CHJ^lPTER v. 



CHURCHES. 



More than a century after the fierce and bloody conflicts of the French 

 Huguenots and the Spanisli Catliolics along the coast of Carolina, and 

 half a century after the congregation of Pilgrims sought shelter from re- 

 ligious persecution at Pljanouth Rock, certain English noblemen, moved 

 by a desire to enlarge the dominions of Charles II., and zeal for the pro- 

 pagation of the Christian faith among savages who had no knowledge of 

 God, planted the first permanent colony, in South Carolina. The colo- 

 nists had no sectarian bias. It was only required that in the terms of 

 communion of every church and profession, these following shall be three : 



"1. That there is a God." 

 " 2. That God is publicly to be worshiped." 



" 3. That it is lawful and the duty of every man, being thereunto 

 called by those that govern, to bear witness to truth." 



Most of the Lords Proprietors and the officers of the colony were mem- 

 bers of the Church of England, and, in 1698, it excited little attention 

 that a salary was voted to the Episcopal minister in Charleston by the 

 Provincial Assembly. In 1704, when the colony numbered be'tween 

 5,000 and 6,000 souls, the Episcopalians had one and the Dissenters four 

 churches in the province. Nevertheless, through the instrumentality of 

 the Governor and others, the election of members of the Church of Eng- 

 land to a majority of the seats in the Provincial Legislature was obtained 

 in that year. Immediately thereafter, to the surprise and indignation of 

 the people of the province, an Act was passed making conformity to the 

 Church of England a qualification necessary to a seat in the Common 

 House of Assembly, and declaring that church to be the settled and estab- 

 lished church of the province. It became the only church having a legal 

 status in Carolina ; its ministers were paid out of the provincial treasury. 

 Each clergyman received £25 upon arrival, and if afterwards elected rec- 

 tors, their annual legal salary dated from the same period ; its parish 

 churches, rectories, and schools were built out of th3 cjaiinjn tax fand. 



