that it is, for it is part of the means of grace for our resurrection (cf. Rom. viii. 11; Eph. iv. 30).

Congregation. A word to which several meanings are attached. In the Old Testament it means (as does also the word Convocation) the whole people, whether in the wilderness, where they were always easily gathered, or in Canaan. It meant either a Congregation for worship, or a Congregation for deliberation, and so generally represented by the heads of the families. In the New Testament it meant the Ecclesia, whether merely a local congregation or the whole body of the Faithful. But except in one place the Ecclesia is translated Church in the A. V. In later Church usage it was restricted to the local gathering or to the organized body receiving ministration from a Pastor. It is a modern error, refuted by all early Church History, to give to the Congregation the formative voice, and to make it the source of authority to its officers. Throughout the New Testament, the Apostles exercised independent authority and ordained as men answerable to GOD for their authority. So, too, in the subapostolic record in Rev. ii. and iii. The Congregation had many privileges, which of need modified the action of the ruling body. The officers were not despots, but acting in GoD's behalf to the Congregation, and bearers and executants of His Covenant. They exist only for the sake of the Congregation, but from GOD. The Laity in Congregation had the right to nominate to the vacant Bishopric, to assent or object to the ordination of Deacons (Acts vi. 3) or Presbyters (1 Tim. iii.); as largely controlling the finances its influence was weighty. St. Cyprian's consultation of the Congregations in Carthage is a good illustration. But these primitive Congregations were not so wholly regulated as our own modern ones are; the clergy being more a body gathered around their Bishop, and directed by him, than a number of Presbyters and Deacons scattered over the Diocese and holding their Parochial cure at the hands of the Congregation. The Congregations themselves were not so markedly parted, even when much more scattered, and certainly in the city Churches, though there were many Churches and Congregations, they really formed for all minor legislative purposes but one body.

But our Congregations now are nearly identical with their Parishes. A Congregation may contain many individuals other than those in nonage, who cannot take any part in the management of the affairs of the Parish, or may be merely attendants on the services. But apart from these, generally a Congregation is made up of persons permanently members of the Parish, and for all proper purposes the two names apply to only one body. Yet in some particulars the modern Congregation is still endowed with the same privileges as the older. In an ordination the consent of the Congregation is

had. The Congregation being offended by the scandalous conduct of a member he is proceeded against; and the Congregation has to be satisfied of his repentance and amendment. (Rubric to the Holy Communion.) In the Prayer-Book throughout, the people present at a service are distinguished from the Congregation. So properly at the office of Consecration of a Church or Chapel. As the Church is consecrated for the Parish, the Congregation, not the People, is the term used. So, too, in the office of Institution, in the Prayers and in the first of the two closing Rubrics.

In the Digest of Canons the words "Parish or Congregation" seem to imply a slight difference in the use of the two, the one not completely coinciding with the other. The Vestry sign testimonials as representatives of the Parish or Congregation (Tit. i., Can. ii., ¿ 3; Can. vi., ¿ 2). A clergyman can be rector of a Parish or Congregation (Tit. i., Can. xiv., 2, 4). The term "Congregation " is a broader term here than "Parish," for a Congregation must exist in a Parish, but a Congregation may not be organized into a Parish, therefore all general directions about music, about Congregations within the Territory of one Bishop placing themselves under the jurisdiction of another, use simply the term Congregation. The mere gathering of a Congregation needs the authority of no Canon, but when this Congregation attempts to organize, then it must take the steps pointed out by the Canons, both of the Church at large and the special ones of the Diocese, in order to become a Parish. Still, since the Parish is a regular organization, and the Congregation is a body with looser cohesion, and since for certain purposes the Church rightly speaks of the Congregation, the Parish, which can often act solely through its representatives, the Vestry, must in capacities act as a Congregation also.

Connecticut, Diocese of.

some

Connecticut

was not, like some of her sister colonies, first settled by companies of Churchmen, nor had she, like others, royal governors who brought with them the forms of the national Church and in some sense established it within their jurisdiction. To be sure, the Rev. Messrs. Hooker and Stone, who led the settlers of Hartford in 1635 A.D., and the Rev. John Davenport, who was the founder of New Haven in 1638 A.D., had all received Holy Orders in the Church of England; but it was far from their purpose to build up in the forests of Connecticut and by the side of her pleasant waters a Church which should extend to a new land her doctrine, discipline, and worship. It need hardly be said that the colonists were of one mind with their teachers, that it was intended that each of the towns which were organized in the early days should contain (or, to use the words of the theory, should be) a "Church of Christ," of the pure Congregational type. Yet it was as early as

1664 A.D., a year before the New Haven colony was united to Connecticut,-Saybrook had been merged in this latter at an earlier date, that William Pitkin and others petitioned the General Assembly in regard to privileges which they claimed as members of the Church of England, but which were withheld from them by the ecclesiastical authority here. But the first expression of a wish for the services of the Church seems to have come from a few Churchmen in Stratford about 1690 A.D., though it does not appear that any petition for a missionary was made till 1702 A.D., in which year two missionaries of the recently founded Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Rev. Messrs. George Keith and John Talbot, visited New London and preached there. Three years later, the Stratford Churchmen applied to the Rev. Mr. Vesey, rector of Trinity Church, New York, for his assistance, and in 1706 A.D. the Rev. George Muirson, missionary at Rye in New York colony, began to officiate for them, being ably encouraged by a layman whose name should always be held in honor, Col. Caleb Heathcote. In April, 1707 A.D., the parish of Christ Church, Stratford, was organized; but Mr. Muirson soon died, and it was left without a settled clergyman for more than fifteen years. In 1708 A.D. occurred two events of interest in the ecclesiastical history of Connecticut; the Congregational and the Presbyterian elements in the colony were united under the Saybrook platform of government, and the General Assembly included in the act which authorized it a clause for "the relief of sober dissenters," not freeing them from taxes for the support of the standing order, but removing the penalty for non-attendance at its services. But we do not hear of any sign of activity and hardly of life on the part of the Church until on Trinity Sunday, 1722 A.D., the Rev. George Pigot took charge of the parish at Stratford.

In this year (1722 A.D.) is properly dated the foundation of the Church in Connecticut; yet not from Mr. Pigot's labors, but from a most remarkable event, which is almost, if not quite, unparalleled in history, and which had its origin in the influence of "the first missionary of our Church in Connecticut, the Book of Common Prayer," and in particular of a copy of it which belonged to Mr. Smithson, of Guilford. That book had been studied, while he was yet a boy, by Samuel Johnson, who was graduated at Yale College and became for several years its tutor, and then Congregational pastor in West Haven, being held in high reputation for his abilities and his learning. With him other ministers of the standing order had joined in the study of the questions suggested by the Prayer-Book; and they had met in the college library to read and to discuss such books as Archbishop King's "Inventions of Men in the Worship of GOD," Scott's "Christian Life," and other writings of English divines. Among these

ministers were Mr. Timothy Cutler, the Rector of the College, for ten years (17091719 A.D.) pastor at Stratford; Mr. Daniel Brown, its only other officer of instruction; Mr. James Wetmore, of North Haven; Mr. Jared Eliot, of Killingwood; Mr. John Hart, of East Guilford; and Mr. Samuel Whitlesey, of Wallingford. The result of their studies appeared on the day after the Commencement in 1722 A.D., when the seven ministers just named made a declaration that "some of them doubted of the validity, and the rest were more fully persuaded of the invalidity, of the Presbyterian ordination in opposition to the Episcopal." The declaration caused great consternation and excitement. A public disputation was held, which was moderated by Governor Saltonstall, himself a Congregational minister, who had had great influence in the framing and adoption of the Saybrook platform, and who, it may be noted, had entertained Keith and Talbot at their visit to New London twenty years before. The result was that some of the doubters were persuaded to remain in their former positions; but Messrs. Johnson, Cutler, and Brown were not moved from their determination to seek holy orders at the hands of a Bishop; they sailed for England, where they were ordained in March, 1723, and they were soon followed by Mr. Wetmore. Mr. Brown died in England soon after his ordination, but the others returned as missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Mr. Johnson being authorized to take up the work at Stratford, while Dr. Cutler (he had received the Divinity degree at Oxford) was sent to Boston, Mass., and Mr. Wetmore to Rye, New York. The progress of the Church in Connecticut was worthy of this wonderful beginning. Based on earnest conviction, fostered by earnest devotion, led by men of learning "well reported of among all the people," who testified their sincerity by giving up all they had and risking the dangers of six thousand miles of sea-voyage, besides the no less real dangers of pestilence and the violence of enemies, it was strong and courageous in itself, and it commanded the respect of its adversaries. With scarce an exception its clergy were natives of the colony and educated among their own people; at first they came from the ranks of the ministry of the Congregational order or from among those who were preparing for it; and all that was excellent in the character or in the religious convictions of the people was exhibited in them. In Connecticut, if anywhere, the Church was accepted on her own merits, and on her own merits she stood. Within eleven years after Johnson's return to Stratford five other parishes were organized: one at Fairfield in 1727 A.D., another at New London under Samuel Seabury (father of the Bishop) in 1732 A.D., at Newtown and Redding under John Beach, and at Hebron in 1734 A.D., and in 1736 A.D. it was estimated that there were seven hundred Church fam

ilies in the colony. Meanwhile, in 1727 A.D., the Legislature had passed a law which allowed the members of any settled ecclesiastical society to pay their ecclesiastical taxes for the support of their own services instead of those of the standing order. The visit of Dean Berkeley to America had not been without its effects in Connecticut. He had resided in Rhode Island from 1729 A.D. to 1731 A.D., and though he was disappointed in his project of establishing a college in Bermuda and founding Bishoprics in the colonies, his influence had been great, and the books which he gave to Yale College and the scholarships which he endowed there extended that influence after his return. Soon great theological and religious controversies were rising in the colony. A period of irreligion and ungodliness had come upon the descendants of the pious settlers; and then in 1740 A.D. the great awakening began. In the midst of the excitement Mr. George Whitefield visited the eastern part of Connecticut and gave much encouragement to the "New Lights," as those were called who favored a change from the former religious beliefs and methods. Many irregularities attended the whole movement; and the strange speeches and actions of Whitefield and James Davenport, encouraging separation, and after a while finding it necessary to purify the separatists, distressed and alarmed devout people and threw many into a most unnatural and unhealthy frame of mind. The harm produced by the New Lights or feared from them was so great that in 1742 A.D. the law in favor of sober dissenters was repealed. In all these troubles the calm teaching of the Church was able to save many from undue enthusiasm or from utter recklessness, and her influence was constantly on the gain. Thirty years later, in 1774 A.D., the Congregationalists estimated that the Episcopalians, with their twenty clergymen and forty churches, were one-thirteenth part of all the inhabitants of the colony. It need hardly be said that all along the need of a Bishop was keenly felt, and petitions were sent again and again to the Bishops of the English Church,-formally as early as 1742, and in a more informal manner in the letters and reports of the missionaries. Many brave lives were sacrificed, one-fifth part of those who left Connecticut to apply for holy orders never returning. The cause of American Episcopacy had friends in England, but the constant reply to the petitions was non possumus. Then came the political troubles and the war of the Revolution. Most of the clergy were faithful to the British crown, as well from principle as from the obligation of their ordination vows, and persisted for a time in the use of the PrayerBook with all the state prayers. Their sufferings were great and were patiently endured, and they suffered sometimes as much from the violence of the British troops as from the patriotism of the revolutionists. During the war two of the clergy died,

three went within the British lines, and one to England, leaving thirteen within the limits of the State, and one in Great Barrington, Mass., which was reckoned ecclesiastically with Connecticut. Of these fourteen, it is worthy of mention, twelve were born in Connecticut, one in New Hampshire, and one in New York, and none of them had had any other than Episcopal ordination, though two had been Congregational licentiates.

A preliminary treaty of peace was signed November 30, 1782 A.D., and news of it was received on this side of the ocean early in 1783 A.D. The Connecticut clergy doubtless thought much on the course of events and consulted with each other; and they were ready to act. Moreover, they were alarmed at the tenor of a pamphlet published by the Rev. Dr. (afterwards Bishop) White in 1782 A.D., advocating, at least as a temporary expedient under their existing circumstances, the adoption by American Churchmen of a Presbyterian form of government. They therefore came together at the earliest possible day. Ten of the fourteen clergymen met at the rectory in Woodbury on the festival of the Annunciation in 1783 A.D., the rector, the Rev. John Rutgers Marshall, probably presiding, and the Rev. Abraham Jarvis acting as Secretary. They decided to do two things: to elect a Bishop and to reply to Dr. White's pamphlet. Their first choice for the Episcopate was the venerable and honored Rev. Jeremiah Leaming, till lately of Norwalk, a defender of the Church and a sufferer for her sake; and, in case (as seemed likely) his age and infirmities should force him to decline the burden, they decided to ask the Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury to undertake it. Dr. Seabury was the son of a faithful clergyman, a native of New London, of strong and vigorous character, well known and highly esteemed in the State. The Secretary was to go to New York, to consult with Mr. Leaming and Dr. Seabury, and to arrange as to testimonials and letters of commendation; and the clergy directed him to instruct the one who should go to England to ask for consecration, that, if his petition was unsuccessful there, he should go to Scotland and seek the Episcopate at the hands of the bishops of the disestablished Church in that country. The clergy also authorized Mr. Jarvis to write a letter to Dr. White, pointing out the dangerous consequences of the ideas which he had advanced in his pamphlet, assuring him that they were utterly opposed to the principles of Connecticut Churchmen, and urging that at least nothing of the kind ought to be advanced until a request for the Episcopate had been made and rejected. It was found that Mr. Leaming felt it impossible for him to accept the election which was offered him; and Dr. Seabury sailed for England not far from the time when the formal proclamation of peace was made, and arrived in London July 7,

1783 A.D., several months before the evacuation of New York. The story of his sojourn in England cannot be told at length here. The English Bishops sought and ob tained from Parliament permission to ordain Deacons and Priests for the United States; but the Erastian notions which prevailed in this Church, the machinations of English politicians, and the arguments of influential Congregationalists in Connecticut prevented the consecration of a Bishop. Yet Dr. Seabury waited for more than a year, till at last, losing all hope of an English consecration, he decided to act upon the instructions given him at the time of his election, seconded as they were by the advice of English friends, and to make application to the Bishops of the Scotch Church. The answer came from them almost at once, that they would freely give him what they had, "a free, valid, and purely Ecclesiastical Episcopacy," and he turned his steps to Aberdeen.

There, on Sunday, November 14, 1784 A.D., in the chapel within Bishop Skinner's house in Long Acre, the worshiping-place of a large congregation, he was consecrated Bishop of Connecticut by three of the four Bishops of Scotland, -the Rt. Rev. Robert Kilgour, Bishop of Aberdeen and Primus, the Rt. Rev. Arthur Petrie, Bishop of Ross and Moray, and the Rt. Rev. John Skinner, Bishop Coadjutor of Aberdeen. On the fol. lowing day Bishop Seabury signed a "Concordate" with his consecrators, in which they covenanted communion in faith and in ecclesiastical matters, and Bishop Seabury promised to use his influence for the introduction of the Scotch Eucharistic office into his Diocese. The Bishop returned to Connecticut to find but nine clergymen left, one having gone to another State and four having withdrawn, under British influence, to Nova Scotia. On the 2d of August, 1785 A.D., the clergy met their Bishop at Middletown; on the 3d they formally acknowledged and received him, and he ordained four candidates to the diaconate; on the following day he delivered his primary charge; and on the 5th a committee was appointed to act with the Bishop in setting forth such changes as should be thought necessary in the Prayer-Book, in consequence of which appointment a few amendments, relating to the State prayers, were duly published a week later. There was a strong disinclination to make any other changes in the services, and it does not appear that any action was taken upon the further recommendations of the committee. But almost immediately after the publication of the "Proposed Book" drawn up by the Philadelphia Convention of 1785 A. D., and probably in consequence of it, Bishop Seabury set forth and recommended for use a Communion office, almost identical with the Scotch office, differing from the English in matters of arrangement, and especially in having a distinct and formal Oblation and Invocation in their primitive order after the words of

Institution. (This Scotch office must not be confused with that in the so-called Archbishop Laud's book of 1637 A.D., which was quite different; it is a lineal descendant of the Non-Jurors' office of 1718 A.D.) Many things seeming to prevent a union between Connecticut and the Dioceses to the south, the clergy, in February, 1786 A.D., decided to elect a coadjutor Bishop, thinking that it might be necessary to have a complete College of Bishops in the Scotch line; and Mr. Leaming and Mr. Mansfield both declining, Mr. Jarvis was elected. But he did not decide at once, and the whole project was abandoned, when, after much prayer, much correspondence, and much patience, a union was effected with the Dioceses which had secured Bishops from England. The Rev. Messrs. Bela Hubbard and Abraham Jarvis were chosen to accompany the Bishop to the Convention at Philadelphia at Michaelmas, 1789 A.D.; and on the 2d of October they became members of that body, Bishops Seabury and White organizing as the House of Bishops. At this Convention the Prayer-Book was revised, and the sound and moderate views of the Bishop of Connecticut had great weight in the revision. Especially do we owe it to him that the prayer of Consecration in the Communion office was taken almost exactly from the Scotch service. On the 30th of September, 1790 A.D., the clergy of Connecticut voted to confirm the doings of their proctors in the General Convention (the Rev. James Sayre being the only dissentient) and to adopt the new Prayer-Book; but the use of Bishop Seabury's Communion office was not altogether abandoned for some thirty years. In the same year a College of Doctors was established; but it is not mentioned after 1792 A.D., having been displaced by the Standing Committee, which was first chosen in 1791 A.D. The members of the Standing Committee were all clergymen; and it has been the uniform law of the Diocese to this day, with the exception of the year 1818 A.D., that they should all be chosen from the clerical order. Delegates of the laity had met with the clergy in 1788 A.D. to consult concerning the Bishop's salary; but the laity were not summoned to sit in Convention till 1792 A.D., when it was necessary to elect deputies of each order to the General Convention. This was, therefore, in one sense the first Convention of the Diocese; the convocations of the clergy began many years before a Bishop was elected, and continued to be held regularly for many years after. The revival of the Church in Connecticut under Bishop Seabury was most real and permanent. To increase and confirm its prosperity, he felt it necessary to establish an institution for Church education, and in 1788 A.D. steps were taken for the foundation of an Episcopal academy, which was permanently located at Cheshire in 1796 A.D. Though sometimes called Seabury Col lege, a collegiate charter could not be obtained for it from the Legislature. In the midst of