AMERICA,

AND THE

AMERICAN CHURCH.

BY THE

REV. HENRY CASWALL, M.A.

VICAR OF FIGHELDEAN, WILTS.,

AND FOURTEEN YEARS IN THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH IN

CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES.

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:

JOHN AND CHARLES MOZLEY, PATERNOSTER ROW.

PREFACE.

THE Church of England occupies at present a critical and deeply interesting position. Enemies are actively attempting to undermine the religious institutions of the country, while friends are earnestly proposing many plans for removing their abuses, and increasing their efficiency. Under these circumstances, it appears to the Author that a fair and impartial account of the Church in America is calculated to supply encouragement, and to suggest valuable ideas.

The historical portion of the subject exhibits a remote branch of the Reformed Church, planted amid serious difficulties, and slowly growing up uncared-for and neglected by the State. Unable to obtain the necessary means of self-propagation, it maintains a languid existence until an undesired catastrophe allows it the possibility of healthy extension. In the course of half a century from that event, it is seen to put forth vigorous branches of its own, and to diffuse salutary influences over

a vast portion of an entire hemisphere. This will afford a decided evidence that our Reformed Church contains within itself a principle of vitality, and that it is not, as some would insinuate, a mere creation of the secular authority.

The description of the Constitution and Laws of the American Church will show that, although under certain conditions, a Royal Supremacy and an Alliance with the State possess their advantages, they are by no means essential to ecclesiastical government. While corporately identical with the Church of England, it will appear that the American Church has, by degrees, formed for itself a system of legislation adapted to its position, and favourable to its growth, without the slightest interference on the part of any secular authority. In this connexion also, the reader will not fail to perceive that the merely accidental character of some of the principal evils of the Mother Church, is proved by the non-existence of those evils beyond the Atlantic.

It is hoped that this work may be serviceable, not only in England, but in the Colonies, where in many respects, the Clergy and Laity are placed in circumstances similar to those of their brethren in the United States. And in the event of the Colonial Churches acquiring Synodical powers, we may be certain that the experience acquired in America, will be a subject of their careful examination.

The personal narrative of the Author will contain