daily liable to the mercilous attacks of savages, "with but little to cheer and much to discourage, with small emolument and adruous labor," he here continued as a missionary until 1756, when he accepted a call to the rectorship of St. John's parish in South Carolina.
During Governor Ellis's administration, an act was passed by the Colonial Legislature dividing the several districts of the province into parishes, providing for the establishment of religious worship according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, and empowering the churchwardens and vestrymen of the respective parishes to assess rates for the repair of churches, the relief of the poor, and for other parochial services. This act was approved on the 17th of March, 1758.
For the purpose of keeping church edifices in repair, for the care of the respective cemeteries, sacred utensils, and ornaments, to provide bread and wine for the Holy Eucharist, to pay the salaries of clerk and sexton, and to make provision for the poor and impotent of the several parishes, the rector, church wardens, and vestrymen were authorized to levy a tax on the estate, real and personal, of all the inhabitants within the respective parishes, sufficient to yield in the parishes of Christ Church and of St. Paul 3O lbs. each, and in the parishes where no churches had as yet been erected 10 lbs. each. The method of assessing and collecting this tax was pointed out.
