University of Virginia Library

From the Manuscript Journal of the House of Delegates, 1773-74, and
Manuscript Archives.

Thursday, the 12th of May, 14 George III., 1774.—"A petition of
sundry persons of the community of Christians called Baptists, and other
Protestant dissenters, whose names are thereunto subscribed, was presented
to the House and read, setting forth that the toleration proposed by the
bill, ordered at the last session of the General Assembly to be printed and
published, not admitting public worship except in the daytime, is inconsistent
with the laws of England, as well as the practice and usage of the
primitive Churches, and even of the English Church itself; that the night
season may sometimes be better spared by the petitioners from the necessary
duties of their callings, and that they wish for no indulgences which
may disturb the peace of Government," &c.

The action of the House not discoverable.

On the 17th May, 1774.—"A petition of several members of the Presbyterian
Church, in the county of Bedford, setting forth that many well-disposed
persons of their community had made contributions, to which

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No action, owing to political matters.

May 14, 1774.—"The vestry of the parish of Frederick ask leave to
levy on the tithables, for the minister's salary, "one hundred and fifty
pounds of current money of Virginia, in lieu of the tobacco and cask and
the legal allowance for shrinkage."

The petition is granted,—Mr. Wood, Mr. Edward Pendleton, and Mr.
Zane being directed to prepare the bill.

On May 23, 1774.—The petitions of sundry inhabitants of the county
and parish of Augusta, representing that "the parish is upward of ninety
miles long and near eighty miles wide, and that there are between three
and four thousand tithables in it, and but one church; therefore praying it
may be divided."

On May 24, 1774.—"Ordered, That the members of this House do
attend in their places at the hour of ten in the forenoon, on the first day of
June next, in order to proceed with the Speaker and the mace to the church
in this city, and that the Rev. Mr. Price be appointed to read prayers
and the Rev. Mr. Gwatkin to preach a sermon suitable to the occasion."

Richard Henry Lee is to request Mr. G. to comply. Mr. G. has "a
disorder in his breast," and Mr. Price preached. This was the day appointed
by Parliament for the closing of Boston Harbour.

Many petitions ask the dissolution of vestries for malfeasance of various
sorts,—that parishes may be altered, &c.

The first great Act aimed at the perpetuity of the Established Church
was passed at the session commencing in October, 1776. I find a very
striking paper among the archives, which seems to have had a large share
in the passage of the subsequent Act. It is labelled "Dissenters' Pet'n,
1776, Oct. 24. Ref'd to Com. of Religion."

The petition is as follows:—

"To the Honourable the General Assembly of Virginia:—

"The memorial of the Presbytery of Hanover humbly represents, That
your memorialists are governed by the same sentiments which inspire the
United States of America, and are determined that nothing in our power

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and influence shall be wanting to give success to their common cause. We
would also represent that the dissenters from the Church of England in
this country have ever been desirous to conduct themselves as peaceable
members of the civil government, for which reason they have hitherto submitted
to several ecclesiastic burdens and restrictions that are inconsistent
with equal liberty. But now, when the many and grievous oppressions
of our mother-country have laid this continent under the necessity of
casting off the yoke of tyranny and of forming independent governments
upon equitable and liberal foundations, we flatter ourselves that we shall
be freed from all the encumbrances which a spirit of domination, prejudice,
or bigotry hath interwoven with most other political systems. This we are
the more strongly encouraged to expect by the Declaration of Rights, so
universally applauded for that dignity, firmness, and precision with which
it delineates and asserts the privileges of society and the prerogatives of
human nature, and which we embrace as the magna charta of our Commonwealth,
that can never be violated without endangering the grand superstructure
it was destined to sustain. Therefore we rely upon this Declaration,
as well as the justice of our honourable Legislature, to secure us the
free exercise of religion according to the dictates of our consciences; and we
should fall short in our duty to ourselves and the many and numerous congregations
under our care were we upon this occasion to neglect laying
before you a statement of the religious grievances under which we have
hitherto laboured, that they no longer may be continued in our present
form of government.

"It is well known that in the frontier-counties—which are justly supposed
to contain a fifth part of the inhabitants of Virginia—the Dissenters
have borne the heavy burdens of purchasing glebes, building churches,
and supporting the Established clergy, where there are very few Episcopalians,
either to assist in bearing the expense or to reap the advantage; and
that throughout the other parts of the country there are also many thousands
of zealous friends and defenders of our State who, besides the invidious
and disadvantageous restrictions to which they have been subjected, annually
pay large taxes to support an Establishment from which their consciences
and principles oblige them to dissent,—all which are confessedly so many
violations of their natural rights, and in their consequences a restraint upon
freedom of inquiry and private judgment.

"In this enlightened age, and in a land where all of every denomination
are united in the most strenuous efforts to be free, we hope and expect that
our representatives will cheerfully concur in removing every species of religious
as well as civil bondage. Certain it is, that every argument for
civil liberty gains additional strength when applied to liberty in the concerns
of religion; and there is no argument in favour of establishing
the Christian religion but what may be pleaded with equal propriety for
establishing the tenets of Mahomed by those who believe the Alkoran;
or if this be not true, it is at least impossible for the magistrate to adjudge

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the right of preference among the various sects that profess the Christian
faith, without erecting a chair of infallibility, which would lead us back
to the Church of Rome.

"We beg leave further to represent that religious establishments are
highly injurious to the temporal interests of any community. Without
insisting upon the ambition and the arbitrary practices of those who are
favoured by Government, or the intriguing, seditious spirit which is commonly
excited by this as well as every other kind of oppression, such establishments
greatly retard population, and, consequently, the progress of
arts, sciences, and manufactures. Witness the rapid growth and improvement
of the Northern Provinces compared with this. No one can deny
that the more early settlement and the many superior advantages of our
country would have invited multitudes of artificers, mechanics, and all other
useful members of society to fix their habitation among us, who have either
remained in the place of their nativity, or preferred worse civil government
and a more barren soil where they might enjoy the rights of conscience
more fully than they had a prospect of doing it in this. From which we
infer that Virginia might have now been the capital of America and a
match for the British arms, without depending upon either for the necessaries
of war, had it not been prevented by her religious Establishment.

"Neither can it be made appear that the Gospel needs any such civil
aid. We rather conceive that when our blessed Saviour declares his kingdom
is not of this world he renounces all dependence upon State power;
and, as his weapons were spiritual, and were only designed to have influence
upon the judgment and heart of men, we are persuaded that if mankind
were left in the quiet possession of their unalienable religious privileges,
Christianity, as in the days of the apostles, would continue to prevail and
flourish in the greatest purity, by its own native excellence and under the
all-disposing providence of God.

"We would also humbly represent that the only proper objects of civil
government are the happiness and protection of men in their present state
of existence, the security of the life, liberty, and property of the citizens,
and to restrain the vicious and encourage the virtuous, by wholesome laws
equally extending to every individual; but that the duty which we owe
our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can only be directed by
reason and conviction, and is nowhere cognizable but at the tribunal of the
Universal Judge.

"Therefore we ask no ecclesiastical establishment for ourselves, neither
can we approve of them when granted to others: this, indeed, would be
giving exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges to one set (or sect)
of men, without any special public services, to the common reproach or
injury of every other denomination. And, for the reasons recited, we are
induced earnestly to entreat that all laws now in force in this Commonwealth
which countenance religious domination may be speedily repealed,—that
all of every religious sect may be protected in the full exercise of their

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several modes of worship, and exempted from all taxes for the support of
any Church whatsoever, further than what may be agreeable to their own
private choice or voluntary obligation. This being done, all partial and
invidious distinctions will be abolished, to the great honour and interest
of the State, and every one be left to stand or fall according to merit,
which can never be the case so long as any one denomination is established
in preference to others.

"That the Great Sovereign of the universe may inspire you with unanimity,
wisdom, and resolution, and bring you to a just determination on all the
important concerns before you, is the fervent prayer of your memorialists.

"Signed by order of the Presbytery.

"John Todd, Moderator.

"Caleb Wallace, P. Clerk."

On June 3, 1777, the Presbytery of Hanover petitioned the Assembly
again. Thanking it for the late Act, (of 1776,) they proceed to remonstrate
against "a general assessment" which was left to be decided by the next
Assembly. If the Legislature have any power over religion and its ministers,
it has all power, and might oppress and enslave. The memorialists
declare that these consequences are "so entirely subversive of religious
liberty, that, if they should take place in Virginia, we should be reduced
to the melancholy necessity of saying, with the apostles in like cases,
`Judge ye whether it be best to obey God or man,' and also of acting as
they acted."

Nov. 28, 1777.—The petition of the inhabitants of Christ Church
parish, in the county of Lancaster, says that in 1759, by an Act of Assembly,
a new vestry was elected in the parish, but death has now reduced
them to four. These four have "elected into that office a person whom
we think not friendly to the glorious cause we are now engaged in; and,
as we are now declared a free and independent people, we think we have
a right to the choice of a new set of rulers." They therefore pray a dissolution
of the tory vestry and power to elect a new one. This petition is
signed by one hundred and twenty-eight persons, apparently the principal
men of the county. A counter-petition is filed, signed by seven persons,
declaring that the vestryman in question—Mr. William Montague—is not
a tory, though he had been so considered, and praying a refusal of the
petition to dissolve the body. But the vestry was dissolved."

On the 26th November, 1778, various inhabitants of King William
county (Protestant Episcopal) petition and say that the Act suspending
the salaries of clergymen was regarded as temporary: they hope some
provision will be made. They do not wish conscientious Dissenters to
contribute to the support of the Church; "that men of such principles and
persuasions should be exonerated from the support of a clergy so different

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This memorial was "deferred" to the next Assembly.

Petitions from Amherst, Culpepper, Caroline, &c. for a general assessment.
This last—Caroline—memorial, (Episcopal,) of date December 5,
1777, states that the memorialists "have seen an Act of the last session
of Assembly, by which dissenters from the Church of England are exempted
from all levies for the support of the said Church or its ministers,
and highly approve thereof, as founded on principles of justice and propriety,
and favourable to religious liberty: at the same time they beg
leave to suggest that as, in their opinion, public worship is a duty we owe
the Creator and Preserver of mankind, and productive of effects the most
beneficial to society, it ought to be enjoined and regulated by the Legislature,
so as to preserve public peace, order, and decency, without prescribing
a mode or form of worship to any." It then declares that the
voluntary-contribution system will cause difficulties between the clergy
and people and discourage men of genius and injure religion. A general
assessment is then prayed.

December 2, 1778, referred to next session.

November 6, 1778.—Sundry (Episcopal) inhabitants of the county of
Cumberland declare that the Dissenters are seducing the ignorant and
sowing "discontent between husbands and their wives." They have
"seen meetings in the night of our slaves, without our consent, which
could produce nothing but deeds of darkness," and the Dissenters had
produced "disobedience and insolence to masters." They "wish to see a
well-regulated toleration established," that men "may be permitted to
serve God in their own way, without molestation. . . . But we wish also
that these nightly meetings may be prohibited under severe penalties."
Lastly, they pray that "some regulation may be adopted to make the clergy
of the Established Church accountable for their conduct, and be removed
for their misbehaviour."

This was rejected December 2, 1778.

October 29, 1778.—"Some of the people called Seceding Presbyterians"
pray that they may thereafter make oath "by holding up the right hand"
only; which petition was granted.

November 10, 1779.—"Divers of the freeholders and other free inhabitants
of Amherst county"—who afterwards describe themselves as "composed
of Church of England men, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists"—"unanimously

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May 12, 1780.—Sundry inhabitants of Amelia pray that marriage-licenses
shall not continue to be directed, in the old form, to Episcopal
ministers; that certain persons therefrom doubted the validity of marriages
by other than the Episcopal clergy: they pray that the ceremony "without
the use of the ring and the service" may be declared lawful. Successful.
It led to the bill legitimizing children of all such marriages by Dissenting
ministers. The Baptist Association at Sandy Creek, Charlotte, petition
for the same. Also other Baptist associations.

November, 1780.—Petition and counter-petition of the inhabitants of
Cumberland. The Presbyterians pray the Assembly to declare all nonjuring
clergymen incapable of preaching. The Episcopalians indignantly
declare the Presbyterians "disorderly and turbulent, desirous of giving
laws to all societies," and fond of noise and violence. The real object of
their (the Presbyterians') petition, the memorialists say, is to ruin the Rev.
Christopher MacRae, who, although prevented by conscientious scruples
from taking the oath, is a most benevolent man, a pattern of piety, and
one who wishes liberty and happiness to all mankind. The ruin of the
Church in Cumberland is declared to be the ultimate object of the
Presbyterians.

November 22, 1781.—Sundry inhabitants of Prince Edward county
pray that all the old vestries may be dissolved by Act of Assembly and
new ones elected by the body of the community at large, Dissenters to be
equally competent with conformists to the post of vestrymen, and the sole
proviso to be "attachment to the present form of government." Referred
to next Assembly, and, June 9, 1782, rejected.

November 12, 1784.—The Hanover Presbytery pray that there may be
no incorporations, and, if a general assessment is decided upon, that it may
be as liberal as possible.

June 4, 1784.—The Protestant Episcopal clergy file their memorial.

From this time—that is to say, the date of the Act of "Religious
Freedom"—the enemies of the Establishment redoubled their efforts to
overthrow the last vestiges of its former power and usefulness. The petitions
are throughout of this description, and need not be particularly
referred to. The concessions of the Assembly had evidently given them
hope and resolution, and they seem to have employed every possible means
in their power to cast discredit on the Episcopacy.

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During the same period, the petitions from parishes praying a dissolution
of old, inanimate vestries and a sale of unoccupied glebes indicate
that the Establishment was almost at its last gasp. There are great numbers
of these petitions. The foregoing is the conclusion which will be
arrived at from reading them. It is not necessary to publish them.