Christ Church, New-Brunswick. The Right Rev. J. CROES, D.D. Rector. the Church. doctrines and devotional exercises of about 58 Trinity Church, Swedesborough. Rev. SIMON WILMER, Rector. 45 1 deceased, (8 added Baptisms, Children 95 146 21 suspended 3 Adults Funerals, S of the congregation 32 Baptisms, 32. 29 Children 5/ of others The Sunday School, which was Sunday Schools, 1 for girls, established in this Church previously to the last Convention, continues to flourish. It consists of seventy-six scholars; and is under the superintendance and tuition of the young ladies of the congregation, who manifest the most exemplary attention, faithfulness, and perseverance, in the laudable and beneficial work. Christ Church, Shrewsbury, and Christ SECRET prayer, as expressly as it is commanded by our Saviour, and as evidently as it is implied in the notion of piety, will yet, I fear, be grievvously forgotten by the generality, till they can be brought to fix for themselves certain times of the day. for it. Secret prayer comprehends not only devotions before inen begin, and after they have ended, the business of the day, but such also as may be performed while they are employed in it, or even in company. And, truly, if besides our more set devotions morning and evening, all of us would fix upon certain times of the day, so that the return of the hour should remind us, to say short prayers, or exercise our thoughts in a way equivalent to this: perhaps there are few persons in so high and habitual a state of piety, as not to find the benefit of it. If it took up no more than a minute or two, or even less time than that, it would serve the end I am proposing: it would be a recollection that we are in the Divine presence, and would contribute to our "6 being in the fear of the Lord all the day long," a duty of the like kind, and serving to the same purpose, to the particular acknowledgment of God, whenever we are partaking of his bounty at our meals. The neglect of this is said to have been scandalous to a proverb in the heathen world, (vide Casaubon, in Atheneum, lib. i. chap. 2. p. 22.). But it is frequently, and without shame, laid aside at the tables of the highest and lowest ranks among us. "It is indeed impossible that riches should increase, and that care, with many malign accidents besides, should not increase with them. This is the dark shadow, which ever follows those shining bodies." Every letter of the Lamentations of Jeremiah appear to be written with a tear, and every word to be the sound of a broken hearts and the writer a "man of sorrows," who scarcely ever breathed. but in sighs, spoke but in groans." If we sometimes suffer the humiliation of seeing great talents and extensive erudition prostituted to infidelity, and employed in propagat ing misery, by endeavouring to subvert the basis of our temporal and eternal welfare, we cannot but feel a more than common gratification at the salutary union of true genius and piety. Learning that wantons in irreligion, may, like the Sirius of Homer, flash its strong light upon us: but the more brillant it is, the more baneful; and, while it dazzles, makes us tremble for our safety. Science, therefore, without piety, whatever admiration it may excite, will never be entitled to an equal degree of respect and esteem with the humble knowledge which makes us wise unto salvation. Extract from the Sermon of the Rev. Mr. BUTLER, preached in Trinity Church, be. fore the Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of Clergymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New-York, on Thursday, the 22d of Oc tober, 1818. Mr Rev. Brother who lately stood here, called upon you to act for God on an extensive scale; to assist in diffusing the light and comfort of the gospel of Christ over the world; to lend your aid in erecting barriers against the progress of the prince of darkness; to furnish means in sending forth Christian heroes and leaders into the camp of the enemy; to enable them to enter the strong holds of Satan, and rescue his captives out of his hands. He asked relief for those of your suffering brethren, who, unaided by supplies you possess, and unfurnished with the weapons you are drawing from the armory of God, and fighting under the banner of the cross, against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Mine is a more humble task, but in equal consistency with the benevolent nature of our religion. I come now to ask you to assist, by your bounty, the widows and orphans of those who have laboured, and still labour, in communicating the benefits of that religion which dispels darkness, ignorance, relief to the bereaved families of those and misery from our world; to extend who have been stewards of the mysteries of the gospel of Christ. Had I the talent justly to describe their painful labours, and to picture to you the sufferings and sorrows to which their destitute families are exposed, it would melt you into pity; and influence you to give, at this time, with a liberal hand. But I cannot describe-I can only feel-and no tongue can tell what I feel when I cast my eye upon a numerous progeny, who, the moment this heart ceases to beat, will be left-left in a cruel world, without a single shilling, except what they may draw from the funds which my feeble powers are now endeavouring to replenish. Pardon me, gracious God! I distrust not thy providence; but thou hast made it the duty of parents to labour to lay up for their children. I have laboured-almost thirty years have I laboured in thy vineyard; and with the utmost confidence I now throw myself and mine upon thy protection, and the kind indulgent care of thy people. Thou, O God, wilt forgive my ten thousand errors, failings, and sins-thou wilt infuse that tenderness, that compassion, into the hearts of all those who now hear me, which will influence them to cast liberally into thy treasury; and thus dry up the tears of the orphan, and make the widow's heart sing for joy. From Buck's Expositor. A good man Proverbs xiii. 22. leaveth an inheritance to his children's children. BISHOP Hall died 1656. In illus trating this passage, and alluding to this great and good bishop, one observes "What so interesting as children? Children are pledges of mutual and hallowed affection. Children recall the early scenes of our own lives; they renew our image, they embalm our memory, they multiply and perpetuate ourselves. Other attachments lose their influence over us with age but love to children warms the heart even in death." But a good man does not possess mere natural affection for his chil Rev. Dr. Onderdonk's Missionary Sermon. dren; he values their souls, and is deeply concerned for their best interests. He leaves an inheritance to them of a spiritual nature. His instructions, prayers, admonitions, and pious examples, are treasures which prove of inestimable benefit. O how many children will have reason to be thankful for ever. for the prayers and attention of parents. "I bless God," says Mr. Flavel," for on a religious, tender father, who often poured out his soul to God for me; and this stock of prayers I esteem above the fairest inheritance earth." Bishop Hall thus speaks of his mother, "How often have I blessed the memory of those divine passages of experimental divinity which I have heard from her mouth. What day did she pass without being much engaged in private devotion? Never have any lips read to me such feeling lectures of piety. In a word, her life and death were saint-like." But how many names might be enumerated here, Austin, Hooker, Newton, Cecil, and others, experienced the benefit of parental instruction. Let this encourage parents to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Let the means be used, and the most untoward may in God's time be brought to a knowledge of the truth. In conformity with the 38th Canon of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, empowering the Bishop of each diocess to "compose forms of Prayer or Thanksgiving for extraordinary occasions, and to transmit them to each Clergyman within his diocess or district, whose duty it shall be to use such forms in his Church on such occasion;" I do hereby set forth the following Form of Prayer and Thanks giving, to be used in the Congregations of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York, on the first Thursday in November next, being the day appoint ed by the Governor of the State of New York as a day of public Thanksgiving and Praise to Almighty God. JOHN HENRY HOBART, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New-York New-York, Oct. 1818. A FORM OF Prayer and Thanksgiving. The service shall be the same as that prescribed h the Church, in the "Form of Prayer and Thanks giving to Almighty God, for the fruits of the Earth, and all the other blessings of his merciful Provi dence, to be used yearly, on the first Thursday in November, or on such other day as shall be appointed by the civil authority" and in addition to the Thanks giving appointed in said service, to be used after the General Thanksgiving, shall be said, at Morning and Evening Prayer, the following: God, who art the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, the Almighty Ruler of nations, we adore and magnify thy glorious name for all the great things which thou hast done for us. We render thee thanks for the goodly heritage which thou hast given us; for the civil and religious privileges which we enjoy; and for the multiplied manifestations of thy favour towards us. Grant that we may show forth our thankfulness for these thy mercies, by living in reverence of thy almighty power and dominion, in humble reliance on thy goodness and mercy, and in holy obedience to thy righteous laws. Preserve, we beseech thee, to our country, and to all the nations of the earth, the blessings of peace. May the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace come; and reigning in the hearts and lives of men, unite them in holy fellowship; that so their only strife may be, who shall show forth with most humble and holy fervour, the praises of him who hath loved then, and made them Kings and Priests unto God. We implore thy blessing on all in authority over us; that all things may be so ordered and settied by their endeavours, upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations. O Lord, continue to prosper our literary institutions; and shed, we beseech thee, the quickening influences of thy Holy Spirit on all the people of this land. Save us from the guilt of abusing the blessings of prosperity to luxury and licentiousness, to irreligion and vice; lest we provoke thee, in just judgment, to visit our offences with a rod, and our sins with scourges. And while thy unmerited goodness to us, O God of our salva- After the Collect for the Day, in the Communion Almighty God, who hast never failed those who put their trust in thee, and dost honour the people who honour thee; imprint on our hearts, we beseech thee, a deep and habitual sense of this great truth, that the only security for the continuance of the blessings which we enjoy, consists in our acknowledgment of thy sovereign and gracious providence, and in humble and holy submission to the gospel of thy Son Jesus Christ: to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth, and who is one with the Father and the Holy Ghost, in the eternal Godhead, our Mediator and Redeemer. Amen. ↑ At Evening Prayer, the same order shall apply with regard to the introductory sentences as is set forth for Morning Prayer in the form of Prayer of Thanks giving" aforesaid, the tenth Selection of Psalms shall be used, and the first Lesson shall be Deut. x. 12. and ing village, which a few years since was a wilderness, is a substantial stone edifice, 74 feet by 42, finished in all respects in a style of neatness and convenience which reflects much credit on the taste and liberality of those concerned in the erection of it. Oneida Indians.-On Sunday, the 13th Sept. the Right Rev. Bishop Hobart visited the Oneida Indians, for the purpose of administering the sacraments and ordinances of the Church, On this occasion, the Morning Prayer was read in their own language by Mr. Eleazar Williams, a young man of Indian extraction, who has been regularly educated, and who is licens ed by the Bishop as the religious instructor of the Indians. The Indians present joined in the service with great solemnity and devotion, and many of them repeated the responses. They were addressed at considerable length by the Bishop, Mr. Williams acting as interpreter; who also interpreted to them the various offices of baptism, confirmation, and the Lord's' supper, which the Bishop administer ed. Twenty-four children were bap tized, 89 Indians, young persons and adults, confirmed, and 24 received the holy communion, None were confirmed but those who had been the second Lesson, Romans xii, and the Collect for the previously prepared by Mr. Williams; Day, as in the Morning.. On Sunday, the 16th of August, a handsome new Church, erected in the town of Turin, on the Black River, was consecrated, by the name of St. Paul's Church, by the Right Rev. Bishop HOBART. On the Sunday folfowing the Bishop officiated at Lowville, and on Wednesday and Thursday at Ogdensburgh, where confirmation was administered. On Saturday, the 22d of August, a new Church, erected in the village of Waddington, on the River St. Lawrence, was consecrated, by the name of St. Paul's Church, by the Right Rev. Bishop HOBART ; on which occasion morning prayer was read by the Rev. Mr. Amos G. Baldwin, and a sermon preached by the Bishop. This Church, situated in a flourish and among the number were several of those called the second Christian party, who about two years since solemnly professed the Christian faith. This renunciation of Paganism was the result of repeated and long continued conferences with Mr. Williams, on the evidences of Scripture, and on the nature of the doctrines and duties of Christianity. The place of worship being nearly filled by the Indians, the white people were necessarily excluded. But the few who were admitted were much impressed with the solemnity. The reverence and devotion with which the Indians joined in the confessions, the supplications, and praises of the Liturgy; the solemn attention with which they listened to the instructions and exhortations of the Bishop; the humility and thankfulness, evi denced by their prostration on their knees, and by the tears which flowed down the cheeks of several of them, with which they devoted themselves, in the apostolic" laying on of hands," to the God who made them, and the Saviour who shed his blood for them, powerfully interested the feelings of all present. The Oneidas amount to above a thousand souls, and it must afford high pleasure to every benevolent mind, to hear that the labours of Mr. Williams, under the authority of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this state, for the spiritual improvement of his unfortunate countrymen, are thus attended with the Divine blessing. We understand that the Bishop is fully satisfied with the piety, the prudence, and the laborious zeal of Mr. Williams, and with his other qualifications for the instruction of his countrymen. In the afternoon of the same day, the Bishop officiated in the unfinished Church which is erecting for the Indians, to a large congregation of white people, who were necessarily excluded from the services of the morning, and administered confirmation. The same ordinance was administered the next day at Manlius, and on the succeeding day at Onondaga Hill, where a new Church was consecrated by the name of Zion Church. In the course of the same week, service was performed by the Bishop at Auburn, Waterloo, Geneva, Vienna, and Pulteneyville. Canandaigua, Sept. 29, 1818. On Sunday, the 20th inst. the Rev. Henry U. Underdonk was instituted as Rector of St. John's Church, in this village, by the Right Rev. Bishop HOBART. The service was solemn and affecting. In the afternoon the Bishop administered the rite of confirmation to a large number. On Monday the Bishop preached at Victor, Pittsford, and Rochester, to large congregations; in each of which places we understand there are Episoopal Societies. On Tuesday he performed Divine service at Penfield. On Wednesday, St. Paul's Church, in Richmond, was consecrated by Bishop Hobart, and the rite of confirmation administered. On Thursday, the Bishop held service at Avon, and confirmed 15 persons; and in the evening he preached at Le Roy, and confirmed 24 persons. On Friday he officiated at Batavia; and on Sunday, the 27th, at Buffalo. The Episcopal Church is certainly in a very flourishing condition in this part of the state. Although the exertions of the Bishop have effected much, they want to be sustained by Missionaries, to open a wide field for the influence of the Church, and for the introduction of religious worship. On Thursday, the 8th of Oct. 1818, at Christ Church, Philadelphĩa, the Rev. NATHANAEL BOWEN, D. D. was consecrated to the Holy Office of Bishop for the Diocess of South-Carolina, by the Right Rev. Bishop WHITE, of Pennsylvania, as presiding Bishop, assisted by the Right Rev. Bishops HOBART, of New York, KEMP, of Maryland, and CROES, of New-Jersey. On Sunday, the 18th inst. the Right tion in the French Church du St. Rev. Bishop HOBART held an ordinaEsprit, New-York, and admitted Mr. ALEXIS P. PROAL to the Holy Order of Deacons. On Tuesday, the 20th inst. in Trinity Church, New-York, at the oper ing of the Convention of the Diocess of New-York, the Bishop admitted to the Holy Order of Deacons, GEORGE B. ANDREWS, JAMES W. EASTBURN, JOHN GRIGG, jun. and GEORGE UPand FOLD, M. D. of the said Diocess; PETER G. CLARK, ORIGEN P. HOLCOMB, and JAMES KEELER, of Connecticut. An appropriate discourse was delivered by the Rev. THOMAS LYELL, Rector of Christ Church, in the city of New-York. On Friday, 23d inst. in the same Church, the Rev. CHARLES W. HAMIL TON, Missionary, and the Rev. DAVID BROWN, Minister of St. James's Church, Hyde-Park, Dutchess county, New-York, Deacons, were admitted, by the Right Rev. Bishop HOBART, to the Holy Order of Priests. Printed by T, & J. SWORDS, New-York. |