On February 4th, 1787, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Provost, D.D., were
consecrated bishops in Lambeth Chapel, by John Moore, Archbishop of
Canterbury, William Markham, Archbishop of York, Charles Moss, Bishop of
Bath and Wells, and John Hinchcliffe, Bishop of Peterborough. The
sermon was preached by the chaplain of the primate. Our minister to
England, Hon. John Adams, urged the application of Drs. Provost and
White, and in after years wrote: "There is no part of my life I look
back with more satisfaction than the part I took--daring and hazardous as
it was to myself and mine--in the introduction of episcopacy to America."
Samuel Provost was a devoted patriot and one of the ripest scholars of
America. In the convention which elected him Bishop of New York were
John Jay, Washington's chief justice, Marinus Willet, one of
Washington's favorite generals, James Duane, John Alsop, R.R.
Livingston, and William Duer, members of the Continental Congress, and
David Brooks, commissary-general of the Revolution, and personal friend
of Washington. If less prominent in his episcopal administration,
Bishop Provost's name as a patriot was a tower of strength to the infant
Church.
Of Bishop White we can say, as John Adams said of Roger Sherman, "He was
pure as an angel and firm as Mount Atlas." He was beloved and
reverenced by all Christian people. When Congress declared the colonies
independent States in 1776, he at once took the oath of allegiance to
the new government. When a friend warned him that he had put his neck
in a halter, he replied: "I know the danger; the cause is just; I have
put my faith in God." In 1777 he was elected chaplain of Congress, and
held the office (except when Congress met in New York) until the capital
was removed to Washington. Francis Hopkinson, a distinguished signer of
the Declaration of Independence, and other loyal sons of the country,
were among those who elected him Bishop of Pennsylvania.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account