supplicate his blessing upon our labours. This happy hour is a rich compensation for years of anxiety and doubt; as it evinces a general regard for the establish ment of our faith, and furnishes the assurance that the doctrines, discipline, and worship which we cherish, will here find a safe depository long after we ourselves shall have slept with our fathers. The honour of God is zealously studied by the faithful subjects of his kingdom, and the humble believers in his promises. It is a motive of conduct founded in the truest reason, prompting to cheerful and accept able sacrifices, and accompanied with pure and heartfelt satisfaction. One of the most elevated principles by which man can be influenced, proving the refinement of his nature from the alloy of selfishness and sensuality, and proposing to itself objects which extend beyond the interests of the present world-its production is the great end of the services of religion, and a satisfactory evidence of the opera tion of that Spirit who renews and sanctifies the heart. It is trusted that none professing an attachment to the principles of our communion will refuse their aid to the religious work in which we have engaged, but that all will contribute their free-will offer ings, and labour with untiring zeal, until the top-stone is brought forth with the shoutings of grace-grace unto it. If there is any object worthy of peculiar love, any cause deserving of all the efforts it is possible for human beings to make, it is the extension of the Church of the Redeemer. We are swayed by no personal or selfish motives, but consecrate our time and substance to the noble purpose of advancing the interests of pure and undefiled religion. We have put our hand to the plough; we have counted the cost, and find no hindrance in the considerations of prudence: let us then complete with honour what we have begun with judgment and zeal. It is a labour of love, which, if prosecuted with pure intentions, will amply recompense us in this life, and furnish matter of satisfaction even in the hour of death. Thus is the gratifying prospect held out of the long, and perhaps perpetual maintenance of the primitive and evangelical principles of our church. What is highly valued by us, we must be anxious to secure for our own enjoyment, and for the benefit of succeeding genera tions. We are not so selfish as to consult only for the present moment, although in this case our own interest is closely united with that of those who will assume our stations. The inheritance of religious privileges exceeds all other legacies; and the cheering belief is entertained, that if our present wishes are consummated, if our hearts grow not cold, and our hands are not weakened, generations to come will call us blessed, and many immortal spirits will be trained up in the courts of this contemplated house of the Lord, for the glorious services of the Church eternal in the heavens. In the spirit of him who would not give sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids, till he had found out a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob, let us commit this fond object of our hopes to the protecting care of heaven, and labour until it rises to reward our solicitude; wisdom will not allow the plans of reason to become abortive, and piety will meet difficulties with firmness, rejoicing in the proof of its vigour: we aspire to glorify God "mighty in power, and of majesty incomprehensible”—we seek a resting-place and a home-a consecrated spot for prayer and praise—ob. jects worthy of being the subjects of daily supplications, and of attracting the richest offerings of devotion. There it will be our privilege to worship God with holy worship, to kneel often at his altar of mercy, to hear the words of eternal life, and to be visited with the soothing influences and animating hopes of the Holy Ghost the Comforter. In it the young will be planted, and flourish as the trees on which the heavens drop down the dew; giving early promise of excellence, and producing in season abundant fruit. In it the aged will be directed to an all-sufficient staff and support; sustaining them through the re-. maining wearisome days of their pilgrimage, until they reach that city which hath foundations whose Builder and Maker is God. It will be a sanctuary for penitence, a refuge for misery, and a nursery for heaven. There Christ Jesus will be constantly set forth crucified for us men, and for our salvation; to whom sinners must look for redemption; and who, when our flesh and our heart shall fail, if we have loved him with true affection, confided in him with an unwavering faith, and served him with a pure devotion, will be the strength of our heart and our portion for ever. In life it is joyful to prostrate ourselves in his courts, to give thanks with his inheritance, and to look upon his reconciled countenance; in death it is happy to receive from his hands the pledges of his favour, and to breathe our last wishes for mercy in the words of that spiritual parent who received us into her arms in the helplessness of infancy-has guarded us by her care-has nurtured us by her or dinances-and who is soon to commit us, as she has our fathers, to the sleep of the grave, in hope of the glory of an eternal day. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning; if I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; yea, if I prefer not Jerusalem in my mirth." "Blessed is he that blesseth thee." And may I not apply the encouragement of the prophet to those engaged in the erection of the second temple-"Be strong all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work; for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts!"To his favourable regard we commend our undertaking in the fullest confidence, and beseech him to be " gracious unto Sion, and to build the walls of Jerusalem." New Church. THE ceremony of laying the corner stone of St. John's church, Franklin, Venango county, Pennsylvania, took place on Thursday, the 26th of July, 1827, attended with religious and masonic rites, at 12 o'clock, M. A procession of the citizens and vestry was formed at the Court-house, and on their way being joined by the clergy and the masonic order, proceeded to the site selected. On approaching the spot, the clergy and vestry advanced, repeating the 132d Psalm. The prayers used on similar occasions by our venerable diocesan, were then offered by the Rev. Mr. Hutchins. The Rev. Mr. Smith descended to the stone, and deposited in its cavity the memorials prepared-the stone was closed, and the memorable words pronounced, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ, (striking the stone thrice,) in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." The officers of the fraternity then advanced, when, after a pertinent address by the Deputy Grand Master of the District, the Hon. Stephen Barlow, assisted by the Worshipful Master of Western Star Lodge, Meadville, Col. John Dick, the stone was examined and fitted in due form. A discourse was then delivered by the Rev. Mr. Hutchins, after which the services of the occasion were closed by a brief address to the fraternity, by the Rev. Mr. Smith, and the benediction. The various services were solemn and impressive. This is the second corner stone ever laid in this diocese west of the Allegheny river. It is also the first attempt to erect a house of worship in this village, though its settle. ment commenced about the time with that of Pittsburg. Formerly it was occupied by the French as a garrison, and the ruins of a regular fortification are still visible. Situate at the junction of French creek and the Allegheny river, at no distant riod it must become a place of much interest and importance. The contemplated building will in structure be plain and Gothic, its length forty one feet, breadth thirty-two, of brick materials. The ser vices of our church, since the organization of the congregation, have been principally afforded through the aid of the Society for the Advancement of Christianity. Under the divine blessing, through the pe means of this society, six congregations in this section have, within less than two years past, been raised and sustained.Church Register. Appointments for Preaching. THE following appointments for preaching and confirmation in the diocese of New-York, are made by Bishop Hobart during the month of September: Sunday, September 2d, Goshen; 3d, A. M., Coldenham, and P. M., Newburgh; 4th, Catskill; 5th, Athens, A. M., and Hudson, P. M.; 6th, Greenville, A. M.; 7th, Rensselaerville, A. M.; 8th, Durham, A. M.; Sunday, 9th, Windham ; 10th, Waterville, P. M.; 11th, Unadilla, P. M.; 12th, Bainbridge, A. M.; 13th, Colesville, A. M.; 14th, Binghampton, A. M.; 15th, Coventry, P. M.; Sunday, 16th, Oxford; 17th, Sherburne, A. M.; 18th, Otisco, P. M.; 19th, Syracuse, A. M.; 20th, Perryville, P. M.; 21st, Richfield, A. M.; Exeter, P. M.; 22d, New-Berlin, A. M.; Sunday, 23d, Butternutts; 24th, Cooperstown, A. M.; 25th, Cherry-Valley, A. M.; 26th, Duanesborough, ten o'clock A. M.; Schenectady, four o'clock P. M.; 27th, St. Mary, West-Charlton, A. M.; 28th, Johnstown; 29th, Charlton; Sunday, 30th, Balltown, A. M.; Milton, P. M. In the Diocese of Connecticut. On Wednesday, August 8th, 1827, at an ordination held in St. Peter's church, Hebron, by the Right Rev. Thomas C. Brow nell, D. D., LL. D., the Rev. George Champlin Shepard, deacon, rector of the church, was admitted to the holy order of the priesthood. The morning service was performed by the Rev. William Jarvis, rector of St. John's church, Essex, Saybrook; and the candidate was presented, and an appropriate discourse delivered, by the Rev. Professor Doane, of Washington college. On Thursday, August 9th, at Christ church, Norwich, the apostolic rite of confirmation was administered to nine persons, by the same Right Rev. Prelate. In the Diocese of New-York. On Wednesday, the first of August, 1827, the Right Rev. Bishop Hobart, on his way to the northward, held a confirmation at St. James's church, Hyde-Park, Dutchess County, New-York; and, on the same day, admitted the Rev. Samuel R. Johnson, minister of that church, and an alumnus of the General Theological Seminary, to the holy order of priests. The presenting presbyter was the Rev. John Reed, of Poughkeepsie; in addition to whom, the Rev. William Thomas, of Fishkill, the Rev. John M'Vickar, D.D., of Columbia college, NewYork, and the Rev. Levi S. Ives, of the diocese of Pennsylvania, united with the bishop in the apostolic laying on of hands on the head of the candidate for the priest hood. Morning prayers were read by the Rev. Mr. Ives, and the lessons of the day by the Rev. Mr. Thomas. On this interesting occasion the church, though on a week day, was crowded with attentive auditors, and so continued to the close, notwithstand ing the unusual length of the services. So great was the interest created by the impressive offices of our church, and still more by the forcible and touching addresses of the bishop, in which, with more than his usual ardour, he urged home upon the conscience and feelings, the solemn duties that resulted from the obligations that were then assumed. In his address to the deacon about to be ordain ed, he took occasion to refer to his being one of the earliest graduates of the General Theological Seminary of our church, and to augur well of the success of an institution, of which such were the first fruits-bearing testimony, as he proceeded, in a manner highly gratifying to the congregation, to the talent, simplicity, and pious zeal of their pastor. Indeed, the influence of the whole scene was highly favourable to the excitement of those feel ings between the clergyman and his parishioners, on which his usefulness depends, and may serve to show the import ance, wherever it can be done, of the ordination for the priesthood being held in the parish church of the deacon, in the very scene of his ministerial labours, and surrounded by that very flock, who are solemnly committed to his charge, and to whom he there pledges himself, God being his helper, to watch and feed. On Sunday, the 5th of August, St. Mark's church, Le Roy, Genessee county, was consecrated to the worship of Almighty God, by the Right Rev. Bishop Hobart. In the Diocese of Pennsylvania. At an ordination held in St. James's church, Philadelphia, on Sunday, the 26th of August, 1827, by the Right Rev. Bishop White, the Rev. Henry J. Whitehouse, an alumnus of the General Theological Seminary, late of the diocese of New-York, and rector elect of Christ church, Read ing; and the Rev. John B. Clemson, minister of St. Stephen's church, Harrisburg, deacons, were admitted to the holy or der of priests. In the Diocese of Maryland. On Thursday, August 2d, 1827, at the chapel of St. Margaret's, Westminster, the Rev. Henry Aisquith, deacon, was admitted to the holy order of priests, by the Right Rev. Bishop Kemp. Obituary Notices. THE following announcement of the removal of an ardent and faithful labourer in the vineyard of the Lord, is to ourselves no less melancholy than unexpected; and calls for the condolence of every member of that church, in whose service he was devotedly and successfully engaged.While this afflictive dispensation will be severely felt, by the many who were intimately acquainted with him by the ties of friendship and ministerial relationship, they will not be left as those who grieve without hope. O! blest are they who live and die like these, Loved with such love, and with such sorrow mourned. 9th of August, 1827, in the 34th year of Died at Groton, (Poquetannoc) on the his age, the Rev. THOMAS K. PECK, a zealous, pious, and faithful minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In this dispensation, God has plainly declared that his ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts. To human ap pearance, the life and services of few men were more needed than Mr. Peck's. He had officiated nearly a year at Poquetannoc, to the great satisfaction of the people, and with the manifest blessing of God upon his labours. Prospects of increased usefulness seemed to be opening to his view. The seed which he had sown was already springing up, and gladdening the city of our God. An attention to the great concerns of eternity was awakening, and we had hoped to see, through his instru mentality, God's name glorified, and the salvation of many souls set forward. But God, in his infinite wisdom, was pleased to take to himself this faithful servant, from the field already white for harvest. After a few days illness, in which nothing seemed to trouble him, save the thoughts of his people being as sheep without a shepherd, and in which his constant prayer was, Not my will, but thine, O God, be done, he commended his spirit into the hands of his Saviour, knowing that He, in whom he had believed, was able to keep that which was committed unto him against the great day. He breathed out his soul, full of faith, and big with the hopes of a blessed immortality, thanking God that the hour of his redemption had come. An affectionate congregation mourns his premature death, for whom may God raise up another prophet, like unto him, unto whom they may hearken.-Canal of Intelligence. Died, on the 20th of August, 1827, the Rev. CORNELIUS R. DUFFIE, rector of St. Thomas's church, New-York. The death of this excellent man, and faithful minister in the Church of God, has been an occasion of general lamenta. tion to all who knew him-but to his relatives, connections, and friends, and to the flock of his own gathering, it has been a deep and inexpressible affliction. Indeed, it is one of those unsearchable dispensations of Providence which humble and confound our limited understandings. The persuasion that God, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, directs all things for the best purposes, and to their proper ends, is the only ground of submission to this mysterious exercise of His will. Our departed brother has not only been taken from his family and friends, to the former of whom he was so necessary, and to both so dear, but from his labours in the vine yard of the Lord, which had been so emi. nently prospered and blessed in the begin ning, as to make us wonder that they were not prolonged. The whole tenour of his life had prepared him for extraordinary usefulness in that ministry in which it was closed. From his early years he was imbued with the spirit, and felt the power of godliness; and in the gay season of youth, when it is so common to indulge in levity, pleasure, and mirth, he was remarkable for the serious and thoughtful turn of his mind, the deep tone of his devotional feelings, and his exemplary discharge of all the duties of religion. His piety was also of a most engaging character, for while he was careful to adorn the doctrine of Christ by the strictness and purity of his life, yet there was such gentleness in his manners, such sweetness of temper, such low. liness of heart, and unaffected modesty in his carriage, as represented religion in her own meek and winning air, and gave a powerful and persuasive influence to his example. He was not brought up in the church; but partly, perhaps, from the endearing intimacies which he had formed in college with some persons who belonged to her, and partly from her own claims to admiration and preference, he entered, of his own accord, into her communion. He entertained just views of the primitive constitution of the church, and carried out his principles to their true consequences. He loved the evangelical doctrines, the simple, fervent, and spiritual liturgy, the decent and comely order of the church. And long before he thought of the minis. try, he engaged with a heartiness and zeal, which never abated, in every rational scheme for her advancement and honour. He cheerfully gave his time, his thoughts, and his talents to the societies of her own creating; neither discouraged by their humbleness in the beginning, nor by the difficulties in their progress; neither captivated by the splendour of more popular and imposing institutions, nor disheart. ened by the lukewarmness and indifference of many to our own; but labouring in patience and hope, and trusting that God would ultimately prosper his own work. He lived long enough to enjoy with others some earnest of this blessed result. His short and transitory course was chequered by more than the usual changes and chances of this mortal life. He entered upon the world with fair hopes and flattering prospects, which were in a great measure realized. He was happy in his domestic relations, prosperous in business, and so well and firmly established, as to give a reasonable assurance of fuller success in future. But God had better things in store for him than these frail and temporal blessings. He was afflicted in mind, and ruined in estate. The loss of his patrimony and his own acquisitions was soon followed by the death of his amiable and exemplary wife, for whom he never ceased to mourn with the tenderest affection until the hour of his own departure. From his great concern for the one thing needful, he had mortified his love for the world even when he was enabled to indulge freely in its enjoyments; but these repeated calamities weaned him so effectually from it, that his soul seemed to be chiefly directed towards the world to come. They increased the habitual seriousness of his temper and fervour of his devotions, gave a greater spirituality to his thoughts and affections, and impressed him with a more realizing sense of all the great truths of salvation. From that time his mind, his manners, his conversation, and writings, took a pensive and melancholy hue, which seldom disappeared altogether even in the lightest moments of domestic and social enjoyment. His heart was most relieved, and his countenance most brightened, when he dwelt upon those things in which the Christian finds his hope and rejoicing. It was in this frame of mind that God graciously disposed him to enter into the service of his sanctuary, where all his devout wishes and feelings might find an ample gratification. His respectable scholarship; his delicate and refined taste; his lively and fertile imagination; his ease, elegance, and grace in composition, together with his great piety and worth, led to the most favourable hopes of his usefulness and success in the church.Notwithstanding the want of some of those personal advantages of voice and manner which are so essential to popularity, and a modesty which was at first oppressive and embarrassing, yet, through the qualifications which God had given him, and vouchsafed to bless, he surpassed the most sanguine expectations of his admirers and friends. By patient and laborious efforts, and a discreet and well tempered zeal, he drew around him, in a short time, a small body of people attached to his person and devoted to his wishes, who at length swelled into a large and respectable congregation. A church was built for him, which in spaciousness and elegance was suited to their numbers and wealth. Every arrangement was made for his individual accommodation and comfort. And from his active exertions among his people, and the affection and reverence in which he was held by them, there is good reason to believe that the spiritual state of his pa rish was not less prosperous than its temporal condition was happy and flourishing. Amidst all this usefulness, which seemed only a prelude to better things to come, he has been hastily called from his labours. His sickness was short, and his death unexpected. He had not considered the case alarming, till it was announced to him, that in a few hours it would be fatal. Death, as he declared on the occa. sion, had long been familiar to his thoughts, till it had even become to him a dear and interesting contemplation. He had often looked forward to this hour with a joyful anticipation of that glory and bliss to which he trusted it would introduce him. The sudden communication, however, that it was so near at hand, was a surprise. With his characteristic humbleness of mind and tenderness of conscience, the sense of his personal imperfections and sins, and his negligences and failings in his pastoral duty, pressed for a moment upon his heart-but as he had always looked to the atoning sacrifice of the cross for the pardon of his sins, and to the mercy of God, through the merits of his Son, for his acceptance and favour, he im mediately regained his composure and peace. God had always been good and gracious to him, and in this hour of his need he could still put his trust in him. He could still pray that his will might be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then calling his family around him, he spoke to them with such a clear and collected mind, and so ready an application of scriptural truth and scriptural language to their circumstances and his own, with such tenderness, solemnity, and force, with such an elevation of spirit, and such kindling and heavenly hopes, that whilst his friends were overwhelmed by the touching scene, they were nevertheless rejoiced that, on his part, it was so full of comfort, assurance, and peace. Thus he closed his holy and useful life with a blessed death, and entered, as we trust, into the joy of his Lord. His ficted sisters-his desolate orphans-his early friends, who constantly found in him new reasons for esteem and VOL. XI. attachment—his affectionate and bereaved flock, for whom he offered up his last and most fervent prayers-will often recall his loss with heartfelt grief; but yet will be comforted in remembering, that they especially ought not to sorrow as others who are without hope. His brethren and companions, with whom he took sweet counsel together, will miss him in their private circles, and in those meetings for promoting the interests of religion, where he was more frequently to be found; but, through the grace of God, they will still keep before them his edifying example, and be roused to greater activity and dili gence by his sudden death. But, above all, the church which he adorned by his piety and zeal, and to which he paid so much honour and reverence by faithfully adhering to her doctrines, her worship, and usages, which he considered as the pillar and ground of the truth, and the abundant source of "true religion and vir, tue," the church has sustained a loss which all her friends will feel, and which they will earnestly unite in praying the Great Shepherd and Bishop of souls to supply. Lines on the Death of the Rev. C. R. Duffie, M. A. W. At a numerous meeting of the Trustees and Managers of the "New-York Bible and Common Prayer Book Society," of the "Auxiliary New-York Bible and Common Prayer Book Society," of the "New-York Protestant Episcopal Tract Society," of the "New-York Protestant Episcopal Missionary Society," and of the "New-York Protestant Episcopal Sunday School Society," convened at St. Paul's chapel, on Friday evening, the 31st of August, 1827, for the purpose of uniting in testimonials of affection and respect for their late beloved fellow member, the Rev. Cornelius R. Duffie, the bishop of the diocese being absent from the city, the Rev. William Harris, D. D., presi *This meeting was called at the suggestion of se veral lay gentlemen connected with those societies, and who have long known and appreciated the sterling worth of their deceased friend. 37 |