MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 ET. EEV. JAMES HEEVEY OTET, D,D,, LLJ)., 
 
 TEE FIRST BISHOP OF TENNESSEE. 
 
 BY 
 
 RT. REV. WILLIAM MERCER GREEN, D.D., 
 
 r 
 
 BISHOP OF MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 JAMES POTT AND COMPANY. 
 
 1885. 
 
TO THE KEADEK. 
 
 THE following Memoir was not written for the eye of the 
 critic, but for the hearts of the surviving children and the 
 old friends of Tennessee's first and great Bishop. 
 
 The reader will find in it no record of hair-breadth escapes, 
 splendid achievements, or incidents of romance. 
 
 It is a simple tribute of friendship, a heart-felt memorial 
 of a noble frontier Bishop, one of the great minds and 
 hearts of the American Catholic Church. 
 
 It has been the writer's endeavor neither to extenuate 
 what was amiss, nor indulge in any unmerited eulogy ; but 
 to present a plain transcript of the life and labors of one of 
 whom the Church, as well as the world, knows too little, 
 or, in other words, to make a photograph-likeness of his sub- 
 ject, setting it in a plain frame, and hanging it in a clear 
 light. 
 
 As for fine writing, or flourish of style, it would have 
 been as unsuited to the writer, now in his eighty-eighth 
 year, as to the noble character which he was seeking to 
 portray. 
 
 Thankful would he be if what is here written in memory 
 of the dead shall in any wise benefit the living, by cheering 
 the missionary in his lonely labors, by forwarding the cause 
 of Christian education, or by assuring the young setter-out 
 in life that sooner or later there will come a reward for the 
 true in heart and the patient in well-doing. 
 
 W. M. G. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 MEMOIR 1 
 
 APPENDIX 149 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE BISHOP'S DIARY .... 151 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 170 
 
 ADDRESSES AND SERMONS 188 
 
 LETTER FROM BISHOP COXE . . 350 
 
MEMOIR OF BISHOP OTEY. 
 
 THE county of Bedford in Virginia, lying at the east- 
 ern foot of the Blue Ridge, and overlooked by the 
 Peaks of Otter, if without any other claim to distinc- 
 tion, may well boast of having been the birthplace of 
 two of the best and best-beloved Bishops of the Amer- 
 ican Church. The memory of OTEY and COBBS will be 
 fondly cherished by its citizens, long after the genera- 
 tion which once knew them shall have passed away. 
 
 Of the late Bishop of Alabama, Nicholas H. Cobbs, it 
 is hoped that some pen equal to the task will yet make 
 a record of his saintly life, and of his well-known devo- 
 tion to the duties of his holy calling. 
 
 The following Memoir is offered as an affectionate 
 tribute to the memory of Tennessee's first and great 
 Bishop, by one who knew him well, and loved him with 
 more than a brother's love. Through fear of having 
 any features of this portrait set down to a blind partial- 
 ity, the reader will find that the larger part of it has 
 been given in extracts from the Bishop's diary, in the 
 affecting letters of his own children, and in the ready 
 vouchers of friends and brethren of every degree. 
 
 The Oteys, on both sides of the house, were of a 
 
2 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 good old English stock. The grandfather of the Bishop 
 was a valiant soldier in the war of '76. When the 
 British had obtained possession of the Pamunkey Biver, 
 he raised a company at his own expense, and captured 
 one of their boats ; refusing, after the war, all offers of 
 reward or remuneration. The Bishop's father, Isaac 
 Otey, was a well-to-do farmer, from whom he inherited 
 those sterling qualities of mind and heart that have 
 distinguished so many of Virginia's sons in both peace 
 and war. He was careful to instil into his children a 
 high sense of honor, and a stern regard to moral prin- 
 ciple. The Bishop's mother was a Matthews, of a 
 gentle and amiable disposition, and disposed rather to 
 indulge her children. His father was of sterner stuff, 
 but not without a tender consideration for the weak- 
 nesses of childhood and youth. 1 The name of Isaac 
 Otey may be found for thirty years on the Legislative 
 Journals of Virginia, as a representative of Bedford 
 County ; and to his further credit it may be added, that 
 his repeated elections were, for the most part, without 
 opposition. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, James Hervey, was one of 
 the younger sons in a family of twelve children ; and 
 
 1 The following incident, related to the author by the Bishop, will illus- 
 trate the difference : 
 
 "One morning, when I was in my sixteenth year, I remarked at the 
 breakfast-table that I had been kept awake during the night by a pain in 
 my breast. My dear mother heaved a deep-drawn sigh, and looked implor- 
 ingly at my father, who said not a word at the time. But when breakfast 
 was over he said, 'James, I shall have to send away my "striker" for 
 awhile: step down to my blacksmith-shop to-day, and strike till he gets 
 back.' It was three weeks before I was relieved of the shop. The cure was 
 most effectual." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Qtey. 3 
 
 was born on the 27th of January, 1800. "Hervey" 
 was not a family name ; but, about the time of his birth, 
 the works of that English writer were more read than 
 at present. Their florid and highly decorated style had 
 such charms for the uncultivated taste of his parents, 
 as to cause them to give his name to that child, who, in 
 time, was to endow it with so much honor. 
 
 In his early boyhood, James was sent, in company 
 with his brothers and sisters, to an " old-field school," a 
 short distance from their home. In due time he was 
 transferred or elevated to an academy in New London, 
 the county-town of Bedford, and the scene of those 
 magnificent speeches of Patrick Henry, of which we 
 are told in the no less magnificent language of Wirt. 
 The instruction here given him, though not extensive 
 in its range, was thorough in its character. He early 
 evinced a studious and inquiring disposition, being an 
 eager and attentive listener to the simple and honest coun- 
 sels of his father, and sharing with him in the popular 
 discussions of the day. At that time the wars of Napo- 
 leon were the current topics of the village schoolboy, 
 as well as of the minister in his cabinet. The boy's 
 young mind was fired with ambitious views of distinc- 
 tion, but without any definite aim. To his enthusiastic 
 imagination, Napoleon was the embodiment of his high- 
 est conceptions of human greatness ; and, doubtless, 
 formed in him an unconscious resolve to win for himself 
 some one or other of the prizes of life. His father, 
 seeing this laudable ambition, resolved, even at much 
 sacrifice, to give him further advantages. Accordingly, 
 in his sixteenth year he was sent to the University of 
 
4 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 North Carolina, at that time the most distinguished 
 institution of the kind in the South. His appearance 
 on entering college was, for a time, a subject for quiz- 
 zical remark among " the boys." He was then full six 
 feet in height, and ungainly in his movements. His 
 clothing looked as if his own dear mother had been his 
 chief tailor. He had a keen dark eye, a complexion 
 made up of the ruddy and the brown, with straight and 
 coal-black hair, and the striding gait of a true son of 
 the forest. No wonder, then, that he was soon dubbed 
 with the nickname of " Cherokee." But, notwith- 
 standing these external disadvantages, there was noth- 
 ing of the vulgar about him. His look and features 
 were such as any generous heart would at once be inter- 
 ested in. Though not a Chesterfield in manner, he was 
 far from being an unmannerly lout. In a very short 
 time he gained the respect and affection of his instruc- 
 tors as well as his schoolfellows. Throughout, his 
 whole college course was remarkable for his love of 
 reading and for his strict obedience to law and order. 
 Though caring but little for the highest honors of his 
 class, he was indefatigable in storing his mind with the 
 choicest treasures of ancient and modern learning. 
 Whilst the " first-honor men " were wrestling with the 
 paradigms of their Greek and Latin exercises, he was 
 turning the pages of Addison and Burke and Johnson, 
 or revelling in the wider field of history, biography, and 
 poetry. His intervals of study were spent in genial 
 intercourse with chosen friends, or whiled away in the 
 companionship of his violin, an instrument on which 
 he was no ordinary performer, and to which he was 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 5 
 
 indebted for many alleviating and consolatory moments 
 in his subsequent life. It is with a mournful pleasure 
 that the writer recalls the many evening walks, which, 
 arm-in-arm, he then enjoyed with this dear friend whom 
 he is endeavoring to portray. 
 
 One peculiarity, or infirmity, of my dear schoolmate 
 at this time, I well remember. It was his fear of light- 
 ning. Although sufficiently bold and self-reliant on 
 other occasions, he was so completely unmanned at the 
 approach of a thunder-cloud, that a visible paleness and 
 tremor would seize him. It is only since the writer 
 began this Memoir, that he has learned from the Eev. 
 Dr. Wheat the following amusing incident, which fully 
 accounts for this idiosyncrasy in the subject of our 
 story. 
 
 " I was one day [says the Doctor] accompanying the Bishop 
 in a round of visits to my parishioners (Christ Church, Nash- 
 ville) , when a sudden summer shower came upon us. I raised my 
 umbrella to shelter the Bishop ; but he immediately thrust it aside, 
 for fear, as he said, it might attract the lightning. He afterwards 
 explained to me, that he had had, from early childhood, an uncon- 
 trollably nervous dread of lightning, caused by an incident which 
 he thus related with some merriment : 
 
 " 4 One day my mother sent me to bring under shelter, from an 
 approaching thunder-shower, a hen with a brood of young chickens. 
 In driving them along, I had to pass by the side of a high rail- 
 fence, very open at the bottom. Through this opening the hen 
 would pass backward and forward, compelling me as often to 
 climb the fence after her. She had performed this feat three 
 times ; m} r patience was well-nigh exhausted ; the thunder growled 
 fearfully, and there came a heavy down-pouring of rain. As the 
 old hen was about to pass once more through the fence, I threw 
 my stick at her, exclaiming in my rage, " Consarn you I" Just 
 
6 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 as I uttered these words, I was dazed by a blinding flash of light- 
 ning, accompanied by a crashing volley of heaven's artilleiy. I 
 left the hen and chickens to their fate, fled in the greatest terror 
 to the house, and crept under a bed in the darkest corner of the 
 room, endeavoring to shut out the sound of what seemed to me 
 the terrible voice of God, rebuking me for my profanity.' ' 
 
 In June, 1820, he completed his college course ; and 
 for the variety as well as correctness of his attainments 
 received the degree of " Bachelor in Belles Lettres," a 
 distinction unknown till then in the annals of that insti- 
 tution. Here may be seen the foundation laid for that 
 clear, vigorous, and correct style, which ever after marked 
 the productions of the Bishop's pen. 
 
 Immediately after his graduation, he was appointed 
 to a tutorship of Latin and Greek in that college, and 
 thus had the opportunity of advancing himself still 
 further in the knowledge of those important languages. 
 One part of his tutorial duty was to hold prayers in the 
 college-chapel every morning, just after daylight. This 
 was to him a new and most irksome exercise. However 
 willing he might have been to offer up his devotions at 
 his bedside, this call to act in public, as a leader or 
 spokesman for others, was a trial of no ordinary kind. 
 For a while he stumbled through the performance with 
 no degree of improvement, and with less and less satis- 
 faction to himself. At length a kind lady friend pointed 
 his attention to the Prayer-Book, and presented him a 
 copy. Here indeed was a treasure-house opened to him ; 
 prayers short, pithy, and suited to every purpose and 
 condition, the very thing that he had been longing 
 for. Never before had he seen any thing like it. 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 1 
 
 Here let it be observed that his parents, though es- 
 teemed and honored by all, were members of no Chris- 
 tian denomination ; and that the Episcopal Church was, 
 at that day, least of all known and esteemed in that part 
 of Virginia. His acquaintance with this book formed 
 an eventful era in his life. The more he became famil- 
 iar with its contents, the higher and more fervent was 
 his admiration for the soundness of its doctrines, the 
 spirituality of its prayers, and its admirable fitness for 
 all the purposes of public or private devotion. From 
 that time he became what till the day of his death he 
 delighted to be called, a " Prayer-Book Churchman." 
 
 On the 13th of October, 1821, he married Miss Eliza 
 D. Pannill, a blooming daughter of the family with 
 whom he had been boarding. The Pannills were from 
 Petersburg, Va., a name of long standing and of the 
 highest respectability, but, like many others of that day, 
 of decayed fortune. 
 
 Very soon after his marriage, he removed to Maury 
 County, Tennessee, and was opening a school for boys, 
 near the town of Franklin, when he was induced to 
 return to North Carolina, and take the academy at War- 
 renton, which was just passing out of the hands of the 
 Rev. George W. Freeman. While there engaged, he 
 was baptized by the Rev. William Mercer Green, then 
 in charge of that parish ; and, soon after, confirmed by 
 Bishop Ravenscroft. On the 10th of October, 1825, he 
 received the Diaconate, and June 7, 1827, the Office of 
 Priest, at the hands of the same great Bishop. Being 
 thus invested with a full priestly commission, he set out 
 again for the distant and less-cultivated field of Ten- 
 
8 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 nessee, and established himself in the town of Franklin, 
 eighteen miles south of Nashville. For a long time, the 
 only place for worship that could be found for himself 
 and his little flock, was the lower room of a Masonic 
 Lodge. 1 But, humble as that was, it may piously and 
 thankfully be looked back to, as the birthplace and the 
 cradle of a Diocese now rejoicing in its strength. 
 
 On re-opening his school in Tennessee, Mr. Otey in- 
 dulged the sanguine hope that he was thus beginning, 
 though in a feeble way, a long and dearly cherished 
 scheme of his, in which religious instruction was to go 
 hand in hand with the every-day lessons of the school- 
 room. Here, for eight years, his time was divided be- 
 tween the labors of the pedagogue and the pastor and 
 the missionary. And dearly cherished to this day, by 
 the aged denizens of that village, is the memory of that 
 young Minister who instructed both old and young in 
 many lessons profitable to both their temporal and eter- 
 nal good. In that school there was one boy of whom 
 the Bishop was, ever after, justly proud; viz., the re- 
 nowned scientist Matthew F. Maury. Nor was it less 
 pleasing to him to remember that among his pupils 
 in Warrenton, there were two brothers, Braxton and 
 Thomas Bragg ; the one in after-life a distinguished 
 general of the Confederate army, the other a conspicu- 
 ous member of the cabinet of Mr. Davis. And it was a 
 heartfelt satisfaction to him, to see how these three boys, 
 
 1 Mr. Otey was at that time a member of the Masonic Order, and after- 
 wards attained its highest degree. He admired the beauty of its ritual and 
 the purity of its precepts, but regarded the whole system as a mere reflection 
 of the brighter sunlight of the Gospel. 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 9 
 
 in after-days, adorned their well-deserved honors with 
 the higher distinction of a Christian life. 
 
 The education of youth was always, to the Bishop, a 
 subject of the deepest concern ; and, during the whole 
 of his ministry, he endeavored to awaken and keep alive 
 an interest in the establishing of both male and female 
 schools. Tennessee, when he first entered it, was the 
 abode of the pioneer and the hardy backwoodsman, who 
 looked with contempt upon learning and refinement, es- 
 pecially in connection with the ministry of the Gospel. 
 The services of the Church were something so strange 
 to them, that the Bishop would afterwards illustrate it 
 by telling what one of these rude sons of the forest was 
 once heard to say to another : " Come, let us go and 
 hear that man preach, and his wife jaw back at him," 
 alluding to the responses made by Mrs. Otey, who was 
 oftentimes the only respondent in the congregation. 
 
 The Church in Tennessee was a " little one " indeed, 
 when Mr. Otey determined to make that State the field 
 of his lifelong labors. There was but one Clergyman 
 within its wide borders ; viz., Eev. John Davis (Deacon), 
 who had been sent there by a Missionary Society at the 
 North, and was feebly laboring amidst a world of obsta- 
 cles. Mr. Otey soon saw that help must be obtained, if 
 the Church was ever to have a name and be a power in 
 accomplishing the work so much needed in this portion 
 of the Lord's vineyard. Especially was there demand 
 for some one fully authorized to give form and consist- 
 ency to the work, and to set in order the little that had 
 already been done. But where and to whom should he 
 look I If there was any one man whom Mr. Otey ad- 
 
10 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 mired above all others, that man was Bishop Ravens- 
 croft, by whom he had been ordained, and by whose 
 advice he had come to Tennessee. To him, therefore, 
 he appealed so strongly, that in 1829 that noble Bishop, 
 in spite of rough roads and failing health, undertook 
 the task of visiting that Western field. His coming was 
 hailed with joy by that little flock and its struggling 
 pastor, for the fame of his commanding ability and 
 earnest piety had preceded him. His stay was necessa- 
 rily short ; but its effect was memorable in giving an 
 impulse and a direction to the affairs of the Church at 
 that time, which is felt to the present day. Under his 
 guidance and assistance, the very few Ministers and 
 members of the Church were organized into a Diocese, 
 in Nashville, on the 1st of July, 1829. He preached 
 several times, and a number were confirmed. In his 
 journal he speaks with gratitude of the hospitality of 
 Dr. Shelby and Mr. Francis B. Fogg; and adds, "During 
 my short stay in Nashville, I was greatly delighted and 
 encouraged by the interest manifested among the mem- 
 bers and friends of the Church, for the advancement of 
 religion, and the attainment of regular and fixed ser- 
 vices." The Bishop visited the little congregation in 
 Franklin, and confirmed several of them. He says in 
 his journal, " I found here, very clearly, the value of 
 Mr. Otey's services to the Church and religion, notwith- 
 standing he is confined and encumbered with the charge 
 of an academy." 
 
 In 1830 the Church in Tennessee was visited by 
 Bishop Meade of Virginia, and in that year was held its 
 first Diocesan Convention. Of the visit of Bishop Ives, 
 in 1831, no record can be found. 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 1 1 
 
 It was in 1831 that Mr. Otey was made to feel the 
 first of those family afflictions which pressed so hardly 
 on his tender and loving spirit. On the 27th of July, 
 lleginald Heber, his first-born son, a boy of lovely 
 promise, was consigned to the grave, in the tenth year 
 of his age. 
 
 But the day had arrived when this limited field was 
 to be opened into a wider sphere, and the humble and 
 patient labors of this man of God rewarded by a higher 
 and more holy office. 
 
 In 1833 there were, beside Mr. Otey, but five Presby- 
 ters and one Deacon in the Diocese. But so sorely was 
 felt the need of a Bishop to complete their organization, 
 and respond to repeated calls for Episcopal services, that 
 notice was given for a convention to meet in Franklin 
 on the 27th of June, for the election of a Bishop. The 
 following simple and modest notice is taken from the 
 diary of Mr. Otey : 
 
 . . 
 
 JUNE 29. Convention proceeded this day to the election of a 
 Bishop. The choice fell upon myself, as I received every vote but 
 the Rev. Mr. Weller's and my own. May the Lord be very merci- 
 ful unto me, and strengthen me ! Thou knowest, O Lord, that I 
 feel myself unequal to the burthen of this high and holy office ; but 
 through thy grace I can do all things which thy wisdom may ap- 
 point for me. Grant, blessed Saviour, that in all things I may be 
 faithful and diligent, and wise to win souls. And to thy name 
 be all the honor and praise, and glory. Amen." 
 
 At a subsequent date he writes : 
 
 " I have received flattering evidences of the satisfaction felt at 
 my election. But, Lord, do thou give me an humble mind ; and 
 never let such things withdraw my eyes from looking upon myself 
 as sinful dust and ashes." 
 
12 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 The Presiding Bishop appointed the time and place 
 for his consecration, and summoned to his assistance the 
 Right Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk, Right Rev. Benjamin 
 T. Onderdonk, and the Right Rev. George W. Doane. 
 Bishop White was the consecrator, Bishop Doane 
 preached the sermon (2 Tim. iv. 1-5), and the other two 
 Bishops acted as presenters. This solemn ceremony 
 was duly performed in Christ Church, Philadelphia, on 
 the fourteenth day of January, 1834. 
 
 As Mr. Otey had never, before this, been north of 
 Mason and Dixon's line, he saw on his journey many 
 objects both new and striking. In a letter to the writer, 
 soon after his return home, he says, 
 
 " The most striking object that I met with, on the whole of my 
 journey, was the venerable Presiding Bishop. I remembered at 
 the time, that I heard you once say that his appearance reminded 
 you of the description which ancient writers give of St. John. The 
 thought occurred to my recollection, the moment my e} T e rested 
 upon the aged patriarch ; and a feeling of mingled awe, veneration, 
 and affection predominated over every other consideration, in his 
 presence." 
 
 The reader must pardon another extract from this 
 same letter : 
 
 " I saw your dear friend Montgomery [Rev. Dr. James Montgom- 
 ery of St. James' Church, Philadelphia] upon the bed of his last 
 sickness. He was full of resignation and peace ; and his affections 
 were, as warmly as ever, enlisted in the prosperity of the Church 
 which he loved. He grasped my hand in both of his, with great 
 affection, and told me he knew to what school I belonged, kindled 
 with animation at the name of Ravenscroft, and exhorted me to 
 follow in the steps of that great and good man." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 1 3 
 
 As soon as his consecration was known, he was invited 
 by the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Mississippi 
 to take that Diocese also under his charge. Immedi- 
 ately after his return, finding the field of his labors thus 
 providentially enlarged, he set about devising plans for 
 the more general good of the Diocese. 
 
 Next in importance to the preaching of the pure 
 Word of God, there dwelt in the breast of Bishop Otey 
 an earnest desire to promote the cause of Christian 
 education. In his frequent and fatiguing rides through 
 his own and the adjacent dioceses, he witnessed such an 
 amount of ignorance and prejudice, and such mistaken 
 views of religion, as often to make him groan in spirit. 
 Preaching, preaching, preaching, was all that even the 
 better part of the people seemed to care for. Worship 
 or prayer was hardly a secondary consideration ; and 
 the ordinances of the Church were regarded as little 
 better than signs of Church-membership, or cloaks, in 
 too many cases, to cover up an immoral life. Each sect 
 gloried in its peculiar " shibboleth ; " the brief and un- 
 digested lessons of the Sunday school constituted the 
 chief, if not the sole, religious instruction of the young ; 
 and, with few exceptions, even the more intelligent 
 seemed to have lost sight of the Church of Christ as a 
 Divine institution, demanding an unquestioning recep- 
 tion of its creed and ordinances. 
 
 Soon after his consecration, the Bishop's hands were 
 greatly strengthened by the coming of the Rev. Leoni- 
 das Polk into the Diocese. By this active and zealous 
 Clergyman he was largely aided in setting on foot and 
 carrying on his many endeavors to advance the literary 
 
14 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 as well as the religious interests of the people of the 
 South-West. 
 
 As early as the year 1832, the Convention of the 
 Diocese placed upon its Journal the following declara- 
 tion : 
 
 u Whereas this Convention is deeply sensible of the great want 
 of Clerg}'men in this Diocese, and also of the wants of our sister 
 Churches of the Southern and South-western States generally ; And 
 whereas we believe that the interests of this Church can onty be 
 advanced in those sections of the Union, above alluded to, by pro- 
 viding Ministers of piety and learning, to labor at her destitute 
 altars ; And, also, that the cause of true learning may be most 
 effectually promoted by providing for the instruction of those who 
 are preparing for Holy Orders : Therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, That this Convention pledge themselves, if funds 
 can be obtained, to establish, at some eligible location in this Dio- 
 cese, a Classical and Theological Seminary of learning, in order, to 
 educate, or aid in educating, persons who are desirous of obtaining 
 Holy Orders." 
 
 The Journal does not state by whom these resolutions 
 were drawn ; but they bear internal evidence that they 
 proceeded from the vigorous pen of Mr. Otey, who in 
 the following year was elected Bishop of the Diocese. 
 One of the first acts of his Episcopate (June, 1834) was 
 to bring this important subject to the attention of his 
 Convention, then assembled in Columbia. The Bishop 
 and Standing Committee were requested to devise such 
 plans, and take such measures, as might lead to the 
 accomplishment of that object ; and report to the next 
 Convention. June, 1835, the Convention met in the 
 Court-House at Jackson. The Bishop, in his Address, 
 renewed the subject; and that part relating to it was 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 15 
 
 referred to a committee consisting of Rev. Messrs. Polk 
 and Chilton, and Messrs. Hatch, T. Jones, and H. G. 
 Smith, of which the Rev. Leonidas Polk was chairman. 
 The committee, in making their report, expressed their 
 full approval of the Bishop's recommendations. 
 
 Before his Convention of 1836, he once more brings 
 up the subject, pressing it most earnestly on their atten- 
 tion. The following extract from his Address will abun- 
 dantly show how it had taken possession of his thoughts, 
 and of his plans for the wide and permanent interests 
 of the people of the West. He had not long returned 
 from the General Convention of 1835, and from his 
 first visitation of the Diocese of Mississippi, when he 
 writes : 
 
 ." Connected with my journey to the South-West, was an ardent 
 desire to forward an object which has already been a subject of 
 deliberation and advisement with you. I refer to a projected plan 
 of a Literary and Theological Seminary, to meet the wants of 
 Episcopalians in Tennessee and Mississippi and Louisiana. It 
 was my expectation, when I left home, that I should be able to 
 obtain subscriptions in sufficient amount to justify the adoption of 
 measures at this Convention, to determine upon a site, and pro- 
 ceed to the erection of the necessary buildings. I have not per- 
 mitted myself to doubt that the assurances given me will yet be 
 made good. And, that my expectations were not realized last 
 winter, I am of the deliberate persuasion was owing to fortuitous 
 circumstances, as unforeseen as they were utterly beyond the con- 
 trol of the friends of the measure." 
 
 After briefly stating what these circumstances were, 
 he entered at some length on the reasons which con- 
 vinced him that this measure should be perseveringly 
 followed up, even though under an increase of present 
 
16 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 discouragements. His argument was founded, first, on 
 the vast resources and growing wealth of the people of 
 the South and West, evincing that there were means 
 more than sufficient for the purpose ; and, next, on their 
 sensible want of such educational facilities, shown in 
 the sending of their sons and daughters to be educated 
 at the North, to the injury of their health, and the 
 weakening of their domestic and social ties. He then 
 showed that the security and happiness of a people, 
 especially such as we are, rest upon the moral senti- 
 ment of the community, more than upon the nature of 
 its government and laws ; and that nothing but the 
 combined force of education and religion could success- 
 fully contend with the growing wickedness and lawless- 
 ness of the people of the South- West. 
 
 He further pointed out the inefficiency of colleges 
 established by the State, to give a religious or even a 
 moral tone to those whom they profess to educate ; 
 inasmuch as they make no provision for the inculcation 
 of Christianity, but rather studiously shut it out from 
 their curriculum. In opposition to all this, he ex- 
 plained what was the prime end and aim of the projected 
 University: viz., to furnish the community with an en- 
 lightened and a virtuous class of citizens ; to supply 
 means for the acquisition of theological learning, to 
 Candidates for the Ministry, at their own homes ; and, 
 also, to raise up a corps of professional teachers, who, 
 in their turn, could impart like wholesome instruction 
 to others. He then brings his remarks to a conclu- 
 sion by saying, 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 17 
 
 "Upon a view of the whole subject, I earnestly recommend to 
 this Convention the appointment of agents in this State, to ob- 
 tain for this object subscriptions payable in one, two, and three 
 years ; and, also, a special agent, to visit the South- West country, 
 tinder the author! 13* of this body, the ensuing fall and winter, for 
 a like purpose." 1 
 
 A committee consisting of Rev. Messrs. Polk, Muller, 
 and Litton of the Clergy, and Messrs. John Anderson, 
 P. W. Alston, and S. P. Walker of the laity, was 
 appointed to report on that portion of the Bishop's 
 Address which relates to education. The next day we 
 find their Report, as follows, on the twenty-sixth page 
 of the Journal : 
 
 " The committee to whom was referred so much of the Bishop's 
 Address having reference to the establishment of a Literary and 
 Theological Institution in the Diocese, respectfully report, that this 
 Convention fully concurs in the views expressed in said Address ; 
 and recommends that the Committee on Education, appointed by 
 the last Convention, be continued, and authorized to appoint an 
 agent or agents, to carry into effect the objects contemplated, by 
 soliciting subscriptions, agreeably to the plan set forth in the 
 printed circular, signed by the Chairman of the Committee. 
 
 L. POLK, Chairman. 1 ' 
 
 But it was not in his own Diocese only that Bishop 
 Otey showed so becoming a zeal in behalf of the reli- 
 gious and literary improvement of his fellow-countrymen 
 and fellow-Churchmen. In this same year (1835) he 
 suggested and recommended to the Convention of the 
 Diocese of Mississippi, that an " institution, on a scale 
 
 1 It cannot but be gratifying to the friends of Bishop Otey, to see him at 
 so early a date endeavoring to lay a foundation for that system of normal 
 instruction which is now so largely contributing to the efficiency of our 
 schools, both public and private. 
 
18 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 sufficiently enlarged to meet the wants of the South 
 in regard to collegiate and theological education, be 
 founded and endowed." In a subsequent Address to the 
 Standing Committee of that Diocese, he says, 
 
 " In view of the want of Candidates for the Ministry in the 
 South, it strikes me as an obvious dictate of prudence and sound 
 policy, to provide in the South- West, as soon as practicable, for 
 the education of young men willing and in other respects qualified 
 to enter the Ministry. All that seems wanting is united effort, 
 and concerted and vigorous action, to found a Seminary which 
 might do credit to our country, perpetuate the glory of our free 
 institutions, widen and strengthen the influence of Gospel privi- 
 leges, and extend the blessings of learning and religion to our 
 children and our children's children to the latest generation.'* 
 
 With a singular and commendable tenacity the 
 Bishop adhered to this subject ; presenting it again and 
 again, in 1836 and 1837, not only to his Conventions, 
 but to every congregation of the Diocese. His great 
 sermon on " Christian Education," delivered before the 
 General Convention of October, 1859, will attest the 
 ability and zeal with which he then and there advocated 
 this his favorite theme. ( Vide sermon, in the Appen- 
 dix.) To his Convention in Nashville, 1835, he says, 
 
 "Among the many other interesting and important matters 
 which will claim the attention of this Convention, I deem it highly 
 proper to call up to your notice the subject of education, both as 
 it respects provision to be made for furnishing to the children of 
 Episcopalians, as well as others who desire it, proper facilities for 
 acquiring a knowledge of the arts and sciences usually taught in 
 colleges, as likewise for affording to those who may become Candi- 
 dates for Orders, more ample advantages than we can at present 
 offer. I would willingly enter into a full exposition of my views 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 19 
 
 on this subject ; but the prevalence of one opinion onty among us, 
 as to the expediency of such an object, and the great advantage 
 to be derived from such a measure, render it perhaps unneces- 
 sar}', and would hardly justify my trespassing on your time and 
 attention.'* 
 
 In his journal, read to the Convention of 1837, he 
 writes : 
 
 " 1836, OCT. 3. I addressed the people of Bolivar, at the court- 
 house, upon the subject of our proposed Literary and Theological 
 Seminar}'. Papers for subscription were left in the hands of Major 
 Bills and Pitzer Miller." 
 
 " OCT. 8. At La Grange, I addressed the people assembled in 
 the Methodist meeting-house, in reference to our Seminary ; and 
 Mr. John Anderson was appointed to receive donations and sub- 
 scriptions." 
 
 u OCT. 10. A second meeting of the citizens of La Grange being 
 called, they were addressed upon the subject of our Seminary by 
 Mr. Potts. Several thousand dollars were subscribed, and a num- 
 ber of agents appointed to obtain subscriptions." 
 
 " OCT. 12. At Somerville, I addressed a few persons at the 
 court-house, upon the subject of the Seminar}'. Some subscrip- 
 tions were made, and Mr. George Smith was appointed to obtain 
 more." 
 
 " OCT. 31 . Addressed the people of Brownsville, in behalf of the 
 Seminary." 
 
 He then winds up his journal by saying, 
 
 " In regard to the proposed Literar3*and Theological Seminary, 
 I will not sa} T more at present, in reference to the establishment of 
 such an institution, than to repeat the firm and deliberate convic- 
 tion, heretofore expressed, of its absolute necessity to the prosper- 
 ity of the Diocese. The whole subject is now again commended 
 to your consideration, dear brethren, in the full confidence that 
 your wisdom and prudence will direct you to the measures most 
 proper to be pursued." 
 
20 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 These recommendations were not altogether without 
 their fruit, although the good attained was unseen at 
 the time. The subject was stirred from time to time, 
 and thus kept before the public view. 
 
 In order the better to effect his educational views, he 
 determined, in the year following his consecration, to 
 remove to Columbia ; and accordingly, in December, 
 1835, took up his residence within a short distance of 
 that place. Here, as soon as he was settled, he opened 
 a school for boys in his own house ; giving it the name 
 of " Mercer Hall," in honor of his friend and benefactor, 
 Dr. William N. Mercer of New Orleans, and devoting 
 a considerable portion of his time to its instruction. 
 Owing to a failure in his health, and his necessarily re- 
 peated absences from home, this experiment was aban- 
 doned after a trial of a little more than two years. 
 
 Notwithstanding this serious disappointment, we find 
 the heart of the Bishop still set upon what, next to 
 Christ and His Gospel, seemed to be the goal of his 
 hopes, and the burthen of his prayers. During the win- 
 ter of 1838, and much of the following spring, the Bishop 
 was confined to his house by a serious illness. But his 
 Diocese experienced no " lack of service ; " as the good 
 Bishop Kemper, a man of like godly spirit, kindly 
 took upon him the laborious work in the South and 
 West which his disabled brother had laid out for him- 
 self. In his Annual Address of that year, he informs 
 the Convention that the Rev. Dr. Wheat had resigned 
 the rectorship of Christ's Church, Nashville, and would 
 remove to Columbia, to establish a school, which he 
 (the Bishop) hoped, with God's blessing, might supply 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 21 
 
 the immediate wants of the youth of the Church in that 
 Diocese for their intellectual and religious training, and 
 as a means of educating and preparing a native and effi- 
 cient Ministry for the South-West. A committee was 
 appointed, with full power, to carry on the enterprise ; an 
 eligible lot of ground, of ten acres, near Columbia, was 
 secured; and a liberal subscription, chiefly from the 
 Polk family, obtained in a short time. The school was 
 opened in the fall of 1838. The most sanguine hopes 
 were entertained of its permanency and success ; and 
 the good Bishop began to think that here and now was 
 securely to be laid a firm foundation for his much-desired 
 Seminary of religion and learning. A very general in- 
 terest began to be felt in the work, and many pledges 
 were given of aid when it might be called for. But, 
 alas ! two short years had scarcely passed, before it was 
 found that the expenses of the establishment so far ex- 
 ceeded its receipts as abruptly to close its doors. But a 
 more cogent and satisfactory solution of this unexpected 
 failure might have been found in the wide-spread and 
 disastrous crisis in monetary affairs, which in 1837 began 
 to be felt by every class and occupation of the business- 
 world. 
 
 But this was not the last we are to see of the Bishop's 
 endeavors to compass his long-cherished design. One 
 more effort was yet to be made. It was thought, 
 that, if a more central position than Columbia could be 
 agreed upon, a more general and liberal interest would 
 be enlisted in its behalf. The county of Madison was 
 accordingly fixed upon as the most desirable location ; 
 land and subscriptions were freely tendered; the title of 
 
22 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 " Madison University " was adopted for the proposed in- 
 stitution ; a liberal charter was obtained ; and the Rev. 
 Mr. Polk was appointed to solicit subscriptions both 
 within and without the Diocese. But, when he was on 
 the eve of setting out, he was arrested by that terrible 
 financial depreciation, which, beginning in 1837, was not 
 long in pervading the whole country. 
 
 Such were the repeated trials and repeated disappoint- 
 ments of the good Bishop in his noble endeavors to pro- 
 mote the intellectual and religious culture of his Diocese 
 and of the South- West generally. But who dares count 
 all this as so much " labor lost," or prayer unheeded? 
 May we not plainly see, in these hopes and strivings, the 
 buried seed and the struggling germ which, after thirty 
 years of patient waiting, ripened into the UNIVERSITY OF 
 THE SOUTH? an institution which now, in its vigorous 
 infancy, bids fair to realize the most sanguine hopes of 
 its wise and pious founders. 
 
 But the zeal of the good Bishop in the cause of reli- 
 gious education was not confined to the boys only, of his 
 Diocese and of the South-West ; he was equally con- 
 vinced of the necessity of giving a like training to those 
 who were, in time, to become the wives and mothers of 
 the succeeding generation. Accordingly, as soon as he 
 had removed to Columbia, with the efficient aid of the 
 Rev. Mr. Polk he set about establishing in that place a 
 girls' school of the highest character. The design met 
 with universal favor and encouragement. Every cir- 
 cumstance of the times seemed to favor the project. A 
 commanding site, embracing four acres, was readily ob- 
 tained within the limits of the town ; and a beautiful 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 23 
 
 building, sufficiently capacious, and of a castellated form, 
 was erected at a considerable cost. For forwarding and 
 conducting this enterprise until it got into successful 
 operation, much credit was due to the liberality and 
 zealous labors of Rev. Mr. Polk, who was then Rector of 
 St. Peter's Church in that place. The exercises of the 
 school began in 1836, and it very soon attained a high 
 degree of popularity; but unfortunately, before the 
 building was thoroughly completed, it proved to be 
 largely in debt. In 1838 the Rev. F. G. S., who had 
 the reputation of being a most skilful teacher, took it 
 in charge, generously engaging to finish the work at his 
 present expense. For several years the school grew 
 more and more in public favor. But (as will afterwards 
 be seen, in 1852), while in the heyday of its prosperity, 
 its prospects were sadly blighted by the immoral con- 
 duct of the very man to whose watchful care it had been 
 so confidently intrusted. 
 
 This undertaking was on a scale commensurate with 
 the grave and all-important design of its founders ; de- 
 manding an outlay of means, and an amount of labor, 
 that would have appalled and deterred any but those 
 two heroic spirits. The Bishop entered upon it with 
 all the ardor of his soul, for he seemed to be literally 
 possessed with the subject of Christian education. He 
 spoke of it from house to house. He preached it from 
 the pulpit. He urged it on his Conventions. He made 
 addresses before many large congregations, from Boston 
 to New Orleans. He wrote letters without number, to 
 men of wealth in our Northern cities. He left his home 
 and family for three and five months together, travelling 
 
24 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 through all weathers, for the one purpose of extricating 
 the Institute from its burdensome indebtedness. The 
 many discomforts and perils of his journeyings form no 
 little part of those jottings in his diary, wnich he never 
 thought would be given to the world. 
 
 On the election of Rev. Mr. Polk, in 1838, as Mission- 
 ary Bishop of Arkansas, the whole management of the 
 school devolved on Bishop Otey, who, at the same time, 
 was invited to the rectorship of St. Peter's Church, Co- 
 lumbia. It was with great reluctance that the Bishop 
 undertook the charge of that parish, for he well knew 
 what an amount of weight it was laying upon his already 
 heavily burthened shoulders. His justification to him- 
 self and his Convention was, that the claims of a fam- 
 ily were weightier than those of a Diocese. 
 
 In speaking of Mr. Polk's election, he says to his 
 Convention, 
 
 " Thus have we lost from the Councils of this Diocese a brother 
 well-beloved ; one whose personal exertions were freely contributed 
 to promote the cause we have in hand, and one whose zeal to honor 
 the Saviour led him to be foremost in every good work. Though 
 poorly able to spare so valuable a laborer from the field we have to 
 cultivate, it is consoling to reflect that he has been called to more 
 enlarged usefulness in the Church of God, and that the duties of 
 his high and responsible office have been laid upon one who will 
 net shrink from the faithful performance of them." 
 
 In what has already been laid before the reader, from 
 the diary of Bishop Otey and the acts of his Conven- 
 tions, it is very evident, that as early as the year 1832, 
 and all along till 1857, just such an institution as we 
 now have in the University of the South dwelt in his 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 25 
 
 hopes and prayers, as well as on his pen and tongue. 
 It is enough to melt a feeling heart, to read the list of 
 his repeated disappointments ; and no one can fail to 
 admire the perseverance with which he clung to his 
 dearly cherished ideal. 
 
 In the mind of Mr. Polk there no doubt existed a like 
 conviction of the importance of uniting religion with 
 learning in our schools and colleges. For he could not 
 fail to see the great need of such a measure among the 
 uncultivated and fast-growing population of the South 
 and West. Of this reverend gentleman it may be truly 
 said that he was no ordinary man, viewed from any point 
 at which his many-sided personality might be seen. The 
 writer of this Memoir, on a different occasion from the 
 present, thus attempts to describe him : " In disposition 
 and bearing, he seemed like another Leonidas, born to 
 command. In person and appearance, tall, erect, and 
 even majestic, with a voice loud but not unpleasant, a 
 quick and flashing eye, a conformation of features in- 
 dicative of great versatility of talent, and untiring 
 energy ; in conversation, fluent, forcible, and attractive ; 
 courteous and chivalric at all times ; with elevated aims, 
 and a mind comprehensive and grasping, this Bishop 
 and General seemed eminently fitted, even from his 
 youth, for the varied and widely differing duties to which 
 he was called." 
 
 To this it may here be added, that there was in him 
 an earnestness of purpose, and a concentrated energy of 
 word and action, which, joined to a highly polished and 
 impressive manner, must have made him, in any posi- 
 tion " a man of mark." Though not deeply read in 
 
26 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 books, he seemed to have an intuitive knowledge of 
 men ; and in the way of social intercourse was without 
 an equal. Here, then, was the very man who could, 
 when the right time should come, lay hold on this long- 
 cherished idea, and force it upon public attention. That 
 time, after more than twenty-five years of waiting, on the 
 part of Bishop Otey, at length came ; finding the world 
 at peace, our people generally prosperous, and the South- 
 western States Louisiana in particular awaking to a 
 consciousness of growing wealth, and a need of broader 
 and higher educational advantages. This, their greatest 
 need, had been from time to time, in public and in pri- 
 vate, in the house and by the wayside, pressed upon them 
 by the Bishop of Tennessee ; but the idea lay dormant, 
 waiting, as it were, for some unusual power to wake it 
 into life. That awakening came in 1857, when Bishop 
 Polk, in a circular addressed to his brother Bishops of 
 the South, told them that the day for debates and reso- 
 lutions had passed away, and the time for action bad 
 come. 
 
 Writing to one of his Clergy (Rev. T. W. Humes), 
 Aug. 8, 1856, Bishop Otey says, of the projected Uni- 
 versity of the South, 
 
 "I have had this matter under consideration for five years past, 
 nay, much longer ; but for five j'ears past I have had a plan 
 drawn out for such an object, under a deep and settled conviction 
 that neither the General Theological Seminary, the Virginia School, 
 Kenyon, Jubilee, or Nashotah, nor all combined, could meet the de- 
 mands of the South-West. We must provide for ourselves. And 
 I am glad that one has taken hold of the subject, with more leisure 
 and ability than I have, to prosecute it to a happy result." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 27 
 
 On an impartial review of this question, the truth of 
 the matter appears to be this : that the success of Bishop 
 Polk would have fallen far short of what it was, if his 
 elder brother Bishop had not so widely, and in various 
 ways, prepared the way for it ; and, on the other hand, 
 that the University of the South might at this moment 
 exist only in the hopes and prayers of its friends, if the 
 adventurous and vigorous Bishop of Louisiana had not 
 taken its cause in hand. 
 
 In the diary of Bishop Otey, we find the following 
 entry, so characteristic of the modest and generous 
 nature of the man. He had been debating with him- 
 self about using, in his Address to the approaching Con- 
 vention at Jackson, an extract from one which he had 
 delivered in 1836, at Pulaski, on the subject of a Liter- 
 ary and Theological Seminary. He seems, for some rea- 
 son, to shrink from it as unnecessary, if not uncalled for, 
 " lest it might seem that I wished to claim the honor of 
 originating this great enterprise, which I really do not ; 
 for I care nothing for such honor. And, as it has been 
 attributed to Bishop Polk, I am more than willing that 
 to him it shall belong." 
 
 In 1841, Bishop Polk having been elected to the 
 Episcopate of Louisiana, the missionary work needed in 
 Arkansas and the Indian Territory was assigned by the 
 General Convention to Bishop Otey ; and, about the 
 same time, the Diocese of Mississippi elected him its 
 Provisional Bishop. In January he set out to visit Flori- 
 da, passing through Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia ; 
 making it full five months before his return home. A 
 twofold object was to be accomplished by this long and 
 
28 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 hazardous journey, the one, to minister to the people 
 as opportunity might offer ; the other, to solicit aid in 
 behalf of the Female Institute in Columbia. A recur- 
 rence to his diary of that year will show a succession 
 of risks and hardships seldom encountered in the life- 
 time experience of any Bishop. It was in this year that 
 he was shocked and pained by the ill conduct of one of 
 his Clergy. After a fair trial, the Rev. Dr. Muller was 
 found guilty of the charges alleged against him, and the 
 Bishop was compelled to degrade him from the Ministry. 
 On the adjournment of the court, we find these words 
 in the Bishop's diary : " May God be merciful to our 
 errors ; and pardon our mistakes and want of wisdom, 
 if in any thing we have failed in duty to Him, to His 
 Church, or to our brother." The subsequent career of 
 that unhappy culprit showed that he had yet to sink 
 still lower in moral turpitude. 
 
 Between 1842 and 1844, the Bishop made a visita- 
 tion of Mississippi, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory, 
 in which he travelled from three to four thousand 
 miles. Some idea may be formed of the risks and 
 perils encountered on those long and wearisome jour- 
 neys, from the following part of a letter to a friend 
 (W. C. Hopkins), giving some experience of his trip 
 to the Indian Territory. He was accompanied, a part 
 of the way, by a Rev. Mr. Harris. 
 
 STEAMER "EVELINA," MISSISSIPPI RIVER, April 10, 1844. 
 
 MY DEAR HOPKINS, By the above caption you will perceive 
 that I have once more, through God's goodness, reached the pre- 
 cincts of civilized life. Right glad am I that I have got out of 
 that Indian country. If I had any curiosity to see the red man 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 29 
 
 at home, in his native state, it has been fully gratified. . . . We 
 set off for Fort Towson, neither of us knowing one foot of the 
 road. The first day's ride of forty miles, through miry bottoms, 
 brought us just to the borders of the Indian country. . . . We 
 were directed to take a trail at a certain point on what is called 
 the " Military Road," and to follow it. We did so ; it led us over 
 hills, by the edge of precipices, along the tops of mountains, and 
 through bogs and swamps deep, miry, and horrible beyond any 
 thing I had ever conceived of as passable by human beings. Once 
 we got into a low bottom, covered with water between knee-deep 
 and saddle-skirts, in every direction, as far as the eye could see. 
 The trail led straight into it ; but which way it took through it, or 
 where it went out, was the point to be settled. Many a philoso- 
 pher, and many wiser preachers than we, would have been puzzled 
 to determine the question. Mr. Harris left every thing to me, 
 either because he was utterly posed himself, or else he wished to 
 see how I could manage. Being a taciturn man, he said nothing, 
 at least till we got through the bog ; and then remarked, " Bishop, 
 you know something about swamps." . . . We arrived at the 
 bank of a creek which last night's rain had made impassable. We 
 had to encamp in the wet bottom, the air chilly, and the snow still 
 falling. The next day we got over, and came to a river called the 
 Poteau, a deep and rapid stream, and without a ferry-boat. We 
 again pitched our tents, and at the end of three days were barely 
 able to get over in safety. By this time you may well suppose 
 that the novelty of such an expedition had been succeeded by 
 a very different feeling. I had had enough of the romance of a 
 soldier's mode of life to make me right glad, two days after, to 
 find m}*self in comfortable quarters. 
 
 These long and repeated absences of the Bishop could 
 not but be sorely felt by his family ; especially by Mrs. 
 Otey, on whom was devolved the care and responsibility 
 of a large and increasing household. It is not surpris- 
 ing, therefore, to find the following, written on a blank 
 leaf of one of his earliest diaries : 
 
30 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 " DEC. 2, 1834. My husband left home to-day, for Mississippi 
 and the Western district. My trouble and distress are renewed 
 at this departure. God grant that I may take these things more 
 patiently, and trust more to Him who has been so kind and mer- 
 ciful to me, and will always do what is best for those who love 
 Him." 
 
 The following is an extract of a letter addressed to 
 the Bishop, Oct. 18, 1842 : 
 
 "This, you know, is our wedding-day. How different are my 
 feelings from what they were this morning twenty-one years ago ! 
 Then my spirits were buoyant, and full of bright hope ; willing to 
 forget all the past, as the beloved object was almost in possession, 
 who was to make me completely happy forever. But now I feel 
 as if I were standing alone, full of care and trouble and disappoint- 
 ment. But, no doubt, it is all for the best for my poor soul." 
 
 In 1844 the Bishop was invited to the permanent 
 rectorship of St. Peter's Church, Columbia. It was in 
 this year that Bishop H. U. Onderdonk was brought to 
 trial. Through force of circumstances, and very much 
 against his inclination, Bishop Otey became his " pre- 
 senter." In speaking of it to his succeeding Conven- 
 tion, he says, 
 
 u Never, in the course of my life, have I been called on to 
 perform so painful and distressing a duty. 'Bishop Onderdonk was 
 one of my consecrators ; and, from the day of our first acquaint- 
 ance, our intercourse had always been of the most friendly and 
 cordial character. But when grave charges, made under oath, were 
 preferred against him by responsible persons ; and when those who 
 had known him long, and, as I supposed, intimately, refused even 
 to examine the affidavits which so deepty implicated his character, 
 I felt that duty to him, as well as to the Church, required me no 
 longer to hesitate, so far as depended on me, in placing the whole 
 subject before an impartial and competent tribunal." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 31 
 
 During the year 1844, the Bishop felt compelled, in 
 duty to his Diocese, to resign his Missionary Jurisdiction 
 of Arkansas and the Indian Territory ; and, about the 
 same time, gave up also his Provisional charge of the 
 Diocese of Mississippi, as the Eev. Dr. Hawks had just 
 been elected to that office, and it was generally supposed 
 that his election would be confirmed by the General 
 Convention. 
 
 In 1846, the Female Institute being still encumbered 
 with debt, the Bishop, at the suggestion and request of 
 Northern brethren, sent out a very strong appeal in its 
 behalf. The result, however, fell far short of his rea- 
 sonable expectations. 
 
 The year 1847 was a time of deep sorrow and loss to 
 the good Bishop. In the midst of a visitation of his 
 Diocese, he was unexpectedly turned back by the illness 
 of one who seems to have been his favorite child. .On 
 reaching home, May 28, he writes : 
 
 u Mihi atra dies! The darkest and bitterest day of my life! 
 My noble-minded, generous-hearted, and beloved child, Sarah Mc- 
 Garock, departed this life to-day at 12 M. O God, Thou hast indeed 
 smitten me down, and crushed me. I most humbly beseech Thee, 
 through Jesus Christ, to bring me at last to rejoin her happy, and, 
 as I trust, glorified spirit, in a holier, better, and purer world." 
 
 The most cursory view of his diary will show how the 
 bitterness of that trial would again and again, to the 
 very end of his life, come back to him, by night and by 
 day, in solitude and society, and in distant lands, as well 
 as among the scenes and companions in which she once 
 delighted. 
 
 But, great as was this blow to the tender heart of the 
 
32 Memoir of Bishop Qtey. 
 
 Bishop, he was yet, and very soon, to undergo another 
 and to human view an equally mysterious loss, in the 
 death of Rev. Philip W. Alston, Rector of Calvary 
 Church, Memphis. Mr. Alston had come, with the 
 elder members of his family, from North Carolina, in 
 1830, after being distinguished at the University of that 
 State, for his brilliant intellect and loveliness of charac- 
 ter. Ordained by Bishop Otey in 1840, he commenced 
 his labors in Memphis, and soon became an influential 
 member of the Councils of the Diocese. The Bishop 
 admired him, loved him, and leaned upon him. His 
 death was sudden, and in the midst of a Convention 
 assembled in Columbia in June, 1847. The whole 
 Diocese was thrown into mourning, but by none was he 
 more lamented than by him from whom he had received 
 his high commission. In speaking of Mr. Alston to the 
 Convention, the day following his death, the Bishop 
 uses the following apparently over-wrought terms of 
 praise : 
 
 " In the stores of his various and accurate information ; in vigor 
 of intellect ; in soundness of judgment ; in the readiness with which 
 he would lay hold upon, and unfold, and make clear, difficult sub- 
 jects ; in the happiness and appositeness of his illustrations, making 
 all arts, sciences, trades, and the outspread volume of nature, trib- 
 utary to his purpose ; in the power of invention ; and in the beauty, 
 strength, and harmony of his composition, I deem it no ex- 
 travagance to say that I have never known his superior at the same 
 age, if, indeed, his equal can be found anywhere in the Church. 
 And, what may appear the crowning grace in his character, 
 with all his admirable qualities of mind, was combined a most 
 childlike and winning simplicity. When shall we look upon his 
 like again? " 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 33 
 
 But there was yet in store for the Bishop another test 
 of his submission to the calls of God. Heber had gone ; 
 Sarah had followed ; now the sweetest and dearest lamb 
 of his fold was demanded : the lovely little Fanny, in 
 the first budding of her charms, and in all the winning 
 graces of childhood, must be given up. She was the 
 darling, the enchanter, and the playfellow of her father. 
 Of this trying event he thus writes, Feb. 6, 1848 : 
 
 " A day of deep bereavement and sorrow this has been. My 
 precious and darling child Fanny, the image of her dear sister 
 Sarah, struggled all day with scarlet-fever ; and last night her 
 spirit was released from its clay tenement, and borne, I trust, on 
 angels' wings, to the Paradise of God." 
 
 Three days later he writes : 
 
 " The world and all that is in it seems to me to be sad. I am 
 low down in the mire of despondency ; but God sees my heart, 
 and He knows that I do not falter in my purpose to love and serve 
 Him, no, not for a moment. Oh for the spirit, blessed Lord 
 God, of humble submission to Thy will ! ' 
 
 On the refusal of Rev. Dr. Hawks, in 1844, to* be 
 re-elected to the Episcopate of Mississippi, the Stand- 
 ing Committee of that Diocese had prevailed on Bishop 
 Otey to take them again under his care. But he now 
 saw that it was fully in their power to have a Bishop of 
 their own ; and accordingly resigned at once, by way 
 of spurring them to action. 
 
 In his address to the Mississippi Convention of 1848, 
 he says, in speaking of the great good effected by the 
 late General Convention, 
 
 "The only drawback to peace and prosperity and friendly 
 intercourse was the formation, among some of its members, of 
 
34 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 an ' Evangelical Association ' for arresting the alleged tendency 
 of the Church to corruption, and for correcting the errors which 
 were said to pervade the whole body." 
 
 In the list appended to their published circular, he 
 saw the names of many brethren whom he loved, gave 
 them credit for zeal and piety, and purity of motive, 
 but denied their right to pronounce judgment upon 
 the characters of brethren who differ with them, and 
 of proclaiming to the world that " error* soul-destroying 
 error," is at this time pervading the whole Church. 
 
 He then adds, 
 
 " 1 declare my conviction that this movement is the most 
 dangerous to our peace that I have ever known to be made in the 
 historj 7 of our Church ; and, if sustained by any large number of 
 our Communion, is inevitably destined to end in schism. I deny 
 the right and authority of this Association to send its publications, 
 without my consent, into the Diocese of which I am the overseer. 
 And I exhort } T OU, brethren, to have nothing to do with an 
 enterprise which undertakes to correct, through an irresponsible 
 Association, what it would not attempt through the General 
 Convention." 
 
 The year 1849 being a year of cholera, and the State 
 of Tennessee threatened with the infection, the Bishop 
 sent forth to his Diocese a Pastoral Letter with prayers 
 suited to the occasion. Later in the year, he issued 
 another Pastoral on " Christian Manners," cautioning his 
 people against a too free indulgence in wordly amuse- 
 ments. 
 
 1850. The months of February and March of this 
 year were spent in Mississippi ; chiefly in seeking to re- 
 cover his health, in visiting old friends, and in giving to 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 35 
 
 that Diocese a Bishop of its own. Accordingly, on the 
 twenty-fourth day of February (St. Matthias' Day), in 
 St. Andrew's Church, Jackson, he consecrated the Rev. 
 William Mercer Green, D.D., to the office of a Bishop 
 in the Church of God, and for the Diocese of Missis- 
 sippi. The Bishops present and assisting were the 
 Right Rev. Leonidas Polk, Bishop of Louisiana ; Right 
 Rev. Nicholas H. Cobbs, Bishop of Alabama ; and the 
 Right Rev. George W. Freeman, Bishop of Arkansas. 
 To the cursory reader, there may seem nothing particu- 
 larly noteworthy in this act of consecration ; but, to one 
 acquainted with the antecedents of the parties, it pre- 
 sents a remarkable instance of the vicissitudes of time, 
 or, rather, the orderings of Providence. A retrospect 
 of just twenty -five years would bring to view the present 
 consecrating Bishop receiving baptism at the hands of 
 him upon whom he is now conferring the highest office 
 in the Church. 
 
 The health of the Bishop was at this time very infirm. 
 He was, in truth, " broken down." His long and re- 
 peated journeyings, and frequent attacks of illness, added 
 to the cares of a family and a Diocese, had undermined 
 a constitution originally of the stoutest cast. This now 
 began to be seen by his many friends, who, on his return 
 from Mississippi, insisted upon his giving himself a long 
 rest, and devoting his chief attention to the restoration 
 of his health. To this end, a sea-voyage with a few 
 months of travel in Europe was recommended ; and a 
 sufficient sum to meet the expense was pressed upon him 
 by his friends. Accordingly, on the 12th of April, 1851, 
 he embarked from New York, in the ship " Waterloo," 
 
36 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 accompanied by several of his Tennessee acquaintances. 
 The tenth day after sailing, the ship encountered a se- 
 vere gale, which threatened at times to ingulf her and 
 her living load. Great fear was expressed by many of 
 the passengers, whilst the Bishop looked on with awe 
 and composure of spirit. Though spared the affliction 
 of sea-sickness, he suffered much from his old diseases, 
 and for want of the many comforts which his weak and 
 disordered condition demanded. 
 
 Before setting sail, the Bishop addressed the following 
 farewell to his Diocese : 
 
 BRETHREN OF THE CLERGY AND OF THE LAITY, For the first time 
 in the course of twenty-three years, I shall be deprived of the high 
 privilege and great pleasure of meeting with you in Convention. 
 It is a privilege which I have always prized, a pleasure which 
 nothing short of stern necessity or dut} T would lead me to forego. 
 Often in }-our assemblies have I realized the blessedness of which 
 the Psalmist speaks, when he says, ''Behold, how good and jo}*ful 
 a thing it is, brethren, to dwell together in unity ! " Coming to- 
 gether after a year's labors in our respective and widely scattered 
 parishes, we have our trials to recount, our afflictions to mourn 
 over, our joys to communicate, our deliverances to mention, our 
 man} T blessings to commemorate ; and, in all, to know and to feel 
 that we have the warm and spontaneous sympathy of loving and 
 confiding hearts. Who of us does not feel that it would be a sore 
 deprivation to be absent from such a gathering-together of the 
 faithful in Christ Jesus? But, though absent from you in body, I 
 trust we shall be united in spirit, and that through }'our prayers, 
 which I earnestly bespeak, " I maybe restored to you the sooner." 
 When this communication shall be read to }*ou, I shall, if it please 
 God, be in a distant land ; seeking through a change of climate and 
 scene, and through cessation from labors in which I have been 
 engaged for the last seventeen }'ears, a restoration to health. For 
 the kindness of those friends who have enabled me to travel, and 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 37 
 
 for the interest which my brethren, both lay and clerical, have 
 manifested in my happiness, I have no words adequately to express 
 my sense of gratitude. Ma3 r God, in his goodness, crown them 
 with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. 
 
 The following is an extract from a hurried letter ad- 
 dressed, at the same time, to his three daughters : 
 
 DEAR VIRGINIA, HENRIETTA, AND DONNA. 
 
 My Beloved Children, I have but a moment to write a line, 
 and to say, May the God of peace and love be with you, bless, pre- 
 serve, and keep you ! I intended to write a letter to each of you, 
 but have been prevented by the calls of company. The hour to 
 embark has come ; and I can say only a few words to intimate how 
 full my heart is, at this moment, of love and tenderness for you 
 all. For my dear Donna, I feel most solicitude. Could I know 
 certainly that she would daily strive to imbibe the spirit of Christ 
 and his Gospel, how happy would I be ! Let us, my dear children, 
 strive to set our minds and hearts more on heavenly things. I 
 pray for you daily, that this may be so. Don't think me low- 
 spirited : on the contrary, I am cheerful and tranquil, far beyond 
 what I anticipated. . . . Again, farewell ! May God watch over 
 and guide us in all our ways, and bring us to meet again, and, 
 at last, to rejoin our dear ones who have gone before us, in 
 mansions of eternal life and bliss. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 JAS. H. OTEY. 
 
 The voyage was a long and tedious one, consuming 
 the whole of twenty-seven days. Liverpool was reached 
 on the 8th of May ; and he gives, in a letter to Rev. 
 Mr. Tomes, the following amusing account of his first 
 appearance on British soil: 
 
 "After getting through with the custom-house, I sallied forth, 
 wrapped in my cloak, with my cap on, giving me an appearance 
 of extraordinary longitude, to find my friend Mr. Jackson, on 
 
88 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 whom m} 7 bills were drawn. As I passed along, I was amused, 
 and could not refrain from smiling, at the manifest curiosity which 
 my appearance, or manner, or gait, or something, I know not 
 what, excited among all who met me. They would look at me, 
 and occasionally stop, and look back after me. Upon nearing Mr. 
 Jackson's office, I had to cross a square ; and, stopping at the 
 corner, inquired of a gentleman the precise point of my destina- 
 tion. Mr. Jackson was at the opposite corner, a hundred yards 
 distant. Some person remarked to him, at the instant, ' Yonder 
 is a very tall American.' Mr. Jackson saw me, and started im- 
 mediately to meet me ; and said, on coming up, ' I was sure it was 
 you, Bishop, when }*ou started across the square ; and I came to 
 meet you.' ' But how did } T OU know me, Mr. Jackson ? Is there 
 any thing peculiar or distinctive in us Americans?' ' Oh,' said 
 he, 'we know them by their gait, and we have few men so tall as 
 you.'" 
 
 On the following Sunday, he writes in his diary : 
 
 " Attended St. James' Church, where thanks were publicly 
 returned to God, in my name, for deliverance from the perils of 
 the sea." 
 
 After remaining in Liverpool long enough to replen- 
 ish his wardrobe, and adapt it to the new relations in 
 which he found himself, he visited several places of 
 interest, such as Manchester, Newstead Abbey, Oxford, 
 and Stratford-upon-Avon, before proceeding to London. 
 At last, when he reaches that great city, he writes in 
 his diary : 
 
 "MAY 20. And here am I in London, that ' exceeding great 
 city,' the modern Babylon as it is sometimes called (less, I 
 hope, on account of its abominations, than the variety of its 
 languages, and the richness of its merchandise) ; the capital of 
 the British Empire, upon whose dependencies the sun never sets ; 
 the commercial emporium of the world. Here I am, in this mart 
 of nations, where I never expected to be." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 39 
 
 In a short time, he was receiving from the Bishops 
 and Clergy, and our American minister, every attention 
 which he could well have expected or desired. Both 
 here and at Liverpool, it was his good fortune to hear 
 some of the best preachers of the day, such as M'Neil 
 and the Bishop of Oxford ; but he writes : 
 
 " I did not seek the opportunity of hearing the great and dis- 
 tinguished preachers ; for I find, that, when I listen to a great 
 man, my mind is too apt to be dwelling upon the man, to the for- 
 getting of his subject." 
 
 The invitations which he received were numerous, 
 and he acknowledges them gratefully ; but he could 
 not help perceiving the striking difference between the 
 manners of that people and of those he had left behind 
 him. He says, 
 
 " Sat down to dinner at 8 P.M., and passed my time as pleas- 
 antly as I could, in a country the manners of whose people are 
 cold, stiff, and all the time constrained. These folks here, when 
 they would even treat you with marked attention, seem neverthe- 
 less to speak and to act with an air of constraint ; as if they feared 
 they might lose some of that dignity or consequence which they 
 claim, or affect to claim, as belonging to their rank or condition. 
 There is no positive want of politeness, but a manifest deficiency 
 in efforts to make a guest feel easy, and, as we say in America, 
 at home." 
 
 It is hoped that an occasional extract of similar kind, 
 from his diary, will not be unacceptable to the reader. 
 
 u SUNDAY, June 1. The Bishop of London having } T esterday 
 furnished me with a ticket of admission to the Royal Chapel of St. 
 James, I drove thither at 8 A.M. The Clergyman read the Ante- 
 Communion Service, preached a short and practical sermon, and 
 
40 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 proceeded with the Communion Office. On rising from my knees 
 after partaking, I was surprised to perceive that the Duke of Well- 
 ington had been kneeling beside me ; and I was much gratified that 
 it was so. Here was a curious or interesting circumstance, at least 
 to myself. That the conqueror of Napoleon should kneel by my 
 side, at the same altar, professing his faith in that Saviour whose 
 blood of atonement was poured out for the sins of the world, was 
 an incident which I surely never anticipated among the bare proba- 
 bilities of life." 
 
 The next day, the Bishop set out for Great Malvern, 
 the celebrated hydropathic establishment which had 
 been earnestly recommended to him as most likely to 
 restore him to health. He describes the village as situ- 
 ated on the side of a mountain, commanding a full 
 view of a most lovely valley, and forming altogether a 
 most beautiful picture to the eye. 
 
 After submitting for two weeks to the regimen of 
 the establishment, he returned, by way of recreation, 
 to London. On attending St. Paul's Cathedral, he was 
 unpleasantly impressed with the intoning of the service, 
 as exceedingly malapropos. He says, 
 
 " Besides depriving the people of their share in the worship, it 
 is objectionable from its wearisomeness, monotony, and indistinct- 
 ness, so that it reaches neither the head nor the heart, neither 
 the feelings nor the understanding." 
 
 Monday, June 17, there was a meeting of the friends 
 of the venerable Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel in Foreign Parts, in St. Martin's Hall, favored 
 with the presence of Prince Albert. Speeches were 
 made by the Bishop of London, Lord John Russell, and 
 others who had been appointed to do so. It was very 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 41 
 
 natural for Bishop Otey, coming as he did from a foreign 
 land, to expect to be appointed also ; but he was unin- 
 tentionally overlooked. Several of the speakers, espe- 
 cially the Duke of Newcastle, made friendly references 
 to the American Church and people. At the close of his 
 speech, Bishop Otey asked the Duke if he could not 
 make an opportunity for him to address the meeting. 
 The Duke replied that he had nothing to do with it, etc. 1 
 The Bishop then said, " Sir, I am an American Bishop ; 
 and I think it becoming the occasion, that I should be 
 allowed to respond to the sentiments which have been 
 so kindly expressed toward my country, and the Church 
 of which I am a Minister." He then beckoned to the 
 Bishop of London, who spoke to Prince Albert. 
 
 " In a minute or so, I was informed that his Royal Highness 
 had granted leave to me to make a short address, confining my 
 remarks to the particular topic on which I wished to be heard. 
 So soon as the Earl of Harrowby had concluded, the Bishop of 
 London announced nry name to the meeting ; and I rose in my 
 place, and made the following address, as nearly as I can recall 
 the words : 
 
 " 4 May it please your Royal Highness : I beg leave to express 
 my deep sense of the kindness which allows me the opportunity of 
 addressing a few words, through you, to this large and respected as- 
 sembly. It is in keeping with the manifestations of friendly interest 
 towards the United States, and the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
 America, which it has been my happiness to witness in every part 
 of England which I have visited. Believe me, sir, that this feel- 
 ing of kindly regard is warmly reciprocated and carefully cherished 
 towards the Church of England, by the members of that commun- 
 ion of which I am in some sort the representative here to-day. 
 
 1 The Duke, at meeting with the Bishop the day following, made a 
 suitable apology. 
 
42 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 I should not have sought the opportunity to say a word on this 
 occasion, but for the kind and even complimentary terms in which 
 reference has been made to the people and Church in the United 
 States, by the speakers who have addressed your Royal Highness, 
 and especially by the noble Duke who moved the resolution now 
 under consideration. The merits of that resolution, it is not my 
 intention to discuss. I know that I must not detain the meeting, 
 at this late hour, by making a speech. But his Grace was pleased 
 to quote the language of an American Bishop, and adopt it as the 
 expression of his own sentiments. I am authorized to speak for 
 that right reverend prelate, as I am for some others in the Episco- 
 pate of the American Church ; and I beg leave to sa}> that he will 
 and that we all shall feel happy at this and at every manifestation of 
 love and kindness, which our brethren on this side of the Atlantic 
 shall give us ; in the earnest conviction and hope that each and 
 every such mark of friendly regard will strengthen the ties of 
 amity between two powerful nations, and knit the members of our 
 communion together in the closer bonds of that fellowship called 
 the " Communion of Saints." Before I take my seat, I beg leave 
 to sa}* one word confirmatorj 7 of all that has been advanced here, 
 this afternoon, as to the importance of increasing the number of 
 Bishops in order to extend the Church. I mean not to argue this 
 poiut, but simply to bear my testimony, formed upon personal 
 observation and experience. When, twenty-six years ago, I re- 
 moved to the State of which I am now Bishop, there was not an 
 organized congregation of Episcopalians within its limits, nor was 
 there a Clergyman of the Church within two hundred miles of my 
 residence. Within eight years, the ecclesiastical organization of 
 the Diocese was completed by the election of a Bishop ; and within 
 five years more, the number of Clergymen in the Diocese had 
 increased from six to twenty-one. Such has been the result, I 
 believe, without exception, in the histor} 7 of all our recently organ- 
 ized Dioceses. And it is my firm persuasion, that the Church of 
 England cannot take a more direct and effectual method to advance 
 the cause of our blessed Redeemer and His Church in the world, 
 than by having Bishops establishe'd in all the colonial dependencies 
 of the British Empire. ... It has been said, sir, by an Ameri- 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 43 
 
 can orator, that the roll of the British drum does not cease at 
 one of the military posts of this mighty kingdom, before it is 
 taken up at another, and that thus the warning sound of her 
 power is prolonged and heard, girding the globe. We can 
 scarcely forget that it will be thirtj'-six years to-morrow, 1 since the 
 meteor flag of Britain floated high in air, amidst the triumphant 
 shouts of victory ; but, sir, it will be more to England's substan- 
 tial honor and glory, if the beacon-lights of the missionary enter- 
 prise, kindled by her sons, shall be multiplied until their radiance, 
 spreading and intermingling, shall at last so blend as to form a 
 sea of glory, and cover all the earth.' ' 
 
 The Bishop's speech was received with unbounded 
 applause 1 ; and, a few days after, was thus cordially 
 acknowledged by the Archbishop of Canterbury : 
 
 " At a meeting of the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
 pel, held on June 20, 1851, it was resolved that the cordial thanks 
 of the Society be given to the Right Rev. the Bishop of Tennessee, 
 for the service rendered by him to the Society, at the public meeting 
 recently held in commemoration of its third Jubilee. 
 
 " (Signed) 
 
 J. B. CANTUAR." 
 
 It may not be without interest to the reader, to see 
 here a description of Prince Albert, as he appeared to 
 the Bishop on that occasion : 
 
 "I was seated on the platform, with the lords, nobles, dukes, 
 etc., and not more than eight feet from the Prince. So I had a 
 good opportunity to scan his features well ; and I am constrained 
 to say, that after a rigid scrutiny of his external appearance, etc., 
 I never have seen a more perfect man. He is by much the finest- 
 looking man, take him all in all, that I have seen in England or 
 out of it. His form is noble and sj'mmetrical, at least six feet, or 
 a little more, in height, and well-proportioned. His countenance 
 
 1 Anniversary of the battle of Waterloo. 
 
44 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 is grave and dignified, without severity, and his whole bearing that 
 of the well-bred and accomplished gentleman." 
 
 The next day, being invited, together with many 
 other Bishops, to dine with the Lord Mayor, he was, 
 on entering the ante-chamber, subjected to a temporary 
 mortification, through the blunder of a servant and his 
 own want of acquaintance with the multitudinous form- 
 alities practised on such occasions. The dilemma was 
 momentary only, was not perceived by any other than 
 himself, and was soon forgotten after receiving a hearty 
 welcome from the Lord Mayor and the assembled guests. 
 He was very much amused, afterwards, in thinking of 
 the new title Bishop of Ten-as'see given him by the 
 usher who announced him. Not feeling in a very good 
 humor, on account of the provoking circumstances of his 
 arrival, and all the formalities of the reception being at 
 an end, he says, 
 
 " I took my stand in the company, resolved that I would make 
 advances to no one, but that, if suiy were made, the} 7 should come 
 from others. This I very soon found made me an object much 
 sought unto. Very many persons desired an introduction to me, 
 and expressed the high gratification they felt, the day before, in 
 hearing my speech at St. Martin's." 
 
 The dinner was all that it was in the power of wealth 
 and cultivated taste to make it. The " grace," or bless- 
 ing, was sung by the sweet voices of a choir provided 
 for the occasion ; and the whole was wound up, as usual, 
 with abundant speech-making. 
 
 "In response to the Lord Mayor's toast, expressive of good 
 wishes for the prosperity of the Church in the United States, and 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 45 
 
 making some reference to myself [the Bishop says], I arose, and 
 spoke, as nearly as I remember, as follows : 
 
 "'My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, I beg leave to 
 express my acknowledgments for the honor done to me by con- 
 necting my name with the sentiment which has just been pro- 
 posed to this company, and to return my thanks for the kind 
 terms in which you have expressed your good wishes towards the 
 Church of which I am a Minister. It is not my purpose to make 
 a speech to your Lordship and this worshipful assembly, and that 
 for two very substantial reasons. First. I am forbidden by my 
 physician ; and, secondly, I do not feel capable of entertaining 
 this company in such a way as to justify my occupying their time 
 and attention. I take occasion, however, to say that I feel a 
 peculiar satisfaction in bearing testimony, in this presence, to the 
 deep interest which is felt in America towards the people and 
 Church of England. I believe it is reciprocal. Why should it not 
 be so? We are of the same blood ; we are descended from you ; 
 we have the same laws,, and nearly the same institutions. It is to 
 our mutual interest to cultivate friendly relations ; and we are, in 
 a great measure, necessary to each other. We want your surplus 
 labor, to fell our mighty forests, to construct our roads, open the 
 navigation of our rivers, and develop the rich resources of our great 
 and growing country. You want our raw materials, the products 
 of our soil, to give employment to your many manufactories. 
 You have evidences of our friendly disposition, in the readiness 
 with which, some }*ears ago, we supplied some portions of your 
 suffering population with food, when famine was apprehended, in 
 Ireland especially, from the failure of the crops. You have had 
 more recent evidences of the same sentiments of friendly regard, 
 in the responses made by the Bishops of America to his Grace the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury. There is indeed a bond of union far 
 stronger than all mere secular interests, which should and does 
 unite us together, a bond of union more sacred than all others, 
 a bond more indissoluble than that which unites even man and 
 wife. " What is that?" you will ask. It is the bond which 
 unites us in the fellowship or " communion of saints." All other 
 unions, even the nuptial tie, last only "till death;" but this 
 
46 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 is for eternity. We shall still be one in Christ Jesus, when the 
 changes and chances of this mortal life are over, and eternity 
 shall have closed in with all its mysterious and changeless solem- 
 nities. I will detain } r ou but a moment longer, sir ; for, as I said 
 before, I am forbidden to make a speech. America and Great 
 Britain now present a most interesting aspect to the philanthro- 
 pist, the statesman, and the Christian. The world is at peace, 
 and furnishes a most inviting prospect or opportunity to introduce 
 everywhere the blessings of civilization and religion among all 
 the tribes and families of man. Between our respective govern- 
 ments, all causes of difference have happily passed away. Our 
 boundar}'-lines on the north-west, as well as north-east, have been 
 satisfactorily adjusted ; and the only object of contest now before 
 us seems to be, which shall be most active in diffusing the glorious 
 Gospel of God and our blessed Saviour. Does any man shrink 
 back from the magnitude of the work? Let us but look at the 
 beginning of Christianity, and see the most striking instance of 
 the moral sublime the world has ever witnessed, eleven Apos- 
 tles, and five hundred brethren at most, undertaking to overthrow 
 all other systems of faith and hope, and to establish in their stead 
 the simple system of the Gospel. Does any one ask for authority 
 to undertake this work? God has said, " Go ye into all the 
 world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." Who asks for 
 higher sanction than the commands of heaven's King and this 
 world's Judge? Then we have a righteous cause, and undoubted 
 authority, and these make right. Now, sir, we have a saying 
 often quoted as originating with Brother Jonathan, and which, as it 
 embodies a sound principle of philosophy, and withal is frequently 
 misquoted, I beg leave to state correctly, and to address as en- 
 couragement to us all in the performance of our duty. The senti- 
 ment is not "Go ahead," as generally said; but, "Be sure you 
 are right, then go ahead." We are sure we are right in this case : 
 we have nothing to do but go ahead. Sir, his Grace the Arch- 
 bishop, a little while ago, concluded with a quotation of Hoty 
 Scripture. In humble imitation of his example, I would only say, 
 as representing American Churchmen, to our brethren in the 
 Church of England, " We wish you good luck in the name of 
 the Lord.' " 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 47 
 
 The dinner was followed by a splendid party at the 
 residence of Miss Burdett-Coutts, who, as the Bishop 
 thought, must have Worn, that evening, diamonds to the 
 value of a half-million of dollars. 
 
 After a few weeks' trial of the hydropathic treatment, 
 the Bishop, finding a great improvement in his health, 
 determined to make a trip through the northern part of 
 England, and through Scotland and France and other 
 parts of the Continent. As a fidus Achates, or pleasant 
 companion in travel, he was rejoiced to find all that he 
 wanted in Rev. A. Cleveland Coxe, D.D., of Hartford, 
 Conn., whom he had recently met at the dinner of the 
 Lord Mayor, and who gladly consented to accompany 
 him. Two spirits more genial, and congenial in all 
 points, are rarely to be found. The chief places touched 
 by them in England were Cambridge, Ely, Lincoln, York, 
 Durham, and Abbotsford. In addition to the lochs and 
 mountains of Scotland, the cities of Edinburgh, Stir- 
 ling, Aberdeen, and Inverness were successively visited. 
 Nor were lona, Staffa, and Fingal's Cave forgotten. 
 From Scotland they passed over to Ireland ; thence 
 through England to Dover, Calais, and the capital of 
 France. Here they met with many American friends 
 (among them Dr. Mercer and his invalid daughter), and 
 remained for some days amid the delights of gay and 
 splendid Paris. The mountains, lakes, and chief towns 
 of Switzerland came next under view, as also parts of 
 Prussia and Belgium. 
 
 On his return to Paris, Sept. 27, the Bishop heard of 
 the death of Miss Anna Mercer, and that it was the in- 
 tention of the Doctor to leave Liverpool for New York 
 
48 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 on the 30th. This at once put an end to his pleasant 
 journeyings, leaving nnvisited many places and scenes 
 which from early childhood he had longed, but hardly 
 dared to hope, that he might see. Prominent among 
 them was the Holy Land. This was doubtless a great 
 disappointment to the Bishop; for, in writing to the 
 Rev. T. W. H. just before setting out on his voyage, 
 he says, 
 
 "I have a strong desire to see Jerusalem, and stand on Mount 
 Olivet. Methinks I could pray with fervor on that spot. I care 
 not about classic ground, or objects of mere curiosity ; but I want 
 to behold, in the freshness of a living and present reality, the local- 
 ities which are associated in my mind with the great truths of Re- 
 demption. This seems to me to be a natural feeling, and may, I 
 think, be turned to profitable account. How I would rejoice, my 
 dear Humes, to kneel bj* }'our side, and pray upon Mount Olivet, 
 or on lovely, mournful Calvary ! " 
 
 The relations of the Bishop and Dr. Mercer were of 
 a tender and endearing kind; and it is believed that 
 it was chiefly upon the liberal bounty of the one, that 
 the other was enabled, by travel, to regain his health. 
 Without an hour's delay, the Bishop hastened to over- 
 take and accompany his afflicted friend, and return with 
 him to his now childless and cheerless home. Anna 
 Mercer was a girl of true piety, lovely in disposition and 
 in person, the only child of a doting father, and the sole 
 prospective heir to his great wealth. That she should 
 thus have been cut off in her nineteenth year, was, as 
 the Bishop wrote on hearing of it, u sad, sad, SAD!" 
 The Doctor, with his embalmed charge, was found at 
 Liverpool, ready to embark. They sailed Oct. 2, in the 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 49 
 
 steamer " Atlantic," and, after a boisterous voyage, 
 reached New York on the 15th. The next day, the 
 Bishop writes in his diary : 
 
 "Awoke this morning, after a comfortable night's rest. I felt 
 it pleasant to be safe on land ; and I endeavored to return thanks 
 to God for His great goodness and mercy in bringing me safe 
 through the perils of the sea, to my native county." 
 
 It is gratifying to record here, that the health of the 
 Bishop was fully restored ; and that it was a lasting 
 pleasure to him, to reflect on the many kind and unex- 
 pected attentions which he had received. Among the 
 many whose hospitality he had enjoyed, he makes spe- 
 cial mention of Mr. George Gabain and his excellent 
 wife, whose house was his home during nearly the 
 whole of his stay in London. 
 
 After a necessary detention of a few days in New 
 York, the party set out on their return South, by way 
 of Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Louisville ; but met with 
 many trying and provoking detentions. It was there- 
 fore the 29th of March before the Bishop again saw his 
 children around him, and felt once more the delights of 
 home. In his diary of that day, he writes : 
 
 14 And here I now find myself, after an absence of more than 
 twelve months, once more under my own roof, and in restored 
 health. How much cause have I to be thankful ! Multiplied have 
 been the favors which a gracious and kind God hath bestowed upon 
 me, and I desire to feel humbly and truly thankful. But it is not 
 in man's heart to feel the gratitude which his lips would fain 
 acknowledge. It is of God alone to give the ability to be truly 
 thankful. Lord, tune my heart to love and praise." 
 
50 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 But he had returned to meet on the threshold one of 
 the sorest trials of his life. Three days after his arrival, 
 the Rev. Mr. F. G. S., whom he had left in the success- 
 ful management of the Female Institute, came to make 
 confession to him of conduct disgraceful to a Christian 
 man, and especially to one in so responsible and confi- 
 dential a position. The magnitude of the situation 
 broke at once upon the astounded and distressed Bishop. 
 The honor of the Church would demand a painful act 
 of discipline at his hands ; and here before his view was 
 the probable downfall of an Institution which for more 
 than fifteen years had been the subject of his prayers 
 and labors, and to build up which he had risked both 
 health and life. He could not help feeling, too, as if 
 his own reputation were at stake, although conscious of 
 having done all in his power to make that Institution 
 worthy of the confidence of its patrons. Toward the 
 unhappy offender, also, he felt the deepest pity, while 
 pronouncing upon him the sentence of suspension from 
 the exercise of the Ministry. By a unanimous vote of 
 the Trustees, Mr. S. was promptly dismissed from the 
 charge of the Institute ; and its whole management 
 thrown upon the Bishop, thus greatly increasing an 
 amount of labor already hard to be borne. Human 
 language is too weak to express the suffering which he 
 that day endured. That night he wrote in his diary : 
 
 " I have passed a wretched day, and am quite sick, sick in 
 body, and sick of heart. But ought I to complain, when I see the 
 misery of this man, and the unhappiness of his poor wife? Lord 
 God of mercy and love, pity and forgive us ! ... Unhappy man ! 
 may God grant you grace to repent, and may He pardon also my 
 crying sins/' 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 51 
 
 In his Address to his Convention of that year, he 
 thus returns to this painful subject: 
 
 "I would bespeak for this man your sympathy ; and not only 
 that, but your prayers, brethren, that he may recover from the pit 
 into which he has fallen, and regain the position of confidence 
 which he once occupied." 
 
 A statement of the reasons for the suspension and 
 dismissal of the Rev. Mr. S. was prepared by the Bishop, 
 and published by the authority of the Board of Trustees. 
 Of this he says, 
 
 u God, who knows my heart, also knows that this has been to 
 me both a difficult and a painful task. I have tried not to wound 
 the feelings of Mr. S., and especially would I avoid any thing that 
 might add to the deep affliction of his family. . . . One may in- 
 dulge in feelings of pity, as much as he please, and still do no 
 injury. But there is a point beyond which we must riot go, in our 
 forbearance and leniency towards offenders, when acting in the dis- 
 charge of public and official duty. I have tried very hard to follow 
 the right path in the difficult circumstances in which I find myself 
 placed." 
 
 A few days later, he writes : 
 
 " I have heard with surprise that a paper has been circulated, 
 and signed by a respectable portion of the citizens of Columbia, 
 indorsing the character of Rev. Mr. F. G. S., and assuring him of 
 their unabated confidence and support. We may well exclaim, with 
 the old Roman, In quibus temporibus incidimus! One is almost 
 disposed to ask what new race of people has sprung up around him, 
 and among whom does he find his lot cast." 
 
 So severely was this blow felt by the friends of the 
 Institute, that some of the Trustees proposed to convert 
 it into a boys' school ; and others, to sell it, and build in 
 
52 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 some other place : but the Bishop, with a few more 
 hopeful friends, resolved to uphold it and carry it for- 
 ward. But Columbia could no longer be the Bishop's 
 residence. The place and the people among whom he 
 had spent seventeen of the best years of his life, in 
 closest intimacy, must now be visited only in the way 
 of official duty. His kind heart cherished no spark of 
 resentment for the treatment he had received ; but, being 
 no more than man, he could but feel as a man, as well 
 as a Christian. 
 
 In the Bishop's Address to his Convention of 1852, 
 after speaking of this unpleasant duty which he had 
 been compelled to perform, he says, 
 
 " If any man inquire why I feel so painful an interest in this 
 matter, this is my answer : I am a public teacher of religion, and 
 I claim to have done as much for the cause of female education as 
 any other man amongst us. I have spent the best energies of soul 
 and bocty, and passed the most vigorous years of my life, in its 
 cause. I am setting up no boastful claim, when I sa} T thst but for 
 Bishop Polk, Mr. A. O. Harris, Francis B. Fogg, and myself, the 
 Columbia Female Institute would never have been in existence ; 
 that but for my personal and individual exertions, several years 
 after Mr. S.'s administration had begun, it would have been utterly 
 and hopelessly ruined by its load of debt. For five or six years I 
 labored incessantly, being sometimes absent for six months from 
 my home and family , in my efforts to raise funds for its relief. I 
 have worked hard, and worked long, without hope of fee or reward 
 other than the humble expectation of being serviceable to the peo- 
 ple among whom Providence had cast my lot. And now to have 
 injustice added to ingratitude, and insult heaped upon injury, is 
 more than I feel disposed to bear without making this my solemn 
 protest against it, in the fear of God and in the face of this Con- 
 vention." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 53 
 
 The Bishop's diary will painfully show how much and 
 what prolonged labor it cost him to pay that debt. By 
 his unparalleled exertions it was finally extinguished; 
 and it must be gratifying to the friends of education in 
 the South, and especially to the friends and admirers of 
 Bishop Otey, to know that the Columbia Female Insti- 
 tute has now for nearly twenty years been in a flourish- 
 ing condition, under the judicious management of the 
 Rev. Dr. George Beckett and family. 
 
 Let it here be borne in mind, that, in the exercise of 
 this act of discipline, the Bishop had proceeded upon no 
 doubtful evidence, but upon the voluntary, unreserved, 
 and written confession of the offender, and had kept 
 strictly within the bounds of the authority intrusted to 
 him. He therefore felt keenly the alienation and harsh 
 judgment of those citizens of Columbia who had once 
 been among his warmest supporters and approvers. 
 But the path of duty was clear before him ; his best 
 judgment had dictated his course ; the wisest and cool- 
 est heads of his people both justified and commended 
 his firmness in taking and holding so noble a stand in 
 behalf of female purity, official integrity, and character 
 of the Church. It was also a confirming and consol- 
 ing reflection to him, that throughout the whole pro- 
 ceeding he was upheld by the unanimous approval of 
 an able Board of Trustees ; and, still further, that the 
 sentence which he felt obliged to pronounce was, by 
 the offender himself, confessed to be a milder one than 
 he expected. 
 
 About this time there was a painful and general sen- 
 sation throughout our Church, produced by the trial of 
 
54 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 the distinguished Bishop of New Jersey. On account 
 of Bishop Otey's distance from the scene of action, and 
 his having to rely for information chiefly on rumor, and 
 the partial statements of the press, he at first strongly 
 disapproved of the early proceedings of the court ; but, 
 when the issue was reached, no one in the Church more 
 heartily rejoiced at it. The writer of this Memoir, hav- 
 ing been a member of that court, bears cheerful witness 
 to the fact that the happy termination of that deeply 
 interesting trial was, in great part, due to the wise and 
 temperate exertions of Bishop Otey. 
 
 A new turn may now be seen in the Bishop's affairs. 
 Columbia must cease to be his home. Where shall be 
 his next resting-place if rest for such a one is to be 
 found ? It must be in some place where the population 
 is sufficient in number to offer a suitable field for his 
 labors. In Memphis he had many devoted friends, who 
 were pressing him with offers and invitations ; and the 
 finger of Providence seemed to point that way. Accord- 
 ingly the 12th of October, 1852, found him and his 
 family settled, in tolerable comfort, in the suburbs of 
 that city, until a better and more permanent abode could 
 be prepared in the midst of its population. 
 
 When he was making his preparations for leaving 
 Columbia, he could not hide from himself a feeling of 
 depression. But he writes : 
 
 " Why should I indulge in melancholy or depressing thoughts, 
 when in the exercise of my best judgment, and after counsel with 
 friends, I am pursuing that course which promises to give me abil- 
 ity and opportunity to be most useful to my fellow-men? If I am 
 in the path of duty, let me not give way to feeling." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 55 
 
 At the time of his removal to Memphis, there was but 
 one Episcopal House of Worship in the place ; viz., Cal- 
 vary Church, then in charge of the Rev. Dr. J. T. Wheat. 
 The city having then about ten thousand inhabitants, 
 the need of another House of Worship began to be felt. 
 The coming of the Bishop, it was hoped, would contrib- 
 ute materially to that end ; and so it did, but in no very 
 encouraging way at the outset. The following is from 
 the Bishop's diary : 
 
 u DEC. 12. This morning at 11 A.M., I commenced celebrating 
 the worship of God in 4 High-tower Hall,' a room over an oyster- 
 saloon, and having also a dancing-academy in an adjacent apart- 
 ment. The hall is to be used as a billiard-room during the week, 
 while it is appropriated to Divine Worship on Sunday. The asso- 
 ciation is certainty bj r no means desirable. But it seems that we 
 can do no better ; and the question arises, Shall we worship in 
 the ' house of Rimmon,' or not worship at all? " 
 
 The following day, the Bishop succeeded in collecting 
 among his friends a sum sufficient to purchase a small 
 organ. 
 
 The text of his first sermon was Eom. xii. 1 : "I 
 beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, 
 that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac- 
 ceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." Nor 
 was this subject one taken at random from the number 
 which were on hand. He intended it as a keynote to 
 the general tenor of his subsequent discourses, in w r hich 
 he was resolved to lift up his voice against the too free 
 and frequent indulgence of Church-members in the 
 fashionable amusements of the day. The Bishop's 
 views on this subject would be called by many " Puri- 
 
56 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 tanical ; " but, if he erred, it was certainly on the safe 
 side. 
 
 The following extract from his diary may interest the 
 reader, as it presents so gratifying an evidence that the 
 faithful labors of this man of God had not been without 
 the reward which he most desired. It may also serve 
 to show the brethren of Christ's Church, Nashville, from 
 what an unpromising beginning their Parish has grown 
 to its present strength. 
 
 " SUNDAY, March 28, 1852. I preached in Christ Church this 
 morning, to a large congregation. I am often deepl}* impressed, 
 when before a congregation in this House, as I contrast its present 
 condition with what appeared to be the outward form of the Epis- 
 copal Church in Nashville, some twent3*-five years ago. I was 
 then the only Episcopal Clergyman within two hundred miles of the 
 place ; and, after teaching school five days in the week, would ride 
 on horseback to Nashville, on alternate Saturdays, and preach to 
 some half-dozen persons, two only of whom were communicants. 
 I knew and felt, at the time, that I was looked upon with contempt, 
 if not despised, by the great mass of the people." 
 
 The encouraging fact may now be added, that, at the 
 very time of preaching that sermon, the Bishop could 
 thank God for sixteen organized Parishes, several Mis- 
 sionary Stations, and twenty Clergymen, one-half of 
 whom were distinguished for ability as well as faithful 
 service. 
 
 In the Bishop's Address to his Convention of 1853, 
 after stating that the deaths of Bishops Gadsden, Hen- 
 shaw, and Chase had followed in rapid succession, with- 
 in the past Conventional year, he thus speaks of Bishop 
 Ives : 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otcy. 57 
 
 " But another of our Bishops has fallen, and in a different way. 
 He has put off his armor, but not at the command of the Captain 
 of the Lord of Hosts, but at the call and at the feet of him, who, 
 arrogating that title, opposeth and exalteth himself above all that 
 is called God. He has abandoned his Diocese, and made formal 
 submission to the Bishop of Rome. He has openly abjured the 
 faith which he once preached, and has gained the unenviable 
 notoriety of being the first of his Order, in our Church, to make 
 a formal submission to the Roman Pontiff. How can we fail to 
 mourn over his fall, in the bitterness of a sorrow almost with- 
 out hope, and in sadness of heart exclaim, ' Alas ! my brother ! ' 
 Whilst we deplore his treachery, let us pray God to recover him 
 from the snare in which he has been taken." 
 
 During this year the Bishop was truly thankful in 
 laying the foundation of Holy Trinity Church, Nashville, 
 and Grace Church, Memphis. He was further gratified 
 at seeing how rapidly the Female Institute was recover- 
 ing from the sad effects of Mr. S.'s misconduct. But, 
 though it was a living and growing body, it was without 
 a head. In North Carolina there was an old friend and 
 classmate of the Bishop, Mr. William H. Hardin, with 
 his accomplished wife, who were known to be every way 
 fitted for that position. The Bishop undertook the task 
 of visiting them, and happily succeeded in engaging their 
 services. On his return, he had the pleasure of spend- 
 ing a day or two at the University of North Carolina, 
 his Alma Mater, and thus feelingly records the pleasant 
 but mournful recollections that then crowded upon 
 him: 
 
 " JULY 24. A day long to be remembered ! I am at my Alma 
 Mater, at a place where I passed some of the most jo3'ons days of 
 my life. Chapel Hill ! how many overpowering emotions does that 
 
58 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 name excite ! how many tender recollections does it not revive ! 
 how many sweet and holy memories of the blessed dead, of those 
 whose images cling around my heart, does it not bring up ! " 
 
 Before his return, he also paid a short visit to the 
 home of his childhood. 
 
 On the approach of the fourth day of July, of this 
 year, he showed his patriotism, as well as his piety, by 
 putting forth the following notice to his Clergy : 
 
 DEARLY BELOVED BRETHREN, The anniversary of our National 
 Independence occurs this year on Sunday. I set forth the enclosed 
 Form to be then used in all our congregations, after the General 
 Thanksgiving, at Morning and Evening Prayer ; and respectfully 
 request that a portion of the offerings made by the people on that 
 day ma} 7 be appropriated to aid the American Colonization Society 
 in its patriotic and Christian efforts to remove the free people of 
 color, willing to emigrate, to the Western Coast of Africa. 
 Your faithful friend and affectionate Pastor, 
 
 JAS. H. OTEY. 
 
 1853. It was at the General Convention of this 
 year, that the good Dr. Muhlenberg, with others, pre- 
 sented his Memorial to the House of Bishops, praying 
 that measures might be devised, if practicable, to render 
 our ecclesiastical system more efficient in its influence 
 upon our population, and adapt it more to the actual 
 wants and circumstances of a nominally Christian coun- 
 try. The object of the Memorialists was certainly a 
 very desirable one, but many and great obstacles were 
 to be seen in the way. Who was there that did not 
 desire to see not only more love among Christians, but 
 a nearer agreement in doctrine and discipline, and, if 
 practicable, in organic unity ? But where should the 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 59 
 
 work begin? and who would take the lead] After 
 much discussion, a Commission was appointed by the 
 House of Bishops, to take the matter into consideration, 
 and to make a report to the next meeting. The chair- 
 manship or presidency of that important Commission 
 was, by unanimous consent, conferred on Bishop Otey. 
 In the performance of that duty, he was necessarily 
 absent from his Convention of 1854, and burthened with 
 an extensive correspondence. The Commission held 
 three meetings, in 1854, 1855, and 1856. Many com- 
 munications were received, and much deliberation was 
 given to the subject. The report which they made 
 to the House of Bishops in 1856 led to the passage 
 of sundry important resolutions ; the chief of which 
 was, 
 
 u That in view of the desirableness of union among Christians, 
 and as a pledge of willingness to communicate and receive infor- 
 mation tending to that end, and in order to conference if occasion 
 or opportunit}' should occur, this House will appoint, by ballot, a 
 committee of five Bishops, as an organ of communication or con- 
 ference with such Christian bodies or individuals as may desire it ; 
 to be entitled 'The Commission on Church Unity/ ' 
 
 But this was not the only good resulting from the 
 Memorial, and the labors of the Commission. Though 
 followed by no immediate and striking effect, the lead- 
 ing design and prayer of the Memorialists began to be 
 generally and more favorably regarded. Like leaven 
 it worked and spread, until it enlisted in its behalf the 
 more thoughtful and influential minds of the Church. 
 And to it may be traced the first exhibition of that 
 motive power which now, under God, is endeavoring 
 
60 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 to enrich our public forms of devotion, and adapt the 
 Prayer-Book to the larger number and greater edifica- 
 tion of our people. To this source also are we, in good 
 part, indebted for the introduction of lay helpers into the 
 ministrations of the Church, and the inauguration of 
 those societies and guilds, both male and female, which 
 are now so largely adding to the efficiency of our or- 
 dained Ministry. 
 
 In January, 1858, the house near Memphis, in which 
 the Bishop was residing, caught fire, and was burned 
 to the ground. His loss, however, was but little, as the 
 house had been only rented for his temporary use. It 
 merely subjected him to the trouble of moving into 
 another hired residence, while awaiting the completion 
 of a more permanent one within the city. 
 
 In noticing the earlier life of Bishop Otey, it was 
 stated, that, during the whole of his Collegiate course, 
 he was held in high esteem by the Faculty of that Insti- 
 tution, as well as by his companions. As an evidence 
 of this, he for some years held a friendly correspondence 
 with one of its Professors, Rev. Dr. Elisha Mitchell, a 
 Presbyterian divine, after whom the highest mountain- 
 peak in North Carolina has been named. It was on 
 this mountain that Dr. Mitchell lost his life while en- 
 gaged in completing one of his surveys. His friends, 
 at his interment, passing by the minister of their own 
 denomination, invited Bishop Otey to be the preacher 
 on that occasion. He could not find it in his heart to 
 refuse ; and to this friendly office devoted a good portion 
 of the month of June, at a time when private cares and 
 official duties were pressing upon him with unusual force. 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 61 
 
 To his Convention of 1856, the Bishop speaks, with 
 much gratification, of the improved condition of the 
 Institute ; saying that it was now " prepared better than 
 ever, under Mr. and Mrs. Hardin, to instruct the hearts 
 and minds of the pupils in the faithful discharge of the 
 duties of life, and the responsibilities of our entire be- 
 ing." He reports, also, that he had confirmed only one 
 hundred persons since the last Convention ; and then 
 adds this significant but apparently contradictory re- 
 mark : 
 
 " That our efforts during the past year have been productive 
 of so little fruit, is doubtless attributable, in some measure, to 
 other causes than the prevailing ignorance and prejudice in rela- 
 tion to our Church. Among these I would mention the prosper- 
 ous condition of the laity in all secular pursuits. Strange and 
 even paradoxical as it may appear, it is a truth established by 
 all history, and proven by all experience, that a very prosperous 
 worldly condition, and high attainments in the divine life, very 
 rarely consist together. Nothing is more obvious, to a thoughtful 
 and observant Clergyman, than this ; and yet nothing is less con- 
 sidered by a mind blinded by worldly success." 
 
 By invitation of the students of the University of 
 North Carolina, the Bishop preached their Commence- 
 ment Sermon in 1857, on the 1st of June. On his way 
 to the University, he found the Convention of that Dio- 
 cese in session at Salisbury, and made to their Commit- 
 tee a full exposition of his views and plans touching 
 the proposed University. 
 
 The year 1857 was, to the Bishop, rather an event- 
 ful one. The organization of another Church (Advent) 
 in Nashville was soon followed by beginning the work 
 
62 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 on the future St. Mary's Chapel ; a suitable site for the 
 purpose having been given by Col. Robert Brinkley. 
 And now, also, the long-looked-for ideal of a Literary 
 and Theological Institution, which for thirty years had 
 filled the heart and mind of the Bishop, began to take 
 form and substance in the projected University of the 
 South. 
 
 In his Annual Address of 1857, after reminding the 
 Convention of the many and earnest attempts which 
 he had made to press this subject upon them, he an- 
 nounces, with joy and thankfulness, the long-looked-for 
 day; saying that a concurrence of providential circum- 
 stances was at last inviting to its consideration, and open- 
 ing a way to the attainment of what he had until then 
 enjoyed only in hopes born but to die in the hour of 
 their birth. He then says more explicitly that 
 
 "A movement has been made, outside of the Diocese, in 
 which the Bishop of Louisiana, whom we all know and honor for 
 his large and enlightened views, has taken the lead, which looks 
 to the establishment and endowment of an institution on a most 
 liberal scale. It is proposed to unite the means and efforts of the 
 members of our own communion, and of others friendly to the en- 
 terprise, within the ten Southern and South-western Dioceses, in 
 founding a University which shall furnish the youth of this vast 
 and important region with ample facilities for enlarged literary 
 and professional education." 
 
 Into this grand and comprehensive enterprise, Bishop 
 Otey entered with all the warmth of his noble and gen- 
 erous nature. He was afterwards elected its first Chan- 
 cellor, and continued as such to preside in its councils 
 until his death in 1863. 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 63 
 
 By a general agreement among the Southern Bishops, 
 the fourth day of July, 1857, and the summit of the 
 Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, were appointed 
 as the time and place for the formal organization of 
 the proposed Institution. Bishop Otey, by request, 
 delivered an address suited to the occasion. It was 
 marked with his usual ability, and as patriotic in senti- 
 ment as any lover of the Union could have wished it to 
 be. There were present at this meeting the Bishops 
 of Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, South 
 Carolina, Alabama, and Florida, together with some 
 of the leading Clergymen and laymen of all the South- 
 ern Dioceses. The style and title of " University of 
 the South " was proposed to be given to the enterprise ; 
 a Board of Trustees was appointed ; Bishop Otey was 
 made its first President ; and every necessary measure 
 was devised to begin the work without delay, and on 
 the most extensive scale. 
 
 In the next meeting, at Montgomery, in the follow- 
 ing November, a charter was adopted ; the name here- 
 tofore proposed, viz., "University of the South," was 
 adopted by general consent ; and the Bishops of Geor- 
 gia and Louisiana were appointed general commission- 
 ers to canvass each Diocese for subscriptions to the 
 funds of the Institution. 
 
 As the giving of this name to the undertaking was 
 thought, at the time, to intimate something of a sec- 
 tional or anti-Northern feeling on the part of its found- 
 ers, the writer of this Memoir hopes that he may be 
 excused in stating that it was upon his own motion 
 that that name was first proposed; and that, at that 
 
64 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 hour, he gloried in being a citizen and a lover of 
 an undivided country. That the proposition was not 
 promptly adopted at the previous meeting, was owing 
 solely to the fear of some of the more sensitive of its 
 friends, that it might have that appearance to unthink- 
 ing and prejudiced minds. 
 
 But a much stronger assurance of the honesty and 
 patriotism of that hour may be learned from the follow- 
 ing extract from Bishop Otey's sermon on that occa- 
 sion : 
 
 "I must now notice an intimation that this movement of ours 
 wears the appearance of sectionalism, an apprehension that it 
 may, however without design, tend to weaken the bonds of our 
 present Union. I repel the unfounded suspicion. It is supported 
 by no act or sentiment or word of those who originated this enter- 
 prise, and have labored for its accomplishment up to the present 
 hour. I must meet this apprehension, not out of regard to those 
 who would willingly entertain it, but of those whose love for the 
 Union makes them tremblingly alive to the semblance of any thing 
 inimical to its prosperity. Why should this enterprise be deemed 
 sectional, rather than national? Is it because we have used the 
 name of ' University of the South ' ? The name is one of conven- 
 ient description ; it is no party war-cry, no sectional pass-word. 
 All such interpretations we utterly disclaim. Is it because it is 
 to be founded on a Southern soil, and must promote chiefly the 
 interests of those contiguous to it? Some geographical position 
 it needs must have. The very nature of the case requires it to be 
 in our midst. Its location looks simply to the wants of a region 
 greater in extent by 7,280 square miles than the original thirteen 
 States of the Union ; a region whose urgent necessities can be met 
 only by an institution set up within its borders. Do we smy 
 wrong to our brethren, do we violate any pledge of friendship 
 or brotherhood, do we evince any jealousy or distrust, when, in 
 the discharge of a solemn responsibility, we provide for our own, 
 and seek to elevate the society of which we are members ? 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 65 
 
 "We affirm that our aim is eminently national and patriotic, 
 and, as such, should commend itself to every lover of his country. 
 We rear this day an altar, not of political schism, but an altar of 
 witness (vide Josh, xxii.) that we are of one faith and one house- 
 hold. We contemplate no strife, save a generous rivalry with our 
 brethren as to who shall furnish to this great Republic the truest 
 men, the truest Christians, and the truest patriots. Again, I 
 repel the suspicion because of its injustice to our brethren of the 
 North. Not a Bishop, Clergyman, or layman to whom this sub- 
 ject was mentioned at our last General Convention, but, so far as 
 is known, approved the object, and heartily bade its projectors 
 ' God speed.' 
 
 "I appeal to the well-known conservative character of our 
 Church to rebut this groundless suspicion. While year after year 
 furnishes evidence of the unhappy divisions which distract the 
 councils and rend the organizations of other bodies of Christians, 
 our Communion, under God's gracious goodness, I say it in no 
 spirit of boasting, but of profoundest humility and gratitude, 
 has been exempt from strife, and has kept the unity of the Spirit, 
 in the bond of peace. 
 
 "These facts discountenance the idea that Southern men, in 
 devising a plan of a Southern University, have contemplated evil 
 to this Union. We regard this University as an institution of 
 conservatism. We consider that its influence will be used to still 
 the waters of agitation, to quench the flames of strife, and, diffus- 
 ing intelligence sanctified by piety, to bind the discordant elements 
 of party into a Union stronger than steel and firmer than adamant." 
 
 To Bishop Otey, whose long-delayed hopes seemed 
 thus almost to be fulfilled, this was indeed a season of 
 joy and thankfulness. But it was very soon to be fol- 
 lowed by a severe domestic affliction. He was hastily 
 summoned from the mountain, to the death-bed of Rev. 
 Mr. Tomes, Rector of Christ's Church, Nashville, one 
 of his favorite Clergymen, and the husband of his be- 
 loved daughter Henrietta. This unexpected and twofold 
 
66 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 blow bore heavily on the tender soul of the Bishop. 
 A laborer of so amiable and faithful a spirit could not 
 well be spared from the meagre list of his Clergy ; and 
 to his already manifold duties was now to be added 
 that of comforting and caring for a widowed daughter 
 and her three children. The Bishop, in his next 
 Address to the Convention, speaks of Mr. Tomes as 
 " faithful, true, affectionate, and an especial lover of 
 the brethren ; one whose daily, we might almost say 
 hourly, delight was to work for Christ and His Church. 
 Never was he so contented, never so well pleased, as 
 when engaged in preaching the Gospel, in visiting the 
 sick, relieving the poor and suffering, and reclaiming 
 the erring and the lost." 
 
 The following incident is one that caused no little 
 excitement at the time. On the 8th of August, the 
 Bishop was called to consecrate a new Church at River- 
 side, in the eastern part of the Diocese, built by Col. 
 N. and the relatives of his wife. This was at a time 
 when what is now generally known as " Eitualism " had 
 gained considerable footing in some of the larger and 
 more advanced cities of the East, but had yet to plant 
 its first footstep among the mountains and valleys of 
 Tennessee. On arriving at the Church, accompanied 
 by Bishop Polk, he beheld a cross on every gate, three 
 crosses on the roof, and one on the belfry. On entering 
 the Church, he found the font at the south door of the 
 Church ; and on the altar and super-altar, a large mov- 
 able cross, two vases for flowers, two very large candle- 
 sticks, and five other crosses with multiform devices 
 upon them. This was rather too much for the un- 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 67 
 
 instructed taste of the good Bishop. He had not been 
 initiated among the more " advanced " of his brethren. 
 He was too old-fashioned to admire or even tolerate 
 such novelties : therefore, at his command, these insig- 
 nia were all removed before he would proceed to the 
 consecration. Great offence was taken by the worthy 
 family that erected the Church, and no regular services 
 were ever after held in it. It was permitted to fall 
 into decay ; and no vestige remains to mark the occasion 
 but the site itself, one of the loveliest that could possibly 
 be chosen for a House of God. Whilst compelled by 
 honesty, and by the truth of this narrative, to record 
 this event, the writer cannot wholly approve it. It was 
 one of those very few occasions in which the dear 
 Bishop's zeal for God got the better of his prudence. 
 But he is fully convinced that no act of similar kind 
 was ever performed with greater sincerity of heart, or 
 under a stronger sense of duty. The only question is, 
 whether the desired changes might not have been 
 effected in the way of kind remonstrance, rather than 
 by the word of command. The friends of the aggrieved 
 party, encouraged by a few meddlers outside the Dio- 
 cese, raised a temporary clamor against the Bishop, 
 alleging that he had overstepped the bounds of his 
 authority, inasmuch as there was no canon forbidding 
 the use of these symbols. His only reply was, " Canon 
 or no canon, I would do the same again, under like 
 circumstances." Those who were at all acquainted with 
 Bishop Otey knew well that he was no party-man. 
 He might justly have been termed a Catholic, Prayer- 
 Book Churchman, of the old school ; and was therefore 
 
68 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 tempted to look with suspicion and alarm upon any act 
 or object, however innocent in itself, that might symbol- 
 ize the heresies of Rome. 
 
 In July, 1858, a meeting of the Board of Trustees of 
 the University was held at Beersheba ; the Charter was 
 accepted, sundry committees were appointed, and the 
 Bishop congratulated his brethren on the general favor 
 with which the enterprise was regarded, and on the 
 large amount of subscriptions already obtained by the 
 exertions of Bishops Polk and Elliott, which amounted 
 to nearly five hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 Toward the close of this year, the Bishop, at the 
 instance of Right Rev. Dr. Brownell, the Presiding 
 Bishop, undertook once more, and for the last time, 
 a visitation of the Churches and Missionary Stations in 
 Arkansas. 
 
 To the Convention of 1859, he reports that he had 
 confirmed two hundred and thirty-five persons, an in- 
 crease of more than one hundred over the number 
 reported the preceding year. He mentions this not in 
 a boastful or exultant spirit, but in the way of thankful- 
 ness and encouragement. 
 
 At this Convention he speaks, in tender and affec- 
 tionate terms, of the deaths of two of his consecrators, 
 Bishops Onderdonk and Doane ; making an acknowl- 
 edgment of the ability and zeal which had distin- 
 guished both in defence of the truth. Of the former 
 he speaks in terms of strong personal affection ; ascribes 
 to him a place in the highest rank of successful contro- 
 versialists ; and takes pleasure in remembering that 
 it was upon his own motion, in the House of Bishops, 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 69 
 
 that the sentence of Bishop Onderdonk's suspension had 
 been remitted. Of Bishop Doane, who had preached 
 the sermon at his consecration in 1834, he speaks as a 
 man of extraordinary endowments, of large heart, un- 
 selfish, self-sacrificing, devoted to his friends, an enemy 
 to no man, and as having nobly waged the battle of 
 life. 
 
 In 1860 he was admitted to the enjoyment of the 
 new and commodious residence which had been built 
 for him in an eligible part of Memphis ; and his re- 
 maining days would have passed in quiet and comfort, 
 if he had not seen too plainly dark clouds of war about 
 to overshadow the land. The following is the entry 
 made in his diary, at the opening of this year : 
 
 " SUNDAY, Jan. 1. The first day of another week, and the 
 first week of a new }*ear, have dawned upon the world ; and, by 
 the mercy and goodness of God, I am blessed with the renewed 
 opportunity of perfecting my repentance, and of striving to make 
 my calling and election sure. May each day of this year be 
 employed to the purposes of my Christian calling, and find me 
 advancing in the great work of my salvation." 
 
 The only incident that marks this year of the Bishop's 
 life was the laying of the corner-stone of the University 
 of the South. By general agreement, the tenth day of 
 October was appointed for that purpose. The place of 
 meeting was the spot previously selected as the site 
 of the University. It was on the plateau of the Cum- 
 berland range, about ten miles north-east from Win- 
 chester. Although at that time only an uninhabited 
 mountain-top, it presented an undulating surface, heavily 
 wooded, abounding with springs, and affording magnifi- 
 
70 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 cent views of the valleys below. At the appointed 
 time there was gathered there an assembly of at least 
 five thousand people, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, offi- 
 cials of various degrees, and a wondering multitude of 
 simple-hearted souls from the surrounding country. A 
 fine band of instrumental music was in attendance, and 
 made the mountain ring as it joined in with a thousand 
 happy voices in the refrain of the " Benedicite." By 
 Bishop Otey's appointment, the following order was ob- 
 served: Bishops Rutledge, Atkinson, and Cobbs con- 
 ducted the introductory services ; Hev. Messrs. J. F. 
 Young and C. T. Quintard led in the Chants ; Bishop 
 Elliott made the deposits in the corner-stone ; Bishop 
 Polk laid it ; Bishop Green took the concluding prayer ; 
 and Bishop Otey closed with the benediction. At the 
 termination of this impressive ceremony, an eloquent 
 oration was delivered by Hon. John S. Preston of South 
 Carolina, followed by appropriate addresses from Bishop 
 Smith, President Barnard, Commander M. F. Maury, 
 and Hon. John M. Bright. 
 
 But the hand of fire and the sword were soon to blight 
 this sunny prospect. The sound of war was in the air. 
 The following item from the Bishop's diary will plainly 
 show his position at that time, in view of the threatened 
 danger : 
 
 " DEC. 24. Saw Mr. II. G. Smith, and allowed the use of my 
 name, com 7 ok ing a public meeting of the citizens friendly to the 
 Union of the States on terms consistent with the honor and safety 
 of the South." 
 
 Early in 1861, the Bishop addressed a Pastoral Let- 
 ter to the laity of the Diocese, on the respective duties 
 
Memoir of Bisho}) Otey. 71 
 
 of Wardens and Vestrymen. This was soon followed 
 by despatches from his Clergy, saying that they must 
 either omit the Prayer for the President of the United 
 States, or close their Churches. To this the Bishop 
 replied that he had no power of dispensation in the 
 matter. At a Council subsequently held at the call of 
 the Bishop, after much discussion it was determined, by 
 vote, that each Clergyman be left to his own discretion 
 as to the use of that prayer. But a still safer alter- 
 native was soon after adopted, by the Bishop's recom- 
 mending to the Clergy to use the " Ante-Communion 
 Office " in place of the usual Morning or Evening Ser- 
 vice. As rumors of war were daily thickening around 
 him, and his prayers for peace seemed to be unheeded, 
 on the 10th of May he addressed a letter to Hon. 
 William H. Seward, Secretary of State, begging that 
 hostilities might be suspended, and invoking the influ- 
 ence of his high position and commanding abilities in 
 giving peace to the country. 
 
 The character of that letter may be learned from the 
 following peroration : 
 
 " You know, sir, it is a maxim consecrated by the experience 
 of the world, in morals, religion, and political science, that men 
 may be led when they cannot be driven. You know, and need 
 not be reminded, that the power which controls the hearts and 
 wills of men resides not in the c whirlwind ' the passions of men ; 
 nor in the 4 fire ' the persecuting spirit of men ; nor in the 
 'earthquake' the strength of argument and eloquence: but in 
 the 4 still small voice ' of kindness and love, that speaks as gently 
 as the summer's breeze. Oh, sir, speak but the words of gentle- 
 ness and conciliation to }'our countrymen, driven and tossed by 
 contending passions, like the waves of the troubled sea ; and who 
 
72 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 knows but that God, the God of peace, will bless your word and 
 deed, and by his might} T power i still the noise of the waves, and 
 the madness of the people ' ? Go to the President, and urge him 
 to desist from all hostile measures, and efforts to conquer an 
 unwilling obedience to his government. If to do good be your 
 object, and you succeed, the blessings of millions will be yours. 
 If earthly fame be your wish, you will have erected a monument 
 for yourself, second only, in the grandeur and beauty of its pro- 
 portions, to his of whom alone, among the sons of men, it has 
 been truthfully said, c He was first in war, first in peace, and first 
 in the hearts of his countrymen.' I pray your indulgence for 
 trespassing so much on your time, and beg leave to subscribe my- 
 self, with profound consideration, 
 
 " Your friend and obedient servant, 
 
 "J. H. OTEY." 
 
 Soon after this, at the request of his Convention, the 
 Bishop put forth a Pastoral Letter on the threatening 
 aspect of the times, and prescribed a Service for a Yast 
 Day, to be observed weekly during the continuance of 
 the present troubles. 
 
 In addition to what his two daughters have so 
 graphically and touchingly stated of the home-life and 
 the ever-affectionate disposition of their father, the fol- 
 lowing extracts from his diary cannot fail to place him 
 in a more striking and endearing light : 
 
 "JULY 20, 1841. My dear sister Mildred departed this life 
 this morning, in the hope of a blessed immortality. She was one 
 of the purest, gentlest, and meekest beings that I have ever 
 seen. The Lord grant us a happy family-meeting in his King- 
 dom above ! " 
 
 "APRIL 19, 1854. It gave me great pain to censure D. for 
 staying out late, last night, with some of her friends." 
 
 " FEB. 26, 1842. This is the anniversary of my dear departed 
 Heber's birth. The lineaments of his sweet face are now fresh in 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 73 
 
 my memory. Grant, O Lord, that my love for him, sanctified by 
 love of Thee, may be a daily incentive to my own soul to press for- 
 ward with patience and ever-renewed zeal, after that crown of life 
 which I humbly hope and believe my child has received, through 
 Thy mercy and goodness in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 " MARCH 31, 1848. This is my dear wife's birthday. I pray 
 God to grant her many happy returns of it ; and may blessings 
 spiritual and temporal attend her." 
 
 It has already been stated, that in the year 1851 the 
 Bishop, being in feeble health, by the earnest advice and 
 the kind assistance of his friends spent several months 
 in visiting England, Scotland, France, and Switzer- 
 land. As usual, he kept his diary ; and, if it had been 
 published at the time, it would have excited no little 
 interest in every intelligent reader. It was written, 
 however, with no view to the public eye, but solely for 
 the entertainment and instruction of his children. He 
 of course saw much that was both new and strange, and 
 formed many distinguished and gratifying acquaintances. 
 But whether in the presence of royalty, in the crowded 
 city, or on the lofty Alps, " the loved ones at home " 
 were ever present to him. After returning from a visit 
 to Westminster Abbey and the House of Lords, he 
 writes : 
 
 41 MAY 28. This date calls up the memory of an event which, 
 with all its circumstances, is in a manner burnt into my very soul. 
 This day, four years ago, my beloved Sarah died. Long and sor- 
 rowfully did I gaze at her sweet face to-day. It seemed to look 
 tenderly but sadly upon me. Shall I ever again behold those fea- 
 tures re-animate with life, with life immortal, the life ' hid with 
 Christ in God ' ? May my Father in heaven grant it, for my dear 
 Saviour's sake." 
 
 " JULY 27. The sun, in his annual course, has brought around 
 
74 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 the day which I first knew as a day of deep affliction and bereave- 
 ment. Twenty-one years ago my precious little boy, Reginald 
 Heber, was taken from my arms by death ; and the bitterness of 
 grief has not yet passed away." 
 
 " AUG. 7. Donna's birthday. Blessings on thee, my dear 
 child!" 
 
 " FEB. 7, 1852. Anniversary of the death and burial of my dar- 
 ling little Fanny. Four years ago, I committed her remains to the 
 earth. And, alas ! how little has time in its flight done to mitigate 
 the keen sense I entertain of her loss ! Every look and feature 
 and movement of that dear child is indelibly impressed upon my 
 memory and my heart. Many hours, in the loneliness of the night, 
 are my thoughts dwelling upon her ; and at times it seems as if I 
 could almost penetrate the veil that hides the spiritual world, and 
 see her again. Do the souls of the departed indeed draw near to 
 us in the body, and make us mindful of their presence ? I would 
 fain believe it. My children appear sometimes so near to me, that 
 I can almost see them with m}' e3'es. But sight, thank God, is not 
 necessar} T to assure us of the reality of things." 
 
 Of the three departed children of the Bishop, referred 
 to above, Heber lived only nine years. He was a child 
 of great promise, dying July 27, 1881. Sarah lived to 
 pass her sixteenth year, being in mind and disposition 
 all that a doting parent could wish. She had received 
 a thorough education at the Female Institute, being 
 rewarded with its highest honors through her whole 
 course. She was the intelligent companion, as well as 
 the loving child, of her father, his pride, his chief 
 joy. He returned from one of his long and fatiguing 
 journeys, merely in time to be faintly recognized, as 
 she drew her last breath, on the 28th of May, 1847. 
 Fanny, as described by one of her living sisters, was the 
 " darling of the household," a child of wonderful fas- 
 
Memoir of Bishep Otey. 75 
 
 cination, and every way calculated to entwine herself 
 around a father's heart. She had scarcely passed from 
 infancy to girlhood when her heavenly Father claimed 
 her for Himself, Feb. 6, 1848, ten months after her 
 sister. To these three afflictions of the good Bishop, 
 there followed, June 4, 1851, the more serious death of 
 Mrs. Otey, who for forty years had been to her family 
 the helping and loving wife, the fond and watchful 
 mother, and the diligent and provident helpmeet of the 
 household. 
 
 May 29, 1852. the anniversary of the death of his 
 daughter Sarah, he writes thus feelingly : 
 
 "Ah! how many pangs of the heart have I not felt at the 
 recollection of this sad day ! How often have I watered my couch 
 with my tears ! ' Yet Thou continuest faithful, O Thou Hoty One 
 of Israel ! ' When have I not thought of thee, my beloved child, 
 in my wanderings through and over this weary world ! At home 
 and abroad, on the ocean and on the dry land, in storm and in 
 calm, by night and by day, climbing the rugged Alps, gazing on 
 scenes of beauty or grandeur, everywhere and at all times, thou 
 art nearly present to my thoughts. Lord, forgive a father's too 
 great love for his children ! Amen." 
 
 In a letter from Rev. Dr. Wheat to the writer, he 
 says, 
 
 " I was much with the Bishop, after the death of his two daugh- 
 ters, and saw how deepty his tender heart (unusually tender, I 
 think) suffered while he spoke of them with passionate fondness ; 
 sometimes weeping and sobbing violently, as he recalled their thou- 
 sand endearments." 
 
 In an attempt to portray the character of Bishop 
 Otey, especially in regard to its gentler and more lov- 
 able features, it would not be amiss to show how his 
 
76 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 compassion flowed out to others beyond the bounds of 
 his own family. If ever there has been a second Bar- 
 nabas, it might have been seen in him ; for he was truly 
 a s> son of consolation" to all the distressed within his 
 reach. The poor, the sick, the afflicted, and even the 
 birds of the air, felt his compassion and his help. 
 
 Feb. 19, 1844, when on his way to visit the few 
 members of the Church in the Indian Territory, he 
 writes : 
 
 u Heard of a man at the mouth of White River, destitute, 
 sick, and almost d}'ing. I proposed to the passengers to make up 
 a purse for his relief. Of the $9.50 contributed, I gave five dol- 
 lars, and feel thankful that I had it to give for the comfort of an 
 unfortunate fellow-being. Ma} r the Lord raise him up, and restore 
 him to his family." 
 
 On unexpectedly meeting with Bishop Cobbs in Mis- 
 sissippi, in 1847, out of the fulness of an affectionate 
 heart he exclaims, " O quanta gaudia ! " 
 
 When about to remove from his home near Columbia, 
 to Memphis, he thus describes his feelings : 
 
 " I begin now to realize truly, that I am about to leave a resi- 
 dence endeared to me by many holy and deeply interesting associ- 
 ations. The very trees in the yard seem to me to be the friends 
 of my children, and especially of my deceased ones. It was under 
 the shade of these oaks that I last saw them in health. There 
 is a spot to which one of them resorted to study, and yonder I 
 remember to have seen one of them in play ; and how often have 
 I seen them all coming down the gravel walk from the gate ! And 
 hereafter, I am to behold them no more in these loved spots and 
 familiar walks. God's will be done ! " 
 
 But the two following extracts from his diary will 
 show a degree of compassion truly Christ-like : 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 77 
 
 " SUNDAY, Jan. 25, 1847. The trap fell, and caught a bird, 
 this morning. I took pleasure in releasing the little captive, and 
 then so setting the trap that the little birds might devour the bait 
 with impunity all this blessed day." 
 
 Again, April 25, 1842, he makes this tender and 
 child-like record : 
 
 "I saw a man commit an act, to-daj 7 , of wanton cruelty. A 
 wild duck, usually a very timid fowl, was seen swimming with her 
 young brood, eight or ten in number, near the bow of our boat. 
 She was hastening with her young out of the way, as fast as the poor 
 little creatures could swim. A man a monster in human shape, 
 he ought to be called deliberately raised his gun, and fired one 
 of the barrels at them. The old duck did not fly. He then fired 
 the second barrel. Still she did not fly, but swam along in front 
 of her young, as if nothing had happened. Three of the poor lit- 
 tle ones floated away lifeless from the shot of the inhuman marks- 
 man ; and the mother-duck pursued after them, with the remainder. 
 The last I saw of her, she was still swimming after them. Had I 
 been in the man's place, I should have felt that I had committed 
 murder. As it was, I felt indignant enough to throw him into the 
 Mississippi." 
 
 In this connection it may with much truth be stated, 
 that the Bishop's diary is replete with instances of his 
 visiting the sick and the afflicted, praying with them, 
 and, as far as he could, preparing them for their last 
 hour. Not only at the bedside of his own departing 
 children, but in steamboats, at the wayside inn, as well 
 as among his own pastoral charge, he might have been 
 seen administering to the afflicted of every name. His 
 services of this kind were frequently sought for outside 
 of his own Communion and his more especial acquaint- 
 ance. In addition to his ministrations in the chamber 
 of the dying, he was oftentimes called upon to write 
 
78 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 obituaries of the dead, to preach funeral-sermons, and, 
 finally, to compose fitting epitaphs for their tombs. 
 
 "FEB. 16, 1854. Walked into town, this morning, and went 
 
 to visit Mrs. M n; found her much enfeebled, and rapidly 
 
 growing weaker. I read to her the 4 Exhortation to the Sick,' 
 and examined her touching her faith, repentance, and charity ; 
 and then pra3^ed with her. [He then adds] It affords me fre- 
 quently the highest satisfaction, thus to engage in prayer with 
 sick and afflicted persons. In such cases, I often have a depth 
 of feeling in my own soul, experience a sense of the Divine pres- 
 ence, and have a liberty or freedom in prayer, that I realize very 
 seldom under other circumstances. At such times, how precious 
 seems the Saviour to the soul, how sufficient the grace of God 
 to all our needs, how glorious the hope and the reward of the 
 believer ! ' ' 
 
 April 23, 1842, the child of a dear friend (A. J. Polk) 
 being at the point of death, he says. 
 
 "I spent one or two hours in conversation with the afflicted 
 parents, suggesting to their minds all the grounds of comfort and 
 consolation which the Scriptures allow us to cherish in the death 
 of children." 
 
 His letters of condolence to the family and friends of 
 the dead are many in number ; and abounding with a 
 heartfelt sympathy, as well as with every conceivable 
 ground of comfort to the bereaved. To some of his 
 relatives, who had lost their mother, he writes : 
 
 4 'Mr DEAR COUSINS, We received last week the sad intelli- 
 gence of the decease of your beloved mother. I have delayed, a 
 few days, the tender of my heartfelt sj'mpathy ; because I know 
 that upon the first shock of such a calamity the mind is too much 
 absorbed with its griefs, and with the recent sufferings of the de- 
 parted, to give heed to the consoling voice of friendship. Time 
 must be given us, that our agitated spirits may be composed, before 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 79 
 
 we can listen to the consolations which affection and the voice of 
 religion offer to soothe our sorrows. May a gracious God comfort 
 your hearts, for He alone can do it. It is He only, that can give 
 4 beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of 
 praise for the spirit of heaviness.' We can have but one mother, 
 and there are endearing recollections connected with that name 
 which attach to no other in our world ; and few have been blessed 
 with such a mother as yours. She was deserving of all } T our love, 
 and her place in the community in which she lived will be hard to 
 fill. I trust that you feel abundant motives for resignation in the 
 recollection of her piety, her charity, and her faith in Christ. I 
 doubt not she is blessed beyond all our conceptions of happiness. 
 We have no just grounds to mourn for her ; but, rather, for our- 
 selves. You can scarcely wish her back, to share in the tempta- 
 tions and sorrows of earth ; while every remembrance of her should 
 strengthen the ties that bind your affections to heaven and heavenly 
 things.'* 
 
 To a lady friend, Mrs. W s of Chattanooga, he 
 
 wrote Nov. 13, 1861: 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND AND AFFLICTED SISTER, I have just seen, 
 in one of our papers, the announcement of the death of your dearly 
 beloved husband ; and now tender to you and his bereaved family 
 the tribute of my sincere sympathy and my heartfelt condolence. 
 If his many and attached friends mourn over this sudden affliction, 
 what anguish must wring your heart in being bereft of the cher- 
 ished affection and love of such a companion ! May a gracious 
 God comfort your heart. He alone can speak peace to your trou- 
 bled spirit, and calm the tempest of 3 T our grief. I know well, from 
 my own sad experience, that words of human sympathy cannot 
 cure the sorrows of the heart. Grief is often too deep and sacred 
 to endure the offerings of human friendship, and they avail but little 
 to heal the wounds of the spirit. When time shall have done its 
 soothing office by you, you will then call to mind the many virtues 
 and excellences of your husband, and you will delight to cherish 
 his memory. . . . You have the further and unspeakable comfort 
 
80 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 of reflecting that he had made his peace with God, and looked for 
 His merc} T through the alone merits and intercession of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 The following is a part of a letter to an especially 
 dear and worthy friend (Mrs. L.), whose husband had 
 just been killed in a duel : 
 
 " JAN. 8, 1862. 
 
 "Mr VERY DEAR FRIEND, I received yours of the 5th inst., 
 last evening. How gladly would I soothe your sorrows, if it were 
 in my power ! Words of sympath} 7 and affection cannot reach the 
 heart, and relieve its anguish, when torn and bleeding by such a 
 wound as yours has received. All that we can say of the loved 
 departed, his nobleness of soul, his manliness, his uprightness, 
 his integrity, his kindness in his domestic relations, all tends 
 only to endear him to your recollection, and make you feel the ex- 
 tent and severity of }'our loss. MJ T part it is all I can offer, and 
 poor at that is to weep with you, and pray for you. The Lord 
 bless thee, and help thee ! The Lord comfort jour heart, and 
 cause His face to shine upon you. God's ways are very often, to 
 us, dark and m^ysterious. But we are assured that those ways are 
 guided by unerring wisdom and unspeakable love. When we would 
 inquire into the reasons of His dispensations, we are met with the 
 declaration, ' He giveth not account of any of His matters/ Your 
 husband's life was not the sport of chance. The might of an arch- 
 angel could not strike his name from the list of the living, without 
 the permission of that great and hoi} 7 Being who gave him exist- 
 ence, and who knew best when to recall the life which He Himself 
 had given." 
 
 If all such letters of sympathy and of godly counsel 
 in affliction could be gathered together, they would form 
 a volume of the largest size. They were not a mere 
 compliance with conventional usage, but the offspring of 
 a naturally warm and feeling heart. 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 81 
 
 Of the strength of his sympathy for the sufferings of 
 his friends, the Bishop seemed, at times, to be painfully 
 sensible. At the close of the protracted trial of Bishop 
 Doane, he writes to one of his daughters : 
 
 " You seem to wonder, my dear child, that I should have felt 
 so much troubled about this matter. It was not in reference to 
 myself, or the line of 1113* duty, that I felt concerned. Indeed, I 
 may say truty that all the troubles of my life 'have been for others. 
 Like yourself, my nerves have been too delicately strung ; and I 
 have often suffered agonies inexpressible, when others have said, 
 ' Oh, never mind ! ' I have often wished that I possessed less 
 sensibility, and less sympathy for others ; but that is wishing not 
 to be myself. ' ' 
 
 "Nov. 20, 1855. Went to the prison, and had a conversa- 
 tion with Henry, a slave, condemned to die this day for murder. 
 I found him, to all appearance, humble, docile, and penitent. I 
 examined him touching his contrition for his past ungodly life, es- 
 pecially the crime for which he was in a few hours to die. He pro- 
 fessed to be truly penitent, and, as far as I could judge, sincerely 
 so. I then instructed him, that if he really believed with all his 
 heart that Christ Jesus died for sinners, and if he would put his 
 only and whole trust in God's mercy through Christ, he might 3~et 
 find pardon and acceptance. This he appeared unfeignedly to do. 
 I then, in the presence of the jailer and sheriff, and several others 
 who had come in, examined him, and called upon them to witness 
 his declarations of repentance and faith, his forgiveness of others, 
 and his prayers for his own forgiveness. After commending him 
 to God's great mercj' in Christ, I baptized him, and left him to 
 meet the terrible fate to which his guilt had brought him." 
 
 "MARCH 13, 1862. Went to the hospital this morning. A 
 sick young man, for whom I prayed last evening, died about an 
 hour after I left. I walked over a considerable part of the town, 
 in search of oranges for the sick soldiers, but could get none. 
 Soon after, I visited several other of our soldiers, for whom I read 
 and prayed. Among them were two Federal soldiers, captives, 
 
82 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 for whom also I read and prayed. One of them seemed to be quite 
 despondent." 
 
 " MARCH 16. Spent several hours in the forenoon at the Over- 
 ton-house Hospital, in visiting the sick and wounded, reading for 
 them and praying with them." 
 
 "APRIL 6, 1862. A large number of sick soldiers aboard, on 
 their way to the hospital at Vicksburg ; many of them evidently 
 demoralized. One of them took his seat at a table in the gentle- 
 men's cabin, with a youth, to play cards. I went to them, and 
 talked to them on the impropriety of their conduct ; asked what 
 their parents would think if they knew the} r were thus engaged, 
 etc. I told them, also, how such conduct might spread a gloom 
 over their departing hours. All to no purpose : they continued 
 their game." 
 
 The next day, aboard of the same boat, he writes : 
 
 " This afternoon visited a man in his stateroom, by the name 
 of Banks, and proposed to pray with him. He was too far gone 
 to understand scarcel} 7 any thing that could be said to him. I 
 therefore commended his soul to the mercy of God in Christ, and 
 in an hour he died." 
 
 If ever there was a man honest in heart, and fearless 
 in action, whether of a moral or physical character, that 
 man was Bishop Otey. Although, as already shown, he 
 possessed all the tenderness of the gentlest woman, 
 he could, when the occasion called for it, stand firm as 
 a rock, rebuke the offender, disturb the sleeping con- 
 science, defy the insolent, or pass sentence on the guilty. 
 In both disposition and conduct he strongly resembled 
 that great Bishop whom he so delighted to honor, and 
 from whom he had received the first and second Orders 
 of the Ministry. 
 
 MARCH 10, 1842. A Mr. Slater had passed himself 
 off as a Clergyman of the Church, and had officiated 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 83 
 
 several times in his Diocese. The Bishop, after detect- 
 ing his villainy, told him that he was an unworthy and 
 unprincipled man ; and that he would publish him to 
 the world, and give information to all the Bishops of 
 the Church. The man begged that he would not pub- 
 lish him, as it would ruin him forever. The answer 
 was, " I must do my duty to the Church, let the con- 
 sequences be as they may." 
 
 "FEB. 19, 1847. Write to Mr. I. K. Y., upon the subject of 
 his religious profession, informing him that I had heard of his 
 swearing ; and give him a solemn and serious warning." 
 
 Of one of his Clergy, a good man otherwise, but 
 always leaving a debt behind him, he says, 
 
 "Mr. N. came to-day; and I opened my mind to him, very 
 freely, on the impropriety of his running about drawing bills, etc." 
 
 The following little item shows his regard to law, and 
 his determination not to be imposed upon : 
 
 " DEC. 20, 1860. Arrived at home ; hired a hack, and paid for 
 the same twenty-five cents. The driver demanded double that 
 sum ; which I refused, as contrary to the City Ordinance." 
 
 Every Clergyman knows how painful is the duty of 
 apprising the sick of their near-approaching end. This 
 task was one from which the good Bishop never with- 
 held himself. April 19, 1857, he writes: 
 
 " Went to see a sick gentleman, and found him sleeping. On 
 arousing from his slumber, I began to converse with him. He said 
 that conversation and prayers excited him too much, and that he 
 would send for me and see me at another time. I saw that the 
 poor man was endeavoring to conceal from himself his true situa- 
 tion. I therefore warned him very seriously, and begged him not 
 
84 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 to persuade himself, or let others flatter him, with the hope of re- 
 cover}' ; for that he would go soon, and probably very suddenly. 
 [The next day's entry is] The sick man I went to see yesterday 
 died this morning. It was not without reason that I warned him." 
 " SUNDAY, Dec. 20, 1857. Saw some young men laughing in 
 Church ; for which I gave them a pointed rebuke, without calling 
 their names." 
 
 Clergymen, in their journeyings, are not infrequently 
 subjected to hearing profane or indecent language from 
 young men of licentious habits. April 3, 1857, being 
 on a Mississippi steamer, the Bishop writes : 
 
 " A young man, with two companions, came into the social hall, 
 and commenced using blasphemous and obscene language so shame- 
 lessly that I felt obliged to reprove him. I began by repeating, in 
 a slow and solemn tone, the third Commandment. It at once made 
 an impression. The wretched man strove and struggled to escape, 
 like a wild bull in a net ; but in vain. I set before him the deep 
 and provoking sin of blasphemy, and his ingratitude to God ; until, 
 ashamed, he left my presence, and I saw him no more." 
 
 Again, Oct. 27, 1840, he writes : 
 
 "I had hard words to-day with Gen. P w, who refused to 
 
 release me from an agreement about certain lands. I told him it 
 was evident that he was deliberately intending to overreach and 
 deceive me. He was ver} T angiy, and tried to intimidate me. I 
 was much excited ; but, finding that I was not to be scared by 
 either looks or words, he gave me, after a while, the guaranty 
 which I desired." 
 
 But the following, related to the author by one of his 
 daughters, will serve to show that her good father was 
 physically, as well as morally, without fear. It is given 
 in her own words : 
 
 " On one of his visitations, weary and fatigued and in want of 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 85 
 
 sleep, from a long ride on horseback, he arrived at a town that 
 was filled to overflowing with some important political meeting. 
 On asking for a room, or even a bed, the landlord replied that 
 there was not even a space on his sitting-room floor for him to lie 
 upon. But, seeing my father's disappointment, he said, ; There is 
 a room up-stairs, belonging to a gambler, who seldom comes in 
 until morning, and sometimes not until breakfast- time If you 
 choose to try that, you may.' My father concluded that he would 
 make the venture. After sleeping very comfortably for some time, 
 he was suddenly awakened by a voice calling out in an angry tone, 
 ' Get up out of here, stranger! What are you doing here? Get 
 out this moment, or I will pitch } T OU out of the window.' My 
 father attempted to expostulate with the rough, rude man that 
 stood over him ; but in vain. At last, being fully awakened 
 to the situation, he looked his assailant steadily in the eye, and, at 
 the same time stretching out his arm, said, c Before you throw me 
 out of the window, feel that. 1 That was the last of it." 
 
 He once hired a man by the name of Buchanan to 
 act as an overseer of his little farm near Memphis. He 
 proved to be a wife-beater, and in sundry other respects 
 utterly unworthy. After being deservedly dismissed by 
 the Bishop, he went to his house drunk, and in a very 
 insulting mood. The Bishop paid him up in full, cred- 
 ited him for some extra supplies, took his receipt, and 
 then told him to " be off." As the scamp seemed dis- 
 posed to be dogged and stubborn, the Bishop took him 
 by the arm, and unceremoniously shoved him out of the 
 door. 
 
 Of the ministerial life of Bishop Otey, it may with 
 truth be said that it was one of unremitting labor, and, 
 in its earlier stages, of much pecuniary straitness. Some 
 years after his arrival in Tennessee, when he had begun 
 to see better times, he jocularly said to a friend, " When 
 
86 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 I first came into the State, my sole possessions were my 
 wife, my horse, my buggy, and my fiddle. The buggy 
 and the horse have long since become of no use to me, 
 but my wife and my fiddle are as good as ever." This 
 cheerfulness of spirit was one of the happiest traits in 
 his character, and sustained him under a pressure of 
 bodily and mental toil which few have been so able to 
 endure. The following extracts from his diary will 
 give the reader some evidence of this : 
 
 " TUESDAY, 6th, 1842. Set out in the coach at 8 A.M. Rained 
 hard all day, coach leaking badly. Nine passengers, one of them 
 a large, helpless Indian. Came near upsetting. Reach Rock Row, 
 9 P.M., wet; find several great rowdies, blasphemous and profane 
 wretches, at the hotel. Retire to bed ; great fat Indian comes, and 
 tumbles in beside me." 
 
 " JULY 11, 1855. Went to bed, but immediately attacked by 
 bugs. Got up, and went out into the stage-coach, and staid till 
 morning. Told Mr. W., the hotel-keeper, about the condition of 
 his beds ; seemed to take it in high dudgeon." 
 
 " MARCH 31, 1844. Slept in T.'s house (an Indian) last night 
 the hardest floor I have ever felt." 
 
 He frequently follows up a hard day's labor, or a 
 sleepless night, with a brief and uncomplaining remark : 
 such as, " I have this day been speaking four hours ; " 
 "All day writing sermon, and preparing lecture; weary, 
 weary world ! " " Uncomfortable, sleepless night mos- 
 quitoes ! " 
 
 Fifty years ago, Tennessee and the adjoining States 
 had no railroads or turnpikes, and but few coaches on 
 the many routes which the Bishop had to travel. His 
 earlier journeyings, therefore, had to be performed on 
 horseback. We accordingly find many such entrances 
 as these : 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 87 
 
 "MARCH 20, 1839. Arrived at Montgomery's, thirty-seven 
 miles, barely in time to escape a heavy shower." 
 " MARCH 21. Ride to Savannah, thirty-five miles." 
 ' 4 MARCH 22. Ride in the rain, sick and weary, to Bolivar, thirty- 
 two miles." 
 
 At another time : 
 
 " Reached Montgomery's, thirty-nine miles. Lumpkin's, thirty- 
 nine miles, snowing and sleeting all day. Mr. Alsenelly's, twenty- 
 nine miles, drizzling rain all day." 
 
 His Diocese was too poor to provide for him as they 
 desired : hence, both at Franklin and Columbia, he was 
 compelled to devote a considerable portion of his time 
 to teaching. On three days of the week, he lectured 
 on Moral Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Evidences of Chris- 
 tianity, in the Female Institute, from its first establish- 
 ment to the beginning of the war. To his exertions in 
 the pulpit, in his study, and in the schoolroom, he added 
 no little amount of manual labor. He was his own car- 
 penter and gardener and general house-jobber. At one 
 time we see him repairing his fences ; at another, dig- 
 ging up and setting out trees ; next, putting up a bee- 
 hive ; and then, " making a frame-screen for wife." He 
 was no stranger to what in classic phrase is known as 
 res angusta domi. A story has been told the writer of 
 this sketch, that, in the early stage of his Episcopacy, 
 he was one day about mounting his horse for one of his 
 long visitations, when his wife called to him, " Mr. Otey, 
 there is not a peck of meal in the house." His only 
 reply was, " Trust Providence ; " and he rode off. And 
 it gives the writer no little pleasure to add, that seldom 
 has such pious trust been better rewarded ; as the good 
 
88 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 Bishop lived to see these providential supplies so in- 
 creased, from day to day, that his family grew in com- 
 fort and abundance to the close of his life. 
 
 The slightest review of what is here written will 
 suffice to show what were the many privations and trials 
 which the good Bishop was called to endure. No one 
 need wonder, that, near the close of his days, a sad 
 record like this is to be found in his diary : 
 
 " Disappointments, hardships, labors, ingratitude of men, 
 bereavements, sorrows, afflictions, are the wayinarks which are 
 chiefly and most plainly visible on the path of my pilgrimage. 
 But, then, God's mercies and blessings have also abounded." 
 
 Iii a similar strain he thus writes, in 1857, to Rev. 
 Dr. Quintard : 
 
 "Mr DEAR BROTHER, Yours of the llth was received last 
 evening. My heart is almost broken, and what to say I know 
 not. I am confounded ; and, in the multitude of my thoughts, 
 scarcely a ray of temporal comfort for the future reaches my soul. 
 What a dark and mysterious providence to our Diocese ! Alston 
 studied in my house, grew up strong and vigorous, and I leaned 
 upon him. The destro}*er struck him, and he died in my arms. 
 Tomes came into my family, was trained to the Ministry under 
 my own direction, and became m} T son. He was active, practi- 
 cal, and reliable ; and I once more had a prop on which I could 
 lean. Death has again come, and blasted my hopes. As Dr. 
 Pise said to me, the other day, l Bishop, bad men come here to 
 be disciplined: good men come here to die.' Such has been the 
 history of my poor afflicted Diocese. Oh that I could receive 
 these things and accept them as tokens of God's fatherly care 
 and favor ! Alston is gone ! Tomes is gone ! gone in the loveli- 
 ness of their lives, in the fulness of their usefulness, and in the 
 goodliness of their Ministrj 7 . All these things are against me." 
 
 Again, in another letter to Dr. Quintard, he writes : 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 89 
 
 " I have visited, on an average, every congregation of my Dio- 
 cese twice every year. I have travelled by all sorts of convey- 
 ances, in all weathers, storm and tempest as well as sunshine; 
 have preached, labored, and taught from house to house ; have 
 traversed mountains, and the lonely wilderness where no man 
 dwelt ; and have left no expedient untried to make full proof of 
 my Ministry : I have, most painfully to myself, exercised disci- 
 pline oftener than all the Bishops of the South-West, all, that 
 I might finish my course with joy, and testify to the Gospel of 
 the grace of God. Forgive me this foolish boasting, as saith 
 St. Paul. I have gone generally over the South- West. At one 
 time, the limits of my spiritual jurisdiction, laid upon me by the 
 Church, were Kentucky and Missouri on the north, to the Gulf 
 of Mexico on the south ; and stretching between the eastern 
 shores of Florida, and the Pacific." 
 
 Though often in bad health, he overcame bodily in- 
 firmity by great mental energy, and bore up under 
 fatigue with a cheerful spirit, until he was literally 
 worn out with labor. 
 
 It has already been noticed, that the Bishop in his 
 youth was of a robust and hardy frame. But it was 
 not long after his settlement in Tennessee, before con- 
 finement to his schoolroom, and his love of study, 
 brought upon him that " old man of the sea," dyspepsia, 
 which clung to him, in one or other of its many forms, 
 to the end of his days. To this was added frequent and 
 excruciating pain in the back, brought on, doubtless, by 
 repeated exposure to all weathers, and long journey- 
 ings with too little intermediate rest. We are not sur- 
 prised, therefore, to see in his diary such entries as 
 these : 
 
 "JAN. 3, 1854. Arose feeling very unwell through an act of 
 civility to a friendly neighbor. It is surprising how few persons 
 
90 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 understand what is real good-breeding. Last night I was com- 
 pelled, as I may say, to eat ; although I begged to be excused, 
 with the express statement that oj'sters would make me sick." 
 
 Not long after, he writes again : 
 
 "APRIL 14. Weather rainy, cold, and wind} T . My dyspeptic 
 symptoms have all returned in full force. This disease disqualifies 
 me for the performance of almost ever}' dut}* ; insomuch that I 
 have not the spirit left, even to engage in private religious duties, 
 such as reading and prayers." 
 
 "APRIL 18, 1862. Good Friday. A day of pain and suffer- 
 ing to me, from early dawn to dewy eve. But what are all suf- 
 ferings, compared with those which my blessed Saviour endured for 
 me this da} T ? Then, let me submit without a murmur, and take 
 patiently all that the Lord may appoint." 
 
 By some of the friends of Bishop Otey, his position 
 and opinions with regard to our late war have not been 
 rightly understood. By birth and early training, the 
 Bishop was what is generally called an "old-line Whig," 
 and a staunch supporter of law and Constitution. It was 
 therefore with anxious and fearful forebodings that he 
 saw in the intermeddling and oppressive proceedings of 
 one portion of our people, and the equally bold and 
 retaliating defiance of the other, the foreboding horrors 
 of an internecine war. 
 
 In view of the coming storm, he wrote a number 
 of letters of warning and deprecation to his brother 
 Bishops both North and South. To Bishop Alonzo 
 Potter he writes, May 28, 1860 : 
 
 "I send you by mail a letter which I have addressed to the 
 Hon. William H. Seward. I can hardly expect, in the present 
 feverish and excited state of the public mind in the North, that 
 any attention will be given to it. Yet I am sure, that, if its state- 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 91 
 
 ments could be listened to, they ought to warn our countrymen of 
 the terrific danger into which they are about to rush, c as the horse 
 rusheth into the battle.' For the life of me, I cannot see why the 
 Southern States cannot be permitted to separate from the North 
 in peace, when the North says it desires to be rid of an associa- 
 tion which it regards as an incumbrance, a disgrace, and a sin. 
 The idea of attacking the North is as foreign from our purposes 
 and intentions as a pilgrimage to Mecca." 
 
 In a letter to Bishop Polk, Dec. 8, 1860, he writes : 
 
 u Until within a few days past, my confidence was strong that 
 there was left among the people at large an abiding love of coun- 
 try, and a respect for order and the supremacy of law, that would 
 resist the madness and the arts of those who are moving all the 
 baser passions of our nature to plunge this nation into a gulf of 
 horrors and sufferings to which the past history of the world fur- 
 nishes no parallel. It is God alone that can still the madness of 
 the people. Our national sins and ingratitude, I fear, have so 
 provoked His wrath, that now there is no remed}*. To what quar- 
 ter shall we look, when such men as you and Elliott deliberately 
 favor secession? What can we expect, other than mob-law and 
 violence among the masses, when the men of peace, the fathers of 
 the land, the Ministers of the Gospel of peace, are found on the 
 side of those who openly avow their determination to destroy the 
 work which our fathers established at the expense of their blood, 
 their fortunes, and some of them their lives? " 
 
 Again, in writing to a friend, June 20, 1861, he 
 
 says, 
 
 " With the noble, just, and patriotic sentiments of your letter, 
 I most fully and cordially concur. The unnatural and, may I 
 not add, in many respects the unnecessary contest now going on 
 in our distracted country is without a parallel in the annals of the 
 world. Where, in the history of man, has force of arms prevailed 
 to subdue a people to the obedience of love? And what is the 
 worth of any government without the affections of its subjects? 
 
92 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 Oh, sir ! I would gladly give all I possess, and, I believe, my life, 
 willingty, if therebj 7 the genial rays of peace, blessed peace, might 
 once again enlighten and bless our land." 
 
 To Commander M. F. Maury, his former pupil, he 
 writes, Sept. 3, 1860 : 
 
 " The apprehensions which } T OU express about the stability of 
 our times fill me with just alarm. I know that your position is 
 favorable to the formation of reliable conclusions, and that } T OU are 
 not given to the indulgence of groundless fears. Surety there is 
 enough of the conservative element left among us enough of 
 virtue, love of order, and enlightened patriotism, among the peo- 
 ple to form a wall of fire around the citadel of our liberties, if 
 it could be prevailed on to step out, and boldly avow itself on the 
 side of the Constitution and laws of the land. But here lies the 
 difficulty : the men of the North, of information, and of sterling 
 patriotism, have for years stood aloof from the disgusting con- 
 flicts of party organization, and permitted the demagogues and 
 newspaper-editors to make public opinion, and through the instru- 
 mentality of irresponsible conventions, to mislead the masses, 
 and control the elections. The practical working of our politi- 
 cal machine! 1 }' in the election of President and Vice-President is 
 changed from what our forefathers contemplated ; insomuch that 
 our electors are mere ciphers, performing functions prescribed by 
 the Constitution, which any schoolboy or mill-boy might execute as 
 well." 
 
 An extract from a letter to another friend (Nov. 23, 
 1860) says, 
 
 4 'Leave the question of union or disunion to the people to- 
 morrow morning, and I verity believe that a majority in South 
 Carolina and in all the Southern States will vote for the Union. 
 They will be ready to fight, so am I, but under and for the 
 Constitution. . . . The Peaks of Otter } r et stand firm. Under 
 their shadow I can yet find a resting-place." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 93 
 
 From these extracts may plainly be seen the Chris- 
 tian-like and truly patriotic views of Bishop Otey, as 
 he looked backward to the once contented and united 
 condition of our people, and contrasted it with the dis- 
 sension and bitter contentions daily growing up among 
 them. Up to the loth of April, 1861, when President 
 Lincoln called for an army of seventy-five thousand men 
 to invade the South, and deprive the States of their 
 Constitutional rights, the constant desire and prayer of 
 his heart was for peace and union. But when the blow 
 was struck, and all hope for peace was gone, his same 
 exalted views of the duties of the patriot and the citizen 
 led him to bestow his sympathy and his prayers upon 
 his native South and his more immediate friends and 
 neighbors. The fire of his Revolutionary Fathers was 
 kindled within him at the mere hearing of the intended 
 subjugation of the South. In closing a long letter 
 (May 24, 1861) to one of his daughters, he says, 
 
 u And now, my dear child, you ask me if I think the cause of 
 the South just, and that God will favor and defend us. I answer : 
 In very deed, I do. Up to the period of Mr. Lincoln's proclama- 
 tion, inaugurating war by usurping powers belonging alone to 
 Congress, I clung steadfastly to the hope of preserving the Union, 
 though all around me were against me. But when that came ; 
 when the attack on Fort Sumter was made the pretext for declar- 
 ing the South in a state of outlawry, outside of the protection 
 which all civilized nations extend to their own subjects ; when I 
 read, in the public journals of the countr} 7 , that religion itself was 
 invoked to lend its sanction to denunciations of vengeance at 
 which the blood runs cold, and against which men of the Old 
 World remonstrated as barbarous and atrocious ; when I heard, 
 on undoubted authority, that the flag of the Federal Union was 
 raised on the towers and spires of Christian temples, above the 
 
94 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 Cross, and that the War-eagle, the ' abomination of desolation,' 
 was standing (in the place where it ought not) in the sanctuar3 T of 
 God, then, and not till then, did I say to myself, ' Whom God 
 forsakes, and gives up to blindness and delusion, I will forsake 
 also. I will no more stand up for a Union whose supporters dese- 
 crate all that is holy, and, in the madness and blindness of their 
 rage, forget that they are men, and bear the name of Christians.' 
 And now I look to God with confidence in his favor and protec- 
 tion." 
 
 To a Northern Clergyman (May 7, 1861) who was 
 thinking of coming into his Diocese, he writes : 
 
 "As to your coming South, let me just here state, for all, that 
 you wholly misapprehend the spirit of our people. We ask not one 
 thing of the North which has not been secured to us by the Con- 
 stitution and laws since they were established and enacted, and 
 which has been granted to us until within a few years past. We 
 demand no sacrifices, nor the surrender of Northern rights and 
 privileges. The party that elected Mr. Lincoln proclaimed uncom- 
 promising hostility to the institution of slavery, an institution 
 which existed here, and has done so from its beginning, in its 
 patriarchal character. We feel ourselves under the most solemn 
 obligations to take care of, and to provide for, these people who 
 cannot provide for themselves. Nearly every Free-soil State has 
 prohibited them from settling in their territory. Where are they 
 to go? We implored our Northern brethren to let us alone. We 
 ask now to be let alone. We ask nothing more. We have said, 
 4 Take the nav} T , the army, the public property, only let us be to 
 ourselves in peace ; let us alone to do our life's business, as you 
 do yours.' ' 
 
 To another friend he writes, December, 1862 : 
 
 4 ' What does a man do when he swears allegiance to the Consti- 
 tution of the United States? Does his oath bind him to support 
 that instrument as he understands its meaning, or as its meaning 
 is defined and interpreted by the Supreme Court? If the latter, 
 then I submit that he binds himself to oppose the measure of 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 95 
 
 President Lincoln, who, in the judgment of the entire South, the 
 Chief Justice of the United States, and the world, has overleaped 
 the boundaries of his Constitutional authority, and violated the 
 plainest provisions of the Constitution itself. ... I am for peace ; 
 my vocation obliges me to preach peace, and I do so in accord- 
 ance with my natural disposition. I pray for peace daily." 
 
 From all this it plainly appears that Bishop Otey, 
 while believing with many others of the cooler and wiser 
 heads, both North and South, in the right of the States 
 to a peaceable separation, deprecated the thought with 
 all his heart, though painfully alive to the assaults 
 which the fanatical zeal of the people of the North, 
 and the oppressive acts of a partisan Administration, 
 had made upon the South. 
 
 At the Diocesan Convention of April, 1861, by a 
 unanimous vote of both Clergy and laity, the Bishop was 
 requested to prepare a Pastoral Letter to his people, on 
 the dangers of the times ; and to recommend to them 
 suitable devotions for public and private use. 
 
 Much has been said and thought on the propriety of 
 Bishop Folk's acceptance of the military appointment 
 tendered him by the President of the Confederacy. It 
 was a distinction neither sought nor expected, and noth- 
 ing but a strong sense of duty to a wronged and suffer- 
 ing people would have made him give heed to it for a 
 moment. It was a subject, to him, of much and anxious 
 prayer. Before coming to a final determination, he laid 
 the matter before his old friend Bishop Meade of Vir- 
 ginia, resolved to abide by his advice. He found the 
 mind of the good old Bishop as undecided as his own. 
 He could give him no other counsel than, " Go, and do 
 
96 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 what you think is right." That Bishop Otey approved 
 it, the following extract from a letter of his to Bishop 
 Meade, December, 1861, will show: 
 
 " I am better satisfied than ever, that Bishop Polk is where he 
 is, by God's will, and not his own." 
 
 In a letter to Bishop (now General) Polk, of nearly 
 the same date, he writes : 
 
 "My BELOVED BROTHER, Upon returning home, daj T before 
 yesterday, I received copies of letters addressed to you by Mr. 
 Memminger and the President, on the subject of your resigning 
 3*our command in the Confederate arm}'. If a doubt lingered in 
 your mind as to the propriety of your retaining the position into 
 which you have been called by the providence of God, it seems to 
 me that it should be removed by the statements and reasonings of 
 those letters. Your letter of the 6th of November, tendering the 
 resignation of }'our commission as Major-General, of which I have 
 just made a copy, will triumphantly indicate the purity of your 
 motives, and the high and noble considerations which have in- 
 fluenced your course; and will justify the retention of your com- 
 mand, in the view of all reflecting and right-minded men. If 
 examples of men of like profession and similarly situated with }'ou, 
 who have been called to take up arms for the defence of the altars 
 of God and their country, be called for, they can be readily fur- 
 nished from the records of Holy Writ. The conduct of Phinehas 
 (Num. xxv. 11) was so praiseworthy that the inspired David says 
 it was ' counted to him for righteousness, through all posterities 
 for evermore.' And did not Samuel, the minister of God from 
 his very infancy, lead forth the hosts of Israel to battle, and with 
 his own hand slay the king of Amalek? " 
 
 It may here be well to give a copy of Bishop Folk's 
 letter of resignation, alluded to in the above ex- 
 tract : 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 97 
 
 HEADQUARTERS OF IST DIVISION, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, 
 COLUMBUS, KY., Nov. 6, 1861. 
 
 To HIS EXCELLENCY JEFFERSON DAVIS, 
 
 President Confederate States of America. 
 
 /Str, You will remember with what reluctance I consented to 
 accept the commission of Major-General in the Provisional army. 
 You will remember also that the considerations inducing my accept- 
 ance were the duty which I felt I owed to the country at whose 
 hands I had received a military education, in connection with the 
 difficulty of your finding a commander to whom you were willing 
 to intrust the department 3'ou wished to assign to me. 
 
 These considerations, supported by the conviction that " resist- 
 ance to tyrants is duty to God," warranted my turning aside from 
 employments far more congenial to my feelings and tastes, to de- 
 vote myself, for the time, to the military service of the country. I 
 have been in that service now more than four months, and have 
 devoted myself with untiring constanc}^ to the duties of my office ; 
 with what efficiency and success, the country must judge. Within 
 the last few weeks, you have been able to avail yourself of the 
 services of a distinguished military commander, our mutual friend, 
 who was not in the country at the date of my appointment, and 
 upon whom you have devolved (partly at my instance) the duties 
 of the office I consented to fill. It will, I believe, be agreed upon 
 all hands, that a more judicious selection could not have been 
 made, and that his military knowledge and experience will supply 
 all that was needed. I have been willing to remain as second in 
 command until the fortifications at Fort Pillow and this very im- 
 portant point were completed. This has now been substantially 
 done, and I feel that as the necessity which induced me to take 
 office no longer exists, and as the other General officers with whom 
 I have been associated are men of ability and experience, I may 
 be permitted to retire, and resume my former pursuits. 
 
 I beg leave, therefore, to tender to you the resignation of my 
 commission as Major-General of the Provisional army of the Con- 
 federate States. 
 
 I remain, very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 L. POLK, Major-General Commanding. 
 
98 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 The year 1861 was one of varied and unusual trial to 
 the Bishop of Tennessee. Previous years had seen him 
 laboring under occasional attacks of disease, and mourn- 
 ing over the graves of three beloved children : now con- 
 tinued suffering marred his enjoyment by day, and 
 " held his eyes waking by night." But, more than all, 
 he was now about to drink of a cup bitterer still. The 
 wife of his bosom, the mother of his children, the loved 
 companion of forty years, was about to be taken from 
 him. He thus begins the mournful story : 
 
 " MAY 29: My wife very unwell ; I decline going to Nash- 
 ville." 
 
 " MAY 30. Wife no better." 
 
 " MAY 31. No improvement in my wife's condition." 
 
 u JUNE 1. My wife is growing weaker. Her physicians pro- 
 nounce her situation to be one of great danger, and give us but 
 little hope." 
 
 "JUNE 2. Our only hope is in God. This morning she par- 
 took of the Holy Communion with myself, my daughter Donna, 
 and Rev. Dr. Hines. Have spent this whole day at her bedside, 
 in the alternation of hope and despair." 
 
 " JUNE 3. No relief. She will soon be gone ; and I who have 
 lived with her and for her, forty years, will be left alone, to tread 
 the pilgrimage of a weary world, and have nothing to do but work 
 out my salvation. After praying with her, and commending her 
 soul to God, 1 inform her that her death is near at hand. She 
 would rather live, for her children's sake ; but meekty resigns her- 
 self to God's will." 
 
 " JUNE 4. At 8 A.M. she was released from suffering, and all 
 the pains of mortality, and received, we humbly trust, into the 
 blissful Paradise of God." 
 
 June 7, we find this entry : 
 
 "Feel inexpressibly sad. My thoughts revert, almost every 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 99 
 
 moment, to my dear wife. In my recollections of home or domes- 
 tic affairs, she is intimately present." 
 
 Of the depth of his feelings on that occasion, we may 
 form some conception from the following extract from a 
 letter addressed to a valued friend, not long after the 
 event : 
 
 " DEAR, DEAR MRS. WOOD, Your kind letter of the 7th has 
 just reached me. I thank you for the expression of your condo- 
 lence and sympathy, most sincerely. I know it is the spontaneous 
 offering of one that loves me. But my heart is almost broken. 
 My hearthstone is cold and cheerless, and the light of m} r dwelling 
 is put out. No language that I can command can adequately ex- 
 press the sense of desolation which has come over all my earthly 
 prospects and plans. I strive to pray that no murmuring thought 
 may find a place in my heart, and no word of complaint escape 
 from the door of my lips. For I know that God in very faithful- 
 ness has afflicted me. I have now lost father, mother, brothers, 
 sisters, children, and wife. With what form of domestic afflic- 
 tion and bereavement can I not now sympathize? With all sor- 
 rowing people I can weep. The condolence of friends is not 
 without its solace. It is, alas ! the only human comfort left us. 
 ... I need rest. I want to be alone, at least, to be in some 
 quiet and retired spot, where I may gather up the fragments of 
 broken hopes, muse on the past, and strive, with St. Paul's spirit, 
 to fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my 
 flesh, for His body's sake, which is His Church." 
 
 In the month of November, Bishop Otey paid a visit 
 to the Confederate troops, then at Union City, Ky., 
 under the command of General Polk. In his diary he 
 writes : 
 
 " Nov. 19. Slept in the General's tent last night, and had 
 much interesting and gratifying conversation with him, especially 
 
100 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 about his position, and his earnest desire and efforts to be relieved 
 from it. We had sweet communion in prayer, morning and night. 
 He stands higher in my love and esteem than ever." 
 
 The last entry in this year is as follows : 
 
 " 
 
 DEC. 81. Thus am I brought by the merciful goodness of 
 God to the close of another year. Truly may I say with David, 
 ' Oh, what great troubles hast Thou showed me ! yet hast Thou 
 delivered me out of them all.' Would that I might ever be able 
 to exercise the faith and hope of blessed Paul, saying, ' I know 
 that the Lord will deliver me out of all evil, and bring me to His 
 everlasting kingdom.' Thanks be to God for all His mercies ! " 
 
 The diary of the Bishop for this year, though it tells 
 of war and its fearful accompaniments, is more abun- 
 dant than ever in prayer, and pious trust, and submis- 
 sion to the Divine will. 
 
 Jan. 3, being invited to take part in the consecration 
 of Rev. Richard H. Wilmer, we find his answer in this 
 brief but significant entry : 
 
 " Wrote this day to the Rev. Dr. Massey, informing him of my 
 inability to attend, for want of money." 
 
 Another reason might be here assigned, a breach 
 of etiquette, amounting to a want of respect, on the 
 part of Bishop Meade, the then Presiding Bishop, in 
 not assigning to Bishop Otey his proper position on that 
 occasion. 
 
 "MARCH 22. My excellent, long- tried, and faithful friend 
 A. O. Harris died yesterday. He was one of the best men I have 
 ever known. He was the most prominent layman in this Diocese 
 for thirty years. He was liberal of his means, and ever prompt 
 in the performance of good and charitable deeds. He was a man 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 101 
 
 of exemplar}- piety, and a well-informed and sound Churchman. 
 He was a loving husband, and affectionate father, and the only 
 member of the Church in Tennessee, who, to my knowledge, has 
 remembered the poor in his will. ' ' 
 
 44 MARCH 31. Bishop Green called in this morning, and spent 
 most of the day with me. We had much interesting conversation 
 on various subjects ; among others, about the matter of my con- 
 sent given to the consecration of Rev. Dr. Stevens to be the 
 Assistant Bishop of Pennsylvania. Bishop Green, after hearing 
 the reasons given by me for my course, expressed himself well 
 satisfied ; and said, that, viewed as a legal or canonical question, 
 I was clearly in the right." 
 
 Early in the year, Bishop Otey had promised General 
 Polk that he would visit a portion of his Diocese for 
 him ; but he soon after found himself without the 
 health or strength to undertake it. He was then ad- 
 vised by his physicians to try the virtues of the Hot 
 Springs in Arkansas, but his fast-failing strength for- 
 bade the attempt. He then determined to visit the 
 famous Cooper's Well, near Jackson, Miss. After a 
 trial of a few weeks, with but little benefit, he passed 
 over to Jackson, and in that place and its neighborhood 
 spent four months with old friends who were only too 
 glad to see him once more, and to minister to him in 
 his declining condition. After setting out on his re- 
 turn, he heard of the illness of his son Paul, in Mobile, 
 hurried to his bedside, and did not leave him until he 
 was fully recovered. Before reaching home he spent 
 a week or two in the house of a gentleman, a near con- 
 nection of the family ; and makes this entry in his 
 diary : 
 
102 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 " SUNDAY, 23d. This holy day has been spent, I fear, without 
 profit to myself or others. I expected that the heads of the house 
 would assemble their servants and household, and propose that I 
 should have prayers, and address them on the high concernments 
 of the soul. But no such movement was made. I am resolved, 
 if here next Sunday, it shall not pass as this has done, if I can 
 help it." 
 
 When the Bishop reached Memphis on the 4th of 
 October, 1862, it was to find the place in possession of 
 the Federal troops, under General Sherman, and a state 
 of alarm and confusion pervading the citizens. His 
 house rested firm on its foundation, but it had been 
 stripped of one-half of its furniture and clothing by 
 his faithless and ungrateful servants. Never had there 
 been a kinder master, in sickness or in health, to either 
 the bodies or souls of those who were in subjection 
 to him. When, against all law and justice, his slaves 
 were set free, he plainly foresaw the many temptations 
 to which they would be exposed ; and, assembling them 
 in his parlor, warned them with a fatherly affection 
 against the destructive views into which their new-born 
 liberty would lead them. The following are the good 
 Bishop's reflections on the subject : 
 
 " I do not regret the departure of my servants, except Lavinia 
 and Nora (children of eight and seven years of age) : I pity 
 them. I have endeavored to treat them always humanety. They 
 had very little work to do ; were always taken care of when sick, 
 as other members of m}* family. They had as comfortable rooms, 
 and as many necessary comforts, as mj'self. If they can do better 
 by leaving me, they are free to do so. I told them this before I 
 left home." 
 
 It is due to the cause of justice, if not generosity, 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 103 
 
 to state here, and the writer takes pleasure in doing 
 it, that General Sherman's treatment of Bishop Otey 
 was marked not only with respect, but with kind atten- 
 tion. He would not compel the Bishop to take the 
 usual oath of allegiance, saying that his word was suffi- 
 cient, and allowing him the full freedom of the city. 
 He frequently attended the Bishop's services, and on 
 his departure addressed to him a kind and complimen- 
 tary letter. At one time, by way of retaliation for some 
 atrocities committed by a few of our volunteer soldiers, 
 known as " bushwhackers," an order was given for a 
 number of the chief citizens of Memphis to leave the 
 city immediately. The Bishop appeared before the Gen- 
 eral in their behalf, and succeeded in obtaining from 
 him both a modification and a suspension of the order. 
 At the same time, he addressed a letter to General 
 Pemberton, then in command of the Confederate troops 
 in Vicksburg, informing him of the serious retaliatory 
 measures to which the best citizens of the place were 
 exposed, on account of these lawless actions of the 
 guerrillas ; and earnestly requesting that he would dis- 
 claim and as far as possible restrain them. 
 
 But the end was drawing near. A laborious life of 
 sixty-three years two-thirds of it spent in the Min- 
 istry, and in circumstances of hardship and affliction 
 was now to give way to the rest and peace of the grave. 
 As the soldier lays aside his battered arms when the 
 fight is over, and as the weary traveller lies down to 
 rest with the setting sun, so did this champion of Christ, 
 this worn-out pilgrim of life's weary day, lay down the 
 burthen which he had borne for forty years, to set his 
 
104 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 house in order for the coming of his Lord. He had 
 fought the good fight ; his course had been nobly run. 
 It remained for him only to bear witness, from the 
 borders of the grave, to the sustaining power of the 
 faith which he had preached in the vigor of his man- 
 hood. That proof he was prepared to give. 
 
 The month of April, which brings sunshine to the 
 fields of the laborer, was a day of darkness to the 
 friends of the Church in Tennessee. Unceasing toil, 
 official and domestic care, together with repeated dis- 
 appointments and bereavements, had done their work. 
 The stalwart form, once the pride and admiration of 
 his people, must now return to the feebleness of child- 
 hood, and give way to the power of disease. But with 
 thankfulness be it recorded, that, with this decay of 
 the outward man, there came no failure of intellect, no 
 faltering of faith ; but rather the " assurance of hope," 
 and a foretaste of the glory which is to be revealed. 
 
 In addition to the interesting notices to be found in 
 the letters of his two daughters, the following graphic 
 account taken from the Address of Bishop Quintard to 
 his first Convention in 1866, cannot fail to enlist the 
 attention of the reader : 
 
 " On the blessed Easter Day before his departure, he received 
 for the last time, the Holy Communion of the Bod}^ and Blood of 
 Christ, at the hands of his faithful and beloved Presbyter, Dr. 
 Richard Hines. He was evidently under the full conviction that 
 he was about to partake, for the last time, of this dj'ing pledge 
 of a Saviour's love. He requested that the General Confession 
 might be repeated slowly. He clasped the cup with an eager but 
 trembling hand, and with all the solemnity of a dying veteran 
 who desired once more to repeat the ground of the faith which he 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 105 
 
 had so loved and defended, with eyes uplifted to heaven, said, ' I 
 call all of you to bear witness that my only hope for salvation is 
 in the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Pie afterwards remarked, 
 4 1 never, in all my life, felt such perfect readiness to depart.' A 
 few days before his death, as he lay weary and feeble at the close 
 of the day, friends who had called came to his bedside to say fare- 
 well. After their departure, he remarked, ' Oh that I had breath 
 to talk to all who come in ! for the things of eternity appear so 
 differently to those in perfect health, from what they show them- 
 selves to one on a dying bed.' Again he said, c Oh, to depart, 
 and to be with Christ ! Is it not far better than to lie here linger- 
 ing on through a weaiy and painful decay of bod}' ? ' Again, with 
 clasped hands, he exclaimed, as though overwhelmed by the feel- 
 ing, ' Oh the glory of Christ ! How glorious are the perfections 
 of God ! ' The next day his mind was recalled to the subject, 
 and he replied, 4 1 do not remember ; it is all gone now : but, while 
 lying here upon this bed, I have had such ravishing views of 
 Christ, and of the glory and perfection of God's character, as I 
 have no language to describe.' In the midst of his wanderings, 
 a passage of Scripture, or any portion of our Church Service, 
 repeated to him, never failed to bring calmness to his mind, and 
 intelligence to his eyes. And even at an hour when he was sup- 
 posed to be dying, and the power of articulation seemed to be 
 gone, as his faithful Presbyter was commending his soul to God 
 in the beautiful language of our Prayer Book, there came, in the 
 faintest whisper, just audible and no more, ' Our Father who art 
 in heaven.' And so he departed ; and we shall see him no more, 
 till with the glorious company of Patriarchs and Apostles, the noble 
 army of Martyrs and Confessors, we enter upon that rest which 
 remaineth for the people of God." 
 
 Bishop Quintard then adds : 
 
 "It was my mournful privilege to commit his body to the 
 ground, in the beautiful churchyard of St. John's Church at 
 Ash wood in Maury County, by the side of the beloved wife and 
 children that had preceded him." 
 
106 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 It is due to the memory of Bishop Otey to state here, 
 in connection with this affecting notice of his death, 
 that, though possessed of not much more of worldly 
 goods at the end of his life than at the beginning, he 
 left by will a sum of money to be invested by his ex- 
 ecutors, with directions to pay the interest annually to 
 such one of the Clergy as, under the appointment of the 
 Bishop of the Diocese, should deliver, in the presence 
 of the Convention, a sermon on the kt Divine Constitu- 
 tion of the Christian Ministry." 
 
 That this tranquil and composed spirit of the Bishop, 
 this readiness to depart in view of the grave, was no 
 evanescent impulse, or a mere effect of excitement, but 
 the legitimate effect of an enduring faith, may be con- 
 vincingly established by the following testimony of the 
 Rev. Dr. Hines, who tended him with filial affection 
 through the whole of his last sickness. In a letter 
 addressed to one of the Bishop's daughters, soon after 
 his death, Dr. Hines says, 
 
 " During an attack of illness some eighteen months previous to 
 your dear father's death, he remarked to me as follows: 'With 
 regard to the probability of my death, and in a review of my life, I 
 look upon it as I did when gazing for the last time upon some of 
 the charming scenes in Europe, some of those magnificent views 
 among the Alps. I gazed upon them with feelings of regret, when I 
 thought I should never behold them again. Yet, when my thoughts 
 turned to the beloved ones at home, across the sea, all regret was lost 
 in the joyful anticipation of meeting them once more. So, in look- 
 ing back over the scenes of my past life, the reflection that I must 
 leave them, with all the dear friends that remain on earth, gives 
 me a feeling of sadness. But when I remember how many more 
 "beloved ones" are awaiting me on the other side, all sadness is 
 lost in the glorious hope of a meeting beyond the skies.' ' 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 107 
 
 The Bishop's will directed that the little which he 
 would leave behind him should be divided among 
 his children. He positively forbade the publication of 
 his manuscript sermons ; requested that no other ser- 
 vice or ceremony should be used at his interment than 
 the Burial Service of the Prayer Book ; and that the 
 marble which might cover his remains should bear no 
 other inscription than his name, his birth and death, and 
 these words: " The first Bishop of the Catholic Church in 
 Tennessee" 
 
 It may be well here to make a brief note of the fam- 
 ily, or children, of the Bishop. Nine were born to him. 
 Of these, three, as has been told, preceded him to the 
 grave. Paul, one of his elder-born, survived him : he 
 was a physician of some eminence, and- died at Memphis 
 in 1873, nobly maintaining his post amid the decimating 
 pestilence of that fatal year. There now remain Mrs. 
 Virginia Minor; Mrs. Henrietta C. Tomes; Mrs. Mary 
 F. Govan ; Mrs. Eliza (or Donna) Compton ; and Mer- 
 cer, the last-born of them all, who was a young and 
 ardent soldier in our late war. 
 
 No sooner was the death of the Bishop known, than 
 numerous tributes of regret were paid to his memory, in 
 the form of discourses and resolutions and eulogistic 
 notices of the press ; which, if gathered together, would 
 form a volume of themselves. The two following are 
 given because of their coming from those two quarters 
 where he was best known, and which had shared most 
 largely in his labors. 
 
 In the Diocesan Convention of Tennessee, the first 
 that was held after the decease of the Bishop, a com- 
 
108 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 mittee was appointed to notice in becoming manner the 
 great loss which the Diocese had sustained. Of this 
 committee, the Eev. Dr. Quintard was chairman, who 
 reported as follows : 
 
 " Providence, which on the 23d of April, 1863, deprived this 
 Diocese of a great and good Bishop, who devoted his whole life to 
 the service of God and the benefit of his fellow-man, comes before 
 our minds and touches our hearts with peculiar force on this the 
 first meeting of the Convention since his decease. 
 
 44 Endowed with a large capacity of mind, and with a warm, 
 generous, and benevolent heart ; gifted with a fervid imagination 
 and an impressive eloquence ; learned and studious, he was inde- 
 fatigably industrious in preaching the Word of God to his people. 
 
 44 Though often feeble in health, he overcame his bodily infirmi- 
 ties by great mental energy : so that he not only discharged the 
 laborious duties of his own Diocese, but also performed Episcopal 
 service in the Dioceses of Mississippi and Arkansas and Louisiana 
 and Florida. 
 
 44 His sensibility to the beautiful was extraordinary ; and he was 
 distinguished in society by instructive and pleasing powers of con- 
 versation. 
 
 44 He loved the Church, and gave himself to it with deliberate, 
 enduring, and ever-increasing devotion. He constantly enforced 
 from the pulpit the indispensable importance of a moral and reli- 
 gious education for the promotion of the happiness of a nation ; 
 and constantly urged, in his public and private discourses, that the 
 Gospel of Christ, when truly received, rendered society attractive 
 by its cultivating social influences, inculcating the duty of submis- 
 sion to lawful authorit}', inspiring the noblest motives, and shed- 
 ding a sweet charm over every scene of domestic life. 
 
 44 His piety was exemplary ; and in all the various relationships 
 of life, as a father, husband, friend, and public instructor, he was 
 distinguished for his noble performance of every duty, with enlight- 
 enment, feeling, and affection." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 109 
 
 About the same time, the following preamble and res- 
 olution were adopted by a rising vote of the Diocesan 
 Council of Mississippi : 
 
 "It having pleased the great Head of the Church to remove 
 from their respective spheres of labor the Right Reverend Fathers 
 in God, James Hervey Otey, D.D., and Leonidas Polk, D.D., 
 the late Bishops of Mississippi and Louisiana, this Council, with 
 humble submission to the Divine will, desires to testify its grati- 
 tude for the eminent services they rendered to this Diocese. Each 
 of them for a season exercised Episcopal jurisdiction over it, and 
 both were instruments in the hand of God in laying successfully the 
 foundations of His Church in this State. They now rest from their 
 labors, and their works do follow them in the permanent blessings 
 they have left to the children of Christ. 
 
 "The late Bishop of Tennessee was for eight years the Provis- 
 ional Bishop of this Diocese ; and as a devoted Bishop of souls, 
 who gathered many of us into the fold, has peculiar claims to our 
 grateful remembrance. 
 
 " As the senior Bishop of the Church in the Confederate States, 
 and the first Chancellor of the University of the South ; and as a 
 self-denying and laborious apostle of Christ, whose life was spent 
 in His Gospel, and teaching men to obey it by a holy example, 
 he will long live in the affectionate remembrance of our people. 
 
 " The late Bishop of Louisiana was a great and good man, who, 
 in all the relations of life, filled his station without reproach. As 
 a refined Christian gentleman, a humane master, a useful citizen, 
 an energetic and holy Bishop, and the founder of the University 
 of the South, he displayed to the world the character of one who 
 loved his country, his Church, and his God, being guided in all 
 his conduct by a sense of dut} r alone. 
 
 "Resolved, therefore, that this Council desires to record this 
 expression of its love and gratitude for these great benefactors of 
 our Church and native land, and to express our heartfelt sympathy 
 with the sorrows of their bereaved families and Dioceses. " 
 
 At that same Council, Bishop Green in his Annual 
 Address thus notices the subject : 
 
110 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 u Since we were last permitted to meet in Council, it has pleased 
 God to take to himself two of our ablest and best-beloved Fathers 
 in Christ, Bishop Otey and Bishop Polk ; the one taken from 
 his own peaceful pillow at home, the other snatched violently away 
 while in defence of his country. 
 
 " Seldom has the Church to mourn, at one time, the taking-off 
 of two such faithful and efficient laborers. 
 
 "As long as honesty and guilelessness, and independence of 
 spirit, and patient endurance of privation and of unrewarded labor, 
 shall be valued among men, the name of Otey will be repeated by 
 father to son from generation to generation. 
 
 " And the memory of Polk will flourish in its greenness, until 
 all that ennobles the man, the Christian, the Bishop, and the 
 patriot shall cease to be cherished in the hearts of men." 
 
 It may be well to add here the following extract 
 from a sermon delivered by the venerable and Kev. 
 Dr. White, who for several years was associated 
 with Bishop Otey in charge of Calvary Church, Mem- 
 phis : 
 
 " The history of the Church in Tennessee and the South-West 
 cannot be written without special reference to this eminent servant 
 of God. He was to every one the friend in sorrow, the comforter 
 in affliction, the counsellor in difficult}'. It ma}' be safely said 
 that no Diocesan ever had a harder field, and none in charge of 
 more important interests. Although pressed by the duties of the 
 Episcopate, he never lost sight of the subject of education. His 
 unflagging zeal in the establishment and superintendence of the 
 Female Institute in Columbia, his efforts to organize a Theological 
 Seminar} 7 , and his successful exertions to establish the University 
 of the South, attest how much he felt for the moral and intellectual 
 culture of our youth. He was justly appointed the first Chancellor 
 of that University ; and when, by the devastations of war, its site 
 was laid waste, he was one of the prime movers in giving a re- 
 stored life to the enterprise. His unsparing devotion and untiring 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. Ill 
 
 efforts in behalf of that institution are well known, for which the 
 Church owes him a debt of gratitude which only generations to 
 come will be able to calculate." 
 
 It has already been stated what the Bishop was in 
 personal appearance. Before he began to bend under 
 the combined pressure of unwonted labor and broken 
 health, he stood a Saul among his brethren, being full 
 six feet and four inches in height, and well proportioned 
 throughout. If his temper had been of the savage 
 order, he would have been an object of dread to all 
 with whom he might come in conflict. But such was 
 the gentleness of his disposition, and his power of self- 
 control, that his physical greatness helped rather to 
 magnify the admiration with which his acquaintance 
 always regarded him. Such a frame and such a consti- 
 tution would, under ordinary treatment, have sustained 
 its possessor through an entire century. If ever a man 
 could be said to labor in the service of God " above 
 measure," viz., above what an indulgent Being " who 
 knoweth our frame " expects or demands of us, that 
 man was the first Bishop of Tennessee. In the view 
 of the world, he was simply the Bishop, or overseer, of 
 the field set before him, directing and encouraging the 
 laborers. To all within his Diocese, he was more, he 
 was the Pastor, or Good Shepherd, daily going in and 
 out among his flock, leading them by his example to the 
 green fields and sunny pastures of God's service. To 
 his family and immediate acquaintances, he was more 
 than Bishop, more than Pastor; he was father, brother, 
 son, nurse, and comforter to the sick, the poor, the 
 afflicted of every name. 
 
112 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 The following is taken from a letter of a lady (Mrs. 
 William Hardman) who was an intimate friend of the 
 Bishop for fifty years. It was written to his youngest 
 child some time after the Bishop's death. 
 
 " I knew j'our father well. He was a man of true nobility of 
 soul, with a heart so pure that no stain could rest upon it. He 
 was fearless and honest and conscientious. His character was like 
 the unblemished pages of a beautiful volume, filled with generous 
 deeds and noble sacrifices. The work he undertook and performed 
 with an indomitable will was too much for any one man, and I 
 cannot wonder that his once strong and vigorous constitution gave 
 way under it. ... He was with our family in many trying scenes 
 and afflictions, pouring the oil of comfort into our sorrowing souls, 
 bringing us nearer to God, and teaching our hearts how to submit 
 themselves to His wise and blessed will." 
 
 The following extracts from his diary will give the 
 reader some idea of the faithful and untiring labor which 
 he performed until he could labor no longer. They 
 may serve also to exhibit his tender-hearted feelings 
 as a parent, the manifold duties devolved upon him by 
 his high position, and the humble and devout spirit in 
 which he received the many chastenings with which it 
 pleased God, from time to time, to purify him. He 
 began to keep a diary in 1833, and continued it to the 
 end of 1862. It is much to be regretted, that, through 
 the destructive effects of war and its consequences, much 
 of it has been lost. The diary of each year was kept 
 in a little book to itself. The perusal of any one of 
 these little annuals will abundantly show the punctual 
 and business-like habits of the Bishop. Every letter 
 received, and every letter written, is noted at the mo- 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 113 
 
 ment ; and many a little family expense may be found 
 on the same page with some grave official record. 
 
 He was scrupulously particular in thus recording the 
 various Baptisms and Confirmations which he performed 
 in his widely extended field of labor, and especially in 
 all places where there was no settled Minister ; and he 
 thus gives his reasons for it : 
 
 " To ascertain the certainty of one's Baptism, sometimes be- 
 comes a question of much moment to the peace and comfort of 
 a Christian. And it is thought that the record here made may 
 possibly, at some future da} T , give satisfaction in such cases as 
 are likely to happen in the absence of Parish Registers, or from 
 inattention to make proper entries in them." 
 
 Punctuality was one of those secondary virtues which 
 the Bishop liked to practise, as well as to commend to 
 others. We find the following : 
 
 " MARCH 31, 1860. In consequence of being interested in 
 conversation, last evening, with J. B. J., an old acquaintance, I 
 suffered the hour of 5 P.M. to pass without notice ; and the cars 
 left me. This is the first occurrence of the kind that has happened 
 to me, in all my life, a proof that I am getting old, drawing 
 nearer to the ' Dream-land.' ' 
 
 On another occasion his love of punctuality received 
 a very rude and unexpected check. At one of his Con- 
 ventions, he had given notice that the service would 
 commence at ten o'clock precisely. An old Englishman 
 was at the organ, and, as a very large congregation was 
 expected, had prepared one of his longest and most 
 artistic voluntaries to be played while the congregation 
 
114 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 was assembling. He was playing when the Bishop 
 entered, but purposely ignored it. On rising from his 
 knees after his silent prayer, the Bishop motioned to 
 the organ-gallery to stop the music. The old gentleman 
 was apprised of the Bishop's order; but his voluntary 
 was not more than half finished, and only a small por- 
 tion of the congregation was in the house. The Bishop, 
 finding his admonition pointedly disregarded, drew him- 
 self up to his full height (with a vim suggestive of 
 old- Adam origin), and in stentorian, fortissimo tones, 
 that rose above the organ, commanded, " Silence ! stop ! 
 Stop it at once, I say ! " The organist wheeled around 
 upon his stool, and. pointing his long finger at the 
 Bishop, with his shrill, piping voice exclaimed, " Bishop, 
 when you are preaching one of your long sermons, I 
 never tell you, ' Stop ! ' " and, turning round again, went 
 on doggedly to the end of his performance. 
 
 This provoking and yet amusing incident was related 
 to the writer by Rev. Dr. Wheat, who witnessed it; and 
 who further adds, that the effect upon the Bishop was 
 remarkable. The sternness of the moment soon gave 
 way to a pathetic tenderness and an impressive solem- 
 nity, which added unusual unction and power to his 
 subsequent discourse. 
 
 A somewhat similar event once tried severely the 
 nerves of the Bishop, but served to show his determina- 
 tion to do his duty in all circumstances. He was called 
 to unite a couple in matrimony at Brandon, Miss. The 
 intended groom requested that the word " obey " might 
 be omitted from the plighted troth of the intended 
 bride. The Bishop replied promptly, that he had no 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 115 
 
 authority to dispense with a single word of the Office 
 prescribed by the. Church; and that, in his opinion, the 
 wife's obeying her husband was essential to the happi- 
 ness of married life, and that he would certainly require 
 the promise to be made. The recalcitrant lady, though 
 bent on carrying her point, consented to take her place 
 before the Bishop. To the preliminary question, in 
 which was the word " obey" and " serve" also, she inad- 
 vertently answered, " I will." But when she had to 
 repeat after the Bishop, he paused before " obey," and 
 pronounced it with marked distinctness. She was silent. 
 The Bishop repeated it. She was still silent. For the 
 third time, he said, " and obey" He then paused a mo- 
 ment, and amid a death-like silence was turning away, 
 when the conquered lady said hurriedly, " obey, if I 
 can" The proviso was accepted, and the ceremony 
 ended, to the relief of all concerned. The poor apology 
 was made for her, that she had always been a spoiled 
 and petted child. She was the daughter of Rev. Dr. 
 Th n, a worthy Methodist preacher ; and her hus- 
 band a preacher of the same denomination. 
 
 As a similar story has been credited to the experience 
 of several other Bishops, the writer of this Memoir begs 
 leave to state that he was personally acquainted with all 
 the parties, and that he obtained his knowledge of the 
 transaction from a lady who accompanied the Bishop to 
 the wedding. 
 
 The interesting letters of the Bishop's daughters will 
 fully suffice to show what he was within the sacred pre- 
 cincts of his household. He was, at one and the same 
 time, the wise, the tender, the playful, and the instruc- 
 
116 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 tive parent, making home a perpetual sunlight dark- 
 ened only by his long and frequent absences. 
 
 The following extracts from a letter to his wife, when 
 he was on the eve of sailing for Europe, will show the 
 extent of his thoughtfulness and loving kindness at a 
 moment when his own heart was weighed down with 
 sickness and the dreaded perils of the sea : 
 
 " 1 have made such preparations for my voyage as seem expedi- 
 ent. I send home my old trunk. Within, you will find a silk dress 
 for yourself, a dress for Mary, a Sandford and Merton, and a box 
 of titols for Mercer, a calico dress for Peggy and Kitty and Becky, 
 a jacket for George and Edmund and Jack, and a pair of pants for 
 Tom. These things for the servants are at }~our disposal, to be 
 given or withheld according as they show themselves deserving by 
 their worthy conduct. ... I wish you, my dear wife, to keep 
 Mercer with }*ourself, and teach him j'ourself, as much as } T OU can. 
 Let him read the Bible to you, and learn the multiplication-table." 
 
 Another proof of his great carefulness, and devotion 
 to the welfare and safety of his home, may be seen in 
 this simple record jotted down on the eve of one of his 
 long absences : 
 
 u JAN. 11, 1847. Left home this morning, for the visitation of 
 Mississippi.* I first burned out all my chimneys ; and commended 
 my dear wife and children to God, invoking His gracious and mer- 
 ciful protection." 
 
 We have seen what the Bishop was in his family. 
 Next to his children came his Clergy, to whom he was 
 always the loving Father no less than the wise and able 
 Bishop. A thorough knowledge of the affecting rela- 
 tions in which they stood to each other may clearly be 
 seen by the letters to the writer from the Rev. Drs. 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 117 
 
 Gray, Humes, and Harris, to be found in the Appen- 
 dix. It would be impossible to express in more glowing 
 terms the feeling of filial and reverential affection that 
 inspired those voluntary tributes to the Bishop's memory. 
 When gathered in Convocation or Convention, Bishop, 
 Priest, Deacon, ay, and laity too, formed one loving 
 family group ; and seldom did his Clergy hear the voice 
 of rebuke from their indulgent Pastor. But when a 
 sense of duty called for the rod of discipline, it came 
 with telling force upon the offender; as may be seen 
 from the following letter : 
 
 JULY 4, 4837. 
 
 REV. AND DEAR SIR, I have indirect!} 7 heard, with much regret 
 and mortification, that you have lately given up your appointments 
 to a Presbyterian Clergyman, on two occasions when it was your 
 duty to hold services as an Episcopal Minister for your own peo- 
 ple. In your village there is an organized congregation, which it 
 ma} 7 be presumed would gladly assemble for worship. For you, 
 then, to permit a Presbyterian, or an} 7 other than an Episcopal 
 Minister, to officiate in your place (at a Mission Station) , virtually 
 to fill your appointment, is a plain, direct, and palpable violation 
 of Canon XXXVI. of General Convention. ... If you teach the 
 people one thing, and I another ; if I find myself bound by Canon, 
 and you only so far as expediency shall dictate, it is very evident 
 that we cannot walk together. ... I write to you with feelings of 
 frankness and candor, such as I hope will always characterize our 
 intercourse ; and with no other than the kind sentiments which I 
 have always cherished for you. Sincerely desiring that you may be 
 able to exonerate yourself from all blame in the premises, I am 
 very respectfully, 
 
 Your faithful Friend and Pastor, 
 
 J. H. OTEY. 
 
 Bishop Otey's experience with regard to his Clergy 
 was not unlike that of his other Episcopal brethren. 
 
118 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 Many pages of his diary record the poverty of his Dio- 
 cese, the unreasonable expectations of the smaller con- 
 gregations, and the repeated and as he often thought 
 the needless removals of his Clergy from their re- 
 spective charges. He says, 
 
 " I find that many of our Ministers seem to be apprehensive 
 of being overlooked because they occupy obscure fields of labor. 
 They are ambitious of getting to themselves a name in the world. 
 One wants a more enlarged sphere for exerting his talents ; an- 
 other desires competition, in order to excite him to effort, and to 
 arouse his powers. The}" all forget that an humble position carries 
 with it less responsibilit} T , and generally greater opportunities for 
 real usefulness. And, especiall}', they appear not to consider the 
 example of our Saviour, who neither 'cried aloud,' nor 'lifted up 
 his voice in the streets,' but ' went about doing good.' " 
 
 In another place he writes : 
 
 " I have received so many applications from Clergymen, on the 
 subject of salary, that I am really tired of replying to them. The 
 cry is always one and the same, 'What support can be obtained?' 
 I am becoming wear}' and disgusted with all this. If any man is 
 really in good earnest, and heartily desirous of honoring God and 
 Christ, and anxious for the salvation of souls, he will ask a differ- 
 ent set of questions altogether. He will say, ' Jehovah Jireh, 
 Thou, Lord, hast never failed them that put their trust in Thee.' ' 
 
 Again, with regard to a Clergyman who was dissatis- 
 fied with his position, he says, 
 
 "I have perceived for some time that Dr. C y is dissat- 
 isfied ; and he now, as I hear, alleges a reason for it, which has 
 always struck me as strange when coming from a Minister of the 
 Gospel ; viz., that he has not competition enough to excite him to 
 effort. I think the Devil is a sufficiently formidable opponent for 
 any one." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 119 
 
 In palliation of this weakness on the part of the 
 Bishop's Clergy, it must be remembered that his Dio- 
 cese was poor, and in its earlier stages very poor. At 
 one time he writes to a Clergyman wishing to come into 
 the Diocese : 
 
 4 'The Parish which you desire to obtain, through poverty has 
 failed for two years to pay the assessments laid upon it by the 
 Convention ; and its last Rector, who is just leaving it, departs for 
 want of salary. It is the largest Parish in the Diocese." 
 
 Of another Clergyman (Rev. Mr. Applegate), he 
 makes this short but expressive note : " Gone back to 
 Scotland, for want of bread." 
 
 Nor was the good Bishop himself a stranger to these 
 straitened circumstances. We have already seen that 
 he was prevented from attending the Consecration of 
 a brother Bishop in a neighboring Diocese, for want 
 of means. A similar entry in his diary is : 
 
 44 Four hundred and fifty dollars is all that I have received for a 
 whole year, and I am told that there is only fifteen dollars in the 
 treasury." 
 
 Such were some of the many trials of this dear good 
 man's life. It is no wonder, then, that we should hear 
 him on a similar occasion say, 
 
 " Truly the office of a Bishop is no sinecure in this country. 
 How little do those know of the privations and discomforts we 
 endure, who have no personal experience of them ! " 
 
 If the question were asked, as to the character of 
 Bishop Otey's Churchmanship, it would be difficult to 
 answer it in a single phrase or term. His early ac- 
 quaintance with Bishop Ravenscroft, and his admiration 
 
120 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 of that great man's character, had imbued him with a 
 belief in the Church as the Representative Body of 
 Christ : One in its Divine organization, Holy in charac- 
 ter, Catholic in extent, and Apostolic in its Ministry. 
 He was fully convinced of the unbroken succession in 
 our Episcopate ; he looked upon schism as a sin, and 
 both inculcated and practised a rigid conformity to Ru- 
 brical and Canonical Order. Nothing more than this 
 would seem necessary to place him in the category of 
 what is known as u High Churchmen." On the other 
 hand, his yet earlier youthful associations had inclined 
 him to look with equal approval upon the Church and the 
 surrounding denominations, and to concede to all claim- 
 ants alike the right to minister in holy things. Between 
 these two extremes of Church thought, his true posi- 
 tion might have been found. He was consequently the 
 object of attack by the zealots of both parties, but more 
 especially of the latter. His unceremonious ejection of 
 the crosses and candlesticks at Riverside ought certainly 
 to exonerate him from the suspicion of being a High- 
 Church Ritualist ; and his equally ungracious treatment 
 of certain publications of the " Evangelical Knowledge 
 Society" should as surely acquit him of favoring the 
 levelling and disintegrating views of that association. 
 
 It was a marked characteristic of Bishop Otey's mind, 
 that he could look away from party influence in judging 
 of all matters affecting in any way the nature or welfare 
 of the Church. In an early stage of the Confederate 
 war, it was contended by many, that the separation of 
 the South politically from the General Government 
 necessarily involved a like separation in matters of reli- 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 121 
 
 gion from the Church of which the South had been a 
 part. We find his views on this then exciting subject, 
 in the following, taken from his diary : 
 
 " APRIL 9, 1862. Had a long conversation with Mr. Smedes, 
 concerning the effect of secession on the organization of the Church. 
 He thinks that our ecclesiastical organization is, of necessity, con- 
 trolled by our nationality ; that, a portion of the States having 
 separated from the Union, the Church in those States becomes 
 necessarily separated from the Church in the same, and is forced 
 to make a new organization. I dissented totally from this view ; 
 believing the Church to be, in its spiritual organization, far above 
 all civil enactments and arrangements." 
 
 Again, Oct. 9, 1861, in a letter to Rev. George C. 
 Harris, one of his Clergy, he says, 
 
 "I cannot see, for myself, any urgent necessity for adopting 
 measures to bring about a speedy division or separation of the 
 Church into Northern and Southern sections. .It is a work which, 
 however important for future convenience, requires wise and pru- 
 dent counsels to effect it. The opinions and consent of our North- 
 ern brethren should be consulted in any such step : and every 
 thing avoided, as far as possible, likely to give offence to any por- 
 tion of the Church Catholic. Already the journals of dissenting 
 bodies are beginning to exult at the prospect of a disruption of our 
 Church, and its division into schismatical fragments. Every thing 
 looking to such a result, I am very anxious to prevent. If we 
 must divide, let the separation be consummated by keeping the 
 unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." 
 
 The following, taken from a letter to his eldest daugh- 
 ter, is so marked with his good sense and sound Church- 
 manship combined, as to entitle it to the attention of 
 the reader, and make it a guide to those who may find 
 themselves in a situation similar to that of the good lady 
 and her family. 
 
122 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 " MY DEAR DAUGHTER, I wish that I could give } T OU advice 
 that would relieve your mind from the perplexities you feel in your 
 destitution of Church privileges, and which might guide you to 
 right conclusions in reference to the religious training of your 
 children. But I greatly fear that I can do neither. The very 
 circumstances by which you are surrounded lead naturally, not to 
 say necessarily, to a liberalism in religious matters, in the public 
 mind, most unfriendly to the adoption and inculcation of Divine 
 truth. All that can be said in such a case is : Do the best you 
 can, keeping at all times a good conscience. This liberalism is, 
 by a strange misnomer, called charity by those who forget that 
 ' charity rejoiceth in the truth ; ' while the opposite is stigmatized 
 as bigotr}*. I never have known a man zealous for the truth of 
 God, whom the world did not call a bigot. ... It appears to me 
 that the course of your family, under present circumstances, is a 
 perfectly plain and obvious one. Without presuming to prescribe, 
 I will briefly sketch an outline. If I were in Mr. M.'s place, I 
 would read the Morning Service of the Church, and a sermon, 
 every Sunday forenoon, or direct Hervey [Mr. M.'s oldest son] to 
 do so. It would be dignified and unexceptionable, and insure re- . 
 spect, as the manifestation of adherence to principle by a man in a 
 high position and who disregarded public prejudice. It would be 
 invaluable to your children. As to attending meetings of others, 
 it would be, with me, a matter entirely subsidiary to that of the 
 learning something of their principles and practices. As to your 
 children attending Presbj'terian or other Sunda} r schools, I think 
 that your instructing them every Lord's Day, in the Catechism of 
 the Church, is quite sufficient without any such adjuvants. Such 
 are my views in brief: I have not either time or space to expand 
 them." 
 
 The friends and admirers of the Bishop are unwilling 
 to consign his name and memory to the exclusive keep- 
 ing of any one party in the Church. If the question 
 should be asked by any who shall come after, be this 
 the answer: He believed the Church to be the one, 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 123 
 
 undivided Bride of Christ, with no element of division 
 or sectarianism in her ; that in her Creeds she holds in 
 its integrity the Faith once delivered to the saints ; that 
 she has a Divine Order, connecting her, clear back, 
 with the Apostles and Christ ; that she is the appointed 
 teacher and preserver of all true religion and virtue ; 
 and, finally, that to our portion of the Church the 
 country in which we live will one day look for help 
 amid her social and political trials. 
 
 On the other hand, no one, however loudly he may 
 claim the name of "Evangelical," ever preached a purer 
 Gospel, or held up Christ more plainly before the 
 hearts of his people ; no one was ever less exclusive in 
 his friendships ; and no one ever more ready or more 
 thankful to perceive and acknowledge the many and 
 evident fruits of the Spirit among the Ministers and 
 members of the various denominations. He believed 
 the Church to possess Divine power fully, but not ex- 
 clusively ; and that every thing good and beautiful and 
 true comes, more or less, of God. Eldad and Medad 
 had not the Divine appointment of Moses, but the Lord 
 had " put his Spirit upon them." 
 
 In writing to one of his favorite Clergy, August, 
 1856, and speaking of the two parties, High and Low, 
 that then unhappily divided the Church, he says, 
 
 "I belong to neither of them. By the one I have never been 
 forgiven for my concern or part in the presentation of Bishop 
 B. T. Onderdonk : by the other I am held in a sort of holy horror 
 for opposing the E. K. Society. Be it so. I can not and will not 
 adopt the Shibboleth of any party, or come into bondage to any 
 man or any body of men, so long as I feel and know, and rejoice 
 in the feeling and knowledge, that I am Christ's Freedman." 
 
124 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 This truly Christian spirit, which prompted him to 
 look with many grains of allowance upon the various 
 and widely differing sects of the Christian world, made 
 him sensitively alive to the feelings of others, and gave 
 him an unusual enjoyment in the tender and the beau- 
 tiful, whether in nature or in the region of morals. 
 On no occasion in his whole life was this sympathetic 
 spirit more fully evinced than in the unhappy fall and 
 condemnation of the Rev. F. G. S. Though shame- 
 fully vilified by the abettors of the offender, for the sen- 
 tence pronounced upon him, and deserted for a time by 
 a number of his friends, he seemed chiefly concerned 
 for the sufferings of the guilty man and his family ; 
 saying, 
 
 " For our offending brother I feel no other sentiment than that 
 of heartfelt pity and undissembled compassion. I would here, 
 brethren, bespeak for him not only your sympath3 T , but A'our 
 prayers, that he may recover from the pit into which he has fallen, 
 that he may be forgiven both of God and man, and regain the 
 position of confidence which he once occupied." 
 
 Another instance of this abounding tenderness for 
 the feelings of others might have been seen in the case 
 of one of his Clergy, who certainly deserved it as little 
 as could well be conceived. The Rev. Mr. Muller was 
 brought to trial before him, for general untruthfulness 
 and specific instances of lying. The Rev. Drs. Leacock 
 and Wheat acted as coadjutors to the Bishop. The 
 accused was found guilty of lying in one instance only. 
 To the astonishment of the Court, the sentence of 
 degradation from the Ministry was pronounced upon 
 him by the Bishop. The reverend coadjutors were 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 125 
 
 shocked and aggrieved, and seriously but respectfully 
 remonstrated against what they deemed the unmerited 
 seventy of the sentence. Their feelings, however, were 
 soon changed, when informed by the Bishop that the 
 condemned man acknowledged it as just, inasmuch as 
 he had committed a far more heinous offence, and had 
 privately confessed it to the Bishop, expecting to be 
 degraded. Here may be plainly seen a beautiful exhi- 
 bition of refined feeling, in conjunction with a strict 
 regard to the demands of justice. The culprit receives 
 his merited doom, but is spared the additional ignominy 
 of a public exposure of his thorough criminality ; the 
 scandal of so disgraceful an exhibition as a public trial 
 is warded oif from the Church, and the moral sense of 
 the community shielded from the infliction of any such 
 unnecessary outrage. With considerations such as these, 
 the good Bishop secretly comforted himself whilst an 
 uninformed public was charging him with playing the 
 tyrant. 
 
 To a tender regard for the feelings of others, may be 
 added an appreciative sense of the beauties of nature. 
 While at the Red Sulphur Springs, in 1852, he engaged 
 one day in his favorite amusement of fishing. He was 
 not successful ; but he says, 
 
 "I did not regret it; for it enabled me to be alone, and to 
 enjoy the sweet breath of these mountains, by the side of a brook 
 whose occasional falls send forth those gentle murmurs that recall 
 the pleasant scenes of my childhood. How often, when a boy, 
 have I listened to those simple sounds of Nature, the murmur 
 of running water, the whisper of the breeze, the hum of insects, 
 the lowing of cattle, the songs of birds, and, as it were, talked 
 responsively, and held pleasant converse with them ! All gone ! " 
 
126 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 Of fishing as an amusement, the Bishop might have 
 been said to be passionately fond. He could, at any 
 time of the leisure he allowed himself, sit a whole day 
 on the river's bank, under an August sun, if the fish 
 were at all disposed to bite. At one time he says, 
 
 " This is the only amusement for which I feel any fondness. 
 It revives very vividly the recollections of my childhood. I can 
 remember with the distinctness and freshness, almost, of an im- 
 pression of j'esterday, many little incidents of piscatory skill and 
 success, which, at the time of their occurrence, invested the actors 
 with the importance which I have since learned to attribute to the 
 mighty deeds of the great rulers of the world, or the warriors 
 whose exploits have filled the earth with their fame." 
 
 At another time he thus writes in his diary : 
 
 " I can undergo an amount of fatigue in this occupation, which 
 in other pursuits would quite break me down. I find also, that, 
 independent of the excitement produced by the constant expecta- 
 tion of taking the prey, the very business itself is favorable to med- 
 itation, and revives the recollection of the 3'ears in which existence 
 itself was felt to be good and joyous. The memory, the sweet 
 but mournful memory of the dead, comes up at those times. I 
 seem almost to hear their voices whispering to me. I look for 
 their loved images ; but they are to be found only impressed on 
 the mind's e3~e, and the tablets of the heart. Oh that I may, 
 through Divine grace, be enabled so to live, that, when this 
 painful life is ended, I may rejoin the spirits of those so loved 
 ones in a state holy and unchangeable!" 
 
 We have seen what a pleasant companion his violin 
 was to him in his college days, and how carefully he 
 brought it with him across the mountains. That com- 
 panionship was kept up from time to time, in after- 
 years, until disease had made the " grasshopper to be a 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 121 
 
 burden," and the " evil days " to come, and the years to 
 draw nigh in which he would take no pleasure in its 
 tones. The Bishop never played except for the amuse- 
 ment of his younger children, or when in his own room 
 with a chosen friend at his side ; or when solitary and 
 alone, before retiring at night, he sought by its aid to 
 smooth down the ruffled remembrances of the day. 
 
 An amusing story is told of him in this connection. 
 Being at the house of an old and familiar friend, and 
 having his violin with him, he thought that he would 
 hold brief communion with it before going to bed. He 
 had scarcely begun to play, when the door was partly 
 opened 5 and the head of a faithful old servant looked 
 in, saying, " Massa, better put up dat fiddle : dere's a 
 Preacher in de house!" 
 
 The uniform disposition of Bishop Otey was of a 
 genial and cheerful character. He was at all times 
 straightforward, unaffected, and apparently unconscious 
 of the favorable opinion of himself that he was exciting 
 in others. He neither said nor did any thing for the 
 mere effect of the moment. When he rose to speak in 
 the House of Bishops, it was generally after several on 
 both sides had delivered themselves. He spoke from 
 his seat, studied no attitudes, and, oblivious of all the 
 rubrics of the rhetorician, would sometimes twist one 
 leg around the other, and negligently lean upon his 
 chair or an adjoining table. But all this indifference to 
 mere outward effect, if noticed at all by others, was 
 forgotten as soon as he began to speak. For soundness 
 of judgment he had no superior, even in that House 
 where many were his seniors in both age and experience. 
 
128 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 No stronger evidence of this need be cited than the fact 
 that when in 1851 he was about to sail for Europe, in 
 the expectation of attending the third Jubilee of the 
 " Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge," 
 four of his brother Bishops Whittingham of Mary- 
 land, Chase of New Hampshire, Upfold of Indiana, and 
 Green of Mississippi united in authorizing him to 
 " represent them in any Council, Convocation, or Con- 
 vention at which he might be present, and to declare 
 their minds in all matters pertaining to the welfare or 
 advancement of the Church." Other Bishops, and doubt- 
 less the whole number, would willingly have done the 
 same ; but these four only were within reach at the 
 hour of his departure. An examination of the Journals 
 of the House of Bishops from 1837 to 1859 will convin- 
 cingly show him to have been a member, if not the 
 chairman, of many of its gravest committees. 
 
 Of the modesty and humility of Bishop Otey, a strik- 
 ing proof has already been given in his willingness to 
 concede to Bishop Polk the origination of the University 
 of the South, rather than prolong a contention on so 
 delicate a subject. Another of like character may be 
 found in his diary during his visit to Chapel Hill in 
 1857. The Rev. Dr. Hawks had been invited to deliver, 
 at their Commencement, a discourse on the " Mecklen- 
 burg Declaration of Independence ; " and the Bishop 
 was to preach the sermon of the occasion. In his notes 
 he speaks in very high terms of the Doctor's address, 
 and then adds, 
 
 " I was highly complimented by many gentlemen for my sermon 
 last night, which I ought to regard as a proof that it was not 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 129 
 
 what it ought to have been. But, oh this thing called praise ! how 
 it spreads over one's moral feelings, like the fragrance of sweet 
 perfumes over the senses ! Lord, let me remember that I am but 
 dust, and less than a worm in thy sight ! " 
 
 This amiable spirit was in nothing more evident and 
 more meritorious than in his repeated attempts to make 
 peace between parties who were at variance. Notices 
 of this kind are scattered over the pages of his diary : 
 
 " SEPT. 21, 1840. Engaged, the greater part of the day, in ad- 
 justing an unhappy difficulty between Mrs. S. and Mrs. B n ; 
 
 and finally succeeded." 
 
 " APRIL 29, 1844. Waited on by Mr. C s, who asks my 
 
 offices in endeavoring to effect a reconciliation with his wife. Next 
 
 day I see Mrs. C s, who utterly abhors her husband, and 
 
 refuses to live with him again." 
 
 " DEC. 21, 1848. Received letter from Mrs. W n, respect- 
 ing the difficulty between herself, her sister, and Rev. Dr. W 1. 
 
 I am afraid that all my efforts to make peace here will prove abor- 
 tive. God of peace, direct and help me ! " 
 
 It is surprising how Bishop Otey managed to be so 
 uniformly cheerful under such cares and labors, and fre- 
 quent attacks of disease, as he was called to endure. 
 For more than twenty years, with occasional intermis- 
 sions, he was the helpless victim of dyspepsia, in one or 
 other of its Protean shapes. To this were added sudden 
 and violent attacks of lumbago, which would apparently 
 threaten his life. Of the dyspepsia he says at one 
 time, 
 
 u This disease disqualifies me for the performance of almost 
 every duty ; insomuch that I have not the spirit left even to 
 engage in private religious duties, such as reading and prayers. 
 
130 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 And yet my heart tells me that I do, under ordinarily favorable 
 circumstances, enter upon these duties cheerfully, and often with 
 pleasure." 
 
 It is, however, gratifying to see him thus bearing 
 witness to his own naturally cheerful disposition. After 
 noticing an unhappy state of melancholy into which one 
 of his Clergy (Rev. Dr. P.) had fallen, he adds, 
 
 u It is a terrible thing to be thus beset ; and I humbly and most 
 devoutly thank my Heavenly Father, that, during the whole of my 
 life, I have been generally blessed with buoyancy of spirits, so 
 that, under ordinary events of a depressing nature, my mind 
 readily re-acts, and I soon recover my usual tone of cheerfulness." 
 
 Superstition has been said to be one of the weak- 
 nesses of great minds. It was, we know, a prominent 
 feature in that of the great Dr. Johnson. In the subject 
 of this Memoir, there was just enough of it to break 
 in pleasantly on the uniform display of a judgment 
 seldom at fault. But the superstition of the Bishop 
 did not amount to much more than an occasional pre- 
 sentiment of evil, the effect, no doubt, of plethora 
 or indigestion. March 4, 1852, he writes, 
 
 " Do coming events cast their shadows before? or do actual 
 occurrences at a distance from us communicate their sadness to 
 our souls through some mysterious and undiscovered spiritual 
 intercourse ? I feel to-day as if I were on the eve of hearing some 
 distressing intelligence ; and these sad forebodings have, in times 
 past, been but too mournfully realized. I shall hear of the death 
 of some member of my family, or of some one near and dear to 
 me, or of some heart-rending catastrophe, if my feelings indicate 
 the future, or premonish me aright. May the God of consolation 
 and grace prepare me both to do and suffer His will ! Why art 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 131 
 
 thou vexed, O my soul? and why art thou so disquieted within 
 me? Oh, put thy trust in God; for I will yet give Him thanks, 
 who is the help of my countenance, and my God." 
 
 Again, Oct. 26, 1857, he says, 
 
 "I rose this morning with a feeling of disquietude, and appre- 
 hension of approaching trouble. I went to m} T study, and endeav- 
 ored, b} r prayer, to gain the Divine peace and protection, and 
 commit myself and all my affairs to God's disposal." 
 
 The Bishop was at one time publicly charged with 
 being a spiritualist, or at least a firm believer in the 
 reality of their pretended revelations. This charge he 
 promptly and as publicly denied. A mind of such grasp 
 and inquiry as his would naturally desire to look into a 
 subject which was then claiming much of the public 
 attention. Accordingly he says, " My purpose is to 
 investigate this matter thoroughly, with a view to learn 
 the truth." With this purpose he attended several of 
 their seances, or exhibitions ; acknowledged afterwards 
 that he witnessed much that was strange, wonderful, 
 and amazing ; but concluded at last, that, if their ma- 
 nipulations and revelations were the works of spirits, 
 they were spirits of the Evil One. 
 
 If ever a father loved his children with a feeling 
 bordering on excess, that father was Bishop Otey. It 
 was a passionate fondness, restrained and regulated only 
 by a dominating consciousness of his duty to them as 
 immortal beings put in trust with him by God. Stern- 
 ness fled from his brow at the approach of any one of 
 them. His leisure hours were at their command. Their 
 joys were his ; and their griefs, whether of hurt or 
 
132 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 of sickness, were doubly his own. The anniversaries of 
 their births, their marriages, and their deaths, he lov- 
 ingly commemorated as often as the rolling year brought 
 them into view ; and, as the grave closed upon one after 
 another, it seemed to tear away with it a visible portion 
 of his own life. The following may be taken in proof 
 and illustration of this feeling. He had just finished a 
 letter to Rev. Dr. Crane, who had recently lost two of 
 his children, when he adds, 
 
 " It is a grievous affliction ; and no one knows the bitterness of 
 the cup until it is put into the hand, to drink of it, and drain it, even 
 as I have done, to the dregs. If there were nothing else to show 
 us the heinous character of sin, methinks it would be sufficiently 
 discerned in the bereavements of our earthly condition. I have 
 heard persons speak of the soothing influences of time, and it may 
 indeed dry up our tears so that they flow not constantly ; but, 
 in my own experience, I find the wound rankling in the heart as 
 sorely as ever, my love growing for my children, with the flight 
 of years and months and days." 
 
 No just estimate of the character of Bishop Otey can 
 be formed without giving great prominence to that 
 which was its crowning grace, or distinguishing feature, 
 viz., his simple and childlike faith ; or, in other words, 
 his earnest and unpretending piety. He was undeniably 
 and eminently a man of a devout spirit, as well as of 
 a godly life. No day or night came or passed away 
 without some record of his self-crimination, some prayer 
 for the Divine forgiveness, or some acknowledgment of 
 undeserved mercies. The first day of each year began 
 with a solemn re-dedication of himself to the service of 
 God ; and the last ended with a prayer that his many 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 133 
 
 shortcomings might be overlooked, and his imperfect 
 services accepted, for Christ's sake. In turning over 
 the leaves of his diary, written with no expectation 
 that it would thus be brought to light, there may be 
 seen on many a page such notices as the following : 
 
 " MAY 4, 1857. This day was begun, as usual, in prayer and 
 thanksgiving. I felt my soul drawn out towards God ; and yet 
 I was made painfully sensible of those wandering thoughts and 
 distractions of mind about earthly things, which steal upon me 
 unawares, and surprise me in the very offering of my devotions. 
 Oh, when shall I be so freed from the trammels of sense, and the 
 entanglements of worldly occupation, as to realize that a moment 
 spent in uninterrupted communion with God is worth more to the 
 soul than a whole lifetime of engagedness with the world ! " 
 
 The following extract is taken from a private journal 
 of the Bishop in 1860 : 
 
 " Shortly after the Consecration of Bishop Polk, at Cincinnati in 
 1838, I proposed to him and Bishops Meade and Mcllvaine that 
 we should enter into a covenant or agreement to pray for each 
 other ever} r Sundaj 7 morning. I have endeavored to keep this 
 promise faithfully, and have never failed in my engagement, I 
 believe, except on urgent necessity. It has often been to me a 
 season of great refreshment and spiritual joy.' * 
 
 To this succeeds the following prayer : 
 
 " Almighty and Everlasting God ! mercifully hear and graciously 
 answer the prayers which Thy servants have covenanted to offer 
 for each other at this time, through the intercession of Thy dear 
 Son. Grant, O Lord, that we may never lose sight of the weighty 
 responsibility resting upon us. May we ever realize a deep and 
 abiding sense of the value of souls ; and may we never relax our 
 exertions to win them to Christ. May we always have such views 
 of the dreadful nature and danger of sin, and be so affected with 
 
134: Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 the love of Christ in (tying for sinners, that we may esteem no toil 
 too great, no hardship too severe, in warning the ungodly, in re- 
 claiming the erring, and in seeking the lost, that they may be saved 
 through Christ. Be with us in all our journeyings ; protect us and 
 ours in all dangers ; assist us in all our difficulties ; support us 
 under all our trials ; enlighten our understandings with heavenly 
 wisdom ; and establish our hearts with grace. 
 
 " Bless us in our labors this day ; and grant that we may rejoice 
 in every opportunity of spreading abroad the truth of Thy holy 
 Gospel, and of proclaiming the glad tidings of reconciliation with 
 Thee. Bless Thy Ministers and Thy people everywhere ; and 
 grant that Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health 
 among all nations. Hear us in these our prayers ; answer us as 
 shall be most expedient for us ; and grant us all needed blessings, 
 according to Thy will, in Christ Jesus our Saviour : to whom, with 
 Thee, O Father, and Thee, O Holy Ghost, be glory everlasting. 
 Amen." 
 
 The following extracts from a letter of the Bishop to 
 Rev. Mr. Humes, Aug. 27, 1850, will serve to show his 
 views on the important and much-debated subject of 
 sanctification : 
 
 u I have lately had in mind and meditated much on the subject 
 of the conversation which we had at Knoxville. I was expressing 
 to you. as you will remember, my apprehensions of falling far below 
 that measure of sanctification which seemed to be requisite for the 
 enjoyment of heaven. I was thinking about sanctification as a 
 result to be attained by our exertions, by our faithful use of the 
 means of grace, b}' the blessing of God upon our efforts made in 
 faith, and upon the discipline to which His providence subjects us. 
 You remember, too, that you quoted that text, that * Christ is, of 
 God, made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification 
 and redemption.' It is a glorious text, full of sweet and unspeak- 
 able comfort. It takes away from the sinner the very last prop 
 on which to rest a hope that he can do any thing for himself. The 
 whole work was put on Christ. He performed the whole work ; 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 135 
 
 and right it is that all the glory, honor, and praise should be his. 
 . . . Now I am resolved, by God's grace, to strive after sanctifi- 
 cation in soul, body, and spirit, as if the whole work depended 
 upon myself. And if the Devil tells me, in contempt of my efforts, 
 to look at the worthlessness, nay, the very abomination of my 
 work, I will, the Lord being my helper, just turn around, and ask 
 him, ' What have you to object to the sanctification which Christ 
 offers me? You have nothing to say against his wisdom and 
 righteousness, and therefore nothing against his sanctification and 
 redemption. Wherefore, get thee behind me, Satan/ ' 
 
 In a preceding letter to the same Clergyman, he 
 
 says, 
 
 " That whole system which unhappily led Newman and Oakley 
 and Ward and others astray is, as you intimate, radically wrong. 
 It ' gendereth to bondage,' and keeps the poor conscience-stricken 
 sinner though he reads that Christ is the end of the law for right- 
 eousness to every one that believeth still preposterously striving, 
 by his own works, to establish a righteousness of his own which he 
 may plead for justification. And, though he professes that this is 
 not his object, yet it is manifest that he is unhappy and uneasy 
 unless he is doing something from which he expects to derive peace 
 and hope. Whereas the believer who takes Christ for wisdom and 
 righteousness, for sanctification and redemption, is just as diligent 
 in prayer, in ordinances, and all other things which spring from a 
 lively faith in Christ, as the other : only one is the fruit of faith, 
 and in the case of the other he is praying and striving and strug- 
 gling that he may get faith and hope, and so he is kept evermore 
 in slavery. When the battle comes, never fear but that I shall be 
 among those who look to Christ alone for victory, and have no 
 confidence in the flesh." 
 
 Again, in another letter to the same Clergyman, Feb. 
 24, 1849, he writes : 
 
 " When your welcome letter reached me, I had just returned 
 from visiting a dear lamb of Christ's flock, and administering to 
 
136 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 her the Hoi}' Communion, when I was attacked with the same dis- 
 ease which has hurried her away, as I trust and believe, to a 
 better and a purer world. And I have been raised up ! No doubt, 
 for some wise and valuable purpose, I know not what. The 
 Lord grant that I may know and do his will ! I sometimes, and 
 indeed generally, feel so entire a willingness to be quit of earth 
 and earthly things, so great a longing after a sight of the invisible 
 things of the world to come, that I am led to ask myself whether I 
 may not be laboring under some delusion, whether the Devil is 
 not sure of me, and is therefore blinding my eyes to any just per- 
 ception of my danger. May not such a thing, think you, happen? 
 But then, again, I say, This cannot be, surely ; for I do know and 
 feel that it is the greatest privilege and pleasure on earth to seek 
 God's face in prayer and praise. And when I most feel my 
 unworthiness and vileness, when I abhor myself most deeply, 
 on account of my corruptions and sins, by which I have debased 
 myself even to hell, and realize that I am abominable and unclean 
 beyond any power of expression which I can use, even then I 
 feel that the power of Divine grace and mercy is magnified by 
 saving such a wretch as I am, and by cleansing one so foul and 
 polluted. I feel then that here is a work which God alone can 
 accomplish. . . . There is one path of safety for us : Trust the 
 whole matter to the Lord, and cast all our care upon Him." 
 
 In yet another letter, Dec. 1, 1848, to the same 
 Clergyman, he beautifully writes : 
 
 " I need not say that I sympathize with you deeply in the trials 
 and spiritual conflicts which you have endured for the last few 
 years. There is not a day that passes in which I do not think of 
 you, and bear you upon my heart, while laying my own sorrows 
 and troubles before Him c who is touched with a feeling of our 
 infirmities/ But my poor prayers, offered in weakness, avail little 
 to my own benefit, or to that of others. I ought not to, and do 
 not expect to, be heard for an}' righteousness or merit of my own. 
 Still, as a member and the meanest and most worthless, as I 
 sometimes feel myself to be of the body of which He is the 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 137 
 
 living Head, I do believe that my prayers find access to a throne 
 of grace and mercy, through Him who is our all-prevailing and 
 powerful Advocate and Intercessor. And though we still go on 
 our way mourning, and in heaviness, that is no reason why our cries 
 should cease, or why we should conclude that they are not heard 
 and answered. No humble, devout, believing prayer was ever lost. 
 If we will not receive God's Word, let us be taught by the signs 
 or symbols which He has set in the heavens for our instruction. 
 The rainbow, that most beautiful object in creation, the symbol of 
 the Divine faithfulness, is associated with storm and tempest : yet 
 it brings tidings of the coming of bright and clear skies. How 
 lovely it appears, after the strife and war of elements have passed ! 
 As in the rainbow the rays of light are refracted and reflected, so 
 is it in pra}~er, and in all of our seeking after God. We are not 
 answered as we expected, or as we wished, or at the time we 
 desired. Shall we therefore doubt, and cease to pray, as though 
 God's ear were dull of hearing? In vain shall we seek for the ray 
 of light in a direct and continuous straight line : it is found in all 
 its beauty and fulness refracted and reflected on the bosom of the 
 dark-clouded sky. So prayer is often sent up direct for joy and 
 peace and comfort ; but it is refracted into thoughtfulness, reflected 
 thence into penitence and humility, and again refracted into watch- 
 fulness, and trust in God. Was that prayer lost? ... I was 
 visiting a very sick person not long since, and, on approaching 
 the couch of suffering, began to speak in the usual terms of con- 
 dolence, thus: 4 I am very sorry to find you ' when, suddenly 
 checking myself, I continued, ' I was going to say, sorry to find 
 you in so much pain and distress ; but I do not know that I ought 
 to use such language to you, or any one ; for the greatest mercies 
 and richest blessings are sometimes concealed under the chastise- 
 ments with which our Heavenly Father sees fit to visit us.' Is it 
 not even so? Does not the Apostle say, ' Blessed is the man that 
 endureth temptation ; for when he is tried,' etc. ? Does not 
 another say, ' Tribulation worketh patience, and patience expe- 
 rience, and experience hope, and hope [the bow of promise] 
 maketh not ashamed,' etc.? . . . The truth is, that I am so 
 well satisfied that affliction does work spiritual-mindedness in the 
 
138 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 believer, that I often fear, in speaking upon this subject, lest 
 I appear to exceed the measure of God's word ; and as though I 
 would teach persons to desire affliction and trouble. But I do not 
 mean this (except in a qualified sense). For surely the pious 
 heart might well desire that affliction might be sent to do the work 
 of grace which blessings had failed to effect. The mystery of the 
 cross is best learned under the cross. When we meet in Heaven, 
 as I cannot but think we shall, how will we hold ' high discourse ' 
 on all these things ! ' ' 
 
 " FEB. 7, 1857. Oh, what a blessed privilege is prayer ! How 
 my soul sometimes yearns to be freed from those hindrances of an 
 earthly and carnal nature, which repress the spirit of prayer, and 
 restrain the uprising of the soul ! Oh that the power of sin were 
 effectually and thoroughly subdued within me ! ' ' 
 
 "JAN. 15, 1854. What a great blessing it must be to experi- 
 ence that love and trustfulness in prayer, which enables us to say 
 with true emotion, ' Abba, Father ! ' that makes one cry out with 
 David, 4 My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God.' 
 But, alas ! how few are willing to receive the chastening necessary 
 to procure such a condition of the inner spiritual man ! " 
 
 That this outgoing of the heart towards God was no 
 transient or occasional feeling, but an abiding and con- 
 trolling principle, the faithful study of the Bishop's life 
 will plainly attest. According to his own account, he 
 was, as far back as he could remember, very susceptible 
 to religious impressions, but not of the loving and invit- 
 ing kind. As has already been stated, he had not the 
 advantage of an early religious training. His parents, 
 though upright and moral in their lives, were connected 
 with no religious denomination. Hence the faith of 
 his boyhood, if faith it might be called, was the out- 
 growth of the ignorance and misconceptions of the truth 
 by which he was surrounded. He very early imbibed a 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 139 
 
 fear of God, but was taught nothing of His love and 
 mercy. He thought that he heard the voice of angry 
 God in the thunder, and that a dark corner could hide 
 him out of His sight. In the closing years of his life, 
 his mind often reverted to the scenes and events of his 
 childhood; he remembered the groundless fears, and 
 the mistaken views of God and His providence, which 
 tended only to make his life miserable : and he blessed 
 the Divine Giver as he contrasted them with the higher 
 opportunities and the brighter light vouchsafed in a 
 later day to him and his children. 
 
 One evidence of the constraining power of this his 
 love of God may be seen in his conscientious observance 
 of the Lord's Day, and his inculcation of it upon others. 
 From the very nature of their office, those who minister 
 in holy things are compelled to labor on the Sabbath ; 
 indeed, that is their chief day of labor. Hence that 
 saying, universally admitted in our Saviour's day, " The 
 priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are 
 blameless." Though fully aware of this privilege, 
 Bishop Otey never availed of it, so long as he had the 
 means of conveying himself from place to place ; but 
 when, owing to the increased extent of his jurisdiction, 
 he was compelled to adopt the public means of travel, 
 he often found himself an unwilling violator of the 
 Fourth Commandment. On such occasions, whether in 
 a steamboat, at a village hotel, or in the house of a 
 friend, he was ever ready and desirous to officiate ; but 
 he knew men too well to press his services beyond a 
 distinct intimation of his willingness to do so if desired. 
 But here it may be stated that very seldom was he 
 
140 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 allowed to be silent at such times, if any were present 
 that had previously listened to his instructive and con- 
 vincing discourse. 
 
 The Bishop had been conversing, one Saturday even- 
 ing, with a young lady, a member of the Church of 
 England, who was on the eve of returning to her loved 
 country. After she had retired, he makes this signifi- 
 cant entry in his diary : " Ecce qua conveniunt ! She 
 leaves to-morrow! Not much religion in that." 
 
 At another time he was travelling in company 
 with the family of a friend. Saturday evening found 
 them twenty miles distant from their destination. The 
 Bishop remained where he was, and found an opportu- 
 nity to preach the next day ; but his friend's party set 
 out early on Sunday morning. He thus moralizes on 
 the subject after they were gone : 
 
 "Thus will be presented to the sight of an unbelieving world 
 the spectacle of professed Christians wilfully violating the Lord's 
 Day when there is no necessity for it." 
 
 Another instance may be given. On removing from 
 Columbia to Memphis, the Bishop rented his house to 
 a Mr. Martin. A few days after, the son of Mr. Martin 
 informed the Bishop that several wagons would be at 
 his house on the following Sunday to deposit his father's 
 furniture. 
 
 " 1 told him plainly and distinctly [said the Bishop] that they 
 could not be received at my house on Sunday. To-day he repeated 
 his determination to bring in and unload the wagons to-morrow 
 (Sunday). When I told him that it should not and must not be 
 done, he very pointedly replied that it was none of my business 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 141 
 
 to object or interfere, that he would compel me by law, and that I 
 was not his father's friend in keeping the teams at an expense, 
 etc., etc. To all which I replied, c Mr. Martin, you SHALL NOT 
 unload your wagons at my house on Sunday.' ' 
 
 N.B. The wagons came on Monday. 
 
 The following incident will serve to show how fair 
 and open, and without concealment, was the habit of 
 his life. On his first visit to the Indian Territory, he 
 was sitting in the porch of the hotel at Fort Smith, 
 engaged in a game of chess with one of the officers. In 
 the midst of the game, the Rev. Mr. K y, a Presby- 
 terian Minister, was seen approaching. His companion 
 proposed to the Bishop that they should conceal the 
 board by covering it with a newspaper ; but the Bishop 
 quickly replied, " No, friend B. : whatever God sees, I 
 am willing that any man shall see." 
 
 It remains now to speak of Bishop Otey as a writer 
 and preacher. The death-roll of the last twenty-three 
 years has inscribed on it a large portion of those who 
 were once his delighted hearers or his favored corre- 
 spondents ; but there yet remain many who can bear 
 witness to the power both of his tongue and pen. A 
 perusal of any one of the subjoined sermons or addresses 
 can hardly fail to show to the reader that the general 
 style of the Bishop was of a clear, strong, fervid, and 
 scholar-like character, with just enough of ornament to 
 please the reader without distracting his attention. His 
 discourses, as to their nature or subject, were uniformly 
 instructive, practical, and exhaustive; leaving the hearer 
 something to take home with him, and to think upon. 
 
142 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 In his delivery he was earnest, forcible, and impressive, 
 with no attempt at display or mere temporary effect. 
 He dealt but seldom in the pathetic, though often him- 
 self affected to tears under the awful solemnity of his 
 subject. He could touch the conscience without any 
 undue appeal to the passions, but would occasionally 
 stir up an emotional hearer to an unexpected state of 
 excitement. He was once preaching in Franklin, on 
 the danger and the fatal ending of a sinful course. By 
 way of illustration, he drew the picture of a young man 
 leaving a home where he had been religiously trained, 
 yielding easily to temptation, and finally lost to a sense 
 of shame and sin. He was showing how, step by step, 
 the unhappy youth had been led in the path of the 
 destroyer, until he stood on the crumbling brink of 
 destruction ; when the cry, "My God! he'sgme!" broke, 
 with a startling effect, on both preacher and hearer. It 
 came from an unsophisticated youth in the congregation, 
 who, with open eyes and ears and mouth, had so closely 
 followed the Bishop as to be oblivious of all present 
 surroundings. Would to God that there were many 
 more such preachers and hearers ! 
 
 The pulpit may with truth be said to have been the 
 home, the joy, the forte, of the Bishop. Without any 
 undue self-esteem, he must have been conscious of his 
 power ; for he could not but read it in the uniform 
 attention and admiration of all who heard him. It was 
 his highest enjoyment to preach. No part of his Mas- 
 ter's service did he relish so well, and in none were his 
 people more proud to contemplate him. The chief sub- 
 jects on which he delighted to dwell were redemption 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 143 
 
 through Christ, the religious education of the young, 
 and the duty of caring for the negro. If his sermons 
 had a fault, it was in their unusual length, generally 
 one hour, not unfrequently an hour and a half, and 
 occasionally two hours. Few men of his day could so 
 long have held in attention a mixed congregation. His 
 discourses partook of the character of his mind, a 
 fulness to overflowing, and a grasp that took in the 
 whole subject, together with a desire to impart as much 
 to his hearers. No matter what his theme might be, 
 his resources seemed to be inexhaustible. In this re- 
 spect he might have been likened to the great Dr. 
 Barrow, of the English pulpit, whom King James ac- 
 cused of being an unfair preacher, unfair, in so treat- 
 ing his subject as to leave nothing for any one to say 
 after him. But, long as his sermons were, he was often, 
 after their delivery, asked for copies of them, or for the 
 loan of them, for private reading. Frequent requests 
 were made by his Clergy and people, that certain ser- 
 mons of his might be repeated a second and even a third 
 time. The writer remembers having seen it noted on 
 the back of one of his manuscripts, that it had been 
 preached in various places, from Boston to New Orleans, 
 one hundred and twenty times. 
 
 In confirmation of what has been stated of Bishop 
 Otey as a preacher, it is a pleasure to take into view 
 the following extract from the sermon of one of his 
 Clergy, the Rev. John A. Harrison, preached shortly 
 after the death of the Bishop : 
 
 " In strength of mind, vigor of intellect, and reach and grasp 
 of thought, Bishop Ote}' had no superior in the Church. He looked 
 
144 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 the Bishop. He preached as indeed a ' Legate of the skies.' His 
 majestic person, his manly countenance, his piercing ej'e, and im- 
 pressive manner compelled attention, whether he stood before a 
 State Legislature, or a Council of Indians ; in a city church, or in 
 a lowly cottage ; in an English cathedral, or before a congregation 
 of negroes. He unfolded and illustrated and enforced his sacred 
 theme with profound ability, and in language at once the most 
 select, the most appropriate, and the most forcible. He was 
 mighty in the Scriptures, and that made him wise to win souls. 
 He knew nothing among his people but Jesus Christ and Him cru- 
 cified. The doctrines of the cross were the sum-total of his reli- 
 gion, and the anchor of his soul. He was singularly tender in his 
 feelings, as gentle as a woman in the sick-chamber, and as kind as 
 a brother to the poor. Though often moved to tears in the pulpit, 
 he was yet a man who would have died by his principles ; and 
 through evil report and good report he did maintain them." 
 
 It is much to be regretted that the Bishop so posi- 
 tively forbade the publication of his manuscript sermons. 
 Those to be found in the Appendix, together with a few 
 addresses, are such as went to press, with his consent, 
 at various times, before his last illness. The three ser- 
 mons on the Church, when they first appeared in 1843, 
 fell like a bombshell among the various denominations 
 of the South- West. It seemed like a new revelation 
 to them all, and a kind of declaration of war. Each 
 thought itself the special object of attack ; and all 
 agreed to look upon the Church, thenceforth, as a 
 " common enemy." It was the work of much time to 
 allay that unhappy feeling. The Bishop deeply regret- 
 ted its existence ; but solaced himself with the reflection, 
 "It is truth, and I must tell it : it is the Gospel, and I 
 must preach it. 'Tis safer far, in this case, to bear 
 anger from men than a woe from God." 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 145 
 
 His letters of condolence were numberless, wisely 
 adapted to each case of suffering, and abounding with 
 all the consolation that mere human sympathy could 
 impart. 
 
 Bishop Otey was a man of extensive reading, and, 
 having a retentive memory, accumulated a large amount 
 of sound and various learning. Indeed, to the more 
 intimate of his friends and associates it was a matter of 
 wonder, how, in the midst of so much journeying and 
 preaching and teaching, and anxious concern for his 
 family and his Diocese, he found the opportunity to lay 
 up such a store of profitable knowledge. He was deeply 
 read in the Word of God ; and that seemed to throw a 
 light on all other subjects, by showing that they were 
 all parts of one great whole, with glimpses of truth 
 amid the mists and darkness of human ignorance and 
 error. 
 
 The following extracts, taken from a letter of Bishop 
 Odenheimer to the Kev. Dr. Craik, will show very 
 plainly what that Bishop thought of the subject of this 
 Memoir : 
 
 " In all that adorns the meek, loving, Christ-like disciple, in all 
 that gives strength and dignity to a ruler in the Church, in all that 
 helps to sweeten and elevate man's intercourse with his fellows, 
 Bishop Otey shared largely. The result was a character of sin- 
 gular beauty and attractiveness. . . . Intellectually, he maintained 
 a high place among men of culture ; although solidity and straight- 
 forwardness, rather than brilliancy, characterized his style of 
 thought and speech. As a Divine, he was well read, especially in 
 all that appertained to the defence of the faith and Church of 
 Christ. ' Evangelical Faith and Apostolic Order ' was emphatically 
 his motto, and in his practical application of it he followed strictly 
 
146 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 the Apostolic injunction to ' speak the truth in love.' Never did a 
 Christian Bishop work more unselfishly, or with more indomitable 
 perseverance. The glory of God in Christ was the well-spring of 
 his noble self-sacrifices, of his persistent zeal, and of the intense 
 reality that characterized him. The tone of his mind was devo- 
 tional. He was eminently a man of prayer, and yet was fond of 
 creating and enjoying in others whatever was truly human and 
 genial. Few Ministers, of any order, have been so well fitted to 
 influence men, and few have been so successful." 
 
 Similar is the testimony of the Eev. and excellent 
 Dr. Pise, one of the most loved and esteemed of the 
 Bishop's clergy : 
 
 "It is amazing that any man could have undergone, for any 
 length of time, such exposures as his journal records, such ex- 
 hausting labors as his wide field of duty imposed. But he lived 
 to see the fruit of his spiritual husbandry in the erection of Louisi- 
 ana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas into Episcopal 
 sees, with faithful and earnest men appointed to the duties of the 
 Episcopal Office in each. . . . Under difficulties that few students 
 of theology at the present day are called to encounter, he acquired 
 a store of sound theological learning which any one might covet. 
 Of him it might be truly said, He was mighty in the Scriptures, 
 and few could apply them with such marvellous skill and quickness. 
 . . . His eloquence was that telling mastery of a genuine orator, 
 which works its way straight through to the understanding and 
 the heart ; forcing conviction upon the one, and inciting to action 
 the other. Profound thought ; varied research ; argument clear, 
 cogent, solid ; a diction often elegant, always marked with strength 
 and dignit} 7 ; an elocution and manner peculiarly his own. bold, 
 earnest, and striking, these were his characteristics as a preacher. 
 Every thought, every word, every movement, was but the inter- 
 preter of the intense reality of the man." 
 
 It is thought by many, that the mental character of 
 a man may be safely inferred from that of his hand- 
 
Memoir of Bishop Otey. 147 
 
 writing ; but, in strictness, no criterion could be more 
 wide of the mark. In the case of the subject of this 
 present sketch, however, there was a marked agreement 
 between the two. Every manuscript of Bishop Otey 
 plain, neat, without a flourish, and legible to the weak- 
 est sight seems to set the writer before the reader as 
 the very soul of honesty and fair dealing ; an open book, 
 to be read of all men. In this respect he bore an 
 unconscious resemblance to the man he most admired, 
 the first and great Bishop of North Carolina; whose 
 chirography was without fault, and who one day, in the 
 streets of Philadelphia, said to the writer, " There is 
 not a thought in my heart which I would be afraid to 
 proclaim from yonder steeple." 
 
 It is surprising that one who wrote with such uniform 
 force and correctness as did Bishop Otey, should at the 
 same time have written so rapidly. Eepeated instances 
 occur in his diary, of his having prepared a sermon, a 
 funeral discourse, or a public address, after less than 
 a twenty -four-hours' notice. And this he could do, 
 apparently, as well in the midst of his journeying, as in 
 his quiet study with his well-stored library around him. 
 His view of each subject was so clear, and his thoughts 
 so well ordered, that a reader of his manuscript sermons 
 might turn page after page, without finding a single 
 addition, erasure, or interlineation. The vessel seemed 
 to be always full, needing only the decanting hand. 
 
 Thus has this labor of love come to an end. Thus 
 has the writer fulfilled his mournful but pleasing task, 
 mournful in the consciousness that he has been writing 
 
148 Memoir of Bishop Otey. 
 
 of one whom he shall never see again in the flesh; 
 pleasing in the opportunity afforded of recalling, and 
 setting before the living, an example of true piety 
 and zealous labor for Christ, which all must admire, and 
 many would do well to follow. He has, in all fairness, 
 endeavored to show "the man as he was," honest 
 and generous, true to his great trust, grand in intellect 
 but childlike in disposition, tender in heart but fearless 
 in action, just to all men, and a faithful servant of God. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM THE BISHOP'S DIARY. 
 
 THE following extracts from the Bishop's diary can 
 hardly fail to interest the reader ; as they will serve to 
 let him into the inner and every-day life of a man who 
 took heed unto his ways, and loved to hold communion 
 with himself. It is much to be regretted, that so many 
 of the little volumes which made up his diary have 
 been lost. Enough remain, however, to reveal much of 
 the singular beauty of the Bishop's character, and the 
 labors which he performed. 
 
 A.D. 1833. 
 
 " MARCH 16. My negro woman Charlotte died to-day, after a 
 short and painful illness. Never have I been so seriously and 
 powerfully impressed with the importance of faithfully instructing 
 our domestics on the subject of religion. May God, of His great 
 mercy, forgive my past neglect, and grant me grace hereafter to 
 be more faithful and diligent. I now see that I did not do half the 
 duty of a Christian master to my poor servant." 
 
 " JUNE 27. Convention met in Franklin, at the Masonic Hall." 
 
 u JUNE 29. Proceeded to the election of a Bishop. The choice 
 
 fell upon myself, having received every vote except those of Rev. 
 
 Mr. Weller and myself. May the Lord be merciful unto me, and 
 
 strengthen me. Thou knowest, O God, that I feel myself un- 
 
152 Appendix. 
 
 equal to the burthen of this high and holy Office. But, through 
 Thy grace, I can do all things which Thy wisdom may appoint for 
 me." 
 
 " Nov. 16. Rev. L. Polk received into Canonical connection 
 with the Diocese. May the merciful Lord make him an instrument 
 of much good." 
 
 "Nov. 19. On Tuesday night, the 12th inst., a most remark- 
 able phenomenon occurred at this place. A few hours before day, 
 the whole heavens were lighted up by thousands of the most brill- 
 iant meteors. They generally descended perpendicularly, leaving 
 in their track a faintly luminous bar, which presently vanished. 
 They were, at some times, so numerous as to appear like large 
 flakes of falling snow. It was indeed a magnificent spectacle. 
 Many persons were much alarmed, and thought that the Day of 
 Judgment had come. Alas for the folly of unbelief! which lives 
 in constant dread of the final reckoning, and yet rejects the mercy 
 of the Gospel." 
 
 1837. 
 
 In his Address to his Convention, after announcing 
 the death of Bishop White, he says, 
 
 "We have reason for devout gratitude to God, that He was 
 pleased to continue one so distinguished for prudence, moderation, 
 and wisdom, so many years, to labor and advise for the prosperity 
 of the Church. May the mantle of his unostentatious piety, mild 
 and gentle temper, and Christian simplicity, rest upon those whom 
 he has left to take up and carry forward the work which his heart 
 was always willing and his hands ready to perform." 
 
 " It has been my practice, in visiting the congregations, to 
 assemble as many of the Clergy as can meet together with conven- 
 ience, and try the effect of continued religious exercises for several 
 days together. I am induced to think that this course has, in 
 some instances, been attended with happy effects. Still it is not 
 by any means to be relied on as better than the regular and sys- 
 tematic inculcation of Divine truth, from week to week, in the 
 stated ministrations of the parochial Clergy." 
 
Extracts from the Bishop's Diary. 153 
 
 " During Feb. and March engaged in the painful duty of pre- 
 siding at the trial of Bishop Smith." 
 
 1838. 
 
 "JAN. 14. After preaching both forenoon and afternoon in 
 Nashville, I was attacked by the illness which interrupted and 
 cut short my undertaken visitation of the Churches in the South ; 
 and which disabled me, during the greater part of the winter and 
 spring, from the performance of any duty involving either fatigue 
 or exposure. I wish here to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to 
 the Right Rev. Bishop Kemper for the readiness with which he 
 complied with my request, to take my place in visiting our distant 
 brethren in the South and West. My lack of service was thus 
 supplied, and in a manner which, I rejoice to learn, was most 
 acceptable to the people he visited." 
 
 In this year the Bishop paid a visit to the congre- 
 gations in Florence and Tuscumbia, in Alabama. On 
 returning from this visit to that State, he says, 
 
 " From the indications which I witnessed of interest in our ser- 
 vices, I trust the day is not distant when the vine which has been 
 here planted in faith, and carefully nurtured, by our modest and 
 unassuming brother minister, Rev. Mr. Cooke, will take root 
 downward, and bear fruit upward, and furnish shade under which 
 many shall seek, and find refreshment in that beautiful region." 
 
 1839. 
 
 41 Nov. 21. Heard to-day of the death of my beloved and 
 honored father. O gracious and merciful God ! grant me grace to 
 receive and improve this dispensation of Thy wise providence in a 
 way becoming the Gospel of Christ. Help me to realize my own 
 mortality, and may I be quickened in the pursuit of heavenly 
 things. Enable me to be truly thankful that my dear parent was 
 supported and comforted in his last hours, and blessed with a 
 peaceful end. I pray Thee, O Lord, to comfort my bereaved 
 mother with a sense of Thy goodness ; and prepare her, by grace, 
 
154 Appendix. 
 
 for the great change that is before her. And wilt Thou also look 
 in mercy upon all my brothers and sisters, and bring them to a 
 saving knowledge of Thee and Thy salvation. I ask these bless- 
 ings in the name of Christ Jesus my Lord. Amen." 
 
 Although much of the Bishop's diary for 1839 is lost, 
 enough of it remains to assure us that within that year 
 he performed two full visitations of his Diocese, on 
 horseback. 
 
 1840. 
 
 "JAN. 4. Committed the body of my servant Joe to the 
 ground, this evening at sundown, in hope of a resurrection to 
 the life eternal. He died a professed believer/' 
 
 " FEB. 16. My daughter Sarah worse. I can only try to look 
 up to a gracious God for her restoration." 
 
 " FEB. 19. Sarah slowly mending. God be praised that his 
 mercy has turned our sorrow and deep pain into joyful expectation 
 of hope ! The Lord strengthen and confirm our hope." 
 
 " FEB. 21. Sarah, by God's blessing, convalescent." 
 
 " APRIL 18. Slept but little last night, as there was dancing 
 
 on board the boat. Advised Miss M y, a member of the 
 
 Church, not to dance ; which advice she does not take." 
 
 " JUNE 10. Went to the Institute, and heard the recitation of 
 my class on Christian Evidences, and Abercrombie on the Moral 
 Affections." 9 
 
 1 'JULY 2. Engaged all day in examining pupils at the Insti- 
 tute." 
 
 " AUG. 16. Visited my father's grave. Every thing reminds 
 me that the honored head of this family is gone. Rev. Mr. Cobbs 
 preached the funeral sermon." 
 
 "SEPT. 18. Found all well on reaching home; for which I 
 desire to render my heartfelt thanks to God, whom I wish always 
 to acknowledge as the Author of all my mercies." 
 
 " OCT. 13. Gathered several curious flowers, on the way, for 
 wife." 
 
 " Nov. 3. Went to town, and voted the Whig ticket." 
 
Extracts from the Bishop's Diary. 155 
 
 "Nov. 8. Read much about the Moravians. What self-denial 
 exhibited by these men to extend the knowledge of Christ ! Their 
 zeal and piety deserving of all praise." 
 
 " Nov. 29. Enjoyed private devotion greatly, this morning. 
 Felt that I could give myself and all that I have, without reserve, 
 to God." 
 
 " DEC. 12. Been all day long visiting. Weary, weary 
 world ! " 
 
 1841. 
 
 "JAN. 1. Mercifully preserved, by God's goodness, to the 
 beginning of another year. I desire to commit myself and all that 
 I have to His gracious care and protection." 
 
 In compliance with repeated invitations, the Bishop 
 devoted the months of February and March of this 
 year, to a visitation of the Churches in Florida. 
 
 "JAN. 2. Set out on a visitation to Florida, through Louisi- 
 ana, Alabama, and Georgia." 
 
 "JAN. 10. Got aboard the steamer after dark! Mistaken 
 civilities and kindnesses cause no little trouble to a Bishop." 
 
 " JAN. 27. On this day I am forty-one years of age. Alas, 
 how little advanced in grace ! Gracious God, help me to be more 
 devoted to Thy service, and more desirous of Thy grace." 
 
 "JAN. 29. Rain, rain, rain." 
 
 " FEB. 6. Rain, ram, RAIN. I have scarcely seen the sun for 
 the last four weeks." 
 
 " SUNDAY, 7th. More rain! What a comfortless time I have 
 had since I left home ! Truly the Office of a Bishop is no sinecure 
 in this country. How little do those know of the privations and 
 discomforts we endure, who have no personal experience of them ! 
 What would I not give to be this evening seated at my own fire- 
 side, with my children around me? " 
 
 " FEB. 8. Take the stage-coach at Montgomery. After going 
 twenty-five miles, the main cross-tree of the stage broke, and we 
 stopped to make a new one at a blacksmith's shop. I helped to 
 
156 Appendix. 
 
 blow the bellows, and acted as striker, for the smith. It was now 
 night, dark and raining, roads getting worse. I had to walk at 
 least four miles, carrying a torch ; for it was with great difficulty 
 that the horses could pull the empty stage. At dawn of day, 
 passed the spot where the Indians, four 3 T ears ago, attacked the 
 stage, killed the driver and passengers, broke up the stage, and 
 burnt the whole together. When within three miles of Columbus, 
 the stage was upset, and came down heavily. By God's mercy, 
 no one was seriously injured. My right knee was bruised, and 
 my head jarred and stunned by the fall." 
 
 "FEB. 16. Heard to-day of the loss of the steamer 'Lamp- 
 lighter,' upon which I was about to take passage at Mobile. So 
 it seems that God, in His mercy, provides for us better than we 
 can for ourselves." 
 
 On his arrival in Tallahassee, he says, 
 
 "I dined with Gov. B. and family. He has lately lost a 
 daughter, and last year a son. These bereavements have humbled 
 him much ; and he says that he is resolved, by the grace of God, 
 to live henceforth in the service of his Redeemer." 
 
 "FEB. 23. Preached in Tallahassee, assisted by Rev. Mr. 
 Lee, and administered the Holy Communion." 
 
 " MARCH 2. Gov. B. came to the vestry-room, took my hand, 
 and with tears thanked me, saying he had no language to express 
 his feelings. May the Lord lead and direct him aright ! " 
 
 Ever since leaving home the Bishop had met with 
 little else than rain, rain, rain. On setting out upon 
 his return, he says, " With joy I left the soil of Florida, 
 where I have been water-locked for three weeks." But 
 he immediately adds, " Many are the tokens of good- 
 will I have received. May the Lord reward those who 
 have given them ! " He here refers not only to the 
 kind and hospitable attentions of the people, but to 
 the liberality with which they contributed to the object 
 
Extracts from the Bishop's Diary. 157 
 
 of his laborious journey ; viz., the release of the debt 
 then due upon the Institute. 
 
 "MAY 31. Reached Columbia at one o'clock. On getting 
 home, find all well; for which God be devoutly thanked and 
 praised, through Christ our Lord ! " 
 
 " SEPT. 12. Set out for the General Convention. During my 
 absence I preached and delivered addresses in Louisville, Cincin- 
 nati, and Rochester; in seven Churches of New York, two in 
 Boston, three in Providence, three in Philadelphia, one in Peters- 
 burg and Lynchburg ; taking collections in each for Female Insti- 
 tute." 
 
 " Nov. 11. To-day at 4 P.M., a boat appeared in sight, with a 
 black flag at the bow, and a gentleman standing on the deck with 
 crape on his hat and arm. It was the Rev. Mr. Atkinson of 
 Lynchburg, conveying the body of good old Bishop Moore to 
 Richmond. He died this morning, full of years, and blessed by 
 thousands whom he taught the way of salvation. " 
 
 " Nov. 30. Reach home at 2 P.M., and find my family in better 
 health than I anticipated. Thus has the Lord brought me again 
 in peace to my house. His mercy and goodness never fail. O 
 God, my Saviour, I desire to praise and thank Thee with my 
 whole heart ! ' ' 
 
 1842. 
 
 "JAN. 19. Find that Mrs. G. is working against Rev. Dr. 
 Wheat, spargeus infamia verba inter vulgus. May God forgive her 
 iniquity in another world, and expose her infamous acts in this ! " 
 
 "FEB. 4. Reached Hernando in Mississippi. Urge Rev. Mr. 
 Matthews to get us off early, in time for service. We get off late, 
 and find nothing read} r when we reach the Church ; the house filled 
 with smoke, and only eight or ten persons present. I put out the 
 fire, and threw the brands out of the door. Every thing wrong ; 
 and Mr. M., the Minister of the Parish, instead of bestirring him- 
 self to have matters done decently and in order, sitting down and 
 complaining of the people and of his hard and miserable lot." 
 
 " FEB. 13. I write to Mr. M. that his influence at Hernando 
 
158 Appendix. 
 
 is utterly at an end, and that I had advised the Domestic Mis- 
 sionary Committee to withdraw their appropriation from his 
 Station." 
 
 On his way to visit Arkansas, Feb. 19, he writes, 
 
 " Dined with Mr. G-., a real Yankee, treats me to boiled 
 pork, a dish of beans, and a glass ,of milk." 
 
 During the Bishop's visitation of Mississippi, this 
 year, after officiating at a number of places, he reached 
 the residence of Dr. William Newton Mercer, twelve 
 miles below Natchez. The doctor was a man of great 
 wealth, owning nearly a thousand slaves, and was, from 
 first to last, a great admirer and generous friend of the 
 Bishop. He had, of himself, erected on his principal 
 estate a beautiful Church of the Grecian order, having 
 a tesselated marble floor, and a good deal of sculpture 
 of superior order. In addition to this, he had provided 
 a Rectory, and placed in it a faithful Minister (Rev. Mr. 
 Deacon), who was to baptize the children of his slaves, 
 and train them in obedience to Christ. On this occa- 
 sion, one hundred and ten children and eight adults 
 were to be baptized ; Dr. Mercer and Miss Eliza Young, 
 an aged female relative, being their sponsors and wit- 
 nesses. The Church was crammed, and even dark- 
 ened, with the ebony faces of fathers and mothers and 
 sucklings. The Bishop preached one of his excellent 
 sermons ; and all went well until Mr. Deacon, after 
 baptizing nearly forty of the little ones, became so over- 
 come with laughter that the Bishop had to take his 
 place. But before getting through with the remaining 
 seventy-four, he himself came very near yielding to the 
 
Extracts from the Bishop's Diary. 159 
 
 same temptation. The cause of this was the unex- 
 pected and utterly incongruous names of the little dark- 
 ies. 1 The Bishop then adds, 
 
 44 Water was consecrated three times before the service was 
 ended. May God grant His blessing on this work, for Jesus 
 Christ's sake. After all the service was over, I addressed the 
 adults, in the most serious manner, upon their duties to both their 
 earthly and heavenly Masters. They appeared deeply impressed." 
 
 44 MAY 26. This evening, at half-past seven, my dear Virginia 
 was united in holy matrimony to Benjamin B. Minor, by the Right 
 Rev. Dr. Polk, at St. Peter's Church, Columbia, in the presence 
 of my own family and many other witnesses. May God graciously 
 smile upon and bless this union." 
 
 44 MAY 30. A day of deep sadness to us all. Our dearest 
 Virginia left us this morning, for her distant home in Richmond, 
 Va. May Heaven's peace and richest blessings go with thee, my 
 child ! She has passed away from me like a vision of light, and 
 my heart is almost broken." 
 
 44 JUNE 5. Am to leave home to-day, for Columbus, Miss. 
 Merciful Lord, protect and bless all whom I leave behind." 
 
 1844. 
 
 44 JAN. 1. This is the commencement of a new year. God 
 grant it may also be the beginning of a better life ! " 
 
 44 JAN. 27. To-day I am forty-four years of age. Little have 
 I done for the service of Christ in this world. Lord, help me to 
 be more faithful and more fruitful ! ' ' 
 
 44 MARCH 1. Received a check of one thousand dollars from 
 Dr. Mercer, as an expression of friendship and interest in my 
 
 1 The reader will readily pardon the good Bishop, when he is told that 
 among the names were the following (titles and all): "Queen Victoria," 
 "Prince Albert," "Lord Wellington," "John Quincy Adams," "General 
 Andrew Jackson," "General William Henry Harrison," "Daniel Webster," 
 "Henry Clay," "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," etc. These names 
 had been suggested to the parents by a frolicsome young female friend 
 who had been spending some time with Dr. Mercer. 
 
160 Appendix. 
 
 welfare. May a gracious God enable me to show myself not 
 unworthy of so marked and distinguished a favor, and make 
 me truly thankful to Him for raising for me such a friend and 
 benefactor." 
 
 March 23, after a long and toilsome journey by 
 steamer and on horseback, the Bishop reaches Fort 
 Towson, then the outermost military post of our South- 
 ern country. On his arrival, he writes : "Weary! weary! 
 weary ! " 
 
 "MARCH 31. Slept in TerrilPs house (an Indian) last night 
 the hardest floor I ever lay upon. Went next day upon the top 
 of a neighboring mountain, and again dedicated myself, and all that 
 I have, in solemn prayer to God. This is the anniversary of my 
 wife's birth. Fervently have I prayed for her/' 
 
 " APRIL 3. Reached Fort Smith. Kindly received by Gen. 
 Zachary Taylor." 
 
 "APRIL 5. In conjunction with the Masons, lay the corner- 
 stone of Trinity Church, Van Buren." 
 
 " APRIL 13. Rode with Dr. Mercer to his Ormond plantation. 
 Negroes well fed, clothed, and lodged, and to all appearance happy. 
 They shake hands with their master, and his daughter, Miss 
 Anna." 
 
 " MAY 7 & 8. Steamer ' Franklin ' ; sleep on cabin-floor or, 
 rather, lay without sleep." 
 
 "JUNE 3. I accept the rectorship of St. Peter's Church, 
 Columbia." 
 
 "JULY 15. Rev. Mr. S s read prayers. Miserabiliter ! " 
 
 " JULY 27. Anniversary of my dear Heber's death. God 
 grant that I may so live as to join him in a purer and a better 
 world." 
 
 " AUG. 5. Virginia's birthday. Many happy returns of it to 
 thee, my dear child." 
 
 " (Steamer 'Muskingum') SEPT. 23. To-day Bishop Polk and 
 myself had a long talk with Sydney Rigdon, the notorious assist- 
 
Extracts from the Bishop's Diary. 161 
 
 ant of Joe Smith the Mormon prophet. Rigdon is both knave 
 and fool." 
 
 4 ' (New York, House of Bishops) OCT. 10. Presented my Report 
 as Missionary Bishop, and tendered my resignation." 
 
 44 OCT. 19. Pastoral Letter was read this morning in House of 
 Bishops. Eleven Bishops, including myself, object to some of its 
 references." 
 
 "Nov. 4. Set off this morning, and traversed two or three 
 streets in the rain, asking contributions to the Female Institute, 
 and received only eighteen dollars." 
 
 44 Nov. 7. To-day, with Bishops Meade and Elliott, made a 
 presentment of Bishop Benjamin T. Onderdonk for trial. May 
 God pardon my errors, and want of judgment, if I have erred, 
 and overrule all to the good of his Church, for Christ's sake." 
 
 "Nov. 11. Called on Rev. Dr. Se y. Very cold, cold 
 
 as an iceberg. Who cares ! ' ' 
 
 44 Nov. 17. Went to Sully 's this morning, and sat for my 
 portrait, at the request of Dr. Mercer." 
 
 4 'DEC. 31. Last day of a year full of mercies. May God 
 make me truly thankful." 
 
 1846. 
 
 44 OCT. 10. Paul left us to-day for Memphis. God be gra- 
 cious to thee, my son, bless, preserve, and keep thee ! " 
 
 44 Nov. 24. To-day, my beloved daughter Henrietta was united 
 in holy matrimony to the Rev. Charles Tomes. May God bless 
 this union." 
 
 On their departure, a few days after, he writes : 
 
 44 God Almighty bless and keep you, my beloved children, and 
 at last crown you with the blessing of eternal life." 
 
 44 DEC. 31. This is the last day of the year, a year distin- 
 guished by favors and mercies from God. O God, my God, help 
 me, for Jesus Christ's sake, to show forth my gratitude to Thee, 
 for Thy many undeserved blessings, by loving Thee more, and 
 serving Thee better ! ' ' 
 
162 Appendix. 
 
 1847. 
 
 " JAN. 1. This day I desire to dedicate myself and all I have, 
 unreservedly, to that gracious God who has taken care of me all 
 the days of my life. O God, bless and keep us in health and 
 safety, and make us Thy children by grace as well as by adoption, 
 for Christ's sake." 
 
 " WEDNESDAY, 6th. This morning, being the Epiphany, I bap- 
 tised, at family prayers, Hannah's child [a negro servant] by the 
 name of John. May God keep him, even to His heavenly king- 
 dom.'* 
 
 " MONDAY, llth. Left home this morning, for the visitation of 
 the Churches in Mississippi. I first burnt out all my chimneys ; 
 and commended my dear wife and children to God, invoking His 
 gracious and merciful protection." 
 
 " FRIDAY, May 23. Milii atra dies! The darkest and bitter- 
 est day of my life. My noble-minded, generous-hearted, and be- 
 loved child, Sarah McGavock, departed this life to-day at twelve 
 o'clock. O God ! Thou hast indeed smitten me down and crushed 
 me. I most humbly beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ, to bring 
 me at last to rejoin her happy and, as I trust, her glorified spirit 
 in a holier and purer world." 
 
 " SATURDAY, 29th. Weeping has ' endured through the night,' 
 but no joy cometh in the morning." 
 
 " SUNDAY, 30th. How gloomy has been this day of sacred rest ! 
 It has brought no rest to my poor sorrow-stricken heart. I have 
 staid at home with my family, and endeavored, by reading the 
 Bible, by meditation and prayer, to calm my troubled soul. My 
 heart is with my noble and gifted Sarah." 
 
 "FRIDAY, June 4. This day, a week ago, my beloved Sarah 
 died. O my God, how it pains my poor heart to write that word 
 died! Oh, that I could have died for her ! Merciful and gracious 
 Father, give me faith to believe Thy promises, to trust Thy word, 
 and be resigned to Thy holy will." 
 
 "SUNDAY, June 6. Preached in St. Peter's Church, and ad- 
 ministered the Holy Communion. In the afternoon, went to the 
 Institute, and addressed the children for an hour and a half on the 
 subject of religion." 
 
Extracts from the Bisl top's Diary. 163 
 
 The next day we hear him, like David over his be- 
 loved Absalom, mourning, and writing, 
 
 44 My heart still yearns for my child, my beloved Sarah. O God, 
 give me resignation." 
 
 44 SUNDAY, 13th. Preached in St. Peter's, A.M. In afternoon, 
 read prayers and preached. In the morning, also had a long con- 
 versation with the boys of my school on the subject of religion." 
 
 44 FRIDAY, 25th. Met my wife and children at dear Sarah's 
 grave ; around which we prayed to be resigned to God's will, and 
 that we may all meet as one unbroken family in heaven." 
 
 44 MONDAY, 30th. Left Mr. Buford's this morning, and rode to 
 4 Fancy Farm,' the place where my childhood, the happiest period 
 of my life, was spent. I went up to the house, walked around it, 
 and into the garden almost every thing changed. My heart was 
 full to overflowing." 
 
 44 SEPT. 24. Have been emploj'ed nearly all day in reading 
 
 S y's examination of the Onderdonk trial. His remarks are 
 
 a tissue of falsehood and misrepresentation." 
 
 On Wednesday, 15th of June, the Convention of the 
 Diocese was held in Columbia. 
 
 44 JUNE 18. My beloved Presbyter, Rev. Philip W. Alston, died 
 last night at ten o'clock. We, the Clergy at Convention, knelt 
 around his bed in prayer in his last hour, and commended his soul 
 to God." 
 
 44 SEPT. 4. At Liberty, Va., acting under the authority of the 
 Bishop of that Diocese, I consecrated a Church to the worship of 
 Almighty God, and held a confirmation. I performed these ser- 
 vices with a peculiar gratification, as being in the vicinity where I 
 was born, and where passed the happy years of my childhood and 
 youth, and where, in those early days, the solemn forms of our 
 Liturgy were unknown." 
 
 1848. 
 
 44 JAN. 1. The beginning of a new year. I arose early, and 
 endeavored, in the best way I could, to thank God for all His past 
 
164 Appendix. 
 
 mercies, dedicating myself and all that I have to His service, and 
 invoking His gracious protection on me and mine." 
 
 44 JAN. 14. The anniversary of my consecration fourteen years 
 ago. O God, help me to be more faithful, that I may be more 
 fruitful." 
 
 "FEB. 7. My loving, sprightly, generous-souled Fanny lies 
 shrouded, a pale corpse. We have prayed for resignation to 
 Heaven's will." 
 
 44 FEB. 8. I have to-day felt all the bitterness of grief in real- 
 izing that my precious little Fanny is gone. O God, let it please 
 Thee to calm our troubled souls. Employed mj^self as diligently 
 as my depressed mind would permit, in the composition of a 
 sermon, in reading God's Word, and in prayer." 
 
 44 FEB. 11. The world is sad, and I am low in the mire of 
 despondency. But God sees my heart, and knows that I do not 
 falter in my purpose to love and serve Him. No, not for a 
 moment." 
 
 44 MAY 23. To-day twelve months ago, my dear Sarah was 
 taken away from me. May the Lord grant us a happy re-union in 
 his heavenly kingdom." 
 
 44 AUG. 30. Employed all day long in transcribing a sermon 
 from ' Plain Sermons,' which I design to use next Sunday, for 
 want of a better of my own ; a thing I sometimes do, not for 
 vainglory, but from a desire to promote edification." 
 
 " SUNDAY, Dec. 10. Attended at St. Peter's Church. In the 
 afternoon I remained at home to instruct my grown servants by 
 reading the Bible and prayer." 
 
 44 SUNDAY, Dec. 17. Remained at home in the afternoon ; had 
 prayers, and read one of Glennie's sermons to Peggj 7 , and in- 
 structed her in the Creed." 
 
 44 SUNDAY, 31st. To-day, after prayers by Rev. Mr. Cressy, I 
 preached, and confirmed five persons, and made them an Address. 
 After service I went to the graves of my beloved children, and 
 there tried to dedicate myself unreservedly to God in praj'er. I 
 prayed that these afflictions which so weighed on my heart might 
 wean me and mine from the world, and make us as a family meet 
 for the enjoyment of His heavenly and eternal kingdom. And 
 
Extracts from the Bishop's Diary. 165 
 
 thus closes a year memorable to me for its afflictions and its spirit- 
 ual blessings." 
 
 1849. 
 
 "JAN. 1. Mercifully preserved by a kind Providence, to the 
 beginning of a new year, I desire to acknowledge this favor, 
 and humbty dedicate myself and all that I have to God's 
 service." 
 
 " SUNDAY, 14th. This day, fifteen years ago, I was consecrated 
 to the holy Office of a Bishop in the Church of God. Alas ! how 
 little fruit can I now see of the labors of those years ! Lord, 
 my God, strengthen, qualify, and enlighten me to do Thee true and 
 laudable service." 
 
 11 TUESDAY, March 6. Anniversary of my darling Fanny's death. 
 Gracious and merciful Father, sanctify this event to my soul's 
 health, and give me humble resignation to Thy holy will." 
 
 4 'APRIL 9. Spent the day in fishing; caught nine fine trout. 
 John Baird fell in the' river, and I saved him from drowning by 
 holding out my fishing-rod to him." 
 
 u DEC. 31. I am thus, by the merciful providence of God, 
 brought to the close of another year, a year that has been 
 distinguished by many blessings. Although the cholera has visited 
 many parts of the country, and we have been more or less exposed 
 to its ravages, by the favor of our Heavenly Father not one of those 
 who were most dear to me have been affected by it. We have also 
 been graciously exempted from other judgments which our sins 
 might justly have drawn upon us. For these so great favors, and 
 for the man}' blessings we have enjoyed, I desire to record here 
 my sense of deep and lasting obligation, and a corresponding 
 expression of gratitude to Almighty God our Heavenly Father." 
 
 1851. 
 
 Being advised by friends to visit Europe for his health, 
 the Bishop embarked, April 12, in steamer " Water- 
 loo." His diary is long and minute, and written for his 
 children only. 
 
166 Appendix. 
 
 " (At sea) APRIL 18. This is Good Friday. How few of all 
 this ship's company seem to remember the tragical interest of this 
 day, and the incalculable blessings secured to man by the death of 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ ! Head good old Bishop Hall's sermon 
 on the Passion." 
 
 "APRIL 22. Encountered a violent storm. It required skill, 
 energy, and decision, with God's blessing, to save us. There was 
 great alarm among most of the passengers, and some thought that 
 all was lost. God interposed for our safety. To Him be all the 
 
 praise." 
 
 1852. 
 
 "MARCH 13. Dined to-day with a goodly number of friends. 
 The meeting was in many respects very pleasant ; except that it 
 is now Lent, and I feel it very irksome to refuse to indulge in the 
 good things which the kindness and civility of friends provide for 
 our entertainment." v 
 
 " MARCH 29 [after his return from Europe]. Arrived at home 
 about 12 A.M., and found all well. I am now, after an absence of 
 more than twelve months, once more under my own roof, and in 
 restored health. How much cause have I to be thankful ! Multi- 
 plied have been the favors which a gracious and kind God hath 
 bestowed upon me. And I desire to feel humbly and truly thank- 
 ful. - But it is not in man's heart to feel the gratitude which his 
 lips would fain acknowledge. It is God alone can give the ability 
 to be truly thankful. He alone can awaken the song of praise, 
 and make the believer feel that it is ' a pleasant and joyful thing to 
 be thankful.' Lord, tune my heart to love and praise." 
 
 " Nov. 8. Left Columbia after living there seventeen years." 
 
 " Nov. 12. Reached Memphis. My first sermon (Nov. 14) 
 was from Rom. xii. 1, 2 : 'Tendency of worldly amusements.' ' 
 
 " DEC. 12. Commenced worship in ' High-tower Hall,' a room 
 rented over an oyster-room, and having a dancing-academy in an 
 adjoining apartment. The hall is to be used as a billiard-room 
 during the week, and for Divine worship on Sunday. I have come 
 hither to work ; and, if the opportunity is offered me, I intend to 
 do so, sedulously and faithfully, in the fear of God, looking to Him 
 for a blessing on my labors. The associations of this Hall are by 
 
Extracts from the Bishop's Diary. 167 
 
 no means desirable ; but it seems that we can do no better, and 
 the question arises, Shall we worship in the ' House of Simmon,* 
 or not at all ? " 
 
 " DEC. 13. Much disturbed about Bishop Doane's trial, but 
 satisfied with the result." 
 
 1854. 
 
 " JAN. 1. By God's gracious goodness, I find myself alive and 
 in good bodily health at the beginning of a new year. My spirit 
 has been greatly bowed down during the week just past. I have 
 been sorely tempted to indulge in an evil or angry temper ; but 
 not without cause, as Thou, my God, knowest. But surely I have 
 yielded too much to the infirmity of my nature. I have felt ashamed 
 to lift up my hands or voice to God. But, thanks to His Name, I 
 was able early this morning to prostrate myself in body and soul 
 before Him ; and, in the name of our most holy and adorable 
 Redeemer, dedicate myself anew to His Service. Lord, accept 
 my offering! " 
 
 " JAN. 27. Fifty-fourth birthday. I have passed the meridian 
 of life. My sun has culminated, and has begun to descend to the 
 land of shadows, where all shall be enveloped in the night of death. 
 Merciful Lord, be pleased to raise me from the death of sin, to the 
 life of righteousness ; and daily renew me by thy Holy Spirit." 
 
 1861. 
 
 " JAN. 1. The beginning of a new }-ear. Begun in prayer, and 
 in renewed and humble dedication of myself, soul and body and 
 spirit, to God. May this year be the best of all the years of my 
 life ; distinguished by faithful diligence in His service. Lord, pre- 
 pare me for all that Thou shalt order for me. Make me Thine, 
 wholly Thine ; and that will satisfy my soul ! ' ' 
 
 " JAN. 15. Heard to-day of the death of dear, dear Bishop 
 Cobbs. Gone to be with Christ." 
 
 " FEB. 6. Learn that the State of Virginia has gone against 
 secession, or precipitation." 
 
 "FEB. 9. In company with Rev. Dr. Hines, deposit my vote 
 for the Union candidates." 
 
168 Appendix. 
 
 " MARCH 5. Read an abstract of President Lincoln's Inaugural 
 in to-day's papers. He expresses a determination to enforce the 
 laws of the Union. An attempt to do this will probably be followed 
 by civil war. May a gracious God overrule and govern all for 
 the promotion of peace ! " 
 
 " APRIL 5. Wrote to the Secretary of the Union Society, New 
 York, accepting the office of vice-president." 
 
 " APRIL 27. Reports from every direction threaten war, and 
 bring accounts of preparations for the coming conflict. Deus 
 miser eat ! ' ' 
 
 "MAY 10. Write a letter to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State. 
 Read it to my friend Robert Brinkley, who approves of it highly, 
 and asks for a copy to be sent to the ' Journal of Commerce,' New 
 York." 
 
 "MAY 23. Send forth a Pastoral Letter recommending every 
 Friday as a day of fasting and prayer, during the continuance of 
 present troubles." 
 
 "MAY 28. Anniversary of my dearly beloved Sarah's death. 
 O Lord, heal the wounds which Thy mercy and wisdom and love 
 have concurred to make." 
 
 1862. 
 
 During a considerable portion of this year, Memphis, 
 the home of the Bishop, was in the possession of the 
 Federal army. He gratefully acknowledges the courtesy 
 and kindness of the principal officers, and particularly of 
 General Sherman. 
 
 " MARCH 13. Went to see several of our sick and wounded 
 soldiers, among whom I found two Federal soldiers. Conversed 
 and read and prayed with them. Walked over a considerable part 
 of the city to purchase oranges for them, but could get none." 
 
 " MARCH 13. Heard to-day of the death of Bishop Meade. It 
 was a painful shock, though not unexpected. He was a remarkable 
 man ; and few of his day have exerted a greater influence, and left 
 a stronger impression of his spirit upon his generation. Like all 
 men of great powers, he made warm friends, and powerful (I 
 
Extracts from the Bishop's Diary. 169 
 
 should be sorry to say enemies, but rather) opponents. He was 
 a fearless man for what he believed to be the truth, frank, 
 sincere, and sincerely pious." 
 
 " DEC. 10. After breakfast, walked to the office of the Provost- 
 Marshal, who gave me a permit to visit the Confederate prisoners 
 at all times. Went to the Irving Block prison, and found one 
 (Crisp) very ill, too much so for me to converse with him ; and 
 another (Russell) with a sore throat and great hoarseness. Begged 
 officer to remove Crisp to the hospital." 
 
 " DEC. 12. Visited a wounded man (Captain Jones of Texas) 
 at the Overton Hospital, and gave him a Prayer-Book. Also 
 visited the prisoners at the Irving Block, and was glad to find that 
 Russell had obtained medicine for his throat and cough, and that 
 Crisp had been taken to the hospital." 
 
 The last entry made in the Bishop's diary is the 
 following : 
 
 " From Dec. 21 to this date, Jan. 3, 1863, I have been too 
 sick to note any thing in my diary. I desire to record here my 
 sense of God's goodness to me during the past year. It has been 
 a year of unusual sickness and suffering with me. Yet, amidst all 
 my pains and trials, God has graciously supported and comforted 
 me. He has protected me in my many journeyings. He has 
 given me grace and favor in the ey es of the invaders of my country, 
 and enabled me to be of some service to my fellow-men. For 
 these and a thousand other favors, I desire to bless and praise His 
 holy name for ever and ever." 
 
 "As time departs, salvation comes; 
 
 Each moment brings it near; 
 Then, welcome each declining day, 
 Welcome each closing year. 
 
 Not many years their course shall run, 
 
 Not many mornings rise, 
 Ere all its glories stand revealed 
 
 To our transported eyes." 
 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 
 
 EXTRACTS from a letter of Mrs. Henrietta C. Tomes, 
 daughter of Bishop Otey ; addressed to the writer. 
 
 MY DEAR BISHOP GREEN, The earliest recollection I have of 
 my dear father is associated with his frequent returns home after 
 his many long, fatiguing, and perilous visitations to the South and 
 West. He was then Missionary and Provisional Bishop of Arkan- 
 sas, Mississippi, part of Louisiana and Florida, and the Indian 
 Territory, besides having the care of his own Diocese. All these 
 combined kept him from home the greater part of the year. 
 During the short period he was with us, it was his delight to in- 
 struct and amuse his young children, who singly (or sometimes the 
 three youngest at once) would mount his knee, by our winter fire- 
 side, while he would sing quaint old songs, some of them wild and 
 weird in sound, startling us with the strange words, causing us to 
 gaze at him with a feeling of awe and reverential curiosity. One 
 song was especially deprecated by his youngest daughter, little 
 Fanny, whose tender years, united to a frank and affectionate dis- 
 position, made her the darling of the household. She would turn 
 hastily around, and give "papa" a hearty slap on the lips with 
 her rosy little palm, a feat that he generally courted, and at which 
 he was alwa} T s much amused. 
 
 Pie was a most tender and loving father ; and in his painful and 
 protracted journeyings, although he grudged not the time and ser- 
 vice devoted to the Lord, would often revert to these quiet domes- 
 
Extracts from Letters. 171 
 
 tic scenes. In one of his earlier diaries I find such words as these : 
 " Here am I, on the placid bosom of the Mississippi, every moment 
 receding farther and farther from those whom I tenderly love. . . . 
 How I would enjoy these scenes if I only had my wife and children 
 with me, to expatiate in the pleasures which are almost tasteless 
 without their presence ! " 
 
 My dear father, like many persons of deep and tender feelings, 
 was reserved in the expression of them, even in his own family. 
 He did not often (except to the little ones) display his affection 
 by caresses and words ; but when he did endeavor to reveal his 
 strong, deep, and tender affection, it was like the " fountains of the 
 great deep broken up," and tears would choke his utterance. . . . 
 
 This little girl Fanny, whose bright, caressing nature, unchecked 
 by the apparently grave aspect of my father, seemed to have twined 
 herself around the very fibres of his heart. Often have I seen them 
 together at twilight, her stature just reaching above his knee, 
 walk up and down the long hall, and sing psalms and hymns to- 
 gether ; or he would hear her repeat her little verses, learned to 
 recite at school. . . . My father had a fine voice ; and the soft, 
 ringing, childish notes of little Fanny, mingled in unison with his 
 own, was one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard. Happy 
 father and child, to be now united again forever ! 
 
 He enjoyed, too, the society of his elder children, one son 
 and two daughters married, and Sarah, a blooming girl of sixteen 
 summers, the pride of his heart. With what gladness he interested 
 himself in her studies, and shared her } r outhful aspirations, lighten- 
 ing her labors by his superior knowledge and intelligence ! He 
 would accompany her in her songs on the harp, in the balmy sum- 
 mer evenings, in the vine-covered porch of our beloved home ; and 
 I can recall his figure well, as, leaning back in his chair after the 
 songs were ended, he would delight to talk, and speculate on the 
 wonders and beauty of the shining stars sparkling above, and 
 patiently reply to the innumerable questions that wondering 
 childhood asks. 
 
 His earnest manner in speaking often made him appear stern, 
 but I can never remember his speaking harshly to us in all his life. 
 On the contrary, whenever any disagreeable duty had to be per- 
 
172 Appendix. 
 
 formed, his persuasive voice and manner made us feel proud to do 
 it for " pa's sake : " that plea carried the day always. When he 
 had occasion to use sterner measures, a single look of his deep, 
 dark eye was enough to convince the boldest of us that he was in 
 earnest. . . . 
 
 If there were illness in the family, no father could be more 
 patient, tender, and unwearying. It was not his privilege to sit by 
 the couch of his beloved Sarah : he arrived only a few moments 
 before she breathed her last, she with whom he had parted 
 glowing with life, ardor, and beauty, now stretched pale and dying 
 before him, and only in time to catch the last fond, expiring 
 glance of her eye, and hear her, in that last lucid interval, gasp 
 out " Dear pa," while feebly feeling for his hand. The agony of 
 that moment never passed from his mind, at home or abroad. . . . 
 
 In the last years of his life, he often spoke of his youth, the 
 scenes around his birth-place and old home ; and would dwell with 
 affectionate enthusiasm on his native mountains, especially the 
 Peaks of Otter, a picture of which he always kept on the mantel 
 of his library. He spoke of his keen susceptibility to religious 
 impressions in those days, and " would have given any thing," he 
 would often say, "to have had the advantages of careful, judi- 
 cious training, and to have had the love of God held forth to him, 
 instead of the fear of a great and terrible Jehovah." That feeling, 
 combined with the natural fears inherent in some children, made 
 the approach of a thunder-storm terrible to him. It was literally, 
 to his sensitive and impressive organization, " the voice of God in 
 the thunder." . . . His favorite sport was fishing in the blue 
 mountain-streams around his home; and " happy and proud was 
 I," he would say, "after fishing all day in the Big Otter, with 
 some favorite book by me, to come home laden with a string of 
 fine mountain- trout. " . . . 
 
 The religious education of youth was always a subject of the 
 greatest interest to my father, and during the whole of his ministry 
 he endeavored to awake and keep alive an interest in establishing 
 male and female schools. Tennessee, when he first came, was the 
 home of the pioneer; and the rough and hardy backwoodsmen 
 looked with contempt upon learning and refinement, especially as 
 
Extracts from Letters. 17f3 
 
 connected with the Ministry of the Gospel. The services of the 
 Church were something so strange to them, that I have often heard 
 my father illustrate it by telling of the homely remark of some 
 rude son of the wilderness: "Come, let's go and hear that man 
 preach, and his wife jaw back at him ; " alluding to the responses 
 made by my mother, who was often the only person who could 
 take part in our services. But these drawbacks, as we well know, 
 could not deter my dear father. He taught during the week ; and 
 on Sunday preached, more than once after riding over rough roads 
 through all kinds of weather. These labors told severely on his 
 health. Horseback-riding was the only mode of travel in those 
 primitive days ; and, after riding all day, his stopping-place was 
 often only a little tavern, which he would reach cold, wet, and 
 hungry, and compelled to sit down to coarse, unwholesome food, 
 which the stomach revolted at, but was obliged to be partaken in 
 order to sustain him on his journeys. " Mullein-tea," for instance, 
 does not sound very palatable. In his earlier diaries, I find such 
 extracts as these, after riding all day : "Weather cold and windy, 
 much distressed with toothache. Reach Bolivar a little after sun- 
 down ; stop at the tavern, so weary I cannot dismount without 
 assistance. After a sleepless and uncomfortable night, head 
 aching badly, eyes sore, and every bone and muscle giving pain ; " 
 but must press on, and have service that day. Often his onty 
 comment, after his day's labor was ended, was, " Weary ! weary ! 
 weary ! " . . . 
 
 To his servants, my father was a kind and considerate master. 
 Those born under his roof, he always baptized, and endeavored to 
 bring them up in the fear of the Lord, having them taught the 
 Church Catechism, and being very particular about their attendance 
 at family worship morning and evening. Frequently he would 
 explain the Scriptures, as he would read to them. . . . 
 
 In his last illness he was most patient, submissive, and gentle. 
 It was truly touching, when his mind began to fail, to hear him 
 humbly ask for an}' thing, saj'ing, " If it is no trouble;" sur- 
 rounded, though, by anxious friends, eager to obey his slightest 
 glance. The last time but one that he partook of the Holy Sac- 
 rament, he requested the Minister to pause for a moment at the 
 
1 74 Appendix. 
 
 words in the General Confession, "by thought, word, and deed," 
 repeating them himself with marked earnestness and solemnit} 7 " ; 
 and, on receiving the cup, held it a moment clasped in his trem- 
 bling hands, and said, " I call you all present to witness that my 
 only hope of salvation is through the blood of Jesus Christ." . . . 
 During the last week of his illness, when his mind failed him, and 
 he was almost insensible to what was going on around him, he 
 would understand words and sentences of Scripture, while nothing 
 else would attract his attention ; and once, when we knelt in prayer 
 at his bedside, he seemed unconscious, until the words, " Our 
 Father," struck his attention ; and he then joined with us in a low 
 but distinct voice. 
 
 From Mrs. Eliza (or Donna) Compton, youngest 
 daughter of the Bishop. 
 
 DEAR BISHOP GREEN, I regret that in answer to your request 
 I can do nothing more than to notice briefly some of those simple, 
 obscure, } T et endearing incidents of my father's ministry, little 
 known save only to Him whose " eyelids try the children of men." 
 . . . Like the "sower" in Holy Writ, he planted the seeds for 
 a great educational and ministerial work in the pioneer States 
 of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, seeds of 
 which he saw only the sowing, but which, by the blessing of God, 
 are now blooming, and dispensing their fruits through the land. 
 
 In Maury, Shelby, and Williamson Counties, of Tennessee, were 
 settled many families from Virginia, Maryland, and North Caro- 
 lina ; worthy, excellent, and industrious people, but most of them 
 Scotch-Irish, and by birth and early training inimical to our 
 Church. They, however, soon learned to like and respect the 
 } T oung tutor, and he found many firm friends among them. 
 
 With the help of his fair-haired and courageous young wife, 
 who had left her home in North Carolina to share his fortunes in 
 the new country, he made himself a simple but happy home. 
 Besides the occupations of teacher and pastor, he had the rude 
 necessities of daily toil to encounter ; for there was little done on 
 the small farm where they lived, without his personal supervision, 
 
Extracts from Letters. 175 
 
 and oftentimes the labor of his own hands. Like St. Paul, he 
 4 'liked to be chargeable to no man." The same hand that during 
 the day assisted his domestics in gathering in the winter stores, 
 was in the evening employed with a rapid and vigorous pen in 
 corresponding with the most distinguished minds of the day, on 
 the highest and noblest themes for the enlightenment and improve- 
 ment of humanity. 
 
 If we add to these the care of many schools and churches, and 
 the unavoidable sorrows and troubles of the little parish, his im- 
 mediate charge, we shall see how arduous were his duties ere yet 
 had been thrust upon him the labor and responsibility of his 
 maturer years, as Bishop of Tennessee, and Provisional Bishop of 
 the adjacent States of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas." . . . 
 He passed from one territory to another, not like the Highlander 
 with fiery cross, speeding over valleys and mountains to rouse to 
 war and bloodshed ; but was no less ardent and intent in spreading 
 abroad the knowledge of that cross which is the only beacon-light 
 that can arouse the minds of the ignorant or apathetic from their 
 slumbers, and lead them on to a higher life. He went from day 
 to day baptizing, preaching, and confirming, in small stations far 
 away, among Indians, and a rude soldiery in distant garrisons. 
 Yet it is pleasing to reflect that in all his missions he met with 
 many courteous and cultivated people, such as the officers of the 
 United-States Army and their families, with whom were begun and 
 continued very pleasant and life-long friendships. . . . 
 
 Though often sick and overcome by fatigue, he never failed to 
 enjoy the terrible beauty of the swollen, rushing streams, the wide- 
 spreading prairies, the dark and tangled swamps ; and more than 
 once we find him exclaiming, " Oh the mountains ! the blue, blue 
 mountains ! how they remind me of my own, my native State, my 
 dearly loved Virginia ! . . . 
 
 Such was the tenor of my father's life for many years. Besides 
 the care of his own Diocese, he paid annual visitations to three 
 neighboring States, until the gradual growth of the Church within 
 their borders enabled them as Dioceses to provide Chief Shepherds 
 for themselves. During the time of these Southern visitations, he 
 formed many of the noblest and truest friendships ; finding in 
 
176 Appendix. 
 
 many places a generous and ready help, and meeting at all times 
 with the most cordial and bountiful hospitality. 
 
 The following short extract is from a letter of Mrs. 
 Mary F. Govan, another daughter of the Bishop : 
 
 The great reverence and love which we felt for our dear father 
 could hardly be surpassed in any other family. I can remember 
 him at all times full of patience, affection, and forbearance towards 
 each one of us. Among the last acts of his life, he called me to 
 his bedside, and made me kneel, pronouncing a blessing upon me, 
 which, through God's mercy, has followed me all the days of my 
 life. 
 
 Extracts from a Letter of Rev. Thomas W. Humes, 
 D.D., an esteemed Presbyter of Bishop Otey. and long 
 on terms of affection and intimacy with him. 
 
 In his natural constitution, Bishop Otey was built up to be one 
 of the superior men of his day and generation. His personal pres- 
 ence, when in his prime, was both impressive and attractive. Tall, 
 strong, well-formed, having a complexion in which the red harmo- 
 niously commingled with the white, dark and expressive eyes, 
 coal-black hair, and unstudied bearing and manners, it seemed 
 
 that 
 
 " The elements were 
 
 So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up, 
 And say to all the world, This is a man ! " 
 
 The imagination of the youthful observer might be excused for 
 finding in him the resemblance to its ideal of a great chieftain. 
 And, indeed, as a natural man, he was evidently born to command. 
 . . . He was once heard himself to say, that, if he had not become 
 a Christian Minister, he would have been a soldier. Happily the 
 grace of God, through faith in " the Captain-General of our salva- 
 tion," turned his combative, heroic qualities to a higher and nobler 
 warfare than one of flesh and blood. . . . 
 
 The Bishop was scrupulous in adhering to the prescribed forms 
 
Extracts from Letters. 
 
 as well as doctrines of the Church ; but was not afraid to depart 
 from them when the occasion seemed to justify it, as the follow- 
 ing will show. He was once about to administer Confirmation to 
 the wife of an aged General, at an open-air meeting of the people 
 of the country, in the woods of Arkansas. He had before con- 
 versed, concerning the faith in Christ, with the veteran officer; 
 who stood alone in the congregation when his wife left his side, 
 and went forward to receive " the laying-on of hands." " Gen- 
 eral C.," the Bishop called aloud, " you have been a good soldier 
 of your country : now show yourself a good soldier of Jesus 
 Christ." With tears streaming down his cheeks, the General 
 obeyed the call, went forward, was confirmed, and ever afterwards 
 until his death led a consistent Christian life. . . . 
 
 In other respects than physically, Bishop Otey was one of 
 Nature's noblemen. His vigorous and active mind had been so 
 disciplined and informed, that it performed its assigned work with 
 ease and efficiency. His heart, full of kindness and good-will to 
 all men, throbbed quickly and warmly in response to just and gen- 
 erous sentiments and influences. His conscience spoke to him, 
 not only with authority, but with a power that he was ever ready 
 to acknowledge. And his will, when once he was convinced as to 
 the line of his duty, had the fibre of iron and the tenacity of the 
 magnet. Yet, grand as he was in his robust manhood, his guile- 
 lessness was that of a little child. Sincerity and simplicity were 
 marked traits of his character. . . . 
 
 As a preacher, Bishop Otey had marked ability. His personal 
 presence could not fail to give some weight and efficiency to his 
 discourse ; but the discourse, by virtue of its own merits, scarcely 
 needed such aid. The character of his sermons was not so per- 
 suasive as edifying. . . . He stuck closely to his subject, -r- turn- 
 ing it over and over, presenting it in various lights, and hammering 
 on its different sides, so that the listener might see it in its full and 
 proper form and use. To win men to Christ, and to build them 
 up in Christ, was his chief aim and endeavor. 
 
 Bishop Otey called himself simply a Churchman, after the 
 pattern of the Prayer-Book, irrespective of party lines and conten- 
 tions. The emotional, sympathetic element in his nature was very 
 
1 78 Appendix. 
 
 strong ; but his reason was at the same time calmly enthroned ; 
 and to its decisions he brought the impulses which spring from the 
 feelings. He therefore cherished a spirit of moderation, unfriendly 
 to extreme views and measures. He stoutly advocated his delib- 
 ate opinions concerning the Scriptural Constitution and Apostolic 
 Ministry of the visible Church ; but he respected, and forebore 
 with, his brethren whose opinions on those subjects were less ele- 
 vated and stringent than his own. He deplored the bodily disin- 
 tegration of the Church, the divisions into numerous sects or 
 denominations of Christian people ; . . . and, having in his heart 
 brotherly affection for all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincer- 
 ity, he labored upon opportunity for the healing of those divisions. 
 But the unity for which he prayed and sought was not of the type 
 which Rome pretentiously presents, and to which she deceivingly 
 invites. Being Evangelical and a Churchman, he was also a most 
 decided Protestant. To the principles and doctrines of the Eng- 
 lish Reformation, as maintained by Latimer, Ridley, and Jewell, 
 he adhered with firmness and even jealousy. Any attempt to 
 teach the false doctrines of the Church of Rome, by word or 
 S3 r mbol, met with his marked displeasure and hostility. 
 
 He loved the Bible, studied it thoughtfully, to the end of under- 
 standing it, and had an accurate and extensive knowledge of its 
 contents. A young man, on becoming a Candidate for Deacons' 
 Orders, asked him, "What shall I study?" The answer was, 
 44 Study the Bible." . . . 
 
 His rich and fruitful experience of the life of God in the soul 
 was not a subject with him of frequent conversation, nor with 
 more than a few friends. Others learned of the things that oc- 
 curred in the silent chambers of his heart, not from his lips, but 
 from his life and walk. His strong, prevailing desire was after 
 holiness. It was, that God would sanctify him, body, soul and 
 spirit. . . . 
 
 There was one Christian virtue more deeply wrought into his 
 character than many observers supposed. It was seen of God, 
 rather than of men. His humility, like his guilelessness, was that 
 of a little child. Among his fellow-men, he bore himself with 
 princely dignity and courage. But he was "lowly in his own 
 
Extracts from Letters. 179 
 
 eyes." To instruction from others' lips, he had an open ear and 
 mind, and was not ashamed, figuratively, to sit at the feet of one 
 younger than himself in years, subordinate in position, and un- 
 worthy of such honor. . . . 
 
 In the last decade of his life, his domestic afflictions were 
 serious and distressing. He felt them keenly, for he had an 
 inexpressible tenderness of heart. But they were instrumental 
 in bringing him nearer to the Lord, by faith, and, through the 
 gracious influence of the Holy Spirit, increasing him in holiness 
 and patience, and so in " meekness for the inheritance of the saints 
 in light." 
 
 Shortly after the decease of his wife in the summer of 1861, he 
 wrote to me as follows : 
 
 BEEBSHEBA SPRINGS, July 2, 1861. 
 
 REV. AND DEAR BROTHER HUMES, Yours of the 24th ult. 
 reached me last evening, forwarded from Memphis. I thank you 
 most sincerely for the many suggestions of comfort which it offers. 
 Mine is a bereavement which you have experienced, and can 
 therefore sympathize with one thus called to suffer. I know and 
 strive to realize the full extent of the duty which this painful cor- 
 rection was doubtless intended to teach me specially, whatever pur- 
 pose it was intended to serve in reference to others. I know that 
 in very faithfulness the Lord has caused me to be troubled. . . . 
 Truly do you say that the school of Christ is the school of afflic- 
 tion, and we may thankfully submit to learn, if we can but clearly 
 comprehend the lesson taught. But to do this, we must in a sense 
 be made over again. As some old writer says, " One creation 
 does not serve our turn." God must re-create us, and form us 
 anew. Well do I remember years ago how strangely such senti- 
 ments fell upon my spiritual hearing ; my ear then just beginning 
 to listen to such instruction, and, alas ! even yet dull to hear and 
 to learn. I used to think with myself, that I lacked proofs of my 
 adoption into the famity of God, because I had then seen no afflic- 
 tion. . . . And now the Lord has not left me without witness ! 
 Brothers and sisters have gone ! children that I loved too tenderly 
 have gone ; brethren dear to me have gone ; father and mother 
 gone ; and now my beloved wife, part of myself, the compan- 
 
180 Appendix. 
 
 ion of life's joys and sorrows for forty years, gone ! My hearth- 
 stone is cold and cheerless, the light in my dwelling put out in 
 obscure darkness ; and I am left desolate " as a lodge in a garden 
 of cucumbers." . . . Have I not had enough, my dear brother? 
 and must I not be the most hardened and stupid of all those who 
 profess to serve God in the Ministry of the Church, if I fail to learn 
 the lessons which these sore and repeated chastisements were in- 
 tended to teach me? May God, the blessed Comforter, teach me, 
 enlighten me, dwell in me, and sanctify me wholly, soul, body, 
 and spirit ! But ah ! how often have I uttered this prayer, and 3 r et 
 how reluctant still to be taught, and to lie passive as the clay in 
 the potter's hands ! Well, we have the assurance of God's Word, 
 that He will not forsake His people : and our wretchedness, our 
 weakness and blindness, may serve as a plea, through Christ, to 
 move His pity and gain His help. . . . 
 
 To the same Presb3 7 ter he wrote from Beersheba, Sept. 18, 
 1861: 
 
 " My daughter will take control of nry household matters ; and 
 I look forward with pleasing hope, ' if it be God's will,' to devote 
 the brief remnant of life more fully and entirely to His service than 
 I have ever yet been able to do." 
 
 But, alas ! the remnant of that life on earth was very short. 
 The subsequent }*ear, he was called away from the midst of man's 
 commotions and strife, to be with that God in whose presence is 
 life, and at whose right hand are pleasures forever more. 
 
 T. W. HUMES. 
 
 From the Kev. George C. Harris, D.D. 
 
 It was during the last five years of Bishop Otey's life, that I 
 came to know him well. In previous years I had often seen him, 
 and felt the power of his magnificent presence ; but I was at a 
 distance from him, and known to him but slightly. When, how- 
 ever, in the providence of God I came under his care as a young 
 Deacon, I did not fail to discover, even if I did not then appreciate 
 as now, the paternal tenderness of his loving heart. Familiarity 
 with him heightened the sense of his greatness, while it revealed 
 
Extracts from Letters. 181 
 
 the strong root out of which it grew, forgetfulness of self in the 
 constant recollection of God and men. 
 
 As a scholar and preacher,. Bishop Otey stood as also he 
 did in physical stature head and shoulders above his Clergy. 
 Ability to execute, and discernment to direct and counsel wisely, 
 were, in my judgment, his distinguishing characteristics. In this I 
 would not be understood as referring to what is called administra- 
 tive ability. Many a weaker Bishop has administered his Diocese 
 with more success, as that word goes. This kind of ability is a 
 mere business quality, such as may be found in counting-houses 
 the world over. But to be able to direct and counsel men to do 
 the right thing because it is right, on a distinctly perceived theory 
 of Christian philosophy, regardless of present results, this is a 
 different and a larger faculty. 
 
 Another distinguishing feature of Bishop Otey's character was 
 the perfect S3 7 mpathy he had acquired with every form of human 
 sorrow. Whoever knows of the many sorrowful passages of the 
 Bishop's life will understand by what steps he had been led along 
 towards this large development of the Divine love. In his Epis- 
 copate of nearly thirty years, one finds much of toil and hardship, 
 and much also of sorrowful disappointment. And yet there were 
 no dolorous chords in all his heart. Full of soberness and dig- 
 nity he was, but full also of chastened brightness. 
 
 The fine black e} T e, with which it would seem he could look 
 through a man, would sparkle with delight, and the whole strong 
 face grow radiant, as, leaving graver duties, he took his full share 
 of social converse. 
 
 More than twenty 3 T ears he has been in Paradise. The great 
 storm of '61-' 6 5 bore him away from us, a victim of the civil war 
 as truly as that other Bishop whose breast was visibly lacerated in 
 the unequal conflict. 
 
 I have no authority to speak for the rest, but I do not doubt 
 I voice a sentiment common to all the living of Bishop Otey's 
 Clergy in saying he was a model man and a model Bishop. 
 
 The following letter is from Captain James S. John- 
 ston of Church Hill, near Natchez, whose hospitable 
 
182 Appendix. 
 
 doors were always open to welcome the Bishop on his 
 annual visitations. 
 
 AUBURN HALL. 
 
 MY BELOVED AND VENERATED BISHOP, ... Most sincerely do 
 I wish that I were competent to execute the task you ask me to 
 undertake, in a manner worthy of the subject ; but my crude and 
 feeble pen is entirely inadequate to pourtray the character of one so 
 exalted as our lamented friend the late Bishop of Tennessee. 
 
 Bishop Otey was a man to be pre-eminently loved, honored, and 
 revered by his fellow-men ; for he beautifully combined the mascu- 
 line and forceful traits held in such high estimation by the world, 
 with the softer and gentler graces of the humble-minded and 
 devout Christian. 
 
 The personal qualities, which so inspired the admiration, and 
 won the attachment of friends, were a sublime elevation of moral 
 character, lifting him above every thing sensual and gross ; an 
 inflexible adherence to principle ; a devotion to truth imparting to 
 his every word the value of a pledge of honor ; mildness and even- 
 ness of disposition ; unaffected simplicity of manner ; transparent 
 purity of heart; feminine delicacy of thought, and chasteness of 
 expression ; a tender s}*mpathy, responsive to every cry of distress ; 
 and a charity alive to every appeal of human want and suffering. 
 , My recollections of this great and good man and revered prelate, 
 in his prime, bring before my mental vision the image of a per- 
 son of imposing stature, robust frame, and vigorous constitution, 
 stately in presence, and dignified in address. In his large, well-filled 
 proportions, he was a striking type of physical manhood. The 
 vigor of his mind was in full keeping with the grandeur of his 
 frame, its counterpart and equal. His intellect was cast in a capa- 
 cious mould, the jewel being worthy of the casket that contained 
 it. Equally vigorous in mind and body, he afforded an apt illus- 
 tration of the classic conception, mens sana in corpore sano. . . . 
 
 The Oteys of Bedford, as a family, were remarkable for their 
 prowess, no less than for their high and chivalrous spirit. Some 
 of them were marvellous specimens of muscular development and 
 athletic power. Fortitude and physical strength came to the Bishop, 
 
Extracts from Letters. 183 
 
 therefore, as a legacy from ancestors of semi-gigantic size. When 
 a 3*oung man, before taking Orders in the Church, he was once a 
 passenger on a steamboat, with two ladies committed to his care. 
 While promenading the deck, they were insulted in his presence 
 by a rowdy. The insult was promptly resented by their chivalrous 
 escort, who by a single trip-hammer blow of his clinched fist felled 
 the ruffian to the floor ; who, on rising to his feet, was glad to get 
 off by a humble apology. 
 
 The birthplace of Bishop Otey was in a region almost unrivalled 
 for the grandeur and beauty of its scenery. He was born and 
 reared under the very shadow of the historic Peaks of Otter, in the 
 glorious old Commonwealth of Virginia, the mother of States and 
 statesmen. . . . From the same interesting locality, beneath the 
 overshadowing brow of those lofty and picturesque Peaks, came 
 also, as Bishop Otey's contemporary, and dear and devoted friend, 
 the saintly Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, first Bishop of Alabama ; who, 
 in habitual meekness, and humility of spirit, seemed to bear to 
 Bishop Otey the relation we may suppose to have been borne by 
 the "beloved disciple" to the sturdier and more aggressive 
 Peter." . . . 
 
 My acquaintance with the Bishop commenced at the time of his 
 election as Provisional Bishop of Mississippi. . . . Once a year, 
 at least, he came to look after the spiritual interests of the Church 
 thus confided to his care. At such periods, his paternal visits to 
 our infant and often destitute parishes were like refreshing show- 
 ers falling upon a parched and thirsty land. Nothing could exceed 
 the cordial and enthusiastic greeting extended to him on these 
 occasions, by old and young, high and low, rich and poor. Not 
 the least of his many social charms was a benign and captivating 
 expression of goodness, that habitually lighted up his manly fea- 
 tures, and beamed like mellow sunshine from his benevolent face. 
 His sweet and gracious smile was a reflex of the goodness that 
 comes from the heart, and which never fails to win and please, 
 because it does come straightway from the heart. . . . 
 
 On the occasion of his visits, too few and far between, 
 Bishop^ Otey's great and loving heart flowed out to his people in 
 streams of generous and sympathizing love. Never, while mem- 
 
184 Appendix. 
 
 ory lasts, can we forget the kindness and tenderness of his care, 
 or the gentleness of his ministrations, as he passed in and out 
 amongst us, faithfully delivering the message of redemption through 
 the blood of a crucified Saviour, breaking to us the bread of life, 
 baptizing our little ones, laying hands on those of riper years, 
 binding us in the bonds of holy wedlock, burying our dead, and 
 pointing the living to the way of eternal life. 
 
 His sermons were, for the most part, of a didactic nature, and 
 in no degree calculated for sensational effect, though always deliv- 
 ered with energy and warmth. He was thoughtful in the choice of 
 his subjects, and the selection of appropriate texts, and rarely 
 preached without careful and diligent preparation. ... No 
 preacher ever spoke with a deeper conviction of the truth and 
 importance of the message he was commissioned to bear. This 
 gave great emphasis and impressive earnestness to all his utter- 
 ances from the sacred desk. His st}'le, though forcible, and at 
 times eloquent, was in no sense rhetorical. He cared less than 
 any man for the mere tinsel of oratory or the flowers of fancy. 
 He was a stranger to metaphor, and had the merest minimum of 
 poetry in his nature. . . . He loved the truth, and was ambitious 
 above all things to make it clear to the understandings of men. 
 His undeniable strength and power lay in a sound judgment, good 
 natural sense, perfect purity of purpose, a practical knowledge of 
 men, and of the best and surest methods of reaching their con- 
 sciences, and dealing with their obstinacy and pride. . . . 
 
 Very few of Bishop Otey's sermons, valuable and instructive as 
 they were, ever found their way into print. His celebrated dis- 
 courses on " The Threefold Ministry" were preached and published 
 while he was Provisional Bishop in this Diocese. They taught a 
 multitude of professing Churchmen here, much they had never 
 known before. . . . They started the Church in Mississippi 
 in the right direction. And we are indebted to you, Right 
 Reverend Father, for a further faithful continuance of the good 
 work which has proved so fruitful in its enlightening and beneficent 
 results. 
 
 What more, my dear Bishop, can I say within the limits of the 
 space assigned me ? I am afraid I have already transcended those 
 
Extracts from Letters. 185 
 
 limits. I have written ' calamo currente.' Should you find any 
 thing to suit you in these hurried lines, make such use of them as 
 you choose, and discard any or all that does not fall within the 
 scope of your design. 
 
 With sentiments of affectionate esteem and love, I remain, my 
 
 dear Bishop, 
 
 Your Son in Christ, 
 
 JAS. S. JOHNSTON. 
 
 The following is from the Rev. William C. Gray, 
 D.D., one of the Bishop's Presbyters : 
 
 If I were to attempt to give an estimate of Bishop Otey's char- 
 acter in few words, I would say that his greatness impressed me 
 in a threefold manner. He was powerful physically, intellectually, 
 and spiritually. 
 
 He was of commanding stature, six feet four inches in height, 
 broad-shouldered and well proportioned ; with an expression of 
 countenance, and a dark, piercing eye, which, wherever he went, 
 proclaimed him a born leader of men. 
 
 Intellectually he towered in quite as striking a manner among 
 men as he did physically. . . . His polished language and im- 
 pressive oratory were never used as the vehicle of " airy nothings," 
 but were ever setting forth profound thoughts, important truths, 
 and principles of a far-reaching and undying character. 
 
 But above all, and giving the highest touch of grandeur to this 
 rare development of a human trinity, was his spiritual attainment. 
 Strong as a lion, he was gentle as a lamb. Skilled in learning, 
 ancient and modern, and " mighty in the Scriptures," he was the 
 genial companion of his humblest Deacon, or poorest and most 
 obscure communicant. He combined the dignity of an emperor 
 with the simplicity of a little child. He could touch the hearts of 
 others, because he spoke out of the fulness of his own ; for often- 
 times, when pleading with sinful men to be " reconciled to God," 
 the tears on his own cheeks would testify how deeply he felt what 
 he strove to impress upon others. 
 
 To his Clergy and Postulants, he was ever a sympathizing and 
 
186 Appendix 
 
 loving father; accessible at all times, and ever manifesting a 
 personal interest in the welfare of each. 
 
 While stern and uncompromising in rebuking sin, and firm and 
 fearless in maintaining the principles of the Church, he found his 
 most congenial work in showing forth, both by precept and exam- 
 ple, in public and in private, the results of that all-controlling 
 apostolic principle, " the constraining love of Christ." . . . 
 
 From the very inception of his work in Tennessee, he saw that 
 the great demand of the age was for a system of education looking 
 to the simultaneous and equal development of body, mind, and 
 spirit. 
 
 This was undoubtedly the ever-present and prevailing thought 
 of his great mind during his Ministry of thirty-six years. . . . His 
 interest in, and efforts for, the cause of Christian female education, 
 are well known ; and his efforts to lay foundations for the deepest, 
 broadest, and highest culture for our boys and young men, are no 
 less noteworthy. He began with this idea at Franklin, continued 
 it at Columbia, set it forth before his Conventions, before repre- 
 sentative people of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and 
 before the representative Bishops, Presbyters, and laymen of the 
 entire country, assembled in Richmond, Va., in 1859. . . . 
 
 Without doubt, in his early begun and constantly renewed plans 
 for a Classical and Theological Seminary, to be founded and main- 
 tained by the States of the South-West, is to be found the germ of 
 that Institution even now blessing our South, and pregnant with 
 foreshadowed blessings for the entire country, the UNIVERSITY 
 OF THE SOUTH. 
 
 The great Bishop passed away from earth in the midst of the 
 " clouds and darkness " of the late civil war, which, if it did not 
 break his heart, undoubtedly shortened his life. He deplored its 
 beginnings. He prayed and he hoped, even against hope, that it 
 might be averted ; but in vain. . . . 
 
 It was my privilege to be with my beloved Bishop in his last 
 illness. In consequence of the war which was still raging around 
 us, none of his brother Bishops could be with him ; but a few of 
 his faithful Priests were at his bedside. However thick the dark- 
 ness outside, the dying Christian u had light in his dwelling." I 
 
Extracts from Letters. 187 
 
 stood by his bedside, while he spake to us words of heavenly wis- 
 dom, and almost enabled us to look upon the glories of that region 
 into which he was just entering. And when he ceased speaking, 
 and angels were bearing his spirit away to the Paradise of God, it 
 was my privilege to close his eyes in their last sleep. 
 
 W. C. GRAY. 
 
ADDRESSES AND SERMONS. 
 
 ADDRESS. 1 
 
 It is the distinguishing and peculiar glory of Christianity, that 
 she has ever been first and foremost in works of benevolence. 
 The charity which she inculcates embraces in its outgoings the 
 whole race of mankind. Wherever misery has found an abode, 
 or misfortune a dwelling-place, there is the sphere of her benign 
 operations ; and wherever her footsteps can be traced through this 
 wide world of sin, there are to be seen in the light which she sheds 
 over ignorance, in the riches which she gives for poverty, in the 
 peace and happiness which she diffuses around with liberal hand, 
 the impressive proofs of her kindred ship with heaven. The insti- 
 tutions which Christian benevolence has originated, and brought 
 into successful operation, are as various in their objects as are the 
 forms of human misery ; and it is a fact to which we too seldom 
 revert, that, previous to the introduction of the Gospel into our 
 world, not a single asylum or hospital for the afflicted or homeless 
 was to be found on the face of the earth. It is to Christianit}' that 
 we are indebted for the establishment of all those institutions in 
 which the sick, the poor, the widow, and the orphan now find that 
 sympathy for their misery, and that provision for their wants, which 
 it is the joy of the compassionate to furnish. 
 
 In regard to the institution which your sense of duty has here 
 founded, and which your charity has from year to year cherished, 
 
 1 Delivered by the Right Rev. Bishop Otey, of Tennessee, at the Annual 
 Meeting of the Orphan Society of Natchez, Miss., 1836. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 189 
 
 it is perhaps sufficient to say, that it is, in its character and 
 objects, essentially Christian. The limits of this address do not 
 allow me, nor perhaps is it at all requisite, to attempt an enumera- 
 tion of all the beneficial results which may flow from its operations. 
 These results are not to be confined to the boundaries of time and 
 sense : they are to be looked, for in eternity. Yet it may be prof- 
 itable to us, perhaps, to contemplate them as they are developed 
 to human observation here, in this appropriate and appointed field 
 of human effort and trial ; and so they shall surely be estimated in 
 a brighter but better and purer world. 
 
 What, then, is the object of this institution? It is to clothe the 
 naked, feed the hungry, and provide a shelter for the houseless. 
 It is to insure protection in this world to those whom God, in his 
 wise providence, has deprived of their natural guardians. And 
 does not such an object commend itself at once, and without argu- 
 ment, to the Christian regards of every feeling and benevolent 
 heart? With whom can we or shall we sympathize, if not those 
 whose very helplessness furnishes an argument for care and pro- 
 tection, whose dangers call so loudly for a defence and shield, and 
 whose bereavement appeals so forcibly to every affection in the 
 parental bosom? Cast one of these helpless children, now an 
 inmate of this dwelling, out upon the uncertain care and the pre- 
 carious support which the world will furnish, and trace in imagina- 
 tion, as }*ou may with the unerring certainty of truth, her wayward 
 steps through the snares and dangers of life. Is she hungr}*? 
 She has to beg bread. Is she in want of clothing? She has to 
 beg it. Is she without a shelter? She has to beg a lodging-place. 
 And now mark the hardening process that is going on among her 
 young and budding affections, while she is thus driven to seek for 
 the daily necessaries of life. The natural sensibility of her soul is 
 blunted ; and in a little time that modesty which led her at first to 
 ask for bread or shelter with feminine timidity of bashfulness, is 
 succeeded by a boldness of manner, and a masculine fearlessness 
 of bearing, which, while it shocks the feelings of the more refined, 
 at the same time invites a refusal to the demands of poverty. The 
 next step is naturally, if not inevitably, to the haunts of licentious- 
 ness and crime. Her associates are 1 the inmates of dark and dread- 
 
190 Appendix. 
 
 ful abodes, who will patronize and encourage every step she makes 
 in iniquity, until their wretched victim, made as much the child of 
 hell as themselves, is lost to herself and the world, and puts in 
 practice against others the very arts by which she herself has been 
 irretrievably ruined. But the loss of character and reputation is 
 not the last or only ruin in which she is involved. By wicked works 
 she is alienated from God ; and, in casting away all regard for the 
 opinion of the world, she has also thrown off all fear of God. She 
 plunges into all the excesses of the most infamous dissipation, the 
 most degrading brutality ; lives without restraint, dies without 
 hope ; and reaps the fruits of her own doings in the despair of hell, 
 and in the agony of the second death ! Does one imagine that this 
 is a fanciful or overwrought picture ? Let him examine the reports 
 of benevolent societies, established in many of our large and pop- 
 ulous towns for the purpose of meliorating the condition of the 
 friendless and the offcast, and he will see that I have but barely 
 touched the outlines of a picture too revolting in its features to be 
 delineated. 
 
 To guard against results so shocking to the better feelings of 
 our nature, seems to be an obvious dictate of humanity. The case 
 which I have supposed has been invested with the sad realities of 
 truth in too many instances ; and the number of these might have 
 been increased within the sphere of your own personal knowledge 
 and observation, but for the timely and sufficient remedy provided 
 against their occurrence, by the establishment of this humane and 
 charitable institution. Here the most forlorn and friendless of our 
 race, the orphan, may not only find food and raiment, but also that 
 moral culture, that religious instruction, which will fit her for the 
 duties of life, and prepare her for the awakening solemnities of 
 death and judgment. Here she will find those who will supply to 
 her the place of parents, and present to her objects around which 
 her young affections maj T twine, and be trained to sentiments of 
 piety and virtue. And is there a single contributor to the support 
 of this institution, but must feel a glow of gratification in contem- 
 plating such a result as the fruit of her charity ? When in future 
 years she shall see one of these children discharging with honor 
 the various duties of life ; the centre perhaps of the best and most 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 191 
 
 tender affections of the human heart ; illustrating in her practice 
 the excellency and the beauty of those principles which have been 
 inculcated under this humble roof ; contributing to the happiness 
 and well-being of the community ; or raised by the providence of 
 God to the highest station of responsibility which wealth or other 
 accidental circumstances can impose, and still sustaining, with 
 credit and fidelity, the multiplied relations that rank and influence 
 create, can she feel otherwise than thankful to God for the 
 opportunity thus afforded her, of employing a pittance of that 
 abundance which His goodness has given, to promote His honor 
 and glory, and add to the well-being and felicity of His creatures? 
 Nor are the effects of this charity limited, as I have already inti- 
 mated, to this world. With God's blessing, the pious instructions 
 here given, the religious impressions here made, may shape the 
 future destiny of these children ; may, at an early period of their 
 history, lead their thoughts up to God ; may stamp upon their 
 young hearts abiding impressions of the excellency and glory of 
 His character; and through successive contemplations of His 
 power, goodness, and mercj', kindle a flame of devotion and love 
 that can never be extinguished. What Christian but must desire 
 and pray for such a consummation ? Who that feels bound to his 
 race by the sympathies of a common humanity, but must be willing 
 to aid and foster an institution which contemplates such results ? 
 And yet with all the professed Christianity around us, and with all 
 the fellow-feeling which distinguishing mercies and blessings, one 
 would suppose, would keep alive and in active exercise among this 
 favored people, I find, from the last report of this institution, that 
 its treasury is nearly exhausted, and that its operations are crip- 
 pled by its limited means. I find that its annual income from all 
 sources is scarcely one-tenth of the probable amount which world- 
 lings give to the theatre ! This is an astounding fact ; its annuncia- 
 tion should make the ears of the community tingle. It shows that 
 something is radically wrong in practice, if not in principle, among 
 us. It demonstrates, in terms that supersede argument, the ne- 
 cessity of deep reflection, of serious self-examination, with those 
 who, in suffering an institution of the noblest charity thus to lan- 
 guish in their very presence, give occasion to fix upon their charac- 
 
192 Appendix. 
 
 ter the charge that they are ' ' lovers of pleasure more than the 
 lovers of God." 
 
 Surely the simple statement of the fact adverted to is sufficient, 
 without comment, to draw forth from the pious and benevolent 
 such efforts as to do away at once and forever this reproach. I 
 leave it, therefore, before you in its naked simplicity, persuaded 
 that its mention needs not the accompaniment of any appeal to 
 either the sense of dut} T , or the feelings of this community. 
 
 There is yet another aspect under which I wish to present the 
 claims of this institution to } T our consideration. It is that your 
 own personal interests are, in a measure, identified with the fos- 
 tering of this charity. Not your interests in a worldly point of 
 view, though even these might be named as furnishing an argu- 
 ment, since no parent knows how soon his children may be left 
 helpless orphans, but I speak with a direct reference to your 
 spiritual interests, to your growth in grace. It is the command of 
 the inspired apostle, to add to your faith, virtue, knowledge, tem- 
 perance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. In 
 proportion as you are diligent arid faithful in the obedience which 
 you render to this precept, you will doubtless grow in the Divine 
 life. Now, it is of God's providence, that you have opportunity 
 to exercise any of these Christian graces and virtues. If the 
 opportunity were not vouchsafed and improved, you would lack so 
 far the proper evidence of your Christian character. To make my 
 meaning clear : if you had no occasion ever to forgive an injury or 
 wrong, you could not know certainly that you possessed the grace 
 of meekness. It is only by the exercise of our virtues, that we can 
 be ascertained of their existence. And thus, if the providence of 
 God did not throw in your way objects on which to exercise your 
 benevolence and charity, you could not know that you had charity 
 at all. But surely, my Christian friends, it is exceedingly desira- 
 ble to 3 T our peace and comfort, to be assured that you stand com- 
 plete in your character as disciples of the meek and lowly Jesus. 
 For upon our character, as ascertained by our works, depends our 
 approval or condemnation in the great day of eternity (Matt. xxv. 
 34, 46). Go forward, then, in your work and labor of love, ani- 
 mated by the ever-glowing conviction, that you are treading the 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 193 
 
 path of duty, high and solemn duty to God and man ! encouraged 
 by the assurance that the blessings of those ready to perish will 
 be yours ; that the testimon}^ of an approving conscience will be 
 3'ours ; that the peace which smooths the bed of death will be yours ; 
 and that the approval of your heavenly Master and Almighty Judge 
 will be yours, when an assembled universe shall stand at the bar 
 of God. 
 
194 Appendix. 
 
 THE DUTY OF MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL TO 
 THEIR PEOPLE, CONSIDERED IN THEIR CIVIL RE- 
 LATIONS. 1 
 
 My Reverend Brethren, the Clergy of this Diocese : The 
 twenty-seventh Canon of the General Convention provides that 
 each Bishop of the Church shall deliver, at least once in every 
 three years, a CHARGE to the Clergy of his Diocese. The object of 
 this provision is, doubtless, among other things, to assist the Min- 
 istry in the discharge of their very responsible duties, by pointing 
 out the difficulties incident to their station, suggesting such rem- 
 edies as have approved themselves to reflection and experience as 
 adequate to their removal, and holding out encouragement to the 
 faithful and zealous discharge of the solemnly undertaken obliga- 
 tions of the clerical office. These subjects have been made the 
 topics of remark, in some measure, heretofore, in my Annual 
 Addresses to the Conventions ; and it is considered that the spirit 
 of the Canons has been met in this way, although my observations 
 made on such occasions have not assumed the formality and shape 
 of a CHARGE. 
 
 The office of a Bishop, calling for a more extended view of the 
 interests of our communion than pertains to the charge of a single 
 Parish, and leading naturally to a comparison of the efficacy of 
 the measures pursued in different parts of the country, and under 
 varied circumstances, for the promotion of a common object, 
 enables that officer to make suggestions, which in practice are 
 most frequently found to be highly beneficial to both Ministers and 
 people, and productive of happy effects by tending to strengthen 
 the hands of the one class, and to encourage the hearts of the 
 other. The opportunities which the Bishop enjoys from time to 
 
 1 Set forth in a Primary Charge to the Clergy of the Diocese of Ten- 
 nessee. Delivered in Christ Church, in the City of Nashville, during the 
 session of the Convention, on Thursday, Oct. 11, 1837. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 195 
 
 time for making a personal examination into the condition of each 
 Parish, conjoined with the thoughtful and prayerful consideration 
 which he is bound to bring to bear upon the interests of the whole 
 Diocese, assist him to discover the dangers of his charge, and to 
 adopt measures to meet them, or suggest plans for their avoid- 
 ance. As the constituted temporal head of the famity, he is 
 bound, in providing for the welfare of the whole, to be watchful 
 that no individual member thereof shall suffer from want of care 
 or attention. 
 
 In all the various arrangements of civilized and Christianized 
 society formed for general purposes, there is not perhaps a more 
 interesting relation than that which the Church has established 
 between a Bishop and his Diocese. This relationship gathers its 
 importance from the nature and value of the interests comprised 
 in its formation ; while the connection itself, in its points of re- 
 semblance to paternal superintendence, is associated in thought 
 and contemplation with the kindest and purest affections of our 
 nature. As a father feels for his children, and with tender soli- 
 citude watches over their well-being, so should a Bishop feel and 
 act towards his brethren in the Ministry, to whom the Lord hath 
 made him chief servant in the Church. As children should recip- 
 rocate the watchful care and supervision of a parent, by dutiful 
 respect and filial obedience, so should " Sons in the Gospel " show 
 respectful regard to that office, and just and ready submission to 
 that authority which themselves have voluntarily agreed to receive 
 and acknowledge in the Church. It is under this aspect that I 
 love to contemplate that office and its relations, the burthen of 
 which, in the providence of God, has been laid upon me ; and it 
 is with the feelings which such a view of its character and respon- 
 sibilities naturally inspires, not unaccompanied with a deep sense 
 of weakness felt and freely acknowledged in the attempted dis- 
 charge of its duties hitherto, that I now proceed to deliver my 
 first CHARGE to the assembled Clergy of this Diocese. 
 
 So much has been written and published, my brethren, upon 
 the duties of the clerical office, that it seems difficult to select any 
 topic, falling properly within purview of my present business, 
 upon which you have not been already furnished with ample dis- 
 
196 Appendix. 
 
 cussion. The ground of remark is still further narrowed by the 
 very liberal provision which the Church has made in her formula- 
 ries of public worship and their accompanying rubrics, to serve as 
 a directory and guide to every Clerg} T man in conducting the pub- 
 lic devotions of the congregation, in the administration of the 
 sacraments, and in the performance of other holy offices of reli- 
 gion, which sickness and other adventitious circumstances may 
 sometimes require to be more private. The obligation to comply 
 with the directions which the Church in her wisdom has prescribed 
 in all these cases, is so plain and obvious, that it would appear 
 almost superfluous to use argument or exhortation in the premises. 
 It is scarcely to be supposed that any Clergyman can be so forget- 
 ful of the solemnity and binding force of his ordination vows, as 
 to use any other forms in the discharge of his official duties as a 
 Minister of the Gospel, than those which the authority of the 
 Church has appointed and established. He who can so forget him- 
 self is beyond the reach of argument or exhortation. All consid- 
 erations grounded upon the recorded results of sober experience, 
 or drawn from the propriety of uniform practice among the mem- 
 bers of the same " household of faith," united in the same bonds 
 of fellowship, and cherishing a common hope through the same 
 Lord, are lost upon him who will venture for the sake of the sup- 
 posed expediency, or in the spirit of compromise, to set at naught 
 the authority of the Church, and trample upon her regulations. 
 By dishonoring the Liturgy, in the substitution of his own extem- 
 poraneous effusions, he virtual!} 7 arrogates to himself a wisdom 
 which claims submission from the united wisdom of the Church. 
 For, let it be remembered that our public formularies of worship, 
 administration of the sacraments, and other holy offices of reli- 
 gion, have received the sanction of the assembled wisdom and 
 piety of the Church, and are vested with all the authority which 
 legislative enactment can throw around them. It should never be 
 forgotten by us, my brethren, that a minister of religion is the 
 accredited agent of the Church, appointed for the performance of 
 duties specified in the forms of his ordination, mediately respon- 
 sible to the body which clothes him with authority to act, and ulti- 
 mately amenable to the Lord of Heaven for his actions, and the 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 197 
 
 manner of their performance. His position is therefore analogous 
 to that of a public officer of the civil government. And as, in 
 this case, the authorized agent of the public is bound to act ac- 
 cording to his instructions, and after prescribed forms ; so, in the 
 case of a Minister of the Church, he is under as solemn obliga- 
 tions as man can realize, in official investiture with authority, to 
 act agreeably to the directions which he received and promised 
 to follow when he was commissioned. 
 
 The principle involved in the issue to be made up on this point 
 is far more important in its practical uses, and far more extensive 
 in its connections, than is apparent to slight or partial reflection. 
 It is intimately associated with what I design to be the chief sub- 
 ject of this address ; namely, the duty of Ministers of the Gospel 
 to their people, considered in their civil relations; and if I can 
 succeed in presenting it to your minds in such a shape and in such 
 a light as to gain for it that consideration, which, in the deliberate 
 conviction of my own judgment, its intrinsic importance merits, I 
 think I shall have pointed out to you one of the chief obstacles 
 which, in this country, oppose the prevalence of religion, and 
 operate as a mighty hindrance to our efforts to promote the peace 
 and happiness of our fellow-men. To arrive at a proper under- 
 standing of the reasons of that indifference to the preaching of the 
 Gospel, and the grounds of that indirect opposition which we not 
 unfrequently experience in our efforts to bring people under the 
 influence of Christian principles, we must look a little into the char- 
 acter of our civil institutions, and especially at the circumstances 
 of our population in the actual means and opportunities presented 
 for moral and intellectual culture. These things unquestionably 
 give an impress and a shape to the character of a people. The 
 institutions of a country, and the manners of its inhabitants, the 
 true index of their principles, certainly exercise a reflex influence, 
 one upon the other. If improvement in all that tends to the 
 melioration and exaltation of man's character as a rational and 
 accountable creature be not on the advance, we may be certain 
 that the virtues of society are in progress towards decay, and that 
 civil institutions partake of the deterioration. In this respect a 
 community cannot remain stationary. Unequal and unjust laws, 
 
198 Appendix. 
 
 or the irregular and oppressive execution of good laws, naturally 
 tend to corruption of morals ; while corruption of morals intro- 
 duces inevitabty every evil work in the administration of govern- 
 ment. It therefore becomes a subject of momentous interest, to 
 inquire how far the prevalence of virtuous morals is connected with 
 a sound state of the body politic, and how far virtuous and pure 
 morality is dependent upon a proper understanding and practice of 
 the duties of Christianity. If it can be shown that good govern- 
 ment b} T which I mean wholesome, equal, and just laws, faith- 
 fully, vigorously, and wisely administered and healthy morals 
 and sound religion are intimately associated, and in fact insepar- 
 ably in the present state of the world, then we shall succeed in 
 removing a prejudice exceedingly common, I fear, in this country ; 
 viz., that the recognition of religious obligation in the conduct has 
 nothing to do with securing the safety of civil liberty ; and we 
 shall, instead of having this unreasonable prejudice to encounter, 
 excite in every man's bosom a personal interest in behalf of Chris- 
 tian principles and practice. I say a personal interest ; because 
 every citizen of this government feels that he has a direct concern 
 in the institutions of the county, and that their preservation in 
 their integritj' and purity depends, to the full measure of his 
 influence, upon his conduct. The great fabric of our liberties is 
 based upon the will of the people : its supports are universally held 
 to be virtue and intelligence. Individual influence, therefore, is not 
 to be estimated by the zeal with which the measures of a party are 
 prosecuted, but by uprightness, honesty, and propriety of behavior, 
 in all the relations of life. The moment that spirit is excited and 
 called into action which triumphs in the issue of a political con- 
 test, or which exults in creating embarrassment to those in the 
 ascendant, the same moment is taken away one of the main pillars 
 which give stability to free government. Whenever the affairs of 
 a people have reached such a crisis, the history of nations proves 
 that the sacrifice of liberty soon follows to consummate their 
 ruin. 
 
 The structure of our government is peculiar in this, that it 
 makes no provision by law for the support of religion. It was 
 doubtless wise in our forefathers to dissever the unnatural bond 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 199 
 
 between Church and State, to dissolve a connection which 
 tended to degrade the former, and encumber the latter. All other 
 nations have laid religion at the basis of their civil institutions, 
 and, by legislative enactments, incorporated it with their laws. 
 The framers of our Constitution did not, because they would have 
 found it impossible to reconcile the different interests and to adjust 
 the conflicting claims of various denominations of the Christian 
 name ; because they believed it to be wrong in principle, and 
 injurious to piety in practice ; and especially because they were 
 persuaded that Christian^ was most successful and most pros- 
 perous when it received protection only from the secular arm, and 
 was left to the fostering care of Heaven. But, because this was 
 done, many have taken up the erroneous and monstrous idea, that 
 Christianity was virtually proscribed as a dangerous thing by those 
 venerable men of the Revolution, who achieved our independence, 
 and framed for us our present Constitution. And it is lamentable 
 to think that men of name and character in this nation, and in 
 our own State, have given sanction to this ruinous delusion, 
 delusion, I say, destructive to man's best interests in his social 
 relations, and blighting to the fairest and brightest hopes of the 
 future. Our forefathers were men of too much wisdom, and of too 
 much piety, ever to have entertained any such idea. It is a libel 
 upon their character to say they did. Instead of cherishing any 
 unfriendly feeling against religion, instead of meaning to proscribe 
 it, they intended to show their estimation of its worth by leaving 
 it untouched and untrammelled with the people, the source of all 
 legitimate authority and power in the nation : they took it for 
 granted, that its worth would never be questioned by posterity. 
 It had given decisive evidence of its value in the perilous hour of 
 conflict ; and they never contemplated a period in the future his- 
 tory of the Republic which they had founded, when religion would 
 not be felt in its sacred influence throughout all our borders. 
 They expected that temples for the worship of the living God 
 would crown all our hills, and adorn all our towns and cities, and 
 the song of praise be raised from all our valleys. That their 
 anticipations have not yet been realized, is owing at least in part 
 to the fact that infidel principles have been transplanted into this 
 
200 Appendix. 
 
 land of freedom, and taken root in a soil watered by the tears 
 and enriched by the blood of some of the purest patriots that ever 
 contended for liberty, of some of the most pious men that ever 
 bowed the knee "at the name of Jesus." To prove that I am 
 drawing no fanciful picture of the real sentiments which animated 
 the breasts of the patriots of the Revolution, I need only refer to 
 the man} T resolutions of the Continental Congress, recommending 
 days of fasting, humiliation, and prayer to God for his protection 
 and care over the struggling Colonies. I need only call attention 
 to the fact that days of thanksgiving were set apart by the same 
 authority, and by General Washington in his general orders, call- 
 ing upon the people and the army to give a public expression of 
 gratitude to God for victory achieved by our arms. Resolutions 
 of the kind referred to are found spread upon the journals of 
 Congress, recording its proceedings through each year, from the 
 12th June, 1775, to the 18th October, 1783. And is it to be sup- 
 posed that the men who by public and solemn acts thus distinctly 
 recognized the value of Christian principles and the obligation of 
 Christian duty, did afterwards, in giving a Constitution to their 
 countrymen and to their children, for whose freedom they toiled 
 and fought and suffered for eight years, actually mean to set a 
 brand upon religion as a dangerous thing? The fact is as desti- 
 tute of proof as it is dishonorable in imputation. By an appeal tc 
 the public and recorded acts of the men whose memory is most 
 fondly cherished by Americans, we sweep away at once the im- 
 pression that infidelity desires to make upon the public mind, that 
 Christianity is of no worth to us as a people, and that it deserves 
 neither their favorable regard nor their patronage. 
 
 It must, however, be conceded, and painful indeed is the 
 truth that calls for the concession, that in our day the conduct 
 and avowedly infidel character of many of our public men go ver} r 
 far towards giving encouragement to the notion that Christianity is 
 in no way necessary to national prosperity and happiness. To be 
 known as a Christian, is coming fast to be considered as a positive 
 disadvantage to him who aspires after popular favor. Not that we 
 have become yet so corrupt as to consider a candidate for political 
 power less trustworthy because he is a Christian ; but his profession 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 201 
 
 of that name operates to his prejudice, because he cannot consis- 
 tently practise the arts which party organization has introduced as 
 necessary instruments of success. And herein we see the work- 
 ings of a wide-spread delusion that is sapping silently the very 
 foundations of public virtue ; namel}', that the same act per- 
 formed by a Christian, and by one who makes no pretensions to 
 that name, is criminal in the former and innocent in the latter. 
 Thus the distinctions between right and wrong, laid in the princi- 
 ples of eternal truth and justice, are confounded, and made to de- 
 pend upon the ever-varying standard of man's professed character. 
 That which is wrong cannot be innocently done by an} r accountable 
 creature ; and invincible ignorance can alone serve to palliate, not 
 excuse it. Inattention to this principle, even by those who are 
 bound by their profession to recognize its obligation in practice, 
 has contributed much to give the complexion of infidelity to our 
 national character. Duelling, Sabbath-breaking, profanity, drunk- 
 enness, and other immoralities over the name of which modesty 
 draws a veil, are not ordinarily considered as disqualifications, in 
 public estimation, for the highest offices of honor and trust in the 
 gift of a free people. In consequence hereof, very few of those 
 who figure in the halls of legislation, or sit in high stations of offi- 
 cial trust, manifest by their practice that they count the religion of 
 Christ as of any worth. If the mischief ended with themselves, 
 it would be more endurable ; but the pernicious influence of their 
 example descends upon those through whose favor they reach that 
 elevation which gives them consequence. We know that the vast 
 majority of mankind are swayed by the example of those around 
 them, who are looked up to with deference on account of their 
 talents, or other circumstances which give them power and weight 
 of character in the community. And in this way, the men of note 
 among us are inconsiderately, as we are in charity bound to sup- 
 pose, aiming a mortal stab at the very heart of civil and religious 
 freedom. The conservative principles of our institutions are over- 
 looked by them in their struggle for power. These principles 
 we cannot too often repeat it are intelligence and virtue, regu- 
 lated by the precepts of Christianity. If they are practically dis- 
 regarded in one case, what surety have we that they will not be in 
 
202 Appendix. 
 
 every instance in which there is a sufficient motive or temptation 
 to do it? In a country where the people themselves are the 
 acknowledged source of all legitimate power, they must be in- 
 formed in order to the salutary exercise of that power. For this 
 information, the majorit}^ of men rety upon the statements of their 
 public servants, upon the accounts which they give of their own 
 conduct and of the public affairs. Under this aspect, public office 
 assumes a degree of tremendous responsibility, and as such should 
 be received with modesty and diffidence, rather than sought after 
 with eagerness, by persons duly sensible of its importance and 
 difficult} 7 . If it were uniformly conferred upon men fully alive to 
 the magnitude of the interests confided to their management, the 
 people would have some guaranty for being correctly informed and 
 advised in regard to their interests. But it will never be so con- 
 ferred under a party organization in which personal elevation, and 
 not the public weal, is the great object contemplated. The elec- 
 tive franchise is then prostituted to the most unworthy purposes ; 
 and success in political life made dependent upon misleading the 
 people, and giving false representations of the objects of parties 
 and of the measures of government. In consequence hereof, men 
 of abandoned character, and whose private life is stained by the 
 commission of the grossest enormities, are sometimes elevated to 
 stations of the highest dignity and trust. The question naturally 
 arises, Why are these things so ? The answer is to be found in 
 the fact, that the opinion is extensively current, that the princi- 
 ples of Christianity are designed to exercise some control over the 
 thoughts and conduct of man in the more private relations of life, 
 but that all its influences are to be carefull} 7 shut out when he 
 comes to act in the capacity of a citizen of the commonwealth. 
 The Constitution has said nothing about religion, except that none 
 shall ever be established by law ; and therefore a man inaj' act on 
 an election-day as if there were no God, and no accountability to 
 law human or divine ; and therefore, canning out the inferences 
 following from the premises taken, no oath ought to be adminis- 
 tered in courts of justice, and no man punished for perjury. It is 
 a trite sa}'ing, that the best of Heaven's gifts are most liable to 
 injury and abuse when brought into contact with the corrupt touch 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 203 
 
 of man's mortality. Such experience has shown to be the case 
 with Christianity, Heaven's best gift to man. Such, many and by 
 no means dubious indications lead us to fear, will prove to be the 
 result in regard to that next to the most inestimable boon of God 
 to man, civil libertj*. 
 
 So entirely has religion become disassociated in thought and 
 practice from the every-day practice of life ; that many, very many 
 4 'who name the name of Christ," allow themselves in practices 
 utterly repugnant to the precepts and spirit of the Gospel. They, 
 for example, deem it no violation of Christian duty or obligation, 
 to vilify and abuse political opponents, and to join in all the crimi- 
 nation and vituperation which the newspapers of the da} 7 are dis- 
 gorging upon society in every quarter of the country. Men of all 
 parties are engaged in this work of defamation. The obligations 
 which a Christian profession imposes are thus practically dissevered 
 from the duties of a citizen ; and that which the Gospel pointedly 
 condemns becomes, through corruption of moral sentiment, allow- 
 able in a partisan, because it is consecrated as a maxim of political 
 wisdom. Licentiousness thus becomes the unnatural offspring of 
 that freedom which is claimed in the charter of our liberties as 
 God's gift and man's inalienable right. Religion is the fountain 
 which feeds the stream of public morals ; and if the fountain be 
 impure, or cease to send forth its waters, or if they be diverted 
 from their proper channels, moral disease and infection spread 
 around, and cast the pall of death over all the public and private 
 relations of life. It is under this view that I deem it especially the 
 duty of the Clerg} ? to inculcate the binding force of Christian obli- 
 gation upon the people of their charge, in the connection which 
 their profession as Christians has with their personal deportment 
 and conduct as citizens ; and to show to all men, as occasion may 
 serve, that Christianity understood in its integrity, and practised 
 in its simplicit}', is the surest, safest, and firmest support to good 
 and free government righteously administered, the best friend 
 to the happiness of man in all the circumstances of life. 
 
 You will not understand, my brethren, from this course of 
 remark, that I am recommending to any clergyman to become a 
 political preacher, a political talker, or a political partisan, in word 
 
204: Appendix. 
 
 or deed. Very far am I from intimating any such thing. The 
 ninth article of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee comes 
 in aid of our own ecclesiastical regulations which bear upon this 
 point. It sets forth that " Ministers of the Gospel are by their 
 profession dedicated to God and the care of souls, and ought not 
 to be diverted from the great duties of their functions." This is 
 enough to rebuke clerical ambition, and to check the desire to figure 
 in the arena of politics. That Clergyman deserves the reprobation 
 of his fellow-men, and incurs the displeasure of Heaven, who aban- 
 dons or neglects the discharge of his high and holy duties as a 
 Minister of Christ, and descends from the lofty eminence of his 
 received and accredited character, to enter into the angry discus- 
 sion or contemptible twattle of party politics. I have a widely 
 different apprehension of your duties and obligations. I would 
 have you to instruct the people whom you serve, that they cannot, 
 consistently with their profession, follow the practices and adopt 
 the maxims so current in this age, which lead men to believe that 
 they may claim the privileges and cherish the hope of Christians 
 when they are not acting as Christians ; to point out to them the 
 enlarged view which the Gospel takes of their duties and responsi- 
 bilities in every relation of life, and that its claims of obedience to 
 its precepts are paramount to every worldly interest. And partic- 
 ularly, brethren, are you, like our Divine Master, to set an example 
 in your own personal deportment, of the things which you thus 
 recommend. Precept, when not so enforced and illustrated, is 
 worse than useless ; for it draws odium and contempt upon him 
 who presumes to instruct others, but shows that he will not be 
 instructed himself. 
 
 In the absence of all provision on the part of the government 
 for the instruction of the people in the principles of public virtue, 
 we ask, where are they to look for that instruction, except to the 
 pulpit? From the newspaper press they cannot expect to derive 
 it, though admirably adapted to that end ; since the press, gener- 
 ally under the influence of party organization, and subservient to 
 party purposes, has become the chief instrument in promoting 
 licentiousness. Interest is found to be more powerful in its influ- 
 ence than principle, and hence the press is too often seen catering 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 205 
 
 for the public appetite. This appetite must be corrected before 
 the press can be reformed. Our seminaries of learning undoubt- 
 edly do much in the formation of good moral character among the 
 youth of the country. But the class which it is important to affect 
 is beyond the reach of this influence : they are already men grown, 
 and acting in the responsible stations of citizens and heads of 
 families. To the pulpit, then, are we to look almost exclusively 
 for the inculcation of that sound moral sentiment, founded on re- 
 ligious pnnciple, which supports the great social edifice of our 
 country. 
 
 The past and present circumstances of the people have tended 
 in a very remarkable manner to weaken and abridge the influence 
 of moral obligation among us. The extent of our territory, and 
 the variety of our resources, all inviting to enterprise and activity 
 in the accumulation of wealth, have, in their practical effects, made 
 mighty inroads upon good morals. It is under the influence of 
 parental teaching and example, and in the virtuous associations of 
 early life, formed in the neighborhoods where we were born, reared, 
 and educated, that the elements of a good character are ordinarily 
 laid, strengthened, and established. The fact of being known in 
 a community thus operates as a restraint against immoral or irre- 
 ligious conduct. The man is led to remonstrate with himself on 
 the eve of performing an improper act, and to ask, How can I do 
 this thing, and shame my friends arid acquaintances ? But in exten- 
 sive portions of our country, the people are comparatively strangers 
 to each other. The. ties which bound them to their parental domi- 
 cile, and all the associations of their young days, are broken up ; 
 and thousands find themselves in a land of strangers with whom 
 they have little sympathy in feelings and habits, and whose pres- 
 ence imposes scarcely any restraint upon their actions. They are 
 here to-day, and gone to-morrow, and care not what estimate is 
 formed of their character by those among whom they have tempo- 
 rarily sojourned. In such a state of things, it must be obvious to 
 reflection, how very important is the aid which the pulpit brings 
 forward to promote the well-being of society. In that solemn and 
 fearful accountability of man to God, to be realized at all times and 
 in all places, and set forth and faithfully declared by the Minister 
 
206 Appendix. 
 
 of religion, a restraining and controlling influence is obtained and 
 acknowledged, which otherwise would be unthought of and unfelt. 
 Nor is this influence limited to the single case adduced. It is 
 felt measurably through all the ramifications of society, where 
 the truth of God's Word is plain!} 7 and faithfully preached. In the 
 constant occupation which most heads of families find, stimulated 
 as they are by having placed before them fair opportunities to 
 amass riches, they have little leisure, at least they employ but a 
 small portion of their time in the moral culture of their children. 
 The rising generations are consequently coming forward to engage 
 in the business of life, uninstructed in the nature of their duties, 
 and uninformed as to their responsibilities. In a vast majority of 
 instances, the young who are just rising into manhood are totally 
 ignorant of the nature and extent of their obligations as moral 
 and accountable beings. They can give shrewd and intelligent 
 answers to all questions concerning traffic and trade, and the value 
 of various kinds of property ; but as to the nature and extent of 
 those obligations by which man is bound to "do justly, love 
 mercy, and walk humbly with God," they have been taught noth- 
 ing, the}* know nothing, and oftentimes care nothing. The ex- 
 ample of their parents has led them to regard monej 7 as "the 
 chief good ; " and in its acquisition all advantages are to be 
 taken which the law will allow, or which artful evasions of the law 
 will enable them to compass. The social affections are swept 
 away in this struggle for gain ; there is no place for their exer- 
 cise : and the kindly offices of charity and benevolence are un- 
 known. The children of the country are thus in a measure 
 trained up with feelings almost hostile to their species. The idea 
 they have of public liberty is, that they may do as they please, 
 regardless of the comfort and even the rights of others. 1 Rever- 
 ence for age and character is unfelt, s} T mpathy for suffering and 
 
 1 The following relation furnishes no inapt illustration of the concep- 
 tions which many entertain of the rights of freemen. The writer hereof, 
 with two gentlemen on board of a steamboat, were sitting quietly, last win- 
 ter, reading by the light of a candle placed on one of the small tables 
 which usually occupy the corners of the cabin near the stove. Four per- 
 sons came up, and by their spokesman said they wanted the table. " For 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 207 
 
 distress is destroyed, and respect for law and authority despised 
 as meanness. Effrontery is taken for manliness, rudeness for gen- 
 tilit}', and impudence for easiness of manners. Is it any wonder, 
 that, under this hardening process, future heroes in crime are 
 formed, and that we hear and read of deeds of daring villany and 
 desperate wickedness? Is it any wonder that an awful reckless- 
 ness and disregard of human life should be exhibited, that law 
 should be violated, and authority trampled under foot? The his- 
 tory of the present year has presented to us dreadful catastrophes, 
 portraying in the loss of human life incidents of thrilling horror. 1 
 It is the natural consequence which follows upon the want of a 
 just sense of responsibility grounded upon moral obligation. 
 
 It would seem, then, from the view which has been presented, 
 that Ministers of religion occupy a position of immense impor- 
 tance, considered in reference to the prime interests of society. 
 It is their duty to teach their congregations that Christianity binds 
 those who acknowledge its authority and profess its principles, to 
 be strictly obedient to the laws in their letter and manifest inten- 
 tion ; that civil and religious liberty, with all its attendant bless- 
 ings, is a talent for the use of which they must give account to 
 God, the Judge of all. It is their duty to show men that the 
 Gospel does not allow them to take advantage of the necessities of 
 their fellow-men, but obliges them to works of kindness and char- 
 ity ; that industry, prudence, and economy are the means which 
 God has appointed for the attainment of the good things of this 
 life ; that their acquisition by other methods is contrary to the 
 order of Providence, and results necessarily in injury to some other 
 portion of the great family of man ; that, consequently, all arts to 
 overreach or circumvent others, no matter for what object, either 
 in the private or public relations of a citizen, are wrong, and are 
 positively forbidden by Christ ; that evil speaking and defamation 
 
 what?" it was asked. "To play whist!" "But, gentlemen, we are 
 using it ourselves : we are reading." " It is a card-table," said they: " you 
 can sit farther off and read ; and there are four of us to you three, and we 
 must have it." The right implied in the appeal made to numbers settled 
 the question: the table was yielded. 
 
 1 The burning of the Ben Sherrod furnishes examples enough. 
 
208 Appendix. 
 
 are no less prohibited than falsehood itself; and that mildness and 
 gentleness in deportment are due to the persons of all men. It is 
 their duty to instruct parents to exercise a watchful guardianship 
 over their children ; that the} 7 impress upon the minds of their 
 offspring in every possible way the concerning truth, that God is 
 both the witness and the judge of their conduct and their motives ; 
 that they teach them the nature and extent of their responsibili- 
 ties as members of society ; and especially instruct them by pre- 
 cept and example to show a ready and cheerful obedience to 
 lawful authority. As a directory in these things, a Clergyman can 
 find no better guide than that which is furnished him in the Church 
 Catechism. In the statement of the duties which we owe to God 
 and to man, it is plain, comprehensive, easy to be understood, and 
 of most ready application. If this part only of the Catechism 
 were generally received, generally taught, and generally acknowl- 
 edged in practice, the surface of society would be instantly 
 changed in its aspect, and peace, order, and sobriety shed their 
 united influences and blessings upon our country. I therefore 
 earnestly recommend to each of you, my brethren, and through 
 3 T ou to each parent and head of a family in your congregations, a 
 faithful and diligent instruction of all the members of our com- 
 munion, in the Catechism of this Church. 
 
 In this way, by showing practically the advantages of Christ's 
 religion when truly understood, "truly received, and truly fol- 
 lowed," in all the relations of life, we shall, I think, remove many 
 of those obstacles which we have found to hinder our efforts in the 
 cause of the Gospel. It is in man's nature to attend chiefty to 
 that which he conceives to be his present interest. The duties of 
 life are so numerous, so frequent in their recurrence, so engross- 
 ing in their character, and so worldly in their complexion, that it 
 is not surprising that men refer them to principles more in accord- 
 ance with their carnal notions than is consistent with the spirit- 
 uality of the Gospel. Under a persuasion that its preaching is 
 designed to bear almost exclusively upon questions about our 
 spiritual nature, and that its duties are wholly disconnected from 
 the ordinary concerns of life, it is no wonder that they manifest a 
 reluctance to come under its influence. In addition, the infidelity 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 209 
 
 that is abroad will persuade men that Christianity will interfere 
 not only with their enjoyments, but with their rights, and abridge 
 their liberty to an unreasonable extent. Hence the indisposition 
 manifested by many to contribute any aid towards the erection of 
 places of worship, and the reluctance with which they give a mod- 
 icum for the decent support of the Ministry. There are those, 
 and it is humiliating to the feelings with which we cherish the 
 honor of the State to mention the fact, there are those who 
 will expend hundreds of dollars in an electioneering canvass, and 
 yet begrudge the pitiful sum of five dollars to keep up the preach- 
 ing of the Gospel for a whole year ! Hence, too, in combination 
 with the causes before mentioned, that neglect of public worship 
 so manifest in our own country ; and, where it is not wholly 
 neglected, the feeling on the part of many who imagine that they 
 are doing a favor or paying a compliment to a Minister by coming 
 to hear him preach. When we consider all these things, and 
 they are but few of those that might be named, it is not amaz- 
 ing that our national character should be waxing worse and worse ; 
 that vice, immorality, and irreligion should prevail to an alarming 
 extent; that the mind of the patriot should be troubled for his 
 country, and that the heart of the priest should " tremble for the 
 ark of God." 
 
 In calling your attention to this subject, brethren, as one claim- 
 ing your serious consideration, I would by no means have you to 
 underrate those things which the Gospel points out as the princi- 
 pal obstacles to its success. In the inherent depravity of man, the 
 love of sin and the natural aversion of the human heart to holi- 
 ness, are to be found our greatest hindrances. A man may be a 
 good citizen, and a rigid observer of all the proprieties of life, 
 and yet cherish a most nauseating dislike to the holiness of God's 
 declared character, an unconquerable disgust to the imitation of 
 the exhibited humility and meekness of Christ's example. But a 
 good Christian must of necessity be a good citizen. He will rev- 
 erence and obey the civil authoritj- as " the ordinance of God ; " 
 he will "be careful to maintain good works;" he will add con- 
 secutively to his faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, 
 godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. In his deportment he 
 
210 Appendix. 
 
 will furnish a convicting refutation of the charge that Christianity 
 does not enjoin love of country as a duty. It is true that the 
 term "patriotism" is not found in the Bible. Scripture does not 
 teach so much by abstract terms, as by expressions called forth in 
 the statement of facts. But resolve this term, upon the absence 
 of which the opponents of Christianity have grounded their 
 charge, into its elements, and this we are compelled to do in 
 practice, and we shall find in the precepts of the New Testa- 
 ment, and in the examples of the Old, ample provision made for 
 enforcing the duties not only of private but also of public life. 
 
 To show the utter helplessness of man by nature, to reach that 
 holiness of character without which the hope of immortality is dis- 
 closed to no purpose, and thus lead sinners to the provisions of 
 Gospel grace and strength ; to exhibit the mercy and justice of 
 God's manifested character in the humiliation and death of Christ 
 on the cross ; to contrast the worthlessness and transitory nature 
 of things temporal with the infinite value and enduring character 
 of the things that are eternal ; to hold forth the comforts and con- 
 solations of' Christ's religion in the hour of affliction and bereave- 
 ment, and to carry the light of its solace to the dark and wretched 
 abodes to which poverty and misery have fled from the gaze of 
 the world, must ever be the prominent and leading objects for 
 which a Minister of Christ lives, labors, and prays. But with the 
 discharge of these holy and bounden duties of his station, he may 
 also combine attention to other things, which, by elevating his 
 office in public esteem, tend to enlarge the sphere of his useful- 
 ness, to remove prejudice, and bring the largest number of his fel- 
 low-creatures to wait upon God in the worship and ordinances of 
 His house, in a rational and becoming manner, and with a proper 
 sense of their duties, their privileges, and their responsibilities. 
 And I pray God to crown }*our efforts in this and in all your laud- 
 able undertakings with abundant success, that our nation may 
 become as conspicuous for piety and godliness as it is distinguished 
 for civil and religious privileges, and that " peace and happiness, 
 truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us 
 for all generations." 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 211 
 
 ADDRESS. 1 
 
 MY CHRISTIAN FRIENDS, Having now renewed your baptismal 
 vows, suffer a moment the word of exhortation, spoken in the 
 spirit of tender affection, and deep solicitude for your welfare and 
 happiness, temporal and eternal. You can scarcely realize, by any 
 description which words can give, the overpowering interest and 
 anxiety which a pastor feels, when he beholds any of those com- 
 mitted to his charge coming forward for the first time to ratify 
 their obligations of fidelity to God, and love to the Saviour, when 
 he contemplates the dangers to which they may hereafter be ex- 
 posed from the malice of a wicked world ; when he thinks of 
 the eternal weight of glory which shall be the sure inheritance of the 
 faithful soldiers of Christ, or when his eye in imagination ranges 
 over the vast field of that miserable and wretched eternity where 
 the light of hope never dawns upon the outcast from God. Who 
 can enter into the mingled emotions of pleasure and fear, of anx- 
 iety and hope, which rush tumultuously upon the soul at such a 
 moment? None, surely, but those who watch for souls, and who 
 feel the awful responsibility resting upon them, that for souls they 
 must give account in the day of the Lord Jesus. Let me, then, 
 seize upon this occasion an occasion that happens but once in 
 the life of man to urge upon you the necessity of diligence in the 
 work of your salvation. 
 
 The prevalent spirit of the age is that of indolence in all that 
 concerns the interests of our souls. Professed Christians no longer 
 live, as once exhorted, and as once they did, as strangers and 
 pilgrims upon earth, looking for a better, that is, a heavenly coun- 
 try ; but their speech and their conduct too often, alas ! indicate 
 as though they had taken this world as their portion, and that here 
 
 1 An Address delivered, 1845, at the Confirmation of the Bishop's daugh- 
 ter, Sarah McGavock, and others. 
 
212 Appendix. 
 
 amidst its sins and follies, its snares and temptations, its sorrows 
 and trials, they were willing to abide forever. In this lies one of 
 your chief dangers. You will be tempted to conclude, that, if you 
 are but as pious and as godly as others around you, you are safe, 
 and may readily omit the performance of the more difficult and 
 painful duties of religion. But, oh ! remember that this is not the 
 rule which our blessed Saviour and his Apostles have left for our 
 government. u Be ye perfect, as your Father in Heaven is per- 
 fect," is the Divine injunction of our gracious Redeemer; while 
 the like sentiment is echoed by the Apostle, "Be ye holy in all 
 manner of conversation." My dear friends, strive to make the 
 highest attainments in piety, in faith and charity ; and never for- 
 get that Christ has left us an example, that ye should follow his 
 steps. 
 
 The world will throw every obstacle in your way, which it can 
 do, to impede } T our onward progress to the heaventy world. The 
 shafts of ridicule will be hurled at you with thoughtless levity or 
 with more wicked malice ; the finger of scorn will be pointed at you 
 in cruel derision of your profession, or in proud disdain of that 
 prudence which has led you thus early to seek }^our God. You 
 will have to endure the imperious look of him who is too haughty 
 to submit to Heaven's authority, and to bear patiently the sneer 
 that curls like a serpent upon the lip of infidelity. I know of noth- 
 ing, and I can conceive of nothing, that so fills up the idea of an 
 impersonation of the Arch-fiend himself, as the heartless and con- 
 temptible wretch that would check the first emotions of piety in the 
 youthful heart, and endeavor to plant in their stead, defiance of 
 God and disregard of his law. Consider that your vow this day 
 made, and, as we trust, registered with approbation in Heaven, has 
 cut you loose measurably from the world, at least, so far as a 
 renunciation of its wicked ways and practices can release you from 
 the thraldom of its power. What though the world may scoff and 
 utter its scorn, you have chosen that good part which shall never 
 be taken away from you. What is the applause of men worth, 
 though spoken in tones loud as the ocean's roar, if purchased at 
 the price of God's favor? what all the pleasures earth has to give, 
 if enjoyed at the sacrifice of the joys of Heaven ? What the accu- 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 213 
 
 mulated riches of the universe, if possessed at the fearful risk of 
 damnation? u Love not the world, neither the things of the 
 world ; for if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not 
 in him." Hear ye this solemn warning? Be admonished, then, 
 and persuaded to set your affections on things above, and not on 
 things on the earth. Be true to your high and holy calling. Re- 
 member that you are henceforward to be known and called Chris- 
 tians, the most honorable name that ever was conferred upon 
 man ; a name that links into one association the once opposing 
 but now adjusted claims of mercy and justice, the reconciliation of 
 righteousness with peace, the union of God with man, the interests 
 of time and eternity, the triumph of Heaven and the overthrow of 
 Hell ! Live, then, as Christians, I beseech you ; and then when 
 your suns go down, they will descend like the glorious luminary of 
 day, leaving behind rays of brightness to cheer the twilight hour, 
 and to render peaceful the evening of life. The spirit of resignation 
 and comfort will hover around the bed of your last sickness ; and 
 those who water your graves with tears of affection will rejoice in 
 hope, and be consoled with the blessed thought that you have 
 safely passed the dangers of time, and joined the glorious company 
 of the spirits of just men made perfect. 
 
 God grant that such may be the consummation of your efforts 
 and of our prayers ! And may the blessing of God Almighty, the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be upon and remain with you 
 forever ! Amen. 
 
214 Appendix. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH : THE MINISTRY : THE 
 APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 1 
 
 SERMON I. 
 " And He is the Head of the body, the Church." COL. i. 18. 
 
 St. Paul the Apostle, in his Epistle to the Colossians, after the 
 salutations with which he commonly begins his letters, proceeds to 
 speak of the great power and dignity of the Redeemer. He en- 
 larges on this topic for the purpose, probably, of strengthening the 
 confidence and hope of the Christians at Colosse in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and of encouraging them to " fight the good fight of faith." 
 By declaring in the most ample terms Christ's exalted power and 
 dignity, he would raise them above the fear of trial and persecution 
 in this life, to which they were constantly exposed, and would 
 inspire them with a trust in the Saviour, that would disarm even 
 death of his terrors. For, whom could they reasonably dread, 
 when so much power was engaged in their behalf and for their 
 
 1 The following sermons were written and preached more than a year 
 ago, in the discharge of parochial duty, and without any expectation or 
 intention of their publication. They make no pretensions to literary merit, 
 and no such distinction is claimed for them. Composed literally currents 
 calamo, they are given to the public just as they were preached, with the 
 exception of two or three additional quotations in the first of the series, 
 the notes, and the appendix. 
 
 The writer has no expectation that these discourses will prove palatable 
 to the great majority in this country "who call themselves Christians." 
 Yet he is not without hope that their facts, statements, and arguments, if 
 duly weighed, will lead to further examination on the part of those who are 
 concerned " to know the truth." " And if for necessary truth's sake only, 
 any man will be offended, nay take, nay snatch at that offence which is not 
 given, I know no defence for that. 'Tis truth, and I must tell it; 'tis the 
 Gospel, and I must preach it. And far safer is it in this case to bear anger 
 from men, than a woe from God." 
 
 COLUMBIA, July 1, 1843. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 215 
 
 protection? " For by Him," says the Apostle, " were all things 
 created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invis- 
 ible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or 
 powers : all things were created by Him, and for Him : and He is 
 before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the 
 Head of the body, the Church : who is the beginning, the first- 
 born from the dead ; that in all things He might have the pre- 
 eminence." 1 
 
 Under the guidance and safe-guard of such a Friend, the saints 
 at Colosse might well rise superior to all the discouragements and 
 difficulties which encompassed them in their journey through this 
 weary world, and look forward with composure to the approach of 
 that inevitable hour when they must sink into the grave under the 
 stroke of death. 
 
 We would do well, brethren, to remember that the same mercy 
 embraces us, that the same power is engaged for our protection, 
 that the same gracious Redeemer is our unfailing Friend, and that 
 in reliance upon Him we are authorized to cherish the same blessed 
 hopes for time and for eternity. 
 
 The first thing that strikes us, as worthy of observation in the 
 text, is the singular terms in which the Apostle speaks of the 
 Church. It is called a body, a body of which Christ is the Head. 
 The head is the seat of all those mental perceptions which 
 enable us to exercise our judgment, and by which the actions of 
 the body are controlled and directed. So the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 being Head of the Church, is the source of all wisdom, power, 
 and dignity in it. The meaning of the Apostle's metaphor, we 
 conceive to be fully cleared by this brief and simple explanation. 
 Perhaps many points of resemblance might be sought out ; yet 
 they would probably be of a fanciful character, and tend little to 
 edification. 
 
 As the Church is here and elsewhere in Scripture expressly 
 called a body, 2 we are at once and necessarily reminded of the unity 
 which should distinguish it in faith and practice. As the members 
 of the natural body are united together and to the head, by the 
 
 1 Col. i. 16-18. 2 1 Cor. x. 17; Eph. i. 23, iv. 16. 
 
216 Appendix. 
 
 veins, arteries, and nerves ; so the members of the Church are 
 united with one another and to Christ the Head, by the Spirit, 
 faith, love, sacraments, word, and ministry. " There is one faith, 
 and one baptism," saith the Apostle, in the very same connection 
 in which he declares that " there is one body." l 
 
 It must be clear, even to slight reflection, that in the first pro- 
 mulgation of the Gospel, and in the gathering-together of the 
 Church, believers were perfectly united in the profession of the 
 same Faith, and in submission to the same ordinances. The cir- 
 cumstances by which the first converts to Christianity were sur- 
 rounded, measurably compelled them to union ; and that they were 
 so united, is manifestly set forth in the declaration that " they con- 
 tinued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in 
 breaking of bread, and in prayers." 2 It was the prayer of our 
 blessed Saviour, and among the last which He, as man, addressed 
 to the Father concerning his disciples, that "they all might be 
 one." 3 And it adds to the affecting interest of this prayer, to 
 consider that the Divine Redeemer seems to regard the unity of 
 his Church as a necessary evidence to the world that the Father 
 had sent him. " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also 
 which shall believe on me through their word ; that they all may 
 be one ; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also 
 may be one in us : that the world may believe that Thou hast sent 
 Me."* 
 
 " That they all may be one," one in love, one in faith, one 
 in practice, one in hope. This oneness of the Christian Church 
 continued, with but little interruption, until the perilous and puri- 
 fying times of persecution ceased, and believers began to exercise 
 themselves about questions which in their discussion, instead of 
 ministering grace to those who heard, tended rather to strifes and 
 divisions, and the evil works which usually attend upon conten- 
 tions. 
 
 Divisions of the Christian name have at length so multiplied, 
 that in our day it seems that the question is rarely made, whether 
 
 1 Eph. iv. 4, 5. 2 Acts ii. 42. 8 St. John xvii. 20, 21, 4 St. John 
 xvii. 20, 21. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 217 
 
 such things are allowable under the law of Christ. It appears to 
 be taken for gran ted x that men will differ in their religious views ; 
 that differences are inevitable from the very constitution of men ; 
 that they will have their preferences, and that these preferences, 
 no matter upon what grounds they may be entertained, may be 
 safely indulged to the extent of attaching one's self to any society 
 whatever that professes to be Christian. In short, there seems 
 to be a very widely diffused persuasion in the public mind, that 
 one denomination of professed Christianity is, as to authority, 
 about as good as another. Hence we hear of many different asso- 
 ciations styled Churches, the deluded followers of Joe Smith the 
 Mormon prophet, and others equally ignorant and fanatical, appro- 
 priating to themselves this venerable and once venerated appella- 
 tion. Hence it has come to pass, that the exercise of a salutary 
 discipline has almost ceased among the professed followers of 
 Christ ; it being found impossible to prevent the reception, to what 
 are called Church privileges, of those repelled, rejected, or expelled 
 by some association calling itself Christian ; and hence the chief 
 aim of the various sects of the age seems to be, to gain influence 
 and power by adding to their numerical strength, rather than to 
 promote true piety and godliness among men. 
 
 Can any serious and reflecting person, however, really think 
 that the various bodies of men who are known under the name of 
 Churches of Christ are verily authorized to act in His name, and 
 impart to others authority to administer the sacraments of His 
 religion? Especially can they so think, when they perceive the 
 practical results to which such opinions lead in the countless divis- 
 ions into which the professed followers of Christ are now scattered, 
 in the bitterness and rancor which opposing sects exhibit towards 
 each other? 
 
 Without the introduction of some restraining principle to coun- 
 teract this general disposition among men of the present day to 
 separate into parties, it must be too evident to need proof, that 
 every thing like unity among Christians will be at an end. The 
 only bond to draw men together in ecclesiastical associations will 
 then be inclination and interest, or accidental circumstances grow- 
 ing out of the intercourse of social life. And when these cease to 
 
218 Appendix. 
 
 operate or to have influence, new divisions must ensue from a 
 change of circumstances or of relations in. an ever varying and 
 changing world ; until every distinctive feature of the Christian 
 system and of the Church, one after another, shall pass away, and 
 the whole be divested of that Divine authority which alone can and 
 ought to give it sanction and weight with men. Indeed, if these 
 separations into distinct bodies or communities be allowable, there 
 seems to be no good reason why every man should not act for him- 
 self and family in the affairs of religion, without the intervention 
 or aid of any Ministry whatever. And certainly those who at this 
 day have discarded all authority in the Church, act consistently in 
 administering the rites of religion at all times, in all places, and to 
 all persons who ask for them, without reference to any rule, law, 
 or custom upon the subject. They act consistently, we say, with 
 their avowed principles. Whether these principles be in accord- 
 ance with the revealed will of God, as interpreted by the practice 
 of the primitive Church, is another and a very different matter. 
 
 An idea seems to prevail quite extensively, that Christianity in 
 its doctrines and forms is susceptible of improvement like the arts 
 and sciences, and that new discoveries are to reward investigation 
 into it, as in other things. Hence old-fashioned views of religion 
 such as teaching children the Catechism, and training them to 
 the habitual practice of devotion and other Christian duties, are 
 not only rejected, but actually ridiculed as savoring of earthliness ; 
 and the self-constituted reformers of the age set forth their own 
 peculiar sentiments with all the positive confidence and directness 
 of assertion which attach to the claim of infallibility. There is 
 truth in the maxim which says that extremes meet, and those who 
 first set out with a denial of all authority are presently found claim- 
 ing all authority for themselves. 
 
 This is strikingly shown in the movements of a modern sect 
 called by themselves Reformers, but better known among us under 
 the appellation of Cam.pbellites. And here I beg to be understood 
 not as mentioning names reproachfully, but simply for the sake of 
 illustration. Among these, as well as among others to whom I 
 shall have occasion to refer in this discourse, I am free to declare, 
 and I take pleasure in saying, that I believe there are many 
 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 219 
 
 humble, pious, and sincere believers, " who through faith and 
 patience are striving to inherit the promises." l 
 
 One of the characteristics of the sect already named is the rejec- 
 tion of all creeds, and the avowed adoption of the New Testament 
 in their place, as the only and all-sufficient standard of faith and 
 practice. If, say they, creeds are contrary to the New Testament, 
 they are wrong, and ought to be rejected. If they are in accord- 
 ance with it, they are at least unnecessary, and may be injurious. 
 There is plausibility in this reasoning, full as much as that which 
 decided the fate of the famous library of Alexandria, but far 
 more sophistry concealed under an exterior of much candor and 
 fairness. The word creed means what? Undoubtedly belief. And 
 it matters not in principle, whether it consist of one article or 
 twenty. Now, when we come to ask these people who have under- 
 taken to reform Christianity, or rather the Church, what they believe 
 to be meant by Christian baptism, they unhesitatingly declare that 
 it is immersion in water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost ; 2 and that no affusion, pouring, or sprinkling of water can 
 be properly regarded as baptism. Consequently all persons who 
 have been baptized in any other way than by immersion, they con- 
 sider as yet without the pale of the Church, and strangers to the 
 covenant of promise. And their practice accords herewith ; for no 
 person can or will be received into what they are pleased to style 
 the kingdom of Heaven or of Christ, without submitting to be 
 immersed. 
 
 Thus we see, then, that, while they profess to reject all creeds, 
 they nevertheless strenuously maintain and right they are for 
 doing this that interpretation of the language of Scripture which 
 they believe to be the truth of God : and, consequently, do, in 
 
 1 Heb. vi. 12. 
 
 2 The form of words in baptizing is not the same with all the preachers 
 or proclaimers among these people. Some use the common form, " I baptize 
 thee, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
 Others of them say, " By the authority of the Messiah, I baptize thee for the 
 remission of sins;" and some here add, "In the name of the Father," etc. 
 Others again, "I baptize thee into the name of Jesus, for the remission of 
 sins." 
 
220 Appendix. 
 
 practice, uphold the very thing which they condemn in others. 
 For a creed was never intended to express any thing more than 
 what was conceived to be the meaning of Holy Scripture. It is 
 the purpose of the Creed to express, in as brief a form as possible, 
 the leading facts and main doctrines of the Christian religion ; and 
 so far from having the effect, as is alleged, of separating men into 
 parties, just the contrary object is aimed at, and just the opposite 
 result, for the most part, obtained by their use. No man who be- 
 lieves in the Divine authority of the New Testament will object to 
 a single article of what is called the Apostles' Creed. Much of it 
 is in the very language of Scripture ; l and that which is not is 
 nevertheless so plainly deducible from it, that no intelligent person 
 will deny that it is built upon the express authority of God's Holy 
 Word. No really sound objection, therefore, can be urged against 
 its use. On the other hand, the many valuable purposes which it 
 serves by presenting a concise summary of the Christian Faith, and 
 forming a bond of union among the followers of Christ, will always 
 vindicate the wisdom of retaining it among our forms of public 
 worship. The precise period of time at which this Creed, vener- 
 able for its antiquity, was composed, is not known with certainty. 
 No doubt it was very near to the Apostles' times, though we can- 
 not assert that it belongs to the very age in which they lived and 
 preached. It is as near a transcript of what they taught, very 
 briefly expressed, as can well be conceived. Indeed, some learned 
 men have given it as their opinion, that this Creed was formed as 
 an abstract from the Apostolic writings, and intended as far as 
 possible to supply the want of the sacred books among people who 
 had not the opportunity to read them ; as likewise to furnish an 
 outline, to ignorant people incapable of reading, of what things 
 they were required to believe in order to their becoming Christians, 
 purposes which the Creed is admirably adapted to answer, as 
 any one may be easily convinced of, who undertakes to teach the 
 unlearned the main doctrines of revelation, and their own corre- 
 sponding duties. 
 
 But one of the chief and among the most excellent purposes 
 
 1 See 1 Cor. xv. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 221 
 
 which the Creed answers, especially by its introduction into the 
 worship of the congregation, is the preservation of unity among 
 the members of the body. It is thus that we are all enabled to 
 " speak the same thing," and " be perfectly joined together," as 
 the Apostle enjoins, "in the same mind and the same judgment." 1 
 It is thus we confess Christ "before men," profess "the Faith 
 once delivered to the saints," 2 and preclude all just occasion for 
 divisions. 
 
 It is thus, too, that liberty of conscience is secured. Not that 
 sort of liberty which amounts to free thinking, which spurns all 
 restrictions and limitations upon the reason and judgment, which 
 puts at defiance all law and authority, and sets up its own dictum 
 as the infallible truth of God. This is licentiousness, and not 
 liberty. This is that wild spirit of insubordination, which, under 
 the name of freedom, has never failed to exercise an iron despotism 
 over the minds of men wherever and whenever an opportunity was 
 presented. Of this, the past history of the world has furnished 
 abundant and striking examples ; and it is, in truth, the real 
 foundation of nearly all the systems which sectarianism has intro- 
 duced, defended, and established. 
 
 The Apostles' and Nicene Creeds contain an outline of the 
 main facts and doctrines of the GospeL They deal with general 
 principles. 8 They set forth not a single peculiarity, except as it 
 may distinguish Christianity from all other religions ; nor do they 
 enunciate a single fact, or declare a single doctrine, in which the 
 vast majority, if not all Christians, do not agree. And here is 
 a leading point of difference between the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church and the various dissenting bodies around her. She re- 
 quires the reception only of that which was confessedly acknowl- 
 edged in the primitive Church as the Christian Faith, as of 
 universal belief and no less universal practice. The Nicene Creed 
 was put forth as embodying the sense and judgment of the Church 
 of Christ, as early as the year 325 (A.D.), and in condemnation 
 of the Arian heresy which then began to disturb the unity of the 
 
 1 1 Cor. i. 10. 2 St. Jude, 3. 
 
 8 These as applied in practice are extended and explained in the worship, 
 offices, etc., of the church. 
 
222 Appendix. 
 
 body. Whatever can be shown to be of undoubted belief and 
 practice, among the whole body of believers previous to that time, 
 we hold to be obligator} 7 upon us at this day, as members of the 
 Catholic Church of Christ. We call on no man to subscribe to 
 any thing peculiar and distinct from what was thus believed and 
 practised, in order to his becoming a Christian. The demand 
 made is, " Dost thou believe all the articles of the Christian Faith 
 as contained in the Apostles' Creed? " l and upon the affirmative 
 profession thus made, we baptize in the name of the blessed and 
 adorable Trinity, and receive the subject into the visible Church, 
 as a member of Christ's body. Not so with the self-styled Re- 
 formers of this age, who insist upon immersion as indispensable 
 to admission into the visible fold of Christ. Not so with Presby- 
 terians, who set forth in their u confession of faith," that "angels 
 and men, predestinated and fore-ordained, are particularly and 
 unchangeably designed ; that the righteous are chosen in Christ 
 unto everlasting glory, out of God's mere free grace and love, 
 without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in 
 either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, 
 or causes moving him thereunto ; and all to the praise of his glori- 
 ous grace ; " and that it hath pleased God, " for the glory of his 
 sovereign power over his creatures, to pass b} T the rest of mankind, 
 and ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sins, to the praise 
 of his glorious justice." 2 Not so with Methodists, who substitute 
 internal persuasions, which they call the assurance of faith, or the 
 witness of God's Spirit, for that holiness of life, that inward purity 
 and moral rectitude, which are the proper evidence of conversion, 
 of renovation, of an acceptable state with God. Not so with 
 Papists, who demand unqualified submission to the decrees of the 
 Council of Trent in the sixteenth centur} 7 , as an indispensable con- 
 dition of salvation. Thus the theological opinions of men are 
 attempted to be bound on the consciences of mankind as dogmas 
 of faith, and the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, 
 virtually destroyed. 
 
 1 Prayer-Book : Office of Baptism. 
 
 2 Confession of Faith; article orch. iii. of God's eternal decrees Phila. 
 Ed. 1821. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 223 
 
 Contrary to all these, and many others too numerous to be 
 named, the Holy Catholic Church of Christ teaches as articles of 
 faith those things only which are plainly delivered in the written 
 Word of Christ and his Apostles, and about the truth of which 
 there never was any doubt among the faithful. And now let me 
 ask, is not this reasonable? is not this safe? is it not consistent 
 with the charity of the Gospel? If my fellow-man professes his 
 conviction of the truth of what the Apostles taught, why must I 
 impose on him new and additional terms of communion or fellow- 
 ship which they never required ? Why must my interpretation of 
 Scripture be taken as correct, and his condemned? or why his 
 received, and mine rejected? Who is to decide between us, if we 
 chance to disagree? a thing very likely to happen. We both 
 appeal to the written Word : who is to be umpire between us ? 
 There is no decision to be had in such a case, without an appeal 
 to the authority of the Church, without reverting to primitive 
 Christianity, and that which has received the sanction of all, every- 
 where, and from the beginning to the Council of Nice, A.D. 325 
 (down to which period it is acknowledged on all hands, the Faith 
 was kept pure and unadulterated by the great body of believers in 
 every part of the world) ; and this must be regarded as of apostoli- 
 cal authority. Further than this we need not go, to be assured 
 of our fellowship with the apostles, and through the sacraments of 
 the Church which they established, of our union to Christ, the 
 living Head. 
 
 I have thought it the more necessary to dwell on this part of 
 the subject, because of the misapprehension and prejudice, not to 
 sa} T misrepresentation, which I know to abound in the community, 
 respecting the Church, and the position which she occupies towards 
 the various religious professions around us. The Church utters no 
 denunciations against others, who through faith and repentance 
 are striving, however misguidedly in some things, after the crown 
 of life. She takes her stand on general principles, which may be 
 known and read of all men ; and in the setting-forth of these, the 
 plainness and simplicity of her language are equalled only by its 
 modesty, by the carefulness with which she has guarded her 
 formularies from the expression of a harsh and uncharitable judg- 
 ment on the faith and practice of others. 
 
224 Appendix. 
 
 Are we asked, What is the Church? The Nineteenth Article 
 replies : ' ' The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faith- 
 ful men, in the which the pure Word of God is preached, and the 
 Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ's ordinance, in 
 all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same." 
 
 Is the demand made, Who are authorized to minister the Word 
 and Sacraments of Christ's religion? The preface to the Ordinal 
 furnishes the answer, thus : " It is evident unto all men diligently 
 reading Holy Scripture and ancient Authors, that from the Apos- 
 tles' time there have been these Orders of Ministers in Christ's 
 Church, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. Which Offices were ever- 
 more had in such reverend Estimation, that no man might presume 
 to execute any of them, except he were first called, tried, ex- 
 amined, and known to have such qualities as are requisite for the 
 same ; and also by public Prayer, with Imposition of Hands, was 
 approved and admitted thereunto by lawful Authority. And there- 
 fore, to the intent that these Orders may be continued and rever- 
 ently used and esteemed in this Church, no man shall be accounted 
 or taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon in this Church, 
 or suffered to execute any of the said Functions, except he be 
 called, tried, examined, and admitted thereunto, according to the 
 Form hereafter following, or hath had Episcopal Consecration or 
 Ordination." It will be perceived from the foregoing, that the 
 Church undertakes to declare who shall be accounted lawful minis- 
 ters in her own communion. She raises not the question, nor 
 does she say one word about the authority of those who execute 
 the functions of religion among others. She judges them not ; 
 to their own Master they stand or fall, and to Him they must give 
 account. If others think their authority called in question by the 
 declaration which she sets forth, that "it is evident to all men, 
 diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient Authors, that from 
 the Apostles' time there have been these Orders of Ministers in 
 Christ's Church, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons," she is not to 
 blame for it. It is their own fault that they have not sought for 
 that authority from the source and in the way which she declares 
 to be lawful. It is her business to see that the application of the 
 general principle which she asserts be made to those who seek to 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 225 
 
 minister in her congregations. And this is all that she undertakes 
 to do, leaving others to pursue the course which they believe to be 
 warranted by the Word of God and the practice of the Church of 
 Christ. It is, however, not a little remarkable, that the correct- 
 ness of the general principle stated by the Church is admitted by 
 the large majority of those who have left her pale, and set up 
 separate communions for themselves. 
 
 Thus Calvin, the founder of Presbyterianism, says, " If they 
 will give us such an hierarchy, in which the Bishops have such a 
 pre-eminence as that they do not refuse to be subject unto Christ, 
 I will confess that they are worthy of all anathemas, if any such 
 there be, who will not reverence it, and submit themselves to it 
 with the utmost obedience." 1 
 
 Thus Martin Luther: "I allow that each state ought to have 
 one Bishop of its own by Divine right ; which I show from Paul, 
 saying ' for this cause left I thee in Crete.' " 2 
 
 Thus Melanchthon : " I would to God it lay in me to restore the 
 government of Bishops. For I see what manner of Church we 
 shall have, the ecclesiastical polity being dissolved. I do see that 
 hereafter will grow up in the Church a greater tyranny than there 
 ever was before." 8 
 
 Thus Beza, the successor of Calvin : " In my writings touching 
 Church government, I ever impugned the Romish hierarchy, but 
 never intended to touch or impugn the ecclesiastical polity of the 
 Church of England." 4 
 
 The plea urged for establishing a government of Presb3'ters, 
 contrary to what was the known order of the Church, was neces- 
 sity. The Reformation on the Continent was carried forward by 
 the lower orders of the Clergy, that is, by the Presbyters and 
 Deacons, in conjunction with the people. The Bishops refused 
 to unite with them except in a very few instances. In England, 
 on the contrary, the Ministry, including Bishops, Priests, and 
 Deacons, reformed with the people ; and hence there existed no 
 necessity and no reason to change the order of government by 
 
 1 Word for the Church, p. 51, Joannes Calvini Trac. Theo. omiies, p. 69. 
 
 2 Ibid., Resolutions. 8 Ibid., Apology, etc., p. 395. 
 4 Ibid., p. 52, Letter to Archp. Whitgift. 
 
226 Appendix. 
 
 Bishops, and consequently no alteration was then, or for a long 
 time after, attempted. 
 
 But what does this plea of necessity unavoidably suppose? 
 Unquestionably, a departure from some established rule and order, 
 otherwise there could be no reason or sense at all in such plea. 
 It must be evident, then, beyond cavil, that, when the necessity 
 ceases, the practice which the plea of necessity is introduced to 
 jtistif}' ought to cease also. And it is on this ground precisely that 
 we urge all those who practise Presbyterian ordination, 1 to cease 
 an irregularity (to use the softest term) which the state of the 
 Christian world no longer renders necessary, if it ever did ; and 
 return to the application of the rule which, beyond all doubt, pre- 
 vailed in the primitive and apostolic Church. 
 
 But to justify this separation, and uphold the Presbyterial form 
 of Church government, it is sometimes asserted that the Orders of 
 the Episcopal Church are defective or vitiated because derived 
 through a corrupt channel, that is, the Romish Church. If this 
 objection avails any thing, it is as destructive of the validity of 
 Presbyterian orders, as it is of Episcopal ordination. For, from 
 whom did the Presbj'ters that founded the Presbyterian form of 
 Church government in the sixteenth century, derive their authority ? 
 Undoubted!}', from the Church of Rome ; and whatever authority 
 the} T claimed and exercised, without question flowed through that 
 channel. And can it be that this same fountain sent forth waters 
 both sweet and bitter at the same time, that, more mysterious 
 than Elisha's salt at Jericho, Presbyterian orders came forth from 
 it pure and unadulterated, while Episcopacy was tainted and cor- 
 rupted? You perceive, then, that the objection, if of any weight, 
 is fatal to those who make it. But it is alleged that the Episco- 
 pacy of the English Church, and of course that of the American 
 branch, comes through the Roman ponthTs or popes, and, the Pope 
 being the man of sin, he can of course transmit no power or 
 authority in the Church of Christ. We see not that this shifting 
 of ground helps along with the difficulty. For it is not to be 
 
 1 The Methodists of course included; for they have nothing but Presby- 
 terial ordination to plead, if they can make good their claim even to that. 
 Neither Wesley nor Coke was a Bishop. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 227 
 
 conceived how, if the connection which Bishops maintained with 
 the Roman Pope vitiated or abrogated their authority, the power 
 of Presbyters was not annulled because of the same connec- 
 tion. 
 
 That the popes of Rome, aided by the secular power, did usurp 
 and exercise an ecclesiastical domination in Great Britain, we are 
 not so ignorant of history as to deny. That that domination viti- 
 ated or destroyed the Orders of the English Church, we do most 
 emphatically deny ; and to sustain that denial we appeal both to 
 facts and argument. Much of the misapprehension and consequent 
 misrepresentation which abound upon this subject are referable to 
 the ignorance which prevails respecting the original establishment 
 of Christianity in the British Islands, and the subsequent intro- 
 duction of Romanism. We deem the subject of importance and 
 interest enough to merit particular attention ; and, although our 
 observations must at present be restricted to the limits usually 
 appropriated to a single discourse, yet will they be, we trust, 
 amply sufficient to lead to a correct understanding of the question 
 before us. 
 
 It is matter of history, well authenticated, that Augustine the 
 monk came to Britain from Gregory of Rome, on a mission to the 
 Anglo-Saxons, in the year 590. It is equally well known, that, 
 some time after his arrival, he met in conference seven Bishops 
 already established in their sees in Britain, and exercising Episco- 
 pal authority over the churches under their care. The question at 
 once arises, By whom was Christianity planted in Britain, and 
 whence did these Bishops derive consecration? The answer to 
 these questions will show what connection the ancient British 
 Church had with the Roman see. 
 
 And, first, we have witnesses as to the fact that Christianity 
 existed in Britain long before the arrival of Augustine. 
 
 Tertullian 1 (A.D. 193-220) says. " Some countries of the 
 
 1 Adversus Judceos, c. 7: " Hispaniarum omnes termini, et Galliarum 
 diverse nationes, et Britannorum inaccessa Eomanis loca, Christo vero sub- 
 dita." 
 
 Orat. torn. 1, p. 575: "Kat -yap ai BperaviKat vrjaoc at rrj<; QO}MTTT)S 
 K.CLI ev avro) ovaat TO ft/ceavw T?} dvvafieus TOV pw/zarof qodovro " etc. 
 
228 Appendix. 
 
 Britons which proved inaccessible to the Romans are subject to 
 Christ." 
 
 Origen (A.D. 230) says, " When did Britain before the com- 
 ing of Christ unite in the worship of one God? " 
 
 Chrysostom (A.D. 400), " The British Islands, situated be- 
 3 T ond our sea, and lying in the very ocean, have felt the power of 
 the Word ; for even there churches are built, and altars erected." 
 
 You will remember that Augustine came to England A.D. 590. 
 These testimonies show conclusively that Christianity was preached, 
 and churches erected there, long before he was born. 
 
 2. We have a witness as to the time when Christianity was 
 introduced into Britain. Gildas, a Briton by birth, A.D. 546, 
 says it was in the }'ear of our Lord 61 ; viz., in and about the 
 date of St. Paul's travels to the West. Gildas, after mentioning 
 the defeat of Boadicea, A.D. 61, adds, " In the meanwhile the sun 
 of the Gospel first enlightened this island." 
 
 3. We have a witness as to the persons by whom the Gospel 
 was there preached. Eusebius (A.D. 270-340) speaking of the 
 travels of the Apostles to propagate the faith, says some of 
 them "passed over the ocean to the British Isles," " sm rag 
 
 4. We have witnesses as to the specific man. Clemens Ro- 
 manus (A.D. 70), the intimate friend and fellow-laborer of St. 
 Paul, says of him, that in preaching the Gospel he went to the 
 utmost bounds of the West, " sTtt TO TEQfia rqg dvGeojg ; " an expres- 
 sion denoting Spain, Gaul, and Britain, but more particularly the 
 last-named region. 
 
 Jerome (A.D. 329-420), speaking of St. Paul's imprison- 
 ment and subsequent journey into Spain, says he went from ocean 
 to ocean, and preached the Gospel in the Western parts. That 
 in the Western parts he included Britain, is evident from his letter 
 to Marcella. Theodoret (A.D. 423-460) mentions the Britons 
 among the nations converted by the Apostles ; and says that St. 
 Paul, after his release from imprisonment, went to Spain, and 
 from thence carried the light of the Gospel to other nations, and 
 
 1 Dem. Ev., L. 3, c. 7. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 229 
 
 brought salvation to the Islands that lie in the ocean. All writers 
 whom I have consulted understand by this expression, as used by 
 the Fathers, the British Isles. l Theodoret calls the British Chris- 
 tians " disciples of the tent-maker " (St. Paul) . These authorities 
 are decisive as to the establishment of Christianity in Britain before 
 the coming of Augustine in A.D. 590. The conclusion is irresist- 
 ible from the testimony, that the Church was there planted by the 
 Apostles, and most probably by St. Paul. "The Bishop whom 
 St. Paul is recorded to have appointed was Aristobulus, who is 
 mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans. By the appointment of 
 Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, the form of Church government was 
 complete; and the British Church, therefore, in a spiritual sense, 
 was fully established. And what results from this establishment 
 of the British Church by St. Paul? This very interesting conse- 
 quence, that the Church of Britain was fully established before the 
 Church of Rome. For Linus, the first Bishop of Rome, was 
 appointed by the joint authority of St. Peter and St. Paul, in the 
 year of their martyrdom, and therefore after St. Paul's return from 
 Britain." 2 
 
 "The British Church," continues the same writer, "was never 
 theirs (the Romanists) but by usurpation. For, though our Saxon 
 ancestors were converted to Christianity by Popish missionaries, 
 yet at that very period the British Church, maintaining herself in 
 the unconquered parts of the island, had subsisted from the daj"s 
 of her first founder, St. Paul, and distinguished herself not only by 
 her opposition to the heresy of Pelagius, but to the corruptions of 
 Popery." 8 She had every thing necessary or essential to the being 
 
 1 It will be perceived that the foregoing quotations are very brief, and in 
 some instances the substance of the witness's testimony given without his 
 precise words which would have, if so furnished, to be arrayed in the 
 dress of the ancient Greek or Latin. For the satisfaction of those who 
 desire to settle the question of St. Paul's preaching the Gospel in Great 
 Britain, I would refer for full information to the Letters of Bishop Burgess 
 of St. David's to his Clergy, published in the second volume of " The 
 Churchman armed against the Errors of the time." The point is there set- 
 tled, it seems to me, beyond controversy. 
 
 2 Bishop Burgess. 
 
 8 The following passage from a letter of Bishop Davies to Archbishop 
 
2.30 Appendix. 
 
 and perfection of a Church, doctrine, discipline, and worship, 
 dioceses, bishops, clerg}^, sacraments, rites, customs, church-edi- 
 fices, and schools for the instruction of her children. Nor let it be 
 supposed that there existed, in what may be called a rude and bar- 
 barous age, the mere " form of godliness " in these arrangements, 
 without the manifestation of its power in the principles and prac- 
 tice of the members of the British Church. The following extract 
 from a treatise still extant, of Fastidius, Bishop of London more 
 than a hundred j'ears before the arrival of Augustine, will show 
 that the Clergy of Britain not only understood the genuine princi- 
 ples of the Gospel, but that they also knew how to inculcate them 
 in practice : 
 
 "It is the will of God, that His people should be hoty, and 
 apart from all stain of unrighteousness : so righteous, so merciful, so 
 pure, so unspotted by the world, so single-hearted, that the heathen 
 should find no fault in them, but say with wonder, Blessed is the 
 nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom He hath chosen 
 for His inheritance. We read in the Evangelist, that one came to 
 our Saviour, and asked him what he should do to gain eternal life. 
 The answer he received was, If thou wilt enter into life, keep the 
 commandments. Our Lord did not say, Keep faith only. For, 
 if faith is all that is required, it is overmuch to say that the com- 
 mandments must be kept. But far be it from me that I should 
 suppose my Lord to have taught any thing overmuch. Let this 
 be said only by those whose sins have numbered them with the 
 children of perdition. 
 
 " Let no man, then, deceive or mislead his brother. Except a 
 
 Parker contains a very interesting record of the sentiments of tlie British 
 Church: " One notable story was in the chronicle; howe, after the Saxons 
 conquered, coutynewall warre rernayned bytwixt the Brittayns (then inhab- 
 itauntes of the realrae) and the Saxons, the Brittayns beyng Christians, and 
 the Saxons pagan. As occasion served, they sometymes treated of peace, 
 and then mette together, and communed together, and dyd eate and drynk 
 together, but after that by the mearies of Austen the Saxons became Chris- 
 tians in such sort, as Austen had taught them, the Brittayns wold not after 
 that nether eate nor drynk wyth them, nor yet salute them, bycause they 
 corrupted wyth superstition, ymages and ydolatrie, the true religion of 
 Christ." Churchman Armed, etc., p. 350. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 231 
 
 man is righteous, he hath not life ; except he keep the command- 
 ments of Christ, he hath no part with him. A Christian is one 
 who shows mercy to all ; who is provoked by no wrong ; who 
 suffers not the poor in this world to be oppressed ; who relieves 
 the wretched, succors the needy ; who mourns with mourners, and 
 feels the pain of another as his own ; who is moved to tears by the 
 sight of another's tears ; whose house is open to all ; whose table 
 is spread for all the poor ; whose good deeds all men know ; whose 
 wrongful dealing no man feels ; who serves God day and night, 
 and ever meditates upon His precepts ; who is made poor to the 
 world, that he may be rich towards God ; who is content to be 
 inglorious among men, that he may appear glorious before God 
 and his angels ; who has no deceit in his heart ; whose soul is 
 simple and undefiled, and his conscience faithful and pure ; whose 
 whole mind rests on God ; whose whole hope is fixed on Christ, 
 desiring heaven!}" things rather than earthly, and leaving human 
 things to la} T hold on things divine." l 
 
 If the foregoing be a fair specimen of the teaching of the ancient 
 British Church, we may well conclude that the foundation of their 
 ecclesiastical establishment was laid by a wise master-builder ; 
 that " in doctrine they were incorrupt, and held the mystery of 
 faith in a pure conscience." It was while the Christians of Britain 
 were ''living in all godly quietness," and, animated doubtless by 
 the constraining love of Christ, were pushing their missions into 
 the northern parts of the island for the conversion of the Picts and 
 Scots, and into Ireland, that that terrible invasion of the Saxons 
 took place, which resulted in the conquest of the country, and 
 well-nigh the ruin of the British Church. The Britons, abandoned 
 by the Romans, presented but a feeble resistance to the veteran and 
 disciplined battalions of the Saxons, led on by daring spirits, 
 and animated by the hope of plunder. All the eastern, southern, 
 and midland districts were in a short time overrun and in posses- 
 sion of the invaders ; and the unhappy Britons, driven from their 
 homes, were forced to seek refuge in France or in the mountainous 
 and inaccessible parts of Wales and Cornwall. Here history 
 
 1 Churton's Early English Church, pp. 29, 30. 
 
232 Appendix. 
 
 represents them as sternly maintaining for a long time their inde- 
 pendence, and, what is equally honorable to their character, as 
 faithfully adhering to the principles and practice of the faith which 
 they had received from the founders of their Church. It was in 
 this condition, about the year 590, that Augustine found them. 
 He had come on a mission from Gregory, Bishop of Rome, to 
 attempt the conversion of the Saxons ; and well indeed had it been 
 if he had confined his views and efforts to this single object, instead 
 of attempting, as he did subsequently, to establish a spiritual 
 supremacy alike unknown and repugnant to the practice and feel- 
 ings of the British Christians. Augustine and his company came 
 first to the court of King Ethelbert at Canterbury, whose queen, 
 Bertha, was a Christian, who had brought with her from France 
 a Bishop by name Liudhard or Lithardus, as her instructor in the 
 faith of the Gospel. He had, for many } T ears previous to the arri- 
 val of Augustine, preached and administered the rites of our holy 
 religion in the Church of St. Martin's, near to Canterbury, a ven- 
 erable pile which yet survives, sacred alike for its antiquity and 
 for its associations with the early establishment of Christianity in 
 Britain. To the piety and hospitality of Liudhard, Augustine was 
 indebted for his first night's entertainment at Canterbury. Within 
 a little more than a } r ear after this time, Augustine received conse- 
 cration at the hands of Vigil, Archbishop of Aries, and Etherius, 
 Bishop of Lyons in France, and, returning to Canterbury, was 
 invested with the pall l from Gregory of Rome as an Archbishop. 
 Here was the beginning of that assumption of author^ which the 
 successors of Gregor}^ the Popes of Rome, have since claimed to 
 exercise over the British Church. It has never been pretended, 
 even, that Augustine received his spiritual authority as a Bishop 
 
 1 The pall (pallium) was sent by the Bishops of Rome to the Metropol- 
 itans and other chief Bishops of the West, at or after their consecration, in 
 token of their recognition of them as lawfully invested with their office. 
 Though it was for several age* only a sign of fraternal regard, and a pledge 
 of intercommunion, it came at length (when the honorary primacy of the 
 Bishop of Rome had gradually been changed into a supremacy of power) to 
 be regarded as a necessary preliminary to the exercise of jurisdiction by a 
 newly consecrated Bishop. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 233 
 
 by consecration at the hands of Gregory. All histor} 7 testifies 
 that he was consecrated by the Archbishop of Aries, a see at that 
 time independent of Rome ; and consequently the line of succes- 
 sion among the English bishops, if traced through the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, conducts not to Rome, but to Aries, and thence to 
 Lyons, thence to Smyrna, where Poly carp presided as Bishop, and 
 from him to St. John at Ephesus. 1 
 
 Even the public forms of religion, as then introduced and estab- 
 lished, were not taken from the Mass-book, as the Romanists 
 boast, and dissenters ignorantly believe ; but in the portions yet 
 retained in the Book of Common Prayer were older than the begin- 
 ning of the corrupt doctrine of the mass. Gregory, so far from 
 requiring Augustine to observe the service used at Rome, expressly 
 charges him to search diligently for what might be more edifying 
 in other churches ; referring him especially to the old Church of 
 Gaul, which was closely united in faith and practice with the old 
 British or Welsh Church. u We are not to love customs," said 
 he, "on account of the places from which they come ; but let us 
 love all places where good customs are observed. Choose there- 
 fore from every Church whatever is pious, religious, and well- 
 ordered ; and when you have made a bundle of good rules, leave 
 them for your best legacy to the English." Neither did Gregory 
 claim to exercise the powers which have been so arrogantly and 
 without right or reason contended for as the prerogative of his 
 successors. For, in opposition to the pretensions of the Bishop 
 of Constantinople, he asserted that u whosoever claims the univer- 
 sal Episcopate is the forerunner of Antichrist." Ah! he little 
 imagined that he was then uttering a sentiment which in after-ages 
 
 1 The Churches in Asia (of which Ephesus and Smyrna, the sees of St. 
 John and St. Polycarp, were the chief) sent a mission to Gaul, about the 
 middle of the second century, under Photinus, who became Bishop of Lyons, 
 and was succeeded by St. Irenseus. This mission established, if it did not 
 found, the Church in Gaul; and perpetuated in that country, not only the 
 apostolic succession in the time of St. John, but also the Asiatic Liturgy 
 and usages; until the intimate connection between Rome and Gaul, which 
 was cemented by the Carlovingian dynasty in the eighth and ninth centu- 
 ries, enabled the Popes to substitute gradually the Roman Liturgy and 
 customs for the Gallican. 
 
234: Appendix. 
 
 would apply with marvellous directness to his successors. For the 
 Popes of Rome to this day claim the universal Episcopate, and so 
 fall under the heavy condemnation and withering rebuke of their 
 illustrious predecessor. 
 
 Augustine had not long exercised his Episcopal authority in 
 England, before he proposed, and through Ethelbert succeeded in, 
 bringing the British Bishops to a conference. In this interview 
 the Archbishop of Cambria (Wales), seven Bishops, and a consid- 
 erable number of other British Clergy, were present. Augustine 
 proposed to them to acknowledge the authority of the Bishop of 
 Rome over their branch of the Catholic Church, to conform to the 
 Romish custom of keeping Easter, 1 to use the Romish forms and 
 ceremonies in celebrating the rite of baptism, and to join the Ro- 
 man missionaries in preaching the Gospel to the Saxons. To these 
 demands they returned a firm and decided negative, positively 
 refusing to acknowledge Augustine as their Archbishop. The 
 answer of Dunod, the Abbot of Bangor, clearly vindicates the inde- 
 pendence of the British Church, and shows that the idea of Roman 
 supremac} T was not tolerated fora moment. u We are bound," 
 said he, " to serve the Church of God, and the Bishop of Rome, 
 and eveiy godly Christian, as far as keeping them in offices of love 
 and charity : this service we are ready to pay ; but more than 
 this I do not know to be due to him or any other. We have a 
 primate of our own, who is to oversee us under God, and to keep 
 us in the way of spiritual life." This answer, given in the genuine 
 
 1 " The British Church at this time kept their Easter Day on a Sunday, 
 from the fourteenth to the twentieth day of the paschal moon inclusive ; 
 whereas the Roman Church kept it on the Sunday which fell between 
 the fifteenth and twenty-first. The rule of the Church laid down at the 
 Council of Nice, A.D. 325, mentioned in the preceding chapter, was that 
 Easter should be kept on the first Sunday after the full moon next following 
 the twenty -first day of March. Some old Churches of the East had kept it 
 on the fourteenth day of the moon, which was the day of the Jew's Pass- 
 over, on whatever day of the week it fell. The Britons seem to have had 
 this custom, which they supposed to be observed in the Churches founded 
 by St. John in Asia; but after the Council of Nice, wishing to correct their 
 practice, they had still begun one day too soon." CHUKTON'S Early Eng- 
 lish Church, p. 44, New- York edition. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 235 
 
 spirit of Catholic independence, fully confirms the truth of Sir 
 William Blackstone's remark, that " the ancient British Church, 
 by whomsoever founded, was a stranger to the Bishop of Rome and 
 his pretended authority." " Britain knew not that the message 
 from Rome was the forerunner of forcing away that independence, 
 of which the bare asking would not gain the surrender : and though 
 from this time onward to the sixteenth century, the Holy Catholic 
 Church of Britain fought inch by inch for that liberty wherewith 
 Christ had made her free, what could she do? The student of 
 these times knows full well the feeble condition of the Britons 
 invaded by the Pagan Saxons." The slaughter of twelve hundred 
 ecclesiastics at one time, on the borders of Wales, by Ethelfrid, 
 King of Northumberland, not without suspicion that Augustine 
 himself was privy to the relentless massacre, furnishes melancholy 
 evidence of the hapless condition of the Britons. "The British 
 Church could not but be depressed when her sons suffered. What 
 then, could she do in this situation, when, in addition to the attacks 
 of the Saxon, the arm of the Italian Church was stretched forth not 
 to assist, but (as it finally turned out) to crush and enslave her? 
 Does any one say the British Church could at least protest ? Ay ! 
 and so she did, most manfully and boldly. Her voice was heard, 
 in the persons of her Bishops, her Clergy, 1 and her laity, protest- 
 
 1 The following declaration and protest of the Clergy of Berkshire, 1240, 
 will prove, that, however the fire of Christian liberty may have been smoth- 
 ered in that dark period of the world's history, it was very far from being 
 extinct: 
 
 "The Rectors of Churches in Berkshire, all and each, say thus: 
 
 " First, That it is not lawful to contribute money to support a man against 
 the emperor; for, though the Pope has excommunicated him, he has not 
 been convicted or condemned as a heretic by any sentence of the Church. 
 And if he has seized or invaded the estates of the Church of Rome, still it is 
 not lawful for the Church to resist force by force. 
 
 "Secondly, That as the Roman Church has its own estates, the manage- 
 ment of which belongs to the lord Pope, so have other Churches theirs, 
 granted them by gift and allowance of pious kings, princes, and noblemen; 
 which in no respect are liable to pay tax or tribute to the Church of Rome. 
 
 "Thirdly, Although the law says, all things belong to the prince, this 
 does not mean that they are part of his property and domain, but are under 
 his care and charge; and in like manner the Churches belong to the lord 
 
236 Appendix. 
 
 ing against the usurpation of Rome, from its commencement in the 
 sixth century up to its close in the sixteenth." 
 
 "The British Church produced a noble array of divines from 
 Dinoth (Dunod) of Bangor, to Cranmer of Canterburj', who from 
 time to time did all they could to resist the uncanonical and anti- 
 catholic usurpation of her spiritual rights ; but for centuries it was 
 all in vain. They could only stave off the evil day for a time ; and 
 at length, about the end of the Norman conquest, the Catholic 
 Church of Britain, planted by Apostolic hands, was completely 
 forced beneath the feet of her unnatural and ambitious sister, the 
 Church of Rome. With her religion went her political glory. And 
 methinks the hot blood of virtuous indignation must now crimson 
 the cheek of England's sons, when they look back to those times 
 that saw their soil, like their Church, under the thraldom of an 
 Italian Bishop ! when their monarchs, the second Henry and his 
 son (out upon such drivelling cowards !), disgraced their own and 
 their country's name, the first by baring his back to be scourged by 
 
 Pope as to care and charge, not as to dominion and property. And when 
 Christ said, 'Thou art Peter, and on this rock will I build my Church,' 
 he committed only the charge, and not the property, to Peter, as is plain 
 from the following words, ' Whatsoever thou shalt bind and loose upon earth, 
 shall be bound or loosed in heaven : ' not, Whatsoever thou shalt exact on 
 earth shall be exacted in heaven. 
 
 " Fourthly, Inasmuch as it is plain from the authority of the Fathers, that 
 the income of Churches is appointed for certain uses, as for the Church, the 
 Ministers, and the poor, it ought not to be turned to other uses but by 
 the authority of the whole Church. Least of all ought the goods of the 
 Church to be taken to maintain war against Christians. 
 
 "Fifthly, That the king and nobles of England, by inheritance and good 
 custom, have the right of patronage over the Churches of England; and the 
 Hectors, holding livings under their patronage, cannot admit a custom 
 hurtful to their property without their leave. 
 
 "Sixthly, That Churches were endowed, that Rectors might afford hos- 
 pitality to rich and poor according to their means; and if the intention of 
 patrons is thus frustrated, they will not in future build or found Churches, 
 or be willing to give away livings. 
 
 " Seventhly, That the Pope promised, when he first asked for a contribu- 
 tion, never to repeat his demand ; and that, as a repeated act makes a cus- 
 tom, this second contribution will be drawn into an unusual and slavish 
 precedent." CHURTON, pp. 319, 320. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 237 
 
 the meek and unassuming successor of the fisherman, and the last 
 by humbly laying the crown of England at the footstool of the 
 Pope's legate ! " 
 
 "There was not, however, this pusillanimous submission on the 
 part of the spiritual sons of England. 1 They never, no, not 
 from the da} r s of St. Paul up to his successors, the English Bishops 
 of this day, the}' never yet yielded up the mitre of catholic 
 independence into the hands of the usurping Romans. The Church 
 of Britain was forced, it is true, to bow her head for a time ; but 
 her heart was as unbending as the gnarled oaks of her own native 
 forests." 
 
 " Dinoth of Bangor is witness ; Bishop Daganus is a later wit- 
 ness, for he would not eat at the same table, no, nor in the same 
 house, with these Roman schismatics. 2 The King and Clergy of 
 Northumberland are still later witnesses, for they treated with con- 
 tempt the papal mandate to restore his deposed Bishop, Wilfrid. 
 And there was the giant arm of Wicklifle raised in later days, and 
 noble was the blow he struck. And when he died in 1384, he 
 bade by his example his followers, the old Catholics of Britain, 
 the members of this Church of the living God, never to cease till 
 their protestations terminated in action, and they had ejected that 
 schismatic intruder who had placed his foot on their shores in 596. 
 
 1 William of Corboil, a French priest, elevated to the see of Canterbury, 
 contrary to law and custom, and by intrigue, was the first ecclesiastic that 
 attempted to betray the independence of the English Church. Up to this 
 time (1125) the Pope had no jurisdiction in England. The Church was 
 under a head of its own, governed by the king in temporal matters, and by 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury in spiritual. William of Corboil made the 
 primacy of England consist in acting as the Pope's deputy. The Church 
 and nation were far from quietly yielding to his measures. The writers of 
 the time never speak of William of Corboil without expressing contempt for 
 his meanness; and his name became a standing jest in merry old England. 
 " He ought not to be called William of Corboil," says John Bromton, Abbot 
 of Jorval, " but William of Turmoil." " Truly I would speak his praises if 
 I could," says Henry, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, " but they are beyond 
 expression, for no man has yet discovered them." CHURTON, pp. 266, 268. 
 
 2 " Nam Daganus Episcopus ad nos veniens non solum cibum nobiscum, 
 sed nee in eodem hospitio, quo vescebamur, suinere voluit." BEDE, L. ii. 
 c. 4. 
 
238 Appendix. 
 
 The}' never did cease. 1 Wickliffe's followers, known in history 
 under the name of Lollards, kept up the protest which Dinoth of 
 Bangor had raised, and which each succeeding age found bold and 
 faithful spirits to prolong. The stake was prepared for them ; but 
 in vain, for they burnt at the stake, yet were true to the Catholic 
 Faith. There is the bloody act of 1399, by which they were burnt, 
 and the names of many of the noble sufferers on whom it took 
 effect ; but it all would not do. The flame lighted up Britain : it 
 spread to Smithfield, and added brightness to the death-light of 
 Cranmer and his brother martyrs. It spread till it reached the 
 Continent ; and Luther abroad, as well as the Catholics in Britain 
 (Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer), were nerved by the spirit of 
 Wickliffe." 
 
 "But now came the time when the old and oppressed Church 
 of Britain was able, as she had all along been willing, to eject the 
 intruding and hence schismatic Church of Rome. Four centuries 
 had witnessed her struggles in vindication of religious freedom ; 
 and now in the good providence of God, the day came when the 
 prophetic words of the d}'ing Grostete were to receive their fulfil- 
 ment, and the Church of England " was set free from the Egyp- 
 tian bondage" under which she groaned, "by the edge of a 
 blood-stained sword." 
 
 "The Bishop of Italy," continues the eloquent divine 2 to 
 whom I am indebted for many of the preceding observations, 
 " the Bishop of Italy, called the Pope, had no more right in Great 
 Britain than he had in these United States of America ; and he has 
 about as much right to spiritual supremacj' in either, as the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of Pennsylvania has in Italy." 
 
 1 GrostSte, Bishop of Lincoln, and Sewel, Archbishop of York, may be 
 instanced among many other illustrious examples of resistance to the claims 
 of papal domination. The former, in the close of his letter to the Pope, 
 employs the following strong and emphatic language: "Since the com- 
 mands I have received are so contrary to the holiness of the Apostolic see, 
 destructive to the souls of men, and against the Catholic Faith, the very 
 spirit of unity, the love of a son, and the obedience of a subject, command 
 me to rebel." CHUBTON, p. 329. 
 
 2 Rev. William H. Odeuheimer, Rector of St. Peter's Church, Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 239 
 
 "When, therefore, the Bishop of Italy sent his messenger, 
 Augustine, in the sixth century, to ask the Catholic Church in 
 Britain to submit to him, and, this being indignantly refused, he 
 in after days forced that submission, and by intrigue and treach- 
 ery usurped her rights, there was no more than sheer justice 
 returned, when the British Church had the power, as she had in 
 the sixteenth century, to eject the intruder, soul and body, and 
 send the writ of ejectment by the hands of her lawful Bishops, 
 Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer. And this she did orderly, legally, 
 canonically, completely. Ah ! the British Church never forgot 
 the year 596, no, not when her temples were overrun with for- 
 eign priests, her altars served by alien hands, and her property 
 devoured by alien mouths. She never forgot that year, though 
 ten centuries had rolled round, during which she could only ex- 
 press her remembrance by strong protestations and ineffectual 
 efforts. She never forgot that year ; and when the eighth Henry 
 blotted out the pusillanimity of the second by proclaiming, 
 through the legal voice of the realm, the independence of our 
 mother-land of the Bishop of Rome, methinks the shades of 
 Dinoth, with the other Clergy who met the monk Augustine in the 
 sixth century, the shades of Wickliffe and his martyred followers 
 in the fourteenth century, clustered around Cranmer and his 
 brothers of the sixteenth century, and watched with an English 
 Churchman's interest the royal signature which cancelled forever 
 (God grant it be so !) the foulest blot that ever stained England's 
 cross, political or religious. From that period (the Reformation 
 in the sixteenth century), the Church of the living God, the 
 Church of St. Paul, the old British Church, in her purity, in 
 her zeal, faith, and charity, has been the boast and blessing of 
 the land of our fathers. May the fires of Smithtield be again kin- 
 dled, and her children, to a man, burn and die at the stake, before 
 they 3*ield up the trust of Catholic independence, and suffer the 
 disgrace of England's Church to be told in her submission to a 
 Bishop of Italy!" 
 
 From the Church of England, thus rescued from the domina- 
 tion of Rome during the reign of Henry VIII., and again deliv- 
 ered, after a temporary depression, under "the bloody Mary," 
 
240 Appendix. 
 
 and purified and established in the days of Elizabeth, and once 
 more restored from the desolations which swept like a flood over, 
 her under the iron rule of Cromwell the Protector ; from this 
 Church, like Israel of old, with Amalekites smiting her in the face 
 and fiery serpents stinging at her feet, but still holding her onward 
 way, ever looking to her glorious Head for guidance and protec- 
 tion ; from this Church, the uncompromising asserter of Catholic 
 verity, the acknowledged bulwark of Protestant principles, the 
 dispenser, at this day, through her eighteen thousand Clergymen, 
 of the bread of life to the men of ever} T clime and every complex- 
 ion ; from this Church, upon the labors of whose missionaries the 
 sun never sets, whose zeal the fire cannot destroy nor the floods 
 quench, from this Church, blessed of God and blessing man, is 
 derived the ministerial authority by which you have been brought 
 into the visible fold of Christ, made members of his " one body," 
 and united to the Ever-living Head. For such grace, mercy, and 
 privilege, God's holy name be ever blessed ; and to Him, the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be ascribed all honor, praise, and 
 glory, world without end ! Amen. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 "But we desire to hear of Thee what Thou thinkest: for as concerning 
 this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against." ACTS xxviii. 22. 
 
 Such, brethren, was the reply of the Jews at Rome, to the 
 address of St. Paul, when he was sent a prisoner from Jerusalem 
 to appear before Caesar. To save his life he had appealed to the 
 highest tribunal known to the laws of the empire, and, after vari- 
 ous vicissitudes by land and by sea, at length found himself within 
 the walls of the imperial city. That his cause might not be preju- 
 diced by the clamors of his own countrymen, whom he knew by 
 past experience to be opposed to the religion which he taught, he 
 assembled the chief of the Jews, a few days after his arrival, and 
 stated to them the cause of his coming : namely, that being deliv- 
 ered into the hands of the Romans, though guilty of no crime, 
 and about to be set at liberty because no cause of death was found 
 in him, the Jews nevertheless spake against it ; wherefore he was 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 241 
 
 constrained to appeal unto Caesar. " Not that I had aught to 
 accuse my nation of," said he: u for this cause therefore have I 
 called for you, to see you, and to speak with you : because that 
 for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. And they said 
 unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning 
 thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any 
 harm of thee. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest ; 
 for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken 
 against." 
 
 By " this sect," is undoubtedly meant the sect of the Naza- 
 renes, or followers of Jesus Christ. It was the Christian religion 
 as taught by St. Paul and the other Apostles, which everywhere 
 excited the opposition and the enmity of the Jews, and indeed, 
 generally, of all the nations to whom it was first preached. It 
 was a religion of mortification and self-denial, which inculcated 
 internal purity and moral rectitude ; a religion that called for the 
 exercise of constant vigilance over the thoughts, no less than a 
 watchful circumspection of the conduct, that rendered it the object 
 of almost universal dislike and aversion. Striking at the roots of 
 temporal ambition, it contradicted the fondly cherished notions 
 of the Jew in reference to national glory and exaltation : hence it 
 was to him a stumbling-block and a stone of offence. Pronoun- 
 cing of the heathen gods that they were dumb idols, that the 
 worship offered to them was not only vain, but an abomination 
 to the true God, who would call them into judgment for this 
 perversion of their reason, it seemed to the Gentile a system 
 of arrogance and presumption, and he rejected it as foolishness. 
 Neither Jew nor Gentile in that age had any relish for the hum- 
 bling doctrines of the Cross. Its charity was opposed to their 
 pride ; its humility seemed to them meanness ; its temperance, 
 ingratitude to Providence in not partaking of its bounties ; and its 
 glorious promises, as the wild dreams of fanaticism. Its simple 
 rites and worship, giving expression to the devout feelings of the 
 heart, had nothing in them attractive to the unrenewed mind of 
 man, when set in contrast with the imposing ceremonies of the 
 Jewish ritual or the magnificence and pomp and splendor of Roman 
 worship. It can be no cause of wonder, then, that everywhere it 
 
242 Appendix. 
 
 was spoken against. Yet it was the truth of God, and the wis- 
 dom of God, and the power of God. Such it has proved itself to 
 be, b} T eighteen centuries of endurance against the natural hatred 
 of mankind, by dispelling the darkness of ignorance wherever its 
 glorious light has shined upon our earth, and by subduing the 
 understandings of millions to the dominion of truth, and their 
 hearts to the reign of happiness and peace. It would be interest- 
 ing, brethren, to trace this religion from its implantation in various 
 countries by the labors of the Apostles, and show how it has ever}- 
 where encountered opposition, and survived not only the overthrow 
 of kingdoms, states, and empires, but the passing-away of entire 
 races and whole nations of men. It is destined, perhaps, to 
 encounter yet severer trials in its onward progress to universal 
 dominion ; but, sure as Heaven's truth, it will put down all oppo- 
 sition, and at last reign without a rival in our world. 
 
 But I have selected this text not for the purpose of considering 
 the grounds of opposition to Christianity originally. They present 
 to our minds a very striking analogy in the position which the 
 Church occupies towards the world at the present day, and the 
 character of the opposition which is arrayed against her. It is 
 our purpose to inquire why she is everywhere spoken against, and 
 whether opposition to her is not wilful or blind opposition against 
 Christianity itself. 
 
 The first charge brought against the Church is exclusiveness of 
 ministerial authority. If our claims upon the subject of the Min- 
 istry be admitted, say those who have separated themselves from 
 our Communion, then they are in schism. But, as there are con- 
 fessedly a great many pious people who are not Episcopalians, it 
 would be very uncharitable and illiberal to say that they were 
 guilty of schism ; and we ought therefore to admit the validity of 
 their orders. 
 
 Now, we have stated the objection as it is commonly made ; 
 and let us meet it fairly, and take, at the beginning, all the odium 
 which usually attaches to the denial of its force and justice. 
 
 We ask, Do piety and learning and gifts, of themselves, impart 
 the power of Orders? It is not so pretended. Why will not a 
 pious man receive the sacraments of a pious man simply because 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 243 
 
 he is pious or learned, or possessed of aptness to teach? It is 
 answered, Because he has not been ordained. Ordination, then, 
 it is clear, confers authority which is altogether separate and dis- 
 tinct from qualifications for office. Thus we say that a man ought 
 to be pious and learned, and apt to teach, in order to receive ordi- 
 nation, and that he may exercise his ministry profitably and to 
 edification. But he may be ever so pious and learned, and apt 
 to teach, and yet be no Minister. Just so a lawyer may be just and 
 upright, and learned in the law, and yet not be in the office of a 
 judge. Qualification for office is one thing : authority to fill the 
 office and exercise its functions is quite another and different 
 thing. 
 
 If ordination, then, confers a power and authority distinct alto- 
 gether from the qualifications for office, is it unreasonable to ask 
 and to demand the proof, whence that power and authority are 
 derived? Would you permit any man by his decision to divest 
 3'ou of your rights and propert}', under the name of law, unless 
 you were satisfied that he possessed the power and authority of 
 a judge? And why, then, should you allow any one to minister 
 to you the sacraments of religion, unless convinced that he was 
 invested with ministerial authority? Now, here is the precise line 
 of difference between us and surrounding denominations whose 
 piety and learning, and ability to instruct, we do not deny. We 
 ask, Whence your authority to act as Ministers of religion? Can 
 you show that it is derived from Christ and His Apostles ? If this 
 can be shown, there is an end at once, on our part, of all objection 
 to the orders of dissenters ; and we are more than ready to receive 
 their ministrations. But, if this cannot be shown, what else is the 
 charge of exclusiveness brought against the Church but a charge 
 against the institution of Christ? 
 
 As, then, ordination is necessary to confer ministerial authority, 
 and it is so acknowledged, the question at once arises, How is the 
 power of ordination to be proved? We answer, that originally 
 the authority to act in the name of Christ, in the appointments of 
 religion, was certified to the world by miracles. When the Apos- 
 tles and other first teachers of Christianity travelled into various 
 countries in fulfilment of the work with which they were charged, 
 
244 Appendix. 
 
 they spake with tongues, they healed the sick, they cast out devils, 
 they raised the dead, and performed other and wonderful works ; 
 all of which were conclusive evidence to men that they were com- 
 missioned from on high. And at this day, if any one came to us 
 bearing these unquestionable credentials, these impressive marks 
 of Heaven's acknowledgment, there is not one of us that would 
 demand any further proof of his authority. But as these proofs of 
 the ministerial power are no longer vouchsafed, as miracles have 
 long since ceased, how shall the authority of the Christian Ministry 
 be certified and proven in any other way than by showing its 
 transmission from the original root ? Fruitful as the mind of man 
 is in devising expedients to meet a difficult case, no other than 
 this method, to prove a succession in the Ministry, has ever been 
 attempted b} T any, except by those who deny that there is any 
 Ministry at all established for the perpetual edification and govern- 
 ment of the Church. But there is a plain, common-sense view to 
 be taken of this subject, which, seems to me, will convince any 
 one of unprejudiced mind, not only that a Ministry was established 
 by Christ, but that it must of necessity have been continued all 
 along to the present day, and will be perpetuated to the end of the 
 world. For, first of all, Christ constituted a Ministrj*, commission- 
 ing the Apostles, before a Church was gathered, before the New 
 Testament or an}* part of it was written, and before an} r Christian 
 rite or sacrament was administered. His words to the Apostles 
 are: " All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go 
 3 r e therefore, and teach [or, make disciples of] all nations, baptiz- 
 ing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
 have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
 the end of the world/* 1 
 
 This declaration that He would be with them to the end of the 
 world conveys an assurance, as definite as language can well 
 express it, of the perpetuity of the Christian Ministry. But, with- 
 out dwelling on an interpretation which appears sufficiently obvious, 
 we remark that the commission enjoins the performance of positive 
 
 1 St. Matt, xxviii. 18-20. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 245 
 
 and explicit duties ; namely, to baptize, and teach all things what- 
 soever He had commanded them. We know most assuredly that 
 the Apostles did baptize, and did administer the Lord's Supper. 
 Were not these sacraments to be of perpetual obligation? Can 
 any doubt that they have been observed in every age of the Chris- 
 tian Church, to the present day? Corrupted as they may have 
 been, and undoubtedly were ; overloaded and obscured in their 
 obvious purpose and design as they have been, by the superstitious 
 additions of man's presuming wisdom, is it not undeniably true, 
 that they have been celebrated in every country where the religion 
 of Christ has been professed, for the last eighteen centuries ? Now, 
 what do these facts undeniably establish? Why, that the institu- 
 tion of sacraments pre-supposes the constitution of a Ministr}" ; and 
 the perpetual obligation of the former that is, sacraments 
 proves the uninterrupted continuance of the latter. Not a week 
 has passed, we may safely say, since the Ascension, that Baptism 
 or the Lord's Supper has not been celebrated in some part or 
 other of the earth, and consequently not a day has passed without 
 witnessing the existence of a Ministry in the Church. The con- 
 nection between them is inseparable ; and the fact that men have 
 assumed the office of the Ministry proves that the conviction 
 rested upon their minds, that a ministry and sacraments must go 
 together, that they could not be sundered without impugning 
 the authority and impairing the institution of Christ. Further- 
 more, the institution of sacraments and the authority to administer 
 them resting simply upon the command of Christ, both necessarily 
 become integral parts of the same revelation. The same Divine 
 power that commissioned a Ministry commanded the observance of 
 sacraments ; and both would be utterly destitute of obligation, if 
 they could not be shown to rest upon the declared will of Him to 
 whom all power is given in heaven and earth. 
 
 Under this aspect of the case, that is, the Ministry and sacra- 
 ments being equally integral parts of revelation, equally of Divine 
 institution, ma}* not one be altered, changed, or abrogated, with 
 as much show of reason as the other? Might not the pretended 
 necessity which would justify an assumption of the ministerial 
 authority and office, just as well authorize the entire disuse or 
 
246 Appendix. 
 
 abrogation or alteration of the sacraments? I confess, that with 
 every disposition to concede to men distinguished for piety, every 
 thing upon this subject which is not utterly repugnant to the plain 
 declarations of Holy Writ and their unavoidable meaning, I can 
 see no difference between the claims to obedience and submission, 
 of those who undertake to change or dispense with the Ministry, 
 and those who presume to abrogate the sacraments. They must 
 stand or fall together. Consistency has, indeed, forced very many 
 who have denied one, to reject the other. Thus the large and 
 respectable body of Friends, otherwise known as Quakers, have 
 alike repudiated the Ministry and the sacraments of the Gospel, as 
 of binding force and obligation upon the consciences of men. And 
 as a general rule we may observe, that those who undervalue the 
 authority of the Ministry as of Divine institution, make but little 
 account of the sacraments of Christ's religion. They regard them 
 as badges merely of profession, not necessary in any sense to sal- 
 vation ; and are consequently irregular, inconstant, and infrequent 
 in their observance. If it be true, then, that Christ instituted a 
 Ministry and sacraments in his Church ; if it be clear that the sac- 
 raments are of perpetual obligation, and cannot be dispensed or 
 administered without a standing Ministry ; if the authority of the 
 Ministr}^ cannot now be certified by miracles, it follows inevita- 
 bly that this Ministry can be known and verified only as proof 
 shall be exhibited that the authority originally delegated by Christ 
 to His Apostles has been transmitted in an uninterrupted succession 
 to those who at this day claim to exercise office in the Christian 
 Church. This is what is termed the Apostolic succession ; for 
 maintaining which, the charge of exdusiveness is brought against 
 the Church. This is one of the reasons why she " is everywhere 
 spoken against." And yet, strange as it may appear, it is never- 
 theless demonstrable true, that all those who contend for the insti- 
 tution of a Ministry authorized to act in Christ's name, in the 
 appointments of religion, do adopt identically the same principle. 1 
 
 1 " Although religion be a concern which equally belongs to every man, 
 yet it has pleased the all-wise Head of the Church to appoint an order of 
 men more particularly to minister in holy things. 
 
 " If all the interests of the Church are precious in the view of every 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 247 
 
 Hear the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church : " Unto 
 this catholic visible Church, Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, 
 and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the 
 saints, in this life, to the end of the world : and doth by His own 
 presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual 
 thereunto." The same authority sets forth that Baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper are "holy signs and seals of the covenant of 
 grace," appointed by Christ for our " solemn admission into the 
 Church," and for " confirming and sealing our interest in Him ; " 
 and they are not to be dispensed by any but by " a Minister of the 
 Word lawfully ordained." Do we inquire who are " lawfully 
 ordained Ministers," according to the same standard? We are 
 informed that " the Presbytery consisting of all the Ministers, 
 and one ruling elder from each congregation, within a certain 
 district or any three Ministers, and as many elders as may be 
 present belonging to the Presbytery, have power to examine and 
 
 enlightened Christian, it is evident that the mode of organization cannot be 
 a trivial concern. 
 
 "We agree with our Episcopal brethren in believing that Christ hath 
 appointed officers in His Church to preach the Word, to administer sacra- 
 ments, to dispense discipline, and to commit these powers to other faithful 
 men. We believe as fully as they, that there are different classes arid 
 different denominations of officers in the Church of Christ; and that among 
 these there is, and ought to be, a due subordination. We concur with them 
 in maintaining that none are regularly invested with the ministerial char- 
 acter, or can with propriety be recognized in this character, but those who 
 have been set apart to the office by persons lawfully clothed with the power 
 of ordaining. We unite with such of them as hold the opinion, that Chris- 
 tians in all ages are bound to make the Apostolic order of the Church, with 
 respect to the Ministry, as well as other points, the model, as far as possible, 
 of all their ecclesiastical arrangements." DR. MILLEB (professor in the 
 Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Princeton, N.J.). 
 
 Next hear Dr. McLeod, another Presbyterian and famous preacher: 
 " A person who is not ordained to office by a Presbytery has no riyht to be 
 received as a Minister of Christ ; his administration of ordinances is invalid ; 
 no Divine blessing is promised upon his labors: it is rebellion against the 
 Head of the Church to support him in his pretensions: Christ has excluded 
 him, in his providence, from admission through the ordinary door; and 
 if he has no evidence of miraculous power to testify his extraordinary 
 mission, he is an impostor." McLEOD's Ecclesiastical Catechism. 
 
248 Appendix. 
 
 license candidates for the holy Ministry ; to ordain, install, remove, 
 and judge Ministers." What, then, becomes of the charge of 
 exclusiveness against the Church, if the very same, upon identi- 
 cally the same grounds, may be urged against the Presbyterians, 
 and, indeed, all others who reject Episcopacy, but yet claim the 
 power of ordination as grounded upon the commission of Christ to 
 His Apostles? Let the truth be told, brethren honestly, openly, 
 fairly. They flinch from the consequences of their declared and 
 published sentiments. Professing a sound principle to which the 
 truth of God's Word compels them to subscribe, they yet deny its 
 application in practice, because its practical exemplification would 
 involve themselves in the same odious imputation of exclusiveness 
 which they seek to cast upon the Church. To prove this, let us 
 ask the question, Where is the power of ordination lodged in the 
 Church of Christ? They reply, In a council of Presbyters. Who 
 lodged it there? The Apostles, acting under the authority of 
 Christ, and guided by his Holy Spirit, say they. Now, what is 
 the inevitable conclusion from those positions? Why, that none 
 others than those Presbyterially ordained are lawful Ministers of 
 Christ. There is no escape from this conclusion ; for the Apostles 
 did not institute two modes of ordination, or leave the matter 
 opened and unsettled by their practice. With them there was but 
 one Church, but one source of power and authority in it, and 
 but one Ministry. " There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye 
 are called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one 
 baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through 
 all, and in you. all." l If Presbyterial ordination be the institution 
 of God, Episcopal ordination must be of man. They cannot both 
 be of Divine authority, and consequently one or the other must be 
 without just claims to the obedience of men. If the former, prove 
 it by Scripture and the voice of antiquity, and we surrender Epis- 
 copacy upon the spot. 
 
 But that cannot be done, my brethren. The Bible must be 
 changed, and the writings of the Fathers must be changed, before 
 it can be shown that Presbyterianism is of God arid Episcopacy 
 
 1 Eph. iv. 4-6. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 249 
 
 of man. The challenge of the judicious Hooker has remained 
 unanswered some hundreds of years past, and is likely to continue 
 so some thousands of years to come. " A very strange thing, 
 sure, it were," he remarks, "that such a discipline as ye [the 
 Puritans] speak of should be taught by Christ and His Apostles 
 in the Word of God, and no Church ever have found it out nor 
 received it until this present time : contrariwise, the government 
 against which ye bend yourselves be observed everywhere, through- 
 out all generations and ages of the Christian world, no Church 
 ever perceiving the Word of God to be against it. We require 
 you to find out but one Church upon the face of the whole earth, 
 that hath been ordered by your discipline, or hath not been 
 ordered by ours, that is to say, by Episcopal regimen, since the 
 time that the blessed Apostles were here conversant. Many things 
 out of antiquity ye bring, as if the purest times of the Church had 
 observed the self-same orders which you require ; and as though 
 your desire were that the Churches of old should be patterns for 
 us to follow, and even glasses wherein we might see the practice 
 of that which by you is gathered out of Scripture. But the truth 
 is, ye mean nothing less. All this is done for fashion's sake only ; 
 for ye complain of it, as of an injury, that men should be willed 
 to seek for examples and patterns of government in any of those 
 times that have been before." 
 
 Let those who reject Episcopacy meet this demand if they can ; 
 let them trace a succession of ordinations by Presbyteries, if they 
 deem such a thing possible : and so far from charging them with 
 exclusiveness, we will give up our own sj'stem, and adopt theirs. 
 
 In the mean time let it not be forgotten, that the assumption 
 which they make namely, that Presbyterial ordination has the 
 authority of Scripture and the sanction of primitive practice to 
 uphold it carries with it all the odious features which it is 
 attempted to impress upon the claims of Episcopacy. If a council 
 of Presbyters only are invested with ordaining power, then ordi- 
 nation by a congregation is invalid, and this throws the Independ- 
 ents, or Congregationalists, and the whole body of Baptists, into 
 schism ; not only so, it determines against the validity of ordina- 
 tion by a Bishop, in whom alone the ordaining power resides 
 
250 Appendix. 
 
 according to our system, and consequently cuts off both Episco- 
 palians and Methodists. Thus it is plain that the Presbyterial 
 system is, to all intents and purposes, as exclusive as any other. 
 It is obliged to be so, my friends, in the very nature of things ; for 
 as Christ founded but one Church, and committed to it the min- 
 istry of reconciliation, that ministry, whether constituted after 
 the model of Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, or Episcopacy, 
 necessarily excludes all others. The grand question for us all to 
 determine is, What was the form of government established in the 
 primitive Church? was it Congregational, Presbyterial, or Epis- 
 copal? Shall we appeal to Scripture? We read of Apostles, 
 Elders, and Deacons ; and it is agreed that these orders made up 
 the Ministry of the Church in the days of the Apostles. We do 
 not find mention once made of ordination by a congregation or by a 
 council of Presbyters : on the contrary, everywhere the ministerial 
 authority is conferred expressly by the laying-on of the hands of 
 the Apostles, not only of the twelve, but of Paul and Barnabas, 
 of Timothy and Titus. One single, solita^ passage occurs where 
 the la}*ing-on of the hands of the Presb3*tery is mentioned. 1 And 
 even in that case we do not know that an ordination was referred 
 to. But, granting that it was an ordination, it seems that the 
 presence and action of an Apostle was necessary to give \t valid- 
 ity. For St. Paul, referring to the transaction, let the authority 
 imparted by it be what it ma} 7 , says expressly it was by the 
 putting-on of his hands (2 Tim. i. 6). 
 
 1 " Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, 
 with the laying-on of the hands of the presbytery" (1 Tim. iv. 14). 
 
 In answer to the Presbyterian gloss on these words, we say, The word 
 Presbytery does not necessarily signify a body of Presbyters, properly so 
 called. It is as justly applicable to a council of Apostles; for every Apostle 
 was in virtue of his office a Presbyter, but it by no means follows that every 
 Presbyter was an Apostle. Every Governor of the State is ex-qfficio a Trus- 
 tee of our University, but every Trustee is not therefore Governor of the 
 State. 
 
 But let us see how ancient and wise men understood the term Presbytery 
 as here used by St. Paul. 
 
 St. Chrysostom says, " He [St. Paul] does not here speak of Presbyters, but 
 Bishops; for Presbyters do not ordain a Bishop.^ Theodoret: "In this 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 251 
 
 To meet the arguments of Episcopalians upon this subject, 
 drawn from the plain warrant of Scripture and the undoubted 
 practice of the primitive Church, it is alleged that the Apostles 
 were extraordinary officers, and could have no successors; and 
 that, after their decease, the government of the Church necessarily 
 devolved upon presbyters. All this ought to be proven. We 
 cannot consent to take mere assertion for argument. We may 
 say, however, in passing, that neither Barnabas, nor Silas, nor 
 Junias, nor Andronicus, nor Timothy, nor Titus, appears to have 
 exercised any extraordinary powers, or to have been extraordinary 
 officers ; and yet are they called Apostles, and some of them we 
 know exercised the power of ordination, and governed the Church. 
 
 Again : those who reject Episcopacy say that it was introduced 
 by little and little about the beginning of the second century, so 
 that before the Council of Nice, A.D. 325, it was generally preva- 
 lent, and after that time was universal till the era of the Reforma- 
 tion. " A very strange matter, if it were true," says Archbishop 
 Bancroft, " that Christ should erect a form of government for 
 the ruling of His Church, to continue from his departure out of the 
 world until His coming again, and that the same should never be 
 thought of or put in practice for the space of fifteen hundred years ; 
 or, at least, that the government and kingdom of Christ should 
 then be overthrown, when by all men's confessions, the divinity of 
 His person, the virtue of his priesthood, the power of his office as 
 He is a prophet, and the honor of His kingly authority was so 
 godly, so learnedry, and so mightily established against the Arians 
 in the Council of Nice, as that the confession of the Christian faith, 
 
 place he calls those Presbyters (i.e., old men) who had received the grace of 
 the Apostleship." Theophylact: " That is, of Bishops; for Presbyters do 
 not ordain a Bishop." Others, as Jerome, Ambrose, and, last but not least, 
 John Calvin, maintain that the term Presbytery refers to the office to which 
 Timothy was then ordained, and interpret the passage thus: "Neglect not 
 the gift of the presbytery or priesthood that is in thee, which was given by 
 prophecy and the laying-on of hands." 
 
 Lastly, hear St. Paul's explanation of his own words: " Wherefore I put 
 thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God, wldch is in thee by the 
 putting on of my hands" (2 Tim. i. 6). 
 
- 
 
 252 Appendix. 
 
 then set forth, hath ever since without contradiction been received 
 in the Church." 
 
 Strange indeed that so wonderful a change in the form of 
 Church government, as that denoted by Episcopacy from parity, 
 should take place, and no record be made of the fact, no detail 
 of the circumstances by which it was effected be mentioned by so 
 much as one writer. Strange beyond the power of explanation, 
 that light and trivial matters about which Christians then differed 
 should find a place in the annals of those times, and yet the won- 
 derful revolution from the Presbyterial to the Episcopal mode of 
 government pass utterly unnoticed. So early as the time of Poly- 
 carp, the Bishop of Smyrna and the disciple of St. John, the whole 
 Christian world was agitated by the question, on what day should 
 Easter be observed? and Polycarp journeyed all the way from 
 Asia to Rome to adjust the difference. Can we really think that 
 such things would form matters of grave discussion, and the intro- 
 duction of Episcopacy pass unheeded? When people make such 
 demands of us, they must ask us to lay aside the common sense 
 and understanding of men. 
 
 "When I shall see," sa3's the learned Chillingworth, "all the 
 fables in the metamorphosis acted, and proved true stories ; when 
 I shall see all the democracies and aristocracies in the world lie 
 down and sleep, and awake into monarchies, then will I begin 
 to believe that Presbyterial government, having continued in the 
 Church during the Apostles' time, should presently after (against 
 the Apostles' doctrine and the will of Christ) be whirled about 
 like a scene in a mask, and transformed into Episcopacy. In the 
 mean time, while these things remain thus incredible, and in 
 human reason impossible, I hope I shall have leave to conclude 
 thus : Episcopal government is acknowledged to have been univer- 
 sally received in the Church, presently after the Apostles' times." 
 
 "Between the Apostles' times and this presently after, there 
 was not time enough for, nor possibility of, so great an alteration." 
 
 "And, therefore, there was no such alteration as is pretended. 
 And, therefore, Episcopacy, being confessed to be so ancient and 
 catholic, must be granted also to be Apostolic." 
 
 Perhaps enough has now been said to show that there is no just 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 253 
 
 ground of complaint against the Church because of her exclusive- 
 ness ; since she occupies, in this respect, the same position with 
 others. If to be built upon the foundation of the Apostles and 
 Prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone, be to render 
 us exclusive, let it be even so. "We cannot help it. We dare not 
 undertake to amend or alter that which Divine wisdom has ordained 
 and appointed. 
 
 It gives me no pleasure, I am sure, to show the points of differ- 
 ence between ourselves and other denominations. I would that 
 we were perfectly joined together in the same mind and judgment, 
 and that we all spake the same things. But when points of differ- 
 ence are misunderstood, and especially when they are misrepre- 
 sented, silence on my part would be an unworthy abandonment of 
 known obligations, would be a criminal indifference to the preva- 
 lence of error, and a disregard of your most important and dearest 
 interests. I have no sympathy, and I hope you have none, with 
 that mawkish sensibility which fears the honest declaration of the 
 truth lest it make others feel unpleasant. I have no respect for 
 that pretended liberality of opinion, which, under the name of 
 charity, will embrace all professions of Christianit} 7 as equally sound 
 branches of the one Catholic Church of Christ, and will cast into 
 the shade all distinctive principles as non-essential and of minor 
 consequence. Christianity, brethren, u rejoiceth in the truth," as 
 well as " hopeth all things, and endureth all things." And while 
 we dare not pronounce upon the character of those who follow 
 unscriptural and erroneous systems ; while we leave them to the 
 just and righteous judgment of that God before whom we must all 
 stand at last, it is nevertheless our duty to show them their 
 error, to lead them to embrace the truth, and by all proper means 
 aid them to attain eternal life. 
 
 Having, therefore, made a beginning upon this subject, I shall, 
 God being my helper, go into it thoroughly, and leave nothing 
 untouched as to the order, doctrine, and worship of the Church, 
 which may conduct you to a correct understanding of her principles 
 and your own correspondent privileges and duties. And, if I 
 succeed in this, I know the necessary effect will be to inspire you 
 with increasing reverence for the institutions which God has estab- 
 
254 Appendix. 
 
 lished, and with a deeper sense of gratitude to that good Provi- 
 dence which has wrought wondrously and mercifully for you, and 
 brought you into connection with His Holy Church. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 "But we desire to hear of Thee what Thou thinkest : for as concerning 
 this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against." ACTS xxviii. 22. 
 
 It is not a little remarkable, that in the assaults made upon 
 Christianity, both in ancient and modern times, the chief point of 
 attack has ever been the Ministry of the Church. The reason is 
 plain. Every system which proposes to teach men their duty in 
 what most nearly concerns them, must have defenders. And this 
 is more especially necessary in a case where the instructions deliv- 
 ered are professedly based upon the expression of the Divine will. 
 If there were not an order of men set for the defence of the Gospel, 
 it would very soon cease to exert any influence, and, like other 
 systems, sink into oblivion, from the attacks of its enemies, and 
 from the indifference of mankind to whatever does not in some way 
 subserve their present interests. This must be apparent enough 
 to an} r one who has been observant of the prevailing tone of moral 
 feeling in those communities where the Gospel is seldom or never 
 preached, and in those countries where its truths are much ob- 
 scured and its doctrines much corrupted. The principles of Chris- 
 tianit}- impose a check upon the passions of men, and thus offer a 
 restraint to those pursuits in which their passions lead them to 
 engage. Its present rewards are not attractive to the unrenewed 
 mind of man, while its promises are for the most part future and 
 distant. Hence its sanctions are of that awful and impressive 
 character which the Bible addresses to our natural and instinctive 
 fears, warning us of a judgment to come, and the solemn retribu- 
 tions of eternity ; and hence it uses the language of authority. 
 
 It was doubtless from a wise foresight of the proneness of the 
 human mind to become engrossed with " temporal things," to the 
 exclusion and neglect of the " things that are eternal," that God 
 established His Church, having in it appointments to keep alive 
 the remembrance of our future accountability and most important 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 255 
 
 interests ; and committed to it the Ministry of reconciliation, 
 charged with the special duty of rousing men, by warning and 
 rebuke, from the slumbers of a careless and unreflecting life, and 
 of quickening them in the pursuit of a heavenly crown by holding 
 up to their view the glorious rewards of eternity. 
 
 That God did establish His Church in the world, admits of no 
 more question than that He made a revelation to mankind. That 
 He appointed a Ministry in that Church, deriving their authority 
 to act in the appointments of religion from Him, is equally plain 
 and certain. That this authority, whatever it be, is delegated, no 
 one will deny. By delegated authority, I mean, of course, authority 
 to act in the name of another. It is authority in opposition to that 
 which is assumed. And that no one is allowed to assume such 
 authority in the name of God, is manifest from the whole recorded 
 history of the Divine dispensations, as well as clear from express 
 declarations of Holy Writ. " No man taketh this honor to him- 
 self," says the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, " but he that 
 is called of God as was Aaron." " So also Christ glorified not 
 Himself to be made an high priest ; but He that said unto Him, 
 Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee." 1 Such a decla- 
 ration, enforced by the reference to the illustrious examples men- 
 tioned by the Apostle in confirmation of its truth, must settle 
 forever the question whether the ministerial authority may be 
 assumed or not ; it must forever stamp the seal of reprobation upon 
 all assumptions of the Ministry without warrant. Dr. McKnight, 
 a learned Presb3 r terian divine of the Church of Scotland, in his 
 celebrated work on the Epistles, has these words: " The account 
 of the designation, character, and office of an high priest, the 
 Apostle applies to Messiah, by observing, that as in the Gospel 
 Church no man can take the dignity of an high priest to himself, 
 but only the person who is called to the office by God, like Aaron 
 in the Jewish Church, so the Christ did not, by his own author- 
 ity, assume the office of high priest in the house of God ; but He 
 bestowed that dignity upon Him, who declared him His Son, by 
 raising Him from the dead." Aaron was set apart and consecrated 
 
 1 Heb. v. 4, 5. 
 
256 Appendix. 
 
 to the priesthood, he and his sons, after an open and public 
 manner, according to the express command of God, by Moses. 
 His consecration was the visible and declared designation to the 
 office to which God had called him and his family. And when 
 afterwards Korah and his company assumed to themselves the 
 same office, and undertook to offer incense to the Lord, upon the 
 alleged plea that all the congregation were holy, God interposed 
 in a singular and awful manner for their punishment ; and com- 
 manded a memorial to be made, to be a token to the children of 
 Israel through their generations, that no one who was not of the 
 seed of Aaron should come near to offer incense before the Lord, 
 that is, to execute the office of priesthood, "lest he perish as 
 did Korah and his company." * As Aaron was public^ called to 
 his office, so was Christ ; for it was not until His baptism in Jordan, 
 and the voice which came from God proclaiming Him to be His 
 beloved Son, that Jesus began His public ministry. 
 
 Whatever, then, be the piety, the righteousness, and the learn- 
 ing of any man, they do not in themselves confer the power of 
 office, however necessary they may be to the proper discharge of 
 its duties. There are doubtless many men in our country qualified 
 to fill the office of ambassador to foreign courts : yet no one is 
 competent to fill the station, unless he have received the requisite 
 grant of authority to do so from the President and Senate. His 
 knowledge and talents, be they ever so great, will not be taken 
 as his credentials to act as the representative of the government. 
 Neither will his declaration cause him to be received as the 
 nation's accredited agent. In short, he must present his commis- 
 sion ; and when that is received, his acts, whether he possess 
 learning and skill in diplomacy or not, are valid and binding to 
 the full extent, letter, and spirit of his instructions. 
 
 Just so there are many possessed of high and eminent qualifica- 
 tions, by reason of their piety, knowledge, and other gifts, to act 
 as ambassadors of Christ. Still these talents, however essential to 
 the efficiency of the Ministry, do not any more make one a Min- 
 ister of Christ's religion than knowledge and skill make another 
 
 1 Num. xvi. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 257 
 
 minister to a foreign court. The commission, or authentic letter 
 of authority, derived from the true and proper source of power, in 
 both cases, is indispensable to give validity to ministerial acts. 
 In either instance, the minister acts not in his own name, but in 
 the name of another. He is an agent, and must act according to 
 the tenor of given and prescribed instructions. The message 
 which he bears may be most unpleasant to deliver : but it is not 
 his own, but His who sends him ; and he must deliver it even in 
 the terms in which he received it, or prove faithless to his trust. 
 Unless these things be so, brethren, the government which God 
 has established in his kingdom on earth called the Church is 
 less certain in its provisions, less definite in its objects, less wise 
 in its appointments, less fixed in its arrangements, and less sure 
 in its results, than the institutions of men. Once make the 
 Church the mere figment of man's creation ; once regard it in 
 the light only of a human contrivance, and subject to the alteration 
 or amendment of man's presuming wisdom, in any of its original 
 and essential features, and all vitality is gone from its laws, all 
 authority from its enactments, all confidence from its promises, 
 and all the assurance of heavenly hope from the participation of 
 its ordinances. It becomes the frail and tottering fabric of man's 
 caprice, built up of "hay and stubble," and doomed to "suffer 
 loss " when proved b}* the purifying fires of God's truth. Such is 
 not the Church of God, built upon the foundation of the Prophets 
 and Apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. 
 Such is not the holy citadel of faith, hope, and charity, against 
 which the gates of hell shall not prevail. " Walk about Zion, and 
 go round about her : tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her 
 bulwarks, consider her palaces." "As we have heard, so have we 
 seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God : 
 God will establish it forever." Thus sang David, under the law ; 
 and if his words, inspired by the Holy Ghost, were true of Jeru- 
 salem or Zion, the type of the Christian Church, how much more 
 shall they not be thought applicable in every respect to that which 
 St. Paul calls the " house of God, which is the Church of the 
 living God, the pillar and ground of the truth ! " l 
 
 i 1 Tim. iii. 15. 
 
258 Appendix. 
 
 In these views, perhaps, we shall all be found to agree. None 
 will deny the authority and perpetuity of Christ's Church ; none 
 will question the fact that the Christian Ministry is a purely dele- 
 gated power, deriving its authority alone from God. If any deny 
 this last position, we leave him to settle the point with St. Paul, 
 who says, " As we were allowed of God to be put in trust with 
 the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, 
 which trieth our hearts." x And again, "Now then we are ambas- 
 sadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us : we pray 
 you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 2 Language of 
 the like import abounds in the New Testament. "The glorious 
 gospel of the blessed God, which," says St. Paul, "was com- 
 mitted to my trust." 8 "So account of us, as of the ministers of 
 Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is re- 
 quired in stewards, that a man be found faithful." 4 " Approving 
 ourselves as the ministers of God." 5 " Seeing we have this min- 
 istry, we faint not." 6 " All things are of God, who hath recon- 
 ciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the 
 ministry of reconciliation." 7 "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, 
 who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me 
 into the ministry." 8 " Take heed to the ministry which thou hast 
 received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it." 9 " Make full proof of 
 thy ministry." 10 Thus, by whatever terms office in the Church is 
 described, whether trust, ambassadorship, stewardship, or min- 
 istry, we are at once reminded of its delegated character, and 
 that great and solemn responsibility, from the very nature, design, 
 and authority of the charge, attaches to its management. 
 
 Indeed, it seems wonderful that any other view should ever 
 have been taken of this subject, and that the idea should have 
 been entertained that the Ministry was not to be perpetuated as 
 originally constituted in the New Testament. For when we open 
 that little volume, and inquire into the character of Christ's reli- 
 gion, we are met at the outset by the information that the Gospel 
 is to be preached to all nations, and that its institutions are to run 
 
 i 1 Thess. ii. 4. 2 2 Cor. v. 20. 3 1 Tim. i. 11. 4 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2. 
 5 2 Cor. vi. 4. 6 2 Cor. iv. 1. 7 2 Cor. v. 18. 8 1 Tim. i. 12. 
 
 9 Col. iv. 17. 10 2 Tim. iv. 5. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 259 
 
 coeval with its propagation and extension, even to the end of the 
 world. We read that sacraments were ordained of Christ, and 
 were to be observed by all those in all places where the faith was 
 embraced. Has not this religion come down even to us? Have 
 not its sacraments been administered for the last eighteen cen- 
 turies, wherever faith in the Saviour has been proclaimed and 
 received? By whom, brethren, has this faith been preached, and 
 these sacraments been duly administered ? There can be but one 
 answer to these questions. We must say, By the Ministry. The 
 Church sacraments and Ministry thus become witnesses to the truth 
 of Christ's religion. During the darkest period of the world's 
 history, when the light of God's truth shone dimly, when the doc- 
 trine of Christ was most obscured by the traditions of men, and 
 when corruptions most marred the fair form of Christianity under 
 papal misrule and usurpation, still the Church sacraments and 
 Ministry existed, and gave united testimony to the world that 
 Jesus had died, and that through His name salvation was yet 
 assured to the hope of perishing man. The great facts upon which 
 the doctrine of redemption is founded have thus been preserved 
 to the world, and would be again, should darkness once more 
 cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. 
 
 It is not denied by any, so far as I know, that Christ, after his 
 resurrection, and previous to his ascension into heaven, commis- 
 sioned the eleven Apostles to gather his Church, and settle its 
 order and government. During the last forty days of His contin- 
 uance upon earth, we are told, He came to them from time to 
 time, giving them commandments, and ''speaking of the things 
 pertaining to the kingdom of God." l It is not to be supposed in 
 reason, then, that they were left in ignorance as to the extent 
 of their powers, or as to the order of administration which Christ 
 would have established in His Church. Still less is this supposi- 
 tion reasonable when we remember that the Apostles were under 
 the guidance of that Holy Spirit which was to lead them into all 
 truth, and to bring to their remembrance all things whatsoever 
 that Jesus had said unto them. In fulfilment of their trust, it is 
 
 i Acts. i. 3. 
 
260 Appendix. 
 
 certain that they in a public manner ordained Matthias in the 
 place of Judas, and " he was numbered with the eleven Apos- 
 tles." 1 Equally clear and certain is it that others, as Paul and 
 Barnabas and Silas, and Timothy and Titus and James, were 
 called Apostles, and that they exercised the powers of Apostles in 
 governing the Church, and in ordaining to the holy Ministry. 
 These, therefore, according to the express language of Scripture, 
 constituted the first or highest order of the Gospel Ministry. The 
 testimony is equally direct and conclusive as to the constitution 
 of the second and third orders of the Ministry; viz., the order 
 of Elders, Bishops, or Presbyters, as they are interchangeably 2 
 termed in the New Testament, and the order of deacons. These 
 are the orders of the Christian Ministry as unquestionably estab- 
 lished in the days of the Apostles. The testimony of the New 
 
 1 Acts i. 26. 
 
 2 It is freely admitted by Episcopalians, that these terms are thus inter- 
 changeably used in the New Testament. The admission is improved into 
 an argument in the hands of the opponents of Episcopacy, who most 
 preposterously argue from a community of names to a community in rank 
 or order. The fallacy of the argument has been too frequently exposed to 
 need repetition here. But it may nevertheless be useful to subjoin the 
 testimonies of Theodoret and Isidore on this subject, who lived in the 
 fifth century, and whose evidence in the case will probably be considered, 
 by the " wise and prudent," conclusive. 
 
 Theodoret: " Epaphroditus was called the Apostle of the Philippians, 
 because he was intrusted with the Episcopal government, as being their 
 Bishop. For those now called Bishops were anciently called Apostles; but 
 in process of time the name of Apostle was left to those who were truly 
 Apostles, and the name of Bishop was restrained to those who were an- 
 ciently called Apostles: thus Epaphroditus was the Apostle of the Philip- 
 pians, Titus of the Cretans, and Timothy of the Asiatics." 
 
 Isidore: "The Bishops succeeded the Apostles: they were constituted 
 through the whole world in the place of the Apostles." Isidore then says 
 that " Aaron the High Priest was what a Bishop is, and Aaron's sons pre- 
 figured the Presbyters." 
 
 Mosheim, who will not be suspected of any undue partiality towards 
 Episcopacy, says of Isidore, the Bishop of Pelusium, "He was a man of 
 uncommon learning and sanctity. A great number of his epistles are yet 
 extant, and discover more piety, genius, erudition, and wisdom than are to 
 be found in the voluminous productions of many other writers." 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 261 
 
 Testament is silent as to any other order of administration. Its 
 Canon closes with this arrangement ; and if any change or altera- 
 tion of this order was made, the evidence of it must be sought 
 for elsewhere than in the records of inspiration. The assertions, 
 therefore, that Christ and His Apostles left no specific directions 
 as to the order and government of the Church, and that the whole 
 subject was left open to the exigences of times and occasions, are 
 wholly gratuitous, utterly destitute of proof, and flatly contradicted 
 by the fact that Christ continued forty days with the Apostles, 
 giving them commandments, and speaking of the things pertain- 
 ing to the kingdom of God ; and by the fact, also, that the Apos- 
 tles did admit others into their number, and did ordain presbyters 
 and deacons. The obscurity, and lack of precision, which some 
 men allege to be thrown around the order and government of the 
 Apostolic Church, are nothing short of empty pretences, and are 
 about as available to excuse their irregularities and schisms, as the 
 alleged mysteries of faith are to excuse the indifference and sin of 
 unbelief. 
 
 The threefold constitution of the Ministry as above stated, 
 composed of Apostles, Presbyters, and Deacons in their respective 
 orders, we hold to be the form of Church government as clearly 
 defined in the New Testament. As it was established by Divine 
 authority, and undeniably continued till the Canon, and of course 
 the testimony of Sacred Scripture, was closed, we are compelled 
 to regard it as of perpetual obligation, and unchangeable, until 
 authority can be shown to alter it. 1 
 
 If we would inquire as to the powers which these three orders 
 exercised respectively, we must look at their commissions and at 
 their acts. As to the Apostles, we find that thirteen of them 
 were special witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They 
 were chosen for that specific purpose, and so far could have no 
 successors. For the idea of witnesses having successors carries 
 absurdity on its very face. They may be contemporaneous wit- 
 nesses to the same matters of fact ; as the five hundred brethren 
 
 1 Archbishop Whately's preposterous concessions upon this point to the 
 contrary notwithstanding. 
 
262 Appendix. 
 
 who saw Christ after his resurrection, on a mountain in Galilee, 
 were, with the Apostles then present, witnesses of one and the 
 same fact. But to bear testimony to the resurrection of Christ 
 was not the only duty with which the Apostles were charged. If 
 we turn to their commission, we shall see that they were specially 
 charged to preach the gospel to all nations, and to baptize them in 
 the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Accordingly we 
 find, in tracing the history of their acts, that they not only testi- 
 fied that Christ was raised from the dead, but also preached, and 
 baptized for the remission of sins, and that they ordained others 
 to the performance of the like offices. They, or at least a portion 
 of them, possessed also the power of conferring the miraculous 
 gifts of the Holy Ghost by the imposition of their hands. Some 
 of them also were endowed with the spirit of prophecy. In these 
 things, then, as witnesses of the resurrection of Christ, as 
 prophets, as bestowers of miraculous gifts, their office was 
 extraordinary ; and as such they had no successors. 
 
 But it is remarkable, that, in the commission given to the Apos- 
 tles, which was antecedent to the Day of Pentecost when they 
 received the gift of the Holy Ghost, no reference is made to their 
 extraordinary powers. The tenor of their commission, as recorded 
 by St. Matthew and St. John, runs thus: "All power is given 
 unto me in heaven and in earth. Go 3*6 therefore, and teach all 
 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things what- 
 soever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even 
 unto the end of the world." 1 " Then said Jesus to them again," 
 are the words of St. John, "Peace be unto you: as my Father 
 hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he 
 breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost : 
 whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whose 
 soever sins ye retain, they are retained." 2 
 
 These last words, respecting the power of remitting and retain- 
 ing sins, are generally understood as conveying the power of dis- 
 cipline, of inflicting and removing Church censures ; a power 
 
 1 St. Matt, xxviii. 18-20. 2 St. John xx. 21-23. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 263 
 
 claimed and exercised by all denominations to this extent, and 
 indeed indispensable to the preservation of purity and order in any 
 society whatever. 
 
 The commission of the Apostles sets forth that they are to 
 preach, to baptize, and to exercise discipline. And certainly, so 
 far at least, no one will deny that they may and ever have had suc- 
 cessors in office. But the commission, as recorded by both the 
 Evangelists, clearly indicates that they were invested with yet 
 higher powers. Besides making disciples of all nations, which 
 is regarded as a more correct rendering than teaching all nations, 
 and baptizing them, they are furthermore to teach them to 
 observe all things whatsoever Christ had commanded. Now, as 
 these things, whatever they were, are not specifically set forth in 
 the commission itself, it seems reasonable to conclude that we must 
 search for them in what the Apostles taught and in what they did. 
 They have recorded what they taught, and what they did also, 
 at least, to a sufficient extent, we must suppose, to furnish the man 
 of God thoroughly unto every good word and work. And among 
 the things which they did, acting under Christ's commission, we 
 know that they ordained to the Ministry ; and in so doing, not only 
 established a precedent for those whom they thus ordained, to do 
 as they had done, but moreover gave express directions to that 
 end. "The things that thou hast heard of me among many wit- 
 nesses/' says St. Paul to Timothy, u the same commit thou to 
 faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." 1 
 
 The words of St. John, in recording the grant of authority to 
 the Apostles, convey the idea of still more ample powers. " As 
 my Father hath sent me, even so send I you ; " and then breath- 
 ing on them said, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost. " Whatever may 
 be made out of these words, no one will deny that this much at 
 least is certain, that Christ invests His Apostles with full power 
 and authority to settle the order and administer the affairs of His 
 kingdom on earth. Whatever, then, they taught and commanded 
 in pursuance of this object, we hold to be binding upon the con- 
 sciences of all believers. That they ordained Elders, is not denied ; 
 
 i 2 Tim. ii. 2. 
 
264 Appendix. 
 
 that these Elders ministered in the Church, in subordination to a 
 higher order of the Ministry called Apostles, is as clear as any 
 other fact recorded in the sacred writings ; that not a single in- 
 stance of the Elders exercising the power of ordination has ever 
 been clearly made out, is just as certain as that the higher or apos- 
 tolic order did exercise that power. That the Apostles ordained 
 Deacons, is admitted ; that these Deacons both preached and bap- 
 tized, and so far were Ministers, stands as plainly recorded in the 
 Acts of the Apostles as any thing else to be read therein. Here, 
 then, brethren, in the Ministry of the Church thus constituted of 
 Apostles, Presbyters, and Deacons, is that Episcopacy for which 
 we contend as the order established by Divine wisdom in Christ's 
 kingdom on earth. Christ said He would be with the Apostles 
 " alwa}'S, even unto the end of the world.'* Are we to suppose, 
 then, that the Apostles left the Church destitute of a Ministry ; 
 that they left the whole body of believers throughout the world, in 
 Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Rome, Corinth, and a hundred other 
 places where they had planted the faith of the Gospel, in an unor- 
 ganized state, left them to choose a Ministry, and ordain them 
 from among themselves, to define their powers, and settle the limits 
 of their jurisdiction? Such a supposition lies not within the bound- 
 aries of the most extravagant credulity. It would be an example 
 without precedent in the history of man. It was a thing plainly 
 impossible from the very nature of the Christian institution, having 
 ordinances to be administered, and, by necessary consequence, re- 
 quiring an order of men for that purpose, invested with power and 
 authority to perpetuate the office of administration. And accord- 
 ingly the very first witnesses that present themselves to our exami- 
 nation, after the writers of the New Testament had passed off the 
 stage of action ; witnesses, some of whom saw and conversed with 
 the Apostles, and labored with them in their ministry ; witnesses 
 upon whom we are obliged to rely to prove the authenticity and 
 genuineness of the New Testament, these witnesses testify, with 
 one voice, that the Ministry of the Church in their day was con- 
 stituted after the model of the Apostolic age ; that they did not 
 establish it after the form or order in which it existed among them, 
 but that they had so received it from the Apostles themselves. To 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 265 
 
 illustrate the value of these witnesses, let us ask, How know we 
 that the book called the New Testament was written in the age of 
 the Apostles and by the disciples of Christ ? Thomas Paine asserts 
 that it was written three hundred years later. How do we meet 
 this bold and unblushing assertion of infidelity ? Simply by refer- 
 ring to the writings of the Fathers of the first three centuries. 
 They make mention of the Gospels of the New Testament, and of 
 other portions of the same work, and quote passages from it. Is 
 their testimony, then, good and sufficient to settle the simple ques- 
 tion of fact, whether the New Testament was in existence in their 
 respective ages, or not? If yea, then why is not the same testi- 
 mony equally available to settle the question of fact, as to what 
 was the order of the Christian Ministry ? Let us hear them speak 
 for themselves. We begin with Clement of Rome, whom St. Paul 
 commends as his fellow-laborer in his Epistle to the Philippians. 
 He wrote about forty years after our Lord's death, and during the 
 lifetime of St. John. 
 
 He says, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1 " The apos- 
 tles, preaching through countries and cities, appointed the first-fruits 
 of their conversions to be bishops and ministers over such as should 
 afterwards believe." u The apostles knew by our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that there should contentions arise concerning the episcopal 
 name (or order) ; and for this cause, having perfect foreknowledge 
 (of these things) , they did ordain those whom we have mentioned 
 before; and, moreover, did establish the constitution, that other 
 approved men should succeed those who died in their office and min- 
 istry." " To the high priest, his proper offices were appointed; the 
 priests had their proper order, and the levites their peculiar services 
 or deaconships; and the laymen, what was proper for laymen." 
 This St. Clement applies to the distribution of orders in the Chris- 
 tian Church, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. 
 
 Such is the plain, unequivocal, and decisive testimony of the 
 earliest ecclesiastical writer whose works have reached us, next 
 after the Apostles, a writer who was himself chosen by the Apos- 
 tles, and appointed to preside as Bishop over one of the Churches 
 which they had planted. 
 
 1 See Oxford edition, 1677, sect. 42, p. 89. 
 
266 Appendix. 
 
 The next witness we produce is Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, 
 A.D. 71. He was constituted Bishop of Antioch by the Apostles 
 then living ; and wrote Epistles to various Churches, while on his 
 journey to Rome, in which he exhorts the inferior Ministers, Pres- 
 bj'ters, and Deacons to be in subjection to their Bishop. He 
 sealed the truth of his religion by suffering martyrdom ; being 
 thrown to wild beasts at Rome, by order of Trajan, less than ten 
 years after the death of St. John, or about A.D. 107. 
 
 To the Ephesians, after speaking of their "excellent Bishop 
 Onesimus," he thus writes ; '''For even Jesus Christ, our insepara- 
 ble life, is sent by the will of the Father; as the bishops, appointed 
 unto the utmost bounds of the earth, are by the will of Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 To the Magnesians: " / exhort you that you study to do all 
 things in a divine concord; your bishop presiding in the place of 
 God, your presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles; and 
 your deacons most dear to me, being intrusted with the ministry of 
 Jesus Christ." Such language partakes largely, you perceive, of 
 the hyperbolical style of the Orientals. We are quoting Ignatius, 
 you will remember, not to settle the point of reverence and dignity 
 due to the Ministry, but to show the fact stated, that the Ministry 
 consisted of three orders. In this same epistle he mentions by 
 name, the Bishop Damas, the Presbyters Bassus and Apollonias, 
 and the Deacon Sotia. 
 
 To the Trallians : " Let all reverence the deacons as Jesus Christ, 
 and the bishop as the Father, and the presbyters as the Sanhedrim 
 of God and college of the apostles : he that does any thing without 
 the bishop and presbyters and deacons is not pure in his conscience." 
 
 To the Philadelphians : " To those who were in unity withjheir 
 bishop and presbyters and deacons : there is one bishop with his 
 presbyters, and the deacons my fellow servants. Give heed to the 
 bishop and to the presbytery and to the deacons : do nothing without 
 the bishop." 
 
 To the Smyrnians, over whom Polycarp the disciple of St. John 
 presided as bishop : " See that ye all follow your bishop, as Jesus 
 Christ did the Father; and the presbyters as the apostles; and rev- 
 erence the deacons as the command of God. My soul be security 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 267 
 
 for them that submit to their bishop with their presbyters and 
 deacons." 
 
 Is it possible for any intelligent and sound mind to read these 
 quotations, and come to any other conclusion than that there were 
 three orders Bishops, Priests, and Deacons in the Christian 
 Ministry in the age of Ignatius? If his words prove any thing, 
 they undoubtedly show that in the first century the Christian Church 
 was Episcopally constituted ; that the three orders of the Ministry 
 were regarded as of Divine institution, and considered necessary 
 to the regular constitution of every Church. 
 
 We next cite Poly carp, Bishop of Smyrna. In his Epistle to 
 the Philippians he says, " Poly carp and the presbyters that are with 
 him, to the Church of God which is at Philippi," etc. " The dea- 
 cons must be blameless as the ministers of God in Christ, and not 
 of men;" u being subject to the priests and deacons; and let the 
 elders be compassionate, and merciful towards all." Here again 
 is direct evidence against that parity which opposes itself to 
 Episcopacy. 
 
 We come to the second century ; and here we find Irenseus, the 
 disciple of Poly carp, and Bishop of Lyons, A.D. 180, using the 
 succession of Bishops from the Apostles as an argument against 
 heretics. He says, " We can reckon up those whom the apostles 
 ordained to be bishops in the several churches, and who they were 
 that succeeded them down to our time." And he proceeds to give 
 us the succession from the Apostles down to Eleutherius, the twelfth 
 in order, who was Bishop of Rome when Irenceus wrote. Clement 
 of Alexandria, the contemporary of Irenseus, enumerates the three 
 several and distinct orders, with their respective offices. His words 
 are, " There are some precepts which relate to presbyters, others 
 which belong to bishops, and others respecting deacons." 
 
 Tertullian, a celebrated presbyter of the Church in Africa, lived 
 at the close of the second and in the fore-part of the third century. 
 He testifies that Bishops were settled in his native land, and had 
 been so from the earliest introduction of the Gospel into the 
 country. Writing against heretics, he says, " Let them show the 
 order of their bishops, that, by their succession deduced from 
 the beginning, we may see whether their first bishop had any of 
 
268 Appendix. 
 
 the apostles or apostolical men, who did likewise persevere with the 
 apostles, for his founder and predecessors : for thus the apostolical 
 churches do derive their succession, as the church of /Smyrna from 
 Poly carp, whom John the apostle placed there; the church of Home 
 from Clement," etc. 
 
 Speaking of baptism, Tertullian says, " The bishop has the power 
 of conferring baptism, and under him the presbyters and deacons, 
 but not without the authority of the bishop." 
 
 Origen, another famous presbyter of the same age, in his com- 
 ment on the Lord's Prayer, has these words : " There is a debt due 
 to deacons, another to presbyters, and another to bishops, which is 
 the greatest of all, and exacted by the Saviour of the whole church, 
 and who will severely punish the non-payment of it." 
 
 Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, A.D. 240. From the writings of 
 this illustrious Father, we might compile a volume upon the subject 
 before us. He expressly refers the constitution of the Ministry in 
 the orders of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons, to the will of 
 Christ and the Apostles. 
 
 Ep. xlv. to Cornelius, Bishop of Rome : " We ought chiejly, my 
 brother, to endeavor to keep that unity which was enjoined by our 
 Lord and his apostles to us their successors, to be carefully observed 
 by us." 
 
 Ep. Ixvi. to Florentius : " Christ said to the apostles, and by 
 that, to all Bishops or governors of his church who succeed the 
 Apostles by vicarious ordination, and are in their stead, ' He that 
 heareth you heareth me.' ' 
 
 Ep. Ixxx. Successio : " Valerian (the emperor) wrote to the 
 Senate, that the Bishops and the Presbyters and the Deacons should 
 be prosecuted." 
 
 Optatus Milevitanus, A.D. 365, Bishop of Mileve, or Mela, in 
 Africa : u The church has her several members, bishops, presbyters, 
 deacons, and the company of the faithful." 
 
 " You found in the church, deacons, presbyters, bishops; you 
 have made them laymen; acknowledge that you have subverted 
 souls." L. 2, Con. Parmenianum. 
 
 If the time allowed, we might quote from Ambrose of Milan, 
 A.D. 370 ; Jerome, A.D. 380 ; St. Augustine, A.D. 420 ; and 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 269 
 
 many others both before and after them, particularly Eusebius, 
 A.D. 320, the first ecclesiastical historian, and who has given us 
 catalogues of the Bishops by name, in the order of their succes- 
 sion, in all the principal Churches from the Apostles down to his 
 time. They all testif}' to the threefold constitution of the Min- 
 istry, and the authority of Bishops to ordain and to govern the 
 Church. We might quote from that very ancient work, certainly 
 existing in the third century, called the Apostolic Canons, 1 to 
 prove the same thing ; from the decrees of councils, in ages when 
 the faith, doctrine, and order of the Gospel were confessedly kept 
 pure by the great body of the faithful. We might travel along 
 down the stream of time, through all the adverse and prosperous 
 conditions of the Church, when oppressed, and when protected ; 
 when maintaining purity of doctrine and practice, and when intro- 
 ducing and sanctioning corruptions, and all along we shall find 
 an accumulation of evidence to the fact we have been laboring to 
 establish, that Episcopacy was the settled order and government 
 of the Church. We might cite abundant authorities, even the 
 most learned and distinguished of those who have rejected Episco- 
 pacy, to show that from the second century down to the sixteenth 
 it was of universal prevalence in the Christian Church. We might 
 bring forward the Lutherans, Calvin, Beza, Melanchthon, and 
 others, to prove not only the lawfulness of Episcopacy, 2 but the 
 lamentable necessity which some of them pleaded to justify their 
 formation of another and different system of Church government. 
 But what would it all avail ? Men of this age have become wiser 
 than the Apostles, the Fathers, and the Reformers ; wiser and 
 holier than those who sealed their testimony to Christ's truth, and 
 their fidelity to His cause with their blood ; and they ask, What are 
 all your proofs worth ? The succession is incapable of proof, or it 
 
 1 "The Apostolic Canons are eighty-five ecclesiastical laws, or rules, 
 professedly enacted by the Apostles, and collected and preserved by Clemens 
 Romanus. The matter of them is ancient; for they describe the customs 
 and institutions of Christians, particularly of the Greek and Oriental 
 Churches, in the second and third centuries. But the phraseology indicates 
 a compiler living in the third century." MURDOCH'S MOSHEIM, vol. i. 
 p. 224, v. 13. (New Haven, 1832.) 
 
 2 See Appendix A. 
 
270 Appendix. 
 
 has been broken, or it has been vitiated and rendered worthless by 
 the corruption of those through whose hands it has come ! Let us, 
 then, meet them on these grounds, and consider these their strong 
 reasons. 
 
 1. The succession is incapable of proof. Is the testimony of 
 Clement, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, Eusebius, 
 Ambrose, Jerome, Austin, and others, sufficient to prove the 
 authenticity and uncorrupted preservation of the books of the New 
 Testament in their respective ages ? Then why is their testimony 
 to be rejected when it equally proves the establishment and 
 universal prevalence of Episcopacy ? Is the New Testament to be 
 rejected because you cannot show by direct and positive evidence 
 that it was in existence every year since it was written ? Then 
 why is Episcopacy to be repudiated, unless you prove its existence 
 every single year, by positive proof, since the death of the Apos- 
 tles ? But copies of the New Testament were multiplied very soon, 
 and spread over the world, and most carefully guarded against 
 alteration. And so Bishops were multiplied as the faith of the 
 Gospel spread ; and their office was neither sought after, because 
 it was the post of chief danger in times of persecution, and in this 
 state the Church was till 320 ; and the office itself was most care- 
 fully fenced by canons against intrusion into it, or unwarrantable 
 assumption of its powers. The first of the Apostolical Canons 
 reads, " Let a Bishop be consecrated by two or three Bishops." 
 
 Now, here is the statement of a principle, brethren, upon which 
 this whole controversy about the succession turns. What is ordi- 
 nation? It is nothing more nor less than designation to office, 
 or the right to exercise certain powers delegated by the great Head 
 of the Church for the edification of his members. You are not to 
 imagine that we hold that a sort of mysterious influence or invisible 
 virtue has been streaming down from the hands of Bishops, upon 
 the heads of those whom they have ordained in all past ages, and 
 that this is the Apostolical succession. No ! It is simply the 
 right to exercise certain functions, certified by its proper evidence. 
 Ordination is a thing transacted openly and publicly, in which 
 ordinarily many persons take part. But the Apostolical Canon 
 requires that a Bishop shall be ordained by at least two or three 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 271 
 
 Bishops ; and the proof of this fact, in the absence of miracles, 
 is the proper certificate to all persons that the person ordained is 
 invested with that delegated authority, which he could not of right 
 assume. In short, ordination is the regular induction to office, by 
 lawful authority, in opposition to its unauthorized and arrogant 
 assumption. Now, it is clear that such a fact is as capable of 
 proof as any other fact. And consequently a succession of ordina- 
 tions is of far more easy proof than lineal succession, such, for 
 example, as the succession of the Aarouic priesthood. For the 
 ordination of a Bishop would only take place at the end of his 
 predecessor's life ; consequently the proofs would have to be 
 produced at long intervals, after considerable periods of time had 
 elapsed ; and, the longer a Bishop lived, the fewer would be the 
 number of links in the chain of succession. Thus the Episcopate 
 of the late Bishop White of Pennsylvania extended through fifty 
 years ; he is therefore the only link between John Moore, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, consecrated Feb. 12, 1775, and Jackson 
 Kemper, the present Bishop of Missouri, consecrated by Bishop 
 White, Sept. 25, 1835. And hence : 
 
 It is far easier to trace the Episcopal succession through hun- 
 dreds of years, than it is for any living man to trace his descent to 
 his great-grandfather. The truth of lineal descent, in every step, 
 is dependent upon the veracity of a single witness, and that is 
 the mother in each case : whereas the truth and certainty of the 
 Episcopal succession are made evident by the testimony of many 
 witnesses to a public transaction, which is made matter of public 
 record. No one questions the succession of the Aaronic priest- 
 hood, which we all know was transmitted by carnal descent ; 
 although the truth of that succession depended, in each descent, 
 upon the single testimony of a woman as to a point of which no 
 human being besides herself could have any certain knowledge. 
 And yet, with such a fact as this admitted and unquestioned, men 
 who stand up before the people to argue questions of theology 
 will, in the face of day, gravely assert that the Apostolical succes- 
 sion is incapable of proof ! 
 
 Is it morally possible, think you, that any man could success- 
 fully claim and exercise the Episcopal office in the Catholic Church 
 
272 Appendix. 
 
 of this country or in England at this day, without showing that 
 he had received Episcopal consecration or ordination ? You know 
 well what would be the fate of any such effort : you know that it 
 would meet with the ridicule and contempt which have attended 
 the foolish attempts of Dashiell and George M. West, to set up a 
 pseudo-Episcopacy. If, then, such a thing be morally impossible 
 now, let those who declaim against the Apostolical succession 
 show how it was morally possible in any preceding age of the 
 Church, acting under identically the same rule of ordination or 
 consecration. The rule of the Church of the first three centuries 
 was, as we have already shown, that " a Bishop be ordained by 
 two or three Bishops." This rule is repeated at the general 
 Council of Nice, 325 A.D., only with its provisions extended so 
 as to make Episcopal consecrations more difficult of performance, 
 thereby increasing the evidence to the fact in each case, in these 
 words : " A Bishop ought to be constituted by all the Bishops of 
 the province, but if this be not practicable, by reason of urgent 
 necessity, three must by all means meet together, and, with the 
 consent of those that are absent, let them perform the ordination." 
 Such was the regulation established in every Church throughout 
 the world, in the British, the Gallican, the Spanish, the Roman, 
 the Carthaginian, the Alexandrian, the Antiochean, and all others. 
 Such is nearly the identical rule that prevails in the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church in the United States. 
 
 Trace the lines of Episcopal succession wherever you please, 
 that at Canterbury, at Aries or Lyons in France, or at Rome, or 
 at Constantinople, and what does it prove? Wiry, that these 
 Churches never allowed of any other than Episcopal consecration 
 or ordination. If, then, the rejecters of Episcopacy will take any 
 of these lists, and show where it is defective ; if they will show 
 us cause to believe that in any one case, or in any number of 
 cases, the rule established throughout the Church has been vio- 
 lated or neglected or evaded, we shall then have before us a 
 matter admitting of discussion. But until this is done we shall 
 take their broad declarations about the Episcopal succession, as 
 naked assertions, which can only be met by positive and direct 
 and unequivocal denial. (Appendix B.) 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 273 
 
 But the Episcopal succession, they say, has been broken. 
 When asked in what instance, we are referred to the alleged 
 elevation of a woman named Joan, to the Papacy in the ninth 
 century. Now, be it observed here, that, whether the story be 
 true or false, it does not invalidate the succession even as main- 
 tained by Romanists ; much less does it oppugn the strength of the 
 argument and evidence which sustains the succession in the Epis- 
 copal Churches which have dissented from Rome. I am in no 
 way concerned to prove or disprove the truth of the story, other- 
 wise than as every man is concerned to know the certainty of 
 history ; for, as I shall show, the succession for which we contend, 
 although it is indirectly connected with the Roman Church, as 
 Christianity itself at one time was, yet it does not run through the 
 line of Roman Pontiffs at all. But let us consider the story itself. 
 Mosheim, 1 the ecclesiastical historian, whose author^ in this case 
 at least will not be questioned, says that " between the Pontificate 
 of Leo IV., who died in the year 855, and that of Benedict III., a 
 certain woman, who had the art to disguise her sex for a consider- 
 able time, is said by learning, genius, and dexterity, to have made 
 good her way to the papal chair, and to have governed the Church 
 with the title and dignity of Pontiff about two years." After 
 stating that this story gave rise to long and imbittered discussion, 
 some asserting and others denying its truth, he expresses his opin- 
 ion that some unusual event had occurred at Rome, and concludes 
 by observing that " what it was that gave rise to this story is yet 
 to be discovered, and is likely to remain so." According to his- 
 tory, the whole rests upon a say so : it is at best but a flimsy argu- 
 ment, that can be constructed upon so insecure a foundation. But 
 take it as all true, out and out, does it invalidate the Episcopal 
 succession? Not at all. For, first of all, if it did, it must be 
 shown that the Popes of Rome consecrate Bishops which they 
 do not ; and, secondly, it must be shown that during the two years 
 in which Joan is said to have swayed the papal sceptre, all the 
 
 1 Gieseler, who cares little for the Apostolical succession, shows that the 
 alleged Papacy of Joan is not only apocryphal, but chronologically impossi- 
 ble; there being scarce any interval between Leo IV. and Benedict III. 
 See Cunningham's Translation, vol. ii. p. 20. (Philadelphia edition.) 
 
274 Appendix. 
 
 Bishops in the Roman Church must have died, and that Joan her- 
 self consecrated successors to them and this would indeed have 
 broken the chain of Roman succession. But it must be shown, 
 thirdly, in order to invalidate the succession in other Churches, 
 that all the Bishops the world over must have died in those two 
 years, that the Churches in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, 
 Spain, in all Greece, in all Africa, in all the East, lost all their 
 Bishops within those two years when Joan was in the papal chair. 
 Now, willing as we are to stretch the line of credulity to the meas- 
 ure of other men's demands, in order to please them, this is rather 
 farther than in reason or in common sense we can go. The truth 
 is, that those who have thrown away Episcopacy feel bound to 
 show reason for abandoning an institution so ancient, and attended 
 by so many marks of its Scriptural authority ; and, being hard 
 pressed for arguments, they have caught at this story about Pope 
 Joan, which combines the plausible with the ridiculous, to demolish 
 the whole theory, as they think, of the Apostolical succession. 
 Thej 7 know well that ridicule often prevails when solid arguments 
 are lacking ; and, boldly asserting that a woman was once Pope, 
 ask what is such a succession worth? as though they had de- 
 stro} T ed the Apostolical succession by showing that a link was 
 lacking in the Roman chain ! But I would ask, What becomes of 
 the succession in the British Church? The Bishops of that 
 Church were not consecrated by the Pope of Rome. The same 
 may be asked of any other Church : what becomes of the succes- 
 sion in Spain, in France, in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, in Greece, 
 in other Eastern Churches? Wlvy, had the Pope undertaken to 
 consecrate Bishops for all these, he might have abandoned every 
 thing else, and the triple crown had sat heavily indeed on his brows, 
 too heavily, indeed, for any mortal to bear! The truth is, as 
 before stated the Pope does not consecrate Bishops at all, unless 
 it be some in Rome or parts adjacent, of which I am not certainly 
 informed one way or the other, and therefore the validity of the 
 succession has nothing to do with the question who is Pope, or 
 whether there be any Pope at all. One remark more, before quit- 
 ting this part of the subject : I would ask those who are so fond 
 of quoting Pope Joan and her reign of two j'ears, to destroy the 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 275 
 
 succession, whether the usurpation of Queen Athaliah for six years 
 of the throne of David, and the destruction by her of all the seed 
 royal but Joash, vitiated the promise of God to David that a man 
 should not fail him to sit upon his throne ! Did the intrusion of 
 Athaliah for six years destroy or break the line of succession 
 of kings to come from his loins, or invalidate God's promise? 
 
 But after all, say the opponents of the Apostolical succession, 
 although you make out your case by historical testimony, yet the 
 succession comes through channels so impure that we cannot 
 receive it. This objection is grounded on the gratuitous assump- 
 tion, that the succession must be traced through the Roman Pon- 
 tiffs. Now, as already stated, the succession does not run in this 
 channel, because the Pontiff does not consecrate. We will state 
 here, upon the authority of the Romish canon law, what power 
 the Pope does claim in reference to Bishops, that we may see how 
 far his pretensions interfere, if good, with the validity of the 
 succession: "The Pope holds the place of God in the earth, so 
 that he can confer ecclesiastical benefices without diminution." In 
 opposition to this claim, Henry VIII. proclaimed himself head of 
 the realm and Church of England. Again : " The translation, the 
 deposition, or resignation of a Bishop, is reserved to the Roman 
 Pontiff alone, not so much by any canonical constitution as by the 
 Divine institution." It is hardly necessary to remind you that this 
 claim was long and successfully resisted by the British Church, 
 and that it was ever opposed by the Greek and Oriental churches. 
 It has ever been the policy of the Pope to diminish the power 
 of Bishops, and nothing has he labored more to destroy than an 
 independent Episcopacy. No barrier stands so- much in his way 
 now as the Episcopacy of the English Church and that of the 
 independent Eastern dioceses : the independence of dioceses pre- 
 sents, in fact, the most effectual check to that consolidation of 
 power which Rome has long endeavored to effect by concentrating 
 all rule and authority in the hands of the Pope. Our own system 
 of Church government in the United States is a confederacy of 
 independent dioceses, and like the State sovereignties, by having 
 each its own governor and legislative assembly or council, effec- 
 tually counteracts the tendency to consolidation. Once more, the 
 
276 Appendix. 
 
 canon law saj r s : "As the translation, the deposition, and resig- 
 nation of Bishops, so likewise the confirmation of those who are 
 elected, after their election, is reserved to the Roman Pontiff 
 alone, by reason of the spiritual bond." Not one word about 
 consecration. These are the claims of the Pope, exorbitant 
 enough, as all will allow : but remember that these claims were 
 not always admitted ; and, had they been so, we see not how the 
 admitting of them can destroy or corrupt the succession. For 
 although the Bishops in nearly the whole of the Western Church 
 did at one time yield to and acknowledge the supremacy of the 
 Roman Pontiff, still that did not deprive or divest them of 
 the right and authority to ordain, a right which they always 
 claimed in virtue of their office, and which they always continued 
 to exercise. It was only so late as the Council of Trent in the six- 
 teenth century, that the question was agitated whether the Bishops 
 held their office " de jure divino," or " de jure pontifico; " i.e., 
 from Christ or the Pope. The Archbishop of Grenada strenuously 
 maintained in the council, that "wheresoever a Bishop shall be, 
 whether in Rome or in Augubium, all are of the same merit, and 
 of the same priesthood, and all successors of the Apostles. He 
 inveighed against those who said St. Peter had ordained the other 
 Apostles, Bishops. He admonished the council to study the 
 Scriptures, and observe that power to teach throughout the world, 
 to administer the sacraments, and to govern the Church, is equally 
 given to all. And therefore as the Apostles had authority, not 
 from Peter, but from Christ, so the successors of the Apostles 
 have not power from Peter, but from Christ himself." The Arch- 
 bishop of Paris manfully upheld the same sentiments, nor did they 
 meet with opposition in the council, but from the Monks, Jesuits, 
 Legates, and Cardinals. It is through these, who are not of the 
 regular order of the Clergy, that the Pope has ever endeavored 
 to enlarge and strengthen his power. The conclave which elects 
 the Pope consists of seventy Cardinals in all, of which six only 
 are Bishops, fifty of them Priests, and the rest Deacons: from 
 which it is clear that he relies much more upon the Presbytery 
 than any thing else, for the gift and maintenance of his authority. 
 But suppose, for argument's sake, that the succession does 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 277 
 
 come through the Roman Church, that the Pope did confirm the 
 election of Bishops, and order their consecration by other Bishops, 
 which is the utmost that can be said : does this invalidate or 
 vitiate the succession ? Why, we might just as well say that the 
 pure faith or doctrine of the Scriptures, which all the reformed 
 Churches now teach, is corrupted and vitiated because it passed 
 through the hands of the Romanists. They had in their keeping 
 at one time the Bible, to the very same extent that they had in 
 their keeping the power of ordination. If the Word of salvation 
 has been transmitted to us through their instrumentality, and we 
 now have it in its simplicity and integrity, why may we not have 
 the authority to administer that Word, transmitted through the 
 same channel, in its integrity also? Were the doctrine and sac- 
 raments of Christ's religion corrupted by the Church of Rome? 
 so was the order of the Gospel. Were these corruptions rejected 
 and thrown off at the Reformation, in respect to the faith of the 
 Gospel? so were they also in respect to the order of the Gospel 
 ministry. So that there exists not one reason for rejecting Epis- 
 copacy because of its having passed through the Roman Church, 
 that does not apply with equal strength, on the same grounds, for 
 rejecting the Gospel itself. 
 
 The idea that the succession is vitiated by its having come 
 through an impure channel, gains no countenance whatever from 
 the sentiments and practice of men in other things. Thus the 
 truth of God was not less His truth because it was proclaimed by 
 Balaam and afterwards by Judas. The sacrament of baptism is 
 not less a sacrament to him who receives it, because the Minister 
 who performs it shall afterwards prove to be an unholy and wicked 
 man. His wickedness furnishes a just reason for depriving him 
 of office, but affects not the validity of the act which he executed 
 by virtue of the delegated authority with which he was invested. 
 If it were otherwise ; if our faith were directed to the Minister, 
 and not to Christ the institutor of the ordinance, and if we cannot 
 be certain of receiving the sacraments until positively certified and 
 assured of the piety of him who administers them, we never 
 ( can be certain of receiving them at all. 
 
 Again : take the position that the channel of transmission cor- 
 
278 Appendix. 
 
 rupts that which descends through it, and what do you make of 
 the holy Saviour of the world? Trace the line of succession 
 through which the promised Deliverer, the holy seed of salvation, 
 came according to the flesh ; and then ask yourselves, are you 
 prepared to admit the principles contended for? There is, in the 
 line of the Saviour's ancestry, Rahab the harlot; Tamar, who 
 sought and obtained incestuous connection with her own father- 
 in-law ; there is Ruth the Moabitess, the offspring of Lot and his 
 own daughter ; there is Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, 
 who admitted the adulterous embraces of David. If, then, the 
 promised seed of redemption was neither tainted nor destroj'ed by 
 transmission through this line of ancestral succession, and it 
 would be impious to say so, why should it be supposed that the 
 spiritual seed for the ministration of salvation has suffered injury 
 or been destroyed because some of the agents for transmitting it 
 have shown themselves as unworthy of the high honor vouchsafed 
 to them as those pointed out in the line of the Saviour's ancestry ? 
 
 But let us carry the principle contended for, to its practical 
 results, by applying it to those who most strongly urge its force. 
 
 The Bishops of the British Church were in communion with the 
 Church of Rome ; and, Rome being a corrupt Church, therefore 
 ordination by the British Bishops is worth nothing. We might 
 ask here, What, then, was the worth of Mr. Wesley's ordination, 
 since he received it from a British Bishop ? But we will let that 
 pass for the present. 
 
 The great plea which the Methodists put in to justify their 
 separation from the Church, and their setting up a different Com- 
 munion, was, that the Church of England was a corrupt Church. 
 In the letter of the Methodist Bishops to their members, prefixed 
 to their Book of Discipline, they quote the words of the Messrs. 
 Wesley, saying, " God then (1737) thrust them out to raise a holy 
 people." In ch. i. s. 1, they speak of being convinced ''that 
 there was a great deficiency of vital religion in the Church of 
 England in America." The Book of Discipline proceeds to state 
 that Mr. John Wesley did " solemnly set apart by the imposition 
 of his hands, and prayer, Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil Law^ 
 late of Jesus College, in the University of Oxford, and a Presbyter 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 279 
 
 of the Church of England, for the Episcopal office." l Now, if 
 the plea of corruption can be made good against the Church of 
 England, and there was " a great deficiency of vital piety " in it, 
 so that the Methodists felt constrained to withdraw and set up for 
 themselves, I desire to ask whether Mr. Wesley's maintaining 
 communion with this corrupt Church, deficient as it was "in vital 
 piety," and his continuing in that communion to the daj r of his 
 death, and his declaring that he believed it the purest national 
 Church in the world, whether all this does not destroy the 
 validity of his ordination of Thomas Coke, LL.D., Fellow of 
 Jesus College, Oxford, etc. In a word, if communion with Rome 
 destroy, because of Rome's corruptions, the ministerial authority, 
 does not the communion of Mr. Wesley with the Church of Eng- 
 land destroy, because of its corruptions, his authority to ordain 
 also ? If the principle contended for avail in one case, why not in 
 both? If not in both, why in either? 
 
 We are not concerned to answer these questions, brethren ; nor 
 are we disposed to press the subject further at present upon the 
 attention of those whose sensibility is the more easily excited, 
 when investigation is directed to the weak points of their system. 
 The man whose title-deeds are defective, above all others, is sensi- 
 tive to any intimation of a flaw of which he -is painfully conscious 
 himself. And so it is in religious systems : the upholders of them 
 know their defects, and these they keep out Of view, and manifest 
 any thing but a gracious temper towards those who would examine 
 into them. 
 
 In conclusion, we would just remind you, that we have showed 
 from Scripture that the office of the Ministry is a delegated author- 
 ity, and that the Ministry of the Apostolic Church consisted of 
 three orders. We have endeavored to establish by argument, that 
 a Ministry thus constituted was left by the Apostles in the Church 
 when they quitted the earth. We have arrayed before you the 
 testimony of credible witnesses to prove that this Ministry, so 
 constituted, was continued in the Church till such time as is ac- 
 knowledged on all hands, that it prevailed universally and without 
 
 1 See Appendix C. 
 
280 Appendix. 
 
 a single exception in any country. We have argued, and as we 
 think conclusively, that it was morally impossible for the chain 
 of Episcopal succession to be broken, and that any such alleged 
 interruption is destitute of proof. We have considered the objec- 
 tion grounded on the Papal corruptions to vitiate or invalidate the 
 succession, and shown that it is without force. It may be asked, 
 then, whether, if the position we take upon this subject be made 
 good, we do not unchurch all other denominations of Christians, 
 and leave them to the uncovenanted mercies of God ? I reply, in 
 the first place, we do not unchurch them. It is an inference which 
 those make who, by a voluntary act of their own, have separated 
 themselves from that order of the Gospel which we have endeav- 
 ored to prove was established in the primitive Church. It is there- 
 fore unjust and ungenerous to charge us with consequences which 
 do not flow from any act of ours, but which are the legitimate 
 results of their own deliberate proceedings. We have endeavored, 
 in every possible way consistent with Christian charity, to prevent 
 these divisions ; and come what may, charge upon us whatever 
 men may please, we can never for a moment, by word or act, give 
 any countenance or sanction to the infidel maxim, that division 
 into sects is advantageous to the cause of truth and piety, while 
 the affecting prayer of Christ for the unity of His Church shall be 
 received and acknowledged as part and parcel of Divine revelation : 
 " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall 
 believe on me through their word ; that they all may be one ; as 
 Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one 
 in us : that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me." l No, 
 we shall do all we can by declaring the truth in the love of it, and 
 by fair argument, by instructing those who oppose themselves to 
 us, in the spirit of meekness, and by endeavoring to keep the unity 
 of the Spirit in the bond of peace, to bring all believers to " that 
 agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and that ripeness 
 and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be left no place among 
 them, either for error in religion, or for viciousness in life." 2 
 How far the various bodies of professed Christians around us, 
 
 1 St. John xvii. 20, 21. 2 Ordinal. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 281 
 
 united under rules and regulations for their government, which 
 they have drawn from the Word of God, and sanctioned by what 
 they honestly believe to be a just and fair interpretation of its 
 meaning, how far they are to be regarded as Churches of Christ, 
 I shall not undertake to say. I honestly think it is a matter 
 admitting of serious question. While I freely concede that some of 
 them preach the faith of the Gospel, and that this faith, wherever 
 received, will manifest, and does in them manifest, its appropriate 
 fruits in righteousness, in charity, and in hope ; still candor obliges 
 me to declare, that in the exercise of the best reason and judgment 
 which God has given me, and enlightened by all the information 
 which the most diligent search has afforded to my mind, I think 
 them destitute of an essential feature or mark of the visible Catho- 
 lic Church of Christ : that is, a Ministry deriving authority to act in 
 the appointments of religion, from the Apostles. At the same time, 
 I grant that their ecclesiastical organizations have all the force and 
 obligation, on those who have submitted to their authority, which 
 the most solemn vows and engagements can bring upon the soul. 
 Their ordinances, administered by the Ministry which they have, 
 such, for example, as Baptism and the Lord's Supper, are 
 to those who receive them, with the understanding they have of 
 their nature and obligation, properly sacraments, just as much 
 so as an oath taken before a private citizen, instead of a magistrate 
 or judge, is binding on the conscience of him who takes it. (See 
 Appenix D.) 
 
 And now, is there just reason to charge upon such sentiments 
 the odium of illiberality and uncharitableness ? It is often said 
 that the differences among Christians are unimportant, not of 
 that grave and serious character to cause emulations, strifes, and 
 divisions. If so, why do not those who have gone out from us 
 return? and why should every attempt like the present, to state 
 the true grounds of difference, be frowned upon as ungracious, 
 and be met by the weapons which calumny employs against stub- 
 born facts, honest statements, and candid and fair arguments? 
 We have no wish whatever to multiply causes of difference between 
 ourselves and other denominations of Christians. On the contrary, 
 the terms of communion which the Episcopal Church requires are 
 
282 Appendix. 
 
 so free and liberal as more frequently to give others occasion to 
 charge her with laxity, than afford fair opportunity to them, as she 
 justly does, to commend her Catholic spirit. She offers no dis- 
 puted points in theology as tests to her members of the soundness 
 of their Christian character ; but stating the facts and doctrines of 
 the Apostles' Creed as the articles of her faith, and inculcating 
 charity, she prays for " all who profess and call themselves Chris- 
 tians, that they may be led into the way of truth, and hold the 
 faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness 
 of life." She goes farther ; and, in accordance with the Apostle's 
 directions that prayers and supplications be offered up for all men, 
 the language of her Liturgy is, that it " may please God to have 
 mercy upon all men." She stops not here; but in obedience to 
 the blessed Saviour's injunctions, and in the spirit of His meek 
 and lowly example, instructs us to pray " that it may please Thee 
 to forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn 
 their hearts." 
 
 Such is the spirit I pray may rule evermore in my heart. And 
 while I shall ' ' contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to 
 the saints," and "speak the truth boldly as I ought to speak," 
 God being my helper, I shall endeavor to utter not a word or senti- 
 ment inconsistent with the spirit of sincerity and truth in which 
 that prayer should be offered. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 p. 269. " I allow that each state ought to have one Bishop of its 
 own by divine right; which I show from Paul, saying, 'For this 
 cause left I thee in Crete.' " M. LUTHER. 
 
 " The Bishops might easily retain the obedience due unto them, 
 if they urged us not to keep those traditions which we cannot keep 
 with a good conscience." MELANCHTHON. 
 
 "We have often protested that we do greatly approve the 
 ecclesiastical polity and degrees in the Church, and, as much as 
 lieth in us, do desire to conserve them." MELANCHTHON. 
 
 4 ' I would to God it lay in me to restore the government of 
 Bishops. For I see what manner of Church we shall have, the 
 ecclesiastical polity being dissolved. I do see that hereafter will 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 283 
 
 grow up in the Church a greater tyranny than there ever was 
 before. ' ' MELANCHTHON. 
 
 " By what right or law may we dissolve the ecclesiastical polity, 
 if the Bishops will grant to us, that which in reason they ought to 
 grant ? And if it were lawful for us to do so, yet surely it were 
 not expedient. Luther was ever of this opinion." MELANCHTHON. 
 
 " Zwingle has sent hither, in print, his confession of faith. 
 You would say neither more nor less, than that he is not in his 
 senses. At one stroke, he would abolish all ceremonies, and he 
 would have no Bishops." MELANCHTHON. 
 
 " If they will give us such an hierarchy, in which the Bishops 
 have such a pre-eminence as that they do not refuse to be subject 
 unto Christ, I will confess that they are worthy of all anathemas , 
 if any such there be, who will not reverence it, and submit them- 
 selves to it with the utmost obedience." CALVIN. 
 
 Of Calvin's Episcopal opinions, Mons. Daille, a French Protes- 
 tant divine, thus writes : u Calvin honored all Bishops that were 
 not subjects of the Pope, such as were the prelates of England. 
 We confess that the foundation of their charge is good and 
 lawful, established by the Apostles according to the command of 
 Christ." BINGHAM'S French Church's Apology for the Church 
 of England. 
 
 Mons. De 1' Angle, another divine of the same Church, thus 
 writes to the Bishop of London: "Calvin, in his treatise of the 
 necessity of the Reformation, makes no difficulty to say, that if 
 there should be any so unreasonable as to refuse the communion 
 of a Church that was pure in its worship and doctrine, and not to 
 submit himself with respect to its government, under pretence, 
 that it had retained an Episcopacy qualified as yours is, there 
 would be no censure or rigor of discipline that ought not to be 
 exercised upon them." STILLINGFLEET'S Unreasonableness of 
 Separation, at the end. 
 
 " It was essential, that, by the perpetual ordination of God, it 
 was, it is, and it will be necessary, that some one in the Presby- 
 tery, chief both in place and dignity, should preside to govern the 
 proceedings, by that right which is given him of God." BEZA. 
 
 " In my writings touching Church government, I ever impugned 
 
284 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 the Romish hierarchy, but never intended to touch or impugn the 
 ecclesiastical polity of the Church of England." BEZA. 
 
 " If there are any, as you will not easily persuade me, who 
 would reject the whole order of Bishops, God forbid that any man 
 in his senses should assent to their madness. Let her (Church of 
 England) enjoy that singular blessing (Episcopacy) of G-od, which 
 I pray may be perpetual." BEZA. 
 
 "By the perpetual observation of all Churches, even from the 
 Apostles' times, we see that it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, that 
 among Presbyters, to whom the procuration of Churches was chiefly 
 committed, there should be one that should have the care or charge 
 of divers Churches, and the whole Ministry committed to him ; 
 and by reason of that charge he was above the rest ; and therefore 
 the name of Bishop was attributed peculiarly to those chief rulers." 
 BUCER, De Cura, etc. 
 
 " Of the Episcopate, therefore, that is, the superiority of one 
 Pastor above the rest, we first determine that it is repugnant to 
 no divine law. If any one think otherwise, that is, if any one 
 condemn the whole ancient Church of folly or even of impiety, the 
 burden of proof beyond doubt lies upon him, etc. The very Min- 
 istry instituted by the Apostles sufficiently proves that equality of 
 the ecclesiastical offices was not commanded by Christ. We, there- 
 fore, first lay down this, which is undoubtedly true: that it (viz., 
 the Episcopate, or superiority of one Pastor above the rest) neither 
 can nor ought to be found fault with ; in which we have agreeing 
 with us, Zanchius, Chemnitius, Hemmingius, Calvin, Melanchthon, 
 Bucer, and even Beza, as thus far he says, that one certain person, 
 chosen by the judgment of the rest of his co-presbyters, was chief 
 over the Presbytery, and was permanently so. 
 
 "Another is, that that Episcopate, which we treat of, was 
 received by the universal Church. This appears from all the coun- 
 cils, whose authority now likewise is very great among the pious. 
 It appears also from an examination of the councils either national 
 or provincial, of which there is almost none which does not show 
 manifest signs of Episcopal superiority. All the Fathers, without 
 exception, testify the same ; of whom he who shows least deference 
 to the Episcopate is Jerome, himself not a Bishop, but a Presbyter. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 285 
 
 Therefore the testimony of him alone is sufficient : ' It was decreed 
 through the whole world, that one chosen from the Presbyters should 
 be set over the rest, to whom all care of the Church should belong.' 
 Indeed, this error of JErius was condemned by the whole Church, 
 that he said that a Presbyter ought to be distinguished from a 
 Bishop by no difference. Jerome himself, in reply to him who had 
 written that there is no difference between a Bishop and a Presby- 
 ter, answered, This is unskilfully enough to make shipwreck in 
 port, as it is said. Even Zanchius acknowledges the agreement 
 of the whole Church in this matter. 
 
 "The third thing is this, that the Episcopate had its commence- 
 ment in the time of the Apostles. The catalogues of the Bishops 
 in Irenaeus, Eusebius, Socrates, Theodoret, and others, all of 
 which begin in the Apostolic age, testified this. But to refuse 
 credit in an historical matter to so great authors, and so unani- 
 mous among themselves, is not the part of any but an irreverent 
 and stubborn disposition. For that is just as if you should deny 
 that it was true, what all histories of the Romans declare, that 
 the consulate began from the expelled Tarquins. But let us hear 
 Jerome again: 'At Alexandria,' he says, 'from Mark the Evan- 
 gelist, the Presbyters always named one chosen from themselves, 
 placed in a higher degree, Bishop.' 
 
 "Mark died in the eighth year of Nero: to whom succeeded 
 Anianus ; to Anianus, Abilius ; to Abilius, Cerdo, the Apostle John 
 being j r et alive. After the death of James, Simeon had the Epis- 
 copate of Jerusalem ; after the death of Peter and Paul, Linus, 
 Anacletus, and Clemens had the Roman ; and Euodius and Igna- 
 tius, that of Antioch, the same Apostle still living. This ancient 
 history is surely not to be despised, to which Ignatius himself, the 
 contemporary of the Apostles, and Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, 
 who followed him next, afford the most open testimony which 
 there is no need to transcribe. ' Now indeed,' saj's C} T prian, 
 'Bishops are appointed in all the provinces and in every city.' 
 
 " Let the fourth be, that this Bishop was approved of by the 
 Divine law, or (as Bucer says) it seemed good to the Holy Spirit 
 that one among the Presbj'ters should have special charge. The 
 Divine revelation affords to this assertion an argument not to be 
 
286 Appendix. 
 
 withstood ; for Christ himself commands it to be written to the 
 seven angels of the Asiatic Churches. Those who understand the 
 Churches themselves by the angels, manifestly contradict the sacred 
 writings. For the candlesticks are the Churches, says Christ : but 
 the stars are the angels of the seven Churches. It is wonderful 
 whither the humor of contradicting may not cany men, when they 
 dare to confound those things which the Holy Spirit so evidently 
 distinguished. We do not deny that the name of angel may be 
 suited to every Pastor in a certain general signification ; but here 
 it is manifestly written to one in every Church. Was there there- 
 fore only one Pastor in every city? No, indeed. For even in 
 Paul's time many Presbyters were appointed at Ephesus to feed 
 the Church of God (Acts xx. 17, 18). Why, therefore, are let- 
 ters sent to one person in every Church, if no one had a certain 
 peculiar and eminent function?" 
 
 After showing that some of the ancient Fathers, and among 
 the Reformers, Bullinger, Beza, Rainoldus, agree with him in the 
 representation, he says, " Christ, therefore, writing to those Bish- 
 ops, thus eminent among the clergy, undoubtedly approved of this 
 Episcopal superiority." GROTIUS. 
 
 To the statements and argument of this learned Presbyterian, 
 we need not add any thing : they must be hard indeed to con- 
 vince, who are proof against the facts and reasoning of Grotius. 
 
 The foregoing extracts are quoted from a small but exceedingly 
 valuable compilation by the Bishop of New Jersey, entitled "A 
 Word for the Church," to which the reader is "benevolently" 
 recommended. To obtain it will cost very little, and its perusal 
 may confer lasting and inappreciable benefit. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 p. 272. " Despairing of justifying their ordinations from the 
 Scriptures, the resort of dissenters is to a denial of the Episcopal 
 succession. But by this very denial they show how important it 
 is. Now, that there has been a body of men in the world, called 
 Bishops, ever since the days of the Apostles, is as undeniable as 
 that there has been a body of Christians. One may as well deny 
 the continuance of the human race, or the succession of the gen- 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 287 
 
 erations of men, as the continuance and succession of Bishops. * 
 The succession of Bishops as a body of men, then, has never been 
 broken. But it is alleged that the succession has been vitiated 
 by irregular admissions, thus violating the law upon which it 
 depends. But what if the allegation were true? Suppose there 
 have been men professing and acknowledged to be members of 
 the Christian Church, who have never been baptized : is not he 
 who is truly baptized now a member of the Church? Suppose 
 that men have occasionally assumed the office of a Presbyter, and 
 been allowed to exercise the duties and functions of that office 
 without any ordination at all : is he who is regularly ordained in 
 this age any the less a Presb3*ter on that account? Does the 
 invalidity of his orders, or the fact of his having had no orders, 
 annihilate the order in the Ministry to which he pretended to 
 belong? Most certainly not. Neither could the fact (if there 
 were such an one) that some men have been received as Bishops 
 without a regular ordination to the Episcopate, destroy the order 
 of Bishops, or make him who is regularly ordained in this age any 
 the less a Bishop than if no such irregularity had ever occurred. 
 But suppose they could prove that the order was lost, what would 
 they gain? Simply a freedom from the restraint of God's laws, a 
 liberty to follow the decrees and desires of their own hearts. 
 
 "But let us haste to notice the alleged breaks in the succession. 
 
 " 1. It is not enough to state the fact in a general manner: 
 you must trace the succession in every individual case. You are 
 a priest: I go to you for baptism, for instance. I must closely 
 examine your authority : by whom were you ordained ? By the 
 Bishop of Vermont. By whom was the Bishop of Vermont 
 ordained? (consecrated.) And by whom was that individual or- 
 dained? and so on. Are you prepared to answer these questions? 
 Have you the documents to prove your legitimate pastoral descent 
 from Jesus Christ? Can you establish your ecclesiastical pedi- 
 gree beyond all controversy? I ask nothing unnecessary. 
 
 " 1. To this I reply, that it is not necessary to trace the suc- 
 cession in every individual case ; because every Bishop had three 
 to ordain him, and they had nine, and so on. Thus the individual 
 succession becomes, in two or three generations, merged in the 
 
288 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 general succession ; and if there were but one sound and valid 
 Bishop in a nation or a Church a few generations back, all their 
 Bishops would be sound and valid now. For instance, it appears 
 from an actual comparison of the table of the American succes- 
 sion, that, if only one of the Bishops in this country forty years 
 ago had been valid, all would be so now ; for they can all trace 
 their succession to him. 
 
 4 '2. I can give the succession in the individual case, taking 
 only one in the line, whereas there are in fact never less than 
 three. Hopkins, Griswold, White Moore of Canterbury in Eng- 
 land ; thence by the line of Canterbury, eighty-seven names, to 
 Augustine, A.D. 596. From Augustine, through Lyons, to Poly- 
 carp of Smyrna, thirty-one names ; and Polycarp was ordained by 
 St. John, and St. John by Jesus Christ. Again, by the same line, 
 I go back to Theodore, ninth Archbishop of Canterbury, A.D. 688, 
 eighty-Dine names from Bishop Hopkins ; and thence, by the 
 Bishops of Rome, seventy-six names, to St. Peter, who was 
 ordained by Christ. Again, by the same line, I go back to 
 Chicely, A.D. 1414, twenty-nine names ; and thence by St. Davids 
 to David, A.D. 519, sixty-six names; thence by Jerusalem to 
 St. James and the rest of the Apostles, fifty-one names. 
 
 "Thus Bishop Hopkins, from whom I had my orders, is the one 
 hundred and twenty-first from St. John, giving about fourteen 
 years for each Bishop ; one hundred and sixty-fifth from St. Peter, 
 about ten years for each Bishop ; one hundred and forty-sixth 
 from St. James, and the rest of the Apostles at Jerusalem, about 
 twelve years for each Bishop. 
 
 "I have omitted the names in each line of succession for 
 brevity's sake ; but if my friends' incredulity will not be overcome 
 without, I will furnish every one. 
 
 44 REV. W. D. WILSON. 
 "BANNER OF THE CROSS, June 10, 1843." 
 
 " But the question is often asked, Can the succession be traced 
 up step by step to the Apostles ? Is there no breach in it which 
 would invalidate the whole ? The Master's promise, l Lo, I am with 
 you alway, even to the end of the world,' is enough to assure the 
 humble believer that no such breach has occurred, or can occur to 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 289 
 
 the end of the world. Besides, the utmost pains have always been 
 taken, in every branch of the Church, to keep the succession reg- 
 ular and pure. Diocesan succession and Apostolical succession are 
 two distinct things. As in Maryland, for example, we have had 
 four Bishops, but no one of them has been concerned in the conse- 
 cration of his successor. So that a vacancy or an interregnum in a 
 particular Diocese, or in fifty or an hundred Dioceses, even of long 
 continuance, does not affect the succession in the least. One of 
 the Apostolical Canons enjoins that two or three Bishops, at least, 
 shall unite in every consecration. The succession therefore does 
 not depend upon a line of single Bishops in one Diocese, running 
 back to the Apostles, because every Bishop has had at least three 
 to ordain him, either one of whom had power to perpetuate the 
 succession. How rapidly do the securities multiply as we go back ! 
 Bishop Whittingham had three to ordain him ; his ordainers had 
 nine ; at the third step there were twenty-seven ; at the fourth, 
 eighty-one ; at the fifth, two hundred and forty-three ; and so on, 
 increasing in a threefold proportion. Now, if any one of the entire 
 number to whom Bishop Whittingham's consecration may be traced 
 back had a valid ordination, the succession is in him ; and he can 
 transmit it to any other in whose consecration he may assist. 
 
 " The securities therefore are incalculably strong, and the claim 
 of any duly consecrated Bishop to the Apostolic succession is more 
 certain than that of any monarch upon earth to his hereditary 
 crown. Lists of the Apostolical succession, in descent from the 
 different Apostles, have been carefully preserved by Eusebius and 
 other early writers ; and they have been continued in different lines 
 down to the present day. An} T reader who desires to consult them 
 is referred to Perceval on 4 Apostolical Succession,' and Chapin's 
 4 Primitive Church.' Rome may trace its line to St. Peter; the 
 Greeks, to St. Paul ; the Syrians and Nestorians, to St. Thomas ; 
 and the American Episcopal Church, to ST. JOHN. 
 
 " Bishop White, the head of the American line of Bishops, was 
 consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. We will therefore 
 present a list beginning with St. John, and coming through the 
 Episcopate of Lyons in France or Gaul, and that of Canterbury in 
 England, till it connects with ours in the United States of America. 
 
290 
 
 ST. JOHN. 
 
 39. Theodore, 
 
 A.D. 688. 
 
 
 
 40. Brithwald, 
 
 " 693. 
 
 1. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. 
 
 41. Tatwine, 
 
 " 731. 
 
 
 Bishops of Lyons. 
 
 42. Nothelm, 
 43. Cuthbert, 
 
 " 735. 
 " 742. 
 
 1. Pothinus. 
 
 44. Bregwin, 
 
 " 759. 
 
 2. Irenaeus. 
 
 45. Lambert, 
 
 " 763. 
 
 3. Zacharias. 
 
 46. ^Ethelred, 1, 
 
 " 793. 
 
 4. Elias. 
 
 47. Wulfred, 
 
 " 803. 
 
 5. Faustinus. 
 
 48. Theogild or Feogild, 
 
 " 830. 
 
 6. Yerus. 
 
 (Consecrated June 5, 
 
 
 7. Julius. 
 
 and died Sept. 3.) 
 
 
 8. Ptolemy. 
 
 49. Ceolnoth, Sept. 11, 
 
 " 830. 
 
 9. Vocius. 
 
 50. JEthelred, 2, 
 
 " 871. 
 
 10. Maximus. 
 
 51. Phlegmund, 
 
 " 891. 
 
 11. Tetradus. 
 
 52. Authelm or Adelm, 
 
 " 923. 
 
 12. Yerissimus. 
 
 53. Wulfelm, 
 
 " 928. 
 
 13. Justus. 
 
 54. Odo Severus, 
 
 " 941. 
 
 14. Albinus. 
 
 55. Dunstan, 
 
 " 959. 
 
 15. Martin. 
 
 56. yEthelgar, 
 
 " 988. 
 
 16. Antiochus. 
 
 57. Siricus, 
 
 " 989. 
 
 17. Elpidus. 
 
 58. Aluricus or Alfricus, 
 
 " 996. 
 
 18. Sicarius. 
 
 59. Elphege, 
 
 " 1005. 
 
 19. Eucherius, 1. 
 
 ( Living or J 
 
 
 20. Patiens. 
 
 60. < Leon ing or > 
 
 " 1013. 
 
 21. Lupicuus. 
 
 (Elkskan, ) 
 
 
 22. Rusticus. 
 
 61. Agelnoth or ^Ethelst, 
 
 " 1020. 
 
 23. Stephanus. 
 
 62. Edsin or Elsin, 
 
 " 1038. 
 
 24. Yiventiolus. 
 
 63. Robert Gemeticensis, 
 
 " 1050. 
 
 25. Eucherius, 2. 
 
 64. Stigand, 
 
 " 1052. 
 
 26. Lupus. 
 
 65. Lanfranc, 
 
 " 1077. 
 
 27. Licontius. 
 
 66. Anselm, 
 
 " 1093. 
 
 28. Sacerdos. 
 
 67. Rodulph, 
 
 " 1114. 
 
 29. Nicetus. 
 
 68. William Corboil, 
 
 " 1122. 
 
 30. Priscus. 
 
 69. Theobold, 
 
 " 1138. 
 
 31. ^therius, A.D. 589. 
 
 70. Thomas a Becket, 
 
 " 1162. 
 
 
 
 71. Richard, 
 
 " 1174. 
 
 
 CANTERBURY. 
 
 72. Baldwin Fordensis, 
 
 " 1184. 
 
 32. ] 
 
 A.D. 596, AUGUSTINE, mis- 
 
 73. Reginald Fitz Joceline, " 1191. 
 
 33. 
 
 sionary to the Anglo-Sax- 
 
 74. Hubert Walten, 
 
 " 1193. 
 
 from 
 
 ons, was consecrated by 
 
 75. Stephen Langton, 
 
 " 1207. 
 
 St. 
 
 Yirgilius, 24th Bishop of 
 
 76. Richard Wethersfield 
 
 , " 1229. 
 
 John. 
 
 Aries, assisted by ^Etheri- 
 
 77. Edmund, 
 
 " 1234. 
 
 
 us, 31st Bishop of Lyons. 
 
 78. Boniface, 
 
 " 1245. 
 
 34. Lawrence, A.D. 605. 
 
 79. Rob. Kilwarby, 
 
 " 1272. 
 
 35. Mellitus, " 619. 
 
 80. John Peckham, 
 
 " 1278. 
 
 36. Justus, " 624. 
 
 81. Rob. Winchesly, 
 
 " 1294. 
 
 37. Honorius, " 634. 
 
 82. Walter Regnold, 
 
 " 1313. 
 
 38. Adeodatus, " 654. 
 
 83. Simon Mepham, 
 
 " 1328. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 
 
 291 
 
 84. John Startford, A 
 
 85. Thomas Bradwardine, 
 
 86. Simon Islip, 
 
 87. Simon Langham, 
 
 88. William Whittlesey, 
 
 89. Simon Sudbury, 
 
 90. William Courtney, 
 
 91. Thomas Arundle, 
 
 92. Henry Chichely, 
 
 93. John Stafford, 
 
 94. John Kemp, 
 
 95. Thomas Bourcher, 
 
 96. John Morton, 
 
 97. Henry Dean, 
 
 98. William Wareham, 
 
 99. THOMAS CRANMER, 
 
 100. Reginald Pole, 
 
 101. Matthew Parker, 
 
 102. Ed. Grindall, Dec. 
 
 103. John Whitgift, 
 
 104. Richard Bancroft, 
 
 105. George Abbott, 
 
 .D. 
 
 1333. 
 1348. 
 1349. 
 1366. 
 1368. 
 1374. 
 1381. 
 1396. 
 1414. 
 1443. 
 1452. 
 1454. 
 1486. 
 1501. 
 1503. 
 1533. 
 1555. 
 1559. 
 1573. 
 1583. 
 1604. 
 1611. 
 
 106. William Laud, A.D. 1633. 
 
 107. William Juxon, " 1660. 
 
 108. Gilbert Sheldon, " 1663. 
 
 109. William Sancroft, " 1677. 
 
 110. John Tillotson, " 1691. 
 
 111. Thomas Tennison, " 1694. 
 
 112. William Wake, " 1715. 
 
 113. John Potter, " 1737. 
 
 114. Thomas Seeker, " 1738. 
 
 115. Thomas Herring, " 1747. 
 
 116. Matthew Button, " 1757. 
 
 117. Frederick Cornwallis, " 1768. 
 
 118. John Moore, " 1783. 
 
 119. From St. John is WILLIAM 
 
 WHITE of Pennsylvania, con- 
 secrated February the 4th, 
 1787, by John Moore, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, assisted 
 by the Archbishop of York, 
 the Bishop of Bath and Wells, 
 and the Bishop of Peterbor- 
 ough. 
 
 " The compilers of the lists from which the above was taken 
 have consulted the best authorities ; and no more doubt of its 
 authenticity can be entertained, than of any chronological table of 
 historical events, or list of the sovereigns of any country, drawn 
 from its official registers and archives. The dates attached to 
 the names of the Archbishops of Canterbury indicate, in several 
 instances, not the time of their consecration, but of their transla- 
 lation to that see. 
 
 " REV. DR. HENSHAW." 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 p. 69. The following extracts will not be without interest to 
 those concerned to investigate the claims of Methodist Episcopacy. 
 
 " To all [to] whom these presents shall come, John Wesley, 
 late Fellow of Lincoln College in Oxford, Presbyter of the Church 
 of England, sendeth greeting : Whereas many of the people in the 
 southern provinces in North America, who desire to continue under 
 my care, and still adhere to the doctrine and discipline of the Church 
 of England, are greatly distressed for want of Ministers to admin- 
 
292 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 ister the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper according 
 to the usage of the same Church; and whereas there does not 
 appear to be any other way of supplying them with Ministers : 
 
 "Know all men, that I, John Wesley, think myself to be 
 providentially called at this time to set apart some persons for 
 the work of the Ministry in America. And therefore, under the 
 protection of Almighty God, and with a single eye to His glory, I 
 have this day set apart as a superintendent, by the imposition of 
 my hands and pra3'er, being assisted by other ordained Ministers, 
 Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil Law, a Presbyter of the Church of 
 England, and a man whom I judge to be well qualified for that 
 great work. And I do hereby recommend him to all whom it may 
 concern, as a fit person to preside over the flock of Christ. In 
 testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 
 second day of September, 1784. 
 
 "JOHN WESLEY." 
 
 Mr. Wesley being only a Presbyter, and Thomas Coke being 
 also a Presbyter of the Church of England, we may surely with 
 reason ask, What additional power or authority could Wesley's 
 imposition of hands confer on Coke? Might not Coke, being a 
 Presbyter, with just the same propriety have laid hands on Wes- 
 ley? If Presbyter and Bishop be the same order, as is contended, 
 then what use or reason was there for ordaining Coke ? If Presby- 
 ter and Bishop be not the same, then Wesley, being no Bishop, 
 could not confer the Episcopal office on Coke. 
 
 Under the commission of Wesley as above, Dr. Coke came to 
 America, and met the Methodist Conference at Baltimore. In the 
 space of forty-eight hours he ordained Mr. Asbury, Deacon, Pres- 
 b} T ter, and Bishop, and afterwards united with him in an address 
 to General Washington, Coke and Asbury signing the address as 
 Bishops. 
 
 In what light Mr. Wesley regarded this assumption of the title 
 of Bishop by his superintendents, may be seen from the following 
 extract of a letter addressed by him to Mr. Asbury, under date of 
 Sept. 20, 1788: 
 
 " One instance of this your greatness has given me great 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 293 
 
 concern. How can you, how dare 3*011, suffer yourself to be called 
 Bishop? I shudder and start at the very thought. For my sake, 
 for God's sake, for Christ's sake, put a full end to this." 
 
 Let us now see what estimate Dr. Coke himself put upon his 
 ordination as a Bishop. In a letter addressed to Bishop White of 
 Pennsylvania, dated April 24, 1791, nearly two months after the 
 death of Mr. Wesley, an event of which he had not then heard, 
 he proposes a re-union of the Methodists with the Church, and 
 says, " I do not think that the generality of them [the Methodist 
 Ministers], perhaps none of them, would refuse to submit to a 
 re-ordination, if other hindrances were removed out of the way." 
 If Dr. Coke thought that he was really invested with power to 
 ordain Ministers in the Church of God, and had so ordained them, 
 how could he for a moment tolerate the idea of a re-ordination? 
 In a letter addressed to Bishop Seabury of Connecticut, dated 
 May 14, 1791, only three weeks after that to Bishop White, 
 he is more full and explicit. He says, "For five or six 3'ears 
 after my union with Mr. Wesley, I remained fixed in my attach- 
 ments to the Church of England ; but afterwards, for many rea- 
 sons which it would be tedious and useless to mention, I changed 
 my sentiments, and promoted a separation from it as far as my 
 influence reached. Within these two years I am come back again : 
 my love for the Church of England has returned. I think I am 
 attached to it on a ground much more rational, and consequently 
 much less likely to be shaken, than formerly. I have many a 
 time run into error ; but to be ashamed of confessing my error 
 when convinced of it, has never been one of my defects. There- 
 fore, when I was fully convinced of my error in the steps I took to 
 bring about a separation from the Church of England, in Europe, 
 I delivered before a congregation of about three thousand people, 
 in our largest chapel in Dublin, on a Sunday evening, after preach- 
 ing, an exhortation, which, in fact, amounted to a recantation of 
 my error. Some time afterward, I repeated the same in our 
 largest chapels in London, and in several other parts of England 
 and Ireland ; and I have reason to believe that my proceedings 
 in this respect have given a death-blow to all the hopes of a 
 separation which may exist in the minds of any in those kingdoms. 
 
294 Appendix. 
 
 ' ' On the same principles I most cordially wish for a re-union of 
 Protestant-Episcopal and the Methodist Churches in these States. 
 . . . How great, then, would be the strength of our Church (will 
 you give me leave to call it so ? I mean the Protestant Episcopal) 
 if the two sticks were made one ? . . . Now, on a re-union taking 
 place, our Ministers, both Elders and Deacons, would expect to 
 have, and ought to have, the same authority they have at present, 
 of administering the ordinances according to the respective powers 
 already invested in them for this purpose. / well know that they 
 must submit to a re-ordination, which I believe might be easily 
 brought about if every other hindrance were removed out of the 
 way. But the grand objection would arise from the want of 
 confidence which the Deacons and unordained preachers would 
 experience. " 
 
 The Doctor's plan for removing this objection is seen in the 
 following : * ' But if the two houses of the Convention [he refers to 
 the General Convention of the Protestant-Episcopal Church] of the 
 Clergy would consent to your consecration of Mr. Asbury and me 
 as Bishops of the Methodist Society in the Protestant- Episcopal 
 Church in these United States (or by any other title, if that be not 
 proper), on the supposition of the re-union of the two Churches 
 under proper mutual stipulations ; and engage that the Methodist 
 Societ} 7 shall have a regular supply on the death of their Bishops, 
 and so ad perpetuum, the grand difficulty in respect to the preach- 
 ers would be removed ; they would have the same men to confide 
 in whom they have at present, and all other mutual stipulations 
 would soon be settled." So. Churchman, June 9, 1843. 
 
 We offer but one more extract. In a letter addressed to Mr. 
 Wilberforce, he says, "If his Royal Highness the Prince Regent 
 and the Government should think proper to appoint me their 
 Bishop in India, I should most cheerfully and most gratefully 
 accept of the offer. ... In my letter to Lord Liverpool, I observed 
 that I should, in case of my appointment to the Episcopacy of 
 India, return most fully and faithfully into the bosom of the Estab- 
 lished Church, and do every thing in my power to promote its inter- 
 ests, and would submit to all such restrictions in the fulfilment of 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 295 
 
 my office, as the Government and the Bench of Bishops at home 
 should think necessary." Ed. Rev., No. cxlv., 1840. 
 
 The preceding requires no comment. Conclusions against Dr. 
 Coke's Episcopal authority or character are inevitable and irresist- 
 ible. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 p. 72. The subjoined extracts from a sermon preached by 
 Mr. Wesley, May 4, 1789, less than two years before his death, 
 will show in what light he regarded the claim of his preachers to 
 administer sacraments. The text is Heb. v. 4. 
 
 "In 1744, all the Methodist preachers had their first confer- 
 ence. But none of them dreamed that the being called to preach 
 gave them any right to administer sacraments. And when that 
 question was proposed, ' In what light are we to consider our- 
 selves? ' it was answered, ' As extraordinary messengers, raised up 
 to provoke the ordinary ones to jealousy.' In order hereto, one 
 of our first rules was given to each preacher, You are to do that 
 part of the work which we appoint. But what work was this? 
 Did we ever appoint you to administer sacraments ? to exercise the 
 priestly office? Such a design never entered into our mind; it 
 was the farthest from our thoughts : and, if any preacher had 
 taken such a step, we should have looked upon it as a palpable 
 breach of this rule, and consequently a recantation of our con- 
 nection. 
 
 "For supposing (what I utterly deny) that the receiving you 
 as a preacher at the same time gave an authority to administer 
 the sacraments, yet it gave you no other authority than to do it, or 
 any thing else, where I appoint. But when did I appoint you to 
 do this? Nowhere at all. Therefore by this very rule 3 r ou are 
 excluded from doing it ; and in doing it, you renounce the very 
 first principle of Methodism, which was wholly and solely to preach 
 the Gospel. I wish all of you who are vulgarly termed Methodists 
 would seriously consider what has been said. And particularly 
 you whom God hath commissioned to call sinners to repentance. 
 It does by no means follow from hence, that ye are commissioned 
 to baptize, or administer the Lord's Supper. Ye never dreamed 
 
296 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 of this, for ten or twenty years after ye began to preach. Ye did 
 not then, like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, ' seek the priesthood 
 also.' Ye knew 'no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he 
 that is called of God as was Aaron.' Oh, contain yourselves 
 within your own bounds ; be content with preaching the Gospel ; 
 * do the work of Evangelists ; ' proclaim to all the world the loving- 
 kindness of God our Saviour ; declare to all, ' The kingdom of 
 heaven is at hand : repent ye, and believe the Gospel ! ' I earn- 
 estly advise you, abide in your place ; keep your own station. Ye 
 were, fifty years ago, those of } r ou that were then Methodist preach- 
 ers, extraordinary messengers of God, not going in your own will, 
 but thrust out; not to supersede, but to provoke to jealousy the 
 ordinary messengers. In God's name, stop there ! " 
 
 Alas ! this voice of warning and remonstrance was uttered in 
 vain. The Methodists have long since, in this country at least, 
 completed their schism ; and though professing to derive ministerial 
 authority from Wesley, and to be but slightly removed from the 
 doctrine and government of the Church, yet few others are found 
 to manifest a more determined spirit of hostility to the prevalence 
 of her worship, the spread of her principles, and the increase of her 
 members. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 297 
 
 PREPARATION OF CANDIDATES FOR CONFIRMA- 
 TION. 1 
 
 Dearly Beloved and Reverend Brethren, In presenting children 
 and others for the Rite of Confirmation, there is great danger on 
 the part of those who are candidates for the privileges of this Rite, 
 as well as of those whose duty it is to prepare them properly for 
 its profitable reception, of undervaluing or misapprehending the 
 amount of Christian knowledge and experience which the Church 
 expects and requires as previously necessary to its administration. 
 There can be but little doubt that the lukewarmness, not to say 
 careless lives, of many who have renewed their baptismal vows in 
 44 the laying-on of hands/' is attributable to this lack of due 
 preparation. Young people are found abstaining from the Lord's 
 Supper immediately after their Confirmation, as if wholly uncon- 
 scious of any inconsistency between their profession and practice ; 
 and older persons are observed to be living in such habits of world- 
 liness, as might lead one to suppose that a renunciation of "the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil/' had never entered into the number 
 of their professed obligations. No wonder that this Rite, under 
 such circumstances, should be regarded by many serious-minded 
 people as of so little value that they should speak of its admin- 
 istration as bordering on a solemn mockery, and treat its claims 
 to consideration as of so little worth. The fault lies chiefly in 
 parental neglect and ministerial unfaithfulness. 
 
 Parents and sponsors should remember that God holds them 
 responsible for the religious well-being of the children committed 
 to their care, to the fullest extent of their guardianship and influ- 
 ence over them. If bound by natural affection to provide for their 
 temporal welfare, much more, on the same principle and on the 
 
 1 Third Charge to the Clergy of the Diocese of Tennessee, delivered in 
 St. Luke's Church, Jackson, Friday, the 22d of May, 1857. 
 
298 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 ground of acknowledged duty, are they under obligations to teach 
 them their duty to God as the subjects of His moral government. 
 
 At Baptism, a strict charge is given by the Minister to those 
 who have the care of the child, that they teach him " what a solemn 
 vow, promise, and profession he has there made by them; " that it 
 is their "part and duty to see that he learn the Creed, the Lord's 
 Prayer, and the Ten Commandments," and then, it is added, in 
 order that the whole round of Christian duty may be embraced, 
 " all other things which a Christian ought to know and believe to 
 his soul's health." Can any thing be more complete? All knowl- 
 edge and faith necessary for the soul's health. Can any directions 
 be more explicit? He shall be taught " the Creed, the Lord's 
 Praj'er, and the Ten Commandments," faith to enlighten, grace 
 to strengthen, and obedience the fruit. Can any reminding of 
 one's duty be more solemn? a personal act bringing weighty 
 obligations on a soul whose eternal happiness or misery will depend 
 on the fidelit} r with which those obligations are met and discharged. 
 Accordingly we find that the Church has manifested her sense of 
 the importance of all this, by providing a Catechism for the use of 
 all her baptized children, so comprehensive as to embrace all need- 
 ful points of faith and practice, so simple as to be level to the 
 plainest understanding, and so concise as to be within the reach of 
 the humblest capacity. 
 
 The duty of a parent or sponsor is not, I conceive, fully and 
 adequately discharged by teaching a child the Catechism by rote 
 merely. That may do for a beginning, when children are making 
 their first attainments in learning. It is by no means all that is 
 requisite as a preparation for Confirmation. The child must be 
 taught by precept and example practically to recognize, daily and 
 evermore, those great central truths embodied in the Creed, with- 
 out which there can be no justifying faith, no true repentance, 
 and no godly life. How plain and explicit the instructions of the 
 Catechism on this subject! In answer to the question, "What 
 dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy Belief ? " it is 
 replied, 
 
 " FIRST, / learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made 
 me, and all the world. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 299 
 
 u SECONDLY, In God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all 
 mankind. 
 
 " THIRDLY, In God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and 
 all the people of God." 
 
 The child who is duly prepared for Confirmation must see, in 
 the conduct of those who have the care of his religious training, 
 these truths exemplified. Little will it avail to enrich his mind 
 with the store of human knowledge, unless his heart be softened 
 by the dews of Divine Grace. And here is just the part of duty 
 in which there is too much reason to fear that parents and sponsors 
 frequently and grossly fail. They may pray for their children, 
 but they do not pra} T toith them. Their particular wants are not 
 made the subjects of special prayer. They are not taken aside 
 into the private oratory or closet, and their peculiar needs inquired 
 into, and the voice of earnest supplication lifted up for them, in 
 the affecting language of the aged patriarch, " Oh that these my 
 children might live before Thee!" Alas! this moving, heartfelt 
 concern, if it exist at all, seldom finds expression in strong crying 
 and entreaty for the spiritual life of the children of the Church ; 
 but in efforts to make them rich in temporal goods, or distin- 
 guished in worldly accomplishments. Herein there is pains-taking 
 enough. The sea and the dry land are made tributary to the effort 
 to make our children rich. The aid of the living and of the dead 
 is invoked to make them learned and accomplished in their pro- 
 fessions. Oh ! when will any thing like the same anxiety and care 
 be manifested to make them Christians? And yet it would seem, 
 that, if any solicitude should weigh heavily and constantly upon 
 the parental heart, it ought to be that for the spiritual welfare of 
 our offspring. By the love which God has implanted in our 
 bosoms, He has spoken more emphatically to us than if He had 
 proclaimed it by a voice uttered amidst the thunders of Sinai. 
 We know not what may be the lot of our children in their pilgrim- 
 age through this world. We know that they are sprung from a 
 corrupt stock, and that they like ourselves will be sinners. There 
 is a root of evil in their natures, which, if it be not eradicated by 
 Divine Grace, or checked in its growth by timely watchfulness, 
 will put off shoot after shoot of wickedness, till the whole soil 
 
300 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 of the heart is occupied, and the moral nature wholly corrupted. 
 For sin is never stationary. Its progress is always onward. It 
 is like those trees of which we read in Eastern climes, whose far- 
 reaching branches put down shoots which rise again in stately 
 trunks, and these again multiply their stems, till whole acres are 
 covered, while under the gloomy shade of their rank foliage, ex- 
 cluding the light and heat of the sun, creep venomous reptiles and 
 all loathsome things. Such is sin in its occupanc} T of the human 
 soul, ever striving to possess the whole ground, to exclude the 
 light of truth and the influence of Heavenly Grace, and introduce 
 its own loathsome brood of " vile affections and lusts." 
 
 Our children, too, have come into a world eminently calculated, 
 bj r its pernicious maxims and wicked examples, to nourish their 
 natural inclinations to depravity, and to swell the stream of cor- 
 ruption till it rise to a flood, and pour desolation over their whole 
 moral and spiritual nature. The eye of the profligate, like the 
 vulture, may easily mark them out for destruction. Men of malig- 
 nant passions and desperate character may seek companionship 
 with them, and patronize every step they take in iniquity, until 
 a career of crime is terminated in a death of infamy, and a grave 
 upon which there drops no tear of human commiseration. 
 
 Our children will be sufferers. It is conceded to none of the 
 offspring of Adam, to enter the skies without pain. Nor should 
 we exclude from our minds the thought that they may be subjected 
 to suffering in its extreme forms, and under circumstances the 
 most forlorn and helpless. On the ocean, amidst the raging of its 
 billows lashed into fury by the tempest, their last cries for mercy 
 may mingle with the howlings of the waves. On the land, in 
 sickly and inhospitable climes, where the red-e} T ed pestilence 
 marks his footsteps by desolation, where no father nor mother is 
 near to support their drooping heads, or wipe the cold death-drops 
 from their pallid brows, it may be their lot to drain the cup of 
 their sorrows, and close the wearisome journey of life. In cold 
 and nakedness, in hunger and thirst, in poverty and neglect, on 
 the sun-scorched desert or in regions of thick-ribbed ice, in haunts 
 of low and infamous brutality, or in the dank and cheerless dun- 
 geon, on the gallows, by the hand of the assassin, on the battle- 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 301 
 
 field, or by any one of those ten thousand accidents which cut 
 short human existence, who of us shall presume to say that his 
 children may not meet with that " sudden death " from which we 
 pray to be delivered, and which we know may at any moment 
 arrest us anywhere on the broad face of that world in which we 
 are but sojourners ? What parent can sit down by his fireside at 
 home, in the midst of his children, little groups of sufferers, and 
 not instinctively ask himself the question, " Is there no eye to pity 
 these little ones when my eye is dim? Is there no ear to hear 
 their groans when my ear is deaf? Is there no hand that will be 
 stretched out to defend and protect when my hand shall be mould- 
 ering in the grave ? Is there no invisible source of comfort and 
 of succor to whom I may commit these beloved objects when I 
 have left these earthy scenes, and passed to those changeless 
 abodes where a father's care and love can avail them no more? " 
 Pressed by these painful considerations, considerations insepar- 
 able from the condition of mortal^ , we suppose a parent will 
 feel constrained to do all in his power, not only to shield his 
 offspring from dangers that threaten them in this world, but that 
 he will invoke for them that grace and blessing, that love and 
 care of our Heavenly Father, which will be their best protection 
 here, and the surest guarantee of their safety hereafter. 
 
 For I remark once more, that our children will go to Eternitj 7 ! 
 Yes, Eternity, with all its dread realities, with all its changeless 
 solemnities, must be met by them, and is among the allotments of 
 their future condition. Do we think of this often enough? Do 
 we think of it with sufficient earnestness, with a seriousness 
 answerable to the overwhelming consequences which follow upon 
 its truth ? Is the line of being upon which our children are travel- 
 ling, to run on, when this great globe shall be broken up into frag- 
 ments, when the heavens themselves shall pass away with a great 
 noise, and no place more be found for them ; when the earth and 
 the sea shall give up their dead ; when all the hosts of heaven, 
 and all the legions of hell, and the long line of Adam's race, shall 
 stand up before God, a countless army? Then, with what intense 
 and overpowering interest ought we to regard their destiny ! How 
 ought every faculty of soul and spirit to be exerted, that they may 
 
302 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 be prepared for this awful scene ! How ought ever} 7 purpose, pur- 
 suit, and occupation in life to be formed, controlled, and directed 
 to the one paramount object of being accepted in the day of doom, 
 and being enabled then to lift up our voices with joy, and say, 
 " Behold, Lord, Thy servant and the children whom Thou gavest 
 me!" 
 
 These considerations one might reasonably suppose would ever- 
 more be uppermost in the mind of every Christian parent. They 
 are equally proper to occup} 7 the thoughts of the Christian Min- 
 ister. But the Church hath thought good to add the authority of 
 a special law to the obligations which have been adverted to, 
 making it the duty of each Pastor carefully to instruct the children 
 of his Parish. The law is in these words : viz., " The Minister of 
 every Parish shall diligently, upon Sundays and Holydays or some 
 other convenient occasions, openly in the Church, instruct or 
 examine so many children of his Parish, sent unto him, as he 
 shall think convenient, in some part of this Catechism." 
 
 Here we find that the Church has ordered how this duty shall be 
 performed, diligently. The word marks her sense of the impor- 
 tance of the duty. It is something that she would not only enjoin 
 as necessary to be done, but to be done diligently; that is, with 
 the zeal and constancy which love inspires. And that no excuse 
 may be alleged for its neglect or omission, on account of the want 
 of time, she prescribes that it shall be done "on Sundays and 
 Holydays," the very seasons appropriated to the most impor- 
 tant of all concerns, the care of the soul. And, that no press of 
 duty or engagement in the affairs of the Parish may justify any 
 omission herein, it is added, "or on some other convenient occa- 
 sions." Next she commands where it shall be done, "openly 
 in the Church," that all who choose may hear and learn " the 
 words of eternal life." And then she directs the Minister as to 
 what he shall instruct or examine the children, that is, "in 
 some part of the Catechism." It is recorded of Luther, Melanch- 
 thon, Cranmer, and many other great men distinguished for their 
 services and sufferings in the cause of Christ, that towards the 
 close of their lives they gave up the reading and study of all 
 books, and betook themselves to the Bible and their Catechisms. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 303 
 
 They had become as little children, and as little children they 
 wished to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 
 
 That the Minister may be encouraged and strengthened in the 
 performance of so great and necessary a work, the law of the 
 Church proceeds : 
 
 44 And all fathers, mothers, masters, and mistresses shall cause 
 their children, servants, and apprentices, who have not learned 
 their Catechism, to come to the Church at the time appointed, and 
 obediently to hear and be ordered by the Minister, until such time 
 as they have learned all that is here appointed for them to learn." 
 
 The rule is very comprehensive, embracing every class in so- 
 ciety who may be presumed to have the control of others, 
 "fathers, mothers, masters, and mistresses;" extending to all 
 conditions in life which may be reasonably supposed, from their 
 dependence, to need instruction, ''children, servants, and ap- 
 prentices." It is enjoined upon the former, to cause the latter to 
 come to the Church to be instructed. How is this injunction of 
 the Church ordinarily heeded by those who profess to reverence 
 her authority? It is, I awfully fear, practically and habitually 
 disregarded by the large majority of those who dwell in this nomi- 
 nally Christian land. There are thousands around us, " children, 
 servants, and apprentices," wholly dependent for religious train- 
 ing upon those who " exercise rule and authority over them," 
 that, in the great Day of Eternity, may lift up the voice of bitter 
 reproach mingled with lamentation, and say, " No man cared for 
 our souls ! " If there be reason to mourn over the prevalence of 
 irreligion in the land, and the decay of piety and godliness among 
 professed Christians, I am bold to say that the efficient causes are 
 to be traced to this neglect of duty on the part of the laity, rather 
 than any unfaithfulness among the Clergy. In this part of their 
 office, Ministers are powerless without the co-operation of the 
 people. But where parents and sponsors do discharge this part 
 of their duty, the Minister can be at no loss as to the amount of 
 instruction to be given to those sent to him. He is to continue 
 his labors till they have learned the whole of the Catechism, and 
 then they are to be brought to Confirmation. For thus proceeds 
 the rubric, or law of the Church : 
 
304 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 " So soon as children are come to a competent age, and can 
 say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, 
 and can answer to the other questions of this short Catechism, 
 they shall be brought to the Bishop." 
 
 *' And whensoever the Bishop shall give knowledge for children 
 to be brought unto him for their Confirmation, the Minister of 
 every Parish shall either bring, or send in writing, with his hand 
 subscribed thereunto, the names of all such persons within his 
 Parish, as he shall think fit to be presented to the Bishop to be 
 confirmed." 
 
 The whole of these directions look to attainments in Christian 
 knowledge and character, which it is greatly to be feared are very 
 injuriously if not fatally overlooked by many whose duty it is to 
 prepare and present persons for Confirmation. The Church in all 
 her Offices contemplates the highest proficiency in the Divine life 
 as the object aimed at by their administration, and a full under- 
 standing of their nature, and due preparation, on the part of 
 those capable of the same, in order to their profitable reception. 
 Thus : 
 
 " Baptism is a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteous- 
 ness," pre-requisites to which are, "repentance whereby we 
 forsake sin, and faith whereby we steadfastly believe the promises 
 of God made to us in that sacrament." 
 
 The first rubric in the Office of Adult Baptism reads : 
 
 " When any such persons as are of riper 3 r ears are to be bap- 
 tized, timely notice shall be given to the Minister ; that so due care 
 may be taken for their examination, whether they be sufficiently 
 instructed in the principles of the Christian religion ; and that they 
 may be exhorted to prepare themselves, with prayers and fasting, 
 for the receiving this Holy Sacrament." 
 
 Here we find that u timely notice must be given," due care 
 taken for examination of the candidate in the principles of the 
 Christian religion, and preparation made by prayers and fasting 
 for so solemn an act. And then, upon the administration of the 
 ordinance itself, the witnesses are exhorted to remind the persons 
 baptized, " what a solemn vow, promise, and profession they have 
 made ; " how " they must grow in grace and in the knowledge of 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 305 
 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, and live godly, righteously, and soberly, in 
 this present world:" while the baptized are charged to remem- 
 ber, "that Baptism representeth unto us our profession; which is 
 to follow the example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made like 
 unto Him ; that as He died, and rose again for us, so should we 
 who are baptized, die from sin, and rise again unto righteous- 
 ness," etc. 
 
 More, and surely not less than all this, may be reasonably 
 expected in the way of religious attainments, from those who, 
 having learned what their godfathers and godmothers promised for 
 them in Baptism, come forward " in their own names and persons 
 openly before the Church to ratify and confirm the same." More 
 may be expected of them, because from infancy, if sponsors and 
 Ministers have been faithful, they have enjoyed the inestimable 
 privileges and benefits of religious training ; they have almost from 
 the beginning of life been in covenant with God ; the promises of 
 God were visibly sealed to them in Holy Baptism, whereby they 
 were " made members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors 
 of the kingdom of heaven;" they have been taught their duty, 
 and been the subjects of fervent and effectual prayer, none of 
 which priceless advantages have been enjoyed, or at least in a 
 very slight degree, by the unbaptized. But because it is said in 
 the rubric, " So soon as children are come to a competent age, 
 and can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Command- 
 ments, and can answer to the other questions of the short Cat- 
 echism, they shall be brought to the Bishop," to be confirmed 
 by him, therefore many young persons think, and alas! some 
 Ministers think with them, that, if they can but repeat the whole 
 of the Catechism by memory, they are fit and qualified subjects for 
 Confirmation, and that this is all the preparation which the Church 
 demands of them in order to the reception of that Rite which 
 admits them to the highest privileges of a Christian. 
 
 It is not difficult to understand how this mistake comes about, 
 and may easily proceed to a fatal delusion. The language is quite 
 common among us, that the Word, sacraments, rites, and institu- 
 tions of the Church are all means of grace, and to be beneficial 
 must be used ; and hence the urgency with which they are recom- 
 
306 Appendix. 
 
 mended and pressed upon the attention and use of all men who 
 attend our places of worship. It is said that the use of these 
 means of grace is in our hands, the gracious effect of them 
 dependent on God's blessing ; that it is our duty to use them, and 
 to look to God for their efficacy and sanctifying influence. This 
 is often so broadly stated, that no reference whatever is made to 
 the qualifications of those who resort to them ; and therefore 
 many come to Baptism, Confirmation, and the Lord's Supper, 
 without at all realizing that they are in the exercise of that repent- 
 ance and faith which are the conditions of all promised blessings ; 
 and so they continue in the use of the Lord's Supper without any 
 comfortable evidence to themselves that they are growing in grace, 
 or making any sensible progress in the Divine life. The idea is, 
 that the use of the ordinances of the Church, irrespective of qual- 
 ifications on the part of the receiver, will secure grace, and be 
 attended with blessings. I can conceive of few things more ruin- 
 ous to every reasonable hope of spiritual improvement. It is a 
 delusion of the Devil, and receives no countenance whatever from 
 any thing taught in our Offices and Articles when fairly under- 
 stood. 
 
 In the Twenty-fifth Article of Religion it is said, " Sacraments 
 ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's 
 profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual 
 signs of grace, and God's good will towards us, b} T the which he 
 doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also 
 strengthen and confirm our faith in him." 
 
 It would seem that some persons from this language are led to 
 attribute to the use of the sacraments a virtue and efficacy which 
 surely the Church never intended to teach as belonging to them. 
 They were not intended to inform us of the character and perfec- 
 tions of God, the nature of sin, of the incarnation, the atonement, 
 faith, repentance, and holiness. These things are to be learned 
 from the Word of God, that enlightener and informer of the human 
 understanding, that "lantern to our feet and light unto our paths," 
 that " undefiled law which converts the soul, that sure testimony 
 of the Lord that giveth wisdom unto the simple." In short, there 
 must be a proper degree of acquaintance with our own spiritual 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 307 
 
 nature, a knowledge of our wants as sinners, and of the plan of 
 salvation through Christ, the exercise of repentance and faith, and 
 a fixed purpose, by the Divine assistance, to lead a godly life, 
 before we are duly prepared for Confirmation and the Lord's 
 Supper. This is the lowest amount or degree of preparation with 
 which an} 7 one ought to venture to approach these ordinances ; and 
 this we understand to constitute that worthiness of meetness which 
 fits us to receive, and not that worthiness of qualifications which 
 may entitle us to demand, this great and inestimable privilege of 
 coming into the family of God, and of being " received as worthy 
 partakers at His Holy Table." Those who rely so much upon the 
 efficacy of the Sacraments as to countenance the idea that their 
 administration is alwa} T s and necessarily attended with benefits 
 and blessings, might do well to consider the last clause of our 
 Twenty-fifth Article in these words : " And in such only as worthily 
 receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation ; but 
 they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves damna- 
 tion, as saith St. Paul." 
 
 I am very far from wishing to discourage any, with right views 
 of religion, from coming to the Rite of Confirmation. Indeed, 
 the reluctance and timidity with which many are brought to the 
 recognition and renewal of their baptismal vows, doubtless consti- 
 tute the true reasons why Ministers are sometimes found too urgent 
 in their persuasions upon this subject. I entreat you, brethren, to 
 consider, that, where persons are confirmed with low and inade- 
 quate views of their religious obligations, they are seldom happy 
 themselves, generally occasion deep concern and disquietude to the 
 Ministry, and sometimes bring discredit upon their Christian pro- 
 fession. This is presenting the ill consequences of such a course 
 in the least unfavorable aspect in which it can be viewed. I am 
 firmly persuaded that in the desire to present a considerable 
 number for this Rite, the Clergy sometimes overlook the careful 
 preparation which is fairly demanded for it. There is a strong 
 temptation to do this. A Minister is desirous of having all the 
 members of his flock come to the discharge of their dut} T . His 
 representations of the danger of procrastination and neglect are 
 frequent and earnest. Many are moved to inquire " what they 
 
308 Appendix. 
 
 must do to be saved;" and among these the Pastor not unfre- 
 quently finds it a task as ungracious as it is difficult to discriminate 
 between those who are actuated by sound and enlightened views 
 of the character and extent of Christian obligations, and others, 
 who, without due examination and without counting the cost of 
 what they are about to undertake, are influenced in their conduct 
 by the lower considerations of a desire to please their friends and 
 gratify their Minister. 
 
 It is exceedingly rare, therefore, that any one seeking is refused 
 the Rite of Confirmation. Yet it is certain that it had been better 
 for some, and for the Church, if they had been refused. Disguise 
 it as we may, it is the fault of the Minister that they were not. It 
 is impossible that the directions of the Church in this case can be 
 mistaken. It is the bounden duty of each Parish Minister to know 
 who is prepared or fit for Confirmation. Not only is all that 
 which candidates for the la}*ing-on of hands are required to know, 
 declared in plain and explicit terms, as I have already stated ; but 
 it is, moreover, made the duty of the Minister either to " bring or 
 send in writing, with his name subscribed thereunto, the names of 
 all such persons within his Parish, as he shall think fit to be pre- 
 sented to the Bishop to be confirmed." Why all this particularity, 
 if it be not to impress upon the mind the importance of more than 
 ordinary care in this case? A list is to be made out, a list to 
 be made by the Minister ; a list with his name subscribed. The 
 Bishop is to take no other evidence of fitness. All indicates the 
 greatest precaution on the part of the Church. Every thing shows 
 that she expects her Ministers to be diligent and faithful. And 
 those words of solemn admonition and warning, given at the time 
 of their Ordination, should, methinks, be ringing in their ears on 
 every occasion of Confirmation with startling distinctness: "And 
 if any member of the Church do take any hurt or hindrance by 
 reason of your negligence, ye know the greatness of the fault, and 
 also the horrible punishment that will ensue." 
 
 We may add that the Office of Confirmation itself contemplates 
 the same amount of preparation as having been made, of which we 
 have been speaking, previous to its administration. None are 
 allowed to be confirmed "till they come to years of discretion." 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 309 
 
 What is meant by this expression, we may learn from that great 
 and good Bishop of our own Church, the distinguished Dr. Hobart 
 of New York. " By this order," he says, " the Church evidently 
 designs more than that they should be able merely to say the words 
 of the Catechism. They must have a full knowledge of its mean- 
 ing. And it embraces a comprehensive view of the plan of re- 
 demption, of Christian doctrine and duty, and of the privileges of 
 Christians ; these must be understood and realized before children 
 can be qualified for receiving that holy Rite in which they pledge 
 themselves to the belief of Christian doctrine, and to the practice 
 of Christian duty, and in which their Christian privileges are 
 assured to them. The age at which this knowledge can be at- 
 tained, doubtless differs in different persons. And the particular 
 age of admission to this Rite is not authoritatively determined. It 
 seems necessary, however, to have some standard of age which 
 children must attain before they can receive this Rite. And the 
 age of fourteen is generally recommended by the Bishops of the 
 Church." 
 
 The demand is made of each one, whether he acknowledges 
 himself bound to believe and to do all things undertaken in Bap- 
 tism ; that is, not only the profession of a right faith, but the 
 obligation to live a holy life. Than this, no more comprehensive 
 and searching confession of Christ can be or need be required of 
 any one. And then follows the prayer for the increase of the 
 manifold gifts of grace ; and immediately afterwards, the invoca- 
 tion of defence and increase daily in the Holy Spirit. What can 
 such language signify, if it be not a strengthening, an increase, an 
 adding to the work of Divine Grace already begun in the soul, and 
 thus carried forward under the gracious influences of the Spirit of 
 God, until he who is the happy subject of such a work arrives at 
 the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus ! 
 
 I conceive it, therefore, to be the bounden duty of Ministers, 
 in presenting persons for the Rite of Confirmation, to satisfy them- 
 selves in every case that there exists something more than a will- 
 ingness or a desire to be confirmed. There must not only be the 
 required amount of intellectual preparation in having learned the 
 Catechism, but likewise a reduction of that learning to practice. 
 
310 Appendix. 
 
 The candidates should be students of the Word of God, when they 
 can read and have leisure for it ; they should be devotional in 
 their daily habits ; they should live constantly in the discharge of 
 such duties of charity, and such acts of pietj r , as will convince 
 themselves, as well as others, that they are in good earnest for 
 the salvation of their souls, that they feel the need of Divine Grace 
 to strengthen their weak resolutions and feeble efforts, and that 
 they are seeking the ordinances of the Church to help them to 
 lead godly and Christian lives. Such is the amount of preparation 
 which is indispensable, in my judgment, for the worthy and profit- 
 able reception of the Rite of Confirmation. And I feel confident, 
 that, if Ministers generally would so teach those committed to their 
 charge, there would be far less depreciation of the value and 
 efficacy of the ordinance itself, and far less reason to complain of 
 the careless and. ungodly lives of many who have sought its 
 privileges. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 311 
 
 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 1 
 
 " Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God 
 as a little child, he shall not enter therein." ST. MARK x. 15. 
 
 IF the only acceptable or admissible way in which an adult per- 
 son can receive the kingdom of God be as a little child receives 
 it, the inference, we think, is unavoidable, that little children are 
 proper subjects of that kingdom. Upon this declaration of our 
 Lord and Redeemer, in connection with the context, an unanswer- 
 able argument might be constructed in favor of the lawfulness 
 of infant-baptism. But we propose to follow a different line of 
 remark on this occasion, and to use these words of our Saviour as 
 suggestive of a topic, than which few others can more fitly claim 
 the serious consideration of a Christian assembly, or the anxious 
 reflections of American citizens, or the deep and pious thoughts 
 of the Right Reverend Fathers, Ministers, and brethren composing 
 this council of the Church. It is Christian education, or the train- 
 ing of the young in the way of holiness, which forms our theme for 
 remark. 
 
 This is not a subject which may or ought to awaken interest 
 only in the bosoms of Christian parents. Its range is wide enough 
 to embrace all the families of the land ; and its relations extend 
 to many other interests than those merely of domestic life. It is 
 the boast of our countrymen, that their social well-being is not 
 dependent for its source or for its continuance on the circum- 
 stances which may surround an individual. The term of a sov- 
 ereign's life, or the state of his health, or the moral disposition 
 of the heir-apparent, never enters into our anxieties or specula- 
 tions respecting the happiness of ourselves, our families, or our 
 
 1 Sermon before the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the United States of America, at St. Paul's Church, Richmond, 
 Va., Wednesday, Oct. 5, 1859. 
 
312 Appendix. 
 
 country. But we should remember, for it concerns us all to 
 know, that though the succession of power among us- be silent, 
 gradual, and unobserved, the human exponent, so to speak, is yet 
 transient in its duration and susceptible of change. Many of us 
 will probably live to see the sceptre of our civil condition trans- 
 ferred, and the destinies of this nation, social and religious, intel- 
 lectual and moral, public and individual, pass into the hands of 
 the little beings whose minds are now occupied with the toys 
 of childhood. The next race of the sovereign people may be as 
 degenerate as the successor of an absolute monarch. Nay, the 
 voice of history proclaims the grave and impressive lesson, that 
 the glories of republics have been evanescent, that their ener- 
 gies have become effete and languid in the transmission through 
 fewer generations than those of some hereditary dynasties. They 
 seem to resemble those vegetable productions which bloom more 
 magnificently, and bear a richer fruitage, but arrive at earlier 
 decay and decrepitude. How shall we, on whom the care of ours 
 is now incumbent, maintain the vital principle with undiminished 
 healthfulness and vigor, that it may flourish for us, and for those 
 who follow after us? 
 
 There is but one method, and that method is obvious : it is 
 easy, and it is secure, if faithfully pursued. Here, within our 
 reach, under our almost unlimited control, and in a ductile state, 
 is the very material on whose shape the stability of our institu- 
 tions must depend. The alternative is. before us, either to leave 
 that material to be moulded by external circumstances highly 
 unfavorable, or to give it form by that plastic touch of education, 
 whose moral impress the droppings of time can never efface, nor 
 any stroke of accident destroy. "The child is father to the man." 
 The foundation of character and destin} T , of every individual ele- 
 ment of that rational multitude whose mind will sway the world 
 of thirty years hence, will be laid permanently and indestructibly 
 before it has attained the twelfth year of its being. Subsequent 
 influences may strengthen or impair that foundation, but they 
 never can displace it. For the characters of men do not result 
 from their own investigations ; the patterns are not selected and 
 approved by a mature judgment : they are formed by the com- 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 313 
 
 bined development of those associations and S3 r mpathies of child- 
 hood, from whose abiding influence no reasonings or efforts of 
 mature years will ever entirely emancipate them. You must com- 
 municate, or you must withhold from that wave of human society 
 which follows after you, and will soon rise in your place, those 
 principles whose infusion will make it pure, and whose absence 
 will cause it to spread bitterness, corruption, and desolation 
 wherever it rolls. 
 
 What are those principles, and how are they to be communi- 
 cated? We have said that the rising generation must be educated; 
 but we do not use the word in its popular acceptation. We never 
 employ it in the degraded sense, now so current, which excludes 
 the discipline of the heart : and we now use it without reference to 
 merely intellectual culture ; our present concern being with that 
 sort of education which improves and exalts the character, not 
 that which fills the memory and enlarges the understanding. I 
 know that it is a cherished idea in this country, that sound morals 
 and extended knowledge are inseparable as cause and effect ; and 
 that the consciences of men are enlightened to discern evil, and 
 armed to resist it, by merely storing their minds with learning. 
 Virtue and intelligence are the strong pillars on which rest the 
 social edifice of our country ; and, to make society virtuous, we 
 must make men intelligent. This is the favorite maxim reiterated 
 by the lips of every social reformer of the age, by ever} 7 aspirant 
 to popular favor and political distinction. With much of truth in 
 the aphorism, there are mingled with it elements which in their 
 practical development are exceedingly dangerous, and make it, 
 in fact, the most perilous sophism of our age and country. We 
 meet with it everywhere ; we hear it almost daily in conversation ; 
 it abounds in all the secular and in most of the religious jour- 
 nals which circulate through the land ; it is assumed in popular 
 addresses, lurks in legislative enactments, and is sanctioned by 
 the erection of seminaries of learning which seem intended for 
 beings purely intellectual, callous to all passions, and destitute of 
 all propensities, institutions where every mental faculty is tilled 
 with minute and systematic industry, while the whole moral nature 
 is left a wilderness in which the most noxious weeds may spring 
 
314 Appendix. 
 
 up and multiply. Knowledge, knowledge alone, is proclaimed to 
 be the unfailing protector of all rights, the kind and nursing 
 parent of all virtues, the certain cure for every malady that can 
 infest human society. 
 
 Now, we hold this to be a sophism, false in theory and fatal in 
 experiment, whose increasing prevalence is just cause of alarm to 
 reflecting minds, and which it is the duty of all who stand respon- 
 sible for the interests of their fellow-beings, both temporal and 
 eternal, to resist loudly and strenuously. As an instrument to 
 promote ph}*sical and mental enjoyment, knowledge has genuine 
 worth, amply sufficient to attract the pursuit of men, and afford 
 matter for rational approval, without making pretensions which are 
 absurd and dangerous. That intelligence is a lever, which, pro- 
 perly applied, may sustain and elevate the public morals, is an 
 obvious verity ; but it has no moral character and no moral pref- 
 erence of its own. It may be abused, and may be employed in 
 the work of demolition as well as of construction. Its results 
 derive their moral tendency from the moral agency by which the 
 instrument is wielded ; that is, the moral effects of intelligence 
 depend upon the very circumstances of which this sophism affirms 
 them to be decisive. It is servant to that of which it is said to be 
 master. It is the clay, instead of the potter, in the formation of 
 the social character. Show me, by reasoning or by experiment, 
 the sequence which is claimed to exist between intellectual wealth 
 and moral purity. Take a child, and teach him the truths of 
 mathematical science. Will you thus make him abhor fraud and 
 falsehood? Teach him natural philosophy, and will you thereby 
 extinguish selfishness and malice, or infuse purity of thought and 
 modesty of demeanor? Teach him the abstractions of moral 
 science, and will you thereby impart the will and the power to per- 
 form moral duties? Surely not. But now try a different process. 
 Let him be removed from the contact of every irreligious impulse 
 and association. Let him be environed as much as possible by 
 " whatsoever things are pure, just, true, honest, lovely, and of 
 good report." Carry him to the Word of God for a standard of 
 morals, perfect, unalterable, and eternal, founded not on the spec- 
 ulations of man, but on the dictum of Omniscience ; send him to 
 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 315 
 
 the throne of grace, and thither let parent and teacher repair with 
 him by their example, and for him by their prayers. And what 
 results may you then rationally anticipate ? In the human char- 
 acter, instead of the antagonist principles of intelligence and vice 
 mingling harmoniously to make the compound more offensive, you 
 infuse the religious principle, and every thing gross is neutralized 
 and precipitated ; every thing noxious is expelled, and the charac- 
 ter acquires a permanent purity and transparency. Now, what is 
 true of the individual element must be true of the uniform mass. 
 For a people without intelligence, the range of physical and intel- 
 lectual enjoyment must be circumscribed ; but the purity of 
 morals, the authority of the laws, that fireside happiness which, 
 after all, is the most precious of social treasures, need not be 
 impaired or jeopardized. Nay, those tracts of man's history on 
 which both reason and imagination dwell with the most unalloyed 
 complacency are not those most resplendent with the illumination 
 of letters, and polished by the arts of civilized life. It is in com- 
 munities where ignorance and poverty have been ennobled by a 
 pure and beautiful simplicity of manners, that we must look for 
 the most illustrious examples of patriotism, and the most lovely 
 portraitures of domestic peace. But what would be the condition 
 of a community destitute of religion? This is a picture which 
 requires to be exhibited in a strong light, and seriously pondered, 
 a society in which religion is supplanted in its peculiar functions 
 by a power utterly incompetent for their performance ! Let not 
 your imaginations wander far away to savage tribes, in search of 
 an actual example of the conditions of the hypothesis. The most 
 blinded and depraved, whose abode is marked on the map of any 
 continent, or whose character is portrayed in the annals of any 
 age, are not without religion. God hath not left them entirely 
 without witness ; and we hesitate not to affirm, that in the most 
 horrible and distorted creed, considered as a system, that ever 
 deluded mankind, there are yet fountains of truth, and plants of 
 nourishment, and fences of beneficial restraint over the corrupt 
 propensities of man, which render it far better adapted to his 
 moral nature than the sickly and sterile wastes of a libertine 
 atheism. 
 
316 Appendix. 
 
 We must suppose a case, and, in order to conceive the effects 
 of a perfect religious darkness in their most shocking and fear- 
 ful manifestations, we must come nearer home than the haunts of 
 savage life, we must suppose a case where the energies of mind 
 are the most powerful, and the lights of civilization are the most 
 brilliant, and the inmost penetralia of the shrine of knowledge are 
 freely and generalty approached. In such a country, suppose that 
 the hearts of the people should suddenly become callous to the 
 power and their eyes blinded to the light of religion ; that every 
 religious institution should be overthrown ; that every religious 
 restraint should be cast loose ; that every religious impression 
 which hearts the most abandoned and dissolute now receive from 
 the contact of sacred things, were effaced entirely ; that the mild 
 radiance which Christianity now diffuses over the whole surface of 
 society should be curtained from the world, so that Christian 
 example should have no weight, Christian sentiments exercise no 
 purifying and elevating control, Christian education be robbed of 
 the restraining influences which no lapse of time and no degree of 
 wickedness can now avail to sunder ; so that all these refined and 
 intelligent people should rely for their moral guidance entirely on 
 intellectual light, and for moral support entirely on intellectual 
 strength ; checked by no fears but worldly fears ; moved by no 
 inducements but sublunary inducements ; bound by no laws but 
 human laws ; having no desires or thoughts but such as are of the 
 earth earthy, what picture would such a community present to our 
 contemplation ! Like the artist who started back horror-stricken 
 from the picture which his own pencil had painted, we should 
 shrink from the contemplation of scenes which no language could 
 depict, no tongue describe. We should behold the torches of 
 intelligence elevated not to enlighten, but brandished to consume ; 
 the ardor of enterprise rushing not to the tasks of industry, but of 
 plunder ; the vigor of thought strained not to construct, but to 
 ruin ; the attractions of art displayed not to refine, but to pollute 
 and deprave ; political freedom enjoyed not for security, but abused 
 to the destruction of both civil and personal rights ; every human 
 emotion centred in self, every barrier of law overleaped, every 
 moral restraint relaxed or severed, every noble sentiment extinct, 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 317 
 
 every vicious propensity rioting in the openness of day ; nothing 
 criminal but weakness, nothing wretched but innocence ; every tie 
 that binds man to man sundered, every principle of justice disre- 
 garded, every cry for mercy stifled, every temple of piety violated, 
 every defence of purity torn down and trampled under foot, and 
 every sanctuary of the affections invaded and desecrated. Such 
 we ma}" conceive to be the faintly shadowed but shocking scene of 
 moral desolation, of brutal degradation, which any civilized people 
 would exhibit if its religion were abolished, and its intelligence 
 were retained and raised to the highest point of attainment. The 
 greater their intelligence, the more hopeless and abandoned would 
 be their wretchedness ; for every blessing of civilization would be 
 transformed into a curse. Every instrument that now improves 
 and adorns society would become a weapon to pierce its vitals. 
 The truth of the matter, as obvious to reason under the guiding 
 light of revelation, and as demonstrated by history, is precisely 
 the reverse of the popular idea. Knowledge has never preceded 
 virtue, and it has never survived it ; and whenever the pure prin- 
 ciple of virtue has ceased to be mingled with the oil of intelli- 
 gence, the lamp has expired in the corrupt atmosphere which its 
 own foul effluvium had created. Knowledge will vanish away, but 
 virtue or charity never faileth. 
 
 I have dwelt the longer on this matter, because the error I have 
 attempted to expose is a prevalent and dangerous one ; of whose 
 results, unless very soon checked, this nation will in a few j^ears 
 be made lamentably, mournfully, and wofully sensible. 1 It is 
 advocated sometimes explicitly, and often impliedly, by men who 
 are set as watchmen for the defence of society from the incursions 
 of moral and religious evil ; and yet it virtually admits the claims 
 of infidelit} r . It is precisely the principle which was preached 
 by sceptics of the last century, and was in truth the fruitful 
 parent of that direful progeny of evils which the world witnessed 
 
 1 Public sentiment not only originates the law, but actually controls its 
 operation. Hence the prevalence of a healthy moral sentiment is indispen- 
 sable to the due execution of the laws. Let the moral tone of society 
 become universally or generally depraved, and all vitality is gone from the 
 laws, and there is no power in this nation to execute them. 
 
318 Appendix. 
 
 in the excesses and horrors of the French Revolution. Let 
 the claims of secular knowledge be advanced on their proper 
 grounds. There is room enough for zeal, and motive enough for 
 exertion, in that cause, without elevating intelligence to the post, 
 which religion alone is adequate to maintain ; without supplanting 
 the wisdom of Christ, who teaches us that we must become as little 
 children in order to enter His kingdom ; for that knowledge of the 
 world which puffs up, and nourishes pride instead of humility ; 
 without substituting the light of reason for the dictates of con- 
 science ; without commending the diffusion of intelligence as 
 something more important to the interests of society and individ- 
 ual happiness than the cultivation of charity and the fear of 
 God. That healthy moral sentiment, which, as a perennial foun- 
 tain, sends forth fertilizing streams through all the fields of human 
 action, and imparts vigor to every enterprise of benevolence, 
 springs from a " faith in God, which works by love, purifies the 
 heart, and overcomes the world." The genial warmth which 
 spreads its vivif} T ing and fructifjdng influences over the whole 
 scene of Christian efforts, extending now 
 
 "From Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand, 
 From Afric's sunny fountains to China's teeming land," 
 
 is an emanation from the " bright Sun of righteousness," and not 
 from the glimmering taper of this world's wisdom. In a word, 
 the Bible is the text-book of the science of the heart; and the 
 lessons of wisdom which it imparts are of more value, I do not 
 hesitate to affirm, than all the secular knowledge gained by 
 the people of this powerful confederacy of States, in the many 
 thousands of seminaries throughout the land, and from which its 
 teachings are excluded six days in every week. 
 
 But, vast as are the moral and social benefits of early religious 
 culture, they constitute not the chief motives to encouragement in 
 the work of training the young. Children have souls to be saved, 
 as well as duties to perform to society. To those whose thoughts 
 are exercised seriously about the things of another life, the chief 
 and engrossing subject of anxiety is, not how children may be 
 made respectable and prosperous during their abode on earth, but 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 319 
 
 how they may become fellow- citizens of the saints, and fitted for 
 the society of heaven. And however their right of baptism may 
 be questioned, the ground is fearlessly assumed, that, if all the 
 conditions of the covenant are faithfully met and discharged by 
 those who have the care of them, we may as certainly and as con- 
 fidently look for a blessing on efforts for their spiritual improve- 
 ment, as for the full development of their faculties and powers in 
 other things. To the labor of Christian education in this highest 
 view, we have the most animating encouragement. The convic- 
 tion of success, it is true, is an exercise of our faith, and not a 
 part of our knowledge ; the responsibility for their own souls will 
 ultimately devolve on the children themselves, and God only knows 
 how they will sustain it. Our present efforts and prayers will not 
 be alone effectual ; but that intercessory prayer and Christian edu- 
 cation are means through which the gifts of the Spirit are very 
 freely bestowed, and that the faithful use of these means affords 
 the strongest encouragement for expecting it, is what no Christian 
 can reasonably doubt. We must not forget, indeed, that the whole 
 work of religion is not performed by the inculcation of truth and 
 the culture of moral sensibility. We know and lament that there 
 are too many to be found, whose minds have been enlightened by the 
 truth, softened by the spirit, and embellished by the ornaments of 
 Christianity, and who yet have never received the Gospel as the 
 principle of a new and holy life ; and it will be found further, that 
 this perilous and unhappy state is owing simply to an obstinate 
 refusal of the means of grace, and the resistance they make to the 
 Author of all grace. Still, while we perform our duty in conveying 
 religious instruction to the mind of the child, we know that his 
 heart will be much better prepared hereafter to receive and profit 
 by the influences of the Spirit of God. 
 
 Truths instilled in childhood live forever in the memory. They 
 are interwoven with all the sensibilities of the soul. They are 
 the fortress of the conscience, not impregnable, but indestructible. 
 They furnish the mind with chords which never cease to vibrate 
 to the touch of faithful expostulation. They are an inextinguish- 
 able spark, which, after being seemingly smothered under a mass 
 of corruption, are often revived, by providential circumstances, to 
 
320 Appendix. 
 
 a pure flame of piety. We cannot pluck up the roots of evil, but 
 we may prune and repress its developments. We may soften the 
 soil in which heavenly seed must germinate, and make it pervious 
 to the dews of Divine grace. The work is noble, the hopes are 
 strong and scriptural, the duty is imperative, and the machinery 
 to be employed is all of heavenly temper and Divine appointment. 
 From the days of the Apostles downward, the Church's care of 
 little children has been assumed as an eminent duty. Timothy, 
 from a child, was instructed in the Holy Scriptures. We read of 
 certain persons called helpers, as Priscilla, Aquila, and Urbane, 
 who are reasonably presumed to have held the office of catecliist, 
 which was universal in the early ages of the Church ; and ever 
 since the Reformation it has been the prescribed duty of the 
 Ministers of the Church, " diligently on Sundays to instruct and 
 examine the children ' ' of the Parish in the Catechism prepared for 
 that special purpose, and which contains in itself perhaps the most 
 complete summary of Christian doctrines and duties ever brought 
 together in the same compass. Bring before your minds the 
 immense multitude of Ministers and Catechists and teachers em- 
 ployed in this work, wherever the seas thunder round the world, or 
 winds sweep over the habitations of men, the countless numbers 
 of children collected weekly together to be taught. Think of the 
 prayers, the admonitions, the lessons, in which this unnumbered 
 mass of living and immortal beings are every Sunday engaged. 
 Reflect on the pious impressions which these holy occupations 
 must make on instructors and children, their accumulating 
 knowledge of Divine things ; their diligent investigation and ex- 
 planation of religious truth ; this emplo} r ment of holy time, in holy 
 things, when that time might be misemployed in the things of the 
 world ; the rebounding influence of pious children upon their 
 parents and others ; the amount of moral and religious sentiment 
 thus communicated ; the silent but sure operation of that senti- 
 ment imperceptibly finding its way to millions of hearts, and 
 insensibly moulding the temper and controlling the conduct of 
 those millions of accountable and rational living beings, and these 
 in their turn influencing other millions to come after, and can 
 you conceive, by any effort of mind, a moral spectacle of more 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 321 
 
 imposing grandeur and soul-stirring sublimity ? Are we not justi- 
 fied in offering the prayer, and in indulging the hope, that the 
 incense thus rising to the throne of God may, by His blessing, 
 burst forth over the guilt} 7 millions of our world, without limit and 
 without restraint, in heavenly benediction, its sanctifying influ- 
 ences be felt in human institutions, mingle itself with all social 
 elements, regulate all the pulsations of feeling, consecrate all polit- 
 ical movements, exalt all the productions of science and learning, 
 purify every intellectual and moral enterprise, and communicate 
 heaven's peace and gladness to every nation, every family, and 
 every heart? Can we employ a more powerful consideration to 
 move the Church, its Ministry, and its members, to undertake and 
 vigorously prosecute this glorious work commanded by Christ, 
 blessed of God, and indispensable to man? 
 
 " Verily I say unto } T OU, Whosoever shall not receive the king- 
 dom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." 
 
 To a Christian mind, the world is one great seminary, in which 
 immortal souls are to be trained for higher and nobler scenes. The 
 eyes of the infant are opened to the external world in a true 
 primary school, a school devised and established by Infinite 
 Wisdom. It is the family institution. Children have souls and 
 bodies, and there they both may be cared for. They are connected 
 with two worlds, and there they may be trained for both. Two 
 persons are appointed by Divine Providence to perform this task of 
 training. Two are united to the little and dependent being by in- 
 dissoluble ties, two teachers, whose love no restiveness of the 
 child can alienate, whose assiduity no weariness can overcome, to 
 whom all sacrifices for his good are a pleasure, who receive a 
 reward in their own hearts for every effort. Perfect dependence 
 on one side, and perfect love and sympathy on the other, combine 
 to give almost omnipotent force to the instruction which is im- 
 parted. 
 
 The family circle is the nursery for heaven. There the infant 
 heart is moulded in its moral sensibilities ; there the sympathies and 
 affections all germinate and bud ; and there all the ties are formed, 
 and strengthen daily, which bind the little pupil to man and to 
 God, to time and to eternity. In secret from the world's prying 
 
322 Appendix. 
 
 gaze, under the eyes of those onty whom God appoints, the tender 
 plant grows up, soon to be transplanted to the paradise of God, or 
 to be cast out and withered forever. There, in the family circle, 
 is not only the home of the affections, the fountain of earthly bliss, 
 not only the source of social security and national prosperity : it is 
 the birthplace of man's character, and of his eternal destiny. All 
 other institutions are of human origin, and may be changed or 
 abolished ; but this which God has instituted, blessed, and sancti- 
 fied, may not be touched by the presuming wisdom or the rash 
 hand of man, without incurring the entailed curse of Heaven. All 
 other instruction may be voluntary or purchased ; but from this 
 there can be no shrinking and no release, without inevitable pun- 
 ishment, and that of the direst kind. The little plaything which 
 smiling parents dandle on the knee has a thinking, feeling soul, 
 which must think and feel forever, in heaven or in hell. Into their 
 hands it was given, and at their hands it will be required again. 
 God has established the school, appointed the teachers, and com- 
 manded them to train the pupils whom He commits to their care, 
 in His nurture and admonition. If this trust be betraj^ed, think 
 what your feelings must be, when your children shall come weep- 
 ing around your dying beds, and you stretch forth your trembling 
 hands to bid them a last adieu, and }~ou shall feel their kind and 
 warm embrace no more ! Think how you will answer for your 
 neglect to God, when your own soul shall have passed " the grave, 
 and gate of death," and eternity shall have closed in, with all its 
 dark and changeless solemnities, on the spirits of the saved and 
 of the lost ! 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 323 
 
 TRUST IN GOD THE ONLY SAFETY OF NATIONS. 
 
 " Our fathers hoped in Thee: they trusted in Thee, and Thou didst deliver 
 them. They called upon Thee, and were holpen: they put their trust in Thee, 
 and were not confounded." Ps. xxii. 4, 5. 
 
 IN the pilgrimage of life, man reaches certain standpoints where 
 it is natural and useful for him to pause and reflect. The succes- 
 sion of night and day, the changes of the seasons, the beginning 
 of a new year, all mark periods in human existence which suggest 
 topics suitable for calm and profitable consideration. 
 
 We occupy a position to-day, 1 beloved brethren and hearers, 
 which calls us to think of the future, and to meditate on the past. 
 By summoning before our minds the events of past years, and 
 carefully marking the circumstances that attended and afterwards 
 followed them, we may perhaps anticipate, with some degree of 
 certainty, the occurrences which will probably distinguish the year 
 upon which we are entering ; we may avoid errors into which we 
 have fallen ; we ma} 7 guard against some dangers which lie in our 
 paths. The power thus to review the past, and from the present 
 to look forward to the future, and to take counsel from the lights 
 of experience and from the suggestions of prudence, is a faculty 
 that distinguishes man from all inferior animals : it is an evident 
 proof of " the divinity that stirs within him," an indication of 
 something heaven-born, that seeks communion with a spirit free 
 from the impurities and grossness of earthly things. Happy the 
 man who so employs this noble faculty as to learn lessons of 
 heavenly wisdom, to guide him through the darkness and troublous 
 scenes of time to the bliss and glory of a better world ! 
 
 Our text contains a ver} T forcible and distinct recognition of the 
 superintendence of a wise and gracious Providence over the affairs 
 of man. This recognition respects not merely an individual but 
 
 1 Sunday, Jan. 1, 1860. 
 
324 Appendix. 
 
 a national acknowledgment of the Divine care and protection. 
 " Our fathers hoped in Thee: they trusted in Thee, and Thou didst 
 deliver them." It is the grateful language of children in the enjoy- 
 ment of deliverance and blessings vouchsafed to them through the 
 mercy and grace bestowed on their fathers, and urging this as a 
 plea for continued help and protection. This, it seems to me, is 
 the first and most obvious reflection which springs naturally from 
 any meditation we may bestow upon the past events of our national 
 history. Surely, if any people have had occasion to rejoice and be 
 glad for the Divine favor and blessings, we are pre-eminently that 
 people. With every advantage of soil, and every variety of cli- 
 mate and production, a government framed to secure equal rights 
 and privileges to all its citizens, freedom of conscience, liberty of 
 speech and action, assured to all; with such restraints, only, as 
 are indispensable to the common welfare, what element is want- 
 ing to individual happiness or national prosperity and glory ? 
 
 Yet, at a time when the field for enterprise was never wider or 
 more inviting, all the arts of life never in more successful opera- 
 tion, all branches of industry never pushed forward more vigor- 
 ously, or trade and commerce never more active, our public affairs 
 have suddenly assumed a dark and gloomy aspect. The appre- 
 hension of changes, bringing disaster to all our most fondly cher- 
 ished hopes, and threatening the overthrow and ruin of our civil 
 institutions, has arrested the attention of men in all the walks of 
 life, and almost compels reflection. On every hand we hear the 
 inquiry, " What is left us, on which to lay the foundation of hope 
 for our future peace and stability?" Let us, beloved brethren, 
 bring to this subject profound thought, calm reflection, earnest and 
 devout prayer. The day may not be distant, God only knoweth, 
 which will summon us to determined and vigorous action, as well 
 as patient suffering. 
 
 The American Revolution evolved principles in reference to the 
 rights of mankind, and the reciprocal duties of rulers and sub- 
 jects, and the ultimate obligations upon which obedience to law is 
 required, which have greatly elevated men in their social, civil, 
 and moral relations, enlarged their views, and have had the effect 
 of wonderfully ameliorating the human condition throughout the 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 325 
 
 world. The encroachments of barbarism have been pushed back, 
 and civilization advanced. At the same time, responsibility, in all 
 the relations spoken of, has been correspondingly enlarged, and 
 the danger of disregarding duty just as much enhanced. Brief 
 as the annals of our Republic may be, they will bear witness to 
 the truth, that "when the righteous are in authority, the people 
 rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." 1 
 
 It is the province of the historian to discuss the causes of the 
 momentous event to which we have referred, and which has 
 changed the face of the civilized world. It is the work of the 
 philosopher to unfold their operation in the development of their 
 proper results. It is the duty of the enlightened statesman to 
 guard their practical application in the affairs of government. 
 The prosecution of our present purpose leads us to enter into none 
 of these departments of rational inquiry, however useful and in- 
 teresting. 
 
 It is a truth which, we think, must be obvious to all minds, that 
 the decided and unanimous sentiment with which, as a nation, we 
 abhor the unnatural connection between religion and civil institu- 
 tions, which embarrasses the movements of both, is characterized 
 by a jealousy and sensitiveness, for which there is no justification 
 in the circumstances and tendencies of our country. Certain it is, 
 that, in regard to the Episcopal Church, she has no vast resources, 
 no lucrative sinecures, no sounding titles, or social immunities, to 
 excite patriotic apprehensions. Strike the average of ministerial 
 emolument among us, and it will be seen to fall below the usual 
 proceeds of mechanical industry ; and in many instances, where 
 the Clergyman has expended his whole patrimony to fit himself 
 for his proper work, and devotes the whole of his time and talents 
 to the spiritual improvement of the people who have engaged his 
 services, his labors are not rewarded by the hire of a menial for 
 the same period ! And to encourage him in his " work and labor 
 of love," he is sometimes cheered in his toil by the volunteered 
 remark, " He preaches for money ! " 
 
 The plain truth, however, is, that if there be any thing in the 
 
 1 Prov. xxix. 2. 
 
326 Appendix. 
 
 principles of any Christian society among us, to detach it from 
 political entanglements, we make bold to say, in the Episcopal 
 Church there is much more. Such entanglements are abhorrent 
 from the leading principle, which, next to Holy Scripture, is the 
 guide of her course. That principle is primitive usage. The 
 Church Catholic, as we find in the Acts of the Apostles, was 
 founded on the voluntary system. During her primal purity, her 
 institutions were supported by the free-will offerings of Christians, 
 and she received no notice from the State, except that of contempt 
 and persecution. Constantine, who ascended the imperial throne 
 about two hundred years after the death of St. John, was the 
 author of that union of religion and government, which, since the 
 dissolution of his colossal empire, has been kept up in all its frag- 
 ments. From that time Christianity declined, declined not 
 only in the harmony of its professors, but in moral influence and 
 spiritual purity. The experience of all succeeding ages demon- 
 strates that the connection of Church and State works injury to 
 the civil rights and social happiness of mankind ; but the same 
 experience also teaches that the political evil is as nothing com- 
 pared with the detriment to religion. It is from a deep-felt con- 
 viction of the injury thus resulting, that some of the wisest and 
 most influential clergy of the Church of England have, for years 
 past, labored most vigorously for the re-establishment of convoca- 
 tion, in order that the Church, being freed from the incubus of the 
 government, might exercise the right, enjoyed by all other reli- 
 gious bodies in the realm, of discipline over its own members. To 
 do this is an indefeasible right of every Christian society, and 
 results, of necessity, from that liberty wherewith Christ hath made 
 us free. 1 
 
 The Gospel is alone in its origin, for God is the Author of 
 Christianity. Alone it ought to be in its movements. It seeks 
 not the wisdom of cabinets, nor the strong arm of the civil power, 
 to effect its objects. It asks to be let alone, to do its work in its 
 own wa}^, and by its own instruments. It calls only for an open 
 field, a clear arena in which to contend for victory over the enemies 
 
 1 St. Matt. xvii. 24-27. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 327 
 
 of truth and righteousness. In such a conflict Christianity has 
 never failed, " for God is her helper and defender." Whatever 
 does not proceed from the same Divine source can only corrupt 
 and defile. Therefore it is, that the newly concocted systems of 
 our day, which make pretensions to a purer morality, and affect 
 more efficacious means than those of the Gospel, exacting on 
 pretended moral grounds what the Gospel has not required, and 
 condemning what it has not forbidden, are never so much as 
 mentioned in the councils of the Episcopal Church. Her sanc- 
 tuaries she holds to be the houses of God ; and they are open to no 
 business of any description but that of the Gospel, not even for 
 eulogies of Washington, nor Fourth-of-July orations. Her Min- 
 isters, as she solemnly tells them, are ambassadors for Christ ; and 
 they are allowed to busy themselves in the dissemination of no 
 doctrines but those of the Bible, as she has interpreted its mean- 
 ing, in her general councils, and by the consentient agreement of 
 her members ; " always, everywhere, and by all.'' Although other 
 matters may be commendable in themselves, they must seek, for 
 their consideration, other places than her pulpits, and other agents 
 than her Ministers, appointed to the furtherance of objects specifi- 
 cally Divine in their purpose, and with which nothing merely 
 human can be associated without causing defilement. 
 
 From the operation of this principle, it follows, that the Prot- 
 estant Episcopal Church has no co-operation with the various 
 organizations for moral reform, so highly commended to public 
 notice, and so common in this age and country. Her members, as 
 a general rule, abstain from any connection with them ; and, in 
 obedience to the command of the Apostle, 1 withdraw themselves 
 from those who walk disorderly, and not after the traditions which 
 they have received of the Apostles of Christ. Hence they have 
 frequently to bear the reproach, most unjustly cast upon them, 
 of lukewarmness to the Gospel ; of opposition to the objects of 
 temperance societies, revivals of religion, Evangelical alliances, 
 associations, called national or American, formed to publish and 
 circulate books, and which in some instances have been found to 
 
 1 2 Thess. iii. 6. 
 
328 Appendix. 
 
 be fruitful of much pecuniary gain to their masters. Episcopa- 
 lians are taught to believe that God established the Church, and 
 committed to it the Word, Ministry, and Sacraments, for the 
 reformation of the world and for the salvation of men ; and that it 
 would be wrong in them to abandon institutions of Divine appoint- 
 ment for other instrumentalities having only the stamp of human 
 authority and the recommendation of man's wisdom. In short, 
 we hold the plea of expediency, and the whole kindred train of 
 commendations founded upon the probable amount of good to be 
 accomplished by these human devices and agencies, to be wholly 
 irrelevant, where God has spoken, and His Church has acted in 
 submission to His revealed will and published authority. Had we 
 acted on other principles, those subjects which are now the prolific 
 source of political agitation, gathering in our horizon dark and 
 threatening clouds, portentous of evil, and of ruin even, to the 
 State, would long since have found a place of entertainment in our 
 pulpits, and thence have made an easy and ready way of introduc- 
 tion into our ecclesiastical councils. Such has, unhappily, been 
 the case with other religious bodies around us. 
 
 The attempts which have been made in this direction, hereto- 
 fore, among Churchmen, have been signally rebuked. In one 
 instance, when a popular minister in one of our largest congre- 
 gations, in the city of Philadelphia, made the difficulties in Kansas 
 the theme of his discourse, it was met by the protest of one of 
 the Wardens present; and the matter ended by the withdrawal 
 of the Clerg3*man, upon the expressed wish of a majority of the 
 congregation. The last instance was an attempt, by resolution, 
 to introduce a discussion upon the subject of slavery into the 
 Convention of New York in the month of September last. The 
 diocese of New York, by reason of its numbers and wealth, is 
 perhaps the strongest and most influential in our Union. The 
 author and mover of the resolution had courteous leave to with- 
 draw his motion, by the vote of every member present but his 
 own. If the same wise and prudent counsels, excluding ques- 
 tions which gender civil discord and strife, shall prevail, as here- 
 tofore, in the legislation of the Church, and her Ministers and 
 members shall, in their ecclesiastical organization, still confine 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 329 
 
 their proceedings to the objects which properly belong to them, 
 as we devoutly trust they ma} 7 , we venture to say that the day 
 is yet far distant which will mark the dissolution of our Union 
 of confederated Dioceses, a Union for which measures were in 
 progress before the adoption of our Federal Constitution, which 
 exerted a happy and powerful influence in consummating that 
 great object, and which is destined, perhaps, in God's gracious 
 Providence, to furnish one of the strongest bands for its preser- 
 vation. For, in some instances, the wisdom and judgment of the 
 same men 1 were emplo} T ed in the construction of both instru- 
 ments ; and though ambition, passion, and fanaticism may demol- 
 ish the fabric of our civil freedom, we are persuaded that our 
 Church organization will remain firm and unbroken, amidst all the 
 storms and convulsions which sweep over the political world, rend 
 into fragments the colossal erections of human power, and over- 
 throw the proudest and loftiest structures projected by the wisdom 
 and consolidated by the combined strength and skill of man ! 
 
 The full bearing and import of these remarks will not, proba- 
 bly, be understood and appreciated by the majorit} T of my hearers, 
 without a few words of explanation. Within three years after the 
 termination of the war of independence, conventions were held 
 by ministers and members of the Church, from several of the 
 States, for the purpose of organization, for the formation of a 
 Constitution, and the adoption of measures to obtain the Conse- 
 cration of Bishops. These proceedings led first to the election 
 and subsequently the consecration of Dr. Seabury of Connecticut, 
 by the Bishops of the Church of Scotland, at Aberdeen, in 1784 ; 
 secondly, to the election of Dr. White of Pennsylvania, and Dr. 
 Provoost of New York ; and afterwards their consecration by the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, and other Bishops assisting, at Lam- 
 beth, in 1787. Thus was a Church organization completed in 
 three separate and independent States. This led, thirdly, to the 
 meeting of a General Convention, composed of the Bishops 
 recently consecrated, and of clerical and lay deputies from seven 
 States, in July and September, 1789 ; when our present Coustitu- 
 
 1 Hons. John Rutledge and Charles Pinckney of South Carolina, and 
 Hon. David Brearley of New Jersey. 
 
330 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 tion (except the slight amendments since made) was adopted, 
 Canons passed, and the Prayer Book set forth to be used in all 
 our congregations. The Convention which framed the Federal 
 Constitution met in 1787. That instrument was adopted by eleven 
 States in 1788, and went into operation April 30, 1789. Thus it 
 will be seen that our Ecclesiastical Constitution was established 
 the same year with the organization of the Federal Government. 
 It may be naturally asked, How comes it to pass, that the admin- 
 istration of the one has proceeded harmoniously, regularly, and 
 successfully, with scarcely any disturbing questions, for more than 
 threescore and ten years ; while that of the other has been 
 attended with strife, violent agitation, and finally by the intro- 
 duction of subjects for discussion which threaten disruption and 
 the severance of those ties by which our fathers sought to bind 
 us together as a family of brothers? I answer the question, in 
 the words of a distinguished layman, 1 and member of our late 
 General Convention : 
 
 " The Church has done what the Nation has not done. It has 
 abstained wholly and absolutely from an} r interference with local 
 affairs, local interests, local opinions, and local institutions of any 
 of the separate Dioceses. The laity of this American Church holds 
 it among its highest secular duties, to do all it possibly can to 
 preserve unbroken the unity of its great depository, the American 
 Eepublic ; to avert from this Western world the most tremendous 
 evil it can ever endure, the dissolution of the American Union ; 
 not by mingling in earthly controversy, but by unceasingly incul- 
 cating the blessed spirit of justice and moderation, Christian 
 charity, and fraternal love." 
 
 Noble sentiments ! nobly spoken ! worthy the occasion, the 
 man, and the body to which they were addressed! 
 
 It is a little remarkable, that during the session of the Conven- 
 tion which framed the Constitution of the United States, while the 
 members were embarrassed by difficulties and conflicts of opinion 
 that filled the minds of the most sanguine with discouragement 
 and retarded the progress of their work, Dr. Benjamin Franklin 
 
 1 Hon. Mr. Ruggles of New York. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 331 
 
 arose in his place, and after stating, in most plain and forcible 
 language, the troubles and embarrassments that environed them, 
 and the necessity of calm deliberation and wisdom to guide 
 them, proposed, with great seriousness of manner, that the Presi- 
 dent should call in the aid of the Clergy to open their daily 
 sessions with prayer, and invoke the blessing and favor of God 
 upon their deliberations. The proposal was received with unani- 
 mous acceptance. How admirably appropriate are the words of 
 my text, as a commentary upon this act: " Our fathers hoped in 
 Thee: they trusted in Thee, and Thou didst deliver them. They 
 called upon Thee, and were holpen : they put their trust in Thee, 
 and were not confounded." Perhaps, since the world began, 
 human wisdom has not devised a more admirable frame of govern- 
 ment, or one more suitable to meet the existing exigencies and 
 subsequent wants of our population, than the labors of that Con- 
 vention exhibit. But the framers of that instrument were men 
 who feared God, and reverenced His law. They contemplated 
 a republic of Christians, at least, of virtuous and intelligent 
 people, for whom they were legislating. It never entered into 
 their minds that such an excrescence as Mormonism, foul, brutal, 
 and blasphemous, would ever grow upon the body politic which 
 they were fashioning out of the rude materials and disordered 
 fragments of government, left to them from the convulsions and 
 devastations of a revolution. They did not suppose that a time 
 would ever come when Christianity would cease to exert a con- 
 trolling and salutary influence over the laws and institutions of 
 this country, and the conduct of its people. The thought that 
 infidelity would ever sway the sceptre of power over this nation, 
 by the voluntary consent and expressed will of a free people, 
 never obtruded itself upon their reflections. Had they supposed 
 this, even as a remote probability, they were men of sagacity 
 and wisdom enough to perceive that a different Constitution from 
 the one they gave us would be demanded. Infidelity can be 
 curbed and restrained only by standing armies, by the strong 
 hand and iron heart of a relentless despotism. Our forefathers 
 sought for far different agencies to insure " protection to life, 
 limb, and property," under the government which they estab- 
 
332 Appendix. 
 
 lished. They looked to an enlightened moral sentiment among 
 the people, founded upon the diffusion of intelligence, in connec- 
 tion with the solemn sanctions of the Christian religion, to impart 
 efficacy to the laws, and insure their due and regular execution. 
 They supposed that the primary school and the academy and the 
 college would collect the youth of the country from every home- 
 stead in the land, embracing alike the mansions of opulence and 
 the rude log cabins of the wilderness ; and that faithful teachers 
 would instruct the children of freedom in the knowledge of their 
 rights and privileges, their duties and responsibilities. They 
 hoped that the temples of religion would crown the summits of 
 all our hills, and lift their spires from all our towns and villages, 
 and that the sweet voice of Christian praise would be heard swell- 
 ing the offerings of prayer and thanksgiving, as they rose, like 
 a vast and homogeneous cloud of incense, from the hearts and 
 lips of grateful millions to the throne of the Eternal ! The hopes 
 of our fathers have not been altogether disappointed. Their trust 
 has not been wholly vain. Hitherto the Lord hath helped. For 
 more than threescore and ten years our country has enjoyed a 
 measure of prosperity, in the increase of its population, and the 
 rapid development of its resources and power, without a parallel in 
 history, and unequalled in the annals of nations. 
 
 Look to our past and present surroundings, beloved brethren, 
 and then consider with }X>urselves what ought to be the conclu- 
 sions and the duty of every man among us. Within the memory 
 of those now living, the thirteen Colonies, bordering on our Atlan- 
 tic coast, were engaged in a terrific conflict for freedom with the 
 most formidable power in the world. For the justice and main- 
 tenance of the declaration which our fathers then made, they 
 appealed to the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, and they pledged 
 to each other in its support what? The spoils of vanquished 
 enemies ? No ! The emoluments of office ? No ! The elevation 
 of partisan favorites to places of power and trust ? No ! But 
 their own 4 ' LIVES, THEIR FORTUNES, AND THEIR MOST SACRED 
 HONOR ! " Oh for the kindling of that same spirit again in the 
 hearts of our countrymen ! There was no question then raised 
 about local privileges, sectional rights, or domestic institutions. 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 333 
 
 Shoulder to shoulder, the cool and calculating New-Englander and 
 the fiery and impetuous Southron stood in the serried ranks of 
 war ; and the slave, by the side of his master, met the fierce onset 
 of battle, and dealt the death-blow to the common enemy. Their 
 blood flowed in the same curdling streams on the field of carnage. 
 Together they endured the same piercing colds of winter ; marked 
 the same snow-clad plains with their bleeding feet ; bivouacked on 
 the same frozen ground without tents to shelter or blankets to 
 cover them, and arose, hunger-bitten, to resume their wear} 7 march 
 in retreat before a superior and victorious foe, or hasten to the 
 protection of helpless women and children from the murderous 
 tomahawk or seal ping-knife of merciless savages! " They called 
 upon the Lord, and were Jiolpen : they put their trust in God, and 
 were not confounded." 
 
 Those thirteen feeble and struggling Colonies have grown into 
 thirty-two States, united together under a Constitution, for " form- 
 ing a more perfect union, establishing justice, insuring domestic 
 tranquillity, providing for the common defence, promoting the 
 general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to themselves 
 and posterity," a Constitution ordained and established by the 
 people themselves in their sovereign capacity, and recognized as 
 their act. It is an instrument which, for its profound wisdom, far- 
 reaching sagacity, and wonderful adaptation to secure the legiti- 
 mate ends of government, may fairly challenge the admiration of 
 the world. 
 
 Our territory now stretches across the continent, from ocean to 
 ocean ; while, from the frozen regions on the north to the sunny 
 plains of the South, is found every variety of climate and of pro- 
 duction for the gratification of taste, the support of animal life, to 
 stimulate enterprise, or reward honest industry. Situated between 
 two oceans, one washing the lands where all the arts of civilized 
 life have received the most attention and attained the greatest 
 perfection, where science and skill have combined to contribute 
 their stores most abundantly to the comfort of man ; and the other 
 laving with its blue waves the shores of Asia, with its countless 
 inhabitants, reckoned by hundreds of millions, and pregnant with 
 its rich and exhaustless stores of wealth, our country thus 
 
334 Appendix. 
 
 placed, if we are not faithless to our trust, must become the middle 
 ground on which the nations of the earth will find a central depot 
 for their productions and commerce. 
 
 Have we reflected also, that, since the progress of our national 
 development and growth began, the inventive genius of man has 
 brought to light, and laid at our feet, as if for our more especial 
 benefit, the most important agents for advancement in all the 
 pursuits and occupations which elevate individual character, or 
 promote national exaltation ? With a mighty continent to occup} r , 
 vast wildernesses to penetrate, immense forests to fell and subdue, 
 mighty rivers to make navigable, roads to construct, and inter- 
 course to be established, we stood in peculiar need of labor. The 
 invention of the cotton-gin enables the cotton-grower in a day to 
 perform the labor of months in preparing that article for market. 
 The application of steam to machinery and navigation is a giant's 
 stride in the same direction : it is equivalent to the employment 
 of millions of hands in the pursuits of industry, and elevates the 
 cotton-plant, by the use of the steam-power loom, into the com- 
 mercial staple of the world. It is said to be the grand regulator 
 of trade. It furnishes the readiest, the cheapest, and the best 
 article for supplying clothes to the people of every clime, to the 
 barbarian and the civilized, to the bond or the free man. How 
 wonderful the working of God's providence ! The labor of the 
 negro is made tributary to the work of supplying his nude country- 
 man in Africa with clothing, thereby inspiring him with self-respect, 
 and thus opening the way for the introduction of Christianity and 
 civilization. 
 
 Next comes the telegraph, to bear intelligence on the light- 
 ning's wings, swifter than the flight of time, wherever a wire can 
 be stretched, or a pole raised for its support. What more do we 
 want in the way of material advantages ? Do you think that all 
 these blessings were obtained at little or no cost? I tell you, No ! 
 Like the blessing of all blessings, REDEMPTION, they were 
 gained at the price of blood ! They were purchased at the expense 
 of the sufferings and treasure, the tears and blood, of a seven 
 years' war ; by the labors and sacrifices and lives of such men as 
 Washington and Henry and Warren, of Marshall and Morris and 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 335 
 
 Montgomery, of Greene and Franklin and Hayne ! Ay, time 
 would fail me to tell of the long line of patriotic worthies, who 
 " counted not their lives dear unto themselves," for their country's 
 sake, than whom purer spirits never mingled in the strife of battle, 
 or poured out, like water, nobler blood for the rights of man, or 
 laid on the altar of liberty holier offerings, sanctified by prayer ! 
 
 Do you think that the priceless favors we enjoy were conferred 
 without the hand of God ? or that He will not hold us accountable 
 for the trust committed to our management and keeping, for the 
 benefit of His Church, of posterity, and of the world? Depend 
 upon it, though we may deeply deplore the evils which afflict our 
 country, and though we may carefully abstain from any word or 
 act to hasten the catastrophe which is impending over our Union, 
 still, as a part of the nation, we may share in the direful conse- 
 quences which God in His wrath may permit to come upon us, as 
 the deserved punishment of national sin and national ingratitude. 
 For, remember that nations, as such, will not be held to answer 
 at the bar of God's judgment, as individual transgressors ; but 
 here, in this world, they will reap the reward of iniquity, and find 
 pride, injustice, faithlessness, and ingratitude visited by an over- 
 flowing flood of shame, humiliation, oppression, corruption, and 
 contempt. 
 
 Say not in your hearts, beloved brethren, that you can do noth- 
 ing in this case. You can at least pray. At the prayer of Moses, 
 the sea was divided, the children of Israel were delivered, and 
 their enemies destn^ed. When Moses prayed, the Amalekites 
 were defeated, and the Israelites prevailed. At the prayer of 
 Joshua, "the sun stood still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the 
 valley of Ajalon." At the prayer of Elijah, the windows of 
 heaven were closed, so that it rained not for three years and six 
 months. Again, at his intercessions and prayers, fire fell from 
 heaven to consume the sacrifice on Mount Carmel, and a great 
 rain fell to water the earth. When the Apostles prayed, the Holy 
 Ghost was given. When the Church prayed, St. Peter was deliv- 
 ered. Prayer is the instrument put into the hand of the humblest 
 believer, which, used in faith, touches the spring that sets in 
 motion the machinery that moves the universe. Then pray ! pray 
 
336 Appendix. 
 
 earnestly ! pray more earnestly ! The God of the universe is the 
 sovereign Disposer of nations, as well as of souls. To Him we 
 are indebted for civil and social as well as personal blessing and 
 protection. " It is better to trust in the Lord than to put any 
 confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put 
 any confidence in princes." Wait not for your rulers to provide 
 a remedy for evils of which they are themselves the chief authors, 
 but beseech God to save us from the blindness of our rulers and 
 " the madness of the people." What will avail our dissensions, 
 what our party names, Republicans, Democrats, Opposition, or 
 American, when fanaticism and party spirit shall have done 
 their work, shall have overturned the beautiful fabric of our civil 
 freedom, shall have pulled down the strong pillars that upheld our 
 Union, and marred its fair proportions ; and when we shall sit 
 down, like the Jews, "by the waters of Bab3*lon," in bitterness 
 of heart and anguish of spirit, to weep over the departed glory of 
 our country, its desolation and its ruin ! 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 337 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT FOUNDED UPON 
 THE RECOGNITION OF GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY. 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in 
 all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, hut they have 
 rejected me, that I should not reign over them." 1 SAM. viii. 7. 
 
 IT is maintained by wise and eminent men, that mankind de- 
 rived their first ideas of government from the parental relation. 
 Certain it is, that the earliest rule of which we read in history was 
 after this model. It seems natural and becoming, that the father 
 of the family should have the chief direction and control of what- 
 ever arrangements are necessary for the comfort and welfare of all 
 the members of the household. 
 
 As the human race multiplied rapidly, in periods when the life 
 of man was prolonged through several centuries of years, the 
 experience gained thereby, in general oversight and government, 
 would of course enhance the influence of the oldest progenitor, if 
 his administration had been wise, prudent, and just. This form 
 of government still obtains in some parts of the earth where the 
 circumstances of soil and climate are not most favorable to the 
 purposes of agriculture, and to the congregating of large numbers 
 of the human family for social objects. Such appears to be the 
 case with the Arabians, the Koords, and other nomadic tribes of 
 Asia and Africa, and the aborigines of our own continent. 
 Among all these, the patriarchal institution, in which the supreme 
 power is lodged in the heads of families, seems to prevail to a 
 greater or less extent. As the population of the world increased, 
 and settlements were made in parts remote from each other, and 
 distinguished by differences of soil, climate, and productions, this 
 primeval form of government, called by some writers the golden 
 age, was modified in various ways. Combinations took place 
 among different heads of families, and this led to the establish- 
 ment of political communities, and the choice of a few persons 
 
338 Appendix. 
 
 charged with the care of the common interests and welfare. Thus 
 oligarchies were introduced, forms of government in which the 
 chief legislative and executive power was lodged in the hands of 
 a small number of the principal men. The pursuits of men in 
 primeval ages were favorable to the development of what is termed 
 native talent. The incidents and dangers of the chase prepared 
 them for the conflicts of war, and drew forth an exhibition of 
 physical strength, prowess, and sagacity ; and thus successful and 
 favorite leaders were very soon elevated to the possession and 
 exercise of kingly power. 
 
 Such, briefty, appears to have been the progress of things in 
 the affairs of government generally, and the process or steps 
 through which men passed, in their civil or social arrangements, in 
 the earliest times, and down to the period of authentic history. 
 
 To this idea of gradual development in the establishment of a 
 government for the protection of life and property, founded on the 
 experience and necessities of mankind, there is one remarkable 
 arid striking exception. It is found among the Hebrews, or 
 children of Israel. They were the first people on earth, of whom 
 history records that they had a written constitution, an original 
 enactment of elementarj* principles or fundamental law, recog- 
 nized by, but independent of, human wisdom, experience, and 
 necessity, for its authority and sanctions. It was written by the 
 finger of God, upon two tables of stone ; solemnly proclaimed from 
 Mount Sinai, in the hearing of all the people, under circumstances 
 of overpowering grandeur and magnificence ; and as publicly 
 received by the nation as the fundamental law or constitution by 
 which they, and their children, and children's children, should be 
 governed through all generations. Upon these laws, called the 
 Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, are founded all the institutions 
 of Moses prescribing religious duties, and securing personal and 
 proprietary rights even to the minutest particulars. These Com- 
 mandments are likewise the foundation of every enlightened sys- 
 tem of legislation and jurisprudence, among all civilized nations 
 under heaven. To suppose that they emanated from the wisdom 
 of the Hebrews, a nation down-trodden and crushed by a brutal 
 bondage, is simply a degree of stupidity removed only one step 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 339 
 
 from its parent, insanity. To suppose that they originated with 
 Moses, aided and informed by the learning which he had acquired 
 among the Egj'ptians, is unworthy the consideration of a thought- 
 ful and sagacious mind, unless it can be shown that such laws 
 existed, in form or essence, among the Eg} T ptians ; an assertion 
 which no delver in archaeological lore has ever, to nrf knowledge, 
 ventured to make. Yet the fact is undisputed, that they were 
 found among the Hebrews ; that they have been held sacred by 
 that people, among all the strange vicissitudes that have attended 
 them in their wanderings through all climes ; and that the} T are to 
 this da}' held to be obligatory by their descendants, as they now 
 dwell alone, peculiar and distinct among the nations. 
 
 The first law of this code is, " Thou shalt have none other gods 
 but me." God was the King of the Hebrews, made so, if any 
 please, by the unanimous voice or vote of the people, at the foot 
 of Mount Sinai ; and all the laws promulgated for their observance 
 and government were thenceforth in His name and by His author- 
 ity. "Thus saith the Lord," u Thus saith the Lord," clothed 
 every enactment of Moses, every decree of the kings, and every 
 solemn message and warning of the prophets, with all the obliga- 
 tion they possessed, and gave them all their sanction. Under this 
 theocracy the Hebrews lived and prospered as long as they for- 
 feited not the protection and providential care of their King, by 
 their rebellions and their sins. They could live and prosper, 
 though they had to pa} T an annual capitation tax in token of their 
 allegiance to their Sovereign, and a tenth yearly of all the fruits 
 of their labor, whether the products of the harvest, of the vine- 
 yard, of the oliveyard, or the yield of the flock, the herd, or the 
 stall ; to let their fields lie uncultivated, and their vintage ungath- 
 ered, every seventh } T ear; to free every man his servants, and 
 remit the payment of all debts, at the return of every jubilee or 
 fiftieth year. It is evident that no people on earth could subsist 
 under such an economy, unless, like the Hebrews, they enjoyed 
 the special and provident care of Heaven. But these people were 
 never without witness of the power of God to support them, though 
 repeatedly rebelling against Him, and forfeiting His protection. 
 By His power the waters of the Red Sea were divided, to let them 
 
340 Appendix. 
 
 pass in safety from the pursuit of their enemies. At His word, 
 manna fell from heaven to furnish them with bread ; from the rock 
 living waters gushed forth to slake their thirst ; and the air was 
 darkened with quails sent to give them meat. Victoriously settled 
 in the land promised to their fathers, they continued to increase 
 and prosper, under the rule of their judges raised up from time 
 to time by God for their deliverance, until the time of Samuel. 
 Towards the close of his life and administration, his sons became 
 dissolute ; and the people, fearing a recurrence of the misrule and 
 oppression suffered under the profligate house of Eli, after that 
 the aged prophet should be gathered to his fathers, came, with 
 their assembled elders and tribes, to Samuel at Ramah, and said 
 unto him, " Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy 
 ways : now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But 
 the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to 
 judge us. And Samuel pra} T ed unto the Lord. And the Lord 
 said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that 
 they say unto thee : for they have not rejected thee, but they have 
 rejected me, that I should not reign over them. . . . Yet protest sol- 
 emnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall 
 reign over them." Samuel then proceeded to recite to them the 
 oppressions and all the evil which their king should bring upon 
 them, 1 that, being warned of all these direful consequences, they 
 might be persuaded to repent, and withdraw their demand for a 
 king. But they refused to be warned ; and the Lord again said 
 to Samuel, " Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king." 
 
 In due time, Saul was pointed out by Divine designation, and 
 anointed king over Israel ; but not until Samuel had again gathered 
 
 1 "And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that 
 asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king 
 that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for 
 himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run 
 before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, 
 and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to 
 reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments 
 of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, 
 and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and 
 your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, arid give 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 341 
 
 all the people to Mizpeh, and said unto them: "Thus saith the 
 Lord God of Israel, Ye have this day rejected your God, who him- 
 self saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations ; 
 and ye have said unto Him, Nay, but set a king over us. ... Then 
 Samuel told the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, 
 and laid it up before the Lord." The king thus appointed and 
 constituted over Israel acted as the viceroy of God. The funda- 
 mental law of the kingdom, established and proclaimed at Mount 
 Sinai, was never abrogated. The form of administration was 
 changed ; a king, instead of a judge, ruled : but the law, " Thou 
 slialt have none other gods but me," remained in full force, and 
 bound the king in Israel ever after as firmly and as strictly as it 
 did the meanest subject in the kingdom. How else can we account 
 for this, among many other similar and wondrous facts, that during 
 the reign of wicked Ahab and his infamous queen Jezebel, when 
 there was a general apostasy from the true God, Elijah, single and 
 alone, overthrew the reigning imposture, and slew eight hundred 
 and fifty prophets and priests of the prevalent idolatry, and neither 
 Ahab nor his court dared to interpose for their rescue ? Through 
 all the period when the kings reigned, and afterwards when the 
 kingdoms of Israel and Judah were overthrown, and the people, 
 made captives, were transported to Assyria and to Babylon, we 
 meet with repeated instances when God was appealed to for the 
 vindication of His truth, and the protection of His servants who 
 trusted in Him, and his interposition was not invoked in vain. 
 The preservation of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, cast into 
 the fiery furnace seven-fold heated by order of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 and the deliverance of Daniel from the den of lions, during the 
 reign of Darius the Persian, to name no more, are instances in 
 
 them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of 
 your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he 
 will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest 
 young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take 
 the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry 
 out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; 
 and the Lord will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people 
 refused to obey the voice of Samuel: and they said, Nay; but we will 
 have a king over us." 1 SAM. viii. 10-19. 
 
342 Appendix. 
 
 point. In all these cases, and many more might be named, 
 the claim of God's sovereignty was triumphantly vindicated, and 
 the mightiest monarchs of earth bowed submissively to the honor 
 of His majesty, and with royal authority commanded all nations 
 and kindreds and people to do Him homage, and to pay Him 
 worship. 
 
 I have said that the first written Constitution for the govern- 
 ment of a people was given to the Hebrews. And now it is a 
 fact as remarkable, that ours is the first written Constitution in 
 modern times. We sometimes hear it said, or see it loosely writ- 
 ten, that the Grecian and Roman Republics had Constitutions. 
 They had laws originated by themselves, or borrowed from other 
 people ; but a constitutional form of government they had not. 
 People sometimes speak also of the British Constitution. There 
 is no such instrument in existence, and never was. The British 
 people have their " Magna Charta," their bill of rights, the acts 
 of Parliament, and the common law ; and that is all. 
 
 And here I take occasion to introduce the mention of another 
 remarkable and no less noteworthy fact. It is, as I believe, that 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church is the only religious denomina- 
 tion, certainly in this country, if not in the world, that has incor- 
 porated with her daily service the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, 
 without alteration, addition, or subtraction. These formulas, 
 which are "proven by most sure warrants of Holy Scripture," 
 set forth most clearly the articles of ' ' the faith once delivered to 
 the saints." As the whole Jewish economy was based upon the 
 Decalogue, so the Sacraments of the Church ordained by Christ, 
 and all the institutions of Christianity, are founded upon the recog- 
 nition of the elementary principles or doctrines taught in the 
 Creeds and witnessed by the Church as the truth of God. To 
 take from or add to these Creeds, is heresy. And now you per- 
 ceive a reason why the Church, as long as she pursues the proper 
 work enjoined upon her by her Lord and Redeemer, can and ought 
 to have no concern with the agitating questions of the day, with 
 new theories in religion, or dogmas of faith, which were not re- 
 ceived and held from the beginning. The faith which she teaches, 
 though it embraces not all truth known or revealed, contains all 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 343 
 
 that is necessary to salvation ; and like the great principle which 
 binds all the parts of the universe in harmony and order, this faith, 
 truly received and kept, preserves all the members of Christ " in 
 unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.'* 
 We return from this digression to say, that, since the formation 
 and adoption of our Federal Constitution, most of the European 
 nations, as well as the republics of South America, have ordained 
 and established written Constitutions. In one particular, our Con- 
 stitution differs, if I am not greatly mistaken, from most if not all 
 others ; and that is, in declining to make any provision for the 
 support of religion. All other nations have laid religion at the 
 base of their civil institutions, and regarded the ecclesiastical sys- 
 tem in alliance with the political. Our fathers thought and acted 
 differently. Not that they were opposed to Christianity ; but they 
 believed that the Gospel of Christ would be most successful when 
 left to itself, to the voluntary and unconstrained support of a free 
 people, among whom truth might have an open field to combat 
 error, and enjoy protection, whether elevated to the high places of 
 earthly power, grandeur, and dignity, or taking a lowly and un- 
 obtrusive seat by the fireside of the poor man, and instilling its 
 sanctifying principles into the minds and hearts of little children, 
 through the instrumentality of maternal teaching. 
 
 The objects and expectations of our fathers have not yet failed. 
 We have good hope that the mantle which has fallen upon their 
 sons descended with a portion of their spirit of wisdom also ; and 
 that the future history of our country, when unfolded before the 
 admiring gaze of posterity, will show that God is most devoutly 
 and sincerely worshipped when the conscience is unfettered by 
 any restrictions of man's enactment, and where every one is 
 allowed to worship God as his understanding approves, without 
 fear of molestation, and without a wish to interrupt others. It is 
 some comfort to reflect, that notwithstanding all our unseemly 
 divisions upon the subject of religion, perpetuated to the reproach 
 of our common Christianity, the religious sentiment, in some form 
 of expression, has a firm and extensive hold on the American 
 people. The great mind of the nation respects Christianity, and 
 reverences its doctrines and great central truths ; as, for example, 
 
344 Appendix. 
 
 those set forth in the Apostles' Creed. All the States have passed 
 laws for its protection ; the highest judicial decisions have affirmed 
 that Christianity is a part of the common law of our country ; and 
 wherever attempts have been made to dishonor it, they have origi- 
 nated with the insanity of a vulgar infidelit3 7 , the presumption and 
 arrogance of an ignorant and a wild fanaticism, or the low cunning 
 and unmanly trickery of artful arid selfish politicians. Such men 
 have formed their notions of civil liberty under the oppressive 
 forms of rule in the Old World, amidst the anarchy and upheav- 
 ings of revolution ; or in the licentiousness and violence of oppos- 
 ing factions, on election-day, in our large commercial cities. 
 These are the men to whom aspirants for office appeal for support, 
 and whom they flatter and cajole into their purposes, as the honest 
 and hard-working poor, struggling to rise into positions of influ- 
 ence and places of trust and honor. These are the men who, of 
 late 3'ears, boldly insist upon an independence of God himself, as 
 a part of their civil liberty ; who claim that the proceedings of our 
 Legislatures shall not be opened with prayer, that the services of 
 chaplains in our army and navy shall be dispensed with, and the 
 wounded and dying soldier and seaman shall be without the aid 
 and comforts of religion, and, when dead, shall be buried like 
 brute beasts. These are the men who ask that the solemnity of 
 oaths be discontinued in all our judicial proceedings; and thus, 
 virtually, they cast off the fear of God and of future punishment. 
 These are the men, finally, who, through the instrumentality of 
 party organizations and faction, have succeeded in driving the 
 sober, prudent, and really wise and conservative men out of the 
 country, from the National and State councils, and by the action 
 of self-constituted and irresponsible conventions, aided by a venal 
 and corrupting press, afraid to give utterance to any statement 
 which is not indorsed by a party, have actually succeeded in arrest- 
 ing the regular operations of the government, and have brought, 
 or threaten to bring, its whole machinery to a dead-lock ! In a 
 word, things have come to that pass of corruption and venality, 
 under the lead of ambitious and unscrupulous men, that the disso- 
 lution of the Union and destruction of the government is the open 
 and undisguised alternative preferred to the defeat and overthrow 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 345 
 
 of a party. Such are the best pretensions which the parties that 
 distract the nation can make to the patriotism that animated our 
 fathers. They were zealous for civil freedom. They perilled all 
 
 life, fortune, and honor for country; and, sooner than have 
 spoken a word or done an act to jeopardize its honor or its safety, 
 they would have suffered their tongues to be torn out by the roots, 
 and "let their arms fall from the shoulder-blade, and had their 
 arms broken from the bone." l 
 
 In a country like ours, where the connection between civil and 
 private sentiment approaches nearly to identity, and the reflection 
 from each to the other is direct and intense, the effect upon the 
 moral and religious interests of the nation, as distinguished from 
 the civil, is great, and greatly to be deplored. What men, in this 
 case, approve and feel as citizens, they must approve and feel as 
 souls. But the solemn truth is, that the religious interests of the 
 country are inseparable from the social and the civil. Christianity 
 
 not any particular form of its expression, but the religion of 
 Christ, as exemplified in the lives of Himself and Apostles is 
 rooted beneath our platforms of government, and ramified through- 
 out our civil and social institutions so widely and so strongty that 
 the one cannot be plucked up without ruining the other. And this 
 intimate association is acknowledged in our laws : we witness the 
 confession of it every Lord's Day ; in every court of justice where 
 an oath is administered, there is a recognition of Christianity ; in 
 every marriage that is solemnized ; in the whole circle of statu- 
 tory arrangements, by which right is distinguished from wrong, 
 and the relations of society defined and guarded, the religion of 
 Christ is at the bottom of the whole. Out of it the whole sj'stem 
 has been evolved : and if you take away that basis, there would 
 be nothing left to sustain the edifice ; it would sink into utter 
 ruin, and there would be no rule or measure by which to recon- 
 struct it in its beautiful and harmonious proportions, or in any 
 form, whether safe or insecure, until some religion should be 
 adopted to supply the foundation and the model, and to impart 
 spirit and the inner life to the body new formed and fashioned. 
 
 1 Job xxxi. 22. 
 
346 Appendix. 
 
 Be} T ond all this, there is yet another aspect in which our social 
 welfare is seen to be inseparably intertwined with Christianity. 
 The God whom we acknowledge, and whom we profess to worship 
 and adore, is the Sovereign disposer of nations as well as of 
 souls. If we den} T him as a people, He will deny us in His 
 providence. If we dishonor Him, He will visit national sin with 
 national retribution, as the whole histor}- of the world demon- 
 strates ; and in our country, more especially, national sin is nat- 
 urally and indissolubly connected with its appropriate curse. In 
 short, if social and civil relations are naturally binding among 
 men, we stand before the eye of God's providence, and virtually 
 before the bar of His judgment, as a society and as a nation. We 
 have, therefore, need, and it is our bounden duty, to acknowledge 
 Him as the Sovereign Ruler of the universe ; to obey His laws, and 
 maintain the institutions which He has established, of obligation, 
 as universal, as the largess of a Providence, which, with open 
 hand, fills all things living with plenteousness. Whose liberties, 
 I pra} r you, would thereby be endangered or restricted? Whose 
 sense of propriety can thereby be offended ? Who would not, as 
 a citizen and as a patriot, wish that the Lord's house were more 
 generally attended, and His clay more piously sanctified, and His 
 ordinances more religiously observed, and His ministers more 
 commonly encouraged, until in every place we might see piety the 
 elm of every vine, the supporter of every virtue, the ornament of 
 every profession ; learning graced with piety, law administered 
 with piety, politics purified by piety, agriculture pursued with 
 piety, and trade regulated by piet} r ? Who does not know and feel, 
 that, while religion would thus flourish, peace would prevail where 
 discord now raves ; harmony rule where disorder now confounds ; 
 charity smile where hatred now scowls ; the hearts of men be 
 united in purposes of mutual benefit, and ever}' human vocation 
 prosper, and this nation continue more than it has been more, 
 alas ! I fear, than it is likel\ T to be the mirror of prosperity and 
 picture of happiness, in the admiring gaze of the world ! 
 
 May we never forget, brethren beloved, and "partakers of the 
 heaven^ calling," that by pious men this nation was founded, by 
 pious men defended, and by them rescued from the iron grasp of 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 347 
 
 tyranny. Infidelity cannot show that religion has ever injured our 
 country. On the contrary, it had so exhibited its worth in the 
 perilous times of our early history, that when we emerged from 
 the storms and darkness of our Revolutionary struggle, it was 
 fairly to be presumed that its value would never after be called in 
 question. It had commended itself to our sires, in times which 
 tried the souls of good and brave men ; in the solemn deliberations 
 of the council-chamber, when each Senator felt that by his vote he 
 might be preparing a halter for his neck; and in the desperate 
 onslaughts of the battle-field, and the wild hurrah of charging 
 squadrons. It is not presumptuous or boastful to say that we 
 inherit a land watered by the tears, consecrated by the prayers, 
 and made sacred by the blood, of pious and brave men. And if 
 that dreaded day shall ever come, when this mighty Republic, that 
 now rises like a globe of light in the midst of the darkness of mis- 
 rule on earth and amid the desolations of time, shall be torn to 
 pieces by the parricidal hands of those to whom its destinies are 
 now intrusted, and some Caesar or Napoleon shall gather together 
 its scattered fragments, and sway the sceptre of despotic power 
 over this wide and rich domain ; when brother shall meet brother in 
 mortal strife, and the thunder of battle shall reverberate from our 
 hills, and roll along our now peaceful and quiet vales, it will be 
 after the national sense of the value of religion and its obligations 
 has decayed, and neglect of its worship and a sensualizing ambi- 
 tion shall have crushed out ever}" manly virtue, and introduced in 
 their stead licentiousness among our rulers, and a consequent and 
 general corruption of manners among the people. Then we shall 
 have reached the consummation for which tyrants in the Old World 
 and demagogues in the New have long hopefully looked, and which 
 the enemies of rational liberty throughout the earth have pre- 
 dicted ; but we shall not then have witnessed the consequences 
 most interesting or concerning to ourselves. But I forbear, and 
 would rather draw a veil, if I might, over the vision which fancy 
 presents to contemplation, when that day of darkness shall over- 
 shadow this fair land, and, in the prophetic language, be "like 
 the morning spread upon the mountains." Imagination now 
 pictures millions upon millions of habitations in cities, towns, 
 
348 Appendix. 
 
 villages, and neighborhoods dotting the whole land, and there 
 are happy inmates in them all. From thousands upon thousands 
 arises every morning and evening the voice of prayer and praise, 
 of thanksgiving and melody. And every Sunday there are myri- 
 ads upon myriads gathered in the sanctuaries where Jehovah has 
 put His name, and where He has promised to accept the offerings 
 of spiritual sacrifice from His people. And all over the whole 
 land, through the week, is heard the hum of industry plying its 
 tasks ; the sound of the workman's hammer rings from the shop, 
 and the stroke of the woodman's axe awakes the echoes of the 
 forest. Nightfall collects millions of children around the hearth- 
 stones where frugal mothers are providing, with grateful care and 
 happy smiles, comforts and refreshments for their respective house- 
 holds ; and the morning sun shines upon numberless lines of those 
 same children plodding their joyful way, and converging from sur- 
 rounding neighborhoods to the humble school- house, where mas- 
 ters, clothed with competent authority, bear rule and teach their 
 pupils to fear God, honor their parents, learn their duties, and 
 revere the memory of Washington. Commerce is busy, trade is 
 active, manufactures yield their stores, and agriculture her varied 
 products. In the midst of all this contentment, present prosper- 
 ity, positive enjoyment, and prospective happiness, the cry, like a 
 death-knell, rings through all our borders, tk The Union is dis- 
 solved! and the sun of our glory has gone down! " Ruin, with its 
 wild shriek of despair, spreads its dark wings over all the land, 
 and foreshadows the " desolation that cometh like a whirlwind." 
 Every face gathers blackness, every bosom heaves a sigh, and 
 every 63*6 drops a tear ! Well may we then, if not now, take up 
 the lament of Christ over Jerusalem, and say, "O my country! 
 If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the 
 things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from 
 thine eyes." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 "O most Mighty God! King of kings, and Lord of lords, 
 without whose care the watchman waketh but in vain, we implore, 
 in this our time of need, Thy succor and blessing in behalf of 
 
Addresses and Sermons. 349 
 
 our rulers and magistrates, and of all the people of this land. 
 Remember not our many and great transgressions ; turn from us 
 the judgments which we feel ; and give us wisdom to discern, and 
 courage to attempt, and faithfulness to do, and patience to endure, 
 whatsoever shall be well-pleasing in Thy sight ; so that Thy chas- 
 tenings may yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and that 
 at last we may rejoice in Thy salvation, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Amen." 
 
350 Appendix. 
 
 A LETTER FROM BISHOP COXE. 
 
 KATONAH, WESTCHESTEB COUNTY, N.Y., 
 Oct. 5, 1885. 
 
 MY BELOVED AND VENERATED FATHER IN CHRIST, While yet 
 a layman, I was visiting Bishop Whittingham in Baltimore, when 
 Bishop Otey was announced. The expressions with which my 
 revered instructor in theology received the announcement were 
 those of strongly emphasized respect ; and he welcomed the Bishop 
 of Tennessee into the study, where we were sitting, with marked 
 cordiality. I soon left the two prelates to their communings ; but 
 on meeting Bishop Whittingham at his table, in the evening, he 
 referred to the conversation he had held with the Bishop, and 
 remarked, " Such a man is valuable in the councils of the Church, 
 and I have persuaded him that he must not be absent from" 
 I forget what ; an important meeting that was expected, and which 
 Bishop Otey had felt unable to attend. This was my first intro- 
 duction to this excellent disciple of RaA^enscroft, to whom, in 
 some important particulars, Bishop Whittingham seemed to think 
 him not inferior. 
 
 I doubt whether I ever met him, after that, save in public 
 assemblies, until 1851. This is the moment in his history which 
 you kindly permit me to illustrate in your biographj 7 of the good 
 man, a duty for which I am not wholly unprepared, as I have 
 a diary of that year, in which there are frequent references to him, 
 as I met with him in Europe. 
 
 Thus, May 17, I called on him at " The Mitre " in Oxford, and 
 was shocked to observe his apparently very poor state of health. 
 He confessed that nothing else bad tempted him to England but 
 a hope that a change of air might prove beneficial ; of which, 
 nevertheless, he seemed to have no great confidence. He was 
 despondent, and told me of an affliction that had befallen him, 
 which led him to feel no great disposition to live longer, unless 
 
Letter from Bishop Cooce. 351 
 
 such should prove the will of God. I promised to see him as 
 frequently as possible, and he was even earnest in pressing me to 
 do so. He magnified the ties of country, but especial^ of the 
 Church's communion, and seemed to take comfort in meeting a 
 younger brother from his own land and of the Church he loved so 
 well. 
 
 On the following Sunday, May 18, which was the fourth after 
 Easter, Archdeacon Wilberforce was to preach at St. Mary's, and 
 I waited on the Bishop at "The Mitre," to be his escort and 
 gwasi-chaplain for the day. He seemed better, and I congratu- 
 lated him on what Dr. Johnson might call the sound orthodoxy of 
 his inn; "The Mitre" at Oxford, taking rank above even the 
 doctor's favourite " Mitre " in the Strand. I was glad to find the 
 Bishop treated with great respect at the church, and placed in a 
 dignified seat among the doctors ; but the simplicity and meek- 
 ness of his manner seemed to me almost excessive. Their dis- 
 position to pay him honour was a recognition of his apostleship and 
 of inter-communion ; and I felt that his official dignity might have 
 been permitted to overcome, in a somewhat greater degree, his 
 extreme humilit} r . No other bishop was present, and certainly 
 he was "the greatest" even in that assembly; but he felt the 
 grandeur of the place and its associations, and seemed with real 
 greatness to make himself "less than the least." So the great 
 Apostle named himself Paulus. In the evening I called on the 
 Bishop again, and was glad to find that he had borne without ill 
 effects the fatigues of the day. 
 
 Afterwards I called on Dr. Pusey, with Bishop Ote}^, whose 
 humility and deference in presence of that great scholar were, as 
 before, even more than was becoming, considering his fatherly 
 dignity and the presumably filial spirit of the other. 
 
 The next morning he called upon me, to my great delight, and 
 took me with him to "The Mitre," where, says my diary, "we 
 conferred about the Bishop of Maryland." I don't know just 
 what this means ; but I think dear Bishop Whittingham, just then, 
 was in one of his many crises of life, his "often infirmities." 
 The same day I accompanied him in sight-seeing, and was proud 
 to point out to him objects of interest with which I had already 
 
352 Appendix. 
 
 been made familiar. The record of the day ends thus, in my 
 diary : " So I waited on Bishop Otey to his hotel, and bade him 
 an affectionate good-night, receiving his blessing in return." 
 
 While in Oxford, I conducted him one morning to a spot, just 
 before Baliol College, where I said to him, " Here stands the 
 Bishop of Tennessee, where Ridley and Latimer stood before, 
 and lighted the candle which illuminates the world. Here those 
 holy martyrs suffered, that we might truly live." He bared his 
 head, and said devoutly, "I bless Almighty God for their testi- 
 mony." I said, " Amen." This incident was observed by pass- 
 ers-by, who seemed to understand something of its significance. 
 
 On the 15th of June I saw him again, at Westminster Abbey. 
 It was the " Jubilee " of the Ven. S.P.G., and the Bishop of Lon- 
 don (Blomfield) preached. The Archbishop (Sumner) officiated 
 at the altar, attended by the Bishops of St. Asaph, Argyle, 
 Jamaica, Tennessee, and others. Bishop Otey looked wretchedly ; 
 had lost rather than gained strength since I parted with him. The 
 next day there was a great meeting in behalf of the Society, at 
 St. Martin's Hall, Prince Albert presiding. Bishop Wilberforce 
 was the chief speaker ; but much time was given to the turgid 
 utterances of Lord John Russell and others, whose official digni- 
 ties were called in to magnify a work in which they took little 
 active interest, though willing to parade themselves under the 
 Queen's consort. The 3 T oung Duke of Argyle, though he was not 
 one of the speakers, displayed himself offensively, as I thought, 
 seeing he was no friend of the Church of England ; and there sat 
 the meek apostle of Tennessee, amid the gilded nobodies, unnoticed, 
 and with no place in the programme of the day. This always dis- 
 pleased me in England, to see the greatest merit and worth so 
 often shoved aside, to make way for men of rank having no other 
 than their claims from Heralds' College to take any precedence 
 whatever. Some allusion to what the Society had done in America 
 seemed to move Bishop Otey's heart, however ; and very impul- 
 sively he whispered to one of the great men who sat near him. 
 Then a considerable amount of whispering and consultation fol- 
 lowed among divers personages, and I saw that the good Bishop 
 had given them annoyance. At last a card was handed to Prince 
 
Letter from Bishop Coxe. 353 
 
 Albert, which he examined, and sent back with something written 
 on it. Bishop Otey had not reflected upon the " red-tape system " 
 of such occasions in England. He had proposed a volunteer 
 speech; and like " Oliver asking for more," in Dickens's story, 
 great was the consternation he had stirred up. Such volunteering 
 was quite unusual ; what should be done ? I afterwards learned 
 that Prince Albert had agreed to call upon the Bishop of Tennes- 
 see, "if he would be very brief; " but he was evidently bored. 
 Bishop Otey was as innocent as a child in the affair, feeling anx- 
 ious to express American gratitude with American freedom, for 
 the Society's " nursing care;" and when he arose, with care- 
 worn features and tall gaunt figure, but looking like an Elijah with 
 his flashing eye and long extended arm, there was a profound 
 sensation in the assembly. He had gratified the popular feeling 
 by breaking through the stupid conventionalities of the time and 
 place, and he received a warm greeting. He was " brief" indeed, 
 but said something which ought to have been said. What could 
 be more "telling" as a living trophy of the Society, than this 
 Bishop from the woods of Tennessee? He created mirth, however, 
 by the words with which he concluded his invasion of the pro- 
 ceedings, somewhat as follows : "I have often heard the words of 
 one of our backwoodsmen incorrectly quoted here in England ; let 
 me set them forth correctly, in justice to my countryman. He is 
 always credited with an exhortation to all Americans to go ahead; 
 but what he really said had a higher tone, and the maxim should 
 never be quoted except as he gave it ; viz., Be sure you're right 
 then go ahead ! ' ' The Bishop sat down amid a tumult of cheers 
 accompanied with smiles. Bishop Wilberforce afterwards assured 
 me that he himself was greatly pleased with the Bishop's emenda- 
 tion, and by the earnestness with which he uttered the prefatory 
 phrase, " Be sure you're right." 
 
 I am unable to find my diary kept in Scotland, from which I 
 might make some extracts not unsuitable for your purpose. At 
 Edinburgh I met Bishop Otey again, and he agreed to let me 
 shape his tour for him through the "land o' cakes." We trav- 
 elled together to Aberdeen, to pay our reverent tribute to the 
 source of Seabury's consecration ; and there we met Bishop 
 
354: Appendix. 
 
 Skinner, son or grandson of one of his consecrators, who showed 
 us no little kindness. We were charmed with the American and 
 primitive simplicity of his See-House and its modest but dignified 
 menage. We worshipped in the Church which occupies the spot 
 where that memorable consecration took place, and met one aged 
 person, who, as a boy, remembered the- first sermon of the Ameri- 
 can Bishop, on the day of his elevation to that position, at Evening 
 Prayer. 
 
 Bidding the Bishop good-night, I said to him one evening, 
 u To-morrow morning I shall take a dip into the German Ocean 
 before breakfast, and I humbly advise your lordship to keep me 
 company." I was only half in earnest in such counsel, and was 
 startled when he answered, " Well, then, I will do as you say." 
 It alarmed me, and I said, "For the sake of Tennessee, I must 
 reduce my advice to a mere suggestion ; I dare not 'commend such 
 heroic practice ; it might be to kill or cure : and you must give it 
 thought, and take all the responsibility." In the morning he was 
 ready, at the hour appointed, and we had a most refreshing bath 
 in the wild surf coming in from the Baltic. We walked back to 
 our hotel, and he cheered me by confessing to a genial glow. 
 From that day he grew better, and frequently he said to me that 
 he owed his recovery to his bath at Aberdeen. " Not the first 
 time," I remarked, " that our Episcopate has been recruited from 
 Aberdeenshire." 
 
 We had a romantic tour together to Inverness, and down 
 through the Caledonian Canal. Great was his delight, as we 
 gazed on those scenes of Jacobite history, which recalled Prince 
 Charlie, and Scott's bewitching stories. I amused him with 
 scraps of rhyme and anecdotes which I remembered, and especially 
 with tales of the '15 and the '45 : 
 
 " Cope could not cope, nor Wade wade thro' the snow, 
 Nor Hawley haul his cannon to the foe." 
 
 He had a great fancy for all such narratives, and I was amused 
 to find his Virginian enthusiasm constantly cropping out. Over 
 and over again, he assured me that such and such hills, as we 
 descried them, reminded him of the "Peaks of Otter." He 
 
Letter from Bishop Coxe. 35 5 
 
 greatly amused me by his frequent outbursts of patriotic feeling. 
 With all his state pride, he was yet an enthusiastic American, and 
 sometimes felt called upon to assert his Republican principles 
 when he heard them assailed. He told me he liked our American 
 Church, in many respects, better than the mother-church in Eng- 
 land. He said, " There is no such brotherhood in all the world 
 as exists among the Clergy of our own Church. If a man is a 
 brother clergyman, it is a bond universally felt and acknowledged, 
 a purer and holier Masonry.' 1 
 
 We went to Oban, and thence made an excursion to lona, and 
 to Fingal's cave in Staffa. He seemed to feel, as Dr. Johnson 
 did, all the sanctity of lona, and inspected the royal graves, the 
 ruins of its primitive church, and especially the ancient churchward 
 cross, with deep emotion. When I mentioned to Black wood and 
 old " Christopher North," that the Bishop of Tennessee was in 
 Edinboro' , both were greatly interested ; and Professor Wilson 
 said, " How strange it sounds, here by Holyrood and Arthur's 
 Seat, to think of a Christian Bishop from the wilds of America ! " 
 It seemed yet more worthy of my admiration, to see him on this 
 pilgrimage to lona, the seat of a primitive Christianitj'. 
 
 But I never saw him so excited as when we entered the cave 
 at Staffa, rowed by stout fishermen, and accompanied by nearly 
 a dozen of other tourists. I said, " It is a natural Church amid 
 the waters." He caught at the idea; and, as we stepped upon a 
 ledge of rocks that served for a chancel, he said, with a command- 
 ing air, " Let us sing the doxology, Praise God from whom all 
 blessings flow." And so we did. I don't know who started it, 
 but those walls and rocky vaults resounded with Ken's sublime 
 Gloria Patri, to which the echoing waves seemed to respond 
 Amen, as they surged into the cavern, and at times lashed its 
 walls. The floods dapped their hands indeed, and seemed to 
 worship with us. I wonder if such worship was ever offered there 
 before, with a Bishop and a Presbyter to make it liturgical and 
 catholic ! 
 
 Our journey over the Breadalbane estates was attended with 
 one noticeable incident. We were seated on the top of the coach, 
 and stopped at a coach-house for change of horses. The Edinboro' 
 
356 Appendix. 
 
 coach drove up at the same moment, and, to my astonishment, 
 down leaped my venerated friend, springing like a schoolboy 
 to the ground ; and in a moment I saw him grasping the hand 
 of a traveller from the other coach, whom I inferred to be an Amer- 
 ican and an old familiar friend. The two spent a few minutes 
 in very close conversation; and when the Bishop resumed his 
 seat, he said, " That's the eminent Dr. Breckenridge of Ken- 
 tucky." " Ah ! " said I, "how happy he must feel to find himself 
 among his fellow disciples of John Knox ! " "By no means," 
 was the answer; "he was telling me how much he preferred the 
 Presbj'terians of Kentucky : he says they all drink toddy here, and 
 he never saw so much whiskey before among Christians." 
 
 In Argyleshire we made one excursion on foot. How well I 
 remember the glorious sunset over the sea, amid those superb 
 highlands, as we approached the inn at Ballachulish ! A memorable 
 evening we spent together there. We alwa^ys began and closed 
 our days together, with pra}*ers, remembering our beloved ones 
 beyond the Atlantic, and the dear Church of which we were ser- 
 vants as well as sons, and in which I revered him as a father. 
 Often, as we climbed the mountains in Switzerland, he recalled 
 the scenes near Loch-Leven, and the night at Ballachulish. At the 
 44 Pap of Coe " we rehearsed the story of King William's massa- 
 cre, and spoke as Churchmen must of the bloody Prince of Orange 
 and of his cruel vengeance on the Church of Scotland. 
 
 It was several weeks later that I overtook the Bishop on the 
 Rhine, and we began again to be fellow-tourists. He was greatly 
 improved, felt ready for walking, and found it healthful exertion. 
 Often we mounted mules, and so travelled by night as well as day. 
 He climbed the Rigi with me, on foot, delighted with his alpen- 
 stock, and showing a power of endurance which greatly surprised me. 
 Oh the rapture of the view from, the Rigi Kulm, that rewarded 
 our efforts ! We saw the sunset over the Lake of the Four Can- 
 tons, and watched the last flames of sunlight that tipped the snowy 
 peaks of the Oberland. One after another the lights gave way 
 to the shades of evening, and the purple alone remained where 
 gold and opal tints had glorified the horizon only a few minutes 
 before. 
 
Letter from Bishop Coxe. 357 
 
 He excited my laughter as he recounted his experiences at 
 Cologne, where he went to see the remains of St. Ursula and the 
 thousand virgins (some say, ten thousand) whose bones are en- 
 cased in the walls. u Did the priest show you the veil of the 
 Virgin," said I, " and the water- pots of Cana? " " Yes," said he 
 indignantly, "and I rebuked him for his impudence. My valet- 
 de-place was obliged to translate for me, but I demanded of him, 
 * On what evidence do you assert this? ' " It took some time for 
 the valet to explain that the .gentleman was an American, and 
 asked for the proofs of such stories. When the priest gained at 
 last some faint conception of our American ideas of evidence, he 
 was much disgusted, shrugged his shoulders, and held out the veil 
 and pointed at the water-pots, as much as to say, "Why, here they 
 are! What evidence do you need when you see them for your- 
 self? can't you trust your own eyes?" The tall figure of my 
 sage friend, his index-finger outstretched and pointing, as he asked 
 for the evidence, presented to my mind such a ludicrous contrast 
 with that of the besotted priest whom I had encountered in like 
 manner a few days before, that I laughed outright as the Bishop 
 gave the account ; and it makes me laugh again as I recall it. So 
 utterly incongruous are the mental habits of weak credulity and of 
 enlightened faith ! 
 
 My friend's vigour seemed to increase ; his enthusiasm rose daily, 
 higher and higher, among those glorious Alps. For hours, under 
 a bright starlight, we rode our mules over the Kaiserstuhl, from 
 Sarnen, on our way to the Lakes of Interlachen. We went to the 
 Grindelwald together, and to the Staubbach ; but a terrible rain de- 
 feated our purpose to cross the Wengern in company. We retreated 
 to Thun, and thence to Berne and Freyburg, spending the Lord's 
 Day at the latter place, where we read the entire Morning Service 
 together, after listening to that marvellous organ at the cathedral. 
 Nothing seemed to fatigue him. He travelled with me all night 
 to Lausanne in a sort of post-chaise which we had all to ourselves, 
 and so we came to Chillon and the Lake of Geneva. He knew 
 much of Byron's poem by heart, and recited, with profound feel- 
 ing, several of those lines on Bonnivard, dwelling especially on the 
 expression, u for they appeal from tyranny to God." At Geneva, 
 
358 Appendix. 
 
 he found friends at one of the hotels on the left bank of the 
 Rhone ; but I crossed to the Hotel des Bergues, whence I could 
 gaze on Mont Blanc from my chamber windows. Happily I did so ; 
 for there the Bishop of Oxford arrived the same evening, and gave 
 me immediate notice that I was his fellow-lodger. When I told him 
 that Bishop Otey was also in Geneva, and very greatly improved 
 in health, he rejoiced with me, and soon called on him and had 
 important conversations with him on church-matters. When we 
 parted, I accompanied Wilberforce on the Leman Lake and as far 
 as Martigny, where he went into Italy, and I made an episode into 
 Chamounix. But the dear and truly great Bishop of Oxford often 
 referred to Bishop Otey, and gave me his impressions of his char- 
 acter, which were very just. He recognized his warm and gener- 
 ous affections, his fidelity to the Church, his missionary spirit, his 
 Apostolic earnestness, and, with all, his child-like simplicity and 
 unworldliness, his real dignity and elevation of spirit. 
 
 Bishop Otey was persuaded, by the friends he had met in 
 Geneva, to retrace his steps and revisit the Oberland. When we 
 afterwards met in our dear native country again, he said, " I 
 have the advantage of you, for I made that passage of the Weng- 
 ern, after all ; saw the avalanches, and came down to the Lut- 
 schine again, sorry to think how much my friend, Cleveland Coxe, 
 had missed by going into Italy in such hot haste to see Rome and 
 the Pope." So he triumphed over me, but salved it all, as he 
 quoted his favourite Horace : 
 
 "Nil ego contulerim jucundo sanus amico." 
 
 When I recur to those happy days with so good a man, and feel 
 how many blessed influences came to me, in my travels, from his 
 pure and paternal sympathy, I am thankful to God that I met him, 
 and gained from him so many ideas, useful to me now in that com- 
 mon episcopate which he adorned by his holy example. When he 
 fell asleep, I rejoiced that he had found the blessed repose for 
 which I had so often heard him sigh ; but I felt how great was my 
 loss, and how valuable a man had been taken from the Church's 
 councils and from her missionary work. May his Diocese never 
 forget her first Bishop, nor those principles of the great and good 
 
Letter from Bishop Coxe. 359 
 
 Bishop Ravenscroft, which he transplanted to the fair and well- 
 watered soil of his beloved Tennessee. 
 
 Thus, my venerated friend, I have thrown off, at your request, 
 in a manner too much marred by unavoidable hurry, a few recol- 
 lections of one who never referred to you without expressions 
 of love and respect, such as, from one's own brother, might be 
 regarded as indicative of something deeper than even brotherly 
 affection. Let me remain ever 
 
 Yours in Christ and His Church, 
 
 A. CLEVELAND COXE, 
 
 Bishop of Western New York. 
 
 To THE RIGHT REVEKEND, 
 
 THE BISHOP OF MISSISSIPPI, ETC., ETC., ETC., 
 Sewanee, Tenn. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 BERKELEY 
 
 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 l7Fe b'53lO 
 
 SEP 19 1974 2 
 
 DEC 1 6 1976 
 
 BEC.CIB.NCV 30 78 
 
 LD 21-100TO-7,'52(A2528sl6)476 
 
YC 46893 
 
 M19S843 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY