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calm of her spirit ruffled by a breath of passion.

Mrs. E-possessed a heart whose fine sympathies were ever awakened by every object and scene of distress. No sooner was the voice of want uttered, than she was ready and anxious to answer and relieve.

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Such, my Brethren, was the general character of this beloved woinan. I have never seen her alive but when I thought her fit to die. Blessed

state! May it ever hereafter be the happy lot of you and me! Such she continued to the end of her days, and complied, in the true spirit of it, with the exhortation of the Apostle, to "run with patience the race that is set before us."

She continued for years past in much the same portion of bodily strength, until within a few weeks, when she began gradually to sink into death. Exhausted at the last, and sensible of her departure, after taking an affectionate leave of her friends, she closed her days with the same heavenly equanimity, and divine calm of soul, in which she had passed them; and with this fervent supplication of her Saviour on her tongue," Now Lord Jesus receive my spirit." Blessed shade, farewell! Blessed God, prepare the soul of each of us to meet the King of terrors, and prepare us to meet thee in the heavens!

The following preamble and resolution were proposed in the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Virginia, by CHARLES FENTON MERCER, Esq. in lieu of the resolution relative to fashionable amusements which passed that Convention, and which appears in Number 10 of the Christian Journal.

WHEREAS differences of opinion have at all times existed in Christian communities, as to the criminal tendency of certain customs or amusements, springing from affections of the heart, which, innocent in themselves, lose that character through excessive indulgence; and legislatures, civil as well as ecclesiastical, have, by abstaining from the enaction of positive laws to regulate or punish

them, admitted the difficulty of distinguishing between their use and abuse, except where the consequences of such abuse left no doubt of their guilt or impropriety.

To prescribe, by practicable legal rules, the proper boundary of expense in dress, furniture, or equipage; or of any other indulgence of taste; to mark the exact limit, beyond which the desire of wealth becomes avarice or extortion, would be as difficult as to regulate and enforce the rights and obligations of hospitality or friendship. It is for God to judge the heart of

man.

It is the province of this Convention to legislate for the government of the Church of this Diocess, subject to the ordinances or canons of the American Protestant Episcopal Church.

Its legislation is not by recommendations, but laws. It is the province and duty of the Clergy, not only to enforce the sanction of those laws, but to add to recommendations persuasions and entreaties; to discountenance vice and irreligion by denun, ciations and threats; to encourage virtue and piety, by the invitations, the hopes, and the rewards of that Gospel which they are commissioned to preach.

The great rule of moral action is prescribed to both Clergy and Laity, by the unchangeable word of God.

But,although this Convention deems any expression of its mere opinion upon any subject as a departure from necessity is at present urged upon it, its peculiar and appropriate duties, a by a regard to its own character, to counteract the tendency of misrepresentation, to pervert its real motives in relation to certain decisions of its late sessions, on a subject which has interested the Church of this Diocess,

It has been again called upon by some of its members to discountenance certain fashionable amusements, and it has been said, that its reluctance, on a former occasion, to depart from its proper province, amounted to a tacit recognition of their innocence.

With respect to gaming, by which is understood play for money or other valuable thing, whatever form it may

assume, it is undoubtedly a practice repugnant alike to divine and to human law.

No canon of this Church ought to be regarded as necessary, nor any expression required, of the opinion of this Convention, to discountenance a practice so iniquitous, both in its immediate effects, and its remote consequences, if, indeed, it exists among the members of this Church.

That the theatre has, in every country in which it has existed, led to the corruption of morals, might be inferred from the general character of the dramas which it exhibits, if the dangerous circumstances attending the exhibition itself, the numerous temptations to extravagance and vice, to which it exposes its actors and its audience, left any room to doubt its pernicious tendency.

It will be the proper time to distinguish between the use and the abuse of this fascinating amusement, when the stage shall have been so regulated as to realize the hopes of those who would regard it as a school of Christian morality.

That dancing, a natural exercise among all nations, civilized or savage, blended, sometimes, (as its sister art, music, has often been,) in their religious ceremonies, has been, frequently is, and always may be innocently and usefully conducted, those only will question, whose entire inexperience of the world has left them in ignorance of its effects on the heart and man

ners.

That crowded and promiscuous public assemblies, where no security exists for the moral character of those who compose them, except what arises from the possession of the means of purchasing admission; where both gaming and drunkenness are either licensed or tolerated; where amusement reels into debauchery, and time, and fortune, and health pay the price of a fleeting and feverish gratification of the love of pleasure; that all such assemblies are hostile to the spirit of Christianity, those who have most frequently witnessed their contagious influence must be ever most ready to acknowledge.

Yet this Convention will not undertake to say, that individuals have not entered innocently these dangerous scenes of pleasure, or passed through them unhurt.

Still less is it about to denounce and repel, by its canons, from the bosom of the Church, those who, to its regret, may sometimes appear to countenance them.

The Church warns its members of impending danger: but, in cases of doubt, leaves their innocence or guilt to the judgment of an all-seeing God, to the conscience of man, his vicegerent on earth.

Having said so much to the Laity, this Convention would conclude the expression which it has reluctantly made of these opinions, with affectionately urging upon the ministers of religion, while they enforce the necessary discipline of their respective churches in conformity with the rubric and canons, to unite tenderness with authority.

In the pastoral language of an earlier age of the Church," it is not enough that ye are the fathers, be ye also the mothers of your flock.”

Address of the Right Rev. Bishop

MOORE, to the Convention of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the
State of Virginia; held on Tues-
day, the 19th of May, 1818.

BRETHREN,

THE narrative of my Episcopal tour, in consequence of its recurrence every year, would cease to enlist your feelings, or to command your attention, were it not for that view of the Church which it affords you. Every circumstance which has the least bearing upon her interest, I am convinced must be important in your estimation; and as I perceive in the Laity of our communion such a devotion to her cause, as I perceive in them a disposition to rescue her from oblivion, and to raise her from the dust, my bosom is inspired with confidence, and I am encouraged to proceed in the history of my official proceedings..

Immediately upon the adjournment of the last Convention, I visited Alex

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andria, preached in both the churches in that city, admitted to the Order of Deacon Mr. JOHN BRYAN and Mr. KEITH, and to the Priesthood the Rev. WILLIAM STEEL, of the county of Prince William. After my return, in July, from the General Convention, I visited the county of Chesterfield, and preached to an attentive auditory in Falling Creek Church. Hanover formed the next object of my attention, in which county I preached in three of the churches belonging to our communion, and in one meeting house erected upon a general plan. I administered the rite of Confirmation in that district of the Diocess to a small number of our members; and witnessed, with infinite pleasure, that devotion to the interest of our communion, for which that section of the Church is so peculiarly, so highly distinguished. When I mention the warm devotion of that congregation to the Church, I would not be understood to embrace in the expression the most distant idea of religious bigotry. They entertain and express a tenderness for all the sincere worshippers of God; but, bred in our bosom, instructed in our principles, and well informed upon every point connected with vital piety, they have united in a determination to rally around the altar of their fathers; and by such exertions as will reflect honour upon their venerable families and names to the latest posterity, they have justified, their claim to my gratitude and respect.

In the month of September I embarked in a journey to some of the more distant counties In Nelson I preached a funeral sermon to a large and deeply impressed auditory, on the occasion of the death of the venerable mother of Judge Cabell. She died, as she had lived, an ornament to the Episcopal Church of Virginia. Her memory is embalmed by the tears, not only of her children and descendants, but of all who were favoured with her acquaintance. I then crossed James River, into the county of Campbell, and preached twice, on Sunday, in the Methodist Church, and on Monday evening in the Presby

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terian Church in Lynchburg. The weather being very rainy, congregations were comparatively small, but serious and devout. I then visited New-London, and officiated in the Church near that place, to a numerous assembly, whose sensibility to the truths of religion warmed my heart, and convinced me of their piety and zeal. From New-London I proceeded to Mecklenburg, and consecrated a new church erected by the Parishioners of the Rev. Mr. RAVENSCROFT. In that place, Brethren, in which the Church was thought to be extinct, the friends of our communion have awakened from their slumbers; aided by the exertions of their faithful and laborious minister, they have raised a temple sacred to the living God, May that Saviour whom they worship with so much ardour and sincerity of heart, accept their sacrifice, and remember them for good.

From Mecklenburg I proceeded to the county of Brunswick, and preached to a very large assembly. From thence I went to Dinwiddie, and officiated in the church formerly occupied by the Rev. Mr. JARRATT. As I approached the sacred edifice, I viewed it with sensations of no common description. When I entered its walls, I felt that I was treading on holy ground; and such was my impression of mind, that I could not forbear from supplicating Heaven for the mantle of that estimable, that holy man of God. May Jehovah, in mercy, grant, that my brethren of the Clergy, who now hear me, may imitate his bright example: unawed by the world, may they live as he did, and leave the minds of their people as deeply impressed with their piety, as the minds of Mr. JARRATT's parishioners are with his. I next visited Petersburg, and preached in that place to a small but respectable auditory.

Having remained in my own parish a few weeks, I made an excursion into the eastern part of the Diocess. I commenced my labours in Gloucester county to a small and attentive audience. I then visited Matthew's county, and performed the last funeral

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solemnities for the Rev. Mr. SMITH. That gentleman continued his labours until he was arrested by the disease which terminated his life; and it is with pleasure I mention, that his parishioners spoke of him with the greatest tenderness and respect. He has left a widow and children behind him, who are settled in great comfort, and deservedly enjoy the confidence and regard of all who know them.

From Matthew's I went to Urbanna, and preached upon a Sabbath to a very large and deeply impressed auditory. I then repaired to Tappahannock, and officiated in that place with great satisfaction to my own mind, and, I trust, some benefit to those who heard me. The congregation was very respectable, and many of them appeared to be deeply pious. From thence I went to the church in the county of Essex, and was amply repaid for my labour by the devout attention of a worshipping people. I then bent my course to Port Royal, where I officiated to a large and attentive congregation. In that place I have always been delighted with the behaviour of the inhabitants during divine worship; and from the representations made to me, I indulge a hope that it will not be long before they will unite in support of a Clergyman. From Port Royal I repaired to King George county; and, although the court was sitting at the time, the judges benevolently accommodated me with an opportunity of preaching to the people.

I then went to Fredericksburg, in order to admit the Rev. Mr. McGUIRE to the priesthood. In that place I preached as usual to a very large congregation-a congregation who know

and who love the truth.

In the month of March I visited the Church of Norfolk, preached twice to large and respectable congregations, and administered the rite of Confirmation to a considerable num ber. The Church of Norfolk is in a very flourishing condition: their worthy pastor, the Rev. Mr. Low, stands high in the estimation of his parishioners, and labours in the Gospel with great fidelity.

On my way to this Convention, I passed a few days in Alexandria, in which city I preached three times; twice in Christ Church, and once in St. Paul's. St. Paul's, Brethren, is a new building, and was consecrated to the service of God the last Sabbath. It is an edifice honourable to the congregation, an ornament to the town, and reflects the greatest credit upon the labours of its worthy pastor, the Rev. Mr. WILMER. After the Consecration service was concluded, I held a Confirmation at the church, and imposed my hands and invoked the blessing of God upon eighty-eight persons belonging to the two churches in that city. In Alexandria the Church is rapidly advancing in numbers and in piety. The congregations are overflowing, and listen with the greatest avidity to the truths of the Gospel.

In my own parish, Brethren, it is my duty to mention that my people continue to me their affectionate regard; the number of the communicants increase, and the congregation is very respectable. I endeavour to secure the affections of my parishioners, by a faithful attention to my parochial duties; and, in order to promote the interests of the Church, I sometimes lecture from one to three times in the week, independent of my Sabbath exercises. If fidelity to God, and to their eternal interests, will secure me the blessing of Heaven, that blessing, I trust, will be obtained.

Brethren, we have much to encourage us in the prosecution of the important object in which we are jointly engaged. Many of the Laity of this Diocess discover an ardour in the cause of religion and the Church, which is calculated to inspire the minds of the Clergy with the greatest energy and hope. While we perceive in them an animation so laudable, the Clergy cannot despair of success. United in love, we will advance in a solid column, fighting under the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ; the powers of sin and darkness, I trust, will he vanquished, the glory of God be promoted, our dilapidated churches be re-built, and Zion rear her drooping head.

To promote the cause of genuine religion is our only object; and, as that object is legitimate, it must succeed. We know of no enemies but the enemies of our exalted Redeemer; we stretch forth the right hand of fellowship to all who in sincerity call upon the Lord Jesus Christ; we expect to meet in heaven with Christians of all denominations; and, while we labour in our department, we wish prosperity to all the Saviour's friends. Yes, Brethren, in heaven distinctions will be done away: we shall then be embodied under one name, "The spirits of the just made perfect;" and in joyful union we will unite with them and angels, in singing unto him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood; unto Jesus, the exalted, precious Jesus, be all honour and glory ascribed, for ever and ever.

Amen.

ELIZABETH-TOWN FEMALE BIBLE AND CCMMON PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY.

THE Society met on Whit-Tuesday, in St. John's Church, when the Managers made the following Report: Second Report of the Board of Managers of the Elizabeth-Town Female Bible and Common Prayer Book Society.

THIS completes the second year since the formation of this Society; and the Managers, in offering their Report, congratulate the members of it upon the degree of usefulness which they have reason to hope has resulted from their association.

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It is gratifying to find that similar efforts have been made, and with similar success, not only in this state, but in different parts of the union. And though in small parishes, like this to which we belong, whose expenses are in a heavy proportion to the means of meeting them, very extensive operations are not to be expected; still it is believed that much permanent good will be derived from these humble exertions.

It appears from the Treasurer's books, that the sum of $200 has been

paid into the Treasury of the Episcopal Society of New-Jersey for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. and Piety, besides defraying the incidental expenses. There is remaining in the hands of the Treasurer the sum of $19.

The Managers have received SO Bibles and 128 Prayer Books. Of these there are now in the hands of the President, 28 Bibles and 23 Prayer Books. The others have been distributed, it is hoped and believed, with. discretion and advantage.

The person by whom 36 Prayer Books were distributed in the state of Ohio, agreeably to an appropriation of the last year, has reported, that twenty of the number were sent into the Western Reserve, and the residue distributed in the neighbourhood, of Zanesville. These books were received with the warmest gratitude, and it is believed that this was the first donation of Prayer Books from any Society, to the Episcopalians of the western country. The Missionary now in Ohio has expressed the thanks of our brethren there to this Society.

Should the funds of the Society justify the measure hereafter, there can, perhaps, be no object more desirable in relation to their appropria of the destitute members of our tion, than that of meeting the wants Church on the western waters.

The books at present on hand will probably be required to supply the wants of this vicinity. wants of this vicinity. In the Sunday School of the congregation of St. John's Church, will also, it is expected, be presented an object worthy of attention for as it is an important design of such Schools to bring children to a devout and regular attendance upon public worship, it is very desirable that provision should be made to supply every child, as soon as he is able to read, with a copy of that excellent formulary of faith and devotion which has been pronounced, "next to the translation of the Bible into English, the greatest work of the Reformation."

The vacant parishes of our communion in this state may very properly be considered, at any time wher

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