Story of St. Paul's Church, Augusta, Georgia, A.D. 1750-1906 / by Chauncey C. Williams

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1. HISTORICAL SKETCH 2. GIFTS AND MEMORIALS 3. THE CHURCH AND THE FO*RT 4. .REMINISCENCE OF 25 YEARS 5. THE COLONIAL PARISH.

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3ISHOP POLK LIES BURIED UNDER THE CHURCH, AND BESIDE HIM. FRANCES A. DEVEREUX. HIS WIFE.

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^^ rHE story of St. Pauls Church is of special interest be lli cause it is the only institution in Augusta which has ^ ^ come down to us from Colonial times, which survived the shock of the Revolution and holds its same ancient site today.
When the English came up the river from Savannah in the middle of the eighteenth century, they established here a Trading Post with the Indians. In 1736, by order of General Oglethorpe and the Trustees of the Colony a town was laid out, and a fort built, on a bluff commanding the river. It was a little wooden fort, 120 feet square and musket proof. It was furnished with eight iron cannon, which Oglethorpe had brought from England. It was probably named "Fort Au-. gusta" in honor of Princess Augusta, who, in that 3rear, was married to the Prince of Wales and became the mother of George III. Its site today is marked by a handsome Celtic cross of rough-hewn granite, erected by the Colo nial Dames in 1901. Very soon a thriving settlement sprang up along the river bank and the town took the name of the fort Augusta.
In 1750 the gentlemen of Augusta built "a handsome and convenient Church" opposite one of the curtains of the fort, and near enough to be protected by its guns. This Church stood on the frontier line of civilization in Georgia, and was appropriately named for the great pioneer Apostle, St Paul. It was not only the first Church, but for over fifty years St. Pauls was the only Church of any kind in Augusta. Its rectors were, of course, missionaries of the Church of England. The Rev. Jonathan Copp was sent to take charge of the work in 1751. He found the conditions very difficult. He wrote home that people lived in Augusta "in fear of their lives." There was a constant dread of an Indian invasion and massacre, and "a great concourse of absconding debtors had taken refuge here," introducing a very bad element into the population.

But Mr. Copp held services regularly in the Parish Church. The better class of people encouraged him and he carried the gospel into the surrounding country, within a radius of thirty miles. He was succeeded in 1756 by the Rev. Samuel Frink, a delicate man, who in spite of ill health went everywhere, found much to discourage him in the town, but felt that the example of a few gentlemen and their families who were con stant in their Church duties, would finally have its influence on the community. The Rev. Edward Ellington, who became rector in 1767, was a great missionary, and seldom at home except on Sundays. He undertook journeys of over one hun dred miles and under him the Church grew and prospered. He was followed in December, 1771, by the Rev. James Sey mour, who continued rector of St. Pauls through all the vicis situdes of the Revolutionary War. During that war the fort was three times taken and retaken, and Mr. Seymour saw the Church appropriated first by the Americans as a barracks and again by the British for other military purposes. The parson age house he willingly gave up as a hospital for sick soldiers. In 1780 Lieutenant Colonel Browne, the British commander, realizing the necessity of strengthening his defenses, took pos session of the Church and burying ground, enclosing them within a strong fortification. In honor of Lord Cornwallis, who had recently been appointed commander-in-chief of the Southern department, the name of the fort was changed to Fort Cornwallis. It was this stronger fortification which was besieged in 1781 by the Americans under "Light Horse Harry Lee, father of our own general, Robert E. Lee. It was cap tured on the 2d of June after- a desperate fight. The old churchyard became a battlefield, drenched with the blood and sown with bones of the slain. The Church itself was practi cally destroyed by the fire of one American cannon, mounted on a tower thirty feet high and raking the whole interior of the fort. Mr. Seymour was hunted down by a mob and driven into a swamp, but after many privations he escaped to Savan nah. When hostilities were over he was invited to return and assured of welcome, but he engaged in other work, and never came back.
Meantime the churchyard and the Glebe had been confis-

COMMODORE BOWEN, "THE ADMIRAL OF THE AMERICAN NAVY," WHO CAPTURED THE BRITISH GUNPOWDER WITH WHICH GEN. WASHINGTON DROVE LORD HOWE
OUT OF BOSTON.

cated by the State. Th:s Glebe of 300 acres was a part of the original grant made to the Church for the support of the rector, August 16th, 1750. It lay between what are now Jackson and Centre streets, and extended as far as Gwinnett street. Only fifteen acres of it had been cultivated. The rest was virgin forest. It became, whether rightfully or not, the property of the State of Georgia, and, with other public lands, was turned over to the Trustees of the Richmond Academy, who were also trustees of the town. A part of the proceeds from the sale of these lands went to the building and endow ment of the Richmond Academy. As the old Church was injured beyond repair, the trustees were directed to build on the site of it the second St. Pauls Church in 1786. For ten years or more services were held regularly by Rev. Adam Boyd and the Rev. Mr. Palmer. On November 26,1789, a sol emn and notable service was held to return thanks for fhe reestablishment of peace. The governor, clergymen and State officials all went in procession from the State House to St. Pauls Church. Mr. Palmer preached a sermon for which he received the thanks of the Assembly. While Episcopal clergy men still officiated in St. Pauls, the trustees had never given the Church any title to either the building or the ancient bury ing ground. In fact, in 1804, they rented the Church for five years to the Presbyterians. An earnest effort was then made by the Episcopalians of Augusta to recover title to at least the Church site, which had been theirs from 1750, and finally, in 1818, the legislature tardily restored to them the old Church lot. Immediately the little wooden building which the trus tees had erected was removed to where it now stands on the northwest corner of Broad and Kollock streets. The present brick Church was planned and carried to completion in 1819 at a cost of $30,000. The Rev. Hugh Smith was called to the rectorship and soon put every part of the Church work on a solid and permanent basis. He was succeeded in 1832 by the Rev. Edward E. Ford, whose long and vigorous ministry of thirty years built the Church up in power and influence in the community. His health was impaired at the opening of the Civil War and the vestry refusing to let him resign, called as his assistant Rev. Wm. H. Clarke. Dr. Ford died on Christ-

mas Eve, 1862, and at his request was buried under the altar of the Church. A brass cross, set in a block of Sienna marble and embedded in a mosaic pavement, marks the place of his burial. Mr. Clarke carried on the work of his predecessor through the troublous times of the war and afterwards. He died honored and respected by the whole community, in Aug ust, 1877. He and his wife are buried under the chancel. He was succeeded January 13, 1878, by the present rector, Dr. Chauncey C. Williams. In 1888 the Church was enlarged and a beautiful chancel was added. The old Church grows richer all the time in costly and interesting memorials. Bishop Leonidas Polk, who was Bishop of Louisiana and also a Lieutenant General in the Army of the Confederate States, is buried under the Sanctuary and his wife beside him. The monument to his memory is altogether unique. There is no other like it and can be none. For there can never again be a bishop who should also be a Confederate general. It was made in Caen, France, and placed in the Church by the officers of his staff. Mr. Richard Tubman, one of the most generous benefactors of the Church and of Augusta lies buried, at his request, be neath the Church and the Vestry placed a tablet on the walls to his memory. The memorial of Judge John P. King, who was for forty years president of the Georgia Railroad, and who was also a Senator of the United States, covers the south wall of the Church. Captain John Carter, an officer in the Continental army, and first senior warden of St. Pauls after the Revolution, is commemorated, with his family, in the beautiful Baptistry doorway. All around there are memorials of noted men and noble women, whose lives have formed part of the history of the Church.
In the old churchyard there are many very interesting monu ments. The oldest were destroyed when the cemetery was made a battlefield, in 1781, but many are still to be seen. First of all, there is the Church itself, which marks the spot where Christianity was first planted here in the wilderness, and from which all civilizing influences have radiated. The great gran ite cross on the river bank marks the site of the old fort and at its base lies one of the ancient cannon brought from Eng land by Oglethorpe and mounted on its ramparts in 1736.

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TOMBSTONE SHOWING THE INSIGNIA OP THE ORDER OP THE CI.YCIX.VATI.

George Steptoe Washington, a nephew of General Washing ton, died in Augusta on the 10th of January, 1809, and was buried in St. Pauls churchyard, but there is no stone to mark his grave. On the east side of the Church is the grave of the first Presbyterian minister in Augusta, the Rev. Washington McKnight. Nearby is the grave of brave old General Mat thews, who saved the American army from rout at the battle of Brandywine, and won the thanks of General Washington. Not far off is the grave of Commodore Oliver Brown, the "Ad miral of the American Navy." When Washington was at Cambridge and powerless to dislodge Lord Howe from Boston, because he had no ammunition, Commodore Bowen, by a clever and daring attack, captured a shipload of English gun powder off Savannah. One-half of this was sent to General Washington and enabled him to drive the British out of Bos ton. It may almost be said, therefore, that this man, buried in St. Pauls churchyard, made the success of the Revolution possible. On the west side of the church is the grave of Wil liam Longstreet, "Inventor of the Steamboat," who actually operated a boat by steam on the Savannah river in 1S06, a year before Fultons famous experiment on the Hudson, in August, 1807. And all about are the graves of noted men and women, ancestors of many of our most prominent people, and some of them much distinguished in the public service. St. Pauls has become a Mecca of interest to travelers seeking to find out historic places, and few things can be more interesting than a ramble through the quant, restful cemetery and the beautiful old Church, the only institution which has survived the wreck of time and come down to us from the old Colonial da3s.

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Silver Communion Service which was given to the Church by the Trustees of the Colony of Georgia in 1751 was lost or destroyed in the general ruin of tfie Church at the close of the Revolutionary War, when all the Parish records were also destroyed. The communion silver now in use was bought by general subscription and each piece is marked with the name of the Church and the date, 1820. A list of the original contributors will be found in an appendix. Subsequently, the large Alms Basin was given by Miss Mary Clarke, in memory of her father, and a small flagon of glass and silver was the gift of Mrs. Franklin
Parrel. The present Chancel, which was added to the Church in
1888, was undertaken and built in memory of the Rev. William
H. Clarke. The altar of carved walnut was the gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Frank H. Miller. The mosaic resedos is a memorial of Mrs. John P. King,
the gift of her son, Mr. Henry B. King. The chancel chairs for Bishop and Priest were given by
Messrs. C. A. and William L. Platt. The brass altar cross was given by Mrs. Katharine A
Steiner, wife of Dr. H. H. Steiner. The altar vases that stand on either s!de of the cross and
also the brass book rest on the altar were given by Mrs. F. H. Miller.
The larger vases are a memorial of Mr. William A. Taylor, of New York, the gift of his brothers and sisters.
The brass Diptych, framing the consecration prayer in the Communion Office, is the gift of Mrs. Thomas Barrett, Jr., in memory of a little child.

WILLIAM LONGSTREET, THE "INVENTOR OF THE STEAMBOAT."

Vestings for the altar have been given as follows:
The purple hangings for Advent and Lent, the gift and handiwork of Mrs. Joseph H. Day.
The embroidery of the white altar cloth and Dossal, the gift and handiwork of Miss Fanny Cashin.
A set of communion linen in Mexican drawn work, the gift and handiwork of Mrs. L. L. Force.
A set of embroidered communion linen, the gift of Mrs F. H. Miller.
A set of embroidered communion linen and a Dossal of white iilk, the gift of Mrs. H. B. King.
Chalice veils in Mexican drawn work, the gift of Mrs. G. W. Rains.
A set of lace chalice veils, made and given by Mrs. St. John Moore.
A linen cover for the super-altar, the gift of Mrs. Alfred M. Martin.
A Dossal of green velvet, the gift of Mrs. H. P. Baldwin. The seven-branched candlesticks are a memorial of Mrs. Sarah Virginia Butler, the gift of her daughter, Mrs. \V: Ham Mulherin. The Historical Tablet commemorating the founding of the Parsh and the services of its Colonial Rectors was erected by the Vestry, December 1st, 1906. The Marble Credence and Tablet are a memorial of the Rev. Wm. H. Clarke, given by the Clarke Memorial Society, composed of girls in the Sunday School in 1878, viz: Irene Horton, Josie Platt, Carrie and Maude Matthewson, Lizzie and Sarah Simmons, Daisy Jessup, Gertrude Butler, Lula Kean, Ida Goodrich, Belle King, Louise de LAigle, Jessie Burum, Frankie Ford, Sallie and Annie MacWhorter, Maty Eppes, with Mrs. Sarah A. Simmons as directress. Its cost was $669.00. The monument to Bishop Polk was given by the officers of his military staff. The altar rail is a memorial of Bishop and Mrs. Polk, the gift of their children. The font of white marble is a memorial of Maria Isabel

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Crane, aged 4 years, and was given by her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Crane.
The Baptistry with its tiled pavement and its steps of stone, and the sculptured doorway, with its doors of oak and bronze, are a memorial of their father, grandfather and great-grand father, given by Carrie and Julia Carter, daughters of, Mrs. M. Massengale.
The mosaic picture of the Christ Child is in memory of a little boy, Flournoy Carter Moore, and is the gift of his mother, Mrs. St. John Moore.
The bronze baptismal ewer is the gift of Mrs. George W. Rains.
The Antique Lecterne lamp is a memorial of Augustine T. White, the gift of his wife.
The stone pedestal is the gift of Mrs. Robert G. Tarver. The eagle lecterne was given by Rev. Oliver H. Raftery in memory of his wife, Mary Clarke, only child of the Rev. W.
H. Clarke. The folio Oxford Bible and a full set of service books for
the Chancel were given by Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Miller, to mark the beginning of the Rectorship of Dr. Williams, January 13th, 1878.
The bookmarks were given by Mrs. W. H. Crane and tne silver crosses by Mrs. W. Edward Platt.
A set of service books for the chancel and the great Prayer Book of Edward VII were given by Mr. W. K. Miller.
The stone parapet, with balustrade and stairway, together with the two archangel statues in stone, are a memorial of Mr. Barney S- Dunbar and the gift of Mrs. Dunbar.
The brass pulpit with base of gray marble is a memorial of Air. Charles A Platt and was given by his children, Mrs. Mary E. Shepard, Airs. Sarah A. Simmons, Mrs. Anna C. Heard, Mrs. Lily I. Goodrich, Aliss Katharine D. Platt, Air. Charles H. Platt and Mr. W. Edward Platt.
The brass cross in the floor at the head of the middle asle is the spot where the altar stood before the Church was en larged. The Rev. Dr. Ford was, at his own request, buried there under the altar and this cross in its setting of Sienna

REV. EDWARD E. FORD, D. D. Rector of St. Pauls Church, April, 1S32, to December, 1862.

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marble and mosaic was the gift of Mrs. Mary Adams Bulkley, to mark Dr. Fords grave.
The group of paintings which cover the wall over the front door was given by Mrs. King in memory of her husband, the Hon. John P. King. The central figure is a painting of St. Paul, made from an original cartoon by the English artist, Holliday. The other panels are copies of the famous Evangel ists of Kaulbach.
In the group of chancel windows, the central panel with figure of the Good Shepherd, was given by the Ladies Aid Society in memory of Rev. Dr. Ford.
The panels on either side were given, one by Rev. \Vm. H. Clarke and the other by Mrs, Clarke.
The window in memory of Mrs. Theodosia Ford was given by some ladies, her personal friends, Mrs. Artemas Gould, Mrs. John P. King and others.
The window next to it was given by Mrs. Charles A. Platt in memory of her daughter, Josephine.
The McCoy window is the gift of Mr. \Ym. E. McCoy in memory of his wife, Mrs. Katharine Gregg McCoy.
The two windows near the organ were given "by Mrs. John P. King in memory of her daughters, Mrs. Grace Sterling King wife of John B. Connelly, and Miss Louise Woodward King.
The next window, with its suggestion of the resurrection, was given by Mrs. William W. Alexander in memory of her daughter, Miss Mattie Alexander.
Mural tablets, in memory of Mr. Richard Tubman, Dr. Anderson Watkins, Mr. Gerrard McLaughlin and Mr. Edward F. Campbell, were erected by the Vestry.
The tablet in memory of Dr. and Mrs. Lewis D. Ford was the gift of their son. Dr. DeSaussure Ford.
The Campbell tablet was given by Mr. Edward F. Camp bell.
The church bell was bought by means of a general contribu tion. A list of the subscribers will be found in an appendix.
The storm doors were the gift of Mr. James F. McGowan. The brass lecterne in the Chapel was given by the children of the Sunday School in memory of the Rev. \V. H. Clarke.

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The Chapei aitar was given by the Messrs. Platt. Inlaid in the top of it is the small marble slab which once rested on marble columns and was the altar of the Church for many years.
The Chapel font was given by members of the congregation whose names will be found in an appendix.
The wood alms basins are a memorial of Miss Sarah V. Hall.
The Ladies A-d Society has made many and constant gifts to the Church. They gave the cassocks and cottas for the vested chair and replace them when needed. They paid for the steam heating plant when the Church was last enlarged. With the aid of a legacy of $1,600 left by Gov. Charles J. Jenkins, the ladies built and paid for the brick Rectory on Greene street. In the past 28 years they have painted the outside of the Church, they have decorated the chancel, they have painted the whole interior and have twice carpeted the Church and chancel.

List of persons who subscribed for the purchase of a Com munion Service of Plate, a Communion Table and a Baptismal Font for St. Pauls Church, Augusta:

Ami Milledge. Maria H. Campbell. Eleanor L. Smith. Mrs. A. M. Carter. Mrs. D. Walton. Mrs. Alexander Cnnningham. Eliza R. Bacon. Mary Smelt. Laura Bryan. Margaret J. Wonlfolk. Louisa L. Woolfolk. Maria Webster. A. Gregory. Mrs. Course. Mrs. Caroline McLean. E. Clayton. Jane W. Musgrove. Rebecca T. Baldzvin. Rebecca Cocke. George W. Evans. Mrs. Ann Hampton.

Jas. Harrison. John Campbell. E. Gardner. Mary McKinne. Mary Sluyter. A. F. E. Slaughter. L. Colcman. Samuel Hale. Samuel G. Starr. I. Cnnningham. Mary G. Walker. Agnes I. Clarke. Mary Read. R. H. Wilde. -L. C. Cantelon. James Johnson. W. Micou. T. A. Brewer. James Frazer. E. H. Tubman. E. Hornby.

REV. WILLIAM H. CLARKB. Hector of St. Pauls Church, January, 1863, to August, 1877.

S. Adams. C. Watkins. G. I. Burroughs. John Garner. Jno. H. Kiniball. .V. L. Sturgcs. Tfios. J. Wray. S. Russell. Thos. H. Penn. B. La mar. . John Dent.

Mr. Dillon. John Petcrkin. Jas. Black. R. Thomas. C. Laurcns. S. I. C. Morgan. J. Phinizee Mrs. Schultz. J. Walton Philit>. A useIin Bugg. Val Walker.

List of subscribers for the purchase of a Bell for the use of

St. Pauls Church, Augusta:

Richard Tubman.

Geo. W.

L. C. Cantelon.

Thos. I. Parmclce.

John Course.

Jas. M. Jones.

Anderson Watkins.

John T. Gilchrist.

Edward F. Campbell,

F. Clark.

Hugh Smith.

Henry Woostcr.

R. H. Musgrove. Fielding Bradford.

.V. Lord. D. Shelden.

H. & G. Webster. T/ios. J. Wray.

B. D. Thompson. John G. Cowling.

W. Micou.

James Harrison.

A. Slaughter and C. Labitzan.

. F. Campbell, For

James M. Carter.

Mrs. A. Millege.

Benj. H. Warren.

Mrs. Sarah Adains.

Richard ATen.

Saml. G. Starr.

S. B. Groves.

C. W. Gregory.

A. Mitchcll.

William H. Jones.

I. E. Clem in.

(Eljurdj att& tty Ifari.
by Srn. GL <E. Williams, 33. 13., at of % fflfltutamtt f-rwtri* bg % (Manial Uatis tn fHark li}? ite of Jfart Augusta.
Ladies of the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America:
DIES AND GENTLEMEN: It gives me very great pleasure, in behalf of St. Pauls Church, to welcome you here this morning and at your request to tell something of the contribution which the Church makes to the historical interest of this occasion. In the first place, the Church enables us to fix with accuracy the site of the Colonial Fort Augusta. Let me explain this. There have been three Churches of St. Paul on these grounds. The first was built in 1750 and stood until the very close of the Revolutionary War. The second was built a few years after wards upon the site of the old. And in the beginning of the last century, that second Church was removed in order that the present building might stand upon the same ancient site. That tower rising toward the south marks the spot where the Church has always stood. Now let us locate Fort Augusta. It was built, we know, on a bluff on the bank of the river. It was a small wooden fort, 120 feet square. Inside this enclosure were quarters for the garrison, which consisted of ten to twenty loyal Americans, with one commissioned officer. The walls of the fort were musket-proof and on its ramparts were mounted eight iron cannon. It had four bastions or towers, one at each corner. The Church was built "opposite one of the curtains of the fort and near enough to be protected by its guns." A curtains in mili tary definition is that part of a rampart which connects the flanks of two bastions. You can now construct a picture of

Memorial Cross, erected by the Colonial Dames or Georgia, to mark the site of Fort Augusta, which was. built in 1736, and afterwards (1780) named Fort Corn-
wallis.

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this handsome little fort; its northern rampart rising above this parapet wall behind us, flanked by a bastion on either end and commanding all approaches from the river; the southern ram part running parallel with it at a distance of 120 feet, that also flanked by a bastion at each end, and opposite this rampart or curtain the "handsome and convenient Church which was "built by the gentlemen of Augusta" in 1750. The monument stands directly on the spot where the northeast bastion of Fort Augusta rose in commanding dignity and power to claim the river and the land in the name of civilization.
Augusta in those early days was at first simply a trading post with the Indians. The Church was built here that the spiritual wants of the people should not be neglected and that the civilization planted here should be a Christian civilization. The fort was built fourteen years earlier in the wise foresight of General Oglethorpe and the Trustees, for the protection of those who should engage in the Indian trade. It was to be an asylum for the women and children in time of danger and also a place of security for their effects.
It must be remembered that in that colonial time the town was only a little clearing in the woods, a narrow strip of a settlement on the south bank of the river. Around it on every side, stretched the great unexplored forest, full of mystery and full of peril for there the American Indian was still both landlord and king. Life was not altogether pleasant here in those days, even under the protecting shadow of the fort. The fear and the dread of an Indian invasion, with all the nameless cruelties which that meant, were upon the whole community all the time. This "red peril" hung as a menace upon every home that was built here and troubled the peace of every family that came to settle here. The first rector of St. Pauls, the Rev. Jonathan Copp, put the situation in a sentence when he wrote home in 1751, "We live at Augusta in the fear of our lives."
We can understand, therefore, the wisdom which ordered the building of this fort. And the interesting fact of its his tory is that it fulfilled its purpose and its mission. Augusta was never attacked or pillaged by the savages. They came very near to us, their faces looked out from the dense forest

across the river, their footprints were found in nearby trails, but they never ventured to hurl a torch or a tomahawk against this community.
I have no doubt that this was largely owing to the wise diplomacy of Oglethorpe and the governors who came after him. But when I look at that ancient cannon which lies at the foot of your monument, I cannot but think that it also contrib uted very much to make the Indians live at peace with Au gusta. The moral effect of a cannon upon the savage disposi tion is very great. It is like the moral effect of a uniform upon a mob. I cannot doubt that when the Choctaws and the Creeks and the Chickasaws and the Cherokees and the Catawbas came and looked upon this fort, and saw how the light ning flashed from rampart and bastion and how the thunder bolt went crashing through the forest, carrying destruction in its path, they must have felt that these pale faces were in league with supernatural powers, and that it was well to pro pitiate their favor and keep their good will.
You will remember that a great Congress of the Five Indian Nations was held here at the Kings Fort in 1763. Seven hundred Indians came to meet the governors of Virginia, of North and South Carolina and of Georgia. We are told that the congress adjourned under a salute from the guns of Fort Augusta." I have always thought that there was method in the compliment of Governor Wright when he ordered that salute to be fired. The moral effect of it was very fine. It gave the Indians something to remember when they got home. And what I would like to emphasize today, is that this fort which you commemorate, discharged the highest office and function of all forts and fortifications and military armaments whatsoever. It kept the peace throughout the whole colonial time, up to the breaking out of the Revolution and, indeed, until 1781. It fulfilled its first purpose and mission a mission of peace. The bloody time, the time of tragedy, came later, when we took those guns and turned them against one an other.
A second contribution which the Church makes to the inter est of this occasion is that it enables us to fix the limits of Fort CornwallLs. After the bloody fight at the White House, Sept.

14th, 1780, about a mile and a half west of Fort Augusta, Col. Browne, the British commander, realized the necessity of strengthening his defenses. At a conference of officers and engineers it was decided to build "a fortress," which should include the site of the Church and the burying ground. This entire lot, therefore, as you see it today, was then converted into a strong fortification. The work was so well done that Col. "Light Horse Harry" Lee, when he came to attack it, pronounced it "judiciously constructed, well finished and secure from storm." Lord Cornwallis had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Southern department in June, 1780, and in his honor Colonel Brown called the enlarged fortifica tion Fort Cornwallis.
While the name Fort Augusta then passed, we must remem ber that this change was not so much a destruction as an evo lution. Expressed in the technical terms of military science, it was the evolution of a fort into a fortress. The same guns were here for its defense, much of the old work still stood, and the same parapet wall bounded it upon the north side, where it fronted upon the river. It was the old fort strengthened and enlarged. The pathetic side of it, however, from the Churchs standpoint, was, that, although Colonel Browne apol ogized for it as a military necessity, still as Mr. Seymour, the rector of the Church, said, in writing home about it, "the burying ground is made into a strong fortification and the use of the Church is lost to us."
Another contribution which the Church makes to the inter est of this occasion is a material one, viz: the ancient cannon which has been placed at the base of the monument. Only three have survived the wreck of the fort. I had hoped to secure another and have had both mounted upon the old para pet wall, below the monument, that, as they po:nted-out over the river, they might suggest in a more realistic way the story of the past. I have not abandoned hope of securing the other gun. Yet this one, lying there dismounted, spiked, rusting from age and disuse, embodies a sentiment of its own. It has surrendered to time. It belongs to the past.
That cannon is, to my mind, the most interesting relic in Augusta. It is all that is left of the old fort the one thing

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which was here in 1736 and is here today; the one thing which puts us in actual touch with Oglethorpe, for it was here, when he came on his visit in 1739 and when he wrote a letter -in his own hand, dated "Fort Augusta, in Georgia, September 5th, 1739."
If that venerable gun could only speak it could tell us the whole story of that time which engages our thought today. If you will let me be its interpreter, I will tell briefly some little of what its message would be.
When Oglethorpe came back from England in 1736, the 5th of February, he brought over a number of guns for different batteries throughout the Province. Eight of these guns were sent here and mounted for the defense of Fort Augusta, and there they stood, in their places for over fifty years. There they looked out over the Church and the parsonage house and the growing town. The homes which our people built at first were not -very ambitious dwellings. If the parsonage house may be taken as a fair sample of the rest, our missionary described it in 1755 as "twenty-seven feet in length and eight een feet in breadth, with a kitchen annexed, and would make a pretty good one were there any glass windows in it; but for want of them it is uncomfortable in the winter season."
Our chairman, Mr. Lamar, has told you how in 1739 there were forty houses here. In the next twenty-eight years the number had grown to only about eighty (1767). Two years before this (1765) the rector of St. Pauls, the Rev. Mr. Frink, gives us the census of the town. "The number of inhabitants in Augusta is 138 men and 402 women and children, 501 negro slaves and about ninety Chickasaw Indians." In the classifica tion of that time, it would appear that the slaves and the Indians did not fall under the head of men, women or children.
This brings us within a few years of the Revolution, and all this time the iron guns of the fort had looked out on a scene of busy industry and of peace. They had never been fired to kill. Indeed, after the war began and for several years, its peaceful record was unbroken. The Liberty Boys took pos session of it in 1775, hauled down the British flag and held the fort for four years. Colonel Campbell took possession of it again in the name of the king in February, 1779. After

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holding it for two weeks, he evacuated it and the Americans occupied it once more. After the fall of Charlestown in May, 1780, Fort Augusta was abandoned by the Americans and the British, under Col. Browne, immediately occupied it. When on the 14th of September, 1780, the Americans made their famous attack upon the "White House," Colonel Browne took most of his garrison and marched to its relief. In his absence, Colonel Clarke quietly possessed himself of the fort and of the town. But when four days later, Browne returned, the Amer icans yielded the post without offering any resistance.
Three times, therefore, had the Americans captured the fort and three times had the British retaken it, and yet not a gun had been fired, not a life had been lost. It seemed as if the old spell of peace was still upon the little fort. And now for nearly a year, from September, 1780, to June 6, 1781. it was again the Kings Fort, and the ground on which we stand was still Colonial ground.
But while the fort had passed unhurt through all these vicis situdes of fortune, the Church had suffered much. When Col. Campbell retreated to Savannah and the Americans occup:e I both the fort and the town, the Church was made a hospital for sick soldiers. Barracks were built upon part of the glebe and the parsonage house was sold. When, however, in the following spring (May, 17SO), Colonel Browne captured the fort, the Church was restored to its proper use again. The parsonage house was given back to the rector, but at the re quest of Colonel Browne, Mr. Seymour gave it up as a hosptal for sick soldiers. Then came the fight at the White House and the military necessity of taking Church and churchyard for the new and larger fortifications. It would seem that from this time, when the limits of the little fort were enlarged and its name changed, when the Church and burying ground were taken for purposes of war, from that moment the gracious spell of peace which had brooded over the old fort was broken. It was only a few months when the storm of war broke in fury over the fort and the ground we stand upon was drenched with the blood and sown with the bones of the slain.
In the American army there was one man who would seem to have sworn a vow on the altar of American independence

20
that Augusta should not remain under the flag of the king. That man was Col. Elijah Clarke. Cato was not more insist ent that Carthage must be destroyed than was Colonel Clarke that Augustas fort must be taken. From the day that Browne took possession of it and hoisted the British flag. Clarke went everywhere, gathering recruits to drive him out. It was Clarke who planned the attack upon the White House, which deserved success, but failed at the moment of impending victory. It was he who gathered the forces which under Pickens and Williamson and McCall came and sat down here before the town for two months, resolved never to go away until that flag came down. At last Colonel Lee was sent with his famous Legion to reinforce and take command of the in vesting army. He saw at once, with the practiced eye of a soldier, that Browne had built a fort which was impregnable to any assault that he could make upon it. He therefore re sorted to the ingenious device of building a tower thirty feet high, out of hewn logs, filling it with stones and other material. Near the top he built a platform and the logs were sawed to let in an embrasure for a cannon. The British had mounted in the fort the eight original cannon. They had a garrison of 400 men besides 200 negroes who did duty in the fort. In addition to these there were a number of prisoners and others who had fled to the fort for protection.
The Americans had but one piece of artillery, which Colonel Lee had brought with him. This six-pounder was hoisted to the floor of the tower, and from that eminence it completely commanded the interior of Fort Cornwallis. The tower was a device of Major Maham, of South Carolina, and was erected near where the Cotton Exchange now stands. Browne tried to neutralize the effect of this movement by building a plat form at the southwest corner of the fort and mounting upon it two of hs heaviest guns. But from the hour that Lees sixpounder opened fire from the top of the Maham tower, the fort was doomed.
The first shot was fired from the tower on the morning of June 2d, 1781. Before noon the two pieces of British ordnance were dismounted from the platform. The whole interior of the fort was raked except the segment nearest the tower and

21
a few spots sheltered by traverses. So deadly was the fir" that the besieged were driven to dig holes in the ground and literally bury themselves in the earth. The Church was a blackened ruin. The guns which had so long protected it were at last powerless to save it from destruction.
The Colonial day was passing out in thunder and blood and smoke. The fort and the Church which had stood side by side for nearly half a century, went down in a common ruin.
.The fort was never rebuilt. Thanks to a kind Providence, it was never needed again. But the Church, like the Brooklyn at Santiago, "loomed up out of the smoke," to go upon her way and pluck victory from the jaws of seeming defeat. Her mis sion is never ended.
And this special Church of St. Paul has stood here upon this spot (and for more than fifty years it was the only Church in Augusta), bearing witness, I hope, to many things that are good; and among them, to this, that the past has a living value to us and to those who shall come after us, and that sound historical tradition and noble historical memories are worthy to be preserved and to be commemorated.
Much has drifted away from us in all ths time. Our glebe of 300 acres, reaching from here to Gwinnett street, was taken by the State. Our encroaching commerce has hemmed us in more and more. But we have still held to the old historic site. It is compensation to us today that we are able to make this last contribution to the interest of this occasion we have kept inviolate the site which you have marked with that stoneto tell the story of a memorable past.
In closing, I beg you will let me add a few words of appre ciation about the stately and beautiful monument itself.
It suggests to us, I am sure, the famous wayside crosses in older countries, and also those which mark the sites of great historical events with which travelers are familiar. But you will note that its form is that of the ancient Celtic crosses. It is a variety which is found only in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is characteristic, therefore, of the old homes from which our people came to make new homes here in Au gusta. No other cross could have stood so fittingly here. It is rough hewn, and, I think, properly so, for in its very rough-

ness it symbolizes the condition of life in those days of the trader and the pioneer, and the fine chisel of the sculptor would only have spoiled its sentiment.
When the stone was to be chosen which should embody the spirit of this occasion, the committee sent to the quarries in that one county of Georgia which bears the name of Oglethorpe, and out of its rock was hewn the stately proportions of this monument. It is Oglethorpe granite from coping stone to base, and for the purposes of this memorial, I think we may say of it, as David said of the sword of Goliath: "There is none like that." And it is placed here to stand over the river and over the land to bear witness and to tell its story to the gener ations yet unborn.
"Nor years, tho numberless the train, Nor flight of seasons, wasting rain, Nor winds that loud in tempests break Shall eer its firm foundation shake."

REV. CHAUNCEY C. WILLIAMS, D. D. Sector of St. Pauls Church. J nuary, 1878, to December, 1006.

Ifcmtnteratrra of rontfg-fto
An AiidresH fHair by Hen. (Ehaunrrg (. SHilliams, B. 9., an ttjr ulmrniij-ftfth Anniversary nf SIH Xcrtnrfihtp nf SLjauls (Chttrrh, Augusta, anh flrtntcd ha equ?st, 19th January. 1903.
I Remember Days of Old." Psalms cxliii:5.
f E are living in an age when all things move so fast that people and things are only too easily forgotten. In the rush and hurry of our social life and our business
life we do not often stop to remember "the days of old." They pass and are "forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day." In this way we miss much of the stimulus and inspiration which come from that wlvch was well and bravely done before us, and we make mistakes against which the experience of the past would have warned us. It was a custom of the early Church to record the names of the sainted dead in books of two leaves, called the Diptychs, and at stated times this bead roll was read openly in the congregation, in order that the people might remember them, and in -remembering might emulate their examples and thnk of them as living still in the presence of their Lord in Paradise. Today, as I am thinking how the Church looked on that Lords Day, twenty-five years ago, when I first came to minister among you, and as I recall the faces of those who met and welcomed me, I hope it may not seem improper, if I speak of some of them this morning I would like to call over a few names, as the clergy of early times read from the ancient Diptychs. I may not speak so of the living, but my heart is so full of memories that I am sure I may be pardoned if I speak of those who have gone.
Twenty-five years bring with them many changes, and I feel that fact emphasized and illustrated this morning as I recall that there is not a man upon the Vestry to-day who was there when I came.

24
Of the ten gentlemen who called me to the Parish, who represented all the different interests in the congregation and who made up my offical family of these ten who welcomed and encouraged and upheld me when I came young and inex perienced, to work among you nine have passed to their re ward. One only is living and he is not now a member of the Vestry. I can see them all before me as distinctly as I saw them on that January morning when they sat in their accus tomed places and afterwards gathered about me to wish me God-speed.
First among them was the venerable Senior Warden of the Parish,
Governor Charles J. Jenkins.
There are some here to-da.y who will remember and never forget hm how, as he walked up and down that aisle, his noble bearing and fine presence seemed to lend an added dfgnity to the service he was rendering gathering the alms of the people to be laid on the altar of the Lord.
Governor Jenkins was perhaps more widely known and dis tinguished outside of Augusta than any other man who has ever served on the Vestry. He had been on the Supreme Bench of the State, he had been Governor of Georgia, he had been tendered a portfolio in the cabinet of President Fillmore. On the gold medal or seal whch was given him by the State of Georgia, was inscribed the legend: "In arduis fidelis" and the inscription denned his character. He was a man who would be brave and had been brave faithful, unfaltering in every emergency.
And yet withal he was very gentle with the courtly man ner of a gentleman of the old school. I shall never forget how he took my hand when he was dying and said to me: "I want to say to you that I die at peace with all men and I rest my hope of salvation upon the merits of Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, applied to me through the grace of the Holy Spirit of God." It was in this wise that his brave, pure spirit passed into the presence of his Maker.

Mr. Clayton. was Junior Warden of the Parish at that time. I did not know "him in the days of his prosperity. When I came to Augusta he had suffered very heavy reverses in business, and later on he was stricken down with a malady which confined him to "his chair for the remainder of his life. I did not really know him, therefore, until he was called to bear two of the hardest losses next to the loss of those we love which can come to .any man, the loss of fortune and the loss of health. In the re tirement of his home, a curtain seemed to drop between him and all the old activities of his past life. It was then that I Tcnew him best, when, broken in fortune and broken in health, Tie accepted it all as Gods will, and, in singular simplicity of faith, waited quietly for the end. During all those years when I had the privilege of ministering to him constantly, I never heard him utter a complaint, and I wish to bear this witness here today, that, looking back over those long days and years, I have never seen any man bear affliction with a gentler resig nation or such infinite patience. When I knelt at his death "bed, I felt it to be unspeakably true of him that through much tribulation he had entered the Kingdom of his Lord.
I was brought almost at once into very close relations with
Mr. Charles Platt,
a relation different from that I bore to any other vestryman for I baptised him and presented him for confirmation. No one, however, could have been more devoted to the Church, more interested in everything that made for the welfare of the Parish than he had been during the many years before. And lie had trained his children to love the Church and to work for it. When I came here, there was no other family so active, so useful, so helpful in so many ways. In the Vestry, in the Choir, in the Sunday School, in the care of the poor,
even in the decoration of the Church where everything they touched they seemed to adorn yes, everywhere, the influence -of this good man made itself felt in the activities of those whom he taught by percept and by example. He was always specially concerned with the physical fabric of the Church

26
that whatever was built should be well built; that whatever was done should be well done. The two chairs in the chancel, the Bishops chair and the Priests chair, he had made under his personal direction in his own factory; and they were well made. There is no better work of the cabinetmaker anywhere. The pulpit where I stand is the beautiful and loving memorial of his children to mark his place in this Church which he so greatly loved and so lovingly served. On the front of it is inscribed, "we preach not ourselves," and he was a man whe never preached himself a modest gentleman, who did what he could, and all that he could, quietly, faithfully, unobtrus ively, and left the rest with his God.
I have been told that Mr. Edward Campbell, who had much to do with the building of this Church, and who for forty years was a vestryman, was never known to be absent from any service of the Church on Sunday, or on week days, unless prevented by illness. I know what a happiness and comfort he must have been to his rector, for I found the same comfort and happiness in
Mr. Dunbar.
He was always in his place prompt, devout, interested,, seeing only what was good and helpful in the service. Some men worship only with their brains and go away critical. Others worship with their hearts also and they are helped.
If the choir was out of tune or the sermon was common place, Mr. Dunbar always found something pleasant to say. He realized, I think, that a discord is more painful to the choir themselves than to anyone else, and that no one is more conscious of the shortcomings of a sermon than the man whopreaches it. The generous indulgence of such a man stimu lates people to do better more than all the criticisms in the world. And he was always indulgent, always cheery and bright, always ready with some word of humor or encourage ment; always generous to the Church. He gave liberally of his means and he gave what is better still, he gave himself tothe service of the Master. He was very fond of the old-fash ioned hymns, and I can never forget how, when he was pass-

27
ing very fast into his last unconsciousness, and I sat by his bedside repeating the old familiar words, there would come a glad look of recognition or a faint pressure of the hand, to tell me that he still could hear, and bidding me go on. It was to the music of those words which all men. love, the dear old hymns that have sung their faith and their devotion and their aspiration into the hearts of many generations, it was to this old-fashioned music of the human heart, that his spirit entered into rest and peace. Safe into the haven guided, God received his soul at last.
I hardly ever think of Mr. Dunbar and Doctor Steiner, but that the one name suggests the other; they were such close and intimate friends. They had many interests and tastes in common, but the closest bond which bound them together was the bond which bound them both to the Church. I be lieve
Dr. Steiner
would have stood at the head of any profession which he had chosen to adopt. As it was, he is remembered as the great practitioner of medicine "the good physician." He had about him that subtle, impalpable thing which we call personal magnetism, but which, after all, is only another name for perfect sympathy. It was this which won for him the confi dence of his patient, and gave him his rare insight into disease.
His intuition was almost as wonderful as his yet more won derful skill. But he was something more than a great prac titioner of medicine. He realized that there was a more important ministry than the ministry of the body, and he never forgot that in the last issue of disease a mans soul passes into the presence of its Maker. He was a missionary, a sort of lay-priest; who never hesitated to tell men the truth and to plead with them to make their peace with God. He reached many people whom no clergyman could ever reach, and every where I went I was constantly finding traces of his influence. He was a man of wide reading, an intelligent Churchman, who could always give a reason for the faith which was in him and he helped me in ways that no other man could. He realized that there is such a thing as the Priesthood of the

28
Laity, and I have known him, in emergencies, when no clergy man could be reached, to baptise a dying man himself and afterwards to receive the thanks of a Roman Catholic priest for having discharged that charitable duty to the dying. The same sympathy which made him so quick to discover the sources of disease and to work their cure brought him into very close and intimate relations with a great many people; and I doubt not that there are some here this morning who will remember how happily he used this influence. In the estrangements of friends and families I have never known anyone who could so kindly and wisely and effectively com pose difficulties and soften asperities and restore old confidences and bring people back into harmony again: Among the many benedictions which he well deserved not the least is that one, the benediction of "The Peacemaker." He told me one day, standing in that aisle, that when he died he did not care for any imposing monumnet, but he would like a small tablet placed in the wall opposite his old pew and simply bearing his name. It was in keeping with his whole character that he should wish so modest a memorial, and I hope it will not be long before we may have it there to per petuate his name here in this Church which he served so faithfully and loved so well.
Shortly after I came here, I went one day into a quaint book store that seemed more like the library of an antiquary than a nineteenth century store of any kind, and there 1 met
Mr. Gates.
He always seemed to me an Englishman who was never quite naturalized and did not feel altogether at home in our American atmosphere. But in his own surroundings, among his books, and pictures and old manuscripts, he was a most delightful host. We have never had in Augusta anyone who knew so much about the rare editions of books, about artist proofs and fine old engravings; about the manuscript remains of poets and authors and statesmen. He loved -to collect them and live among them, and I have spent many pleasant hours in looking over his treasures and hearing him tell their history. Such a man can hardly be in touch with our busy,

2!)
pushing life of today. We have not time to stop for things like these and if we do, the world does not wait for us the procession moves on. But Mr. Gates was content to live there among the collections of a lifetime and found his peace and happiness in the company of men who had written books, or painted pictures, or graven some wonderful work on a plate of steel. He was a unique figure in our Parish life and in the life of Augusta. I remember well his Englishmans love for the Church of England. It was born in him. It had come down to him through forgotten generations, and I doubt if it ever entered his nrnd that there could be any branch of the Church anywhere except the Church of his fathers.
I remember that once, when the Vestry was confronted with some problem of raising money and a subscription was to be started, Dr. Steiner said that the first thing to be done was to get
Mr. Fargo
to head the subscription; and he gave as his reason that every one knew Mr. Fargo and knew also that he was a man who gave as generously in proportion to his means as anyone in Augusta^ Th :s was the reputation, well deserved, of a man who in that day represented the best and highest type of busi ness life in our community. He was a banker, a man of affairs, a Christian gentleman a man who never broke his word or violated a trust. His good name rested upon the confidence of a community where he had lived for many years a life of stainless honor, of incorruptible integrity. He was the custodian of many trusts, the faithful guardian of widows and of orphans. I do not know of any influence in our mod ern life more .valuable, more potential of good, than the life of an upright man, who is busy with all the busy affairs of men, and yet who keeps his hands clean and hrs heart pure.
Such a man was Mr. Fargo, a representative man of business and a representative man of the Church. I can almost see him now in the place from which he was rarely absent mod est, unobtrusive, devout a man who said little about his religion, but who lived it. He always reminded me of Cor-

30
nelius, the Centurion a devout man, who served God with all his house. His prayers and his alms went up continually us a memorial before God, and when he followed them into that Blessed Presence, he left to his family and to the Church the legacy of a name which had illustrated and adorned them, both.
I expect there are very few people left among us who remember
Mr. Evans.
When he ded his family went away and there is no one left to represent him. He was the secretary and treasurer of the Parish when I came, and in his relationship with me he was courteous and kind and thoughtful. He was a modest man who lived in a quiet, modest way. He always seemed to me like St. Joseph in the Gospels, a just man and upright, who was content to efface himself, if need be, and never unwilling to walk in the shadow of more commanding personalities than his own.
But if anythng was to be done and no one offered to do it Mr. Evans always stood loyally ready to undertake the duty. He was singularly faithful and painstaking in every detail of his duty. It is so that any man is fitted and prepared for higher responsibilities, and when he died the words of the Master came to me: "Faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things."
Last of the nine, in order of service, but by no means last, in my affection, or in the love of those who knew him wel, was my friend and neighbor,
Mr. Wm. Hale Barrett.
Generous, high-spirited, impulsive, big-hearted, after the fashion of his race, how well I remember all his many kind nesses from the first day on unbrokenly to the last. There was only a fence between his home and mine, but there was no fence, and could be none, between his friendship and mine. If anyone had tried to build one, he would have pulled it down

:u
and thrown it and the intruder both into the street. The lavish hospitality of his table was only an expression of his whole nature. Whatever he had he wanted others to enjoy, and if he liked you he wanted to give you the best and all that was best, in generous and bountiful profusion. - No man on the Vestry ever worked harder to lift a debt or meet an emergency in Parish finances. His appeals were not always as persua sive as they were direct and effectual, but when a thing had to be done, he was ready to do his part and he expected every one else to do the same. He was born and educated a Presby terian, and he never quite adjusted himself to all the ritual detals of his adopted Church, nor did questions of Church government appeal to him in any special way. But in all the fundamental things that lie at the basis of Christianity his faith was as simple, as unquestioning as the faith of a little child. Many times, after worrying my own brain over vexed and difficult questions, and sometimes tired and dissatisfied with the reading of books, it was a positive refreshment to come in contact with his natural and unwavering faith. I often found it restful and helpful to talk with him and hear him talk about the things which, after all, are the necessary and unchanging things, and about which he never entertained a doubt. It was in this faith that he lived and in this faith that he died, my loyal, generous parishioner and friend.
These are the nine names which I read from our Parish Diptych today, and I have read them because these were the men charged with the administration of the Parish, the men who. represented the congregation who were not only my warm personal friends from the first day of my ministry, but the men who helped me always with their counsel and their confidence. It is out of such lives that the influences of today are come; it is through the labor of these men and those whom they represented that we have been able to accomplish what ever has been done in the succeeding years. They have all passed into the Great Beyond.

32

Of the ten only one remains*. He is not upon the Vestry now, but I was especially glad that he was with us at our delightful Parish reunion on Tuesday last, because he seemed to bring with him as ever his own personal greetings- and he is the only living man who could bring again the same warm greetings with which that older Vestry met me 25 years ago. I may add that he brought with him also the memory of another welcome; the welcome of his distinguished father and of that lovely and gracious lady, his mothers, who flung open the doors of their home and of their hearts to me when I came, and to each member of my household afterwards and who followed us with unfailing kindnesses and the Parish with unstinted benefactions even unto the end. I am glad that their beautiful memorials are before us always as we enter and as we leave the Church.
I wish that I had time to speak of many more of that faithful and loving woman", who served the Church all the years of her life, in all manner of unselfish and untiring activi ties, and whose exquisite memorial sheds light upon the Sanc tuary as her life shed sunshine on all about her. I wish that I might speak of that good man and his wife-*, who so kindly cared for me in the old Rectory and both of whom gave the best of their life and their love to the Church, to Christ and His poor. Xor can I ever forget the love and labor of him who has been my helpful friend and fellow laborer from the fisrt day until now, who took for me the care of the Sunday School, and who has kept on dong all manner of kindly things, cheerfully, unselfishly, as no one else could do thenv. I am thinking of many such today, many who in the rest of Paradise, do dwell, many more, still living here, God be thanked! and working still, as faithfully and earnestly as any who went before us. As I look at the Lecterne yonder, the "flying eagle" of the Apocalypse, bearing on his wings the Book of Life, I am reminded of her, whose beautiful memorial it is the frail, young girl, doubly orphaned, who was here among those who welcomed me, the only child of my venerated predecessor, Mr. Clarke. And whenever I stand there and read the lessons from the Book of God, I can never forget the kind and generous friendsO who gave to the Church that splen-

i. Mr H B. KinR,

2. Judge and Mrs. King, 3. Mrs. S. V. Butler,

4. Mr. and Mrs Ham. 5 Mr. W. E. Platt,

6. Mr. and Mrs. Frank H. Miller.

INTERIOR OF ST. PAULS CHURCH, A. D. 1878.

H/iiiVci MS .in >inmrr,T,Ni

33
did folio Bible with all the necessary Service Books, and had each one inscribed with the date of my first service as Rector of St. Pauls; the same good friends whose home has been to me all these years like the home of my own kindred.
But time would fail me to tell of all who have wrought right eousness and who have obtained a good report through faith. Their names are written in Heaven. They are in the Book of Gods remembrance. They are not forgotten by us or by Him.
Blending with memories such as these is the thought of the old Church as it looked on that first day of my coming, before it was enlarged and beautified. The interior was very pla:n. The bulding was almost square, with a large platform built out into the Church and serving as a chancel. I have hardly realized until this morning how many material changes these twenty-five years have brought with them. As I think of it and look about me, there is not a t:mber in the ceiling, nor a bit of plaster on the walls, nor a carpet on the floor, nor a frame about the windows which was here when I came. There is literally nothing but the pews and the floor, the glass of the chancel window and of one window in the body of the Church ; everything else is new. The great earthquake which did so much harm in many ways, did us, at least this service: it set us to work renovating the interior of the Church. The ex terior never has been changed and I hope never will be. The building has a character and a dignity of its own which should not be disturbed. But the interior was never satisfac tory, and in all that has been done to improve it and make it more beautiful and churchly, our constant endeavor was to preserve and emphas :ze the old sentiment and character of the building itself. Nothing was done hastily. It was only after a careful study of the best examples of Churches of this kind that we ventured upon the changes which were made; and when they were completed, when the old gallery had been taken away, a recess chancel added and the ceiling panellled in hardwood, I think is was the feeling of everyone that noth ing had been lost and much had been gained.

34
Many of you will remember the long gallery which extended across the other end of the Church, opposite the chancel. In that gallery was the Choir. How well I remember the bril liant rendering of that first service, as the organ broke into splendid music under the master touch of that great musician. It was a wonderful quartette choir. Such a rare combination could only come once in many years, if indeed it could ever come but once four voices, each the best of its kind in the city, if not in the .State, all communicants of the Church, and all members of this Parishs. All are living today but one, the wonderful contralto. No one can ever forget the thrilling pathos of that marvellous voice. I have never heard anything like it anywhere. I have seen strong men bow their heads and great tears roll down their cheeks under the magical power of that rare human voice. And now it is hushed. We hear it no more. There was first a rift in the lute and then the beau tiful voice passed into silence.
So I go on thnking of the old faces and new. Thinking of the old, the feeling of the great American poet comes to me. I hear a song coming out of the Past, and in every line there is a tear. But I hear another song and it comes out of the Future. In every line of that song there is a smile and a hope. As we 1sten to both today, dear brethren, let me invoke upon you and upon myself, the old, old blessing of the elder cove nant: "The Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers. Let Him not leave us nor forsake us, that He may incline our hearts unto Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments which He commanded our fathers." Amen.

1. Prof. Wiegand,
2. Dr. and Mrs. E. C. Goodrich,

Mrs. Alice Dates,
Mr. A. A. Pelot

Historical Tablet, erected by the Vestry of St. Pauls Church.

A Sketch ofthe Colonial Parish and its T^ectors
Hiring tltp last &rrnum prrarljcln by the Urn. (JUjaunrpy <$,. Williams, 9. 9., aa Utrtnr of &L {fatda GUjurrli. nn thr Strat 9undag in Abnent, tljr &rr0nb bag of Srrratbrr A. 9. 1906. Anft prtntJPft
Dr. Williams took his text from the 44th chapter of the Apocryphal Book, Ecclesiasticus :
"Let us now traise fatuous men and our fathers that begat us. "The Lord hath wrought great glory by them, through His great power from the beginning. There be of them that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported. "And some there be which have no memorial, who are perished as though they had never been. "But these were merciful men whose righteousness hath not been forgot ten. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth forevermore.
When Jacob awoke from that sleep in which there had come to him a vision of God, he took the stone which had been his pillow and set it up there at Bethel for a memorial. It was to mark an epoch in his life a great spiritual crisis. As he looked upon it afterwards, he felt that it was a sign, a witness, a memorial of the time when God first came into his life as a living presence and power. From that night dated the begin ning of his growth and of his strength. In setting up that stone at Bethel he was obeying an intuition, and an impulse common to all humanity. It is so that men have been moved ia all time to perpetuate the memory of their fellow-men and to make permanent record of great and important events.
So the son of Sirach, in the text, invites us to remember, with praise, the men who have been famous in their genera tion. He bids us not forget those other men of more modest

36
repute, whose deeds have not indeed been blazoned and trum peted by fame but whose names live forevermofe, because of their good work.
We are erecting here in Gods house today a stone which shall witness to the great fact in our Parish history, that when Augusta was but a trading post with the Indians, a straggling little settlement, built on the river bank, whose houses clustered timidly about the fort, then in the crude beginning of our civic life this Church was founded to stand upon the very frontier of civilization in Georgia and to claim the land for Christ. Carved upon the Tablet is the following inscription:
This Tablet commemorates the Founding of St. Pauls Church,
A. D.1750, Xearby the Kings Fort, in the Town of Augusta, in the Colony of Georgia, under the English Crown.
Also
The faithful service of its Colonial Rectors: Rev. Jonathan Copp, 1151; Rev. Samuel Frink, 1765; Rev.
Edward Ellington, 1767; Rev. James Seymour, 1771-1781; Missionaries of the Church of England and of the Society for
Propagating,the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
And we have carved the date and the fact there in enduring stone because the founding of the Church meant that this civilization of ours was to be a Christian civilization. Amid all the hard and rough and demoralizing conditions of frontier life, the Church came to soften and to smoothe and to uplift. It was Gods barrier set here to arrest the tide of evil. This memorial is not, therefore, something of mere antiquarian interest. It commemorates the most important fact that can come into the life of a town or a people or a nation. It com memorates the establishment of Christianity in Augusta.
I do not know that I could illustrate the conditions of that early life better than to tell you something of these men, of

37
what they found here when they came and what they left here when they went away.
You will understand that they were not allured here by any vision of wealth or easy living, when I tell you that the salary offered by the citizens of Augusta was 20 pounds sterling per annum to which the missionary society in England added 50 pounds, making the munificent salary of $350 a year. And yet they came. Mr. Copp, the first rector, was evidently a man of much the same temperament as St. Mark. He came full of enthusiasm, but was soon discouraged and ready to give up the work and turn back. His first letter tells the story. If he had illusions they were rudely dispelled:
Augusta, November 24, 1751. Reverend Sir: It is now six months since my arrival to these parts, during which have been employed in the performance of the sacred and weighty duties of religion, and have waited patiently in hope of acquainting the Venerable Society with something agreeable, both to their glorious and most religious views, as well as pleasing to myself; but not being able con sistent with truth and a good conscience to magnify the effect^ of my labors, or to multiply encomiums upon the place and the inhabitants of it, thought it my duty not to neglect writing any longer.
There are about 80 or 100 persons that attend divine worship on Sundays, among whom I have baptised 16 belonging to the Colony of Georgia and 12 more belonging to Carolina; for which purpose have rode occasionally into that province and preached, there being no clergyman settled within 130 miles of this town. IMy communicants are but eight only; there is no parsonage house built as yet nor even the foundation of one laid not one foot of land laid out for Glebe; nor any security given for the future payment of the 20 pounds sterling per annum which things were promised. But these are the least occasion of my complaint to the society, and what I should not have mentioned so early, were it not for greater troubles that I labor under. We live at Augusta in the fear of our lives the merciless savages, the Indians (whose tender mercies are cruelty) have threatened us much of late; have in cold blood murdered and scalped sundry of the English, so

38
that for the whole space of my continuance here we have been under continual fears and apprehensons of being murdered and destroyed by them, there being no one one with 140 miles capable of lending us any assistance in times of danger so far are we situated in the wild, uncultivated wilderness.
Upon the 5th of last month I arrived at Charles Town upon some business two days after which, departed this life the Rev. Mr. Stone, the Societys late worthy missionary at St. James, Goose Creek; since which I have received a unanimous invitation from the Church Wardens, Vestry and parishioners to take upon me the pastoral charge of that parish. I hope the honorable society, considering the many difficulties and dangers that I labor under here in a long absence from my family, who are maintained at a great expense in New Eng land, and under I know not what difficulties, would be pleased to appoint me their missionary at St. James, Goose Creek, where I trust all those inconveniences will at once be remedied, and where am willing to serve the society in that capacity according to the best of my power and ability in propagating our holy religion and ye interest of Christs Kingdom in this part of the Christian harvest, where there is great want of laborers, by reason of the great mortality among the clergy, no less than four of the societys worthy missionaries> within the space of twelve months, havng been removed by death.
Please present my most dutiful regards to the honorable, the Society for propagating the Gospel whose unworthy mission ary asks leave to subscribe himself, with the greatest respect, their most obliged and most affectionate servant in Christ.
JONATHAN COPP.
But the Society very wisely, for both Mr. Copp and the Parish, decided that it would not be proper to remove him from Augusta, as he had been at the date of his letter only six months on that mission. Two years -later he wrote home that the inhabitants have greatly increased of late, and continue to increase, by a great Concourse of absconding Debtors takingrefuge there, in hopes of protection, but his congregation is much the same in number, about 80 or 100 persons, and the regular communicants are only 12. He had baptised in the Province of Georgia and South Carolina 38 children, from

39
April preceding, and he had twice rode about 15 miles among the new settlers and preached and baptised their children, and proposed to repeat his visits to them; he had, moreover, at the request of the Governor of South Carolina and of the inhabitants of Xew Windsor, in that Province, rode over and preached once in a month there; for which the House of Assembly was pleased to allow him 17 pounds sterling per annum, without which gratuity he could not well have sub sisted his wife and children. The Parsonage House, which was promised him, not being yet finished, nor the Glebe culti vated, nor the promised subscriptions of the members of his own congregation duly paid.
Later on things began to look brighter.
A letter from the Rev. Mr. Copp, the Societys missionary at Augusta, in Georgia, dated Xovember the 6th, 1754, ac quainted that the Parsonage House was finished, between 27 feet in length and 18 in breadth, with a kitchen annexed,, and would make a pretty good one, were there any glass windows in it, but for want of them it is uncomfortable in the winter season. Mr. Copp says he constantly officiated in the Church, and endeavors to explain and persuade his con gregation to the practice of the Christian religion, and he has the satisfaction to see it held in great esteem (tho not wthout gainsayers), and to be more countenanced by many more than heretofore; he has baptised in the preceding half year IS infants, and the number of his communicants is 15 he says that h!s situation is very dangerous, for that since the defeat on the Ohio, the French Indians have been almost within that neighborhood, at an 6ut settlement, where they have killed and scalped 14 or 15 persons and carried as many more into slavery.
Subsequently, Mr. Copp accepted a call to Connecticut, and was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Frink, who, in addition to his salary was to have the Parsonage House and the Glebe of 300 acres of land. The Church Wardens and Vestrymen had sent a memorial to England, petitioning that a clergyman of the Church of England be sent to them, whom they will receive with all due respect. They observe that an act of As sembly of the Province grants to every clergyman of the

40
Church of England, that is or shall be in any Parish in the Province, 25 pounds sterling per annum, clear of all deduc tions; 15 or 20 pounds sterling more may easily arise from the perquisites of marrying only, in that large and prosperous Parish. It would not be a difficult matter to add, by a private subscription, 15 or 20 pounds sterling more, which with 17 pounds sterling per annum allowed by the Province of South Carolina for a sermon once a month at Xew Windsor, about. 15 miles from Augusta, together with what the Society shall please to allow a missionary, they judge will enable a gentle man, with or without a family, to live comfortably.
That part of the Province, they say, is remarkably healthy, situate upon a fine river, 150 miles from Charles Town, and about the same distance from Savannah; the Parsonage House is in good repair, and more than 15 acres of Glebe inclosed; and the assembly have passed an act for rebuilding the Church.
The life of the Church Wardens and Vestry in those days was not always a happy one, nor their office a sinecure. Be fore Mr. Frink arrived they invited a Mr. Duncanson to come to them from Savannah, hearing he was not fixed there, and were greatly pleased upon the occasion, but unhappily soon found themselves disappointed in their expectations, for Mr. Duncanson had not been with them six weeks before an irreg ular conduct in him showed itself, if an excess of drinking and profane swearing may be termed so. While they were at tempting to reclaim Mr. Duncanson from these irregularities the peace was sworn against him by one whom Mr. Duncanson at first had challenged to fight a duel, and afterwards attempt ed to horsewhip him, from which being prevented, he did ac tually present a loaded pistol to his breast with threats and menaces of shooting him, and this after Mr. Duncanson had complained to a magistrate of some imaginary injury he had received from the other, which being examined into appeared groundless and frivolous. From Mr. Duncansons conduct they conclude him incapable of forming the great principles of religion in the minds of many unlearned people, that are generally found in the remote parts of America, who are more apt to be taught by example than precept.

41
Which goes to show that Mr. Copps labors had not been wholly in vain, and that he had at least established a proper standard of Clerical behavior.
Mr. Frink wrote under date 19th January, 1765, that the gentlemen who applied to the Society for a missionary treat him with respect and endeavor to make things as easy as they can, tho they cannot comply with every particular mentioned in their letter, because the 17 pounds sterling for preaching at Xew Windsor will be lost to the missionary by the removing of Fort Moore, higher up the river; the article of marriage will fall vastly short, as the war has greatly affected this settlement, and from the school nothing can be expected.
The following year, he wrote that his situation was disagree able in the highest degree. The lower sort have no religion at all, and public worship is kept up only by a few gentlemen and ther families, whose example may in time introduce a form of religion. His health is greatly impaired by the heat of the climate, but not so as to prevent the performance of his several duties, which he will endeavor to discharge, so long as the So ciety shall be pleased to continue him here. The number of inhabitants in the Parish of St. Paul in Augusta is 138 men and 402 women and children, 501 negro slaves and about ninety Chickasaw Indians. His communicants on Whit Sunday were four men and thirteen women.
A letter from the Church Wardens and Vestry of St. Pauls Parish in Augusta, in Georgia, dated Augusta, May 8th, l?6o, acquainted the Society with the arrival of the Rev. Mr. Frink, and returning thanks for the appointment of so worthy a mis sionary, whose exceptional conduct has already engaged the esteem of all the parishioners. They are sorry to observe that several of the emoluments mentioned in their letter of March, 1763, are much reduced.
Mr. Frinks health broke down under the effect of the cli mate. He went to Savannah and was succeeded by Rev. Edward Ellington, a great missionary, who did much to up build the Church in Augusta.
On his arrival at Savannah he was extremely well received by the Governor and by Mr. Frink, for whom he occasionally officiated, till an opportunity offered for Augusta, where he

42
arrived Nov. 12th and was "Collated and inducted." He per formed service once every Sunday, and upon particular days, as was usual, till he got into the Parsonage, which was not quite ready for him, and till then his residence was some miles from the Church. Since he has been in his house, he has service twice on a Sunday. In the afternoon he reads prayers and catechises the children, and he has the pleasure to acquaint the Society that his congregation is daily increasing. He has administer ed the sacrament thrice, the first time to seven, the two others to eleven persons. He writes that there is not one place of worship of any denomination within an hundred miles of Augusta, either way, and therefore he has endeavored, in some degree, to remedy this inconvenience. He has been thrice to St. Georges Parish, generally setting out on a. Monday, travel ing between thirty and forty miles that day. performing divine service Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, at three different places in the Parish, about ten miles wide of each other, and returning home on Friday. There are two other settlements over the river Savannah in Carolina, the one about seven miles where he goes once a fortnight, the other about ten miles, where he goes once a month in the week days, at which places numbers attend. Since he has been in America he has bap tised 1?6 children and two adults, married fifteen couples and buried twelve corpses.
The people in general, particularly at a distance, are very illiterate, and many know little more of Christianity than the Indians. There is a schoolmaster at Augusta, an elderly man, who is sober and very diligent, whose chief support is an allowance of 12 pounds-sterling per annum, which Mr. Ellington mentions as a person deserving some encouragement.
His congregation is still increasing, and by the outward behavior of many there seems to be some good done. Four communicants have been added. His custom is to officiate every week at some place or other around him. He is soon to visit a place 100 miles distance, where he has never been, upon application from the people, though traveling at that season is both disagreeable and dangerous.
Subsequently Mr. Ellington accepted a call to Savannah, and was succeeded by Mr. James Seymour, who was represent-

43
ed to be a deserving young man, sober and discreet. Mr. Seymour took up the work with enthusiasm and continued "Rector through all the troublous times of the Revolutionary War. A letter written by him in September, 1781, gives us an interesting glimpse of political and social and military condi tions at that time in Augusta. It is of special value as giving us the Tory, or English, point of view. He writes that ever since 1775 the Church in Augusta hath never been able to raise her head, and, indeed, Christianity itself has been dread fully neglected.
For about two years after the breaking out of the rebellion he met with indulgence from some leading men of his Parish who were of the rebel party, and was suffered to perform the duties of his function without interruption. Great respect was paid to his clerical character, and though he was frequently threatened by the mob, yet he received no personal injury. The liturgy at last, however, became so offensive that they discontinued their attendance on the service; many were afraid to go to Church for fear of being deemed what is called Tories, and treated accordingly. Some loyalists and the most respectable of his hearers now advised him to discontinue the public service entirely. He did so, and was very punctual in the performance of such as are private.
About the 1st of January, 1779, Col. Campbell, with a de tachment of British forces, took possession of Savannah, and the lower parts of Georgia, and soon after penetrated 130 miles into the country, as far as Augusta, where they remained about a fortnight. Many of the inhabitants then left Georgia and went into South Carolina. The loyalists remained at home to receive their friends and deliverers, and Mr. Seymour, with a few others, whose characters Col. Campbell had been previously informed of, were treated with the greatest marks of attention. These two weeks of sunshine soon expired. The British army retreated very rapidly toward Savannah, in the night, unknown to the loyal inhabitants, who were thus once more left to the fury of the rebels, then encamped on the oppo site side of the river. Their first feelings on that occasion are not to be expressed expecting to be plundered and thinking even their 1ves in danger. Happily their fears were not real-

M
ized, for a Gen. Williamson, who commanded the rebels, was very humanely careful to prevent plunder. Nine of his prin cipal parishioners, besides Mr. Seymour himself, were carried as prisoners to the rebel camp, where they were kept several days, but well used. This General Williamson is now within the British lines, where his humanity is not unrewarded; this is -highly to the honor of British officers.
Soon after Mr. Seymours release he went to Savannah, where he stayed nine weeks; but hearing that his family was sick, by the advice of friends and the approbation of the commander-in-chief, he once more ventured home, where he found one of his children a corpse and the rest of the family very sick. From mere compassion to his family he was spared some months.
Xot long after, happened the siege of Savannah. On the defeat of the French and rebels the latter took post at Au gusta. A whole regiment of dragoons was quartered at his house, and a rebel assembly, then sitting under the protection of that post, the Church was made a hospital for sick soldiers. . Barracks were built on part of the Glebe; the Parsonage House and the Glebe, after being divided into small parcels, were sold. On this Mr. Seymour retired to a farm of his own a few miles from town, where he has remained ever since.
On the capture of Charles Town the loyal inhabitants again got the direction of affairs. A detachment of British troops was sent up to Augusta, that post being deemed of importance in the back country. And now Mr. Seymour was once more happy in an opportunity of performing divine service in his ruinous Church. He was again put in possession of his Par sonage House, which had been much damaged, and the out buildings were actually destroyed. At the request of Lieut. Col. Browne, the commanding officer, he gave it up as an hos pital for sick soldiers.
Last September a large party of rebels came down from the mountains in the hope of surprising the garrison. They got possession of the town; but the garrison bravely defended themselves until they were relieved. Much blood was shed.
When Augusta was invested Mr. Seymour was at his farm, and, seeing no possibility of escaping to Savannah, he fled into

45
a deep, thick swamp, where he remained in the greatest anx iety, five days and nights without any shelter. A party was sent in search of him, who threatened his life, if they found him; but it pleased God he escaped undiscovered.
To guard against a similar attack, the officers and engineers thought it advisable to make a Fortress at Augusta. The site of the Church was judged the most proper spot for that pur pose, and the burying ground is now a strong fortification. The use of the Church is thus lost. The Society may soon expect a letter from Col. Browne apologizing for this measure.
Mr. Seymour has made application to Macartney Campbell, Esq., for the use of a large house belonging to him, which he has generously given up for a temporary place of worship. But the continual alarms, to which they have lately been sub ject, has prevented its being fitted up.
He is now a second time a refugee in Savannah. A numer ous rebel banditti, about two weeks before the date of this letter, came into the Parish at Augusta, and, besides commit ting various other outrages, murdered 35 innocent loyalists in their houses. Mr. Seymours family also, he hears, since his escape, have been stripped of everything valuable, even of their clothing and provisions. The garrison is sufficiently strong for its own defense but the rebels still continue in pos session of the Parish, which, if not speedily relieved, must be ruined.
Mr. Seymours parishioners have unanimously requested him, whilst he remains a refugee at Savannah, to represent them in the Commons House of Assembly. Accordingly he has taken a seat there, which he hopes meets with the Societys approbation. He occasionally assists Mr. Browne. Governor Wright and all officers of distinction, both civil and military, have used him with the greatest kindness. His salary from the Province has not as yet taken place, the records of the funds from whence it is drawn having all been destroyed in the fury of the times. He left his house in such haste that he could bring no Xotitia parochialis, nor other papers along with him.
We find it hard to realize how the bitter political feeling of these troublous times disrupted families and even Churches.

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Mr. Seymours ministry in Augusta ended in seeming disaster, but his example and his life had left their impress upon the comznunity. The people of the Parish, where he had suffered so much, wrote to him, after the war, begging him to come back. They proffered their services to have his name taken out of the bill of Confiscation if he would return and live with them,.for he was much beloved by these people as a clergyman, and nothing but the unhappy system of politics could have induced him to leave them. But he never returned.
With his Rectorship closed the Colonial period of our Parish history. Standing here today and thinking of those young men who came across the ocean to lay the foundations of our Parish life, I feel as the Son of Sirach wrote, that while they have long gone without any memorial, yet they were merciful men whose righteousness hath not been forgotten. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth forevermore.
We of this later day have taken up their work along lines which have fallen in far pleasanter places. The hard condi tions of frontier life have given place to the comforts and luxu ries of a modern city. The young Republic, born in the throes of revolution, has waxed a mighty nation. The little trading post has become a great city. The struggling mission has grown into a strong Parish. Knit together as we are today in the bonds of a common love and affection knit together as you and I have been in 29 years of unbroken harmony, let us thank God for the work and labor of these men who laid the foundation of our Parish life, who made it possible that priest and people, you and I, may have the blessed memories which will go with us from this service today and which will follow ir.e as a benediction through all the years of my life.