48 Longmore, The Invention of George Washington, p. 93.
49 See Sawyer, Washington, I. 215.
50 Letter of Nelly Custis, Sparks, The Writings of George Washington, vol. XII, p.405-408.
51 “Samuel Seabury (1729—1796) was the first bishop of the Episcopal church in America. He had been an outspoken and active Tory before and during the Revolution, and his choice by the Episcopal clergy of Connecticut as their candidate for consecration caused much controversy among the American churchmen and laity. The fact that he was consecrated in Scotland rather than in England made some question the validity of his office, and he was a controversial figure until his death.” [a quote from where?]
52 Samuel Provoost (1742—1815) a native New Yorker, was the first Protestant Episcopal bishop of New York. Educated at Cambridge, he was ordained by the bishop of London in 1766. Upon his return to America, he served as assistant minister at Trinity Church in New York City, but his Whig sympathies so incensed the Loyalist members of the parish that he was forced to resign in 1771. After the evacuation of New York by the British, the vestry invited him to return as rector. In 1786 he was elected bishop of New York and was consecrated in England in the chapel of Lambeth Palace in Feb. 1787. In addition he still acted as rector of Trinity Church and was chaplain of the Senate.
53 William White (1748—1836), a native of Philadelphia, was the assistant minister and then, during the Revolution, the successor to Jacob Duché as minister for Christ and St. Peter’s Anglican churches in Philadelphia. White had recently returned from England, where earlier this year he had been consecrated an Anglican bishop, thus becoming empowered to consecrate deacons for the newly formed Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America, which he was instrumental in organizing following the Revolution. White’s sister Mary was the wife of George Washington’s Philadelphia host, Robert Morris.
54 See Schaff’s Creeds of Christendom, vol. 1, paragraph 82.
55 See justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1786/BCP; David Griffiths’, Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer; Paul Marshall, Prayer Book Parallels; William McGarvey Liturgiæ Americanæ (1907).
56 “A FORM OF PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING TO ALMIGHTY GOD, For the inestimable Blessings of Religious and Civil Liberty; to be used yearly Fourth Day of July, unless it happen to be on Sunday, and then on following. The Service shall be as usual, except where it is hereby otherwise appointed. Among the Sentences at Morning Prayer shall be the following:
THe Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting Arms. Deut. 33. 27. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine: also his heavens shall drop down dew. Verse 28. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people favoured by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy Excellency. Verse 29. The Lord hath been mindful of us, and he shall bless us; he shall bless them that fear him, both small and great. Psalm 115. 12, 13. O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men. Psalm 107.21. Instead of “O come let us sing, &c.,” the following Hymn shall be said or sung.
MY Song shall be alway of the loving kindness of the Lord : with my Mouth ever be shewing his Truth from one generation to another. Psal. 89. 1. The merciful and gracious Lord hath so done his marvellous Works : that they ought to be had in remembrance. Psal. 111. 4. Who can express the noble Acts of the Lord : or shew forth all his praise? Psal. 106. 2. The works of the Lord are great : sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Psal. 111.2. For he will not alway be chiding : neither keepeth he his anger forever. Psal. 103.9. He hath not dealt with us after our sins : nor rewarded us according to our wickedness. Verse 10. For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth : so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. Verse 11. Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children : even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him. Verse 11. Thou, O God, hast proved us; thou also hast tried us, like as silver is tried. Psal. 66.9. Thou didst remember us in our low estate, and redeem us from our enemies for thy mercy endureth forever. Psal. 136. 23, 24.
Then shall be said or sung the Psalm; which shall be the same as is appointed Day, Part 2.
The first Lesson shall be, Deut. 8; and the second Lesson shall be, [1] Thess. 5.12 to 24.
A thanksgiving for the day, to be said after the general thanksgiving.
O God, whose Name is excellent in all the earth, and thy glory above the heavens, who as on this day didst inspire the direct the hearts of our delegates in Congress, to lay the perpetual foundations of peace, liberty, and safety; we bless and adore thy glorious Majesty, for this thy loving kindness and providence. And we humbly pray that the devout sense of this signal mercy may renew and increase in us a spirit of love and thankfulness to thee its only author, a spirit of peaceable submission to the laws and government of our country, and a spirit of fervent zeal for our holy religion, which thou hast preserved and secured to us and our posterity. May we improve these inestimable blessing for the advancement of religion, liberty, and science throughout this land, till the wilderness and solitary place be glad through us, and the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose. This we beg through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
The Collect: to be used instead of that for the Day.
ALmighty God, who hast in all ages shewed forth thy power and mercy in the wonderful preservation of thy church, and in the protection of every nation and people professing thy holy and eternal Truth, and putting their sure trust in thee; We yield thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for all thy public mercies, and more especially for that signal and wonderful manifestation of thy providence which we commemorate this day; Wherefore not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name be ascribed all honor and glory, in all churches of the Saints, from generation to generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle. Philip. 4. 4.
REjoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
The Gospel. St. John 8.31.
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
57 The comment continues, “and on which our communion, the true, legitimate, Protestant Episcopal Church is based; while Bishop Seabury, a non-juror in principle and orders, and a pensioner of the British Government till his death, has impressed his principles of Episcopal and Sacerdotal exclusiveness, and of Sacramental, mechanical grace, upon the liturgy and Rites of the Church we have been forced to abandon.” A Chapter of Unwritten History. The Protestant Episcopacy of the Revolutionary Patriots Lost and Restored. A Centennial Offering, by Reverend Mason Gallagher (Philadelphia: Reformed Episcopal Rooms, 1833), p. 4.
58 See chapter on religious liberty.
59 A Chapter of Unwritten History. The Protestant Episcopacy of the Revolutionary Patriots Lost and Restored. A Centennial Offering, by Reverend Mason Gallagher (Philadelphia: Reformed Episcopal Rooms, 1833), pp.; 4-5, 12.
60 A Revolution that Led To A Church, Prepared for the 200th Anniversary of the establishment of the Episcopal Church in the United States. Journal of the Proceedings of the Bishops, Clergy, and Laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 1789 (Cincinnati: Forward Movement Publications,: 1990). Seven years of war knocked the wind out of the Anglican churches in America. Without an episcopate and a common bond of union, the Church in America was in danger of disintegrating. As the war drew to a close, however, churches in some states took independent action to protect their rights and liberties and to establish their own identity without regard to the larger issue of union of the church as a whole. Maryland took the lead in 1780 when it was agreed that “the Church formally known as the Church of England should now be called the Protestant Episcopal Church.” But there had to be more!
In the Summer of 1782, thirty-four-year-old William White, Rector of the United Churches of Christ Church and St. Peter’s, Philadelphia, published a pamphlet titled, The Case of the Protestant Episcopal Church... Considered. As the most important writing on the subject of union and reorganization at the time, it made White the central figure in the reorganization of the church.
White argued that because the ties with England had been broken, the churches were free to decide to unite or to remain separate. If they decided for union, they should build their organization from the parish up and not for the diocese down, this allowing laity a voice in the formation and operation of the church. To provide a forum where problems and solutions could be aired, White advocated a state convention of clergy and elected lay representatives.
On the matter of the episcopacy, White proposed that until that “higher office” could be obtained (and only until then), there be a Presbyterian type of ordination, and clergymen elevated to the “superior order” would serve in a parish. Since he believed (then) that the episcopate would be long in coming, he was convinced that his plan was in the best interest of the churches. As was expected, his proposal met with mixed reviews.
But more important than the immediate reactions to “The Case” was that by the time the Treaty of Paris had been signed, the former colonial churches had the outline of a plan for reorganization. Though all churchmen would not agree with White’s proposals, his pamphlet opened up communications among various church leaders and attention began to be paid to the needs of the churches. Moreover, by 1785 the reorganization of the Episcopal Churches from New York to South Carolina was accomplished in open conventions of clergy and laity.
In contrast, the clergy of Connecticut, who apparently had received an early copy of White’s pamphlet, met secretly in 1783 to discuss what they called the “Philadelphia Plan.” Horrified, they went their own way: the episcopate first, union second. They elected Tory Samuel Seabury as bishop. Armed with a letter from the clergy to the archbishops, Seabury sailed for England to seek consecration. Though cordially received, his request was refused; and he turned to the non-juror bishops of Scotland and was consecrated in 1784, returning to the States the following spring (wearing a mitre, an ornament not used by the English bishops in the eighteenth century).
61 Reverend Mason Gallagher, A Chapter of Unwritten History, p. 12.
CHAPTER 16
1 WGW, vol. 30, 4-1779.
2 Boller, George Washington & Religion, p. 40.
3 From an interview done by Jerry Newcombe for Coral Ridge Ministries, 2005.
4 Johnson, Washington the Christian, p. 18.
5 WGW, vol. 2, 10-12-1761.
6 Ibid., vol. 3, 7-15-1772.
7 Ibid., vol. 2, 5-30-1768.
8 See Lane, Washington Collection, Boston Athenaeum, p. 23.
