these marks of his favour. The unwearied labours of our venerable bishop, during the short time he has been in the diocese, have impart. ed a new tone to the interests of the Church; and the extent of these blessings may be seen in the annexed journal, replete with interest and information, and which at the same time obviates a more detailed performance of the duty confided to the committee."

From the journal of Bishop Ravenscroft, alluded to in the above report, it appears, that he had, besides preaching and administering the Lord's supper in different parts of the state, consecrated two new churches, and administered, at twelve different times, the holy rite of confirmation to 195 persons. In the conclusion of his journal, Bishop Ravenscroft observes,

"Thus, my brethren, have I laid before you the course of my labours in the diocese since I was called to the administration of its concerns. The narrative is necessarily succinct in its details; but sufficient, I would hope, to suggest to the assembled council of the Church, those measures, which are at once necessary and practicable, for the advancement of those high interests which we all have at heart. That there exists throughout the country, particularly in the middle and eastern sections of the state, a sentiment of respect and affection for the Church of their fathers, is proved to me by many testimonies; and by none more, than by the cordial welcome I have every where met with. To cherish and keep alive this sentiment, and to fan into a flame of active exertion this smoking flax, will depend on the measures you shall bring into operation. To show, then, that there is a rallying point; that there is a body of their brethren steadily engaged in devising and maturing plans for their relief, and for extending to them the benefit of religious ministrations, as speedily as the nature of the case will admit of, will encourage them to endure yet longer; will stir them up, to meet your recommendations with hearty concurrence; and arm them to resist those insidious insinuations, which apply the desolateness of their scattered and insulated condition, as an argument to abandon the cause. To lay before them a well devised system for bringing into operation the means we possess, and applying them exclusively to the interests of the Church, will create confidence, and increase ability. Much that is now latent, will show itself; and much that is now squandered in other directions, will return into its proper channel.

To exertions of this and every other kind, we are strongly stimulated, my brethren, by a review of what it hath pleased God to do for us in the few short years of the Church's revival. To look at what we were seven years back, and to look at what we are this day, must move the most indifferent to step forth, that they may be workers together with God, in this moral renovation; must encourage the most timid, not to despair of success; and engage every heart, every head, and every hand, in prayer, in counsel, and in action, for the prosperity of Zion. In all your operations, you may count upon my most hearty co operation; and may the spirit of counsel and sound wisdom, rest upon all your labours, and guide them to a happy issue."

Twenty-eight congregations of the Protestant Episcopal Church are stated to exist in the diocese, between which the services of seven clergymen are divided. The number of baptisms reported for the year preceding the convention was 158; and the number of communicants in eleven of the churches is 433.

In the appendix to the journal is a letter from Bishop Ravenscroft, on his election to the episcopate of North Carolina, from which we make the following extracts.

"St. James's Parish, 25th April, 1823. "Rev. and dear sir and brother,-Your favour of the 14th instant, announcing the very unlooked-for circumstance of my election as their bishop, by the convention of North Carolina, was received last night, by the hands of the Rev. Mr. Green. I trust, that the finger of God is too plainly marked in this work, to permit any hesitation on my part, in giving myself to this call of the Church. Personally a stranger to the great majority of the convention, and with but a transient acquaintance with any of that body; while to the diocese at large I am actually unknown, I must surrender all faith in the superintending care of the great Head of the Church over his members, if I could doubt the destination to which he appoints me; and I humbly thank him for the relief thus given me against the sense of my own insufficiency for so awfully responsible a station, from the doubts and fears which will so frequently cloud the calls to spiritual duty, and for the confirmation given to the whole by your unanimity.

"Such as I am, therefore, I surrender myself to the service of the diocese; beseeching Him who took David from the sheepfold, and apostles from the fishing net, to furnish, guide, and dispose of me to the advancement of his glory, the good of his Church, the safety, honour, and welfare of his people.

"I shall go on to Philadelphia to the General Convention, with the testimonials furnished me, and should that body judge me worthy of the office, I shall take upon me the sacred office to which I am thus called; and shortly after my return home, will visit such part of the diocese as shall be within my reach, and for such purposes as may be wanted."

"Pecuniary emolument enters not into my calculation, beyond that decent support which the scripture warrants the workman to require and receive. This, I understand, will be furnished through the Raleigh congregation, in addition to what is given by the conventionand therewith I am content. As I have received no communication from them, I leave it to you to inform them of my willingness to take charge.

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Requesting the favour of you to present me most respectfully to the standing committee, informing them of my purpose; and begging an interest in your prayers, and in those of your congregation, I aı, your friend and brother, in the fellowship of the gospel.

1

JNO. S. RAVENSCROFT. Rev. ADAM EMPIE, President of Standing Committee.

CONNECTICUT.

The annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Connecticut was holden at Litchfield, on the 2d and 3d of June, 1824, at which were present the Bishop, 31 presbyters and deacons, and 36 lay delegates. The baptisms reported for the preceding year were 509, in forty-seven churches; and the present number of communicants in 33 churches was stated at 2809. The communicants in the other churches of the diocese were not reported. It also appears from the journals of the conventions of 1822 and 1823, published in connexion with that of the convention of 1824, that during the three years, in the churches from which reports were made, there have been 1587 baptisms. In the course of the three ecclesiastical years above named, the Bishop has confirmed 923 persons; and during the same period of time he has consecrated four new churches, and ordained fourteen deacons and ten priests. When it is considered that baptisms were reported only from about two thirds of the churches in the state, and the communicants from less than half of them, it appears most evident that our Zion in that diocese is in a prosperous condition.

From Bishop Brownell's address to the convention of 1824, are the following interesting paragraphs.

"At our last meeting, I had the pleasure of congratulating you on the passage of an act, by the general assembly of this state, for the establishment of a college, to be under the patronage and principal direction of members of our Church; provided thirty thousand dollars should be raised for its endowment by private contribution. I have now the satisfaction of announcing to you that more than the requisite sum has been raised, to render the charter available. Nearly fifty thousand dollars have been subscribed to this object, within the diocese; the greater portion of which has been contributed by the city of Hartford, in which the institution is established. The college will be organized, and go into operation without delay. Arrangements have been made for procuring a library and suitable philosophical apparatus, and preparations are in train for erecting the necessary buildings for the accommodation of students, and for publick rooms. Though these edifices can hardly be completed before the next spring, yet it is purposed to be ready for the reception of students the ensuing autumn, and, in the mean time, to procure accommodation for them in private families.

"It will be the object of the trustees of the institution, to seek the ablest professors that can be obtained, in order to insure the requisite number of students to support the establishment. It is hoped also that the organization of the institution will be thought to contain some improvements on the ordinary systems of education, calculated to procure for it the favourable notice of the publick."

From the address to the convention of 1823, is the following important intelligence, with the Bishop's judicious remarks, upon the subject of parish funds generally. Acts of Christian beneficence like that belowmentioned cannot be too widely known, that others, blessed with

the means, may be induced to contribute of their abundance to like

pious purposes.

"The parishes of New Milford and Brookfield, under the rectorship of the Rev. Mr. Benham, have with great liberality raised a fund, the interest of which is nearly adequate to the support of the rector. The parish of Middletown has lately come in possession of a fund to the amount of about 12,000 dollars, by a pious bequest from the late Stephen Clay. Considerable additions have also been made to the funds of some other parishes within the past year. It has been urged that large parish funds have a tendency to produce negligence on the part of the minister, and indifference on the part of the people. But however this may be, it is at least desirable that every parish should have a permanent income equal to at least a moiety of the rector's salary, as a security against those fluctuations to which all parishes are liable; while the interest of the congregation may be kept alive by the necessary provision for the remainder, and by those occasional calls for the general objects of the Church, which are not less fruitful in blessings to those who give, than to those who receive."

How easy it would be for the wealthy individuals to be found in most of our parishes, without any injury to their families, to make that provision for the maintenance of the institutions of the Church, which with the Divine blessing would not only be a sufficient guarantee for their permanency, but would place the benefits of them within the reach of the poor, to whom the gospel should especially be preached.

It appears from the appendix to the journal of 1824, that the Episcopal Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge in Connecticut, expended, in the year previous, for missionary and other religious purposes about 800 dollars.

The persons who were candidates for holy orders, at the time of that convention, were Messrs. George Shelton, Norman Pinney, Asa Griswold, Harry Finch, and William H. Lewis.

MARYLAND.

The convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Maryland met in St. Paul's, Baltimore, on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of June, 1824. Present Right Rev. James Kemp, D. D., Bishop of the diocese ; 33 presbyters; 3 deacons, and 35 lay delegates. The whole number of clergymen in the diocese is stated at 45, and the number of parishes at 64. Parochial reports were made from thirty-eight churches only. In these there are stated to be 2857 communicants; and that there have been 1239 baptisms during the year previous to the time of the convention.

The Bishop states, in his address to the convention, that he had consecrated, within the year preceding, three churches; visited 24; confirmed 499 persons, and ordained six priests. The number of candidates for holy orders in the diocese was six.

NEW JERSEY.

The following paragraphs conclude the address of the Right Rev. Bishop Croes to the annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New Jersey, holden at Trenton, in St. Michael's church, on Wednesday, August 18, 1824.

"More clergymen belong to the Church in this diocese, and officiate in it, than at any former period; consequently many churches heretofore vacant, have stated Divine service, and the ministration of the word and ordinances. If we compare the state of the Church, in this diocese, as it was reported in the year 1814, and in no previous period, since the revolution, had it been materially better-with its state at this time, we shall see a manifest progress in all its concerns, a progress greater than we could reasonably have expected, considering the difficulties with which it has had to struggle. At that time, its number of clergymen was eight, now it is sixteen; and in the course of a few days will be seventeen, besides the partial services it will receive from two clergymen of the neighbouring dioceses. Then, the number of churches, which enjoyed the stated services of the sanctuary, was ten, now twenty or twenty-one congregations are blessed with that great privilege. Of twenty-six churches, one of which has been erected within the last year, several have either been rebuilt, improved, or new modelled, since that time: so that, with the exception of one, they are all in excellent repair. To supply the still vacant churches, a missionary is appointed, who will be able to afford them frequent services.

The funds which have been successively instituted for the advancement of the Church, in this diocese; as the fund for the relief of the widows and children of deceased clergymen, the missionary fund, the episcopal fund, and the fund of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, &c., are in a state of gradual increase, and have already contributed, under the blessing of God, to the prosperity of our Church, and consequently been the instruments of much good.

"With this increase of the means for the visible prosperity of the Church, we may reasonably indulge the hope, that, through the influence of divine grace, her spiritual interests are also advancing; that true and undefiled religion is making progress in the hearts of her members; the only certain evidence of which is a good life and conversation.

"For all these blessings, it becomes us, my brethren, to raise our hearts, in grateful acknowledgments, to Almighty God; and they should, at the same time, inspire us with new zeal and exertions, in the promotion of His glory.

"I now offer the parochial reports, which have been presented to me, by the proper officers of the several congregations in the diocese, that they may be read, for the information of the convention and inserted in the journal."