General History of Connecticut, from Its First Settlement Under George Fenwick to its Latest Period of Amity with Great BritainPeters, Samuel
History
General History of Connecticut, from Its First Settlement Under George Fenwick to its Latest Period of Amity with Great Britain
Peters, Samuel
Connecticut -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775; Connecticut -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. There, for a time,
wonders were effected; the Indians were made drunk with zeal. But when
their fanaticism was abated, they cursed the protestant religion, and
ordered the ministers of all denominations to depart out of their
country in a fixed time, on pain of death. Another band of saints went
to Nova-Scotia to convert the unconverted, under the clergy appointed
by the Bishop of London; among whom, however, meeting with little
encouragement, they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and
returned home. These peregrinations, the world was taught to believe,
were undertaken solely to advance the interests of religion; but
righteousness and peace have not yet kissed each other in New-England;
and, besides, the pious pretences of the _Sober Dissenters_ ill accord
with their bitter revilings of the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel, for sending clergymen to promote the spiritual good of the
Churchmen among them.
It is worthy of especial notice, that, among all the episcopal clergy
settled in Connecticut, only one of them has been accused, even by
their enemies, of a scandalous life, or of any violation of moral law.
They have exercised more patience, resignation, and self-denial, under
their various trials, fatigues, and oppressions, than can be
paralleled elsewhere in the present century. The countenance of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and an
allowance of 650_l._ per annum between eighteen of them, have proved
the means of averting from the professors of the Church of England
that rigour which has constantly marked the conduct of the General
Assembly and Consociation towards Anabaptists, Quakers, &c. &c. Had
the bishops shown as much concern for the welfare of the Church of
England in America as the Society have done, they would have prevented
many reproaches being cast upon them by the dissenters as hireling
shepherds, and have secured the affections of the American clergy in
every province to themselves, to the King, and the British Government.
If the religion of the Church of England ought to have been tolerated
and supported in America, (which, considering the lukewarmness of the
bishops in general, even since the Restoration of Charles II., seems
to have been a dubious point,) policy and justice long ago should have
induced the King and Parliament of Great Britain to have sent bishops
to America, that Churchmen at least might have been upon an equal
footing with dissenters. Against American bishops I have never heard
of any objections, either from the dissenters or the episcopal clergy
south of the Delaware River, so powerful as the following:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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