ADDRESSES TO THE CHURCH CONVENTIONS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, HELD AT THE

CATHEDRAL OF CHARLESTON

SECOND CONVENTION, NOVEMBER, 1824

Beloved Brethren:-The Almighty God has been pleased to bring us again together, after a period of chastisement. The city has been swept by pestilence and the country afflicted by an unpropitious season. Let us in this place lift the eye of faith to behold the hand of him who loves his children in the very moment when he appears to punish, "For whom the Lord loveth he chastiseth: and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Now no chastisement for the present seemeth to bring with it joy, but sorrow; but afterwards it will yield to them who are exercised thereby, the most peaceable fruit of justice." (Heb. xii.) Our first object should be to draw from the exhibition of his providence that conclusion which religion teaches, and which reason sanctions. "See that you refuse not him who speaketh. For if they escaped not that refused him that spoke upon earth, much more shall not we, who turn away from him who speaketh to us from heaven." That voice in which he addresses us, admonishes us of our neglect, informs us that we are inordinately attached to this earth and to its transitory goods, that we too implicitly rely upon its maxims and have preferred time to eternity; it tells us that we do not seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, but that we are over solicitous, saying, What shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and wherewith shall we be clothed? That voice reminds us, that we endeavour to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, where the rust and the moth consume, and where thieves dig through and steal, and that we do not lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven. That voice then instructs us that our good Father, who is in heaven, blasts our hopes to teach us that "Unless the Lord will build the house, he who attempts to raise it, labours in vain"that our wordly prudence is like that of those who consulted together how they might build a tower whose top would reach the heavens, so that they might be able to defy the God of the deluge-but the Lord smiled in derision of their wisdom, and the babbling builders, and the presumptuous projectors, were scattered over the surface of the globe

to learn humility from their disappointment; to do penance for their contumacy, and to seek reconciliation with their God, when they should be convinced of their weakness, and dependence. Thus may we from the disappointments of our hopes be made wise unto salvation, and the cutting off from amongst us of so many of our brethren, is well calculated to teach us the uncertainty of life, and to excite us to a preparation for eternity. Indeed, brethren, many amongst us well needed the lesson. God grant, it may be turned to profitable account.

You need not be informed that our church in this state, is as yet but in its infancy, scarcely moulded into form, and far from being perfectly organized, totally destitute of wordly means, favoured equally as any other it is true, by our excellent state constitution, but though having experienced the kindness of the Legislature, and polite attention of many of our estimable brethren of other denominations, yet we labour without either our fault, or that of our fellow-citizens, under the appalling inconvenience of not being known to be what we really are doctrines are imputed to us, which have not only been disavowed by our body, but even condemned by our church; principles are attributed to us, as the foundation of our morality, which principles we abjure as irreligious and reject as absurd; and doubts have been raised as to the perfect compatibility of the system of our church government with the spirit of the glorious republics which it is an object of our ambition to preserve in purity and vigour, and to be identified with which, is a source of our gratification. But we must leave to time, to our own good conduct, to the impartial inquiry of an intelligent people, laudably desirious of information, and to the great influence of the divine Spirit of truth, to exhibit to the world facts instead of the fictions of prejudice, and to convince our brethren that although we lament the divisions of the Christian world, and believe that we have preserved, unadulterated, the deposit of faith, still we love those who differ from us; and though we cannot assert what we do not believe, that in religion, truth and falsehood are matters of perfect indifference, we desire to be in the strictest bonds of charity with our fellow-citizens. And how can we hate our friends when our divine Master commands us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who calumniate and persecute us, if we desire to be his children? And our whole aim is to be ranked amongst the children of God.

Still since our former meeting some progress has been made. The Legislature of South Carolina has granted incorporation to the vestry and members of the Cathedral Church of St. Finbar, to the vestry and

members of the Church of St. Peter's in Columbia, to the Roman Catholics of Georgetown, who have been since organized and have purchased a good lot of ground for a church; and to the general trustees of the Roman Catholic Church of South Carolina. It is but right, however, to inform you, that owing to the misinformation received by some members, and the misconceptions of other members of the legislative bodies, many difficulties arose which it required several explanations to remove. However, we must bear ample testimony to the honour, candour, intelligence and integrity of several of those gentlemen, and to the zeal of others, and the liberal disposition and good will of the bodies at large towards us: as soon as they clearly saw our object to be constitutional, all difficulty was removed. The zealous exertions of the respectable attorney-general of the state to set our case in its true light ought not to be forgotten.

In Columbia a lot of ground for a church has been purchased, in an eligible situation. A plan of an intended church has been exhibited, but not yet finally approved, and we have reason to fear that owing to not consulting and receiving the necessary constitutional sanction for some of their acts, the vestry of this church have unintentionally fallen into mistakes which, however, are likely to be easily adjusted.

There are several other parts of the state in which churches are wanted, and could be supported, either totally or partially, but the want of clergymen is so great, that at the present moment it would be prematurely occupying your attention upon what could not be of any practical benefit, to lay before you statements which would only produce in you unavailing regret at the destitute condition of hundreds of our brethren in the faith. Some of those places we have visited, others we have frequently been invited to, and intended to visit, but have had neither the leisure nor means which would be necessary.

At your former meeting, an order was passed for printing a number of copies of the constitution: the execution of this order was committed to a special committee. It has not yet been executed, but this delay is not attributed to them. It is right that the cause of the delay should be known. We have understood that certain amendments which we have declared to be fully admissible by the canon-law and the usages of the church, are likely to be submitted to your consideration. We have also sent an abstract of the constitution, in the Latin language, to Rome, for inspection, and to be informed whether it was in any part in opposition to the general discipline of the church, and we thought it right to delay the execution of the order, until your decision and the judgment of Rome should be known.

We have communicated to Mr. O'Connell the resolutions of thanks passed by the houses of the clergy and laity at the former convention for the zeal which he manifested in regard to this church: as yet we have had no answer to the communication, but we have been gratified at observing that in the report of the Committee of the Irish Catholic Association, the subject has been favourably noticed, and we do indulge the hope that if their means will allow, we shall not be forgotten. Other churches in these states feel themselves sufficiently rich to dispense with their bounty; we must confess that to our poverty it would be equally acceptable as it is necessary. Probably a statement which has been studiously put forward in certain public papers of this country, in a manner calculated to create particular impressions, might have attracted your notice. It purported that our holy father Pope Leo XII, had granted considerable pecuniary aid to our missions. We can only state, that we have never received any, nor are we aware of any having been granted, though we have had communications from his holiness and from the cardinal transacting the business of the Congregation of Cardinals de propaganda fide, of a date by many months subsequent to this alleged appropriation. We have thought it right to make this statement for the purpose of correcting any mistake to which the publication of such paragraphs may give rise, and you will thus perceive that for the purposes of religion we have had no means but such as you have contributed.

One of the great objects of our solicitude is and always has been, the creation of a seminary, in which candidates for holy orders might receive that instruction which is absolutely necessary to qualify them for the proper discharge of their arduous duties. We need not inform you of the deep erudition which should be united with that solid piety absolutely required for qualifying a priest to instruct, to teach, to exhort, to reprove, to withstand the gainsayers, and to preserve with fidelity the deposit of our faith, as well as to be made the pattern of his flock and the dispenser of the sacraments, which are the mysteries of God. You know our want of means, and the comparatively small number of candidates which our diocess requires. It has often been suggested to us that it would be better to have them educated elsewhere. We have judged otherwise, and shall give you an abstract of the grounds of our judgment. Our desire is that they should lay deep and broadly the solid foundations of classical and philosophical literature, and to be satisfied of their competency and acquirements, not so much from the reports of others as from our own close and frequent examinations.

Again, we desired that under our own inspection they should grow up in the service of the altar, proceeding from order to order, as they became qualified, in conformity with the salutary discipline of the best days of the Church, and in compliance with the recommendations of our councils, especially that of Trent. Then, although throughout the world our faith and our principles of morality and of general discipline are the same, yet the application of those general principles to special practice, requires the knowledge of the habits, the dispositions, and the other circumstances of the people, and to special discipline of the particular church, in which the clergyman is to be employed, and even in these United States, our extent of territory is so vast, and some of our circumstances is so very different, that principles regarding the state of society, which may be innocently and laudably imbibed and taught in some of our states, would be extremely mischievous in their practical results amongst us. The peculiarity of our climate too, requires an adaptation of the bodily system. In addition to all those considerations is another of the utmost importance. Although no state religion is recognised, and we trust never will [be] in this Union, and the minister of religion is vested with no public or influential character beyond what the voluntary recognition of his own flock allows, or the politeness of his fellow-citizens concedes, still unquestionably the clergyman has some sway over the minds of many: and it is the policy which every state has followed, and perhaps ought to follow, to be vigilant that this sway be not exercised for injurious purposes. And that which is the duty of the body at large, is in some degree the duty of each individual. Hence it is no arrogance of temporal authority in us to have determined that, as the clerical jurisdiction must be derived from us, we shall be careful that it shall not be exercised by any person except one who is acquainted with the nature of our republican form of government, and attached to its institutions. And we have thought that all the ends which we thus seek will be best attained by the creation of a seminary in this diocess.

In its creation we have had to encounter many difficulties. One of the chief was the want of funds to remunerate the teachers. This difficulty has been in a great measure obviated by extending the school, so as to afford an opportunity of receiving other pupils, upon the distinct pledge that their religious tenets should not, in any manner, be interfered with. And thus whilst those pupils receive, we trust, at least equal literary benefit as they would in any other institution, and the religious feelings of their parents are honourably respected, the school is at all times open to the inspection of those parents, and the