the conviction, that they have neglected to work out their salvation while it was yet called to-day, and by the retrospect of the warnings to flee from the wrath to come which they slighted, and of the many invitations to be gathered under the wing of the Saviour which they persisted in refusing. The "convenient season which they promised themselves never arrived. The tree falls, and there it lies; the door of mercy is now shut; and the pearl of great price, once so frequently offered to their acceptance, for ever hid from their eyes. O, may the result | of these considerations be, to ponder upon the blessings we are now enjoying, to weigh them more carefully, and by thus ascertaining, in a degree, their worth, to prize them more and more highly.

Now, of all the blessings we possess, what do we deem the most valuable? Doubtless the answers to this question will be various, according to the leanings of the mind: one may be influenced by pleasure, another by ambition or interest. But a moment's reflection will suggest the awful truth contained in that question of our Saviour's, "What is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Therefore we must conclude, that any thing that concerns the soul, which must exist for ever, either in a state of ineffable felicity or of inconceivable misery, ought and must obtain the highest place in our affections, and be ranked paramount to every other consideration, as most valuable, and of an importance which it is impossible to estimate.

As there is only one name given under heaven whereby we may be saved, so also there is only one means instituted by which we may obtain either the knowledge of that 66 name," of ourselves as lost, or of that wondrous scheme of free and sovereign grace, which it reveals "in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ." By considering the character and effects of the Bible, we shall see something of the beauty and force of that expression of David's, "Thy word is a light;" and by pursuing the plan which has been adopted with reference to the mercies previously mentioned, we shall be enabled to form a higher and more accurate idea of the preciousness of its sacred pages, and of the great value of those opportunities of becoming acquainted with its eternal truths which we so richly enjoy.

St. Peter, in speaking of the word of God, says, "Ye do well to take heed unto it, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place" (2 Pet. i. 19). How mortifying an expression to the human heart! what a blow to fleshly wisdom," to think that all the pleasures, refinements, yea even the high attain

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ments of literature and science, are comprehended in this concise sentence, “a dark place!" One "light" only is spoken of; and that extinguished, all would be involved in one mass of confusion and darkness. A little consideration will shew that this would be strictly true. We are told that "the world by wisdom knows not God" (1 Cor. i. 21). Reason can cast no light upon the inscrutable judgments and providences of God, nor "find him out by" the strictest "searching." It cannot unfold to us the mystery of our actual existence, or give us information respecting man's past history or future destiny. The mind of man may indeed theorise and reason, may assist his researches after knowledge, but the light it affords is but feeble; a faint glimmering, when compared to that pure and steady ray, which faith sheds upon our path. Reason can conjecture, and speak of probabilities and consistencies; while the confidence of a well-grounded faith produces assurances, promises, certainties. We may see the difference of the operations of reason and faith in the following examples :-The nobleman of whom we read in 2 Kings, vii., could not receive the truth spoken by Elisha, that on the morrow a measure of fine flour should be sold for a shekel, because such an extraordinary circumstance could not be reconciled to the finite comprehension and reason of man. The conduct of Zacharias also (Luke, i,), and the cry of the Israelites, "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" (Ps. lxxviii. 19), afford instances of the inclination of the human heart to look to external circumstances, and to measure God's power with our own ideas of possibility. On the contrary, faith feels that nothing is too hard for God (Jer. xxxii. 17); "Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" With God all things are possible. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word" (Luke, i, 38). Our Saviour has given us an example, that we should follow his steps. We may see him, then, surrounded by his enemies, and in a situation which, to the human eye, was hopeless; but what is his language to Pilate? "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" (John, xix. 11). What is the condition of the heathen? Is not their situation well defined by Scripture, when they are said to "sit in darkness and the shadow of death ?”. The work of the law, indeed, "is written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing them witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another (Rom. ii. 15); but this is all they possess.

Now we may conclude that the sons of Noah, by whom the whole earth was overspread, were believers, from the circumstance of their profiting by the advice of their father, that "preacher of righteousness," to escape the coming destruction by entering the ark. Is it not, therefore, probable that they would impart the knowledge of the true God, and the wondrous things he had done for them, to "their children, that their posterity might also know it, and the children which were yet unborn?" Such undoubtedly were their endeavours; but what a lamentable proof does the present state of the world afford, of the tendency of the human heart to degenerate, to turn back, and to "start

aside like a broken bow!"

What imagination can apprehend the dreadful state of those who, in distant lands, are totally ignorant of God, and strangers to Christ, the hope of glory? Subject to the evils attending a life of sin, and yet unconscious of the cause of their misery, or of the remedy which has been brought in by the Gospel, they know not Him who comforteth in affliction, and who can bestow strength and aid in every time of need; and thus they travel onward, and find this "vale below not only one "of tears," but one also of darkness; for no bright ray illumines them, to cheer, to solace, or to guide their way." After considering the condition of the heathen, we should, perhaps, be inclined to attribute the atrocities so frequently committed by them to the absence of civilisation; and doubtless we should proceed to remedy the defect, by introducing a system of our own, independent of religion (which we should deem a secondary object), by enlightening the mind, to check the commission of crime. But how futile would be the knowledge we should impart, and the sciences that we should encourage, in accomplishing the end designed! It is unnecessary to tell a husbandman how to plant a tree; and yet how often do we act, in a case somewhat similar, though of infinitely greater importance, in direct opposition to the truth, that "the branches bear not the root, but the root the branches." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;" and all education in which religion is not made the basis of the scheme, will prove as "a house built upon the sand," and which must consequently meet with "the great fall," which such an absurd building would inevitably sustain. On the contrary, the knowledge of God and of his glorious attributes, as obtained not by the poor deductions of reason, but as developed in the Bible; the lost condition of man by nature, and his restoration by Jesus Christ, and the operation of the Holy Ghost; are the

truths which constitute wisdom, and the only source from whence we may derive comfort and support under the painful occurrences of this transient scene: so that by receiving these truths in their fulness, and placing them as the foundation of our plan, we may then proceed to raise the superstructure, which shall stand firm amid all the storms and trials of life, "for it was founded upon a rock," S. S.

MEMOIR OF BISHOP CHASE.

[Continued from Number CLXXXIX.]

THE Succeeding June, 1818, being the time specified by the constitution for the meeting of the convention, it was very generally attended, and a bishop was, under an existing canon of the general convention, unanimously elected. His consecration took place in the following February, 1819. From this time a new era commenced, of labour and care. The newlyformed parishes were nearly all visited. Other members of our communion were sought out and found in the woods; and considerable numbers, who had never

professed any sense of religion, were disposed, by the grace of God, in the preaching of the word, and the administration of the ordinances, to forsake their sins, and join the body of the faithful.

Our clergy this year consisted of the Rev. Mr. Searle in the north; the Rev. Mr. Johnston, of Cincinnati; the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, of Virginia, officiating as a missionary a part of the time in the state; and the Rev. Mr. J. Morse, whom, in June, I admitted to the holy order of the priesthood; and by these, all our parishes, however distant and scattered, were to be sustained. This work, though difficult, was attempted. In March, 1820, came into the diocese my son Philander, a candidate for holy orders, who was ordained the following June. Taking charge of a school, he assisted me in parochial duty, and thus enabled me to be more extensively useful to my beloved people throughout the state.

The labours of the past year were continued with renewed vigour through this of 1820. Cheered by the fond hope, and relying on the promises of God to his Church, that he would raise up and send forth labourers. into his vineyard, we went on in our exertions to sustain and keep together our infant parishes; and though some of them were permitted to enjoy the ministration of a clergyman but once or twice in the year, yet even that was attended with such evident blessings as for a while to keep them from desponding.

The only way of visiting the infant settlements is on horseback; and in 1820 I travelled in that way 1271 miles, and performed Divine service and preached eighty-two times, besides attending the sick, the dying,

and the afflicted.

In performing this almost continual and fatiguing duty, it is no wonder that I found my constitution impaired and my voice almost gone. In consequence of the view I presented to the convention of the spiritual wants of the diocese, they authorised me to prepare and transmit to the several bishops of the United States an address, setting forth the great necessities of the Church within the diocese of Ohio, and soliciting The statement I drew up was in substance as follows: their aid in procuring missionaries to reside therein.

The map of Ohio will shew the extent of our charge. Our extreme parishes, as those of Cincinnati and Ashtabula, are distant each from the other nearly 300 miles. In other directions the distance is not much less.

On this vast surface our settlements are thinly scat

tered, and among these settlements are mingled the members of our primitive Church. Having emigrated from places where the pleasant things of Zion were freely and in abundance ministered, they remember their past enjoyments as hungry persons think on their former feasts of plenty. In this situation they sit like the captive Israelites by the muddy waters of the Euphrates' stream, waiting with sighs and tears for redemption to the Church of God, for that blessed time when the word and sacraments can, with any thing like constancy, be ministered among them.

hopeless solitude. But the Lord hitherto hath helped. Their faith in the expected relief which this instrument implores, has as yet borne up their spirits. "We will make this effort," say we, " and God of his mercy will smile on us." The fathers of our common Church, the chief labourers in Christ's vineyard, will not suffer this rose in the West, which God's own right hand hath planted, to be blasted in its bud; its beauty to fade thus untimely, and its fragrance to cease from us for ever. They will, under God, send forth labourers, faithful ministers; they will incite their people to give

prosperity of our beloved Zion.

Our parishes and places of holding Divine service are mostly distant from each other from fifteen to sixty miles; and the amount of parochial services is hardly so much as the inadequacy of five clergymen to support them all: though these are faithful, I fear beyond their strength, yet what are they among so many congregations, and at such distances? To keep from ecclesiastical extinction the little flocks already formed, they have in many instances encompassed so great a field of duty, that before they have finished their circuit, their former labours are no more seen; their fences against error are thrown down, the weeds of sin are grown, and their whole ground is laid waste. Too often have 1 witnessed this with mine own eyes; too often have I seen the lambs of the fold devoured because a shepherd was too far distant to hear their cries. What must be my feelings, under such circumstances, the beatings of your own bosoms, as you read this, can best express.

In doing the duty above alluded to, I have found the labours of a missionary inseparable from those of the episcopate; and to a person of my age, this assemblage of fatigue is more than can be borne. Incessant speaking in private, as well as in public, in teaching the rudiments of Christianity to the young, in explaining and defending the first principles of our religion to the ignorant opposer, have already much impaired my general health; and should this state of things continue, to all human view, my strength will soon be brought down in my journey, and my days will be , shortened.

So circumstanced, where can I, under Divine Providence, look for aid in the arduous work assigned me, but to you, my brethren in the Lord? Think not, I entreat you, that I do this without due consideration. By what is in print, I am apprised of your wants among your own flocks, I see the need you have to apply your own resources at home; but wants, as well as riches, are relative, they are small or great only by comparison. A family may be in want, and charity should begin at home; but if a neighbour be dying for want of relief, who can refuse that relief and be innocent?

This, in the eyes of all reflecting persons, is our case. Our parishes and people are too dismembered and too poor to maintain qualified ministers of the word and sacraments. They have made their efforts according to their utmost ability, and they find all is insufficient. Should they be suffered to fail in the diocese, what will remain of the Church in the West? -they will soon disperse. No funds-no clergy—and soon no people. Thus, even should prosperous days return, there will be no foundation on which to build a future superstructure. Seeing so little hopes of fostering our little flocks, which we had formed in the wilderness, even some of our few clergy began to think of removing to more flourishing regions, and leaving the rest to mourn out their days in useless efforts and

With prayers the most sincere, I commit the event of this address to the wisdom, the goodness, and mercy of Him, who, to found and erect a kingdom here on earth, shed his precious blood for us. Whatever this event may be, whether prosperous or adverse, I humbly implore his divine grace to make me submissive to his holy will and pleasure.

The result of this application in a pecuniary point of view was too favourable to be passed over in silence. Three thousand dollars were collected for the support of such clergymen as might be induced to exercise their ministry in Ohio. With sentiments of sincere gratitude to God and man, we received the bounty, fully purposed to spend as little of it in the support of the clergy already in the state, and to reserve as much to defray the expenses of other missionaries, whom we might induce to come among us, as possible. Accordingly our prayers were renewed with redoubled earnestness, and through every channel that promised success, to our eastern brethren, for some faithful labourers to come over and help us. The Rev. Spencer Wall this spring appeared among us, and gave hopes of some assistance; but the excessive fatigue obliged him soon after to leave the diocese, to the great regret of the parishes which had indulged hopes of his ministrations.

Other disappointments followed, one after the other, till the time of the convention of June, 1823.

All our clergy residing in the state (six only in number) were present at this convention. Though cheered by God's grace, and I hope supported by his Spirit, we had but a gloomy prospect before us.

Too well was it known among us, that some of our parishes had, by reason of a want of any thing like constant ministrations, become discouraged, and had ceased to be others had complained that the promises of missionaries had not been fulfilled; that they had kept together under the benefits of lay reading; but that unless some new hope should arise, they could not do so much longer.

Added to the complaints of the destitute laity, we had mutually to endure those of the clergy. Their labours were more than the human constitution could reasonably bear. Their parishes and places of preaching were so distant; their travelling, in most seasons of the year, so bad; and the pressing importunities to officiate so frequent, that not only all opportunities of study and improvement were cut off, but their families were suffering for things needful and necessary. "When," said they, "shall we have that assistance from our brethren in the East which we had hoped tor, and which our distressed condition, and the very existence of the Church as a diocese, so imperiously demand? After so long a period has elapsed since the affectionate and supplicant appeal was made for missionary aid, and after so many have been ordained to the ministry, is there not one found who is willing to encounter what we have encountered for the glory of God in the good of the Church? If we are to wait till all the Atlantic states are supplied with clergymen, does not the increasing state of the Church there not only bedim but for ever extinguish the eye of hope here, that any will ever come from thence? And this being

the case, who will supply our places when we are gone, to say nothing of the numerous parishes unsupplied? So poor are we, in such confined and uncomfortable dwellings do the most of us reside, so scanty are our libraries, and so incessantly engaged are we in parochial and missionary duties, that we can neither assist, nor direct, nor teach the young men who apply to us for orders, though they are not a few. If the qualifications for the ministry are kept up to their present standard (and we pray that they may ever be so), by what, except a miracle, can we be supplied with clergymen ?"

The only answer to this question was given by stating the imperious necessity of having an institution for the education of young men for the ministry among those who are to be benefited by their labours.

Bishop Brown, in a letter to me on this subject, emphatically says-"Your clergy must be sons of the soil: a mission to the Western Ocean Islands does not more require an adaptation of character to circumstances in the ministry, than an effectual propagation of the Gospel, according to the doctrine and discipline of our Church, in the western territory of the United States. Wales must not more of necessity have clergymen who are Welshmen, than Ohio, Illinois, &c., clergymen who by early training and habit are capable of assimilation to the character of their inhabitants generally, and of enduring the travel and exposure of their woods and hills."

The missionary Baldwin, in his powerful appeal, speaks thus: "The planting of a Church in any country must be by foreign ministers; but the watering of a Church therein, its preservation and increase, must be by the labours of domestic ministers, men who have been brought up and educated in the country where the Church exists." He urges the establishment of a general theological seminary, and considers the diocese of Ohio the most eligible situation, and that 50,000 dollars would be requisite to carry the plans into effect. If, therefore, a seminary should be erected for the diocese of Ohio in the first instance, it might be capable of extension hereafter.

The institution," says Mr. Baldwin, "might be a perennial spring. Look on the map of America, and compare the western states-Transalpine Americawith the rest of our rising empire: observe the faci lities of intercourse in the mighty rivers that wash the western parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Suppose a theological seminary established near Cincinnati, how great the facilities of visiting it from every part of the western states, and some of the southern! How many and great would be the blessings flowing from it to the numerous people living in those extensive and fertile regions! From Pittsburgh to the mouth of the Ohio is 800 miles, and the Mississippi is navigated from its mouth to the Falls of St. Anthony, a distance of 2000 miles. From the Missouri also, the Arkansaw, and other large rivers, on which our brethren are fixing their habitations, behold the numerous people who will, in every succeeding age, receive inestimable benefits from the founding a theological seminary in the West, and you will see that an institution there will be above all price."

The Rev. Dr. Morse, in a report to the Secretary of War of the United States on Indian affairs, estimates the aborigines now dwelling within the territories of the United States at nearly five hundred thousand. Almost the whole body of these Indians lie west of the Alleghany mountains. The increase, therefore, of devout and zealous ministers in the western territory is the most direct step towards reclaiming these nu merous tribes from the dominion of darkness and sin.

Of six thousand persons occupying the state and diocese of Ohio, one-third are emigrants and their families from England, Scotland, and Ireland. This

consideration was deemed sufficient to warrant an appeal to Great Britain for assistance in this important undertaking. The interesting attitude which the General Theological Institution had assumed in being so harmoniously established in New York, and the pressing and peculiar demands which she had for all the aid of episcopalians in the Atlantic states, forbade us to apply to them. Generous as they had been to us, we could never think of soliciting their beneficence while their own institution required all their means. Under these circumstances, and thus situated, we turned our eyes to the land of our fathers,-to that land whose enlightened inhabitants are spreading the glorious Gospel throughout a benighted world. Could men who were suffering so many privations, who were worn with fatigue and dejected in spirit,-who were strangers to all political considerations but such as they had learned from their Bibles,-could they be censured for a measure which naturally arose from the truth, that all Christians are brethren, of whatever nation they may be?

A mission to England was therefore decided upon; and when my son, who was appointed to make the application, so far failed in his already very infirm health as to give up all hopes of his ability, the last resort, as conceded by all, was for myself to go. Committing my beloved people to the care and protection of almighty God, and begging their prayers in my behalf, I left my home in Ohio on the 4th of August, 1823, and after a journey of more than 800 miles, arrived on the 16th of September in Kingston, New York, designed as the place of residence for my family during my absence in Europe.

I carried in my hand a document from the presbyters and deacons of the diocese of Ohio, in which they stated, that it was upon the impulse of hard necessity they had deputed me as their representative to appeal to the mother country, and in which they most affectionately and piously committed me to the guardianship and blessing of almighty God, and introduced me to the English public.

Many letters, both from clergy and laity, expressing prayers and blessings on my errand, met me on my arrival in New York, especially one from Dr. Ravenscroft, the Bishop of North Carolina, which bore the most gratifying testimony to the motives which led to the mission, and the great importance of the object in view. Under such circumstances, my constant and fervent prayer was, that I might be directed in the right way; and I embarked at New York for England. (To be continued.)

THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL.* THE Gospel is a glorious Gospel, because it is the Gospel of the blessed God. There is glory in all the works of God, because they are his; for it is impossible that so great a workman should ever put his hand to an ignoble work. And therefore the prophet David useth his "glory" and his "handiwork" promiscuously for the same thing; "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork," to note that there is an evidence of glory in every thing which he puts his hand unto. And yet the prophet there sheweth that there is more glory in the "law" of his mouth than in the "works" of his hands. The Lord is better known by Sion, and his name is greater in Israel, than in all the world besides.

The more God doth communicate himself unto any of his works, the more glorious it is. Now there is nothing wherein God hath so much put himself, wherein he may be so fully known, communicated with,

• From Bishop Reynolds on Psalm cx.