G. Washington 1789
J. Adams 1797
T. Jefferson 1801
J. Madison 1809
J. Munroe 1817
J.Q. Adams 1825
A. Jackson 1829
M. Van Buren 1837
W.H. Harrison 1841
J. Tyler 1841
J.K. Polk 1845
Z. Taylor 1849
M. Fillmore 1850
F. Pierce 1853
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Church, the School, and the Law.
Although the Church has no connexion with the State, it must ever be a most important element in any Christian community. I therefore furnish a table of the various denominations, so as to enable the reader, at a glance, to get the particular information he may desire. Some of the denominations given in this table are, of course, again divided into other sects, such as "Reformed Methodists," "Episcopal Methodists," "Wesleyan Methodists," "Six Principle Baptists," "Seventh-Day Baptists," "Anti-mission Baptists," &c.
Denominations. Number of Aggregate Total Value
Churches. Accommodation. of
Church Property.
£
Baptists 8791 3,130,878 2,295,590
Christian 812 296,050 177,621
Congregational 1674 795,177 1,674,532
Dutch Reformed 324 181,986 860,313
Episcopal 1422 625,213 2,365,013
Free 361 108,605 52,973
Friends 714 282,823 359,071
German Reformed 327 156,932 29,024
Jewish 31 16,575 78,036
Lutheran 1203 531,100 602,205
Mennonite 110 29,900 19,791
Methodist 12,467 4,209,333 3,073,700
Moravian 331 112,185 93,002
Presbyterian 4584 2,040,316 3,017,675
Roman Catholic 1112 620,950 1,884,505
Swedenborgian 15 5,070 22,701
Tunker 52 35,075 9,665
Union 619 213,552 144,913
Unitarian 243 137,367 686,305
Universalist 494 205,462 371,073
Minor Sects 325 115,347 155,815
Total 36,011 13,849,896 £17,973,523
If the foregoing table may be taken as indicative of the whole population, it will be seen that one person out of every three is a Methodist, and only one in every twenty-two is a Romanist; but what is more worthy of remark is, the provision which, under the voluntary system, has been made for public worship.
We here see accommodation provided for 14,000,000 in a population of 23,000,000—of which 3,000,000 are slaves. At the same time, it must also be observed, that all these churches are not necessarily supplied with ministers. Their support being dependent upon their congregation, it will occasionally happen that a minister gets starved out, and some time may elapse before a successor is appointed; the inconvenience of which contingency occurring is obvious. More than one such case came under my own observation when travelling through the country.
With regard to the distribution of the churches, the only peculiarity I observe is, that the Unitarian community appear to be nearly all gathered into one spot, and that spot the Land of the Pilgrim Fathers, and the State that is considered foremost in education. Out of 243 churches, 163 are situated in Massachusetts. I have never heard any reason given for this curious fact; doubtless the great talents of Channing tended to swell their numbers, but could hardly account for the extraordinary proportion established in this State.
In proportion to its numbers, it will be seen that the Episcopal is the wealthiest of all Churches; and yet we find complaint made of the insufficiency of the support for their ministers. Bishop Eastburn, of Massachusetts, in a pastoral letter, states that in his diocese "respectable parents will not bring up their children to the clerical profession, because the salaries hardly keep people from starving." How far this is true generally, or whether confined to his own neighbourhood, I cannot say. The Episcopal Church in America is free from the violent factions that have distracted and thrown obloquy upon the sister church in this country. The puerile struggle about surplices, and candles, and steps up to altars, and Brussels lace offerings, appear to have attracted little attention among those in America, whose theological views assimilate with the extreme high party in England: and I never heard, during my residence in the States, any of that violent and uncharitable language with which discussions on religious topics too frequently abound in this country; nor is the Episcopal community by any means so divided as it is here. The Bishop of New Zealand is far nearer their type than the controversial prelate of Exeter.