the existence of a single Presbyterian church. A few Presbyterians, indeed, were scattered through almost every part where settlements were made; and in some places they formed even a considerable portion of the very thin population which then existed: but they were no where regularly embodied. It will afterwards be seen, that no presbytery was formed till about the commencement of the eighteenth century; and that it was but a few years previously to this, that the first congregations were fully organized. It is natural to inquire why the Presbyterians were so much later in forming their establishments, than any of the other denominations of Christians which have been mentioned. The summary answer is, that it was later before they suffered persecution in the country from which they sprang. The oppressive measures which, during the reigns of the British sovereigns Elizabeth, James, and Charles the First, were adopted and carried into effect against the Puritans, drove them ultimately, after some previous wanderings, to seek a refuge in the new world. On their arrival, they began to people what are now styled the New England states. The rigorous edicts which were issued against the Roman Catholicks, during the same, and a period somewhat later, induced them, under their friend and patron Lord Baltimore, to seek, in the same manner, a place of liberty and safety. The colony of Maryland owed its settlement to this cause. The sect of Friends, usually denominated Quakers, which arose in England under the protectorate of Cromwell, and which was persecuted both by him, and by the laws which were formed under Charles the Second (for that monarch himself appears to have regarded them with kindness), emigrated under their leader, the renowned William Penn, and commenced settlements in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Jersey. But during nearly the whole of this period, the Presbyterians in Scotland, from whom those in America are descended, had no motive from persecution, or at least none that was sufficiently powerful with any considerable number, to induce them to exchange the country of their ancestors for a savage wilderness. Presbyterianism was then, as it is at present, the national religion of Scotland; and its influence was such that it controlled the court itself. This influence or ascendency was not indeed maintained, without many and violent conflicts. Scotland had never a prince who at heart was a Presbyterian; unless the weak and changeable James VI. might be, for a short time, a solitary exception. Even the regency which governed during the minority of that monarch, was zealously engaged to introduce the English episcopacy into Scotland. And when James was raised to the throne of England, he, as well as his unhappy son and successor, never ceased in their efforts to establish exclusively the forms and order of the English church, in the northern as well as in the southern part of the island of Great Britain. But every attempt was ultimately defeated; and the popular mind was so generally and so decisively hostile to Episcopacy, and in favour of Presbyterianism, that the friends of the latter never found themselves so much circumscribed in their own country, as to induce any considerable number to flee to another. The few who actually fled to America, did not furnish materials sufficient for organizing churches, on the plan to which they had been accustomed at home. Cromwell, after he had subjected the Scotch completely, laid no other restrictions on them in matters of religion, than such as were necessary to prevent the extension of their ecclesiastical discipline to civil punishments and privations. This, though it was not borne with out reluctance, was still considered as a tolerable grievance. But after the restoration of Charles the Second to the crown of England, the period arrived when the Presbyterians of Scotland, who had hitherto, since the reformation from Popery, enjoyed a comparatively happy and flourishing state, were, in their turn, to drink deeply of the bitter cup of persecution. Charles, in violation of the most explicit and solemn engagements, as well as of every principle of justice and gratitude, sanctioned, shortly after his accession to the throne, the cruel and ill-judged attempt to compel all his subjects to adopt the same religious creed and form of church government. In England, on the memorable St. Bartholomew's day, August 24th, A. D. 1662, the "Act of Uniformity," as it was entitled, had the effect to eject from their charges and livings in South Britain, about two thousand ministers of the gospel; the most of them eminently distinguished for learning and piety. But even prior to this, measures had been taken to force episcopacy on the Scotch; and they were eventually the cause of still greater calamities, than the Act of uniformity produced in the sister kingdom. In England, the dissenters from episcopacy, though numerous when collectively taken, were still but a small part of the whole population. As therefore they had not the power of resistance, submission, however grievous, was a matter of course. In Scotland it was far different. Here the mass of the population was Presbyterian, and the Episcopalians were but a handful. Here, therefore, the attempt was nothing less, than by an act of. power to change the religious attachments of a nation-Of a nation, too, which then boasted of its independence; which had successfully contended with its rival in many wars; which valued itself on the purity of its religious faith; and which deeply abhorred the system that it was required to adopt. In these circumstances, resistance was to be expected; and all the wonder is, that it was not greater, more general and more desperate, than it actually was. Such undoubtedly it would have been, had not the spirit of the nation been worn down and exhausted, by previous and long continued contentions and commotions. Resistance however was made; and made perhaps in that very degree, which was best calculated to draw down on all who were concerned in it the full vengeance of the ruling powers. Had it been more general and vigorous, it might, if not ultimately successful, at least have restrained, by the fear of retaliation, the barbarous cruelties which the victors inflicted on those over whom they triumphed. And had it been less violent and obstinate, less excitement would manifestly have been given to the vindictive spirit of the royal party. But it is not the province of this history to detail the military executions, the civil proscriptions, the cruel torments and deaths, and the frequent banishments and transportations, which were suffered by the Scotch and Irish Presbyterians (for Ireland too had a share in the calamity) in resisting an attempt, which ultimately proved abortive, to subject them to the principles and forms of the English Episcopal church. It is sufficient for our purpose to have noticed the persecution which commenced soon after Charles II. came to the crown of England, in 1660; and which was not fully terminated till the accession of William III. in 1688. It was this persecution which brought such numbers of Presbyterians to this country, that they were able to constitute congregations and churches in America, agreeably to that system for an attachment to which they had been driven into exile. This took place during the last five-and-thirty years of the seventeenth century; and it solves the inquiry why Presbyterian churches had not been planted before, and why they began to be planted now. It is obvious that when the people of this denomination were once regularly established, they would afterwards be likely to be joined by those of their own persuasion, who were inclined to emigrate from considerations of convenience, or with the prospect of providing more liberally for themselves and their descendants; and that it would be no small inducement to emigration, with those of this class who had a serious regard to religion, that they could find in the country to which they contemplated a removal, all the privileges and ordinances of the church in which they had been educated. Such unquestionably was the fact; and thus, though the first Presbyterian establishments were the effect of persecution, they were speedily afterwards increased and multiplied, by the accession of those who were attracted to them by the hope of bettering their worldly condition, without losing the opportunity of worshipping God according to the dictates of their conscience. The cause which determined the Presbyterians to settle in those particular parts of the country to which they came, was nearly allied to that which drove them from their own. Fleeing from persecution at home, they were naturally anxious to avoid it abroad. Had they gone to Virginia, they would have found their situation in no respect better than in Britain itself. In New England, the ground was pre-occupied by the descendants of the Puritans; who, although they agreed with the Presbyterians on doctrinal subjects, differed from them, especially from those of Scot land, widely and ardently, with respect to the order and government of the church. The Presbyterians, therefore, after a few of them had actually taken refuge in this region, generally sought for a situation more favourable to the organizing of churches, in full accordance with the principles and forms which they believed to be of divine authority. In the province of New York, the Dutch inhabitants were strictly presbyterian, both in doctrine and church government; but difference of nation, language and habits, rendered them hostile to any settlement among them of the Scotch and Irish emigrants. The whole colony, moreover, was soon ceded to the Duke of York; after which, although Episcopacy was not formally established by law, it was exclusively and powerfully patronized by the British court, and by all who were invested with civil authority in the province. The Dutch met with a degree of indulgence, because the free exercise of their religion had been assured to them by treaty; and because the difference of their language, in which all their religious services were then performed, rendered them less obnoxious, than they would otherwise have been, to the ruling party. The eventual establishment of a single Presbyterian congregation in the city of New York, was not made, as will appear in the sequel, without the most serious opposition from the existing government. But in Pennsylvania, West Jersey, and Delaware, which were under the government of the Quakers; and in Maryland, where the Roman Catholicks predominated; there was a full and unqualified toleration. The Quakers granted it from principle, and the Catholicks from policy. The latter were still watched with a jealous eye by their enemies in Britain; and they secured religious liberty for themselves, by granting it to all other denominations, with out discrimination or restriction. In these colonies, therefore, the Pres byterians made, at first, their principal settlements; because here they could act with a perfect freedom from restraint. A few, as we have seen, were thrown, by accident or necessity, farther to the east and north; and it will afterwards appear that one church of this denomination, as old perhaps as any in the country, was formed at Charleston, in South Carolina, before the English Episcopacy obtained the influence there, which soon afterwards it acquired. But for the reasons which have now been explained, the greatest number of Presbyterians chose their residence in the colonies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland; and here, where every circumstance was most favourable to their wishes, we shall find that they formed their first Presbytery, and put in train the entire system of their church order and govern ment. On the whole, then, it appears that the Presbyterian church in the United States of America, had its origin in persecution for conscience sake; that it had not an earlier origin, because the extreme of persecution, in Scotland and Ireland, was for a season delayed; and that, to avoid all the inconveniences which they had experienced in their native lands, the original members of this church, generally fixed their residence in those of the British colonies where no disabilities on account of religion existed or were allowed. Hume's History of EnglandNeal's History of the PuritansCruikshank's History of the Church of Scotland-Mather's MagnaliaTrumbull's History of Connecticut -Proud's History of Pennsylvania -Smith's History of New Jersey -Ramsay's History of South Ca rolina and of the American Revolution-Original Manuscripts. lowing "Hints" were sent us, with The clergyman by whom the folhis name, has assured us that they "are from the pen of a lady, and were intended, when first written, for private use solely." He states, however, that he had obtained the consent of the writer, that they the Christian Advocate. With a should be offered for publication in few unimportant changes in the manuscript sent, we readily give them a place in our pages; and shall be glad to receive additional communications from the same pen. We have been obliged to divide the paper; but we believe the division will not materially affect the good made by these judicious and well impression, which we hope will be 66 stated Hints."-We think the most of them may be profitable to other Christian women, as well as to the wives of clergymen; and we and applied. advise that they be so considered HINTS ADDRESSED TO THE WIFE OF A CLERGYMAN. Will my sister, whose advantages for moral and religious improvement are far superior to mine, yet allow me to remark on some things respecting her peculiar situation as the wife of a gospel minister, and freely to speak of the importance and responsibility of the station she occupies? The writer is well aware that she has assumed much; but is willing to believe the attempt will not be imputed to wrong motives. She values the friendship of the good, and is a debtor to all; but her obligations would not be discharged by indiscriminately praising all. There are perhaps few situations more important than she occupies who is indissolubly connected with him that ministers in holy things: nor can one of our sex often fill a station of greater responsibility. May not she in a great measure influence the opinions and manners of the female part of her husband's congregation? It is presumed her maxims and rules of conduct correspond with his, to whom all around look up for instruction and direction, and from which even the most thoughtless and gay would not have it appear that she deviates. It doubtless has also been a well known and embarrassing truth to our friend, that her conduct is most narrowly inspected. The good look for example; the wicked for a stumbling block, on which to cast the blame of their fall. If she acts with propriety, the respect, the gratitude and the confidence, of Christian friends are secured; and she confers additional lustre on the cause we love to honour. She may also bring a blot on this cause, and on the character of our sex, beyond what any of us can do, who move in a sphere more contracted and less conspicuous. Great, therefore, is her obligation to exert in the cause of our Redeemer a well directed influence. It is not unfrequently said by those who wish to have it so, that "ministers are generally more unfortunate in their wives and children than any other class of men." The conduct of their families is held up to the view of a censorious world, ever ready to vindicate their own wickedness by the failings of the good; and to evade the force of the doctrines from the pulpit, by endeavouring to make it appear, that their influence does not govern the family of the preacher; or that the restraint which these doctrines inculcate, only tends to create a prejudice in the mind, even against morality. Ill indeed might many things be made to appear in the best human character, if subjected to a critical and severe examination. "For in many things we offend all." We have certainly known the wife of a minister frequently and highly censured for that which would have passed unnoticed in others, more obscurely situated,-We have heard that condemned as the height of extravagance and folly in her, which in others would have passed unobserved or uncensured. Oh, should it ever become fashionable to find fault with our sister's conduct, what act of her's, however innocent, could escape the malice and the vile insinuations of the slanderer? Much may she do towards contradicting this yet unproved assertion, that "the family of the minister is more immoral than his neighbour's." If indeed it be true that his wife is not as good as his neighbour's, it may be expected necessarily to follow that his children will not be so: for the future character of every human being usually depends much on the first principles imbibed; and these are almost invariably derived from the mother. If unhappily a minister's son becomes profligate, the news is widely spread; and the wicked rejoice at it without noticing "the ninety-and-nine that went not astray." A more unhappy inference too is drawn from the imprudence of one minister's wife, than from the conduct of the hundred in the common walks of life, whose conduct is still more exceptionable. But as "all things work together for good to them that love God," so may the ill designs and reports of enemies, if they excite ministers' families to greater diligence and faithfulness in duty; and place them more on their guard against every thing inconsistent with their high profession. If their exposedness to slander should prove the means of making them still more correct in their common deportment, and more hopeful heirs of glory, how would the machinations of the adversary be defeated? And blessed are those whose happiness for time and eternity is thus promoted-painful as are the means of their improvement. The stronger |