"My appointment next in order was at Farnham Church, which had
recently been so much refitted, that on this account—because it is believed
that none of the old churches were ever consecrated—it was on Tuesday,
the 20th of June, set apart to the worship of God, according to the prescribed
form. A considerable congregation assembled on the occasion,
when I preached,—the service having been read by the Rev. Francis
McGuire, and the deed of consecration by Mr. Nelson, the pastor of the
congregation. This church was first built more than a hundred years
ago, after the form of the cross, and in the best style of ancient architecture.
Its situation is pleasant and interesting,—being immediately on
the main county road leading from Richmond Court-House to Lancaster
Court-House.
"What causes led to its early desertion, premature spoliation, and
shameless profanation, I am unable to state; but it is said by the neighbours
not to have been used for the last thirty or forty years. Thus
deserted as a house of God, it became a prey to any and every spoiler.
An extensive brick wall which surrounded the church and guarded the
graves of the dead was torn down and used for hearths, chimneys, and
other purposes, all the county round. The interior of the house soon sunk
into decay and was carried piecemeal away. For many years it was the
common receptacle of every beast of the field and fowl of the air. It was
used as a granary, stable, a resort for hogs, and every thing that chose to
shelter there. Would that I could stop here! but I am too credibly informed
that for years it was also used as a distillery of poisonous liquors;
and that on the very spot where now the sacred pulpit stands, that vessel
was placed in which the precious fruits of Heaven were concocted and
evaporated into a fell poison, equally fatal to the souls and bodies of men;
while the marble font was circulated from house to house, on every occasion
of mirth and folly,—being used to prepare materials for feasting
and drunkenness,—until at length it was found bruised, battered, and
deeply sunk in the cellar of some deserted tavern. But even that sacred
vessel has been redeemed, and, having been carefully repaired, has resumed
its place within the sacred enclosure. Although the doors of the house
had been enlarged, by tearing away the bricks, to make a passage for the
wagons that conveyed the fruits that were to be distilled into the means
of disease and death; although the windows were gone and the roof sunk
into decay,—the walls only remaining,—yet were they so faithfully executed
by the workmen of other days as to bid defiance to storms and
tempests, and to stand not merely as monuments of the fidelity of ancient
architecture, but as signals from Providence, held out to the pious and
liberal to come forward and repair the desolation. Nor have these signals
been held out in vain to some fast friends of the Church of their fathers
in the parish of North Farnham. At an expense of fourteen hundred
dollars, they have made Old Farnham one of the most agreeable, convenient,
and beautiful churches in Virginia. It should also be mentioned
that the handsome desk, pulpit, and sounding-board now to be seen in
Farnham Church were once in Christ Church, Baltimore, when the Rev.
Mr. Johns officiated in the same. They were a present from the minister
and vestry of that church; and few events could give more pleasure to
the congregation at Farnham than to see them again occupied by the
former tenant, and to hear from his lips, if only one or two of those impressive
appeals which have so often been heard from the same."
