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Boston, was settled here for some time, and was succeeded by the Rev. William Eastwick Graham. The present Incumbent, the Rev. Philip Matthews, was elected Rector, March 6, 1812.

Sect. 7. Hilton Head.

Hilton Head formed a part of St. Luke's Parish, but is now considered as an independent cure. There is a neat and commodious Church, built since the Revolution, through the influence of Capt. Stoney and Mr. Fripp. It is of wood, on a brick foundation; is 40 feet by 30, and is in good repair. There is at present no Incumbent, but the neighbouring Clergy occasionally visit it, and administer the Ordinances of religion.

Sect. 8. Grace Church, Sullivan's Island.

This Island, situated at the entrance of Charleston harbour, is a place of refuge for strangers to the climate, in the sickly season of the year, and of general resort, either for health or amusement, to the citizens of Charleston, in summer.

Public Worship has, for several years, been performed on the Island, in a large brick edifice originally built for a Lazaretto. The late Bishop Dehon stated to the Convention of 1817, that this "building was purchased by subscription, to be converted into a place of public worship." It has been fitted up with much neatness, and is commodiously pewed. It was consecrated, June 10, 1819, by Bishop Bowen, by the name of Grace Church. The Bible, was a donation from Mrs. Mary Peters, the Prayer Book for the Reading Desk, from Mrs. Margaret Bethune; and two Prayer Books for the Altar, were presented by Mrs. Valk.

At present, the only piece of Communion Plate, is a Chalice.

The following Clergymen have officiated on the Island. The Rev. George H. Spieren, Rev. George T. Nankivel, Rev. Dr. Mills, and the Rev. Joseph Warren. The present Incumbent, the Rev. Albert A. Muller, was the first Minister of Grace Church.

As the Island is inhabited only in summer, except by a few persons, Divine Service is performed only at that season.

The zeal of the late Bishop Dehon, in promoting the establishment of this Church, endeared him to the inhabitants of Sullivan's Island. As a mark of their affection, a Monument has been erected to his memory, against the east wall, through the exertions of the Rev. Mr. Muller.*

is a humble memorial of the
Right Rev. THEODORE DEHON, D. D.
late Rector of St. Michael's Church,
in Charleston, and Bishop of the
Diocess of South-Carolina.

He was born in Boston

On the 8th day of December 1776.
and died

On the 6th day of August, A. D. 1817.
Our State was blessed by his pure example,
his Christian zeal,

and ardent devotion to the Church.
The people of Charleston were improved
by his solemn admonitions:
Loved him for his pastoral care, and beheld
in his life the beauty of holiness.
The last days of his pious
and benevolent life, were devoted to the
religious edification of this Island,
and the establishment of this Church.

He reared its altar-its walls are his memorial!
"Remember him O! my God, concerning this,
and wipe not out the good deeds which
he has done for the house of his God,
and the offices thereof."

CHAPTER XXVII.

Of the Church.

THE Church of England, to which, under the good Providence of God, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America is indebted for its Spiritual Authority, its Sacraments, its doctrines, its discipline and its Priesthood, existed in primitive and apostolical purity, before the Church of Rome became a corrupt and a temporal Power.

It cannot now be ascertained by whom, and at what period, the Gospel was first introduced into the British Islands. Nor is either of much importance, provided it can be shown that, the Church in Britain was Episcopally organized, before the Church of Rome became corrupt, and added many inventions to the "faith once delivered to the saints.'

It is known, however, that, during the early persecutions, many Christians fled into the remote Provinces of the Roman Empire, to avoid the fate which awaited them, near the seat of the Imperial government. They spread themselves through Spain and Gaul, and passed over into Britain. The remote situation of this Island, offered an asylum from the immediate rage of their enemies, and many other circumstances were favourable to the enjoyment of their religion. The Druidical superstition had been nearly destroyed, and several of the smaller states had been subjected to the authority of the Romans.

From whom the first British Bishops derived their consecration, is not now known. But from the undeniable fact, that the Episcopal Office existed at an early period of the Church in Britain, it may reasonably be concluded, from any thing that can be proved to the contrary, that it was received in the Apostolic, or immediately succeeding age. At this time, there was no ecclesiastical connexion between Britain and the Church at Rome. Papal Supremacy had not ye been asserted; and Transubstantiation, and the Worship of Images had not as yet been introduced.

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There were several Prelates who derived their Episcopal Authority from the same source as the Bishop of Rome himself. These presided over the primitive Churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, &c. and they certainly could have conveyed the Apostolical succession with pure hands and an uncorrupt faith. It cannot be proved, that the primitive British Bishops did not derive their Episcopal Orders from some of these Apostolical men. St. Clement was Bishop of Rome while the Apostle St. John was living, and was placed in that See by the Apostle St. Peter.* He was a fellow labourer with St. Paul, and this great Apostle declared his name to be written in the book of life. Surely, his consecrations and ordinations were pure and conformable with the practice of the Apostles. It is acknowledged that, during the first three centuries, the Church at Rome was pure and uncorrupt, and if the British derived their Orders from Rome during that period, their Orders must have been equally pure and apostolical. It has been judiciously remarked by Fuller, the Historian, that, the "faith of the Romish Church, which is said by St. Paul to have gone abroad unto all men, [Rom. I. 8.] is not less different from its present corruptions, than the Latin of Cicero from the language of modern Italy."

* Potter on Church Govt. 123. 154 Bowden's Letters on Episcopacy II. 148,

.Phil. IV. 3.

As then the Church of Rome, in the primitive ages, was equally pure with the Churches of Jerusalem or Antioch, and as the Church in Britain was complete in its Orders, while the Church of Rome existed in Apostolical purity, it follows, that the British Church was equally pure and Apostolical, with the primitive Churches founded by the Apostles, although its Orders may have been derived from the Church at Rome: which, however, remains yet to be proved.

We have the authority of an amiable and learned Presbyterian divine of Massachusetts, in favour of the necessity of an uninterrupted succession of the Ministry from the Apostles, although it may have been derived through the Church of Rome. "They will tell us," says he, that "Ordinations came down to us through the Church of Rome, and there was a time when that Church was so essentially corrupt, that she ceased to be a Church of Christ, and her Officers ceased to be ministers of Christ; and therefore they, who withdrew from her, at the time of the Reformation, having among them no valid ordinations, must have begun them anew. But will history support this: conclusion? Did the first reformers, distrusting their past ordinations, receive one from their lay-brethren? The contrary is most evident. The protestant reformers in England early drew up a confession of their faith, in which, as Dr. Burnet says, they censure any who sould take upon them to preach, or administer the Sacraments, without having lawfully received the power from the ministers, to whom alone the right of conferring that power doth appertain.' Certainly they had no apprehension, that the ministe- : rial succession was at an end.* The Roman Church, though at that time exceedingly corrupt, appears not to have materially corrupted her ordinations.

The Reformation in England was effected by the Bishops, to whom the power of Ordaining had been lawfully committed.