Report of Commemorative Services with the Sermons and Addresses at the Seabury Centenary, 1883-1885.Episcopal Church. Diocese of Connecticut
Religion
Report of Commemorative Services with the Sermons and Addresses at the Seabury Centenary, 1883-1885.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Connecticut
Seabury, Samuel, 1729-1796
He had grown up and lived hitherto under the influence of the
highest veneration for the Church of England, and his attachment
to her was still strong, notwithstanding he considered it bad
policy that his application for consecration had been rejected by
the English Bishops. He began to fear, however, that the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel might cease to aid him, which
would be a result to be deplored for other than pecuniary reasons.
"Should the Society itself," said he, "be obliged to take such a
step, though I shall be sorry for it and hurt by it, I shall not
be dejected. If my father and mother forsake me, if the governors
of the Church and the Society discard me, I shall still be that
humble pensioner of Divine Providence which I have been through my
whole life. God, I trust, will take me up, continue His goodness
to me, and bless my endeavors to serve the cause of His infant
Church in Connecticut. I trust that it is not the loss of 50 pounds per
annum that I dread--though that is an object of some importance to
a man who has nothing--but the consequences that must ensue, the
total alienation of regard and affection."
His path was not yet cleared of trials and perplexities, for on
reaching London he found those high in authority so dissatisfied
with the step he had taken that they pronounced it _precipitate_.
"Since my return from Scotland," said he in his first pastoral
letter to the clergy of Connecticut, "I have seen none of
the bishops, but I have been informed that the step I have
taken has displeased the two Archbishops, and it is now a
matter of doubt whether I shall be continued on the Society's
list. The day before I set out on my northern journey I had an
interview with each of the Archbishops, when my design was avowed,
so that the measure was known, though it has made no noise. My own
poverty is one of the greatest discouragements I have. Two years'
absence from my family, and expensive residence here, have more
than expended all I had. But in so good a cause, and of such
magnitude, something must be risked by somebody. To my lot it has
fallen; I have done it cheerfully, and despair not of a happy
issue."
All his apprehensions in regard to aid were realized, though he
wrote a most admirable letter to the Venerable Society giving a
concise history of his mission to England, and making a pathetic
appeal for future remembrance and consideration. After a delay of
two months, it was acknowledged by the Secretary without
recognizing his official character, being addressed "To the Rev.
Dr. Seabury, New London, Connecticut." He was told that his case
was comprehended under the general rule, that the charter would
not allow the Society to "employ any missionaries except in the
plantations, colonies, and factories belonging to the Kingdom of
Great Britain."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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