28 History of Methodism 



practices were with more violence repeated and openly 

 avowed by Governor Johnson and his friends. "Jews, 

 strangers, sailors, servants, negroes, and almost every 

 Frenchman in Craven and Berkeley comities, came 

 down [to Charleston] to elect, and their votes wer<3 

 taken, and the persons by them voted for were re- 

 turned by the sheriffs." The Assembly, being thus 

 illegally constituted, proceeded, under the influence 

 and direction of the conspirators, to exclude all Dis- 

 senters from any Assembly that should be chosen for 

 the time to come by the passage of an act, May 6, 

 1704, requiring as an antecedent qualification to their 

 becoming members that they should conform to the 

 religious worship, and take the sacrament of the Lord's 

 Supper according to the rites and usages of the Church 

 of England. As a majority of the members en- 

 gaged in this work of legislation, according to the 

 statement of Edward Marston, were constant absentees 

 from Church, and about one-third of them had never 

 taken the sacrament at all, and did not wish to exclude 

 themselves, they declared by the same act all High- 

 churchmen eligible to seats in any future Assembly, 

 if for twelve months next preceding they had not taken 

 the sacrament in any dissenting congregation. This 

 act evoked the just condemnation and criticism of the 

 rector of St. Philip's: " I cannot think it will be much 

 for the credit and service of the Church of England 

 here that such provisions should be made for admit- 

 ting the most loose and profligate persons to sit and 

 vote in the making of the laws." This Assembly 

 stopped not here, but arrogating to itself a supreme 

 regard for the interests of religion, although, accord- 

 ing to the testimony of ex-Governor Thomas Smith, 

 its members " were some of the most profanest in the 



