of objects interesting to the church at large. We trust, however, that it will increase in efficiency. The present number of its beneficiaries is two.

The Bible Society consists of members of various religious denominations: but, as our clergy in general feel an interest in it, and as some of us have seats at its board of managers, there may be propriety in noticing it, as in former years. It is matter of concern to your bishop, that the frequency of pecuniary calls on the congregations, under his parochial care, have hitherto prevented compliance with a little pressing call of the society, now named on the various religious societies represented in it; but he hopes that he shall find an opportunity of compliance with this additional demand. If it should seem to any, that his countenancing of this society is inconsistent with the dissent which he has declared from the objects of certain other associations, instituted for the dissemination of religious truth, with the pledge of silence on differences between different systems of faith, his defence is, that in this circumstance is to be found the distinction between the two cases. In the latter, there is the disparagement of some points, held by him to be important, and involved in the obligation of declaring the whole counsel of God. In that of the Bible Society, there is the limit of distributing the Bible without note or comment, leaving to every body of men, and to every individual, the explaining of the sacred volume, as may be dictated by judgment and by conscience, but without professing to interpret, or otherwise to improve.

At the special convention, in the last autumn, I thought it my duty to present to that body certain objects, which appeared to me proper to be kept in view, in the choice of an assistant bishop. Those objects will remain on the printed journal; and, whenever such a choice shall take place, whether now, or at any future time, will be accessible to any member who may be disposed to give so much weight to my opinions, as to wish to know them, with the reasons on which they are grounded; still resting on my mind with their full weight. Before the rising of the body, I was VOL. XI.

asked publicly, whether I would again recommend the measure to the convention, which would be assembled in May. My answer, made publicly also, was, that I would not; although I should naturally be led to mention the subject, as that for which the special convention had been called to no purpose. My reason for the limitation arose from the excitement of feelings which I had perceived to be produced, and out of occurrences which my mind could not reconcile to the integrity of ecclesiastical proceedings; such as I had never before witnessed in our church; and, concerning which I was resolved, that, if there should be a continuance of them, no act of mine should contribute to it.

Soon after the rising of the convention, it was proposed to me, by one of the two reverend brethren who had been ballotted for as assistant bishop, and who had been a deputy from Virginia to the succeeding General Convention, that he should invite to a meeting, to be held at my house, and in my presence, some of the members who had taken opposite sides in the election, with the view of inducing them to drop, for the present, all measures tending to that issue. I consented to the meeting, not considering myself as a party to it, and leaving to the proposer the choice of the persons to be invited. It was held; and the reverend brother alluded to opened his mind on the subject in the persuasive manner natural to him. No objection was made; the company appeared to me to approve, and they separated, under promises of writing to their respective friends, for an expression of their sentiments. It will probably appear during the present session in what extent, and to what effect, they have been ascertained. If it should be the will of the convention to proceed to a choice, I hope and pray that it will be such as shall redound to the glory of God, and the good of the church. On the contrary, if the determination should be conformed to the counsel which has been referred to, I wish it to be understood, that I should disapprove of a determination to delay the choice to the end of my life, without the qualifying circumstance attached to

24

During the long course of my presiding in the counsels of this diocese, I have witnessed the church within it brought from a state bordering on annihilation, and extended as we perceive it to be at present. Within all that time, until lately, there has been felt generally, and especially among the clergy, the influence of the spirit of that peace which our Saviour left as a legacy to his disciples, in his interview with them immediately before his passion. This state of amity has been always considered as one of the best of the blessings which a gracious Providence has bestowed on me. From present appearances, I perceive reason to fear that trials, hitherto unknown, are reserved for the small remainder of my days. I have painfully witnessed the progress of ecclesiastical transactions, in contrariety to the clearest dictates of religious and moral obligation—not without the accompanyment of indignities personally wounding to my feelings such as I think unmerited, and certainly such as I have been a stranger to in my earlier years. The subject is mentioned, with the view of pledging my assurance to those who seek the integrity of our Zion, that during my continuance in life, and looking to divine aid for support, I will bear my testimony in favour of the truths of our holy religion, as exhibited by the institutions of our church, and against all endeavours directed to their destruction, or to their deterioration. While, in respect to what concerns me personally, I do not affect insensibility to the circumstance, it will be my prayer, that, through the grace of God, I may be preserved from every grade of hostility to any individual in return, and from its being felt in the intercourses and the duties attached to my official character.

I conclude, with the expression of the hope, that the present session will eventuate in the sustaining of the inte

The Church in Pennsylvania. THE great question, which has so long and so largely interested the feelings, and engaged the exertions, of our fellow-members of the church in the diocese of Pennsylvania, has, as our readers are probably, ere this, aware, been settled. We allude to the election of a bishop, to assist the present venerated diocesan, and to succeed him in case of survivorship. It was a question, an interest in which was far from being confined to the diocese immediately concerned. It had given rise to measures which could not fail to draw to it the sensibilities and the solicitude, and to engage, in reference to it, the devout prayers, of every good member of our church. And happy, indeed, are we to record, that the result is one for which those prayers may well be exchanged for devout thanksgiving, to Him who has promised to be ever with his church, even unto the end of the world. The choice has fallen on a presbyter of our own diocese, the Rev. HENRY U. ONDERDONK, M. D., rector of St. Ann's church, Brooklyn. Great as will be our regret for the loss of so valuable a labourer in this section of the Lord's vineyard, it would be totally inconsistent with the regard which we feel for the general interests of the Church of Christ, not to rejoice in the issue to which thus, in the course of God's wise and good providence, the question of an assistant and successor to the venerable bishop of Pennsylvania has been brought. In his relinquishing a secular profession, in which he had every reasonable prospect of eminence and wealth; in his first ministerial capacity as a missionary in the western district of our state; in his subsequent settlement as the rector of one of the principal churches in that district, and a church which owes, if not its existence, at least much of its prosperity and stability, under God, to his labours; and in his present connexion with a large and highly respectable pa

rish, which may be considered as virtually belonging to this city; the most ample evidence has been afforded of his devotion to the great cause of Christ, and his eminent qualifications for usefulness in its service. We cannot doubt that all who truly and sincerely have that cause at heart, will rejoice in his elevation to the episcopacy; and will unite in thanksgiving to the God of all grace, that thus has terminated a question of the most intense interest; and on which depended the and peace prosperity, not only of one diocese, but, in no small degree, of our whole church. And not less fervent, we trust, will be the prayers of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, that an end may now be happily put to the dissentions which have agitated a large, respectable, and influential portion of our Zion; that the grey hairs of the venerable prelate, who has so long presided over it, may, at a period as distant as God, in his providence, may think best, be brought to the grave in peace; and that the elected successor of the apostles, as in his former spheres of ministration, so in that to which he has now been chosen, may be directed and furthered by divine grace, to the promotion of the glory of God, and the best interests of his church.

Convention of Pennsylvania. THE forty-third annual convention of the diocese of Pennsylvania assembled at Harrisburg, on Tuesday, the 8th of May, 1827. For the following account of its proceedings, we are indebted to the Church Register of 19th May, as also for the address of the venerable Bishop White, inserted in a preceding part of this number. When the printed journal of the convention is received, we will add to the present account, should any thing in it appear of sufficient importance to be detailed to our readers.

There were present, at this convention, the bishop, and fifty-one presbyters and deacons, and one hundred and thirty lay delegates, representing forty-nine churches. The convention organized on the first day, and elected, by an almost unanimous vote, the Rev. W. H. De Lancey, secretary, and N. P. Hobart, esq., of Reading, assistant secretary. On Wednesday, the convention attended divine service in the new and very handsome edifice, recently erected by the members of our church in Harrisburg, which was then consecrated to the worship

of almighty God by Bishop White-the Rev. James De Pui, deacon, was admitted to the holy order of priests, and 25 persons were confirmed. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Wilson, professor in the General Theological Seminary. These services occupied the whole of the morning. The afternoon was occupied by a discussion on a proposition to admit the Rev. Lucius Carter, of the diocese of Maryland, to a seat, he having, the day previous, offered to Bishop White a general dimissory letter from that diocese, but having no residence within this diocese, the applica tion was negatived. ́

On Thursday morning, the convention, on motion of the Rev. Mr. Sheets, and after the divine guidance had been invoked by the bishop, as president, went into the election of a fit and qualified clergyman to be assistant bishop of this diocese, and to succeed the present bishop on his de mise," when, on counting the ballots of the clergy, the following result appeared: for the Rev. HENRY U. ONDERDONK, 26 votes-for the Rev. J. H. Hopkins, 18-for the Rev. Dr. Milnor, 2-for the Rev. W. Meade, 2-and, for the Rev. Dr. Wilson, 1, and one vote contained only the words, "assistant bishop." One clergyman declined voting. The whole number present was fifty-one of which twenty-six being a majority, it was announced to the lay or der by the bishop, that the Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk had been duly "nominated and appointed," by the order of the clergy, to the office of assistant bishop-when, on motion of Mr. Ingersoll, the question was put, whether the order of the laity would approve of the appointment, and decided by yeas and nays in the affirmative-yeas 72, nays 58. In the afternoon, the convention proceeded to sign the canonical testimonial in favour of the bishop elect; appointed a committee to wait on him with information of his election, and to request his acceptance of the office; and then elected the following officers for the ensuing year :

Standing Committee.-The Rev. Dr. James Abercrombie, the Rev. James Montgomery, the Rev. William H. De Lancey, the Rev. Dr. Frederick Beasley, and the Rev. Jackson Kemper. Messrs. Cornelius Comegys, James S. Smith, Charles Wheeler, John Read, and William J. Bell.

Delegates to the General Convention.The Rev. James Montgomery, the Rev. Jehu C. Clay, the Rev. John H. Hopkins, and the Rev. Jackson Kemper. Messrs. William Meredith, Horace Binney, Ed. ward J. Stiles, and James Hopkins.

Missionary Committee-The Rev. William H. De Lancey, the Rev. William C. Mead, and the Rev. James Montgomery. Messrs. William Meredith, Charles N. Baucker, and Joseph P. Norris, jun.

Treasurer of the Episcopal Fund, James

S. Smith.-Treasurer of the Convention, Philip H. Nicklin.

Thirteen new churches were admitted into union with the convention.

The thanks of the convention were, on motion of the Rev. Mr. Bull, offered to the Rev. Dr. Wilson, for his sermon at the opening of the convention. The proceed ings were closed by singing the last four verses of the 122d psalm, and the episcopal benediction.

The convention was unusually full, there being about one hundred and eighty members present, and the proceedings were marked by decorum and regularity. Great as was the excitement felt by the members, very few remarks of an offensive or irritating character escaped any of them. It was a subject of congratulation, that there were present, no less than three of the ante-revolutionary clergy, who had participated in the pains and trials of the first organization of our church in this Country; who were companions in their youth, and now, at the age of fourscore years, were not restrained, by the love of ease so general in old age, from travelling a hundred miles, to fill their seats on this highly interesting occasion.

We fervently trust that the angel of peace may now again "bend her heaven. anointed wing" over the ground where she had so long sojourned, and, that the few remaining days of our venerable and be loved diocesan, may be as serene and cloudless as the promise of his earlier years. The thanksgiving of many a grate. ful heart has already ascended to the throne of grace, for the superintendence of divine Providence so evident in the transactions of this convention.

To the Publishers of the Christian Journal. GENTLEMEN,

I have been much gratified with the engraved sketch of the elevation and ground plan of a pulpit, &c. in your last number, and equally so with the very just and judi cious observations and suggestions which accompany it. With a view to further the very proper object of the writer, that of enabling every part of a congregation to see the important offices of the communion table, by increasing its elevation, permit me to add another suggestion, viz. that of raising the pews which line the side walls under the windows, say six or seven inches higher than those in the body of the church. This cannot obstruct the view from any other part of the building, whilst it brings this part of the congregation directly in view of the pastor, and the ceremonies at the altar are more perfectly seen by them, as is illustrated by the example of St. Thomas's church, where the plan heré suggested has been pursued.

A. B.

Clerical Longevity.

THE Christian Remembrancer for April, 1827, states, that "the register book of baptisms, deaths, and marriages, for the parish of Swineshead, Hunts., commences in the year 1550. The entries appear to have been made with great regularity and neatness; and, at the bottom of each folio, there are the attestations of the rector, church-wardens, and two or three parishioners. From the year above written, up to 1635 inclusive, the rector's name ap. pears to the attestations-'P me Thomā Dawson, rect.' and it is evidently throughout written in the same hand; the names of the other attestators vary. In the year 1639, there is the following entry:→→→ 'Thoma Dawson rector hujus ecclesiæ de Swineshead, sepultus erat Dec: b 2, anout supr.' Here there is a reference to a note on the back of the register book, apparently a long while written, which is as follows:

"THE dean and chapter of Rochester, at a chapter holden this 12th day of February, 1827, sensibly affected by the loss which they have sustained in the death of Dr. John Law, late prebendary of this cathedral church, and archdeacon of the diocese of Rochester, deem it a duty which they owe to his memory, to themselves, and to the church, to record their sentiments and feelings towards him. The dignity and affability with which, during a period of nearly sixty years, he supported and graced the station which he held in this cathedral church; the unremitting diligence and fidelity, the wisdom and firmness, the urbanity and moderation, with which he watched over its interests, and sustained its credit; together with the