In 1697 and in 57ot two societies were formed in England which had much to do with the spread of the Gospel in this new world. The older of the two was "The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge." Its aim was to supply the colonists with Bibles, Prayer Books, church histories, sermons and other good books. It still exists as the S. P. C. K., after two hundred years of active labors. The other, still in existence and known popularly as the S. P. G., sent out mis sionaries to different parts of the new country and paid their stipends, either wholly or in part. At the outbreak of the American Revolution there were two hundred and fifty Church of England clergymen in this country, of whom seventy seven were missionaries of the S. P. G. After one hundred and fifty years of colonial life the parishes and missions of the English Church had extended from the chief towns and settlements on the seaboard to many new places. Its greatest strength, however, was in the middle and south ern states, where the prejudices against it were not so strong as in Puritan New England.
The great defect of the English Church in this country in the colonial period was the entire lack of the Episcopate. No bishops were sent here, although repeated requests had been made to the mother Church to consecrate bishops for Amer ica. An Episcopal Church without bishops is somewhat like an army without general officers. The Episcopate implies leadership, consolidation and aggressive work. There were many difficul ties in the way of securing bishops, and their lack here made it necessary to send candidates for con firmation and ordination to England. For two centuries no man was confirmed or ordained, and no church edifice was consecrated on these shores. Among the reasons for the failure to supply bish ops for the colonies was the steady opposition made by many who were not churchmen, and the fact that, at the time, bishops were not only officers of the church, but also officials of the state, church and state being united. Their com ing here was dreaded by many, and opposed openly by some, as involving political complica tions.
When the colonies separated from the mother country their independence carried with it the independence of the Church in the Colonies. It became free from the control of the mother Church. Movements were at once made to adapt the Church to the new conditions brought about by the success of the Revolution. Changes were made in the Prayer Book, a Constitution was adopted, and steps were taken to secure the Epis copate. The first bishop, however, was secured before any formal responsive action was taken by the English Church. As soon as the war
ended, Connecticut elected Dr. Samuel Seabury as bishop, and sent him to England for consecra tion. Not caring to wait the slow permission of the government to authorize the English bishops to set him apart to this high office, he proceeded to Aberdeen in Scotland, where, in 1784, he was consecrated by the non-juror bishops then residing in that country. Two years later, 8786,a law passed the British parliament permitting the consecra tion of Dr. White, of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Pro voost, of New York, without requiring them to take the usual oath of allegiance to the British government.
The American Prayer Book, being a revision of the Prayer Book of the Church of England, was set forth in 174 and in the same year a Constitution was adopted. Thus with bishops of its own, with a service book adapted to its needs, and with a Constitution providing for the union and communion of its different parts in this coun tr•, this church began its career as an inde pendent organization. While it became independ ent, however, it did not lose its links of connec tion with the English Church through which, as has been seen, it is connected with the church of the first Christian centuries.
2. History, Etc. Its history since 1789 may be divided into two parts. The first extends to 182o and may be called The Period of Recupera tion. It had to recover from the disintegration occasioned by the Revolution. The second part of its history runs from t82t, when the Mission ary Society was formed, down to the present. This may well be called The Period of Growth and Development. It took a quarter of a century for the Church to recover from the calamities brought upon it by the war. Its valuable lands in some sections had been forfeited, its buildings had fallen into decay, numbers of its parishes had been broken up, and many of its clergy and peo ple were scattered. The most bitter prejudices had been excited against it because of its English origin and because of the attitude of many of its adherents before and during the great conflict. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that all of its members were opposed to the Revolution, for some of the leading patriots, and a majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were churchmen. Only gradually, however, did this church convince the American people that it was not un-American, and still more gradually did it establish the fact that it was worthy of con fidence as an exponent of the simple religion of the Divine Master.