they have indeed become all things, and even turned Indians, as it were, to gain them, which I hope will provoke some of us to do our part for our holy faith, and mother, the Church of England. One of their priests lived half a year in their wigwams (that is, houses) without a shirt; and when he petitioned my Lord Bellamont for a couple, he was not only denied, but banished; whereas one of ours in discourse with my Lord of London, said, who did his lordship think would come hither that had a dozen shirts? If I had their language, or wherewith to maintain an interpreter, it should be the first thing I should do to go amongst the thickest of them. Mr. Keith says, if he were younger, he would learn their language, and then I am sure he might convert them sooner than the heathen called Quakers. Indeed, he is the fittest man that ever came over for this province. He is a well-studied divine, a good philosopher and preacher, but, above all, an excellent disputant, especially against the Quakers, who used to challenge all mankind formerly; now all the Friends (or enemies rather) are not able to answer one George Keith; he knows the depth of Satan within them, and all the dwellings and windings of the snake in the grass. In short, he has become the best champion against all dissenters that the Church ever had; and has set up such a light in these dark places, that, by God's blessing, will not be put out. The clergy here have had a sort of convocation at the instance and charge of his Excellency Colonel Nicholson, governor of Virginia. We were but seven in all; and a week together we sat considering of ways and means to propagate the Gospel, and to that end we have drawn up a scheme of the present state of the Church in these provinces, which you shall see when I have time to transcribe it; and I shall desire you to send it afterwards to my good brother Kemble. We have great need of a Bishop here, to visit all the churches, to ordain some, to confirm others, and bless all. "We pray for my good Lord of London; we cannot have better than he whilst he lives; therefore, in the meantime, we shall be very well content with a suffragan. Mr. Keith's mission will be out about a year hence; by that time I hope to get some tokens for my good friends and benefactors. But, as for myself, I am so well satisfied with a prospect of doing good, that I have no inclination to return for England; however, be so kind as to let me know how you do, which will be a comfort to me in the wilderness. You know all my friends; pray let them, especially my mother and sister Hannah know that I am well, God be praised, and shall be glad to hear so much of them. I cannot write many letters, much less one two or three times over, as when I had nothing else to do. I pray God bless you and all my friends! I desire the benefit of their prayers, though I can't have that of their good company. I know you will take all in good part that comes from-Your old friend, "JOHN TALBOT." The following extracts from a letter by the same writer to the Secretary,' contain a graphic account of the state both of the Church and of the various contending sects in the countries which he visited, while they show, at the same time, the effect produced by the preaching and exertions of Mr. Keith : : Philadelphia, 1st Sept. 1703. "Sir, We have been the grand circuit from New England to North Carolina, and are now returned to the centre of our busi ness. "Mr. Keith and I have preached the Gospel to all sorts and conditions of men; we have baptized several scores of men, women, and children, chiefly those of his old friends (and the rest are hardened, just like the Jews, who please not God, and are contrary to all men). We have gathered several hundreds together for the Church of England, and, what is more, to build houses for her service. There are four or five going forward now in this province and the next. That at Burlington is almost finished. Mr. Keith preached the first sermon in it before my Lord Cornbury, whom the Queen has made governor of Jersey, to the satisfaction of all Christian people. Churches are going up amain, where there were never any before. They are going to build three at North Carolina, to keep the people together, lest they should fall into heathenism, Quakerism, &c.; and three more in these lower 1 MS. Letters, vol. i. 125. counties about Newcastle, besides those I hope at Chester, Burlington, and Amboy. "And I must be so just to a member of yours, his Excellency Francis Nicholson, governor of Virginia, as to acknowledge him to be the prime benefactor and founder-in-chief of them all. So generous has he been to the Church, so just to the State, so far from taking of bribes, that he will not receive a present from any, great or small. Therefore we have hopes that it will please God and the Queen to give him time to perfect the good works that he has begun, that he may see the Church prosper and prevail against all her enemies, which I dare say is all that he desires. 66 Being zealous for the honour of the Church of England, which is the mother of us all, upon her account it was that I was willing to travel with Mr. Keith. Indeed, I was loth he should go alone, now he was for us, who, I am sure, would have had followers enough, had he come against us. Besides, I had another end in it, that, by his free conversation and learned disputes, both with his friends and enemies, I have learned better in a year to deal with the Quakers, than I could by several years study in the schools. We want more of his "Narratives," which would be of good use here, where we often meet with the Quakers and their books; more of his "Answers to Robert Barclay," would come well to the clergy of Maryland and Virginia, &c. Barclay's Book has done most mischief; therefore Mr. Keith's answer is more requisite and necessary. Mr. Keith has done great service to the Church, wherever he has been, by preaching and disputing publicly, and from house to house; he has confuted many (especially the Anabaptists) by labour and travel night and day; by writing and printing of books, mostly at his own charge and cost, and giving them out freely, which has been very expensive to him. By these means people are much awakened, and their eyes opened to see the good old way, and they are very well pleased to find the Church at last take such care of her children. For it is a sad thing to consider the years that are past; how some that were born of the English never heard of the name of Christ; how many others were baptized in his name, and have fallen away to heathenism, Quakerism, and atheism, for want of Confirmation. "It seems the strangest thing in the world, and it is thought history can't parallel it, that any place has received the word of God so many years, so many hundred churches built, so many thousand proselytes made, and still remain altogether in the wilderness, as sheep without a shepherd. The poor Church of America is worse on't in this respect, than any of her adversaries. "The Presbyterians here come a great way to lay hands one on another, but, after all, I think they had as good stay at home for the good they do. The Independents are called by their sovereign lord the people; the Anabaptists and Quakers pretend to the Spirit; but the poor Church has nobody upon the spot to comfort or confirm her children; nobody to ordain several that are willing to serve, were they authorized, for the work of the ministry. Therefore they fall back again into the herd of the dissenters, rather than they will be at the hazard and charge to go as far as England for orders; so that we have seen several counties, islands, and provinces, which have hardly an orthodox minister amongst them, which might have been supplied, had we been so happy as to see a Bishop or Suffragan apud Americanos. . . . "We count ourselves happy, and indeed so we are, under the protection and fatherly care of the Right Reverend Father in God, Henry, Lord Bishop of London; and we are all satisfied that we cannot have a greater friend and patron than himself." He then alludes to the ocean which separated them, and after asking whether a Suffragan might not be sent, he thus concludes: "I believe, and am sure, there are a great many learned and good men in England; and I believe also, did our gracious Queen Anne but know the necessities of her many good subjects in these parts of the world, she would allow 1,000l. per annum, rather than so many souls should suffer; and then it would be a hard case if there should not be found one amongst so many pastors and doctors (de tot millibus unus qui transiens adjuvet nos). Meanwhile, I don't doubt but some learned and good man would go further, and do the Church more service with 1007. per annum, than with a coach and six one hundred years hence. 'Sir, your most obedient humble servant, In 1704, Mr. Keith drew up a detailed "Narrative" of the journeys he travelled, and the labours and troubles he underwent, to preach the Gospel in the several American colonies. A Missionary he may be called in the truest sense of the word, being ready everywhere, and at all times-in season and out of season, to proclaim the truth to both bond and free; but, as already mentioned, he seems to have considered himself specially called upon to confute the errors of the Quakers, from whom he had separated himself; and we therefore frequently find him inviting discussions on their peculiar views in their own meeting-houses. Wherever an opportunity was offered, he attended; and being, of course, well acquainted with their several publications, especially those of Fox, Penn, Barclay, and Burroughs, he came prepared, to use his own expression, "to detect the Quakers' errors out of their printed books." But, instead of argument, he was answered by clamour and invective. The best way of putting the reader in possession of his proceedings in this mission, will be to give a few specimens of the "Narrative" itself, which is of considerable length, and written in a very quaint and primitive style. It commences with the words "Praised be God, the Author and Finisher of every good work;" and the writer, after an account of his voyage from London, thus proceeds : "15th Sept. 1704. "We went together from Boston to Lin, and next morning we went to a Quaker's house of my former acquaintance, and from that to the Quakers' meeting, 9th July, where, after I had kept silence until divers of their preachers had spoken, I offered to speak, but was rudely interrupted and threatened by them, and accused for transgressing the Act of Toleration; I told them I had not broke it, for I did not interrupt any of their preachers. After this I remained again silent, and quietly sat down till they |