At the close of the war the Church was so disrupted that to many its survival seemed doubtful. Steps were taken for its reorganization, but the process proved to be a protracted one, and continued far into the next century. It was recognized that the episcopate must now be secured without delay. The clergy of Connecticut met and elected Samuel Seabury to the office of bishop and requested him to proceed to England and seek episco pal consecration. Meeting with discouragement in England, Sea bury turned to the Scottish Episcopal Church and was conse crated by the Scotch non-juror bishops, in Aberdeen, on Nov. 14, 1784, thus becoming the first bishop of the Church in America. The consecration of Bishop Seabury established a close bond between the Episcopal Churches in America and Scotland. This was further strengthened by a Concordat in accordance with Art. V. of which the Eucharistic Canon of the American Prayer Book is framed on the Scottish rather than the English model. More than two years later on Feb. 4, 1787, William White, of Pennsyl vania, and Samuel Provoost, of New York, were consecrated bishops in Lambeth chapel, by the archbishops of Canterbury and York and two other English bishops. On Sept. 19, 1790, the Rev. James Madison, of Virginia, was also consecrated bishop in England.
At a Convention held in 1789, after much previous discussion, the Book of Common Prayer was set forth and the constitution and canons were adopted. The Church was organized for her work, but the conditions which she faced were full of difficulties. As a result of the revolutionary war there was much popular prejudice against any institution claiming connection with Eng land, in the communities influenced by Puritanism there was strong opposition to the principles and teachings of the Episcopal Church, and there were divisions within her own household. At the Con vention of 1811 only one of the six bishops attended, and there were few more clergy and laymen present than in 1789.
was even more far-reaching in its effects. His labours were pro digious and his power as a teacher was felt by all. He anticipated the main positions of the Oxford Movement in the Church of England and left his spiritual impress not only on the diocese of New York but on the whole Church, taking his place as one of the greatest bishops the Church in America has had. The interest of Hobart and Moore in theological education, and in the training of candidates for the ministry, resulted in the foundation of the General Theological seminary in New York in 1819 and of the Theological seminary in Virginia, in 1824.
The Church was now aroused to meet the new conditions and opportunities of its reconstituted life. The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, founded in 1821, gave fresh impetus to the work of Church extension. Philander Chase, the pioneer bishop of the West did his great work in Ohio and founded Kenyon col lege, obtaining from churchmen in England funds for this under taking; Jackson Kemper went further into the North-west where his arduous labours prepared the way for future dioceses; James Harvey Otey did noble missionary work in Tennessee and the South-west. James Lloyd Breck, priest and missionary, started schools in Minnesota, at Faribault, and pushed on across the country, establishing new foundations as he went, until he reached the Pacific coast. During this period the Episcopal Church grew steadily from a proportion of one communicant to 400 of the population in 183o to one communicant to 107 at the end of the century. With the growth and development of the country new dioceses and missionary districts were established. In 1853 Bishop Kip began his labours as first bishop of California ; in 1854 bishops were consecrated for Oregon and Iowa ; in 1859 Bishop Whipple was sent to Minnesota to take up his work among white people and Indians. Another outpost of this period was the Theological seminary at Nashotah, Wis., established by alumni of the General seminary in 1842, and to this day styled The Mission.
The spirit of the Church at this time was strikingly illustrated in the "Muhlenberg Memorial" of 1853. Its impassioned and moving appeal to the Church to weigh more earnestly its unique opportunity, to slough off sectarianism and realize the implications of a Catholic but non-papal Episcopacy, to view without disquiet the possibility of modifications in method and technique which might lead to a more adequate effectiveness, displays in rare degree both practical wisdom and prophetic vision. While this appeal led to some changes in current practice the essential chal lenge which it offered has not yet been fully faced. It was a challenge which might have brought forth new and great things, had not the struggle which was to issue in the Civil War pre cluded this.