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Resolved, that though the measure of a Convention comprising sundry states in the western country, may be a measure of temporary expediency, it cannot be authorized by this Convention consistently with the general Constitution of the Church, which recognizes only a Convention of the Church in each state.

Resolved, that it be earnestly recommended to the authorities of this Church, in each state respectively, to adopt measures for sending Missionaries to our destitute brethren in the western states. Such Missionaries to be subject to the direction of the ecclesiastical authority of the state or states in which they may officiate. Resolved, that the presiding Bishop be requested to transmit the foregoing resolutions to such person or persons as he may judge proper.

[The above resolutions were concurred in by the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies.]

Saturday, May 24.

Resolved, that the following be entered on the Journal of this House, and be communicated to the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies.

The House of Bishops, impressed with the importance of informing the youth and others in the Doctrines, Constitution, and Liturgy of the Church, deem it their duty to call the attention of the Clergy to the 22d Canon, which enjoins on them diligence in catechetical instruction and lectures. The Bishops consider these as among the most important duties of clergymen, and among the most effectual means of promoting religious knowledge and practical piety.

Monday, May 26.

The Right Rev. Bishop Hobart stated to the House, that there is in the city of New-York the Church du St. Esprit, which was erected in an early period of the province, by Protestant emigrants from the kingdom of France. It appears that the Church is now under the superintendence of Bishop Hobart-that there is still a portion of the congregation who worship in the French language-that he has lately ordained, and instituted as

their Rector, the Rev. Mr. Péneveyre, a native of Switzerland, and that this clergyman officiates according to a French translation of the Liturgy of this Church.

Whereupon, Resolved, that it be recommended to the Right Rev. Bishop Hobart to cause the said French Liturgy to be examined, in order to ascertain how far the translation is correct; and to confirm the use thereof, with such amendments and improvements as the case may call for; and to declare it to be the Liturgy which may be used by any minister of this Church who may officiate in a congregation to whom the French language is familiar.

Resolved, that the above provision be extended to a translation in the French language of the Book of Psalms and Hymns in metre, and of any of the offices comprehended in the worship of this Church.

[The above resolutions were concurred in by the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies.] (To be conued.)

ADDRESS delivered at the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Connecticut, held at Guilford, Wednesday, the 4th, and Thursday the 5th day of June, 1817. By the Right Rev. Bishop HOBART, of New-York.

My Brethren of the Clergy and Laity,

In my provisional charge of this Diocess, agreeably to the 20th Canon of the General Convention, it appears to be my duty, according to the requisitions of another Canon, to lay be

fore you an account of my proceedings, and, as far as my information extends, of the present situation of the Church in this state. You will bear in mind, that the discharge of my duties in this Diocess must be subservient to my paramount duty to the Church in the Diocess of NewYork; and my connexion with you will cease when a Bishop is elected and consecrated for this Diocess.

Immediately after the special Convention, in October last, I made the following visitations :

206 Bishop Hobart's Address to the Episcopalians of Connecticut. [No. 13.

Wednesday, October 16th, NewHaven, and admitted the Rev. William Cranston, Deacon, to the holy order of Priests. Friday, October 18th, consecrated the Church at Meriden, and confirmed 38 persons. Saturday, 19th, Southington, and confirmed 27 persons. Sunday, 20th, Waterbury, and confirmed 226 persons. Monday, 21st, consecrated St. Peter's Chapel, Oxford, and confirmed 74 persons. Tuesday, 22d, visited the Church at Woodbury. Wednesday, 23d, in the morning, Watertown, and confirmed 133 persons; in the afternoon, Plymouth, and confirmed 141 persons. Thursday, 24th, Litchfield, and confirmed 94 persons. On my return from visiting some congregations in the state of New-York, on Friday, 1st November, in the morning, the Church at New-Milford, and confirmed 66 persons; in the afternoon, Brookfield, and confirmed 40 persons. Saturday, 2d, Ripton, in the morning, and confirmed 66 persons; in the afternoon, New-Stratford, and confirmed 30 persons. Sunday, 3d, Newtown, and confirmed 115 persons. Monday, 4th, Norwalk, and confirmed 103 persons, and admitted the Rev. Reuben Sherwood to the holy order of Priests.

Total number of persons confirmed -1158.

The Rev. Philander Chase has resigned the Rectorship of the Church at Hartford, and removed out of the Diocess; and the Rev. Jonathan M. Wainwright, Deacon, at present officiates in that city.

Mr. Charles Smith has been recently admitted to Deacon's orders, and officiates in the Church at Wilton. I feel it my duty to express the high gratification which I received In my visitation of the Diocess, not only from the efforts of both the Clergy and the Laity, to make my stay among them personally agree able, but principally from the evidence which I received of the flourishing state of the churches which I visited. The services, though generally on week days, were attended by numerous congregations. The order, and the solemnity with which divine

worship was celebrated, have not been exceeded by any congregations in which I ever officiated; and may, I trust, be considered as an evidence that the affections of the people were engaged in the sacred exercises in which, with so much impressive reverence and decorum, they united. The numbers confirmed in the respective churches were unusually great on these occasions. The highly gratifying spectacle was exhibited of a collection of young people, principally between the ages of 15 and 20, solemnly assuming their Christian obligations, and presenting themselves before God for his favour and blessing.

I was happy to find also that this was not the impulse of the moment. The persons who were confirmed had previously been visited by their Pastors, excited & take upon them their baptismal engagements, instructed in the nature of the obligations which they were to assume, and prepared for receiving with an enlightened, fervent, yet sober faith and devotion, the apostolic laying on of hands. I could not resist the conviction which I have since repeatedly expressed, excited by this circumstance, and justified by all the information I have obtained, of the laborious and faithful zeal of the Clergy, in their pastoral and parochial duties. There can be no doubt of my receiving additional evidence of this zeal, in the visitations of the other congregations which, God willing, it is my intention shortly to make.

The present state of the Church in this Diocess, as far as I am acquainted with it, affords many causes of congratulation. Obstacles to her advancement from local circumstances are daily removing. Her evangelical doctrines, unmixed with the varying dogmas of metaphysical speculation; her apostolic ministry unimpaired by those innovations which, displacing her from the only sure foundation, the "rock of ages," would rest her on the sandy basis of human authori. ty; her primitive worship, free from the unmeaning frivolities of superstition, and the disgusting extravagancies of enthusiasm, and exhibiting a

simple, sublime, and fervent devotion, are constantly obtaining a stronger hold on the understandings and the hearts of the people. There is reason to hope that she will be that fold of the Redeemer in which the friends of genuine Christianity, long assailed by conflicting systems, and exposed to the attacks of heresy and schism, will at length find rest, in the enjoyment of evangelical truth, apostolic order, and primitive worship.

This happy result will very much depend on the measures that are pursued to preserve the Church in Connecticut in that purity by which she has been hitherto distinguished. For this purpose too much attention cannot be paid to procuring a pious, orthodox, and learned ministry, by exsiting youth of piety and talents, to engage in the sacred office, and by assisting them in their preparatory studies. Apart from the provision which the General Convention contemplate in a Theological Seminary for the whole Church, the Episcopal Academy in this Diocess will still be worthy of patronage, not only as a nursery for the general theological institution, but as a school of sound religious instruction for the young laymen of our Church. It must be gratifying to the Convention to learn from the venerable Clergyman who has so long assiduously laboured as the head of this Seminary, that it is now unusually flourishing, and that several of the students are preparing for Holy Orders. The union of religious with classical and scientific instruction, cannot fail to render this institution of eminent advantage to the Church.

There can be no doubt but that circumstances are eminently favour able to the increase of the Church in this state, in which there prevails a spirit of religious inquiry which is calculated to advance the cause of truth. The want, however, of Clergymen is severely felt. This Diocess has supplied the Church in many other states, particularly in the Diocess of New-York, with Clergymen; and her own increase and prosperity have, in consequence, been somewhat

retarded. May I be permitted to suggest to the consideration of the Laity, the duty of making zealous efforts to remedy one cause of the removal of the Clergy from the Diocess, the inadequacy in some cases of the provision for their support. It can hardly be expected that Clergymen in this state should refuse to accept situations of equal usefulness, and of greater temporal comfort, should they offer elsewhere. I am far from supposing that there is a deficiency of liberality in proportion to the means of the congregations; but should those means be in any cases unfortunately inferior to those enjoyed in other states, there can be no remedy for the inconvenience, but in more zealous exertions, and more liberal contributions.

My brethren of the Clergy and Laity, I cannot avoid calling your attention to the important station which the Church in this Diocess occupies. She has for some time furnished, and it is probable will long continue to furnish the Church in other states with Clergymen and Laymen. Her Clergy and Laity have always been celebrated for their attachment to the distinguishing principles of the Church, and for zeal, firmness, and perseverance in advocating those principles. To this circumstance, under God, may be attributed, in no inconsiderable degree, the general diffusion and prevalence of sound Church principles. Let it, then, be the sacred object of all your counsels, and all your exertions, to preserve and increase the same zealous, firm, and persevering attachment to the distinguishing tenets of the Church. The recovery of man from a state of sin and misery, by the merits and grace of a divine Redeemer, applied and received in union with that mystical body, the Church, for which he shed his blood, and which he sanctifies and rules by his Spirit; the establishment and the preservation of this union, under the influence of the Divine Spirit, by the ministrations of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, which "have been from the Apostle's times," and which "God, by his Divine Provis

dence and Holy Spirit, appointed;" the commencement of the spiritual life in the regenerating sacrament of baptism, and the indispensible change of the evil tempers and habits of our fallen nature, through "the renew ing of the Holy Ghost," obtained in the exercise of penitence and faith, by pious reading, meditation, and prayer, and by devout attendance on the ordinances of the Church-these 'are the principles which pervade our Articles and Liturgy; which are derived from the sacred fountain of Holy Writ; and which adorned the first and purest ages of Christianity. My brethren of the Clergy-by inculcating these principles, by uniting, what the fashionable spirit and measures of Christians in the present day tend to separate, evangelical doctrine and apostolic order, we shall prove ourselves to be trueChurchmen-we shall be faithful to our ordination vowswe shall promote the prevalence of genuine piety, neither degenerating into cold formality, nor disgraced by the excesses of enthusiasm faithful to the trust committed to us, we shall do our parts through good report and through evil report, in the midst of all the heresies and schisms that corrupt and divide Christians, to preserve the faith once delivered to the saints, and the Church as she was established by her Divine Founder, " all glorious within, her clothing of wrought gold" and thus we shall be the instruments, in God's good time, of making her "a praise and joy throughout the earth."

May our divine Lord and Master hear our prayers, and aid by his Spirit our counsels and our laboursand to his name be the praise.

JOHN HENRY HOBART, Guilford, June 5th, 1817.

Constitution of the Paterson Church Missionary Society, instituted May 28, 1817.

ARTICLE I. This Society shall be denominated the "PATERSON CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY."

ART. II. It shall be the object of this Society, to collect monies for the

Missionary Fund of the Diocess of New-Jersey.

ART. III. The business shall be transacted by a Board of nine Managers, who shall be annually elected by a majority of votes of the attending members.

ART. IV. The Officers shall be, a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The Bishop of this Diocess shall be, ex officio, President of the Society. The other Officers shall be chosen by the Board of Managers-a majority of votes to determine the choice.

ART. V. The subscriptions to this Society shall be semi-annually, or annually, paid in advance. Any sum subscribed shall constitute a membership.

ART. VI. A Committee of five Managers shall be a Board for the transaction of business, whose duty it shall be to solicit subscriptions from the opulent and pious. Their stated meetings shall be quarterly; for the purpose of ascertaining what monies have been received, which shall be then remitted to the Treasurer of the Convention.

ART. VII. After the first election, Easter Monday shall be the day when the Board of Managers shall be annually chosen; and all subscriptions shall become due on that day.

At a meeting of the Episcopalians in the village of Paterson, convened in the Dutch Church, 28th May, 1817, the above Constitution was adopted, and the following gentlemen duly elected Officers and Managers for the ensuing year.

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No. 14.]

CHRISTIAN JOURNAL,

AND

LITERARY REGISTER.

THURSDAY, JULY 31, 1817.

ADDRESS to the Convention of the Eastern Diocess, holden at Windsor, Vermont, September 25, 1816, by the Right Rev. Bishop GRIS

WOLD.

MY FRIENDS AND BRETHREN,

THROUGH the merciful goodness of our God and Saviour, we are permitted once more to convene for the very important purpose of consulting on the interest and welfare of that portion of Christ's Church intrusted to our ministry and oversight, and to transact such business as by its constitution and usage, appertains to this Convention. It becomes my duty at this time to lay before you a statement of my official proceedings since our last meeting, and such other things respecting the present condition of our Churches, as may assist your deliberations, and lead to those measures which shall best promote their interest and prosperity.

There have been admitted, as Candidates for Holy Orders, Fonathan M. Wainwright, Gideon Olney, George T. Chapman, Joseph R. Andrus, Alston Gibbs, Benjamin B. Smith, Reuel Keith, George Otis, and Tafts.

To the Holy Order of Deacons have been admitted, Walter Cranston, John L. Blake, Stephen Beach, Thomas Carlile,Chever Felch, George S. White, Joseph R. Andrus, and George T. Chapman. Also, the Rev. Titus Strong, and the Rev. John L. Blake, Deacons, have been ordained Priests.

The Rev. Aaron Humphrey has removed to Connecticut; the Rev. Mr. Cranston to Georgia; the Rev. Joab G. Cooper has also left this VOL. I

[VOL. I.

Diocess; and the Rev. Mr. Safford-the last on account of ill health. A large proportion of our few Churches remains vacant; and it is deeply to be lamented that our Clergy should, by any necessity, be constrained to leave this Diocess, where their labours are so much needed. But from the number and character of the Candidates still on the lists, and of others expected soon to become Candidates, it is humbly to be hoped, that our Churches, through the Lord's merciful goodness, may soon be in some better degree supplied. Some, we trust, will be found, whose zeal for the Lord's work, and whose circumstances in life, will prompt and permit them to labour with less immediate expectation of temporal reward. But a complete remedy of this evil cannot be expected till the cause is removed. While our Churches continue poor, and the pecuniary emoluments of those who officiate in them, inadequate to a decent support, candidates will still be discouraged from entering our Churches, and of those who have entered, some will remove to those parts where temporal comforts are more abundant.

Those who have been ordained, and still continue with us, are engaged in the ministry of the word. Mr. Carlile officiates in Salem, and Mr. Andrus in Marblehead. Those two Churches, so lately in a low declining state, are now increasing and prosperous. Mr. Felch is Chaplain in the Navy, and stationed at Boston, where he officiates successfully in the duties of his office, and occasionally supplies some of the vacant Churches. Mr. White officiates

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