- TOPICS - click to expand or collapse
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CHRISTIAN CHURCHES - FORM OF GOVERNMENT - INFLUENCE ON THE COLONIES - CHURCHES IN THE REVOLUTION - UNITE IN FAVOR OF LIBERTY - VIEWS OF GRAHAME - DR. STILES - WASHINGTON - WEBSTER - MISSION OF AMERICA TO WELCOME ALL SECTS - CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES OF NEW ENGLAND - JEFFERSON'S IDEA OF A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT SUGGESTED BY THE CONGREGATIONAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT - BOSTON PORT CLOSED - CORRESPONDENCE OF CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS - OFFERINGS OF CHURCHES - ODE SUNG IN THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES - ADDRESS OF MINISTERS IN NEW HAVEN TO WASHINGTON - HIS REPLY - ADDRESS OF A CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH TO WASHINGTON - HIS REPLY - PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - FORM OF GOVERNMENT - ITS EARLY ACTION IN THE REVOLUTION - PASTORAL LETTER OF THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY IN 1775 - PASTORAL LETTER IN 1783 - ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO WASHINGTON - HIS REPLY - PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH - ITS POSITION IN THE REVOLUTION - BISHOP WHITE - ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION TO WASHINGTON - HIS REPLY.
THE American Christian Church, in all its forms of government, has in its colonial and national history produced two great results. Each form, while it has represented the faith of those who have adopted it, has at the same time developed the sentiments of freedom and of a true civilization. The religious sentiment which colonized the American continent, and incorporated itself into the life and character of the American government and people, assumed such a church-organization as gave to it its fullest power in favor of freedom.
"By giving a welcome to every religious sect," says Grahame, "America was safe from narrow bigotry. At the same time, the moral unity of the forming nation was not impaired. Of the various parties into which the Reformation divided the people, each, from the proudest to the most puny sect, rallied round a truth. But, as truth never contradicts itself, the collision of sects could but eliminate error; and the American mind, in the best and largest sense eclectic, struggled for universality, whilst it asserted freedom." Each Church thus blended its spirit of liberty with that of every other Church, and all co-operated to sustain freedom and to build up free institutions.
"The United States," said Dr. Stiles, in 1783, "will embosom all religious sects or denominations in Christendom. Here they may all enjoy their whole respective systems of worship and church-government complete; and, having on account of religion no superiority as to secular powers and civil immunities, they will cohabit together in harmony and with a most generous catholicism and benevolence, - the example of a friendly cohabitation of all sects in America proving that men may be good members of civil society and yet differ in religion. Religion may here receive its last, most liberal and impartial examination."
"In our nation," says Washington, "however different the sentiments of citizens on religious doctrines, they generally concur in one thing; for their political professions and practices are almost universally friendly to the order and happiness of our civil institutions."
"It seems," said Webster, "to be the American destiny, the mission which has been intrusted to us here on this shore of the Atlantic, the great conception and the great duty to which we were born, to show that all sects and all denominations, professing reverence for the authority of the Author of our being and belief in his revelations, may be safely tolerated without prejudice either to our religion or to our liberties."
In the work of creating civil institutions on a Christian basis, and in achieving the liberties and independence of the United States, history places pre-eminent
Back to top1) THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES OF NEW ENGLAND.
This form of church-government is democratic. It was of Puritan birth, and, like the faith of the Puritans, it came fresh and vigorous from the word of God. It is the embodiment and practice of the American doctrine of popular sovereignty, applied to church-government, as it is to all the civil affairs of the nation. Each Church is an independent Christian democracy, where all the members have a right to a voice in the government of the Church, and whose decisions are subject to no reversal by any other ecclesiastical tribunal. The Bible is regarded as the text-book in theology and politics, in Church and State, as it is in its form of church-government; and, holding the Bible as the standard of form as well as of faith, the Puritans and their descendants constituted their ecclesiastic form after the pattern set them in the Bible. The fruits of their faith and polity everywhere abound.
"The principles of their religious system have given birth and vigor to the republican habits and republican virtue and intelligence of the sons of New England." The Congregational churches were not only schools of Christian faith, but of freedom, in which the ministers were the teachers and the people the pupils, and whence came the men and women to fight and pray for freedom and the battles of the Revolution. During the Revolution there were in New England five hundred and seventy- five ministers and seven hundred Congregational churches, almost all of which were in active sympathy with the cause of liberty. In every possible way they gave manifold proofs of their patriotism. It is no violence to truth to affirm that without the devotion and earnest activity of these churches the Revolution never could have been effected. Their faith and form of church-government were in harmony with the reigning spirit of liberty, and energized all the efforts of patriots with piety and ardor, and infused into that great conflict those Christian ideas and principles which impart a divine dignity and grandeur to a people struggling to be free.
The Congregational form of church-government suggested to the philosophic mind of Mr. Jefferson our present republican form of government. Near his residence, in Virginia, several years previous to the Revolution, there existed a Baptist church on a congregational basis of government, whose monthly meetings Jefferson often attended. Being asked how he was pleased with their church-government, he replied that it struck him with great force, and interested him very much; that he considered it the only form of pure democracy that then existed in the world, and had concluded that it would be the best plan of government for the American colonies.
If Jefferson confessed himself indebted to the business meetings of a church in his neighborhood, substantially Congregational in government, for his best ideas of a democracy, much more were John Adams and his New England compatriots beholden to their ecclesiastical surroundings for the republican tendencies of their politics.
The churches of New England had been for a century and a half educating their people, in their Christian and political democracies, to love liberty, so that when the trial of their faith came at the Revolution, they were ready to enter with soul and energy into the great conflict, and to carry it to a happy consummation.
The act of the British Parliament, closing the port of Boston, the news of which reached the city on the 9th of May, 1774, was the tocsin of liberty to New England, and acted as a cord of sympathy that bound all the colonies more closely together. Three days after the news, on the 12th of May, 1774, - a large number of the patriots of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts assembled to consider the crisis. "The lowly men who now met," says Bancroft, "were most of them accustomed to feed their own cattle, to fold their own sheep, to guide their own ploughs; all trained to public life in the little democracies of their towns; some of them captains in the militia, and officers of the church according to the discipline of Congregationalists; nearly all of them communicants under a public covenant with God."
The Boston port bill became the telegraphic medium of liberty and of universal sympathy between the Congregational churches of New England and patriots throughout the colonies. The following paper will not only disclose this fact, but will show how sensitive and ready the churches were to respond to the calls of patriotism and humanity. It is but a specimen of the piety and patriotism of the New England churches.
1.1) LETTER FROM THE GENERAL ASSOCIATION OF CONGREGATIONAL MINISTERS IN CONNECTICUT TO THE CLERGYMEN IN BOSTON.
MANSFIELD, June 22, 1774.
We, your brethren of the Colony of Connecticut, met by delegation from the several counties in General Association at our annual meeting, cannot but feel deeply impressed with the present melancholy threatened situation of America in general, and the distressed state of the town of Boston in particular, suffering the severe resentment of the British Parliament, by which the subsistence of thousands is taken away. We readily embrace this opportunity to manifest our hearty sympathy with you in your present distresses. We consider that you are suffering in the common cause of America, - the cause of liberty; which, if taken away, we fear would involve the ruin of religious liberty also. Gladly would we contribute every thing in our power for your encouragement and relief: however, our situation enables us to do little more than to express our sincere and affectionate concern, and with fervent addresses to commend your cause, and the cause of America, the cause of liberty, and, above all, the cause of religion, to the Father of Mercies, who can easily afford effectual relief, - who has the hearts of all at his disposal, and can turn them as he pleases. We feel deeply sensible what a heavy load must lie upon the minds of the ministers of Boston, enough to sink their spirits, unless armed with vigorous Christian fortitude and resolution. In hopes it may afford you some consolation, we assure you of our sincere condolence and unremitting prayers in your behalf, and that we shall, in every way suitable to our character and station, use our influence with the good people of this colony to concur in every proper measure calculated to afford relief to America in general, and to the distressed town of Boston in particular.
We pray that the ministers of the gospel may be inspired by the great Head of the Church with wisdom sufficient for direction in such a critical day as the present, and that God would give them and their people firmness, unanimity, patience, prudence, and every virtue which they need to support them under their heavy trials, and enable them to stand firm in the glorious cause of liberty and express such a temper and exhibit such an example as shall be well pleasing to God and recommend them to the favor and compassion of their fellow-men. We earnestly pray that God would humble us all under a deep sense of our numerous transgressions and criminal declensions, show us the absolute necessity of repentance and reformation, humble us under his mighty hand, and pour out a spirit of fervent supplication upon you, on us, and all his people in this land; and we cannot but hope the united prayers of America may obtain that audience in heaven which will bring salvation to us.
Signed by order of the General Association.
BENJAMIN THROOP, Moderator.
To the Reverend CHARLES CHAUNCY, D.D., and the other ministers of the town of Boston.
The answer was prepared, but not sent, through the confusion of the times, and is as follows: -
BOSTON, 1774.
REVEREND AND DEAR BRETHREN: -
Your very affectionate and obliging letter of June 22, 1774, was communicated to us at a time when we greatly needed the encouragement of our Christian friends.
You justly suppose that when Boston is treated with such unprecedented cruelty, and involved in the deepest distress, a heavy load must be upon the ministers of religion in that unhappy town. We have consoled ourselves with the thought that we are suffering in the common cause of America, in the cause of civil liberty, with which religious liberty hath a very close connection. All circumstances seem to make it evident that we are not mistaken in this view of things. It gives us the highest satisfaction to find that the sentiments of others are conformable to our own; especially to know that this is the opinion of so wise and venerable a body as the General Association of Connecticut.
We sincerely thank you for your tender sympathy with us under our sufferings, and the very kind and obliging manner in which you express it.
We present our particular acknowledgments for the great consolation you afford in the assurance you give us of your sincere condolence and unremitting prayers in our behalf, and that you will, in every way suitable to your character and station, use your influence with the good people of your colony to concur in every proper measure calculated to afford relief to America in general, and to the distressed town of Boston in particular. We trust God hath heard your prayers and the prayers of other friends to religion and to America, and by his all-powerful influence hath supported our brethren in this town under their heavy trials, enabled them to stand firm in the glorious cause of liberty, and hath given some degree of that firmness, unanimity, patience, and prudence which you so fervently implore for them in this critical day.
We owe much to our brethren in other colonies for the very generous assistance we have received. Such were the difficulties to which great numbers were reduced by the almost total stagnation of our trade, that it must have been impossible for this town to have subsisted to this day, if the inhabitants had not been favored with such kind and generous relief from abroad.
The colony of Connecticut distinguished themselves, not only by the largeness of their donations, but by the seasonableness of their supplies, which were received and applied for the purpose of supporting those who were suffering by means of the cruel bill that shut up our port, while the other colonies, by reason of their distance, were not able to afford such immediate relief.
We think ourselves obliged on this occasion to testify that your charities have been most faithfully applied to the purpose for which they were sent. The gentlemen who have undertaken this trust are of the first character for probity and universal goodness. They generously employ a very great part of their time in this benevolent work, without the prospect of any reward but what ariseth from the pleasure of doing good, and of the approbation of their great Master and Lord.
While we think we have a right to complain to Heaven and earth of the cruel oppression we are under, we ascribe righteousness to God. We deserve every thing from him, and he punishes us less than our iniquities deserve. We earnestly entreat the continuance of your addresses to Him who heareth prayer, that he would humble, pardon, and bless us.
Our own distresses by no means employ all our attention. We are more deeply affected with the general danger of our country than with our own difficulties. We encourage ourselves in that glorious Being who hath ever been the hope of his Israel and the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, and who hath so often and so wonderfully appeared for this people. We are sinful and degenerate, but we trust there are many who have not forsaken God, and for whose sake he will not forsake us. If there had been ten righteous found in Sodom, the city had not been destroyed. And will not God have regard to the many thousands in this land, who walk uprightly before him, and who continually implore his favor to their distressed country?
The surprising union of the colonies at this day affords the strongest grounds of encouragement; and their spirited measures cannot, according to a human view of things, fail of success sooner or later. We are sensible, at the same time, that all depends on Him who is the great Governor of the world. It is an inexhaustible source of comfort that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. To him we refer all, in full confidence that he will do all things well. We devoutly wish you the presence of the great Head of the Church in all your labors for the honor of God and the good of men, and are,
With the sincerest gratitude and respect, your brethren, &c.,
Signed
ANDREW ELLIOT.
The churches and congregations made the most liberal offerings and contributions to the cause of liberty. The "Connecticut Gazette," of January, 1778, published in New London, says, in reference to the churches, -
"On the last Sabbath of December, 1777, a contribution was taken up in the several parishes of Norwich for the benefit of the officers and soldiers who belonged to said town, when they collected 386 pairs of stockings, 227 pairs of shoes, 118 shirts, 78 jackets, 48 pairs of overalls, 208 pairs of mittens, 11 buff caps, 15 pairs of breeches, 9 coats, 22 rifle frocks, 19 handkerchiefs, and £258 17s. 8d. (about $1295), which was forwarded to the army. Also collected a quantity of pork, cheese, wheat, rye, Indian corn, sugar, rice, flax, wood, &c. &c., to be distributed to the needy families of the officers and soldiers. The whole amounted to the sum of £1400, or about $7000.”
The key to the patriotism, offerings, and sacrifices of the New England churches and people is found in such sentiments as the following, uttered in Massachusetts, January, 1773: -
"Death," said they, "is more eligible than slavery. A freeborn people are not required by the religion of Jesus Christ to submit to tyranny, but to make use of such power as God has given them to recover and support their laws and liberties. We implore the Ruler above the skies that he would make bare his arm in defence of his Church and people, and let Israel go."
The following ode, entitled "The American Hero," was written by Nathaniel Niles, of Norwich, Connecticut, on hearing of the battle of Bunker Hill and the burning of Charlestown. It first appeared in the "Connecticut Gazette and Universal Intelligencer," February 2, 1776. The words were set to music by Rev. Mr. Ripley, father of General Ripley, who preached patriotism in his pulpit, composed music for the heroic odes of the Revolution, and furnished sons to lead the armies of the Revolution to the field of battle. This ode "was almost universally sung in the churches and religious assemblies of the Eastern and Northern States, and became the war-song of the New England soldiery:" -
1.1.1) THE AMERICAN HERO.
A SAPPHIC ODE.
Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight of
Death and Destruction in the field of battle,
Where blood and carnage clothe the ground in crimson,
Sounding with death-groans?
Death will invade us by the means appointed,
And we must all bow to the king of terrors;
Nor am I anxious, if I am prepared,
What shape he comes in.
Infinite Goodness teaches us submission,
Bids us be quiet under all his dealings,
Never repining, but forever praising
God our Creator.
Well may we praise him; all his ways are perfect;
Though a resplendence infinitely glowing
Dazzles in glory on the sight of mortals,
Struck blind by lustre!
Good is Jehovah in bestowing sunshine;
Nor less his goodness in the storm and thunder:
Mercies and judgment both proceed from kindness, -
Infinite kindness!
Oh, then, exult, that God forever reigneth!
Clouds which, around him, hinder our perception,
Bind us the stronger to exalt his name, and
Shout louder praises!
Then to the wisdom of my Lord and Master
I will commit all that I have or wish for;
Sweetly as babes sleep will I give my life up
When call'd to yield it.
Now, Mars, I dare thee, clad in smoky pillars,
Bursting from bomb-shells, roaring from the cannon,
Rattling in grape-shot, like a storm of hail-stones,
Torturing Ether!
Up the bleak heavens let the spreading flames rise,
Breaking like Ætna through the smoky columns,
Lowering like Egypt o'er the falling city
Wantonly burnt down.
While all their hearts quick palpitate for havoc,
Let slip your blood-hounds, named the British lions:
Dauntless as death stares, nimble as the whirlwind,
Dreadful as demons!
Let oceans waft on all your floating castles,
Fraught with destruction, horrible to nature,
Then, with your sails fill'd by a storm of vengeance,
Bear down to battle!
From the dire caverns made by ghostly miners,
Let the explosion, dreadful as volcanoes,
Heave the broad town, with all its wealth and people
Quick to destruction!
Still shall the banner of the King of Heaven
Never advance where I'm afraid to follow:
While that precedes me, with an open bosom,
War, I defy thee!
Fame and dear freedom lure me on to battle,
While a fell despot, grimmer than a death's head,
Stings me with serpents, fiercer than Medusa's,
To the encounter.
Life for my country and the cause of freedom
Is but a trifle for a worm to part with;
And, if preserved in so great a contest,
Life is redoubled.
NORWICH, CONN., Oct. 1775.
The following correspondence between President Washington and the Congregational ministers of New Haven and vicinity affords a fine illustration of the patriotism and piety of New England. At the time it transpired, Washington was on a tour of inspection through New England, to see for himself the fruits of that freedom which he and the people had so nobly won by the Revolution. The originals of the letters are preserved in the archives of Yale College: -
To the President of the United States.
SIR: -
The Congregational ministers of the city of New Haven beg leave to make their most respectful address to the President of the United States. We presume that we join with the whole collective body of the Congregational pastors and Presbyterian ministers throughout these States, in the most heartfelt joy and the most cordial congratulation, of themselves, of their country, and of mankind, on your elevation to the head of the combined American Republic. As ministers of the blessed Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we rejoice and have inexpressible pleasure in the demonstrations you have given of your sincere assertion toward that holy religion which is the glory of Christian States, and will become the glory of the world itself, as that happy period when liberty, public right, and the veneration of the Most High, who presides in the universe with a most holy and benevolent sovereignty, shall triumph among all the nations, kingdoms, empires, and republics on earth. We most sincerely rejoice in the kind and gracious providence of Almighty God, who hath been pleased to preserve your life during your late dangerous sickness, and to restore you to such a degree of health as gives us this opportunity to express our joy, and affords us the most pleasing hopes that your health may be firmly established. We pray the Lord of Hosts, by whose counsels and wisdom you have been carried triumphantly and gloriously through the late war, terminating in the establishment of American liberty, and perhaps in the liberty of all nations, that he would be pleased ever to have you under his holy protection, continue to render you a blessing to Church and State, support you under your arduous cares, and perpetuate that estimation and honor which you have justly acquired of your country. And may the new and rising republic become, under your auspices, the most glorious for population, perfection of policy, and happy administration of government, that ever appeared on earth; and may you, sir, having finished a course of distinguished usefulness, receive the rewards of public virtue in the kingdom of eternal glory.
(Signed)
EZRA STILES,
JAMES DANA,
JONATHAN EDWARDS,
SAMUEL WALES,
SAMUEL AUSTIN, JR.
CITY OF NEW HAVEN, Oct. 17, 1789.
To the Congregational Ministers of the City of New Haven.
The kind congratulations contained in your address claim and receive my grateful and affectionate thanks. Respecting, as I do, the favorable opinions of men distinguished for science and piety, it would be false delicacy to disavow the satisfaction which I derive from their approbation of my public services and private conduct.
Regarding that deportment which consists with true religion as the best security of temporal peace and the surest means of attaining eternal felicity, it will be my earnest endeavor (as far as human frailty can resolve) to inculcate the belief and practice of opinions which lead to the consummation of those desirable objects.
The tender interest which you have taken in my personal happiness, and the obliging manner in which you express yourselves on the restoration of my health, are so forcibly impressed on my mind as to render language inadequate to the utterance of my feelings.
If it shall please the Great Disposer of events to listen to the pious supplication which you have preferred in my behalf, I trust that the remainder of my days will evince the gratitude of a heart devoted to the advancement of those objects which receive the approbation of Heaven and promote the happiness of our fellow-men.
My best prayers are offered to the Throne of Grace for your happiness and that of the congregations committed to your care.
(Signed)
G. WASHINGTON.
CITY OF NEW HAVEN, Oct. 17, 1789.
1.2) ADDRESS OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AND SOCIETY AT MEDWAY (FORMERLY ST. JOHN'S PARISH), STATE OF GEORGIA.
To the President of the United States.
We feel ourselves happy in the opportunity of expressing our attachment to your person, and our peculiar pleasure in your election, by the unanimous voice of your country, to the Presidency of the United States.
Though situated in the extreme part of the Union, we have gratefully to acknowledge that we already experience the propitious influence of your wise and parental administration. To the troops stationed on our frontiers by your order, and to the treaty lately concluded with the Creek nation under your auspices, we are indebted, under Providence, for our perfect tranquillity. The hatchet is now buried, and we smoke with our Indian neighbors the calumet of peace. This, while it affords us a happy presage of our future protection, gives us, at the same time, a recent proof how justly you have secured, in your civil as well as military capacity, the glorious title of Father of your country. With the laurel, then, be pleased to accept the civic wreath from a grateful people.
We can readily conceive how arduous must be the duties, how weighty and complicated the cares, of office in the government of so extensive a republic as that over which you preside. Impressed with a deep sense of this, we will not fail to implore the Divine blessing in your behalf. May you continue to be directed by that wisdom from above which is necessary to the successful discharge of the duties of your high and responsible position ! and may you be preserved the favored instrument of Heaven to secure to a free people those invaluable rights which you so eminently contributed to rescue from the hand of oppression!
Distant as our situation is from the seat of government, permit us to assure you that our influence, however inconsiderable in the national scale, shall not be wanting in encouraging submission to the laws of the United States, and thus, under God, perpetuating the blessings of our efficient Federal Government, now so happily established.
JAMES MAXWELL,
DANL. STEWART,
ABIEL HOLMES,
HENRY WOOD,
JNO. P. MANN.
Committee of the Church and Society.
MEDWAY, LIBERTY COUNTY, May 12, 1791.
1.2.1) ANSWER.
Back to topI learn with gratitude proportioned to the occasion your attachment to my person, and the pleasure you express on my election to the Presidency of the United States.
Your sentiments on the happy influence of our equal government impress me with the most sensible satisfaction. They vindicate the great interests of humanity, they reflect on the liberal minds that entertain them, and they promise the continuance and improvement of that tranquillity which is essential to the welfare of nations and the happiness of men.
You overrate my best exertions when you ascribe to them the blessings which our country so eminently enjoys. From the gallantry and fortitude of her citizens, under the auspices of Heaven, America has derived her independence. To their industry and the natural advantages of the country she is indebted for her prosperous situation. From their virtue she may expect long to share the protection of a free and equal government, which their wisdom has established and which experience justifies as admirably adapted to our social wants and individual felicity.
Continue, my fellow-citizens, to cultivate the peace and harmony which now subsist between you and your Indian neighbors: the happy consequence is immediate; the reflection which arises in justice and benevolence will be lastingly grateful. A knowledge of your happiness will lighten the cares of my station, and be among the most pleasing of their rewards.
G. WASHINGTON.
2) THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
In the United States has a noble history in the annals of civil and religious liberty. Its American origin began in 1703. Its form of Church-government is that of a representative republican government. Each church has its representatives, clerical and lay, in all its ecclesiastical courts, and the members are the source of all power, from the lowest to the highest judicatory. It resembles in its Church-government the civil government of the nation; and it is supposed that the framers of the Federal Constitution had before them the written manual of the Presbyterian Church and consulted and studied its ecclesiastical structure.
The first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church met in 1789, in Philadelphia, the same year, and the same month but one, in which the Constitution went into operation; and both forms of government had a contemporaneous origin. George Washington was President of the civil government, and Rev. John Rodgers, a distinguished patriot, and an intimate friend and adviser of Washington, was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. At the close of the war, there were one hundred and forty ministers and three hundred Presbyterian churches in the United States. The history of that grand era of freedom bears ample testimony to the patriotism of the Presbyterian Church and the distinguished part which it took in the cause of liberty and in achieving the independence of the nation.
"The first public voice in America," says Bancroft, "for dissolving all connection with Great Britain, came not from the Puritans of New England, the Dutch of New York, nor from the planters of Virginia, but from the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians." The Convention of Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, met in Charlotteville, May, 1775, and was composed mainly of Presbyterian ministers, elders, and members. A committee was appointed to draft a declaration of independence for North Carolina, which was prepared and adopted on the 31st of May, 1775, more than a year before that declared by the united colonies. The two following were the main resolutions of that convention of Christian patriots: -
Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people, are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing association, under the control of no power other than that of our God and the General Government of the Congress, to the maintenance of which independence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.
Resolved, That every member present of this delegation shall be a "committee-man, to preserve peace and union and harmony and to use exertions to spread the love of country and fire of freedom throughout America, until a more general organized government be established in this province."
"To these men," says Dr. Riddle, "we are indebted for the germs of our civil liberties and institutions. The spark of liberty, afterwards fanned to a flame in the halls of Congress, came first from these altars. In origin it was a sacred fire, more sacred than the vestal fires of old. It is now shining as the guiding light of bewildered nations in their perilous pathway to their predestinated privileges."
The Presbyterians of North Carolina were valiant and devoted in the cause of freedom. Descended from the Covenanters of Scotland and Ireland, they possessed in their fulness and purity the principles of their noble ancestors, "and planted deeply in the interior of that province the acorns of civil freedom, which had grown to unyielding oaks, strong and defiant, when the Revolution broke out." Those noble Christian men, "having first learned the lessons of freedom from the Bible, had its life and power freshened from the pure mountain air, and learned lessons of independence from the works and creatures of God around them."
In the route traversed by General Greene and his army when retreating from Cornwallis in 1778, "there were above twenty organized churches, with large congregations, and a great many preaching-places. All of these congregations, where the principles of gospel independence had been faithfully preached by McAden, Patillo, Caldwell, McCorkle, Hall, Craighead, Batch, McCaule, Alexander, and Richardson, were famous, during the struggle of the Revolution, for skirmishes, battles, prowess, individual courage, and heroic women. In no part of our republic was purer patriotism displayed than here."
The Presbytery of Hanover, in a memorial presented to the Legislature of Virginia, in 1776, subsequent to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, expressed their patriotism as follows: -
"Your memorialists are governed by the same sentiments which have inspired the United States of America, and are determined that nothing in our power or influence shall be wanting to give success to the 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 the 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 we shall be freed from all the encumbrances which a spirit of domination, prejudice, or bigotry hath interwoven with our political systems. This we are the more strongly encouraged to expect by the Declaration of Rights, so universally applauded for the 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 cannot be violated without endangering the grand superstructure it was destined to sustain."
The following pastoral letter from the Synod of New York and Philadelphia to the congregations under their care, read in every pulpit on the 20th of July, 1776, being the day appointed by the Honorable Congress for a general fast, presents the patriotism of the American Presbyterian Church in a noble attitude: -
VERY DEAR BRETHREN: -
The Synod of New York and Philadelphia, being met at a time when publick affairs wear a threatening aspect, and when (unless God in his sovereign providence speedily prevent it) all the horrours of a civil war throughout this great continent are to be apprehended, were of opinion that they could not discharge their duty to the numerous congregations under their care without addressing them at this important crisis.
As the firm belief and habitual recollection of the power and presence of the living God ought at all times to possess the minds of real Christians, so in seasons of public calamity, when the Lord is known by the judgements which he executeth, it would be an ignorance or an indifference highly criminal, not to look up to him with reverence, to implore his mercy by humble and fervent prayer, and, if possible, to prevent his vengeance by unfeigned repentance.
We do, therefore, brethren, beseech you, in the most earnest manner, to look beyond the immediate authors either of your sufferings or fears, and to acknowledge the holiness and justice of the Almighty in the present visitation. He is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. Affliction springeth not out of the dust. He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men; and therefore it becometh every person, family, city, and province, to humble themselves before his throne, to confess their sins, by which they have provoked his indignation, and entreat him to pour out upon all ranks a spirit of repentance and prayer. Fly, also, for forgiveness to the atoning blood of the great Redeemer, the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things than that of Abel. Remember and confess not only your sins in general, but those prevalent national offences which may justly be considered as the procuring causes of publick judgements, particularly profaneness and contempt of God, his name, sanctuary, sabbath, - azx pride, luxury, uncleanness, and neglect of family religion and government, with the deplorable ignorance and security which certainly ought to be imputed to this as their principal cause. All these are among us highly aggravated by the inestimable privileges which we have hitherto enjoyed, without interruption, since the first settlement of this country. If in the present day of distress we expect that God will hear our supplications and interpose for our protection and deliverance, let us remember what he himself requires of us is, that our prayers should be attended with a sincere purpose and thorough endeavour after personal and family reformation. "If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hand towards him: if iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles." Job xi. 13, 14.
The Synod cannot help thinking that this is a proper time for pressing all, of every rank, seriously to consider the things that belong to their eternal peace. Hostilities, long feared, have now taken place; the sword has been drawn in one province, and the whole continent, with hardly any exception, seem determined to defend their rights by force of arms. If, at the same time, the British ministry shall continue to enforce their claims by violence, a lasting and bloody contest must be expected. Surely, then, it becomes those who have taken up arms, and profess a willingness to hazard their lives in the cause of liberty, to be prepared for death, which to many must be the certain, and to every one is a possible or probable, event.
We have long seen with concern the circumstances which occasioned, and the gradual increase of, this unhappy difference. As ministers of the gospel of peace, we have ardently wished that it could, and often hoped that it would, have been more easily accommodated. It is well known to you (otherwise it would be imprudent, indeed, thus publickly to profess) that we have not been instrumental in inflaming the minds of the people or urging them to acts of violence and disorder. Perhaps no instance can be given on so interesting a subject, in which political sentiments have been so long and so fully kept from the pulpit; and even malice itself has not charged us with laboring from the press. But things are now come to such a state that we do not wish to conceal our opinions as men and citizens; so the relation we stand to you seemed to make the special improvement of it to your spiritual improvement an indispensable duty. Suffer us, then, to lay hold of your present temper of mind, and to exhort especially the young and vigorous, by assuring them that there is no soldier so undaunted as the pious man, no army so formidable as those who are superior to the fear of death. There is nothing more awful to think of than that those whose trade is war should be despisers of the name of the Lord of Hosts, and that they should expose themselves to the imminent danger of being immediately sent from cursing and cruelty on earth to the blaspheming rage and despairing horrour of the infernal pit. Let, therefore, every one who, from a generosity of spirit or benevolence of heart, offers himself as a champion in his country's cause, be persuaded to reverence the name and walk in the fear of the Prince of the kings of the earth; and then he may with the most unshaken firmness expect the issue either in victory or death.
Let it not be forgotten that though, for the wise ends of his providence, it may please God for a season to suffer his people to lie under unmerited oppression, yet, in general, we may expect that those who fear and serve him in sincerity and truth will be favored with his countenance and strength. It is both the character and the privilege of the children of God that they call upon him in the day of trouble, and He, who keepeth covenant and truth forever, has said that his ears are always open to their cry. We need not mention to you in how many instances the event of battles, and success in war, have turned upon circumstances which were inconsiderable in themselves, as well as out of the power of human prudence to foresee or direct; because we suppose you firmly believe that, after all the counsels of men, and the most probable and promising means, the Lord will do that which seemeth him good. Nor hath his promise ever failed of its full accomplishment. "The Lord is with you while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you." 2 Chron. xv . 2.
After this exhortation, which we thought ourselves called upon to give you at this time, on your great interest, - the one thing needful, - we shall take the liberty to offer a few advices to the societies under our charge, as to their publick and general conduct. And, first, in carrying on this important struggle, let every opportunity be taken to express your attachment and respect to our Sovereign King George, and the Revolution principles by which his august family was seated on the British throne. We recommend, indeed, not only allegiance to him from duty and principle, as the first magistrate of the empire, but esteem and reverence for the person of the prince, who has merited well of his subjects on many accounts, and who has probably been misled into the late and present measures by those about him. Neither have we any doubt that they themselves have been in a great degree deceived by false information from interested persons residing in America. It gives us the greatest pleasure to say, from our own certain knowledge of all belonging to our communion, and from the best means of information of the far greatest part of all denominations in this country, that the present opposition to the measures of the Administration does not in the least arise from disaffection to the king, or a desire of separation from the parent State. We are happy in being able with truth to affirm that no part of America would either have approved or permitted such insults as have been offered to the sovereign of Great Britain. We exhort you, therefore, to continue in the same disposition, and not to suffer oppression or injury itself easily to provoke you to any thing which may seem to betray contrary sentiments. Let it ever appear that you only desire the preservation and security of those rights which belong to you as freemen and Britons, and that reconciliation upon these terms is your most ardent desire.
Secondly, Be careful to maintain the union which at present subsists through the colonies. Nothing can be more manifest than that the success of every measure depends on its being inviolably preserved; and therefore we hope that you will leave nothing undone that will promote that end. In particular, as the Continental Congress, now sitting in Philadelphia, consists of delegates chosen in the most free and unbiased manner by the body of the people, let them not only be treated with respect, but encouraged in their difficult service; let not only your prayers be offered up to God for his direction in their proceedings, but adhere firmly to their resolutions, and let it be seen that they are able to bring out the whole strength of this vast country to carry them into execution. We would also advise, for the same purpose, that a spirit of candour, charity, and mutual esteem be preserved and promoted towards those of different religious denominations. Persons of probity and principle of every profession should be united together as servants of the same Master; and the experience of our happy concord hitherto in a state of liberty should engage all to unite together in support of the common interest; for there is no example in history in which civil liberty was destroyed, and the rights of conscience preserved entire.
Thirdly, We do earnestly exhort and beseech the societies under our care to be strict and vigilant in their private government, and to watch over the morals of their several members. It is with the utmost pleasure we remind you that the last Continental Congress determined to discourage luxury in living, public diversions, and gaming of all kinds, which have so fatal an influence on the morals of the people. If it is undeniable that unusual profligacy makes a nation ripe for divine judgments and is the national means of bringing them to ruin, reformation of manners is of the utmost necessity in our present distress. At the same time, as it has been observed by many eminent writers that the censorial power, which had for its object the manners of the publick in the ancient free states, was absolutely necessary to their continuance, we cannot help being of opinion that the only thing which we have now to supply the place of this is the religious discipline of the several sects with respect to their own members; so that the denomination or profession which shall take the most effectual care of the instruction of its members, and maintain its discipline in its fullest vigour, will do the most essential service to the whole body. For the very same reason, the greatest service which magistrates or persons in authority can do with respect to the religion or morals of the people, is to defend and secure the rights of conscience in the most equal and impartial manner.
Fourthly, We cannot but recommend, and urge in the warmest manner, a regard to order and public peace; and as, in many cases, during the confusions that prevail, legal proceedings have become difficult, it is hoped that all persons will conscientiously pay their just debts, and to the utmost of their power serve one another, so that the evils inseparable from a civil war may not be augmented by wantonness and irregularity.
Fifthly, We think it of importance at this time to recommend to all of every rank, but especially to those who may be called to action, a spirit of humanity and mercy. "Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood." It is impossible to appeal to the sword without being exposed to many scenes of cruelty and slaughter; but it is often observed that civil wars are carried on with a rancour and spirit of revenge much greater than those between independent states. The injuries received or supposed in civil wars wound more deeply than those of foreign enemies; it is therefore the more necessary to guard against this abuse, and recommend that meekness and gentleness of spirit which is the noblest attendant of true valor. That man will fight most bravely who never fights until it is necessary, and who ceases to fight when the necessity is over.
Lastly, We would recommend to all the societies under our care, not to content themselves with attending devoutly on general fasts, but to continue habitually in the exercise of prayer, and to have frequent occasional voluntary meetings for solemn intercession with God on the important trial. Those who are immediately exposed to danger need your sympathy; and we learn from the Scriptures that fervency and importunity are the very characteristics of that prayer of the righteous man which availeth much.
We conclude with our most earnest prayer that the God of heaven may bless you in your temporal and spiritual concerns, and that the present unnatural dispute may be speedily terminated by an equitable and lasting settlement on constitutional principles.
Signed in the name, presence, and by appointment of the Synod.
BENJAMIN HAIT, Moderator.
NEW YORK, Мау 12, 1775.
After peace was concluded, the Synod of New York and Philadelphia addressed a pastoral letter to the people under their charge, as follows: -
VERY DEAR BRETHREN: -
You will remember that in May, 1775, the Synod thought proper to address a pastoral letter to the people under their inspection, on the state of public affairs. At that interesting period, hostilities had just commenced between Great Britain and America, and a long and bloody conflict was to be expected. Now that conflict is over, and we have the best reason to suppose (the preliminaries being signed and ratified) that a happy and honorable peace will be speedily settled by a definite treaty. We could not, therefore, longer delay addressing to you the following letter, which will contain our sentiments on this happy occasion, and our advice as to the duty incumbent upon all ranks in return for so great a mercy.
We cannot help congratulating you on the general and almost universal attachment of the Presbyterian body to the cause of liberty and the rights of mankind. This has been visible in their conduct, and has been confessed by the complaints and resentments of the common enemy. Such a circumstance ought not only to afford us satisfaction in the review, as bringing credit to the body in general, but to increase our gratitude to God for the happy issue of the war. Had it been unsuccessful, we must have drank deeply of the cup of suffering. Our burnt and wasted churches and our plundered dwellings, in such places as fell under the power of our adversaries, are but an earnest of what we must have suffered had they finally prevailed.
The Synod, therefore, request you to render thanks to Almighty God for all his mercies, temporal and spiritual, and, in a particular manner, for establishing the independence of the United States of America. He is the Supreme disposer of all events, and to him belong the glory, the victory, and the majesty. We are persuaded you will easily recollect many circumstances in the course of the struggle which point out his special and signal interposition in our favor. Our most remarkable successes have generally been when things had just before worn the most unfavorable aspect; as at Trenton and Saratoga at the beginning, in South Carolina and Virginia toward the end, of the war. It pleased God to raise up for us a powerful ally in Europe; and when we consider the unwearied attempts of our enemies to raise dissensions by every topic that could be supposed inflammatory and popular, the harmony that has prevailed, not only between the allied powers, but the troops of different nations and languages, acting together, ought to be ascribed to the gracious influence of Divine Providence. Without mentioning many other instances, we only further put you in mind of the choice of the commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States, who is alike acceptable to the citizen and soldier, to the State in which he was born, and to every other on the continent; whose character and influence, after so long a service, are not only unimpaired, but augmented. Of what consequence this has been to the cause of America, every one may judge; or, if it needs any illustration, it receives it from the opposite situation of our enemies in this respect. On the whole, every pious person, on a review of the events of the war, will certainly be disposed to say, with the Psalmist, "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."
Suffer us to put you in mind of the duty you owe to God in return for this great national deliverance. You ought to testify your gratitude by living in his fear. This is the only way by which public prosperity can become a real mercy to you. It were to be wished, indeed, that, in our contests about the most important interests of a temporal nature, we could still remember not only that eternity is of greater moment than any thing that relates merely to the present life, but that all outward things, even civil liberty, ought to be considered as subordinate and subservient to everlasting happiness. It would not be an honor to us to be wholly unconcerned about the rights of ourselves and others, as men and as citizens; yet the great part of our duty, and we hope of our desires, is to watch for your souls as those that must give an account to God. We therefore earnestly beseech every one who is nominally of our communion, not to be satisfied with the form of godliness, denying the power thereof. The substance of religion is the same to all denominations; neither is there any preference due to one before another but in so far as it has superior advantages in leading men to the saving knowledge of the only living and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent, whom "to know is life eternal."
There is no doubt that you look upon it as a happy circumstance in the late Revolution, that the rights of conscience are inalienably secured, and even interwoven with the very constitutions of the several States. The duty which you owe to the community at large for this inestimable blessing is to support civil authority, by being subject not only "for wrath, but also for conscience' sake," and by living "quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty." It is a truth of much moment, and particularly to be remembered at this time, not only that the virtue of the people in general is of more consequence to the stability of republics, or free states, than those of a different kind. In monarchies, a sense of honor, the subordination of rank in society, and the rigor of despotic authority, supply in some measure the place of virtue, in producing public order; but in free states, where the power is ultimately lodged in the body of the people, if there is a general corruption of the mass, the government itself must speedily be dissolved.
You cannot but have observed that the war has occasioned great irregularity and relaxation as to the observance of the Sabbath and attendance on public ordinances. In some places congregations are broken up; in some places, for a considerable time, attendance was difficult, dangerous, or impossible. The public service, also, which made some things really necessary, was often made a pretence for irregularity when no necessity existed. It is, therefore, your duty, now that peace and harmony have returned, to revive and restore the respect due to the Sabbath and the worship of God's sanctuary. The regular administration of divine ordinances is a blessing that cannot be too highly valued or purchased at too great a price. We hope, therefore, that you will in general exert yourselves and do every thing in your power that will serve to promote so noble a purpose.
Be cheerful and liberal in assisting to educate pious youth for the ministry. Let vacant congregations be active and diligent to supply themselves with fixed pastors, and let those who have fixed pastors strengthen their hands in their Master's work, not only by obedience in the Lord, but by making such provision for their comfortable subsistence as that their duty may be practicable. We make this demand clearly and explicitly, because it is founded upon the plainest reason, - upon the word of God, - upon general or common utility, and your own interest, and make no doubt that wherever there is true religion it will be heard and complied with.
We look upon it as a very happy circumstance in the political revolution that has happened in America, that neither in its rise nor progress was it intermixed with or directed by religious controversy. No denomination of Christians among us have any reason to fear oppression or restraint, - or any power to oppress others. We therefore recommend charity, forbearance, and mutual service. Let the great and only strife be, who shall love the Redeemer most, and who shall serve him with the greatest zeal. We recommend the strict exercise of discipline to the societies under our care. Let us not seek to increase our numbers by relaxation, but to justify the excellence of our principles by the inoffensive example and holy conversation of those who embrace them. The ultimate trial of religious truth is by its moral influence: therefore, as he is undoubtedly the best husbandman who raises the richest crops, so those are the best principles which make the best men. This is the great rule laid down by our Saviour, - "By their fruits ye shall know them."
By order.
JOHN MCCRERY, Moderator.
PHILADELPHIA, Мау, 1783.
2.1) ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.
To the President of the United States.
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America embrace the earliest opportunity in their power to testify the lively and unfeigned pleasure which they, with the rest of their fellow-citizens, felt on your appointment to the first office in the nation.
We adore Almighty God, the author of every perfect gift, who hath endued you with such a rare and happy assemblage of talents as hath rendered you equally necessary to your country in war and in peace. Your military achievements insured safety and glory to America in the late arduous conflict for freedom, whilst your disinterested conduct and uniformly just discernment of the public interests gained you the entire confidence of the people; and, in the present interesting period of public affairs, the influence of your personal character moderates the divisions of political parties and promises a permanent establishment of the civil government. From a retirement more glorious to you than thrones and sceptres, you have been called to your present elevated station by the voice of a great and free people, and with an unanimity of suffrages that has few, if any, examples in history. A man more ambitious of fame, or less devoted to his country, would have refused an office in which his honors could not be augmented and where they might possibly be subject to a reverse.
We are happy that God hath inclined your heart to give yourself once more to the public; and we derive a favorable presage of the event from the zeal of all classes of the people and their confidence in your virtues, as well as from the knowledge and dignity with which the sacred councils are filled. But we derive a presage even more flattering from the piety of your character. Public virtue is the most certain mean of public felicity, and religion is the surest basis of virtue. We therefore esteem it a peculiar happiness to behold in our Chief Magistrate a steady, uniform, avowed friend of the Christian religion, who has commenced his administration in rational and exalted sentiments of piety, and who in his private conduct adorns the doctrines of the gospel of Christ, and on the most public and solemn occasions devoutly acknowledges the government of Divine Providence.
The example of distinguished characters will ever possess a powerful and extensive influence on the public mind; and when we see in such a conspicuous station the amiable example of piety to God, of benevolence to men, and of a pure and virtuous patriotism, we naturally hope it will diffuse its influence, and that eventually the most happy consequences will result from it. To the force of imitation we will endeavor to add the wholesome instructions of religion. We shall consider ourselves as doing an acceptable service to God in our profession when we contribute to render men sober, honest, and industrious citizens, and the obedient subjects of a lawful government. In these pious labors we hope to imitate the most worthy of our brethren of other Christian denominations, and to be imitated by them, assured that, if we can, by mutual and generous emulation, promote truth and virtue, we shall render essential service to the republic, we shall receive encouragement from every wise and good citizen, and, above all, meet the approbation of our Divine Master.
We pray Almighty God to have you always in his holy keeping. May he prolong your valuable life an ornament and a blessing to your country, and at last bestow on you the glorious reward of a faithful servant.
By order of the General Assembly.
JOHN RODGERS, Moderator.
PHILADELPHIA, May 26, 1789.
2.1.1) ANSWER.
To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States.
I receive with great sensibility the testimonial given by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America of the lively and unfeigned pleasure experienced by them on my appointment to the first office of the nation.
Although it will be my endeavor to avoid being elated by the too favorable opinion which your kindness for me may have induced you to express of the importance of my former conduct and the effect of my future services, yet, conscious of the disinterestedness of my motives, it is not necessary for me to conceal the satisfaction I have felt upon finding that my compliance with the call of my country, and my dependence on the assistance of Heaven to support me in my arduous undertakings, have, so far as I can learn, met the universal approbation of my countrymen.
While I reiterate the professions of my dependence upon Heaven, as the source of all public and private blessings, I will observe that the general prevalence of piety, philanthropy, honesty, industry, and economy, seems, in the ordinary course of human affairs, particularly necessary for advancing and confirming the happiness of our country. While all men within our territories are protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of their consciences, it is rational to be expected of them in return that they all will be emulous of evincing the sincerity of their professions by the innocence of their lives and the beneficence of their actions; for no man who is profligate in his morals, or a bad member of the civil commonwealth, can possibly be a true Christian or a credit to his own religious society.
I desire you to accept my acknowledgments for your laudable endeavors to render men sober, honest, and good citizens and the obedient subjects of a lawful government, as well as for your prayers to Almighty God for his blessing on our country and the humble instrument he has been pleased to make use of in the administration of its government.
G. WASHINGTON.
2.2) ADDRESS OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERY EASTWARD, IN MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.
To George Washington, President of the United States.
SIR: -
We, the ministers and ruling elders delegated to represent the churches in Massachusetts and New Hampshire which compose the First Presbytery Eastward, now holding a stated session in this town, beg leave to approach your presence with genuine feelings of the deepest veneration and highest esteem.
In union with rejoicing millions, we felicitate our country and ourselves on your unanimous election to the highest office a nation can bestow, and on your acceptance of the trust with every evidence which a citizen can give of being actuated thereto by the purest principles of patriotism, of piety, and of self-denial.
Great was the joy of our hearts to see the late tedious and destructive war at length terminated in a fair and honorable peace, - to see the liberty and independence of our country happily secured, - to see wise constitutions of civil government peaceably established in the several States, and especially to see a confederation of them all finally agreed on by the general voice.
But, amid all our joys, we ever contemplated with regret the want of efficiency in the Federal Government: we ardently wished for a form of NATIONAL UNION which should draw the cord of amity more closely around the several States, which should concentrate their interests, and reduce the freemen of America to one great body, ruled by one head and animated by one soul.
And now we devoutly offer our humble tribute of praise and thanksgiving to the all-gracious FATHER OF LIGHTS, who has inspired our public councils with a wisdom and firmness which have effected that desirable purpose in so great measure by the National Constitution, and who has fixed the eyes of all America on you, as the worthiest of their citizens to be intrusted with the execution of it.
Whatever any have supposed wanting in the original plan, we are happy to see so wisely provided in its amendments; and it is with peculiar satisfaction that we behold how easily the entire confidence of the people in the man who sits at the helm of government has eradicated every remaining objection to its form.
Among these we never considered the want of a religious test, that grand engine of persecution in every tyrant's hand; but we should not have been alone in rejoicing to have seen some explicit acknowledgment of THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST whom he has sent, inserted somewhere in the Magna Charta of our country.
Under the nurturing hand of a RULER of such virtues, and one so deservedly revered by all ranks, we joyfully indulge the hope that virtue and religion will revive and flourish, that infidelity and the vices ever attendant in its train will be banished every polite circle, and that national piety will soon become fashionable there, and from thence be diffused among all ranks in the community.
NEWBURY PORT, Oct. 28, 1789.
2.2.1) THE ANSWER.
Back to topGENTLEMEN: -
The affectionate welcome which you are pleased to give me to the Eastern parts of the Union would leave me without excuse did I fail to acknowledge the sensibility which it awakens, and to express the most sincere returns that a grateful sense of your goodness can suggest.
To be approved by the praiseworthy, is a wish as becoming to the ambitious as its consequence is flattering to our self-love.
I am, indeed, much indebted for the favorable sentiments which you entertain towards me, and it will be my study to deserve them.
The tribute of thanksgiving which you offer to the gracious FATHER OF LIGHTS, for his inspiration of our public councils with wisdom and firmness to complete the National Constitution, is worthy of men who, devoted to the pious purposes of religion, desire their accomplishment by such means as advance the temporal happiness of their fellow-men. And here, I am persuaded, you will permit me to observe that the path of true piety is plain as to require but little political direction.
To this consideration we ought to ascribe the absence of any regulation respecting religion from the Magna Charta of our country. To the guidance of the ministers of the gospel this important object is, perhaps more properly, committed. It will be your care to instruct the ignorant and to reclaim the devious. And in the progress of morality and science, to which our Government will give every furtherance, we may confidently expect the advancement of true religion and the completion of our happiness.
I pray the munificent Rewarder of Virtue that your agency in this good work may receive its compensation here and hereafter.
G. WASHINGTON.
3) THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Shares honorably in the labors of liberty during the Revolution. Many of the earlier emigrants in various colonies were from the Church of England; and in Virginia it had been the State religion. Being under the Episcopal jurisdiction of England, some of the ministers and churches in the colonies sympathized with the mother-country; yet the most distinguished ministers and influential Episcopal churches were loyal to freedom and aided in the work of achieving the independence of the nation.
Bishop William White, the father and founder of the Church, early espoused the cause of the country, and was prominent in national affairs. He was the first chaplain to Congress, and was fearless in his defence of freedom and independence. The civil councils of the country during the whole period of the great conflict were represented by eminent and able men from the Episcopal Church, among whom, as chief, was the pure-minded and patriotic John Jay. Washington, the great leader in the Revolution and in the civil councils of his country, - of whose influence it has been justly said that "the tone and character of the Revolutionary struggle on the part of the Americans were elevated and dignified by the exalted virtue that Washington brought into association with it," - was a member and a vestryman of the Episcopal Church. At the time of the Revolution there were two hundred and fifty ministers and three hundred Episcopal churches in the country. As a Protestant Church, their main influence was on the side of liberty.
The following correspondence gives pleasing evidence of this fact: -
3.1) ADDRESS OF THE CONVENTION OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE STATES OF NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE, MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, AND SOUTH CAROLINA, HELD AT PHILADELPHIA.
To the President of the United States.
We, the bishops, clergy, and laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, in General Convention assembled, beg leave, with the highest veneration and the most animating national considerations, at the earliest moment in our power to express our cordial joy on your election to the chief magistracy of the United States.
When we contemplate the short but eventful history of our nation, - when we recollect the series of essential services rendered by you in the course of the Revolution, the temperate yet efficient exercise of the mighty powers with which the nature of the contest made it necessary to invest you, and especially when we remember the voluntary and magnanimous relinquishment of those high authorities at the moment of peace, we anticipate the happiness of our country under your future administration.
But it was not alone from a successful and virtuous use of those extraordinary powers that you were called from your honorable retirement to the first dignities of our government. An affectionate admiration of your private character, the impartiality, the persevering fortitude, and the energy with which your public duties have been per- formed, and the paternal solicitude for the happiness of the American people, together with the wisdom and consummate knowledge of our affairs, manifested in your last military communication, have directed to your name the universal wish, and have produced, for the first time in the history of mankind, an example of unanimous consent, in the appointment of a governor of a free and enlightened nation.
To these considerations, inspiring us with the most pleasing expectations as private citizens, permit us to add that, as the representatives of a numerous and extended Church, we most thankfully rejoice in the selection of a civil ruler deservedly beloved and eminently distinguished among the friends of genuine religion, who has happily united a tender regard for other Churches with an inviolable attachment to his own.
With unfeigned satisfaction we congratulate you on the establishment of the new constitution of government for the United States; the mild yet efficient operation of which we confidently trust will remove every remaining apprehension of those with whose opinions it may not entirely coincide, and will confirm the hopes of its numerous friends. Nor do these expectations appear too sanguine when the moderation, patriotism, and wisdom of the honorable members of the federal legislature are duly considered. From a body thus eminently qualified, harmoniously co-operating with the executive authority in constitutional concert, we confidently hope for the restoration of order and our ancient virtues, the extension of genuine religion, and the consequent advancement of our respectability abroad and of our substantial happiness at home.
We devoutly implore the Supreme Ruler of the Universe to preserve you long in health and prosperity, an animating example of all public and private virtues, the friend and guardian of a free, enlightened, and grateful people, and that you may finally receive the reward which will be given to those whose lives have been spent in promoting the happiness of mankind.
WILLIAM WHITE,
Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and President of the Convention.
SAMUEL PROVOST, D.D.,
Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York.
(Though prevented by indisposition from attending the late General Convention, he concurs sincerely in this particular act, and subscribes the present address with the greatest pleasure.)
NEW YORK:
BENJAMIN MOORE, D.D.,
Assistant Minister of Trinity Church, in the City of New York.
ABRAHAM BEACH, D.D.,
Assistant Minister of Trinity Church, in the City of New York.
MOSES ROGERS.
August 1, 1789.
3.1.1) ANSWER.
Back to topI sincerely thank you for your affectionate congratulations on my election to the Chief Magistracy of the United States.
After having received from my fellow-citizens in general the most liberal treatment, - after having found them disposed to contemplate in the most flattering point of view the performance of my services and the manner of my retirement at the close of the war, - I feel that I have a right to console myself in my present arduous undertakings with a hope that they will still be inclined to put the most favorable construction on the motives which may influence me in my future public transactions. The satisfaction arising from the indulgent opinion entertained by the American people of my conduct will, I trust, be some security from preventing me from doing any thing which might justly incur the forfeiture of that opinion, and the consideration that human happiness and moral duties are inseparably connected will always continue to prompt me to promote the progress of the former by inculcating the practice of the latter.
On this occasion it would ill become me to conceal the joy I have felt in perceiving the fraternal affection which appears to increase every day among the friends of genuine religion. It affords edifying prospects, indeed, to see Christians of different denominations dwell together in more charity, and conduct themselves, in respect to each other, with a more Christian-like spirit, than ever they have done in any former age or in any other nation.
I receive with the greater satisfaction your congratulations on the establishment of the new constitution of government, because I believe its mild yet efficient operations will tend to remove every remaining apprehension of those with whose opinions it may not entirely coincide, as well as to confirm the hopes of its numerous friends, and because the moderation, the patriotism, and the wisdom of the present federal legislature seem to promise the restoration of order and our ancient virtues, the extension of genuine religion, and the consequent advancement of our respectability abroad and of our subsequent happiness at home.
I request, most reverend and respectable gentlemen, that you will accept my cordial thanks for your devout supplications to the Supreme Ruler of the universe in behalf of me. May you and the people whom you represent be the happy subjects of the Divine benedictions both here and hereafter!
G. WASHINGTON.