Of Bishop White we can say, as John Adams said of Roger Sherman, "He was
pure as an angel and firm as Mount Atlas." He was beloved and
reverenced by all Christian people. When Congress declared the colonies
independent States in 1776, he at once took the oath of allegiance to
the new government. When a friend warned him that he had put his neck
in a halter, he replied: "I know the danger; the cause is just; I have
put my faith in God." In 1777 he was elected chaplain of Congress, and
held the office (except when Congress met in New York) until the capital
was removed to Washington. Francis Hopkinson, a distinguished signer of
the Declaration of Independence, and other loyal sons of the country,
were among those who elected him Bishop of Pennsylvania.

One hundred years ago today the representatives of the Church in the
different States met to adopt a constitution. There had been tentative
efforts to effect an organization and adopt a Book of Common Prayer, all
of which were overruled by the good providence of God. Many not of our
fold desired a liturgy. Benjamin Franklin published at his own expense
a revised copy of the English liturgy. The House of Bishops was
composed of Bishop Seabury and Bishop White. Bishop Provost was absent.
In the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies were the Rev. Abraham Jarvis,
the Rev. Robert Smith, and the Rev. Samuel Parker, who became bishops.
They met to show the world that the charter of the Church is perpetual,
and that the Church has the power to adapt herself to all the conditions
of human society. They met to consolidate the scattered fragments of
the Church in the thirteen colonies into a national Church, and secure
for themselves and children Catholic faith and worship in the Book of
Common Prayer. They builded wiser than they knew. They secured for the
Church self-government, free from all secular control. They preserved
the traditions of the past, and yet every feature of executive,