the first footing which episcopacy there obtained, we are indebted, under the blessing of the divine Head of the Church, to the deliberate conviction of a few eminent congregational ministers, of the invalidity of the orders under which they had, for several years, been exercising pastoral functions. It was the conviction of sound understandings, enlightened minds, and pious hearts; and too sincere to admit of any hesitation in adopting a consistent line of conduct. Stations every way comfortable, eminently respectable, and in which they enjoyed the affectionate attachment and full confidence of their friends and fellow-members of the prevailing religious denomination, were promptly resigned, for the purpose of seeking, in a distant land, the ministerial commission, for the obtaining of which a door had not yet been opened in this western world; and without which, they were thoroughly persuaded, as the result of closest application to the subject, they were unauthorized to exercise any function of the Christian ministry.

This highly interesting event, while it laid the foundation of the Connecticut Church, also tended to form the character of primitive Christianity which has distinguished it through the whole course of regular increase, and advancing prosperity, with which it has been blessed. No sense of mere propriety or expediency could have induced its venerable fathers to take the step above noticed, so disinterested in its character, and, indeed, so fraught, in all its temporal consequences, with loss and disadvantage to themselves. Thoroughly convinced of the validity of the claims which the Church of their choice advanced to bearing the nearest existing resemblance to that in which the Apostles and their immediate successors exercised their ministry; and, indeed, possessing characteristics essential to the identity of any branch of the Catholic Church with that--they were conscientious in endeavouring, by all proper means, to work the same conviction in the minds of others. Their endeavours, through the furthering influence of divine grace, were successful. Hence sprang the race of ConVOL. V.

necticut churchmen-clergy and laity who have ever been characterized by a thorough knowledge and just appreciation of primitive principles. They have preserved the purity and enlarged the borders of the Church at home, and been greatly instrumental to her increase and prosperity in other parts of the Union.

When, in the course of divine Providence, the dependence of the American upon the English Church, was rendered improper, by the severance of the Colonies from the mother country, Connecticut had the honour of taking the lead in efforts to obtain that grade of the ministry which was wanted in order to the establishment, in this nation, of a true and pure Christian Church. Under the influence of the principles she had fostered, she conceived this to be an essential preliminary to measures for the organizing of the Church. Succeeding in this enterprize, through the agency of the Scotch Bishops-a favour which every American Episcopalian should remember with gratitude-she exhibited the first Christian society in the United States which could, in the true sense of the term, be styled a Church.

The first American Bishop, Dr. Samuel Seabury, was precisely the man whose elevation to the Episcopate of Connecticut, we might suppose, would have met the most cordial approbation of the great and good men who first planted in that State a pure branch of the Holy Catholic Church. His attachment to their distinctive principles is evident in all his writings, and was one of the qualifications which fitted him to be so extensively useful in the promotion of the cause of primitive Christianity. Upon his removal from the ministry on earth, a very suitable successor was provided in the late Dr. Jarvis. The congeniality of his principles and views with those of his predecessor, was the means of continuing to the Church in Connecticut the same gradual increase, and the same primitive and evangelical character, which had rewarded the labours of that excellent prelate. A like remark applies to the provision made by that diocess for

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episcopal superintendence, after the decease of Bishop Jarvis, by intrusting the charge of it, agreeably to the Canons, to the present Bishop of NewYork.

Such having been the uniform character of this portion of the Church, and of its diocesans, it will be readily conceived that we opened, with no ordinary anxiety, the primary charge of its present Bishop. We are happy to be able to add, that we closed it with no ordinary gratification. It may be regarded as a solemn pledge, on the part of that Right Rev. Gentleman, to consecrate the influence of his high and responsible station to the preserving of that soundness of principle, and purity of order, for which the founders, and the first Bishops of the Connecticut Church, laboured and prayed that she might be distinguished. In the confidence of the faithful redeeming of that pledge, may be indulged the pious satisfaction of anticipating a continuance of those characteristics of this section of the Church which have so long secured its prosperity and welfare, and rendered it an emi

nent instrument of the maintenance and propagation of pure primitive Christianity.

At the close of a short introduction, the Bishop states the general object of his Charge.

"The leading consideration to which, in the performance of my present duty, I would call your attention, is to keep constantly in view the great object and end of your Ministerial Profession-to induce sinful men to embrace the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, and to build up his Church in the most holy faith."-P. 4.

The particular which, for its supreme importance, is justly ranked first, is the duty of personal holiness on the part of the clergy. After "a paragraph devoted to a general exhibition of the indispensable necessity of their being what it is their duty to exhort others to be, there is the following notice of a point intimately connected with this head:

"The Christian Minister must refrain, indeed, from many things which are comparatively innocent, and which would be supposed entirely harmless, if practised by other men. Many things are esteemed

lawful for the people, which would be deemed scandalous in the Clergy. From them is expected-and justly expecteda greater sanctity of character, and more circumspection of conduct. More renunciations are required of them, and greater abstinence and self-denial. They must spend more time in prayer, and their alms must be more bountiful. Like a city set on an hill," and which 'cannot be hid,' their profession places them on an eminence, where they are regarded with scrutinizing eyes. If they descend from that eminence to mingle in the common scenes of levity and frivolity which surround them, their weakness is regarded as a crime; and the wicked will be ready to plead the authority of their example, when they proceed from amusements comparatively harmless, to more criminal indulgences." -P. 4, 5.

The importance of learning in the Clergy, is the next topic, and is justly applied both to Theology, strictly so called, and to the various other branches of useful science. There is also noticed the very obvious circumstance, that studies preparatory to entering into holy orders, should be considered but the commencement of that application to the increase of useful knowledge, which should occupy a conspicuous portion of the time and care of the Christian minister, through life.

his" (the clergyman's) "perceptions, Every thing that can give vigour to clearness to his ideas, or strength to his reasoning; all that tends to enlarge his mind, and increase its capacity for obserenlarge his acquaintance with the characvation and reflection; all that serves to men; must be useful and necessary to ters, actions, feelings, and passions of him, whose office it is to guide the human will, and correct the human heart.You cannot fail to perceive, then, my brethren, the utility and the duty of cultivating, according to your opportunity and ability, all those branches of human learning, and especially of theological learning, which may render your instructions more intelligible, more acceptable, and more useful to the people of your charge.

"If it were necessary to urge any thing further on this topic, I would refer you to the effects of ignorance as they are displayed in the presumption, the errors, and the extravagancies of those untaught and self-constituted teachers who assume to be above the aids of human learning, and cherish the fond conceit that they are acting under the immediate and perceptible influence of the Holy Ghost. You

will see such men discuss the most difficult points of theology with the utmost boldness; and decide at once, and with the most perfect confidence, questions which require the deepest research. The popish tenet of infallibility has been supposed to lie at the bottom of much of the bigotry which prevails in that Church. But of all bigots, no one is so confident and intolerant as he who imagines himself the subject of special supernatural illumination. Such men boldly denounce all who dissent from their particular views as mistaken formalists, and suppose themselves capable of imparting new light and knowledge to every misguided flock which may forsake its proper Pastor in quest of novelty. Imagining themselves to have been the subjects of some special miracle, they become inflated with spiritual pride and self-righteousness. They fancy themselves the peculiar favourites of heaven, and say to those who can make no such pretensions, stand by thyself; I am holier than thou:' believing the operations of the Holy Spirit to be direct, perceptible and instantaneous, and irresistible, they undervalue and despise the ordinary means of grace. They teach their ignorant followers to look for some special and supernatural outpouring of the Spirit, and to expect some special miracle to be wrought for their salvation: and mistaking the suggestions of their own imaginations, for supernatural impulses and impressions, they run into every species of extravagance, superstition, and fanaticism. It is easy to perceive-and you have often had occasion to observe-the confusion and mischief which such men create in a religious community. These results are the natural consequences of ignorance, when heated with enthusiasm. Sound learning is one of the best preservatives against them, and a pious and well informed Clergy can afford the only antidote to the evils they produce."-P. 6, 7, 8.

The Bishop next directs the attention of his Clergy to the mode in which their duties may be most successfully performed. He portrays, in a very lively and interesting manner, the important pastoral function of private visits, especially to the sick and the afflicted; and then proceeds to notice the public duties of the ministerial office. As of the highest value and excellence, he properly gives precedence to those of the desk and the altar. He notices the very general, but very great error of ranking these, in estimation, below the exercises of the pulpit. He enlarges a little on the impropriety and inconsistency of doing

There are then added the following appropriate observations:

"The fault which we thus deprecate, is not occasioned by any inherent defect in our Liturgy. In part, it may have been inherited from our puritanic ancestors; who, in their zeal for reformation, were disposed to recede as far as possible from the Church of Rome; and accounting as mere formality that appearance of deep devotion which characterized her worship, were led to undervalue this most essential part of divine service, and exalt the service of the pulpit to an undue preeminence. The fault thus contracted, is fostered by our natural indolence, which inclines us to listen with complacency to the eloquence of the preacher, but is averse to that exertion of mind, which is necessary when we take an active part in the service of the sanctuary. But, my brethren, may not the fault sometimes be occasioned, or at least fostered, by the defective and imperfect manner in which the service is performed ?"-P. 11.

We would respectfully, but very seriously, ask, whether this light estimation of the service of the Church, and the preference to it of the hearing of sermons, an error so inconsistent with a truly devout and Christian spirit, and so unfavourable to the interests of evangelical piety, may not, also, be, in some measure, attributable to the prevalent neglect of affording other than very rare opportunities of attending that service simply, and the too prevalent disposition, even among those who ought to be expected to have at heart the interests of religion and the Church, to speak and act as if " Prayers” were of little importance, and even an unne

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cessary waste of time. We are confident that if churches generally were more frequently opened for Morning and Evening Prayer, and the duty of attendance thereat, as an act of devotion, and a mean of grace and edification, were duly impressed upon the people, the error in question would be less prevalent, especially among those who make profession of piety, and the interests of pure evangelical religion be materially advanced.

After noticing the errors of cant, negligence, and affectation, in the manner of conducting divine service, the Bishop adds the following excellent directions on the subject :

"Keep constantly in mind the nature of the office in which you are engaged. Bear in mind that you are in the house of God, and that you are addressing that great Being, who is worshipped in heaven by angels and archangels-who declares that he will be worshipped in spirit and in truth'--and who knoweth the very thoughts of your hearts. Bear in mind that your voice is the voice of the assembled congregation that you present their penitential confessions, their fervent supplications, and their grateful thanksgivings before God; and that as ambassadors of Christ you declare the divine forgiveness and mercy to all who sincerely confess and renounce their sins. It is a station of awful responsibility, and its functions are the most solemn and affecting that a human being can perform. If you enter into the spirit of your office, then; if catch that humble, grateful, solemn feeling it should inspire; you can hardly fail to perform its duties in that impressive and affecting manner which shall give to them their due effect. You will avoid that frigid monotony, which a mistaken idea of humility and sanctity sometimes produces, not less than that more offensive affectation, and straining for effect, which is the offspring of false taste, and a want of proper feeling. You will acquire a chastened, impressive, recollected ardour, equally removed from the languor of indifference on the one hand, and the extravagance of enthusiasm on the other."-P. 12, 13.

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Observing that the same general directions apply equally to the delivery of sermons, the Bishop proceeds to notice the duty of ministers as "preach ers of the Gospel," in relation to the matter of their public instructions.

The obvious general duty under this head, is that the Clergy ❝lay before"

their "people" the "distinctive principles" of the Gospel. These he states to be

"The natural depravity of man, the atonement of the Saviour, the renovation of the heart by the graces of the Holy Spirit, and the necessity of a living faith, a sincere repentance, and a willing obedience to the divine commands."-P. 13.

There is added the following very proper advice:

"In inculcating these doctrines, you will do well to follow the simplicity of the Gospel; avoiding those additions, and metaphysical subtleties which the lovers of systems have incorporated with the dogmas of their theology."-P. 13.

On the subject of human depravity, the Bishop justly remarks on the happy medium maintained by our Church, between the denial of the doctrine on the one hand, and on the other, the representing of "fallen man rather as a fiend than as a human being, 'wholly averse to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil;' so that he is utterly unable even to co-operate with the Holy Spirit in the work of his conversion."

"Our Church," he observes, "declares that man is very far gone from original righteousness,' without attempting accurately to define the limits or the extent of his depravity; while she magnifies the efficacy of divine grace, by declaring that he has no natural power to do good works acceptable to God without the assistance of his Spirit."-P. 14.

The Bishop then notices the evangelical character of our Church, in not restricting, in her belief, to any particular portion of men, those blessings of redemption and grace, which the Gospel unequivocally declares to be designed for all, or that possibility of salvation, under which, the same Gospel declares, every human being is created, and which is removed from none but those who wilfully refuse the proffered mercy.

The following application is made of this part of the subject:

doctrines of the Gospel)" as they are con"To preach them" (the distinguishing tained in the Scriptures, and set forth by the Church, must be the leading object of your ministry. But they are always to be preached in connexion with those religi ous and moral duties which God has en

joined on us. Holiness of heart; piety to God, and benevolence to man; with all

the social and relative duties of life, must be constantly enforced, and earnestly inculcated, as the necessary fruits of a living faith in the way of salvation. What God has done for man, and what he requires of him, must equally and unitedly constitute the subjects of your preaching: nor are you to be withheld from the first, from an apprehension of being thought too evangelical; nor deterred from the last, from the fear of being stigmatized as mere moral preachers. Brethren, it is a small matter to be judged of men; to your own Master you must stand or fall.'"-P. 15.. There next follows a notice of that important duty to which every presbyter most solemnly pledges himself, at his ordination, to "be ready, with all faithful diligence, to banish and drive away from the Church all erroneous and strange doctrines, contrary to God's word," that is, according to the deeply affecting exhortation to the candidate for the Priesthood, "never" to "cease" his "labour, care, and diligence, until" he "have done all that lieth in" him, "according to" his "bounden duty, to bring all such as are committed to" his "charge, unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be no place left among" them "for error in religion."

The following observations of the Bishop on this subject must, we think, be approved by all reflecting persons:

"It is a delicate duty, and will require no less of prudence than of Christian charity for its successful performance.There are some errors so gross that it may be best to confront and attack them openly and directly; but, in general, errors are most successfully refuted by the establishment of the truth. It is difficult to persuade men, when you publicly and professedly set out to confute them. The moment you declare war against their doctrine, they place themselves on their guard, and feel themselves engaged by their pride and self-love to defend it. But when you give a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; when men see that you are 'contending for the truth,' rather than for victory; they will hear you without hostility, if not without prejudice. While, then, you bear in mind that a proselyting spirit is not the spirit of the Church, and are careful that the temper of the world mix not itself with

your zeal for sound doctrine; while you refrain from usurping the prerogative of God, in judging your brethren, and at

tempt not to prescribe to the divine justice, whom it shall exclude from divine mercy, you are bound by your vows of ordination, as well as by your regard for the truth as it is in Jesus,' to contend zealously for this truth, and to use all proper means to reclaim men from error, and lead them into those paths where they may meet together in the unity of the spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.""-F. 15, 16.

We deem it by no means inconsistent with the above prudent and proper cautions, to add that the confronting and attacking of errors openly and directly, is often the unavoidable result of faithfully complying with the Apostolic injunction to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints. To those who are already grounded in the truth, a sufficient confirmation of their faith, and a sufficient security against the counteracting influence of specious objections, may be afforded in the mere "establishment of the truth," independently of the attacking of error,

But in every au

dience, at all numerous, there is a class of hearers who are more or less unsettled in their ideas of certain points of evangelical doctrine, or evangelical order. Their ultimate decision, therefore, will depend, not only on what may be said in favour of the different views of these subjects, but also on the refutations which each may afford of the others. The merely advancing of arguments for any system is comparatively an easy work. A little ingenuity, a specious manner, and a due share of boldness, will secure to it very considerable success. This is, unfortunately, true of any whim, however ridiculous, and any error, however gross. An influence is thus obtained over the minds of unsettled Christians, which it will be extremely difficult to counteract by any mere exhibition of arguments in favour of the truth. Few minds can so retain the arguments of the respective discussions, as to bring But let them into just comparison. "the establishment of the truth" be, at proper times, and in a Christian spirit, accompanied with a particular notice and refutation of the various opposing views of the same subject, and it will be at once perceived that a much