The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1923-07-05
ST. Peters Church,
Freehold and It's ReciorS
By NANCY APPLRGATF. sR.

A4lAC living III nOIiUUUJH Iatl DEEl
Instrumental ia gathering the Quakers
lpto the Topanelnus meeting. and SO
now with his intellectual ability It
was comparatively easy to lead most
pf them on, considering. too the
general instability OF the age. Not
withstanding the large numbers who
followed him, Keith was unsatisfied
and in 1894 appealed to the YEARLY
meeting OF Friends IN London and ap-
peared there in person. At that meeting
he came into direct collision with VIII
liam Penn. Penn was preaching from
the text THE blood Of Jesus Chris
His son cleaDseth from all sin.
and ar4uing therefrom that Hthe Blood
is the life and the life is the light within
them. This proposition Keith
4 proceeded to refute by demonstrating
that sin was cleansed by the blood Of
Christ actually shed upon Calvary =
/ Penn declares that he PENN did not
know whether he was sitting, standing
or upon bis knees" but burst forth
Il pronounce thee an apostate over the
head Of thee The unanimous SEN
( tence of the London Yearly meeting was
1t is the sense and judgment Of this
meeting that the said George Keith Is
gone from the blessed unity Of the peace
able Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ
and hath thereby separated himself from
the holy fellowship ofethe Church Of
Christ; and that whilst he is Ia an
unreconciled and uncharitable state he
ought not to preach or pray in any Of
Friends Meetings. nor be owned. or
received as one of us; until BY public
and hearty acknowledgment Of the
great offe che hath given and hurt he
hath done and condemnation of
himself flisrefore, he gives proof Of his
unfeigned repentance and does his
endeavor to remove and take of the
reproach he hath brought upon Truth
and Friends, which In the love Of God
we heartily desire for his souls sake. e
Keith then instituted a series of meet
ings II Turner'S Hall in London, where
he drew large audiences to his
lrefutations Of Quaker doctrine, but
while the OBJECTIONS were serious. to
! the Quaker sect, they were far from be-
i ing considerable enough to form a.
4 denomination. From Keithau Qnakers
they passed in America at leAs as
recorded by Edwards, unto Christian
Quakers then into Quaker Baptists and
thence unto the Seventh day Baptists.
although some went back and some
HA.
Edwards, these were the beginning Of
the Sabbatarians IN this province ;"
For some years after he had been
thus disowned Keith continued to
wear the garb and to use the language
of Friend and doubtless was
iconsidered to have finished his life
| history when at the age OF go he laid
/ them aside and in 1900 received
ordination at the hands of a Bishop of
the Church OF England as Presbyter in
that Church, Inside Of two years he
returned to America missionary OF the
Society for the Propagation Of the
Gospel in Foreign parts shortly before
chartered by the crown, his avowed
purpose being to gather Quakers from
Quakerism to the Mother Church z
He sailed on the ship Centurion" on
/ April oath and arrived at Boston June
18th, 1909. The chaplain of the ship.
the Rev. John Talbot, he persuaded to
travel with him in part Of his Journey
and there was al 0 on the vessel as
passenger Col Lewis Morris Of linton
Falls Ca Churchman who was to have
built Church at the Falls Of the
Shrewsbury. but according to
Je1 emiah Basse bad not accomplished
it in 17l11. He preached in AZ the
colonies from Massachusetts, to North
Carolina and left diary or journal of
his travels Shrewsbury, MiddIetown.
Allentown and Freehold were all visited
by him.. Upwards OF seven hundred
Quakers were baptized and in
Burlington, where he had been
denounced by the crier. his companion
John Talbot, became the first rector of
q church composed largely Of Qnakers.
Through Monmouth, where he was so
we'll known. where he had many Scotch
and Quaker friends he preached several
times, and he more than any other is
entitled to be known as the founder Of
the Episcopal Church In the County OF
Monmouth. The Quakers endeavored
to make light Of the result
Of his Iabors, but they felt
his detection keenly and Proud,
the Quaker historian OF Pennsylvania,
went so far as to say that It was
asserted from a well authenticated
source that he said on his death bed
II wish / had died when / was a
Quaker. for then | am sure it would |
have been well with my soul,
keith's annual salary as
Missionary was two hundred pounds
He returned to England in 1706 and I
received the rectorship Of Edburton ID
Sussex County at e120 per annun,
where he died March 27th, 1916, He
published many controversial works, +
mostly defence Of and refutations of I
Quakerism, Ia 1905 he published the /
Journal of his missionary tour OF l7d2 =
8 and 4 in America also IN 1909 his /
New Theory of Longitude" He was
a man of great learning and ability. at I
one time over much given to Platoaism |
and kindred philosophy
Upon his ordination rs an Episcopal /
minister. Bishop Burnett, who was
educated with him in the University Of /
Aberdeen. wrote Of him that he was
esteemed The most learned man that
ever was in that sect" 81 :. the Quaker; |
he was we'll versed both in the Oriental /
tongues, in Philosophy and Ma
thematies. And to this day the
Episcopal Church receives the great
majority Of the defections from the
denomination that testified against
him, condemned him and had
him proclaimed By the town erier
a !