. There is also a Presbyterian congregation in Ipswich, of which Mr. Thomas Scott is minister. He is
suspected of Arminian and Arian principles; but if the suspicion be true, I am
sure he differs greatly from the generality of the fraternity with whom I have conversed. His soul seems formed for friendship; and he loves and speaks well of
many Calvinists and Trinitarians. He is a gentleman of extensive learning, a fine
genius, and a good poet. He is engaged in a practical paraphrase on the Book of
Job, with notes; and I think he has executed his scheme to excellent purpose. He
also showed me sundry other poetical pieces of his, with which he intends to
oblige the world. I preached for him last Sunday, P. M., on Psalm xcvii. 1, and
he was heartily pleased with my sermon. I can confide in him that he will exert
himself in soliciting his benefactions from his people; though he did not think it
so proper now as hereafter; and his people are few and ungenerous; and therefore
he could give me no great encouragement. He is brother to Dr. Scott of London,
who was once his father's assistant in Norwich, and having imbibed the Socinian
sentiments, opposed his own father; and occasioned a division in the congregation.
At length he commenced M. D., and laid aside the ministry. Rode through Woodbridge, Wickam-market, Saxmundam, &c., and came to Yoxford. As I was riding
along, I formed a resolution to draw up a history on my return, of my present mission, the state of the dissenters in England, of the Church of Scotland, &c., as far
as I had opportunity of making observations; and present the MS. to the College
of New Jersey; as it may be entertaining and instructive to the students, and
perpetuate the remembrance of the remarkable providences we have met with in
favour of the Institution. But alas! such are my hurries and the fickleness of
my mind, that the most of my schemes of this kind are unexecuted.
Monday, Sept. 2.-Arrived in Yarmouth last Wednesday, where I have continued
ever since; and lodged at the Rev. Mr. Frost's, who has treated me with such
uncommon kindness'as I shall never forget. He is an universal scholar, particularly he understands the languages. He has a public spirit, and a very devout and
good heart. In prayer he has an uncommon dexterity in descending to particulars;
and is almost as doctrinal and historical as a preacher, and as flourishing as a poet.
Preached for him yesterday A. M. and in the evening, with considerable freedom
and much to his satisfaction. The people also seemed attentive, and some of
them affected. The congregation here is but small and poor; and the friends of
my mission hardly hoped for more than twelve guineas at the public collection,
but to our agreeable surprise, I received about ~24. This I ascribe to the blessing of God upon my sermons, and Mr. Frost's warm recommendation. And I
think it an evidence of the remarkable interposition of Providence in favour of the
College, that wherever I have stayed to make a collection it has doubled what was
ever raised before on the like occasion. I waited on the Presbyterian minister,
Mr. Milner; but he refused to propose the matter to his congregation, under pretence that he had engaged to use all his influence to promote a Presbyterian Academy in Lancashire. I strongly suspect that the Institution has been misrepresented to him, perhaps by Dr. Benson, as a Calvinistic scheme, or as in the hands




272                  NORWICH-MR. WOOD-ILLNESS.
of bigots.-Yarmouth is one of the finest towns I have seen in sight of the sea, on
the river Yare, with a most spacious, commodious key. The buildings are generally good, and some of them of flint; one in particular, of great antiquity, is ot
polished flint.
Saturday, September 13.-I have been in Norwich about ten days: and lodged at
Mr. Pauls', an excellent young gentleman, who has passed through a great many
spiritual trials, and had a series of remarkable experiences. He was once warmly
engaged with the Methodists; but since Mr. Wheatley's brutal abominations have
come to light, he has left him.  This unhappy man had preached a long time here
with great warmth and earnestness: endured with the most lamb-like patience the
most cruel treatment from the mob, which even endangered his life, and been
instrumental to awaken multitudes to a serious sense of religion. But has at last
been found guilty of repeated criminal commerce with sundry women, though his
own wife was then alive. With a loud voice does this event cry to all the professors of religion, " Be not high-minded but fear." O that none that seek thy face
O Lord, may be ashamed on my account! My excellent friend, Mr. Frost, attended
me to Norwich; and used all his influence to prepare the way for me among the
people. Mr. John Scott is also remarkably friendly. But Mr. Taylor and his
assistant Mr. Bourne, being abroad, and Mr. Wood having retired into the country
for his health, I found it difficult to introduce the affair of my mission; especially
as Mr. Tozer, Mr. Wood's colleague, is not on a good footing with his people, and
is about to remove from them to Exeter; and therefore did not think it prudent to
be active in the business. Preached for him the weekly lecture last Friday, on
Isaiah lxvi. 2, and also last Sunday, P. M. on Isaiah xlv. 22, with considerable
freedom. After which I gave an account of the business of my mission. And I
find both the sermon and the account were very acceptable to the hearers. A public
collection was proposed to be made next Sunday, but Mr. Scott and some others
concluded to make private applications to the principal people; which he and Mr.
Lincoln did yesterday, and received about ~47. Yesterday the famous Mr. Taylor
came home, and I waited on him in the evening. He-is a very sociable, friendly
gentleman, and talks very freely and warmly about Christianity; and seems zealous
for its propagation through the world. He gave me the strongest expressions of
friendship to my design; but said that as his congregation was just now at the
expense of above ~3000 in building a pompous new meeting-house, he could not
urge it upon them. Last Monday, on my way to Halesworth, to see Mr. Wood, I
passed through Burles, a fine little town; dined with Mr. Lincoln, a young dissenting minister there, who seems a cordial Calvinist. Spent two nights and a day
with Mr. Wood, and my soul was charmed with the excellent spirit of the man.
He is a judicious, solemn, prudent minister, and I think England can boast of but
few like him. He is as warmly engaged in the affair of our mission as Mr. Tennent
or myself: and notwithstanding his indisposition, has laboured to promote collections in the congregations around. He is generally loved and revered by those of
different sentiments, as well as of his own. He was the favourite friend of the late
Dr. Doddridge, and seems to possess much of his spirit. His soul is pregnant with
noble projects for the good of his whole species, as far as his influence extends.
His expressions in prayer are remarkably striking and solemn.  I intended to have
left Norwich to-day, but I find it is so generally desired by my benefactors, that I
should stay another Sabbath, that I could not but consent. Norwich is accounted
the third city in England; about one and a half miles in length and one in breadth,
the houses very close and crowded with inhabitants. It contains about thirty-one
parishes, a fine cathedral with a spire of prodigious height, four dissenting congregations, besides the Quakers. The old Bridewell wall of polished flint is a remarkable curiosity. The principal manufacture is wearing stuffs. Last Saturday visited
Mr. Steam, a serious, illiterate Baptist preacher, who conversed very freely upon
experimental religion, and promised his influence for me with his small congregation.
Sunday, September 15.-How frail is life! how uncertain! How thin the partition betwixt time and eternity! how quick the transition from the one to the other!
of how great importance is it to be always prepared! These reflections are occasioned by my unexpected sudden approach to the eternal world last night, I think
the nearest ever I made. My life hung in a doubtful scale: and one grain would have
turned it. I spent the evening at Mr. Lincoln's, in company with him,his son and
daughter, Mr. Scott and Mr. Paul. At supper I was well, but my appetite was
faint. After supper I was well while I smoked a pipe: but when I began a second,
I found my spirits flag, and I could not keep up my part in conversation. Then I
began to sicken, and made a motion to go home. We walked out of the parlour;
and as I was just taking leave of the family, I instantly fell down dead on the floor,
and continued, they told me, without any appearance of life for near two minutes




REFLECTIONS-SAVILE-McLAURIN.                         273
Then I began to struggle, and draw my breath with great force and difficulty, so as
to agitate my breast and my-whole frame. In about two minutes I suddenly came
to myself, and was greatly surprised to find myself fallen on the floor, and my
friends about me in such a fright, rubbing my hands and temples, for I had lost all
consciousness, and did not in the least perceive my violent fall. They immediately sent for a surgeon, but before he came I began to recover. I was able to
walk home, with one supporting me, and though I was greatly enfeebled and
exhausted, and my heart heaved and struggled to throw off the blood, I had a little
refreshing sleep. This morning I found myself very weak, and a pain at my heart,
occasioned, I suppose, by the difficulty of the circulation of blood. I preached,
A. M. for Mr. Bowrn, assistant to Mr. Taylor, but had very little vivacity or
solemnity. Preached P. M. for Mr. Tozer, with unexpected life and freedom, and
to the great satisfaction of the people, and was surprised to find they collected near
~20 at the doors.
In the evening I was so exhausted that I could hardly live; but at supper I most
remarkably found myself refreshed by my food.
Monday, Sept. 16.-Continued weak, and pained at my heart; and as the doctor
as well as myself apprehended it was an apoplectic fit, occasioned by the stagnation of the blood, I had blood drawn this morning; and I was obliged to defer my
journey. When I first returned to my senses after the fit, I was quite serene and
peaceful in mind. But when I began to reflect upon my circumstances, as being
among strangers in a strange land, having a dear helpless family so far from me,
whose subsistence depends upon my life, and being so poorly prepared for the enjoyments and employments of heaven, it gave me no small alarm; though I had
much more firmness and intrepidity of mind than I could have expected. Nothing
in this world affected me so much, as to foresee the effects which the news of my
sudden death would have upon my dear Chara. Lord, prepare us both for the
parting stroke. I can't but reflect upon it as a remarkable providence, that when
I was seized with the fit, I was at a friend's house, and among friends-that I
should fall with so much violence, and yet not be hurt. Had I been riding, my fall
might have killed me. Had I been alone or among strangers, I would have had
none to take proper care of me. But all circumstances were happily ordered by
Divine Providence.
Tuesday, Sept. 17.-After taking an affectionate leave of my Norwich friends, I
set out for Wattesfield, (about thirty miles) and lodged with the Rev. Mr. Harmer,
a friendly, sociable, and ingenious gentleman. His congregation have formed a
fund for occasional expenses; and instead of a public collection, he intends to
apply to the deacons to give a share of that to the College. Wattesfield is a little
country village, but the dissenting congregation is pretty numerous, and afford
their minister a handsome living.
Wednesday, Sept. 18.-Came to Bury St. Edmund's, where there are two dissenting congregations, but they are few. Mr. Savile is an ancient minister of great
integrity and humility, and a lover of all good men. He is a warm friend to experimental religion, and rejoices in the conversion of sinners by whatever means it
be accomplished. He has a particular friendship for the despised Methodists, because one of them, Mr. Skelton, with whom I had some agreeable conversation,
was the instrument of making religious impressions upon his daughters.-Mr. Follet
is an ingenious, modest young gentleman, a pupil of Dr. Doddridge, not so thoroughly Calvinistic as Mr. Savile.
Thursday, September 19.-Preached Mr. Savile's Lecture P. M. with some freedom and great popularity. And I hope the people here will make a handsome
collection, though I can't stay to receive it. Bury is a town of great antiquity, but
its ancient grandeur is declined. The ruins of an old abbey, demolished at the
Reformation, are very stately; particularly the gate, which is still entire. The
walls of the abbey were about two and a half miles in circumference. Here I
received the melancholy news of the death of that excellent man, my particular
friend Mr. McLaurin of Glasgow. That city has lost one of its brightest ornaments,
the Church of Scotland one of its most excellent ministers, and the College of New
Jersey one of its best friends. But heaven has received a new inhabitant from this
sinful world. May I be prepared to follow. Sic mihi contingat vivere, sicque mori!
Friday, September 20.-Came to Sudbury and found Mr. Hextal the minister, and
Mr. Gainsborough one of his people, very friendly to me and my mission. Lodged
with the latter. Mr. Hextal is one of Dr. Doddridge's pupils, and is possessed of
an excellent spirit. He has not fallen into the theological innovations; but goes
on in the good old way. Here I was refreshed with an interview with my kind
friend, the Rev. Mr. Hunt of Hackney.
Monday, September 23.-Preached yesterday twice for Mr. Hextal on Jeremiah
xxxi. 33, and Isaiah xlv. 22. But alas! with more affected than real earnestness
35




27'4       BRAINTREE-SERMON PUBLISHED-MR. RUGGLES.
and solemnity. I gave an account publicly of the business of my mission, and they
collected about;~18. I find my lowness of spirits returned, which makes me affect
solitude, and so impatient of constant company, that I am quite unsociable. I also
feel the effects of my late fit, and am sometimes apprehensive of its return. But
alas! sin is still strong in me, and makes frequent vigorous insurrections, which I
cannot suppress. God be merciful to me a sinner. Last night was much pleased
with Mr. Gainsborough's prayer in his family. Mr. Hextal, Mr. Gainsborough and
Mr. Fenn went this morning among the principal people to solicit them to enlarge
their benefactions; and they succeeded so well, that with what they received
yesterday, they made up about ~43; besides ~5 5s. from one Mrs. Rowe of Long
Melford. Rode in the evening to Braintree, in company with Mr. Davidson.
Lodged at Samuel Ruggle's, Esq. a gentleman of vast estate and very serious disposition. He generously subscribed ~;30 to the College. I find the people here
are so importunate, that I must stay and preach next Sunday. There are few
congregations of dissenters in England so numerous as this, which consists of
about twelve hundred; and they seem in general to be a very serious people.
Wednesday, September 25.-Preached for Mr. Davidson on Isaiah xlv. 22, and the
Lord made the discourse acceptable to his people.
Thursday, September 26.-Went to Coggeshal, the place where the excellent Dr.
Owen was once minister, and communicated my business to the Rev. Mr. Petto, a
very friendly man; who promised to lay it before his people. But from what he
knows of their dispositions, he could give me little or no encouragement. Went
thence to Colchester, and spent the evening with Mr. Cornell, in agreeable conversation. He had communicated the affair to his people, but they were not disposed to favour it.
Friday, September 27.-Went to Witham, and waited on the Rev. Mr. Burnet;
but his people were not willing to assist. All the comfort I can take in this short
tour, is the reflection that I have taken all the means in my power to promote my
important mission.
Saturday, September 28.-I was at leisure in the forenoon; and revived the
remembrance of the many delightful hours I have spent in my study at home in
reading and contemplation. How do I languish and pine for retirement; and what
painful anxieties about my Chara distress my mind. At the request of friendly ministers and others in various parts of Great Britain, I have determined to give my
Sermon on Isa. lxii. 1, a second edition. May God attend it into the world. The
reading of it was very reviving to Mr. Davidson; who is eminently possessed of
the ministerial zeal which it recommends. The more I conversed with him, the
more my heart is united to him. I find Mr. Erskine has published the imperfect
notes of my Sermon on 1 John ii. 2, which he has corrected, in general, to my
taste. His Preface in favour of the College has already had happy effects in Braintree, and excited sundry to double their intended benefactions.
Sunday, September 29.-Preached twice for Mr. Davidson with some freedom;
and afterwards joined in the Lord's Supper, with some little devotion. Gave a
public account of my mission extempore; and though the collection had been
made, I received six pounds more. Was entertained with Mr. Ruggles's devout
manner of spending the evening in his family, examining his children, reading a
sermon, singing and prayer.
Monday, September 30.-As I was parting with Mr. Ruggles, he was pleased to
add ~20 to the ~30 he had promised, and told me he did not know but he might
do yet more. Such a remarkable benefaction could not fail of raising in me a flow
of gratitude to God, whose favouring providence has attended me in so uncommon
a manner in this mission. Mr. Davidson conducted me about eight miles towards
Chelmsford. His soul is formed for friendship, and I could not part with him,
without some tender emotions. He is very happy in his people, who seem to be
generally possessed with a very serious spirit, and are about 1200 in number.
When I came to Chelmsford, I found the ministers there, Mr. Hukford and Mr.
Philips, had raised ~6 in their little congregation, in my absence. They importuneo me to stay and preach, but my hurries would not permit. This day has
given me another occasion to record a providential deliverance. As I was riding
at a gallop, my horse fell down, and tumbled almost quite over, and I very narrowly
escaped his rolling over me. The people that saw me fall were much alarmed,
and apprehended my life in the greatest danger. But blessed be God, I did not
receive the least injury. Alas! I am afraid that the frequency of such deliverances will render them so familiar, that I shall not take a proper notice of them,
and contract a kind of insensibility in danger.
Tuesday, October 1.-I arrived in London, and found by a letter from Mr. Tennent, that he has almost finished his applications in the West, and that he intends
to come to London as soon as possible, to prepare for embarking for America.



MR. TENNENT-LICENSES-LOCKE.                         275
The prospect of so speedy a return gave me no small pleasure. But the prospect
of a winter passage was very shocking, especially as I had such a melancholy time
in my last voyage, and in the present diffident state of my mind, I am not a little
intimidated at the dangers of the seas. Received a reviving packet from my dear
Mr. Rodgers, Captain Grant, Mr. Allen, &c., which informed me of a happy situation of affairs at home, excepting that the dissenters are still denied the licensure
of more meeting-houses.
October 20.-My  father and friend arrived in town about fifteen days ago; and
his presence and conversation was very reviving to me. He has had very remarkable success and received above ~500 in his tour. We are determined to embark
for Philadelphia as soon as possible, with Captain Hargrave. We shall have but
very poor accommodations; and I am afraid bad company. On settling our accounts,
we are surprised to find our expenses run so high; as we have not been extravagant.
Since I have been in London, I have moved in the same circle, and nothing new
has occurred; but that I find by conversation with Dr. Stennet, there is a prospect
of obtaining licences in the Bishop of London's Court, for meeting-houses in Virginia. Since I have been in town I have preached for Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Hunt, at
Dr. Marryatt's meeting-house, Dr. Gifford, and to-day for Mr. Townsend at Newington, and for Dr. Guyse.
Sunday, October 27.-Preached for Mr. Hayward A. M., on Hebrews vi. 7, 8,
with more solemnity and freedom than, alas! has been usual with me of late; and
I thought I perceived a general concern among my hearers, who were numerous by
accessions from other congregations.  I observe a set of hearers that generally
attend me whenever I preach, particularly the young students in the Academy.
Preached P. M. for Mr. Crookshank on Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2. In the evening heard Mr.
Bulkley at the Old Jewry, where the celebrated Dr. Foster was wont to hold his
lecture. His discourse was finely composed, and delivered with a tolerable address;
but alas! how anti-evangelical! Yesterday we waited on Messrs. John and Charles
Westley. Notwithstanding all their wild notions they appear very benevolent, devout and zealous men, that are labouring with all their might to awaken the secure
world to a sense of religion; and they are honoured with success. But I am afraid
their encouraging so many illiterate men to preach the gospel, will have bad consequences. I heard one of them last Tuesday night, but he explained nothing at
all. His sermon was a mere huddle of pathetic confusion, and I was uneasy, as it
might bring a reproach upon experimental religion. The despised Methodists, with
all their foibles, seem to me to have more of the spirit of religion than any set of
people in this island. Mr. Locke's epitaph written by himself, Hic situs estJohannes Locke. Si qualisfueri trogas?  Mediocritate sue contentum se vixisse respondet.
Literis eousque tantum profecit, ut veritati unici literet: hoc ex scriptis illius disce,
quae quod de eo reliquum est, majore fide tibi exhibibunt, quam epitaphii suspecta elogia. Virtutes, siquas habuit, minoris sane quam quas sibi laudi, tibi in exemplum
proponeret; vitia unt sepeliantur. Morum examplar si queras, in evangelio habes:
vitiorum utinam nusquam: mortalitatis certi (quod prosit) hic et ubique.
Monday, November 18.-We came yesterday to Gravesend, in the Charming
Anne, Capt. Baker; having taken leave of my friends, and left London last Friday. My father and friend, Mr. Tennent, sailed with Capt. Hargrave, for Philadelphia, last Wednesday. The impossibility of getting the Trustees together, and of
my travelling home by land from Philadelphia, determined me, with Mr. Tennent's
consent, to deny myself the pleasure of his company, and sail directly for Virginia, that I may the sooner see my earthly all at home. And now, when I
am about to encounter the terrors of a winter passage over the tumultuous ocean,
I would solemnly commend myself to the God of my life, and the Ruler of sea
and land: and though I am but a very insignificant creature, yet as I am of no
small importance to my helpless family, I wish and pray that if it please God, I
may be favoured with a safe passage. Since October 27, I have preached for Mr.
Hall, Mr. Winter, Dr. Stennet, Mr. Lawson, Dr. Gifford, &c. I cannot but observe that I found unexpected freedom and solemnity in preaching a neglected old
sermon, that I thought not worthy of hearing, from Heb. xi. 1. I have met
with so many solicitations, both in conversation and by letters, to publish some of
my sermons, that I continue my purpose of finishing some of them for that purpose.
Now, when I have parted with London forever, I cannot but think with affection
upon the many friends I have left behind me, who are entitled to my warmest
gratitude. I have preached in many of the pulpits of the three denominations;
and from the warm approbation of a number, I cannot but hope, I have been of
some service in that way; though, alas! nothing to what might be expected or
wished. The petition from Virginia being returned, I waited with it on Dr.
Avery, Mr. Mauduit, &c., and communicated it also to Dr. Stennet, and begged
he would act in concert with the committee; which he cheerfully promised. And




276                PETITION-DAVIES ON SHIPBOARD.
indeed I expect more from his influence and zeal, than from the committee, that
seem very slow and dilatory in their motions. As the majority of them are of the
new scheme, they cannot look upon the dissenting interest in Virginia, as a religious interest, because founded on principles which they disapprove; and therefore
they can only espouse it, as the cause of liberty: but a zeal for it in this view, is
not so vigorous a principle as the other. The courtiers are so regardless of religion, abstracted from politics, that it will be difficult to carry such a point with
them, especially as the whole weight of the government of Virginia will lie on the
other side. However, I am in -hopes, the alternative of taking out licenses in the
bishop's court, or of presenting the petition, will succeed; and I have begged the
committee and Dr. Stennet to take one or the other method, as they think most
expedient.
Friday, Nov. 22.-Came down the river as far as the North Forland, having been
detained by contrary winds. We are near thirty-two souls on board; but alas!
I am at a loss for an agreeable companion. Human nature appears among the
sailors in a very mortifying light. They are so habituated to blasphemy, that oaths
and imprecations flow spontaneous from them: and I am in pain and perplexity
what measures I shall take for their reformation. Considering what sort of men
cross the seas, it is a miracle of Divine patience, and an evidence this is not the
state of retributions, that so many of them are safely conducted through the dangers of the ocean. Alas! I have my own share of sins, and it shocks me to think
how unholy I still am.
Thursday, Nov. 29.-We came to the Downs last Sunday, and were detained
there waiting for a fair wind, till this afternoon, when we set sail. Through the
great goodness of God, I have not as yet felt any thing of sea sickness, as I expected: and I now hope I shall escape it. I spend my time, as well as I can,
in reading, and transcribing my own sermons for the press. I have read the
Bishop of London's Sermons on the Evidences of Christianity, Dr. Wright on
Hardness of Heart, &c. I have peace of mind; but alas! I feel great languor in
devotion, and but little zeal to promote the advantage of those with whom I
converse.
Saturday, Nov. 30.-The wind being contrary, we were obliged to put into Plymouth, a very good harbour; where there are about twenty-six men of war, a garrison, and one or two old castles.
Sunday, Dec. 1.-I purposed to preach to the company, but the hurries of getting
fresh water, and clearing out to sea again, upon the wind becoming fair, prevented
me. Alas! I live a very unprofitable life; and lonK to be restored to my sphere of
usefulness among my own dear people.
Monday, Dec. 2.-Having set sail yesterday in the afternoon, we got out into the
Channel; but it soon grew calm, and we were tossed up and down all night with
prodigious swells, which are more disagreeable when there is no wind. This
morning the wind shifted and blew violently; and finding we could not get out to
sea, we put back for Plymouth, and got there in the evening, after a day and night
useless labour.  I found the return of sea-sickness, which quite depressed my
spirits, and threw my whole frame into disorder. We have now been about three
weeks on board, but have made but little way. This delay is a severe trial of my
patience. When shall I see my home? Shall it ever be?-Though our return to
Plymouth last night was disagreeable at first, yet afterwards I could not but look
upon it as a happy providence; for the wind blew with such prodigious violence,
that had we been in the Channel we should have been in no small danger.
Wednesday, Dec. 4.-Went to Plymouth in hopes to have got a contribution for
the College, and waited on Mr. Baron and Mr. Moor, dissenting ministers there;
but they told me the dissenting interest there was so low, that I could expect
nothing.
Sunday, Dec. 8.-The winds still continue against us, so that we cannot get out
of the harbour of Plymouth. This delay is the more disagreeable, as the ship's
company, to which I am confined, are a parcel of the most profligate, audacious
sinners, that I have ever been among. My ears are grated with the most shocking
imprecations and blasphemies, that one would think they could not proceed but
from the mouths of infernal spirits. Alas! to what a pitch of wickedness may
human nature arrive! This day I had an opportunity of speaking to them from
Heb. xii. 14, and I endeavoured honestly to discharge my conscience; and found
no small pleasure and tranquillity after I had unburdened my heart. What effect
it may have, must be discovered by their future conduct. Alas! I languish and
fret to be delayed so long from my dearest creature at home. How lively and
agreeable her image rises in my mind. May God give me patience and fortitude
under the disappointment.
Wednesday, Dec. 11.-We are still delayed in the harbour of Plymouth; but




STORM-VOYAGE.                             277
we have still growing reason for thankfulness that we got safe in here; for the
weather has been very uncertain and boisterous, and we have just heard that a
ship was lost last Sunday night, on the rocks called the Monades, in the Channel,
while trying to put into Falmouth, and all the company perished; and had we
been in the Channel, we would probably have shared the same fate. May I be fortified to meet all the events before me!
Saturday, Dec. 14.-We are still detained at Plymouth; and last night both
the ship and our lives were in the greatest danger. About six o'clock in the evening it blew a mere hurricane, which continued till about twelve o'clock. The
wind blew so strong that one could hardly stand upon deck. It drove a large Dutch
ship fiom her anchors, and she ran against a large rock on shore. She fired a gun
as a signal of distress; and having got assistance, she got off. We found she was
driving down against our vessel; and being much larger, she would probably have
sunk her, or broke her to pieces. As we were trying to get out of the way, our
anchors got loose, and we drove at the mercy of the wind and waves. The Dutch
vessel struck against us once or twice; and afterwards we run upon a large Antigua
ship; and were obliged to lie by her side for some time. Another ship was very
near us on the other side; and we were in danger of being dashed to pieces
between them. At last, with great difficulty, we anchored in a place where we lay
safe till morning; but had not the wind abated, we should, in all probability, have
dashed against some of the ships, or the rocks, which might have been fatal to us.
This morning we endeavoured to get in a safer place, but we ran aground, and were
obliged to stick till high water; and we could not anchor well till the evening,
though the men had been hard at work all day, and most of last night; and after
all, a large ship came this evening within a yard of us. I endeavoured to commend myself into the hands of God, in the extremity of danger; but when
death, especially in such circumstances, appeared near, it filled me with solemn
horror. And when I afterwards reflected upon my diffidence, it depressed my spirits not a little, to find that I am not fortified against all the events of this mortal
state. Alas! it would not be thus with me had I lived nearer to God, and under
more realizing impressions of the eternal world. O! that I may take the warning;
and may my present impressions be lasting and efficacious, and not prove a transient fit of extorted devotion! I am sorry to find that my discourse last Sunday to
the ship's company had no effect upon sundry of them. When they vent their passions, or are in a hurry, or alarmed with danger, they cannot speak without oaths
and curses; which is so shocking that I can hardly venture upon deck, lest I
should hear them.  Alas! how depraved, how  diabolically wicked is human
nature.
Friday, December 20. —We have been on board five weeks, (a longer time than
our whole voyage from Philadelphia) and this morning, the wind blowing from the
east, we set sail. I find myself already much disordered with sea-sickness; and I
am like to have a melancholy passage.
Saturday, December 28.-For this week past, we have had the usual vicissitudes
of sailors, sometimes foul and sometimes fair. We had one night of very boisterous weather, and we could not enjoy a moment's rest in any posture. Last
Sunday I hoped to have spoken once more to the ship's company; but I was so
disordered with sea sickness that I was not able. Alas! I lead a most useless life.
When I am able, I read in Bishop Burnet's History of his own Life and Times; in
which is a more full account of the strange intrigues of courts than can be met with
in most of histories. He is always fond of searching into the springs and causes of
actions; and no doubt he discovers the true ones; but sometimes this temper betrays him into censorious conjectures about the hearts of others, of which he was
no judge. The spirit of moderation and piety that breathes through his writings is
quite charming. The reign of King Charles II. appears a scene of luxury and
debauchery, changes in the ministry, imaginary plots, and prostitution to the
French interest. The short reign of King Henry II. was a continued struggle of
Popery and arbitrary power against liberty and the Protestant religion. But the
steps taken were so hasty and precipitant, that nothing but an enthusiastic bigotry
could have directed to them or expected success from them. The reign of William
and Mary would have been one illustrious day, had it not been so unhappily
clouded with factions between the whigs and tories; and the latter lay as a dead
weight upon all the generous projects of that hero for the public good. Queen
Anne's reign was nothing but a contest for victory between the whigs and tories;
and in the last four years of her reign the latter unhappily got the superiority, and
concluded the disadvantageous peace at Utrecht, when the French lay so much at
mercy, that honourable terms might have easily been obtained.
Thursday, January 9, 1755.-For above a fortnight, we have had but very little
fair wind; some days have been very squally, and others quite calm, with very




278                          VOYAGE HOME.
high swells; which is extremely disagreeable. Two days ago we had no wind, and
the seas run very high; and the ship got between two large swells, and not obeying
her helm, went almost round, and we were in the greatest danger of sinking. The
captain, as pale as death, cried out to get the boats loose, that in them we might
commit ourselves to the ocean, and endeavour to get to a ship in sight; but it
pleased God that the vessel righted, and we were safe beyond all expectation.
May this providential deliverance have proper impressions upon me! The two
last Sundays I have entertained the ship's company with two discourses, one on
the love of God, and the other on striving to enter in at the straight gate. I continue
much disordered, and so languid and inactive that I am good for nothing. When
I am able, I spend my time in reading the Universal History, volumes five and six,
but I am not a little mortified to find my memory so slippery.
Sunday, January 12.-Was so much out of order, that I was not able to entertain the company with a sermon; and alas, my spirits were so low, and the prospect of success so discouraging, that I had no heart to attempt it.
Saturday, January 18.-This last week has been the most painful and melancholy that I have seen for many years. I have had the tooth-ache in the most
violent degree; so that I had no rest night nor day; indeed it was sometimes so
violent that it made me almost quite delirious. I have had little or no sleep in bed
for these five or six nights; but to-day I have a little ease; and oh! how sweet is
it, after so much pain.
Sunday, January 26.-We have had some days of the most calm weather that I
have seen at sea; but last Friday night, a violent storm blew up from the N. W.;
which lasted about thirty hours. It is impossible for the most lively imagination,
without the help of sight, to form an idea of the aspect of the ocean at such a
time; and it is most astonishing the little vessel we float in, is not dashed to pieces
by the furious conflicts of the waves, which toss her about like a cork, and give her
such shocks that she trembles in every joint. It is a very good subject for a poem;
but, alas! all my poetical powers are dormant.
Inconstant, boisterous element; the type
Of human life. Now gentle calms compose
The wide-extended surface; to the eye
Opens a level plain, a sea of glass,
Smooth as the standing pool, or purling stream,
Or only rising gradual, and flow
In vast majestic swells, not wild, abrupt
A watery precipice; such as these eyes
Now see collecting all their terrors round,
On every side. Above, the clouds, replete
With winds and angry fire tremendous, lower.
The lightning flashes a malignant glare
Through the thick gloom, and helps but to descry
The horrors of the dark, and danger's frown.
Now the fierce flash spreads out in sheets of flame,
Round heaven's wide canopy-meantime the winds
Collect their forces, and discharge their rage
On the fermenting deep;'till watery hills,
And mountains rise, and roll along, beyond
The ken of sight; or by quick-shifting winds,
Driven adverse, dash in furious conflict; then
The mountains break in a tumultuous roar,
The angry foam flies up to heaven in showers,
And burns and sparkles in the briny waves.
Sure'tis the war of elements; the shock
Of nature in convulsions;'tis the' wreck
Of worlds!' What horrid images can show
The dreadful scene! What loud tremendous sounds,
What wild, tumultuous verse can represent
The blended roar of thunder, winds and waves
In tumult-Now how naturally distress
Casts up to heaven the wild imploring eye,
And eager cries for help. Now, now we sink!
Strange! we survive the shock! Now fiercer still,
The waves assault our bark, convulse each joint,
And spread a tremor through each rib of oak.
Now we shall rise no more. Strange! we emerge,
Tossed like a cork, we float from wave to wave.




VOYAGE HOME.                            279
From the huge, watery precipice we plunge
The yawning gulph below: while the howling winds,
And roaring waves, and midnight's hidden glooms,
Surround us-O thou Ruler of the seas,
Send forth thy mighty mandate, " Peace, be still."
And calm their rage.-But can even mercy hear
Such daring rebels, who, in one vile breath,
Blend prayers and curses? But, alas! my heart;
Look home; thou art not innocent; my guilt
May hurl these furious hurricanes in air,
And arm each billow of the sea against me.
But have not I, a suppliant at thy throne,
Indulgent Father, have not I bewailed
My guilt in deep repentance? has not faith
Applied the Saviour's blood!I have reason to observe, with pleasure, that my mind, for some days, has been
more engaged than usual in calm, and I hope, complacential surveys of divine
things, especially of the method of salvation through Christ. I am fully convinced
that is the only religion for sinners; and as such I would cordially embrace it.
Were it not for this, what insupportable terrors would danger and death wear!
Friday, January 31.-The weather has been very uncertain, and the winds contrary. The greatest part of this day has been a dead calm; but such a violent sea
has run as I have never seen; and as the ship had no wind to direct her course,
she was tossed about in the most terrible manner, and it seemed next to a miracle
to me, that she was not dashed to pieces or overset. It is six weeks to day since
we sailed from Plymouth; and no less than eleven weeks since I came on board.
What with sea sickness, what with the wickedness of the company, and the anxieties of absence from my other self, it has been a melancholy time to me. Now
when I am out of business, my heart is always at home; and so long a delay by
contrary winds has been no small trial to my patience. What tender images of
domestic happiness rise before me, whenever I recollect the favourite idea of my
Chara! I have now seen a good deal of the world; and I am more and more convinced that she is the person fitted to make me happy. I have had death frequently before me in this passage; and it is still uncertain whether ever I shall see
my home, though we suppose we are now near soundings. With this solemn prospect I have been frequently shocked; though at times I seemed supported with
more of the calmness and fortitude of a Christian, than a person so unholy could
expect. I am quite discouraged in my attempt to reform the ship's company, particularly the C -, who has many amiable qualities blended with his vices. I
have spoken to him repeatedly in the most solemn manner I could; but after all,
they forget themselves so far that they swear and imprecate in my hearing. Alas!
the more I know of human nature, the more I am convinced of its utter depravity.
Sunday, February 2.-It is a remarkable mercy that I am now alive, and capable
to take memorials of any thing that happens in the regions of mortality. About
six o'clock the-night before last, a violent storm blew up from the north-east,
which continued near thirty-six hours; and I never was more apprehensive of
danger. The waves beat with such violence against the ship that one could hardly
expect but she would have been dashed to pieces or overset; and the captain and
the most veteran sailors were full of alarming apprehensions. Alas! how helpless
are we on this boisterous element-all our dependence upon one feeble bottom:
and no other way of safety or deliverance. I think there is no phenomenon in
nature so terrible, as a storm at sea; especially in the night. It requires no small
fortitude, to stand upon the deck and take a view of it.
What horrors crowd around!  Destruction frowns
In all its frightful shapes. The lowering clouds
Spread out their solid glooms, and not a star
Emits a ray of charming light. The winds
Discharge their whole artillery, rear vast piles
Of waves on waves, and watery pyramids,
Capped with white foam. Our feeble barque,
Our sole defence, denies us hope; the waves
In deluge break o'er her, dash her sides,
And threaten to o'erwhelm her. Hark! the roar
Of breaking precipices, and the howl
Of furious winds, that from the bottom turn
The wild fermenting ocean: while the night
Spreads her thick glooms o'er all the dreadful scene.




280                      STORM-REFLECTIONS.
Friday, February 7.-Our dangers and our deliverances have again been renewed.
After a very calm morning last Wednesday, when the sea was as smooth as ever I
saw it, it blew up a violent storm from the south which lasted till this morning, about
forty-eight hours. Its terrors exceeded all the appearances in nature that I had
ever seen; and those that had been long accustomed to the sea, agreed they had
hardly ever seen a more dangerous storm. We were obliged to lie-to, as the seaphrase is, near two nights and two days, and drove at the mercy of the winds and
waves. I was in a careless, guilty frame when the storm came on: and I never
felt so deeply the terrors of being seized by danger or death in such a frame. The
sight of death frowning upon me on every side, threw my mind into a ferment like
that of the ocean round me. Sometimes indeed I had some intervals of serenity
and resignation: but generally my views were gloomy, my fears outrageous, and my
heart faint. I endeavoured to commend myself to God, and to resign my dear
family to his care: but alas! I could not do it with cheerfulness. I never appeared
to myself so helpless in all my life: confined to a little vessel, in the midst of
mountainous seas, at a dreadful distance from land, and no possible prospect of
escaping death, if any accident should befall the ship. I could do nothing but lie in
bed, hearing the howl of winds and roar of waves without, and tossed from side to
side by the motion of the vessel, which sometimes rolled so violently that she lay
almost on her beam-ends, and I was afraid she would not recover. The waves
broke over her so as to wash the men from one side of the deck to the other, and
dashed in through the dead-lights into the cabin. I often fell upon my face praying in a kind of agony, sometimes for myself, sometimes for the unhappy ship's
company, and sometimes for my dear destitute family, whom the nearest prospect
of death could not cross from my heart. To increase our calamity, we knew not
where we were. By our log-book we should have been on shore two days ago, but
we saw little signs of land. It had been cloudy for four or five days, so that we
had no observations to discover our latitude.  However, we perceived we had
gone too far to the southward upon the coast of Carolina, and were much afraid
lest we should run ashore on the dangerous sands near Cape Hatteras. But hitherto
God has preserved us; and if my life can be endeared to me or my friends by
remarkable deliverances, it will be of more importance than ever. To-day has
been cloudy and squally, and in the evening a dead calm, a sure presage of a
storm; and now it begins to blow again. May God pity us, and deliver us from
this dangerous element, the territory of Death.
Wednesday, February 12.-Blessed be God, we had the welcome sight of land
this morning; and suppose we are on the coast of North Carolina, about twenty
leagues south of Cape Henry. The. wind is contrary, and if a storm should rise,
we might be driven out to sea again.
Since my last remarks, we have had strong gales, and violent storms of snow,
with very intense cold. It has been so cloudy, that we have had no good observation for nine days; and our reckoning of longitude being out, we knew not where
we were. We have been expecting land, and sounding for ground, these fourteen
days; but were still disappointed till this morning. If the longtitude, which has
been so long sought for in vain could be certainly discovered, it would be vastly
to the advantage of navigation. Though my mind has been in such a confusion,
during the passage, that I have not been able to make any useful remarks to any
advantage; yet the various phenomena of the ocean have suggested to me such
hints as might be well improved by a spiritual meditant.  And I shall take short
memorandums of them, that if I should happen to be disposed for it hereafter I
may improve upon them.  The majestic appearance of this vast collection of
waters, may suggest to us-the majesty-and power of God, the author-and his
uncontroulable government who rules so outrageous an element as he pleases, and
stills it with one almighty mandate " Peace, be still," and the terror of the conflagration which shall dry it up. The alternate storms and calms are a picture of the,
mutability of human life in this world-of the various frames of a Christian. As
storms and hurricanes purify the sea and keep it from corrupting; so afflictions are
necessary to purge and sanctify the people of God, and shall work together for
their good-and so God brings good out of evil. It is calm in some parts of the
ocean while it is tempestuous in others-so particular persons-and countries, are
alternately happy and miserable. The sea in the ferment of a storm gives us an
image-of a mind agitated with furious lusts and passions-and a riotous mob.
The ship is our only safety-so is Christ to the soul, amid the ruins of sin. After
a storm and a gloomy night, how welcome and cheering is the return of a calm,
and the morning light! So is the return of peace, and the light of God's countenance to a soul in darkness and distress. The want of an observation to discover
the latitude, in cloudy weather, leaves the mariner perplexed about his course.
Thus perplexed is the Christian, when God withdraws the light of his countenance,
or when the meaning of the Scripture is uncertain. It is a great disadvantage




DAVIES-FROM HIS MISSION TO HIS DEATH.                281
to navigation, and occasions the loss of many ships, that the longitude is not discovered. Thus would it have been with the moral world, if it had not been favoured with the light of revelation; and thus is the heathen part of mankind at a
loss about the way to heaven.
After a long and dangerous voyage, how eager are the seamen looking out for
land, and how rejoiced at the sight of it. Thus eager are some Christians, and thus
eager should they all be, to see Immanuel's land, and arrive there.
It is a striking evidence of the degeneracy of human nature, that those who
traverse this region of wonders, who see so many dangers and deliverances, are
generally thoughtless, vicious, and impenitent.
Arrived in York, February 13, 1755. The next day called in Williamsburg,
waited on the Governor, and rode to Mr. Holt's that night. Came home next
morning, February 15, and found all well.-What shall I render to the Lord for
all His goodness?
---— Expression fails,
Come, more expressive silence, muse His praise?
CHAPTER XIII.
REV. SAMUEL DAVIES —FROMI HIS MISSION TO EUROPE TO HIS
DEATH.
DURING the absence of Mr. Davies from  Virginia, hostilities
had commenced on the frontiers.  In  May 1754, blood had
been shed by forces under the command of Colonel Washington, who unawares fell upon a party of French and Indians,
near the Great Meadows, as they were advancing to surprise
Fort Necessity. England and France, both desiring the control of North America, were entering the fierce contest that
decided the fate of that great continent.  Hostilities  commenced at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela
rivers. Some Virginians were fortifying the place, now Pittsburgh.  A large French force drove them  from  the position.
Washington met the force advancing upon him near the Great
Meadows; and in July was compelled, by a superior force of
French and Indians, to capitulate on honourable terms. Preparations were made to carry on with great vigour, the war thus
begun. English and French forces were collected; and efforts
were made to enlist the numerous warlike tribes of Indians, in
the contest. The French were the more successful in arraying
these barbarous allies under their flag; and without pity turned
the fury of Indian warfare upon the English frontiers.
According to ancient charters, Virginia extended from the
Atlantic to the Pacific shores, and covered some of the posts
the French were most anxious to maintain, both for the safety
of their colonies and the ultimate possession of the great Valley of the Mississippi, if not the whole continent.  The Virginia frontiers were east of the grand Alleghany, scattered
along the Valley of the Shenandoah, and the head streams
36




282               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Of the Potomac, the James and Roanoke. On these, the Indians, from Ohio, claiming the beautiful valleys and streams
as the residence of their fathers abandoned at the approach
of the English, but not given up, began their incursions with
midnight attacks, the tomahawk and scalping knife, merciless slaughter, and dreary captivity.  The whole country was
filled with alarm.  Consternation seized the frontiers.  The
more remote, and the more timid families, retired and formed
neighbourhoods with blockhouses of sufficient capacity to afford
shelter to all, and strength to resist an attack, from a savage
enemy. Some of the more brave fortified their log houses and
maintained their post.
Mr. Davies, on his return to his family, partook of the
alarm, though his dwelling was far east of the Blue Ridge.
He felt the necessity of vigorous action by the colonists, and
of the special protection of Divine Providence. The Provincial Legislature had appointed the 5th of March as a day for
fasting and prayer to Almighty God. Mr. Davies preached
on that day, in Hanover, from the words, "The Most High
ruleth the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he
will," (Dan. iv. 25,) a truly Christian, patriotic sermon,
calculated to excite among his hearers proper sentiments
of devotion, and love of country. On the 10th of July,
1755, the army under General Braddock suffered a signal
defeat. The savages in the interest of France broke in,
like a torrent of fire, upon the terror stricken frontiers. The
soldiers escaping from the massacre, that followed the battle,
carried the news of the disaster; deserting their companions,
many of them never rallied, but sought their homes and a shelter east of the mountains, and were arrested at the head of tide
water as deserters spreading terror by their flight, and their
frightful narrations of savage barbarities. On the 20th of the
month Mr. Davies preached in Hanover, on the words of Isaiah
chap. xxii. verses 12, 13 and 14: "And in that day did the
Lord God of Hosts call to weeping and to mourning, and to
baldness, and to girding with sackcloth; and behold joy and
gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: let us eat and drink for to-morrow we die." This
text had been chosen, and a few pages of manuscript had been
written in view of the distress of the country, under an uncommon drought, and the calamity of a French and Indian war.
When the appalling news of Braddock's defeat reached Hanover,
Mr. Davies completed, and delivered to his people, -a sermon
worthy the occasion and of himself.  On the first report of the
defeat and the approach of the cruel enemy not only the more
exposed families forsook their dwellings, but apprehending an
immediate assault from the advancing foe, many proposed to




DAVIES-BRADDOCK'S WAR.                283
abandon all the frontiers and return to the thickly settled portions of the province or to other provinces. After lamenting
the sins that had brought these accumulated sufferings upon the
country, Mr. Davies proceeds:-" Let me earnestly recommend
it to you to furnish yourselves with arms, and put yourselves
into a posture of defence. What is that religion good for that
leaves men cowards on the appearance of danger. And permit
me to say, that I am particularly solicitous that you, my brethren of the dissenters, should act with honour and spirit in this
juncture, as it becomes loyal subjects, lovers of your country,
and courageous Christians. That is a mean, sordid, cowardly
soul, that would abandon his country, and shift for his own little
self, when there is any probability of defending it. To give
the greater weight to what I say, I may take the liberty to tell
you I have as little personal interest, as little to lose, in this
colony as most of you. If I consulted either my safety, or my
temporal interest, I should soon remove my family to Great
Britain or the northern colonies, where I have received very
inviting offers. Nature has not formed me for a military life,
nor furnished me with any degree of fortitude and courage;
and yet I must declare, that after the most calm and impartial
deliberation, I am determined not to leave my country while
there is any prospect of defending it. Certainly he does not
deserve a place in any country, who is ready to run from it upon
every appearance of danger. The event of the war is yet uncertain; but let us determine that if the cause should require
it, we will courageously leave house and home and take the field."
After much pathetic address on personal religion, he thus closed:
— " It is certain many will be great sufferers by the drought,
and many lives will be lost, in our various expeditions. Our
poor brethren in Augusta, and other frontier counties, are slaughtered and scalped. In short it is certain, be the final issue what
it will, that our country will suffer a great deal; therefore be
humble. Be diligent in prayer for our army, and for the unhappy families on our frontiers. And may the Lord of Hosts
be with us, and the God of Jacob be our refuge."
This spirit of Davies was, in general, the spirit of the dissenters, who formed the line of frontiers in Virginia. The
more isolated and exposed retreated; the stronger neighbourhoods girded themselves for the war. The congregations on
the Cowpasture river, in Augusta, were broken up by savage
inroads, part of the families retreated to the Valley of the Shenandoah, and part with their pastor, Mr. Craighead, ultimately took their abode in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina.
On the 17th of August, Mr. Davies delivered a thrilling sermon to the first volunteer company raised in Virginia after
Braddock's defeat —"to march over trackless mountains, the




281               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
haunts of wild beasts or fierce savages, into a hideous wilderness, to succour their helpless fellow-subjects, and guard their
country." It was commanded by Captain Overton. The text
chosen for the occasion was 2d Samuel, x. 12: "Be of good
courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the
cities of our God; and the Lord do that which seemeth him
good." Fervent piety and ardent patriotism are commingled
throughout the discourse.  Connected with this sermon is this
remarkable sentence-" I may point out to the public that
heroic youth, Col. Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner, for some
important service."
In the midst of these agitating scenes, the activity of Mr.
Davies, in his ministerial duties, was not at all abated. He
seemed never to forget that he was a minister of the gospel.
On the 4th of June, 1755, Mr. Robert Henry, of whom mention has been made, was installed pastor of Cub-creek, in Charlotte, and Briery, in Prince Edward. Cub-creek was settled
by a colony led by Mr. Caldwell, and Briery was the fruit of
Mr. Davies' visit, improved by Mr. Henry. On the last Sabbath of July, Mr. John Wright was installed pastor of the
church in Cumberland county. He had been a pupil and protege of Mr. Davies.  The church in Cumberland was gathered
from the labours of Mr. Robinson, followed up by the missionaries that followed him, and also from the visits Mr. Davies was
able to make from  time to time.  In December of the same
year the Presbytery of Hanover was formed; Mr. Davies presided as Moderator, but, on account of indisposition, was
excused from preaching. The Presbytery consisted of six ministers, three of whom, Messrs. Todd, Henry and Wright, had
been introduced into their charges by the influence of Mr.
Davies, and occupied part of the ground over which he used to
ride. By this increase of ministers the specious objections to
licensing more houses for dissenters-viz. the number of houses
for a minister-was removed, though all difficulty was not
removed.
Under date of March 1755, Mr. Davies writes to a member of
the Society in London for Promoting Religious Knowledge
among the Poor.
"_Dear Sir:-Divine Providence has safely conducted me
through the numerous dangers of sea and land, and replaced
me in my former sphere of usefulness and happiness. The
confluence of so many mercies at one time, the tender guardianship of heaven over my dear family and friends, the review of
my remarkable success in the important business of my mission,
and promising situation of religion amongst my people, threw
me into a ferment of grateful passions, which are not yet sub



DAVIES' LETTER TO THE SOCIETY IN LONDON-NEGROES. 285
sided, though I have been at home about six weeks. I doubt
not, as a friend, you will congratulate me, and, as a Christian,
assist me in returns of gratitude and praise to my Divine
Benefactor.
"As there is a propriety in transmitting to you an account
of the distribution and reception of the noble charity of that
generous Society to which you belong, I must confine myself to
that, and refer you to my correspondents for other articles of
intelligence. Though there are very few of the white people
in this colony in abject poverty, yet there are many in such
low circumstances, that they cannot spare money to purchase
good books, and many more so stupidly ignorant and insensible
of their want of instruction, as to esteem it an unnecessary
charge, and so excuse themselves from it as a needless expense.
On one or other of these accounts, there are few houses in Virginia well furnished in this important respect. Multitudes are
without any assistance of this kind, and even' Bibles are not
always to be found among them. To some of these I have distributed-The Compassionate Address, Dr. Doddridge's Rise
and Progress, Mr. Baxter's Call, &c., with the best advice I
could give them, and hope I shall be able to send you an agreeable account of the happy effects of the distribution.
" But the poor neglected negroes, who are so far from having
money to purchase books, that they themselves are the property
of others; who were originally African savages, and never
heard of Jesus or his gospel, till they arrived at the land of
their slavery in America, whom their masters generally neglect,
and whose souls none care for, as though immortality were not
a privilege common to them with their masters,-these poor
unhappy Africans are objects of my compassion, and I think
the most proper objects of the Society's charity.  The inhabitants of Virginia are computed to be about 300,000 men, the
one-half of which are supposed to be negroes. The number of
those who attend my ministry at particular times is uncertain,
but generally about three hundred, who give a stated attendance; and never have I been so struck with the appearance of
an assembly, as when I have glanced my eye to that part of
the meeting-house where they usually sit, adorned, for so it has
appeared to me, with so many black countenances eagerly
attentive to every word they hear, and frequently bathed in
tears. A considerable number, (about an hundred) have been
baptized, after a proper time for instruction, and having given
credible evidence, not only of their acquaintance with the important doctrines of the Christian religion, but also a deep
sense of them upon their minds, attested by a life of strict
piety and holiness. As they are not sufficiently polished to
dissemble with a good grace, they express the sentiments of




286               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
their souls so much in the language of simple nature, and with
such genuine indications of sincerity, that it is impossible to
suspect their professions, especially when attended with a truly
Christian life and exemplary conduct.
"My worthy friend, Mr. Todd, minister of the next congregation, has near the same number under his instruction, who,
he tells me, discover the same serious turn of mind. In short,
sir, there are multitudes of them in different places, who are
willing and eagerly desirous to be instructed, and embrace
every opportunity of acquainting themselves with the doctrines
of the gospel, and though they have generally very little help
to learn to read, yet to my agreeable surprise, many of them,
by dint of application, in their leisure hours, have made such a
progress, that they can intelligibly read a plain author, and
especially their Bibles; and pity it is that any of them should
be without them. Some of them have the misfortune to have
irreligious masters, and hardly any of them so happy as to be
furnished with these assistances for their improvement. Before
I had the pleasure of being admitted a member of your Society,
they were wont to come to me with such moving accounts of
their necessities in this respect, that I could not help supplying
them with books to the utmost of my small abilities; and when
I distributed those amongst them, which my friends, with you,
sent over, I had reason to think that I never did an action in
all my life that met with so much gratitude from the receivers.
I have already distributed all the books that I brought over,
which were proper for them. Yet still on Saturday evenings,
the only time they can spare, my house is crowded with numbers of them, whose very countenances still carry the air of
importunate petitioners for the same favours with those who
came before them. But alas, my stock is exhausted, and I
must send them away grieved and disappointed. Permit me,
sir, to be an advocate with you, and by your means, with your
generous friends, in their behalf. The books I principally
want for them  are Watts' Psalms and Hymns, and Bibles.
The two first they cannot be supplied with any other way than
by a collection, as they are not among the books your Society
give away. I am the rather importunate for a good number of'
these, as I cannot but observe that the negroes, above all the
human species I ever knew, have an ear for music, and a kind
of ecstatic delight in Psalmody; and there are no books they
learn so soon, or take so much pleasure in, as those used in that
heavenly part of divine worship. Some gentlemen in London
were pleased to make me a private present of these books for
their use, and from the reception they met with, and their
eagerness for more, I can easily foresee how acceptable and
useful a large number would be among them. Indeed nothing




DAVIES' LETTER-THE NEGROES.            287
would be a greater inducement to their industry to learn to
read, than the hope of such a present, which they would consider both a help and a reward for their diligence.
"I hardly know of any modern institution which bears so
favourable an aspect on the declining interests of religion as
your Society. They deserve the pleasure of hearing the happy
effects of their generosity at the distance of four thousand
miles, in these ends of the earth, and it is no small happiness
to me that the strictest veracity allows me to transmit so agreeable an account. Thus may the inhabitants of Great Britain
receive blessings in answer to prayers put up for them in America, where I am sure they have many affectionate intercessors,
amongst whom be pleased to number
Your sincere and much obliged friend,
S. DAVIES."
The preceding letter was preserved by Gillies; and from him
we learn that the correspondent of Mr. Davies was so delighted
with the communication that he sent a copy to a friend with
the following sentiment-",' My soul triumphs in the thought of
an African church formed and raised in the deserts of America,
nor can I wonder that my worthy friend esteems his congregation adorned with these outcasts of the earth, as they appear
to others, now flying as a cloud, and flocking into Christ as
doves to their windows. The thought of such an auditory in
the attitude he represents them, diligently attentive to every
word they hear, and often bathed in tears, gives me a pleasure
I cannot easily describe. O how I love their black faces! The
members of our Society have generously given up the distributions which fell to their share to this important service."
The members of the Society were so interested in this-" first
attempt of this nature that has ever been made with any
considerable success"-that collections were made to procure
Watts' Psalms and Hymns, with other religious books, for distribution by Mr. Davies, in some measure according to his
wants; and plans were proposed and sent to Mr. Davies in
Hanover, the object of which was the obtaining, if practicable,
some three or four young Africans who still retained their
native language, were pious, and of good abilities, to be educated at the College in New Jersey, for the benefit of which
large donations had been received in England, that they might
become missionaries to Africa. The books reached America in
due time; of their reception and disposition, Mr. Davies shall
give an account in a letter preserved by Gillies, under date of
March 2d, 1756.  " Dear Sir:-Your last letter, with the
large donation of books that attended it, gave me the most
agreeable surprise that ever I met with in my whole life. I




288               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
speak the very'truth, sir, I did not think myself worthy in any
measure to be the instrument of so much good, nor had I the
least expectation, that a letter from my hand would ever be
honoured with such extensive success. As an honour conferred upon me; as an evidence that the spirit of Christian
charity is far from being extinct in your great metropolis, even
in this infidel and debauched age; as a present advantage, and
in the meantime a favourable omen with regard to futurity, to
the neglected heathen slaves in this Christian country; as an
acceptable offering to God; and as fruit that will abound to the
account of the benefactors; in all these, and sundry other
views, I rejoice in it, I feel that even a heart so insensible as
mine, is not proof against the sensations of pious gratitude
upon such an occasion. It has more than once cast me into
the posture of adoration and praise before the throne of grace,
that I am not left unassisted in the delightful work. I dare
say, some scores, both black and white, bond and free, concur
with me in the most ardent returns of gratitude to the author
of every good gift, for a charity of such extensive usefulness.
And to you, dear sir, who have been so active in promoting it,
and to my other friends who have concurred in the same way,
to the Society which gave so favourable a reception to my
representation, and to all the contributors, whether within or
without the Society, I return the most humble and affection-ate
thanks from myself, and from their many beneficiaries, who
cannot write, nor make their acknowledgments themselves; and
if the prayers of these poor strangers to the throne of grace,
who have lately learned to bow and weep, and cry there, have
any efficacy, your pious generosity will be rewarded an hundred fold, both in this and the future world. I count myself
happy, sir, that I can retaliate you, and the other benefactors
of this scheme, in that way, in which only you desire it, and
that is by giving you an account of the distribution and acceptance of the books among those: for whom they were intended; and this I shall do, with the utmost alacrity and
cheerfulness to the best of my knowledge.
"My hurries of various kinds are so incessant, and my correspondence so extensive, that I have no leisure to take copies
of my letters, and my memory can retain but a very general
idea of them; therefore, if in comparing them, you find some
mistaken references, defects or repetitions, you need not be
surprised; but as far as I can recollect, I gave you a pretty
full account in a former letter of the numerous African slaves
in the colony, and now I only design to add a few particulars
which are new, or did not then occur to my mind.  When the
books arrived, I gave public notice of it, after sermon, at the
next opportunity, and desired such negroes as could read, and




DAVIES' ACCOUNT OF THE NEGROES.         289
such white people as would make a good use of them, and were
so poor that they could not buy.such books, to come to me, at
my house, and I should distribute them amongst them. On
this occasion I also enlarged upon a new topic of conviction,
both to the slaves themselves and their masters. Since persons at so great a distance, who had no connection with; them,
were so generously concerned to Christianize the poor negroes,
and had been at so much pains and expense for that end, then
how much more concerned, how much more zealous, and industrious should their masters be, to whom the care of their souls
as well as of their bodies is committed, and who enjoy the
advantage of their laborious service! and how much more
ought the poor negroes to be concerned for themselves? and
how much more aggravated would be their guilt and ruin, if
they persisted in obstinate infidelity and wickedness, after so
much pains had been taken with them for their conversion?
This I found afterwards proved a very popular topic of conviction, and made some impressions upon the minds of not a few.
"For some time after this, the poor slaves, whenever they
could get an hour's leisure from their masters, would hurry
away to my house, and receive the charity with all the genuine
indications of passionate gratitude which unpolished nature
could give, and which affectation and grimace would mimic
in vain. The books were all very acceptable, but none more so
than the Psalms and Hymns, which enable them to giatify
their peculiar taste for psalmody.  Sundry of them  have
lodged all night in my kitchen, and sometimes when I waked
about two or three o'clock in the morning, a torrent of sacred
harmony poured into my chamber, and carried my mind away
to heaven.  In this seraphic exercise, some of them spend
almost the whole night. I wish, sir, you and their other benefactors could hear any of these sacred concerts. I am persuaded
it would surprise and please you more than an Oratorio, or a St..
Cecilia's day. The good effects of this pious charity are already
apparent. It convinces the heathen, that, however vicious and
careless, about the religion they. profess, the generality of the
white people are, yet there are some who really look upon it
as a matter of the utmost importance, and universal concern,
and are actuated with a disinterested zeal to promote it. -It
has excited some of their masters to emulation, and they are
ashamed, that strangers on the other side of the Atlantic,
should be at pains to teach their domestics Christianity, and
they should be quite negligent themselves. It furnishes the
most proper helps for such of the negroes as can read, and are
piously disposed, and some of them are evidently improving in
knowledge. It has excited others to learn to read; for as I
give books to none but such as can read, and are piously
37




290               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
disposed, they consider them as a reward for their industry;
and I am told that in almost every house in my congregation, and in sundry other places, they spend every leisure
hour in trying to learn, since they expect books as soon as they
are capable to use them. Some of them, I doubt not, are excited to it by a sincere desire to know the will of God, and
what they shall do to be saved: others I am afraid are actuated
by the meaner principle of curiosity, ambition and vanity.
However, be the principle what it will, I cannot but rejoice in
the effect, as it renders them more capable of instruction in the
great concerns of religion. This charity may also be of great
service in a political point of view; for now, when the French
and Indians are invading our country, perpetrating the most
horrid barbarities and depredations upon our frontiers, we
have not been without alarming apprehensions of insurrections
and massacre from  the numerous slaves among ourselves, whom
they might seduce to their interest by the delusive promises of
liberty; and while they do not feel the restraints of conscience
and Christianity, our apprehensions are but too well grounded.
I have done my utmost, without hinting my design to them, to
prevent so dismal a calamity; and for this purpose I have endeavoured to convince them, that there are many of the English, as well as myself, who are really solicitous for their
welfare, which has given me no small popularity amongst them;
and especially to bring them under the restraints of the pacific
religion of Jesus, which has so friendly an influence on society,
and teaches a proper conduct for every station in life. Now I
can distribute these books amongst them as tokens of disinterested benevolence, as helps to understand Christianity, and
in the meantime to detect the impostures, superstitions, and
cruelties of Popery. For this latter purpose the Protestant's
Resolution is extremely well calculated.
"To all this I may add, as I have the honour of distributing
the books, it gives me a very handsome opportunity of speaking
seriously and with particular application to many, who might
not otherwise come in my way. There are thousands of negroes
in this colony who still continue in the grossest ignorance, and
most stupid carelessness about religion, and as rank pagans as
when they left the wilds of Africa. And there are not a few
of this unhappy character, even in the bounds of my congregation, which by the by is about sixty miles in circumference.
But I think, sir, my ministry of late has been most successful
among them. Two Sundays ago I had the pleasure of seeing
forty of their black faces around the table of the Lord, who all
made credible profession of Christianity, and sundry of them
with unusual evidence of sincerity. Last Sunday I baptised
seven or eight adults, who had been catechumens for some time.




DAVIES' ACCOUNT OF THE NEGROES.         291
Indeed, many of them seem determined to press into the kingdom of God, and I am persuaded will find an abundant entrance
when many of the children of the kingdom shall be shut out.
" One of the catechumens, baptised last Sunday, I conversed
with the evening before.  He addressed me to this purpose, in
broken English —'I am a poor slave, brought into a strange
country, where I never expect to enjoy my liberty. While I
lived in my own country, I knew nothing of that Jesus, which
I have heard you speak so much about. I lived quite careless
what will become of me when I die, but I now see that such a
life will never do; and I come to you sir, that you may tell me
some good things concerning Jesus Christ, and my duty to God;
for I am resolved not to live any more as I have done.'-Such
a simple address is very striking oratory to me, and would my
time allow, I could give you many such specimens. There is
one happy circumstance which I think very remarkable, and
that is, that notwithstanding the odium Protestant dissenters lie
under in this colony, where they were not known till very lately,
and notwithstanding the usual disaffection which those bear to
vital religion who have none themselves, yet the negroes in
these parts are fully allowed to attend upon my ministry, and
sometimes upon my private instructions, even by such masters
as have no religion at all, or are bigots. Indeed, it is the object of my zeal, not to make them dissenters, but good Christians and good servants. But when I consider, how often the
most candid and generous endeavours are misconstrued by
bigotry, much more by impiety, I cannot but wonder my attempts meet with so little opposition, and escape suspicion, and
I cannot but look upon it as a very promising presage.
"I have distributed sundry of the books among the poorer
sort of white people, with this charge, that they would not keep
them by them, as a private property, (except the Bibles, for
which they would have a constant use in their families) but circulate them about among such of their neighbours as would
seriously peruse them, that they might be as extensively serviceable as possible. Some of them have since discovered to
me what solemn impressions they received in reading them. I
sent a few of each sort to my friend and brother, Mr. Wright,
minister in Cumberland, about ninety miles hence, where there
is a great number of negroes, and not a few of them thoughtful,
and inquisitive about Christianity, and sundry of them hopeful
~converts.  He has been faithful in the distributing, and informs
me they meet with a very agreeable and promising reception.
He is very laborious in his endeavours to instruct the negroes,
and has set up two or three schools among them, where they
attend on Sundays, before and after sermon, for they have no
other leisure time.
" It affords me no small pleasure, that you have some more




292               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
books in reserve for me. I know I have had vastly more than
nay proportion, as'a member of the Society, and I cannot have
hlie face to solicit farther benefactions. Nay, it pains me to
think, that by directingf the channel towards this new world,
some places nearer home may have been drained, or left unwatered. But alas, dear sir, when I reflect upon the almost universal neglect of the many thousands of poor slaves in this wideextended country, that they generally continue heathens in a
Christian country, that but few of their masters will furnish them
with such means of instruction, and that they are absolutely incapable of furnishing themselves; when I reflect upon the burden
of guilt under which my country groans on this account; when
the impressions of these things are fresh upon my mind, I am
quite insatiable, and can.never say it is enough. Alas, what are
four or five hundred books among so many thousand negroes, that
attend upon my ministry, at the sunidry places where I alternately
officiate; and sundry of them who are well disposed I am obliged
to send away without a book,. for they were all distributed in a.few days after their arrival, and I took care not to give one of
each sort to every particular person, but ordered them to borrow
and lend among themselves. I earnestly desire to have something to distribute among them, that would at once help them
to read and teach them the rudiments of Christianity. I have
had thoughts of attempting such a thing myself, if I knew how
to discharge the expense of the press; though I have no peculiar
qualification for it; but this, that I might perhaps adapt myself
better to their mode of thinking and speaking, than those that
have no acquaintance with them. Dr. Watts's sets of Catechisms
are the best I know extant, for the last of these purposes; and
therefore when my next nomination comes, I beg you would
send me a considerable proportion of them. Thus, sir, I have
given you an account of the use I have made of this generous
charity, and the happy effects that are likely to follow from it;
and I have only this request to add, that the friends of religion
with you, would help it forward, not only in this way, but also
with their importunate prayers. This assistance is greatly
needed, and earnestly desired, by their, as well as, sir,
"Your most obliged, and most affectionate humble servant,
SAiMUEL DAVIES."
In these labours for th'e spiritual welfare of the negroes, so
feelingly described by Ar. Davies, his young co-labourers, Todd,
Wright and Henry participated, and with corresponding success.
There was no obstacle thrown in the way of their instructing
the slaves; masters that were themselves opposed to " dissenters,
yet freely allowed the negroes to attend" their ministry; and
also to receive private instruction on religion. The influence
of their labours was great upon the negroes, and the effect




ANECDOTE OF DAVIES-PEYTON RANDOLPH.         293
abiding.  In the year 1819, Dr. Rice thus writes in the Magazine, page 203-" There is now a considerable congregation of
their descendants at Polegreen, a church in Hanover, at present
under the pastoral care of the Rev. John D. Blair. But many
of the members of Davies' church belonged to the estate of Col.
Byrd. These were sold, and several of them taken to the county
of Charlotte. The writer has seen some of the survivors who
could read well, and knew perfectly the Assembly's Catechism."
He might have added that he had been for a time their minister,
and possessed their confidence and affections.  "At this day
there are not fewer than one hundred negro communicants in
a congregation called Cub-creek, in the county just mentioned.
Of these a very large proportion can read, and are instructed
in religious doctrines and duties beyond many professors among
white people. And they afford an experiment of sixty or seventy
years standing of the effect of this sort of discipline among
slaves."  This was one of Mr. Henry's preaching places; he
was successful in his preaching to the negroes, beyond any of
his cotemporaries.
Dr. Rice, in the Evangelical Magazine, vol. 2, p. 118, tells
an anecdote of Mr. Davies, on the authority of Captain John
Morton, grandfather of Mrs. Rice.  The time of the occurrence
mentioned must have been previous to the mission to Europe.
After stating the fact that Mr. Davies made frequent visits to
W~illiamsburg, to meet the Governor and Council, he says" On one occasion, by special permission, he spoke for himself.
Captain John Morton accompanied him.  The circumstances of
the case were often detailed by the Captain with great satisfaction."  What the point to be argued was-whether the propriety of licensing a particular house, when so many had
already been licensed for one permanent minister; or the construction to be put upon the Act of Toleration, that of the
Attorney General Ryder, or of the Attorney General Randolph-is not stated. It would seem the permissions accorded
proceeded rather from an inclination in the King's officers to
amuse themselves with the poor dissenters, than from any other
motive. The Attorney General was Peyton Randolph. IHe
took his position, and delivered a speech of great legal learning. When Davies rose to reply there was a general titter
through the court. His very first remark, however, discovered
so intimate an acquaintance with the law on the subject, that
marks of surprise were manifest on every countenance. In a
short time the lawyers present began to whisper-the Attorney
General has met his match to-day, at any rate. The general
sentiment among the members of the bar, as expressed in the
hearing of Captain Morton, was-" there is a most excellent




294                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
lawyer spoiled."  In volume 1 of the Magazine, p. 272, there
is another reference to this tradition. A gentleman of high
standing in Virginia became deeply impressed with a sense ot
religion, and was aroused to seek the salvation of his soul. He
inquired of a bookseller for some religious books. Davies'
printed Sermons were offered to him; and at first refused. But
recollecting to have heard his father recount the circumstances
of a Mr. Davies coming in contact with the Attorney General
at Williamsburg, while he was a student of law at that place,
and remembering that his father esteemed him a most extraordinary man, he purchased the volumes.  The reading was specially blessed to him, and he was led to rejoice in the hope or
the gospel. He ever afterwards spoke of the sermons as his
father had spoken of their author-as "most extraordinary."
Of Mr. Davies' labours as pastor, Dr. Rice, in the second volume of the Literary and Evangelical Magazine, p. 202, says" We have learned from aged people, who sat under his ministry,
that his powers of persuasion seemed sufficient for the accomplishment of any purpose which a minister of the gospel would
undertake. Many, for instance, who had grown up in ignorance of religion, who were married and settled in life, and had
children around them, were prevailed on to learn the elements
of religious knowledge. A mother might often be seen rocking
her infant in a cradle, sewing some garment for her husband,
and learning her catechism at the same time. A girl employed
in spinning would place her book of questions at the head of
the wheel, and catching a glance at it as she ran up her yarn
on the spindle, would thus prepare for public catechising; and
boys, who were accustomed to follow the plough, were often to
be seen, while their horses were feeding at mid-day, reclining
under an old oak in the yard, learning the weekly task. Young
and old were willing to be taught by their preacher; and when
assembled for catechetical instruction, the elders of the church
and heads of families were always examined first. This course
of instruction was not brief, and quickly finished, as is the case
now. Households generally were furnished with a few standard
works, of good old times; and were expected to study them
carefully. The writer has scarcely ever visited a family, the
heads or fathers of which belonged to Mr. Davies' congregation,
in which he did not find books or remnant of books, such as
WVatson's Body of Divinity, Boston's Fourfold State, Luther on
the Galatians, Flavel's Works, Baxter's Call to the Unconverted, and Saint's Everlasting Rest, Alleine's Alarm, and
others of similar character. And these were studied with a
care and attention which greatly promoted the improvement of
the public. In fact, Davies' churches were schools in which




DAVIES RECRUITING.               295
people were taught better things than the ancient sages ever
communicated to their disciples. The effect of this discipline
remains to this day."
The French and Indian war wasted the spirits and resources
of the colonies. In the Spring of 1758, the work of raising
recruits by voluntary enrolment went on heavily, and Mr. Davies was called once more to rouse the citizens of Hanover to
becoming action. The influence of his war sermons appears to
have been irresistible: and an examination of them might be
advantageous to those who may be called to address soldiers.
It will be seen that the prominent truths of the Gospel are held
forth clearly; and man's dependence on God's providence and
Christ's intercession forcibly inculcated as the very ground of
hope for success. Dr. John H. Rice tells us, Magazine vol. 2d,
pp. 359, 360-"We have conversed with aged friends, who remember well those times, and the despondency and consternation that pervaded the colony. They were themselves at the
meetings of the people, when Davies preached these sermons;
and they represent in lively terms the dejection and gloom depicted on every countenance, when every murmur of the western breeze seemed to be associated with the war-whoop of the
savage, and the wail of the victims of French and Indian cruelty.
And they say, that as the preacher poured forth the strains of
his eloquence, his own spirit was transfused into his hearers:
the cheek that was blanched with fear reddened, and the drooping eye kindled with martial fire, and at the conclusion, every
voice was ready to say-'Let us march against the enemy-let
us conquer or die.' Particularly we have been told, by eyewitnesses, that the effect of the following passage was most
powerful."  It was delivered on the 8th of May, 1758, at a
general muster in Hanover county, for the purpose of raising
a company for Captain Meredith; and is a part of Sermon
sixty-third, in the printed volumes. About the middle of the
sermon he exclaimed-"May I not reasonably insist upon it,
that the company be made up this very day before we leave
this place. Methinks your king, your country, nay your own
interest command me: and therefore I insist upon it.  Oh! for
the all pervading force of Demosthenes' oratory-but I recall
my wish that I may correct it,-Oh! for the influence of the
Lord of armies, the God of battles, the Author of true courage,
and every heroic virtue, to fire you into patriots and true sol-,diers this moment! ye young and hardy men, whose very fac2es
seem to speak that God and nature formed you for soldiers,
who are free from the incumbrance of families depending upon
you for subsistence, and who are perhaps but of little service to
society while at home, may I not speak for you, and declare at
your mouth,-here we are all ready to abandon our ease, and




296               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
rush into the glorious dangers of the field, in defence of our
country? ye that love your country, enlist; for honour will
follow you in life or death in such a cause. You that love your
religion, enlist; for your religion is in danger. Can Protestant Christianity expect quarters from heathen savages and
French Papists. Sure in such an alliance the powers of hell
make a third party. Ye that love your friends and relations,
enlist; lest ye see them enslaved and butchered before your
eyes."
"After the close of the discourse we have been informed that
a company was made up for Captain Meredith, in a few minutes,-and that more offered their names than the captain was
authorized to command. Davies repaired from the muster
ground to the tavern to order his horse; and the whole regiment followed him, and pressed round him to catch every word
that dropped from his lips. On observing their desire, he stood
in the tavern porch, and again addressed them until he was
exhausted with speaking."
It is not a matter of surprise that Mr. Davies found himself
quite unmolested, at this time, in performing his ministerial
services wherever duty and convenience invited him. The Attorney General could scarcely venture to throw impediments in
the path of the best recruiting officer in the province.
While Messrs. Davies and Tennent were in England, they
had frequent opportunities for advice and consultation on the
best method of removing the grievances of the dissenters in
Virginia. It was the opinion of the leading dissenters that the
General Court in Virginia had no right to limit the number of
houses for public worship to be allowed dissenters,-neither
had the Court a right to specify the persons to preach in particular houses;-that all licensed ministers might preach in all
licensed houses as far as the law was concerned;-that any
number of families might demand the registering of their
house,-and of course the people. of New Kent were. oppressed
by the revoking of their license. This was Dr. Doddridge's
opinion, sent to Mr. Davies in Virginia, shortly before his
death, as is gathered from his letter, large fragments of which
remain.
But as the General Court persisted in their course, the committee of the Deputation of Protestant Dissenters, resolved in
February 1755, to bring the subject before the King in Council, not by petition for liberty of worship, but by appeal from
the prosecution of the authorities in Virginia, in the way expressed in the two following papers, which were sent over to
Mr. Davies, in reply to the petition referred to in his journal.
"Rev. Sir: —The committee of the Deputation of Protestant
Dissenters have received your petition to the King in Council




ADVICE FROM EN-CLAND.               297
about licensing houses for religious worship; and after the most
mature consideration and advice thereon, they find it will not
be prudent to present it at present. And their advice to you
is-that when any house or place for religious worship is
wanted, that you apply first to the County Court for a license
thereof,-if refused there, then apply for license to the Governor and Council,-if refused there, then apply to the Governor alone for a license,-and if he refuses, then use such
house or place for religious worship, as if it had been licensed,and if prosecuted for so doing acquaint the Committee therewith,
and they will then send you further directions how to act.
"Signed by order of said committee, by
Your most humble servant,
NATHL. SHEFFIELD,
Secretary to the said Committee.,, Ironmonger's Lane, 5th February, 1755."'Rev. Sir:-As a secret instruction to yolt which is not to
be divulged until necessity requires it, I am by order of the
said Committee to inform you that if any persons are prosecuted in your courts in Virginia for using such unlicensed
houses or places for religious worship, after such application
for license as in the other letter is directed-that then such
person or persons so prosecuted should appeal to the King in
Council here, and the Committee will take care to prosecute
such appeal. Keep this advice in your own breast until a proper time of appeal comes.' Signed by order of the said Committee, by
Your most humble servant,
NATHL. SHEFFIELD,
Secretary to the said Committee."
No appeal ever went to England. The difficulty thrown in
the way of dissenters was greatly lessened during Braddock's
war. Still the labour and expense of a journey to Williamsburg were required to obtain license; and delays were thrown
in the way.  Some ventured, as Mr. Wright in Cumberland, to
use a house for worship during the ravages of the Indian wars,
without license, and were unmolested. After the established
clergy became involved in contentions with the Legislature
about the payment of their stipend of sixteen thousand pounds
of tobacco, whether it should be paid in kind, or at an estimated
value set by the Legislature, less attention was paid to dissenters. While this contest waxed hotter and hotter, dissenters
of different names multiplied; and the rigour of the courts
relaxed. This unadvised proceeding of the clergy did more
for the dissenters than all their appeals to natural or constitutional law had been able to accomplish.
38




298               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
We come now to an event in the life of MIr. Davies which
filled the people of Hanover with distress, —his removal to
Princeton College, New Jersey.  Of this Mr. Davies says, in
his farewell sermon-" both may first settlement here and my
final removal were altogether unexpected." On the death of
the President of Nassau Hall, Mr. Burr, Rev. Jonathan Edwards was called to preside over that important institution.
His presidency was limited to a few weeks; having been inaugurated, February 16th, 1758, he ended his days on the 22d
of the following March. Rev. James Lockwood of Wethersfield, Connecticut, was, April 19th, chosen his successor. The
want of unanimity in the election, with other circumstances,
prevented his acceptance.  The next election, August 16th,
was in favour of Mr. Davies of Virginia; and was by him immediately submitted to a called meeting of Presbytery. On
the 13th of September, the Presbytery met in Hanover, and
unanimously decided against his removal from Virginia. Mr.
Davies used his influence to secure the election of his friend,
Samuel Finley. The Trustees, looking over the whole subject,
turned unanimously upon the man who had plead their cause
to such advantage in England and Scotland, and stood up so
nobly and successfully for the gospel in Virginia; and not discouraged by the refusal of Presbytery, laid the subject before
the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, at its meeting, in
May, 1759. On Thursday 17th, "An application to the Synod,
from the Board of Trustees of the College of New Jersey, for
the liberation of Mnr. Davies from his pastoral charge, that he
inay accept the Presidency of the said College, to which they
had elected him, was brought in and read. A supplication
was also brought in from Mr. Davies' congregation, earnestly
requesting his continuance with them. The Synod having
seriously considered the congregation's supplication, and fully
heard all the reasonings for and against Mr. Davies' liberation, after solemn prayer to God for direction, do, upon the
whole, judge that the arguments in favour of said liberation
do preponderate, and'agree that Mr. Davies' pastoral relation
to his congregation be.dissolved in order to his removal to the
College, and do accordingly hereby dissolve it."
The sentiments and feelings of Mr. Davies, on the subject'of
his removal'from Virginia, are best, expressed in his own language, in Sermon 82d, which he delivered, Sabbath, July 1st,
1759, in Hanover, on the words,-" Finally, brethren, farewell.
Be perfect; be of good comfort, be of one mind; live in
peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you,"
2 Cor. xiii. 11. In the.introduction, he says,-" A  few
weeks before I made my first visit to Hanover, I had no more
thoughts of it as my pastoral charge, than of -the remotest




DAVIES LEAVES VIRGINIA.             299
corner of the world; but was preparing to settle in ease near
my native place, till the more urgent necessity and importunity
of the people here, constrained me to alter my resolution. It
is known to no mortal but myself with what reluctance, fear,
and trembling I accepted your call. The rawness and inexperience of my youth, and the formidable opposition then
made both by Church and State, when a dissenter was stared
at with horror, as a shocking and portentous phenomenon, were
no small discouragements in my way. For some years I. durst
hardly venture to appear but in the pulpit or my study; lest, by
a promiscuous conversation with the world at large, I should injure the cause of religion, by some instance of unguarded conduct.
In short, my self-difibdence rose so high, that I often thought
I had done a great exploit, when I had done no harm to this
important interest, which I had a sincere desire, though little
ability, to promote. When, after many an anxious conflict, I
accepted your call, I fully expected I was settled among you
for life; and whatever advantageous offers have been made to
me on either side of the Atlantic, have not had the force of
temptations. It was in my heart to live and die with you;
and such of you as best know my circumstances, and how little
I shall carry from Virginia after eleven years labour in it, must
be convinced in your own conscience, and can assure others,
that worldly interest was not the reason of my attachment.
To satisfy you of the reason of my present removal I will give
you a brief impartial account of the whole affair.
" The College of New Jersey, though an infant institution,
is of the utmost importance to the interests of religion and
learning, in several extensive and populous colonies. From it
both Church and State expect to be supplied with persons properly qualified for public stations; and it has already been very
useful to both in this respect. Before the irreparable breach
made in it, by the death of that excellent man, President Burr,
its members were increased to near a hundred; and there was
no small prospect of considerable additions every year. But,
alas! President Burr, its father, is no more. Upon his removal,
the Trustees made choice of the Rev. Mr. Edwards to succeed
him, the profoundest reasoner, and the greatest divine, in my
opinion, that America ever produced. His advancement to the
place gave the public sanguine expectations of the future fame
and prosperity of the College. But alas! how short is human
foresight! how uncertain and blind are the highest expectations
of mortals! He was seated in the President's chair but a few
days, when he was taken sick and died, and left a bereaved
society to lament the loss, and pine away under it. An earthquake spread a tremor through a great part of our solid continent on that melancholy day in which he died (March 22d,




800               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
1758); but how much more did Nassau Hall tremble when this
pillar fell! Some of the Trustees, to my great surprise, had
some thoughts of me upon the first vacancy that happened.
But knowing the difficulty of my removal, and being very
unwilling to leave my congregation, they made an attempt, upon
President Edward's death, to furnish the College with another;
and therefore, chose the Rev. Mr. Lockwood, a gentleman of a
worthy character in New England. But being disappointed as
to him, they elected me on the 16th of last August, and were
at the trouble and expense of sending two messengers to solicit
the affair with me and the Presbytery. I can honestly say,
never did anything cast me into such anxious perplexities.
Never did I feel myself so much in need of Divine directions,
and so destitute of it. My difficulty was not to find out my
own inclination which was pre-engaged to Hanover, but the
path of duty; and the fear of mistaking it, in so important a
turn of my life, kept me uneasy night and day. I submitted
the matter to the Presbytery, and gave them an honest representation of it, as far as it was known to me. As I was at an
entire loss in my own mind to discover my duty, I could not,
upon the authority of my own judgment, approve or regret their
decision; but I cheerfully acquiesced in it, and sent it, with my
own negative answer, to the Board of Trustees, and expected
never to hear any more about it. But the Trustees, to my still
greater surprise, made a second application, requesting I would
act as Vice-President during the winter, till the Synod should
sit, when the judgment of the Presbytery might be referred to
that higher judicature. After making all the inquiries in my
power what was my duty in so perplexing a case, I thought I
had certainly found out the will of God, and returned an
absolute refusal in the strongest terms; transferring all my interest at the Board to another gentleman, (Dr. Finley) whom I
looked upon as incomparably better qualified for the place, and
of whose election I then had considerable hopes. Upon this I
was as much settled in Hanover, in my own mind as ever; and,
as many of you may remember, publicly congratulated you
upon the pleasing prospect. But how was I surprised, and
struck into a consternation, to receive a third application in
more importunate terms than ever! This again unsettled my
mind, and renewed my perplexities; though I was encouraged
to hope, that when I had so sincerely committed my way unto
the Lord, he would direct my path, and order things so, as that
the result should discover my duty. This third application, as
I informed the Trustees in my answer, constrained me only to
admit a mere possibility of its being my duty to comply, but
my mind was still almost established in the contrary persuasion.
It constrained me only to lay myself open to conviction, and




DAVIES-AS A' PREACHER.              301
no longer shut up the avenues of light; and, therefore, I came
to this conclusion-To mention, at large, all my difficulties and
objections,-to insist that my first election should be null,
because my electors were not then apprised of my objections,and to leave it to the Trustees, after hearing all that could be
said against it, whether to re-elect me at their next meeting.
But even this was not all; I farther insisted, that in case they
should re-elect me, it should be referred to the Synod of New
York and Philadelphia, whether I should accpt the place.
"The result of the affair, when left upon this footing, has
been, that I was re-chosen at the Board of Trustees by a much
greater majority than at first; and that the Synod, consisting
of an unusual number of ministers from various parts, after
hearing at large what could be said upon both sides, not only
consented to my acceptance of the proposal, but even dissolved
my pastoral relation to my dear charge, and ordered my removal by an almost unanimous vote. This has brought the
tedious, anxious affair to a final issue."
Mr. Davies immediately repaired to Princeton, and on
Thursday the 26th of July, entered upon the duties of his
office; and on Tuesday, 26th of September, was inaugurated as
President of the College.
The greater part of the printed sermons'of Mr. Davies were
written under the pressure of his pastoral duties and evangelical labours in Virginia, which were incessant and excessive.
They are the preparations he made for his continually recurring calls for pulpit labours.  Many of them bear the date of
their first delivery.  His frequent and continued absences from
home forbade extensive reading, or a very free use of a library; but were favourable to meditation and reflection, and lively
mental action, as he journeyed through the silent forests. His
constant collision with men of talent and influence, and the
perpetual excitement on religion, formed and improved his mental habits, excited his warm and devotional feelings, and gave
him a facility in his pulpit preparations he might never have
attained in the full enjoyment of literary and theological treasures, in a congregation that permitted a sedentary life. The
few hours he could spend in study, or with his pen, he was prepared to use to the greatest advantage on some angelic theme
that had been the subject of his solitary meditations; or some
point in morals or theology forced upon his attention by the
necessities or passions of his fellow men. The spiritual wants
of his flock dictated his sermons; and his ardent desires to do
his hearers good, together with his simplicity of soul and fear
of God, gave wonderful point to his arguments and illustrations.
His power of sympathy was wonderful; he seemed at once to
enter into the true condition of the people with whom he min



302               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
gled, and to be able in his discourse to make them enter into
his feelings about them, and partake of his emotions.  He
wrote his sermons with care, and carried them to the pulpit,
and often read them, and often preached without reading, or
omitted some of his preparations, or added to them, as circumstances and his own feelings prompted. In this way, his short
time for preparation was amply sufficient, as the same sermon
might be used repeatedly on one of his wide circuits; and the
severe exercise on horseback promoted his bodily vigour, and
enabled him to apply his mind with all its force, under strong
excitement. He makes no parade of learning, but every where
in his sermons it is evident that large stores were at his command; that he felt strongly, and thought clearly, and reasoned
forcibly from great principles and important facts. At the
twang of his silver bow the heart was pierced through and
through; and with an angel's tenderness he was pouring in the
balm of Gilead to the wounded spirit. And in all this the man
was not seen; his message only was heard. Men saw, and felt,
and were excited, and convinced, and driven on to act, as by
the moving of their own souls. They praised no set words of
argument, admired no figures, lauded no flights of oratory, but
felt themselves swept along to believe as he believed, and feel
as he felt. When removed from the presence of the man, then
they knew his charms must have been fascinating, and his
power unresisted.
Sometimes as we read his Sermons, we begin to think, he is
dealing too much in words; but, when we read again, and catch
something of his spirit, his ardent heart seems pausing for a
moment on truth rich in thought and feeling,-and then he
hurries us along to take another view, to hear another statement, and to contemplate a kindred truth.  Sometimes we
think he is going to make a parade of learning, and theological
lore, and philological treasures; but suddenly, he leads us off,
under the conviction of truth, and with excited feelings, to the
discussion of so-me subject in morals or religion in which we are
ourselves deeply interested.  Sometimes we wish there had
been more argumentative discussion on some of the great and
disputed doctrines of the Gospel; but, on second consideration,
we do not see what could have been gained in a sermon addressed to a mixed audience, by more of the appearance of logic.
He has slated the truth, he has illustrated it, and applied it,
and made his hearers believe with him. Like a skilful pleader
before a jury, he mingles principles, and facts, and feelings,
with some apparent disorder, but resistless effect. He seems
to have known for what he preached, and to whom he preached.
There is a most wonderful congruity between the circumstances of the man, of the people, and the manner of his




DAVIES-AS A PREACHER.                303
preaching; and humanly speaking here was the secret of his
success. Always in earnest, he was always timely; nothing
kept him back from declaring the truth he judged fitting the
condition of things; and nothing could make him utter what he
judged ill appropriate.  That noble sense of propriety he
always carried with him, was a special gift of God, cherished
by education and guided by the Holy Ghost, on whom he fully
relied for help and for all his success. In his devotion to his
work and simplicity and timeliness of his address, he is worthy
of all admiration. His care in preparing his sermons may be
known by the declaration —"every sermon, I think worthy of
the name, cost me four days hard study in the preparation."
Always earnest in his preaching, frequently excited, he was
never boisterous. His subject excited him, his congregation
excited him, his sense of responsibility impressed him, and his
fervent spirit found vent in impassioned words. In his journal
he tells us-that some sermons he had prepared and delivered
under great excitement in America he could not deliver in
England, without omitting parts, because he was not in proper
frame to express such sentiments. He could not feign the
orator.  His outward man was excited in unison with his
aroused spirit; yet he never seemed to make a gesture; he only
uttered his sentiments with becoming motions of his body, and
tones and modulations of his voice. He often preached to excited multitudes, but never forgot he was God's minister.
Virginia mourned his departure; and Nassau Hall rejoiced
in his accession. The wonderful sympathy of the man is seen
in the readiness with which he accommodated himself to his
entirely new field of labour. He comprehended his situation.
The change from the labours of an Evangelist in Virginia to
the Presidency of a College, was complete, and perhaps too
sudden for his physical strength. The historians of Nassau
HIall all agree in awarding high praise to Mr. Davies for the
wisdom of his plans, the energy of his efforts, and the success
that attended his labours to advance the interests of the College. His whole heart and soul were in the work; he felt that
all eyes were turned upon —that the friends of the College in
Europe and America were kindly, yet anxiously observing his
proceedings.  He rose early and studied late; and to the last,
appeared as in Virginia, to do the things, and preach the sernmons befitting the occasion which called him forth.  This year
thou shalt die, (Jeremiah xxviii. 16,) was the subject of his newyear sermon, January 1st, 1761, at Nassau Hall. On the 4th
of February he appeared before his Saviour in Paradise. His
sickness was of short duration. On Saturday he was bled for
a violent cold, and transcribed for the press his sermon on the




304               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
death of George II.; on Sabbath he preached twice in the
College hall; on Monday morning at the breakfast table he was
seized with chills, followed by an inflammatory fever, which
greatly affected his brain. In his moments of the right exercise of reason he was composed, and referred to his condition
affectionately and solemnly.  During the wanderings of his
mind, his imagination and inventive powers were busy in the
contrivance of some plan of benevolent action, or the effecting
of some good for his fellow men. During the ten days of his
sickness, both in the wanderings of a diseased brain and in the
clearer exercises of reason, he exhibited a truly Christian interest about the great work to which he had been called.
The father of Mr. Davies died August 11th, 1759, aged
seventy-nine years, having lived with him in Hanover for
years. His mother survived him. When the corpse of her
son was laid in the coffin, she stood over it, gazed at it intently
for some minutes,-and exclaimed-" There is the son of my
prayers and my hopes,-my only son,-my only earthly supporter. But there is the will of God, —and I am satisfied."
Dr. Rodgers of New York, the early friend and companion
of the son, like the beloved disciple, took the mother to his own
home, from that hour, and ministered to her wants till the day
of her death.
The family record, written in his own hand, in his Bible, preserved by his descendants, says he was born November 3, 1723.
Accordingly, he was thirty-seven years and three months old
on the day of his death. He died early, having lived fast and
done much.
Makemie stands as the father of the Presbyterian Church in
America; Davies as the apostle of Virginia.  To no one man,
in a religious point of view, does the State owe as much; no
one can claim a more affectionate remembrance by Christian
people. His residence in the State is an era in its history. To
Virginia we look for the record and fruits of his labours. The
Virginia Synod claims him as her spiritual father; and the
Virginia creed in politics acknowledges his principles of religious freedom and civil liberty. His influence on politics was
indirect, but not the less sure. The sole supremacy of Christ
in the Church,-the authority of the Word of God,-the equality
of the ministers of religion,-and individual rights of conscience,-principles for which he plead before the General
Court, and in the defence of which he encountered such men as
Pendleton, Wythe, Randolph, and the whole host of the aristocracy, are now a part and parcel of the religious and political
creed of an overwhelming majority of the citizens of the
"Ancient Dominion."   He demonstrated the capability of




DEATH OF DAVIES-CLOSING SKETCH.          305
the Church of Christ to sustain itself, not only without the fostering aid of the State, but under its oppressive laws. IHe
showed the patriotism of true religion; —and in defending the
principles of Presbytery, he maintained what Virginia now
believes to be the inalienable rights of man. The time of Mr.
Davies' labours in Virginia embraced that interesting part of
Patrick Henry's life, from his eleventh to his twenty-second
year. This great orator, in his youth, could not have been
unacquainted with the dissenting ministers of his native county;
and it is scarcely possible he was unaffected by his ministrations. Two of his sisters, Lucy Henry, who married Valentine
Wood, and died in Havanna,-and Jane Henry, who married
Colonel Samuel Meredith, and lived and died at New Glasgow,
Amherst county, were known to be pious people, and members
of the Presbyterian Church;-and we have the authority of an
elder in the church, now living, a grandson of Lucy Wood, that
they were members of Mr. Davies' congregations. The first
popular pleading of Mr. Henry was in Hanover, against the authorized construction of those very laws under which Mr. Davies
and the dissenters had groaned, and from which they had
obtained but partial relief. The oratory of these great men
was much of the same kind. Both reasoned from great principles and facts, and addressed human nature with an overflowing
heart, on subjects to which the souls of men are ever alive,their individual rights and personal interests. What Dr. Finley said of one may be said of both-" the unavoidable consciousness of native power made him bold and enterprising.
Yet the court proved that his boldness arose not from a partial,
groundless self-conceit, but from true self-knowledge.  Upon
fair and candid trial, faithful and just to himself, he judged
what he could do; and what he could, when called to it, he
attempted, and what he attempted he accomplished." The
same bold eloquence that roused the militia of Hanover in
Braddock's war, was heard again in Hanover and Williamsburg,
calling to arms in the revolutionary contest. Mr. Henry,
through life, held to the religion of the Bible. In another
chapter the influence of Presbytery on the civil constitution of
Virginia will be traced at large, and the indirect influence of
Mr. Davies and his co-labourers fully seen.
Mr. Davies' own pen shall close this sketch of his life, with
the beautiful and characteristic. sentiments in his correspond-,ence with Dr. Gibbons as preserved by Dr. Finley.  "I desire
seriously to devote to God and my dear country, all the labours
of my head, my heart, my hand, and pen: and if he pleases
to bless any of them, I hope I shall be thankful, and wonder at
his condescending grace. 0 my dear brother! could we spend
and be spent, all our lives, in painful, disinterested, indefati39




306               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
gable service for God and the world, how serene and bright
would it render the swift approaching eve of life! I am labouring to do a little to save my country, and, which is of much
more consequence, to save souls from death, from that tremendous kind of death, which a soul can die. I have had but little
success of late; but blessed be God, it surpasses my expectation, and much more my desert. Some of my brethren labour
to better purpose. The pleasure of the Lord prospers in their
hands.
"Blessed be my Master's name, this disorder"-a violent
sickness from which he was just recovering-" found me employed in his service. It seized me in the pulpit, like a soldier
wounded in the field. This has been a busy summer with me.
In about two months I rode about five hundred miles, and
preached about forty sermons. This affords me some pleasure
in the review. But alas! the mixture of sin, and of many
nameless imperfections that run through, and corrupt all my
services, give me shame, sorrow, and mortification. My fever
made unusual ravages upon my understanding, and rendered
me frequently delirious, and always stupid. But when I had
any little sense of these things, I generally felt pretty calm
and serene; and death, that mighty terror, was disarmed. Indeed, the thought of leaving my dear family destitute, and my
flock shepherdless, made me often start back, and cling to life;
but in other respects, death appeared a kind of indifferency to
me. Formerly I have wished to live longer, that I might be
better prepared for heaven; but this consideration had very
very little weight with me, and that for a very unusual reason,
which was this:-mafter long trial I found this world a place so
unfriendly to the growth of every thing divine and heavenly,
that I was afraid if I should live any longer, I should be no
better fitted for heaven than I am. Indeed, I have hardly any
hopes of ever making any great attainment in holiness while in
this world, though I should be doomed to stay in it as long as
Methuselah. I see other Christians indeed around me make
some progress, though they go on with but a snail-like motion.
But when I consider that I set out about twelve years old, and
what sanguine hopes I then had of my future progress, and yet
that I have been almost at a stand ever since, I am quite discouraged. 0, my good Master, if I may dare call thee so, I
am afraid I shall never serve thee much better on this side the
regions of perfection. The thought grieves me; it breaks my
heart, but I can hardly hope better. But if I have the least
spark of true piety in my breast, I shall not always labour
under this complaint. No, my Lord, I shall yet serve thee;
serve thee through an immortal duration; with the activity, the
fervour, the perfection of the rapt seraph that adores and




AUXILIARIES TO LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE.     307
burns. I very much suspect this desponding view of the matter is wrong, and I do not mention it with approbation, but
only relate it as an unusual reason for my willingness to die,
which I never felt before, and which I could not suppress.
"I am rising up, my brother, with a desire to recommend
Him better to my fellow sinners, than I have done. But alas!
I hardly hope to accomplish it. He has done a great deal
more by me already, than I ever expected, and infinitely more
than I deserved. But he never intended me for great things.
He has beings both of my own, and of superior orders that can
perform him more worthy service. 0! if I might but untie
the latchet of his shoes, or draw water for the service of his
sanctuary, it is enough for me. I am not an angel, nor would
I murmur because I am not.
"In my sickness, I found the unspeakable importance of a
Mediator, in a religion for sinners.  0! I could have given
you the word of a dying man for it, that Jesus, that Jesus
whom you preach, is indeed a necessary and an all sufficient
Saviour. Indeed he is the only support for a departing soul.
None but Christ, none but Christ. Had I as many good works
as Abraham or Paul, I would not have dared build my hopes
on such a quicksand, but only on this firm eternal Rock."
CHAPTER XIV.
THREE AUXILIARIES TO THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE.
WHAT was not granted to petition and argument and English construction of colonial law, was yielded to the force of
circumstances. The French and Indian war, commonly known
as Braddock's war, which, after many provocations and preliminary atrocities, broke out in its fury in 1755, by the strange
agency of fire and sword, the tomahawk and scalping knife,
plead the cause of freedom of conscience with a success hitherto
unknown.  Rev. Francis Makemie had appeared before the
civil authorities in Virginia, Maryland and New York with
some success; Rev. Samuel Davies and his coadjutors had laid
the cause before the Governor and Council of Virginia, repeatedly, and had gained something for freedom of conscience; but
houses for public worship could not be occupied without permission from the civil authorities, and each application for a
house of worship was heard on its own merits. The opinion of
the Attorney General of England had been obtained in favour




308               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of the dissenters in Virginia, but that had no effect upon the
action of the General Court of the colony, who maintained their
own construction of their own laws, one of which they claimed
the Act of Toleration to be. Mr. Davies had visited England,
and the dissenters sympathising with him and his people and
the dissenters in the colony, and in the provinces generally, held
frequent councils, and their committee armed him with their
best devices after his return, to aid him in the arduous struggle
for religious liberty. But what had not been gained by English interpretation of law, by appeals to the law of nature, or by
equal administration of law, was wrought out by sterner agencies. The chains, that were not loosed, were broken.
On his return from England, Davies found the whole frontier
of Virginia in distress; the alarm pervaded the whole colony.
There was an apprehension that the plans of the French officers,
in making inquiries for the routes from the Ohio to the Potomac, were to be followed by an armed force of French and
savages, excited by the success that met them at the Great Meadows. The invasion, which was the true policy of France, was
looked upon by the colonists as certain; and consternation
seized many stout hearts. The frontiers of Virginia were generally inhabited by dissenters from the Established Church, and
pincipally of the Presbyterian creed and forms of worship; and
these frontiers were all exposed to Indian depredations. Some
of the most powerful sermons and addresses delivered by Davies were poured forth to arm the frontiers in their defence;
and their success was equal to their merit and intention. The
shock of savage war was felt only by the dissenters' families,
their cabins were burned, their wives and children fled or were
murdered. The rest of the colony only sent forth soldiers in
common with the frontiers; and the Virginia soldiers were
always terrible to the savages.
During the confusion of this savage warfare, the Presbyterians, east of the Blue Ridge, chose houses for worship and occupied them  without license or molestation.  The Rev. Mr.
Wright, the Presbyterian minister in Cumberland county, which
was then a frontier, under date of August 18, 1755, says" People generally begin to believe the Divine government, and
that our judgments are inflicted for our sins. They now hear
sermons with solemnity and attention; they acknowledge their
wickedness and ignorance, and believe that the New-light clergy
and adherents are right. Thus you see, dear sir, that amidst
all our troubles God is gracious, and brings real good out of our
real evils; adored be his great name. I have seen, last Lord's
day, above a hundred weeping and trembling under the word.
I now preach any where, being so distant from the metropolis,
and the time being so dangerous and shocking."  West of the




LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE-ESTABLISHED CLERGY.    309
Blue Ridge, the inhabitants were generally dissenters, coming
into the province such, there was always less difficulty in obtaining license for houses of worship, than in those counties east of
the Ridge, where no dissenters, or but few, had settled, and
those that appeared were converts from the established church.
The terrible scourge of war, which fell heaviest on the dissenters,
brought with it some ease in matters pertaining to conscience;
people were permitted to worship where they pleased when the
expectation of invasion oppressed the whole body politic.
The next powerful auxiliary in the cause of liberty of conscience was the course pursued by the established clergy in regard to their salaries. Their stipends had been fixed and collected by law, and were levied and paid in tobacco. At first a
certain number of pounds was levied on each poll. By act 11th,
1696, it was ordered that each parish minister "shall have
and receive, for his or their maintenance, the sume of sixteen
thousand pounds of tobacco besides their lawful perquisites, and
that it shall and may be lawfull for the vestry &c., to levy the
same in their respective parishes."  By the same law it was
also ordered that parishes too weak to pay the salary might be
united at discretion of the governor, under one minister, in numbers sufficient to sustain a minister.  On account of the neglect
of parishes, accidental. or designed, in formally inducting the
ministers into their parishes, there arose difficulties about the
glebes, and the salaries of the ministers. In 1748, in consequence of a suit brought by the Rev. Mr. Kay of Richmond
county, concerning the glebe of Lunenburg parish, which was
decided in his favour by the General Court, the Legislature in
session at the time of the decision of the court, to prevent similar suits, by act 34th ordered that the glebe lands should contain two hundred acres of " a good and convenient tract of land"
-with " proper dwelling and out-houses: that the salary should
be 16,000 pounds of tobacco," and each, with an allowance of four
per cent." for shrinkage; —" and every minister received into
any parish as aforesaid? shall be entitled to all the spiritual and
temporal benefits of his parish, and may maintain an action of
trespass, against any person or persons whatsoever, who shall
disturb him in the possession and enjoyment thereof." By Act
51 of same year, section 30-" And for preventing all mistakes
and controversies concerning the allowance to be made, upon
the payment of public, county, or parish levies, be it enacted
that the levies aforesaid shall all be laid in nett tobacco."
In the year 1755 the clergy of the Establishment petitioned
for an increase of their salary, stating-according to Dr.
Hawks, quoting from Bland's letter, p. 117 —" that the salary
appointed by law for the clergy is so scanty that it is with difficulty they support themselves and families, and can by no




310               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
means make any provision for their widows and children, who
are generally left to the charity of their friends-that the small
encouragement given to clergymen is a reason why so few come
into this colony from the two Universities; and that so many
who are a disgrace to the ministry find opportunities to fill the
parishes; and that the raising the salary would prove of great
service to the colony." This petition was not granted; the
time was unfavourable, whatever*might have been the disposition of the legislature;-the troubles with the French and
Indians were increasing, and ended, in the summer, in a furious
war,-and the staple of Virginia that year failed. Whether
the petition of the clergy was reasonable, depends upon circumstances connected with the rate of living at that time. Their
stipends were a glebe of two hundred acres with the proper
buildings, and sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco, which at
two pence per pound would amount to ~133 6s. 8d., together
with marriage and funeral fees. This might or might not have
been a sufficient support, according to the style of living adopted by the clergy. If they followed, or were expected to follow,
the more wealthy planters in their rate of expenditures, it was
certainly too small; if they followed the middling class of people, it was generally enough, with proper economy. If, however, it was really too small, they asked for an increase of
salary at an unfortunate time. For on account of a severe and
protracted drought, which spread its influence over the whole
country, and was peculiarly oppressive in Virginia, the Legislature in October of this year 1755, passed Act 5th-to enable
the inhabitants of this colony to discharge their Tobacco debts
in money for the present year. The preamble is-" Whereas
by reason of the great drought a very small quantity of tobacco
is made, so that the inhabitants of this colony are not able to
pay their public, county and parish levies, and the officers' fees,
and other tobacco debts, in tobacco this present year according
to the directions of the laws now in force; for remedy whereof,
and to prevent sheriffs and other collectors of the public dues,
from taking advantage of the necessities of the people, and exacting exorbitant prices for tobacco due or payable to them
from the poor and needy-the enactment is-' that it shall be
lawful to and for any person or persons, from whom any tobacco is due by judgment, for rent, by bond, or upon contract,
or for public county and-. parish levies, or for any secretaries,
clerks, sheriffs, surveyors, or other officers' fees, or by any
other ways or means whatsoever, to pay and satisfy the same
either in tobacco, according to the directions of the act of Assembly, intituled, An Act for amending the staple of tobaccos
and preventing frauds in his Majesty's customs,-or in money,
at the rate of sixteen shillings and eight pence, for every hun



THE ESTABLISHED CLERGY-TOBACCO.         311
dred pounds of nett tobacco, and so in proportion for a greater
or lesser quantity, at the option of the payer.'" This act was
to continue in force ten months. By this law the tobacco was
rated at its usual value, when there was a fair crop, two pence
per pound. And as this was the rate when the debts were
contracted, the legislature determined there was no injustice to
the creditors in paying them the estimated value of their
debts. There was no complaint heard against this law during
its continuance.
In September of the year 1758, the Legislature re-enacted
the law of 1755. The preamble states-" It being evident,
from the prodigious diminution of our staple commodity, occasioned by the unseasonableness of the weather in most parts of
the colony, that there will not be tobacco made to answer the
common demands of the country; and it being certainly expedient, at all such times, to prevent, as much as possible, the
distresses that must inevitably attend such a scarcity-be it
therefore enacted," &c. The crop failed; and the price of
tobacco was greatly raised, getting as high as fifty shillings a
hundred. The beneficial clergy complained loudly of this law,
that by it they were compelled to receive their salary at the rate
of two pence per pound for tobacco, when it was worth sixpence
or more, and thus instead of about ~400, the real worth of
their salary, they received less than ~134; and added that the
action of the law was unjust, as the depreciation of tobacco
had never been made up to them,-and their salaries were small.
The commissary, the Rev. John Camm, of Williamsburg, assailed
the law, which in a pamphlet written with great severity,
he styled " The Two-penny Act." Colonels Richard Bland,
and Loudon Carter replied with equal severity. The excitement spread through the colony. A portion of the clergy met
in convention at the College of William and Mary, and instructed their Commissary, Mr. Camm, to make a representation on the subject to the Bishop of London, or the Lords of
Trade. " It is probable," says Dr. Hawks, p. 118-" that this
complaint was made to their diocesan, as there is extant a
letter from that prelate to the Board of Trade, in which he
inveighs against this law, as being subversive of the rights
of the clergy."  Mr. Camm  replied to the Colonels under
the title-" The Colonels Dismounted;" and the Colonels rejoined, and carried the people generally with them. The excitement against the clergy became so great, that the printers in
Virginia declined publishing for them; and Mr. Camm resorted
to Maryland for publication. The king in council, however,
denounced the act of 1755 and 1758 as an usurpation, and
declared it null and void.
"This was," says Dr. Hawks-" an unfortunate contest for




312               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the church and the clergy. In every conflict of the kind, the
merits of the questions, originally involved in the dispute, are
apt to be lost sight of; and in the ardour of controversy, it is
not unusual for men to transfer their condemnation from
opinions to those who avow them; and such there is reason to
believe was the course pursued in this instance. While among
the clergy there were some who were above just suspicions or
reproach, it must be owned that, as a body, they were any thing
but invulnerable; and the opportunity for censure, afforded by
their conduct was too inviting to be overlooked by their antagonists. The leading laymen looked around, and saw almost every
parish supplied with an incumbent of some sort, while the state
of religion was in their view, far from flourishing; they did not
hesitate to impute this condition of things to the clergy themselves-and the people at large were ready enough to lend a
willing ear to the charge. It was not that there was any partiality for the dissenters, for the general sentiment was against
them; but there was growing up in men's minds a gradual
alienation from the church, because it was identified with those
who were suspected of being more anxious to enrich themselves
than to benefit the souls of others; and men began to admit the
suspicions that the establishment was proving a burden, instead
of a blessing. Doubtless, injustice was done, in the process, to
many a worthy man, who was made to suffer by the indiscriminate censure which visited this order, while he probably would
have been as prompt as any one in removing those who had
subjected both the church and himself to undeserved reproach.
This unfortunate dispute is recorded because it-was one of the
links in a chain of causes which was operating silently, but
surely, for the prostration of the church; every thing which provoked hostility and awakened prejudice, of course prepared
men's minds for the final blow struck in the stormy times of
that Revolution, to which the country was even then approaching
with unexpected but certain step."
The preceding view of the contest of the clergy with the
Legislature and the public at large, is undoubtedly correct, and
is more impressive as coming from the pen of an able defender
of the Episcopal Church. After the admission made by him,
it would seem ungenerous, here, to cite any instances of delinquency in the clergy, which aided in increasing the excitement produced by this contest. The clergy continued the contest; and after the king in council had pronounced the law
null and void, they commenced suits in the civil courts, to recover damages for the withholding their sixteen thousand
weight of tobacco or its proper value in money. One suit only
was brought to an issue, that instituted by the Rev. James
Maury of the county of Hanover. Of this, says Mr. Wirt, in




PATRICK HENRY-MR. MAURY.              313
his Life of Patrick Henry, p. 40, " The record of this suit is
now before me. The declaration is founded on the act of
1748, which gives the tobacco; the defendants pleaded specially the act of 1758, which authorizes the commutation into
money at sixteen shillings and eightpence; to this plea the
plaintiff demurred; assigning for causes of demurrer, first,
that the act of 1758 not having received the royal assent, had
not the force of a law; and secondly, that the king in council,
had declared the act null and void. The case stood for argument on the demurrer to the November term, 1763, and was
argued by Mr. Lyons for the plaintiff, and Mr. John Lewis for
the defendents; when the Court, very much to the credit of
their candour and firmness, breasted the popular current by
sustaining the demurrer." On the first day of the following
December, Patrick Henry appeared to argue the cause before a jury on the question of damages, Mr. Lewis having
abandoned the cause as desperate. This is the famous case, in
which Patrick Henry made his first appearance before a court,
and won laurels as a pleader. The scene is well described by
Mr. Wirt. Mr. Henry boldly maintained, that the people had
only consulted their own safety by the law of 1758, and the
king's veto was only an instance of royal misrule; and that
notwithstanding the dissent of the king in council, the act
ought to be considered as the law of the land. The jury
seemed willing to admit his position, yet according to law
returned a verdict of one penny damages. The court overruled
the motion for a new trial.
No other case was brought to trial; they were all throughout
the colony ultimately dismissed by the clergy, who took their
revenge by an angry pamphlet from the pen of Mr. Camm.
Mr. Maury did not think it advisable to prosecute an appeal,
judging it to be entirely useless, in the excited state of the
public mind. The tradition respecting this man is, that he
was a clergyman worthy of his office, irreproachable in his morals, a believer in the gospel, whose faith triumphed in the last
hour; his last expressions were those of praise. There were
some advantages in having this cause tried at the suit of Mr.
Maury; and there were some serious disadvantages in bringing
the suit in Hanover, the home of Davies, and the strong hold
of the dissenters east of the Blue Ridge.
The Legislature maintained the legality of their enactment,in 1755, and 1758, and to prevent, as far as possible, any
decision of the lower courts in favour of the clergy in their
contest against the application of this act to their salaries, it
was resolved on the 7th of April, 1767 —"that the committee
of correspondence be directed to write to the agent, to defend
the parish collectors from all appeals from judgments here
40




314              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
given, in suits brought by the clergy for recovering their salaries, payable on or before the last day of May, 1759; and that
this house will engage to defray the expense thereof." The
influence of the established clergy was now gone; and the
people and the Legislature of the colony waited only for a
fitting opportunity to break down their legal power: and such
an opportunity, in a few years, occurred. The clergy were not
sensible of their danger, at this time, when their rescue might
1possibly have been achieved; when their infatuation left them,
itheir ruin was unavoidable.
The third auxiliary was found in the efforts and influences of
the denomination of Christians called Baptists. There was a
Baptist church, gathered in Isle of Wight county, by a minister
from England, as early as the year 1714.  But the denomination did not spread much in Virginia for many years. About
the year 1743, a few Baptist families settled on the Opeckon
in Berkeley county, and formed a church, which spread both
in the Valley and east of the Blue Ridge, particularly by the
labours of David Thomas, till by the year 1770, we are told by
Semple, in his History of the Baptists in Virginia, p. 295, the
regular Baptists had churches scattered through all the Northern Neck above Fredericksburg. And between the years 1770
and 1780, by the labours of Mr. Lunsford, a young preacher of
extraordinary powers, their churches were extended to the Bay
Shore.
The Separate Baptists, as they were termed under circumstances, which with the name have passed away, made their
first appearance about the year 1754, when Shubael Stearns set
out from New England on a mission to the southward, and
took his abode on the Calapon in Hampshire county. Remaining here a short time, he and his companions removed to korth
Carolina and settled on Sandy Creek in Guilford county.
Here the denomination greatly increased; and from this spot
shot out its branches over North and South Carolina and Virginia. The most noted agent in extending the denomination in
Virginia was Samuel Harris, of Pittsylvania. Iie was hopefully converted, in very interesting circumstances about the
year 1758, and immediately commenced preaching through the
counties bordering on North Carolina. About the year 1766,
he went through the counties on the north side of James River;
and on the 20th of November, 1767, assisted in forming the
church of Upper Spottsylvania, consisting of twenty-five members, the first Separate Baptist church between James and Rappahanoc Rivers. By the time the Revolutionary war commenced,
members of the Separate Baptist denomination were found from
the Blue Ridgq to the Bay Shore, both north and south \of
James River.




THE SEPARATE BAPTISTS.              315
While the contest between the established clergy and Legislature about the salaries of the clergy, was alienating the public
mind from the established church herself, the zealous Baptist
preachers were calling the attention of men to the great interests of religion, and preaching, according to their ability, the
gospel, without money and without price.  Generally without
education, but under strong convictions of the necessity of conversions to God, they appealed to the hearts of men on subjects
always interesting, but at that time almost novel to the mass of
their hearers, reared as they were in the bounds of a parish.
Repentance, conversion to God, justification by faith in the
imputed righteousness of Christ sounded strangely in the ears of
many who were not altogether strangers to the forms of religion. These were the doctrines urged upon the hearts of their
hearers by the Baptist ministers, with all the energy of excited
spirits inflamed by their contemplations of divine truth, and
their thoughts and visions of the spiritual world. Multitudes
became believers under their fervent exhortations.
For a time, says Mr. Semple, pp. 14, 15-" the Baptists of
North Carolina and Virginia were viewed by men in power as
beneath their notice; none, said they, but the weak and wicked
join them; let them alone, they will soon fall out among themselves, and come to nothing. In some places this maxim was
adhered to, and persecution in a legal shape was never seen.
But in many others, alarmed by the rapid increase of the Baptists, the men in power strained every penal law in the Virginia
code to obtain ways and means to put down these disturbers of
the peace, as they were now called. It seems by no means certain that any law in force in Virginia authorized the imprisonment of any person for preaching. The law for the preservation
of peace, however, was so interpreted as to answer this purpose;
accordingly, whenever the preachers were apprehended, it was
done by a peace-warrant. The first instance of actual imprisonment, we believe, that ever took place in Virginia, was in the
county of Spottsylvania. On the 4th of Jan. 1768, John
Waller, Lewis Craig, James Childs, &c., were seized by the
sheriff, and bailed before three magistrates, who stood in the
meeting-house yard, and who bound them in the penalty of one
thousand pounds, to appear at court two days after. At court
they were arraigned as disturbers of the peace; and at their
trial they were vehemently accused by a certain lawyer, who
said to the court-May it please your worships, these men are
great disturbers of the peace, they cannot meet a man upon the
road but they must ram a text of Scripture down his throat.
Mr. Waller made his own and his brethren's defence so ingeniously that they were somewhat puzzled to know how to dispose




316               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of them. They offered to release them if they would promise
to preach no more in the county for a year and a day. This
they refused; and therefore were sent into close jail. As they
were moving on from the court-house to the prison, through the
streets of Fredericksburg, they sung the hymn-' Broad is the
road that leads to death.' After four weeks, Lewis Craig was
released from prison-Waller and the others continued in jail
forty-three days, and were then discharged without any conditions. While in prison they constantly preached through the
grates. The mob without used every exertion to prevent the
people from  hearing, but to little purpose. Many heard,
indeed, upon whom the word was in power and demonstration."
The confinement of these men drew from  the Deputy
Governor, John Blair, under date of July 16th, 1768, a letter
that does honour to his head and heart, directed to the King's
attorney in Spottsylvania.
" Sir, —I lately received a letter signed by a good number of
worthy gentlemen, who are not here, complaining of the Baptists; the particulars of their misbehaviour are not told, any
further than their running into private houses, and making dissensions. Mr. Craig and Benjamin Waller are now with me
and deny the charge; they tell me they are willing to take the
oaths as others have; I told them I had consulted the Attorney
General, who is of opinion that the General Court only have a
right to grant licenses, and therefore I referred them to the
Court; but on their application to the Attorney General, they
brought me his letter, advising me to write to you-that their
petition was a matter of right, and that you may not molest
these conscientious people so long as they behave themselves in
a manner becoming pious Christians, and in obedience to the
laws, till the court when they intend to apply for license, and
when the gentlemen, who complain, may make their objections
and be heard. The Act of Toleration (it being found by experience, that persecuting dissenters increases their numbers) has
given them a right to apply, in a proper manner for licensed
houses, for the worship of God, according to their consciences;
and I persuade myself the gentlemen will quietly overlook their
meetings till the court. I am told, they administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, near the manner we do, and differ
in nothing from our church but in that of Baptism, and their
renewing the ancient discipline, by which they have reformed
some sinners, and brought them to be truly penitent. Nay, if
a man of theirs is idle, and neglects to labour and provide for
his family as he ought, he incurs their censures, which have had
good effects. If this be their behaviour, it were to be wished




DEPUTY GOV. JOHN BLAIR-PATRICK HENRY.      317
we had some of it among us; but at least, I hope, all may remain quiet till the court.
I am, with great respect to the Gentlemen, Sir,
Your humble servant,
JOHN BLAIR.
I" Williamsburg, July 16th, 1768."
" When this letter came to the attorney"-says Semple-" he
would have nothing to say in the affair."
Patrick Henry, who had a few years before brought himself
into notice by his famous plea against the parsons, in Hanover,
hearing of the situation of these Baptist ministers confined in
Spottsylvania jail, rode some fifty miles to volunteer his services on the day of their second trial. He entered the courthouse, almost entirely unknown, while the indictment was reading by the clerk. The king's attorney having made some remarks in defence of the prosecution, Mr. Henry taking the
paper containing the indictment, said —"May it please your
worships, I think I heard read by the prosecutor, as I entered
the house, the paper I now hold in my hand. If I have rightly
understood, the king's attorney has framed an indictment for the
purpose of arraigning, and punishing by imprisonment, these
three inoffensive persons before the bar of this Court for a crime
of great magnitude,-as disturbers of the peace. May it please
the Court, what did I hear read?  Did I hear it distinctly,-or
was it a mistake of my own?  Did I hear an expression, as of
a crime, that these men, whom your worships are about to try
for misdemeanor, are charged with,-with-what?"-Then in a
low, solemn, heavy tone he continued-" preaching the gospel
of the Son of God?" Pausing amid profound silence, he waved
the paper three times round his head, then raising his eyes and
hands to heaven, with peculiar and impressive energy, he exclaimed-" Great God!"  A burst of feeling from the audience
followed this exclamation. Mr. Henry resumed —" May it
please your worships, in a day like this,-when truth is about
to burst her fetters,-when mankind are about to be aroused
to claim their natural and inalienable rights-when the yoke of
oppression that has reached the wilderness of America, and the
unnatural alliance of ecclesiastical and civil power, are about
to be dissevered,-at such a period, when liberty,-liberty of
conscience,-is about to wake from her slumberings, and inquire
into the reason of such charges as I find exhibited here to-day
in this indictment,"-here he paused, and alternately cast his
piercing eyes upon the Court and upon the prisoners, and resumed,-"If I am not deceived, according to the contents of
the paper I now hold in my hand, these men are accused of
preaching the gospel of the Son of God! —Great God!" A




318               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
deeper impression was visible as he paused, and slowly waved
the paper round his head. " May it please your worships, there
are periods in the history of man, when corruption and depravity have so long debased the human character, that man
sinks under the weight of the oppressor's hand,-becomes his
servile, his abject slave; he licks the hand that smites him; he
bows in passive obedience to the mandates of the despot; and
in this state of servility he receives his fetters of perpetual
bondage. But may it please your worships, such a day has
passed away. From that period when our fathers left the land
of their nativity for these American wilds,-from the moment
they placed their feet upon the American continent, from that
moment despotism was crushed, the fetters of darkness were
broken, and heaven decreed that man should be free,-free to
worship God according to the Bible. Were it not for this, in
vain were all their sufferings and bloodshed to subjugate this
new world, if we their offspring must still be oppressed and
persecuted. But, may it please your worships, permit me to
inquire once more, for what are these men about to be tried?
This paper says, for preaching the gospel of the Saviour to
Adam's fallen race."  For the third time he slowly waved the
indictment around his head, and lifting his eyes to heaven in a
solemn dignified manner, and again looking at the Court, he
exclaimed with the full power of his strong voice-" What
laws have they violated?"  The scene now became painful,the audience were excited,-the attorney was agitated,-the
bench and bar were moved; and the presiding magistrate exclaimed, "Sheriff, discharge those men."
Spottsylvania in a few years wiped away this stain, when the
gentlemen assembled in Fredericksburg, in opposition to Dunmore, on the 29th of April, 1775, pledged themselves "to preserve their liberty at the hazard of their lives and fortunes,"
-and appealed to' God to save the liberties of America."
In different counties the persecution of the Baptists continued.  Its weight fell mostly upon those who were called
Separate Baptists, who did not, for various reasons, obtain
license for their houses of worship, as the regular Baptists
generally did.  Semple, pp. 294 and 5. At the meeting of
the southern district at Hall's meeting-house in Halifax, the
second Saturday of May, 1774,-" Letters were received from
preachers confined in prison, particularly from David Tinsley,
then in Chesterfield jail. The hearts of their brethren were
affected at their sufferings, in consequence of which, it was
agreed to raise contributions for their aid.  Agreed to set
apart the second and third Saturday in June, as public fast
days, in behalf of our poor blind persecutors, and for the releasement of our brethren." These fast days aroused all the




PROGRESS OF FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE.        319
sympathies of their brethren, and of multitudes who had no
special attachment to either the persons or doctrines of the
Baptists.
In this state of things, it is not wonderful, if the Baptists
showed themselves opposed to all laws that favoured one denomination of religion to the detriment of all, or any others; or
if they sought opportunities to gain in religion, what all classes
were now seeking to gain in the State, freedom from oppression.
By the agencies that have been glanced at, freedom of conscience began to have a place in men's ideas, and to become a
subject of public discussion: and when, the next year, the subject of religious freedom began to be agitated, in the Legislature, as a thing to have an existence and a home in Virginia,
it is supposed by Mr. Jefferson, that two thirds of the people of
Virginia were dissenters from the Established Church.
CHAPTER XV.
PROGRESS OF FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, DURING THE TIMES OF
THE REVOLUTION, AND THE AID GIVEN BY MR. JEFFERSON
AND MR. MADISON.
DURING the American Revolution, all classes of community
were agitated, and all interests were discussed in private meetings and public assemblies. From causes already stated, a large
portion of the inhabitants of the colony of Virginia had become
dissenters from the Established Church. The continuators of
Burke's History say, page 180-" The dissenters constituted
at least two thirds of the people"-at the time of the Declaration
of Independence. In the class of dissenters he probably ranked
Presbyterians, Baptists, Germans, Quakers, and those by education favourable to the Episcopal church, but, disinclined to the
Establishment on account of the proceedings of the clergy.
Should his statement be thought to be extravagant it will yet be
conceded by all, that, the number opposed to the Church of
England, as established in America, was very large.
The attention of the General Assembly was favourably turned
to the condition of religious congregations-and the subject of
toleration necessarily became a subject of legislative action.
That something must be done to relieve those, disagreeing with
the forms and creed of the Church of England, was beyond discussion or doubt. But what should be done? what could be




320               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
done that should satisfy all parties? Toleration became of
course a subject of discussion, in private circles, and the halls
of government. What did toleration mean? Was it to be extended to religious denominations in its classical and restricted
sense; or, as some demanded, in its unlimited meaning? In
the years immediately preceding the war of the Revolution, the
majority of the legislature were for toleration in its restricted
sense-an Established Church with freedom from legal disabilities
to dissenters. This was some advance upon the ideas of toleration in the times of Davies; but very far from the demands of
those who were called dissenters, two branches of whom contended that the true meaning of toleration was an equality of
privileges and protection to all denominations, by the civil powers.
The attempts to prevent the spread of dissent, which fell so
heavily on the Baptists from the year 1768 and onwards, but
convinced the more thoughtful Episcopalians that some degree
of restricted toleration must be granted to the citizens of Virginia, or society must be shaken to its foundations. To appease
the agitated community a bill was proposed granting privileges to
dissenters. The records of Hanover Presbytery say, that at a
meeting of the Presbytery at Rockfish meeting-house, in Nelson
county, October 15th, 1773 —" Presbytery took the bill of toleration into consideration, and judge it expedient that some two
persons do attend the Assembly as Commissioners of the Presbytery to transact that affair in their name and behalf.  The Presbytery do therefore appoint the Rev. John Todd and Captain
John Morton, a ruling elder, to attend the Assembly on that
business, and wish they may not fail in business of that importance. The Presbytery do trust the matter entirely to them, to
act as their prudence may direct and the nature of the case may
require. And they do also order that a paper now before them
may be transmitted to Captain Morton as what contains their
thoughts on this subject, that from it those gentlemen may take
such hints, or make such use as they find expedient."-The
members of Presbytery present, were Rev. Messrs. Craig, Brown,
Rice, Leake and Irvin; with elders Alexander Read, Andrew
Hays and Nicholas Hays. Nothing was done, in Assembly
that year, to remedy the disabilities of dissenters. No laws of
any kind were passed in 1774 owing to the disagreement between
the Governor and the Assembly. The Presbytery of Hanover,
meeting at the house of Robert Caldwell, on Cub-creek, Charlotte county, October 14, 1774-present the Rev. Messrs. Rice,
Leake, Irvin and Wallace; with elders Thomas Montgomery,
Robert Mitchell and Robert Caldwell-feeling apprehensive of
legislative action on the subject of religious privileges, " agree
to meet on the second Wednesday of November next, at the
house of Colonel William Cabel, of Amherst, to remonstrate




PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION.          321
against a bill entitled —" A bill for extending the benefit of the
Act of Toleration to his Mlqajesty's subjects dissenting from the
Church of England in the colony of Virginia." Provisions that
might have satisfied the Presbyterians in 1755, when Davies
plead so earnestly for them, were rejected in 1775 when the
spirit of the Revolution was abroad. At Timber Ridge, April
13, 1775, the Presbytery took into consideration the petitions
and remonstrances drawn up at Colonel Cabel's, the preceding
November. But all that had passed on this agitating subject
was of no immediate avail, as the Assembly were in session but
a few days, and adjourned from Williamsburg to meet, as a Convention, in Richmond on the 17th of July.
The first step of the Convention was to raise an armed force,
to resist Governor Dunmore. On the 17th page of the Journal of the Convention, under date of August 16th, 1775, it is
recorded-" An address from the Baptists in this colony, was
presented to the Convention and read, setting forth-that however distinguished from their countrymen, by appellations and
sentiments of a religious nature, they nevertheless consider
themselves as members of the same community, in respect to
matters of a civil nature, and embarked in the same common
cause; that, alarmed at the oppression which hangs over America, they had considered what part it would be proper for them
to take in the unhappy contest, and had determined that in some
cases it was lawful to go to war, and that they ought to make a
military resistance against Great Britain, in her unjust invasion, tyrannical oppression, and repeated hostilities; that their
brethren were left at discretion to enlist, without incurring the
censure of their religious community; and under these circumstances many of them had enlisted as soldiers, and many more
were ready to do so, who had an earnest desire their ministers
should preach to them during the campaign; that they had
therefore appointed four of their brethren to make application
to this Convention for the liberty of preaching to the troops at
convenient times, without molestation or abuse, and praying the
same may be granted to them. Resolved that it be an instruction to the commanding officers of the regiments or troops to be
raised, that they permit dissenting clergymen to celebrate
divine worship, and to preach to the soldiers, or exhort, from
time to time, as the various operations of the military service
may permit, for the ease of such scrupulous consciences as may
not choose to attend divine service as celebrated by the chaplain."  Mr. Semple, in his history tells us, page 62, that"Jeremiah Walker and John Williams being appointed by this
association, went and preached to the soldiers, when encamped
in the lower parts of Virginia: they not meeting with much
encouragement, declined it after a short time."  He also in41




322               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
forms us that-" It was resolved to circulate petitions to the Virginia Convention, or General Assembly, throughout the State, in
order to obtain signatures.  The prayer of these was, that the
church establishment should be abolished, and religion left to
stand upon its own merits; and that all religious societies should
be protected in the peaceable enjoyment of their own religious
principles, and modes of worship.  They appointed Jeremiah
Walker, John Williams, and George Roberts, to wait on the
Legislature with these petitions."
This movement was honourable to the suffering Baptists;
they were willing to fight for their country, and only asked for
the privilege of their own ministers in the army; and the action
of the Legislature shows how far the principle of religious toleration had advanced.  When all men were called to defend
their common country, against an alarming danger, as in the
French and Indian war, then the law-makers discovered that
those who fought their battles ought to be indulged with freedom of conscience. Granted in one position, and one set of
circumstances, there was no stopping till it was granted to all
men and in all cases.
The Convention that assembled at Williamsburg, May 6th,
1776, having declared on the 15th, that there was no alternative left-" but abject submission to the will of those overbearing
tyrants, or a total separation from  the crown and government
of Great Britain"-instructed the delegates representing the
colony in general Congress to propose to that body-" to declare
the United Colonies free and independent States."  They then,
on the 12th of June, adopted a Bill of Rights, and on the 29th
of the same month adopted, with amendments, a constitution,
drawn up by Colonel George Mason, with a preamble by Mr.
Jefferson, the spirit of which is in accordance with the national
Declaration of Independence proclaimed in the following July.
The last clause of the Bill of Rights is in these words —" That
religion, or the duty we owe to our Creator, and the manner of
discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction,
not by force or violence, and therefore all men are equally
entitled to the free exercise of religion according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to
practise Christian forbearance, love and charity towards each
other."  These declarations breathe the spirit of civil and
religious liberty, and spoke the true feelings of the majority
of the citizens of Virginia.  Civil liberty had been discussed,
with intensity of interest, for a long period, by the whole
community; and its limits and boundaries were comparatively
early settled to public satisfaction. Religious liberty had, by
degrees, claimed the public attention, and for a little time,
excited deep interest; but its proper meaning was not well




PRESBYTERY OF HANOVER-MEMORIAL I.                      323
understood. While abroad the contest was for the defence of
civil liberty against the power of the mother country; at home
it was raging for an ill-defined liberty of conscience, and the
disseverance of religion from  the civil power.  That something
ought to be done for dissenters was evident; but what should
actually be done was the matter of contention.  The true principle,-the free exercise of religion according to the dictates of
conscience,-was well expressed  in  the  Bill of Rights, but
appears, after all, not to have been well understood by many of
the delegates to the Assembly.  Many seemed to think that an
established religion, with toleration, was freedom enough. The
first General Assembly at the  Capitol in Williamsburg, under
its new constitution, convened October 7th, 1776, and early in
its session entered upon the subject of religious freedom.
The Presbytery of Hanover sent up the following
MEMORIAL.
To the Honourable the General Assembly of Virginia.
The Memorial of the Presbytery of Hanover humbly represents,-That your
memorialists are governed by the same sentiments which have inspired the
United States of America; and are determined that nothing in our power and
influence shall be wanting to give success to their common cause. We would also
represent, that dissenters from the church of England, in this country, have ever
been desirous to conduct themselves as peaceable members of the civil government, for which reason they have hitherto submitted to several ecclesiastical burdens, and restrictions, that are inconsistent with equal liberty. But now when the
many and grievous oppressions of our mother country, have laid this continent
under the necessity of casting off the yoke of tyranny, and of forming independent
governments upon equitable and liberal foundations, we flatter ourselves that we
shall be freed from all the incumbrances which a spirit of domination, prejudice, or
bigotry, hath interwoven with most other political systems. This we are the more
strongly encouraged to expect, by the Declaration of Rights, so universally applauded for that dignity, firmness and precision with which it delineates and asserts
the privileges of society, and the prerogatives of human nature; and which we embrace as the magna charta of our commonwealth, that can never be violated without endangering the grand superstructure, it was destined to sustain. Therefore'
we rely upon this Declaration, as well as the justice of our honourable Legislature,
to secure us the free exercise of religion according to the dictates of our consciences:
and we should fall short in our duty to ourselves, and the many and numerous congregations under our care, were we, upon this occasion, to neglect laying before
you a state of the religious grievances under which we have hitherto laboured; that
they no longer may be continued in our present form of government.
It is well known, that in the frontier counties, which are justly supposed to contain a fifth part of the inhabitants of Virginia, the dissenters have borne the heavy
burdens of purchasing glebes, building churches, and supporting the established
clergy, where there are very few Episcopalians, either to assist in bearing the expense, or to reap the advantage; and that throughout the other parts of the country, there are also many thousands of zealous friends and defenders of our State,
who, besides the invidious, and disadvantageous restrictions to which they have
been subjected, annually pay large taxes to support an establishment, from which
their consciences and principles oblige them to dissent: all which are confessedly
so many violations of their natural rights; and in their consequences, a restraint
upon freedom of inquiry, and private judgment.
In this enlightened age, and in a land where all, of every denomination are
united in the most strenuous efforts to be free, we hope and expect that our representatives will cheerfully concur in removing every species of religious, as well as
civil bondage. Certain it is, that every argument for civil liberty, gains additional
strength when applied to liberty in the concerns of religion; and there is no argument in favour of establishing the Christian religion, but what may be pleaded, with
equal propriety, for establishing the tenets of Mahomed by those who believe the




324                     SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Alcoran: or if this be not true, it is at least impossible for the magistrate to adjudge
the right of preference among the various sects that profess the Christian faith,
without erecting a chair of infallibility, which'would lead us back to the church of
Rome.
We beg leave farther to represent, that religious establishments are highly injurious to the temporal interests of any community. Without insisting upon the ambition, and the arbitrary practices of those who are favoured by government; or the
intriguing seditious spirit, which is commonly excited by this, as well as every
other kind of oppression; such establishments greatly retard population, and consequently the progress of arts, sciences, and manufactories: witness the rapid
growth and improvements of the northern provinces, compared with this. No one
can deny that the more early settlement, and the many superior advantages of our
country, would have invited multitudes of artificers, mechanics, and other useful
members of society, to fix their habitation among us, who have either remained in
their place of nativity, or preferred worse civil governments, and a more barren
soil, where they might enjoy the rights of conscience more fully than they had a
prospect of doing it, in this. From which we infer, that Virginia might have now
been the capital of America, and a match for the British arms, without depending
on others for the necessaries of war, had it not been prevented by her religious
establishment.
Neither can it be made to appear that the gospel needs any such civil aid. We
rather conceive that when our blessed Saviour declares his kingdom is not of this
world, he renounces all dependence upon state power, and as his weapons are
spiritual, and were only designed to have influence on the judgment, and heart of
man, we are persuaded that if mankind were left in the quiet possession of their
unalienable rights and privileges, Christianity, as in the days of the Apostles, would
continue to prevail and flourish in the greatest purity, by its own native excellence,
and under the all disposing providence of God.
We would humbly represent, that the only proper objects of civil government,
are the happiness and protection of men in the present state of existence; the
security of the life, liberty and property of the citizens; and to restrain the vicious
and encourage the virtuous by wholesome laws, equally extending to every individual. But that the duty which we owe our Creator, and the manner of discharging
it, can only be directed by reason and conviction; and is nowhere cognizable but at
the tribunal of the universal Judge.
Therefore we ask no ecclesiastical establishments for ourselves; neither can we
approve of them when granted to others. This indeed would be giving exclusive
or separate emoluments or privileges to one set (or sect) of men, without any special public services to the common reproach and injury of every other denomination.
And for the reasons recited we are induced earnestly to entreat, that all laws now
ini force in this commonwealth, which countenance religious domination, may be
speedily repealed-that all, of every religious sect, may be protected in the full
exercise of their several modes of worship; and exempted from all taxes for the
support of any church whatsoever, further than what may be agreeable to their own
private choice, or voluntary obligation. This being done, all partial and invidious
distinctions will be abolished, to the great honour and interest of the State; and
every one be left to stand or fall according to merit, which can never be the case,
so long as any one denomination is established in preference to others.
That the great Sovereign of the Universe may inspire you with unanimity, wisdom and resolution; and bring you to a just determination on all the important
concerns before you, is the fervent prayer of your memorialists.
Signed by order of the Presbytery.
JOHN TODD, Moderator.
CALEB WALLACE, P. Clerk.
Mr. Jefferson was a leading member of the House of Delegates, and  appeared as the  champion of religious  as well as
civil freedom; a champion that never lost a cause in which the
freedom of the people was concerned. What course of argument had led him  to this true principle, he has not given us;
and it is of no  consequence to the present investigation.  It is
a well ascertained fact, that he knew  well the power of the religious principle. He shall give his own statement, Vol. I.




MR. JEFFERSON-BOSTON PORT BILL.          325
Works, pp. 5, 6. Describing the influence of the news of the
Boston Port Bill, upon himself, Mr. Henry, R. H. Lee,
Francis Lightfoot Lee and some others,-in June, 1774,-he
says —" We were under conviction of the necessity of arousing
our people from the lethargy into which they had fallen, as to
passing events; and thought that the appointment of a day of
general fasting and prayer would be most likely to call up
and alarm their attention.  No example of such a solemnity
had existed since the days of our distresses in the war of'55,
since which a new generation had grown up. With the help
therefore, of Rushworth, whom we rummaged over for the
revolutionary precedents and forms of the Puritans of that day,
preserved by him, we cooked up a resolution, somewhat modernizing their phrases, for appointing the 1st day of June, on
which the Port Bill was to commence, for a day of fasting,
humiliation and prayer, to implore Heaven to avert from us the
evils of civil war, to inspire us with firmness in support of our
rights, and to turn the hearts of the king and parliament to
moderation and justice.  To give greater emphasis to our proposition, we agreed to wait the next morning on Mr. Nicholas,
whose grave and religious character was more in unison with
the tone of our resolutions and solicit him to move it. We accordingly went to him in the morning. He moved it the same
day; the 1st of June was proposed; and it passed without opposition.  The Governor dissolved us. We returned home, and
in our several counties invited the clergy to meet the assemblies of the people on the 1st of June, to perform the ceremonies of the day, and to address to them discourses suited to
the occasion.  The people met generally, with anxiety and
alarm in their countenances, and the effect of the day, through
the whole colony, was like a shock of electricity, arousing every
man and placing him erect and solidly on his centre."
Well acquainted with the power of the religious principle in
men, in a political point of view, Mr. Jefferson was the advocate of the most unrestrained, personal, religious freedom.
He gives the following account of his proceedings, in October,
1776, at the first meeting of the Legislature of Virginia under
its new constitution; after the memorial from Hanover Presbytery, with petitions and memorials from other bodies had
been presented; Works, vol. I. pp. 31, 32, —" By the time of
the Revolution, a majority of the inhabitants had become dissenters from the Established Church, but were still obliged to
pay contributions to support the pastors of the minority. This
unrighteous compulsion, to maintain teachers of what they
deemed religious error, was grievously felt during the regal
government, and without hope of relief. But the first republican legislature, which met in'76, was crowded with petitions




326                      SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
to abolish this spiritual tyranny. These brought on the severest
contests in which I have ever been engaged. Our great
opponents were  Mr. Pendleton  and  Robert Carter Nicholas;
honest men, but zealous churchmen. The petitions were referred to the committee of the whole House on the state of the
country; and, after desperate contests in that committee, almost daily from the 11th of October to the 5th of December,
we prevailed so far only, as to repeal the laws which rendered
criminal the maintenance of any religious opinions, the forbearance of repairing to church, or the exercise of any mode
of worship;. and further, to exempt dissenters from contributions to the support of the Established Church; and to suspend
only until the next session, levies on the members of that
church for the salaries of their own incumbents. For although
the majority of our citizens were dissenters, as has been observed, a majority of the Legislature were churchmen.   Among
these, however, were some reasonable and liberal men, who enabled us, on some points, to obtain feeble majorities.  But our
opponents carried, in the general resolutions of the committee
of November 19, a declaration that religious assemblies ought
to be regulated, and that provision  ought to be made for continuing the succession of the clergy, and superintending their
conduct."
MEMORIAL.
To the tlonourable the General Assembly of Virginia.
The memorial of the Presbytery of Hanover, humbly represents,-That your
memorialists and the religious denomination with which we are connected, are most
sincerely attached to the common interests of the American States, and are determined that our most fervent prayers and strenuous endeavours shall ever be united
with our fellow subjects to repel the assaults of tyranny and to maintain our common rights. In our former memorial we have expressed our hearty approbation of
the Declaration of Rights, which has beehi made and adopted as the basis of the
laws and government of this State; and now we take the opportunity of testifying
that nothing has inspired us with greater confidence in our Legislature, than the
late act of Assembly declaring that equal liberty, as well religious as civil, shall be
universally extended to the good people of this country; and that all the oppressive acts of parliament respecting religion which have been formerly enacted in the
mother country, shall henceforth be of no validity or force in this commonwealth.
As also exempting dissenters from all levies, taxes, and impositions, whatsoever,
towards supporting the church of England as it now is or hereafter may be established. We would, therefore have given our honourable Legislature no further
trouble on this subject, but we are sorry to find that there yet remains a variety of
opinions touching the propriety of a general assessment, or whether every religious
society shall be left to voluntary contributions for the maintenance of the ministers
of the gospel who are of different persuasions. As this matter is deferred by our
Legislature to the discussion and final determination of a future Assembly, when
the opinions of the country, in general, shall be better known; we think it our
indispensable duty again to repeat a part of the prayer of our former memorial,
c" That dissenters of every denomination may be exempted from all taxes for the
support of any church whatsoever, further than what may be agreeable to the private choice or voluntary obligation of every individual; while the civil magistrates
no otherwise interfere, than to protect the'm all in the full and free exercise of their
several modes of worship." We then represented as the principal reason upon
which this request is founded, that the only proper objects of civil governments




PRESBYTERY OF HANOVER-MEMORIAL II.                       327
are, the happiness and protection of men in the present state of existence, the security of the life, liberty, and property of the citizens, and to restrain the vicious and
encourage the virtuous by wholesome laws equally extending to every individual:
and that the duty which we owe our Creator, and the manner of discharging it,
can only be directed by reason and conviction, and is no where cognizable but at
the tribunal of the universal Judge.
To illustrate and confirm these assertions, we beg leave to observe, that to judge
for ourselves, and to engage in the exercise of religion agreeable to the dictates of
our own consciences is an unalienable right, which upon the principles that the
gospel was first propagated, and the reformation from Popery carried on, can never
be transferred to another. Neither does the church of Chrrst stand in need of a
general assessment for its support; and most certain we are that it would be no advantage, but an injury to the society to which we belong: and as every good Christian
believes that Christ has ordained a complete system of laws for the government of
his kingdom, so we are persuaded that, by his providence, he will support it to its
final consummation. In the fixed belief of this principle, that the kingdom of
Christ, and the concerns of religion, are beyond the limits of civil control, we
should act a dishonest, inconsistent part, were we to receive any emoluments from
human establishments for the support of the gospel.
These things being considered, we hope we shall be excused for remonstrating
against a general assessment for any religious purpose. As the maxims have long
been approved, that every servant is to obey his master; and that, the hireling is
accountable for his conduct to him from whom he receives his wages; in like
manner, if the Legislature has any rightful authority over the ministers of the gospel in the exercise of their sacred office, and it is their duty to levy a maintenance
for them as such; then it will follow that they may revive the old establishment in
its former extent; or ordain a new one for any sect they think proper; they are
invested with a power not only to determine, but it is incumbent on them to declare,
who shall preach, what they shall preach; to whom, when, at what places they
shall preach; or to impose any regulations and restrictions upon religious societies
that they may judge expedient. These consequences are so plain as not to be
denied; and they are so entirely subversive of religious liberty, that if they
should take place in Virginia, we should be reduced to the melancholy necessity of
saying with the Apostles in like cases'" Judge ye whether it is best to obey God or
man;" and also of acting as they acted.
Therefore, as it is contrary to our principles and interest; and, as we think,
subversive of religious liberty, we do again most earnestly entreat that our Legislature would never extend any assessment for religious purposes to us, or to the
congregations under our care. And your memorialists, as in duty bound, shall
ever pray for, and demean themselves as peaceable subjects, of, civil government.
Signed by order of the Presbytery,
RICHARD SANKEY, Moderator.
Timber Ridge, 
April 25, 1777.J
The  Rev. Messrs. Samuel Stanhope  Smith and David Rice
were the committee of Presbytery that drafted the memorial.
The preparation of the bill for establishing religious freedom
is thus given by Mr. Jefferson-Works, vol. I. pp. 34, 35, 36" Early, therefore in the session of'76, to which I returned, I
moved and presented a bill for the revision of the laws; which
was passed on the 24th of October, and on the 5th of November, Mr. Pendleton, Mr. Wythe, George Mason, Thomas L.
Lee and myself were appointed a committee to execute the.work.   We  agreed  to meet in  Fredericksburg  to  settle the
plan of operation, and to distribute the work. We met there
accordingly, on the 13th of January, 1777.   The first question
was, whether we should propose to abolish the whole existing
system of laws, and prepare a new and complete Institute, or
preserve the general system, and only modify it to the present




328             SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
state of things. Mr. Pendleton, contrary to his usual disposition in favour of ancient things, was for the former proposition, in which he was joined by Mr. Lee. * * * This last
was the opinion of Mr. Wythe, Mr. Mason and myself. When
we proceeded to the distribution of the work, Mr. Mason
excused himself, as, being no lawyer, he felt himself unqualified for the work, and he resigned soon after. MIr. Lee
excused himself on the same ground, and died indeed in a
short time. The other two gentlemen, therefore, and myself
divided the work among us. * * * * * * We were
employed in this work from that time to February, 1779, when
we met at Williamsburg, that is to say, Mr. Pendleton, Mr.
Wythe and myself; and meeting day by day, we examined
critically our several parts, sentence by sentence, scrutinizing
and amending, until we had agreed on the whole. We then
returned home, had fair copies made of our several parts,
which were reported to the General Assembly, June 18th,
1779, by Mr. Wythe and myself, Mr. Pendleton's residence
being distant, and he having authorized us by letter to declare
his approbation. We had in this work, brought so much of
the common law as it was thought necessary to alter, all the
British statutes from  Magna Charta to the present day,
and all the laws of Virginia, from the establishment of our
Legislature, in the 4th of Jae 1st to the present time, which
we thought should be retained, within the compass of one
hundred and twenty-six bills, making a printed folio of ninety
pages only. Some bills were taken out, occasionally, from
time to time and passed; but the main body of the work was
not entered upon by the Legislature, until, after the general
peace, in 1785, when by the unwearied exertions of Mr.
3Madison, in opposition to the endless quibbles, chicaneries,
perversions, vexations and delays of lawyers and demi-lawyers,
most of the bills were passed by the Legislature, with little
alteration."
" The bill for establishing religious freedom, the principles
of which had, to a certain degree, been enacted before, I had
drawn in all the latitude of reason and right. It still met with
opposition; but, with some mutilations in the preamble, it was
finally passed." The passage of the bill spoken of took place
in December 1785, more than six years after it had been first
reported to the House. Says Mr. Jefferson, p. 143, vol. 1st,
"I proposed the demolition of church establishment, and the
freedom of religion. It could only be done by degrees; to
wit, the act of 1776, c. 2d, exempted dissenters from contributions to the Church, and left the Church clergy to be supported by voluntary contributions of their own sect; was
continued from year to year, and made perpetual in 1779. I




MIR. JEFFERSON-THE BAPTISTS.'         329
prepared the act for religious freedom in 1777, as part of the
revisal, which was not reported to the Assembly till 1779, and
that particular law not passed till 1785, and then by the
efforts of Mr. Madison."
In the interval, between the bringing in the bill in 1777 and
the passage in 1785, the contest for religious liberty was going
on in the Legislature, and was debated throughout the State.
Various efforts were made by men of talents and influence to
preserve a modification of the Establishment, with toleration to
dissenters. Some feared that public worship could not be kept
up in the State, if the Church and State were dissevered;
others were unwilling to break down the time-honoured forms
and ceremonies of the State religion, believing them useful if
not necessary, and clinging to them with the fondness of early
associations.
During the session of Assembly in the summer of 1777,
when public expectation was all alive anticipating the changes
that would be proposed and probably made, by the committee
of revision, the Presbytery of Hanover met at Concord in Bedford county, June 19th-present, Rev. Messrs. Rice, Irvin,
Wallace and Graham; with Archibald Campbell, John Irvin,
and Hugh Wair, elders. "~ The Presbytery considering it as
probable that our General Assembly may come to a final determination concerning church establishments, at their next session, which may make it of importance for this Presbytery further to concern themselves in the case before our next stated
meeting, we therefore appoint the Rev. Messrs. Sankey, Todd,
Rice, Wallace, and Smith, or any of them, a committee to meet
at  Hampden Sidney on the 26th of September, or sooner if
any two of them shall judge it necessary, to do and act in behalf of this Presbytery, in that case." Nothing definitive,
however, was done by the Assembly, on the vexed question,
this year. The payment of the salaries of the Episcopal clergy
was farther postponed, first from the session in the spring to
the session in the fall; and then "' until the end of the next
session of Assembly."  In May 1778, the suspension was continued, "until the end of the next session of Assembly." In
October the suspension was continued until the " end of the
next session of Assembly."  In May 1779, it was again " suspended until the end of the next session of Assembly."
The Baptists, at their General Association, held at Ander-,son's meeting-house, in Buckingham county, in May, 1778,
appointed a committee-" to inquire whether any grievances
existed in the civil laws that were oppressive to the Baptists.
In their report they represented the marriage law as being partial and oppressive. Upon which it was agreed to present to
the next General Assembly a memorial, praying for a law
42




330               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
affording equal privileges to all ordained ministers, of every
denomination."-Semple, 64.
At their meeting, at Dupuy's meeting-house, in Powhatan
county, the second Saturday in October of the same year,
(1778) —" a committee of seven members was appointed to take
into consideration the civil grievances of the Baptists, and make
report. They reported on Monday:" 1st. That should a general assessment take place, it would be
injurious to the dissenters in general.
"' 2d. That the clergy of the former established church suppose themselves to have exclusive right of officiating in marriages, which has subjected dissenters to great inconveniences.
"3d. They therefore recommend that two persons be appointed
to wait on the next General Assembly, and lay the grievances
before them."  And for this purpose "Jeremiah Walker and
Elijah Craig, (and in case of the failure of either) John Williams, were appointed to attend the General Assembly."
In May, 1779, a bill — establishing religious freedom"
and providing for a general assessment; putting all denominations on an equality; was proposed, and passed two readings in
the House of Delegates. At this stage its progress was arrested,
that the sense of the people might be ascertained.
At the meeting of the Legislature, in October, 1779, the
sense of the public being known —an act was passed in the following terms-" Be it enacted by the General Assembly-That
so much of the act entitled-An act for the support of the clergy,
and for the regular collecting and paying the parish levies,and of all and every other act or acts providing salaries for the
ministers, and authorizing the vestries to levy the same, shall be,
and the same is hereby repealed."-Hening, 10th vol. p. 197.
The established church was by this act shorn of the greater
part of her support; the clergy still retained the glebes, and
claimed the privilege of marriage ceremonies, with their fees;
and the vestries still had the right of laying taxes for the support of the poor.
At a meeting of the Baptist Association, at Nottoway meeting-house, in Amelia county, second Saturday of October, 1779,
Mr. Walker, of the committee to wait on the Assembly, having
seen Mr. Jefferson's bill on religious freedom, made report to
his brethren, on which the following record was made-" On
consideration of the bill establishing freedom, agreed-That
the said bill, in our opinion, puts religious freedom upon its
proper basis: prescribes the just limits of the power of the State
with regard to religion; and properly guards against partiality
towards any religious denomination; we, therefore, heartily
approve of the same, and wish it to pass into a law."
" Ordered-that this our approbation of the said bill be




THE BAPTISTS-MARRIAGE ACT.              331
transmitted to the public printers, to be inserted in the
Gazettes."
" It seems that many of the Baptist preachers, presuming
upon a future sanction, had gone on to marry such people as
-applied for marriage. It was determined that a memorial
should be sent from this association, requesting that all such
marriages should be sanctioned by a law for that purpose. For
a set of preachers, to proceed to solemnize the rites of matrimony, without any law to authorize them, might at first view
appear incorrect, and indeed censurable; but we are informed
that they were advised to this measure by Patrick Henry, as
being the most certain method of obtaining the law."
In October, 1780, the Legislature passed an Act declaring
what shall be a lawful marriage.  From  this act, found in
Hening, vol. 10, pp. 361, 362, the following extracts are sufficient for the present purpose:
"For encouraging marriages and for removing doubts concerning the validity of marriages celebrated by ministers, other
than the Church of England, be it enacted by the General Assembly-That it shall and may be lawful for any minister of
any society or congregation of Christians, and for the society
of Christians called Quakers and Menonists, to celebrate the
rites of matrimony, and to join together as man and wife, those
who may apply to them, agreeable to the rules and usage of
the respective societies to which the parties to be married respectively belong, and such marriage, as well as those heretofore
celebrated by dissenting ministers, shall be, and they are hereby declared good and valid in law." —By the second clause,
Quakers and Menonists were excused from getting license for
marriage, or from publication of bans, which were obligatory
on all others.  By the third clause, the fee for marriage ceremony was " twenty-five pounds of tobacco and no more, to be
paid in current money at the rate which shall be settled by the
grand jury at the term of the General Court next preceding
such marriage."  By the fourth clause, certificates of marriage
were to be returned to the clerk of the county, on penalty of
five hundred pounds. By the fifth clause it was enacted" That the courts of the different counties shall, and are hereby
authorized on recommendation from the elders of the several
religious sects, to grant license to dissenting ministers of the
gospel, not exceeding the number of four of each sect in any,one county, to join together in holy matrimony, any persons
within their county only; which license shall be signed by the
judge or elder magistrate under his hand and seal." This act,
clogged as it was, to be in force from the first of January 1781,
was an advance in religious liberty. The solemn vows to live
as husband and wife might be uttered, in words, and with forms,




332               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
agreeable to the tastes and consciences of the parties concerned. The Presbyterian settlements, in the Valley of the Shenandoah, were greatly relieved, by the provisions of the law,
from acts that were becoming habits, and doings that were
rapidly becoming customs, under the report of which their.
civility and delicacy were suffering, in the estimation of others
unacquainted with their necessities.  There being but few
ministers of the Church of England in the Valley, —and their
demands for riding any distance to perform the marriage ceremony exorbitant, and their often refusing to leave their homes
at all, wedding parties often rode in company to the minister's
house for the ceremony; these rides became ocoasions for dissipation of that kind, and exhibition of manners of that sort, as
fastened upon the people of the Valley imputations not justified
by the real facts in the case. What was done, by necessity
of law, was neither vulgar or immodest in those suffering the
compulsion.
In the month of April 1780, the Presbytery of Hanover met
in the Tinkling Spring congregation, in Augusta county;present Rev. Messrs. Todd, Brown, Waddel, Rice, Irvin,
Smith and Crawford. On the 28th of the month, being at
Mr. Waddel's- "A memorial to the Assembly of Virginia,
from this Presbytery,-to abstain from  interfering in the
government of the church-was prepared, and being read in
Presbytery, is appointed and directed to be transmitted to the
House."
" The Presbytery do request Colonel McDowell and Captain
Johnson to present their memorial to the Assembly, and to
second it by their influence; and Mr. Waddel and Mr. Graham
are appointed to inform these gentlemen of the request of
Presbytery."
At a meeting of the Presbytery of Hanover, held at Bethel,
Augusta county, May 19th, 1784; —present Rev. Messrs.
Graham, Scott, Wilson, Houston, Smith, Montgomery, Irvin,
Brown, Carrick  and Rankin; —with-Samuel McCutchin,
Robert McNutt, and Samuel Craig, elders; —" On motion made
by Mr. Smith that a committee be appointed to prepare a memorial to the Assembly at their present session upon certain
infringements of religious liberty, which exist in this State,the Presbytery agreed to appoint him and Mr. Waddel to that
business, and that they make their report to-morrow. May
20th, Mr. Smith from the committee appointed yesterday produced a draught of a memorial, which Presbytery approved of;
and appointed Messrs. Smith and Waddel to have it presented
to the Assembly, and to preserve a copy for the inspection of
Presbytery at our next stated meeting.




PRESBYTERY OF HANOVER-MEMORIAL III.                      333
MEMORIAL OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HANOVER IN MAY, 1784.
To the Honourable Speaker, and House of Delegates of Virginia.
Gentlemen,
The united clergy of the Presbyterian Church in Virginia, assembled in Presbytery, request your attention to the following representation. In the late arduous
struggle for every thing dear to us, a desire of perfect liberty, and political equality
animated every class of citizens. An entire and everlasting freedom from every
species of ecclesiastical domination, a full and permanent security of the unalienable rights of conscience, and private judgment, and an equal share of the protection and favour of government to all denominations of Christians, were particular
objects of our expectation, and irrefragable claim. The happy Revolution effected
by the virtuous exertions of our countrymen of various opinions in religion, was a
favourtble opportunity of obtaining these desirable objects without faction, contention, or complaint. All ranks of men, almost, felt the claims of justice, when the
rod of oppression had scourged them into sensibility, and the powerful band of
common danger had cordially united them together against civil encroachments.
The members, therefore, of every religious society had a right to expect, and most
of them did expect, that former invidious and exclusive distinctions, preferences,
and emoluments conferred by the State on any one sect above others, would have
been wholly removed. They justly supposed that any partiality of this kind, any
particular and illicit connexion or commerce between the State, and one description of Christians more than another, on account of peculiar opinions in religion,
or any thing else, would be unworthy of the representatives of a people perfectly
free, and an infringement of that religious liberty, which enhances the value of
other privileges in a state of society.
We, therefore, and the numerous body of citizens in our communion, as well as
in many others, are justly dissatisfied and uneasy, that our expectations from the
Legislature have not been answered in these important respects. We regret that
the prejudices of education, the influence of partial custom, and habits of thinking
confirmed by these, have too much confounded the distinction between matters
purely religious, and the objects of human legislation, and have occasioned jealousy
and dissatisfaction by injurious inequalities, respecting things which are connected
with religious opinion, towards different sects of Christians.  That this uneasiness
may not appear to be entertained without ground, we would wish to state the
following unquestionable facts for the consideration of the House of Delegates.
The security of our religious rights upon equal and impartial ground, instead of
— being made afundamental part of our constitution, as it ought to have been, is left to
the precarious fate of common law. A matter of general and essential concern to
the people, is committed to the hazard of the prevailing opinion of a majority of
the Assembly at its different sessions.  In consequence of this, the Episcopal
church was virtually regarded as the constitutional church, the church of the State,
at the Revolution; and was left by the framers of our present government, in that
station of unjust pre-eminence which she had formerly acquired under the smiles of
royal favour. And even when the late oppressive establishment of that church
was at length acknowledged an unreasonable hardship by the Assembly in 1776, a
superiority and distinction in name was still retained, and it was expressly styled
the established church as before; which title was continued as late as the year 1778,
and never formally disclaimed: our common danger at that time not permitting
that opposition to the injustice of such distinction which it required and deserved.
But "a seat on the right hand of temporal glory as the established mother
church" was not the only inequality then countenanced, and still subsisting, of
which we now have reason to regret and complain. Substantial advantages were
also confirmed and secured to her, by a partial and inequitable decree of government. We hoped the time past would have sufficed for the enjoyment of these
emoluments, which that church long possessed without control by the abridgment
of the equal privileges of others, and the aid of their property wrested from them
by the hand of usurpation; but we were deceived. An estate computed to be
worth several hundred thousand pounds in churches, glebes, &c., derived from the
pockets of all religious societies, was exclusively and unjustly appropriated to the
benefit of one, without compensation or restitution to the rest, who in many places,
were a large majority of the inhabitants.
Nor is this the whole of the injustice we have felt in matters connected with religious opinion. The episcopal church is actually incorporated, and known in law
as a body, so that it can receive and possess property for ecclesiastical purposes,
without trouble or risk in securing it, while other Christian communities are




334                      SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
obliged to trust to the precarious fidelity of trustees chosen for the purpose. The
episcopal clergy are considered as having a right, ex officio, to celebrate marriages
throughout the State, while unnecessary hardships and restrictions are imposed
upon other clergymen in the law relating to that subject passed in 1780, which confines their exercise of that function to those counties, where they receive a special
license from the court by recommendation, for recording which they are charged
with certain fees by the clerk; and which exposes them to a heavy fine for delay
in returning certificates of marriages to the office.
The vestries of the different parishes, a remnant of hierarchical domination,
have a right by law to levy money from the people of all denominations for certain purposes; and yet these vestrymen are exclusively required by law to be
members of the episcopal church, and to subscribe a conformity to its doctrines
and discipline as professed and practised in England. Such preferences, distinctions and advantages granted by the Legislature exclusively to one sect of Christians, are regarded by a great number of your constituents as glaringly unjust and
dangerous. Their continuance so long in a republic, without animadversion or
correction by the assembly, affords just ground for alarm and complaint to a people, who feel themselves, by the favour of Providence, happily free; who are conscious of having deserved as well from the State as those who are most favoured;
who have an undoubted right to think themselves as orthodox in opinion upon
every subject as others, and whose privileges are as dear to them. Such partiality
to any system of religious opinion whatever, is inconsistent with the intention and
proper object of well directed government, and obliges men of reflection to consider the Legislature which indulges it, as a party in religious differences, instead
of the common guardian and equal protector of every class of citizens in their religious as well as civil rights. We have hitherto restrained our complaints from
reaching our representatives, that we might not be thought to take advantages from
times of confusion, or critical situations of government in an unsettled state of
convulsion and war, to obtain what is our clear and incontestable right.
But as the happy restoration of peace affords leisure for reflection, we wish to
state our sense of the objects of this memorial to your honourable house upon the
present occasion; that it may serve to remind you of what might be unnoticed in
a multitude of business, and remain as a remonstrance against future encroachments from any quarter. That uncommon liberality of sentiment, which seems
daily to gain ground in this enlightened period, encourages us to hope from your
wisdom and integrity, gentlemen, a redress of every grievance and remedy of
every abuse. Our invaluable privileges have been purchased by the common blood
and treasure of our countrymen of different names and opinions, and therefore
ought to be secured in full and perfect equality to them all. We are willing to
allow a full share of credit to our fellow citizens, however distinguished in name
from us, for their spirited exertions in our arduous struggle for liberty; we would
not wish to charge any of them, either ministers or people, with open disaffection
to the common cause of America, or with crafty dissimulation or indecision, till
the issue of the war was certain, so as to oppose their obtaining equal privileges
in religion; but we will resolutely engage against any monopoly of the honours or
rewards of government by any one sect of Christians more than the rest; for we
shun not a comparison with any of our brethren, for our efforts in the cause of our
country, and assisting to establish her liberties, and therefore esteem it unreasonable that any of them should reap superior advantages for, at most, but equal
merit. We expect from the representatives of a free people, that all partiality and
prejudice on any account whatever will be laid aside, and that the happiness of the
citizens at large will be secured upon the broad basis of perfect political equality.
This will engage confidence in government, and unsuspicious affection towards
our fellow citizens. We hope that the Legislature will adopt some measures to
remove present inequality, and resist any attempt, either at their present session or
hereafter, to continue those which we now complain of. Thus by preserving a
proper regard to every religious denomination as the common protectors of piety
and virtue, you will remove every real ground of contention, and allay every jealous commotion on the score of religion. The citizens of Virginia will feel themselves free, unsuspicious, and happy in this respect. Strangers will be encouraged
to share our freedom and felicity; and when civil and religious liberty go hand in
hand, our late posterity will bless the wisdom and virtue of their fathers. We
have the satisfaction to assure you that we are steady well wishers to the State,
and your humble servants.
THE PRESBYTERY OF HANOVER.




DR. HAWKS-PRESBYTERY OF HANOVER.         335
The subject of a general assessment was brought before the
Legislature, in its two sessions, in the year 1784, by petitions
from several counties, which prayed-that, # as all persons
enjoyed the benefit of religion, all might be required to contribute to the expense of supporting some form of worship or
other." From the inhabitants of Mecklenburg, Lunenburg
and Amelia, the petition said —"that they conceive the stability of our government, and the preservation of peace and
happiness among the individuals of it, depend in a great
measure, on the influence of religion, without which no government, however wisely formed, can long exist; that they consider its rapid declension, within a few years, as proceeding
from the inattention of the Legislature, which has an undoubted right to compel every individual who partakes of those
blessings, which are originally derived from it, to contribute to
the support of it, and praying that an Act may pass for a
general assessment for that purpose, and for securing to the
Protestant Ep2iscopal Church the property vested in it."
That from the Protestant Episcopal Church, says Dr. Hawks,
pp. 156, 157 —set forth that-"their Church laboured under
many inconveniences and restraints by the operation of sundry
laws in force, which direct modes of worship, and enjoin the
observance of certain days, and otherwise produce embarrassment and difficulty; and praying that all acts which direct
modes of faith and worship and enjoin the observance of
certain days may be repealed; that the present vestry laws
may be repealed or amended; that the churches, glebe lands,
donations, and all other property heretofore belonging to the
established church may be forever secured to them by law;
that an act may pass to incorporate the Protestant Episcopal
Church in Virginia to enable them to regulate all the spiritual
concerns of that Church; and in general, that the Legislature
will aid and pratronize the Christian religion."
The Presbytery of Hanover met at Timber Ridge, October
27th, 1784 —" Mr. Smith agreeable to an order of last Presbytery, produced a copy of the memorial presented to the last
sessions of the General Assembly, complaining of certain
imfringements on our religious liberty. The Presbytery approves of the memorial and ordered it to be recorded in the
Presbytery book. Messrs. Graham and Smith were appointed
a committee to prepare a memorial to be presented at the
present session of the General Assembly of the State, and to
produce it to-morrow for the inspection of the Presbytery."
On the next day a memorial was presented-" complaining of,
and praying a redress of certain grievances." The Presbytery
approved it and ordered it to be sent to the Assembly then in
session.




o9 O                     SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
BIEMORIAL.
The Pr2esbytery of Hanover, to the Assembly, in October, 1784.
To the Honourable Speaker and House of Delegates of Virginia,
Gentlemen,
The united clergy of the Presbyterian church of Virginia assembled in Presbytery, beg leave ag(ain to address your honourable house, upon a few important subjects, in which we find ourselves interested as citizens of this State.
The freedom we possess is so rich a blessing, and the purchase of it has been so
high, that we would ever wish to cherish a spirit of vigilant attention to it, in
every circumstance of possible danger. We are anxious to retain a full share of
all the privileges which our happy revolution affords, and cannot but feel alarmed
at the continued existence of any infringement upon them, or even any indirect
attempt tending to this. Impressed with this idea as men, whose rights are sacred
and dear to them, ought to be, we are obliged to express our sensibility upon the
present occasion, and we naturally direct our appeal to you, gentlemen, as the public guardians of your country's happiness and liberty, who are influenced we hope
by that wisdom and justice which your high station requires. Conscious of the
rectitude of our intentions and the strength of our claims, we wish to speak our
sentiments fireely upon these occasions, but at the same time with all that respectful regard, which becomes us, when addressing the representatives of a great and
virtuous people. It is with pain that we find ourselves obliged to renew our complaints upon the subjects stated in our memorial last spring. We deeply regret
that such obvious grievances should exist unredressed in a Republic, whose end
ought to be the happiness of all the citizens. WVe presumed that immediate redress would have succeeded a clear and just representation of them; as we expect,
that it is always the desire of our representatives to remove real grounds of uneasiness, and allay jealous commotions amongst the people. But as the objects of the
memorial, though very important in their nature, and more so in their probable
consequences, have not yet been obtained, we request that the house of delegates
would be pleased to recollect what we had the honour to state to them in that
paper at their last sessions; to resume the subject in their present deliberation;
and to give it that weight which its importance deserves. The uneasiness which
wve feel from the continuance of the grievances just referred to, is increased under
the prospect of an addition to them by certain exceptionable measures said to be
proposed to the Legislature.-We have understood that a comprehensive incorporating act, has been and is at present in agitation, whereby ministers of the
gospel as such, of certain descriptions, shall have legal advantages which are not
proposed to be extended to the people at large of any denomination. A proposition has been made by some gentlemen in the house of delegates we are told, to
extend the grace to us, amongst others, in our professional capacity. If this be so,
awe are bound to acknowledge with gratitude our obligations to such gentlemen for
their inclination to favour us with the sanction of public authority in the discharge
of our duty. But as the scheme of incorporating clergymen, independent of the religious conmmunities to which they belong, is inconsistent with our ideas of propriety,
wve request the liberty of declining any such solitary honour should it be again proposed. To form clergmen into a distinct order in the community, and especially
where it would be possible for them to have the principal direction of a considerable public estate by such incorporation, has a tendency to render them independent, at length, of the churches whose ministers they are; and this has been too
often found by experience to produce ignorance, immorality, and neglect of the
duties of their station.
Besides, if clergymen were to be erected by the State into a distinct political
body, detached from the rest of the citizens, with the express design of " enabling
them to direct spiritual matters," which we all possess without such formality, it
would naturally tend to introduce that antiquated and absurd system, in which
government is owned, in effect, to be the fountain head of spiritual influences to
the church. It would establish an immediate, a peculiar, and for that very reason,
in our opinion, illicit connexion between government, and such as were thus distinguished. The Legislature in that case would be the head of a religious party,
and its dependent members would be entitled to all decent reciprocity, to a becoming paternal and fostering care. This we suppose, would be giving a preference,
and creating a distinction between citizens equally good, on account of something
entirely foreign from civil merit, which would be a source of endless jealousies,
and inadmissible in a republic or any other well-directed government.-The prin



PRESBYTERY OF HANOVER-MEMORIAL IV.                        337
ciple too, which this system aims to establish, is both false and dangerous to religion, and we take this opportunity to remonstrate and protest against it. The
real ministers of true religion, derive their authority to act in the duties of their
profession from a higher source than any Legislature on earth, however respectable. Their office relates to the care of the soul, and preparing it for a future
state of existence, and their administrations are, or ought to be, of a spiritual
nature suited to this momentous concern. And it is plain from the very nature of
the case, that they should neither expect, nor receive from government any permission or direction in this respect. We hope therefore that the House of Delegates shares so large a portion of that philosophic and liberal discernment, which
prevails in America at present, as to see this matter in its proper light-and that
they will understand too well the nature of their duty, as the equal and common
guardians of the chartered rights of all the citizens, to permit a connexion of this
kind we have just now mentioned, to subsist between them and the spiritual instructors of any religious denomination in the State.-The interference of government in religion, cannot be indifferent to us, and as it will probably come under consideration at the present session of the Assembly, we request the attention of the
honourable House, to our sentiments upon this head.
We conceive that human legislation, ought to have human affairs alone for its
concern. Legislators in free States possess delegated authority, for the good of
the community at large in its political or civil capacity.
The existence, preservation and happiness of society should be their only object;
and to this their public cares should be confined. Whatever is not materially connected with this, lies not within their province as statesmen. The thoughts, the
intentions, the faith, and the consciences of men, with their modes of worship, lie
beyond their reach, and are ever to be referred to a higher and more penetrating
tribunal. These internal and spiritual matters cannot be measured by human rules,
nor be amenable to human laws. It is the duty of every man, for himself, to take
tare of his immortal interests in a future state, where we are to account for our
conduct as individuals; and it is by no means the business of a Legislature to attend
to this, for THERE governments and states as collective bodies shall no more be
known.
Religion, therefore, as a spiritual system, and its ministers in a professional capacity, ought not to be under the direction of the State.
Neither is it necessary to their existence that they should be publicly supported
by a legal provision for the purpose, as tried experience hath often shown; although
it is absolutely necessary to the existence and welfare of every political combination of men in society, to have the support of religion and its solemn institutions,
as affecting the conduct of rational beings more than human laws can possibly do.
On this account it is wise policy in legislators to seek its alliance and solicit its aid
in a civil view, because of its happy influence upon the morality of its citizens,
and its tendency to preserve the veneration of an oath, or an appeal to heaven,
which is the cement of the social union. It is upon this principle alone, in our
opinion, that a legislative body has a right to interfere in religion at all, and of consequence we suppose that this interference ought only to extend to the preserving
of the public worship of the Deity, and the supporting of institutions for inculcating
the great fundamental principles of all religion, without which society could not
easily exist. Should it be thought necessary at present for the Assembly to exert
this right of supporting religion in general by an assessment on all the people, we
would wish it to be done on the most liberal plan. A general assessment of the kind
we have heard proposed is an object of such consequence that it excites much
anxious speculation amongst your constituents.
We therefore earnestly pray that nothing may be done in the case, inconsistent
with the proper objects of human legislation or the Declaration of Rights as published
at the Revolution. We hope that the assessment will not be proposed under the
idea of supporting religion as a spiritual system, relating to the care of the soul and
preparing it for its future destiny. We hope that no attempt will be made to point
out articles of faith, that are not essential to the preservation of society; or to settle
modes of worship; or to interfere in the internal government of religious communities; or to render the ministers of religion independent of the will of the people whom
they serve. We expect from our representatives, that careful attention to the political equality of all the citizens, which a Republic ought ever to cherish; and that
no scheme of an assessment will be encouraged which will violate the happy privilege we now enjoy of thinking for ourselves in all cases where conscience is
concerned.
We request the candid indulgence of the honourable house to the present address; and their most favourable construction of the motives which induce us to
43




338                   SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
obtrude ourselves into public notice. We are urged by a sense of duty. We feel
ourselves impressed with the importance of the present crisis. We have expressed
ourselves in the plain language of freemen, upon the interesting subjects which
called for animadversion; and we hope to stand excused with you, gentlemen, for
the manner in which it is executed, as well as for the part we take in the public
interests of the community. In the present important moment, we conceived it
criminal to be silent; and have therefore attempted to discharge a duty which we
owe to our religion as Christians; to ourselves as freemen; and to our posterity,
who ought to receive from us a precious birthright of perfect freedom and political
equality.
That you may enjoy the direction of Heaven in your present deliberations, and
possess in a high degree the spirit of your exalted station, is the prayer of your
sincere well wishers,
THE PRESBYTERY OF HANOVER.
There was a strong impression that some kind of assessment
would be demanded by a majority of the citizens of the State.
And it appears that, for a time, there was a leaning that way,
in some, at least, of the members of Presbytery: for at the
same session of Presbytery in which the foregoing memorial
was prepared, the following-" plan was also introduced, agreeably to which alone Presbytery are willing to admit a general
assessment for the support of religion by law; the leading principles of which are as follows: —lst. Religion as a spiritual system is not to be considered as an object of human legislation?
but may in a civil view, as preserving the existence and promoting the happiness of society. 2d. That public worship and
public periodical instruction to the people, be maintained in
this view by a general assessment for this purpose. 3d. That
every man, as a good citizen, be obliged to declare himself
attached to some religious community, publicly known to profess the belief of one God, his righteous providence, our accountableness to him, and a future state of rewards and punishments.
4th. That every citizen should have liberty annually to direct
his assessed proportion to such community as he chooses. 5th.
That twelve titheables, or more, to the amount of one hundred
and fifty families, as near as local circumstances will admit,
shall be incorporated, and exclusively direct the application of
the money contributed for their support.  Messrs. Todd, Graham, Smith and Montgomery are appointed to present the memorial, and attend the assembly with the plan of an assessment."
At the first meeting of the General Committee of the Baptist
Church, which assembled October 9th, 1784, says Mr. Semple,
p. 70 —" The law for the solemnization of marriage, and the
vestry law, were considered political grievances. They also
resolved to oppose the law for a general assessment, and that
for the incorporation of religious societies, which were now in
agitation. A memorial to the General Assembly, praying for
a repeal of the vestry law, and an alteration in the marriage
law, was drawn and committed to the hands of the Rev. Reuben
Ford, to be presented to the next Assembly" —which was to
meet on the eighteenth of the month.




INCORPORATION OF PROT. EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.    339
The session of the General Assembly of the State, which was
commenced on the 18th of October, 1784, in the city of Richmond, was one of great interest.'Men of the finest talents and
most extended information were members. The true relations
of Church and State was inquired into with patience, vigour, conscience, keenness and judgment, in the exercise of great talents
add eloquence.  On the 17th of November, Mr. Matthews
reported, from the committee of the whole house, on the state of
the commonwealth, the following resolution, viz.' Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that acts
ought to pass for the incorporation of all societies of the Christian re7igion which may apply for the same."
The ayes and noes being called for on this resolution, there
were, ayes sixty-two, noes twenty-three. Patrick Henry, the
great champion of popular rights, gave his whole influence in
favour of this bill, under the strong conviction that religion
should have protection from the State in some form.
The members of the Protestant Episcopal Church having
applied for incorporation, and therefore being within the provisions of the resolution, leave was given the same day to bring
in a bill for the incorporation of the clergy of that church.
The committee to bring in the bill were-Carter M. Harrison,
chairman-Patrick Henry, Thomas Smith, William Anderson,
and Mr. Tazewell. These reported a bill which was passed
into a law. Hening, vol. 11th, p. 532. " Whereas the clergy
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, by their petition presented,
have requested, that their church may be incorporated,-Be it
enacted by the General Assembly-That every minister of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, now holding a parish within this
commonwealth, either by appointment from a vestry or induction from a governor, and all the vestrymen in the different
parishes now instituted, or which hereafter may be instituted
within this commonwealth, that is to say,-The minister and
vestrymen of each parish respectively, or in case of a vacancy,
the vestry of each parish, and their successors for ever, are
hereby made a body corporate and politic, by the name of,-'The Minister and Vestry of the Protestant Episcopal
Church,' in the parish where they respectively reside," &c.
By this law each vestry could hold property not exceeding in
income 8001. yearly; could sue, and be sued; and perform all
necessary acts of a vestry and a corporation; and hold the glebe
lands and the churches. A convention of the church was to
be called, and the government of the church to be vested in
the convention, both as to its forms and doctrines.
The Assembly at this session (October, 1784,) remodeled the
marriage act of 1780, Hening, vol. 11th, p. 503, and enacted



340               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
"that it shall and may be lawful for any ordained minister of
the gospel, in regular communion with any society of Christians, and every such minister is hereby authorized to celebrate
the rites of matrimony according to the forms of the church to
which he belongs;"-thus doing away all privilege, and precedence, of one denomination over another, in performing the
marriage ceremony.
During the same session (October, 1784,) the committee, to
whom had been committed various petitions, praying-that as
all persons enjoyed the benefits of religion, all might be required to contribute to the expense of supporting some form of
worship or other,-brought in a bill entitled-" A bill establishing a provision for teachers of the Christian religion."  The
preamble was in the following words,-"Whereas the general
diffusion of Christian knowledge hath a natural tendency to
correct the morals of men, restrain their vices and preserve
the peace of society; which cannot be effected without a competent provision for learned teachers, who may be thereby
enabled to devote their time and attention to the duty of instructing such citizens as, from their circumstances and want
of education cannot otherwise attain such knowledge; and it
is judged such provision may be made by the legislature, without counteracting the liberal principle heretofore adopted and
intended to be preserved, by abolishing all distinctions of preeminence amongst the different societies or communities of
Christians." This act passed to its' third reading, and had the
approbation and influence of Patrick Henry. Its provisions
were without partiality to sect or people. All persons subject
to taxes were, at the time of giving in their titheables, to declare
to what denomination of Christians they would give their support, and to which they would appropriate the sums assessed on
them. If they made no specification, the sums assessed were
to be applied to the encouragement of seminaries of learning
in the counties where such sums might arise.  On its third
reading, its progress was arrested, and the engrossed bill was
sent out for the examination of the public, that expressions of
opinion might be given, indicating the will of community,
and the course to be pursued by the Legislature.  The subject
matter of the bill was widely and most earnestly discussed, and
the opinion of the dissenters, and a large portion of community that were not properly called dissenters, conveyed to the
Legislature in unequivocal language.
The Presbytery of Hanover met at Bethel in Augusta
county, May 19th, 1785; present Rev. Messrs. John Todd,
John Brown, William Graham, Archibald Scott, Edward Crawford, John B. Smith, William Ervin, Moses Hoge, Samuel




CONVENTION OF PRESBYTERIANS.          341
Houston, Samuel Carrick, and Samuel Shannon; —with elders
James Henry, William McKee, John Tate, James Hogshead,
William  Yool, and Andrew  Setlington.  "A  petition was
presented to the Presbytery from the session of Augusta congregation, requesting an explication of the word'liberal' as
used in the Presbytery's memorial of last fall; and also the
motives and end of the Presbytery in sending it to the Assembly. Messrs. Hoge and Carrick are appointed a committee
to prepare an answer to the above petition and report to
Presbytery."
"On motion, the opinion of Presbytery  was taken,whether they do approve of any kind of an assessment by the
General Assembly for the support of religion. Presbytery
are unanimously acgainst such a measure."
The question from Augusta congregation referred to that
part of the memorial of the preceding fall which says1" Should it be thought necessary at present for the Assembly
to exact this right of supporting religion in general by an
assessment on all the people, we would wish it to be done on the
most liberal plan." Did this mean that they approved of an
assessment,-or that they acquiesced, —or merely submitted;
that they wished a large assessment,-or one that favoured all
equally, without any distinction of sect? Whatever may have
been the private opinions of any of the members in 1784 and
previous, or the influence of that popular champion, Patrick
Henry, over their judgments when first contemplating a subject of which he was the advocate,-now when the whole
subject was thrown before the people, and the principles to
govern the connexion of Church and State to be settled by a
popular vote, the Presbytery in full session declared themselves unanimously against all assessments by the Legislature
for the support of religion.
" On motion, the opinion of the Presbytery, and likewise of
several members of different congregations present was taken,
whether a General Convention of the Presbyterian body was
expedient in our present circumstances. It was unanimously
agreed to; and an invitation was accordingly signed by the
ministers and several private members of the Presbyterian
Church to the whole body to send representatives to a Convention proposed to be held at Bethel, on the 10th day of next
August."
The Convention met on the appointed day; and prepared,
and sent forth a memorial, drawn principally by Rev. William
Graham, rector of Liberty Hall, Lexington. This paper expresses the true feeling of the Presbyterian Church, after. much
private and public discussion.




342                      SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
MEMORIAL.
To the Honourable the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia,
The Ministers and Lay Representatives of the Presbyterian Church in Virginia,
assembled in Convention, beg leave to address you.
As citizens of the State, not so by accident but choice, and having willingly conformed to the system of civil policy adopted for our government, and defended it
with the foremost at the risk of every thing dear to us, we feel ourselves deeply
interested in all the measures of the Legislature.
When the late happy Revolution secured to us an exemption from British control,
we hoped that the gloom of injustice and usurpation would have been forever dispelled by the cheering rays of liberty and independence. This inspired our hearts
with resolution in the most distressful scenes of adversity and nerved our arm in
the day of battle. But our hopes have since been overcast with apprehension when
we found how slowly and unwillingly, ancient distinctions among the citizens on
account of religious opinions were removed by the Legislature. For although the
glaring partiality of obliging all denominations to support the one which had been
the favourite of government, was pretty early withdrawn, yet an evident predilection in favour of that church, still subsisted in the acts of the Assembly. Peculiar
distinctions and the honour of an important name, were still continued; and these
are considered as equally partial and injurious with the ancient emoluments. Our
apprehensions on account of the continuance of these, which could have no other
effect than to produce jealous animosities, and unnecessary contentions among
different parties, were increased when we found that they were tenaciously adhered
to by government notwithstanding' the remonstrances of several Christian societies.
To increase the evil a manifest disposition has been shown by the State, to consider itself as possessed of supremacy in spirituals, as well as temporals; and our
fears have been realized in certain proceedings of the General Assembly at their
last sessions. The engrossed bill for establishing a provision for the teachers of
the Christian religion and the act for incorporating the Protestant Episcopal Church,
so far as it secures to that church, the churches, glebes, &c. procured at the expense of the whole community, are not only evidences of this, but of an impolitic
partiality which we are sorry to have observed so long.
We therefore in the name of the Presbyterian Church in Virginia, beg lentve to
exercise our privilege as freemen in remonstrating against the former absolutely,
and against the latter under the restrictions above expressed.
We oppose the Bill,;Because it is a departure from the proper line of legislation;
Because it is unnecessary, and inadequate to its professed'end-impolitic, in
many respects-and a direct violation of the Declaration of Rights.
The end of civil government is security to the temporal liberty and property of
mankind, and to protect them in the free exercise of religion. Legislators are invested with powers from their constituents, for this purpose only; and their duty
extends no farther. Religion is altogether personal, and the right of exercising it
unalienable; and it is not, cannot, and ought not to be, resigned to the will of
the society at large; and much less to the Legislature, which derives its authority
wholly from the consent of the people, and is limited by the original intention of,civil associations.
We never resigned to the control of government, our right of determining for
ourselves, in this important article; and acting agreeably to the convictions of
reason and conscience, in discharging our duty to our Creator. And therefore, it
would be an unwarrantable stretch of prerogative, in the Legislature, to make laws
concerning it, except for protection. And it would be a fatal symptom of abject
slavery in us, were we to submit to the usurpation.
The Bill is also an unnecessary, and inadequate expedient for the end proposed.
We are fully persuaded of the happy influence of Christianity upon the morals of
men; but we have never known it, in the history of its progress, so effectual for
this purpose, as when left to its native excellence and evidence to recommend it,
under the all directing providence of God, and free from the intrusive hand of the
civil magistrate. Its Divine Author did not think it necessary to render it dependent on earthly governments. And experience has shown, that this dependence,
where it has been effected, has been an injury rather than an aid. It has introduced corruption among the teachers and professors of it, wherever it has been
tried, for hundreds of years, and has been destructive of genuine morality, in pro



THE CONVENTION-MEMORIAL V.                           343
portion to the zeal of the powers of this world, in arming it with the sanction of
legal terrors, or inviting to its profession by honours and rewards.
It is urged, indeed, by the abettors of this bill, that it would be the means of
cherishing religion and morality among the citizens. But it appears from fact, that
these can be promoted only by the internal conviction of the mind, and its voluntary choice, which such establishments cannot effect.
We farther remonstrate against the bill as an impolitic measure:
It disgusts so large a proportion of citizens, that it would weaken the influence
of government in other respects, and diffuse a spirit of opposition to the rightful
exercise of constitutional authority, if enacted into a law:
It partially supposes the Quakers and Menomists to be more faithful in conducting
the religious interests of their societies, than the other sects-which we apprehend
to be contrary to fact:
It unjustly subjects men who may be good citizens, but who have not embraced
our common faith, to the hardship of supporting a system, they have not as yet
believed the truth of; and deprives them of their property, for what they do not
suppose to be of importance to them:
It establishes a precedent for farther encroachments, by making the Legislature
judges of religious truth. If the Assembly have a right to determine the preference
between Christianity, and the other systems of religion that prevail in the world,
they may also, at a convenient time, give a preference to some favoured sect
among Christians:
It discourages the population of our country by alarming those who may have
been oppressed by religious establishments in other countries, with fears of the
same in this: and by exciting our own citizens to emigrate to other lands of greater
freedom:
It revives the principle which our ancestors contested to blood, of attempting to
reduce all religions to one standard by the force of civil authority:
And it naturally opens a door for contention among citizens of different creeds,
and different opinions respecting the extent of the powers of government.
The bill is also a direct violation of the Declaration of Rights, which ought to be
the standard of all laws. The sixteenth article is clearly infringed upon by it, and
any explication which may have been given of it by the friends of this measure in
the Legislature, so as tojustify a departure from its literal construction, might also
be used to deprive us of other fundamental principles of our government.
For these reasons, and others that might be produced, we conceive it our duty
to remonstrate and protest against the said bill; and earnestly urge that it may not
be enacted into a law.
We also wish to engage your attention a little farther, while we request a revision of the act for incorporating the Protestant Episcopal Church: and state our
reasons for this request. We do not desire to oppose the incorporation of that
church for the better management of its temporalities; neither do we wish to lessen
the attachment of any of the members of the Legislature, in a private capacity, to
the interests of that church. We rather wish to cultivate a spirit of forbearance and
charity towards the members of it, as the servants of one common Master who
differ in some particulars from each other. But we cannot consent that they shall
receive particular notice or favour from government as a Christian Society; nor
peculiar distinctions or emoluments.
We find by the act, that the convenience of the Episcopal Church hath been consulted by it, in the management of their interests as a religious society, at the
expense of other denominations. Under the former establishment, there were
perhaps few men who did not, at length, perceive the hardships and injustice of a
compulsory law, obliging the citizens of this State by birthright free, to contribute
to the support of a religion, from which their reason and conscience obliged them
to dissent. Who then would not have supposed that the same sense of justice,
which induced the Legislature t% dissolve the grievous establishment, would also
have induced them to leave to common use, the property in churches, glebes, &c.,
which had been acquired by common purchase.
To do otherwise was, as we conceive, to suppose that long prescription could
sanction injustice; and that to persist in error, is to alter the essential difference
between right and wrong. As Christians also, the subjects of Jesus Christ, who
are wholly opposed to the exercise of spiritual powers by civil rulers, we conceive
ourselves obliged to remonstrate against that part of the incorporating act, which
authorises and directs the regulation of spiritual concerns. This is such an invasion of Divine prerogative, that it is highly exceptionable on that account, as well
as on account of the danger to which it exposes our religious liberties. Jesus
Christ hath given sufficient authority to his church, for every lawful purpose: and




344                     SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
it is forsaking his authority and direction, for that of fallible men, to expect or to
grant the sanction of civil law to authorise the regulation of any Christian society.
It is also dangerous to our liberties, because it creates an invidious distinction on
account of religious opinions, and exalts to a superior pitch of grandeur, as the
church of the State, a society which ought to be contented with receiving the same
protection from government, which the other societies enjoy, without aspiring to
superior notice or regard. The Legislature assumes to itself by that law, the authoritative direction of this church in spirituals; and can be considered in no other
light than its head, peculiarly interested in its welfare; a matter which cannot be
indifferent to us-though this authority has only as yet been extended to those who
have requested it or acquiesced in it. This church is now considered as the only
regular church in the view of the law: and it is thereby raised to a state of unjust
pre-eminence over others. And how far it may increase in dignity and influence in
the State, by these means, at a future day, and especially when aided by the emoluments'which it possesses, and the advantages of funding a very large sum or
money without account, time alone can discover. But we esteem it our duty to
oppose the act thus early, before the matter be entangled in precedents more intricate and dangerous. Upon the whole, therefore, we hope that the exceptionable
parts of this act will be repealed by your honourable House; and that all preferences,
distinctions, and advantages, contrary to the fourth article of the Declaration of
Rights will be forever abolished.
We regret that full equality in all things, and ample protection and security to
religious liberty were not incontestibly fixed in the constitution of the government. But we earnestly request that the defect-may be remedied, as far as it is
possible for the Legislature to do it, by the adopting the bill in the revised laws for
establishing religious freedom. (Chap. 82 of the Report.)
That Heaven may illuminate your minds with all that wisdom which is necessary
for the important purposes of your deliberation, is our earnest wish. And we beg
leave to assure you, that however warmly we may engage in preserving our religion free from the shackles of human authority, and opposing claims of spiritual
domination in civil powers, we are zealously disposed to support the government ot
our country, and to maintain a due submission to the lawful exercise of its authority.         Signed by order of the Convention.
JOHN TODD, Chairman.
Attest, DANIEL MCCALLA, Clerk.
Bethel, Augusta County,}
13th August, 1785.   $
On Saturday, August 18th, 1785, the General Committee of
the Baptist Church met at Dupuy's meeting-house in Powhatan.
Mr. Ford  made report,-" That according  to  the  directions
given him, he presented a memorial and petition to the IHonourable General Assembly: that they met with  a favourable  reception; that certain amendments were made to the marriage
law, which he thought satisfactory. To this report the General
Committee concurred." Upon considering the engrossed bill
for a general assessment, which had been sent out for the consideration of the public, and for the expression of opinion, the
General Committee resolved,-"That it be recommended  to
those counties which have not prepared.petitions, to be presented
to the General Assembly, against the engrossed bill for a general assessment for the support of the teachers of the Christian
religion, to  proceed  thereon  as  soon  as possible: —that it is
believed to be repugnant to the spirit of the gospel, for the
Legislature  thus to  proceed in matters of religion:-that no
human laws ought to be established for that purpose; but that
every person ought to be left entirely free in respect to matters
of religion: —that the holy Author of our religion needs no such




MR. JEFFERSON'S BILL-REV. J. B. SMITH.     345
compulsive measures for the promotion of His cause:-that the
gospel wants not the feeble arm of man for its support:-that
it has made, and will again, through Divine power, make its
way against all opposition: —and that should the Legislature
assume the right of taxing the people for the support of the
gospel, it will be destructive to religious liberty.  Therefore,
this Convention agrees unanimously, that it will be expedient
to appoint a delegate to wait on the General Assembly, with a
remonstrance and petition against such assessment. Accordingly the Rev. Reuben Ford was appointed."
The Legislature met on Monday, October 17th, 1785, and
received, from all parts of the State, memorials and petitions
expressing decided opposition to the bill for a general assessment. The bill and the memorials were considered in committee of the whole house. Mr. Madison brought forward Mr.
Jefferson's bill, prepared in 1779, and advocated it. Of him
Mr. Jefferson, who was not present to advocate his bill, thus
writes, vol. 1st, p. 33-" He came into the house, in 1776, a
new member and young; which circumstance concurring with
his extreme modesty, prevented his venturing himself in debate, before his removal to the Council of State, in November,'77. From thence he went to Congress, then consisting of
few members. Trained in these successive schools, he acquired
a habit of' self-possession, which placed at ready command the
rich resources of his luminous and discriminating mind, and of
his extensive information, and rendered him the first of every
Assembly afterwards of which he became a member. Never
wandering from his subject into vain declamation, but pursuing
it closely, in language pure, classical and copious, soothing
always the feelings of his adversaries by civilities and softness
of expression, he rose to the eminent station which he held in
the great National Convention of 1787; and in that of Virginia which followed, he sustained the new Constitution in all
its parts, bearing off the palm against the logic of George
Mason, and the fervid declamation of Mr. Henry. With these
consummate powers were united a pure and spotless virtue
which no calumny has ever attempted to sully. Of the powers
and polish of his pen, and of the wisdom of his administration,
in the highest offices of the nation, I need say nothing. They
have spoken, and will forever speak for themselves."
The Rev. John B. Smith, President of HIampden Sidney
College, one of the committee of Hanover Presbytery, had
permission to be heard before the committee of the whole
house, and spoke on three successive days against the general
assessment bill. In him were combined the powers of logic
and declamation. Self-possessed, he was fervid in debate.
Mr. Henry's argument and declamation in favour of a general
44




346               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
assessment, joined to his personal character, had, for a time,
drawn Mr. Smith, and that acute reasoner, William  Graham,
to favour the bill. But further reflection on the ultimate bearing of the bill, led them to take the opposition to the Governor. Deservedly influential and popular, Smith knew, when he
appeared before the committee of the whole, that he represented the whole Presbyterian population in the State; and that he
spoke, on the subject, the opinions and decisions of the numerous Baptists. He plead the principles of natural law, and the
purity of morals and religion involving the welfare of the
State. Madison knew that he spoke the opinions of all the
dissenters, and of many that were not dissenters from the religion of the State, and he plead the principles of natural law
and of political rights, that men's thoughts were free in religion as in politics.
The bill for a general assessment was lost in the committee
of the whole; and Mr. Jefferson's bill was reported to the
house. And on the 17th of December, 1785, an engrossed
bill, entitled,-" An act for establishing religious freedom,"
passed the house. Mr. Henry says,-" in the preamble to this
act, some variations have been made from the original bill, as
reported by the revisors, which renders the style less elegant,
though the sense is not affected."
"AN ACT FOR ESTABLISHING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
" Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free;-that
all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incorporations, tend only to beget habits of
hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of
the holy Author of our religion, who, being Lord both of body
and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either,
as was in his almighty power to do;-that the impious presumptions of legislators and rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, who
being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed
dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions
and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as
such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established
and maintained! false religions over the greater part of the
world, and through all time; —that to compel a man to furnish
contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which
he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing
him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his
contributions to the particular pastor whose morals he would
make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to
righteousness, and is withdrawing, from the ministry, those temporary rewards, which, proceeding from an approbation of their




ACT ESTABLISHING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.         347
personal conduct, are an additional incitement to earnest and
unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind; —that our
civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any
more than our opinions in physics and geometry;-that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence, by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to
offices of trust or emolument, unless he profess or renounce this
or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those
privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellowcitizens, he has a natural right;-that it tends only to corrupt
the principles of that religion it is meant to encourage, by
bribing with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments
those who will externally profess and conform to it;-that
though indeed those are criminal who do not withstand such
temptations, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in
their way; —that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his
powers into the field of opinion, and to restrain the profession
or propagation of principles, on supposition of their ill tendency, is a dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty, because he being, of course, judge of that tendency, will make his opinions the rule of judgment, and approve
or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square
with or differ from his own;-that it is time enough for the
rightful purposes of civil government, for its officers to interfere
when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good
order; —and finally, that truth is great, and will prevail, if left
to herself; that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to
error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by
human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate, error ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them.
"2d. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man
shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship,
place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained,
molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but
that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same
shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
"3d. And though we well know that this Assembly, elected
by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only,
have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assemblies,
constituted with powers equal to our own; and that, therefore,
to declare this act to be irrevocable, would be of no effect in
law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights
hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that




348              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present, or to
narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of
natural right."
The yeas and nays upon this bill were as follow: —Ayes,
Joseph Fry, Wilson Cary Nicholas, Joseph Eggleston, Samuel
WVilliam Anderson, Hickerson Barksdale, John Clark of Campbell, Samuel Hawes, Anthony New, John Daniel, Henry
Southall, French Strother, Henry Fry, William  Gatewoodl,
Meriwither Smith, Charles Simmes, David Stuart, William
Pickett, Thomas Helm, Christopher Greenup, James Garrard,
George Thompson, Alexander White, Charles Thruston,
Thomas Smith, George Clendennin, John Lucas, Jeremiah
Pate, Ralph Humphreys, Isaac Vanmeter, George Jackson,
Nathaniel Wilkinson, John Mayo, Jun., John Rentfro, William
Norval, John Roberts, William Dudley, Thomas Moore, Carter Braxton, Benjamin Semple, Francis Peyton, Christopher
Robertson, Samuel Garland, Benjamin Logan, David Scott,
William  Pettijohn, Robert Sayres, Daniel Trigg, William
Hartwell Mason, Griffin Stith, David Bradford, James Madison, Charles Porter, William Harrison, Benjamin Lankford,
John Clarke of Prince Edward, Richard Bibb, Cuthbert
Bullet, Daniel Carrol Brent, Williamson Ball, Andrew Moore,
John Hopkins, Gawin Hamilton, Isaac Zoane, John Tayloe,
John  Whittaker Willis, Andrew  Kincannon, and James
Innes.-67.
Noes, Thomas Claiborne, Miles King, Warlick Westwood,
John Page, Garland Anderson, Elias Wills, William Thornton,
Francis Corbin, Willis Riddick, Daniel Sanford, John Gordon,
Edward Bland, Anthony Walke, George Lee Turberville, William Garrard, John Francis Mercer, Carter Basset Harrison,
Richard Cary, Jr., William Cary, and Richard Lee.-20.
After an experiment of more than half a century, the bill
for religious freedom holds its place among the fundamental
laws of the Virginia statute book. Religion and morals have
not suffered. Four colleges, two theological seminaries, and
the University, have been added to the public institutions for
instruction. Authorised ministers of the gospel have increased
about ten-fold; and professors of the religion of the gospel in
the same proportion. Churches, academies, and schoolhouses
are multiplying throughout the extended State. All parties
agree that "the mind is free;" that even prisoners, slaves, and
convicts enjoy freedom of conscience.




JAMES WADDELL, D. D.               349
CHAPTER XVI.
JAMES WADDELL, D.D., AND THE CHURCHES IN THE NORTHERN
NECK.
COULD we catch a view of the fleeting things of life, as they
were passing in Pennsylvania, at the time the preaching of
Davies was causing unusual excitement in Virginia, and could
we visit Nottingham, the residence of Dr. Finley, and look into
the school of the worthy pastor, then gaining its eminence
as "a log college," we should see the germs of some eminent men, and might trace the characteristics of their future
life. In one amiable, ambitious boy, the confident of his
school-mates, would be found the physician and philanthropist, Benjamin Rush; in another bold and open-hearted lad,
Governor Martin of North Carolina, of Revolutionary memory;
in another persevering youth, Ebenezer Hazard, noted for his
collections of documents of interest to coming generations; and
in the cheerful faces around would be observed the amiable
Judge Rush and the warm-hearted physician William Tennent,
and also the Rev. William M. Tennent, of Abington. In that
young man, tall, spiritual, with musical voice, his left arm
thrown back under his coat, sometimes reciting as a scholar,
and sometimes acting as tutor to the younger boys, we should
recognise James Waddell, who fills a page in Virginia literature, immortalizing William Wirt, the author of "The Blind
Preacher;" and who, occupying a large space in the history of
Hanover Presbytery, cannot be passed over in any history of
the United States,-one of the men of his own generation,
and a man for all generations.
He was born in the province of Ulster, Ireland, July, 1739.
His parents, who were of Scotch origin, and of the Presbyterian faith, emigrated to America in the autumn of 1739, and
settled in Pennsylvania. Here he remained under the care of
pious parents till he was about fourteen years of age, enjoying
with his sister Sally, and two brothers William and Robert,
the affectionate instructions of a pious mother, whose prayers
often thrilled his heart and left their recollection forever. The
particular circumstance, in addition to his natural talents, that
turned the attention of his parents to seek a liberal education
for him, in preference to his brothers, and hedged him into a
professional life for usefulness, and a livelihood, was a painful
occurrence.  WV-hen a small boy, he went hunting with his




350               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
brothers. A hare was chased into a hollow tree. In the excitement of cutting him out, as his brother was bringing a blow
with the axe, James thrust his hand under its edge, and in a
twinkling it was severed almost in twain. Hastily gathering
up the fingers and part of the hand, and pressing them to the
stump, he ran to his parents. The mutilated hand was bandaged and the wound healed; but the fingers and the lower part
of the hand never afterwards increased in size, and were capable of very little action.  The situation of their son in consequence of this event, induced the parents to seek for him a
liberal education, for which his powers of mind were admirably
adapted.
His progress at the "log college" of Dr. Finley, at Nottingham, was rapid; and his acquirements unusually correct. His
Greek studies were carried on under the Rev. Mr. Campbell, a
Scotchman, and a noted Greek scholar. On account of his proficiency, and to assist him in his education, he was promoted to be
tutor in the school; and afterwards served in the same capacity
in the school of Rev. Robert Smith, of Pequa, the father of
Messrs. Samuel Stanhope, and John Blair Smith, of happy
memory in the Virginia churches. Through life he was considered a model of correctness in Latin prosody; and there is
still in existence a system of rules, in his hand-writing, used by
him while at Nottingham, remarkable for simplicity and ease of
adaptation in acquiring a correct knowledge of Latin measure.
His high standing among his fellow students was undiminished
through life. And to be held in high estimation by such men
is evidence of the excellence of the attainments, the native
worth, and winning manners of Waddell.
While a member of Dr. Finley's school, he became hopefully
pious. He always dated his religious impressions to the instructions of his mother; in very early life, he often longed to see
Christ on earth, that he might ask him, who healed withered
limbs, to heal his hand; and thought with what eagerness he would
run to him were he to be found; and while yet a youth, he asked
Him who, unseen, is-ever present with the penitent, and he gave
him of the water of life. As soon as his mind became settled
on the great question of his salvation, through Christ and his
cross, he devoted himself to the work to which his mother's faith
had previously dedicated him, the ministry of the gospel. In
reference to this period of his life, he has been heard to saythat a sweet and almost overpowering sense of his acceptance
with God, was granted to him, such as in after life was seldom
renewed. His obligations to the Saviour were acknowledged.
His choice was made; and a constraint was on him to preach
the gospel. When we consider the consequences of his preaching,
and the providence that shut him up to a course of education,




JAMES WADDELL, D. D.               351
by which he came into the ministry, we cannot but believe he
vas called of God.
When about nineteen years of age, allured by favourable
representations, he set out for South Carolina, with the intention of teaching school, for a time, by way of enabling him to
complete his theological studies. On his way through Virginia,
he called on the Rev. Samuel Davies, in  Hanover county,
and felt the attractive influence of that good man. The interest was mutual. The appearance of Waddell, and his statements, won the heart of Davies. A tall, graceful young man,
hedged in by a painful providence, and seeking a maintenance
and an education, and the ministry, with an unblemished character, and tender heart, could not have an interview with
Davies, without feeling himself beloved; and to feel himself
beloved by a man whom all admired, was to be a captive.
Davies looked at the desolations around him with compassion,
and looked on Waddell as he had done on Pattillo and Richardson and Wright. The consequence was, Waddell took part in
the classical school of the Rev. John Todd, of Louisa, the early
associate of Mr. Davies, and commenced the studies preparatory for the sacred ministry in Virginia, which thenceforth
became his home.
He offered himself to Hanover Presbytery as a candidate for
the gospel ministry, during its meeting, at the Stone Church,
Augusta county, in April, 1760. On the 25th of September of
the same year, at Buffalo, the pastoral charge of Mr. Sankey,
the following record was made-" Mr. James Waddell having
at our last offered himself on trial as a candidate for the gospel
ministry, he was desired to prepare a discourse to be delivered
this Presbytery, which he has done accordingly, and has been
examined on sundry extempore questions in divinity, his Christian experience and motives to the ministry; with all which the
Presbytery are well pleased, and sustain them as parts of trial,
and appoint him an exigesis on that question An Christus qua
Mediator sit adorandus, and a sermon on the same subject, the
text to be chosen by himself, to be delivered at our next Presbytery, which for that purpose is to meet at the Byrd in Goochland the 4th Wednesday of December." This meeting appointed
for December did not take place. But in the records of the
meeting of the Presbytery held at Tinkling Spring, in Augusta,
April 2, 1761, it is stated that the following representation
was made and approved.  " Louisa, January 21, 1761.-As the
Presbytery for Mr. Waddell's further trials was prevented from
convening by the inclemency of the weather; that he might not
longer be confined to studies remote from, but might prosecute
those that have a more immediate reference to, the work of the
ministry, and that the Church might not suffer by the disap



352               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
pointment, Messrs. Todd and Pattillo proceeded to hear his exigesis, and a sermon from Philippians ii. 9, 10, and approved
of them as very satisfactory.  They also examined into his
knowledge of the Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages, together
with the sciences of rhetoric, logic, ontology, moral and natural
philosophy, and astronomy; in all of which he gave very pleasing
and satisfactory evidence of his knowledge, intending to report
the same to the next Presbytery; and presuming on their concurrence, appoint him popular trials, to be delivered with their
permission at our next,-viz. a lecture on Isaiah lxi. 1, 2, 3,
and a sermon on John v. 10."
The Presbytery, having approved the proceedings of Messrs.
Todd and Pattillo,-" further examined Mr. Waddell on sundry
branches of learning, heard his popular sermon and lecture, and
examined him in divinity, do express their satisfaction with the
several trials he has passed through; and on his subscribing the
Confession of Faith, as the confession of his faith, and conformity to the Directory, and on promising subjection to the Presbytery in the Lord,-the Presbytery do license and appoint him
to preach the gospel as a candidate for the holy ministry, and
heartily recommend him to the acceptance of the churches."
He then signed the following declaration. "I believe the doctrines contained in the Confession of Faith to be agreeable to
the Word of God, contained in the Old and New Testament, and
subscribe them accordingly, as the confession of my faith.JAMES WADDELL."  This confession, or declaration, was written
at the top of a page in the records of the Presbytery, and beneath
are the autographs of the members of Presbytery written in the
order of seignority, and as they became members of Presbytery.
In the latter part of his life the subject of this sketch dropped
an I from his name. His descendants generally have preserved
the il and give the accent to the last syllable.  "Mr. Waddell
is to supply in all our vacancies in Virginia, and those in North
Carolina that depend on this Presbytery, at his discretion, till
the fall Presbytery."
The numerous vacancies of the Presbytery visited by Mr.
Waddell, expressed their approbation of his services by inviting
him to be their pastor. The extent of the desolations, and the
exhibition of ministerial talent by the young candidate, may
be judged by the record at the fall meeting of Presbytery,
October 7th, 1761, —" The following calls were put into Presbytery for Mr. Waddell, viz: —one from Upper Falling and
Peaks of Otter,-one from Nutbush and Grassy Creek,-one
from Brown's meeting-house and Jenning's Gap,-one from
Hallifax, —none of which he thought fit to take under consideration." On the next day a call was put in from Bedford,
which he took under consideration till the next meeting of




WADDELL PREACHES IN THE NORTHERN NECK.    353
Presbytery. He was directed to spend half the time intervening the next Presbytery, in Bedford, and half among the vacancies that had put in calls for his services.
At the spring meeting of the Presbytery, April 8th, 1762,
at the Byrd meeting-house in Goochland county-" Mr. Waddell is appointed to supply in Bedford, Hanover, and the
Northern Neck, and other vacancies at discretion." At the
same meeting a committee was appointed, consisting of Rev.
Messrs. Sankey, Todd, Henry, Pattillo, and Hunt, to meet at
Harris's Creek, in Prince Edward, on the third Wednesday
of June, to attend to a case of discipline-" and to receive Mr.
Waddell's trials for ordination, viz: —Nur  Electio sit conditionalis,-and a sermon on Romans x. 4; and the Presbytery empower said committee to receive Mr. Caldwell as a member of Presbytery, if he offers himself with proper credentials,
and to appoint him where to preach. The said committee, if
they sustain Mr. Waddell's trials, are to proceed to his ordination, at which Mr. Todd is to preside."
On the appointed day, June 16th, 1762, three of the committee met, viz: —Rev. Messrs. Sankey, Henry and Pattillo,with elders, William Campbell, David Caldwell, and William
Smith. "Mr. Waddell opened the committee with a sermon
on Romans x. 4, according to appointment. Mr. Sankey
chosen moderator; Mr. Pattillo, clerk. Thursday 17th, committee met according to adjournment p. p. s. q. s. The committee having considered Mr. Waddell's sermon and thesis,
with his defence of the same, sustained them as satisfactory
trials for ordination, to which they accordingly proceeded, by
fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands, at which Mr. Pattillo presided, by a sermon on 2 Cor. v. 20; —and he is now
present as member of this judicature."
The time of Mr. Waddell's visiting the Northern Neck, and
some of the circumstances are given in Colonel Gordon's
journal. In the month of August after his licensure we are told
the congregation expressed a desire to hear him; and in the
succeeding October Mr. Todd visited the people and gave them
reason to hope that Mr. Waddell would visit them  about
Christmas. This expectation was not realized; and in April,
1762, Mr. Criswell attended Presbytery, and obtained the
order of Presbytery for Mr. Waddell to visit them. The
journal, April 18th, 1762, says- -" May the Lord be praised, I
at last have had the comfort of going with my wife and family
to meeting where Mr. Waddell performed to admiration."  On
the last Sabbath of May (the 30th day) the congregation made
out a call, which, on Monday June 7th, after the communion
administered by Mr. Todd, was handed to Mr. Waddell by
Colonel Gordon. He declined the call, but promised to visit
45




354               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the people again. On the 17th of the month he was ordained
in Prince Edward as has been related; and on the 7th of
October at a meeting of the Presbytery at Providence, Louisa,
-" Mr. Waddell accepts of a call from Lancaster and Northumberland counties, in which the Presbytery heartily concur."
The inclinations of Mr. Waddell, strongly in favour of a congregation in the neighbourhood of York, Pennsylvania, which
offered him inducements to become their pastor, were yielded
to the solicitations of the congregations, the elders, and the
advice of brethren in the ministry, in Virginia; and of the
numerous and promising fields of labour presented to him, in
Virginia, he made choice of the lower part of the Great
Northern Neck.
That portion of Virginia contained between the two rivers
Potomac and Rappahannoc, comprising the grant made to
Lord Fairfax, has been known as the Northern Neck; but
commonly the appellation has been confined to that district
that lies below tide water. Of this long narrow strip of
country, embracing the extremes of soil, and abounding in
harbours and the luxuries of the ocean, Mr. Waddell chose the
lower part, embraced principally in the two counties of Lancaster and Northumberland, and lying along the mouths of
the two rivers and the intervening shore of the Great Chesapeake., This part of Virginia will hold a place in history
should some natural or moral desolation sweep the race of
man entirely from its soil. It is the birth place of some of
the worthies of the Revolution; and will rejoice in the names
of Washington, and Monroe, and Lee, and Fitzhugh, and Ball
and Carter. In a religious point of view, too, it is remarkable.
The established church was set up here in its vigour, and with
every advantage to be found in the colony; and with a succession of worthy ministers it must have flourished, under
those divine influences promised by the great Head of the
church. But in no part of the State was the faultiness of
the clergy more lamentable or more visible; and no where
was the vindication of the purity of the gospel of Christ
more loudly demanded, by God's glory and the lost condition
of man. And God honoured his truth in the face of the
abuses of his ordinances, and the mockers at spiritual
religion. Before the people in Hanover assembled to hear
Samuel Morris read gospel truth, and paid fines for seeking salvation out of the pale of the established church, a
layman had assembled the people of the Northern Neck
for religious instruction, and had witnessed the hopeful conversion of sinners to a life of godliness. "There resided,"
says Dr. Miller in his life of Rodgers, "in the great Northern
Neck, between the Rappahannoc and Potomac rivers, a certain




LABOURS OF MR. ORGAN.              355
John Organ, a pious schoolmaster from Scotland. Soon after
his establishment in that country, finding that there was no
place of public worship in his immediate neighbourhood, and
that a large portion of the people wholly disregarded the ordinances of religion, and were sunk in carelessness and profligacy,
his spirit was stirred within him to attempt something for the
spiritual advantage of his neighbours. Accordingly, he collected in private houses such of them as were tolerably decent
and sober, and had any sense of religion, and read to them the
Scriptures and other pious writings, accompanied with prayer
and singing. For several years nothing more was attempted;
especially as the frowns of the government were soon directed
towards this little flock, and the laws against dissenters rigorously enforced against them. In a short time, however, after
the formation of the Synod of Philadelphia, the people of Organ's neighbourhood made -an application to that body for supplies. This request was granted; and the Rev. Mr. Anderson,
who had before resided in New York, but was then settled in
Pennsylvania, was sent by the Synod to preach among them,
to organize a church, and to intercede with the government on
their behalf. Mr. Anderson succeeded in attaining all these
objects. He preached to great acceptance, and with much
impression; and formed a church which has continued to the
present day."  Mr. Anderson mentioned by Dr. Miller, was
James Anderson, from the Presbytery of Irvine in Scotland,
who entered the Rappahannoc river, Virginia, April 1710;
was the next year settled in New Castle; and in 1718 in New
York; and in 1726 removed to Donegal. He was admitted
member of the Philadelphia Presbytery September 20th, 1710.
" At the desire also of Mr. James Anderson, he was admitted,
upon producing sufficient testimonials of his abilities and qualifications for the ministerial work, and that he was duly licensed
and ordained thereunto." Too little is known of this minister,
whose visit to the Governor of Virginia in 1738 was eminently
successful in procuring protection for the colonies of Presbyterians, as has been recorded in another chapter. Whether
Mr. Anderson made two visits to the Governor is not clear;
though it is evident from the records of the Presbytery that
two communications were sent to the Governor, one in 1738,
by Mr. Anderson, and the other in 1723, the messenger not
named.
The location of the church gathered by Mr. Organ cannot be
fully ascertained; and there is no evidence that they ever had
a church building. All the notices we can find in the records
concerning the Potomac settlements are the following: at the
third meeting of Synod, held September 12th, 1719 —" The
Synod having received a letter from the people of Potomake,




356               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
in Virginia, requesting the Synod's care and diligence to provide them an able gospel minister to settle among them, it was
appointed that the Rev. Mr. Daniel McGill should go and
preach to that people in order to settlement upon mutual agreement, and that a letter be writ to said people by Masters Conn
and Cross, and by them be brought into the Synod for approbation." This letter was brought in and approved and sent,and the next year, we find the following record, viz. —
"'Mr. McGill reported to the Synod, that according to last
year's appointment, he went to Potomake, in Virginia, and
after some months continuance there, put the people into
church order. The said congregation of Potomake in Virginia
have sent a letter to the Synod, manifesting their hearty approbation of Mr. McGill's whole conduct among them, and desiring
his settling with them as their minister. The affair of Potomake deferred till afterwards"-and though taken up and committed to the committee of bills and overtures, nothing further
was done, during the meeting of Synod. We hear nothing further from Virginia till Thursday, 27th September, 1722, at a
meeting of the Synod in Philadelphia-" A representation
being made by some of our members of the earnest desire of
some Protestant dissenting families in Virginia, together with
a comfortable prospect of the increase of our interest there, the
Synod have appointed that Mr. Hugh Conn, Mr. John Orine,
and Mr. William Stewart, do each of them severally visit said
people, and preach four Sabbaths to them, between this and the
next Synod."
At the next Synod, September 19th, 1723, "a letter from
the people of Virginia being read, the consideration of it was
deferred till to-morrow;"-the next day the same preacher was
appointed to visit them,-" and it is recommended to Mr.
Jonathan Dickinson to preach to said people before next Synod,
some Sabbath days. Ordered that Mr. Jones and Mr. Andrews write a letter to the people of Virginia; and that a letter
be writ to the Governor of Virginia by Messrs. Dickinson and
Cross, and that the said letter to the people of Virginia, and
also this, be brought into Synod for approbation." The next
day —"a letter to the Governor of Virginia was read and
approved."
The next year, September 16th, 1724, at the meeting of the
Synod, it appears that "Mr. Orme fulfilled the appointment of
Synod with respect to his preaching in Virginia; Mr. Conn
did not and gave his reasons, which were sustained; Mr.
Stewart did not, the reasons not known, he being absent. A
letter from the people being read and considered, the Synod
have referred that whole affair to the Presbytery of New Castle,
and orders a letter to be writ to that people." From this time




PRESBYTERIAN PREACHING IN THE NORTHERN NECK.   357
till the year 1738, when Mr. Anderson was sent with a letter to
the Governor of Virginia, of which a full account is given elsewhere, there is on the records of the Synod but one notice
of Virginia matters; and as the records of the Presbytery of
Newcastle, to whom the affairs of Virginia were referred, are
lost, no further facts, or direct information will or probably
can be obtained about the localities of the people referred to,
as "the people of Virginia"-or "the people of Potomake,
Virginia."
From the death of Mr. Makemie in 1707, the Presbyterian
cause in Virginia declined. In 1718, the Synod declare, there
was no Presbyterian minister in the colony. "In a short time
after the formation of the Synod of Philadelphia,"-says Dr.
Miller-" the people of Organ's neighbourhood made application to that body for supplies." Where that neighbourhood
was situated nothing more is known than that it was in the
region between the Potomac and Rappahannoc rivers, known
as the Northern Neck; and as this region was not settled at
that time west of the Blue Ridge, the neighbourhood must have
been between the Blue Ridge and the Bay Shore. God had
been mindful of his covenant, and blessed the truth of the
gospel to the awakening and hopeful conversion of many under
the labours of Organ; but it is not known that the people in
the Northern Neck ever had a church building or a pastor till
the time of Mr. Waddell.
"The people of Potomake," mentioned in the records of
1719, if not the same people as those of Organ's neighbourhood, lived in the same general bounds, and were located somewhere between the Blue Ridge and the Bay Shore. The
suggestion that they were Scotch IrishePresbyterians, located
some where in the Valley of Virginia, is inadmissible, because
there were no white inhabitants of the Valley any where along
the Potomac or Shenandoah previous to about the year 1733;
and no Presbyterian congregation before 1736 or 1737.
Respecting-" the Protestant dissenting families of Virginia"-mentioned in the year 1722, and in 1724 referred to
the Newcastle Presbytery, we have no farther knowledge, and
know not where to look for them, but in the Northern Neck,
in Accomac, the residence and burial place of Makemie, or on
Elizabeth River near Norfolk, or on York River, in teach of
which places there were Presbyterians.
What favour the dissenters met with from the civil authorities in Virginia, is evident from the following record of the
Synod, the only one referring to Virginia previous to 1738:Saturday, September 22d, 1733 —"Upon an overture of the
Committee to the Synod concerning a representation of Mr.
Hugh Stevenson, respecting harsh and injurious usage he met




358               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
with from some gentlemen in Virginia, the Synod ordered Mr.
Stevenson to lay a representation thereof before them, which
he accordingly did in writing. And after hearing the same
and reasoning upon it, it was agreed that a letter be writ by
the Synod, and sent to the General Assembly of the Church of
Scotland, together with a copy of Mr. Stevenson's representation, in order to use our interest with that venerable Assembly
for our being assisted with money from the Societies for. the
Propagation of Religion, or elsewhere, to enable us to maintain
some itinerant ministers in Virginia, or elsewhere, as also to
procure their assistance to obtain the favourable notice of the
government in England, so as to lay a restraint upon some
gentlemen in said- neighbouring province, as may discourage
them from hampering such itinerant ministers by illegal prosecutions; and if it may be, to procure some assistance from
his Majesty for our encouragement by way of regium donum."
Two copies of this letter were sent. Mr. Stevenson was a
minister in good standing, and probably was sent into Virginia
by the Presbytery of Newcastle, to whom the request from
Virginia had been committed.  This record shows that the
spirit of the province was unchanged between the time of
Makemie and that of Davies; freedom of conscience was unknown. How far this despotism in religion affected the morals
of the Northern Neck, will be seen in the treatment of Mr.
Waddell, while his successful labours for spiritual religion
excited the attention of the community as Davies' had done in
Hanover.
Owing to the loss of the records of Newcastle Presbytery,
we can find no certain dates of the actings and doings of the
dissenters in the Nor4hern Neck until 1755. The following
letter from the Appendix to Gillies' Collections, shows there
were Presbyterians of active piety, under unfavorable circumstances, maintaining the cause of spiritual religion, and carrying the gospel to the cabins of the slaves. The letter bears
date September 5th, 1755 —"  ear Sir: You take notice in
your letter of my poor and weak endeavours for the instruction
of the negroes; I did, indeed, (as far as I could) lay open their
condition to some acquaintances; and from a very good friend
in Glasgow, have received books which enable me to do them
more service. The condition of this part of the country is very
melancholy. There is little inquiry made after good books
among our great folks; plays, races, cock-fighting, &c., are
more acceptable. No wonder that their slaves are neglected.
But when I saw them working on the Sabbath, or fishing, or
heard they were doing so; or that they could! not speak a word
without swearing, and were ignorant almost as brutes of the
evil conseqcuences of such things, these considerations and the




COLONEL JAMES GORDON.              359
advice of a Christian friend, induced me to do something; but
they are very thoughtless, and some whom I have earnestly
dealt with seem still unconcerned; yet there are two or three,
or more, that seem to break' off their wickedness, and serve
God. In my advices to them, I do not go out of the sphere
of a private Christian. I hear them repeat the Mother's Catechism and read in the New Testament. There are some who
come to me at present on the Sabbath once in a fortnight,
when we have no sermon. Some persons have objected against
their learning, as if it made them worse, but that effect has not
followed on any that have been with me, so far as I know; on
the contrary, they come to serve from conscience, whereas it
was befire from dread. I was speaking to them, not to learn
when they should be working. No,-they said, for that would
be theft, to steal time from our masters. Some make very
good progress. Some can read in the New Testament. Several,
before I came, could read, but had no books, which I have
helped them to, from those I got from Glasgow. And they
read to the rest. But alas! there is little seriousness amongst
us here in this country. When I go amongst Mr. Davies' people, religion seems to flourish; it is like the suburbs of heaven.
The poor negroes seem very thankful to any that instruct them,
Mr. Todd informed me he preached a sermon to them, and they
thanked him, and seem desirous of further knowledge. It is
very agreeable to see the gentlemen in those parts at their
morning and evening prayers, with their slaves devoutly joining
with them. From about the date of this letter for a series of
years, the cause of religion flourished more in the Northern
Neck than any other part of the State. And this prosperity
was connected with two individuals, Colonel James Gordon and
Rev. James Waddell, assisted by a company of gentlemen of
the old school of manners and habits of intercourse.
Colonel James Gordon of Lancaster county, Virginia, may
be considered as the nucleus of the congregations, in Lancaster
and Northumberland, to which Mr. Waddell devoted the most
active part of his ministerial life. A Scotch Irishman, he emigrated from Newry, County Down, Ireland, and took his
abode, in early life, in Lancaster.  His brother Cohn resided on the opposite side of the river Rappahannoc in Middlesex county, at Urbanna, the county seat, and a port of entry.
These brothers were enterprising and successful merchants, and
became wealthy and influential; and have numerous descendants in Virginia and scattered over the South- and West. The
Gordons of Albemarle are the descendants of John. The time
of their emigration cannot now be stated exactly, but from circumstances we are led to the conclusion that it must have been
previous to, or about the time that Mr. Anderson visited the




'360              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Governor, at the request of Mr. Caldwell and the appointment
of Synod, in the year 1738, to secure for the colonies, about to
emigrate to Virginia, their religious privileges. The brothers
were closely connected through life; James, however, was the
most active in religious matters, and in this view calls for more
particular attention. A man of enterprise, of popular manners,
habits of hospitality, of extensive landed and personal property, by education and principle a Presbyterian, he stood
firm in his religious opinions and practice, and received the reward of his faith and devotion. A man of system, he was in
the habit of keeping a journal, in which he made daily entries
in a brief manner, of his domestic concerns, his mercantile_
affairs, his farming operations, and events of interestoin the
neighbourhood, or the country at large.  He registered the
names of all visiters at his house, whether to dine, or lodge, or
remain a longer time; and is equally particular in noticing all
his absences from home, either on business, or friendly visits.
Of this journal, there remains only a fragment, which appears
to be the middle part of a large volume. There is not one
long sentence in the journal, except in the copies of two or
three letters which found their way into the volume; yet the
brief dry notices, of a man of business and careful observation,
crowded together, as the events took place, day after day for
five years, give a graphic sketch of Virginia life in the Northern Neck, in its fairest form. Without the least ostentation,
in this journal kept only for his own eye, to direct his business
and correct his memory, he shows himself the hospitable Christian gentleman, and makes us feel the power and necessity of
the gospel. All the knowledge we have of Mr. Waddell's
labours in the Northern Neck, and of the gathering of the congregations in Lancaster and Northumberland is, with one exception, derived from this journal, and from the records of Hanover Presbytery.  Mlr. Gordon's name does not appear on the
records of Presbytery, yet from the interest he took in the
religious welfare of his family and neighbours, it is more than
probable he was active in the applications made for supplies
from Hanover Presbytery. Were the records of Newcastle in
existences we might find some notices of a previous date.
The first application from the Northern Neck was, April
27th, 1757, in Hanover-"An importunate application being
made to Mr. Davies from some people in and about Richmond
county, to come and preach to them, the Presbytery appoint
him to preach there the last Sabbath in June." In July, 1757,
a request came-" from Lancaster and Northumberland.  The
Presbytery appoint Mr. Davies three Sabbaths in the Northern
Neck and one at Petersburg, between this and the Spring
meeting."  In January, 1758,5 Mr. Pattillo was directed to




COLONEL GORDON'S JOURNAL.            361
spend " the third and fourth Sabbaths in April in the Northern
Neck." At the meeting of Presbytery, April 26th, 1758, Mr. Pattillo excused himself for not fulfilling his appointments in the
Northern Neck, and was appointed to. preach -"the third
Sabbath of June in Lancaster; the Friday before in Richmond;
the fourth in Northumberland; the first of July in Westmoreland, and the second at discretion."* In September, 1758"Presbytery appoint a sacrament in the Northern Neck, the
last of March next. Petitions for supplies were presented from
Essex, Lancaster, Northumberland, and Westmoreland."  Mr.
Davies was appointed one Sabbath in the Northern Neck this
Fall, and another in the Spring at the sacrament there: Mr.
Todd was appointed-" to assist at the sacrament in Lancaster,
before next Presbytery."   This appointment was fulfilled.
Application for supplies were continued from meeting to meeting till Mr. Waddell accepted a call from the congregation and
became their resident minister. The first date is Friday, December 22d, 1758. The entries are about the arrival of ships,
and the price of tobacco, which was then three pence per pound,
and it was supposed would soon be four pence. On Monday,
Christmas day, his wife and daughter attended Wicomico
church, in Westmoreland county.
"1759, January 8th, Monday-Went with Mr. Criswell to
Northumberland Court. Mr. Leland and iMines behaved like
blackguards in respect to Mr. Criswell, who went to get scholars,
and engaged several, though the persons did all they could
against him, which seemed to make the people more fond of
sending their children. I think such ministers should be stripped of their gowns. Tuesday 9th.-Went to Colonel Conway's,
where Mr. Criswell and myself dined, and were very agreeably
entertained.  The old gentleman, I believe, has now fully
dropped opposing the meeting-house, which is mostly occasioned
by a letter he lately received from Mr. Ben. Waller, who informs him that dissenters have power to build houses and enjoy
their religion by Act of Toleration, and complains much of the
Church of England's last petitioning the king about a law that
was lately passed in this colony, that set their salaries at?6
per cwt.,-which they call the Two-penny Act, which is like
to make a great noise in this country. Thursday, 11th.-Mr.
Criswell began keeping school at Ball's; had but five scholars.
" Monday 15th.-Tobacco has got to 30 shillings per cwt.; it,seems it will run very high this year. I'm at a loss what to think
of it."-On the 13th of February, he says tobacco was 40 shillings
per cwt. We notice these prices because the course pursued by
the clergy respecting their salaries, which were estimated by
pounds of tobacco, and the acts of the Legislature on the subject,
46




362'SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
had a most important bearing on the established church, and
contributed not a little to her downfall.
In February and March he speaks of a meeting-house in
progress-but does not speak of its location. It was probably
the one built in Lancaster not far from his residence.
"Wednesday, March 21st, 1759.-Sowing oats in the young
peach orchard. Went to Colonel Selden's, where I had the
pleasure of meeting dear Mir. Davies, Mr. Shackelford, and
Colonel Thornton our Adjutant. Thursday 22d.-Went from
Colonel Selden's to general muster. Mr. Davies staid there
till we had done the exercise; and then came home with me
with Colonel Thornton, Colonel Selden, and Major Flood.
Friday 23d. —Went to meeting; a large company; where Mr.
Davies gave us an excellent sermon, and where we met Captains Morris, Craighead, De Graftemead, and Smith. They
all came here in the evening; likewise Mr. Todd, (Rev.) Mr.
Blackwell, Colonel Taylor, and Mrs. Boyd; a full house.
" Saturday 24th.-Went with the above to meeting. Mr.
Todd preached to a large company. Sabbath, 25th. A comfortable day to me. The Lord's Supper was administered;
forty-four communicants besides the Hanover gentlemen. Mr.
Davies and Todd at Colonel Selden's. Monday 26th.-Mr. Davies preached in Northumberland, and Mr. Todd at our meetinghouse. We had a fine sermon. Monday, April 9th.-Went to
Northumberland Court. Tobacco at 40 shillings and rising. Gave
Mr. Minzie Mr. Davies' uitter, that seemed to give him much
uneasiness, and I am persuaded he will not enter into a dispute
with Mr. Davies if he can avoid it. Thursday 26th.-Robert
Hening came home this morning and brought a letter from Mr.
Minzie to Mr. Davies, which in my opinion is very stupid and
foolish.
" May 7th, 1759. —Got to Richmond Court about six o'clock.
Many people at court. Tobacco seems to fall very fast, so that
the merchants wanted to sell as well as the planters; that I
don't believe there was one hogshead sold; 40 shillings was
demanded, but I did not hear that 30 shillings was offered.
Friday 18th.-WVent to court-house. Court set but a short
time. 5Minis's play was read in the ordinary by Mr. Packer,
that received it from Mr. Rinehard, who said he found it in
the court-yard. Minis and Leland at the head of the mob;
pretty fellows to be teachers of the people.
"June 9th, 1759, Saturday-This day my daughter Anne
was married to Mr. Richard Chichester, about 11 o'clock forenoon (he then names all the company.) The parson, Mr. Cam,
went off first about 4 o'clock, and most all went off at night,
and before it." —On the next day they all went to the Episcopal
church. It seems some of the family generally attended the




INCREASE OF RELIGION.             363
Episcopal church, though the Colonel did not often. This Mr.
Cam took an active part in the contest between the clergy and
the Legislature about the value of tobacco, in which the clergy
were paid. " Friday 22d, Mr. Chichester set off to-day to visit
Mr. Davies, in Hanover, before he left the colony. I wrote to
him. His going away gives us here and in Hanover county, the
greatest uneasiness. But I trust God will direct us in the way
to heaven. Sunday 24th-At home, Mr. Criswell read us a
fine sermon-had all the people in that we could.
"July 1st, Sunday-We went to the meeting-house, but very
doubtful of Mr. Martin's coming; but about 12 o'clock we had
the pleasure to see him. He gave us two excellent sermons.
Monday 2d-Went to meeting. This season there was a large
company,-all seem so much pleased with Mr. Martin. Tuesday 3d-Went to meeting, very near as many as yesterday.
Last night Mr. Martin lay here. We had a very large company also this night; —he lectured last night. Monday 9thWent to Northumberland Court,-my wife, Molly and Betty,
and Lib Chichester went with me as far as Mr. Conway's. The
paper was read about Minzie and Leland publicly, which occasioned a large company some mirth-Minzie sat till it was
read-but then went out from the company much displeased.
It appears these ministers will repent their farce that has pleased
them so much. Thursday 19th-Mr. Downman came here,has got fifteen thousand seven hundred pounds of tobacco subscribed towards a meeting-house in Northumberland. Tuesday
24th-Yesterday received a long letter from Mr. Maine, a mate
of Captain Young's ship, who appears to be a pious Christian.
"August 25th, Sunday-At home with my wife and family,
where I have much more comfort than going to church, hearing
the ministers ridicule the dissenters.
" September 21st, Friday-Went with my family to meeting,
where we had an excellent sermon, preached by the Rev. Mr.
Todd. (' I will love thee, O Lord'.) Mr. Henry is not come
over the Bay,-which is not disagreeable to me, as he is not
qualified in the colony. Saturday 22d-Went to meeting with
our company, where there was a greater number of people.
The text was John iii. 14,' Peace be to thee, our friends salute
thee.' Sunday 23d-The comfortable sacrament of the Lord's
supper was this day administered at our meeting-house, by Mr.
Todd; fifty-three comimunicants: none from Hanover. Religion
seems to increase amongst us, for which we have cause to adore
the great God for such blessings. Monday 24th-Went to
preaching to-day,-when we all parted. Mr. Todd to Captain
De Graftemead's to-night-texts-Friday, Psalm  xviii. 1;
Saturday, John iii. 14; Sunday, Jeremiah 1. 4, 5; Monday,
Genesis xxxii. 26.




3G4              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
"Thursday, October 3, 1759.-Received a letter from Mr.
Joseph Taylor, of White Haven, giving me an account of my
dear mother and the. rest of my relations at Newry. Sunday
7th. —Went with my wife to White Chapel Church, where we
heard Mr. Cam preach a very indifferent discourse-nothing
scarcely but external modes,-much against Presbyterians-so
that I was much disappointed by going to church, for it was misspending the Lord's day. How I lament the want of a good
minister for our church, that we may all see the things that belong to our peace before it be too late. Sunday 28.-Major
Campbell called here this morning on his way from James' River,
and brought the agreeable news of the surrender of Quebec and
Montreal,-but with the great loss of our great and brave General Wolfe who was killed in the engagement.
" Saturday, December 8, 1759.-Mr. Hunt and Mr. Kilpatrick came,-that much revived us. Mr. K. gave us a sermon
at night. Sunday 9.-Rained hard but we went to meeting,
where we met a great many people, considering the weather,had a good discourse from 16th verse, fifth chapter, Song of
Solomon.
" Tuesday, February 19, 1760.-Went with my wife to the
school, and treated the boys with pancakes and cider-got them
play in the afternoon. Thursday 28.-Went to Colonel Conway's, but could not agree with him for his tobacco. As I cannot
be of his way of thinking in regard to religion he seems to take
opportunity to hurt my interest. But I endeavour to trust in
God that I may not fear what man.can do unto me. Monday,
May 26.-(After sacramental service by Mr. Todd, in Northumberland) went to meeting to-day,-a pretty large company of
the common people and negroes,-but very few gentlemen. The
gentlemen that were inclined to come are afraid of being laughed
at; Mr. Minzie endeavours to make it such a scandalous thing.
"Friday, October 10, 1760.-Mr. Criswell wrote from school
the agreeable news of the arrival of the Rev. Mr. Davies in the
colony,-he has gone to Hanover; Mr. Hunt came to Colonel
Selden's last night, so that I hope we shall have the comfort of
hearing him preach a Sunday in our meeting-house. Saturday
11.-Mr. Hunt, Mr. Maring and Mr. Criswell came before dinner, but with disagreeable news that Mr. Davies will not return
this way. Sunday 12.-Went to. meeting,-heard a fine discourse well delivered, I think, by. Mr. Hunt. I think we must
have him for our minister if we can, as I believe he will give
general satisfaction.  Sunday 19.-Went with my wife to
Northumberland-meeting at our store there-where we heard
[Mr. Hunt deliver an excellent sermon on love.  A  great
number of people there. Mr. Hunt proceeded on his way to
Hanover, and has promised to endeavour to send Mr. Davies
this way on his return northward.




SACRAMENTAL SEASON.               365
"IDecember, 1760.-Mr. Caldwell, afterwards barbarously
killed in New Jersey, preached repeatedly both in Lancaster
and Northumberland. Thursday, December 25.-Went to meeting,-heard Mr. Caldwell, who gave us the best sermon ever
heard in these parts on Christmas day,-several seemed much
engaged, and more so than I have observed for some time.  The
text was from Matt. i. 23. Saturday 27.-Went to meeting,
heard Mr. Hunt deliver a very good sermon, 1st Peter iv. 18;
a great number of people. At night Mr. Caldwell preached
a sermon here,-about seventy or eighty negroes were here,text Revelations ii. 4, 5. Blessed be God these are comfortable
times. Sunday 28.-Went with company to the meeting-house,
but it rained most all day, so that we had few there except those
that had received tokens, and not all of them. There were
fourty-four communicants, several of our friends being sick, and
winter time. I adore my blessed Lord I never had more comfortable a sacrament. May the love of God be shed abroad in
all our hearts, that God may be glorified, and by our light shining
before men. Sermon by Mr. Hunt, Matt. xxii. 4. Monday
29. —Went to meeting,-Mr. Caldwell gave a most excellent
sermon, 2 Timothy ii. 19. I ordered Scipio with my chaise and
horses to wait on Mr. Caldwell to Bawler's ferry, as his leg was
sore. Mr. C. is a great orator. Blessed be God we have had
comfortable times. May what we have heard make a lasting
impression upon us, and make us delight in the paths of true
religion arnd virtue. Tuesday 30.-Went with David Hlening
to William Doget's,-found him sober,-then I desired him to
walk out with me, which he did; I then discoursed with him as
well as I could about his preventing his wife and daughter from
meeting at the Lord's Supper after they had received tokens,
and several other matters. * He confessed his error, and promised amendment of life, which may God grant him grace to
perform.
"Thursday, March 12th, 1761.-Yesterday heard the disagreeable news of the death of the Rev. Mr. Samuel Davies.
Never was a man in America, I imagine, more lamented.
The Christian, the gentleman, and the scholar appeared conspicuous in him. Virginia, and even Lancaster I hope has
great reason to bless God for sending such a minister of the
gospel amongst us. But he that sent him can send another,
and his labour be attended with as much success. But I am
afraid our country is too wicked for such comfort. Thursday,
19th-The militia was called on to proclaim King George the
Third, which was done in pretty good order. The officers
joined and gave the men about fifty or sixty gallons of punch.
"Sunday, April 19th, 1761-Went with my wife and family




366              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
to meeting to hear Mr. Hunt's farewell-lst John, 27th.
Signed a call for him.
" Sunday, May 3d, 1761-This day Colonel Selden read a
sermon in the meeting-house and John Mitchell prayed, but
few there, as they were not acquainted with it. Sunday,
17th-Colonel Selden read a sermon, and on the next Sabbath
Mr. Criswell read a sermon and prayed, at the meetinghouse. Friday 29th-Sent some help to raise Northumberland meeting-house, as Mr. Smith intends getting it up to-morrow. Sabbath 31st-Mr. Criswell read and prayed at the
meeting.
" Saturday, June 13th, 1761.-Two Guineamen arrived at
York for Mr. Wm. Nelson. Tuesday, 16th.-Another Guineaman came in with about 140 slaves. Friday 19th.-Went to
Court. Negroes sell very high, ~63 at Hobbs hole. Tuesday,
26th.-Went with Mr. Dale Carter to the Court House,-then
went to Colonel Selden's about a glebe for Mr. Hunt, but Colonel Selden could not get the glebe completed.
"July, Friday 24th, 1761.-Fast;-Saturday-Preaching.
Sabbath.-The communion service; twenty new communicants,
and fifty old ones. Wednesday, 29th.-I went to Colonel
Selden's to visit Mr. Hunt, and let him know that there were
several subscribers to our meeting. Did not like some of his
proceedings, and seemed to prefer Mr. Caldwell to him. We
had much conversation with a freeness on both sides,-but with
great uneasiness to him.
" Monday, August 3d, 1761.-Speaking of Mr. Hunt,he does not seem fit for us, in my opinion,-the most of our
great men are very forward to have him settled. On this
day Mr. Hunt was at his house. I had long and full conversation with Mr. Gordon on the subject. Friday, August 7th.Yesterday Mr. Criswell wrote to Mr. Todd about Mr. Waddell.
Monday, 10th.-Called in Messrs. Dale Carter, Thos. Carter,
John Mitchell, and John Wright, and told Mr. Hunt, with
them, we wanted to hear Mr. Waddell. Mr. Hunt very earnestly desired to have the matter brought to a conclusion; and
expressed a disinclination to remain unless the congregation
were unanimously in his favour, and a day was appointed for
the subscribers to meet and determine the matter. Wednesday, 12th.-Went with Mr. Hunt in our chaise to the meetinghouse to meet the subscribers there,-so few met, nothing was
done to what was expected. Mr. Hunt will not stay except
we are unanimous. No high debate among us.  Sunday,
20th.-Mr. Hunt bade farewell to the people: and gave notice
that Mr. Todd or Mr. Waddell would preach in two weeks. I
am very much reflected on, and in short the whole of Mr.




MR. WADDELL PASTOR IN THE NORTHERN NECK.   367
Hunt's going away is laid upon me,-but I trust the Lord will
give me strength to bear it."
Mr. Todd visited the Northern Neck in the fall, and spent
the last Sabbath of October, (25th) and the first Sabbath of
November (1st) and administered the sacrament of the Supper.
Of the sermon on the latter Sabbath, Colonel Gordon says,"I never heard a sermon, but one from Mr. Davies, that I
heard with more attention and delight,-O, if the Lord would
be pleased to send us a minister of as much piety as Mr.
Todd." About seventy communicants, black and white, though
the day was rainy.
"Sunday, January 31st, 1762.-At home with my family.
Molly said all the Shorter Catechisms; James fifty-six of the
Larger; and' Molly Hening, one hundred and six.
"Saturday, April 3d, 1762. —Mr. Criswell set off for the
Presbytery. Colonel Selden could not; James, his son, being
dangerously ill. On his return, Mr. Criswell brought news
from the Presbytery, which held its meeting at the Byrd, in
Goochland, that Mr. Waddell was appointed to visit the Northern Neck; and on the 16th of April, Sunday, the Colonel
makes the entry above quoted,-' May the Lord be praised, I
at last have had the comfort of going with my wife and family
to meeting, when Mr. Waddell performed to admiration.'"
On Sunday, May 30th, the congregation made out a call;
on Sunday, June 6th, Mr. Todd administered the sacrament to
about one hundred and three communicants; and on the Monday following Mr. Gordon offered Mr. Waddell the call, which
he refused to accept, but promised to return and visit the people. On the 16th of the month, as has been noticed, Mr.
Waddell was ordained by a committee of Presbytery, at Harris's Creek, Prince Edward.
At a meeting of the Presbytery, held at Providence, in
Louisa, October 7, 1762 —Mr. Waddell accepts of a call from
Lancaster and Northumberland counties, in which the Presbytery heartily concur.  No preparations were made for the
installation services; nor does it appear that they were ever
performed.
Mr. Waddell continued the acceptable pastor in the Northern
Neck till about the year 1778, when, on account of ill health
and the inroads of the revolutionary war, he removed to the
Valley of the Shenandoah. Col. Gordon tells us that on June
30th, 1762, a lottery was drawn for the advantage of the congregation,-and in a satisfactory manner; for which he says
"blessed be God."  He'does not tell either the amount raised
or the plan of the scheme.
February 13th, 1763 —Sunday. —"Went withmy wife and
family to meeting; —as we went, found Mr. James Ewell and




368               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
his wife on the road, walking, as they could not get their horses
over, the wind blew so hard. We had a pretty full house to-day.
Mr. W. preached from the 4th of Zechariah, 7th, a fine discourse.
He named ten persons whom he proposed for elders; Col. Selden,
Dr. Robertson, Mr. Chichester, Dr. Watson, Thomas Carter,
Dale Carter, John Mitchell, Mr. Belvard, Mr. Wright, and
myself,-and I desired the people, if they knew any thing
against our characters,-before this day fortnight, to acquaint
him with it."  The Dr. Andrew Robertson mentioned in this
appointment of elders, was a surgeon and physician of great
eminence. Born at Inverness, Scotland, in 1716,-graduated
at Edinburgh,-he entered the army in. Flanders, and was in
the battle of Fontenay, in 1745. With Braddock's army, in
1755, he escaped with the remains of his regiment, twenty in
number, living on acorns for many days. On his return to
Great Britain he resigned his commission, and with his wife and
son emigrated to America. Landing at Indian Banks, Richmond county, Virginia, he was entertained most kindly by a
Scotch merchant, Mr. Glasscock. Having taken his residence
in Lancaster, he soon took the lead in medical practice in the
Northern Neck. A gentleman in his feelings and manners, and
a man of enterprise, his influence was great; and uniting with
Colonel Gordon, he contributed not a little to the prosperity of
the Presbyterian Church in the Northern Neck. He died March
1, 1795, aged seventy-nine years. Some of his descendants
are in Washington city. On the appointed day six of the persons
named, Messrs. Chichester, the two Carters, Mitchell, Gordon
and Selden, were ordained elders, the others declined the office.
The seating of the meeting-house in Lancaster was, as usual,
a source of anxiety. "Friday, March 25th, 1763-Went to the
meeting-house and agreed with Mr. Atkinson to have more
double seats and less single ones in the meeting-house. I understand the people are displeased with the single seats, which
we thought would be more convenient, for the people, as they
faced the minister when they sit. But as it is disagreeable to
some, especially Mrs. Miller. and some other women, and as
it is cheaper to have them double, thought it proper to have
more of them made; but I have reason to fear there is much
more pride among us than piety, and even in those I could not
expect it.
"Monday, April 11th, 1763.-Mr. Waddell set off for Williamsburg to take the oaths agreeable to law."  It is evident
the rigour of the courts was much relaxed, as in this case, and in
the case of Mr. Henry, mentioned under date of September
21st, 1759, the dissenting ministers were permitted to exercise
their ministry so long before the requirements of the statute
were complied with. It was not till Friday, May 20th, 1763,




WHITEFIELD ARRIVES IN THE NORTHERN NECK.    369
when the Colonel says-" Mr. Waddell, Mr. Hening and Mr.
Span went to court with me"-that "Mr. Waddell read the
articles of religion this day before Mr. Currie and Mr. Minis,
which they certify. Mr. Minis was probably the author of
Minis's play.
On Sunday, April 24th, 1763, the sacrament was administered to ninety white and twenty-three black communicants.
"Monday, 25th,-Went with my wife and family to meeting to
hear the young people say their catechisms. Mr. Waddell gave
us good advice and exhortation how to bring up our children,
and how comfortable religion was, &c. Molly Hening answered
the best, and all the Larger Catechism. James Gordon answered
ninety questions in the Larger Catechism: Molly said all the
Shorter."
Mr. Whitefield visited the Northern Neck in 1763. "August,
Friday, 26th,-This evening I had the comfort of receiving a
letter from the Rev. George Whitefield, who landed this day at
Urbanna. Saturday, 27th, —Mr. Waddell and I this day set
off in our boat about 7 o'clock for Urbanna, got there about
ten, and Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wright, who came with him,
readily agreed to come with us, so that we set off about eleven,
and got home about two. We are very happy in the company
of Mr. Whitefield. Sunday, 28th,-Mr. Whitefield preached
from 1 Corinthians, iii. 11, a most affecting sermon to a great
number of people. My wife would venture out though in such
a condition. Monday, 29th,-At home with Mr. Whitefieldrained. Tuesday, 30th,-Mr. Whitefield, Waddell and Wright
went to dine at Colonel Selden's. Wednesday, 31st, —Went
with Mr. Whitefield to meeting, where he had a fine discourse to
a crowded assembly.  Friday, September 2d,-Sent for
Colonel Selden and bought his chair horse for ~47. 10s. for
Mr. Whitefield. Mr. Whitefield much pleased with his horsepreparing to set off to-morrow. Saturday, 3d,-I have been
much fatigued this day with fitting out Mr. Whitefield, but Mr.
Wright being so unwell, and it rained so, they could not set off
to-day.  Sunday, 4th,-Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Waddell and Mr.
Wright went with me to the upper meeting, where Mr. Whitefield preached from Matthew, xxv. 10, to a crowded house. Mr.
Waddell was obliged to make the negroes go out to make room
for the white people.  Carried our dinner with us; and we
dined at the Old Store House, much to the satisfaction of Mr.,Whitefield. They set off about 4 o'clock for Dr. Flood's. Mr.
Waddell returned to my brother's with them."
On the next Sabbath, September 11th, the sacrament of
the supper was administered to about one hundred and fifteen
white, and thirty-five black communicants. —" 0 these delightful and comfortable opportunities, may they make our hearts
47




370              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
glow with love to that God who has been so gracious to such
blind ignorant creatures, who have lived in stupidity and
security so many years. Monday, 26th —Went to the examination of young people, when about fifty or-sixty were examined much to their improvement; and afterwards, a sermon
was preached which very much affected both young and old."
Great efforts were made to give permanency to the congregation. " Friday, November 18th, 1763 —Went to our court
with Mr. Waddell,-have got ~600 in bonds toward a fund
for the maintenance of a Presbyterian minister, which the
Almighty seems to bless. 0 what cause have we to praise
the Lord's goodness to us in this congregation! Friday 25th
-Went with Mr. Waddell to the glebe to see Henry Hinton,
Jr.; could not get finished to-day. Saturday 26th —Finished
the survey to-day and got home to dinner." For the cultivation of the glebe, as the labourers in the Northern Neck were
almost universally Africans, Colonel Selden presented the
congregation with his "negro man Toby."
After the sacrament on December 25th-he says "a comfortable time, blessed be the Lord, who is so kind and benevolent to such dust and ashes as we are who are so unworthy of
the least favour. O Lord, what are we that thou shouldest be
so mindful of us, in sending the gospel to shine among us in
such a remote part of our world. 0, Almighty God, give us
grace by thy Holy Spirit to improve these delightful scenes to
thy glory and our salvation. Monday 26th-Mr. Waddell set
off for the Committee in Hanover, where Mr. Rice is to be
ordained, and Mr. Criswell comes on his second trials. Saturday 31st-Mr. Waddell got safe home to-day. Blessed be
the Lord for all his mercies to us this year. O may our minds
be more and more engaged in his service, and begin the new
year with new hearts, and with sincere minds give up ourselves
to him."
[ Thus ends the fragment of the journal.]
Of Mr. Whitefield's visits to the Northern Neck there are
some pleasant traditions. The widow of Lewis Stevens, of
Stevensburg, Newtown, who was a Miss tHening from the
county of Lancaster, used to tell with interest, many circumstances, remembered by her friends respecting Whitefield.
She described his appearance as he is represented by the wax
figure in the museum of Princeton Theological Seminary,with wig —gown —bands for the neck and wrists; —as fastidious in his dress when about to appear in public; —as cheerful
in his private intercourse, —and playful with children. He
would sometimes amuse his, friends with the history of his
narrow escapes from assaults made on him while preaching.




LOW RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF THE -EPISCOPAL CLERGY. 371
"Come here my little girl," said he to me-and lifting up
his wig and taking my hand,-" here, put your finger in that
gash-there, is where the brickbat hit me."
From the journal of Colonel Gordon, it appears the clergy
of the established church opposed his gathering a school,that one of them made a farce in ridicule of the Presbyterians,that the clergy wrote severe letters to Mr. Davies on his visits
there,-and that many were for a time prevented from attending the Presbyterian meeting from the ridicule thrown upon
them by influential men. That the clergy should feel and express dislike to encroachments on their flocks was both natural
and to be expected; and had they been true to their office, and
faithful to their church, inroads would, in all probability, have
never been made, or would have been comparatively harmless.
The united testimony of history and tradition is entirely
against the spirituality of the established clergy. Dr. Hawks
says, p. 120-" It must be owned, that as a body they were
any thing but invulnerable; and the opportunity for censure
afforded by their conduct was too inviting to be overlooked by
their antagonists. The leading laymen looked around and saw
almost every parish supplied with an incumbent of some sort,
while the state of religion was in their view, far from flourishing; they did not hesitate to impute this condition of things to
the clergy themselves, and the people at large were ready
enough to lend a willing ear to the charge." The people both
saw, and heard, and did not hear;-they saw them on the race
field, at the cock-pit, at cards, and drinking riotously and to
drunkenness, —they heard their conversation, their ridicule of
experimental religion as bigotry and fanaticism,-and they did
not hear those gospel truths which are life to the dead, unless
they searched for them elsewhere than in the public ministrations of the gospel in the established church. And is it wonderful that men who did not value the peculiar holy doctrines
of the gospel, joined with those, who both believed and felt
their purifying influence, in declaring their want of conviction
of the sufficiency and efficiency of this part of the colonial constitution?  Serious minded people looked on with sadness,the pious mourned for the house of God,-while the thoughtless were left unawakened, and the profane and dissolute became worse and worse.  "Who is there?"-said a clergyman
on the Middlesex side of the Rappahannoc, aroused before the
dawn of Christmas morning, by a company knocking at his
door. "We have brought a criminal from the other side of the
river."  "Bring him in, said he"-after he struck a light"Who is he, and what has he been doing?"  "It is I" —said a
man staggering into the room, with a laugh and a shout-" it
is I." It was a brother clergyman from the Neck, who in his




372               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
excitement from Christmas eve potations, had crossed the river
and had been disturbing the slumbers of peaceable citizens.
"Ah, is it you?  What are you here for, this time of night?"
Provoked at losing his rest he added-" Well, you shall pay
your fine or take your stripes as the law directs." These men
had often caroused together till all sense of sobriety was gone.
The fine, however, was paid before the delinquent recrossed the
river. This was stated by a gentleman of veracity and high
standing in Northumberland, not in anger, or the appearance
of pleasure in calling up past misdoings, but in sober sadness,
as the prevailing cause of past and present evils in the community. "I remember well"-said a gentleman of Richmond
county, who served in our navy-a member of an influential
and wealthy family-" when a little boy, of seeing Parson G.
at our house, and after dinner, he was put in the gig by the
servants, and by the orders of my father tied in, and a servant
went along to lead the horse and conduct him home, as he was
unable to take care of himself from his indulgence at the table,
to which he had been invited after church service on Sabbath."
The records of court in the capital, in the case of Jones's
heirs, state the fact, that a wealthy widow having intermarried,
and lived with, a parson for many years, found after his death,
that there was then living a previous undivorced wife in England, who had long mourned her husband as dead in the distant
colony.
These and such like events are incidental to our lost world
and may occur in all states of society as facts;-but in Virginia
the power of redress was so distant and so slow in its exercise,
that the evils were unredressed. Is it wonderful if many
thought the established order in religion was calculated to
destroy all piety?
Mr. Waddell was not cast into prison or fined, or called before the magistrates for preaching the gospel; but was assailed
from the pulpit and by the press, legitimate weapons both of
attack and defence, and from quarters and by means he could
neither retaliate or notice. His capability of defending himself
can be seen in one of the few productions of his pen, that
escaped the conflagration to which he condemned his manuscripts a little before his death. This having been printed is
preserved, and is a specimen of style and manner as inimitable
as that of Junius. Passing through Richmond county on a
certain occasion, he went to the upper church in the parish of
Rev. William Gisberne. For some cause Mr. Gisberne did not
attend that day; and by especial invitation Mr. Waddell
preached the gospel to a deeply interested audience.  The
impression made by the oration and the truth was so pervading,
that Mr. Gisberne thought it necessary to take public notice of




WADDELLS LETTER TO THE RECTOR OF LUNENBURG.  373
it, and preached from the words "contend earnestly for thefaith
once delivered to the saints." In his discourse he took occasion
to say many things of Mr. Waddell, calling him "pickpocket,
dark-lantern, moonlight preacher, and enthusiast;" and read a
hue and cry, for the arrest of "the new-light, instigated by
folly, impudence and the devil, and bring him to the whipping
post." Mr. Waddell on hearing of his sermon, addressed him
through the Virginia Gazette.
"To the Rev. Mr. W. G., Rector of Lunenburg Parish in Richmond.
July 21st, 1768.
1Rev. Sir-There are few so passive as quietly to submit to
the misrepresentations of ridicule, or silently to bear the false
charges of prejudice and arrogance. A mistaken prudence
may silence some, and fearfulness others: for my part I think
I am under the influence of neither. As a member of civil
society, I am protected, while I behave well, by the laws of my
country; and as a Presbyterian minister, I discharge the duties
of my office under the same protection. I therefore consider
myself more upon a level with my fellow subjects than will be,
perhaps, pleasing to you; and enjoying the privilege to remark
on your hard speeches with the same freedom and impunity
which a seemly reply from you will deserve.
As a Presbyterian, I approve the doctrinal articles of the
established religion according to the act of toleration-and as a
minister, I preach agreeable to them. An occasional sermon
of this kind, in compliance with a request, might be allowed
any where in our province, without any abuse of law or offence
to men. Such I preached by invitation at your upper church,
when I attended to hear you. My.being there, and your not
coming, seemed both altogether casual. In your pulpit I was
the advocate of virtue and friend of Christianity: I reflected on
no one, nor descended to any peculiarity of sect or party.
Yet you chose to represent me in sundry discourses on several
Sabbaths, as a composition of all sects which were least known
to your hearers, or most likely to be hated by them. Like a
cowardly boy that would rather waste his passion by giving
nick-names, than risk a battle, you called me a pickpocket,
dark-lantern, moonlight preacher, and enthusiast.  However,
if you are pleased with this childish sport, I do not mean to rob
you of the pleasure. A moonlight preacher, I suppose, signifies
one that shines with a borrowed light, as the plagiary does.
But, if we may believe you, I cannot be suspected of being one.
And lest any of your parishioners should be influenced by the
example of my stated hearers and friends to respect me, you
attempted, regardless of what is most esteemed by the gentle



374              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
man and the Christian, to sully their reputation, and bring
them and me into disrepute together. Do you use such weak
and unhandsome methods to prevent them coming to hear me,
from a persuasion that their coming would hurt their character.
They must certainly be obliged to you for being so much more
regardful of their character than you seem to be of your own.
Or do you think my doctrine or example endangers their happiness? They are the best judges of that. And you ought to
consider that though they be obliged to pay you, they are not
obliged in the same sense to hear you.
In one of your Sunday orations, you published, I understand,
a "hue and cry," directed to "all well disposed persons who
were lovers of the faith and truth," requiring them "to apprehend a certain illiterate new-light preacher, who instigated by
folly, natural impudence, and the devil, had taken the advantage of your indisposition and entered your pulpit, which was
to be kept sacred, and then belched out his nonsense and ignorance for an hour, to the laughter of some and contempt of
others, and to bring the vagrant to George Jerker's, at the
publick whipping-post of the county, to be dealt with according
to law.
You might be greatly pleased with the beauty of your own
thoughts and elegance of expression in the piece-but however
great its merits may be, on both accounts, I think it was not very
fit to make a part of a sermon, at the head of which stood these
words, "Earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the
saints." I do not mean, sir, that there was any impropriety in
making it a part of your discourse. I only mean that it could not
be connected with your sacred text, or delivered in the way it was,
without profaneness in the author, abuse of the pulpit, contempt
of the Sabbath, and an affront to the Christian audience and to
God. You might have used Dr. Sherlock's sermon on that
text, against the Popish recusants, which is written with his
usual judgment and decency, without being chargeable with
any unusual inconsistency; but perhaps you thought his method
of treating the enemies of his religion, of his king and country,
was too genteel for my demerit. I must here beg leave to clear
your parishioners of the reproachful indecency of laughing in
church, with which you have charged them. Sensible that they
were hearing a sermon very different from what you intimate,
they were in general grave, and of better manners than their
parson. If any smiled, it was more from custom, I believe, than
from any disrespect to me.
These hints will suffice, I hope, to show you how little I
regard the rhodomontade of the IEolian family. If you had
been apprised of this in time, you certainly would have suppressed some windy preachments, which have done no honour




MR. WADDELL LEAVES THE NORTHERN NECK.       375
to your reputation as a defender of the faith, although you
might, through an unhappy mistake, view them with emotions
of uncommon joy, as proofs of genius and trumpeters of your
glory.
I will now venture to recommend to your perusal the seventyfifth canon of your church, which besides other particulars to
be noticed by you, requires that you should endeavour to profit
the Church of God, having always in mind that you ought to
excel all others in purity of life, and be an example to the people
to live well and Christianly, under pain of ecclesiastical censure, to be inflicted with severity. Some would be so rude as
to interrogate you here; but I rather beg leave to add the fiftythird canon to the former, which orders "that above all things
you should abstain from bitter invectives and scurrilous language against any persons whatsoever." Finding you thus condemned by the voice of kings, and by all the lords spiritual of
Great Britain, and signing your confession of guilt, I bid you
a cordial farewell, assuring you, sir, that in this, and in other
things wherein you think me your enemy,
I am your friend and most humble servant,
JAMES WADDELL."
The interesting and successful career of labour, run by Mr.
Waddell in the Northern Neck, was brought to a close during
the early stages of the Revolutionary war, principally by two
causes-the emigration of leading persons in his congregations
to the mountainous regions of Virginia,-and the inroads upon
his health and constitution by bilious attacks, to which the climate predisposes the inhabitants of the river banks near the
bay,-and the incursions of the British cruisers. The concentration of trade, by which the cities in Virginia were formed,
was greatly accelerated during the war, and enterprising men
in the Northern Neck sought other locations for trade, for fresh
lands, and for health: of consequence the first to emigrate were
Mr. Waddell's friends. From being compelled himself to seek
the upper country a part of the year, either to avoid the annual
attacks of fever in some of its varied forms, or to recover from
its effects, he followed the tide of emigration, and sought the
mountains as a residence for his family. The congregations of
Opeckon and Cedar Creek, in whose bounds Colonel Gordon
owned valuable lands, put in a call for him April 14th, 1774;
this favourable location he saw fit to decline. At Timber Ridge,
May 1st, 1776 —" A call from the Tinkling Spring congregation, for Mr. Waddell, was given into the Presbytery, and by
them presented to him, which he takes into consideration for
one year." In the year 1778, he removed his family to a place
called Spring Hill, a few miles above Waynesborough, on the




376               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
South Fork of the Shenandoah. Here he remained for about
seven years. For some time his labours were confined to the
Tinkling Spring congregation; and afterwards were divided
between that congregation and Staunton.
A few of the subscription papers for the support of the pastors in the Valley, at an early period, are still preserved; one
in the hands of the Rev.} James Morrison, taken for the benefit
of Mr. Brown, at Timber Ridge, and one in the hands of Rev.
B. M. Smith, for the use of Mr. Waddell. From these can be
estimated the comparative value of salaries in the congregations
in the Valley of Virginia at an early period and those now given.
It appears there were subscription papers circulated in different
parts of the congregations, to obtain the requisite sum for Mr.
Waddell's support. The following is a copy of the one in the
hands of Mr. Smith-" We the subscribers in the congregation
in Tinkling Spring do promise to pay the Rev. James Waddell
the sum of one hundred pounds current and lawful money of
Virginia, for the whole of his labours for one year; and we
moreover promise to pay the above one hundred pounds in clear
merchantable wheat at three shillings per bushel: or in corn or
rye of like quality at two shillings per bushel, or in other commodities he may want at said rates; or if we cannot spare said
commodities or grain we will pay the current prices of such
articles at the times of payment. The payment of one-half to
be made in the middle of the term and the other at the expiration of it. In witness whereof we do hereunto set our hands
this first day of May, 1779. N. B. The grain to be lodged by
the subscribers at two or three convenient places in the congregation.
~. s.d.                      ~. s.d.
John Ramsey,  1  6 0         Ben. Stuart,    1 10 0
Thos. Turk,     1  0 0       Robt. Thompson, 1 16 0
John Ramsey, jr. 1 16 0      A. Thompson,   1  0 0
Wm. Black,      0 15 7       Thos. Stuart,    1 10 9
Winm. Guthrey,   1  8 4      James Bell, senr. 3  0 9
John Collins,    0  5 0      Charles Bookins, 2  8 9
John Caldwell,  0 10 0       Walter Davis,   1  0 0
The subscription for 1783, was ~40 in cash, for half the
time and ministerial services of Mr. Waddell; the other half
of his time was bestowed upon Staunton, for a compensation
the amount of which is not known. Notwithstanding the plain
living of the productive Valley, this salary was small, for an
increasing family, and implied the possession of means, or
capacity to labour for their support, not dependent on the congregation.
Embosomed in the beautiful Valley of the Shenandoah, the




THE VALLEY-MEN AT THE BATTLE OF GUILFORD.   377
pastor of Tinkling Spring was not an uninterested spectator of
the thrilling, though distant scenes of the Revolution. Removed from the seat of war, his congregations sent forth their
sons to mingle in the bloody strife. The call of General
Greene for aid, on his memorable retreat from Cornwallis,
seconded by the authorities of the State, aroused the Valley-men
to come out of their quiet abode, with the habiliments of war.
The hope of Greene, that after securing the retreat of Morgan
into Virginia, with his prisoners, from the victory at the Cowpens, he should there meet reinforcements sufficient to enable
him to turn upon his pursuer, were fully realized. Campbell, immortalized at King's Mountain, came with his volunteers from the extreme south-west, and McDowell and Moffitt rallied the volunteers of Augusta and Rockbridge and
Botetourt, and joined the anxious general on the Dan. Before their departure for the camp, Waddell met the company
assembled at Midway, or Steele's tavern, and preached to
them the great principles of the gospel, and delivered the
pastor's farewell to those of his charge going to risk their lives
for wives, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and all that
men hold dear. With what interest would that sermon now
be read! With what notes did that silver voice call upon
the patriots around him to defend their native or adopted land
from violation, and their houses from such plundering as has
been witnessed by his friends in the Northern Neck! How far
he fanned the flame in their breasts, we cannot tell; but certain it is, that in the ever famous battle of Guilford Court
House, the Valley-men stood conspicuous, and none fought
more bravely than the men from Waddell's charge. The Valley-men were posted on the left to meet the advancing right
of the enemy, were early in the action, and constantly advancing or retreating, and almost perpetually engaged, they
maintained their post till orders from the commander-in-chiet
directed them to seek safety in flight, and rally at the appointed place. Hitherto the Valley-men had escaped in a wonderful manner; though exposed to frequent vollies, the fire of the
enemy, owing to their position in a gentle ravine, passing over
their heads, while the Rockbridge and Augusta rifles made
sad havoc with the opposing forces. They knew not how to
retreat; they fled. Lee's light-horse were not near to cover their
confusion; Col. Washington was elsewhere employed. In their
flight they lost more than in the battle; fortunately the enemy
was not prepared to pursue their foe, and the butchery was
soon over. Many families in Augusta mourned the slain of
that day; and some of the congregation of Tinkling Spring
carried numerous scars from that retreat to old age. The last
48




378               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
survivor of the wounded in that battle presented in his face the
marks of numerous deep wounds from horsemen's swords.
Left for dead, the mutilated soldier revived and returned to his
friends a hideous spectacle of wounds. In his old age he boasted of them as his marks of honour.
Various causes combined to enlist the feelings, influence and
the judgment of Waddell and his amiable lady, in favour of a
location at the eastern base of the Blue Ridge, where they purchased a plantation. The two branches of the Gordon family
had taken possession of their fertile lands in that section; and
a society that was very congenial was forming, that had need of a
minister of the gospel, at the lower end of Albemarle, embracing
a corner of Orange and Louisa counties. To this neighbourhood he removed, and took his residence in Louisa, near Gordonsville, about the year 1785, after a residence of about seven
years in Augusta. The division of Hanover Presbytery into
Hanover and Lexington Presbyteries, took place the next year.
He named his plantation Belle Grove. There he resided till his
death, and there his remains were interred. His preaching
places were Hopewell, near Gordonsville, the D. S. meetinghouse, about five miles from Charlottesville, on the road to Rockfish Gap, at the Brick Church, near Orange Court-house, and in
other neighbourhoods occasionally. There were undoubtedly
many advantages attending this change of residence and labour;
and there were some disadvantages. While his mind was in its
meridian vigour, his body weakened by the repeated attacks of
fever in the low country, from which it had never recovered,
showed those signs of decay he did not mistake, and was oppressed by the ministerial duties of his extensive charge in the
Valley; and less was required or expected of him in his new
residence. And the education of his numerous family was more
easily accomplished in Albemarle than it could have been in his
situation in Augusta. Besides, this section of country was destitute of a minister of the gospel, and likely to continue so
unless supplied by him whose physical energy was more commensurate to the labour there required than in the congregations
west of the Ridge.  His congregations gathered from his own
neighbourhood, were necessarily limited; those at D. S. were
circunistantially larger, but composed of plain unpretending
people, not fond of show or parade. The smallness of his
meeting-house near Gordonsville, and its unfinished condition,
together with the fewness of the auditors, made, on the minds
of strangers, an impression unfavourable to his fame and usefulness as a preacher. After hearing him in this unfavourable
position, the inquiry would force itself on the heart, —" Does
nobody here know what an orator James Waddelt is?"
For the advantage of his own family, Dr. Waddell opened a




DR. WADDELL'S PREACHING.              379
classical school in- his own house, over which he presided, with
a becoming reputation.
The great affliction of Dr. Waddell's life was his blindness.
Its slow, gradual, and sure advance, with the dimness of vision,
cast a gloom over his heart, which at times he could not resist.
Pre-eminently happy in his domestic relations, the shutting out
of his wife and children from his sight, like the total eclipse of
the sun at midday, came on him with a cold shudder; his
sensibilities were pained while his faith bowed in meekness.
"From my earliest recollection"-says a son —'" my father was
deficient in eye sight." This deficiency increased from month
to month, and ended in cataract.-" He was also very tremulous
in his hands, which for some years previous to his blindness
deprived him of the use of the pen. Having always been devoted to books, after he became blind, my mother and other
members of the family spent some hours daily in reading to
him. Owing to this circumstance his powers of mind were not
weakened by his loss of sight. He retained his usual flow of
animal spirits, which, at times, when he had agreeable, intelligent society, arose to hilarity. He possessed the powers of
conversation to an extraordinary degree." People were willing to listen to him; they forgot for the time that they were
only listeners. IIe never made set speeches to his friends, or
seemed to have set subjects; he talked to them. He never
declaimed in the pulpit; he talked his sermons in the purest
English, with his melodious voice and no apparent gesture;
every motion of his body was in accordance with his subject,
and whether by the fireside or in the pulpit, his listeners felt
his mellifluous strains to be resistless. It is impossible for such
a man to suffer blindness without unutterable pangs. Could
he have been always employed in conversation and preaching,
and in hearing from choice authors, the weight had been less
oppressive at the heart. But the necessary and protracted intervals in his employments gave ample space for the strong
conflicts between that knowledge and those affections that walk
by sight, and that faith that walks as seeing things invisible.
" During his blindness he was in the habit of preparing his discourses for the pulpit, by calling on some one of his children
to find the text, and to read the context: and after examining
Cruden's Concordance for analogous passages, and consulting
various commentaries, the heads of discourse were written
down; all which were afterwards read over to him."  For
hours he would lie at full length upon his back, his right arm
thrown carelessly over his head, his long fingers moving in
measured beats noting both the vacuity and fulness of his
thoughts, and the passage of time. That tapping of those
fingers, like their gentle swing in the pulpit, was full of feeling




380               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
and eloquence. The man of power was listless, or in a reverie,
or his checked feeling was seeking some fit expression for a
glowing thought.
In the year 1798, the suffering man visited Fredericktown,
Maryland, for the purpose of submitting to an operation for
cataract.  The immediate effects of the skill of the oculist were
less encouraging than had been anticipated, and Dr. Waddell
returned to his family with scarce the feeblest hope of ever
seeing them, and the sweet light of heaven, again. After some
time, upon removing the bandages from his eyes, he thought he
saw, with some distinctness, the divisions in the window-sash,
and called one of his daughters to pass her finger along the
divisions of the window. By trial, he became convinced that
he saw the outlines of objects correctly, though dimly. The
excitement in the family was great, as the word flew from child
to child, "father can see!" The servants caught the excitement, and "master can see" passed swiftly from mouth to
mouth.  He caused them all to pass in review before him, that
he might refresh his heart with a dim sight of those he had ever
been used to look upon; and might gain some faint image of
those who had been added to his household after the doors of
vision had been shut, and of those too whose young bodies were
rapidly increasing with their years.  That was a day of
rejoicing at Belle Grove. The eyes gradually recovered the
power of vision sufficient for the ordinary purposes of life, and
to enable him to read with properly fitted lenses. But this visit
of the blessed light of heaven was of short continuance; the
cataract returned.
Soon after Dr. Waddell's removal to Louisa, came on that
spirit of investigation in religious matters which received its
peculiar cast from France, and pervaded the whole country,
exercising in some places unbounded influence; every where
throwing the truths of the gospel into doubt, and in some
places into entire disbelief. Ministers of the gospel were
every where opposed; their usefulness circumscribed, and for a
time their influence lost. Every article of Christian faith was
questioned and discussed; and nothing relating to religion and
revelation admitted but on the fullest evidence again and again
brought forth and pressed on the judgment and the heart; and
the Bible, stripped of all the factitious influence of tradition and
national enactments, stood alone on the imperishable foundation of God's government and man's necessities, an exhibition
of the one and a supply for the other. It is not easy to comprehend or imagine the fearful contest that awaited the ministers of the gospel, when the political and religious notions peculiar to France swept over us like a stream of lava from the
revolutionary volcano of Paris. The unwary were swept away;




WIRT'S DESCRIPTION OF DR. WADDELL.        381
the timid fled. Waddell losing his sight,-becoming actually
blind,-stood at his post, like the true minister of Christ, and
with the few prepared, by previous investigation, for the contest, breasted the shock, and to an excited public, hesitating
whether Christ were divine, and therefore true,-or human
only, and therefore false,-proclaimed the true and proper
divinity of Jesus Christ and salvation by his cross.
MR. WIRT'S DESCRIPTION OF JAMES WADDELL-AS IT APPEARS IN THE
BRITISH SPY.
"It was one Sunday, as I travelled through the county of
Orange, that my eye was caught by a cluster of horses tied near
a ruinous, old, wooden house, in the forest, not far from the
roadside.'Having frequently seen such objects before, in travelling through these States, I had no difficulty in understanding
that this was a place of religious worship.
" Devotion should have stopped me, to join in the duties of the
congregation; but I must confess, that curiosity, to hear the
preacher of such a wilderness, was not the least of my motives.
On entering, I was struck with his preternatural appearance; he
was a tall and very spare old man; his head, which was covered
with a white linen cap, his shrivelled hands, and his voice, were
all shaking under the influence of a palsy; and a few moments
ascertained to me that he was perfectly blind.
" The first emotions which touched my breast, were those of
mingled pity and veneration. But ah! how soon were all my
feelings changed! The lips of Plato were never more worthy
of a prognostic swarm of bees, than were the lips of this holy
man! It was a day of the administration of the sacrament;
and his subject of course, was the passion of our Saviour. I
had heard the subject handled a thousand times-I had thought
it exhausted long ago. Little did I suppose, that in the wild
woods of America, I was to meet with a man whose eloquence
would give to this topic a new and more sublime pathos, than I
had ever before witnessed.
"As he descended from the pulpit, to distribute the mystic
symbols, there was a peculiar, a more than human solemnity in
his air and manner which made my blood run cold, and my
whole frame shiver.
" He then drew a picture of the sufferings of our Saviour; his
trial before Pilate; his ascent up Calvary; his crucifixion, and
his death. I knew the whole history; but never, till then, had
I heard the circumstances so selected, so arranged, so coloured!
It was all new: and I seemed to have heard it for the first time
in my life. His enumeration was so deliberate, that his voice
trembled on every syllable; every heart in the assembly trembled in unison. His peculiar phrases had that force of descrip



882               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
tion that the original scene appeared to be, at that moment,
acting before our eyes. We saw the very faces of the Jews: the
staring frightful distortions of malice and rage. We saw the
buffet; my soul kindled with a flame of indignation; and my
hands were involuntarily and convulsively clenched.
"But when he came to touch on the patience, the forgiving
meekness of our Saviour; when he drew, to the life, his blessed
eyes streaming in tears to heaven; his voice breathing to God,
a soft and gentle prayer of pardon on his enemies,'Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do'-the voice of the
preacher, which had all along faltered, grew fainter and fainter,
until his utterance being entirely obstructed by the force of his
feelings, he raised his handkerchief to his eyes, and burst into
a loud and irrepressible flood of grief. The effect is inconceivable. The whole house resounded with the mingled groans,
and sobs, and shrieks of the congregation.
"It was some time before the tumult had subsided, so far as to
permit him to proceed. Indeed, judging by the usual, but fallacious standard of my own weakness, I began to be very uneasy
for the situation of the preacher. For I could not conceive how
he would be able to let his audience down from the height to
which he had wound them, without impairing the solemnity and
dignity of his subject, or perhaps shocking them by the abruptness of the fall. But —no; the descent was as beautiful and
sublime, as the elevation had been rapid and enthusiastic.
1" The first sentence with which he broke the awful silence, was
a quotation from Rousseau,-' Socrates died like a philosopher,
but Jesus Christ like a God!'
" I despair of giving you any idea of the effect produced by
this short sentence, unless you could perfectly conceive the
whole manner of the man, as well as the peculiar crisis in the
discourse. Never before did I completely understand what Demosthenes meant by laying such stress on delivery. You are to
bring before you the venerable figure of the preacher; his blindness constantly recalling to your recollection old Homer, Ossian
and Milton, and associating with his performance the melancholy grandeur of their geniuses; you are to imagine that you
hear his slow, solemn, well accented enunciation, his voice of affecting trembling melody; you are to remember the pitch of passion and enthusiasm to which the congregation were raised; and
then, the few minutes of portentous, death-like silence which
reigned throughout the house; the preacher removing his white
handkerchief from his aged face, (even yet wet from the recent
torrent of his tears,) and slowly stretching forth the palsied hand
which holds it, begins the sentence,-' Socrates died like a philosopher'-then pausing, raising his other hand, pressing them
both clasped together, with warmth and energy to his breast,




WIRT'S DESCRIPTION OF DR. WADDELL.        383
lifting his'sightless balls' to heaven, and pouring his whole
soul into his tremulous voice-' but Jesus Christ-like a God!'
If he had been indeed and in truth an angel of light, the effect
could scarcely have been more divine.
"Whatever I had been able to conceive of the sublimity of
Massillon, or the force of Bourdaloue, had fallen far short of
the power which I felt from the delivery of this simple sentence.
The blood, which just before had rushed in a hurricane upon my
brain, and in the violence and agony of my feelings, had held my
whole system in suspense, now ran back into my heart, with a
sensation which I cannot describe-a kind of shuddering, delicious horror! The paroxysm of blended piety and indignation
to which I had been transported, subsided into the deepest selfabasement, humility and adoration. I had just been lacerated
and dissolved by sympathy, for our Saviour as a fellow-creature;
but now, with fear and trembling, I adored him as-' a God!'
" If this description give you the impression, that this incomparable minister had any thing of shallow, theatrical trick in
his manner, it does him great injustice. I have never seen, in
any orator, such a union of simplicity and majesty. He has
not a gesture, an attitude or an accent, to which he does not
seem forced, by the sentiment which he is expressing.  His
mind is too serious, too earnest, too solicitous, and, at the same
time, too dignified, to stoop to artifice. Although as far removed from ostentation as a man can be, yet it is clear from
the train, the style and substance of his thoughts, that he is,
not only a very polite scholar, but a man of extensive and profound erudition. I was forcibly struck with a short, yet beautiful character which he drew of our learned and amiable
countryman, Sir Robert Boyle: he spoke of him, as if'his
noble mind had, even before death, divested herself of all influence from his frail tabernacle of flesh;' and called him, in
his peculiarly emphatic and impressive manner,'a pure intelligence: the link between men and angels.'
" This man has been before my imagination almost ever since.
A thousand times, as I rode along, I dropped the reins of my
bridle, stretched forth my hand, and tried to imitate his quotation from Rousseau; a thousand times I abandoned the attempt
in despair, and felt persuaded that his peculiar manner and
power arose from an energy of soul, which nature could give,
but which no human being could justly copy. In short, he
seems to be altogether a being of a former age, or of a totally
different nature from the rest of men.
"Guess my surprise, when, on my arrival at Richmond, and
mentioning the name of this man, I found not one person who
had ever before heard -of James Waddell! Is it not strange,
that such a genius as this, so accomplished a scholar, so divine




384               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
an orator, should be permitted to languish and die in obsurity,
within eighty miles of the metropolis of Virginia?"
This description, like the poems of Homer, immortalizes the
writer and his hero. It graphically presents a veritable, living
man, preaching to his little flock, utterly unconscious of the
presence of strangers, of talent, or notoriety. His blindness had
wrought his tender heart and literary taste to more refinement
and intellectuality; and whether the many or the few came to
hear, he poured forth gospel truth in strains of elevated piety
irresistibly charming.  Men admired if they were not convinced. Waddell was not so unknown in Richmond as the last
sentence of Mr. Wirt seems to imply. The father and mother
of President Madison were his hearers, especially on communion seasons, and not improbably were present at the scene
described by Wirt. The Gamble family knew him, as did all
families of Presbyterian origin. The Legislature knew him in
one of those strong papers presented by his Presbytery on the
subject of religious liberty and the management of religious
concerns. But years of continued absence from a city, covers
a preacher with oblivion's mantle.
But was this an extraordinary effort of the preacher? or
was it one of his varied efforts to set forth gospel truth?
Was this refined intellectual sort of appeal, his peculiarity? or
could he, did he, address the hearts of all men and move the
plain and simple as well as the refined? Was it the effect of
his blindness? —or did he in former days find the hearts of his
hearers and open the fountain of tears? In reply to these very
natural questions some entertaining traditions may be given.
It was the habit of Colonel Gordon to encourage the sailors,
that frequented the river, to attend public worship whenever
convenient. The invitation was generally very gladly received
by these neglected men. One day the Colonel having conducted a crew to attend sermon, Dr. Waddell preached from
the words " Simon son of Jonas lovest thou me?" The sailors
became greatly interested in the progress of the discourse;
some of them were in tears. In the midst of the sermon the
Doctor put the inquiry-and what does Peter say?-An old
sailor, by that name, rising from his seat, with tears running
down his cheeks, supposing he spoke to him, as he looked so
intently at him-replied-" Lord, thou knowest all things, thou
knowest that I love thee."
An old gentleman reared in Dr. Waddell's congregation in
Lancaster, used to relate the impressions made on his youthful
mind by the graphic powers of his minister, which no influence
of succeeding years could efface. The brazen serpent raised
in the wilderness an emblem of Christ, won his heart; it
seemed to him that like a wounded Isrealite he saw the serpent,




TRADITIONS OF DR. WADDELL.            385
-and as a sinner he saw Christ crucified for sin. From these
it appears that graphic descriptions was a powerful weapon in
his hand, in his early ministry, as well as in the time of his
blindness. It was evidently a characteristic of his preaching
through life and formed a part of the charm with which he
held his audience in sweet captivity.
A miserly man, that used to hear him at Tinkling Spring,
in giving an account of the influence of one of his powerful
sermons, on the love of God, upon himself-said — the snow
flakes had been falling pretty freely around the house-but
had any one told me that guineas lay as thick as the snow
flakes, I could not have gone out to gather any till he was
done.' The author of the British Spy was not the only man
that had felt the power of his mellifluous tongue.
Says one, who knew him well, in describing his appearance
-" He was tall, thin-spare,-very spare as he grew older,had a long visage,-his forehead being high,-his nose and
chin long, —his face thin,-his eyes a light blue-and his complexion fair. He wore long white top boots,-small clothes
buckled at the knee-a long loose strait-bodied coat,-and a
white wig.  He was seldom  vehement in delivery;-often
excited, never boisterous,-often deeply pathetic in tone and
manner,-very courtly in his manners,-and used much gesture with both hands."  A very old lady in the Valley, speaking of him, in 1844, said she "went to hear Dr. Waddell at
Tinkling Spring, being urged to do so by a young friend.
When she arrived he was at prayer;-he spoke with a low,
sweet voice, very distinct; and seemed to use great familiarity
with God in prayer, often using the words'do thou' in reference to promises and desires which God only could fulfil. In
preaching his voice was the same,-if the people were still, all
could hear him. He used much gesture, with his right hand
particularly."
One circumstance during his residence in Louisa caused him
much perplexity. A widow lady in his neighbourhood, was,
under some peculiar circumstances, permitted to teach his
daughters minuets. A report was spread abroad, charging the
Doctor with being an advocate of fashionable amusements. He
repelled the charge, asserting that the members of his family
never engaged in what were called fashionable amusements,
though he thought it expedient to cultivate their manners to fit,them for enlightened genteel society. Still the report was
spread, and much feeling was excited. The Doctor maintained
his position, and did not hide his indignation at the injury
done him by imputation of improprieties and actions derogatory
to the minister and the Christian. His increasing infirmities
had also prevented his regular attendance on the meetings of
49




386               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Presbytery. This failure in ministerial duty was misunderstood,
and was used to give weight to the scandal, that all was not
right with the protege of Davies, in his old age. Many consultations were held by the brethren of the Presbytery about the
best method of bringing this matter to a favourable issue; a
committee was appointed, and a paper issued from the pen of
J. B. Smith: a number of letters passed; and the whole subject became more perplexing. Mr. Todd was understood as
defending his old friend and co-presbyter, and consequently was
involved in the same difficulties. It was determined at last to
have a special interview with Dr. Waddell. During the sessions of the Presbytery in May 1794, at Hopewell, an adjourned meeting was held at the Doctor's house on Friday evening.
The members present were all greatly the Doctor's juniors, but
men of influence, and some, in after years, of notoriety. After
supper the Presbytery was called to order, and the business
frankly and respectfully introduced.
The following minute is on the Presbytery book, viz. "Dr.
Waddell's, 7 o'clock, P. M.-The Presbytery had an interview with Dr. Waddell, and a conversation of a considerable
length took place upon the charge against him, and the letter
to this Presbytery, which by a resolution of July 26th, 1793,
had been referred, for advice, to Synod. And having had a
detail of his conduct, and the motives for such conduct, the
Presbytery was of opinion that there was no ground for further
process against him,-and that the minute making the reference
be hereby revoked." Mr. Turner used to describe this meeting
in his frank and humourous way, as one presenting the extremes
of gravity and ridiculousness, of incensed dignity and anxious
rashness: that he and some others had gone with expectation
of compassionating the humiliation of an old man for a dereliction of duty; that he soon found that they were the objects
of commiseration; and that he never was so glad to get clear
of any thing in his life, and was very happy to get to bed.
That Friday night, May 2d, 1794, was never forgotten by the
company assembled at Dr. Waddell's.
Says one who well knew-" never were children more blessed
in parents, than were we; and what was defective in one was
supplied in the other. Our morals were carefully watched over
by both, and to example there was added precept, inculcated
with all the energy which affection could dictate. On Sabbath
evenings we were assembled, and after being catechised, received an exhortation from my father which seldom failed of
affecting us ideeply.
" I never left home for -     but I received a word of serious
exhortation from my father; and when at home my admonitions
were repeated, and every advantage taken of place and circum



MEMORIAL OF DR. WADDELL.              387
stance to render them abiding. Remember-he would saywhen I am dead and gone, and you will have none to advise
you,-your father told you this,-or the other,-beside this
gate,-or tree,-or whatever we were near,-so that almost
every object served to remind me of his instructions."
His servants appeared greatly attached to him as a man and
as a minister: and some of them were consistent members of
the church. One of them, taken by a member of the family to
Philadelphia was set free, in what appeared to be favourable
circumstances. In a few years she found her way back to Virginia and sought a member of the family with whom to spend
the remainder of her days in cheerful service, affectionate
attachment, and the exercise of religious duties and privileges.
In his will Dr. Waddell directed that his body should be taken
to the chosen place of burial, by his servants. Faithful in life,
they performed this last service with reverence and grief.
His last illness, the consequence of a severe cold, in the fall
of 1803, was protracted to September, 1805. "' His decline was
very gradual and he anticipated his end with Christian serenity
and joyful expectation of future happiness. He took great
pains to prepare us all for the event, which I could not well
realize; for I then, as well as in childhood, seemed to look
upon my father as almost superior to death. But his end came;
and his last words were those of the dying Stephen-Lord Jesus
receive my spirit."
An affectionate tribute to the worth of the wife of Dr. Waddell will close this sketch.
", December 1 Ith, 1848.
" Dear Sir:-Our mother was the daughter of Colonel James
Gordon of Lancaster county, Virginia, and called after her
mother, Mary.  Her mother was Mary Harrison, daughter of
Nathaniel Harrison, of Surry, whose ancestor, as of the large
connexion of that name in Virginia, was Benjamin Harrison, of
Surry, who died in 1712, and whose tombstone may be seen
with its inscriptions at Cabin-Point, of that county. The Harrisons have been distinguished by the terms Berkeley and
Brandon, two family seats on James River, the first in Charles
City and the other in Prince George. Our mother was of the
Brandon descent. She was born in 1752; married when sixteen years of age; was the mother of ten children; and died in
1813, at Staunton.
"Our grandmother, in the early period of her marriage was
of the High Church of England, and very bigotted,-so much so,
that she refused to hear Mr. Davies preach, although he was
a favourite with her husband, Colonel Gordon. Being visited
however with protracted illness, a sermon was preached in their




388                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
house, by this distinguished minister, which she heard from her
bed; our grandfather being represented as setting open the
door of an adjoining room to afford this opportunity. This
sermon was blessed to her awakening and conversion.  She
lived an exemplary Christian and good Presbyterian, and so
died. This was before our father had become acquainted in
Colonel Gordon's family, and is only mentioned to show the
hand of Providence in preparing the way for that acquaintance
and for his after marriage.
"At what time our mother became pious we have no means
of ascertaining, probably soon after the event just mentioned,
experiencing the Christian counsels of both parents. It is
enough for her children to know, and with gratitude, that her
life, character, example, counsels and prayers, were those of a
meek, devoted, affectionate and pious mother. Her meekness
and gentleness were characteristic.  This writer never remembers to have seen her angry.  Cheerfulness and contentment
were depicted on her countenance; and when removed by sorrow or affliction, resignation would quickly take their place.
"The youngest of us remember well her careful reading of
the Scriptures and strict observance of the Sabbath,-her place
of private prayer,-her catechising hour for the children,-her
tenderness and solicitude for them, —her mild and winning
modes of addressing them,- and unwearied efforts for their
comfort and happiness.
" Our mother was a great reader; the habit was increased
during the blindness of our father, from her assiduity in administering to his comfort in this respect. She was low in stature.
Expressive black eyes lit up a benignant and cheerful face.
As she lived so she died.  This is penned by her youngest
living child, who has wept while the present duty has freshened
his recollections of the b6st of mothers.
Your Friend."
CHAPTER XVII.
LOG COLLEGES.
THE infancy of the Presbyterian Church, in the United States,
and particularly in Virginia, was the time of Log Colleges, and
disabilities from government for conscience' sake, and exposure
to the hard service of a frontier life. It was a healthy infancy;
and before the church had reached the stature of youth, it had




WILLIAM TENNENT-ENGLISH EPISCOPAL CHURCH.    389
strangled some strong enemies of freedom of conscience,-and
before manhood had come, it rejoiced, with the country at large,
that in America the mind and conscience were as free as property and the body, all being under the protection of good laws
administered by the legitimate authority, calling civil offences
to a human tribunal, and referring purely religious ones to the
bar of Almighty God.
In the year 1718, the ardent, devoted, and well instructed,
William Tennent, an emigrant from the Episcopal Church in
Ireland, joined the Synod of Philadelphia; and, after visiting
a number of the inviting fields of missionary labour, settled on
the Neshaminy not far from Philadelphia, and opened a famous
school, which was generally known as the "Log College"-or
" Tennent's Log College." For leaving the Established Church
and joining the Presbyterian he gave the following strong reasons, viz." 1st. Their government by Bishops, Archbishops, Deacons,
Archdeacons, Canons, Chapters, Chancellors, Vicars, wholly
unscriptural.
" 2d. Their discipline by Surrogates and Chancellors in their
Courts Ecclesiastic without foundation in the word of God.
" 3d. Their abuse of that supposed discipline by commutation.
"'4th. A Diocesan Bishop cannot be founded jure divino
upon those Epistles to Timothy or Titus, nor any where else in
the word of God, and so is a mere human invention.
"5th. The usurped power of the Bishops at their yearly
visitations, acting all of themselves, without consent of the brethren.
" 6th. Plurality of benefices.
"Lastly. The churches conniving at the practice of Arminian doctrines inconsistent with the eternal purpose of God,
and an encouragement of vice. Besides, I could not be satisfied with their ceremonial way of worship.  These have so
affected my conscience, that I could no longer abide in a church
where the same are practised."
The reasons for the Log College were plain and forcible; —a
pure and efficient church requires a learned ministry,-the
ministry must be raised up, in, and by the church,-the church
must educate her sons to be citizens of intelligence or society
must deteriorate,-society can never educate the church, but
the church must educate society,-and the standard of education in the church is the standard of education in society. He
looked around among the settlements in the provinces of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, and saw no college or
high-school for the instruction of youth in the languages and
sciences, and his heart prompted him to build his Log College.




390             SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Here young men were taken through a classic and scientific
course; and those who wished, through a course of theological
reading.  His students were fitted to enter upon professional
studies of law or medicine, or public life, or the ministerial
office. This school soon became the most approved place of
education, south of Yale College, and North of William and
Mary; and, with this last mentioned venerable institution, gave
the youth of the middle and southern provinces, their only
chance for an extensive and thorough training; and was the
only one in all the south, where Presbyterian discipline prevailed. This private enterprise was entirely successful in its
efforts to supply, on a limited scale, a well trained and pious
ministry, and eminent professional men for posts of honour
and profit in civil society, in what are now called the Middle
States.
That great revival which commenced about the year 1740, in
New Jersey, and spread north and south to the extent of the
provinces, was commenced and cherished by the labours of men
reared in the Log College on the Neshaminy. For a time, the
influence of the  ennents, the father and sons, was paramount
in the religious world. The father was wearing away, and John
had just gone from the dawning revival to the world on high,but William and Gilbert were in their prime. Gilbert traversed
New England with long hair, and flowing robe girded about his
loins with a leathern girdle, and by his commanding figure and
powerful voice arrested the attention of the multitude, while he
preached with great plainness and wonderful power, the doctrines of the Reformation. Fruits of his ministry were found
in all parts of New England, New Jersey and the settled parts
of Pennsylvania.
The Log College gave rise to what may be termed a school,
or peculiar kind of preachers, whose attainments were remarkably acceptable to the people generally.  Their traits are still
discernible, and meet with favour wherever recognized. Didactic,  exhortatory,- plain,- impassioned,- often vehement,they used the strong doctrines of Scripture as facts for illustration, or weapons to subdue the heart,-and fearless of man
in the cause of God, they pressed on to run with speed their
race. Accustomed to debate, they were at home with the pen,
and ready for their message, armed at all points, whether to
preach from the plain desk, the well-arranged pulpit, or in the
barn, the school-house, or the shade of the forest. The man
that first preached the gospel with the Presbyterian forms
of worship, in Hanover county, Virginia, was licensed at
Neshaminy,-William Robinson, of whom Davies says —" that
man of God, who did much in a little time."  Warm from the
revival in Jersey, he entered the Valley of Virginia, and pass



TENNENT AND DAVIES.               391
ing along the frontiers to Charlotte, he proclaimed, in burning
words, the everlasting gospel of Christ to the Presbyterian emigrants in the wilderness. They hung upon his lips. And the
citizens of Hanover sent for the man —' fearfully and wonderfully made," —and trembled and wept, and bowed down in
agony, as he delivered his message. The impress of his footsteps remain to this day.
When William  Tennent began to wear away with age,
Samuel Blair, a pupil and disciple and a leading man in the
great revival, a burning and shining light through life, opened
a school at New Londonderry in Pennsylvania, on the same
plan as the Log College-a school for classics, for the sciences,
and for theology. This was conducted on the responsibility
and principally by the labours of one eminent minister-but
that one, among the most eminent of his day.  IHe visited
Virginia and preached with great acceptance. From his school
came out the man that has been truly styled the Apostle of
Virginia-Samuel Davies, a man with whom, in Virginia is
associated what is pure in politics and excellent in religion.
It is now (1848) just one hundred years,-in the spring of the
year-that the two young preachers stood before the general
court in Williamsburg, to ask of the Governor and Council that
Rodgers might stay and preach with Davies in the congregations gathered by Robinson,-the Blairs-Roan-the Tennents
-and by Davies himself —a constellation of great men, that
laid the foundation of a Presbytery-the mother of Presbyteries. The Governor said-" take the credentials"-the Attorney General said-" not till I have had an argument;"-an
argument on what! Whether a young man claiming the protection of a law made for his protection, provided his creed
rendered that law necessary for his protection in the quiet
performance of his duty. The rights of conscience were unheeded that day. Iow changed the scene in a year or two,
when young Davies came again to that court and answered the
Attorney's argument, and gained some advantage for the
rights of individuals in matters of conscience. The simple
question was-have the citizens of Virginia a right to build a
house for the worship of God in any fitting place. The General Court in 1748 said no; Davies said yes-by the laws of
nature and by the Act of Toleration as understood in England.
And long ago the whole Virginia public has said-all men are
free to worship God. Under the exhortations of the same
young man, in that alarming period immediately succeeding
Braddock's defeat, the first volunteer company was enrolled for
the defence of the frontiers.  "In the name of the Lord"said he-" lift up your banners: be of good courage and play




392               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the man for the people and the cities of your God, and the
Lord do what seemeth him good."
Rev. Samuel Finley opened a log college at Nottingham,
Pennsylvania, about the time the school at New Londonderry
was closed by the death of Mr. Blair. This gentleman visited
Virginia during the troubles attending the gathering the
churches in Hanover; and ultimately died President of Princeton College. From this school proceeded many eminent men,
among others, Waddell, commonly known as the Blind Preacher
of Mr. Wirt, whose influence in Virginia is still widely felt.
While these log colleges were pouring out streams to make
glad the city of God, Alison was cherishing a school which was
matured into the University of Pennsylvania; and Dickerson
and Burr fostered the incipient college now known as Nassau
Hall, or the College of New Jersey. From the school of'Samiel
Blair, at New Londonderry, went Rev. Robert Smith, who
opened a school at Pequa, and reared two sons, Samuel Stanhope, and John Blair Smith, the two stars of Prince Edward.
These finished their education at Nassau Hall, which had, by
the united help of England and America reared her head above
the private schools, and invited youths from every quarter to
her classic bowers. From Nassau Hall the Smiths came to
Virginia to commence log colleges in the "Ancient Dominion.,'
By the year 1771, the Presbyterian congregations in Virginia, the emigrants and those gathered from the old Virginia
stock, the people in the Valley of the Shenandoah, and those
along the base of the Blue Ridge eastward to the tide water,
began to feel the necessity of classic schools of a high order for
the education of their youth. When Samuel Stanhope Smith
passed through the country as a missionary, he saw the necessity of some man like Tennent, or Blair, or Finley, or
Dickerson, or Burr, or like his father, to commence a log college.
West of the Blue Ridge was a classic school in the bounds of
New Providence, carried on under the care of the Rev. John
Brown, which had been in existence for many years. East of
the Ridge had been a school conducted by Rev. John Todd,
with the patronage of Samuel Davies, in which James Waddell
had been teacher on his first residence in Virginia. These were
undertaken by individuals with the concurrence of their congregations and the approbation of the community. Other institutions had a temporary existence.
But the schools of learning most interesting to the Presbyterian Church, and to a large portion of the State, as most convenient and efficient, and for a long time the only ones above
tide water, were Liberty Hall, now Washington College, in
Rockbridge, and Hampden Sidney College in Prince Edward.
The origin and progress of these two institutions form an im



HAMPDEN SIDNEY COLLEGE.            393
portant chapter both in the history of the church, and in the
annals of the State. They were the consequence of the principles of freedom of conscience, and an accelerating cause of
that entire freedom of conscience in matters of religion which
is the glory of the State.
CHAPTER XVIII.
HAMPDEN SIDNEY COLLEGE.
THE Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, a licentiate of New Castle
Presbytery, may be looked upon as the projector of Hampden
Sidney College. Visiting Virginia as a missionary he both saw
the necessity of literary institutions in Virginia, and sympathized
with the Presbytery of Hanover in her efforts to call them into
being. By his recommendation, the Presbytery having, in 1771,
taken up the subject of education, and in 1772, having deferred
action, and, in 1773, having located it in Staunton, and in
1774 having determined to locate the school in another place,
appointed Rev. William Graham the tutor under supervision of
Mr. John Brown of New Providence, and directed the Seminary
to be carried on near Fairfield, where Mr. Brown had been conducting a classical school.
In the meantime he had been preaching in the counties of
Prince Edward, Cumberland and Charlotte, and stimulating
them to do something for the youth in that portion of State. If
the measure of his popularity is to be determined by the amount
of influence exercised in the self-denying efforts to build up an
institution for the welfare of the community, he was the most
popular young minister in Virginia, at that day.
At Cub-creek, October 14, 1774, the Presbytery having appointed Mr. Graham tutor of the Academy in Augusta, and
also appointed committees to raise funds for its immediate
endowment,-and having agreed to meet at the house of Colonel
William Cabel, on the second Wednesday of November-" to
remonstrate against a bill entitled —a Bill for extending the
benefit of the Act of Toleration to his Majesty's subjects dissenting from the Church of England in the colony of Virginia,"The Presbytery taking into consideration "the great extent ot
the colony, judge that a public school for the liberal education
of youth would be of great importance on the south side of the
Blue Ridge, notwithstanding of the appointment of one already
made in the county of Augusta, and having been favoured with
50




394               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the company of Mr. Samuel Smith, a probationer of New
Castle Presbytery, in Pennsylvania, a gentleman who has taught
the languages for a considerable time in the New Jersey College, with good approbation, and with pleasure, finding that if
properly encouraged he may be induced to take the charge of
such a Seminary, we therefore judge it expedient to recommend
it to the congregations of Cumberland, Prince Edward and
Briery, in particular, and to all others in general, to set a subscription on foot to purchase a library and a philosophical apparatus, and such other things as may be necessary for the said
purpose, and on the supposition that proper encouragement shall
be given, and Mr. Smith, or any gentleman properly qualified
may be induced to take the superintendency, we shall gladly
concur to establish and patronize a publick Seminary in Prince
Edward, or in the upper end of Cumberland; but if not we
reserve to ourselves the power at any time hereafter to fix on
any place at or below the mountains, that we shall judge best,
and the subscriptions taken in consequence of this order, shall
be void as to those who desire to withdraw them." The business
was pressed with great spirit and excitement, and the efforts to
raise subscriptions were successful beyond all anticipation.
"February 1, 1775.-The Moderator (Mr. Leake) being informed that the congregations of Cumberland and Prince
Edward had succeeded, beyond expectation, in taking subscriptions for the establishment of a Seminary for the education of
youth-thought it expedient to send a circular to the several
members appointing a Presbytery pro re nata, at Captain Nathaniel Venable's, in the county of Prince Edward, on Wednesday this first day of February, 1775. Being met according to
appointment, Mr. Rice opened the Presbytery by a discourse
from IIeb. xi. 6,-'But without faith it is impossible to please
him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that
he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.'  Ubi post
preces present the Rev. Messrs. Sankey, Rice, Leake, Irwin and
Wallace. Mr. Sankey was chosen moderator, and Mr. Wallace
clerk.
" The Presbytery, upon inquiry find that there is above ~1300
already subscribed for the purposes above mentioned, and considerable additions are expected.  The Presbytery proceed to
consider how it would be most expedient to lay out these monies,
and when to establish an Academy.
" Ordered that ~400 be applied to purchase such books and
mathematical and philosophical apparatus, as are most immediately necessary; and considering that the present non importation agreement may continue a considerable time, we intrust
Mr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, to purchase said books and apparatus, in our northern provinces, by and with the advice and




LOCATION OF THE COLLEGE.             395
concurrence of the Rev. Robert Smith, and the Rev. Robert Davidson, and Mr. John Bayard merchant of Pennsylvania; and
the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, and Mr. Samuel Brown merchant
of New York; or any two of them. And we also intrust the
visiters and managers, hereafter nominated, and Messrs. Joseph
Morton, James Allen, William Smith of Cumberland, Warren
Walker, William Morton, and Robert Good, to collect ~400, or
to borrow it upon interest, and transmit it to Philadelphia, to
the said Samuel Stanhope Smith, before the first of May next."
On the next day-" The Presbytery, after viewing several
places shown them, by the gentlemen of the part, agree to build
an academy-house, and a dwelling-house for the superintendent,
and other necessary houses, as far as the subscriptions will admit,
at the head of Hudson's Branch, in Prince Edward county,
on an hundred acres of land, given for the use, by Mr. Peter
Johnson; and we entrust Mr. Peter Johnson, Col. John Nash,
Jr., Mr. James Allen, Capt. John Morton, and Capt. Nathaniel
Venable, or any three of them, to draw plans of the houses,
and let them to the lowest bidder, of which they shall give timely
notice to the publick. And we also intrust Col. John Nash,
Jr., Mr. James Allen, Capt. John Morton, and Capt. Nathaniel
Venable, or any three of them, to have the above-named hundred acres of land measured and bounded, and the title secured
for the purposes, for which it was given.
" And as several members of this Presbytery lie at too great
a distance from each other frequently to meet together, and consult on the affairs of this Academy, we appoint the Rev. Messrs.
Richard Sankey, (of Buffaloe), John Todd, (of Louisa), Samuel
Leake (of Albemarle) and Caleb Wallace (of Cub Creek), together
with Mr. Peter Johnson, Col. Paul Carrington, Col. John Nash,
Jr., Capt. John Morton, Capt. Nathaniel Venable, Col. Thomas
Read, Mr. James Venable, Mr. Francis Watkins, and the superintendent ex officio, trustees of the Academy. Seven of the
trustees shall be a quorum. They are to collect the subscriptions, expend the money, and conduct all the concerns of the
Academy, in behalf of the Presbytery; also they are to keep a
fair book of accounts, and all the transactions relating to the
Academy, to be preserved on the records thereof.
"The Presbytery reserve to themselves the liberty, forever, of
choosing the Superintendent, the Trustees, and the Assistants.
"On February 3d-Presbytery chose Mr. Samuel Stanhope
Smith, Rector of the Prince Edward Academy, and we- entrust
the said Smith, and the Rev. Robert Smith of Pennsylvania,
and William Charles Huston, Professor in Princeton College,
or any two of them, to choose an Assistant. And we also agree
that tuition be fixed at ~4 per annum for each scholar; 20s. of
which shall be paid on the day of entrance; and we also agree




396               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
that the tuition money shall be divided between the Rector and
the Assistants, at the discretion of the Trustees, until they shall
find it expedient otherwise to regulate the matter.
"Mr. Sankey having obtained permission to go home, Mr.
Rice was chosen Moderator in his room." The Presbytery
then proceeded to take steps to have Mr. Smith settled as a
preacher as well as teacher, according to the spirit of the Log
College in Pennsylvania, which had been so rich in blessings
on Virginia. " The united congregations of Prince Edward and
Cumberland, having applied to us for permission to present a call
to Mr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, a probationer of New Castle
Presbytery, it is cheerfully granted. And as we find it would
be very inconvenient for any of our members to be present in
the congregation when the call is signed, we take the opportunity to assure the Rev. Presbytery [of New Castle,] that we have
sufficient information that they are unanimous for Mr. Smith,
and we earnestly pray that you may concur in encouraging
him to take the care of one of our important vacancies."
The Presbytery then proceeded to make the following manifesto.-" The Presbytery having for a long time had the liberal
education of youth, in these upper parts, much at heart, and
having succeeded so far in our endeavours to promote it, as to
do something considerable towards erecting an academy in
Prince Edward county, where we trust every necessary branch
of human literature will be taught to good advantage, on the
most catholic plan-and. whereas some gentlemen who are unacquainted with our sentiments, may encourage this Seminary
with reluctance because it is to be under the guardianship of this
Presbytery, we take this opportunity to assure the publick, that
though the strictest regard shall be paid to the morals of the
youth, and worship carried on, evening and morning, in the
Presbyterian way; yet, on the other hand, all possible care
shall be taken that no undue influence be used by any member
of this Presbytery, the Rector, or any assistant, to bias the
judgment of any; but that all, of every denomination, shall
fully enjoy his own religious sentiments, and be at liberty to
attend that mode of publick worship, that either custom or conscience makes most agreeable to them, when and where they
may have an opportunity of enjoying it."
This meeting of the Presbytery appears to have been one of
those very important ones, whose influence extends to coming
generations, and whose actions with its actors ought to be remembered through all time.
The call for Mr. Smith having been laid before his Presbytery, and by it put into his hands, on the 27th of October,
at Rockfish. — "Mr. Samuel Stanhope Smith preached a sermon on Eph. ii. 8, "For by grace are ye saved, through




HAMPDEN SIDNEY COLLEGE.             397
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God," previous to his ordination, with which the Presbytery are well
pleased. Mr. Smith having applied for admission into this
Presbytery, informed us that he had neglected to bring a dismission and recommendation from New Castle Presbytery;
nevertheless, being well assured of his good standing as a probationer of that Presbytery, and seeing that a call from the
united congregations of Cumberland and Prince Edward has
been presented to him,-and he being encouraged to receive it
by said Presbytery, which amounts to a dismission and recommendation, we judge it safe to receive him; but recommend it
to him to procure a dismission, and to produce it to this Presbytery as soon as he conveniently can. The Presbytery then
proceeded to ordain Mr. Smith to the sacred work of the ministry by the imposition of hands and prayer. Mr. Smith now
takes his seat as a member of Presbytery together with his
Elder, Mr. James Venable."
On Wednesday, November 8th, 1775, " Mr. Smith informs,
that the gentlemen, not being able to collect or borrow the four
hundred pounds, for the purpose of purchasing books, &c., did
transmit a letter of credit to him last spring, for three hundred
pounds, and twenty in cash, which he has laid out in purchasing
of books and mathematical and philosophical apparatus, agreeably to the directions of Presbytery; and that he has purchased on his own credit, in behalf of the Presbytery, to the
amount of forty pounds, which are all safe come to hand. The
letter of credit and the forty pounds above named, together
with the package and portage of the books and instruments, the
gentlemen appointed to collect the four hundred pounds are
desired to pay out of the collections they have made, or shall
make of the subscriptions.
"The gentlemen inform us that ninety-eight acres of land
are measured, bounded and secured by deed, from Mr. Peter
Johnson, for the use of the Academy.
" The gentlemen appointed inform us, that they have drawn
plans, and let an academy house, and a dwelling house for the
Rector, at the sum of six hundred and ninety-four pounds; for
which the undertaker is to take subscriptions for payment,
upon the condition, that such as are found to be insolvent, be
made good with the other subscriptions; —and that they have
let a kitchen and a smoke house, which are to be valued when
the work is done, and paid as above.
" The Presbytery are informed that the gentlemen who were
chosen Trustees have signified their acceptance;-and the Rev.
David Rice, Colonel Patrick Henry, Colonel John Tabb, Colonel William Cabel, and Colonel James Madison, jr., are now
added to the number. Mr. Todd is appointed to write to Col



398              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
onel Henry and to Col. Madison; Mr. Rice to Colonel Cabel,
and Captain Morton to Colonel Tabb, and to solicit their acceptance."
On Thursday, November 9th, 1775, Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith was installed pastor of the united churches of
Cumberland and Prince Edward. "Mr. Smith informs that
agreeably to the commission of Presbytery he has engaged two
assistants of liberal education, Mr. J. B. Smith and Mr.
Springer."
These efforts for an Academy were made at the time the agitation and distress preceding the Revolution were at their
height; the war had actually commenced, though the declaration had not yet been made in form by the Continental Congress. The distress of community was such that the Presbytery say on the 9th of November, 1775,-" We judge it incompatible with our circumstances, for any of our members to
attend at the next Synod, with our Presbytery book: we
therefore appoint Mr. Todd and Mr. Rice to write to the
Synod, and plead our excuse, until Providence shall put it into
the power of some of our members to attend.
" At Timber Ridge, Saturday, May 4th, 1776, Mr. Samuel
S. Smith informs that Mr. John B. Smith came according to
agreement, and is now in the service of the Academy, as his
assistant; but Mr. John Springer having been providentially
detained, he has on the emergency employed Mr. Samuel
Doak, as second assistant; and the number of students increasing beyond expectation, he has also employed Mr. David
Witherspoon as third assistant. The Presbytery on being
certified of their good character and liberal education, do approve and confirm the choice." Mr. John B. Smith became in
a short time the head of the institution, and one of the most
distinguished ministers that ever graced the Virginia church.
Mr. Samuel Doak in a few years, 1778, was in Tennessee, building a Log College for the rising Presbyterian population of
that now populous State. He took the first library across the
Alleghanies, carrying it on pack horses, in sacks, to endow his
rising College, the first in the great West.
On Monday, May 6th, besides attending to the location of
the Augusta school, the records say, —" As by the death of the
Rev. Mr. Leake there is a vacancy in the Board of Trustees of
the Prince Edward Academy-now known by the name of
Hampden Sidney-the Rev. Archibald McRoberts is chosen
Trustee in his stead.
The affairs of Hampden Sidney went on prosperously, notwithstanding the convulsions of the Revolution, increasing in
reputation and usefulness. On the 28th of October, 1779, at
Prince Edward Court House, after the ordination of his brother




JOHN BLAIR SMITH, PRESIDENT.           399
John Blair Smith to the full work of the gospel ministry —
"Mr. Samuel Stanhope Smith having had an invitation from
the Trustees of the New Jersey College, to accept of the Professorship of Moral Philosophy in that institution, asked a dismission from this Presbytery, from the congregations of Cumberland and Briery, and also from the Presidency of Hampden
Sidney. Resolved, that the request is reasonable, and he is
dismissed accordingly. The Presidency of Hampden Sidney
being now vacant, Presbytery appoint Rev. John Blair Smith
to succeed his brother, the late President, in that office."Under this gentleman the institution rose to a degree of
popularity and usefulness, as a Log College, both in the theological, and the literary department, which has never been surpassed in its most palmy of succeeding years. In the month
of April, 1780, the President accepted a call to become the
pastor of the churches of Cumberland and Briery, made vacant
by the removal of his brother; and thus from the first united
the pastoral office with the duties of the Presidency of the College, and the Professor of Theology, embracing what is properly
the labour of three men; and giving a Christian spirit to the
efforts for the education of youth, which are never more successful than when conducted in the fear of God, and the love of
Jesus Christ the Mediator. With him, men of the greatest
probity, and of the highest public estimation and private worth,
were associated in the direction of a seminary where the purest
sentiments of religion and patriotism were inculcated in a most
efficient manner. The names of such men as Morton, Venable,
Nash, Watkins, Allen, Henry, Carrington, men honoured for
their patriotism, and religion, sound well in conjunction with
the two patriots of England, Hampden and Sidney, whose
names were early and significantly united to indicate the principles that should be taught there and to give it a name.
It is worthy of observation, that about the same time that
the Presbyterian settlements in Virginia were endeavouring to
rear their Log Colleges, the one west and the other east of the
Blue Ridge, their brethren in Mecklenburg, North Carolina,
put up their Log College at Charlotte, and named it Queen's
Museum. The king having annulled their charter,-and they
having, in the month of May, next succeeding the founding of
Hampden Sidney, issued their Declaration of Independence,the name was changed to Liberty Hall, expressive of the principles and spirit of the men. A full account of this institution
may be found in Sketches of North Carolina.. It will form a
conspicuous chapter in all future histories of that State.
Before we pass by the time of the first President of Hampden Sidney, some scraps gathered from various sources will
throw light upon the condition of the country, and the infancy




400               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of the Institution. The Academy, or Log College, was opened
January 1776, —with the President were associated —J. B.
Smith, first teacher, and Samuel Doake and David Witherspoon,
assistants. In the course of the summer there were as many
as one hundred and ten students under instruction at one time.
At the first meeting of the Trustees, of which there is any record, on the 26th of September, an order was passed allowing
Messrs. N. Venable and P. Carrington to build cabins for their
sons. This was done on account of the difficulty of obtaining
board and lodging for the great number of students that came
in from all quarters.
At the opening of the school, "Capt. Philemon Holcomb
engaged with the Trustees to act as steward for the small sum
of ~8 per year for diet-for washing and bed ~3; provisions
at that time very cheap and plenty. Capt. Holcomb continued
as steward until 1st January, 1777, when he resigned, having
given the Trustees previous notice thereof, and Mr. William
Bibb was then chosen for one year at the price of ~11."
Mr. George Craghead, from whose letter to Mr. Watkins the
above is taken, who was himself a member of the school, says:
"' In May, 1776, the walls of the Academy were about three
feet high, and on account of scarcity of room for the students
to study in, they obtained leave from the undertaker, Mr. Coleman, to erect little huts with the shingles that were intended
to cover the Academy. They were packed like a sugar loaf,
with a plank for three or four boys to sit upon; and in the
night a candle being placed in each hut, there being eight or
ten, it showed how intent the inhabitants were in studying till
9 or 10 o'clock at night. That year the students devoted their
time to study; very little was spent in recreation or amusement. About the first of July Mr. Hockley, a student, about
twenty years of age, universally beloved, was taken with a
fever, and in a few days died."
As the declaration of national independence spread through
the country, the youth were aroused, and offered themselves as
soldiers to redeem that pledge of-" our lives, our fortunes, and
our sacred honour." Busy as the students were in their studies,
their hearts were full of patriotism; and with the arts and
sciences of academic life, they would learn the rudiments of the
art of war. Mr. Craghead says-" Mr. John Blair Smith was
chosen captain of a company of the students about sixty-five in
number, over sixteen years of age,-Mr. David Witherspoon
lieutenant,-and Mr. Samuel Venable, son of Nathaniel, was
chosen ensign.  The students wore uniform, viz. a hunting
shirt died purple, and every student, although under sixteen
years of age, was mustered every month."
Mr. James Mitchell was employed as a teacher during this




AFFAIRS AT HAMPDEN SIDNEY.           401
summer. A half a century afterwards this devoted minister of
the gospel was moving among his brethren, a patriarch in the
Synod. Mr. Doak left the Academy the latter part of the year
1776; and ultimately went to Tennessee, the pioneer of literature in the west. Mr. John Springer, who had been engaged
the year before but had been hindered from coming, succeeded
him as tutor. On the 11th May, 1777, the Board was called
by particular request of Mr. John Springer, who told the Trustees that he had been drunk and did gamble at New London,
on one occasion. In consideration of his candour the Trustees
only suspended him. He was succeeded by Mr. James Willson..
"In 1777," —says Mr. Craghead-" about the first of September, there was a requisition from the Governor for one
company of militia from Prince Edward county to march to
Williamsburg to oppose an expected invasion from the British:
all the students, over sixteen years of age, immediately, with
the advice of the President, exchanged their numbers for No. 1
with the militia in the county, and marched to Williamsburg,
under the aforesaid officers; and after remaining a few days at
Williamsburg, were discharged by the Governor; and as the
vacation was about to take place, they returned to their expected
homes. Several of them never returned to the Academy,some entered into the United States army as officers, and others
enlisted as common soldiers." In the close of this same year,
on account of the great depreciation of the money in circulation,
the steward, Mr. Bibb-" very abruptly quit about the 25th of
December, without giving the Trustees previous notice to appoint a successor. The Academy was likely to have been discontinued, but Mr. Nathaniel Venable, Mr. James Allen, senr.,
and I believe Captain John Morton united and agreed to furnish provisions for twelve months, and employed a Mr. Young
with his family, to attend to the cooking, &c. for the sum of
~20 only per student: they acted faithfully until the end of
the year of 1778, but lost very considerably on account of the
depreciation of paper money. For the next year of 1779, I
was informed, that the students found themselves chiefly with
provisions and employed cooks, &c., (a poor business I expect).
How they were supplied afterwards I do not recollect, as I was
taken from the Academy in November, 1778, and was sent to
Washington Henry Academy in Hanover county.
"I am satisfied,"-continues Mr. Craghead —"there never
was as many students at Hampdea Sidney after the year 1776.
I often heard the then steward, Captain Holcomb, say that he
boarded seventy-five that year; the rest boarded in the neighbourhood, and some few boarded at home. The names of the
students, at first, were placed in three classes, No. 1, 2 and 3;
at the examination it was usual to say, white, yellow, black.
51




402                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Those who had been very studious and distinguished themselves
before the Examiners, were publicly applauded by the President
before the students were dismissed, and those who had been
negligent were also named with disapprobation. With respect
to the yellow list nothing was said, pro or con. The President
always informed the students, that there was a roll constantly
kept, wherein were recorded the names of every student, the
time of their entry and departure, their place of residence, but
above all, the manner in which each had conducted himself;
that at a future day it would appear at the Academy, whose
conduct had been approved of, and whose had been censured;
which ought, he said, to stimulate every student, who had any
regard for his future character.  There were two societies at
the Academy in 1776, one was denominated the Cliosophic
(I believe) and the other, Tully Whitefield; which last was
changed and called The American Whig Society.  They kept
records of all their proceedings, and I never knew a single sentence to be expunged."
In May, 1778, Mr. James Willson left the office of tutor, and
was succeeded by Mr. Charles Wingfield, of the first class.
From this we learn the estimate the President had of the proficiency of the advanced classes, and of that young man in particular, as institutions aim at rearing their own tutors as early
and entirely as practicable.
From the foregoing short notices are distinctly seen the difficulties the first President, Samuel Stanhope Smith, surmounted;
and also the enthusiasm he excited on the subject of education.
The difficulties from the Revolutionary war, however, pressed
more heavily on his brother, who succeeded him, and also on
himself for a few years after his removal to Princeton. John
Blair Smith succeeded to the Presidency in times very inauspicious, except in the trials and perplexities which prove great
men and crush small ones. And to have carried an infant college through the scenes and difficulties that surrounded and
pressed upon him, is proof of no ordinary mind, and of the presence of that Divine hand that shows itself, in days of calamity,
for the cause it loves.
After the battle of the Cowpens, on the 17th of January,
1781, the excitement in the southern country was great.  This
second victory, in such quick succession to the famous battle of
King's Mountain, roused the sinking hopes of the patriots.  A
few more such triumphs of the American arms would annihilate
the British army. Morgan retreated most rapidly, with his prisoners, towards Virginia: Green covered his retreat, himself
retiring before Cornwallis, unable to resist an army whose
progress he could only retard.  His pressing calls for reinforcements brought out the militia from North Western Caro



EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON THE COLLEGE.        403
lina, and from all the contiguous counties of Virginia, and
the southern sections of the Great Valley. Captain William
Morton, of Charlotte, in two days, raised a company of his
neighbours to join the army of Greene on the Dan. Hearing
of his intentions, the President of the College set out to join
him. On overtaking the company in Halifax, the Captain earnestly entreated him to return to Prince Edward, that he could
serve the cause more at home by his exciting patriotic speeches
than by his presence in camp. Worn out by fatigue, rather
than convinced by his friend, he returned to College.
A company of dragoons had been previously raised in the
counties of Prince Edward, Amelia and Nottaway, and made a
part of Lee's famous legion, whose deeds are so romantically
detailed in his Memoirs of the Southern War. Lieutenant Eggleston was from Amelia, and appears to have been a favourite
of Lee; he was afterwards member of Congress for many
years. On this alarming and pressing call from Green, a company of militia dragoons was raised in Prince Edward, under
the command of Thomas Watkins. Philemon Holcomb, Charles
Scott and Samuel Venable, were the other officers. Among
the privates was the famous Peter Francisco. This company
was attached to Colonel Washington's command; it is said Captain Watkins offered himself and company to Lee, who refused
them because they were not "fine enough dressed."  This company signalized itself in the battle of Guilford, in that famous
charge made on the Queen's Guards. Lieut. Holcomb used to
relate the circumstances of that terrible charge upon the Queen's
Guards, in which this troop bore a part. Leaping a ravine, the
swords of the horsemen were upon the heads of the enemy, who
were rejoicing in victory and safety; and before they suspected danger, multitudes lay dead. The strong arm of Francisco levelled three of the enemy during one charge, and eleven
before the fight was over. When this bompany was formed,
the students, already greatly lessened in number by the calamities of war, pressed forward to the ranks. Peter Johnson,
about sixteen years of age, the son of the donor of the land on
which the College stands, offered himself, and was rejected, as
under age and under size. He nevertheless procured a horse
and offered himself to Lee, and was with some hesitation
received. He served during that momentous campaign with
great honour, taking a part in several actions, besides the decisive one of Guilford Court House. He was in after life a Judge
of eminence in his native State; and has left a posterity to
rejoice in his patriotism.
When the war was over the College was in a depressed state.
The enthusiasm for education was somewhat abated among the
people at large; objects of ambition and speculation engrossed




404               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
multitudes. The more thoughtful patriots felt the immeasurable importance of the universal dissemination of knowledge
and true morality and religion for the preservation of that
political liberty that had been acquired.  The friends of
Hampden Sidney applied for and obtained from the Legislature in 1783 a charter for the Academy under the legal name
of College, with all proper privileges and powers.
The last act of the Presbytery in the management of the
College, before the charter, was to appoint some additional
trustees. New Providence, October 24th, 1782-" As it appears to the Presbytery that the Trustees of the Academy of
Hampden Sidney in Prince Edward, have failed to discharge
their duty, through the distant situation of some whose attendance was necessary, upon motion of Mr. Smith, the Presbytery
agreeably to the original constitution of that Academy, appoint
Messrs. James Allen, Charles Allen, Samuel W. Venable,
William Booker, William Morton of Charlotte, Joseph Parke,
and Colonel Thomas Scott, in addition to those who already
act in that capacity." This act of Presbytery was entered on
the minutes of the Trustees on the 19th of December, 1782.
The next spring the charter was obtained. Its preamble says
-" Whereas it is represented to the present General Assembly, that an Academy has been founded in Prince Edward, and
which hath been supported by the generous donations of a few
public spirited citizens for several years past; but that in
order to make the advantages arising therefrom more permanent and diffusive, certain privileges are essentially necessary
for conducting the same in future to greater advantage; and
this Assembly, warmly impressed with the important advantages arising to every free State by diffusing useful knowledge
amongst its citizens, and desirous of giving their patronage
and support to such seminaries of learning as may appear to
them, calculated to promote this great object,"-enact, &c.
After enacting that the Academy " shall obtain the name
and be called the College of Hampden Sidney," the following
persons are named Trustees,-Rev. John Blair Smith, Patrick
Henry, William Cabell, senr., Paul Carrington, Robert Lawson, James Madison, John Nash, Nathaniel Tenable, Everard Meade, Joel Watkins, James Venable, Francis Watkins, John Morton, William Morton, Thomas Reade, William
Booker, Thomas Scott, senr., James Allen, Charles Allen,
Samuel Woodson Venable, Joseph Parke, Richard Foster,
Peter Johnson, the Rev. Richard Sankey, the Rev. John Todd,
the Rev. David Rice, and the Rev. Archibald McRoberts. As
so large a portion of these were ministers, elders, and members
of the Presbyterian Church, and all named by the Presbytery in
her previous lists of Trustees, but three, the apprehensions of




PATRIOTISM OF THE COLLEGE.           405
the Presbytery, expressed in the resolutions that gave birth to
the institution, must have subsided, and given place to entire
confidence in the Trustees that the College should never be perverted from its original design. In the third article of the
charter it is enacted,-" And that in order to preserve, in the
minds of the students, that sacred love and attachment which
they should ever bear to the principles of the ever glorious
Revolution, the greatest care and caution shall be used in electing such professors and masters, to the end that no person
shall be so elected unless the uniform tenor of his conduct
manifest to the world his sincere affection for the liberty and
independence of the United States of America." The oath of
office is,-" I do swear (or affirm) that I will to the best of my
skill and judgment, faithfully and truly discharge the duties
required of me by an Act for incorporating the Trustees of
Hampden Sidney."
The literary degrees conferred, under the charter, were first
bestowed September 22d, 1786; when the degree of A. B. was
awarded to Kemp Plummer, David Meade, James Watt, Ebenezer McRoberts, Thomas McRoberts, Nash Legrand, and
John W. Eppes. The last two distinguished themselves in
after life, the one as an evangelist, and the other as a member
of Congress. In April of the next year, the same degree was
conferred on William Baker and Clement Read of the class of
1786. The first diploma of A. M., or the second degree, was
conferred on a gentleman that was never a member of that or
any other college.'" The Rev. Henry Pattillo of North Carolina being proposed to this Board as a gentleman upon whom it
would be proper to confer the degree of Master of Artshonoris gratia-it is unanimously resolved to compliment him
with that testimony of respect."  This diploma, written most
beautifully on parchment, in large and small German text and
Saxon letters, by the hand as is supposed of that unrivalled
calliographist, Drury Lacy, bearing date April 25th, 1787, is
still in existence, preserved by the descendants of Mr. Pattillo.
It is signed by the President, John Blair Smith-and John
Nash, Arichibald McRoberts, James Allen, Francis Watkins,
Thomas Scott, Richard Foster, Richard Sankey, Charles Allen,-Trustees.
The College was now in a flourishing condition.-" After the
siege of York"-says Dr. Hill-" and the capture of Cornwallis
and his army, the male inhabitants, who had been generally
kept in the army, returned home, and more quiet times ensued.
The congregations which had been almost deserted, collected
together again, and public worship was maintained afterwards
without further interruption.  Students also returned to College, and Dr. Smith entered de novo upon his various and




406               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
responsible duties. The number of students continued to increase, until the rooms in College were as full as they well
could contain."  During the years 1787 and onwards there
was a great revival of religion in the College and congregations
and surrounding country, in which a large number of youth
made profession of religion. Many of the students were embraced in this revival, that, afterwards, became eminent in the
church as ministers and elders. The revival extended into the
Valley of Virginia, and many of the students of Liberty Hall
became hopeful converts.  The influence of the ministers of the
gospel that came into the sacred office under the influence of
Presidents Smith and Graham, during this revival or in consequence of it, had a controlling influence in the Virginia Synod
for half a century, made a part of the active ministry of Kentucky, and threw their influence over the whole Presbyterian
Church. The particulars of this revival will more properly be
given in the sketches of the two Presidents Smith and Graham.
The labours of President Smith being highly prized, he was
called almost incessantly, during the revival, to the duties appropriate to his sacred office. The sphere of his active exertions was bounded only by his physical strength; and as the
excitement continued for years, the demands upon him in his
two offices, as pastor and president, became too onerous for his
feeble constitution. In July 1788, he informed the Board that
he designed leaving the College grounds and removing to the
neighbourhood. The Board requested him to continue President, although removed from the College; and appointed Rev.
Drury Lacy, who had been educated principally by President
Smith, to be Vice President, to reside in the College and thus
relieve Mr. Smith of part of his labours. In September following, the Board conferred on Mr. Lacy the degree of A. B.,
"Causa Jleriti."
On the 16th of November, 1789, a Trustee was appointed to
fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Rev. Richard Sankey. The appointment was made by the Board without any
official reference to the Presbytery, but was, in this case, as in
the following years, in accordance to their well known wishes.
At the same meeting the Board went into an investigation of
the rumour that the faculty —" use unfair methods to proselyte
the students to a particular sect," —and examined several
students to ascertain the degree of credit to be attached to it.
After investigation, the Board reported the rumour to be without foundation, and directed their report to be published.
In the September of 1789, Mr. Smith resigned the Presidency of the College and gave himself entirely to the work of
the ministry.  Mr. Graham, of Liberty Hall, having visited
Prince Edward some time previous to the resignation, and




REV. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, PRESIDENT.      407
preached with great acceptance; his character as a successful
preacher and teacher standing pre-eminent, and it being understood that causes were in operation to render a removal desirable, efforts were made by the Trustees, during the years 1790,
1791 and 1792, to have him transferred from Lexington to
Prince Edward.  The matter was finally brought before the
Synod in 1792, by two commissioners from the Board, with the
consent of Mr. Graham, for their advice and counsel. These
commissioners, in October, reported that Mr. Graham declined
the invitation. By a committee of the Board appointed for the
purpose, the neighbouring congregations had been requested to
unite in efforts to obtain the services of Mr. Graham, and had
sent him a call. As these efforts failed, the attention of the
Board was turned by the Vice-President, to Rev. Archibald
Alexander, a member of Lexington Presbytery, recently licensed
to preach the gospel, a pupil of Mr. Graham. He was invited
to unite with Mr. Lacy in the government and instruction of the
College, with equal authority and emolument; and the Committee of the Board invited the neighbouring congregations to
unite in employing these two ministers as their regular supplies.
An arrangement was made by the congregations, by which
Messrs. Lacy and Alexander were to preach in succession alternately at Cumberland, College, Briery, Buffaloe, Charlotte
Court House, and Cub Creek: Mr. Alexander declined being
connected with the College. These brethren entered on their
laborious and extensive circuit towards the close of the year
1794: but finding the arrangement very inconvenient, the
charge was divided, and Mr. Lacy confined himself to Cumberland and the College, and Mr. Alexander to Briery and Cub
Creek.
In the year 1796, Rev. Drury Lacy having presided over the
College, as Vice-President, for about seven years, resigned his
office and devoted himself to the work of the ministry at the
College Church and Cumberland. The Rev. Archibald Alexander was then chosen President, and accepted the office on
condition the faculty should be agreeable and a proper provision
made for their support. The latter part of the year he entered
upon the duties of the office, and had for tutors John HI. Rice,
who had been elected by the Trustees in October, and Conrad
Speece, selected by himself. Here were associated three young
men bound together by strong bonds of friendship through life,
stimulated and stimulating in their turns by each other's progress, and each exercising an influence on the Virginia Synod,
and felt throughout the Presbyterian Church.  Graham  in
Lexington was surrounding himself with alumni of Liberty Hall
of uncommon excellence, and looked with mingled emotions at
the progress of Hampden Sidney, as she rose under the foster



408               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ing care of his pupils, in usefulness and public confidence. These
two institutions have exercised a not unhappy rivalship from
their commencement. First, Hampden Sidney seemed to get
the start in the race of popularity and excellence-and then
Liberty Hall appeared to have the advantage-then Hampden
Sidney took the lead for a time-and then Washington College,
into which Liberty hall was merged, appeared evidently foremost in the race-but Hampden Sidney is now striving hard
to regain all that has been lost, and be at least equal to her
competitor. May they both flourish.
Upon the removal of Dr. Alexander to Philadelphia, the
Rev. Moses Hoge was chosen President.  He became the
Professor of Theology by the appointment of the Synod of
Virginia. In this double capacity he was the means of preparing for usefulness a large number of ministers, of whom it is
not proper now to speak particularly, as they are many of them
living monuments of the grace of God, and of the excellency
of the institution. Others have within a few years gone to
their rest, their memorials are among the churches, and their
deeds in the recollection of all. Dr. Hoge died in Philadelphia,
in the year 1820.
Mr. J. L. Cushing succeeded Dr. Hoge. During his presidency, the present beautiful college buildings were erected. He
was cut down in the prime of life. His successor, Rev. D. L.
Carroll, continued in office a few years, struggling with many
difficulties on account of the smallness of the funds. His successor, William Maxwell, Esq., laboured under great difficulties
from the same source. Vigorous efforts having been made by
the Trustees, which have been attended with great success, funds
have been secured, that have put the College on a favourable
footing, and under the presidency of Rev. L. W. Green,
Hampden Sidney is rising like a phoenix from her ashes. God
has blessed the College, and the congregations around, with a
precious revival of religion. May the College be a fountain of
life.
CHAPTER XIX.
REV. JOHN BLAIR SMITH AND THE REVIVAL OF 1787-8.
THE Rev. Robert Smith was blessed of God to rear a family of
sons, that were an honour to their father and a blessing to the
church and the world. Born in the year 1723, in Ireland, in
Londonderry, the very scene of the triumph of the Protestant




JOHN BLAIR SMITH.                409
succession to the English crown, won by the valour and sufferings of the Irish Presbyterians; he came with his parents to
America in his eighth year. His first years, in the land of his
emigration, were passed on the head of Brandywine; and at the
early age of fifteen, under the preaching of that eminent minister, George Whitefield, during his first visit to America, he professed conversion.  On his entrance into manhood he commenced a course of studies preparatory to the ministry, which he
pursued under the instruction of the Rev. Samuel Blair, at his
Log College, the Alma Mater of Samuel Davies and John Rodgers.  He was licensed by Newcastle Presbytery in 1750;
and in 1751 ordained pastor, at Pequea, Pennsylvania, over a
congregation that remembered the province of Ulster as their
motherland. Here he opened a classical school; and as Log
Colleges were giving way to the regular College of New Jersey,
he prepared students for that institution.  Three of his sons
received their early education from him preparatory to the
ministry; Samuel Stanhope, William  and John Blair; the
fourth Robert was educated and became a physician; the sixth
son died in infancy.  Two of his sons, Samuel Stanhope, and
John Blair became eminent as ministers and teachers; and
both became president of two colleges. Having preached the
gospel almost half a century he went to his everlasting rest in
the year 1799. As a preacher he excelled in knowledge of the
human heart,-in strong and convincing appeals to the conscience,-and in the tenderness with which he led the penitent
soul to its true rest, and abiding hope.
John Blair Smith, the fourth son, was born June 12, 1756,
and received his name from a maternal uncle, his mother being
the sister of the Rev. Messrs. Samuel and John Blair.  During
his boyhood he was noted as being ingenuous and warm-hearted
and apt to learn. At the age of fourteen he was hopefully converted during a revival in his father's school; in his sixteenth
year he joined the Junior Class in New Jersey College, then
under the presidency of Dr. Witherspoon; and he received his
diploma September, 1773. A great awakening among the
students was felt while he was a member of College, which
resulted in the hopeful conversion of many; and among others,
of a class-mate, Lewis Feuileteau Wilson, afterwards the ornament of North Carolina. Of the twenty-nine graduates of the
Class of 1773, twenty-three became ministers of the gospel; and
three Governors of States-Henry Lee of Virginia,-Morgan
Lewis of New York,-and Aaron Ogden of New Jersey. Of
the ministers, four became Presidents of Colleges; William
Graham of Liberty Hall, Virginia,-Jacob Dunlap of Jefferson
College, Pennsylvania,-John McKnight of Dickinson College,
52




410               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Pennsylvania,-and John Blair Smith, of- Hampden Sidney,
Virginia, and of Union College, New York.
The elder brother, Samuel Stanhope, who was graduated at
Princeton 1769, having become the head of the rising institution in Prince Edward, Virginia, under the care of the Presbytery of Hanover, the attention of Samuel Blair was turned, by
this brother, to the same institution, in the summer after the
Presbytery had declared formally its existence and location.
On the 9th of November 1775, the day Samuel Stanhope
Smith was installed pastor of Cumberland and Prince Edward,
Presbytery was informed that two assistants had been engaged,
agreeably to their order, John B. Smith, and John Springer, a
graduate of Princeton of the Class of 1775. In the May following, on Saturday 4th, 1776-Presbytery were informed that
Mr. John B. Smith had came on according to engagement, and
was then engaged in teaching; and as Mr. Springer had been
detained from entering the work, Mr. Samuel I)Doak, his classmate, had been employed in his room.
While filling the station of tutor, Mlr; Smith pursued his
studies preparatory to the ministry under the direction of his
brother. On the 18th of June 1777, at a meeting of the Presbytery of Hanover, at Concord, Bedford county, he offered
himself as a "probationer for the gospel ministry;" -" and
producing a certificate from Newcastle Presbytery recommending him to our care, we therefore take him under our care for
further trials." On the next day he read an Exegesis on a
subject assigned him by a member of Presbytery —" An supplicum  apud infernos set ceternum;" which was approved.
The Presbytery then gave him for further trials a Homily on
Regeneration, a Sermon on Rom. iii. 24, and a Lecture on
Daniel ix. 24th to 27th.  The records of the Presbyterial
meetings at which these parts of trial were exhibited,. are lost.
On Tuesday the 29th of April, 1778, at Tinkling Spring, Mr.
Smith opened Presbytery with a popular sermon on 1 John
iii. 1,-and on the evening of the same day at the house of the
pastor Mr. James Waddell-" the Presbytery having now taken
a full view of his whole performance, and being well satisfied
therewith, do agree to license the said John B. Smith to preach
the gospel as a probationer, and he is licensed therefore accordingly." On the 26th of October 1779, at Prince Edward
Court House —" Mr. John Blair Smith, having delivered a sermon on the subject assigned him at our last (the record of that
meeting lost,) previous to his ordination, the Presbytery proceeded to set him solemnly apart to the sacred work of the
gospel ministry, by the imposition of hands and prayer. This
done he now takes his seat with us as a member of Presbytery."




JOHN BLAIR SMITH.                411
At the same meeting of Presbytery, October 28th, the President of Hampden Sidney College having received an invitation
to the chair of Moral Philosophy in Princeton College, asked
leave to resign the Presidency of the College, and requested
a dissolution of the pastoral office. Upon deliberation, Presbytery granted both requests; and immediately appointed John
Blair Smith President of the College. April 25th 1780, at
Tinkling Spring, a call from the congregation of Cumberland
and Briery, was given in to be presented to Mr. J. B. Smith;
which he now accepts of." The time of his installation is not
given in the records of Presbytery.
About this time he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Nash, daughter of Colonel John Nash of Templeton,
Prince Edward, one of the most accomplished ladies of her
day, whose piety became as eminent as her personal charms;
and both combined rendered her the ornament of society.
She bore him four sons and one daughter.
The Rev. William Hill, D. D., of Winchester, one of the
few surviving persons that attended on his instructions in
College, from whose manuscript recollections of him large quotations will be made, partly in his own words, and partly
condensed to suit the limits of this work,-says —" There was
more fervour and animation in his preaching than was common
in those days,-for he was always a very attractive and popular preacher, and drew crowds after him, for it was one of his
peculiar properties to put out his strength in every thing he
undertook,.and to do nothing by halves. But still for some
years his preaching seemed to take no effect, there was no
awakening of sinners-arousing of cold professors, nor reclaiming of backsliders,-as the visible fruits of his labours. The
troubles of the Revolutionary war were +,axing worse and
worse, and were drawing nigher and nigher, —so that the
British army was now in the midst of his people committing
desperate outrages;-and at length caused a suspension of
public worship in his congregation and broke up entirely the
business of the College."
Patrick Henry, the first Governor of the State under the
new constitution, issued a requisition for militia for the defence
of the State. The students of the College. with full consent of
the President, volunteered to answer this call of the Governor,
one of the Trustees, and marched with their tutor J. B. Smith,
a student of theology, as their captain, to the defence of the
capital. With compliments from the Governor, he was sent
back after the alarm was over-as able to aid more effectually in the College than in camp —while some of the students were encouraged to enter the service and others to return
to their studies.




412               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
When General Greene, covering the retreat of Morgan, with
his prisoners, after the battle of the Cowpens, entered Virginia
in the early part of 1781, Captain William Morton of Charlotte, in about two days, called a company of his neighbours,
and set out for Greene's camp. President Smith felt it his
duty to offer his services, by way of encouragement to his
parishioners, and joined the company in Halifax, on the evening of the first day's march.  The captain, his friend, and
elder in the church, with much difficulty persuaded him, exhausted in body and with blistered feet, to refrain from the
fatigues of the camp, and return to cheer the families of his
charge with his presence and counsels.
It is also reported that when news of the depredations of the
British forces on the Chesapeake reached Prince Edward, a
short time previous to the arrival of Greene, he prepared for a
campaign. When Cornwallis invaded Virginia the services of
the College were for a time suspended; and all able to bear
arms in Prince Edward and the surrounding counties sought
the camp. In this state of things it was decided that Smith
should remain with the people left at home. After the capture
of the invading general at York, the men returned to their
homes, the College studies were resumed, and the congregations
became more regular.
" The demoralizing effects of the war"-says Dr. Hill-"left
religion and the church in a most deplorable condition. The
Sabbath had been almost forgotten, and the public morals sadly
deteriorated. A cold and lukewarm indifference was manifest
in all the ministrations of the gospel throughout all that region
of country, without exception, as far as known. Hampden
Sidney College alone appeared to revive, and the number of
students continued to increase until the rooms were as full as
they well could contain." Mr. Smith's impressive manner of
preaching drew after him large audiences, but with little apparent effect till about the year 1787, when-" some degree of
seriousness appeared to prevail, without any extraordinary
efforts, or peculiar instrumentalities, calculated to produce a
general awakening, beyond the ordinary means of grace.
There were very few Baptists, or Methodists, or any other religious denomination of Christians in these regions, besides Presbyterians."  About this time also the Methodists and Baptists
began to visit the country. James O'Kelly, a popular Methodist preacher of original genius, from North Carolina, made
some appointments not far from College. One of the students
by name of William Spencer became a convert, left College and
commenced preaching. But his eccentric character, added to
his slender abilities and small literary attainments, prevented
his usefulness. His uniting with the Methodists produced no




IMPROVING PROSPECTS OF RELIGION.        413
good effect on the College students; it rather excited disgust.
O'Kelly gained some followers; but their character and standing were not such as to produce any very general effect. About
this same time Mr. John Williams, a Baptist, preached extensively in the counties of Mecklenburg, Lunenburg and Charlotte. He was possessed-" of genuine talents, ready utterance
and great fluency of speech, and was in fact a very pleasing,
impressive and popular preacher, and gentlemanly in his manners and deportment. His preaching in Lunenburg and Charlotte, bordered upon the congregation of Briery, and several
young persons became impressed under Mr. Williams' preaching."  This called the attention of Mr. Smith more particularly
to that part of his charge; his meetings were more frequent
and his addresses more earnest and pungent. No general
effect was produced further than increased seriousness in the
congregation; and more prayer was offered for blessings from
on high.
The state of things in College, during the year 1787 was
peculiarly interesting; the flax was smoking; and soon burnt
into a flame. While a few children of pious parents treated
the subject of religion respectfully, yet-" of all the students
in College, about eighty in number, there was not one who was
known to be any way serious and thoughtful upon the subject
of religion; they were generally very vicious and profane, and
treated religion and religious persons with great contempt and
ridicule; though attentive to their studies and the acquisition
of knowledge." While there were none known to be " serious
and thoughtful," there were many really so-and as is usual in
such cases, each thought himself alone in his exercises, experiencing that deep feeling of solitariness which usually accompanies conviction of sin and danger.  " I was"-says a venerable clergyman now living, one of the few that heard J. B.
Smith in Prince Edward and survive-in a letter to F. N. Watkins of Farmville —" I was born in the year 1772; I was myself seriously and deeply exercised on the subject of religion
from a child, through the instrumentality of my parents who
were pious. But I saw nothing, heard nothing like an awakening among the people, till I was a student at Hampden Sidney
a while. I went there at the age of fourteen years, the only
serious boy amongst sixty or eighty students, and was often
laughed at on account of my religious principles; but by the
grace of God, I was never ashamed on that account; but reproved them for their want of reverence for the authority of
God. At that time I did not think I had religion, but was
much engaged in the use of all appointed means to obtain it.
After I was there one or two sessions, I saw and heard of, for
the first time, a seriousness and deep concern in Briery congre



414               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
gation; and about the same time, in Cumberland congregation.
Christians became greatly quickened, and awakenings amongst
the dead in sins multiplied in quick succession."
The precise time is not known of the formation of a prayermeeting, by Mr. Smith, consisting of the elders of the church,
but one was formed in 1786 or 1787, to meet and pray for a
special outpouring of the Spirit of God. Many difficulties were
encountered in its formation; some plead they could not, were
not fit to pray before others, especially their minister; others
that they could pray in a small meeting, and not in a large.
But under the exhortations of their minister, and their own
sense of duty and privilege, the Elders' prayer-meeting became
a delightful place; and from holding a private meeting, they
began to hold praying circles, as they were called, in different
parts of the congregations where a few could assemble. The
spirit of prayer and inquiry increased together. "' During the
progress of the revival in Cumberland" —says the letter to
F. N. Watkins —" in the time of vacation at the College, Messrs.
Cary Allen and William Hill went on a visit to their relations,
who had become subjects of the work of grace, and they were
deeply impressed with a sense of their lost condition, and exposure to the wrath of God." This was in September 1787.
This visit resulted in the conversion of Allen, and ultimately in
the conversion of young Hill. The circumstances of Allen's
awakening will be given more appropriately in the sketch of his
life. It is necessary to state at present nothing more than, he
had been brought up correctly, was a moral youth, of eccentric
feelings and peculiar talents; that his convictions were deep,
and in fact overwhelming, and resulted in the possession of a
hope. On his return to College to renew his studies he carried
his profession of conversion with him. The President-" was
exceedingly fearful it was all a delusion, and put him through
the most rigid examinations, set him to reading Bellamy's True
Religion delineated and distinguished from all counterfeits, and
his Paulinus and Theron." Allen read and bore examination
on his experience, and held to his profession of religion-and,
says Dr. Hill-" was the first student who made any public
pretensions to religion in College."
" There was another student in college"-says Dr. Hill" whose mind had been serious for some months before Allen
professed conversion; but who kept it a profound secret from
any one, for fear of persecution and ridicule from his wicked
associates; for he had been as wicked as any of them. No one
had spoken to him a word upon the subject of religion, and yet
he was under deep conviction from the strivings of God's Spirit.
A pious mother who had brought him up most carefully, and
instructed him in religious things most earnestly, had been




BEGINNING OF THE REVIVAL.            415
taken from him in his twelfth year. She had taught him the
necessity of attending to the salvation of the soul, had prayed
with him, and for him —and after praying with him would often
lay'her hand upon his head and bless him, and would say she
had strong hopes he would be a minister of gospel, at some
future day.' After her death his religious instruction was
neglected, and he become thoughtless, and was very careless for
a time while in College. But his' mother's counsels and admonitions would occur to his mind in the most vivid recollections.
It would often be suggested to him-is this your mother's little
minister, which she often prayed for?  After some acts of
wickedness, the, thought that if his mother could be the witness
of his conduct, what must she feel, would wring tears from his
eyes and send him to his knees in private to pray for forgiveness for his sins.' But like many another, he would go from
his knees to join again with his companions, fearing lest they
should know his seriousness. Having no Bible, and wishing to
read in that book he had neglected for five or six years, upon
inquiry being made in a round about way, he could not hear of
a single Bible among all the students. He then went to Major
James Morton, the steward, and on the promise of returning
it before night, got the loan of the only Bible in his house, the
family Bible. This was on Saturday morning; he carried the
Bible into the thick woods; and commenced reading the Gospel
according to Matthew, and paused not till he had perused the
whole; and near sunset, returned the Bible to Major Morton,
having spent the time without refreshment, in reading and pondering the words of life. His resolution to seek God was made
more firm, but he resolved to do it secretly for fear of his fellow
students, unprepared to take the stand of Allen.
" There was a small boy, some years younger than myself"
-says Dr. Hill —" whose father lived about six miles in the
country; this youth is now the Rev. William Calhoun, living
near Staunton, and I supposed then cared nothing about religion. His father was esteemed a pious elder in the church;
and had several single daughters who were professors of religion. William went home every Saturday and returned to
College every Monday morning. As he was setting off home,
I requested him to ask his father to send me some good book
upon the subject of religion, for me to read, and it should be
taken care of, and returned. He delivered this message to his
father, in the presence of the family. His sister Peggy, who
possessed more than usual piety and intelligence, instantly
replied, I have the very book he should read. Monday morning he brought me an old rusty black covered book, probably
little less than a -hundred years old, which was brought from
Ireland, with the Scoth-Irish immigrants who settled in this




416              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
part of Virginia. But a book more adapted to my case was
never printed. It was Joseph Alleine's Alarm to the Unconverted. I did not wish that my fellow students should see me
using this old rusty book, but carefully locked it up in my
trunk till I had a good opportunity to read it privately. Next
Saturday all my room-mates went from home, and left me
alone in charge of the room."  One young student, anxious
for his own soul, waits on another more excited on the subject
of religion, and yet neither knew the mind of the other, or
ventured to speak on the subject. These youths exhibit the
difficulty persons have in beginning religious conversation,
even when they might conjecture that the subject would not
be unwelcome. Having shut himself in his room, the young
man began to read the old book with sighs and tears. His
desire for food gave way to his interest; he was not seen at
dinner. Repeated raps had been made at his door, and he
remained in silence. At length a violent thumping at the door
induced him to see who was there; and to his amazement he
found an anxious soul.
"' A full grown student from North Carolina walked in, and
went to my bed where I had been sitting and picked up the
old book I had left upon the bed, and opened and saw what it
was-and stunned said —why Hill, have you been reading such
a book as this? Here was one of the most critical periods of
my whole life. At first I knew not what answer to give. I
thought if I confessed the truth it would expose me to the
contempt and ridicule of the whole College. I never was more
strongly tempted than to turn the whole matter into ridicule,
and treat the subject with levity; which if I had done, it
would have quenched the good Spirit, which was powerfully at
work with me at the time, and most probably been the leading
step to my being abandoned of God, and given over to ruin.
At length I replied, yes Blythe, I have been reading that good
old book with deep interest, and I must confess I have neglected the subject too long, and am now determined to attend
to the subject of religion more for the future. Blythe instantly
blubbered into a loud cry, saying-Hill, I envy you; you may
get religion;-but I never can. Would you believe it, —before
I left North Carolina, I was a professor of religion and a
member of the church; —but when I came here among these
wicked students I locked up my Bible in the bottom of my
trunk,-abandoned my profession,-forsook my God and turned
my back upon my Saviour;-there can be no forgiveness for
such a sinner as I am;-your state is infinitely better than
mine. Conviction seized upon his mind, and he set out like
the prodigal to seek his Father's forgiveness;-and lived consistently with these good beginnings. This young man was




COLLEGE PRAYER MEETING.             417
James Blythe, afterwards the distinguished Dr. Blythe of
Kentucky."
These three, Allen, Hill, and Blythe, soon found a fourth
student, Clement Read, a resident graduate, who was deeply
interested for his soul's salvation. They associated for conversation and exhortation, and resolved to spend a part ot
every Saturday afternoon in religious exercises.  As yet,
neither the President nor the three Professors, all of whom were
members of the church, and two of them licentiates, were aware
that any student was seriously inclined except Cary Allen.
" Our first meeting was held near a mile from College, in a
thick unbroken forest. We had a Bible with us now. Our
plan was for each member to give out and sing a hymn, and
read a chapter, and pray, in turns. We were raw lads at the
business. Blythe, a short time before his death in my house,
in alluding to this our first meeting in the woods, said jocularly, referring to myself-I heard this man make the first
prayer he ever made before any other person in his life; and I
much question whether the Lord ever heard such another
prayer from any other person. It was literally a day of small
things."
"Our next consideration was to fix the place of our next
meeting; and as it might rain and prevent us from meeting in
the woods, we determined to meet the next Saturday afternoon
in one of our rooms in College. Procuring a room to ourselves
we locked our door and commenced. Although we sung and
prayed with suppressed voices, not wishing it should be known
what we were about, we were overheard by some of the students, when it was noised about through every room in College, and a noisy mob was raised, which collected in the
passage before our door, and began to thump at the door, and
whoop, and swear, and threaten vengeance, if we did not forbear and cease all such exercises in College for the future.
We had to cease, and bear the ridicule and abuse of this noisy
riot, which could not be quieted until two of the Professors
interfered and ordered them all to their rooms. Information of
this riot was given to Mr. Smith. In the evening the College
was rung to prayers.  When the prayers were ended, lMr.
Smith demanded the cause of the riot, and who were the
leaders in it. Some of the most prominent leaders stepped forward and said, there were some of the students, who had shut
themselves up in one of the rooms in College, and began singing and praying and carrying on like the Methodists, and they
were determined to break it up. We had nothing to say; we
were not absolutely certain that we were justifiable in introducing such exercises in College without first obtaining permission to do so."
53




418               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
What a scene was this! here were some youth anxious to flee
from the wrath to come,-here were others in their thoughtless
sinfulness determined to put an end to all unusual effort to be
saved,-here was an anxious President of a College, in quelling
a riot and inquiring out its cause, discovering the long sought
object of his prayers, a company of praying youth among his
thoughtless students.  "The President's eyes" —Mr. Hill goes
on to say-"filled with tears; —it was the first intimation he
had that there was such seriousness in College. After a short
pause he said-And has it come to this! Is it possible! Some
of my students are under religious impressions!-and determined to serve their Saviour! And is it possible that there are
such monsters of iniquity, such sons of Belial in College, who
dare set themselves against such things! who will neither serve
God themselves, nor suffer others to do so! Then turning to
the serious students, who had been the innocent occasion of all
t}iis disturbance he said to them-I rejoice, my young friends,
that you have taken the stand you have;-you shall not be
interrupted in your meetings for the future. Your appointment next Saturday afternoon shall be held in my parlour;
and I will be with you,-conduct your meeting for you,-and
render you all the assistance you may need."
The brightness of this unexpected triumph, was somewhat
clouded, in the opinion of the young men, by the condition of
their prayer meeting being in public. But their hearts did not
fail in their trembling; they went at the appointed hour and
found the parlour filled, and as they were called on in succession, each led in prayer. The President followed with a most
impressive exhortation from a heart full to overflowing. " The
next Saturday afternoon nearly the whole of the students came
out, and many from the neighbourhood around, so that the
parlour and other rooms were crowded. As the neighbourhood
generally got word of what was going on in College, they all
wished to attend; so we had to appoint the next meeting in the
large College Hall, which was filled upon subsequent occasions.
Within two weeks or thereabout, fully half of the students in
College appeared deeply impressed, and under conviction for
their sins. Deep impressions and concern were generally made
through the neighborhood."
Prayer meetings were set up by the elders in all parts of the
congregation; and the pastor, Mr. Smith, was fully employed
in preaching, holding meetings for exhortation and prayer, and
in conversation with persons under deep exercise of mind.
Drury Lacy, a young licentiate, one of the Professors in College, entered into the work most heartily, and with thrilling
tones and excited feelings urged the great truths of salvation
home upon the consciences and judgment of all. Every other




THE GREAT REVIVAL IN HAMPDEN SIDNEY.       419
business appeared for a time forgotten in the all-absorbing interests of religion. The awakening in the congregations received a great impulse in every direction. Allen and Hill went,
for the Christmas holidays, to visit their connexions, on Great
Guinea, in Cumberland, where they had been raised; and took
some of their serious, and newly awakened companions along
with them. In the neighbourhood were several elders and
many members of the church, belonging to the Cumberland
church. The young men spent their time in holding religious
meetings in the different families of their acquaintance.  "To
their great surprise while these meetings were going on, one of
their companions in College, a resident graduate, Nash Legrand,
made his appearance unexpectedly among them. He had hitherto been known only as one of the wildest and most dissipated
students, and it was not known that he ever felt a serious impression of any kind. He had never broken his mind to any
of us; but conviction for sin had got deep hold of his heart,
which gave him no rest, night or day. It was this hidden fire
which induced him to follow his fellow students to this neighbourhood." During one night at a prayer meeting at Nathan
Womack's, he became hopefully converted, and was as full of
joy as Cary Allen. A short memoir of his life will be necessary
to give completeness to the Sketches of Virginia, and will be
given in another chapter.
Similar scenes were witnessed in different directions from the
College; and by the commencement of the year 1788, there
was a general awakening in Prince Edward, Cumberland and
Charlotte counties. The professors of religion awaked as from
a sleep, and put on the armour of godliness; some declared
themselves convinced their former profession had been a lifeless
one, and professed conversion anew. The news of these interesting matters spread; and many came from a distance to
witness the wonders God was working among the people in a
large section of country of which the College was the centre,
and Smith appeared the controlling mind.
"The Rev. Henry Pattillo, a venerable minister, who had
been a pupil and associate of Samuel Davies, in his youth, and
who now resided in Granville county, North Carolina, hearing
of this work, came over to Virginia, bringing a number of his
young people with him, to spend a week or two in Prince
Edward and Charlotte, who caught the infection, and carried
the sacred fire home with them, from whom it was communicated to others, and a glorious revival broke out in Granville and
Caswell counties, North Carolina.
The Rev. James Mitchell, who had been tutor in College,
and was now the successor, as well as son-in-law of Rev. David
Rice, came from Bedford to witness and join in the work of




420               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
grace. He became the instrument of a like precious work that
spread through Bedford and Campbell.
Rev. William Graham, President of Liberty Hall in Rockbridclge county, went over by invitation to attend a communion
season in Briery, and took with him two students, Archibald
Alexander and Samuel Wilson. "On the Saturday evening,"
-says Mr. Calhoun, in his letter to Watkins-" of the communion Sabbath, Mr. Graham arrived at old Mr. Morton's, a house
in which many Christians usually lodged on such occasions;
and on that night, or next morning led in family prayer.'The
apparent tone of his feelings did not exactly suit the ardour of
some of the young converts, and they requested Mr. Smith not
to let him preach."  Not the first instance of hasty judgment
in young professors, who may be truly Christians; under the
influence of excitement, and with their warmth of feeling on a
new subject, the young converts sometimes feel as if old Christians needed converting over again. Mr. Calhoun tells an interesting case of this kind. "Mr. James Allen, afterwards an
elder in Briery, told me he had lived without religion till after
he was the head of a family, having a wife and some children.
When it pleased God to open his blind eyes, and show him his
lost condition, his convictions were awful; and increased to
such a degree that his spirits were dried up, and his bodily
frame greatly weakened. When it was morning he expected
to be in hell before night; and when night came he had no
expectation of seeing another morning, anticipating the most
fearful doom. At length in the use of appointed means of
grace, it pleased God by his Spirit to give him understanding in
the Scriptures, which exhibit Jesus Christ the Son of God, as
the only and all-sufficient Saviour of helpless, ruined man.
When he was enabled to believe understandingly his joy was as
great as his terror had been. After a day or two of much comfort, he began to think of his old father, and fearing he had
never been converted, though an elder in the church for many
years, he resolved to go and tell him his experience, hoping his
old father would thereby be led to see how far he came short of
real piety. Accordingly he went to his father's house, and
after taking him into a private room related his experience.
While he was relating his exercise of mind, he saw the tears
running down his father's cheeks, from which he hoped the old
gentleman was coming under convictions. When he ended his
statement, his father asked him if he had finished his narrative.
He said yes.  The old patriarch said to him-My son, I hope
God has in his great goodness and mercy converted your
soul; —but you are only a babe in Christ, —you have much to
experience and learn yet.  He then gave his son a sketch
of his conversion in early life,-and his Christian experience




INCIDENTS OF THE REVIVAL.            421
down to old age.  While the father was relating his own experience, the son was filled with the utmost shame and mortification, that he should have thought of teaching his old father,
who, he now saw, knew a hundred times more about religious
experience than he did."
As great a change took place after hearing Mr. Graham a
few times..' As soon"-says Dr. Hill —" as Mr. Graham
saw the state of things, and entered into that atmosphere, his
heart caught fire; and during the occasion he exhibited from
the pulpit some of the great and happy efforts of which he was
capable."-Mr. Calhoun relates-" After the communion services were ended, Mr. Graham preached from Isaiah xl. 1st
and 2d, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her
warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned." Like
Lacy's sermon in the grove in Lexington, this was talked of
while the generation, that heard it, lived, unwritten, unwritable, but ever to be remembered by Christians. Mr. Graham
returned with an overflowing heart; the two young men also
deeply interested; and was rejoiced to see in a little time the
work of grace in his own charge which spread through the
congregations in that part of the Valley. It is reported, that,
previous to his time, the two Presidents had felt something of
the spirit of rivalry, which they could not entirely conceal;
but after this meeting, like true yoke-fellows they set themselves to the work of God in the gospel. The following letters
give some interesting particulars of the revival.
Extract from a letter from the Rev. John B. Smith, of Hampden Sidpey, Virginia,
to a Lady in Philadelphia, dated October 6, 1788.
"The old gentleman, my father, will give you some account
of God's gracious kindness to me and my congregation. We
have had an unmerited work of God amongst us. Young and
old have been generally excited to attend to the great salvation. Many sweet young disciples, ten and twelve years old,
seem affectionately engaged in God's service. Some old sinners
have deserted the camp of Satan in all appearance; one, fifty
years old, a violent opposer of religion all his days. Another,
who for thirty-five years which he had lived, had never so much
as attempted to pray but once; and several deistically inclined,
are with us, monuments of God's amazing grace. I find my
heart enlarged, and my soul engaged in God's service; but
have often reason to be astonished at my wretched unfruitfulness in my own exercises. Yesterday we had the Lord's supper
administered, and God was with us. I felt his power, I think,
and glory to his name for his unmerited grace. Mrs. Smith is




422               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
very lively. Our young Christians, however, I think, begin to
complain much of inward corruptions which they did not suspect at first. God's way is to try us with light and shade in
turn. 0 may you be always in the'light, more and more, till
the shadows flee in perfect everlasting day. God bless you,
my dear madam, and be your strength and stay in the decline
of life, and open your way at last, comfortably and clearly,
into everlasting rest. This is the earnest prayer of yours,
affectionately,
JOHN B. SMITH."
Copy of a letter from the Rev. Robert Smith, of Pequea, to the same Lady, dated
October 26, 1788.
"Dear Afadam-A few days ago I returned from Virginia,
where I preached five Sabbaths, one at Alexandria, and four
for my son, besides several week days.
The half was not told me of the display of God's power and
grace among them; no, not the tenth part. I have seen nothing
equal to it for extensive spread, power, and spiritual glory, since
the years'40 and'41. The work has spread for an hundred
miles, but by far the most powerful and general in John Smith's
congregations, which take in part of three counties.
Not a word scarcely about politics; but all religion in public
and private. They run far and near to sermons, sacraments and
societies. They have six or seven praying societies, which meet
every Wednesday and Saturday evenings, and at College on
Sabbath evenings also. Numbers of the students have been
convinced, and several of them hopefully converted.
We ordained two of them to the work of the ministry, who
have been preachers, and took two more upon trial. Clever
fellows, indeed. Others are preparing for the work, among
them a young man, an apprentice to my son Robert, the doctor,
a cousin to Betsy Smith, a praying lad. Betsy Smith and her
father, Colonel Nash, grow apace in piety, and some of the
Colonel's negroes. Poor things, they have the best of masters.
The blessed work has spread among people of every description,
high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, orthodox
and heterodox, sober and rude, white and black, young and old;
especially the youth, whom it seems to have seized generally.
Two hundred and twenty-five hopeful communicants have been
added to the Lord's table among John Smith's people, in the
space of eighteen months, chiefly of the young people.
When they go to sermons or societies, they commonly go in
companies, either conversing on spiritual subjects or singing
hymns. When they arrive at the place of worship, they enter
the house and sing hymns till the minister enters.
Such sweet singing I never heard in all my life. Dear




ROBERT SMITH'S LETTER CONCERNING THE REVIVAL. 423
young Christians, how engaged, how heavenly, how spiritually
and innocently they look and speak. I have seen an hundred
wet cheeks, some deeply penetrated with convictions, some
fainting with love-sickness as it were, in the Saviour's arms, and
others rejoicing for the day of God's power and grace, all under
the same sermon. The rejoicings were much among some old
disciples.
We dispensed the sacrament of the Supper at each of my
son's congregations.
The Presbytery met the week before the last sacrament.
We were eight in all, including the two that were ordained at
that time. All tarried till after the Sabbath, and most of the
ministers were exceedingly engaged in their work. Every weekday we had two sermons besides other exercises. The concourse
of people on the Sabbath was large. Beside the morning sermon and serving the tables, which lasted till near sundown, they
had sermon almost all day out of doors. 0, it was a most sweet,
solemn, and powerful day.
I shall just mention one particular which was very striking
and pleasing to me. After the tables were served, I stepped a
few perches below the meeting-house, where there was a cluster
of black communicants standing, weeping and rejoicing, and an
old negro man, addressing them in such strains as these: "We
poor negroes were miserable, wretched creatures, taken captives
and brought from our country in bondage here to men, and
what was worse, slaves to sin and the devil. But, 0! the goodness of God to us poor black folks. He has made us free men
and women in Christ, joint heirs with his own Son. He has
sent his servant to preach this gospel to us, who takes us to the
Lord's table with himself, and calls us his brothers and sisters
in Christ!. O! the love of Christ to us poor black folks! Our
colour is black; but his blood washes our souls whiter than
snow! We shall live among the redeemed forever with the
Lord. 0! the love of Christ to us poor black people!!O  his
service is sweet! it is very sweet. Hold on in it, hold on till
you get the prize."
When I heard and saw, my head was a fountain, and I stood
astonished. Indeed, I could wish frequently to see such a sight,
and hear such an address.
So far as I had an opportunity of conversing and discovering,
the exercises of people appear to be lively, pure, clear and
spiritual.
When I went and heard, and sa, I felt richer in my mind
than if I had seen my son mounted upon a throne; yet I confess I felt several pangs for my beloved child, lest he should
wear his life to an end too soon. He had certainly the work of
three men to do. All-the time of College vacation he will be




424               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
riding to sacraments, and preaching every where. For the
importunities of the people are pressing, and his desires are as
strong."
The character, extent, and effects of this revival-the first of
any extent in Virginia after the time of Davies, are matters of
more than usual importance in the history of the Virginia
Synod, and the other Synods south and west, that may trace
their origin to Hanover Presbytery.
1. THE CHARACTER.- President Smith's preaching, says
Dr. Hill,-" was of the most animating, pungent, practical character, feeling close for the conscience, and applying truth
home to the heart. His appointments were very frequent, not
only on the Sabbath, but during the week-days also. He never
would permit the least noise or disorder or crying out in the
worship of God, although it was with difficulty sometimes he
could repress it. If at any time there was something of the sort
commenced, he would instantly stop speaking and say —'You
must compose your feelings, my brethren. God is not the
author of confusion, but of peace in all his churches.' Often
upon such occasions he would give out a verse or two of some
hymn for the people to sing, till silence and composure was
produced, and then go on with his discourse. When it became
generally known that he would not suffer such things, the most
powerful impressions were suppressed and held in. It has often
occurred that when the congregation was dismissed, several
would be seen fastened to their seats, unable to arise, through
the overpowering effects of either joy or distress, and had to be
assisted away by their friends. If the least encouragment had
been given, he could readily have had as much outcrying,
shouting, and things of the kind, as is often seen. In that part
of his charge in Guinea, in Cumberland, there was some disorder in worship, particularly when Mr. Smith was not present.
The Methodists had much preaching in the neighbourhood, and
encouraged the expression of feelings by outbursts; and here
also Allen and Legrand had experienced their extraordinary
conversion; and the preacher that supplied them most, Mr.
Lacy, was then young in the ministry, and not so completely
at home in the matter as President Smith, and for a time hesitated about the proper course to be pursued. But the tendency
to outbreaking of passionate feeling and all violent exercises
were carefully checked by Mr. Smith. They never had credit
in the Virginia Synod, while was formed during this revival,
and took its immediate impression from Smith and Graham
and the standard of feeling by them approved, as it did its more
remote from that eminent servant of God, Samuel Davies.
Of the instruction that gave character to the revival, Mr.




PREACHING IN THE REVIVAL.             425
Calhoun says-" Mr. Smith instituted prayer-meetings, preached often, and with great zeal. His method was plain, practical
and very fervid; but perfectly free from ranting. The Calvinistic doctrines were conspicuous in his sermons.  He varied his
subjects as occasion required.  Sometimes he preached the
terrors of the law. But dwelt more on the love of God to a
lost world, as manifested by the gift of his Son to die for our
redemption. When on this subject he would make powerful
appeals, to all the generous and noble feelings of human nature,
to induce the careless part of his audience to close in with the
gracious purposes of their God towards them. And to encourage the convicted and desponding sinner, he would set forth, in
an alluring manner and glowing colours, the pity and compassion
of Christ, his benevolence, his readiness to forgive sins, the
efficacy of his atoning blood, the perfection of his righteousness
for their justification, and his successful intercession in heaven
as their High Priest, in their behalf. Sometimes he preached
very searching and trying sermons to guard his people against
delusion. He was lucid in his exposition of the Scriptures,
and exhibited the doctrines clearly and in a practical manhier.
His address was good."
Dr. Hoge, who was President of Hampden Sidney, some
years after Mr. Smith, speaks of him as a minister-in page
414 of his printed sermons-" Remember your Smith, a name
dear to thousands in our country, and still dear to numbers in
this audience. He was indeed a burning and a shining light.
And it was the privilege of some of you to rejoice in his light
-to live under his efficacious ministry; and this must have been
a distinguished privilege. I have, if I mistake not, heard
greater orators,-preachers of more profound meditation, of a
more brilliant imagination, and superior to him in any particular
qualification, unless the fervour of his piety be an exception.
But a preacher possessing every ministerial qualification in a
degree so eminent, I have never known. Nor do I ever expect
again to hear a preacher, whose discourses will be equally calculated for the learned and the unlearned, the rich and the poor,
the devout Christian and the abandoned profligate —in a word
every character and description of man. I need hardly observe
to this audience that he was the most distinguished instrument
in promoting the late glorious revival in our church. A revival
which is said to have begun under his ministry, and the fruits
of which are still visible in our churches.  Methinks I still see
him stand the accredited ambassador of the great King of kings
and Lord of lords, while every feature and every muscle of
his face, every word and action, as well as the lightning of his
eyes, seem to bespeak a soul on fire. Remember them which
have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of
54




426               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation."
The manner and character of Mr. Smith's preaching has
been stated in giving the character of the revival, because it is
well known that the character and manner of the preachertaking manner in its widest sense-who is the leader or principal instrument in a revival, give tone and character to the
revival, for good or for evil.  The Tennents in Jersey, the
Blairs in Pennsylvania, Robinson and Davies in Virginia-and
then again Smith and Graham in Virginia, stamped their own
impress on the work of God. Mr. Smith was extraordinary in
possessing all ministerial qualifications in a happy medium, and
no one qualification in an absorbing degree, consequently there
were no mannerisms in the revival, or among his pupils.  Calvinistic in his doctrines according to the Confession of Faith,
he made the grand doctrines of the gospel speak in men's
ears an alarming message, which the Holy Spirit sent to the
heart. Retentive in memory, strong in argument, powerful in
persuasion, having Scripture at command, he was a ready
preacher, feeling what was fitting the occasion. Open-hearted,
liberal and compassionate, easy in deportment, with friends
often facetious, sometimes witty, he was slow in making friendships, and still slower in abandoning friends of his choice.
Mr. Calhoun says-"he was lean, of a middling stature, his hair
very black, his mouth large, his cheeks lank, his cheek bones
visible but not protruding much; I think his chin projected forward, and was broad not sharp-his eyes strongly expressed
the emotions of his mind." A lady now living who was a convert under his preaching-says " his eyes were blue when in conversation with you; but when aroused in speaking they appeared
dark and piercing." His heart was so set upon his work
that he often overtasked his body. Mr. Smith had-says Dr.
Hill-" but a slender frame, and was of a very feeble constitution, and exerted himself beyond his strength; and would often
go into the pulpit when some of his best friends said he ought
to be in bed. Once he ruptured a blood-vessel and fell in his
pulpit, and had to be taken and carried home. At another time
he was preaching in a private house, standing by a large open
window in warm weather, when he ruptured another vessel, and
putting his head out of the window, he discharged so much
blood, that none of his congregation expected ever to hear him
reach again. His physicians and friends seriously advised
him to quit preaching; but in a few weeks he pursued his
former course as though nothing had occurred. The ardency
of his pursuits, and the buoyancy of his nature gave such an
elasticity to his feeble frame as soon overcome common dangers
and frailties."  Those who remember how much we are influen



EXTENT OF THE REVIVAL.              427
ced by small things will know how to give their proper weight to
these small matters respecting Mr. Smith, as he was standing
forth God's chosen instrument for a great and good work for
generations of men.
"'He was very careful to supply those who were recently
awakened with books suitable to their occasions,-such asAlleine's Alarm, Baxter's Call, Doddridge's Rise and Progress,
3Boston's Fourfold State, Bellamy's True Religion delineated
and distinguished from all counterfeits, and his Paulinus and
Theron, Dickerson's Letters, Willison on the Shorter Catechism,
and Sacramental Meditations, and especially Edwards on Religious Affections. There were few of his young members who
had not read more or less of these authors; and some of them
the whole of them.
IHe advised those who were awakened not to be too hasty
in professing conversion; and urged them to examine the foundations of their hopes well before they entertained a hope they
had made their peace with God, stating it was a dreadful thing
to be deceived in a matter of such importance. Generally
months, and in some instances a year or more was suffered to
pass before they were received into the church. No anxious
seat, nor inquiry meetings were used or thought of in those
days: but no opportunity was suffered to pass by without talking to such persons in the most plain and faithful manner. In
these days nothing was talked much about but religion, and
whenever friends met, the first thing they said was —How are
you coming on?-what difficulties do you find in your way?
2. THE EXTENT OF THE REVIVAL.-It has been stated that
all the congregations in Cumberland, Prince Edward, and
Charlotte, were revived.  The awakening was very general
throughout those counties; and the congregations were enlarged
to cover a great portion of the whole country. These counties
were supplied mostly by the officers of College and Mr. Sankey. By the instrumentality of Mr. Mitchell, it extended to
Bedford and Campbell, and was felt extensively in those counties where there are still remaining some of the subjects of the
work. Mr. Graham was blessed in carrying on the good work
in Liberty Hall, and seeing it spread over Rockbridge very
generally; and Legrand spread it through nearly all the counties up and down the Valley. Mr. Pattillo rejoiced in its influence in Granville and Caswell counties, North Carolina,
among people, some of whom had emigrated from Virginia, and
had been hearers of Davies. James McGready on his way to
Carolina, tarried a while in Prince Edward, and went on his
way with a burning heart to Orange and -Guilford, and witnessed there a great display of God's grace.  "Persons of all
ranks in society, of all ages, both old and young, became the




428               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
subjects of this work"-says Dr. Hill speaking of part of Cumberland, of Charlotte, and Prince Edward-" so that there
was scarcely a magistrate upon the bench, or a lawyer at the
bar in Prince Edward and Charlotte, but became members of
the church. Young men and women were generally heartily
engaged in the work, so that it was now as rare a thing to find
one who was not religious, as it had been formerly to find one
that was. The frivolities and amusements once so prevalent,
were all abandoned, and gave place to singing, serious conversation, and prayer-meetings-very few comparatively, who appeared to become serious, afterwards lost their impressions, or
apostatized; and the cases which did occur were chiefly those
who never became members of the church. An apostate member of the church was a rare instance indeed. Among the
number who did profess religion, no instance is recollected of
extravagance or fanaticism, or which exhibited any of the wild
and visionary symptoms which have so often attended other revivals, and brought them into contempt. This was attributable
to the great caution, vigilance and judgment displayed by
Mlr. Smith in conducting the revival."
It is remarkable that the congregations on the north side of
James River, the theatre of Robinson and Davies, were not
visited in this awakening.  There is no record of a single
neighbourhood revived; on them there was no dew; but
preacher and people, who had seen wonders in former days,
were left in their barrenness and desolation, and wastings and
decay.
In the upper end of the Valley of Virginia, the work in its
main features was such as has been described in Charlotte,
Prince Edward, and Cumberland.  Some of all ages and
classes were brought into the fold of God; of this, an account
will more properly be found in the memoir of Mr. Graham.
In Bedford and Campbell, there were neighbourhoods of
which a similar account might have been given. The case of
James Turner of Bedford, requires a special memoir.
The influence of the revival in North Carolina was as cheering and extensive as in Virginia, as may be seen by the
Sketches of North Carolina.
3. THE EFFECTS of this revival were precious, incalculably
precious, in the great numbers brought into the church, and the
consequent good influence on society; —and in the number of
ministers it brought into the Lord's vineyard, by whose means
the wide bounds of the Virginia Synod received important accessions of churches, especially in the wide regions of beautiful
Kentucky. The influence on the churches has never been lost;
succeeding revivals and refreshings have perpetuated the good
feeling and piety, and the estimated standard of religion




EFFECTS OF THE REVIVAL.             429
fashioned and reared in those times of excitement. Very few
of the individuals, then gathered into the church, remain in
the land of the living; and many of their descendants have
emigrated to the great South and West; but the traditions of
the wonderful doings of God for the salvation of sinners in the
years 1788, 1789, are interwoven with the recollections of the
people, who, sharing the blessings of grace in their youth, in
that favoured time and place, lived to old age adorning society
and the church, by the exhibition of Christian character, the
more lovely as the gates of heaven drew near.  "It is not an
uncommon thing" —says Dr. Hill-" after a great excitement
on the subject of religion in any place, for it to be followed by
a season of deadness and declension, and a falling away of
many. It was not so here; —there were no long protracted
meetings, in which ministers and members exerted themselves
to exhaustion, and then had to relax, to recruit their strength,
while the fowls of the air were plucking up the good seed which
had been sown. The efforts here used were common means,
diligently and judiciously employed, and perseveringly pursued,
without relaxation or abatement. It is confidently believed
that the subjects of no revival, especially one embracing so
many, ever lived more consistently with their profession, and
persevered more tenaciously to the end of their days. This
gave a character to the Presbyterian Church to the south for
vital, exemplary piety, which has pervaded several States, and
given a tone to religious exercises far and wide."
A number of young men, members of College and subjects of
this work of grace, entered the ministry. From Hampden Sidney came William Hill, Nash Legrand, Clement Read, Cary
Allen, James Blythe, and William Calhoun, into the Presbyterianthurch, two of whom are still living, and all of whom
have memorials; Mr. Charles, leaving the College without
making a profession, afterwards became a minister in the Episcopal Church; and Mr. Abner Erly, without uniting with the
church in College, afterwards became a minister in the Methodist Church. Others that were members of College at the
same time became elders in the Presbyterian Church, as Dr.
James Jones, of Nottoway, and Mr. Stephen Trent of Cumberland, and probably others. Many young people not connected
with the College became office-bearers in the church, and some
entered the ministry.
The names of those that during, or in consequence of this
revival, as it was conducted by Mr. Graham, entered the ministry, are more properly given in connexion with the memoir
of that man. They are inscribed in the records of the Presbyterian Church; their doings are entwined in the noblest
efforts of God's people for about half a century.




430               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
With the close of this revival, which continued in his congregations between two and three years, the labours of President Smith, in connexion with the College, closed; and his unwearied pastoral duties were drawing to an end. His multiplied appointments to preach, in his extended charge, requiring frequent and long absences from home, necessarily drew off
his attention from the duties of College. Complaints at length
reached his ears. Preferring the work of the ministry in such
delightful circumstances, and unwilling to be the cause or object of complaint, in July 1788, he informed the Board of
Trustees that he designed removing to the neighbourhood to
live upon a farm he had purchased for a residence. The Board
requested him to continue President of the College, although
removed from College grounds; and appointed Drury Lacy,
who had been his alumnus, Vice-President. Not feeling satisfied with his connexion with College, -he in the year 1789 resigned the Presidency and gave himself entirely to the work of
the ministry, after having served the College more than thirteen years, about ten of which he was its laborious presiding
officer; on whom devolved much of the labour of instruction.
During the trying scenes of the Revolution, every man was
irresistibly drawn to engage in politics; in the domestic circle,
the principles and acts of government were discussed; and the
sacred desk uttered the principles of law and justice drawn
from the divine word. Ministers felt themselves called upon
to cheer their congregations in their efforts for liberty, by the
strong truths of Revelation, and bear up their sinking spirits
by confidence in God's kind and overruling government. If
the Presbyterian ministers sometimes dwelt less upon the
peculiarities of the gospel of mercy, than upon God's sustaining the cause of truth, in the persons of an oppressed lpple,
they plead the distress of the times, and found an apology, in
the hearts of their congregations. Mr. Smith, it has been
stated, took an active part in the warlike scenes of the Revolution; he also gave his opinion on political subjects. In the
memorable doings of Hanover Presbytery, in her various memorials to the Legislature, he was a leader; of some portion
of the papers, he is supposed to be the penman; in all of
them, he fully agreed; they will remain forever monuments of
patriotism and intellect.
When the bill to provide for the support of religion, commonly known as the General Assessment Bill, was engrossed
for its third reading in 1784, there was every prospect that it
would become the law of the land. It was advocated by great
talents and splendid oratorical powers. Patrick Henry exerted
himself to carry it through the House, and made it many
friends. Before the final decision in 1785, Mr. Henry became




THE GENERAL ASSESSMENT BILL.          431
Governor of the State. When the bill was taken up in the committee of the whole, Mr. Smith appeared as one of the committee of the Presbytery of Hanover, and desired to be heard
on a memorial from the Presbytery against the bill. Permission was granted, and Mr. Smith addressed the committee, and
took part in the discussion which was continued for three days.
When the question was called the bill was lost in the committee
by a majority of three votes.  Dr. Hill says-"Alexander
White, a lawyer of great intelligence, who was a delegate from
Frederick county,-and who afterwards filled high offices of
trust under Washington,-declared — when he returned that
he thought that debate on the part of Smith one of the ablest
and most interesting that he had ever listened to; and that he
thought Smith deserved the victory he had gained." In this
case the minister had the same advantage over his adversary,
that Patrick Henry had over his, when he plead his famous
cause in Hanover, the popular feeling and voice. One petition,
before the House, in opposition to the bill, had two thousand
names attached. And one opponent, James Madison, was himself a host. Yet to have triumphed in any debate against
Patrick Henry, was no mean honour.
Mr. Smith and Mr. Henry had hitherto been friendly; Mr.
Smith had been swayed by his powerful oratory; and probably
their friendship was not injured by this collision. But a circumstance afterwards occurred which separated these great
men. In September 1787, the Federal Constitution was sent
out for the consideration of the people. The States acted independently in their vote upon the ratification.  The Convention of the State of Virginia, which determined that question,
met in Richmond, June 1788. Patrick Henry opposed its
adoption with all his powers.  While the subject was before
the people, Henry declared himself a candidate for the Convention, and appointed a day to meet the people of Prince
Edward at the Court House, and address them on the imperfections of that instrument and show the ground of his fears.
Mr. Smith resolved to be present, as the Court House is but
about a mile from the!College, and confront him, by defending the proposed Constitution. On the given day, Mr. Smith
was summoned to visit a dying lady in his congregation, and
could not attend.  An immense concourse of people assembled, and listened to the powerful attack of Mr. Henry; there
was no reply. A young gentleman, a member of Mr. Smith's
family, took down the speech in short-hand. In a short time
there was public speaking in the College Hall; as usual, there
was a large assemblage; among others Mr. Henry came to
listen and encourage.  One of the best speakers, without any
previous announcement, delivered Mr. Henry's speech, at the




432               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Court House, on the Federal Constitution; his respondent delivered a speech prepared by Mr. Smith, in defence of the
Constitution, and in reply to Mr. Henry's objections.  Mr.
Henry was taken by surprise, and offended; and complained to
Mr. Smith, at the conclusion of the exercises, for the unjustifiable advantage taken of him on the occasion. Mr. Smith contended there had been no advantage, unless the speech had
been incorrectly reported; in that case he would make amends.
Mr. Henry complimented the correctness of the stenographer,
but complained of the abrupt introduction of the subject, the
tartness of the reply, and the appearance of an attempt to expose him before that large audience. Mr. Smith replied, that the
speech at the Court House was made to the public, and that it was
well known a reply was intended. If a correct report of the
Court House speech had been presented, there could be no
complaint lodged against the reply. Mr. Henry was not satisfied; and from being a regular hearer of Smith, withdrew entirely from his auditory. How far this alienation had influence
to bring about the discontent with the President, or led to the
investigation in the succeeding year, whether improper means
were not used to proselyte students to a particular sect, may
not be of much importance now to inquire. But this is evident
in the life of the great statesman and orator, that his acquaintance with religious truth, and eminent ministers, was greater
than his biographer has very distinctly set forth, probably for
want of documents; and although he may have felt something
of the influence that went over the country in consequence of
the French Revolution, yet, in the closing scenes of life, youthful impressions under Davies, manly emotions under Smith and
Waddell, were ripened into deep, and we trust, saving convictions of the truth and excellency of the gospel as the word of
God. "Here "-said he, holding up the Bible-" is a book
worth more than all the other books that were ever printed:yet it is my misfortune never to have found time to read it with
the proper attention and feeling till lately.  I trust in the
mercy of heaven, that it is not yet too late." A letter to
his daughter under date of August 20th, 1796, as given by
Mr. Wirt, his biographer,-he says-" I have long learned
the little value which is to be placed on popularity, acquired
by any other way than virtue; and I have also learned, that
it is often obtained by other means.  The view which the
rising greatness of our country presents to my eyes is greatly
tarnished by the general prevalence of Deism; which with me
is but another name for vice and depravity. I am, however,
much consoled by reflecting that the religion of Christ has, from
its first appearance in the world, been attacked in vain, by all
the wits, philosophers, and wise ones, aided by every power of




IRREGULARITIES AMONG SOME CHURCHE MEMBERS.   433
man, and its triumph has been complete.  XVWhat is there in the
wit, or wisdom of the present deistical writers or professors,
that can compare them with Hume, Shaftsbury, Bolingbroke,
and others? and yet these have been confuted, and their fame
is decaying; insomuch that the puny efforts of Paine are thrown
in to prop their tottering fabric, whose foundations cannot stand
the test of time. Amongst other strange things said of me, I
hear it is said by the deists that I am one of their number; and
indeed that some good people think I am no Christian. This
thought gives me much more pain than the appellation of tory;
because I think religion of infinitely higher importance than
politics; and I find much cause to reproach myself, that I have
lived so long, and have given no decided and public proofs of my
being a Christian. But, indeed, my dear child, this is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.
And amongst all the handsome things I hear said of you, what
gives me the greatest pleasure is, to be told of your piety and
steady virtue." And how touching is the remark he made of
himself in the Court House yard in Charlotte, April, 1799,
when a successful candidate for the Legislature, less than two
months before his death. An opponent asked the people why
they followed Mr. Henry —Mr. Henry is not a god!-"No,"
exclaimed Mr. Henry, who heard the remark-"No, indeed,
my friend; I am but a poor worm of the dust-as fleeting and
unsubstantial as the shadow of the cloud that flies over your
fields, and is remembered no more."  On the 6th of June, Patrick Henry was no more an inhabitant of this world;-but his
memory will live with his country.
Of the few papers drawn by the pen of Dr. Smith, there is
one in the records of Hanover Presbytery, that may be read
with interest for its own worth, as well as the circumstances in
which it was written. Briery, April 2d, 1791.-" Whereas reports have prevailed that many irregularities are tolerated in
the churches under our charge on the north side of James
River, which we conceive to be incompatible with the purity of
the Christian religion, —Resolved, ec. (that a committee of enquiry consisting of McRoberts and Lacy be appointed).
" Resolved, that Mr. Smith prepare a resolution to be laid
before Presbytery, respecting the objects of discipline as necessary to be attended to by us, with particular reference to these
reports; and that he produce it on Monday..
" Monday, April 4th, 1791. —Mr. Smith produced the folresolution, which being approved was adopted by the Presbytery:
" The Lord Jesus Christ, the great Head of the Church, having given himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it,
and present it to himself a glorious, unspotted church, holy and




434               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
without blemish, hath instituted means and ordinances to effect
this gracious design; published his will in sacred laws, by
obedience to which his people are distinguished as his chosen,
peculiar people, separate from the world lying in wickedness,
and zealous of good works; ordained a strict and holy discipline to be observed as a check on all false professors of his
name; and appointed officers to superintend the execution of
his gracious plan until he come. This Presbytery, therefore,
impressed with an awful sense of their duty, as servants accountable to their great Master, and with a tender concern for
the immortal souls committed to their pastoral care, do hereby
unanimously resolve, that they will steadily adhere to that discipline which the word of God hath enjoined and our church
adopted in its native strictness and simplicity; that they will
neither hold Christian nor ministerial communion with those
who acknowledge Christ in name only, whilst in works they
deny him. Nor is this resolution intended to operate merely
against the more atrocious and profligate works of darkness,
but also against the equally dangerous and ensnaring wickedness, a more specious form of politeness and liberality of sentiment,-against the indulgence of the fashionable follies and
amusements of life,-against gaming and playing at cards and
hazard, that vice of covetousness which is idolatry,-against
horse-racing and its concomitant dissipations, so contrary to
that redemption of time enjoined upon Christians,-against
those meetings for mirthful follies and dancings prohibited
under the name of revellings, in the New Testament,-and
against those levities in equipage, fashionable visitings and
dress, which are condemned as the pride of life.
" Upon the whole, therefore, as we are commanded not to be
conformed to the world consisting in the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eye, and the pride of life, but to live soberly,
righteously, and godly, and to come out and be separate from
the men of this world, and from its opinions, fashions, maxims,
follies and habits,-we do hereby solemnly declare it to be our
resolution to exclude from our communion those graceless
church officers and graceless church members who indulge
themselves in any of the practices above referred to, or who
neglect the sacred observance of the Sabbath, or the duties of
family religion.  It was ordered that a copy of this resolution
be read in the congregations of each individual minister."
Mr. Smith soon left the Presbytery; but the inquiry instituted did not end for some years. The ministers on the
"north side of James River," were Todd, Waddell, Irvine,
and Blair. After some letters had passed, in the year 1794,
the Presbytery received explanations which satisfied the brethren to drop the inquiry.




J. B. SMITH CALLED TO PHILADELPHIA.       435
In the spring of 1791, Mr. Smith was sent from Hanover
Presbytery as delegate to the General Assembly, which met in
Philadelphia. During his stay in that city he preached in the
Presbyterian church in Pine street, which was then vacant,
with great acceptance; an unanimous call was immediately
made out for him to become their pastor, and met with encouragement from Mr. Smith. The news filled his congregation
with consternation; the people could neither believe the fact,
nor imagine the cause of his wishing a removal. The Presbytery
of which he was a leading member listened to the call with great
unwillingness. At a meeting at Concord, Campbell county,
July 29th, 1791, the records say-" A call directed to Mr. Smith
was delivered to Presbytery, from the Third Presbyterian Church
in the city of Philadelphia, generally known by the name of
Pine Street. And Mr. Smith being acquainted with the import
of that call, and the papers accompanying it, applied for advice
to the Presbytery. They having therefore spent a considerable
time in deliberating upon the matter, deferred the further consideration of it till to-morrow." On the next day Mr. Smith
was not present, having on account of the situation of his
family returned home. The remaining members, Messrs. McRoberts, James Mitchell, William Mahon and Drury Lacy,"'having seriously weighed the consequences of the call put
into their hands by the Third Presbyterian Church in the city
of Philadelphia, in order to be presented to Mr. Smith,
agreed to present the said call and papers accompanying it,
to him for his consideration; but at the same time inform Mr.
Smith, that they do not as yet see their way clear to give their
approbation or allowance for him to accept the said call, even
in case he should see fit to accept of it any future time; but
that they are induced to put it into his hands for consideration
solely on account of that deference and respect which is due
to his own request, and the application of the congregation
which has presented their call to him." This decision, or
rather minute, was satisfactory to none of the parties concerned; all preferred something more decisive; and the pastor
was evidently inclined to the removal. At a meeting of the
Presbytery, called for the purpose, held at Hampden Sidney,
-" A motion was made for reviewing the minute of last Presbytery respecting the call put into Mr. Smith's hands, from
Pine Street Church, as he complained that the limitation in
the body of that minute prevented him from determining in
what manner to proceed. The Presbytery therefore, upon a
review of the subject, agreed to dissolve the limitation, and to
commit the call to his consideration without any restriction.
The Presbytery then appointed Mr. McRoberts to attend at
Briery on the second Sabbath in October to cite Mr. Smith




436               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
and that congregation to appear before the Presbytery, at
their next meeting, to show the reasons for or against his
accepting the call from Pine Street congregation. And Mr.
Lacy was appointed to attend at Cumberland on the same day,
to cite that congregation and Mr. Smith for the purposes cited
above." At a meeting of the Presbytery, held at Cub Creek,
October 29th, 1791, the matter came to an issue as by the
following record.-" Mr. Smith and his congregations after
every step had been regularly taken, appeared before Presbytery, and the call from Pine Street congregation, which had
been put in Mr. Smith's hands for consideration, being read,
he declared his acceptance of the same; whereupon the Presbytery having heard the parties agreed that he be translated."
The next record is-"An application was made to Presbytery from Cumberland, Briery and Cub Creek congregations
by their representatives for leave to prosecute a call for the
Rev. William Graham of Lexington Presbytery, in the county
of Rockbridge, which was granted." This was done in compliance with a request from the Board of Trustees, who, upon
the resignation of the President, were looking around for a
successor. Messrs. McRoberts and Legrand were appointed a
committee-"to write to the Rev. William  Graham to point
out to him the importance of his accepting the call." As soon
as the tie that bound Mr. Smith to them was dissolved, the
congregations and trustees selected the ablest man in the
Synod for his successor.
On the same day the pastoral relation was dissolved, Mr.
Smith applied —" for a dismission from this Presbytery in order
to join the Presbytery of Philadelphia, which was granted."
He immediately removed to Philadelphia, where his reception
was equal to his worth. His departure from Virginia was an
unceasing cause of lamentation, while any of his flock, who
knew his worth, continued to meet in the places associated with
his presence. But there was a cause for this sudden and apparently strange removal from a place of extraordinary usefulness and undoubted attachment; and this was debt.  Mr.
Smith's salary from his Presidency and pastoral office, was
small; his family was increasing in numbers and consequently
in expense; —his labours during the revival called off his attention from worldly matters; —and as a consequence his debts
began to accumulate. On his removal from College grounds he
purchased a farm, hoping to get some aid for his family; and
became involved for the purchase money. His elders did not
look into his matters; and he felt unwilling to call attention to
his private affairs; and the inattention of the one and the
delicacy of the other, led to difficulties that caused the separation. There was, in the neighbourhood, a man who had money




J. B. SMITH'S REMOVALS AND DEATH.         437
at command, professing great friendship for Mr. Smith.  He
offered him loans in all his straits, and took security which at
last opened the eyes of the borrower. He could not pay his
debts and keep his farm; and without his farm he could,not
be sustained in Prince Edward. The offer from Philadelphia
met his necessities, and he embraced it as a providential refuge.
When the congregation came to know the true state of their
pastor's embarrassment, their high estimation of his services,
added to a feeling that perhaps they had not sufficiently looked
into the temporal concerns of him who was sacrificing all for
them, the elders came forward and offered cheerfully and
promptly to liquidate the claims against him, and put the pecuniary relations existing between them, on a firmer basis. Having discovered, that —" like many other pious and devoted
ministers, his judgment was good in laying up a good foundation for the time to come, but was too inattentive in managing
the affairs of this life"-with sorrow for his situation, and distress
at their own anticipated bereavement, their heart spoke out in
the offers they made to detain amongst them the man whom
they called their guide, their spiritual father, a leader in Israel.
But Mr. Smith thought he had committed himself too far in
Philadelphia, and that a proposed separation between pastor
and people was tantamount to an actual one, in which it is almost
sure to end; and therefore persevered in his determination to
accept the call from Philadelphia, to which place he removed
in the fall of 1791.
When the friends of literature and science, as the handmaids of religion, projected the College at Schenectady, New
York, Mr. Smith was called to the chair of President; and
retaining his love for science, his interest in youth, and fondness for instruction, he accepted the offer, and in the year 1795
removed to the College. The severity of the climate acting
unfavourably on his feeble constitution, he listened to the
earnest solicitations of his friends in Philadelphia, and in May
1799 returned to the charge of Pine Street Church.
In the month of August he wrote to Dr. Hill of Virginia, and
among other things mentioned that a report was in circulation
that the yellow fever had again visited the city; but he believed it to be a false alarm; that there were some cases of a
malignant fever, in some families, but nothing that should be
called the yellow fever. He therefore continued in the city,
visiting his flock as usual; and in two days from the date of
that letter, fell a victim to that terrible disease, which had returned in very deed, and was sweeping its victims in indiscriminate profusion to the grave. He expired the 22d of August,
1799, and was laid in Pine street cemetery. Over his remains
his congregation erected a becoming monument. By his side




438               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
sleeps a worthy successor in office, in Hampden Sidney College, the Rev. Moses Hoge, D.D., an humble man of an exalted spirit. Virginia has cause to mourn that so many of her
faithful servants and children, whose labours have erected an
everlasting memorial in the Church of Christ, sleep not in her
soil. Will she not, at some day, not far distant, when the
crowded city shall not reluctantly witness the removal of the
honoured dead from the busy streets, to the rural home more
fitting those who have done with time, demand her Smith, her
Hoge and her Lacy, to rest with Rice and Baxter amid the
scenes of their usefulness in solemn lovely quietude.
CHAPTER XX.
REV. WILLIAM GRAHAM-LIBERTY HALL AND WASHINGTON
COLLEGE.
WVTILLIAM  GRAHAM, whose name is inseparably interwoven
with the history of literature and religion, in the Valley of Virginia, was born December 19th, 1746, in Paxton township, Pennsylvania, and reared by a pious mother. Michael Graham, the
father, was an emigrant to Pennsylvania from the north of Ireand; and had for his second wife, Mary Miller, also an emigrant
at the early age of seven years. At the time of the birth of William, the second child, and oldest son, the family resided about
five miles from the present seat of government, Harrisburg, in a
frontier neighbourhood. From his earliest days, young Graham
was accustomed to the toils and exposures of a frontier life,
working the farm with his father till his twenty-second year, and
being exposed, particularly during Braddock's war, to the depredations of the Indians.  On one occasion his life was exposed.
One night, while the neighbourhood was unconscious of the
approach of any savages, the dogs at Mr. Graham's house
appeared unusually excited, and barked much, without exciting
the suspicions of the family. After the family had retired, one
of the daughters, by a former marriage, left her bed, and listening at the front window, thought she heard whispering in the
garden or beyond.  The father on being awaked listened, and
became satisfied that Indians were lying in wait; and instantly
determined to leave the house. The family were all immediately
awaked, the little ones making not the least noise on being
roused from sleep, were arrayed in dark clothing, and prepared
for flight to the fort erected for the safety of the neighbourhood,




REV. WILLIAM GRAHAM.               439
about a mile distant. William stepped out first with a loaded
musket, the door being directly in view of the place where the
Indians were concealed; the family followed, and the father,
locking the door, brought up the rear, armed ready for, an
assault. In silence and safety they passed on to the fort, and
gave the alarm; before morning the families of the neighbourhood were all assembled. At day-light an armed party proceeded to Mr. Graham's house, expecting an attack to be made
at that hour. All was quiet; the Indians having discovered that
the family had deserted the house, departed without depredation. Upon searching by day-light, traces of a large number of
the enemy were discovered in the direction from which the whispering came.
While labouring on the farm, young Graham acquired that
amount of education which could be imparted by a country
schoolmaster on the frontiers.  Though blessed with religious
instruction and example, it is not known that he experienced
any abiding religious impressions till about his twenty-first year.
Active in business, and ardent in his pursuits, and social in his
feelings, he knew the importance of that religion he did not
seek. When about sixteen years of age he became, through
the influence of a family in the neighbourhood, extremely fond
of dancing and its accompanying merry-making. IHe carefully
concealed from his parents his propensity and indulgence; and
even went so far as to endeavour to deceive them by stealing off
for this enjoyment, after the family had retired to rest. The
effects of this indulgence upon his mind, made him, in after
life, oppose it with uncompromising severity, in young people.
He thought it one of the most effectual means ever contrived
for the destruction of souls.  " It was not"- he said-" the
mere act of dancing, or the time consumed by it, to which he
objected most strongly; but the mind was almost entirely
employed in thinking over the dances past, and in looking forward to the next that was to come: and thus all serious reflection was excluded."
About the time he became of age, he was the subject of deep
convictions, which ended in his becoming experimentally acquainted with the way of life through Jesus Christ, by the
blood of his cross. Such were his views of divine things, that
he earnestly desired to be qualified to preach the gospel. His
father's narrow circumstances were a great obstacle; his
mother's ardent desires that he should spend his life in the
ministry were a great encouragement. The father at length
agreed to afford all the assistance in his power, and William
joyfully commenced the Latin grammar with his pastor Mr.
Roan. After a time he removed to the school of Mr. Finley, at




440               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
3Masherick; and from thence to Princeton College, Dr. Witherspoon being President.  His classical course was comprised
in about five years. Owing to his narrow means, he was engaged in teaching the younger classes, while with Mr. Finley,
and in the preparatory academy while in College, thus improving himself and contributing to his own support.
His mother spared no pains or efforts to assist and encourage
him in his literary course; and rejoiced at his enterprise and
his success. While he was a member of College, this excellent
mother was seized with a paralysis, and, after a short illness,
died. With much of that meek and quiet spirit, which in the
sight of God is of great price, she was eminent for that charity
which thinketh no evil, which hopeth all things and believeth
all things. Peculiarly fitted, by her ardent piety and affectionate disposition, to be near the sick and afflicted, no difficulties, by night or by day, prevented her attendance upon those
who desired her presence. By her example and by her precepts she taught her son the great things of the gospel of Christ.
Her religion, not being confined to internal experiences, manifested itself in her temper and the relative duties of life. Mr.
Graham appreciated his mother while living; and mourned for
her when dead. In after life he said -"he had received more
information respecting the nature of practical religion from her
conversation, than from all the books he had ever read on the
subject, except the Bible."
Mr. Graham pursued his studies with the same ardour he had
shown in all his early pursuits; and was graduated with a class
of twenty-nine, in the year 1773.  Of that class fourteen
became ministers of the gospel, four Presidents of College, and
three Governors of a State. His reputation for scholarship was
high among his classmates, and in the College. Henry Lee, a
classmate, afterwards so well known in the Revolution, and as
Governor of Virginia, had formed a high estimate of his acquirements.  At the approach of one of the examinations,
young Lee requested to review with Graham, in preparation.
Graham declined the opportunity, fearing loss of time; young
Lee pressed the matter with urgency; and Graham consented,
on condition that subjects of conversation should not be introduced. After the examination, Lee came to his room and said,
-" Well, Graham, I have passed a glorious examination, and I
know that I am indebted for it, in a great measure to you.
What recompense shall I make you?" " None at all," said Graham. After some conversation, Lee left the room, and soon
returned, and laying upon the table Belshaw's Lectures on Natural Philosophy, immediately departed.  Upon opening the
volume Graham found a black line had been drawn through the




ORIGIN OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE.          441
name of Henry Lee, and underneath was written William Graham. The volume is still preserved by Mr. Graham's connexions, in Virginia.
John B. Smith, his companion in labour in Virginia, and
almost his rival, and also Lewis F. Wilson, so beloved and
honoured in North Carolina and New Jersey, were his classmates.  The revival of religion, with which that class in
College was visited from on high, could not have been lost on
Graham; its fruits have been scattered, by the different members, through the United States.
Upon leaving College Mr. Graham returned to his father's
house, and soon entered on the study of theology with his pastor,
Mr. Roan, whose ardent preaching had made him notorious in
Virginia, and given him a name on their records of Court.
While studying with Mr. Roan, his knowledge of farming, and
his skill in repairing the necessary tools of husbandry were
turned to good account both to himself for exercise, and to his
pastor and instructor for assistance; and such habits were
cherished as were invaluable to him in his labours in Virginia.
In the fall of 1774, on the recommendation of the Rev.
Samuel Stanhope Smith, employed in founding Hampden Sidney College, in Prince Edward, Mr. Graham was invited to
engage in a classical school, in Augusta county, under the direction of the Rev. John Brown, pastor of New Providence and
formerly of Timber Ridge.
The Presbytery had been engaged for some years on the subject of founding a literary institution, whose location should be
in the Great Valley of Virginia. Their councils and efforts
resulted first in Liberty Hall Academy, and ultimately in
WASHINGTON COLLEGE.
In the month of May, 1771, the Synod of New York and
Philadelphia recommended the Academy at Newark-" to the
charity of the various congregations within their bounds." In
the month of October, the Presbytery of Lexington, the first
session of their meeting, at the Dee _Ess church, "recommended
to all their ministers, to lay it before their several congregations, and to use their best influence to promote that design."
This turned the Presbytery to consider the necessity of a literary
institution within their own bounds, and fostered by their care;
and accordingly the next act recorded, is-" Presbytery being
very sensible of the great expediency of erecting a Seminary of
learning somewhere within the bounds: of this Presbytery, do
recommend it to all the members to take this matter under
consideration, and report their thoughts at our next, especially
respecting the best method of accomplishing it."
In April of 1772, at Rockfish, —"the consideration of the
56




442               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
minute concerning the New York Academy, and a Seminary
amongst ourselves, is deferred until our next sederunt."  In
June, 1773, at Brown's meeting-house-" the Presbytery think.
it prudent to defer the fixing the particular place of our intended
Seminary, until our next stated Presbytery, which is to be at
Rockfish, on the second Wednesday of October next." In October, 1773-" the Presbytery agree to fix the publick Seminary for the liberal education of youth, in Staunton, Augusta."
In October 1774, at Cub Creek-" the Presbytery resume the
consideration of a school for the liberal education of youth,
judged to be of great and immediate importance. We do
therefore agree to establish and patronise a publick school,
which shall be confined to the county of Augusta. At present
it shall be managed by Mr. William Graham, a gentleman prioperly recommended to this Presbytery,-and under the inspection of the Rev. Mr. John Brown, and the Presbytery reserve
to themselves the liberty at a future session, more particularly
to appoint the person by whom it shall be conducted, and the
place where it shall be fixed, which they are induced to do
notwithstanding a former presbyterial appointment,-because
there is no person to take the management of it in the place first
agreed on,-and it is very uncertain whether there ever will be."
To carry this determination into effect, the Presbytery appointed "the Rev. Messrs. John Brown, David Rice, Samuel
Cummins, William Irwin and Caleb Wallace to collect subscriptions, in the several congregations annexed to their names, for
the purpose of obtaining a library and proper apparatus,viz.-Mr. Brown in the Pastures, Providence, and the North
Mountain,-Mr. Rice in Botetourt, on the south side of James
River,-Mr. Cummins in Fincastle,-Mr. Irvin at Tinkling
Spring, the Stone meeting-house and Brown's Settlement,-Mr.
Wallace in the Fork of James River,-and Mr. Smith at pleasure."  It was also agreed that by the terms of subscription
the money should be paid-" to the persons or their order, on
or before the twentieth day of December next ensuing, in the
year 1775."
By the act of Presbytery in 1'774, the grammar school, conducted by the Rev. John Brown, or under his supervision and
in his charge, became the centre of operations for literary and
theological improvement in the Valley.  The Rev. Samuel
Houston in his letter to Rev. James Morrison tells us —."that
shortly before the war, some men whose sons were growing up,
felt a desire for having them or part of them educated liberally,
chiefly with a view to the ministry of the gospel. Accordingly
a small grammar school was formed in the neighbourhood of
Old Providence, composed of Samuel Doak, John Montgomery,
Archibald Alexander, James Houston, William Tate, Samuel




PRESBYTERIAL SCHOOL.              443
Greenlee, William Wilson, Ebenezer Smith, and some others,
which greatly increased and drew youths from distant neighbourhoods. This grammar school was moved to the place, near
Fairfield, called Mount Pleasant; about which time the Presbytery of Hanover patronised it." This school, spoken of by
Mr. Houston, was taught, at first, about four miles East of
New Providence. Mr. Brown removed it to New Providence,
and after teaching there for a time, removed it again to Mount
Pleasant, the highest point of the Ridge, about a mile west of
Fairfield, and equally distant from his house, which was situated at a like distance from Fairfield, on the same Ridge, the
road to the Academy going out from the North end of the
town, and that leading to his dwelling from the South end.
The school became more prosperous under the tuition of Mr.
Graham and the patronage of the Presbytery.
April 12th, 1775, the Presbytery commenced its Spring
Sessions at Timber Ridge; on the 13th, it met at the house of
Rev. Mr. Brown; present, Rev. Messrs. Todd, Brown, Rice,
Leake, Irwin, Waddell, and Wallace, with John Logan, elder.
"' William Graham having offered himself on trials for the gospel ministry, produced sufficient testimonials of his good standing in the churches, where he lived to the Northward, and particularly from  the churches where he was best known, and
having been interrogated on his views for the gospel ministry,
and also on his acquaintance with practical piety, and on these
points having satisfied the Presbytery, he is continued on
trials." On the next day at the same place-" Mr. Graham
having read a discourse on Galatians, i. 13; and also an
exegesis, on this question, —An Christus qua Mediator sit
Adorandus? —The Presbytery after consideration sustain them
as pieces of trial. The Presbytery appoint Mr. Graham a discourse on 1 Timothy, iv. 10; also a homily on this subject
-How far knowledge is necessary to salvation —To be delivered at a Presbytery to be held at the De Ess, on the last
Wednesday of June, Anno 1775."
At the same meeting, Mr. James Templeton, a graduate of
Princeton College, of the Class of 1772, was examined respecting his views of the ministry, and "also touching the grace of
God in him" —and having produced testimonials-"in particular from Dr. Witherspoon,"-respecting his character, moral
and religious, was received on trial, and pieces according to
custom, were assigned him.
"The affairs of the public school are now taken under consideration, and after the most mature deliberation, the Presbytery find that they can do no more, at this session, than
recommend it again, in the warmest manner, to the publick
to make such liberal contributions as they shall find com



414               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
patible with their circumstances, for the establishing said
school; and the Presbytery, as guardians and directors, take
this opportunity to declare their resolution to do their best
endeavour to establish it on the most catholic plan that circumstances will permit of." On the next day the affairs of
the school were again considered; and-" the Presbytery finding that they cannot, of themselves, forward subscriptions in a
particular manner, do, for the encouragement of the Academy
to be established in Augusta, recommend it to the following
gentlemen to take in subscriptions, in their behalf-viz:"The Rev. Mr. Cummins, Colonel W. Preston, and Colonel
W. Christian, in Fincastle,-Colonel Lewis, Colonel Fleming
and Mr. Lockheart, in Bottetourt,-on the south side of James
River, Captain John Boyer, Captain W. McKee, Captain Adlai
Paul, Captain John Maxwell, and Mr. James Trimble,-in the
Forks of James River, Mr. Samuel Lyle and Captain Samuel
McDowell,-in Timber Ridge, the Rev. Mr. John Brown, Mr.
James Wilson and Mr. Charles Campbell of Providence,-Mr.
William McPheeters, Mr. William Ledgerwood and Mr. John
Trimble, in the North Mountain- and Brown's Settlement,Mr. Thomas Stewart and Mr. Walter Davis at the Tinkling Spring, —Mr. Sampson Mathews of Staunton,-Captain
George Mathews, Captain George Maflit and Mr. James Allen
in Augusta congregation. Mr. Brown, Mr. Irvin and Mr.
Wallace are to give the above named gentlemen notice of their
appointment, and to solicit their favour."
The opportunity of visiting the school under their patronage
being so favourable —"the Presbytery repaired to the schoolhouse, and attended a specimen of the proficiency of the
students, in the Latin and Greek language, and pronouncing
orations; with which they were well pleased."
About this time was made the visit so pleasantly described
by Dr. Campbell of Lexington, in the Literary Messenger in
1838. "I happened at Mount Pleasant during Mr. Graham's
superintendence. It was near the hour of recreation. Here
was seen a large assemblage of fine cheerful vigorous looking
youth apparently from ten to twenty years of age. They
were mostly engaged in feats of strength, speed, or agility;
each ernulous to surpass his fellows in those exercises, for
which youth of their age generally possess a strong predeliction.
Presently the sound of a horn summoned all to the business
of the afternoon. The sports were dropped as by magic.
Now you may see them seated singly or in pairs, or in small
groups, with book in hand, conning over their afternoon's
lesson. One portion resorted immediately to the hall, and
ranging themselves before the preceptor in semi-circular
order, handed him an open book containing their recita



VISIT TO THE SCHOOL.              445
tions. Hte seemed not to look into the book, and presently
closed it; thinking, as I supposed, he knew as well as the
book. Of the recitations I understood not a syllable; yet
it was highly agreeable to the ear, sonorous and musical; and
although more than sixty winters have rolled away since that
time, the impressions then made have not been entirely effaced
from my memory. I have since discovered that the recitation
was a portion of that beautiful Greek verb, Tupto, in which
the sound of the consonants pi, tau, mu, theta, predominate.
It was observable that, during the recitation, the Preceptor gave
no instructions, corrected no errors, made no remarks of any
kind, He seemed to sit merely as a silent witness of the performance.  The class itself resembled one of those self-regulating machines of which I have heard. Each member stood
ready, by trapping and turning down, to correct the mishaps
and mistakes of his fellows; and as much emulation was discovered here, as had been an hour before on the theatre of their
sports in their athletic exercises. During this recitation, an
incipient smile of approbation was more than once observed on
the countenance of the Preceptor, maugre his native gravity
and reserve. This happened when small boys, by their superior
scholarship, raised themselves above those who were full grown.
This class having gone through, several others, in regular order,
presented themselves before the teacher, and passed the ordeal.
The business of the afternoon was closed by a devotional exercise. And now the whole number, without delay, issuing from
the hall, spread themselves over the area before the door; each
conversing with much glee with those nearest to him; then
hastening homeward each took off his several way to some of
the farm-houses, which furnished them refectories and dormitories;-and the shadows of the evening lengthening fast, I too,
hied me home, much gratified and not a little disappointed.
The systematic order of the place struck my attention. A
signal called the whole school together; a signal announced the
hour of recitation; each class was summoned by a signal. These
signals were obeyed without delay-and without noise. The
students might pursue their studies in the hall or the open air,
as pleased them best. Talking or reading aloud was not permitted in the hall, except to the class reciting.  The dignity of
the Preceptor, and his well known fitness for the station, gave
him respectability, and he was respected. Before this day, I
had thought the course pursued in this Latin school resembled
the common English schools with which I had been acquainted-'&c parvas componere miagna solebarnm.'  But now I saw that
the order and discipline of the former were essentially different
from the noise, confusion and turmoil of the latter."
The writer of this graphic description of his first visit to a




446              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
classical school, became himself a pupil of Graham, and learned
by heart that beautiful verb Tupto, and was an honour to the
man he honoured.
The Presbytery met at Rockfish, October 25th, 1775-present, Rev. Messrs. Sankey, who was chosen Moderator, Todd,
Brown, Rice, Leake, Irvin and Wallace,-with elders Robert
Johnson, Robert Burkhannon, Robert Mitchell, Alexander
Blair, Captain Thomas Montgomery and John Irvin.  The following minute was made respecting the meeting appointed to
be held in June, viz.-"-Messrs. Brown and Leake being the
only persons who found it practicable to meet at the time and
place appointed for our called Presbytery last June, although
they could not constitute a Presbytery, yet proceeded to hear
the pieces of trial assigned to Mr. W. Graham and Mr. Templeton at our last, and also examined them on natural philosophy, and report that they are well pleased with the performance of the young gentlemen. The Presbytery do approve of
the proceedings on the then occasion, and do so far confide in
their judgment as to sustain the performances of these candidates as parts of trial.-They further report that they assigned
Mr. Graham the 11th verse of 3d chapter of the Epistle to the
Galatians, as the subject of a sermon, and to Mr. Templeton a
lecture on Revelations, ii. 1-8.
"Mr. Graham having delivered his discourse to-day, the consideration thereof is deferred."
The next day, October 26th, Mr. Samuel McCorkle, a probationer from the Presbytery of New York, who afterwards held
a conspicuous place among the ministers of North Carolina, was
taken under the care of the Presbytery. An evening session
was held at the house of Mr. John Morrison: and-" the Presbytery proceeded to hear Mr. Templeton's sermon and lecture,
and having considered them do approve and sustain them as
pieces of trial. The Presbytery further proceeded to examine
Mr. Templeton and Mr. Graham of science and divinity and to
put them on the defence of their theses. Having now taken a
view of their whole trials, and they having promised to subscribe the formula, having acknowledged the Westminster Confession of Faith, and having promised subjection to this Presbytery, in the Lord,-the Moderator, by the appointment of
Presbytery proceeded to license the said Mr. W. Graham and
Mr. J. Templeton to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, as probationers, and they are licensed accordingly."
The next evening (of October 27th) the Presbytery again
met at the house of John Morrison, and took up the subject of
the School in Augusta.  "We agree that Mr. William Graham
continue to have the care and tuition of said School; —and upon
receiving a proper recommendation, we choose and appoint




ARRANGEMENTS FOR ENDOWING THE SCHOOL.      447
Mr. John Montgomery, late from Princeton College, to be his
Assistant.
" We request that the gentlemen appointed by the Presbytesy, last spring, still continue to take subscriptions; and finding that the interest of the School requires that a considerable
sum of money be immediately laid out in purchasing books and
mathematical and philosophical apparatus, we appoint the Rev.
John Brown, Mr. Charles Campbell, Mr. Robert Steel, Capt.
Samuel McDowell, Mr. Samuel Lyle, Capt. John Bowyer,
Mr. William McKee, and Mr. William Graham to collect what
money they can from those who have already subscribed, or
who may now encourage the design. And we appoint the said
William Graham, on giving bond and security to the Rev. John
Brown and Capt. Samuel McDowell for the faithful discharge
of the trust, to lay out the sum of ~150, in purchasing books
and apparatus for the use of the said School.
"Mr. William Graham is appointed to supply two Sabbaths
at Timber Ridge, two at Hall's Meeting-House, two on the
south side of James River, five in the Pastures, one at Brown's
Meetirtg-House, one at the North Mountain, and the rest of his
time at discretion, until our next meeting of Presbytery."
The Presbytery met at Timber Ridge May 1st, 1776;-present Rev. Messrs. Brown, Waddell, Rice, Irvin, Wallace, and
Smith; with Elder Charles Campbell. Mr. McCorkle, a licentiate, preached the opening sermon from Job xxvii. 8-For
what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when
God taketh away his soul? Mr. Irvin reported that Mr. Leake
departed this life December 2d, 1775. Mr. Brown is chosen
Moderator. On the 3d of May the Presbytery held its session at the Grammar School-and-" proceded to examine the
school under the care of Mr. Graham. And having attended a
specimen of their improvement in their classical studies, and
pronouncing orations, the Presbytery highly approve of the proficiency of the students, and the diligence and abilities of the
teachers."
On the next day, May 4th, the Presbytery heard, from the
Rev. S. S. Smith, the prosperous condition of Hampden Sidney,
which gave employment to these teachers, John B. Smith,
Samuel Doak, and David Weatherspoon, beside the president or
rector. And afterwards were informed by Mr. Graham-" That
agreeable to the commission of Presbytery, he had purchased
books and apparatus for the use of the Academy to the amount
of ~160 10s. 9~d., which he has paid, and ~2 4s. which he has
lost in change. Which monies, with the portage of the books,
the apparatus, and all other reasonable expenses, the Trustees
hereafter to be appointed, are directed to account with Mr. Graham for, and pay him the balance. Mr. Graham informs, that




448               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the gentlemen appointed last fall have collected and paid into
his hands about ~128, which he will be ready to account for
more accurately with the Trustees of the Augusta Academy
when they are appointed."
At the opening of this meeting of Presbytery, a call from
the united congregations of Timber Ridge, and Hall's Meetinghouse, for the services of Mr. Graham, was handed in; and
being put into his hands, he asked time for consideration. On
the fourth day of the session he accepted the call,-and, —" our
next stated Presbytery is appointed at Concord, on the fourth
Tuesday of October next, the time and place of Mr. Graham's
ordination, at which Mr. Wallace is to preside, and Mr. Rice to
give the charge. Mr. Graham is to preach on Romans iii. 25,
26, previous to ordination." The minutes of this fall meeting
are not to be found, and consequently the official record of his
ordination cannot be produced.
On Monday, May 6th, 1776, the Presbytery determined to
remove the Academy from Mount Pleasant, for want of accommodations, and made the following arrangement for its location,
and for its management by Trustees.  "The Presbytery,
finding, that as the Augusta Academy is circumstanced, it is
highly necessary now to fix on the place for its situation, and
the person by whom it shall be conducted; and as this congregation of Timber Ridge appears to us to be a convenient place,
and they have obtained a minister, whom we judge qualified;
and Capt. Alexander Stewart, and Mr. Samuel Houston, each
offering to give forty acres of land, for the purpose, convenient
to the place of publick worship; and the neighbours offering to
build a hewed log-house, twenty-eight by twenty-four feet, one
story and a half high, besides their subscriptions, and assuring
us of the probability that fire-wood and timber for buildings
will be furnished gratis, for at least twenty years,-we agree
that the Augusta Academy shall be placed on Timber Ridge,
upon those lands; and we choose Mr. William Graham rector,
and Mr. John Montgomery, his assistant.
" And we appoint the Rev. Messrs. John Brown, James
Waddell, Charles Cummins, William Irvin, and the Rector ex
officio, in conjunction with Mr. Thomas Lewis, General Andrew
Lewis, Col. Wm. Christian, Col. William Fleming, Mr. Thomas
Stewart, Mr. Samuel Lyle, Mr. John Gratton, Col. Wm. Preston, Mr. Sampson Matthews, Col. John Bowyer, Major Samuel
M'Dowell, Mr. William McPheeters, Captain Alexander Stewart, Captain William McKee, Mr. John Houston, Mr. Charles
Campbell, Captain George Moffit, Mr. William Ward, and
Captain John Lewis, at the Warm Springs,- Trustees. Seven
of the Trustees shall be a quorum. They are to collect subscriptions and donations, expend the monies, and conduct all




PROSPERITY OF THE SCHOOL.            449
the concerns of this Academy, in behalf of the Presbytery; also
they are to keep a fair book of accounts, and all the transactions
relating to the Academy,-the Presbytery reserving to themselves the right of visitation, for ever, as often as they shall
judge it necessary; and of choosing the Rector and his assistant.
"The Trustees are to meet together statedly, twice in the
year, and have the students examined before them at these
times. They are to choose their own Chairman, Treasurer,
and Clerk, and appoint a Committee who shall have power to
call a meeting of the Trustees as often as any emergency shall
make it necessary.
"'The Presbytery appoint Mr. Samuel Lyle, Colonel John
Bowyer, Major Samuel M'Dowell, Mr. Charles Campbell,
Captain William  McKee, Captain Alexander Stewart, Mr.
John Houston, and the Rector, or any five of them, a committee, to have the lands given to the Academy measured and
bounded, and the title secured, and to draw the plans, and let
the building of such houses as they shall judge necessary for
the use of the Academy and Rector. The first meeting of the
committee shall be on next Monday, and they are empowered
to call a meeting of the Trustees some time before the first of
next July." Early in the year 1777, the School was removed
from Mount Pleasant to Timber Ridge.
During the year 1776, his office of Rector being made permanent, and his pastoral office entered upon, Mr. Graham was united in marriage with Miss Mary Kerr, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Every thing now seemed to promise extended usefulness to the
Academy, and the rector and minister. Students were coming
from all parts of the Valley and the scattered habitations in
the mountains; and Timber Ridge seemed about to surpass
Mount Pleasant in the splendour and duration of its glory.
To the building for the instruction of the students were added
accommodations for the Rector; and a commencement was
made for philosophical apparatus and a library. The Log College, twenty-eight by twenty-four, and one and a half stories
high, made but a humble appearance in comparison with Washington College, as she now sits, spread out on the hill near
Lexington. And the incipient library of valuable books, with
the air pump, and electric machine, and sextant, and microscope, and telescope, a set of large maps, and a pair of twelve
inch globes, for a philosophical apparatus,-all purchased for
about ~160,-would be less imposing now than in those days
of frontier life. But then the men that came forth from that
institution! Like one of the bold springs of the Valley of the
Shenandoah, it poured, from the very spring-head, a stream of
power. If Liberty Hall did not make so full and complete scholars as the more richly endowed College has done, she laid the
foundation for scholarship, and awakened that thirst for know57




450               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ledge, which precedes eminence in attainments, and may be
named with exultation, as the germ, —the strong root from
which Washington College sprung..But the Academy did not long remain at Timber Ridge; and
the short time of her sojourn was disturbed by the heavings
and tossings of the all-absorbing Revolution. The Declaration
of National Independence was made in the July succeeding the
May in which the Presbytery resolved upon the removal of the
Academy from Mount Pleasant; the war had begun at least a
month previous. A greater part of the students were of that age
and condition of body required in volunteers and recruits for the
hard service of war. The Rector, for reasons both of a political
and religious nature, was an ardent supporter of the Revolution;
and so far from repressing the spirit of patriotism in his congregations, or the young men under his care, by his precepts and
example he inflamed them with a more vehement love of liberty;
with Patrick Henry he might have exclaimed, and probably
in the hearing of his people did exclaim-" Give me liberty,
or give me death."  In October of the year 1777, the Legislature made a call upon the militia of the State for a draft, or for
volunteers, to fill out the proper number of soldiers, required of
the State, on the continental establishment. The draft was to
be made-" from the single men of the militia of the several
counties, and of the city of Williamsburg, whether officers or
privates, above eighteen years of age, who have no child."
The proportion for Augusta county was ninety-seven. On or
before the second Monday of February, 1778, the militia muster
roll was to be examined by the proper officers, at the Courthouse of each county, and-" the names of all the officers and
men of their militia who have not a wife or child, and such
single men as are in the county and not enrolled, and who
by the militia law ought to be enrolled"-were to be taken
down and these persons to be assembled, within ten days, at a
place named by the officers, and the draft to be made. "And
whereas it is of the greatest importance to the American cause
to open the ensuing campaign as early as possible, and to render
its operations more decisive and effectual, that the army under
the command of his Excellency General Washington should be
reinforced by an additional number of troops, to be raised for
that purpose in this Commonwealth: —Be it further enacted,that every man who shall voluntarily engage to enter into such
service, to continue therein for six months from the time of his
arrival at the place appointed for general rendezvous, shall
receive, &c. —and be exempted from drafts for six months after
being discharged.
By the same Legislature the county of Rockbridge was set
off from the counties of Augusta and Botetourt; the county of




EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON THE ACADEMY.         451
Rockingham  from  Augusta; and the county of Greenbrier
from the counties of Botetourt and Montgomery. By the law
for drafting the militia —it was ordered-" that where two or
more counties shall have been formed into a greater number,
the numbers hereinbefore required from the said counties, as
they stood before such alteration, shall be added together, and
each of the counties into which they shall have been formed,
shall furnish a part of the whole number of men, in proportion
to the militia it shall contain. By this law, the draft was for a
year, and the volunteer was required to serve six months after
reaching the place of rendezvous.
Under these two laws, the militia of the new county of
Rockbridge, subject to the draft, were assembled a few miles
from Mount Pleasant. Mr. Graham attended, and addressed
the meeting in favour of filling up the required quota by
volunteers.  John Lyle, captain of one of the militia companies, stepped forth as a volunteer; and was followed by a
few. The little band marched and countermarched in front of
the assembled militia, and increased but slowly. Mr. Graham
stepped forth and joined the band; in a few moments the required number was completed. In the selection of officers,
which immediately followed, Mr. Graham was chosen captain,
and immediately commenced the necessary preparations for the
expected campaign, conscious of the delicacy of his position,
blending as he did in his own person the extreme characters,
of a captain in war, and a herald of the Prince of Peace. But
he considered the Revolution, then rapidly progressing, as a
revolution in religious as well as political matters; and seeking
religious freedom he was willing to hazard his life for civil
liberty, without which freedom of conscience does not exist.
The students of Liberty Hall sympathized with their teacher.
The volunteer company was, however, never called into service.
The commander-in-chief, duly appreciating the spirit of the
Legislature and citizens of Virginia, urged upon his countrymen the necessity of a longer term of service, for the effectual
prosecution of the war, which must be of longer duration than
the short time contemplated in the law. But the influence of
this volunteering was felt in the Valley during the whole succeeding war.
The pecuniary distress that involved the whole country fell
with great weight upon the Rector of the Academy. The number of pupils necessarily declining, the income of the Academy
was diminished, and the salary of the Rector curtailed; in common with other clergymen, Mr. Graham found his salary as a
minister greatly diminished, both numerically and in value;
and the land belonging to the Academy was insufficient for the
sustenance of his family. In these circumstances Mr. Graham




452               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
looked around for the means of support, and determining to
engage in agriculture, an employment familiar to the days of
his youth, he purchased a farm, on North River, five or six
miles from the Academy, and near the town of Lexington, laid
off by the act of 1777 as the county seat of the new county of
Rockbridge. The Trustees resolved that-" the Rector have
permission immediately to remove his family to his farm;-and
that he visit the Academy every week, and spend two or three
days at it, as circumstances may permit. This arrangement,
proving too inconvenient both to the students and the Rector,
was soon abandoned; and the students generally followed Mr.
Graham to the neighbourhood of Lexington. The Academy at
Timber Ridge was discontinued sometime in the year 1779.
The meeting-house, near which the Academy had been built,
was also in due time removed a few miles nearer Lexington;
and its ancient site is known only by the old grave-yard, by the
road side, with a few monuments to mark the resting place of
many of the pioneers of the Valley. The reflections of Dr.
Campbell, from whom we have already quoted, on revisiting
Mount Pleasant, will in spirit and many circumstances apply to
Timber Ridge. —"Fifty or sixty years after this-(his first
visit)-and but a few years ago (i. e. previous to 1838)-in
passing near to MIount Pleasant, I turned out of my way to see
this quondam seat of the muses. The building and grove have
entirely disappeared. No hedge or railing encloses the area.
It appears an entire desolation. The elevated position, however, affords the same grand and delightful prospect. I felt
myself on classic ground. Here Washington College drew its
first breath. On this spot commenced the establishment of a
seminary of learning. A few obscure clergymen, without
political power, without pecuniary resources, other than what
might be expected from the voluntary contributions of a newly
settled mountainous district; in perilous times, too, when the
Indians behind, and the British before, threatened to devour
with open mouth; these men began their work, persevered, and
succeeded. They have long since slept with their fathers; and
were this benevolent work alone known of them, they would
merit the grateful remembrance of the present and future generations. The Trustees too were important auxiliaries in the
same work. Most of them continued in office during life,
some of them I think for more than half a century. They too
have gone the way of all flesh. While remaining here, I called
to mind the numerous population which once encircled Mount
Pleasant, and which, in various ways, contributed to the
advancement of the Seminary; and asked myself where are
they all now?  Where are the Willsons, Blackburns, Browns,
Scotts,-the Greenlees, McDowells, McClungs, Pattons and




DISTINGUISHED PUPILS.              453
Pattersons? where are they now?-Of that numerous population, of various ages, characters and pursuits, which once encircled the spot where I now am, a few, a very few, indeed, children of another century, may, by careful inquiry, be discovered,
far dispersed from each other, with hoary heads and furrowed
cheeks, their steps marked with imbecility and decrepitude,
having advanced far down the vale of life, and still progressing
with accelerated speed, destined soon to join in the land of
silence their former associates.
"The students, too, that lovely band of youth, whom, long
since, I saw animating the scenes around Mount Pleasant,they too have bowed to the king of terrors, yet a single exception to this may even now be found: (James Mitchell, pastor
of the churches at the Peaks and Pisgah, Bedford). I wish I
could recollect the names of all the students of that primary
school.  Priestly, Mitchell, Stuart, Blackburn, McClung, the
Wilsons,. Browns, and Breckenridges, were of the number.
These entered on a classical course about the same time, and
were contemporaries on the stage of public life. Several of
them became practising attorneys; two of them held seats on
the bench of justice in the superior courts of law; four have
been members of State Legislature; four of the Congress of
the United States, and one was called in diplomatic capacity to
superintend our national interests at the court of Versailles.
Besides, several of these have, at different times, received appointments by authority of the State, to manage special important trusts in behalf of the commonwealth. I think it may be
safely said, that not one of these was ever charged, or chargeable with delinquency in their important trusts, either through
want of talents, or want of fidelity.-I thought of the brevity of
human life composed of a few short periods; youth, maturity,
and decay, and these followed by death and dissolution."
Early in the year 1781, Cornwallis advanced from South
Carolina, northward, and was pursuing General Greene through
North Carolina, with the double purpose of retaking the prisoners captured at the Cowpens, and of destroying the American forces under Greene.  In answer to the call on the
Valley for aid, a regiment marched from Augusta and the
more southern counties, to the camp of Greene, and were
honourably engaged in the battle at Guilford Court House.
Among those who maintained their ground through the whole
action and retreated at last at the command of their General,
were some of the pupils of Graham.
In the month of June in the same year, the Assembly, to
avoid a visit designed them by the famous Tarlton, adjourned
hastily on the 4th, from Charlottesville, to meet on the 7th, in
Staunton. On that day, when scarcely in their seats, they




454             SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
were again alarmed by the report of an approaching visit from
the same unwelcome person, and hastily left the town. " It
happened"-says a writer in the Literary and Evangelical
Magazine for May, 1821 —"that on that day, Mr. Graham was
on his way from his residence in Rockbridge, to the Stone meeting-house below Staunton, on some clerical business. Meeting
with some members of the Assembly on the road, they told him
what had taken place.  He inquired whether the Assembly
had adopted any measures, before they separated, to call forth
the militia to oppose the enemy? Upon being told they had not,
he expressed his surprise;-' but'-said he-' something must
yet be done. There are three roads leading from Staunton
towards Lexington. Let us disperse, and some of us take each
of the roads, and communicate the intelligence to the militia
officers in our way, urging them instantly to call out the militia
under their command, and march immediately towards Rockfish Gap.'"  The three roads were, the Greenville, the North
Mountain, and the Middle, or Ridge Road. The Brownsburg
has of late in a great measure superseded the two last mentioned. " The plan was adopted, and the call made upon the
officers was promptly obeyed. The intelligence spread with
great rapidity, and the men began instantly to prepare to
march. During that afternoon, and in the forepart of the following night, the great body of the militia from the upper end
of Augusta, and the lower half of Rockbridge, began to move
rapidly towards Rockfish Gap."
"Mr. Graham arrived at home in the evening, and immediately sent off a messenger to some of the militia officers in
his own neighbourhood. A small company of men assembled
at his house next morning. With these he set out, and, when
they arrived at Rockfish Gap, found the mountain covered
with riflemen determined to permit no hostile foot to enter
their borders with impunity. Intelligence soon arrived that
Tarlton was not advancing, but had left Charlottesville and
appeared to be retreating down the country. It being supposed by some that this might be a feint; part of the troops
went to another gap of the mountain, supposing that Tarlton
might attempt to force a passage there;-part returned home;
-and part advanced forward in quest of the enemy. Mr.
Graham went with the last mentioned party. They soon
joined the Marquis La Fayette below Charlottesville; but finding the campaign was likely to be a protracted one, they did
not continue with him very long; and all except one or two
returned. During this short time Mr. Graham made it a
practice to have evening prayers in the company to which he
belonged.- It was observed that they were not very well
attended excepting on one occasion. An alarm had been given




MR. GRAHAM A VOLUNTEER CAPTAIN.          455
and from a concurrence of circumstances it was believed a
battle would soon take place. On that evening, although the
men really had less leisure than usual, they generally assembled and appeared to listen to the prayer with great attention."
This expedition ended Mr. Graham's military life. He was
not fond of warlike parade or desirous of military glory. His
being chosen captain in 1778 was a cause of great uneasiness;
the office of chaplain would have been more consonant with
his feelings and principles.  But conscious that many were
looking to him for example; and believing the struggle to be
for religious as well as civil liberty; and that no privations
could be compared with the blessings of the liberty he hoped
to gain; and no place of station or dignity would compensate
for the loss sustained if the Revolution in America were rolled
back; and unwilling to be an idler in a cause that required
the help of all; he readily entered upon any labour to which
his country called him, and underwent all privations demanded
by the public good. Like Davies he believed that the boundaries of human life were set by God; and the path of duty was
the path of safety; and that life and death were circumstantially either a blessing or a curse; that to die bravely was
better than to live cowardly; and a part of a minister's duty
is to teach his parishioners how to value life.
From the time he became member of the Presbytery of
Hanover, Mr. Graham had his full share in the memorials that
were sent by the Presbytery to the Legislature. Of the one
that was sent by the convention of ministers and elders of the
Presbyterian Church that met in Bethel, he stands in a near
relation. When the bill for a general assessment was brought
forward with such an advocate as Patrick Henry, and with the
Episcopal Church to support it, it was generally supposed that
it would certainly become a law. To those who had been paying to support their own church and another foreign to it, this
bill proposed relief; they were to pay only for the support of
the church of their choice.  As it was a relief from  their
former burdens; and as the Presbyterian congregations would
not be called on to pay more for the support of their own
ministers than they would cheerfully give by voluntary subscription, Mr. Graham was agreed with his brethren to send
up the memorial which gives their sentiments on the subject of
the support of religion, disclaiming all legislative interference;
and under the conviction that the law would in some form pass,
proposing the least offensive form  in which the assessment
could be levied.
But when the passage of the bill was arrested, and the attention of the public called for the express purpose of, giving an
opinion on the principles and working of the proposed law,




456               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Mr. Graham with his brethren then argued the subject on its
merits and by the principles of law, and religion, both revealed
and natural. Of the memorial sent up to the Assembly that
met in October, 1785, from the Convention of the Presbyterian
Church at Bethel in the August preceding, Mr. Graham was
supposed to be the principal author. Samuel W. Lyle, elder
of Timber Ridge church, says, under date of October 17th,
1847 —" I have often heard my father, the late William Lyle,
elder of Timber Ridge church, say, that he was present when
the memorial to the Legislature on the subject of religious
liberty was drawn up by a committee of Hanover Presbytery.
That, the Rev. William Graham drew it up; that he sat near
him; that the Rev. J. B. Smith was in the room at the time,
and a member of the committee, and proposed some verbal alterations which were adopted."
This memorial was advocated by Dr. Smith before the committee of the whole house, when he made his famous speech
against the assessment with ability and effect that surpassed,
in the opinion of good judges, the advocacy of Patrick Henry.
About the time the course of instruction in the Academy
on Timber Ridge ceased, Mr. Graham made a visit to the
churches northward, and travelled as far as Boston. The interest excited, and expressed, in New England, was mutual.
His orthodox, classic, argumentative preaching, without notes,
was a novelty to those who, while accustomed to good preaching, had always heard their good sermons read. Some pleasant
compliments in favour of preaching without notes were passed;
and earnest inquiries were made about the condition of religion
in Virginia, the method of studying theology, and the subjects
of a religious nature that were most discussed from the pulpit
and elsewhere.' In answer to the inquiry-" from what then
do the Virginia clergy obtain their divinity?"'-his reply"from the Bible," had a latitude of meaning that can be best
understood when his method of teaching theology comes under
consideration. After his return from this visit, which resulted in
little advantage to the cause of education, for which under the
sanction of the Presbytery of Hanover, the members of which
supplied his pulpit in his absence, he had made the journey, he
commenced a correspondence with the Litchfield Association in
Connecticut, the object of which was a more full supply of the
vacancies in Virginia, than could be furnished by the churches
of Hanover Presbytery.  October 26, 1781. " Upon Mr. Graham's report of his correspondence with the Association of
Litchfield; the Presbytery agreed to continue a correspondence
with that Association, and appointed Messrs. Brown, Waddell,
Graham and Scott a committee for that purpose." On the
same day the Presbytery licensed Samuel Shannon and James




LIBERTY HALL ACADEMY.                457
Mitchell, so long the minister in Bedford; and heard part of the
trials of Moses Hoge, afterwards President of ITampden Sidney; heard from Mr. John Montgomery, that he retained the
call from Winchester and Opekon, and Cedar Creek, for farther consideration; made the necessary preparations for the
ordination of Mr. William Wilson over the Augusta congregation, at the Stone Church; and-" In consequence of the late
signal interposition of Divine Providence in the capture of
Charles Earl Cornwallis and his army at York, the Presbytery
appointed the second Wednesday of December as a day of public thanksgiving in the churches under their care, unless where
the different ministers may have received timely notice of
another day near it appointed by Government; also two brethren, Mr. W. Irvin, and Mr. Templin were sent on a mission
to what is now Tennessee, and Mr. Mitchell urged to go to the
western waters.  Other young men were in the course of preparation for the ministry.  When the circumstances of the
country, after a long war are considered, these facts show that
the Presbytery was not inattentive to the claims of the widespreading vacancies. As usual they appointed the different
brethren of the Presbytery to leave their congregations for a
few Sabbaths, and visit the different vacancies in the neighbourhood.
In the year 1782, December 13th, the records say-" As
Messrs. Judson and Pain ely (Parmelee) came recommended from
the Association of Litchfield to this Presbytery; the Presbytery recommended them to supply in our vacant congregations
at their own discretion till our next; and they also recommended
them to the notice and regard of the vacancies under their care."
These young men made but a short visit in Virginia; not finding
the field sufficiently inviting they turned their attention to other
parts of the wide spread vineyard.  There is no record of any
other effect produced by the correspondence with the Association; but as the cords of brotherly affection were strenghthened,
the efforts were not lost.
After Mr. Graham ceased to visit the school at Timber Ridge,
and instruction was discontinued there, the scholars were assembled in his neighbourhood, and taught at his own house by him,
and tutors of his selection.  There Moses Hoge, D. D. pursued
his studies in preparation for the ministry; and there too Archibald Alexander, D. D. —" at an early age commenced his
course of classical learning." After the surrender of Cornwallis, the Trustees not being sufficiently prompt in promoting
the cause of education, the Presbytery at this meeting at
New Providence, October 24th, 1782, having, on motion of
Rev. J. B. Smith, appointed additional Trustees to Hampden Sidney Academy, because-"it appears to the Presby58




458               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
tery that the Trustees of the.Academy in Prince Edward
have failed to discharge their duty through the distant situation of some whose attendance was necessary,-upon a similar motion by Mr. Graham, and for similar reasons, respecting
the Academy of Liberty Hall, in Rockbridge, the Presbytery
appoint the Rev. Messrs. Caleb Wallace; Edward Crawford,
Samuel Doak, Archibald Scott, John Montgomery, James McConnel, Benjamin  Erwin, William  Wilson; -- and Andrew
Moore, John Wilson, John Leyle, James Trotter, Archibald
Stewart, Joseph Walker, and William Alexander, Esqs., to act
as Trustees of Liberty Hall."  This is the last act of Hanover
Presbytery, as originally constituted respecting Liberty Hall.
Application was now made to the, Legislature of the State by
the Trustees for an act of incorporation; and in October, 1782,
"an act for incorporating the Rector and Trustees of Liberty
hall Academy, was passed, declaring that the Reverend William Graham, rector, Arthur Campbell, William Christian, Andrew Moore, William  Alexander, Joseph Walker, Alexander
Campbell, John Wilson, John Trimble, John Hays, John Bowyer, Samuel McDowell, George.Maffit, William McKee, James
McCorkle, Samuel Leyle, Archibald Stewart, the Reverend
Caleb Wallace, John Montgomery, and William Wilson, and
their successors are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name of the Rector and Trustees of Liberty Hall
Academy."  By whose suggestion this application was made
does not appear. The records of Presbytery make no reference
to the subject.
Among the powers vested in the. Trustees was-" annually
to grant such students, as in their opinion merit the same, testimonials under the common seal, and signed by the Rector and
three of the Trustees at least, reciting their literary degrees."
These incorporated Trustees did not attempt to revive the
Academy at Timber Ridge, but proceeded to erect a small
frame building on an eligible site given by Mr. Graham and two
of his neighbours whose lands lay adjoining.. Mr. Graham
carried on the instruction of the Academy by tutors, as far as
suitable ones could be obtained; himself always superintending,
and often much engaged in teaching, and sometimes being the
sole instructor.. The'first tutor elected by the corporate Trustees was Mr. James Priestly, in January, 1783. Of him, the
Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D., in his address to the alumni
of Washington College, in 1843, says —"I wish to preserve
from oblivion the memory of the first tutor in this institution,
after it was incorporated, Dr. James Priestly; a man of lively
genius and extraordinary attainments in some departments of
literature. Mr. Priestly was the son of a poor but very pious man
in this county. Mr. Graham having, in catechising the youth of




PRIESTLY, THE FIRST TUTOR.            459
his charge, noticed the readiness and accuracy with which this
boy answered all the questions proposed to him, obtained the
consent of his parents to take him into his own family, that he
might give him.a liberal education. The boy being endowed
with a most retentive memory and a vivid imagination, soon
became a distinguished scholar, and a tutor in the Academy.
His memory was so extraordinary, that in heating his pupils
he had no occasion to take a book into his hands.  His principal attention was directed to Greek literature, in the accurate
knowledge of which he greatly excelled.  He sometimes entertained his pupils by spouting with astonishing vehemence the
orations of Demosthenes in Greek. Mr. Priestly devoted hiswhole life to the promotion of classical literature.  The principal theatre of his labours was Georgetown (District of Columbia), Annapolis, and Baltimore, in the State of Maryland.  In
each of the fore-mentioned places he established and superintended schools of a high grade of excellence.
"His fame as a teacher of youth having spread extensively,
he was selected as the first President of the Cumberland University, at Nashville, Tennessee. Here he spent the last years
of his life; and though all were impressed with a high idea of
his extraordinary learning, and his high qualifications as a
classical teacher; yet he did not succeed well in organizing and
arranging an infant College.  He was indeed a very eccentric
though a very amiable man; and married a woman as eccentric
as himself.  Among the peculiar opinions which he. fondly
cherished, one was, that our future felicity would depend very
much upon the degree of intellectual culture bestowed on the
mind as well as on its moral improvement-an opinion which
has been ingeniously maintained by a writer in one of our popular periodicals recently. Dr. Priestly possessed an enthusiastic
ardour in favour of education I have never seen surpassed;
and he succeeded in inspiring his pupils with something of the
same. From him the speaker derived the first impulse in his
literary course, and, therefore, he feels a pleasure in having this
opportunity of paying a deserved tribute to the memory of a
teacher who was an ornament to this institution in its earliest
days." Though assisted by the ablest tutors that could be procured, and being himself an unrivalled disciplinarian, Mr. Graham often complained of the difficulty attending the government of the Academy, after the Revolution. Previous to that
time profanity and dissipation were unknown; and a diligent
attention to their studies characterized the youth. After the
war, he was called upon to repress profanity, card playing, and
other dissipations among the youth sent to the Academy. His
being called upon frequently, to exert to the utmost his talent
for discipline, so much distressed him, that he frequently talked




460               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of resigning his post. From principle he was a rigid disciplinarian, and resolved-" at every risk authority must be maintained; and when this was by any one resisted, however formidable the student might be in physical strength, or however
many might combine to frustrate the regular exercise of discipline, he fearlessly went forward in the discharge of his duty,
and generally triumphed over all opposition; and often inflicted
severe castigation on the thoughtless persons, who dared to
rebel against lawful authority." These efforts of discipline
were very disagreeable to him; and part of his severity towards
the unhappy offenders may be charged to the indignation he
felt upon being compelled to extraordinary discipline. It was
peculiarly unpleasant to him to be compelled to summon the
Trustees on account of any improprieties of the students; yet
this disagreeable duty was sometimes forced upon him.
Another view of the condition and habits of the youth assembling at the Academy had its influence in turning his heart
away from the employment of teaching, after the Revolution,
as a perplexing and perhaps useless if not hurtful employment.
In seeing the prevalence of dissipation, and tendency to infidelity among the youth, he proposed to himself and others the
inquiry, whether any good was done by educating vicious youth
to become more influential, and consequently more hurtful by
their education.  The hope of witnessing a better state of
things still cheered him in his labours, and the encouragement
of his friends prevented his entire despondency, for a time.
One consideration of great weight was before him,-if the
clergy abandoned the education of youth, to whom would that
important office be committed? And if the education of youth
were neglected what would be the destiny of the nation?
The course of study pursued at the Academy was the same
as that pursued at Princeton while Mr. Graham was a student
there. He gave out the manuscript lectures of Dr. Witherspoon
to be copied and studied by the students as a text book. And
although on account of the irregularity of the classes, there was
no regular Commencement; yet in some instances the degree
of Bachelor was conferred, and occasionally in public.  Of Mr.
Graham as a teacher Dr. Alexander says, he-"possessed a
mind formed for profound and accurate investigation. He had
studied the Latin and Greek classics with great care, and
relished the beauties of those exquisite compositions. With
those authors taught in the schools he was familiar by long
practice in teaching, and always insisted on the importance of
classical literature, as the proper foundation of a liberal education." HIe had a strong inclination to the study of natural
philosophy, and took pleasure in making experiments with such
apparatus as he possessed; and he had procured for the Aca



MR. GRAHAM'S TASTE FOR MENTAL PHILOSOPHY.    461
demy as good an one as was possessed by most of the Colleges.
In these experiments much time was employed, on which inquisitive persons, not connected with the Academy, were freely
permitted to attend.
"The science, however, which engaged his attention more
than all others, except theology, was the PHILOSOPHY OF THE
MIND. In this he took great delight, and to this devoted much
time and attention. Though acquainted with the best treatises
which had been published, his investigations were not carried on
so much by books as by a patient and repeated analysis of the
various processes of thought as they arose in his own mind; and
by reducing the phenomena thus observed, to a regular system.
The speaker is of opinion, that the system of mental philosophy
which he thus formed, was, in clearness and fullness, superior
to any thing which has been given to the public, in the numerous works which have recently been published on this subject.
And it is greatly to be regretted that his lectures were never
fully committed to writing, and published for the benefit of the
world. It was however a fault, in this man of profound thought,
that he made little use of the pen. And it was also a defect,
that in the latter years of his life he addicted himself but little
to reading the productions of other men; and perhaps entertained too low an opinion of the value of books.
" The study of human nature"-says a writer in the Evangelical and Literary Magazine for August, 1821-" in a philosophical point of view, was one to which his thoughts had been
frequently turned ever since he left College. Dr. Witherspoon, in an address to his class at the close of his lectures,
observed that in moral philosophy there were difficulties which
the present state of human knowledge did not enable us to
solve; but he had no doubt the time would arrive, and perhaps at no distant day, when these difficulties would be removed, and we enjoy as much certainty and perspicuity in
moral as in natural philosophy. Mr. Graham immediately, as
he expressed it-felt his heart burn within him.  Oh-said he
to himself-that I might live to see that day! But I shall
not! Difficulties so great as those which rest on this subject
cannot be removed in so short a time! A gleam of hope however rose within him, and he devoted much of his thoughts
afterwards to the subject. He soon found that man himself
was not understood, and that to this source was to be traced
miuch of the obscurity which spread over moral subjects. The
first books from which he derived aid on the subject were Bishop
Butler's Sermons, and some of the writings of Lord Kaimes.
Reed's Essays on the Mind afterwards fell into his hands,
where he found the subject treated much at large and with




462               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
great ability; but as an accurate observer of human nature, he
thought him inferior to Kaimes, so far as Kaimes had attended
to the subject. But although he obtained considerable aid from
the books just mentioned, his system and opinions were chiefly
formed from his own original reflections and observations; for
originality of thought was one of his distinguishing characteristics. When he had progressed so far in the philosophy of the
human mind as to have formed a system satisfactory to himself,
he began to examine its conformity to Christian experience,
and to the representations of human nature given in the Scriptures,-and their exact conformity gave him great pleasure,
and satisfied him of the truth of his system. The active principles of human nature he found to be very accurately distinguished by the apostle Paul, when he denominates them the
desires of the flesh and of the mind."
In May, 1785, -his connexion with the congregations of Timber Ridge and Hall's Meeting-house was dissolved by Presbytery. The following is all the record made of the matter.
"Bethel, Saturday, May 21st, 1785.-Mr. Graham informed
the Presbytery that the churches of Timber Ridge and Hall's
Meeting-house in Rockbridge, of which he has been for several
years the pastor,. had come to an agreement with him that the
relations formerly subsisting between them should be dissolved,
and requested the Presbytery to ratify the said agreement;
which was unanimously complied with. These churches were
therefore accordingly declared vacant."  This was done at
that meeting of Presbytery in which it was declared unanimously-that the members of the Presbytery of Hanover did
not approve of any kind of assessment by the General Assembly; and a General Convention of the Presbyterian Church
invited to meet at Bethel, Augusta county.
For a time after this event Mr. Graham preached on the
Sabbath in the Academy-house to the students, and others that
choose to attend; and may be considered as giving himself
wholly to the duties of his office as Rector of the Academy and
the spiritual guide of his pupils. But as his place of preaching
was in the bounds of Hall's Meeting-house, from hearing him
in the Academy, the people invited him to their houses, and in
a short time to the meeting-house;- and in 1789 the union of
Timber Ridge and Hall's Meeting-house was dissolved by Presbytery, and Mr. Graham accepted a call, and the relation of
pastor was renewed with the congregation of Hall's Meetinghouse. This congregation was for convenience divided in the
year 1789; one part worshipping in Lexington, took the name
of the place of its worship; the other,. worshipping at the old
place of assembling, was, after building a new house, called




MR. GRAHAM IN SOME DIFFICULTY.           463
New Monmouth. In these two places Mr. Graham continued
to preach, statedly, till he left the county. The churches remained united until 1819.
During the interval of Mr. Graham's resignation of the pastoral Charge of the two churches, Timber Ridge and Hall's
Meeting-house, and his being constituted pastor of Hall's and
the church in Lexington, on the 10th of April, 1787, at a meeting of the Presbytery at Augusta Church —"A call for the
Rev. Moses Hoge, and obligations for support were presented
from Timber Ridge and Hall's churches. Mr. I-oge takes them
under consideration until our next Presbytery." At the next
Presbytery, October 23, 1787, at Mossy Creek —" Mr. Hoge
resigns the call presented to him for consideration at our last,
from Timber Ridge and Hall's churches."
Another event occurring during the same interval annoyed
Mr. Graham. His sensibility and self-respect were assaulted;
and the punishment for the offence so severe, the judicatories
of the church were called upon to protect the offender. An
effort was made to erect a State, called Frankland, on the
western waters of Virginia and North Carolina. Mr. Graham
was applied to, by some of his acquaintances for a draft of a
constitution. He produced a paper. Opposition was raised to
some of its provisions, in which the Rev. Hezekiah Balch, a
member of Abingdon Presbytery, took a part. On one occasion
a tumultuous assemblage publicly burned the effigy of its author,
with that of its advocate, Rev. Samuel Houston.  With the
report of this proceeding came also the report of the prominent
part acted by Mr. Balch. Mr. Graham addressed him a printed
letter, in a pamphlet form, replete with satire keen even to bitterness, which was widely circulated in the south-western neighbourhoods. The whole matter of the political organization was
a failure. The action was premature and irregular. But difficulties of a religious nature were connected with it, that were
referred to the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. On the
26th of May, 1787, the following resolution was passed-" In
respect to the letter addressed to Mr. Balch, through the medium of the press, and supposed to be written by the Rev. William Graham of Rockbridge county, Virginia, the Synod look
upon the same as very unchristian and unwarrantable treatment
of a brother; and the Synod do order the Presbytery of Lexington to cite Mr. Graham before them, and make due inquiry
whether he be the author, and into the reasons of his conduct
in that matter, and censure or acquit him as the nature of the
case may appear.
"That in respect to political differences in that part of the
country which occasioned a mob or riot, the Synod highly disapprove of, and condemn all such tumultuous and riotous pro



464               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ceedings; but as it appears by a paper signed by a number who
acknowledge themselves the authors of the tumult, and also
from  the testimony of Colonel Cook, that Mr. Balch had no
hand in that affair, and that he did take some pains to restrain
those unhappy proceedings from going so far as they did; therefore, all things considered, we do not think him blameable in
the matter."
At their fall meeting the Presbytery gave Mr. Graham a
citation to appear at their next, and answer to the inquiries.
The discussion of the subject was delayed at the request of Mr.
Graham, till the fall meeting of Presbytery in 1789, —when he
acknowledged himself the author of the " letter directed to Rev.
Hezekiah Balch," which was in question-" and produced several depositions to prove the truth of the facts with which he
charged Mr. Balch, and especially of his approving of the conduct of the mob in Frankland in burning the effigies of Messrs.
Graham and Houston. The Presbytery, therefore, on mature
deliberation agree, that although they could wish that Mr. Graham had been more temperate in his satire, and more gentle in
his expostulations, yet that the treatment he met with was so
grossly injurious, that they cannot suppose him to merit a formal censure of this Presbytery, on account of said letter."
This political difference made some enemies to Mr. Graham,
without adding to the number of his friends.
Soon after being connected with Hall's Meeting-house congregation the second time, Mr. Graham persuaded the people
to remove their old church which was of wood, to build a new
one of stone; and by his zeal and exertions, although the congregation was, after its division, neither numerous or wealthy,
the building was speedily erected and fitted up with pews. The
congregation in Lexington soon after erected for themselves a
brick house, and also fitted it up with pews. At that time the
village was very small, and the church stood out west of the
incorporated limits, in a beautiful grove. The original limits
of the village were very small, and in 1780 contained but four
houses. Its name was taken from the battle ground in Massachusetts in 1776.
Mr. Graham's next step was to improve the singing in public worship. His efforts in this were crowned with success.
The teacher he obtained, Mr. Lemus Chapin, for a few months,
gave great satisfaction, and remained in the county a number
of years, occupied in his profession. From him all the knowledge of church music, in Rockbridge and some of the neighbouring counties, for a number of years, was derived.
All these plans of usefulness were necessary for the prosperity of the congregations under his care, and all had a direct
bearing upon what Mr. Graham desired as the fruit of all his




PREACHING AT LEXINGTON.              465
labours; but they were not that fruit he sought as the ultimate
end, the promotion of vital piety. Although he had been the
favoured instrument of bringing many men into the ministry,
in some cases directing all their studies, and in others but a
part, and thus promoting the cause of God, he had not been
favoured with any remarkable success in'his ministry.  This
fact troubled him. The old professors were passing away from
his charge by death, and their places were not all filled; there
were no students of divinity from his charge, neither- were there
any hopefully pious young men pursuing their literary studies.
When he was licensed to preach-" the closeness and depth of
his reasoning, and the warmth of his applications, placed him
in the estimation of those who heard him, in the first class of
pulpit orators; and some who did not duly reflect, that Paul
may plant and Apollos water, but it is God who giveth the
increase, said,-surely no one can withstand such preaching;
every one who hears it must become religious. * * * *  Although his preaching was attended with considerable effect,
the're was not that great and general awakening which is
usually denominated a revival." After his connexion with
Lexington and New Monmouth, for some years, the effects of
his preaching in producing conversions to God were scarcely
visible.
The complaint was general throughout Virginia, that the
ordinances of God seemed not to be blessed; and the hearts'f
many were sad. The dawn of a better day was first seen in
Charlotte, among the Baptists. In the year 1787, the congregations under the care of J. B. Smith, President of Hamptlen
Sidney, and pastor of the congregations of Cumberland and
Briery, began to feel' a greater interest in religious things; and
in 1788, the whole region south of James River, east of the Blue
Ridge, was greatly excited by the preaching of the gospel.
The congregations in the Valley and those north of James River
were entirely unmoved. The origin and progress of this revival
are given in the sketch of J. B. Smith, D. D. Although as yet
unmoved, the way was preparing in the heart of the pastor and
in the condition of the congregations, for the church to be
aroused and enlarged.
-Previous to 1788, the amount of time to be given by Mr.
Graham to the Lexington congregation, had been left to the
discretion of the pastor, and exigences of the occasion: the
greater part of the Sabbath mornings being given to New
Monmouth. In that year it was agreed that one-fourth of the
pastor's labours should be given to Lexington; and for this the
subscription for the first year was ~22 18s. 6d.; for the next
year ~17 8s. 6d. In 1789 a call was given by the inhabitants
of Lexington and vicinity for one-fourth of Mr. Graham's time,
59




466               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the year to commence in May, and the salary to be not less
than ~20. Thirty-six names were affixed, with sums varying
from ~1 5s. to ~0 5s.-in all ~20 10s. By this arrangement
there was regular preaching in the town congregation, on Sabbath morning, one-fourth of the time, and at other times as often
as the pastor might find it convenient or desirable.
In this state of things Mr. Graham complied with an invitation from President Smith, and in the month of August, 1789,
accompanied by some of his pupils from the neighbourhood,
made a visit to Prince Edward, to attend a communion season
in the Briery congregation.  "On the Saturday evening of the
communion"-says Rev. Mr. Calhoun in his letter to F. N. Watkins —"Mr. Graham arrived at old Mrs. Morton's, a house in
which many Christians usually lodged on such occasions; and
that night, or next morning, led in family prayer. The apparent tone of his feelings did not exactly suit the ardour of some
of the young converts, and they requested Mr. Smith not to let
him preach. Mr. Smith preached the morning sermon. After
the communion services were ended, Mr. Graham preached
from Isaiah 40th chapter, 1st and 2d verses.'Comfort ye,
comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned.' As soon as he commenced it
was evident to all that his feelings were of the strong and tender kind. And in evangelical strains he poured forth gospel
truth like floods of milk and wine; while the melting eyes and
glowing countenances of a large assembly showed that many
were eating as friends, and drinking abundantly of the consolations provided for them of their God.-He brought some of
his young people with him, hoping that in the midst of the outpouring of the Spirit, they might receive the grace of God.
His hopes were not in vain. Dr. Alexander was one of that
young company."  This sermon of Mr. Graham made an unusual impression. There are still living a few who heard it; and
these, after a lapse of about sixty years, speak of the immediate
influence, and the abiding impression of that discourse; it was
one among ten thousand. Perhaps the influence was greater
from the low estimation the congregation had formed of the
sermon to be expected from one whose congregation had not
been revived. One that accompanied him from Rockbridge
says under date of Princeton, August 16th, 1848 —"The sermon of Mr. Graham on the text, Comfort ye, comfort ye my
people, &c., was the first sermon which he preached on his first
visit to Prince Edward, when I accompanied him. It was
preached at Briery, immediately after the administration of
sacrament; and Dr. Smith said to me, that he had never heard
more than one sermon which he liked as well, and that one was




VISITORS TO THE BEDFORD REVIVAL.        467
preached by Rev. James Mitchell. I did not hear the first part
of this discourse; for there being a prospect of rain the communion was administered in the house, and the non-professors,
to which number I belonged, were requested to remain under
the arbour and hear sermons from the Rev. Nash Legrand and
Rev. S. Houston. But the rain came on with violence and
drove us into the house, as many as could press in. I remember the peculiarly solemn appearance of the congregation when
I entered the house. The speaker was then addressing such as
were not the people of God, and he commenced every paragraph
with-O comfortless ye!
"During Mr. Graham's visit to Prince Edward, he preached
a number of times, in various parts of the congregation. His
sermons were of a searching, discriminating character. The
revival in Prince Edward was on the decline when Mr. Graham
paid his first visit; but it was at its height in Bedford. After
spending ten days or a fortnight in Prince Edward, Mr. Graham, Dr. Smith, Mr. Legrand and others, went on to a sacramental meeting at the Peaks of Otter. Here both Dr. Smith
and Mr. Graham  preached with great power and effect.
Turner had just come out a flaming convert, and moved the
whole country round with his pathetic exhortations. About
thirty young persons came over from Rockbridge to this sacrament. They had heard of the wonderful works of God in
the conversion of notorious sinners, and they came partly
out of curiosity, and partly from a serious impression on
their minds. Most of them  were females, and of the best
families about Lexington. Every one of these except one man,
went home deeply impressed. As Dr. Smith had an appointment to preach a funeral sermon at New London, this company agreed to stay another week and attend the meetings
which were kept up every evening. Mr. Legrand remained
with them, and went over to Lexington in their company. A
happier company I never saw; they made the mountains echo
with their songs of praise. Arriving at Lexington in the afternoon, a meeting was immediately proclaimed; and the people
assembled from all quarters. Mr. Graham and Mr. Legrand
addressed the crowded assembly with great fervency and
solemnity; and two young men were called on to pray. This
more than any thing else struck the mind with astonishment,
for no young person for many years had been known to be
serious, or to profess religion in that community. Many at
this first meeting were impressed. But on the ensuing Sabbath
a great congregation was collected at Monmouth; for the news
spread rapidly. Mr. Legrand preached on the text-'Look
unto me all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved!' After sermon Mr. Graham gave a narrative of all that he had witnessed,




468               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
which he followed with one of the most affecting exhortations I
ever heard, during which he poured out a torrent of tears; and
very few eyes in the house were dry. The impression on the
minds of the assembly was very general. It is probable that
one hundred persons were now brought under, serious impressions of religion; but all these did, not become true converts.
Frequent meetings were now held in town and country; and at
every meeting great solemnity and deep feeling were manifest.
Every day new cases were heard of; and while the convictions
of most lasted for weeks before they ventured to entertain a
hope, others were suddenly brought out of their troubles and
made to rejoice in the light of God's countenance. A number
of educated young men were among the converts, who now
turned their attention to studies preparatory for the ministry.
" The revival, though it had its seat in Lexington and vicinity,
was noQt confined to that region, but extended to almost every
Presbyterian congregation in the Valley. Sacramental occasions were exceedingly solemn, and, attended by many from, a
great distance. Mr. Legrand travelled on a missionary tour to
the south-west along the Valley; and wherever he went had
seals'to his ministry. But in a few weeks he returned and
laboured again in Lexington and the vicinity.
"'Some old professors gave up their former hopes and began
anew. Among these was a respectable clergyman who attended
the meetings in disguise, that he might not be called on to
officiate. Ile took a journey to Prince Edward to see if he
could benefit from attending on the preaching of Dr. Smith.
He came out clear before long.
"It was not long before Dr. Smith came over to visit the
people. An angel would not have been received with more joy
and cordiality; for he still had the pre-eminence as the father
of the revival; and the very sound of his voice thrilled every
nerve of those who had heard him before. It was on a second
visit, I think, he preached the sermon, a defence of the revival, from the words, —'Behold ye despisers, and wonder and
perish,'-in the grove at New Monmouth, immediately after
the communion. It was certainly one of his greatest efforts;
and was among the most eloquent discourses I ever heard from
the mouth of man. Many of the opposers of the revival were
present, and were cut to the heart; and while some were convinced of their errors, others were the more enraged and
gnashed upon him with their teeth. In returning from the
meeting I conversed with an old Presbyterian Elder from Oxford congregation, who confessed that he had been in error
and prejudice against the revival, but that Dr. Smith had convinced him of his error." —A. A.
The Seceders in Rockbridge were many of them greatly




FIRST VIRGINIA CLASS OF THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS.  469
opposed to the revival; and.Dr. Smith, in his famous defence,
bore heavily upon them by name, and said-" that from the
time they set themselves in opposition to the revival at Kylsith and Cambuslang, the Spirit of the Lord had forsaken
them."  While some were convinced, others were rendered
more vehement in their opposition, and declared they thought
him possessed with an evil spirit.
The revival spread through all the Valley congregations, and
its effects are felt to this day in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and other western and south-western States, though in
a less degree, in the labours of ministers and pious people
then brought into the church.
A large proportion of the young people of Mr. Graham's
charge became hopefully pious; and the heart of the pastor
spoke out, when during the revival he said to a friend-" when
this revival began I thought that if three young men would become ministers of the gospel, I should be satisfied.. Now
these three have become hopefully pious, and have turned their
views to the ministry; and I feel as far from being satisfied as
ever. I believe I shall never be satisfied while there is one
left behind." The pastor had long been sowing, and often in
tears; but now he reaped in joy; and would gladly have
brought all to Christ. This was his harvest.
In consequence of this revival, a new duty devolved on Mr.
Graham,-rthe instruetion of a Class of Theologieal Students,the first ever formed in Virginia.  He had in former years
directed the studies of young men preparing for the ministry.
Other ministers in Virginia had done the same, from Samuel
Davies' time to this revival; and Dr. Smith of Hampden Sidney, had trained Lacy and Legrand and others for the sacred
office. But the organizing a class, or making the instruction
of a number of youth in theology a special business, was first
known at Liberty Hall Academy by the agency of Mr. Graham. Dr. Alexamder, in his address to the Alumni, says"After the great revival which commenced in this Valley, in
the year 1789, Mr. Graham had a Theological Class of seven
or eight members under his tuition, which was kept up for
several years. It was his custom to devote one day in the
week to hearing the written discourses of these candidates, and
to a free discussion of theological points. In these exercises he
appeared to take a great delight; and the students were
always gratified and commonly convinced by his lucid statements and cogent reasonings.  As most of those who enjoyed
the benefit of his instructions, in this incipient theological
seminary, are not now in the world, it may not be improper to
say, that some of them rose to eminence in the church, and as
Professors or Presidents of literary institutions. The influ



470               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ence which he gained over the minds of his pupils, while under
his care, was unbounded. Seldom did any one of them venture to maintain an opinion, different from those which he
inculcated. Yet he encouraged the utmost freedom of discussion; and seemed to aim, not so much to bring his pupils to
think as he did, as to teach them to think on all subjects for
themselves. A slavish subjection to any human authority he
repudiated; and therefore, never attempted to add weight to his
opinions by referring to a long list of authors, of great name;
but uniformly insisted, that all opinions should be subjected
to the test of Scripture and reason. Some of his pupils have
been heard to say, that the chief benefit which they derived
from his instructions was, that by this means they were led to
the free and independent exercise of their own faculties in the
investigation of the truth. Mr. Graham, in his theological
creed, was strictly orthodox, according to the standard of his
own church, which he greatly venerated; but in his method of
explaining some of the knotty points in theology, he departed
considerably from the common track; and was of opinion, that
many things which have been involved in perplexity and
obscurity by the manner in which they have been treated, are
capable of being easily and satisfactorily explained by the
application of sound principles of philosophy."
Those-" sound principles of philosophy"-Mr. Graham
never committed to writing. They have been preserved in the
memory and heart of his pupils, and by them have been taught
widely. The principles of mental philosophy inculcated at
Princeton Theological Seminary, have not been found in such
form and connexion, in any printed volumes, as they were
enunciated from the Professor's chair, by a pupil of Graham.
Perhaps they will not be lost to posterity, as they have not
been to this generation.
Much had been expected from  Mr. Graham's theological
students; and the hopes of the church were not disappointed.
Zealous but not superficial, hortatory but not immethodical,
they exhibited clearness of perception, strength of argument,
closeness of reasoning, and often profound thinking as well as
fervent piety. They imbibed much of the habits of mind and
the theological principles of their teacher, but imitated him less
than has been usual with students that so much admired their
preceptor in every thing pertaining to his office. The voice of
Graham was not heard to echo, nor was his manner seen in the
pulpit labours of any of his pupils.
The Synod of Virginia being in session at Winchester, Sept.
28th, 1791-" Messrs. (Win.) Wilson, (Joseph) Patterson and
(James) Mitchell, Ministers; and M3vessrs. John Wilson and
Thomas Marques, Elders, were appointed a Committee of Over



SYNOD OF VIRGINIA AT WINCHESTER.         471
tures, and ordered to make report as soon as they have business
ready for Synod."
At the same sessions, Sept. 30th-" Through the Committee
of Overtures it was proposed, that the Synod, if it might appear
expedient, should institute and encourage some plan calculated
to educate persons designed for the gospel ministry, in that way
which may be most suitable to fit them for that office.
"' The Synod having approved the design of the proposition,
appointed Messrs. Joseph Smith, William Graham, John B.
Smith, John McMillan, Joseph Patterson, William Wilson and
Moses IHogue, a committee to form a plan for promoting the
education of persons for the gospel ministry; and to make
report before the rising of Synod."
At the same sessions, Oct. 1st-"- The committee appointed to
form a plan for promoting the education of persons for the
ministry of the gospel made report. The Synod having considered the same, and made such amendments and additions as
were judged necessary, agreed to it as followeth:
"The Synod highly approve of the proposition contained in
the overture, as they are well convinced of the necessity of
extending the opportunity of acquiring knowledge, and especially the knowledge of the doctrines of religion, to all who
intend to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
" Taking this measure, therefore, into serious consideration,
the Synod recommend that there be two general institutions for
learning, conducted under the patronage of this body-the one
to be established in Rockbridge county in this State, under the
care of the Rev. William Graham as the President; —The other
in Washington county, Pennsylvania, under the care of the Rev.
John McMillan.  The principles upon which these institutions
are to be conducted, are to be as follows:
"1. The learned languages, and the usual circle of the
sciences shall be taught in them, to as many as shall be sent
there for instruction.
" 2. During the course of academical education, and from the
first initiation of the students into the seminaries, a course of
religious instruction shall be entered upon, and continually
adhered to during their residence there, according to the principles of our Church. Books of a practical and doctrinal nature
shall be put into their hands at once: catechetical lectures
shall be established; and examinations entered into upon their
progress in this kind of knowledge from time to time. The
attention to these studies shall be kept up during the whole of
their academical course, and suited to the capacities and progress of the youth.'3. The Presbyteries of Hanover and Lexington shall be the
Trustees of the Seminary in Rockbridge, to cherish it by their




472               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
influence, and pointedly to attend to the examinations of the
students, either in a collective capacity, or by committees from
their respective bodies, duly appointed.-The Presbytery of
Redstone shall in like manner superintend the seminary in
Washington.
"4. In one or other of these institutions, it is the desire of
Synod that all the youths who intend to engage in the ministry
of the gospel, within our bounds, shall be instructed.
" 5. As there are many pious youths of promising genius in our
country, who might be very serviceable in preaching the gospel;
but through want of ability are unable to obtain an education;
it is the intention and desire of the Synod that the ministers in
the respective Presbyteries, shall seek out such; and that they,
being examined and approved by the Presbytery, shall be placed
in the respective Seminaries, at the expense of the Presbytery
who approve them.
"6. And in order to obtain the proper supplies for such
indigent students, the Presbytery are exhorted to use their influence in their respective bounds, with the pious and benevolent, to raise annual contributions for establishing a fund for
this purpose. This fund to be placed in the hands of a. Treasurer appointed by the Synod, who is to return annual accounts
of receipts and expenditures. And from it the youth upon
the foundation are to draw their supplies, by an order from the
respective Presidents.-And those youths, upon obtaining their
education, at the expiration of one year after being settled in
some line of public business, shall begin to refund the expenses
of their education to the treasury, in such a time and manner
as the Presbytery may direct.
" 7. The rules for the Seminaries and the mode of education
therein, shall be submitted by the Presidents to the respective
Presbyteries for their approbation.
" 8. The Synod recommend it to the Presbytery of Transylvania, to institute and patronise a Seminary within their
bounds, upon principles similar to those herein laid down, and
for similar purposes; or to encourage either of those that are
now recommended."
The Synod of Virginia being in session at Winchester,
September 29th, 1792,
" Upon motion, Messrs. Graham, Hoge, and Houston, Ministers, and Mr. John Wilson, Elder, were appointed a committee
to draft a minute, that may make the plan of education proposed by the Synod last year, coincide with the Act of Incorporation, instituting the Academy of Liberty Hall, and to make
report before the rising of Synod."
The same afternoon, "the Committe appointed to draft a
minute which may accommodate the plan of education pro



CHANGE IN THE PLAN OF LIBERTY HALL.       473
posed by the Synod to the Act of Incorporation, instituting
Liberty Hall, report-that they examined wherein they do not
coincide, and find that the following particulars appear necessary for Synod to adopt, in order to put it in the power of the
Trustees of said Academy, to devote their property to the purposes proposed by Synod, agreeably to the proposals said
Trustees have made in their petition to Synod. 1st. That instead of constituting the Presbyterie's of Hanover and' Lexington the Trustees of the Academy in Rockbridge, the Synod
agree that they shall remain according to the direction of the
Act; only that the Board is requested to fill up vacancies out
of those two Presbyteries; and to agree' to the direction of
Synod that these two Presbyteries may attend at the examinations of the students.
"2d. Lastly, that the seventh article in the Synod's plan
is wholly provided for. in another way' in the Act of Incorporation, and therefore, that the Synod do not desire the Trustees
of the Academy of Liberty Hall to comply with it."
The Synod of Virginia being in session at Winchester,
September 27th, 1793,
" Through the Committee of Overtures a petition was presented from the Trustees of the Academy of Liberty Hall,
stating that they had agreed to the conditions on which the
Synod proposed last year to patronise said Academy, and
stating that, encouraged by this and other favourable considerations, they had contracted for buildings' to the amount of ~900,
which are to be finished by the 1st of December, and praying
the active aid and concurrence of the Synod. The Synod
approved the vigorous exertions of the- Trustees of the Academy, and earnestly recommend it to, and enjoin it upon the
Presbyteries of Hanover and of Lexington, to exert themselves
and to use their influence to raise money to aid the Trustees
in discharging the contracts already made, and to raise the
Academy to as great a state of usefulness as possible."
While the Synod was busied in this arrangement for schools
of learning,-on the 29th of October, 1791, application was
made to Hanover Presbytery, —" from Cumberland, Briery and
Cub Creek congregations, by their representatives, for leave to
prosecute a call for Rev. William Graham, of Lexington, in the
county of Rockbridge, which was granted." On the same day,
James Turner, who has been styled nature's orator, was licensed;
and William Williamson, one of the five who formed Winchester
Presbytery, was received on trials.
The Trustees of Hampden Sidney had made propositions to
Mr. Graham to'remove.to Prince Edward and take charge of
60




474               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
their College, immediately after the resignation of Dr. Smith;
and in 1791, had urged the congregations mentioned above to
unite with them, in the hopes that their united efforts might
procure his removal. Mr. Graham referred-the call of the congregations, together with the invitation of the Trustees of
Hampden Sidney, to the Presbytery, and they considering it a
matter of synodical importance referred it to the Synod of Virginia. That matter was laid before the Synod at their meeting
in 1792; and two commissioners sent by the Trustees of Hampden Sidney appeared to advocate his removal, as President, and
as Professor of Theology. The Trustees of Liberty Hall, and
the Presbytery of Lexington opposed the removal. The Synod,
after hearing the subject debated fully, determined that Mr.
Graham's prospects of usefulness in Rockbridge and Prince
Edward were so nearly equal, that they could not with propriety
decide; and therefore left it to him-" to do in the affair what
should appear to him most conducive to the interests of the
church of Christ and his own comfort and happiness." On the
next day after this decision of Synod, Mr. Graham reported to
Synod-" that he did not conceive it to be his duty to remove
from his present charge."
The wooden building which had been prepared for the accommodation of the students of Liberty Hall, having been consumed
by fire, the Trustees, stimulated by the action of Synod and the
determination of Mr. Graham, proceeded to the erection of new
and more spacious buildings for the accommodation of the students
of Liberty Hall. In April, 1793, the committee appointed at a
previous meeting-" to open subscriptions for the increase of
the funds, and to set on foot means for preparing materials for
building an academy house,"-made such a report as encouraged
the Board to employ workmen to erect and complete the buildings. By great exertions of Mr. Graham, the buildings for the
steward and the students were finished by the 25th of December. And on the 1st of January, 1794, the new buildings were
occupied.
The studies of the classes had not been intermitted; and
after the erection of the new buildings the Academy, for a time,
flourished more than at any preceding period. But difficulties
arose from the two offices of Mr. Graham, Professor of Theology under the direction of the Synod of Virginia, and President of the Academy under the charter from the State. At
this time religion became an object of jealousy throughout the
State. During the Revolution the question had first been mooted,
whether there should be a State establishment, or whether all
forms of religion should be equally protected, and the decision
was for equal protection; the next question was, shall the min



DIFFICULTIES FROM THE TIMES.           475
isters be supported by law or voluntary subscription, and was
decided in favour of voluntary subscription. At this time the
question finally debated was-is there any truth in the Christian religion? French principles became popular in Virginia.
The scientific researches, the political principles, and the infidelity of Paris were indissolubly connected in the minds of most
Frenchmen; and their progress in Virginia, more alarming than
wonderful, circumscribed religious action to narrow bounds.
Ministers of religion became objects of suspicion and ridicule;
and many who had been educated religiously, were led away,
at least for a time, by the prevailing fanaticism; no bigots for
a religious sect were ever more unreasonable in their opposition
to others, than were the advocates for the French principles in
their opposition to religious worship founded on the gospel. But
for the happy influence of the revival of 1788, east of the Ridge,
and of 1789, west of the Ridge, in sending in to the ministry
that eminent company of young men, Lacy, Allen, Legrand,
Hill, Alexander, Lyle, Marshall, Williamson, Turner, Houston,
and others, there is reason to fear the churches would in a great
measure have been swept away. The desecration of religious
things is scarcely to be credited, and not necessary to relate.
One political circumstance added weight; the abettors of
certain political notions, popular in Virginia, were supposed to
be favourable to the principles of skepticism. The effect was to
turn some against those principles, for reasons of a religious
nature; and to make others renounce their belief in the gospel
of Christ, for their political party. The collision of these two
parties was rancorous to a degree not now known in politics.
IMr. Graham had freely expressed his principles and views on
political subjects, under the deep conviction that it became
every patriot, especially at the time when the constitutions and
institutions of the country were forming, to express openly
and faithfully those connexions and modifications of principles
the emergency evidently required. In doing this, he had made
some political enemies; and the cry of bigotry and sectarianism was raised against him and the College over which he presided.
There was another circumstance, arising from himself, from
which difficulties arose.  "Candour requires"-says the author
of the address to the Alumni-" that it should be acknowledged,
that he sometimes imprudently made enemies of those who
mnight have been efficient friends, by too free an indulgence of
satirical and sarcastical remarks; which weapon he could wield
with great power. And it must also be conceded, that towards
his opponents, he never manifested much of a conciliatory
temper, but seemed rather disposed to *stand aloof from them,
and to set them  at defiance."  "He had"-says a writer in




476               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the Evangelical Magazine, for 1821-"-    a quick and acute perception of the ridiculous and incongruous in human conduct,
and had a strong propensity to satire. Although he doubtless
generally restrained this propensity, yet as he sometimes indulged it, it created him enemies who occasionally had it. in
their power to impair his comfort and diminish his usefulness."
From this, the most unamiable trait of his character, some
difficulty arose, not of itself sufficient to render his situation
unpleasant to him, but in conjunction with others, filled the
cup of his trials too full for him quietly to bear.
The fearlessness of Mr. Graham in expressing his opinion,
and the danger to which that fearlessness sometimes exposed
him; was exhibited at the meeting of the Synod of Virginia in
HIarrisonburg in 1794. A party of soldiers on their way to
west Pennsylvania to suppress the insurrectionary movements
of "the Whiskey Boys" —was in the town at the time of the
meeting of Synod. As the scene of discontent and insurrection
was within the bounds of two of the Presbyteries forming
the Synod, Rev. Mr. Hoge proposed an address to the people
inculcating obedience to the laws of the country. Mr. Graham
opposed all legislation on the subject, by Synod, and maintained there were wrongs to be redressed rather than a rebellion to be crushed; that the circumstances of the discontented
hlad been misjudged.  The avowal of these sentiments in
Synod was followed by appeals so strong that the motion for
an address was lost by a small majority. The excitement
among the soldiery was great; violence was threatened to the
Synod and particularly to the man who opposed the exercise
of military force in adjusting the affairs of west Pennsylvania.
The Synod declined receding from their position, under threats
of violence from the soldiery or the clamours of an incensed
mob. Mr. Hoge went boldly among the soldiers and citizens
and exhorted them to quietness, and by invitation preached an
impressive sermon from the words "render unto Coesar the
things which are Csesar's, and unto God the things that are
God's."  Mr. Graham, by the advice of friends' retired from
the scene of confusion. This event added to the number of
those who were willing his situation at Liberty Hall should
become unpleasant.
The emoluments of the office of Rector had never well remunerated him. During the first sixteen years of the Academy,
tuition had been forty shillings the session; after the new
buildings were prepared, in 1794, the tuition was fifty shillings
the session. From the tuition money the salaries of all the
teachers were to be paid. As Mr. Graham hiad in a great
measure the selection of the teachers, they looked, to him for
their salaries and were of course first paid.  Some years he




MR. GRAHAM RESIGNS THE RECTORSHIP.       477
received nothing from the Academy. With a small salary
from his congregations, how was his family to live?
All these reasons combined induced Mr. Graham to resign
the Presidency or Rectorship.  This event took place, in
1796, when he was in his fiftieth year, and was announced by
the following letter,"c September 25, 1796.
"Gentlemen: —After long and solemn deliberation, I have
been compelled to come to the resolution of relinquishing the
care of that infant Seminary which I have so long endeavoured
to cherish. After twenty-two years of anxious toil, it would
have been one of the happiest events of my life to have seen
the Seminary in a condition of permanent and extensive usefulness, and to have aided in its prosperity. But the impracticability of acquiring the conveniences and even the necessaries of
life, for myself and my family, whilst my time was spent in the
discharge of the necessary duties of an office which brought me
no return, has induced me to resign my office and title of
Rector of Liberty Hall.
" That you, gentlemen, may be more abundantly successful
in your future efforts, is the desire and prayer of
Your humble servant,
WILLIAM GRAHAM,
" The Trustees of Liberty Hall."
_Mr. Graham immediately set out upon a journey to the
western part of the State, on a plan which he had near his
heart. After his return, the Trustees sent him the following
answer.
"Dear Sir:-At a meeting in October, 1796, we received
your resignation. Your absence then prevented any reply.
The reasons you assign we. acknowledge are weighty. We
could not help lamenting that hard necessity, which deprived
us of our Rector, whilst, at the same time, as was natural, we
felt emotions of gratitude and esteem. We have long been
convinced that much time, pains and expense are requisite to
fit men for literary occupations; that the business of education
is extremely irksome; and therefore that generous encouragement should be given to those who undertake employments of
this sort.
"We hoped ere now to have been able to reward liberally
the officers of the Academy; but a variety of causes have
hitherto conspired to render our efforts in a great measure vain.
However, notwithstanding the embarrassed state of our affairs,
we have been happy in seeing the Seminary, for many years,
eminently useful in disseminating knowledge, and thereby sub



478               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
serving the general interests of literature and piety.  This we
attribute, under Providence, to your distinguished talents, and
that steady, disinterested zeal, which you have uniformly discovered for the prosperity of the Academy. And although
pecuniary compensation has been wanting, yet we believe you
have the grateful esteem of every good man, and the approbation of Him who knows all our ways.
"' That He may go with you through the remainder of life,that his wisdom may direct and his providence guard you,-and
that every blessing may attend you and your family, is the sincere prayer of the Trustees of Liberty Hall.
SAMUEL HOUSTON, Chairman.
" The Rev. Winm. Graham.
" April 20th, 1797."
Before the resignation, the efforts, of which he had been the
principal leader, to secure some permanent funds to Liberty
IIall, had been successful. Early in the year 1785, the Legislature of Virginia expressed the high admiration entertained
for the character and services of General Washington, by a
donation of one hundred shares in the James River Company,
and fifty shares in the Potomac Company. Washington felt
and expressed a delicacy in appropriating the gift to his own
emolument, or in declining the gift of the State. General
Knox suggested that he might use the proceeds for the benefit
of the widows and children of Virginia officers killed in the
war; his own mind modified the suggestion of Knox-" to have
the product of the tolls arising from these shares applied as a
fund on which to establish two charity schools, one on each
river, for the education and support of the children of the poor
in this country, particularly the children of those men of this
description, who have fallen in the defence of the rights and
liberties of it." In the fall of the year the Legislature so
changed the act as to permit General Washington to apply the
proceeds to any object " of a public nature, in such manner and
under such distributions as the said George Washington by deed
during his life, or by his last will and testament, shall direct."
There the matter lay till the year 1795, when the shares about
to become productive demanded consideration.  Mr. Jefferson suggested the propriety of giving all to an University to
be established in the district of Columbia. General Washington, then President of the United States, was favourably inclined to the proposition, and made an endowment of the fifty
shares of the Potomac Company, and proposed to the Legislature the consideration of the propriety of bestowing the one
hundred shares of James River stock the same way; but"Presuming it would be more agreeable to the General Assem



MEASURES TO SECURE WASHINGTON'S ENDOWMENT.  479
bly of Virginia, that the shares in the James River Company
should be reserved for a similar object in some part of that
State, I intend to allot them for a Seminary, to be erected at
such place as they shall deem most proper. I am disposed
to believe, that a seminary of learning upon an enlarged plan,
but not yet coming up to the full idea of a University, is an
institution to be preferred for the position which is to be chosen.
The students, who wish to pursue the whole range of science,
may pass with advantage from the Seminary to the University,
and the former by a due relation may be rendered co-operative
with the latter."-To this the Legislature replied December 1,
1795, with many expressions of respect, commending the erection of a University in the Federal City, and approving of the
endowment of it with the fifty shares of Potomac stock-and —
" Resolved also, that he be requested to appropriate the aforesaid shares in the James River Company to a Seminary in such
place in the upper country as he may deem most convenient to
a majority of the inhabitants thereof."
The following extracts from the records of the Board of Trustees of Washington College give the doings of the Rector and
Trustees on this important business, of obtaining the proposed
endowment.
"January 5, 1796. — The Rector informed the Board that he
[had] called them together, to take under consideration some
direct information he had received, of the Legislature of this
State having resolved there shall be a public Seminary in the
upper part of this State, and that the President of the United
States was about to bestow his hundred shares in the James
River Company, to aid in endowing the same.
"The Board maturely considered the information of the
Rector, and agreed to address the President in such a manner
as might give him a true view of the state of this Academy,
and of the propriety of the donation being conferred upon it.
"'On motion the Board appointed the Rector and Messrs.
Samuel L. Campbell and Samuel Houston, or any two of them,
a committee on behalf of the Board, to send forward such an
address to the President, as will contain the things signified by
the Board, as proper to be communicated, and that they report
a copy as soon as convenient." [Records, Vol. I. p. 144.]
The committee reported the following, viz:" The Trustees of Liberty Hall Academy, in Rockbridge county and State of
~ Virginia, to his Excellency George Washington, President of the United States
of America.
" Sir: —We have lately heard of your generous and disinterested conduct, in refusing as private emolument, the shares in
the Potomack and James River Companies, presented to you by




480               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the Legislature of Virginia, as a testimony of their approbation
and gratitude.
"We have also heard of.the wise and beneficent purposes to
which you wished to have the profits arising from these shares
applied,-the endowment of a Seminary on the waters of each
these rivers for the education of youth, and that you referred
the appropriation of the hundred shares in the James River
Company to the wisdom of the Legislature of Virginia; who
after deliberating on the important subject, agreed that the
whole should be applied to one Seminary up the country,-but
some differences of opinion arising respecting the particular
place to which it should be applied, referred the ultimate decision to your Excellency.
"Supposing our information just, we are constrained by the
duty we owe the public, as well as the Seminary we have long
had the honour to patronise, to address. you on this very interesting subject.
"And here we cannot allow ourselves to think it proper to
pray you to grant the donation for the support of education in
this Seminary, as a matter of honour or emolument to ourselves, or emolument to the neighbourhood where it stands.
This would be selfish antd invidious and inconsistent with the
feelings of that mind, which always overlooks private interest
to embrace and secure the public good. We beg leave only to
state a few facts for your Excellency's information, that you
may be enabled to decide the important question with greater
precision.
"From a conviction of the necessity and utility of a public
Seminary to complete the education of youth in this upper part
of the State; as early as the year 1776, a Seminary before conducted in these parts under the form of a grammar school,
received the nominal title of an Academy, and money was collected to purchase the beginnings of a library, and some of the
most essential parts of a philosophical and mathematical apparatus.
" The question then was, where should the Seminary be fixed?
Staunton was proposed by some, to be the proper place, as the
most ancient and populous town, and nearest the centre of
population in the upper part of the State as it then stood. But
considering that a public Seminary, which was to be of permanent duration and general utility, ought not to be affected by
local circumstances arising from temporary causes;-and viewing the extensive lands upon the drains of [the] Holstein to the
south-west, and of the Kanawha to the west, we were of opinion
that the time was not very far distant when the population upon
these lands must equal, if not exceed the population upon the




THE WASHINGTON ENDOWMENT.            481
drains of the Potomac to the northeast, upon one of which drains
Staunton stands. We therefore considered the waters of James
River as forming a kind of natural and common centre. We
also felt a conviction, that the extensive and fertile lands upon
James River, would at a period not far remote, point out the
necessity and practicability of rendering its streams navigable
above the mountains, and we have been happy in seeing our
expectations realizing every day.
"We therefore concluded that some spot in the tract of country now known as Rockbridge county, would be the proper
place. We therefore organized the Seminary, and set it in
motion, hoping that the public would one day aid our exertions
and enable us to perfect what had been honestly begun.
" Through the calamities of a long and dangerous war, and the
deceptions of a paper currency, together with other misfortunes,
great obstructions were experienced, but being happy in able
and diligent teachers, we were enabled to preserve the Academy
in a state of considerable reputation and usefulness until the
year 1782, when we were aided by an act of incorporation from
the Legislature of Virginia, which was the first granted after
the Revolution.
"' In 1793 we found it necessary to fix the spot where the building should finally stand, which was determined to be in that
fine tract of country formerly known by the name of the
Woods' Creek lands, in the Forks of James River, one mile from
the navigation of the North Branch, and on an eminence about
three-quarters of a mile from Lexington,-so that whilst it
enjoys an extensive prospect of the circumjacent country, and
a view of the town, it has agreeably to its great design, an
undisturbed retirement for study.
"The situation of the neighbourhood for health and fertility
as well as pleasantness, yields to no lands in the upper part
of the State.
"If our information of the state of' the dispute respecting the
place, as it existed before the Legislature, be accurate, it went
a great way to determine the propriety of our original opinion.
It is said that Fincastle on the one side, and Staunton on the
other, were the extremes which made any vigorous claims.
Fincastle is situated thirty-seven miles south west from Liberty
Hall, and Staunton thirty-five miles to the north east. Therefore Liberty Hall is as near the centre as local situation
would admit.
"There is one more fact which we would beg leave to state.
In 1793, by voluntary contributions, and some sacrifices of
private property, we were enabled to erect and finish plain but
neat buildings, sufficiently capacious to accommodate between
forty and fifty students, and the business of education is now
61




482               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
in full train, and the Seminary in as high reputation as could
be expected without funds.  Many young gentlemen have
finished their education here, who are now serving their country with reputation and usefulness, in different professional
departments, and a number are now collected from different
parts of the country for the same end.
" The buildings and other furniture of the Academy could not
be estimated at much less than two thousand pounds. If the
seat of the academy is changed, the young gentlemen must be
interrupted for some time in their studies, and the buildings
totally lost, as they can be applied to no other purpose. The
destruction of so much property, procured with considerable
difficulty, unless- a much greater preponderating good can be
secured to the public, will doubtless be seriously weighed. And
as the public good is the only object which can influence your
determination, it is unnecessary to add any thing further, but
fully confiding in your wisdom, we shall entirely acquiesce in
your decision.
"That all possible happiness, present and future, may attend
your person, and every public blessing your administration, is
the desire and prayer of your Excellency's humble servants,
the Trustees of Liberty Hall. By order and in behalf of the
Board,                     WILLIAM  GRAHAM, C. M.
SAMUEL HOUSTON, C. B. T.
January, 1796."
WASHINGTON S LETTER TO GOVERNOR BROOKE.
", Philadelphia, 15th September, 1796.
Sir:-The Commonwealth of Virginia having manifested
their approbation of my design to apply the hundred shares in
the James River Company, which they had before put at my
disposal, to the use of a Seminary, to be erected in such part
of the State as they should deem most proper, and in consequence of this referred to their opinion,-The Legislature having requested me to appropriate them to a Seminary in such
place in the upper country, as I should think most convenient
to a majority of its'inhabitants,-After careful inquiries to
ascertain that place, I have, upon the fullest consideration of
all circumstances, destined those shares to the use of Liberty
Hall Academy in Rockbridge county.
"It would seem to me proper, that this determination should
be promulgated by some official act of the executive of Virginia,
and the Legislature may expect it for the purpose of general
information.
"With due consideration and respect, I am, sir, your most
obedient humble servant,
GEO. WASHINGTON.
"His Excellency, ROBERT BROOKE, Governor of Virginia."




THE WASHINGTON ENDOWMENT.              483
The Trustees of Liberty Hall took the following action:
"Washington Academy, April 12, 1798.
"The committee appointed to draft an address to President
Washington, respecting his destination of the use of the shares
in the James River Canal Company to this Seminary, reported
a draft, which being read and considered, was agreed to, and is
as follows:
"Sir: —It was not earlier than September, 1797, that we
were officially informed of your liberal donation to Liberty Hall
Academy.
"' Permit us as its immediate guardians to perform the pleasing duty of expressing those sentiments of gratitude which so
generous an act naturally inspires. We have been long sensible
of the disadvantages to which literary institutions are necessarily subjected, whilst dependent on precarious funds for their
support. Reflecting particularly on the many difficulties through
which this Seminary has been conducted since the first moments
of its existence, we cannot but be greatly affected by an event
which secures to it an independent and permanent establishment. Convinced as we are that public prosperity and security
are intimately connected with the diffusion of knowledge, we
look around with the highest satisfaction on its rapid advances
in these United States, unfeignedly rejoicing that the citizen
who has long been distinguished as the asserter of the liberties
of his country, adds to this illustrious character, the no less
illustrious one of patron of the arts and of literature. And we
trust that no effort may be wanting on our part to encourage
whatever branches of knowledge may be of general utility.
"That you may long enjoy, besides the uninterrupted blessings of health and repose, the happiness which none but those
who deserve it can enjoy, and which arises from the reflection
of having virtuously and eminently promoted the best interests
of mankind, is the fervent prayer of the Trustees of Washington Academy, late Liberty Hall.
By order of the Board,       SAMUEL HoUSTON, Clerk.' His Excellency, GEO. WASHINGTON,
late President of the U. S. A."
WASHINGTON S REPLY.
"Mount Vernon, 17th June, 1798.
" Gentlemen:-Unaccountable as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that the address with which you were pleased to honour
me, dated the 12th of April, never came into my hand until the
11th instant.
"To promote literature in this rising empire, and to encourage
the arts, have ever been amongst the warmest wishes of my heart.




484               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
And if the donation which the generosity of the Legislature of
the Commonwealth of Virginia has enabled me to bestow upon
Liberty Hall, now by your politeness called Washington Academy, is likely to prove a means to accomplish these ends, it
will contribute to the gratification of my desires.
"Sentiments like those which have flowed from your pen excite
my gratitude, whilst I offer my best vows for the prosperity of
the Academy, and for the honour and happiness of those under
whose auspices it is conducted.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
"Trustees of Washington Academy."
It appears that for some reasons not fully explained, official
notice of Washington's donation was not speedily given to the
]Board of Trustees. But at the meeting of the Legislature next
succeeding the letter to Governor Brooke from Washington,
making Liberty Hall the recipient of his donation, the Legislature, without the consent or knowledge of the Trustees of Liberty
Hall, passed an Act changing the Academy into a College,
under a new Board of Trustees. This caused great excitement.
The Board held repeated meetings for consultation. Suspicions
were afloat that the secret design of this unexpected movement
was to take the institution, with its late endowment, from the
hands of those who had hitherto cherished it; and a person was
named as the intended President, a person of eminence, but not
the choice of the former patrons, Bishop Madison. There may
have been no ground for these suspicions. On the 7th of February, 1797, the Board declared-" We conceive the said Act
to be a singular instance of infringement on the rights of a corporate body, which had not by any act of theirs violated tenure,
or given cause for the abolition of their charter." For this
opinion they give six reasons, viz:
" 1st. A corporation being an artificial person, and the property belonging to this corporation, being held as private property, cannot be at the disposal of the representatives of the
people. 2d. Because the law is not only unjust in its nature,
but dangerous in its tendency; the same principle, if it be admitted in one case, may be extended to every such corporation
throughout the State. Their charter may be violated, and their
estates, in whatever way acquired, may be wantonly sported
with, just as caprice or folly may dictate.  3d. Because the
business of education must be interrupted at this place for a
considerable time, and greatly impeded for the future.  If
the corporation is dissolved, the property being given by individuals, would revert to the original donors, and in future
the liberal would be discouraged from contributing to similar institutions.  4th. Because the debts due to.and from




WASHINGTON COLLEGE AND FURTHER ENDOWMENTS.   485
this corporation cannot be legally recovered after its dissolution, and as several such debts do exist, it would be an
act of injustice in the corporation to suffer such dissolution
to take place. 5th. Because the property of Liberty Hall
having been committed to us in trust, we consider ourselves
responsible for the use of the same, and culpable if we suffer
it tamely to be taken from us. 6th. Because we are all assured that the late interference of our Legislature, with regard
to Liberty Hall, is in a great degree contrary to the wishes
of those good citizens, who for the promotion of virtue and literature, gave largely of their estates to this Academy."
On the 19th of April of the same year, the Board took into
consideration the state of the Academy; and on the 20th " appointed Messrs. William -Willson, Samuel Brown, Benjamin
Grigsby, Samuel L. Campbell, and Samuel Houston, or any
three of them, a committee on behalf of the Board to send
letters of information to other corporations in the State, of the
attempt to deprive us of our charter."-The same committee
were requested to prepare a remonstrance to be laid before the
Assembly. In November the remonstrance was presented to
the Board and adopted, and Mr. Brown was required to commit it to the representatives of the county. What effect the
remonstrance may have had is not material; the offensive law
was repealed.
On the 25th of November, 1797, "Messrs. J. Willson, Benjamin Grigsby, and S. Houston, or any two of them were appointed a committee on behalf of the Board, to wait upon Capt.
Johnson, and instruct him to have the title of Liberty Hall
Academy changed into that of a College, if he finds it expedient
or beneficial in the Assembly. Also that said committee furnish him with all documents necessary to give him information
respecting the Academy."  The name was changed to Washington Academy, and the charter remained unchanged. In the
year 1813, the name of Academy was by act of Legislature
changed to College-and that of Rector to President.
The funds of the College were after this increased by the
donation of the Virginia Cincinnati Society, amounting to sixteen thousand dollars. Mr. John Robinson, a citizen of Rockbridge gave, by his last will, his whole estate to the College.
Previous to this period the institution stood upon the character and talents of one man, encouraged by his brethren in the
4ninistry. Washington College stands upon the labours and
endowment of the first theologian of his generation in Virginia,
and of that man who was "first in war, first in peace, and first
in the hearts of his countrymen."
Mr. Graham embarked with ardour in a scheme for settling
a colony on the western waters. After a visit to Kentucky, he




486               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
preferred Western Virginia for the site of the intended settlement of a choice selection of families, who should form a religious and refined society in the western forests. With these,
in possession of a full supply of fertile land, he hoped to pass
his days removed from the collisions he had felt, and the
jealousies he had encountered, as Rector of Liberty Hall.  He
had rejoiced in the success of the colonies from Ireland, as they
sat down under the unfavourable circumstances of poverty and
strangeness of climate and country, through Pennsylvania and
the beautiful Valley of the Shenandoah; his spirit was stirred
by the emigrating families that were removing to the " dark
and bloody ground" —and the fertile prairies of Tennessee-and
he fancied a select colony, culled from the Valley of the Shenandoah and the James, that might have all the advantages of
the early colonies and partake of few of their real evils.-That
on the banks of the Ohio, the chosen families might live retired,
in abundance, in Christian intercourse, in the worship of God,
and rear a patriotic, virtuous, healthy, classic, obedient and
religious offspring.
In full confidence of his anticipated competence, and quiet
and meditation, and happy society, he embarked all his property, and removed his family to an almost entire wilderness
on the banks of the Ohio. In Kentucky or Tennessee he would
have been thrice welcome to old acquaintances; but he feared
they would compel him to be President of a College, like Liberty
Hall, built by the labours of a few clergymen, and he stopped
short, and rested in Virginia. His dream of usefulness and
enjoyment beguiled him and vanished. The situation was not
as captivating to the eyes of others as they passed along, as it
had been to his in the exploration; those whom he wished most
to accompany him could not be fired with the enthusiasm of his
bosom, and would not emigrate-and finally the tract of land in
which his whole earthly property was involved, became the subject
of an inextricable lawsuit. He visited Alexandria to make payment for the purchased tract, but the unexpected and unreasonable lawsuit preventing the payment, he loaned, and ultimately
lost the money. He visited Richmond on the legal business,
and there yielded up his life, and left his family pennyless. On
this last sad journey which he made, on horseback, from the Ohio,
along the Kenawha, across the Alleghanies, through the Valley,
and down the James to Richmond, he was repeatedlytexposed to
wet-sometimes rode all day in his undried clothes,-and as he
approached Richmond was caught in a shower and spent the
evening with the clothes, upon his side, very damp. On reaching the city, he was speedily taken ill at the house of his friend
Colonel Gamble. Kindly attended, and served by medical skill,
he passed rapidly and silently away, June 8th, 1799. His




MR. GRAHAM'S DEATH.                487
tomb-stone may be found near the south door of the Episcopal
church on Church Hill in Richmond.
The Records of Lexington Presbytery say-" Washington
Academy, October 16th, 1799: —Presbytery attended the examination of the students until four o'clock in the afternoon;
after which they proceeded to the meeting-house, and heard
the oration, which conformably to the request of the Board of
Trustees of Washington Academy, Mr. Baxter delivered on
occasion of the death of Rev. William Graham, the former
worthy and beloved Rector of that Seminary."
Says a pupil-" Mr. Graham was of middling stature, of
thin habit of body; but active and easy in his motions. His
countenance was benignant and solemn, and indicative of profound thought, and also of strong passions.  His sensibilities
were very lively, but he had acquired great command over his
feelings. His eyes were of a dark colour, and when he was
unoccupied had a sleepy appearance, but when excited they
became brilliant and piercing. As a preacher he was always
instructive and evangelical; though, in common, his delivery
was rather feeble and embarassed than forcible; but when his
feelings were excited, his voice became penetrating, and his
whole manner awakening and impressive. And his profound
study of the human heart enabled him to describe the various
exercises of the Christian with a clearness and truth which
often greatly surprised his pious hearers; for it seemed to
them as if he could read the very inmost sentiments of their
minds; which he described more perfectly than they could do
themselves. He visited Prince Edward after he received the
call, and preached again at Briery, a sermon on Christian
experience, in which he so accurately described the views and
feelings of many, that they were filled with pleasing astonishment. James Allen, one of the subjects of the revival, and
afterwards an Elder at Briery, is said to have gone to him,
and asked him how long it took him to compose that sermon?
After some moments silence, he said gravely-about twenty
years.
"When it was his object to elucidate some difficult point, it
was his custom to open his trenches, so to speak, at a great
distance, removing out of the way every obstacle, until at last
they could not easily avoid acquiescence in the conclusion to
which he wished to bring them. As a clear and cogent;easoner, he had no superior among his contemporaries.
From a report prepared for the General Assembly and
spread upon the records of the Presbytery, April 29, 1793,
we may learn his ideas of ministerial public labours.
" 1st. That all our members banish the spirit of the world
from their dress, manners, and conversation, and adopt the




488                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
plainness, simplicity, self-denial, and holiness of life, so remarkably exemplified in the first and most successful preachers of
the gospel.
"2d.  That dry, formal and unaffecting  harangues, be
banished from our pulpits, and that the simple truths of the
gospel be addressed to every man's conscience in the sight of
God, with that fervour and solemnity which the dignity and
interesting importance require.
"3d. That our private preparations for the pulpit consist
chiefly in prayer, self-examination, and a practical study of the
Scriptures.
"4th. That we endeavour always to enter on our public
ministrations with a deep sense of the presence of God, and the
awful importance of eternal judgment, in which we and our
hearers must shortly share; and that we have no other object
in view, but to recommend the gospel as the only means of
escape for condemned perishing sinners. That an active persevering zeal, in preaching and exhorting in season and out of
season, be a leading trait in the character of a Presbyterian
clergyman. In fine let us endeavour to know nothing, in our
official character, but Christ and him crucified.
"These appear to us some of the visible means which God
has blessed for reviving religion in every period of the Church;
or at least they are the inseparable concomitants of a revival;
and could they be generally adopted would be either forerunner of a revival, or a certain indication that a revival was
begun."
Mr. Graham  left six children.  The oldest and youngest
were sons.  The eldest, Jahab (which his father said meant
devoted to God) became a Presbyterian preacher; lived a short
time near Petersburg, Virginia; and was carried by a,;bilious
fever to an early grave.  He died in Staunton at the house
of his father-in-law, Mr. Heiskill, and left no child.  The
youngest child, William, after the death of his father, was educated by Dr. Priestly, the protege of the father; became a
physician;. married a Miss Nash of North Carolina; settled in
the western part of Georgia; and left a family of children.
One of the daughters died young; the eldest married a Mr.
Murdock and resided near Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania; the
second married the Rev. Mr. Bracken, and lived near the same
place; the third married a son of Rev. David Rice the pioneer
in Kentucky and lived in that State; all three reared families.
His friends have ever thought the great error of his life was
in withdrawing from Liberty Hall at the time he did. And to
those who scan carefully the cause of things as they passed along,
looking at the consequences, as well as causes, by the light of
after events, it now seems plain enough that Mr. Graham made




INFLUENCE OF WILLIAM GRAHAM.           489
a great mistake in the removal. But it is not so clear, that one,
entering into his feelings-considering the collisions of parties,
the jealousies and dislikes cherished against him,-taking into
consideration the state of his family with his small income-the
tide of emigration setting westward,-the great labour of his
station, often without any recompense,-would, having been
made his confidential adviser, have positively decided against
the removal. God in his wise providence permitted the removal,
but did not smile upon the projected colony.
The influence of William Graham did not die with his body,
nor was it overwhelmed with his temporal losses. It has been
spreading like the western waters he so admired. The current
grows broader and deeper as it rolls on to the great ocean.
We will not say that the large number of eminent men introduced to public life through the instrumentality of education at
Liberty Hall, would not have been in public life, or as eminent.
had Mr. Graham not been connected with Liberty Hall; but he
was the efficient instrument chosen of God for the purpose of
introducing these lawyers and political men and ministers into
their sphere of life. Without him Liberty Hall was but a
name; by him Liberty Hall will live forever, for who can forget
her sons? Washington College, with her spacious and stately
edifices, has succeeded Liberty Hall with her small frame and
stone buildings for fifty students; the endowment of the Father
of his Country has changed the name of the institution; but
posterity will read on these buildings, a thousand fold multiplied, the bright ever beaming letters, WILLIAM GRAHAM.
CHAPTER XXI.
REV. DRURY  LACY.
DRuIRY LACY was born in Chesterfield county, Virginia, October 5th, 1758. His father, William Lacy, was a moderate
farmer in plain circumstances, of English descent, and Norman
French extract. His mother, Elizabeth Rice, was cousin to
Benjamin Rice of Bedford, the father of the Rev. Doctors John
H. and Benjamin H. Rice. In the memoir of Drury Lacy,
drawn up by Dr. Alexander of Princeton, and published in the
Watchman of the South, January 10th, 1839, which is authority
for much contained in this sketch, it is stated-"their connexion, I believe, was with the Baptist Church."  This is more
probable than any other supposition in the absence of direct
62




490               SKETCHIES OF VIRGINIA.
testimony, as the Baptist denomination were very numerous in
Chesterfield. The memoir says-'" I know that two of his
brothers older than himself, were ministers in that society, (the
Baptists) both reputed to be humble pious men, but very illiterate. On one occasion, while I was his neighbour, they visited
him, and were treated by him with great respect and affection."
These brothers removed to the west at an early period of Mr.
Lacy's life.
When about ten years of age, Drury attended a militia muster. A person, who had loaded his gun so heavily that he
feared to discharge it himself, handed the unsuspecting lad the
loaded piece with permission to discharge it. The explosion
shattered the gun and also the left hand of the poor boy. This
unpropitious event decided the future fortunes of the lad; in
the calculations of men, poverty and trial were before him; in
the providence of God, usefulness and respectability were to
crown his sufferings and loss, and the severe discipline of
penury and want.  His kind father determined to give him
what education he could afford as a means of his future subsistence; and sent him to a noted boarding-school kept by a Mr.
McRea, an Episcopal clergyman in Powhatan.  His attendance
on this school was, in a short time, interrupted by the death of
his father. Upon settlement of the estate the affairs of the family
were found desperate; and the mother, with Drury and a twin
sister took their abode in a small cabin in a neighbourhood of
poor but honest people, and passed four years of deprivation
and toil. The affectionate pious mother, afflicted with chronic
rheumatism, was confined to her bed a greater part of the time,
and the daughter turned the spinning-wheel incessantly, and the
son, with his one hand tended the garden and potato patch, and
cut wood with a light hatchet and brought it on his shoulder the
distance of a quarter of a mile.  "I have learned" —says his
son, William S.-"that his afflicted mother was an affectionate,
pious, sensible woman, and encouraged him as far as she could
in penmanship, arithmetic, and on Sabbath day in reading the
Bible. Oh what a treasure that Bible was to that humble
family. Its hallowed light cheered the last days of this afflicted
saint; the sister became pious and married quite young, a good,
poor man; and the humble mutilated boy was doubtless trained
by its holy doctrines and precepts, for extensive usefulness in
subsequent life. I have reason to know that from early boyhood he was a diligent reader of the Bible, and that during this
obscure and humble period of his life he perfectly committed
to memory the catechism."
When about sixteen years of age, Drury Lacy was deprived
of his mother by death. After this event he was employed, for
a time, by his poor neighbours, to teach a small school. "I




REV. DRURY LACY.               491
have heard him remark"-says his son-"- that so very limited
were his means, that he was under the necessity of walking
barefoot to and from the school-house." The covering for his
head, a rough straw hat. Who, in riding by his log schoolhouse, would have said of the bare-footed teacher,-" there
stands the Vice-President of Hampden Sidney College, Lacy
with the silver voice and silver hand?"  God's ways are
wonderful.
By strict attention to his duties he acquired a reputation
with his employers, and by assiduous application to study, in
his leisure hours, he increased his stock of knowledge, and prepared himself for greater usefulness. By the time he was
twenty-one years of age, he had, without the aid of an
instructor, become well acquainted with geography, English
grammar, algebra, geometry and surveying, and was employed
as teacher in the county of Cumberland, in the family of
Daniel Allen, the father of the eccentric Cary Allen, and stepfather to Rev. William Hill, D. D., of Winchester, still living,
in his eightieth year. In this position he came under the
preaching of Rev. John B. Smith, and by its influence was led
to make a profession of religion in connexion with the Cumberland church, at about the age of twenty-two. By the assistance of Dr. Smith, after he had taught in the family of Mr.
Allen about four years, he obtained the situation of teacher in
the family of Colonel John Nash, who resided about six miles
from Hampden Sidney College. Here he had but three
pupils; and enjoyed the partial instruction of Dr. Smith in
commencing his acquaintance with the Latin language, as part of
preparation for the gospel ministry. The Doctor was a visiter
at the house of Colonel Nash, and devoted an hour, once a
fortnight, to Lacy, to encourage and assist him in his course of
study. His proficiency in learning Latin was such, that a
vacancy occurring in the faculty of the College, he was employed as under-tutor, when in his twenty-fourth year. In this
situation he prosecuted his studies, and completed a classical
and scientific course and his preparation for the gospel
ministry.
At a meeting of Hanover Presbytery, April 27th, 1787, at
Providence, Louisa county, one of the preaching places of Mr.
Todd —"the Presbytery was informed that Mr. Lacy, a tutor
in the College of Hampden Sidney, attended with a view to
oome under trials for the gospel ministry. Mr. Lacy was then
introduced, and upon inquiring into his experimental acquaintance with religion, the Presbytery was so well satisfied with the
account that they admitted him to further trial. Mr. Lacy then
read an exigesis in Latin on the subject of Justification, which
had been assigned to him by Mr. Smith, as a specimen of his




492               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
abilities, which was received and sustained as a part of trial."
At the time of coming under the care of Presbytery he was
about twenty-nine years of age.  " The first time "-says the
memoir —" I ever saw him, was at the house of the Rev. John
Todd, of Louisa, where I was spending a few days when a boy.
The Presbytery of Hanover held their sessions at Providence;
and in the evening Mr. Lacy lodged there. I remember to
have been much struck with his appearance and the solemnity
of his manner; but more with his prayer, which was uttered
with great fervency, in a very clear and sonorous voice." Before
Presbytery adjourned "Mr. Lacy was appointed a presbyterial
exercise on 1st Timothy, iii. 16; a lecture on 6th chapter of
Hebrews, and a popular sermon on 1st Timothy, i. 10, to be
delivered at our next."
The next meeting of Presbytery was at Cumberland Meetinghouse, September 20th, 1787; present Rev. Messrs. Richard
Sankey, John B. Smith, and John D. Blair.  Rev. Henry
Pattillo, of Orange Presbytery, sat as corresponding member.
1"The Rev. Archibald McRobert, formerly a minister of the
Episcopal Church, in Virginia, but now a dissenter from that
church, and a minister of an Independent congregation, a gentleman of good character in the churches, being present, was
invited to sit as a corresponding member, and took his seat
accordingly.  Mr. Lacy then produced and read a presbyterial
exercise on 1st Timothy, iii. 16, which was sustained.
" 21st. The trials of Mr. Lacy were resumed, and the Presbytery having proceeded some length therein, declined a further
examination, till after sermon.  Mr. Lacy then delivered a
popular discourse on 1st Timothy, iv. 10, which was sustained.
Upon a motion that Mr. McRobert, who sat as a corresponding
member, should be invited to join the Presbytery, the overture
was unanimously agreed to: and Mr. McRobert finding his way
clear to join himself as a member of the Presbytery, received
the right hand of fellowship, the Presbytery esteeming him
regularly ordained, and took his seat as a stated member.
" September 22d. Mr. Lacy read as part of trials a lecture
on Hebrews, 6th, which was sustained. After sermon Presbytery
resumed and finished the trials of Mr. Lacy, having examined
him upon the languages, sciences, and divinity, all of which were
sustained.  The Presbytery therefore agreed to license Mr.
Lacy as a probationer and candidate for the gospel ministry.
He then having adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith,
and promised subjection to the brethren in the Lord, after
admonition and fatherly advice, was licensed to preach the
everlasting gospel.  Mr. Lacy was appointed to supply at Hat
Creek, Concord and Cub Creek, one Sabbath at each place."
According to the fashion of the times and the necessities of




MR. LACY'S STYLE OF PREACHING.           493
the Virginia clergy, Mr. Lacy wrote out but few sermons, and
of these few, scarce any remain.  "I have" —says his son
William —" occasionally lighted on a manuscript sermon, or
part of sermon, written by him  in the early period of his
ministry. I am of opinion, that during the time of his greatest
usefulness, and highest reputation as a preacher, he rarely
wrote his sermons, or even prepared short notes.  He thought
most intensely on his subject, and arranged the subject matter
most carefully in his mind, and then trusted to the occasion for
language and expression. His preparation for the pulpit was
exclusively mental and spiritual. I have often when a youth
been greatly impressed with the deep absorption and awful
solemnity depicted on his countenance when walking in the
yard, or in his chamber. Hence, when he reached the pulpit,
there was frequently in his preaching a solemnity and pathos,
a freshness and vigour, a penetrating, burning, melting eloquence, which I have never known surpassed. And candour
compels me also to say, that not unfrequent]y, there was a
dryness, hardness, and confusion, with an utterance hurried
and painfully loud, bringing him for the time as far below the
average of respectable preachers as he usually rose above
them. He was, I have reason to believe, at times subject to
deep mental depression, and sore spiritual conflicts. But, for
the most part, indeed I may say in a great majority of
instances, he enjoyed the presence of his Saviour, and the light
of his Father's countenance."
By the records of Presbytery, it appears that Mr. Lacy was
candidate for licensure but a few months.  At that time the
demand for preaching, and consequently for an increased number of ministers was great: the revival then in progress was
spreading wide, and the Presbytery felt the necessity of thrusting labourers into the harvest. At Providence, when Mr.
Lacy was taken as candidate, the Presbytery said, in commenting upon the revised form of government sent out by the
Synod of New York and Philadelphia, May, 1786 —" the
learned qualifications of the candidates for licensure are too
minutely ascertained.  It is therefore recommended to the
Synod, to leave that matter entirely to the discretion of the
various Presbyteries to act as the circumstances of the particular churches under their care may require."   On this
opinion the Presbytery acted for some time. In April, 1786,
the Presbytery again sent up their objection to the prolonged
time of study required of candidates.  But no change being
made by authority, the Presbytery, after some delay, fell into
the rule as adopted.
Mr. McRobert, mentioned in the extracts, was highly esteemed for his preaching powers, and as a pious man.  At a meet



494               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ing of the Presbytery at Buffalo, April 18th, 1787-" a small
society in the neighbourhood of Walker's Church, formerly
considered as an Independent church, and under the pastoral
care of Mr. McRobert, appeared by their elder at the Presbytery, and requested to be taken under its care, and considered
as a part of the Presbyterian Church in Virginia. They also
requested supplies.
"Mr. Lacy was appointed to supply one Sabbath at Concord,
two at Walker's Church, one at Hat Creek, and one at Cub
Creek. It is also recommended to him to go to the Northern
Neck, if he can possibly make it convenient."
At a meeting of the Presbytery at Cumberland Church, October 10th, 1788-" a petition was presented to the Presbytery
by the elders and members of Cub Creek congregation, that
Mr. Lacy, a probationer under the care of this Presbytery,
should be ordained to the whole work of the ministry, for the
general advantage of the church. A similar request was presented by the congregations of Hat Creek, Concord, and
Walker's Church, for the ordination of Mr. Mahon. The Presbytery agreed to the requests of the above congregations, and
ordered that Mr. Mahon and Mr. Lacy be ordained. Mr. Lacy
then preached a sermon previous to his ordination, on Heb. x.
14, a subject assigned him by Mr. Smith, which appointment
was approved by the Presbytery."  October 11th, Mr. Mahon preached agreeably to appointment on 2 Cor. iv. 5-a subject, through the apparent necessities of the church, having
been given out to him by Mr. Smith, which for the same reasons was confirmed by the Presbytery.
"Mr. Mahon's and Mr. Lacy's sermons having been considered and sustained, and an ordination sermon preached by
Dr. Robert Smith, (a corresponding member from New Castle
Presbytery, father of John B. Smith) who was chosen to preside, on John xxi. 15, 16, 17,-the Presbytery proceeded solemnly to set them apart by prayers and imposition of hands
to the whole work of the ministry; and they were admitted to
take their seats as full members of Presbytery."
Of the agency of Mr. Lacy in that work of God, which was
so extensive, Dr. Alexander writes thus: —" About the time that
Mr. Lacy entered the ministry, commenced that remarkable
revival of religion, which extended, more or less, through every
part of Virginia where Presbyterian congregations existed.
And although J. B. Smith was the principal instrument of that
work, yet the labours of Mr. Lacy were, in no small degree,
successful. His preaching was calculated to produce deep and
solemn impressions. His voice was one of extraordinary power.
Its sound has been heard at more than a mile's distance. His
voice was not only loud, but clear and distinct; in the largest




MR. LACY'S PREACHING.               495
assemblies convened in the woods, he could always be heard
with ease at the extremity of the congregation.  On this account Mr. Lacy was always one of the prominent preachers at
great meetings. His preaching also was with animation. IHis
address to his hearers, whether saints or sinners, was warm and
affectionate. Indeed according to his method of preaching,
lively feeling in the speaker was an essential thing to render it
either agreeable or impressive. Mr. Lacy was, therefore, a
much more eloquent and impressive preacher on special occasions, when every circumstance combined to wind up the mind
to a high tone of excitement than in his common and every day
discourses; in which he was always evangelical, but sometimes
flat and uninteresting. Upon the whole it may serve to characterize his preaching, to say, that it was better suited to the
multitude, than to the select few, who possess great refinement
of taste; better adapted to satisfy and feed the plain and sincere Christian, than to furnish a feast for men of highly cultivated intellect. He enjoyed the unspeakable pleasure of knowing a considerable number of humble, exemplary Christians,
who ascribed their first impressions to his preaching or conversation; for he excelled in the art of conversing on the subject
of experimental religion. To inquirers and young converts, he
addressed himself, in private, in a very happy manner; which
was to them often the means of important spiritual benefits.
And on general subjects Mr. Lacy conversed in an agreeable
and instructive manner."
In the commencement of the revival Mr. Lacy was not prepared to act decidedly on the subject of the peculiar exercises
which in many cases accompanied the influences of divine truth
on those convicted of sin, and seeking salvation.  Dr. Smith
opposed all violent bodily exercises, from the first: Mr. Lacy
thought favourably of them, as accompanying circumstances of
the Spirit's operation, and feared to oppose them lest happily
he should be found fighting against God. But longer observation, and close examination led him to believe that all such
exercises as fallings, swoonings, violent agitations, &c., were
in the general detrimental to the cause of religion, though
they might appear, in given instances, to be both irresistible
and harmless, as in the cases of Legrand and Allen.
Mr. Lacy's popularity in conducting meetings for prayer
and exhortation hastened his licensure; and his acceptability,as a preacher drew forth from Cub Creek, the church of the
Caldwells and the charge of Mr. Henry, a request for his ordination as an evangelist. Holding his office as a teacher in the
College he preached around in the neighbouring congregations,
with great acceptability, wherever there appeared the greatest
necessity or the most inviting field.




496               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
In the summer of 1789, Mr. Lacy visited Bedford, the scene
of labour for many years of the pioneer in Kentucky, David
Rice, the birth place of that eminent and much loved man,
John H. Rice, D.D., and the pastoral charge of James Mitchell,
with whom he held a series of religious meetings in connexion
with the sacrament at Pisgah. Mr. James Turner, a very
thoughtless man, attended on the Sabbath: and while the services were going on, was amusing himself on the borders of the
congregation, which was assembled around the stand in the
woods. Mr. Lacy's clear voice attracted his attention: "Well
this is a new preacher, let us hear what he has to say," and he
drew nigher; and on hearing a little he felt himself inclined to
draw nearer still. Mr. Lacy was relating the story, from ancient history, of an accused person on trial for his life, for a
great misdemeanor; the evidence was all against him, and
sentence was about to be pronounced. A brother who had
fought many battles for his country and gained victories, at
that moment arose near the criminal, and raised the maimed
arm, from which the hand had been severed in gaining a victory.
The sight of him in tears, and the recollections connected with
that handless arm, so wrought upon the judges, that, for the
sake of the brother, they pardoned the criminal they could but
condemn. The preacher suited the action to the word, perhaps
unconsciously, and raised his own maimed arm in view of the
congregation; and as he plead the advocacy of Christ for sinners,
Terner's attention was arrested, and he went home from that
meeting a deeply convicted sinner. Some years afterwards
Mr. Lacy stepping into a church, as he was on his journey,
heard Mr. Turner pouring forth the truths of the gospel with
his powerful voice and feeling heart, and as he heard and looked
he burst into a flood of tears. As Turner saw him weeping"Ah, have I caught you too"-and launched another truth all
sparkling with kindness and love.
A midnight conversation at the house of Colonel Nash, of
Prince Edward, where Lacy lodged for a night, sent Nash
Legrand, a young man of promise and of irreligion, to prayer
and lamentation in the garden, till the morning light appeared,
and then to a religious meeting in Cumberland, where he was
hopefully converted, and then into the ministry, where his track
was glorious.
" That trait in his character"-says Dr. Alexander-" which
was most conspicuous, on first acquaintance, and which ever
appeared predominant, was honesty, simple hearted honesty;
an undisguised openness and candour, which rendered his very
heart transparent.  He possessed this virtue in as eminent
degree as any person, with whom I have been acquainted.
If candour can be carried so far as to be in collision with pru



MR. LACY VICE-PRESIDENT OF HAMPDEN SIDNEY.   497
dence, he might be said to err in that extreme; but it appeared
amiable even in its excess. He was a truly humble man. IHe
entertained no high opinion of his own talents, learning or attainments in piety; on the contrary he was ever disposed to
esteem others better than' himself. He was also of a kind,
pacific temper.  I never knew him to have any dissension with
any person; and for his brethren in the ministry he ever cultivated and exercised cordial esteem. No envy, jealousy, or dark
suspicion, ever rankled in his bosom; all such tempers were
abhorrent to his nature;
July 3d, 1788.-Rev. J. B. Smith informed the Board that
he designed removing to the neighbourhood. The cause' and
object of this step were the increasing interest and labour of
the revival, which rendered it impracticable for him to fulfil
the duties he had been performing in College, and meet the
demands for time' and labour that came from his congregation. The Board requested him to continue President, though
removed from College grounds, and appointed Mr. Lacy VicePresident, devolving on him much of the labour which had
become onerous, in managing the College. In this office Mr.
Lacy continued for some years.
September 29th, 1788.-The Board conferred on Mr. Lacy,
causa meriti, the degree of A. B. IHe had not been a regular
student, having pursued his studies under the direction of the
President, and carried them to that extent as to be qualified to
act as presiding officer in the absence of the Principal.
In the year 1789, Dr. Smith resigned the Presidency of the
College, and the whole weight of supervision rested on the
Vice-President. Mr. Lacy's situation was laborious, difficult,
and unenviable. In the want of permanent funds, the income
of the College was not adequate to sustain a sufficient number
of qualified teachers. The support of the neighbouring congregations, given to the teachers for their ministerial services,
was necessary in order to preserve the appearance of a College. The ardour with which the community had embarked in
the cause of education was, as usual, somewhat abated; and
political feeling, which at that time entered into every thing of
a social nature, had an influence unfavourable to the popularity
of the College; and even the blessed revival of religion was
made to act unfavourably on some parts of the community
around, as the officers of the College were accused of sectarianism. The attention of Synod also was more particularly
turned to the institution in Lexington, now known as Washington College, as the place where theological students should be
trained for the ministry.  The efforts to translate Graham
to IHampden Sidney failed;' and the tide of favour set for
Washington College; Some things had occurred, not of per63




498               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
manent interest, that for a time turned away a part of Hanover Presbytery from their own College. As these things
were personal and transient, and connected with the President's resigning, they need not be perpetuated in history. The
consequence was that Hampden Sidney for a time languished.
The Commission of Synod sent two young men, Benjamin
Grigsby, and Archibald Alexander, to visit places east of the
Blue Ridge, particularly the congregations of Cumberland and
Prince Edward. After the visit of these young men a plan
was agreed on by the commissioners from the congregations of
Cub Creek, Buffalo, Briery, and Cumberland, to form a union
of these congregations, and call two preachers to officiate in
rotation at six places, viz: the four churches, and the College
Hall and Charlotte Court House. At a meeting of the Presbytery at Cumberland Meeting-house, November 9, 1793 —" calls
having been put into the hands of Mr. Alexander through Lexington Presbytery, from the united congregations of Cumberland, Briery, Buffalo and Cub Creek, to engage in the pastoral
care of the said congregations with Mr. Lacy; and Mr. Alexander having obtained a dismission from Lexington, and come
under the care of this Presbytery, the Moderator called upon
him to know whether he accepted the said calls; but he having
desired longer time to consider of the matter the Presbytery
granted it. On motion resolved, that Mr. Alexander supply
in the said congregations, in the same manner as if he had
accepted the calls." This plan of collegiate labours being
found more laborious than advantageous to the ministers, and
not likely to be productive of the good intended, was after a
little trial abandoned. Permission was also granted, at the
same meeting of Presbytery, to the commissioners of the four
congregations to prosecute a call for Dr. Smith, to bring him
back from Philadelphia. This proved abortive. The congregations then made other arrangements.
At a meeting of the Presbytery, at the house of Dr. Waddell,
Friday, May 2, 1794, preparatory steps were taken for the
ordination of Mr. Alexander. The sacred ceremony took place
at Briery, Saturday, June 7th. Mr. Alexander preached from
John xvii. 17, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is
truth." Mr. Lacy delivered the ordination sermon from Col.
iv. 17, "And say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which
thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it;" Mr. McRobert delivered the charge.
At the next meeting of the Presbytery, at the Cove in Albemarle, October 22, 1794-"A  call was presented from the
united congregations of Briery and Cub Creek for the Rev.
Archibald Alexander to take the pastoral charge of said congregations. Which call being read and presented to him by




MR. ALEXANDER PRESIDENT OF HAMPDEN SIDNEY.   499
the Moderator, was accepted." Mr. Matthew Lyle presented a
dismission from Lexington Presbytery, and was received as a
candidate under the care of Hanover. "A call was presented
from the united congregations of Briery and Buffalo praying Mr.
Lyle to accept the charge of said congregations as their pastor.
Which being read and presented to Mr. Lyle, by the Moderator,
was accepted." By this arrangement, Briery had part of the
services of two men; and Cumberland, embracing the area occupied now by Cumberland, Farmville, and College Church, had
the services of Mr. Lacy. With Mr. Lacy and Mr. Lyle the
arrangement was permanent. For none of these brethren was
there an installation service performed; and for Mr. Lacy no
call from Cumberland was put in except the one conjointly with
MIr. Alexander. By the conventional rules of the Presbyterian
Church these things would be, now, irregular. The Presbytery
met at the Cove, both in the spring and the fall of 1794, to
attend to a case of discipline; and in the journeyings to this
place the relation of his early history and experience was given
by Mr. Lacy to Dr. Alexander, as stated in the commencement
of this sketch.
From the records of the Board of Trustees, it appears the
origin of the plan for the union of the four churches was with
Mr. Lacy. He proposed to the Board to associate Mr. Alexander, then a very young man, with him in the College, with
equal authority and emoluments; and to secure a support
proposed the union of these congregations.  The Trustees
acted on this proposal in November, 1792, and agreeing to
it, appointed Mr. Alexander, and directed the committee to
make the proposition to the congregations. The congregations
agreeing, the call was made out and sent to Lexington Presbytery; and that Presbytery dismissed Mr. Alexander to the
care of Hanover. The experiment of preaching in rotation
was tried a little time and abandoned; and with it went the
scheme of uniting the two ministers in the College. Lacy loved
Alexander sincerely, and Alexander had unbounded confidence
in the integrity and uprightness of Lacy; but they could not
be united in the College for want of funds. Mr. Lacy continued the College exercises till the year 1796, when he became
discouraged and resigned his office with the hope that some
better arragement should be made, and removed to a farm near
College. The offer of the Presidency was then made to Mr.
Alexander; and he, after some delay, was removed to Hampden Sidney. About the same time John H. Rice become tutor
in the College, and formed with the President an undying
friendship. The arrangements for preaching were that Mr.
Alexander should retain his connexion with Briery, and be
associated with Mr. Lacy, and alternate in Briery College and




500               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Cumberland. This arrangement continued till 1806, when Mr.
Alexander removed to Philadelphia.
December 25th, 1789-Mr. Lacy was united in marriage to
Anne Smith, eighth child of William and Mary Smith of Powhatan. " In domestic life"-says Dr. Alexander —" Mr. Lacy
was a happy man; blessed with a companion in whom he could
confide, he left domestic arrangements, very much, to be
managed by her, and in his home, and in the midst of his
family, you lost nothing of that respect for his character,
which arose from seeing and hearing him in public."  Mr. and
Mrs. Lacy reared five children, three sons and two daughters;
all of whom became in early life professors of religion. Two
of the sons became ministers of the gospel in the Presbyterian
Church, and are now living, the other.d physician; each of the
two daughters married Presbyterian ministers. Two of his
grandsons have also entered the ministry, in the Church which
was the choice of their grandfather.
Mr. Lacy continued the occupation of teaching at his place
called Mount Ararat, after withdrawing from the College; and
supplied the deficiency of an inadequate salary by taking a few
boys as boarders in his house, to be taught the preparatory
course for College or for active business. He wrote an almost
unequalled hand, plain, beautiful, and unvarying; and has left
memorials of his calligraphy, in the beautiful copy of the
Minutes of Hanover Presbytery, in one volume, from its organization till the Blue Ridge became its western boundary by the
formation of the Presbytery of Lexington. He served as Clerk
of Hanover Presbytery the greater part of his ministerial life.
There was also a volume of letters to a young feinale relative,
as beautiful in friendship and-piety and Christian counsel as in
penmanship. These letters appeared in the Watchman of the
South, a few years since; and with a memoir of their author
would form a volume for the reading of young people not unworthy of a place in the literature of the Presbyterian Church.
He is one of the few useful and beloved ministers of the former
generations in Virginia, that has left manuscripts enough for a
readable volume.
As a delegate from Hanover Presbytery, -Mr. Lacy repeatedly
had a seat in the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church,
and in the year 1809, he filled the Moderator's chair. At this
session of the Assembly, Rev. John Lyle, in a masterly and
eloquent manner, defended the Synod of Kentucky in his efforts
to preserve the orthodoxy of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, and aided by Dr. Green of Philadelphia and Dr. Dwight
of Yale College, that year a delegate from.the General Association of Connecticut, obtained from the Assembly a justifica



LACY'S ELOQUENCE.                501
tion of the Synod's course, and thanks for her " firmness and
zeal," with which she had acted, " in the trying circumstances,"
in which she had been placed, by the irregularities that had
sprung up in the great revival, and by the schisms of the Cumberland Presbyterians. At the same meeting the overture for
the establishment of a theological school, was received from the
Presbytery of Philadelphia, which being matured, was sent
down to the Presbyteries, and in the year 1812, resulted in the
location of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, and the choice
of Rev. Archibald Alexander as the Professor of Didactic and
Polemic Divinity. Also an overture was brought in "' for the establishment of a religious tract society, for the purpose of distributing through every part of the United States, such tracts as
are at once cheap and calculated to do the most good."
On account of his clear, strong voice, and impassioned manner, when excited by a large assembly, Mr. Lacy was a favourite
preacher at Synods and Presbyteries, and other large meetings.
It has been a standing rule of the Synod of Virginia, and of
the Presbyteries that preceded it, to meet on such a day of the
week as to permit the ministers to spend the Sabbath together.
And religious worship has been a regular. part of the business
of these meetings; consequently crowds assemble on these occasions, and Christians enjoy a religious festival. At a meeting
of the Synod in Lexington, the religious interest rose very
high; and Mr. Lacy was called on to preach to a multitude in
the grove, in the rear of the church, on the borders of the
village.  His text was-" Where is the Lord God of Elijah!"
As he progressed in the sermon he became excited to the highest degree his mental and physical nature could bear, and his
audience were carried along, without resistance, by his silver
voice, loud, penetrating and sweet, and his earnest excited manner, till they were entirely at the command of the speaker.
Raising his arms, he turned majestically, and looked upward,
and cried "Where is the Lord God of Elijah!" The audience
started, and gazed with the speaker, as if they expected to see
the effulgence of Israel's God burst from among the over-shadowing branches. Could such scenes be prolonged, what enchanting festivals would the meetings of. the judicatories of the
church be! Alas, how soon they pass! Lacy with the silver
voice and the silver hand speaks no more; the venerable grove,
trembling with age, has fallen beneath the axe; and here and
there only may be found among the living one of the assembled
audience of that day, who carries the undying recollection of
that Sabbath in the grove.
Some time after this interesting scene, one of the brethren
speaking to him, in a complimentary manner, of the excellency
of the sermon-" O0" —said he, in the simplicity and truthful



502               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ness of his heart-" that I got from little Archy one afternoon,
at * * * * when I went to hear him,"-referring to an afternoon
exercise of his young and much loved friend Alexander, which
he casually attended, and from which he gathered the thoughts
he moulded into that charming sermon, which was never forgotten by the vast assemblage. The excitement was of course
evanescent; but there remained a strong feeling, and well
defined impression, of the necessity and blessedness of the
Divine presence in things of religion.
Hampden Sidney College was the centre of religious action
for the churches east of the Blue Ridge and south of James
River, in connexion with the Presbyterian Church. In the
bounds of the same congregation which embraced the College,
was a Law School of high standing, in which "free thinking,"
on the subject of religion, met with no check. The influences
flowing from this fountain were a constant source of uneasiness
to the pious people of Cumberland and the associated churches,
and was an additional reason for their' clinging together and
using all means in their united power for mutual preservation,
and the salvation of the young. The teaching of two such men
as Lacy and Alexander was well calculated, under the Divine
blessing, to stop the progress of the evil, and guard the rising
generation from its insidious effects. This cause of uneasiness
awakened in Lacy no bitterness; nor is it known to have aroused
against him any personal dislike. The collision of principles
and belief was, of course, frequently severe.
Mr. Lacy's death took place in Philadelphia. Pains, which,
for a long time, were supposed to be rheumatic in their origin,
were at last found to proceed from calculus. The only hope of
relief was in a surgical operation. He repaired to Philadelphia, and after consulting the professional men of that city,
submitted to their decision, and committed himself to their care
and skill. The event was unfavourable. After a few days of
weakness and languishing, he expired at the house of his much
attached friend, Robert Ralston, November 5th, 1815. When
he left his family in Virginia, his wife was in usually good health.
During his confinement in Philadelphia, she was seized with a
malignant fever, and in a few days breathed her last. On
account of his weak state of body, this mournful fact was not
communicated to the husband; and, as Dr. Hoge of Hampden
Sidney remarked in a letter to Dr. Alexander-" how will the
good man, when he enters heaven, be surprised to find his
beloved wife there to meet him"-he received in the world of
departed spirits the first intelligence of his wife's having
"crossed the flood" before him.
Of this excellent lady, no encomium is required beyond the
merited eulogium already given from the pen of her intimate




MR. LACY'S DESCENDANTS PRESBYTERIANS.      503
friend, Dr. Alexander. Of the family from which she descended, something should be recorded. Her father, William
Smith, was from the county of Gloucester, born November
18th, 1710; his grandfather was from England. Her mother,
whose maiden name was Mary Smith, was of a Charles City
family, born at Olney in Henrico, October 6th, 1726. They
were married February 18th, 1742, and soon after took up their
residence in Cumberland, now Powhatan, among its earliest
settlers.  The family residence is in possession of their grandchllildren.  Says one of his grandchildren, a minister of the
gospel — "shortly after their settling here, the Rev. Samuel
Davies began to preach in Hanover. They visited relations in
Henrico, and were induced to go and hear him occasionally.
They were converted under his ministrations, and continued,
while he remained, to attend his preaching as they could. The
nearest of his churches was about fifty miles distant. They
went on horseback, often fording James River; and sometimes
each taking a child or two on horseback with them."-Who
rides fifty miles to church now?-and carries a child or two on
horseback?  We are not surprised to hear, that, of the eight
children reared by such parents,-" all or nearly all professed
religion, and seven of them raised pious families; every one of
the children and grandchildren, as far as I can learn, became
Presbyterians."  One of the daughters married Major Morton,
and became the mother of Mrs. John H. Rice, D. D., and Mrs.
Rev. James Wharey; another of the daughters married, as
has been stated, Rev. Drury Lacy; another married Rev.
Dr. Waddell, of South Carolina.  "Of my grandfather's descendants and their immediate connexions by marriage, there
have been thirteen ministers-Mr. Lacy, two sons and two
grandsons,-Dr. Rice,-Mr. Wharey, —Messrs. Hoge  and
Brooks, sons-in-law  of Mr. Lacy,-Dr. Waddell and two
sons,-and myself. I never knew one of any other than the
Presbyterian Church."
The inheritance of being the only Presbyterian family in
Powhatan descended to his son Josiah, the other members of
the family being removed on their marriage. In the year 1806
the Rev. Conrad Speece became a resident in his family, and
continued an inmate for six years. A church was not, organized in Powhatan till about the year 1826, by Rev. D. A.
Penick. The members of the Presbyterian Church in that
county, previously to that time held their connexion with the
Cumberland Church. The Rev. Conrad Speece lamented the
death of his host, which took place in January 1819, as of a
near relation and true Christian, a guileless upright man.
"I have"-says his grandson-" bills of goods purchased by
my grandfather in Liverpool; among the items in which, I




504               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
note, at one time, one half dozen, and at another, two dozen
Doddridge's Friend's Instructor. By which I judge, the old
gentleman was not insensible to the value of good books, nor
inattentive to their distribution. The charge was at the rate
of fifteen shillings the dozen." The History of the Presbyterian Church in Virginia, is an historical argument in favour
of distribution and reading religious books,-and the sending
pious missionaries to visit destitute neighbourhoods.
Mr. Lacy was tall, above six feet; of large frame and well
proportioned; never corpulent, weighing about two hundred
pounds without appearing to have a pound of superfluous flesh.
Says one who was a child when he died —"his voice when
preaching I remember, it was full, and powerful, and yet soft
and melodious." Of his' family, suddenly deprived of father
and mother, while part were very young, God was mindful.
In him the orphan has a shield and defence. Three sons and
two daughters survived the parents,-not one being then a
professor of religion, and some very young. Subsequently, all
became connected with the church of Christ. Two of the sons
are in the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, the other a
physician and an elder. Each of the two daughters married
Presbyterian clergymen. Two of the grandsons of Mr. Lacy
are now preaching in Virginia.
Little thought the man who gave the over-charged gun to
the little boy, that its bursting, which he dreaded, would be one
important link in the chain of events, to raise up an honoured
minister, the father of ministers.
It remains, only, to speak of his care of the coloured people,
the African race, in his charge. In Cub Creek, where Mr.
Henry, the first pastor, had been eminently successful among
the negroes, Mr. Lacy found many communicants, the number
of which was increased by the labours of the successors of that
warm-hearted man. In Mr. Lacy's time the number attached
to the Church by profession was about two hundred.  One
wealthy lady, though herself not a'professor of religion, had
sixty in connexion with the church. She encouraged her servants to attend preaching, and permitted them to leave their
work for week-day preaching. Elders were appointed among
the negroes, who not only attended to the spiritual conduct of
the servants, but exerted such an influence that the mistress
dismissed her overseers and entrusted her affairs to her servants. The coloured people were greatly attached to Mr.
Lacy. His loud and musical voice were peculiarly pleasing to
them. Some years after his death, his son, the Rev. Drury
Lacy of Raleigh, preached in his father's preaching places.
Some of the old venerable servants were present, and after
sermon crowded around him, with "God bless you, dear master




MARY MOORE.                    505
-you preach so much like old Mr. Lacy used to do-and you
look like him in your face-and your voice is like his too."
Many of the African race will doubtless appear in the crown
of his rejoicing.
CHAPTER XXII.
MARY MOORE.
IN the burying ground of New Providence, in Rockbridge
county, Virginia, there is a grave, surpassing in interest all
surrounding graves. It is by the side of the resting place of a
man among the first in his own generation, and a man amongst
men of all generations, long the pastor of the people that
worshipped in the neighbouring church. Its inhabitant once
walked by his side a cherished one, through life overshadowed
by his greatness,-wept over his grave the tears of a widow and
mother of orphans, —and now lies, where of all places on earth
she chose to lie, by his side, —overshadowing in death, him in
whose shade she used to live, and on whom, in true affection, she used to lean for support.  His deep, blue, sunken
eye, that flashed so fiercely in moments of indignation or anger,
always beamed sweetly into her full jet black orbs, that could
do nothing but smile or weep. But those smiles and tears
charmed equally the savages in the wilderness, and Christian
people of Providence.
The way to this grave can never be forgotten till another
people, with other hearts than now beat in American bosoms,
take possession of this beautiful Valley. The maiden name of
this woman was Mary Moore. The melancholy romance of her
early days, and the Christian excellence of her mature and
closing years, make her memory immortal. The history of the
sombre deeds attending the destruction of the retired dwelling
of her father,-the murder of him with two brothers and a
sister on a fair summer's morning,-the captivity of her mother
and herself, with a brother and two sisters and a hired girl,the murder of the brother and one sister on the way to the
wigwam homes of their captors,-the death by fire and torture
of her mother and remaining sister,-the rescue of herself and
the hired girl, together with a brother, the captive of a former
year, and their return to their relatives in Virginia,-combines
in one story all the boding events incident to the savage captivity always impending the immigrant families taking possession
of the rivers and valleys of Western Virginia. It is given as a
64




506               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
sample of many captivities and deaths, by savage hands, of
men, women and children, on the frontiers of all the States in
North America. The authorities on which the relation of the
captivity is founded, are in the hands of the Rev. James Morrison, the son-in-law and successor of the Rev. Samuel Brown,
having been collected by him with great perseverance and care.
A certain James Moore, of Scottish ancestry, born in Ireland,
emigrated to America with his brother Joseph about the year
1726, and took their residence in Pennsylvania. In about two
years Joseph died while in a course of preparation for the
gospel ministry. James, some time after his arrival in America, married Jane Walker, also an emigrant from Ireland.
Her father John Walker, of Wigton, Scotland, emigrated first
to Ireland, became the head of a family of seven children, of
which Jane was the fourth, and then, a few years after Mr.
Moore, emigrated to Pennsylvania. After his marriage Mr.
Moore resided in the Nottingham congregation, for a number
of years. His father-in-law, John Walker, having removed,
with the rest of the family, to Rockbridge county, Virginia,
and settled on a creek which bears the family name, Mr. Moore
removed his wife and four children and took his residence with
them, and made a part of what was pleasantly called by the
neighbours, "the Creek Nation." Here six more children were
added to his family, which consisted of five sons and as many
daughters. - The sixth son, named after himself, was the father
of Mary Moore, the wife of Rev. Samuel Brown.
This James Moore, the sixth child of the emigrant James,
was married to Martha Poage, by whom he had nine children,
five sons and four daughters. His fifth child, and second
daughter, he named Mary, after his eldest sister, the wife of
Major Stuart who lived near Brownsburg, and the mother of
the late Judge Alexander Stuart. After his marriage Mr.
Moore resided for some years at a place long known as Newell's
Tavern, a few miles south of the Natural Bridge, where his first
four children were born, viz. John, James, Jane and Joseph.
His cousin, Mr. Samuel Walker, on his return from an excursion to the south-western part of the State, to gather ginseng,
gave a glowing account of the beauty and fertility of the valleys,
and their supposed great adaptedness to grazing. Mr. Moore,
dissatisfied with his location, and thinking some of his connexions were less affectionate to him than became neighbours
and relatives, visited the country in company with his cousin,
and charmed with its beauty and solitude, resolved to reinove
his family to the lonely mountains of Tazewell. Accordingly,
in company with an English servant, John Simpson, he sought
a valley on the waters of the Blue Stone, a branch of New
River, cleared a few acres of land, put up a log cabin; and in




JAMES MOORE IN THE WILDERNESS.          507
the fall of the year 1775 removed his family to their lovely,
and ultimately bloody home. His chosen home was App's
Valley —so named from Apps (Absalom) Looney, a hunter,
supposed to be the first white man who disturbed the solitude,
or beheld the beauty of the narrow low grounds luxuriating in
the pea vine and sweet myrrh,-extending some ten miles in
length, by about forty or fifty rods in breadth, and admirably
fitted by its position and production for pasturage. The surrounding, and distant scenery partook both of the grand- and
beautiful. To Mr. Moore the Valley was enchanting; and being
out of the track of the savages in their war incursions eastward,
it seemed secure equally from the vexations of the civilized and
the savage man.
Mr. Looney, the hunter, built his cabin about a mile lower
down the creek; Mr. John Poage took up his residence about
two and a half miles above; and a number of cabins were scattered about as convenience or fancy dictated. Mr. Moore's
highest expectations in raising stock were realized. Assisted
by Simpson he soon became possessor of a hundred head of
horses, and a large number of horned cattle, which found pasturage sufficient for both summer and winter, with little aid or
care from man. His dream of safety was broken. The wily
savages discovered the white man's track, and the white man's
cabin west of those Alleghanies they resolved should be an
everlasting barrier between their residence in Ohio, to which
they had fled, and the hated whites that held the corn fields
and hunting grounds, of their fathers and their race, between
those great mountains and the Atlantic shores.
To revenge this encroachment on their wished for solitudes,
the savages commenced their depredations, and compelled these
isolated families, summer after summer, to betake themselves to
forts and stockades for mutual defence. On one occasion a
number of men being at the house of Mr. John Poage, one of
them, on stepping out after night-fall, observed to his companions, that a good look out ought to be kept for Indians that
night, for he heard an unusual noise, as of the hooting of owls,
which he supposed to be the signal of Indians approaching the
house from different quarters. About midnight the house was
surrounded by savages; but finding the doors secured and the
inmates on the watch, the Indians retired without committing
any depredations. One of the party in the house seized a gun,
npt his own, unaware that it was double-triggered, pressed the
muzile through the cracks of the cabin against the body of a
savage who was slily examining the state of things within, and
in his eagerness to discharge the piece broke both the triggers,
and the savage escaped. All was stillness both within and
without the house; such was the nature of savage warfare.




508               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Mr. Poage and most of the families now retired from this advanced position to the more secure neighbourhoods in Rockbridge, Botetourt and Montgomery, while Mr. Moore and a few
others remained.
Mr. Moore was a man of courage; he fought bravely in the
battle of Guilford; he loved the solitude and sweetness of the
Valley, and would not retreat through any fear of the hostile
Indians.  He feared God, and worshipped him in his family;
his wife was devoutly pious, and contented to share his lot.
They trained their children in the doctrines and truth of the
gospel; to live righteously before God. They trusted in God's
providence; and looked to him for protection.  Perhaps they
tempted him in their boldness and security. Five children were
added to his family in this Valley, making the number nine.
Of these Mary, the fifth child, was born in the year 1777, and
passed the first nine years of her life in alternate solitude and
alarms. When seven years old she mourned the sudden disappearance of her second brother, not knowing whether he had
gone to captivity or a premature grave by savage hands. On
the 7th of September, 1784, James, then fourteen years of age,
was sent to Mr. Poage's deserted settlement to procure a horse
for the purpose of going to the mill about twelve miles distant
through a dreary wilderness. He did not return. The anxious
search discovered trails of savages. And in time the hopes
that he had hidden in the woods or fled to some distant habitation gave way to the sad conviction that his fate, for life or for
death, had been committed to the hands of barbarians. This
bereavement grieved, but did not subdue the heart of the
father; perils by day and by night lost their power to alarm
by their frequency. The children slept in security while their
parent resolutely, almost stubbornly, maintained his position in
the midst of exposure and loss. After some time a letter was
received by the anxious father, from Kentucky, giving him
information of his lost son, then supposed to be in or near
Detroit. Before any effective steps could be taken for his
recovery, another and more mournful scene was acted in App's
Valley, on a fair summer's morning, awfully contrasting with
the grandeur and beauty of surrounding nature, and the domestic peace and piety of Moore's dwelling.
The morning of the 14th of July, 1786, was the last that
dawned upon that dwelling. The sun went down upon Moore's
dead body, the ashes of his cabin and the captivity of his wife.
A party of Indians came up Sandy River, crossed over to the
head of Clinch, passed near where Tazewell Court House now
is, murdered a Mr. Davison and wife and burned their dwelling,
and passed on to App's Valley hastily, before any, alarm could
be giv6n, and lay in ambush for the family of James Moore.




MURDEROUS INDIAN ATTACK.              509
A little spur puts out from the mountain, and gradually sloping
towards the creek, about three hundred yards before it sinks
into the low grounds, divides; at the extremity of one division
stood Moore's house, and near the other the trough at which
he was accustomed to salt his horses. At the time of the
greatest peril all seemed most secure. It was harvest time;
and there were two men assisting Mr. Moore in his harvest.
The guns were discharged on the preceding evening, to be
re-loaded sometime in the morning. Simpson lay sick in the
loft; the men had repaired early to the wheat field, to reap till
breakfast time; Mr. Moore was engaged in salting his horses;
his wife busied in her domestic concerns; and two of the children at the spring. Suddenly the savage yell was heard, and
two parties rushed from their hiding places on the ridge, the
one down the slope to the house, and the other towards Mr,
Moore. All at the sudden alarm started for the house. Two
children, Rebecca and William, were shot dead near the salt
block, on their return from the spring; and the third, Alexander, near the house. Mary rushed in, and the door was shut
and barred against the approaching savages by Mrs. Moore and
Martha Ivans, a member of the family, just in time to prevent
their entrance. Mr. Moore finding himself intercepted by the
Indians, at the house, ran on through the small lot that surrounded it, and on climbing the fence paused, and turned, and
in a moment was pierced with seven bullets. Springing from
the fence, he ran a few paces, fell and expired. The two men
in the harvest field, seeing the house surrounded by a large
company of savages (the party consisting of about thirty) fled,
and escaped unharmed. Martha Ivans seized two of the guns
and ran up stairs to the sick man, Simpson, calling on him to
shoot through the crevices; but the poor man had already
received his death wound, in his head, from  a bullet aimed
from without the house. Two stout dogs defended the door
most courageously, till the fiercest was shot. Martha Ivans
and Mary Moore secreted themselves under a part of the floor,
taking with them the infant Margaret; but the sobbings of the
alarmed child forbade concealment. Should Mary place the
child upon the floor, and conceal herself? —or should she share
its fate?  She could not abandon her little sister even in that
perilous moment, and left her hiding place and her companion.
The Indians were now cutting at the door, and threatening fire.
Yirs. Moore perceiving that her faithful sentinels were silenced,
Simpson expiring, and her husband dead, collected her four
children, and kneeling down, committed them to God; then
rose and unbarred the door.
After all resistance had ceased, the Indians, satisfied with
the blood that had been shed, took Mrs. Moore and her four




510               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
children, John, Jane, Mary, and Margaret, the fifth, Joseph
being in Rockbridge at school, prisoners; and having plundered to their satisfaction, set fire.lb the dwelling. Martha
Ivans crept from the approaching flames, and again concealed
herself beneath a log that lay across the little stream near the
dwelling. But captivity awaited her. While catching a few
of the horses, one of the Indians crossed the log, under which
she was secreted, and. sat down upon the end of it. The
girl seeing him handle the lock of his gun, and supposing that
he had discovered her, and was about to fire upon her, came
out, to the great surprise of the savage, for he had not seen
her, and to his great apparent joy delivered herself a captive.
In a short time the Indians were on their march with their
captives, and their plunder, to the Shawnee towns in Ohio,
to which they belonged. The two men that escaped, hastened
to the nearest family, a distance of six miles, and as soon as
possible spread the alarm among the settlements. Before the
armed men could reach the spot the ruin was complete, and
the depredators far on their way to Ohio. Mr. Moore was
found lifeless-scalped-but his body unabused, —and was
buried where he fell. His grave. may be seen at this day.
The Indians told the captives he might have escaped, had he
not paused on the fence. Of this he was probably himself
well aware, as it was not the habit of the Indians to shoot at
a person in rapid motion. But the affection for his family,
was stronger than the desire for personal safety. He was a
brave, and tender hearted man; and would not desert his
family to save himself from a danger his perseverance and
daring had brought upon them all. He had retired from the
society of relatives and acquaintances, and what was life to
him among the smoking ruins of a much loved home and.
murdered family!
The morning of July 14th, 1786, saw the family in App's
Valley full of life and cheerfulness; the sun went down that
day on smoking ruins, the dead bodies of the father and four
children-and the journeying of the mother with three children, helpless captives, to-they knew not what in the western
forest. After the horrible event of the morning,.perhaps the
mother wept not, when the captors,. dissatisfied with the delicate appearance and slow travelling of her weak-minded and
feeble-bodied son John, dispatched him at a blow and hid him
from the sight of pursuers.+ The hours of night passed slowly
and sorrowfully as the four captives, all females, lay upon the
ground, each tied to a warrior, who slept tomahawk in hand to
prevent a re-capture should they be overtaken by the pursuing
whites. Of this however there was no danger; the rapidity of
the retreat forbade all prospects of a re-capture. But on the




MRS. MOORE AND HER CHILDREN CAPTIVES.       511
third day, a new cup of sorrow was put in the mother's hand.
The little infant Margaret, that Mary could not part with, was
spared to the mother. The Indians even assisted in carrying
it. On the third day, the little one became very fretful from
a wound it had received on its cheek; irritated by its crying a
savage seized it, and dashing its head against a tree tossed it
into the bushes without a word. The company moved on in
silence; the sisters dared not, the mother would not, lament
the fate of the helpless loved one; perhaps they pitied the
living, reserved for, they knew not what, more than the dead
whose last bitter cup on earth was drained.
After some twenty wearisome days of travel down.the Sandy
and Ohio rivers, they came to the Scioto; here the Indians
showed Mrs. Moore some hieroglyphics representing three Indians and a captive white boy; this boy, they told her, was
her son, they had captured on their expedition, two years
before, who had been here with them, and was still a captive.
The prisoners were then taken on to their towns called Wappotomatick and Major Jack, near where Chilicothe now stands,
and were kindly received. After. a-..few days a council was
called, and an aged Indian made a long speech dissuading from
war; the warriors shook their heads and retired. This old man
took Mary Moore to his wigwam, treated her with great kindness, and appeared to commiserate her condition. In a short
time, a party of Cherokees, who had made an unsuccessful exp.edition in the western part of Pennsylvania, on their return
home, passed by the Shawnee towns, and.stopped where Mrs.
Moore and her daughter Jane were. Irritated at their ill
success, and the loss of some of their warriors, the sight of
these prisoners excited an.irresistible thirst for revenge.
While the Shawnees were revelling with spirituous liquors, the
Cherokees seized the mother and daughter, condemned them to
the torture, by fire, and -death at the stake. - Their sufferings
were protracted through three days. of agony. The uncomplaining mother comforted her poor dying child with gospel
truth and exhortation, and died with a meekness that astounded
the savages. The Shawnees never approved. of this gratuitous
act of cruelty, and always expressed. unwillingness to converse
about the circumstances, charging Mrs. Moore's death upon
the Cherokees. They evidently felt dishonoured by the deed.
About the captivity and death of other people, and about the
burning of Mr. Moore's house, and the massacre of himself and
children, they spoke freely and with the exultation of savages.
When Mrs. Moore and her children, as captives, left their
habitation in App's Valley, Mary took two New Testaments,
which she carried through all her wearisome journey to the
Scioto; one of them was taken. from.her by the young savages,




512               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
and the other was her companion through the days of her
bondage. The old Indian that showed his kindness on arriving
at the towns, would often call her to his side and make her
read to him, that he might hear "the book speak;" and when
any of the young Indians attempted to hide the book from her,
as they often did, he interposed with sternness, and compelled
them to restore it, and finally to desist from such attempts.
Whether he gained any knowledge from hearing the child read,
or whether'curiosity to hear "the book speak" in English
words was alone gratified, must remain unknown till the great
day.
The two girls remained with the Shawnees till the fall of
the year 1788. In respect to their food, clothing, labour, conveniences and discomforts, their situation differed.little from
that of the young Indians.  They were kept as property of
value, without any very definite object.  Contentions sometimes arose amongst the Indians about the right of ownership;
and in times of intoxication, death was threatened as the only
means of ending the quarrel. Whenever these threats were
made, some of the sober Indians gave the girls the alarm, in
time for their secreting themselves. While free from the influence of strong drink, the Indians expressed great fondness for the
girls, particularly for the little black-eyed, golden-haired Mary.
The Shawnees continuing to be very troublesome to the frontiers, in the fall of 1788 an expedition was fitted out to destroy
their towns on the Scioto. The Indians were informed by the
traders, of the design and the departure of the expedition; and
watched its progress. On its near approach, they deserted their
towns, secreting their little property, and carrying their wives
and children and aged ones beyond the reach of the enemy.
Mary Moore revolved in her mind the probable chances of concealing herself in the forests until the arrival of the forces, and
thus obtaining her liberty; and was deterred from the attempt
by the reflection, that the season was late and possibly the
forces might not arrive before winter, and perhaps not at all.
Late in November the American forces reached the Scioto,
burned the Shawnee towns, destroyed their winter provisions
as far as they could be found, and immediately returned home.
After the departure of the forces the Indians returned to their
ruined towns; and winter setting in upon them, deprived of shelter, their extreme sufferings compelled them to seek for aid in
Canada. On the journey to Detroit they endured the extremes
of hunger and cold. It was the time for the falling of the
snow, which came storm after storm upon these shelterless
people. Martha Ivans and Mary Moore, with few garments,
traversed the forests with deerskin moccasins, the only covering
for their feet in these deep snows.  Not unfrequently they




NARRATIVE OF JAMES MOORE.             513
woke in the morning covered with the snow that had fallen
during the' night; once the depth of their snowy covering was
twelve or fourteen inches; their only bed or protection, besides
the bushes heaped together being their single blanket.  On
reaching Detroit, the Indians gave themselves to riotous drinking; and to indulge this appetite sold their young captives.
Mary was purchased, for half a gallon of rum, by a person
named Stogwell, who lived at Frenchtown, near the western
end of Lake Erie. Martha was purchased by a man in the
neighbourhood of Detroit, and being soon after released, took up
her residence with a wealthy and worthy English family by the
name of Donaldson, and received wages for her services. The
purchaser of Mary neither liberated her, nor expressed any
kindness for her, but employed her as a servant, with poor
clothing and scanty fare. The circumstances of her redem'ption and return to her friends in Virginia are related by her
brother James Moore, in the narrative of his own captivity
and redemption.  This gentleman was living in App's Valley, the scene of his childhood and his father's catastrophe, and
a few years since (1839) gave the narration to the Rev. James
Morrison, the son-in-law and successor of Rev. Samuel Brown.
FROM THE NARRATIVE OF JAMES MOORE.
(This authentic Narrative gives a specimen of Indian captivity.)
My captivity was the first incident' in the disasters of my
father's family. It took place on the 7th of September, 1784.
I was in the fourteenth year of my age. My father had sent
me to a waste plantation, about two and a quarter miles up the
Valley (Mr. Poage's) to get a horse to go to mill. We being
situated twelve miles from a mill, and that in a dreary wilderness,-I frequently had to go to the mill,-and often came home
a good part of that distance in the night, when it was often so
dark that I could not see my hand before me. Notwithstanding
I had been so accustomed to travelling in these lonely circumstances, by myself, I had not proceeded more than half way to
the place where the horses were, before a sudden dread or panic
came on me. I thought some wild animal in human shape
would devour me. I was so alarmed that I went on trembling,
frequently looking back, expecting to see it. I would willingly
have turned back and gone home, but I knew it would not do to
go home with such an excuse.'I came within a few paces of the waste field, where the
horses were, when suddenly the Indians sprung out from behind
a large log,-and being before alarmed with the apprehension
of being devoured, I screamed with all my might. The Indian
that took me laid his hand on the top of my head, and uttered
65




514               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
the words chit, cile, chack in a quick manner, which I understood to mean hush. I then looked him in the face, and perceiving he was an Indian, immediately felt relieved of my
former dread and spoke out aloud-" it is an Indian, why need
I be scared;" and I said to myself-" all that is in it is, I will
have to go to the Shawanee towns." There were three Indians
only in the company. Their leader, Black Wolf, a middle aged
man, of the most stern countenance I ever beheld, about six
feet high, having a long black beard, was the one who caught
hold of me. The other two Indians were young, and one of
them the son of Black Wolf, about, I suppose, eighteen years
of age. They were of the Shawanee tribe, and I belonged to
Black Wolf.
We proceeded on to the old cabin (Poage's).  Old Wolf
gave me some salt, which from its reddish cast I suppose he had
made at some of the licks as he came along, and told me to
catch the horses. I then went on to do so with a young Indian
until I came near the horse, when he halted and I took hold of
the horse by the bell collar, and then he came running up and
scared the horse away. I then at his request made a second
trial, and he came running up again, and the horse frightened
at him ran off as before. My intention was to have gotten on
the horse, and thus endeavoured to make my escape; and as I
could not get him for myself, I had no disposition to get him
for the Indians.
I suppose it was about one o'clock, P. M. when I was taken.
In a few moments we started on our journey. The Indians
went up into the; thicket where their kettle and blankets were
hid, covered up in the leaves, and took them. We travelled
down a creek called Tugg, the north fork of Sandy, that afternoon about eight miles. The walking was very laborious on
account of the high weeds, green briers, logs, and the steep and
mountainous character of the country. At night?we lay down
in a laurel thicket, without fire or any thing to eat. The night
was rainy. I lay beside Black Wolf with a leading halter
round my neck and tied very tight, and the other end wrapped
round his hands so as to make it very-secure, and so that I
could not get away without waking him. He had also searched
me very carefully to see that I had no knife. Gloomy and
distressing as were my circumstances I slept some that night.
During the afternoon the two young Indians walked before; I
next to them; and Old Wolf followed; and if any sign was made,
he would remove it with his tomahawk, so that there might be
no marks or traces of the way we had gone. I frequently broke
bushes, which he discovered and shook his tomahawk over my
head, giving me to understand that if I did not desist he would
strike me with it. I then would scratch the ground with my




JAMES MOORE'S CAPTIVITY.             515
feet. This he also discovered and made me desist; and showed
me how to set my feet flat so as not to make any special marks.
It then became necessary for me to cease any efforts to make a
trail for others to follow. About sun-down Old Wolf gave a tremendous war-whoop; and another the next morning at sun-rise.
This was repeated every evening at sun-down, and every morning at sun-rise during our whole journey. It was long, loud
and shrill, signifying that he had one prisoner. The custom is
to repeat it as frequently as the number of the prisoners. This
whoop is different from the one they make when they have scalps.
About day-light next morning, (Sept. 8th) we started and continued down Tugg about two miles, then ascended the main
Tugg Ridge, and then descended until we came to Maxwell's
Gap. This gap took its name from a man named Maxwell who
was there killed by the Indians whilst in pursuit of the wife of
Thomas English, of Burke's Garden, who had been taken prisoner by a party of Indians, headed by this same Old Wolf, and
was there re-taken. At this place Old Wolf went off and brought
in a middle-sized dutch oven which had been secreted during
their former expedition; this was assigned to me to carry; and I
continued to carry it until we reached their towns. At first it
was fastened to my back, and after suffering much with it I set
it down, and said I would carry it no more: upon this Old Wolf
laid down his bundle, and told me to carry it. I found that I
could not even lift it. This softened me a little, and I took up
the oven. After some days I filled it with leaves and placed it
on my head, and carried it with more ease. We continued on
the same Ridge for a considerable distance further the same
day, and encamped on it that night, without fire or food. In
the evening it rained, and the son of Black Wolf pulled off my
hat. This I resisted, struck him in the stomach, and took the hat
from him. He then made signs and showed me he wished to
cover the gunlock and protect it from the rain. I then let him
have it; after the rain was over he gave the hat back to me.
The next day (Sept. 9th) we proceeded down the same Ridge
until we came to the clear fork of Tugg, and then descended
till night, the day being very wet. We encamped for the night
under a projecting cliff; and here for the first time kindled a
fire. Old Wolf took the precaution of cutting a number of
bushes, and bending them outward from our encampment so as
to embarrass any one approaching us, if we had been pursued.
On the third day (Sept. 10th) they killed a lean bear, but so
very lean that they would not eat of it. So we were still without food. Several times during the days of our fasting, the
Indians went to the north side of a poplar, and cut off some of
the bark near the root, pounded it, and put it in the kettle, and
put water on it: this we drank occasionally, which seemed to




516               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
have a salutary effect in relieving us from the sufferings of
hunger.
On the fourth day (Sept. 11th) in the evening we killed a
buffalo, took out its paunch, and some meat, emptied the paunch
and shook it a little in the water, cut it up; put it in the kettle,
and made broth, and drank heartily of it, not tasting any of
the meat.  This is Indian policy, after fasting, not to clog the
stomach with food hard of digestion. That same night we made
another kettle of broth, and eat no meat.
Some few days after we killed a barren cow buffalo, which was
very fat, and barbacued as much of the meat as lasted us for
several days; still killing buffalo and deer as we stood in need
till we arrived (September 29th) at the towns over the Ohio,
on the head waters of Mud River, called Wapatomatick, which
took us about twenty-two days travelling.  I travelled the
whole route barefooted; and had at one time three stone bruises
on each foot; my sufferings from them were very great. I
frequently walked over large rattlesnakes, but was not suffered
to kill or interrupt them, the Indians considering them their
friends. There were other towns in the neighbourhood, one of
which was called Major Jack.
We crossed the Ohio between the mouths of Guyandotte and
Big Sandy, on a raft made of dry logs tied together with grapevines. On the banks of the Scioto we lay by one day, and the
Indians made pictures on the trees of three Indians and of me;
intended as hieroglyphics to represent themselves and me as
their prisoner. These they afterwards showed to my sister
Polly, when she was a prisoner; and pointing to my picture,
let her know that was for her brother. Near this Old Wolf went
off and procured some bullets which he had secreted.
When we were within a short distance of the towns, the
Indians blacked themselves, but not me. This was an omen of
my safety, for if I had been blacked, it would signify that I
was doomed to be burned to death. I was not taken directly
into town, but to the residence of Wolf's half-sister, to whom he
sold me for an old gray horse. The reason I was not taken
directly to the town was, I suppose, because it was a time of
peace. Shortly after I was sold, my mistress left me in her
wigwam, for several days, entirely alone, leaving a kettle of
hominy for me to eat. In this solitary situation, I first began
earnestly to pray and call upon God for mercy and deliverance; and found great relief in prayer. I would rise from my
knees and go off cheerful, having cast my burdens on the Lord.
I had been taught to pray. My father used to pray in his
family. I now found the benefit of the religious instruction
and examples I had enjoyed.
Once on my journey, I was sent off a considerable distance




CAPTIVES' LIFE AMONG THE INDIANS.       517
to get water, under a steep bank, where I thought I was concealed from view; here I gave vent to my feelings and wept
abundantly. The old Indian however had watched me, and
when I returned, he showed me with his fingers, on my cheek,
where I had been shedding tears, shaking his tomahawk over
my head, and letting me know that I must do so no more. I
suppose their object in sending me off was, in reality, to see
whether I would try to escape, the situation appearing very
favourable for this purpose.  After this I was no longer
fastened with the halter tied round my neck, they being satisfied that I did not intend to endeavour to escape from them.
In about two weeks after I had been sold, the woman who
bought me sent me out in company with her half-brother, and
others, on a winter's hunting excursion. We were very unsuccessful. My sufferings from hunger and cold were very great;
I had scarcely any clothing; the snow was knee-deep; my
blanket was too short to cover me; often after having laid
down and drawn up my feet to get them underneath my
blanket, I was so benumbed that I could not, without considerable exertion, get my legs stretched out again. Early in the
morning the old Indian would build a large fire, and send me
and all the young Indians, and make us plunge all over in cold
water, which I think was a very great benefit to me, and prevented me from catching cold, as is usual under circumstances
of so much; exposure. At our return from hunting, in the
spring, the old man gave me up to Captain Elliot, a trader from
Detroit; but the old woman, who had bought me, finding it
out, got very angry, threatened Elliot, and got me back.
Some time in April there was a large dance held at a town
called Major Jack, which was about two miles from where I
lived. In these dances the men and women dance separately,
each forming a circle and moving round. I have never seen
their war dance, which is very different from the dance which
I witnessed. I have seen, I suppose, two hundred dancing at
once.
Among the Indians there is a religious society called the
Powow, composed of warriors of the best character. No mean
Indian is allowed to become a member; nor is a woman allowed
near the place where they hold their meetings. The husband
of my mistress belonged to this society. Shortly after my
return from the winter hunt, the Powow Society held this
meeting at Wapatomatick. My mistress's husband attended.
On his return home, I saw something awful on his countenance,
which much alarmed me. After a fire was kindled, he took
his seat in the wigwam, and his wife beside him. She calmly
asked him what was the matter with him. He told her, that,
at the Powow meeting, from the medicine proceeded a spirit,




518               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
at first, about as large as his hand, —holding it out,-and it
grew until it became the size of a boy,-holding his hand to
the height of a boy about twelve years old;-it then addressed
the Powow Society, denouncing judgments on them for their
sins, and reproving them for their wickedness;-that the Great
Spirit was angry with them, for they had become proud and
lazy, and brotherly love had departed from among them;that the time had been when their paths were marked by no
footsteps but those of men and dogs, but now their paths were
marked with no other tracks but those of horses;-that if a
brother should come requesting that a brother should walk
with him, he would say that he could not, that his horse was
at a distance,-that formerly if a brother came destitute of
garments when they had no other clothing but skins, it was
immediately given to him, without his paying for it, but now
if he came naked and destitute, that he must pay for it, or go
away without getting anything;-that the Great Spirit was
about to chastise them for their wickedness;-that Wapatomatick, Major Jack, and Kismagogee were all to be destroyed;
-and you Wapeuttequah,-addressing himself to his wife,will be punished for your pride. She was very rich, and could
clothe herself with garments so full of silver broaches that they
would almost stand alone. I was present in the wigwam, and
heard the above conversation between my mistress and her
husband.
These predictions were all literally fulfilled in the course of
three years. Logan from Keritucky made an incursion on
account of the thieving and murders of these Indians, and the
above mentioned towns were all destroyed. She who had been
my mistress fled into the woods almost naked and was reduced
to the most abject poverty. She came to the place where I
was living, near Detroit, told me her sufferings and asked for a
piece of bread. I told Mrs. Ariome that she who had been my
mistress, and had been good to me, was begging a piece of
bread; she sent her a loaf, which was received with the strongest expressions of gratitude.
I went to the dance above mentioned in company with the
Indian to whom I belonged; and there met with a French
trader, from Detroit, named Baptiste Ariome, who took a fancy
to me on account of my having a resemblance to one of his
sons, and bought me for fifty dollars paid in Indian money-to
wit, in broaches, crapes, and the like. I also fortunately met
with a Mr. Sherlock, a trader from Kentucky, who had been
a prisoner with these same Indians; and was the man who
had rescued a young man by the name of Moffit, captured by
the Indians on the head of Clinch, whose father, an intimate
acquaintance of mine, had removed to Kentucky, and was at




THE CAPTIVES' LIFE.               519
that time living there. I requested Mr. Sherlock to write a
letter for me to my father, and give it to Mr. Moffit, to let him
know that I had been purchased by a French trader, and was
gone to Detroit. Father, I have reason to believe, received this
letter; this I consider a very providential circumstance, in
giving comfort to my friends, and particularly to my father
and mother.
Mr. Ariome treated me like one of his sons. I eat at his
table and slept in a good feather bed with his son. In him and
his wife I met with a father and mother indeed. They always
gave me good counsel, and advised me, particularly Mrs. Ariome, not to abandon the idea of returning home, but to try and
accomplish it. I wrought on his farm with his sons, and occasionally assisted him in his trading expeditions with the Indians.
On one of these occasions four young Indians began to boast of
their bravery, and amongst other things said-" one Indian
could whip four white men;" —this provoked me, and I told
them that I could whip all four of them myself. They immediately attacked me; but Mr. Ariome hearing the noise came
and took me away. On another of these trading expeditions I
first heard of the destruction of my father's family from  a
Shawanee Indian with whom I had been acquainted when I lived
with them, and who was one of the party on that occasion.
This information was given me the latter part of the same summer the event occurred. While I was at Detroit, and before I
heard of the destruction of the family, I frequently dreamed
that I met my mother, sisters Jane and Polly travelling northward, their frocks being cut off at the knees; but after I heard
of the disaster I never more met them in these nightly visions.
Some time in the winter after the destruction of my father's
family, I heard of my sister Polly's being purchased by a Mr.
Stogwell, an American by birth, but unfriendly to the American cause, in short he was a man of bad character and an
unfeeling wretch. He treated her badly indeed. At that
time he resided a considerable distance from me. I was preparing to go to see her, but I was told by himself that he
intended in the spring to remove within a few miles of where I
lived. It was then in the dead of winter, and I declined the
undertaking. In the spring I heard that Mr. Stogwell had
removed into the neighbourhood where I lived, and immediately went to see my sister Polly. I found her in a most
abject condition, almost naked, clothed in a few dirty tattered
r'ags, an object of pity indeed. It is impossible for me to
detail-my feelings; sorrow and joy were combined; and I suppose her feelings on that occasion were similar to my own.
Having found my sister in so disagreeable a situation, I was
advised to apply to the commanding officer at Detroit, inform



520               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ing him of her treatment, in order to effect her release. I
went with Mr. Simon Girty to Colonel McKee, superintendent
for the Indians, who had Stogwell brought to trial to answer
the complaint against him; but I could not get her rescued
from him. It was however decided, that when an opportunity
should occur for our return home, she should be released without any remuneration. This was punctually performed on
application of Mr. Thomas Ivans.
THE RETURN OF THE CAPTIVES AS RELATED BY MR. MOORE.
Mr. Thomas Ivans, a brother of Martha, was induced to
seek his lost sister and the members of Mr. Moore's family that
might be still living. Clothing himself in skins, and securing
some money about his person, with rifle in hand, he proceeded
to the tribes in whose possession the captives had been, and
traced their wanderings to their several places of abode.
His sister was living with a Mr. Donaldson, receiving wages.
Mary Moore was delivered up by Mr. Stogwell, and James
Moore by Mr. Ariome. All being at liberty-says Mr. Moore
-we immediately prepared to go to our distant friends, and
as well as I remember, set out some time in October, 1789;
it being about five years from the time I had been taken
prisoner by the Indians, and little more than three from
the captivity of my sister. A trading boat coming down the
lakes we obtained a passage in it for myself and sister Polly
to the Moravian towns, a distance of about two hundred miles,
which was on our way to Pittsburg. There according to appointment, the day after our arrival, Thomas Ivans and his
sister Martha met us. We then prepared immediately for our
journey to Pittsburg. A party from some town of friendly
Indians was setting out on a hunting excursion and accompanied us about half way to Pittsburg; which was a fortunate
circumstance, for a considerable part of our route was through
a wilderness, the hunting ground of an unfriendly tribe. While
yet in company with the friendly Indians, we encamped one
night in company with a large party of the other Indians, and
the next morning four or five of their warriors came very early
to our camp, painted red, which alarmed us very much. They
made many inquiries, but did not molest us, which might not
have been the case had we been.alone. After this, nothing
occurred worthy of notice till we reached Pittsburg. Here Mr.
Ivans unfortunately got his shoulder dislocated, in consequence
of which we stayed a part of the winter in the vicinity, with an
uncle and aunt of his, until he became able to travel.  Having
expended all his money with the doctor and in travelling, he
left his sister Martha, and proceeded with Polly and myself to
Rockbridge, to the house of an uncle, William McPheeters,




MARY MOORE'S RETURN AND MARRIAGE.          521
about ten miles south-west of Staunton, near the Middle River.
He received from an uncle, Joseph Moore, the administrator of
her father's estate, compensation for his services; and afterwards returned and brought in his sister Martha.
A day or two after we set out, having called at a public
house for breakfast; whilst it was preparing, my sisteri took out
her Testament and was engaged in reading. Being called to
breakfast she laid down her Testament, and when we resumed
our journey she forgot it.. After we had proceeded several
miles, she thought of her Testament and strongly insisted on
turning back; but such were the dangers of the way, and such
the necessity of speeding our journey, that we could not turn
back. Being connected in association with so many trials, and
having been the source of so much consolation, the loss of the
book was greatly regretted.
Thus far the narrative of James Moore; —and before we proceed to the relation of the succeeding history of Mary Moore, it
is proper to state-that James Moore, the first captive, and the
author of the preceding narrative-in a few years after his
return from Indian captivity, sought the scenes of his youth in
Tazewell, and there passed a long life of irreproachable morality
and religion. He reared a large family, most of whom, with
himself, became members of the Methodist Church; and closed
a long life in the year 1848, noted for his tenacious memory,
conscientious regard for truth, and love of the gospel of
Christ. Martha Ivans married a man by the name of IIummer, moved to Indiana, and reared a large family. Two of her
sons became Presbyterian ministers.
The return of the captives to Rockbridge was a matter of
intense interest to the numerous relatives and the -public at
large. There were smiles and there were tears;-there was
gladness and there was sorrow. Those who had loved the parents,
and mourned their untimely end, rejoiced over the children
rescued from barbarians, to which they were fast becoming
assimilated.  Shortly after her return, Mary Moore went to
live with her. uncle, Joseph Walker, in Rockbridge county,
about six miles south of Lexington, at the place afterwards
known as Donihoo's Tavern, now in possession of Mr. Moffit.
At the age of twelve years she was baptised and admitted to the
ordinance of the Lord's supper, in the Presbyterian church, by
Rev. Samuel Houston, pastor of High Bridge and Falling Spring.: In mature years she became the wife of Rev. Samuel Brown,
pastor of New Providence, and passed the days of her womanhood in the affections and sympathies of her husband's charge.
Of the eleven children, of which she became the mother, one
died in infancy, another at the age of fourteen, giving pleasing
66




522                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
evidence of piety; the rest survived her. Through life she
retained a strong attachment for the wild people of the forest,
which no sense of injury, or memory of wrong, could eradicate
or blunt. Her children hung with devotion on her lips, when
she could be induced to narrate the history of her early life,
and wept with her over the melancholy end of her mother and
sister, whose death by fire she did not witness, but whose unburied ashes were pointed out to her by the significant signs of a
savage. Her patience, self-denial, and self-possession, acquired
in part in her captivity, were preeminent through life. A
pious and dutiful child, she was blessed with pious and dutiful
children. As they came to years of discretion, they made a
credible profession of religion. The sudden death of her husband left her a widow with ten children, the youngest but an
infant. The moderate means left for herself and family were,
by economy and good management, under the kind providence
of God, sufficient to rear and educate her children. She was
taken from them before the fruits of her maternal care and
solicitude were fully ripened; but while the blossoms were fair.
Upon being asked some little time before her death, how it
came, that her children so generally as they came to mature
years made profession of faith in Christ; she replied, with
some hesitation, —that besides the instruction given usually in
pious families, and the means used for the conversion of children, she had added but one worthy of notice, and that wasthat she and her husband, after her little ones were disposed in
their little beds to sleep, used, in the quietness of the night, to
bow the knee at their bedside and beg of God to make them
his children and faithful servants,-and ministers of the gospel.
The former part of this petition was answered before her
death, the latter part after she had gone to see her Saviour in
heaven. Of her seven sons, all professors of religion, five
entered the ministry in the Presbyterian Church; all licensed
by Lexington Presbytery. A son-in-law was the successor of
her husband, the comfort of her widowhood, and the guide of
her young children. She saw her youngest daughter and child
resign its delicate frame to the arms of death, in christian
composure; and then passed herself, with overcoming faith, to
see her God.
Perhaps, in her modesty, she did not see the power of her
own example, and the force of her own character, formed as it
had been by peculiar providences and moulded by strange circumstances. Perhaps the strangeness of the circumstances, in
which she came out upon the stage of life, made her undervalue
the excellence they had formed, and led her to doubt that one
so different from others in all her training could possess even
common excellence. And when her cheering success in training




CHARACTER OF MARY BROWN.              523
her household was brought up to view, she attributed it to
means open to all and used by many. These means are blessed
of God abundantly; and the success in times past encourage
men to use them in succeeding times with hope. Yet these
common means receive much of their power from the habits, and
more from the character of those who use them. And the
peculiar influence of any individual, in any given place and
course, can be fully understood only by acquaintance with the
physical, mental, moral and spiritual training, by which the
character has been formed, and the capabilities exercised for
that peculiar end. Mary Moore was eminently fitted to be
the wife of such a minister as Samuel Brown; her friends saw
it; the congregation of New Providence felt it. And her fitness
was the consequence of trials and sufferings that fall to the lot
of few. Her early life was passed in seclusion from the world.
In App's Valley she saw nature in her grandeur, and beauty,
and wildness; and her fellow creatures in the endearing relation
of connexions and neighbours in the wilderness. There was
little for her to love in the world but its simplicity, and in the
living beings around her, but their kindness and their piety.
Of the pomp and splendour of luxurious life she knew literally
nothing. The double log cabin was the only dwelling she
knew, and the plain food of the mountains all her taste desired.
Her clothing was made beneath her father's roof. The employment of Martha Ivans was to assist Mrs. Moore in clothing the
family; and Mary knew how to use her fingers for the same
purpose. Her education was of a religious character and for
a religious end. God was worshipped ini her father's family,
day by day; and she was taught to read, that she might worship
God understandingly, and know how to serve Jesus Christ in a
life of faith. Her parents' example taught her to turn away
from society to nature and to God; to live secluded and seek
for heaven as her abode, when earth and skies have passed
away. While the Indians were plundering the house of Mr.
Moore, of whatever they wished to preserve from the flames,
each of the captives seized on something to bear away with
them in their wanderings. Mary took up two New Testaments;
one of which was a companion of her three years' captivity, and
through her lips spoke to the Indians the unsearchable riches of
Christ. In cold, hunger and fatigue, in the wigwam and the
travel through the wilderness, she still clung to this relic of her
father's residence, this copy of the gospel of Christ.
Her tender affections manifested the law of kindness written
on her heart. She had been the companion of her little infant
sister, and probably, as the family was situated, her little nurse.
When the hour of peril came she would have hidden it with
herself and Martha Ivans beneath the floor of one of the rooms




524             SSKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
of the cabin; but the wailings of the little one, from a wound
made in its neck, by some missile from savage hands, threatened to prevent all concealment. Rather than abandon the
babe to the barbarians, she left her hiding place, and met the
catastrophe in its company in the open room. Her heroic kindness was ill rewarded by.the Indian, whose heart was filled
with fear by the wailings of the same infant from the same cause.
Lest its cries should betray their line of march, he dashed it
against a tree; and taught Mary to lose in silence what she
had bought with self-denial.
Her forgiveness of injuries according to the law of the gospel
was manifested by the feeling she ever exercised towards the
Indians from whose hands such multiplied miseries had been
dealt out to her early years. She always plead for mild mea-:sures towards these poor lost barbarians, whose sufferings in
this life were great, and whose prospects in futurity were
dismal; and' every movement for civilizing and christianizing
them met her hearty approbation. The news of the conversion
of any of the sons of the forest filled her heart with gratitude
to God, who forgets not the outcasts.  She could talk to her
little ones about her captivity, and relate all she knew of her
mother's death, without bitterness of feeling, though in tears.
Soon after her return to her friends, at the early age of twelve
years, she asked for the privileges of the church on profession
of her faith in Christ. Through sufferings the orphan had been
led to God, her refuge and her treasure. What words wereour Father which art in the heavens-dropping from her lips
in the wilderness and at the mercy-seat of her ancestors! The
word of God says-They that seek me early shall find me,and, when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord
will take me up. It has not pleased God to give us the record
of her Christian experience in the wilderness, nor to reveal to
us the manner in which the Spirit led her into all truth; he has
only shown us the desolate place and the forlorn outward circumstances of her seeking God and finding peace. But the
event,-the peace she found, the good hope through grace, and
the devoted heart, were seen all through her life; her record
of experience is found in her family and in the congregation to
which her husband ministered; in her keeping a good conscience both toward God and toward man, in her self-denial
for the good of others and of her own soul, in her maintaining
a godly walk, in her evidently not living for this world, but for
God. Alas! how often is it the case that we desire the fruits
of godliness, rather than be willing to pass through the sanctifying process by which they are obtained.




52.5
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE COMMISSION OF SYNOD. -WITH SKETCHES OF LEGRAND,
MARSHALL, AND LYLE.
THE Synod of Virginia held its first meeting, Wednesday,
October 22, 1788, at New.Providence, Rockbridge county,
Virginia. It consisted of four Presbyteries; Hanover, embracing the Presbyterian population east of the Blue Ridge;
Lexington, that on.the west side of the Ridge, except the congregations on the Potomac; Redstone, Pennsylvania, west of
the Alleghany; and Transylvania, the settlements in Kentucky,
then a part of Virginia.
* In the month of May, 1789, the General Assembly requested
the Synods to recommend to the General Assembly, at their
meeting in 1790 —"two members, well qualified to be employed
in missions on our frontiers, for the purpose of organizing
churches, administering ordinances, ordaining elders, &c. —and
to meet the expense-" it is strictly enjoined on the several Presbvteries to have collections made during the present year."
The Synod of Virginia at its second meeting, in the fall of
1789, taking into consideration the state of the vacant congregations, and the new settlements in their bounds, entered
upon a plan of missions according to the following resolutions-viz.' 1st. That we will take all proper care to seek for men of
knowledge, integrity and piety, who may travel through our
bounds as missionaries, to preach the gospel, to catechise and
instruct the youth, and to discharge such other parts of ministerial duty as they may be authorized to perform.
"2d. That there shall be a Committee of Synod appointed,
consisting of four ministers and four elders, who shall be called
The Commission of Synod, to receive the recommendations of
such men from the respective Presbyteries, to examine into
their credentials and fitness for the discharge. of such an office,
and who shall give them such directions and instructions as the
exigencies of different places, in their wisdom, may require;
that they shall meet annually and oftener if thought necessary; and that any two ministers, and as many elders of the
Commission as shall be convened at the place appointed, shall
have sufficient power to proceed to business.
"3d. That it be recommended to the different Presbyteries




526                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
to raise such contributions as they may be able, in their
respective bounds, which shall be put into a general fund for
the support of such missionaries.
"4th. That there shall be a treasurer appointed," &c. —His
duties were defined at length.
To carry into effect these resolutions, Rev. Messrs. William
Graham and Archibald Scott, with elders John Lyle and
John Wilson, of Lexington Presbytery; and Rev. Messrs. John
B. Smith and James Mitchell, and elders Benjamin Rice and
Charles Allen, of Hanover Presbytery, were appointed —" to
constitute the Commission." The Commission commenced their
labours with spirit and success, and sent their missionaries from
the Bay Shore to the Mississippi. The vigour of action was
unabated for a number of years. As the Presbyteries increased
in numbers and in members, the Commission was divided
and acted as two bodies, the one east of the Alleghany and the
other west, with great efficiency. About the year 1807, the
Synod found the work of supplying the extended and extending
western frontiers too extensive for her means, and after a few
years the Synodical Commission ceased, and the General Assembly conducted the work of missions by a Board appointed
for the purpose.
From the records of the Commission, which have been preserved, a few extracts, partly in a condensed form, and partly
verbatim, will be given to illustrate the principles of the Virginia Synod, and some of their doings in building up, congregations in the new settlements.  A spirit inherited from  the
original Hanover Presbytery, which began the work of domestic missions in her earliest days, is visible in all the proceedings.
The first meeting of the Commission was at Liberty, in
Bedford county, April 2d, 1790. All the members present
but Mr. Scott.  He declined acting, and the next Synod appointed the Rev. William Wilson in his place. At the first
meeting it was resolved —"that it is the opinion of this Commission, that the preachers should be unordained preachers
whose object should be to preach the truths of the everlasting
gospel." The missionaries were to preach, and catechise, and
commence the gathering of congregations; their compensation
to be, sixty pounds Virginia currency,-two hundred dollars
a-year. Mr. Nash Legrand, a probationer, under the care of
Hanover Presbytery, and a convert of the revival of'87-'88,
whose preaching had been so popular and effective in Lexington and the neighbourhood, was chosen the first missionary.
He was requested to spend half his time as a missionary in
Lexington Presbytery, and half in Hanover, at places the
Commission should direct.




COMMISSION OF THE SYNOD.             527
There was a peculiarity in the relation of the missionaries to
the Commission. It was directed by Synod-" that those
young men who are employed as missionaries, shall be immediately under the power of the Commission, to direct, instruct,
and reprove; but in case any of those young men shall be
charged with error in doctrine, or immorality in practice, that
would expose them to the censure of the church, upon application to the Commission, he or they shall be given up to the
Presbytery by which he or they were recommended to the
Commission, for trial and censure agreeable to the rules of our
Church." The missionaries were recommended to the Commission either by the Presbytery as a body, or by a number of
the members individually: and when chosen by the Commission, they were, by act of Presbytery, put under the care of
the Commission. When their term of service expired, or they
resigned their commissions, they were recommended to their
respective Presbyteries, and their reception was made a matter
of record on the books of Presbytery.
Mr. Legrand entered upon his office on the 1st of June,
and continued to labour with great success till the 1st of
October; though strongly solicited to continue, he resigned
his commission with intention of accepting a call from Cedar
Creek and Opeckon, in Frederick county.
At the second meeting of the Commission, September 21st,
1790-"upon recommendation of Mr. Smith, a member of
Hanover Presbytery, Mr. Hill, a probationer under the care of
said Presbytery, was chosen a missionary. Mr. Hill being
present accepted the office. Mr. Carey Allen, a probationer
under the care of Hanover Presbytery, was also chosen a
missionary; and Mr. Smith is directed to give Mr. Allen
information, and solicit his acceptance. Mr. Robert MNirshall,
a probationer under the care of Redstone Presbytery, was
chosen a missionary, upon condition said Presbytery recommend him to that office. Ordered, that Mr. Smith and Mr.
Graham apply to the members of Redstone Presbytery, for
such recommendation; and that Mr. Smit'h apply to Hanover
Presbytery, and request their concurrence with the choice of
Mlessrs. Hill and Allen." Application was made to the Presbyteries, and full concurrence expressed,  nd Messrs. Hill,
Allen and Marshall entered on their labours zweith spirit.
In April, 1791, at Briery, the missionariecs gave in their
reports.  Messrs. Hill and Allen had laboured east of the
Blue Ridge, and Mr. Marshall on the west of the same, from
the waters of Back Creek, in Berkley, to the head of Green
Brier, and " to Hugh Allenson's," on James River.  The narratives of the missionaries, which were a diary of their travels,
preachings, reception, places of preaching, prospects for con



528               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
gregations, and the apparent success attending their efforts
were-" very satisfactory."  Ordered-" that Mr. Hill itinerate the districts of Hanover and Lexington, for six months.
That Marshall and Allen itinerate in the districts of Lexington, Redstone, and Transylvania for one year." Under this
order, Messrs. Allen and Marshall went to Kentucky, in the
latter part of the summer. They did not return at the expiration of the year.-April 6th, 1792, at the meeting in Liberty,
Bedford county-" a letter was received from the Rev. David
Rice, directed to Mr. Graham, informing-that the missionaries, Mr. Allen and Mr. Marshall would not attend the Commission of Synod this spring; that the late period of their
arrival in Kentucky, and the severity of the winter, would in a
great measure defeat the design of their mission if they
returned this spring; that the attention of the people to the
word preached, and their desires for the continuance of the
missionaries the ensuing summer, had induced this determination. Which determination the Commission unanimously
approved."  In September, 1792, —"A  letter was received
from Mr. Marshall informing that he resigned his office as
missionary, and requesting a dismission from their body to the
Presbytery of Redstone —accompanied with a request to that
body to dismiss him to join the Presbytery of Transylvania;
and also a recommendation from this Commission. Mr. Graham produced a statement of Mr.. Marshall's accounts for
eighteen months, with a receipt for the whole of his wages for
that time." Mr. Marshall settled in Kentucky. His life and
labours will be the subject of a separate sketch. "Mr. Allen
gave a very full and satisfying narrative of his itinerations
through the districts of Redstone, Kentucky, Lexington and
Hanover."  Mr. Allen returned to Kentucky, and finally
settled there.
At the meeting in Winchester, October 6th, 1791-" The
committee having received a recommendation, of Mr. John
Lyle, from the Presbytery of Lexington, have chosen him to the
office of missionary. Mr. Lyle being present, accepted the
office. Ordered that Mr. Lyle itinerate in the neighbourhood
of Winchester, on the waters of the Potomac, Jackson's River,
Green Brier and Roanoke, until our next meeting." Mr. Lyle
finally settled in Hampshire county, and after labouring many
years laid his body among the people of his charge in Springfield.
At the meeting in Liberty, 1792, April 9th, Monday morning,
6 o'clock, William Hill, having made report of his mission
through the counties of Richmond, Lancaster, Northumberland,
Prince William, Fauquier, and Berkley,' resigned his commission, and took charge of the congregations of Charlestown and




MISSIONARIES CHOSEN BY SYNOD.         529
Hopewell, in Jefferson county. He is still living, having passed
his ministerial life in that part of the Valley of Virginia belonging to Winchester Presbytery.
At the same meeting-April 9th, 1792 —' Upon motion the
Commission elected Mr. Archibald Ale;ander, a probationer
under the care of Lexington Presbytery,'to the office of missionary upon condition that the Presbytery recommend him.
Mr. Graham and Mr. John Lyle are directed to apply to the
Presbytery for such recommendation." Mr. Alexander still
lives-having filled the offices of President of Hampden Sidney,
Pastor in the Church of Christ, and first Professor of Didactic
Theology in the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian
Church, Princeton, New Jersey.
April 28th, 1792 —At New Monmouth, —" The Commission
proceeded to elect Mr. Matthew Lyle, and Mr. Benjamin Grigsby to the office of missionary; and received a recommendation
from the Presbytery of Lexington." Mr. Grigsby was settled
in Norfolk, and after a few years of usefulness in the ministry,
was suddenly cut off in the prime of life. Mr. Lyle became
pastor of Buffalo and Briery congregations in Prince Edward
and Charlotte, and filled up a life of usefulness to the church.
The first tour assigned these missionaries was-" Mr. Alexander and Mr. Grigsby to itinerate in company through Amherst, Prince Edward, Nottaway, and Amelia to Petersburg;
then Mr. Grigsby, through Lancaster, Prince William, Fauquier,
and Loudon; and Mr. Alexander through Nottaway, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Halifax, Pittsylvania, Franklin, Henry and
Patrick. And Mr. Matthew Lyle to itinerate through Franklin,
Henry, Patrick, Montgomery, Wythe, and Washington counties.
At a meeting in Harrisonburg, September 22d, 1792, after
hearing the reports of Messrs. Allen, Alexander, Grigsby,
Matthew Lyle, Mr. John Lyle, and receiving the letter from
Mr. Marshall, mentioned above, the Commission proceeded, on
the recommendation of the Presbytery of Lexington, to choose
William Calhoun and Matthew Houston missionaries. Mr.
Calhoun went to Kentucky with Mr. Allen, on his second trip;
returned and settled in Virginia. He is still living, having
passed his ministerial life in and near Staunton, Virginia.
The records of the Commission for 1793 are lost. But from
the records of 1794, it appears Mr. Samuel Brown had been
appointed missionary in 1793. He was afterwards settled at,New Providence, Rockbridge county, and lies among the
people of his charge. He was a father of preachers. Mr.
Adam Freeman, of Lexington Presbytery, was also appointed
in 1793, and continued to act in 1794. In May, 1794, Mr.
Samuel Rannells, from Lexington Presbytery, received an appointment. He settled in Kentucky. At a meeting, Septem67




530               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ber 20th, 1794, it appears Mr. James Welch had been appointed
missionary on recommendation of Transylvania Presbytery;and the following minute respecting him, shows the principles
of the Commission. "The Commission have been informed
that Mr. Welch, shortly after he received a commission, married
a wife, and thereby rOdered it impracticable to answer the designs of the Commission; therefore, unanimously agreed that
said Mr. Welch be struck off from the list of missionaries." Information was sent to his Presbytery, with a request-" to consider
him in the same standing as when he left them; the Commission
having nothing against him, saving only that he did not answer
the purposes of the Commission." He was settled pastor of the
churches in Lexington and Georgetown; and for several years
Professor of Languages in Transylvania University.
In 1795, the Commission appointed Robert Stewart and
Samuel Ramsey, on recommendation of Lexington Presbytery.
There were no new appointments in 1796.
In June, 1797, Mr. James Robinson, of Winchester Presbytery, was chosen missionary. He settled at the Cove, in
Albemarle, and there closed his life and labouis. On 29th of
September, Mr. John Lyle "presented a dismission and recommendation from the Presbytery of Lexington, to ride as a missionary," and was received. The next summer Mr. Lyle settled
in Kentucky. The prominent part he acted in the affairs of
the church in Kentucky, requires a separate notice of his life.
During the years 1798, 1799, 1800, and 1801, the Commission could not obtain new missionaries. Those who had been
in their employ, were all settled as pastors. The Commission
therefore proposed to Synod, in 1801, a dissolution of the body.
IHere the file of records stops. The remaining records are probably irrevocably lost. The Commission was continued for some
years under the names of the Commission East of the Alleghany, and the Commission West. The records of Assembly
show that the Commission was active, and paid attention to the
Indian tribes on thB frontiers.
NASH LEGRAND.
Nash Legrand was a descendant of the French refugees, or
Huguenots, who settled upon the James River, at Manakin
town, a few miles above Richmond, the latter part of the seventeenth century.  His grandfather was one of these settlers.
"His father, Peter Legrand"-says Dr. Hill in his manuscript,
which will be freely used in this sketch, sometimes verbatim
and sometimes condensed-" removed to Prince Edward, and
became possessed of a farm within two miles of Hampden Sid



NASH LEGRAND.                  531
ney College, where he lived and died. His mother was sister
to Colonel John Nash of Templeton, in Prince Edward, who
had been raised in ease and affluence, and was one of the most
accomplished ladies of her day, moved and associated with the
first circles of society, and became one of the most pious and
exemplary Christians to be found." Her husband unhappily
fell into intemperate habits; consequently he made poor provision for his increasing family, and became stern, uncourteous,
and sometimes rough.  This trial she bore as a Christian.
Col. Nash had taken under his care the eldest son of his sister,
the subject of this sketch, and given him a classical education at
Hampden Sidney, then under the Presidency of Rev. John B.
Smith.
Young Legrand, at the time the revival commenced in College, under Dr. Smith, in the year 1787, was prosecuting his
studies preparatory to the practice of medicine. In his personal appearance he was remarkably handsome; his frame tall,
spare, and well proportioned, graceful, easy in its movements;
his manners prepossessing; his countenance open; his hair
dark brown, and his forehead high; his eye soft and expressive; his voice melodious. In company that pleased him his
conversational powers were extraordinary, seldom surpassed for
sallies of wit or amusing anecdote. At the same time he had
a degree of hauteur and sternness which made him unpopular
with the students, excepting those he selected as associates.
His capacity for close reasoning and deep research was not of
the first order; but subjects he did grasp he could exhibit in a
most forcible and prepossessing point of view. But unhappily
he was not free from profanity in his language, nor the taint of
vice in his habits, and a mischievous indulgence in frolicsome
pranks. The good steward of College was heard to say when
Legrand professed conversion-" I am in hopes now, I may
have hogs which can walk upon four legs."
When the revival began to be seen in prayer-meetings in
College and the neighbourhood, Legrand withdrew from company and kept himself at Templeton, devoted to the study of
medicine. Reports, however, of what was doing reached him;
and the conversion of his college mates rendered him uneasy.
The Rev. Drury Lacy, spending a night at Templeton, was put
to sleep in the same room with Legrand, of whose uneasy state
of mind he was entirely ignorant. The young man could not
sleep, but lay tossing from side to side all night. Discovering
in the night that Mr. Lacy was not asleep, he inquired if he
might put a question. Lacy readily granted leave. "I wish,"
said Legrand-" to know what would become of a man, who
had led a vicious life, and had determined to reform, and had
broken off from wicked practices, and commenced to seek reli



532              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
gion, but had not yet attained it; if he should die in that state,
what would become of him?"  Mr. Lacy replied-" if that be
all, he must go to hell and be damned with the rest of the
wicked world. Many go that far with the stony ground hearers, and never produce the true fruits of faith and repentance.
It is not he that seeks religion, but he that gets it that shall be
saved; for many in the great day shall seek to enter in and
shall not be able."  "If that be so"-said Legrand —" there is
no time for me to be loitering in my bed." He instantly rose,
retired to the garden, and spent the remainder of the night in
groans, and lamentations, and prayers to God for pardoning
mercy.
This took place about the beginning of the spring vacation
of 1788. In that vacation Carey Allen and William Hill had
gone to the Guinea neighbourhood, in Cumberland county, and
were diligently employed in holding prayer-meetings among
their relations and friends in the evening, and conversing by
day with the serious inquirers. The morning after the conversation with Mr. Lacy, Legrand took his horse and rode to the
house of Mr. Daniel Allen, the father of Carey Allen, and stepfather of' William Hill, an entire stranger in the neighbourhood,
and known to these young men only as one opposed to the revival, and by his unexpected appearance excited no little surprise. According to the etiquette of the country, the stranger
was courteously received and kindly treated, and not questioned
as to the cause of his visit. As evening approached the young
men informed him that an appointment had been made for a
prayer-meeting at the house of Mr. Nathan Womack, distant
about two miles; and with hesitation, as he had said nothing of
his state of mind, they invited him to accompany them. His
prompt acceptance of the invitation surprised them, and excited
some suspicion that he was in trouble of mind. They ventured
to propose the subject of personal religion; he frankly told all
his experience, and declared that religion was the sole object of
his coming to visit them. Somewhat incredulous, they treated
him as one in earnest. At the appointed place and hour, a
large room was filled with serious worshippers. Religious worship commenced; and it was soon visible from his deep drawn
sighs, and many tears, that no one present was more in earnest
than young Legrand.
As the exercises progressed his distress increased; the meeting being prolonged on account of his condition and that of
some others, he gave vent to his feelings in groans and cries
of-"what shall I do?"-"what shall I do?"  At length he
fell prostrate on the floor, silent and apparently insensible.
Laid upon a bed he remained without muscular motion till
morning light; his respiration feeble, barely perceptible; his




CONVERSION OF LEGRAND.              533
pulse very weak, and a little tremulous; his flesh approaching
to cold. The young men continued conversing and singing. in
the room, and also occasionally praying. About the dawn of
day he began to move,-set up, —arose,-and began praising
God for the great things he had done for him; and seemed full
of joy, and overflowing with love to God his Saviour, to his
friends, and to all creatures. Looking at the rising sun, he
declared it possessed beauties hitherto unseen by him; and all
creation was clothed with new charms. He said he never lost
his consciousness all the time he lay upon the floor and bed in
that apparently insensible state; that his mind was deeply
exercised, all the time with terror or with joy.
Sudden conversions were then rather matters of suspicion
than desire. Dr. Smith and others placed little confidence in
sudden conversions, especially if connected with bodily prostration, and great mental agitation.  The young people around
him had received a religious education; and there was no fear
of proselyting efforts in his charge. He therefore did not
hasten his young people to profess religion; but gave them
time to ponder the subject well and consider their situation,
weigh their hopes, and examine their principles and views, and
not hastily to cry "peace, peace," to themselves. He would
often try their hopes and joys, by throwing a doubt upon the
reality of their experience of the things that were true and
great. He tried Allen; and it distressed him exceedingly.
He tried Legrand, but could not shake him off from the position- "I know in whom I have believed"-and-" whereas I
was blind, now I see."
The change professed by Legrand was a consistent one; it
was a change of principle and of feeling and conduct, all consentaneous, and visible. His temper and deportment were
that of a Christian; and his professed views of "the plan
of a sinner's salvation by the renewing of the Spirit of God,
and the atoning blood. and righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, were as correct as any could give, and were the ground
of his joy and rejoicing." The effect of his sudden conversion
and great joy, was peculiar, as in the case of Carey Allen, a few
months previous. Others desired the same rapturous exercises;
and sought the same preceding distressing views of themselves
as sinners.  "They wished to feel such a load of conviction for
sin as would crush them to the earth; and then such a sudden
dleliverance as would fill them with ecstatic joy and rejoicing.
Many were the attempts to throw away all they had experienced before, begin anew, and get religion in the way Allen
and Legrand had obtained theirs. But it is foolish and dangerous to set up the experience of any man as a standard for
all others; though the work is substantially the same in all,




534               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
there is in nothing a greater diversity than in the circumstances attending the conversion of different persons.  On the
other hand it is equally weak and presumptuous to limit the
Almighty as to the time required to convert the soul and regenerate the heart of the sinner. In fact, we scarcely find in
the New Testament any other conversions than sudden ones,
as in the day of Pentecost, the succeeding preaching, in the
case of the Eunuch and of Lydia and the jailor. This appears
to have been the common mode of conversion in apostolic days.
Conversion was precisely the same thing in those days that it
is now, and effected by the same agency of the Divine Spirit,
and not by miraculous operations.  Miracles never yet converted a sinner."
As soon as Mr. Legrand returned from Guinea in Cumberland, to Prince Edward, he threw aside his medical books, and
commenced the study of Theology under the direction of Dr.
Smith, and pursued it with vigour. At Cumberland meetinghouse, October 10th, 1788, "the Presbytery being informed
that Mr. Nash Legrand was desirous of offering himself as a
candidate for the ministry, he was introduced; and having been
examined as to the dealings of God with his soul, his acquaintance with experimental religion, and his motives for desiring
to enter upon the ministry, to the satisfaction of Presbytery,
he was admitted to further trials." Mr. Clement Read was
admitted to trials the same day. William Mahon and Drury
Lacy were ordained, the next day, as Evangelists.  "The
Presbytery having continued Mr. Legrand and Mr. Read on
trials, and the necessities of the church apparently requiring
despatch, an intermediate Presbytery was appointed to be
holden at Buffalo meeting-house in January, for the purpose of
furthering them in their trials. Mr. Legrand was appointed
to produce at the same time an essay on regeneration, and a
Presbyterial exercise on John xiv. 23." At the appointed time
"Mr. Legrand read an essay on regeneration, which was sustained." On the next day, January 15th, 1789, Cary Allen
was received on trials. Mr. Legrand's Presbyterial exercise
was read; and he was appointed a lecture on the 23d Psalm;
and a popular discourse on Romans v. 1 and 2, to be exhibited
at the next stated meeting of Presbytery.
At a meeting of the Presbytery at Buffalo, April 24th, 1789,
there were present, Rev. Messrs. Richard Sankey, John Todd,
Archibald McRobert, John B. Smith, William Mahon, and
Drury Lacy; Elders, Charles Allen, Bernard Todd, Samuel
Graham, and Stephen Petties. Mr. Legrand opened the Presbytery with a popular discourse, on Romans v. 1 and 2"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access




LEGRAND LICENSED TO PREACH.             535
by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God." Mr. Legrand also read a lecture on the
23d Psalm. On the next day, April 25th, these pieces were
sustained as parts of trial.  "Presbytery entered upon the
examination of Mr. Legrand respecting his knowledge in the
learned languages and sciences, and in the doctrines of religion; and Mr. Legrand having produced a diploma from the
College of Hampden Sidney, it was considered a sufficient evidence of his learned qualifications; and his answers upon
divinity were esteemed a competent proof of his acquaintance
with the doctrines of religion.  The Presbytery therefore,
having received from Mr. Legrand a profession of his accepting the Westminster Confession of Faith as now received by
the Presbyterian churches in America, and of subjection to the
Presbytery in the Lord, proceeded to license him to preach the
everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ." This year that had passed
between the hopeful conversion of Mr. Legrand, and his licensure to preach the gospel, was one of intense excitement, in
Prince Edward, Charlotte, Cumberland, and Campbell, on the
subject of religion. The revival with which this country was
visited for some time was at its height of interest.  There
were calls for preaching in every direction.
Soon after his licensure, Mr. Legrand was prevailed upon by
Rev. Henry Pattillo to visit his charge in Granville county,
North Carolina.  There his labours were greatly blessed.
Passing on from Granville he visited Orange and Caswell counties. In the latter county the greatest excitement on the subject of religion was felt, particularly at the Red House, and the
Hico settlements. Rev. James McGready carried the work
into counties further south, particularly Guilford, and part of
Orange, and about this time gathered in a great company of
youth.
Mr. Legrand's preaching was more than usually attractive.
His sermons did not give evidence of superior learning, deep
research, finish of composition, or close reasoning. Many of his
contemporaries far surpassed him in these particulars, and yet fell
far behind him in the pulpit, both in popularity and usefulness.
His disposition, which inclined to taciturnity, and sometimes
to a gloomy reserve, was sweetened by the comfort he enjoyed
in religion; and the ardour with which he engaged in the work
of the ministry carried him so above all impediments that these
defects were not seen in his early ministry. He was free from
levity in manner or conversation. The comeliness of his person,
the easiness of his manners and gestures, and especially the
music and modulation of his voice, were admirably fitted to the
pulpit, and attracted attention, without any special regard to the
subject matter of his discourses; but combined with the import



536                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
ance of the truths which he set forth with clearness and solemnity, few could resist the influence. The deep and all pervading impressions of godliness, with which his soul was imbued
from the time of his conversion, remained with him for many
years without apparent abatement, and created an atmosphere
about him which every one felt that approached him. He lived
near to God, and enjoyed religion more and more uniformly than
is usual; he excelled in prayer, as one who dwelt near the throne
of grace; the presence of his Saviour accompanied him; and in
the pulpit all these things imparted such an unction to his sermons
and exhortations, that few persons could sit and hear him preach
without feeling more or less conviction for sin. He had a peculiar talent for addressing backsliders and arousing the stupid
consciences of lukewarm professors.. He was a favoured instrument of awakening professors of religion to the necessity of
living up to their profession. Under his preaching many old
professors were made to doubt the reality of their religion, and
to set out to seek a better and more scriptural hope; and some
hesitated not to say they were convinced they had never had
experienced true conversion before; and some ministers of the
gospel were known to make similar confessions while attending
on his ministrations, and their future course of usefulness confirmed this opinion.
He did not write out his sermons in full, as his talent lay
more in readiness for expressing in the pulpit, the things he
had prepared, than in selecting proper words while inditing
with his pen. His sermons were on common subjects, filled up
with plain truths, delivered in a simple plain style. He was
entirely free from ranting, or loose declamation; was modest,
grave and unassuming, with a heart for his work. This strain
of preaching, with which he commenced, he carried on through
all his active life. None of the ministers licensed during or
immediately after the great revival, among his associates, were
so sought after by men, or as much honoured by God as
Legrand. While this often had an humbling influence on
them, it never seemed to exalt him with pride.
The latter part of the summer he returned from his most successful tour in Carolina, and was present at Briery in August,
when Graham from Rockbridge made his first visit, accompanied with his young people, and delivered his masterly discourse from the words-Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.
To this meeting in Briery, many young people, from Carolina,
came in companies, earnestly seeking salvation; and an intercourse on communion seasons commenced whose consequences
were of great benefit to the cause of religion. When the
Rockbridge company returned he accompanied them to Bedford, where there were religious services protracted for some




LEGRAND'S PREACHING BLESSED.          537
days in Mr. Mitchell's charge, then enjoying the revival.
James Turner had just professed conversion, and multitudes
were inquiring what they should do. The company from
Rockbridge were induced to stay some days in attendance on
religious services; and Mr. Legrand accompanied them to
Lexington. A revival commenced at the meeting held the
first evening after their return; and Mr. Legrand proved a
most acceptable preacher. Some account of the revival that
followed is given in the sketch of William Graham.
In October the Presbytery of Hanover met at Pisgah in
Bedford county, in the midst of the revival. At this meeting
of Presbytery, William Moore a Methodist minister, was received on trials, and after examination was ordained to the full
work of the gospel ministry. William Hill and David Wiley
were upon due examination received on trials for licensure.
Carey Allen exhibited parts of his trials and was examined on
theology. So the two young men, Hill and Allen, on whose
religious services Legrand was attending, when he was hopefully converted, were slowly advancing into the ministry while
their young friend was preaching with the greatest acceptance.
The ministers in attendance at this meeting were Archibald
McRoberts, John Blair Smith, James Mitchell, William Mahon
and Drury Lacy. William Graham and Samuel Carrick, from
Lexington Presbytery, were present. Sankey, Todd, Waddell,
Irvine and Blair were absent. On Saturday, 17th, 1789, the
records state-" A supplication was presented to the Presbytery from the congregations of Winchester, Opeckon and Cedar
Creek for supplies, especially for such preachers as are not
already settled in churches. As these congregations are in the
bounds of Lexington Presbytery, Mr. Chipley, the Commissioner, informed Presbytery that they would have regularly
applied for leave to make their application to this body, but
that the present meeting being a week before that of Lexington
Presbytery, the congregations were prevented in their intended
application. Messrs. Graham and Carrick assured the Presbytery that their brethren would cheerfully acquiesce in the measures that might be adopted on this occasion, for supplying said
congregations according to their request. On Monday, 19th" Mr. Legrand was appointed to supply in the congregations of
Winchester and Opeckon and Cedar Creek, during the months
of March and April; and the rest of his time, at his discretion
till our next." Where he passed the winter is uncertain;
probably in North Carolina, as most pressing means were
used by Mr. Pattillo and the people in North Carolina to induce
him to labour in the counties bordering on Virginia, either temporarily or statedly. God blessed his preaching; and Pattillo
68




538               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
desired to secure that preaching for the waste places of
Carolina.
In the fall of this year, 1789, the Synod of Virginia determined to carry on the missionary concerns in its wide bounds
by a Commission consisting of four ministers and four elders,
Of this committee the Rev. William Graham was chairman.
In the month of April, 1790, while Mr. Legrand was on his
visit of supply to Cedar -Creek, Opeckon and Winchester, this
Commission appointed him their first missionary.
At a meeting of the Presbytery of Hanover at Briery, May
6th, 1790 —  a call was presented to Mr. Legrand from the
people about Dan River, in Virginia, and on Hico, in Caswell
county, North Carolina. Another call was presented to Mr.
Legrand, from the united congregations of Winchester, Opeckon
and Cedar Creek. Mr. Smith also, in the name of the Commission of Synod, urged Mr. Legrand to accept of their appointment of him to be one of their missionaries.  Mr. Legrand took
the calls and request under consideration; but desired time
before he returned an answer."  At this meeting, Presbytery
took the necessary steps-" for raising a sum of money for the
purpose of sending forth and paying missionaries to preach the
gospel in vacant congregations and other places, where they
may think proper."  This act was in obedience to a resolution
of Synod, in order to sustain the Commission of Synod, in their
efforts to evangelize the extended borders of Virginia, westward
and southward. Individuals were named by Presbytery, for all
the churches in its bbunds, who should receive the donations for
this purpose. This Commission of Synod, during the period of
its existence, was energetic and successful.
On Saturday, May 8th, 1790, at the same meeting-" Mr.
Legrand was called upon to determine respecting the calls which
were presented him; whereupon he accepte(l the appointment
of the Commission of Synod at present; and in the meantime
desired to retain the calls for further consideration." On the
same day Carey Allen was licensed to preach the gospel.
Of Mr. Legrand's services under the appointment of the
Commission of Synod, Mr. Graham, the chairman, reported to
the Assembly, in May, 1791,-" Mr. Nash Legrand, a probationer, under the care of the Presbytery of Hanover, was chosen
a missionary in April, 1790. He commenced his circuit in the
beginning of the following June, and passed through the counties of Bedford, Rockbridge, Botetourt, Montgomery, Augusta,
Rockingham and Frederick, an extent of three or four hundred
miles, with a marked success in engaging the attention of the
old and young, to the concerns of their immortal souls, and in
a general attendance on the means of grace wherever he came."




LEGRAND IN FREDERICK.               539
This is the modest account given by the Commission, of their
first missionary's tour-a tour important as the first of a series
under the care of the Synod's Commission,-and remarkable
for success in such measure as seldom falls to the lot of a missionary. The generation that witnessed the extension of the
revival under the labours of Legrand, in that missionary tour,
have nearly all passed from the stage of life, and few have left
any written memorials of the excitement on the subject of religion. But the name of Legrand has always been pronounced
with reverence by those Christians who felt the power of his
ministry. There are still living a few who heard his voice; to
them, the mention of his name recalls the vision of an angel
of mercy, whom multitudes will bless forever.
At an intermediate meeting of Presbytery, held at Buffaloe,
July 7th, 1790 —" Mr. Legrand was called upon, at the
request of Mr. Warren, Commissioner for the congregation of
Hico, in North Carolina, to return an answer to the call presented to him by those congregations. But being yet undetermined upon that subject, he requested still to retain the call,
leaving' the said congregation, nevertheless, at full liberty to
call any other, whenever they please." On the next day
William Hill was licensed.
At the fall meeting of the Presbytery, at the Bird meetinghouse, October 18, 1790-" a Commissioner from the congregations upon Hico in North Carolina, and Dan River in Virginia, appeared, requesting an answer from Mr. Legrand to
the call which had been presented to him. But as Mr. Legrand, in consequence of a call from Winchester, &c. had
agreed to reside there for a term of time, he petitions for supplies." On the same day Carey Allen and William Hill were
recommended by Presbytery to the Commission of Synod, as
proper persons for missionaries.
From the fall of 1790, for a period of years, Mr. Legrand
lived and laboured in Frederick county, Virginia, in the congregations of Cedar Creek and Opeckon. At the time of his
visit in the spring of this year, these old congregations, which
had been greatly dilapidated, were aroused, the pious enlivened, and very many were inquiring what, they should do to
be saved. The large Presbyterian population in this beautiful
and fertile part of the Valley lying between the North Mountain and the Blue Ridge, awakened to earnestness in.religion,
prevailed upon Legrand to become their resident minister.
Among these people there had been, from the first settlement
of the country, much both of the spirit and the forms of
religion, according to the Presbyterian faith: and Legrand
found much warm piety to cheer him; in gathering in a harvest
to the church. Here was a large company of young people




540               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
who had been religiously brought up, with few hopeful Christians among them; and a number of old professors, some of
whom rejoiced in God. Crowds attended on his ministry, and
men began to profess faith in Christ under his preaching.
At a meeting of the Presbytery at Briery, April 2d, 1791 —
"From a representation of the state of the churches about
Winchester, where Mr. Legrand has resided for some time,
from the desires of the people, as represented by him, to
have him ordained to the whole work of the ministry, and
from his own desire, for several reasons, to be ordained,
as he has a prospect of residing amongst that people for
a considerable time, although he does not wish to be installed at present to that particular charge; the Presbytery
agreed to ordain him at this meeting and appointed Monday
for that business. Resolved, that Mr. Legrand preach on
Monday previous to his ordination upon any popular subject
he may choose, as there has been no opportunity of assigning
him a particular subject; and that Mr. Graham preside and
give the charge upon that occasion." The ordination was put
off from  Monday 4th to Tuesday 5th, when-"Mr. Legiand
preached upon John iii. 14th and 15th, previous to his ordination. After which Presbytery having taken a solemn profession of his faith, and of his adopting the Confession of Faith
as received in this church, and of his subjection to the brethren in the Lord, proceeded to set him apart to the whole work
of the gospel ministry, by prayer and the imposition of hands;
and he took his seat as a member of Presbytery. In October, 1791-at Colonel Morton's "Mr. Legrand applied for
a dismission from this Presbytery to join the Presbytery of
Lexington; which was granted." At the same meeting Dr.
Smith was dismissed from his charge, and from the Presbytery,
to remove to Philadelphia; Mr. Turner was licensed, and
William Williamson taken under the'care of Presbytery.
The success attending Mr. Legrand's preaching was great;
all three of his congregations were revived, and attention to religion become very general. In Winchester there was a place of
preaching, but no organized church; the professors of religion
were in connexion with the Opeckon church about three and a
half miles from the village. While the congregations of Cedar
Creek and Opeckon were harmonious in the revival, that of
Winchester was divided. The part opposed engaged another
preacher to give them part of his services; and the dissension
ran so high, that Mr. Legrand ceased to preach in Winchester
and confined himself to the other two congregations, which
afforded ample room for the exercise of his ministerial talents.
In these he was blessed with success, for a series of years,
beyond the lot of ministers of his day. Many whole families




LABOURS AND AFFLICTIONS.             541
became professors of religion; and scarce a family could be
found, in the range of his ministerial labours, in which there
was not one professor of religion.
In 1794, on the 4th of December, the Presbytery of Winchester held its first meeting according to appointment, in the
town of Winchester, having been set off from Lexington Presbytery, in the preceding September.  The members were
Mloses Hoge, Nash Legrand, William Hill, John Lyle, and
William Williamson.  The history of this Presbytery for the
first fifty years of its existence would form a volume of rich
materials of interest and instruction. Mr. Legrand, by the
testimony of one of the original members, who has long survived him, was the leading character in usefulness, in the
early days of the Presbytery.
About the time of the formation of the Presbytery, Mr.
Legrand was united in marriage to an accomplished young
lady, Margaret Holmes, a member of the Cedar Creek church.
One of her brothers became judge in Virginia, and another
governor of Alabama. By this lady he had five children, two
sons and three daughters. During her life he was happy in his
domestic relations, and happy in his ministry. His congregation at Opeckon finding their house of worship too small,
removed the log building and erected the stone church in which
their descendants now worship. Before it was finished, the
report from Kentucky excited a spirit of emigration amongst
the youth, and companies sought a home in that " dark and
bloody ground." The congregation on the Opeckon was much
diminished by the removal of families of enterprise and piety.
But the loss to the pastoral charge of Legrand was gain to
Kentucky; and the Lord continued to bless the labours of his
servant, and he was happy in his charge.
But the current of human things cannot flow with an unchecked tide of happiness even to the laborious servants of God.
Legrand must be taught in the school of affliction and learn
obedience by suffering. The wife of his bosom was smitten,
and withered by his side. The bruised flower gave forth its
odour of loveliness, and the husband's heart was beguiled by its
sweetness, while the stealthy step of death entered his house.
The fifth child was welcomed to the little family; but the joy
of that welcome was speedily checked by the departure of the
mother and the wife, lovely in life and lovely in death. Sorrow
for her loss, and the weighty cares of his family, weighed down
a frame already tottering from his ministerial labours. It was
thought advisable for him to travel on horseback. HIe left his
charge for a time, and made excursions; but without regaining
his strength; till discouraged by his continued weakness, he
relinquished the post he had held, with so much approbation, for




542                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
years, and returned to his native county.  In October, 1809,
he applied for dismission from the Presbytery of Winchester,
and was united with the Presbytery of Hanover, that had
ordained him mote than eighteen years before.  It is no reproach to those worthy ministers that preceded and succeeded
him, to say those eighteen years were- the best years the congregations of Cedar Creek and Opeckon ever saw.
Mr. Legrand never again became the stated pastor of a congregation. His ministerial labours were given to vacancies and
desolate neighbourhoods,.as far as his'health permitted. In the
course -of time he was united in-marriage -with an amiable and
pious lady, Mrs Paulina Read, widow of Major Edmund Readj
of Charlotte county, whose praise has been in the churches for
her piety and benevolence.'His residence was afterwards on the
estate of his wife, with whom he enjoyed-: the comforts of an
ample fortune.
On a visit to-Frederick county to attend to some business,, in
the fall of 1814, he was seized with sickness which soon prostrated his feeble frame.  tle lay at'the house of Hugh Holmes
the brother of his former wife, and was treated with great kindness and medical skill. - Feeling his end approaching, he caused
his wife to be sent for, and the:last fortnight of his life was
cheered by her tenderness.  In. the month of October he'breathed his last, in the exercise of' that'faith, which the
searching questions of IDr. Smith, soon after his conversion,
could not shake; and over which the despondency' of his natural
temp:erament -could cast only an occasional cloud. At the time
of his death he was about forty-six years of age.
" Thus lived, —and thus died one of the: best and most successful ministers of the gospel, Virginia ever produced.  His
labours had been more extensive in spreading: the revival than
any other agent employed in the work; —-the sinners.who were
convicted and converted- under his preaching, and the number
of hopeful additions to the different churches were more numerous than could be ascribed to any one else.; - He lived fast, and
did much in a short time."'
The apparent inefficiency of his latter years may- be, in' a
great measure, attributed to the prostration of his health, and
his consequent inability to make those great efforts, with which
his success had been previously connected.  He had previously
preached under great excitement.  This, in the'latter part of
his life, he'could not bear -for any length of time, for want of
bodily strength. He had laboured through the disastrous period
of the French revolution;;.and when the baneful influences of
French' infidelity were withering so much of Virginia,. Cedar
Creek and Opeckon were flourishing. No other preacher in the
State held his people more closely to the gospel standard, or ex



ROBERT MARSHALL.                  543
tenrded his influence.farther, or left behind a sweeter remembrance.
REV. ROBERT MARSHALL.
The grave of one of the most interesting men, who ever died
in Kentucky, is, covered by a marble slab, near the pulpit window, at the west end of Bethel Church in Fayette county.
The annals of the American church, from her rich stores, will
not present a parallel, in one particular, to the companion of
Carey Allen through the wilderness to Kentucky.  There, is
something peculiar in the appearance of Bethel; and the first
question that rises to the lips of the observer, finds its answer
in.the life of this remarkable man, and the history of the most
exciting times known in Kentucky and.in all the. west.  The
church and the grave are easily -found. Passing along the railway from Frankfort to the deep cut, about nine miles from
Lexington, about five hundred yards to the left, a passenger
may behold two; one-story brick. buildings, apparently about the
same age, of different shapes, of about the same capacity, within
a few yards of.ea'ch other, yet entirely disconnected, and both,
evidently at first sight, intended for places of public worship.
These are in. a, great measure,the product of one man's spirit,
and in part'the labour of his'hands; and were intended for
worshippers of' antagonistic creeds. Between these. buildings
stood, many years since, the original log church put up.by the
emigrants of the Presbyterian Church from Virginia and Pennsylvania, under.the pastoral care: of Rev. Samuel Shannon, that
man for labour and endurance. When Allen and Marshall
visited Kentucky in the year 1791, the people of Bethel united
on Mr. Marshall for. their;pastor; he accepted their call, fixed
his habitation near the meeting-house,.and after a ministry of
forty years laid his'bones near his pulpit.  Honest, frank,
warm hearted and energetic, Marshall began his ministry fresh
from the great revival of 1789 and 1790, in the Valley of Virginia, and laboured with acceptance and honour, amid the discouragements of the new. settlements in Kentucky till the great
revival which spread its influence over all the South and West
at the commencement of the nineteenth century. In the excitement of that agitated period, like many before his'day and
many since, he lost sight of the great principles'of his faith;
abandoned the Presbyterian. church, and became the leader' of
a new sect, which he verily believed would embrace the world.
Those of his charge who embraced his new sentiments, united
with him in. erecting.the brick church nearest the road, more




544               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
spacious than the old log building by its side, expecting the
congregation would soon fill the walls, and unite permanently
in the occupancy. The Presbytery exercised the discipline of
the church, and the new sect rejoiced in their new light, and
the blessing of persecution for conscience' sake. Thus far,
there have been parallel cases, and may be again. But the
next step is peculiar. In the merciful providence of God,
Marshall became convinced of his errors; frankly, openly, and
without any reserve renounced them, and returned to the communion of the Presbyterian church. Failing to lead back to
the church many of those that had gone with him in building
the new house, he united heart and hand with the orthodox
congregation, and erected the other church, and in it for more
than twenty years preached the true gospel with fervency and
success. From the time of his return to the Presbyterian
church till his death, he was irreproachable in his theology, as
he had always been in his morals;-was above all suspicion,
loved and respected by his brethren in the ministry as a champion of the truth; and reverenced by his charge, to whom his
aberrations would have seemed as a dream, but for that brick
pile, over which they often sighed, not in anger but in sorrow,
and as they sighed but loved their pastor the more, great in his
aberrations, great in his return.
Rev. Robert Marshall was an emigrant with his widowed
mother from County Down, Ireland; born November 12th,
1760, he came to America in his twelfth year. The family
settled in the Redstone country, in West Pennsylvania, on
the borders of Virginia, on the frontiers. At the early age of
seventeen he was in the Revolutionary army, and during three
years was familiar with the skirmishes, marches, privations and
battles of the most gloomy period of the Revolutionary war.
He came from the camp unharmed in body, and unsullied in
morals. " While in the army," said Dr. Davidson-" he never
swore nor drank, although drinking and profanity were common in the camp, and liquor formed part of the rations. When
not on duty, he retired to his tent, and devoted himself, like
Cobbett, to the study of arithmetic and mathematics. He was
in six general engagements, one of which was the hard-fought
battle of Monmouth, where he narrowly escaped with his life, a
bullet grazing his locks." In the battle of the Brandywine he
was often near the commander-in-chief, and repeatedly heard
with distinctness his words of command. In the retreat of that
day, becoming separated from his company, he was exposed to
the fire of a whole regiment of the enemy. As he ran along a
high fence, on a hill side, aiming at a gap, at a little distance,
through which to escape, afraid to climb the fence lest he should




MARSHALL IN THE REVIVAL.              545
become too fair a mark, he heard the balls whistle, and tap
upon the fence, just by his right hand, in quick succession; but
escaped unhurt.
When about twenty-three years of age, he commenced preparation for the ministry, having been led, by the instrumentality
of Dr. McMillan, to profess his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
His preparatory course was completed under the direction of
Rev. William Graham, of Liberty Hall, and Rev. Dr. McMillan,
the father of the College at Cannonsburg.  He had been well
instructed in early life, in the principles of religion; had been
most deeply exercised under the preaching of Dr. McMillan;
had maintained a godly walk, in Liberty Hall, among careless
students, whose neglect of religion oppressed Graham's heart.
During his college course he solemnly reviewed his religious
experience and his hope.  He was licensed about the time of
the revival in the Valley, by Redstone Presbytery, in whose
bounds he belonged, and in the year 1790, September 20th,
was appointed by the Commission of Missions of the Synod of
Virginia a missionary. After labouring with success in Virginia for some six months, he was sent with Carey Allen to Kentucky. These young men laboured with great acceptance, and
soon received invitations to become settled pastors.
In the summer of the year 1792, Mr. Marshall asked to be
dismissed from the direction of the Commission, and to be recommended to the Presbytery of Redstone, which had licensed
him; and requested of that Presbytery to be transferred to the
Presbytery of Transylvania. By that Presbytery he was ordained, on the 13th June, 1793, pastor of Bethel and Blue
Spring churches. Mr. Marshall was remarkable for his faithfulness as a missionary, and no less so as a pastor.  The example of Graham, and McMillan, and Smith were before him, and
multitudes of people ready to perish were around him; and his
heart was stirred and his faith called into exercise.  He rejoiced in his ministry.
The revival of 1800 was hailed, in its commencement and
early progress, as the light of God's countenance shining on
guilty man. After a time tares in abundance were sown among
the wheat; and in some places it seemed as if the tares entirely choked the wheat. Nevertheless, in the mercy of God,
a glorious harvest was gathered to eternal life. The moral
influences of that revival were felt all over the southern and
ywestern country; are still felt; and will be felt for generations; will not be lost in all coming time. God's word was vindicated, and the riches of his grace magnified in the eyes of
man, and a savour of godliness cast into the waves of the
thickening population in the great Valley of the Mississippi.
The subject of religion became all absorbing, the public mind
69




546               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
was highly excited, and things apparently small, of a religious
nature, would arrest attention. The wildness of speculation
and adventure, for a time, yielded to religion, and men congregated in the wilderness worshipped God with the friendship of
brothers. A course of reasoning, a relation of Christian experience, a statement of facts, a prayer, an exhortation, religious
conversation, and even private meditations, were followed by
great effects of a religious nature. In the progress of the work,
it began to appear, from tracing effects to their more ostensible
and immediate causes, that the presentation of truth in a pungent manner was all that was necessary to arrest attention,
awaken the conscience, and bring men home to God, under the
present dispensation of grace. In an unhappy moment Marshall gave in his adhesion to that error, and joined with five
other ministers, of previous good standing and of credit for
talents and acquirements, in forming a new sect which they
fondly supposed would be speedily acknowledged as the true
Church of God. By others the sect was called by different
names, Stoneites, Marshallites, or more commonly, New-lights.
" As a preacher,"-says Dr. Davidson-" Marshall was clear,
logical, systematic, and adhered closely to his text. His popularity as a leader of the New-lights, was for a time unbounded,
thousands on thousands hanging on his lips at their camp-meetings." His morals were irreproachable in the camp of the
Revolution, and in the defection of the New-lights.  His fondness for metaphysical discussion was visible, but not a passion.
He was a sincere man, believing heartily what he professed,
and rejoicing in his faith. Enthusiastic in his feelings, he was
sometimes rash, and sometimes, in his sermons, severe.  But
seeing clearly the end he had in view, he strove, by passion and
by truth, to stir up men to believe and to act. He could thunder like McMillan, and could persuade like Smith of Hampden Sidney.  He seemed always aiming at a purer way of
living; in a former age he might have been an ascetic.
The history of the revival of 1800 and onward, in Kentucky,
in its excellencies and defects, its melancholy and its glorious
consequences, forms an interesting chapter in Dr. Davidson's
History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky.  It must
ever form part of the fundamental history of the State. No
man knows Kentucky to-day that does not know her in the first
ten years of the nineteenth century.
After the public mind had become weary with the disputations and excitement on the subject of religion, and Marshall
sated with the novelty and success of his new course, the subject was presented to this erring, but much loved brother, for
revision. The brethren that loved the warm-hearted man, had
made many efforts to recover him from his delusion, and had




MARSHALL RECLAIMED.                547
never entirely given him up, as a subject of hope and prayer.
The instrument he acknowledged as having been, under God,
the most effectual with him, was the Rev. Joseph Glass, of
Virginia, who corresponded with him, and finally visited him at
his dwelling, near Bethel.  Marshall had a strong affection for
his brother-in-law, Glass, and a high respect for his metaphysical and reasoning powers, together with an unwavering confidence in his piety and honesty.  Glass induced him to go over
calmly and prayerfully, the whole ground of difference between
his former and his later creed. When the truth flashed on
IMarshall's mind, from behind the clouds of excitement and false
philosophy, like Paul, he was not disobedient to the heavenly
vision. With the honesty and frankness of his whole life, he
confessed his error, and proclaimed his renunciation with bitter
tears. When Marshall was reconciled to the Presbytery, Blythe
wept for joy.  Thompson, who had been Blythe's pupil, erred
with Marshall, and came back with him.  Over him Blythe rejoiced and wept. The other four ministers either had no one
in whom they could confide, or were too closely bound in error
ever to be set free; they went from worse to worse in their
departure from truth. In 1811, Marshall was reconciled to the
Presbytery.  In 1812 he received an appointment under the
Standing Committee of Missions of the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church: and soon after was reinstated in his
old charge, Bethel. The orthodox congregation, not satisfied
with their old log building, and unwilling to leave the ground
consecrated to the church, erected a brick building near the old
site, and Bethel, divided, worships in two houses, each built for
the same pastor, as a new-light and as orthodox.
Marshall was an active man, possessed of a vigorous constitution, of a well formed vigorous frame, of middling stature, of
lively spirits.  He was never idle.  His farm, which was necessary for his family, was his exercise; his ministry was his
labour and joy, and the acquisition of knowledge his recreation.
The education of a numerous family necessarily occupied a
portion of his time; but as other families shared in the instruction, his teaching was a public blessing. Whoever lived with
him loved him as a teacher, and preacher, and invaluable
friend.  His sermons were usually prepared with much care,
full of instruction, often argumentative, always clear and
abounding with Christian experience. Warm and passionate
in his delivery, he often besought with tears.  "Here"-he
would sometimes say, when he had come to the boundary of
human strength, when sensible things must be lost in the
spiritual, or spiritual things will be lost in the sensible-" here
I made my grand mistake:" —and would weep. As he enlarged on the grace of God as overtopping man's unworthiness,




548                SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
and the influences of the Holy Spirit in recalling man to God
through Christ-" here!"-he would exclaim,-" here, was my
recovery." So strong was the conviction upon the public
mind that Marshall was an upright man, that when, some little
time before his death, an innovator in Christian theology, taunted
him  with being —"an old  apostate," the cry of "shame!
shame!" burst from a thousand mouths. The able defence
made by his sons was esteemed an act of filial respect, rather
than of personal necessity. He was a beautiful example how
honesty may outlive mistake; and that a bewailed error of
judgment, which brought no moral obliquity with it, shall not
be brought in judgment against a guileless man.
Beneath the pulpit window at the west end of the church, is
a marble slab with the following:Memento Mori.
Beneath this monument,
erected
by filial affection,
reposes all that was mortal of the
REV. ROBERT MARSHALL
pastor of Bethel Church,
who died June 16th, 1832,
in the 72d year of his age,
and the 42d of his
ministry.
If in my life I tried in vain to save,
Hear at last, O hear me from the grave.
Around him lie his friends and connexions, members of his
congregation, some of whom, like himself, had left the "green
isle" of their nativity, and laid the foundation of a flourishing
State in the great Valley of the Mississippi.
JOHN LYLE.
The last, though not least, missionary sent, by the Commission of the Virginia Synod, to Kentucky, was John Lyle.  As
a faithful preacher, a successful teacher of females and a
valiant defender of the faith, Davidson's History of Kentucky shows he had few peers, and no superiors in the extent of
his labours, and their abiding usefulness. His want of gracefulness, connected with an early deficiency in hearing, his
want of polished literary taste, and his limited acquaintance
with the knowledge of books, were counterbalanced by the
excellencies with which they were interwoven, good sense,
honesty of purpose, fervent piety, an earnest desire for the
welfare of his fellow men in their conversion to God, his
patience of hope and his endurance in labour. Possessed of
few books, and called to incessant preaching in the new settle



JOHN LYLE.                    549
ments of his adopted State, he was indefatigable in his study
the fragments of time he could command. During his ministerial life, he was, says Dr. Davidson-" in the constant practice of reading the New Testament in the original."
John Lyle was born in Timber Ridge congregation, Rockbridge county, Virginia, October 20th, 1769.  He bore the
sirname of his father and grandfather, who were both elders
in the Presbyterian church. His grandfather, from the north
of Ireland, was among the early emigrants to Timber Ridge.
The name of John Lyle is upon the subscription paper for the
support of Rev. John Brown, for half his ministerial labours,
drawn up in 1754, and opposite is the sum ~1. 5s. Two subscribers only gave a larger sum, and two others, only, gave an equal
amount. This sum, considering the state of the country, and
the value of money, was a liberal contribution for the possessor
of a farm of moderate size.
The father of Rev. John Lyle,-says Dr. Alexander"Elder John Lyle, as he was commonly called to distinguish
him from others of the same name, was in my opinion a man
of eminent piety. In the period succeeding the war of the
Revolution, vital piety had sunk very low in the Valley of
Virginia; most professors seemed to have little of the genuine
spirit of religion; and fell into undue conformity to the world,
and its fashions and amusements.  But during this time
of general declension, John Lyle and his wife stood forth as
shining examples of vital godliness, and holy living. When
the revival occurred in the year 1789, it was like life from the
dead, to this pious couple. They greatly rejoiced in the progress of this gracious visitation of God; and had the pleasure
of seeing two of their own sons brought under the converting
influence of the Holy Spirit.
John was a delicate child, and in his youth became defective
in his hearing. The disabilities that followed the apparent
reserve, and the stiffness of manner connected with his deafness, made a deep impression on a spirit too tender to be unobservant, and too honest not to feel indignant.  The suppressed
laugh and sly joke mortified a spirit that would not indulge
malevolence and had not been trained in the school of Christ to
bear all things. Andrew, the elder brother, who was a subject
of the revival, possessed fine natural endowments of body and
mind; and was encouraged by his father, and his pastor, Mr.
Graham, to pursue a course of classical study. When his
course of study in preparation for the ministry was nearly
completed, he was suddenly called to the eternal world to the
grief of all, especially his father, who desired greatly to see his
son a minister of the gospel. John, from the time of his conversion, expressed a strong desire for an education, believing that




550               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
he was called to preach the gospel. His religious experience
was clear, and his hope of acceptance with God strong and
abiding.  But there were difficulties in the way.  His appearance was not prepossessing, and he had not exhibited
evidence of mental endowments above the ordinary standard,
or displayed any special aptness to learn. Besides, in those
days, a Rockbridge farm, of moderate size, returning to its
owner, for his labour, an ample supply of the necessaries and
some of the luxuries of life, brought in but little money for its
rich products, on account of the long, weary, difficult way to
market.  The Rockbridge men might be said to have been
rich in every thing but gold and silver. The same farms, now,
under good management, with the facilities to market, fill the
purses of the prudent owners.  Mr. Lyle the father had
expended on his son Andrew so much that he knew not how to
attempt the education of another son, without prejudice to his
other children.  John felt himself called to preach; and
greatly preferred the preparatory course at Liberty Hall, for
a minister, to living at home with his parents as the inheritor
of the homestead. The mother said if John had a call to the
ministry it must be obeyed. The father responded, that the
office of a minister of the gospel was the grandest, in his view,
and the most responsible on earth: but he doubted his ability
to give much aid in John's education, and doubted too his son's
fitness for the great work. The neighbours believed the young
man to be pious and devoted, but had small expectations of his
success as a minister. The family felt with the father, and
acquiesced in the mother's opinion. John was educated for the
ministry, and the events of his twenty-eight years' labours have
made the heart of the family glad. Great economy and great
exertions were necessary to accomplish the desired end. John
sometimes taught school; and studied the languages. Mr. Graham assisted him, in the advanced stages of his education, by
employing him as tutor to the younger classes. His reputation
for consistent piety was high among the students, who in their
thoughtlessness made trial of his principles, and his feelings:
and his close application won him a respectable standing as a
scholar. At the close of his preparatory course for the ministry, John had expended all his father considered as his proportion of the estate, and in the final division no provision was
made for him by will. But he was satisfied; and no doubt his
father's estimation was right, as none concerned expressed
disapprobation.
Mr. Lyle was received as candidate for licensure, by Lexington Presbytery, April 21st, 1796, at Liberty Hall, and was
on 21st of April, 1797, at New Monmouth, licensed in company with George Baxter and Robert Wilson to preach the




MR. LYLE OPPOSES THE DISORDERS.         551
gospel. His trial sermon surpassed the expectation of his
warmest friends. On the 29th of September, 1797, he presented to the Commission of Synod-" a dismission and recommendation from the Presbytery of Lexington, to ride as a missionary." He was employed during the fall and winter on the
frontiers of Virginia proper; —and the next summer went to
Kentucky. On the 15th of October, 1799, at Washington
Academy, Mr. Lyle was received back from the Commission of
Synod and recommended to the care of West Lexington Presbytery, by which body he was ordained. In 1800 he took
charge of Salem Church, where he remained for some years.
During the great awakening on the subject of religion,
which commenced in 1800, and continued for some years, Mr.
Lyle gave a happy exemplification of the firmness of his principles and his resolution to bear sacrifices for the truth. When
the irregularities, so fully described by Dr. Davidson, began to
prevail, Mr. Lyle was in amazement. But remembering that
God had said by the apostle, "let all things be done decently
and in order;"-and, " God is not the author of confusion"he took a decided stand against the "exercises," publicly and
in private. When he first saw the "exercises" in his own
neighbourhood, his spirit was so troubled he forgot to eat his
bread. Wandering into the neighbouring woods, in his perplexity he forgot his company of ministers he had invited to
dine with his family, and they partook of their meal without
him. Was this new thing the work of God? or was it the delusion of Satan and the sympathy of human nature?  Many of
the ministers who held a high stand in the church believed these
exercises to be of God, or inseparably connected with his work;
that this was his chosen way of confounding the wisdom of the
world. Mr. Lyle could not approve of them in his judgment,
delight in them in his heart, or reconcile them to his creed;
and he would not tolerate them in practice. "lHe preached"says Dr. Davidson-" at Paris a famous sermon from the
text-"Let all things be done decently and in order."  This
discourse gave great offence to some, while others were delighted; and it had a powerful effect in checking the tendencies to disorder. At Danville he called for silence, while he
preached from the words-" Bodily exercise profiteth little,"and silence reigned, though two of Mr. Houston's people from
Paint Lick had commenced barking like dogs.
Mr. Lyle was opposed to those departures from the creed
and forms of the Presbyterian Church, according to the Confession of Faith and Directory, which resulted in the formation of
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the new-light schism.
The history of these remarkable events are given fully and
accurately in Davidson's History of the Presbyterian Church




552               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
in Kentucky. A bare compend would transcend the limits of
this sketch, and also be divested of their circumstantial interest.
As early as the year 1801, in the month of June, Mr. Lyle
gave, at Lexington, the marks of true illumination, and exhorted the people to guard against enthusiasm. He prepared
his famous sermon on Order, after long observation, "which we
know"-says Davidson —"from his diary, he had been making
for nearly three years,"-after careful investigation of Scripture and comparison of texts,-and a reference to church history, as full as could be made in his circumstances; and on the
second Sabbath of July, 1803, delivered it at Walnut Hill, with
great effect. Preaching it at other places, he brought the
sedate to sober reflection, and aided much in drawing the line
of division between the supporters of order, and the defenders
of excess. At the meeting of the Synod in Danville, October
1805, the records of the Presbytery of Cumberland were reported on by the committee of review. Facts and doings were
stated which could not be passed in silence. The Synod after
much deliberation appointed a commission "with full synodical
powers, to confer with the members of Cumberland Presbytery,
and adjudicate on their presbyterial proceedings, which appear
upon the minutes of Presbytery."  Of this commission Mr.
Lyle was chairman. It held its meeting at Jasper meetinghouse, Logan county, in the bounds of the inculpated Presbytery,
on Tuesday, the third day of December, 1805. Mr. Lyle opened
the commission with a sermon-on the Call and Qualifications
for the Gospel Ministry. The members of the commission
present, eight ministers and five elders, found but one friendly
family in all the region, that of James Reid, by which they
were all hospitably entertained for the space of nine days, the
time the Commission were in session. For a detailed account
of this meeting reference is made to Davidson's History. The
neighbourhood was exasperated, the Shakers who had already
received some accessions, were on the ground in high expectation of greater acquisitions, and sarcastic and malicious ridicule
invented nick-names for all the members of Commission. Lyle
and his brethren possessed their souls in patience, and after a
laborious investigation, proceeded to lay under a solemn prohibition those who had been irregularly licensed by the Presbytery of Cumberland. On the regular members of the Presbytery, McGready, Hodge, McGee, Rankin and McAdam, they
declined passing any sentence, but cited them to appear before
the next meeting of the Synod of Kentucky.
October 21st, 1806. The Synod met in Lexington. "The
minutes of the Commission were read, and their proceedings
sanctioned." The Cumberland Presbytery was dissolved, and
Hodge and Rankin suspended. In May, 1807, the matter




MR. LYLE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.        553
came before the General Assembly in Philadelphia. The case
was argued at length, and the impression was made upon that
body, that the Synod had been too rigorous. Letters were
sent to both parties, in Kentucky, advising a review of their
proceedings. At the meeting of Synod in the fall after three
days' deliberation, the action of the preceding year was affirmed.
The matter did not again come before the Assembly, from the
Synod, till May 1809. The state of things in Kentucky had
become notorious. The five leaders of the New-light schism had
been deposed. All parties were ready to make a full declaration of their creed and designs, only waiting the action of the
General Assembly. The question at the west was-should uneducated men, and men disbelieving the doctrinal articles of
the Confession of Faith, be brought into the ministry of the
Presbyterian Church. In the Assembly the matter was not so
well understood.  Mr. Lyle, and Rev. Robert Stuart were
present, as delegates from the troubled region, in defence of
Synod, having come the weary distance over mountain and
river, as travellers were then compelled to pass from Kentucky
to the seaboard. Drury Lacy, from Virginia, was moderator.
He had seen revivals and known the force of disorderly habits.
Many able men, in the judicatory, were favourably impressed
with the statements made by the Cumberland Presbytery and
their friends; and the array, that fell upon the sight of the
Kentucky delegation, was for a time disheartening. On the
third day-" the Assembly took into consideration a letter from
the Synod of Kentucky, and having carefully reviewed the
same, and having also read another letter from their records,
which by accident was detained from the last Assembly, were
of opinion, that the Synod have, in these letters, exercised their
unquestionable right of explaining their proceedings."   Mr.
Lyle commented on the letters, and explained fully the condition of things in Kentucky, and becoming excited as he
usually did in preaching, he lost the dread that had oppressed
his spirits, and with tears depicted in glowing language the sad
prospects of the Kentucky church, should the Assembly decide
against the cause of the Synod. The Assembly was greatly
moved. Dr. Dwight of Yale College, attending the Assembly
as a delegate from Connecticut, advocated with great power,
the cause of the Kentucky Synod. Dr. Ashbel Green, of
Philadelphia, plead for the purity and propriety of the Synod's
course. The Synod was sustained without a dissenting voice.
A part of the members of Cumberland Presbytery made satisfaction and were united with Transylvania Presbytery; the remainder, on the 4th of February, 1810, united under the name
of Cumberland Presbytery; from this Presbytery has arisen
the body called Cumberland Presbyterians. The Assembly in
70




554               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
their record, say of the doings of the Syn'od of Kentucky —
" and the Assembly think it due to-that Synod to say, that they
deserve the thanks of the church for the firmness and zeal with
which they have acted in the trying circumstances in which
they have been placed."
" His faithful, earnest, and affectionate style of preaching,"
says Dr. Davidson, "was very much blessed. On one occasion,
at Mount Pleasant, the Rev. William L. McCalla noted the
names of thirty-three persons impressed by the sermon, thirtyone of whom afterwards became respectable members of the
church.   He had a particular tact for benefiting young
preachers, whom he delighted to take with him on missionary
excursions."
As a school teacher, Mr. Lyle appeared to advantage. A
female academy was established, by his means, at Paris, Kentucky, at which were collected a large company of young misses.
The number sometimes exceeded two hundred. In its most
flourishing condition, the trustees insisted, peremptorily, that
the reading the Bible should be discontinued, and religious instruction dispensed with, under colour of freeing it from all
denominational or enthusiastical tendencies. Consequently,
Mr. Lyle withdrew from the institution; and the sun of its
glory went down, the scholars departing with the teacher.
Mr. Lyle closed his useful life, July 22d, 1825, aged fifty-five
years, nine months, and two days, having been engaged in the
ministry a little over twenty-eight years.
CHAPTER XXIV.
MOSES  HO GE, D.D.
THE Rev. John Blair Hoge prepared for the press a beautiful
memoir of his father. The author's death delayed the publication of a work calculated to be greatly advantageous to the
church at large, and particularly to the branch of it in Virginia. While collecting the materials for his work, the Rev.
Joseph Glass writes to him thus,-in answer to a request."In writing his history I should not know how to begin; beginning it, I should not know how to end. It was not that he
was unlike other men, but that he was always like himself; not
that he was zealously engaged in doing good to-day, but that
in doing good he was zealously engaged every day; not that he




MOSES HOGE.                   555
performed duty, but that he never tired in performing it; not
that he put his hand to the plough, but that he never looked
back; not that he knew how to do good, but that he knew not
how to do harm; and it was on a foundation composed of these
singular materials that he erected the monument of an unspotted life. It is from the top of this monument that his spirit
looks down upon the insignificance of conquerors and kings,
and proclaims to the world that the love of God is more durable
than polished brass."
Dr. Hoge was born in Frederick county, Virginia, February
15th, 1752. His father, James Hoge, was born in Pennsylvania, and emigrated with his parents to Virginia about the year
1735. The grand-parents of Dr. Hoge were William Hoge and
Miss;Hlume (whose Christian name is lost) both emigrants from
Scotland. Their acquaintance commenced on ship-board, where
Miss Hume became an orphan. After their marriage they resided first at Amboy, New Jersey; then in Delaware; then on
the Swetara in Pennsylvania, and finally on the Opeckon in
Virginia, where they both died, bearing through life the character of eminently pious people; and leaving children whose descendants have been eminent in both church and state.
The traveller passing along the graded road from Winchester
to Staunton, after leaving Middletown, soon sees the spacious
mansion and wide possessions of Major Hite, at some distance
on the right. As he approaches he passes a smaller residence
in the midst of beautifully undulating fields. That is the birth
place of Moses Hoge. There he passed his youth, in cultivating these grounds, in the midst of the beautiful prairie valley
of the Shenandoah, bounded by a mountainous horizon on all
sides but the north-east.
Dr. Hoge discovered a taste for learning far beyond the
opportunities of his neighbourhood; and the feelings and
habits of his ancestors were not averse to its cultivation. He
was sent to a classical school taught by the Rev. Adam Goodlet, of the Associate church in Culpepper, for a short time;
and then recalled to the labour of the farm. His eagerness for
improvement was manifested in his using every moment of
respite from labour, in the improvement of his mind. His elementary books went with him into the fields, and might sometimes have been seen fastened to his plough. Like Rittenhouse, while turning the furrows in the fields, he was sowing
the seeds of knowledge for a glorious harvest. A sentiment
that fell from the lips of Samuel Stanhope Smith, in an address
to the scholars of Mr. Goodlet's school, made an indellible impression on the mind of young Hoge-" that while sanctified
learning is the greatest blessing, unsanctified learning is the
greatest curse."




556               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
In 1778, he repaired to Liberty Hall, and finished his education, both classical and theological, in preparation for the ministry of the gospel. On the 25th of October, 1780, he was
received as a candidate by Hanover Presbytery, at Falling
Spring, being introduced by his instructer, William Graham.
In the latter part of November, 1781, he received his license to
preach the gospel.
He left no written account of the religious experience of his
early life. But from his conversation, it is known that in early
life he was deeply affected with a sense of religion, had a reverence for God, and preferred the society of godly people.
" The first book," says his son —"which he found peculiarly
instrumental in enlightening his mind, and affecting his heart,
was'Alleine's Alarm.' And a sermon delivered by the Rev.
Dr. Waddell was the first religious discourse from which he
recollected to have received any unusual impressions." He did
not deem it necessary to establish a claim to the Christian character, that a person be able to declare the precise time when he
ceased to be irreligious, and when he began to be truly religious.
In one of his diaries, kept in after life, he has this short reference to his early days. It was written on the anniversary of
his birth, after taking a review of his whole life: " I have found
great reason to be thankful for the invaluable blessing of a pious
education, and for the co-operating influences of divine grace
which rendered the instructions and admonitions of my parents,
particularly those of my father, successful, and thus made religious impressions upon my mind very early, which have not yet
been effaced."
Mr. James Hoge, the father of Dr. Hoge, after being for a
length of time, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and also a
ruling elder in the same, attached himself to a branch of the Associate Church in Pennsylvania. Once or twice a year he visited a
congregation at some distance from his dwelling, for the purpose
of celebrating the sacrament of the Supper. On one occasion
his son Moses accompanied him, and was induced to make his
first open profession of religion by partaking the sacred emblems,
in the church of his father's choice.
Connected with his thoughts of religion, from early life was
a desire to be a minister of the gospel; and this desire never
forsook him in the midst of all the discouragements in his path.
He determined to wait patiently on God; and was twenty-six
years of age when he became a student at Liberty Hall. While
a member of that institution, his mind underwent a change
respecting his church connexion, and he applied to Hanover
Presbytery for licensure.
After receiving license he was greatly dissatisfied with his
own performances, both mental and physical, spiritual and




DR. HOGE AT SHEPHERDSTOWN.            557
bodily, and was kept from the conclusion that he had mistaken
his calling by a remark of Dr. S. S. Smith, advising him to"persevere in present duty and leave the event to God."  His
purpose of going to Kentucky was postponed for a time, to visit
the people on the South Branch of the Potomac, in the present
bounds of Hardy county; and from his attachment to that people
it was finally postponed indefinitely. A call was made for him
by the congregation in Hardy, which took the name of Concrete;
and on the 13th of December, 1782, he was ordained at Brown's
meeting-house, Augusta. The ordination sermon was preached,by the Rev. Archibald Scott, the father of the present pastor
of the churches in Hardy, from Acts xx. 28. Benjamin Erwin
presided in the laying on. of hands.
His first residence in Hardy was with Robert Maxwell, in
whose excellent library of theological works he passed all his
hours not demanded by ministerial duties. His place of preaching was at the forks of the road, a little above the Court House,
on the land now owned by Mr. Vanmeter. There is an old burying ground near the site of the church, where sleep many of the
members of his congregation.
On the 23d of August, 1783, he was united in marriage with
Miss Elizabeth Poage, daughter of John Poage, of Augusta
county; a match of feeling and reason. She was a woman
every way worthy of his love, by her endowments of body and
mind and the gifts of grace.
The honourable part taken by Mr. Hoge in the cause of religious liberty, is found in the sketch on that subject. His name
is enrolled with the strenuous asserters of religious freedom.
In a letter now extant, he declares that the final and decisive
opinion of Presbytery against all assessments whatever, was
according to his previously expressed opinion, when on a former
occasion he proposed a committee to draft a resolution to that
import, and was dissuaded from pressing the matter, by the
assertion of an individual possessed of information on the subject, that some kind of assessment would be established, and he
could only choose what kind he would have.
In consequence of protracted sufferings from sickness, which
he believed was confined to the neighbourhood in which he lived,
he listened to an invitation from Shepherdstown, and in the
autumn of 1787 he removed to that place. The prospect was
inviting only to a man of his kind disposition, desirous of doing
~good. In 1775, Dr. McKnight, a member of Donegal Presbytery, organized a congregation on Elk Branch, embracing the
country between Shepherdstown and Charlestown. A difficulty
arose about the places of preaching. After his removal, it was
determined by a part of the congregation, to have preaching
regularly in Shepherdstown, and to the invitation from this part




558               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
Dr. Hoge acceded.  The other part of the congregation in a
few years united with Bullskin, and had the Rev. William Hill
for their minister, and their principal preaching place in
Charlestown.
While he was contemplating a removal from the South Branch
of Potomac —" The Synod being informed that several disorders and disagreeable circumstances have taken place in some
of the churches in the western parts, especially within the
bounds of the Presbytery of Abingdon, to the great prejudice
to the interest of religion in those parts, did appoint Mr. McCorkle, Mr. Scott, Mr. Moses Hoge, Mr. Francis Cummings,
Mr. John Smith and Mr. Vance, or a majority of them, with an
elder to accompany each, as a committee in the name of the
Synod, to meet at Saline Church, on the waters of Nola Chucky,
on the second Wednesday of October next, with power to them
to call before them such persons concerned in these disturbances
as are members or under the care of Synod,"-and to give
judgment, &c. Dr. Hoge attended at the time and place; but
no quorum  appeared.  The difficulty occupied the North
Carolina Synod for years; and finally came before the Assembly.
During the time of his continuance in Shepherdstown his
diary is replete with sentiments emanating from a pious man,
with an humble heart, and devout soul, zealously engaged in
ministerial duties. The characteristic features are simplicity
and godly sincerity. His son, in his memoir has made copious
extracts calculated to edify the humble Christian and encourage the minister of Jesus Christ.
In the year 1793 Mr. Hoge made his first appearance as an
author-in a work entitled "Strictures on a pamphlet by the
Rev. Jeremiah Walker, entitled the Fourfould Foundation of
Calvinism examined and shaken." In the preface the author
writes-" That every blessing, that all happiness in this and in
a future world, must be ascribed orignally to God, no professed
Christian can deny. That the interposition of the Saviour,
and what he hath done to open the way for the reception of
guilty sinners into the Divine favour is owing to unmerited
grace, will be generally admitted. But that a sinner's conversion and perseverance in a Christian life, and all practical
religion, ought to be referred entirely to grace is a sentiment
which many disclaim and zealously oppose. Persons of this
description, who are fond of exalting our present powers in religion are often distinguished by the term Arminian. Whereas
they who believe that salvation, when taken in its most extensive sense, in its original purpose, purchase, and application,
ought to be referred entirely to grace, are frequently denominated Calvinists, and their peculiar sentiments the doctrines of




DR. HOGE AT SHEPHERDSTOWN.            559
grace. From this statement of the difference between Arminian and Calvinistic tenets, we may see that that the points in
dispute between them are not matters of uninteresting speculation; but of real importance in the Christian life. If it be a
fact that our salvation is owing entirely to the grace of God,
upon his grace alone ought we to rely; and to him all the
honour of our salvation ought to be ascribed. Should we then
attribute our salvation in any measure to ourselves, it would be
resting our eternal interests in a proportionate degree upon a
false foundation, and at the same time an arrogating to ourselves a share of that honour which ought to be forever sacred
to the author and finisher of our faith."
This volume was considered as presenting a fair statement
of the doctrines of grace, of the errors of Mr. Walker, and a
vindication of the true doctrines from all aspersions. The
pamphlet and its author have fallen into oblivion, —but the
volume of Dr. Hoge is such an exposition as would be read
with profit by Christians at the present time. His son says"Dr. Hoge, with advancing years grew less tenacious of some
peculiarities of form and expression, but he never suffered his
grasp on the doctrines of grace to be unclenched, and with
tears of thankfulness for their consolation and efficacy, he
laid them rejoicingly as a pillow under his dying head."
Soon after his settlement in Shepherdstown he was urged to
listen to invitations to a place of more temporal importance;
but he considered himself called of God to Shepherdstown, and
forbid any preparations to be made for his removal. On the
death of his second son, which soon followed, he writes, after
mentioning the circumstances and keenness of his afflictions,"I shall not forget 2d Thess., 4th, 13th, to the end. And
why should I not be resigned?  The great Ruler of the universe doeth all things well. I dare not wish our son restored
to life again, were such an event possible. I hope he is in a
situation which he would not exchange for ten thousand worlds
like ours. I scarcely think it any calamity for a child, at an
early period, to be removed from a world of trouble and of sin."
About the first of October, 1793, Mr. Thomas Poage, a
brother-in-law of Mr. Hoge, a young minister of great promise,
newly married, and about to settle, in the neighbouring congregation of Gerrardstown, was suddenly removed by death.
The affliction to the congregation, the family, and Mr. Hoge,
~was alleviated by his happy spiritual exercises, and the sure
hope of heaven he expressed, the last day of his life, in conversation with his sorrowing wife. His aged mother, in feeble
health, felt the shock of the death of her youngest son, whom
she had fondly hoped might be a useful minister of Christ; and




5601              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
in a few weeks followed her son, into the presence of Him whom
her soul loved.
On Saturday, the last day of November of the same year, he
assisted at the ordination of Mr. John Lyle, at Springfield,
Hampshire county. Mr. Campbell preached the sermon on the
words —" The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream;
and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat saith the Lord?" Mr. Legrand
gave a "profitable" sermon on Sabbath; and Mr. Hoge introduced the ordinance of the supper. The occasion proved of
great interest. By the settlement of Mr. Lyle at this place,
Mr. Hill at Charlestown, Mr. Legrand at Cedar Creek, Opeckon
and Winchester, and Mr. Williamson at Front Royal, the way
was open for the formation of Winchester Presbytery, which
took place on the fourth day of December, 1794. Mr. Hoge
preached the opening sermon in the old stone church in Winchester from the words-" The kingdom of heaven is like a
grain of mustard seed." The course and prosperity of the Presbytery has not been unfitting the strain of the first sermon. Of
this performance he says —"I felt very languid, owing, perhaps, to a cold fatiguing ride. Often when I hope to do something more than common I am sadly disappointed. This is no
doubt right. But were I as dead to self as I ought to be, such
dispensations would not, I imagine, be any longer necessary.
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body
of sin and death?"
The meeting of the Synod of Virginia, at Harrisonburg, in
the month of September, 1794, was signalized by an effort of
the military to put down the freedom of debate in an ecclesiastical body. The Synod, at that time, was composed of the
Presbyteries of Hanover and Lexington, in Virginia; Redstone, in Pennsylvania; Transylvania, in Kentucky; and Ohio,
north of the Ohio River. In Pennsylvania, in the bounds of
one of these Presbyteries, that popular outburst, commonly
known as the Whiskey Insurrection, had taken place; and the
insubordinate, commonly called the Whiskey Boys, were many
of them members of Presbyterian congregations. The part of
the armed force, raised in Virginia to quell the insurrection,
was encamped at Harrisonburg at the time of the meeting of
Synod. The town and country were excited. The proceedings of Synod were closely watched. Mr. Hoge, after conference with some of his brethren, proposed-" That the Synod
prepare an address to the people under their care, inculcating
upon them the duty of obedience to the laws of their country."
Mlr. Graham opposed the resolution as uncalled for, and as
prejudging in an ecclesiastical court the case of a people




DR. HOGE-THE MILITARY.              561
that felt themselves aggrieved politically by the practical
working of a law of Congress, that pressed as tyrannically
upon them as the Stamp Act upon the colonies. The proposition was lost by a small majority.  The military were
enraged, and threatened personal violence. Tar and feathers
were hastily provided. An officer of high grade residing
in Rockingham sent to the Synod a demand of the yeas
and nays on the question, and the reasons for the decision.
This was refused by Synod as an assumption of power. The
popular rage increased, and the inflamed soldiery were scarcely
restrained from violence by the remonstrances of Dr. Hoge,
who rushed amongst them, and entreated them to respect themselves, and refrain from acts that could only be detrimental,
and bring disgrace upon themselves.  So great was the influence acquired by his proposed resolution, and his earnest
remonstrances, that a general demand was made for him to
deliver them a sermon previously to their march westward.
He took for his text,-" Render therefore unto Caesar the
things that are Coesar's; and unto God the things that are
God's," and left upon his audience an impression of delight
with the boldness, clearness, simplicity, and piety of the man.
On the 2d of June, 1795, he was called to part with his
father, whom he loved as a parent, and reverenced as a Christian. He repeatedly refers to the pious instructions, counsels,
and godly example of his father as a means of impressing his
tender youthful mind with a conviction of the great importance
of religion. There is extant a paper drawn up by this parent,
giving, with great simplicity, and in the style and orthography
of a plain emigrant farmer, the dealings of God with his soul,
from his earliest recollection, till he became a widower with
five children.  It illustrates the domestic instruction of the
family of William Hoge, the first settler on Opeckon, and is an
exemplar of the standard of pious feeling and action of the congregation that was worshipping in the house built on his land.
The writer of the paper, James Hoge, describes the feelings of
a child in his first desires to find Christ-" I thought I would
be willing to travel round the world, if it was possible, if I could
be sure to meet with Christ and get him to take me in his arms
and tell me that he loved me and would save me." And he
describes with equal simplicity the overwhelming views of a
Christian in his manhood, when he draws near to God. His
last days were days of resignation and joy.
In the fall of 1801, the health of Mrs. Hoge having become
very delicate, Dr. Hoge, by the advice of the physicians, sought
in a more southern climate a refuge from the frosts of winter in
the Valley of the Shenandoah. He journeyed slowly through
North Carolina into the lower part of South Carolina, every
71




562               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
where experiencing the kindest Christian hospitality, and enjoying delightful Christian communion.  The open-hearted
Carolinians sympathized with this candid, devout minister, and
his feeble, suffering wife, lovely in her decline. With the returning spring he sought his home, cheered with the prospect
of rapid improvement in the health of his wife. These hopes
and prospects were all blasted before he reached Augusta, and
as a last resort he sought the aid of the Sweet Springs, which
had been beneficial to his suffering companion on a former
occasion. Her vital powers were exhausted before reaching
the Springs, and she fell asleep in Christ on the 18th of June,
1802. She had enjoyed the presence of her Lord, in an unusual degree in her life. In her sickness, particularly towards
its close, she was beset with fears and doubts. Her sorrowing
husband, after much private prayer, held with her a time of
special intercession for her relief. And while they were yet
speaking the light of the Lord shone upon her soul; and her
consolations were strong in death. Her husband chose for her
burial place an eminence; and standing at the kead of the
grave preached Christ and him  crucified, as the resurrection
and the life. The reflections in his diary on this occasion are
full of affection and piety.
In October, 1-803, he attended the Synod which met at
Hampden Sidney College; and before his return to the Valley,
on the 25th of the month was united in marriage with
Mrs. Susannah Hunt, widow of William Pitt Hunt, Esq., and
daughter of Colonel Joel Watkins of Charlotte county. Mr.
Hunt was grandson of one of Mr. Davies' elders, and son of
the Rev. Mr. Hunt whose narrative of the Rise of the Presbyterian Church in Hanover has been preserved by Dr. Rice.
The name of Watkins is familiar in the civil and religious history of southern Virginia. Dr. Hoge and Mr. Hunt had been
intimate friends; and this marriage was one of judgment, and
affection, and prudence. It proved a source of comfort and
usefulness to both parties.
In 1805 Dr. Hoge was induced to open a classical school for
the double purpose of adding to his means of support, and the
education of his sons who were now of the proper age for the
rudiments of a classical course. He had been attending to the
education of young men for the ministry as opportunity occurred; and at this time was more deeply impressed with the
importance of a course of theological reading under proper guidance to candidates for the gospel ministry. Some of the
members of Hanover Presbytery, about this time, commenced
gathering a theological library at Hampden Sidney for the
purpose of mutual improvement. The advantage of such a
library for the instruction of candidates was apparent. In




DR. HOGE PRESIDENT OF HAMPDEN SIDNEY.       563
1806 the Presbytery "resolved to establish at Hampden Sidney
a complete theological library for the benefit of students in
divinity. 2d. That an attempt be made to establish a fund for
the education of poor and pious youth, for the ministry of the
gospel. 3d. That the Rev. Messrs. Archibald Alexander, Matthew Lyle, Conrad Speece, John H. Rice, and Major James
Morton, Major Robert Quarles and Mr. James Daniel, be a
standing committee to manage the business and make report to
Presbytery at its annual meeting. 4th. That whatever funds
are raised by the committee shall be vested in the Trustees of
Hampden Sidney College; the appropriation of all such funds
however shall forever remain with the Presbytery."  In the
spring of 1807 funds to the amount of $2500 were raised for
the purposes above mentioned.
While these things were in progress, Dr. Hoge, animated by
the example of Franke, was planning a school for training
young men for the ministry, on the principle of mutual improvement in science and piety. Believing such a school necessary,
and that a location in the Valley of the Shenandoah was
favourable, his faith embraced the means as well as the end.
"The silver and the gold are the Lord's-was his reply to one
inquiring of him where he would find the means of carrying on
his Seminary. He believed that faith in the mountains, like
faith in Germany, would build the walls.
The Presidency of Hampden Sidney becoming vacant by the
removal of Rev. Archibald Alexander to Philadelphia, on the
6th of June, 1807, Mr. Hoge was unanimously chosen to fill
the vacant office. The vote of the Trustees was accompanied
by pressing letters from the brethren of the Presbytery, and
Mr. Hoge, after some hesitation, consented to remove. One
letter says-" What I wish to present to you for your serious
consideration is the importance of our Theological School.
For some years to come the head of the Theological School
must be the President of Hampden Sidney College. Now the
eyes of all who are at the same time friends to this institution
and acquaintances of yours are directed to you as the fittest
person in the compass of their knowledge for a Professor of
Divinity."
In the month of October he removed to Prince Edward, and
during the sessions of Synod was inducted to office, being
received with every mark of kindness and hearty approbation.
On the Sabbath after Synod he preached his first sermon, in
preparation for the communion, on 1 Peter i. 12, and in the
beginning of November entered upon the duties of his office.
In 1809, the General Assembly, after discussing the subject
of ministerial education, and the propriety of having a seminary
or seminaries for the purpose, sent down to the Presbyteries the




564               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
inquiry: Should there be one or more seminaries established f
The Presbyteries, which sent up an answer, were divided in
opinion. The Assembly resolved upon establishing a central
one, leaving the Synods and Presbyteries at liberty to establish
one for themselves if they judged expedient. The Presbyteries
in Virginia determined in favour of synodical seminaries;
and in 1812, the Synod unanimously resolved on establishing a
Theological Seminary,-and also unanimously resolved that
Dr. Hoge should be their Professor.
From this time till his death, in 1820, Dr. Hoge held the double
office of President of the College, and the Professor of Divinity,
under the appointment of Synod. In the meantime the Seminary at Princeton was established, and Archibald Alexander,
D. D., was made First Professor. The endowments made by
the Assembly were more abundant than those made by the Synod
of Virginia. But with all the disadvantages arising from want
of funds, and an experienced Board of Directors, Dr. Hoge
had the pleasure of seeing about thirty of his pupils at Hampden Sidney among the licensed and ordained ambassadors of the
Lord Jesus. These have travelled widely and laboured faithfully. Some of them still labour in the gospel; and some have
gone to receive the reward of their exertions and zeal. With
all his desires to do good, in his largest purposes, in all human
probability he never contemplated the extent of usefulness with
which the Lord finally blessed him.
His patriotic spirit kept pace with his increasing usefulness,
and Hampden Sidney heard from him the same invigorating call
to arms that burst from the lips of his predecessor Smith. In
the late war with England, the British forces took possession of
Washington, and burned the Capitol and other public buildings.
Rumour of this sad event spread swiftly over the country. Dr.
Hoge received information by letter on Sunday afternoon, with
the additional rumour that the British forces, in great strength,
were marching upon Richmond. Postponing the usual service
for the afternoon, in which he was just about to engage, he
announced to the audience the contents of the communication,
and addressed them on the duty of protecting their homes, and
defending their country. With impassioned eloquence he urged
the able-bodied men to go where duty called. By noon on Monday Captain Allen's troop of cavalry was collected at Prince Edward Court House. They had served one tour of duty; and
were now again assembled as volunteers. By request, Dr. Hoge
met them at the Court House, and from a cart in the corner of
the yard addressed the soldiers, drawn up in hollow square, and
in strains of eloquent patriotism encouraged them to venture
and suffer for their country. The impression on the soldiers
was deep and enlivening. One of the troopers, a sprightly




DR. HOGE-HIS THREE SONS.             565
young man of fine memory and powers of mimicry, paid close
attention to the Doctor's address; and in camp would occasionally repeat it in the words, and with the tones and gestures
of the venerable minister. The company ever bore him in the
highest esteem, and hailed with joy a report that he was to visit
their camp.
Dr. Hoge was blessed in his family; while rearing youth for
usefulness, God blessed his sons and made them useful: rejoicing
to introduce pious young men into the ministry, God thrust his
sons into the harvest. In May, 1813, he thus writes in his
diary respecting the licensure of his youngest-" It fell to my
lot to perform that solemn office; never have I observed so
many tears shed on such an occasion. He has gone forth with
the good wishes of all present, and with the prayers of all the
pious spectators of the scene. With the instructions of a father
I united the love of his mother, reminding him of her prayers
and tears, as well as of her instruction and example. Thus I
have lived to see three of my sons become preachers of the gospel." These were James, John Blair, and Samuel Davies.
James is still living in Columbus, Ohio, a worthy son of a
worthy sire. Samuel Davies was afflicted with feeble health
during his whole ministerial course. After preaching acceptably for some years -in Virginia he removed to Ohio, and
though happily and usefully employed, gradually fell a victim
to disease. He was happily united in marriage with a daughter
of Rev. Drury Lacy; and their son, Moses Drury, is a settled
pastor in Richmond, Virginia. John Blair early gave ominous
symptoms of the disease of his mother, which finally carried
him to his grave. These symptoms were greatly palliated by
a visit to Europe, and the mild air of the south of France
brought back vigour to his lungs. On his return to Virginia
he became the most popular preacher of his day. Possessed of
a fine imagination, strong sense, a great command of words,
with a sweet flow of thought, a kind heart, and tender sensibilities, with a quick sense of right and wrong, of the congruous
and ridiculous, he preached with a fervency and pathos that
drew all classes to hear him. After preaching for a time in
Berkeley county, he removed to Richmond, hoping to find the
winter climate more favourable to his lungs. These at length
gave way, and leaving a widow and two children, he fell asleep
in his native Valley, and lies buried in Martinsburg, the scene'of his former labours. That Dr. Hoge should rejoice in his
ministerial sons was but an evidence of his thankfulness to God
for their existence, and their interest in the covenant of grace,
and his love for all mankind.
The labours of Dr. Hoge's station became more and more
oppressive to him, till his strong constitution began to exhibit




666               SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
evident marks of decay. The labours of President of a College
and Professor of Divinity had become much more onerous than
in the days of the founders of Hampden Sidney. The College
course of studies was, throughout the United States, becoming
more and more extensive, and demanding more time and more
labour in the inculcation. Professor after Professor was demanded in languages and sciences; and in theology, the labour
was divided and subdivided among numerous teachers. But no
measures were taken to lessen the labours of Dr. Itoge. Some
complaints pained his ear, that seemed to him to charge him
with neglect-of which he said he would as soon have expected
to be charged with an intention of suicide. While it was evident to all that something ought to be done, no efficient steps
were taken to accomplish what has since been done, by the life
and labours of John H. Rice, D. D. In 1819 his strong powers
of body gave way. After a long confinement to his chamber
his strength was but partially renewed. In the spring of 1820
he was appointed delegate to the General Assembly to meet in
Philadelphia. It had been his ardent desire to attend an anniversary of the American Bible Society in New York. He took
this opportunity of gratifying that desire; and journeying to
New York was present on the occasion of the annual meeting.
Returning, he visited the Theological Seminary at Princeton
under the instructions of his old friend Dr. Alexander, with Dr.
Miller, and was greatly gratified with what he saw and heard.
During the sessions of the Assembly he became ill. He attended, with occasional absences, upon the meetings of the
brethren. His last public service was offering the invocatory
prayer in the prayer meeting of the Assembly. His symptoms
becoming alarming, members of his family hastened to his bedside, and witnessing his prevailing faith, soothed the sufferings
of his body. His comfort from the truths of the gospel was
great; his faith triumphant. On the fifth of July, 1820, at three
o'clock, P. M. —"without an indication of distress, and with an
expression sweetly placid and serene he slept in Jesus. His
body was deposited in the burying ground of the Third Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, beside the remains of his intimate
friend, John Blair Smith. United while they lived, in bonds
of the closest friendship, they are now associated in the tomb."
That the Virginia Synod esteemed Dr. Hoge a theologian is
evident from the position he held, unsought for and unexpected.
Orthodox in sentiment, clear in thought, kind in feeling, fond
of reading, given to study, he filled the chair of Professor to
the great satisfaction of his pupils, who invariably held him in
increasing reverence. His preaching was admired. His discourses were characterized by simplicity in the plan, the thought
and the diction. Every thing seemed to be natural. Sound




DR. HOGE-HIS DEATH.                 567
sense, truth and clearness gave a reality to the things he exhibited from the sacred desk. Always fervent, often highly
pathetic, he seemed to have but one object in view, —preaching
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Incorruptible in his principles, irreproachable in his moral and religious character, his
words had meaning and weight. In the delivery of his sermons
he was not in the classic sense graceful. In his early life, his
fine moral and spiritual sensibilities were cultivated to exquisite
proportion, while his outward man was neglected. His friend
and instructor, Graham, attempted at Liberty Hall to improve
his manners and soften his awkwardness. After some trial he
relinquished the effort, observing pleasantly that it was impossible to remodel him.  His arms appeared disproportionably
long, and gave an awkwardness where there was no vulgarity.
His first appearance sometimes excited a disposition to smile;
not at wit or drollery, but an apparent want of fitness. A conviction of this greatly discouraged him in the commencement of
his ministerial course. How entirely this passed away from
his frequent hearers, may be known from the fact, that on an
expected vacancy in the charge of Mr. Graham, the congregation fixed their attention on Mr. Hoge as successor. The
people said, this awkwardness is the way of an honest, tenderhearted, upright, noble-spirited man. He has the heart of a
gentleman, and there is no vulgarity in him. In ordinary times
some two or three sermons were requisite to make the proper
impression. Under one of his more impassioned discourses, his
hearers would feel the truth of the assertion of John Randolph,
himself an eloquent man, "that man is the best of orators."
He never purposely made gestures, yet every limb and feature
spoke to his hearers. A jerk of his elbow, or a swing of his
long arm, was the precursor or accompaniament of a sweeping
proposition, an unanswerable argument, or the assertion of a
great truth. The turning and twisting of his handkerchief,
with both hands, indicated the evolution of some grand truth,
or deep feeling, or pathetic appeal. His old acquaintances
understood his motions, and felt assured of the richness of his
abundant resources of mind and heart. The tremor of his arm
would start the expectation of a rich exhibition of truth. The
starting tear in his eye would unlock the fountains in their
hearts. The hesitation in his speech would make them almost
breathless to catch the promised word. As he grew more fervent, the will and affections of his hearers were in obedience to
the will and affections of the speaker. The impressions were
not evanescent. The words and thoughts remained, and to
them adhered the feeling that warmed the soul. It was impossible to print one of his sermons to the satisfaction of his
hearers. He seldom wrote a sermon in full; and there are no




t568              SKETCHES OF VIRGINIA.
types to print his actions. From his diary it appears he was
seldom satisfied with his public performances. Often when he
was desirous of exhibiting some grand subject, he seemed to
himself to have done but very little. In this his audience did
not always agree with him. But in one thing he excelled. He
left no unkind remembrances of hard words or bitter speeches,
or unchristian thoughts, or wounds in the soul. The impression
left on those acquainted with him, was that of the wisest and
meekest of men.
THE END.