on the present sickly generation of useless speculative philanthropists. Bishop Wilson never omitted the performance of a real and immediate duty, in the vain pursuit of one which was distant and imaginary. One little trait of his benevolence we cannot omit from its naivete. received such an impression of his cha- Bishop Wilson's intellect was sound, vigorous, and masculine; his perception clear; his judgment correct, and his scholarship, at least, respectable. In his writings we find no brilliancy of invention, no flights of eloquence, no profoundness of learning, no subtlety of argument; but they are eminently distinguished by plainness and precision. His Sermons are purposely addressed to the poorest class, and we remember few in our language, which are more likely to improve those for whom they were designed. His style, though unornate, is remarkably chaste; and his meaning, though condensed, always perspicuous. Brevity seems to have been one of his chief objects in the pulpit, and scarce any of his discourses could occupy more than a quarter of an hour in delivery. His Sacra Privata are above all praise, and there is no manual of devotion, except the Liturgy, which we should so earnestly recommend for general distribution. The prayers are adapted to most of the wants of our nature, couched in Scriptural language, practical in their application, and untinged by enthusiasm. Of the Bishop's moral excellence, the sketch of his life, which we have given above, will present the fairest estimate. Pious, simple, benevolent, patient, meek, and humble, he added to these qualities the most undaunted courage, and the most unwearied resolution. It would be difficult to name any one who in his sphere has done more good, on more Christian principles, than this active and amiable prelate; the reason is plain, and the lesson should not be lost Having given orders to his taylor to make a cloak for him, he desired that he would merely put a button and loop in it, to keep it together."-" My Lord, (says the taylor) what would become of the poor button-makers and their families, if every one thought in that way?—they would be starved outright."-"Do you say so, John," says the Bishop. "Yes, my Lord, I do.""Then button it all over, John," was the answer. That his memory was cherished by the Manks people, may readily be believed to have been "Bo laue Aspick Wilson," or under the hand of Bishop Wilson, i. e. confirmed by him, was long a boast among the most aged inhabitants. One of them still delights to recount that he had been so privileged : on the inside of his cupboard door is inscribed the year of the Bishop's birth, which is considered as one of the most memorable æras in the history of the world, and second only to the Anno Domini. "His mother having been employed about the Bishop at the time of his death, received the shirt in which he died, and bequeathed to her son as a rich legacy. This shirt the old man was accustomed to wear for many years on great occasions, and high festivals; and he still has one sleeve of it, which he preserves as an invaluable relic, and shows it to his particular friends." To the Editors of the Christian Journal. GENTLEMEN, THERE has lately reached this city, "Memoirs of the Life of Granville Sharpe, Esq." published in the present year, by a gentleman of the name of Prince Hoare. His book will draw the attention of the American public, on account of the estimation in which the character of Mr. Sharpe has been held among us. The veneration paid to his memory will be increased, by the hitherto unknown extent of his labours in the cause of suffering humanity. In short, the able work of Mr. Hoare will transmit the name of Mr. Sharpe to posterity, as one of the most efficient and meritorious characters of the present eventful age. It is therefore lamented by your present correspondent, that on the 213th page of the said book, there should appear an unfavourable and erroneous representation of the character of the late Bishop Seabury, professed to be taken from the manuscripts of Mr. Sharpe. It is as follows:- "Dr. Seabury, on coming to England, called on the Archbishop of Canterbury for consecration, to the great surprise of the Archbishop, who was apprehensive that it might give great offence to the Americans, with whom we had just then made peace; and, therefore, his grace (the very worthy and learned Dr. Moore) wished to be allowed some time to consider of his request: upon which, Dr. Seabury very abruptly left the room, saying, if your Grace will not grant me consecration, I know where to obtain it; and immediately set off for Aberdeen." Dr. Seabury arrived in London on the 7th of July, 1783, and did not set off for Aberdeen until a short time before his consecration, on the 14th of November, 1784. In the interval, he had considerable intercourse with the English prelacy, on the subject of his mission. This might be made to appear from sundry letters of his private correspondence, and by credible testimony of conversations held by him after his return. But the view shall be limited to his letters to the clergy of Connecticut, published in the Churchman's Magazine, in the year 1806. It appears, that soon after his arrival, he first waited on the Bishop of London, Dr. Lowth; probably, because the Bishops of London had been diocesans of America. This Bishop "mentioned the state oaths in the ordination offices as impediments; but supposed, that the King's dispensation would be a sufficient warrant for the Archbishops to proceed on." Thus writes Dr. Seabury, and then adds-" But upon con versing with his Grace of Canterbury, I found his opinion rather different from the Bishop of London. He received me politely, approved of the measure, saw the necessity of it, and would do all he could to carry it into execution. But he must proceed openly, and with candour. His majesty's dispensation, he feared, would not be sufficient to justify the omission of oaths imposed by act of Parliament. He would consult the other Bishops; he would advise with those persons, on whose judgment he thought he could depend. He was glad to hear the opinion of the Bishop of London, and wished to know the sentiments of the Archbishop of York. He foresaw great difficulties, but hoped they were none of them insurmountable." It was highly indecorous, if Dr. Seabury, after such a reception, abruptly left the room, first having threatened the Archbishop with an application to Scotland, and immediately proceeding to carry the threat into effect. But, on recourse to his letter of the 16th of August, 1783, the following facts appear. Dr. Seabury repaired to York, on a visit to the Archbishop of that province, to whom the application from Connecticut had been addressed, in consequence of the decease of Archbishop Cornwallis; the promotion of Dr. Moore to the primacy not being known in America. There ensued a correspondence between the two Archbishops. Difficulties occurred: among which, as appears from Mr. Hoare's book, (page 231,) was the opposition of the Lord Chancellor; whose opinion, as he was Speaker of the House of Lords, would of course have great weight. Dr. Seabury, seeing no end of the negotiation, after a stay of more than a year, repaired to Scotland. The result of these facts is the conviction, that there must have been a misunderstanding in the mind of that excellent man-Mr. Sharpe. It does not appear, that the business of Dr. Seabury was known to him, until after it was over. He entertained sentiments unfavourable to the Scottish Episcopacy. cy. Now, although there was no ground on which the Episcopal Church in America, severed as it had become from England, could reject a succession from this source; allowance should be made for the scruples of a loyal Englishman, in relation to a College of Bishops still dependent for the exercise of their function on a Pretender to the British Crown: for this was considered by Mr. Sharpe as their situation in the very case of Dr. Seabury, as appears on the 212th page of the biography. The mind of Mr. Sharpe being in this state, it is no injury to his memory to suppose, that he may have misapprehended the narrative of the interview in question, even if it came to him from his Grace of Canterbury. This, however, does not appear in the extract from the manuscript, but is added by Mr. Hoare. It ought not to be deemed indelicate to the latter gentleman, to suppose that he may have misapprehended in this instance; it having certainly happened to him in another; where he says (page 230) concerning the two Bishops, consecrated on the 4th of February, 1787, that they had been introduced to the Archbishop by Mr. Sharpe. It appears from a late work entitled "Memoirs of the Episcopal Church," and written by one of these Bishops, that they were introduced by his excellency John Adams, Esq. then Minister at the Court of Great Britain. On the opposite page to that the last referred to, there is an error, which ought to be here corrected. It seems to have been reported from this side of the Atlantic, and believetl on the other, that the Episcopal Convention, assembled in Philadelphia in 1785, consisted of "Presbyterians and other dissenters." There was not an individual of that body, who was any other than a member of the Episcopal Church. After discharge of a debt to private character, something seems due to historic truth. So far as regards the operations of Mr. Sharpe in favour of American Episcopacy, the first fact within the knowledge of those who moved in the business in this country, was his letter to a Baptist minister, (Dr. Manning,) handed about among the members of the Convention of 1785, but not submitted to that body. The next, was extracts of letters of Mr. Sharpe to the Archbishop of Canterbury, communicated to Dr. Franklin, and by him sent, in 1786, to the author of the "Memoirs of the Episcopal Church.” The two Bishops, who were soon afte. consecrated in England, uniformly testified to the kind reception of them by Mr. Sharpe, and to his zeal in their business. These things fall short of what is contained in the biography: for there it is stated, that a book published by him in 1777, gave a beginning to designs in favour of Episcopacy, and this, with the aid of the people called Quakers; that the same book had convinced a large body of dissenters as well as churchmen in the United States, of the propriety of establishing Episcopacy among themselves; and that even during the war, a motion had been made in Congress for the purpose, and was postponed, merely because a time of peace would be the most proper. There must have been some such accounts transmitted, but the matters were unknown to those, who had an agency in organizing the Episcopal Church. They were equally strangers to the alterations in the Liturgy projected in 1689, under a commission from the Crown, by a body of eminent divines, one of whom was the excellent grandfather of Mr. Sharpe, soon after Archbishop of York. They could not but know of the commission, and of the disappointment of the object of it. But they had not access, as Mr. Sharpe supposed, (page 229) to the projected alterations. On the ground of historic truth, something is due to a society extraneous to the Episcopal Church. The biographer of Granville Sharpe was far from entertaining the design of detracting from the merits of the people called Quakers, in the work of the abolition of slavery. In the said respectable society, it began in 1754. There has been no relaxation of the system, although, occasionally, and for a while, the arm of discipline was stretched over members refractory in this respect. This happened in 1758, and afterwards in 1778. Since the latter period, the submission has been universal. And yet Mr. Hoare, intending to do the society honour, but falling short of his object, says " The year 1787, in which the Committee was appointed in England for the promoting the abolition of the Slave Trade, was the first year distinguished in America by the gratifying circumstance of there not remaining a single slave in the possession of an acknowledged Quaker." This is stated as the effect of a general manumission taking place in that year. The above, gentlemen Editors, is from one of your subscribers and readers, VINDEX. Abstract of the Proceedings of the An- The Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the state of New-York, was holden in Trinity Church, in the city of New-York, on the 17th, 18th, and 19th of October, 1820; at which were present the Bishop of the diocess, with forty-six clerical, and sixty-eight lay-delegates. Seven clerymen, not members of the Convention, also attended the sittings. Eighteen clergymen of the diocess, members of the Convention, were absent. The Convention was opened by morning prayer, conducted by the Rev. Seth Hart, rector of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Queen's connty; after which an appropriate sermon was delivered by the Rev. Cyrus Stebbins, rector of Christ Church, Hudson, Columbia county. The holy communion was then administered by the Bishop, assisted by several of the clergy. Certificates were produced and read of the incorporation of Calvary Church, New-York; St. John's Church, Ogdensburgh, St. Lawrence county; Zion Church, Russel, St. Lawrence county; and St. Mary's Church, Charlton, Saratoga county; and the said churches were received into union with this Con vention. Agreeably to the 45th canon of the General Convention, the Right Rev. Bishop Hobart delivered the following address: My Brethren of the Clergy and Laity, vention I attended at New-Haven; and, in conjunction with Bishop Griswold, assisted Bishop White, our venerable Presiding Bishop, in consecrating Dr. Brownell to the holy office of Bishop, to act as Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Connecticut. On the 10th of November last I visited Newburgh, and enjoyed the satisfaction of consecrating, to the worship of Almighty God, the recently erected church in that place, by the name of St. George's Church. It is a neat and commodious stone edifice, in which a respectable congregation now meet for worship; though, but a few years previous, there were only a few families attached to the Episcopal Church. At the same time and place, I admitted the Rev. Lucius Smith, Deacon, officiating Minister at Auburn, to the holy order of Priests, and Deodatus Babcock, résiding at Buffalo, on Lake Erie, to that of Deacons. I visited, on the same journey, St. Andrew's Church, Coldenham, and confirmed seven personsthe congregation at Monticello, in Sullivan county-and that at Goshen, Orange county, and confirmed twentythree persons. On Sunday, the 28th of December, the Festival of the Holy Innocents, in St. John's Chapel, in the city of NewYork, I admitted Mr. William Barlow and Mr. William H. De Lancey to the holy order of Deacons. The former officiates at St. John's Church, Canandaigua, which was vacant by the removal of the Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk to the charge of St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn; the Rev. Hugh Smith, who had previously the charge of that church, having removed to Augusta, in the state of Georgia. Mr. De Lancey has, for some time, officiated in Grace Church, in this city; the Rev. Mr. Montgomery, the former rector of that church, having removed to the diocess of Pennsylvania. On Friday, the 10th of March, in Trinity Church, New-York, the Rev. Samuel Nicholls, deacon, officiating minister at Bedford, was admitted to the holy order of Priests. On the 21st of April, in St. John's Chapel, New-York, Lemuel Burge, with letters dismissory Soon after the rising of the last Con- from Bishop Griswold, of the eastern diocess, Frederick T. Tiffany, of this diocess, were admitted to the holy order of Deacons; and, on AscensionDay following, in Trinity Church, New-York, Benjamin P. Aydelott, M. D. to the same order. Mr. Tiffany of ficiates at Cooperstown, and Mr. Aydelott to a recently organized congregation at Corlaer's-Hook, in this city. On the 25th of June, I visited Grace Church, Jamaica, and confirmed eleven persons. At the same time I admitted James P. Cotter and Benjamin Dorr to the order of Deacons. The former gentleman has since assisted in the Academy in that village, and the latter has officiated in some vacant congregations in the vicinity of Troy and Lansingburgh, and in Washington county. On the 13th of July last I held an ordination at Trinity Church, Lansingburgh, and admitted George Upfold, M. D. deacon, minister of that church and of the church at Waterford, and Alexis P. Proal, deacon, minister of St. John's Church, Johnstown, to the order of Priests. On the following Saturday, in St. James's Church, Milton, I admitted Charles McCabe, deacon, the officiating minister of that church, to the order of Priests. The next day, in that church, I administered confirmation in the forenoon to thirteen persons; and, in the afternoon, at Charlton, to twenty-nine. On Monday the 17th, in the church at Balston-Spa, I instituted the Rev. William A. Clark, who had removed from Buffalo, to the rectorship of that church, and confirmed forty-two persons. The next day I officiated in the church at Schenectady; and on the Thursday following, at Christ Church, Hudson, and confirmed twenty-one persons. In August and September last, I made the following visitations, and performed the following Episcopal acts: August 6th, St. Andrew's Church, Staten-Island, and confirmed one hun dred persons. August 13th, St. John's Church, Yonkers, and confirmed thirty-five persons. Wednesday, the 16th, St. Paul's Church, Redhook, and admitted Henry P. Powers to the order of Deacons. Thursday, the 17th,Christ Church, Athens, and confirmed twenty persons, and admitted Moses Burt to VOL. V. the order of Deacons. The former gentleman resides, at present, at Fairfield, and the latter in the neighbourhood of Hudson. On Sunday, the 20th, I visited the church at Cooperstown, and confirmed forty-seven persons. Monday, the 21st, the church at Unadilla, which is vacant in consequence of the removal of the Rev. Mr. Keeler to the diocess of Con necticut. Monday, the 22d, the church at Coleville, Ochquaga Hills, Broome county, and confirmed twenty-two persons. The 24th, the church at Binghampton, in the same county, and confirmed eighteen persons. The 25th, the congregation at Coventry, in Chenango county, and confirmed twelve persons. Sunday, the 27th, the church at Oxford, in the same county, and admitted the Rev. Leverett Bush, the minister of that church, to the order of Priests, and confirmed twelve persons. The 28th, the church at New-Berlin, in the same county, and confirmed nineteen persons. The 29th, the church at Butternutts, and confirmed forty persons. The 30th, the congregation at Burlington, and confirmed nine persons. The 31st, A. M. the church at Otsego, and confirmed eighteen persons; and, in the afternoon, officiated in the adjoining town of Exeter. The 1st of September I officiated at the church at Richfield, and confirmed sixty-nine persons. The 2d I officiated, in the forenoon, at Verona, and, in the afternoon, to the Indians, at their chapel at Oneida. Sunday, the 3d, I officiated at Trinity Church, Utica, and admitted Henry Moore Shaw, deacon, the minister of that church, to the order of Priests, and confirmed thirty-two persons. On Tuesday, the 5th, I officiated at Norway, in Herkimer county. Thursday, the 7th, at Fairfield, in the same county, and confirmed seventeen persons; and, on Sunday, the 10th, I officiated at Cherry-Valley, in Otsego county. The church at Cooperstown, which has been for a long time destitute, is now supplied with the services of the Rev. Mr. Tiffany, in deacons' orders, whose ministrations in that village, and the adjoining towns, promise, through the Divine blessing, to be highly instrumental in the increase of the church. 2 |