DEPARTMENT OF STATE BENEWOR.CTFARDYROTFSBaTNAT,C JR. ATLANTA 3r aEORDIA Churches, I^lscopal St. foul's I^jisoopal Church (of Augusta) Richmond County History "The Story of St. Paul's Caiurch, Augusta, Georgia; A. D. 1750-1906." Reel No. Positive 327 filed in ---- In possession of . st. Paul's Ii,lscopal Chrrch Augusta, Georgia Date microfilmed- peb. 9, i960 mCROriLMED Bit 8CBACE WWBOBN Georgia Departnent OF M.crofll> Division 1516 Peachtree ST., HE itlaBta 9, deorgia. Ardhlra* and Elatory (Htta Soak (Hantaina ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. AUGUSTA. GEORGIA. r Ifiatartral ^brtrlf #t. ^aula Oll^urrli. story of St. Paul's Church is of special interest bel|l cause it is the only institution in Augusta which has come down to us from Colonial times, which survived the shock of the Revolut'on 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 1738, 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 Augusta" in honor of Princess Augusta, who, in that year, was married to the Prince of Wales and became the mother of George III. Its site today is marked by a handsome I\cCeltic cross of rough-hewn granite, erected by the Colonial 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. Paul's was the only Church of any kind in .\ugusta. 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. liut Mr. Copp held services regularly in the Tarish 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 17r.G by the Rev. vSamuel 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 constant in their Church duties, would finally have its influence on the community. The Rev. Edward Ellington, who became rector in ITGT, was a great missionary, and seldom at home except on Sundays, He undertook journeys of over one hundred miles and under him the Church grew and prospered. He was followed in December, 17T1, by the Rev. James Seymour. who continued rector of St. Paul s through all the vicissitudes 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 Pritish for other military purposes. The parsonage house he willingly gave up as a hospital for sick sold'.ers. In 1780 Lieutenant Colonel Browne, the P>ritish commamler. realizing the necessity of strengthening his defenses, took possession of the Church and burying ground, enclosing them within a strong fortification. In honor of Lord Cornwall s, who had recently been appointed commander-in-chief of the Southern department, the name of the fort was changetl 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 captured on the 2d of June after a desperate fight. The ohl churchyard became a battlefield, drenched with the blood and sown with bones of the slain. The Church itself was practically 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 Savannah. When hostilities were over he was invited to return and as.sured of welcome, but he engaged in other work, and never came back. Meantime the churchyard and the Cdebe had been confis- tlie of Ri'ghtv^^ Jtl^ lift e^uttly with hjj property! I tftri rifqtjed iin tHe Canfe. yM i moow;'hulle1atwna<^ fvis TtianyKrianw yill ifyaipri^ettlie efepartw^! , ' 6f the BenAvpttiVlEsi'^'' Hoti^f Man* -iii <'OONWMCAMITVTOYfOfD."FWOUWnHEOIHSCBOTHOONWGC-EAENNP.T. WU"TRAHESDEHINATGHDTMEONNtABRLDIRTOIO.FSVHETHLOEOITRANDMPOEHRWOIDCWAEEUN -'* " ;v;* ' 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. Paul's 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 tTie re- establishment of peace. The governor, clergymen and State officials all went in procession from the State House to St. Paul's Church. Mr. Palmer preached a sermon for which he received the thanks of the Assembly. While Episcopal clergy- men still officiated in St. Paul's, 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 I 1818, the legislature tardily restored to them the old Church lot. Immediately the little wooden building which the trus- I 'a tees had erected was removed to where it now stands on the northwest corner of Broad and Kollock streets. The present I I 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 hi.s assistant Rev. Wm. H. Clarke. Dr. Ford died on Christ- G 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 August, 18(7. 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 beaut'ful 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, beneath 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. Paul's after the Revolution, is commemorated, with his fam'ly, 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 monuments. 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 granite cross on the river bank marks the site of the old fort and at its base lies one of the ancient cannon brought from England by Oglethorpe and mounted on its ramparts in 1736. TOMBSTOORNDKERSHOOWF INTGHETHCKINCININSNIGANTIIA. OF THE George Steptoe Washington, a nephew of General Washington, d ed in Augusta on the 10th of January, 1809, and was buried in St. Paul's 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 Matthews, 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 "Adnfiral 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 gunpowder off Savannah. One-half of this was sent to General Washington and enabled him to drive the British out of Boston. It may almost be said, therefore, that this man, buried in St. Paul's churchyard, made the success of the Revolution possible. On the west side of the church is the grave of William Longstreet, "Inventor of the Steamboat," who actually operated a boat by steam on the Savannah river in 180G, a year before Fulton's 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. Paul's 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 qua nt, 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 days. Mb attb iiBimiriala in g>t. Paula Qlljurrlj. Silver Communion Service which was given to the ^ Chtircli by the Trustees of the Colony of Georgia in U51 was lost or destroyed in the general ruin of the Church at the close of the Revolutionary War, when al the Parish records were also destroyed. The communion silver now m use was bought by general subscription and a e, 1820. Anlairskt eodf twhiethortihgeinanlamcoenotrfibtuhteorCs hwurilclhbeanfdoutnhde in an appendix. Subsequently, the large Alms liasin was given by Miss Mary Clarke, in memory of her father, and a Farrel"*'*'"" The present Chancel, vhich was adde.l to the Church in H "<> built in memory of the Rev, William FrI'k H.`Miller.'""' the gift of her son, Mr. He"nr"ynmB.orKiailngo.f Mrs. John P. King, M u^serss.sGr.sA'^. han*d wWiluli'a^mBLis.hoPplatatn. d Priest were given by Sttmernneer,r'w'"iTfe of Dr. H. H. Steiner. ^'''s. Katharine A aklsnojthe brass book rest sotnantdheoanltaerithweerresigdieveonf bthyeMcrso.ssF.anIfd. of^^lw'Ynrk'^fr* o' " memorial of Mr. William A. Tavlor, Thro ^ and sisters. Comniun'ion* Offi 2~r Sir *"J consecration prayer in...thie- !) 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 >ilk, 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. Alj're. Connelly, and Miss Louise W oodward King. The next window, with its suggestion of the resurrection, was given by Mrs. W'illiam W. Alexander in memory of her daughter. Miss Mattie Alexander. Mural tablets, in memory of Mr. Richard Tubman. Dr. Anderson W'atkins. Mr. (icrrard 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 Cam])bell tablet was given bv Mr. Edward F. Campbell. The church bell was bought by means of a general contribution. A list of the subscribers will be found in an appendix. The storm doors were the gift of Mr, James F. McGowan. The bra.ss lecterne in the Chapel was given by the children of the Sunday School in memory of the Rev. W. II. Clarke, 'I'he Chapel aitar was j^iven 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 ^iven by mcml^ers 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' Aid 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 $l.fi00 left by Gov. Charles J. Jenkins, the ladies built and paid for the brick Rectory on Greene street. In the past 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- mun'on Service of Plate, a Communion Table and a Baptismal Font for St. Paul's Church. Augusta: .-Inn Millcdgc. Maria H. Caml'hclI. lilcaiior L. Smith. Mrs. A. M. Carter. Mrs. D. H-'alton. Mrs. Alexander Cunningham, lllisa R. Bacon. Mary Smelt. Laura Bryan. Margaret J. lyoolfolk. Louisa L. IVoolffllk. Maria Webster. A. Gregory. Mrs. Course. Mrs. Caroline McLean. H. Clayton. Jane W. Musgrove. Rebecca T. Baldwin. Rebecca Cocke. George W. Evans. Mrs. Ann Hampton. Jas. Harrison. John Campbell. E. Gardner. Mary McKinne. Mary Sluyter. .1. /'. E. Slaughter. L. Coleman. Samuel Hale. Samuel G. Starr. 1. Cunningham. Mary G. Walker. Agnes 1. Clarke. Mary Read. R. H. Wilde. L. C. Canlelou. James Johnson. h'. Micou. T. A. Brewer. James Frazer. E. H. Tubman. H. Hornby. S. Adants. C. U'atkiiis. (t. 1. Burroughs. Johu Corner. Jno. II. Kimball. .V. L,. Slurges. T/ios. J. Wray. S'. Russell. Thos. H. Rt'iiii. B. Lamar. John Dent. .Mr. Dillon. John Peterkin. Jas. Black. R. Thomas. C. Laurens. S. I. C. Morgan. J. Phinizee Mrs. Schultz. J. Walton Philifi. .-Inselm Bttgg. I'al. Walker. List of sul)scril)ers for the purchase of a l*ell for the use of St. I'aiil's Church, Augusta: Richard Tubman. Ceo. W. Lvans. /.. C. Cantclou. John Course. .-Inderson IVathins, Thos. I. Pannelee. Jas. .M. Jones. John T. Cilehrist. lidxcard T\ Camf>bell, Hugh Smith. R. //. .Musgrore. P. Clark. Henry Wooster. .V. Lord. I'iclding Bradford. D. Shelden. II. & C. li'ebster. Thos. J. Wray, ir. .Micoit. . I. Slaughter and C. Labusan. James M. Carter. Henj. II. U'orren. Richard Allen. V. B. Craves. .1. Mitchell. I. ll. CIcmin. B. D. Thoml>son. John C. Coseling. James Harrison. E. F. Campbell, For Mrs. .1. .Millegc. .Mrs. Sarah Adams. Sami. C. Starr. C. IP. Gregory. William //. Jones. Sllif (Elturrl^ aub tlir JForl. A6brr0B bi; Sru. (- (- fflilUamii. D. B.. at tl)r annrilUtg of tbr fflmiumrnl Irrttrb hij tlir (Enltmial Dantrs tn illark Uff g-itc of Jfort Auguata. Ladies of the Georpa Society of Colonial Uames of America. ADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It gives me very great il| I pleasure, in behalf of St. Paul's Church, to welcome you here this morning and at your retiucst to tell something of the contribution which the Church makes to the historical interest of this occas on. In the first place, the Church enables us to fix with accurapthe 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 i:50 and stood until the very close of the Revolutionary War. The second was built a few years afterwards upon the site of the old. And in the beginning of the last century, that second Church was removed .n order that the present bii'lding 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 tw'cnty 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 military definition is that part of a rampart which connects the flanks of two bastions. You can now construct a picture of GbwueaMiolllnties?m.Iinao,r1it7ao.l16m.Caraornksds,tahfeetreesrciwtteeadrodfsbyF(1o7rt8ht0e) AunCKaomUloesntdaia. l FwDohraitcmhCesowrnao-sf 15 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 rampart 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. Paul's, 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 history is that it fulfilled its purpose and its mission. Augusta was never attacked or pillaged by the savages. They came V'ery 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 contributed very much to make the Indians live at peace with Augusta. The moral effect of a cannon upon the savage disposition 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 lightning flashed from rampart and bastion and how the thunderbolt 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 propitiate their favor and keep their good will. You will remember that a great Congress of the Five Indian Nations was held here at the King's Fort in 1TG3. 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 .\ugusta." I have always thought that there was method in the compliment of Governor W right 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 h'ghest oflfice 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 another. A second contribution which the Church makes to the interest of this occasion is that it enables us to fix the limits of Fort CornwallLs. After the bloody fight at the W^hite House. Sept. 17 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 fortification Fort Cornwallis. While the name Fort Augusta then passed, we must remember that this change was not so much a destruction as an evolution. 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 Church's standpoint* was, that, although Colonel Browne apologized 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 interest 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 parapet wall, below the monument, that, as they pointed 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 l.S which was here in IT36 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 1730 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 stoiy 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 oth of February, he brought over a number of guns for diflterent 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 eighteen 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. Paul's, 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 classification 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 th:s 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 possession 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 19 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 Americans 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 King's Fort, and the ground on which we stand was still Colonial ground. But while the fort had passed unhurt through all these vicissitudes of fortune, the Church had suffered much. When Col. Campbell retreated to Savannah and the Americans occup-e 1 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. 1780), 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 request of Colonel Browne. Mr. Seymour gave it up as a hos^dtal 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 tlic 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 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 mission is never ended. And this spec'al 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 th's 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 stone to tell the story of a memorable past. In closing, I beg you will let me add a few words of appreciation 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 Augusta. No other cross could have stood so fittingly here. It is rough hewn, and, I think, properly so, for in its very rough- that Augusta should not remain under the flag of the king. That man was Col. Elijah Clarke. Cato was not more insistent that Carthage must be destroyed than was Colonel Clarke that Augusta's 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 v cton,'. 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 investing 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 resorted 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 de\ ice of Major Maham. of South Carolina, and was erected near where the Cotton Exchange now stands. Browne tried to neutralize the eflfect of this movement by building a platform at the southwest corner of the fort and mounting upon it two o s heaviest guns. But from the hour that Lee's sixpounder opened fire from the top of the Maham tower, the tort was doomed. Tu"n^e^9 f, 1. Before noonfrtohme ttwhoe ptoiewcesr oofnBtrhietismh oorrndinnagncoef were ismounted from the platform. The whole interior of was ra ed 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 Colon'al 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 mission 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 th's 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 stone to tell the story of a memorable past. In closing, I beg you will let me add a few words of appreciation 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 Ls 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 Augusta. 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 generations yet unborn. "Nor years, tho' numberless the train. Nor flight of seasons, wasting rain, Nor winds that loud in tempests break Shall e'er its firm foundation shake." ^Sptntniarpttrpa of Suiptitg-fiiip fpars. An Ab^r^0a iSabr hg firu. Ci^aunrpg (. HtUiama. . S.. mt tljr SwrutH-fiftlj Auttiiirrfiarnof l^iaSrcturaliipnf 0t.faula(Clrurrlj. Augnata. an& 3?rintrb bg Srqucat. 19tl| Sauuarg. 1903. ``I Remember Days of Old."--Psalms cxliii:5. WE 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 wh'ch w'as 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 th'nk of them as living still in the presence of their Lord in Paradise. Today, as I am thinking how the Church looked on that Lord's 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. I wenty-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. iirf 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 offic'al family--of these ten who welcomed and encouraged and upheld me when I came young and inexperienced, to work among you--nine have passed to their reward. 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 accustomed 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-day who will remember and never forget h'm--how. as he walked up and down that aisle, his noble bearing and fine presence seemed to lend an added dignity 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 distinguished 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 wh ch was given him by the State of Georgia, was inscribed the legend: "In arduis fidelis"--and the inscription defined 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 manner 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. 2ry 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 retirement of his home, a curtain seemed to drop between him and all the old activities of his past life. It was then that I knew him best, when, broken in fortune and broken in health, he accepted it all as God's will, and, in singular simplicity of faith, waited quietly for the end. During all those years when [ 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 res'gnation 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 he had trained his children to love tlie 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-- 20 that whatever was built should be well built; that whatever was done should be well done. The two chairs in the chancel, the Bishop's chair and the Priest's 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 who never preached himself--a modest gentleman, who did what he could, and all that he could, quietly, faithfully, unobtrusively. 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 commonplace, 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 consc'ous of the shortcomings of a sermon than the man who preaches it. The generous indulgence of such a man stimulates 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 encouragement; 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-fashioned 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 believe 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 confidence of his patient, and gave him his rare insight into disease. His intuition was almost as wonderful as his yet more wonderful skill. But he was something more than a great practitioner of medicine. He realized that there was a more important ministry than the ministry of the body, and he never forgot that ;n the last issue of disease a man's 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 everywhere 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 Laity, and I have known him, in emergencies, when no clergyman 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 compose 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 perpetuate 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 atiy kind, and there 1 met Mr. Oates. 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. 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. Oates 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 Englishman's 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 nvnd 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 everyone 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 business 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 modern 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 Ivs 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--modest, unobtrusive, devout--a man who said little about his religion, but who lived it. He always reminded me of Cor- I 30 nelius, the Centurion--a devout man. who served God with all his house. His prayers and his alms went up continually as 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 d'ed 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 liis own. But if anyth ng 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 thing.s, 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 well, was my friend and neighbor. Mr. Wm. Hale Barrett. Generous, high-spirited, impulsive, big-hearted, after the fash:on of his race, how well I remember all his many kindnesses 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 V'estry ever worked harder to lift a debt or meet an emergency in Parish finances. His appeals were not always as persuasive 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 Presbyterian. and he never quite adjusted himself to all the ritual deta'ls 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 persona! 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 whatever has been done in the succeeding years. They have all passed into the Great Beyond. 3^ cr 3" CL a. *>o > Oro '' tf'l CilUlU'll 1 STM INTRHIOU OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. A. D. 1878. 32 Of the ten only one reniainsi. He is not upon the X'estrv 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 85 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 activities. and whose exquisite memorial sheds light upon the Sanctuary as her life shed sunshine on all about her. I wish that I might speak of that good man and his wife-*, who so kincllv 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 Ilis 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 Sundav School, and who has kept on do ng all manner of kindly things, cheerfully, unselfishly, as no one else could do theni'. I am thijiking 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 --the fra:l, 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 friends** who gave to the Church that splen4I.. MMrr, aHndBM; KrsinpH.am. 5a. JMurd.gWe .anEd. MBlrasi.t,King, 63.. MMrr.s.anSd. VM. rBs.uFtlrearn, k H. Miller. 33 did folio Bible with all the necessary Service Books, ami had each one inscribed with the date of my first service as Rector of St Raul's; 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 righteousness and who have obtained a good report through faith. Their names are written in Heaven. They are in the Book of God's remembrance. They are not forgotten by us or by Him. Itlending 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 bu'lding was almost stiuare, with a large platform budt out into the Church and serving as a chancel, f have hanlly realized until this morning how many material changes these twenty-five rears have brought with them. As I think of it and look about me, there is not a t'mber in the ceding, 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 hut the pews and the floor, the glass of t e chancel window and of one window in the body of the -tire i, everything else is new. The great earthquake which dm so much harm in many ways, did us, at least this service. 't set us to work renovating the -.nterior of the Church. le ex terior never has been changed and I hope never wi ^ The building has a character and a dignity of its own which should not he disturbed. But the interior was never satistactorv, and in all that has been done to improve it and make it more beantifnl and churchly, onr constant endeavor was to ]>reserve and emphas'ze the old sentiment and c aracter o the building itself. Nothing was done hastily. It ^as on y after a careful study of the best examples of Churches of t i. kind that we ventured upon the changes which were mac , and when they were completed- when the old galler> lac le taken away, a recess chancel added and the cei mg pane e in hardwood. I think is was the feeling of everyone t lat no ing had been lost and much hail been gaineil. 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 brilliant rendering of that first service, as the organ broke into splendid music under the master touch of that great nuisiciaui. 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. .Ml are living today but one, the wonderful contralto. No one can ever forget the thrilling pathos of that marvellous voice. I have never heard anvthing 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 beautiful voice passed into silence. So I go on th nking 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 I'sten to both today, dear brethren, let me invoke upon you and upon myself, the old, old ble.ssing of the elder covenant: "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. aI.. DPrro. fa.nWd iMegra*n.dK. . C. Goodrich. MMrr.s.AA. lAic,eFOealotet.o, I A Sketch of the Colonial Parish and its 7? ectors Britm tl|r laat ^rrimut jircarlirb by tlic Sen. (baunrri|<. Williams, B. k. aa firrtnr nf.&t. ilaul'a (CJjurrli. un llir JFirat &uiiba(t in Aiiurnt. thr ^rrunii baa nf Brrrmbrr A.B. ISflfi. Atib printrb bi| rrqurat. Dr. Williams t(X)k his text from the Dth chapter of the .Apocryphal l>ook. Rcclesiasticus: "Let us now traise famous men and our fathers that begat us. "The Lot d hath wroufiht great glory by than, through His great poiver from the beginning. " There be of them that have left a name behind than, that their praises might be reported. "And some there he which have no manorial, 7cho are perished as though they had never been. "fliif these 7oere merciful men jvhose righteousness hath not been forgotten. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth fortvennote. When Jacob awoke from that sleep in which there had come to him a vision of God. he took the stone whicli had been his ])iilow and set it up there at Bethel for a memorial, it was to mark an epoch in his life--a j^reat spiritual crisis. .As he looked upon it afterwards, he felt that it was a si^n, a witness, a memorial of the time when (jod first came into his life as a livinj^ presence and power. Rrom that nijjht dated the be^inninjj of his {growth and of his strenjjth. In settiiiK 1> stone at Bethel he was obeying an inlnition, ami an impulse common to all humanity, it is so that men have been moved m all time to per])etuate the nicm(>ry of their fellow-men and fo make permanent record of f^reat and important events. the son of Sirach. in the text, invites us to remember, with pra se, the men who have been famous in their genera lion, lie bids us not forget those other men of more modest ,'!6 repute, whose deeds have not indeed Iteen blazoned and trumpeted by fame--but whose names live forevermore, because of their good work. We are erecting here in God's house today a stone which shall witness to the great fact in oiir Parish history, that when .tiugnsta 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. Paul's Church. A. D. !;")(. Xearby the King's Fort, in the Town of .\ugusta. :n the Colony of Georgia, under the English Crown. Also I he faithful service of its Colonial Rectors: Rev. Jonathan Copp, 1751; Rev. Samuel Frink. 1705; Rev. Edward Ellington, 17(!7; Rev. James Seymour. 1771-1781; Missionaries of the Church of England and of the Society for Propagating tlie Gospel in Foreign I'arts. And we have carved the date and the fact there in enduring stone--because the founding of the Church meant that this civ.lization of ours was to be a Christian civilization. .\mid all the hard and rough and demoralizing conditions of frontier life, the Church came to soften and to smoothe and to uplift. It was God's barrier set here to arrest the tide of evil. This I memorial is not, therefore, something of mere antiquarian I interest. It commemorates the most important fact that can come .nto the life of a town or a people or a nation. It coni^ 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 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 yog that the salary offered by the citizens of Augusta was 20 pounds sterling per 3,,,,u,n_to which the missionary society in England added oO pounds, making the munificent salary of $:J50 a year. And vet they came. Mr. Copp. the first rector, was evidently a man of'much the same temperament as St. Mark. Ke 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 : .\ugiista. Xovember 24, 1'51- Reverend Sir: It is now six month.s .since my arrival to tliese parts, during wliich have l>een employed in the perlormance ol the sacred and wei.ghty belmiguig o Colony of Georgia and 12 more lielonging to aro uia, which'purpose have rode occasionally into prov"'" preached, there being no clergyman settled witnii " of this town. Mv communicants are Init eight mt y ' is no parsonage lioiise built as yet nor even the foundation of one laid--not one foot of land laid out for G e le, nor a security given for the future payment of the 20 pounds sterlm per aimum--which things were promised. But these are least occasion of my complaint to the societv. am should not have mentioned so early, were it not or g troubles that I labor under. We live at Augusta m ' of our lives--the merciless savages, the Indians (w lose mercies are cruelty) have threatened us much o a e. la cold blood murdered and scalped snndry of the Eng . , - .`58 that for tlie whole space of n,y continuance here we have been inter continual fears and apprehensons of being murdered capable of lending us any assistance in times of I'oiu'irable. the aan asLks ;le:avee"t"o"`s'`u`b;"s"c'ri7be hGimosspelefl,-whitohsethuengwreoarthevst irneissnieocnttheir most obliged and most affectionate servant in Christ ' Ipm, th, e S,,ociety very wisely, for bjoOth.\.M\Tr.llCAop\pCaOndI'l't.he iug 1 as h -l=er to remove him from eft ge t| e:^ 1''''" absconding Debtors taking 1 lid tli sai g iL com " I' -'Kregation is p--s and the Province 0 je"or"ga 'and South Carolina .38 children,">from ,\pril preceding, and he had twice rode about l.'i miles among the new settlers and preached and baptised their children, and proposed to repeat his visits to then,; he had. moreover, at the reipiest of the Governor of South Carolina and of the inhabitants of \ew Windsor, in that Province, rode over and preached once in a month there; for which the House of \ssemblv was pleased to allow h 111 U pounds sterling per aniuini, without which gratuity he could not well have subsisted his wife and children. The Parsonage House, which was promised him, not being yet finished, nor the Glebe cultivated. nor the promised subscriptions of the members of his own congregation duly paid. Later on things began to look brighter. letter from the Rev. Mr, Copii, the Society's missionary at .\ugusta, ill Georgia, dated Xovember the (Itli. n.'-if, ac(luaiiited that the Parsonage Hou.se was fini.shed, between 2T feet in length and 18 in breadth, with a kitchen annexed, and would make a pretty good one. were there any glass wimlows in it, but for want of them it is uncomfortable in tlje winter season. Mr. Copp says he constantly officiated 11, the Clnirch. and endeavors to explain and persuade his congregation to the practice of the Christian religion, and he has the satisfaction to sec it liekl in great esteem (tlio' not w thoiit gainsayers). and to be more countenanced by many more than heretofore; he has bapti.sed in the preceding hall year 18 infants, and the luimber of his coninmnicants is l.'i--he says that 1,'s situation is very dangerous, for that since the defeat on the Ohio, the Erench Indians have been almost within Plat neighborhood, at an out settlement, where they have killed and scalped 14 or I.', persons and carried as many more into slavery. Subsc(]iicntlv, Mr. Copp accepted a call to Connecticut, and was succeeded' by Rev. Samuel Frink, who, in addition to his salarv was to have the Parsonage House and the Glebe of .100 acres of land. The Church Wardens and Vestrymen had sent a memorial to England, petitioning that a clergyniat, o the Church of England be sent to them, whom they will receive with all due respect. They observe that an act of .\ssenibly of the Province grants to every clergyman of the 40 tions; 1,5 or SO po,,,,.l,s sleHinLr,,r'"""' tfhaerisphe,rq]u,iswitoeusldofnmotarbry; iangdioffniclynitinmTahttaerriator/"a*d*T''^bv'TM"''"TM' subscription, 1,5 or 2(1 nnimUc , i- " ^ " pnvate Caroli-na for a sermon once a month 'at \ ` ?v "? " 15 miles from Auo-usta top-pfliPr vi \\ "uisor. about please to allow a missLarT tl evT I * ntan with or without a faini,;. to'liy.:'comI'lh:;' Hou,se is in good r^,ah ai , ^ P=>-onage incited i^mid the asseinbi, haye pledt. fore Mr to them FrrriiniKk arrueci othev from Sayannah I," invitori a * \ft' i-i.. a sinecure. Be^^'"'t^anson to come were greatly nlel^ i "'> tempting to re Uii Mr n "'" "r:: 1''" F'"' menaci of shootint r with threats and complained to a magisirate^of so"'" receiyed from the other which h "'i"*--'- ''