as for its piety and beneficence, ought not to be lost. At the time when their excellent and laborious pastor was anxiously exerting himself to raise up for the Swedes a more comfortable and convenient house, in which to meet for the worship of Him, from whose bounty proceed all our blessings, a certain John Hans Stellman lent to Biorck, for the use of the congregation at Christeen, and for the express purpose of building the church, the sum of one hundred pounds. Stellman took of Biorck a bond for its repayment, with the usual interest of ten per cent. per annum, for the use of the money. When the interest became due, Stellman declined receiving it, and so continued to do until the year 1706, when he executed and presented to the church the following release:

Know all men by these presents, whom it may, or hereafter shall concern, that I John Hance Stellman, of ye County of Cæcill in ye Province of Maryland, Merchant, doe heareby accquitt Release & forever discharge Mag" Ericus Biorck, Minister of Christeen Congregation, of a Bond and Obligation Dated in Elk River, ye 30th of June 1698, Containing One hundred pounds Sill money, with Tenn pound Interest yearly, & every yeare, which Money Mag" Biorck had upon ye acct and for ye use of Christeen Congregation, for ye Biulding of ye Church; which Bond & ye Sum and Interest, I doe give freely, and of a pure concientious heart, for the honour of GOD, to ye Holy Trinity Church; and doe heareby alsoe declare & testifye, that I never did design nor have taken any Interest for ye afores hundred pounds, for I have never made up my acets untell this Day, nor have disclosed my mind, what I have Resolved and had in minde, untell now, wheareunto I have sett my hand & seal. JNo. HANS STELLMAN, [L. S.]

Christeen ye 16th Novbr 1706

Wittness

his

PIETTER P STALLCOP

mark

JOHN JUSTASON

CHAPTER IV.

The care of the Swedes to keep up their institutions for public worship, has been already noticed. The following account of their ministers will give a condensed view of the concern on the part of the government at Stockholm to furnish the colony at Christina with the means of public instruction, from the first settlement of the country, until the final dissolution of their religious connection.

Reorus Torkillus, was the first clergyman from Sweden who came to America. He accompanied Minuit in 1638, and officiated at the church within the fort at Christina until his death, on the 7th of September, 1643, which took place after a lingering illness of six months and two weeks, at the age of thirty-five years. He was born at West Gothland, and after finishing his education, was chosen a professor in the college at Gottenburg. He married in this country, and left behind him one child.

John Campanius Holm succeeded Torkillus. He came over with Governor Printz, and arrived at Christina on the 15th February, 1643. He remained here six years, and on his return to Sweden was appointed first preacher to the admiralty, and afterwards pastor to the church at Frost Hultz and Herenwys, in Upland. He translated Luther's Catechism into the Indian language, which was published. He died in the year 1683, aged 82 years, and was buried in the church at Frost Hultz, where a handsome monument was erected to his memory.

Lawrence Charles Lokenius, commonly called Lock, came to this country during the administration of Governor Printz, and remained here until his death, in 1688. He preached both at Tinicum and Christina, until 1677, when Frabritius being employed to serve the upper congregations, Lock devoted himself to the service of the congregation which met at Crane-hook.

Israel Holg came to America during Printz's government, but soon returned to his native country, where he officiated as a minister in the Island of Sokn, West Gothland.

A clergyman named Peter came to this country with Gov. Rising in 1654, and returned in 1656, soon after the conquest of the colony by the Dutch.

Another clergyman whose name was Matthias, came over in the ship Mercury, which arrived here in 1656, soon after the conquest. He returned in 1658.

Jacob Fabritius, a Dutch clergyman, who had officiated at New York, was employed by the congregation at Wicaco in 1677. The old blockhouse there being then useless as a military defence, was fitted up as a place of worship, in which Fabritius preached his first sermon, on the day called "Trinity Sunday," 1677. After five years he lost his sight, which did not, however, prevent him from preaching. He served them nine years after he became blind, and until the infirmities of age disqualified him for the work. Rudman says he died in 1693 or 1694.

From the year 1691, when Fabritius failed, until the year 1697, when Biorck, Rudman, and Auren arrived, the Swedes were without a minister. During the interval the only religious performance in the churches was reading homilies or sermons, singing psalms, and prayer. This service at Christiana was done by Charles Springer, and at Wicaco by Anders Bengtson.

Ericus Biorck continued to reside at Christina until the year 1714, having, as their faithful friend and pastor, served his congregation for the space of 16 years. He managed their concerns with eminent prudence and activity, struggling with them through all their difficulties, and sympathising with them in all their sorrows. In 1712, Andrew Hesselius was sent over by Charles XII. of Sweden, to take his place. Biorck had now lived so long among his friends at Christeen, and had become connected with them by so many ties of affection and interest, that it required two years to wind up his affairs. Finally, in the summer of 1714, with his wife, a native of this neighborhood,

and five children, he sailed for Sweden. The king appointed him rector of Falun, a city of Dalecarlia, situate in a district famous for its copper mines. He continued to correspond with the principal men of his American flock, and to give them his advice on all difficult and important occasions. The directors of the copper mines, knowing the warm interest and attachment of their pastor for his old friends and desirous of giving him a proof of their affection for himself, presented to the congregation at Christina a large silver chalice and other silver plate, all richly gilt, for the use of the church.*

Andrew Hesselius continued to act as the pastor of the church here until his recall in the year 1723. During this period, the English Episcopal churches and the Swedish Lutheran churches, in America, found themselves so nearly united in doctrine, and in sentiment respecting other matters, that there was no obstruction to a free religious intercourse, and they occasionally officiated in each other's churches. "Indeed," say the English clergymen, in a letter addressed to the ecclesiastical authorities in Sweden, "so great was our mutual agreement in doctrine and worship, and so constant were they in attending our conventions, that there was no visible discrimination between us, but what proceeded from the different languages wherein they and we were bound to officiate."

At this time the English population in Pennsylvania had become numerous, and many of their congregations were without a regular service. Under these circumstances they were glad to have Hesselius to preach for them, and he frequently gratified them, so much to the satisfaction of the English, that "the society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts "sent from England ten pounds sterling, as an acknowledgment of their gratitude for his services, with a promise of as much annually in future, on receiving satisfactory evidence that he had preached in the English churches at least twenty times a year." When

Rudman. Tradition says, this chalice was stolen from the church by some one who broke through one of the windows.

he left this country, three Episcopal clergymen, George Ross, a missionary at New Castle; John Humphreys, a minister at Chester, and William Becket, a missionary at Lewes, gave him a certificate, stating their approbation of his character and conduct, and warmly recommending him for promotion on his return to Sweden. He died in 1733.

Samuel Hesselius, a brother of the aforesaid Andrew Hesselius, came to America in the year 1719, and settled as a clergyman at a place called Manating,* somewhere on the Schuylkill. How long he resided there is uncertain, but the records of the church at Christina show that he was married here on 9th of June, 1720, to a certain Brita Leikan. On the departure of his brother, he took charge of the congregation here, and remained until 1731. But the practice introduced by his brother, of serving others, as a preacher, and receiving gratuities or annual allowances for the labour, proved a source of much uneasiness and contention between the new pastor and his flock. In the year 1729 he was charged with neglecting his duties and not preaching at his own church for many weeks together. In consequence of which, they refused to pay the monies subscribed for his support. Letters of complaint against him had been written to their former pastor Ericus Biorck and to his bishop in Sweden. Hesselius charged Charles Springer with the authorship of these letters, and petitioned the Governor of Pennsylvania for redress. Commissioners were appointed by the governor to hear the parties in the dispute, and report to him their judgment in the The report was made, and Hesselius was cleared of some of the charges, but it was evident that there was a breach between the parties, that no judicial proceedings could heal, and without leave from his bishop, he returned to Sweden in the year 1731.t

case.

* Clay's Annals, p. 113.

On the 1st of November, 1731, a letter was written by Archibald Cummings, commissary, and four clergymen of the Episcopal church, and furnished to S. Hesselius expressing their approbation of his voyage for Sweden, without his bishop's direction. They gave as a reason for his