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Wiggin has been in regular contact with Lord Kenyon and reports that Chase's friends in England continue to work for his cause. The Arch Bishop of Canterbury has donated after a delay because he mistakenly believed Chase to be working with Bishop Hobart. Kenyon and Wiggin do not yet know who told him so. Wiggin proposes a plan for spending the money until subscriptions can be raised in America and assures Chase that Bp. Hobart has been the only significant dissenting voice against his cause.
Date
7-31-1824
Keywords
Lord Kenyon, Mr. Marriott, Miss Macfarlane, Oxford, Liverpool, Mr. Brooks, Bishop of Denham, Archbishop of York, Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Hobart, Mr. Wheaton, Mr. Watson, Bishop of Bangor, Lady Olivia Sparrow, Mr. Daly, Dr. Gaskin, American Episcopal Church, Lady Rosse, Adam Hodgson, Lord Gambier, Dr. Smith, Mr. Johnson, Dr. Stewart
Recommended Citation
Wiggin, Timothy, "Letter to Philander Chase" (1824). Philander Chase Letters. 382.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/chase_letters/382
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Transcript
K.Ch.240731a
Manchester, July 31 1824
My Dear friend,
Let me first caution you against expecting too much from this letter, and tell you it is only a fortnight since you sailed, and as you will most probably not read it in less than 3 months from the time you left me, I must tell you it will contain only a fortnight’s [read]. During this short period many letters have passed between Lord Kenyon and myself, and that good man is as much interested as ever. He & Mr. Marriott and Miss Macfarlane are doing all they can to promote your good cause and I hope this exertion will be attended with some success. Lord K. says in his last letter to me that the Oxford subscription was then £436 which is much more than was expected. We are preparing for Liverpool when the [Rutons] and Mr. Brooks return, and to aid us there Lord K. has just sent me a letter from the Lord Bishop of [?], in which he mentioned you and the cause in the following words “the Sir of Ohio stands much more in need of public aid than mine did 20 years ago. I have happily succeeded in my endeavors greatly beyond my expectations & I must cordially wish him a gin at success. I am persuaded that the cause of true religion is deeply concerned in his success, I do not know that I ever met with anyone whose simplicity of character gave me a stronger impression of [some] personal piety than the good Bishop of Ohio. The Bishop of Denham thinks very highly of him.” Lord K. informs me that the Arch Bishop of York has sent his name to be added to the list of subscribers, and says it was delayed by his having been told, 2 or 3 days before he left London, that he understood you had agreed to make common cause with Bp. Hobart & Mr. Wheaton, and had afterwards retracted. Lord K. has set him right in this matter, and Mr. J. [Watson] denies having told him so. Lord K. justly observes “there is some mystery that I cannot make out yet.” He also says of the Arch Bishop of Canterbury’s delay, “we have, on every account, much reason to complain. If it has arisen from doubts, application should have been made to our good Bishop to remove those doubts. If from a carelessness, the cause is not one which should have been so treated; if from dislike to the cause, we have then, if possible, more reason to complain that such a cause should be so unjustly regarded.” I sent Lord Kenyon the contents of my letter to you respecting the investment of the fund, and my willingness to take a joint interest in the purchase if desired to do so, and he has caused his co-trustees to be informed of it. I do not expect any instructions will be given here, or that anything further will be done till we hear from you. My opinion is the same, and I see no reason why the unappropriated subscription made in America should not be now applied to the support of the school, till other aid can be procured. I think something will be raised in America, and that a small annual subscription may be procured here for the purpose of aiding you to defray the expenses of the Seminary, so as to leave the English fund untouched for some years. If this should fail, or partly so, something might be borrowed, or otherwise raised, upon the land which will belong to the institution. This will be the best plan if you should feel satisfied that the institution will benefit more by a purchase of land, than of stock. It strikes me that the best plan will be to begin the school in your own house, and to defray the expenses out of the old subscription, or a new one to be raised in America, and to take time to determine about making a purchase, and afterwards to regulate your proceedings as may be most expedient. I will contribute something every year for the present, and so will Lord Kenyon, and I think we may raise from 500 to 1000 dollars a year towards defraying the expenses of the school, among a few of us who feel most desirous to assist you. I merely suggest these matters for your consideration, not for a guide, but they may serve to strengthen you in your plans. I have just received another letter from Lord Kenyon informing me that he had [cause] only to add the Arch Bishop of Canterbury to our subscription list for £25. The Arch Bp. of York subscribed the same. The Lord Bishop of [Bangor] has just sent £25.0.0. With this I send you a letter from Lady Olivia Sparrow, and I am pleased to see that she proposes to assist you hereafter. I dare say she will subscribe something annually. I also send you a letter from the Revd. Mr. Daly, and I have desired some appeals and statements may be sent as he has desired.
August 1st.
I have just received a letter from Lord Kenyon enclosing a letter from Dr. Gaskin in which is the following “I have had much intercourse with Bishop Chase in London, and having minutely investigated the nature & the circumstances, of this recent application in England for pecuniary aid towards establishing a Seminary for Clerical education in his Diocese, I am anxious to affirm, that I consider the venerable Bishop to be as correct and orthodox a Prelate as ever credited the Christian Church, and that his object in view, respecting the proposed Seminary, is as good & righteous an object as was ever a Christian Prelate was engaged in; that the [same] is in perfect accordance with the Canon & contribution of the American Episcopal Church, which appears to be a legitimate Daughter of the Church of England, and that any aid that can be procured hence, towards the furtherance & establishment of that Seminary will be well bestowed.”
Prayers were made for you in some of our churches on Sunday last, and hitherto much interest has been felt for your safety and success. I think there will be raised £40 or more at [?] where we went before arriving at P[?] Hall, independent of Mr. Kenyon’s and £10 that I had collected there before, the town is but a small one, and the amt is fair for its size. Miss Macfarlane says Lady Rosse was much pleased with you, but that you took her by surprise and she was so nervous that she scarcely knew how she received you. She had fancied you were a small old man, with a thin face, and your first appearance before her, being so totally different from her expectations, she was quite overcome. She is a steady friend and will do more for Ohio next year, I have no doubt. She sent her [address] to me and requested I would write to her, something interesting. This will give me an opportunity of reminding her of the cause & keeping her interested in its progress. I hope you will sometimes write to her. I hope you will always take care to say how much you value the rarity & harmony of the Church, when you write to your best friends here, for I assure you it will have a most favorable influence on the minds of all. Do not forget to write to Miss Macfarlane and say much to her on that point, for she can do as much good as anyone, and will communicate all you say to Lady Rosse, and to many of your most valuable friends. If you inclose your letter to her to Lord Kenyon she will get it without expense. All your letters & parcels should be sent first to Adam Hodgson, as foreign letters are not entitled to the privilege of being foranked. We are all of us desirous of your communications but know you will have much to do at home & therefore we must make allowance for your engagements, and be as indulgent as possible. I will however request you to inform me of everything of much importance for your friends to know here, that I may make known your progress & in that way preserve that interest in your cause which has already been excited & which will be of much importance as respects future support. I do not expect general subscriptions will be made, but I will give something, so will Lord Kenyon, & I expect Lady Rosse, Lady Olivia Sparrow, Lord Gambier and a few others will also subscribe. I expect observations on the “remarks” will come out soon: we say Bishop Hobart was the only opposing Bishop. The others merely disapproved of your plan, but neither opposed you nor [?] opposition. This fact justifies your publication of Bishop Hobart’s letter, and your selecting him as the author of the opposition in America. That you only delivered 3 or 4 copies of your letter to Bp. White in England before you arrived in London & that Bishop Hobart issued his notes before you arrived there, and that they were [?] in [ambition]. You arrived at Liverpool on the 3rd Nov, at Platt on the 4th, and the letter was addressed to Dr. Smith on the 8th & to Mr. Johnson on the 10th or 11th and you arrived in London on the 17th. Bishop Hobart’s notes were dated Nov. 13th. These are considered the only point of much importance and we think you are here triumphant. We say these notes were slanderous. Dr. Stewart’s meritorious services cannot be admitted as evidence that other Bishops in the United States besides you have been as active as you have nor do we admit that our inspection of the map of other Diocese proves that these Bishops have traveled over them as you have done. Those prints are of but little importance but they may serve to show with what art the [?] were drawn up. These remarks will do you no harm but all their venom will recoil upon the author. Bishop H is more [?] for this publication than any former one, for there is no doubt of his being the author, and the prove that he has violated this truce, and that he is not a man of peace. We all rejoiced to hear of your safe arrival and happy meeting with Mrs. Chase, and the rest of your family. We sincerely hope your life will be prolonged, and blessed with good health, that ou ma be enable to find those important services of the Church which your plans are designed to accomplish. I am happy to inform you we are all well and living as you left us. I have frequent inquiries after you from your friends in Manchester & elsewhere & all rejoice that so much success has attended you. Prayers were offered up for you in some of our Churches after you left us and with great sincerity I hope yo will believe that we shall always [see] a deep interest in your welfare and in the good cause in Ohio. Mrs. W & children invite in kindest regards to you & Mrs. Chase I remain my dear friend ever most faithfully yours,
T. Wiggin