University of Virginia Library

ARTICLE III.

The Parish of James City.

I now enter upon the Parish of James City—the landing-place
of our first forefathers—the seat of the first civil and religious establishment
on the shores of North America. It dates its beginning
about two hundred and fifty years ago. But it found a place
in the hearts of pious and philanthropic men at a still earlier
period, and we must go back to that period with our preparatory
remarks. We are greatly mistaken, if we suppose that the missionary
spirit, after slumbering from the early ages, was aroused
to life and action only within the last hundred years. Instances
may be shown, in which Kings and Queens of our mother-country
and Church, moved to it by the pious zeal of Bishops and other
ministers, have commanded, that together with the sword and artillery
of war, and the implements of commerce and husbandry, the
sword of the Spirit and the trumpet of the Gospel should be sent,
with armies and navies and colonists, to the uncivilized nations of
the earth. I confine my references to what the religious principle
has done in behalf of the Colony of Virginia.

The domestic troubles of the English State and Church, the
controversies with Romanists, Puritans, and other disaffected bodies,
delayed and hindered any great schemes for Christian colonization
and missionary enterprise, just as civil wars prevent foreign aggressions
and conquests. To the Rev. Richard Hakluyt the chief
praise is due, for stirring up the minds of Christian statesmen and
people to the duty of finding out barbarous countries, in order to
their conversion to the Christian faith. To his friend, Sir Philip
Sydney, he dedicates his first collection of voyages and discoveries,
in 1570. In 1587, he republishes Peter Martyr's history of the
New World, with a preface, dedicating it to Sir Walter Raleigh,
together with another work on Florida, in which he urges him to
persevere in the good work he had begun in Virginia.[16] In both of
them he urges Sir Walter to prosecute the work from the only true

motive and design, the extension of Christ's religion,—"The glorie
of God, and the saving of the soules of the poor and blinded
infidels." The numerous volumes collected and published by this
laborious and zealous man on this subject have come down to our
day, and are a most valuable depository of missionary information.
After holding various preferments, he settled down as Prebendary
of Westminster, and continued till his death, in 1616, to watch over
the infant Colony of Virginia. The honour of being buried in
Westminster Abbey was conferred on this man of a large soul. It
deserves to be mentioned, that he not only by his pen and the
press urged on the Christian colonization of Virginia, but sought
and obtained the honour of being one of those to whom Virginia
was consigned, by letters-patent from King James, that he might
the more effectually labour for her welfare. To his exertions the
expeditions in 1603, and again in 1605, may in a great measure be
ascribed. The language used by the King, in the terms of the
patent for Virginia, in 1606, shows also the religious character of
the movement. One design was, that "so noble a work may, by
the Providence of God, hereafter tend to the glorie of his divine
majestie, in propagating of Christian religion to such people as sit
in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and
worship of God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages
(living in those parts) to human civility and quiet government."
Another evidence of the operation of the religious feeling in those
who first engaged in the settlement of Virginia may be seen in
what one writes, who went out with Weymouth in 1605, in regard
to a proposal of some of the natives, that "the company would
push their discoveries further." It was declined, he says, on this
ground:—"We would not hazard so hopefull a businesse as this
was, either for our private or particular ends, being more regardful
of a public goode, and promulgating God's holy Church, by planting
Christianity, which was the interest of our adventurers as well
as ours."[17]

In the following year, December, 1606, the first little colony
came to Virginia, bringing with it the first minister of James City,
the Rev. Robert Hunt. Mr. Wingfield, the first President of the
Colony, gives the following account of his appointment:—"For
my first worke, which was to make right choice of a spiritual pastor,

I appeal to my Lord of Canterbury,—his grace,—who gave me
very gracious audience in my request. And the world knoweth
whom I took with me, truely a man, in my opinion, not any waie
to be touched with the rebellious humour of a papist spirit, nor
blemished with the least suspicion of a factious schismatic." In a
narrative, kept by Stukeley and others, it is written, "On the 19th
of December, 1606, we set sail from Blackwell, but by unprosperous
winds were kept six weeks in sight of England; all which
time Mr. Hunt, our preacher, was so weake and sicke that few expected
his recovery. Yet allthough we were but twenty miles from
his habitation, (the time we were in the Downes,) and notwithstanding
the stormy weather, nor the scandalous speeches of some few,
little better than atheists, of the greatest rank among us, suggested
against him, all this could never force from him so much as a
seeming desire to leave the businesse, but preferred the service of
God, in so good a voyage, before any affection to contest with his
godless foes, whose disastrous designs, could they have prevailed,
had even then overthrown the businesse, so many discontents did
there arise, had he not only with the water of patience and his
godly exhortations, but chiefly by his devoted example, quenched
those flames of envy and dissention."[18] It is very certain, that
notwithstanding the piety which prompted the expedition, and the
devotion of Mr. Hunt and some others who embarked in that
vessel, there was a considerable proportion of most unworthy
materials on board, as shown by their opposition to Hunt and Captain
Smith, two men who seemed to know no fear, but that of God.
The future conduct of the larger portion of the Colonists, after
their arrival, too well established this fact. The company in England
appears to have apprehended something of this, from their
instructions, in which they say to the Colonists at their departure,
that "the way to prosper and have success was to make themselves
all of one mind, for their own and their country's good; and to
serve and fear God, the giver of all goodness, since every plantation
which he did not plant would certainly be rooted out." Although
Captain Smith was appointed one of the Council of the
Company, a violent opposition was made to his having a seat
on their arrival. "Many," it is said in the narrative already
quoted, "were the mischiefs which daily sprung from their ignorant
yet ambitious spirits; but the good doctrine and exhortation of
our preacher, Mr. Hunt, reconciled them, and caused Captain
Smith to be admitted of the Council." The next day, the Holy
Communion was, for the first time, administered in Virginia. The
number composing the first congregation at Jamestown was one
hundred and four or five. "A circumstance," says the Rev. Mr.
Anderson, author of three most laborious and interesting volumes
on the Colonial Churches, "is mentioned in President Wingfield's
manuscript, which I cannot find recorded elsewhere, which shows,
in a very remarkable manner, the careful and pious reverence manifested
by the Colonists for the due celebration of Christ's holy
ordinance, in their sad extremity." He says that when "the common
store of oil, sack, vinegar, and aqua-vitæ, were all spent,
saving two gallons of each, the sack was reserved for the communion-table."[19]

In proof of the religious character of Captain Smith, as a part
of the history of James City Parish, I quote the following account
of the first place of worship in the same, in a pamphlet published
in 1631, by Mr. Smith, some years after his History of Virginia,
and entitled, "Advertisements for the unexperienced planters of
New England, or elsewhere, &c." To the Rev. Mr. Anderson's
labours we are indebted for the revival of this pamphlet.

Of the piety of Captain Smith we have further evidence, in the
account given of the survey of Virginia, when he and his valiant
comrades fell into so many perils among the Indians. "Our order
was daily to have prayer with a psalm, at which solemnity the poor
savages much wondered." On Smith's return to Jamestown, notwithstanding
all former opposition, such were his merits and such
its difficulties, that the Council elected him President of the Colony;

and the first thing done was to repair the church, which,
during his absence among the Indians, had, with other houses,
been destroyed by fire. Characteristic, and evincive of piety in
him, is the statement of it:—"Now the building of the palace was
stayed as a thing needless, and the church was repaired."

In what year the first minister, Mr. Hunt, died, is not now
known, but that there was a vacancy for some years is declared in
the foregoing passage from Captain Smith's last pamphlet. The
next was the Rev. Mr. Bucke, who came over with Lord De la
War, in the year 1610. The many disasters which had befallen
the first emigrants to Virginia, so far from discouraging either the
statesmen or the Christians in England, and causing them to abandon
the enterprise, only stirred them up to more active exertion.
In the year 1609, a new company, called the London Company,
was formed, and a new charter, with a larger territory and more
privileges, was granted. Twenty-one of the peers, including a
number of the bishops, and many of the first clergy and merchants
of the kingdom, were among those who are mentioned in
the charter. Mr. Edwin Sandys, the pupil of Hooker, the two
brothers John and Nicholas Ferrar, one of them a pious divine, and
both of them most active members of the board which managed
the concerns of the company, are worthy of special mention. That
a spirit of true piety to God and love for the souls of the heathen
burned in the breasts of many of the members of the company,
cannot be questioned. It is evident from the selection of the Governor,
who was a man of sincere piety; and had his health been
continued, so as to allow of a longer residence in America, much
might have been expected from his example and zeal. The spirit
which predominated in the company may also be seen in the minister
chosen for the new expedition, the Rev. Mr. Bucke, a worthy
successor to Mr. Hunt, and from the sermons preached at their
embarkation. Two of them were published, and are still extant.
One of them, the first ever preached in England on such an occasion,
was by the Rev. Mr. Crashaw, preacher at the Temple.
"Remember," he says, "that the end of this voyage is the destruction
of the devil's kingdom, and the propagation of the Gospel."
After upbraiding those who were anxious for acquiring
wealth by voyages, but indifferent to this, he says, "But tell them
of planting a church, of saving ten thousand souls, and they are
senseless as stones; they stir no more than if men spoke to them
of toys and trifles; they laugh in their sleeves at the silliness of
such as engage themselves in such matters." To Lord De la War

himself, who was present, he speaks as follows:—"And thou, most
noble Lord, whom God hath stirred up to neglect the pleasures of
England, and, with Abraham, to go from thy country and forsake
thy kindred and thy father's house, to go to a land which God will
show thee, give me leave to speak the truth. Thy ancestor many
hundred years ago gained great honour to thy house, but by this
action thou augmentest it. He took a king prisoner in the field of
his own land, but by the godly managing of this business thou
shalt take the Devil prisoner in open field and in his own kingdom;
nay, the Gospel which thou carriest with thee shall bind him in
chains, and his angels in stronger fetters than iron, and execute
upon them the judgment that is written; yea, it shall lead captivity
captive, and redeem the souls of men from bondage, and
thus thy glory and the honour of thy house is more at the last
than at the first. Go forward therefore in the strength of the
Lord, and make mention of his righteousness only. Looke principally
to religion. You go to commend it to the heathen: then
practise it yourself; make the name of Christ honourable, not
hateful unto them." Another sermon was preached at White
Chapel, London, in the presence of many honourable, worshipful
adventurers and planters for Virginia. At its close he says, "If
it be God's purpose that the Gospel shall be preached through the
world for a witness, then ought ministers to be careful and willing
to spread it abroad, in such good services as this that is intended.
Sure it is a great shame to us of the ministry, that can be better
content to set and rest us here idle, than undergoe so good a worke.
Our pretence of zeal is clear discovered to be but hypocrisy, when
we rather choose to mind unprofitable questions at home, than
gaining souls abroad." From the above we shall see that the true
missionary spirit, and missionary sermons and addresses to those
about to embark on some foreign work, are not peculiar to our day,
though, blessed be God, they are increased among us. For some
cause, which need not now be dwelt upon, Lord De la War did not
sail until the following year, though Mr. Bucke went over sooner,
in a vessel with Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Summers. On
reaching there, after having been wrecked themselves, and long
detained at the Bermuda Islands, they found the Colony in a most
deplorable condition, the greater part having been cut off by the
Indians, and the remainder almost in a state of starvation.[21] On
landing, the first place visited by Gates was the ruined and unfrequented
church. "He caused the bell to be rung, and such as
were able to crawl out of their miserable dwellings repaired thither,
that they might join in the zealous and sorrowful prayer of their
faithful minister, who pleaded in that solemn hour for his afflicted
brethren and himself, before the Lord their God." After a few
days, the provisions being nearly out, the whole Colony embarked
for Newfoundland, "none dropping a tear, because none had enjoyed
one day of happiness." "When this departure of Sir Thomas
Gates, full sore against his heart, was put in execution," says
Mr. Crashaw, "and every man aboard, their ordnance and armour
buried, and not an English soul left in Jamestown, and giving, by
their peal of shot, their last and woeful farewell to that pleasant
land, were now with sorrowful hearts going down the river,—behold
the hand of Heaven from above, at the very instant, sent in
the Right Honourable De la War to meet them at the river's
mouth, with provision and comforts of all kind, who, if he had
staid but two tydes longer, had come into Virginia and not found
one Englishman." They all now returned to Jamestown. On
landing, Lord De la War, before showing any token or performing
any act of authority, fell down upon his knees, as Paul upon the
sea-shore, and in presence of all the people made a long and silent
prayer to himself. After which he arose, and, going in procession
to the church, heard a sermon by the Rev. Mr. Bucke; at the close
of which he displayed his credentials to the congregation, and addressed
them in a few words of admonition and encouragement.
The author from whom the above statement is taken, and who was
Secretary and Recorder of the Colony, (Strachy, who wrote a
narrative of all the proceedings of the same,) gives us the following
sketch of the church, which he says the Governor had given order
at once to be repaired:—

In the foregoing, it is said that there were true preachers, who
took their weekly turns, which shows that there were more than
the Rev. Mr. Bucke in the Colony at this time; and we do read
of a most venerable old man, by the name of Glover, who came
over with Sir Thomas Gates, upon his second return to Virginia,
and who was doubtless one of the true preachers (perhaps it
should read two) spoken of above. In the account of the decorations
of the church under Lord De la War, and the pomp and circumstance
of his own attendance at church, the reader will not
fail to perceive some of the peculiarities of the Laudian school.
That school was not very far off, in our Mother-Church, at this
time. Some of those concerned in promoting and preparing this
expedition of Lord De la War were, I doubt not, somewhat
inclined to it. The secretary, Strachy, who has given this
account, was, it is believed, the person who had much to do in
drawing up the code of "Laws, moral, martial, and divine," which
is so much tinctured with Romish and martial discipline, and
which has ever been the reproach of the Church and State of Virginia,
though its penalties were so seldom enforced, and the worst
of them were soon abolished. One, at least, of those excellent
men, "the Ferrars," was somewhat inclined to a monkish religion.
This, however, is the only instance in which such decorations and
pomp are mentioned in the history of Virginia. Only a few years
after this, the Rev. Mr. Whittaker speaks of the simplicity of our

worship and liberality of our discipline in the following words:—
"But I much more muse, that so few of our English ministers
that were so hot against the surplice and subscription come
hither, where neither of them are spoken of."

Having alluded to the Ferrars, the two brothers, as zealous and
active friends of the Colony, and especially labouring for its
religious condition, it is due not only to them, but to the whole
family, to add a few more words. The father was a wealthy
merchant in London, and a promoter of all the good works in
which the sons were engaged. The mother was also like-minded.
The two sons, John and Nicholas, were highly-educated and
talented men, labouring zealously, as members of the London
Company, until it was dissolved by the tyranny and covetousness
of King James, by a kind of Star Chamber operation, in the year
1624, the year before his death. John, the elder, then entered
into the House of Commons, and sought to promote the best
interests of the Colony in that place. Nicholas, after debating
the question whether he should remove to Virginia and seek her
welfare here on the spot, or devote himself to the ministry at
home, determined on the latter. In the words of Mr. Anderson,
who duly appreciated his worth, I make the following
statement:—

As it is well known that such a type of personal religion is
often accompanied by an excessive regard to the ceremonial, the
pomp and show of public worship, decoration of churches, &c.,
we may thus account for the fact that Lord De la War, who may
have sympathized with the rising school of Laud, in England,
introduced some parade, which had never been before, and, as we

believe, never was afterward seen in the Colony. In connection
with this, we add that when George Herbert, a brother in soul to
Nicholas Ferrar, was about to die, he sent some poems to Ferrar,
which were published, and which showed how he sympathized
with him, in his hopes from America. The two following lines
are evincive of this:—