... My church grows faster than I expected, and, while it
doth so, I will not be mortified by all the lies and affronts they pelt me
with. My greatest difficulty ariseth from another quarter, and is owing to
the covetous and malicious spirit of a clergyman in this town, who, in
lying and villany, is a perfect overmatch for any dissenter that I know;
and, after all the odium that he contracted heretofore among them, is
fully reconciled and endeared to them by his falsehood to the church."
[Footnote: Dr. Timothy Cutler to Dr. Zachary Grey, April 2, 1725, Perry's
_Collection_, iii. 663.]
Time did not tend to pacify the feud. There was no bishop in America, and
candidates had to be sent to England for ordination; nor without such an
official was it found possible to enforce due discipline; hence the
anxiety of Dr. Johnson, and, indeed, of all the Episcopalian clergy, to
have one appointed for the colonies was not unreasonable. Nevertheless,
the opposition they met with was acrimonious in the extreme, so much so as
to make them hostile to the charters themselves, which they thought
sheltered their adversaries.
"The king, by his instructions to our governor, demands a salary; and if
he punishes our obstinacy by vacating our charter, I shall think it an
eminent blessing of his illustrious reign." [Footnote: Dr.
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