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After the report was accepted, the following resolution was adopted :—

Resolved, that the thanks of this convention be given to the Rev. Richard S. Mason, for the instructive and impressive discourse delivered by him at the opening thereof.

The following report was then presented from the Missionary Society:

Report of the Committee from the

Missionary Society.

The committee to whom it was referred to report on the state of the issionary Society, beg leave to present the following:

It appears that the board of managers, during the past year, employed four missionaries for the term of six months-The Rev. Mr. Green, in the eastern, and the Rev. Messrs. Miller, Wright, and Davis, in the western part of the diocess.

The Rev. Mr. Green, having parochial charges at Williamsboro' and Warrenton, has been able to give only one third of his time to the calls of the society, and during that time has laboured chiefly at Raleigh and Oxford. He has occasionally visited Halifax, Milton, and St. Mary's chapel, in Orange, and thinks all of those places deserve the attention of the society.

The missionaries in the western part of the diocess report favourably of the prospects of our church in that quarter; but as yet they have made no collections in aid of the funds of the society.

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It was hoped from the assurances the society received at the fast annual meeting, that the funds raised by collections in the congregations where the missionaries were employed, would have been sufficient to defray the expenses of the missions; but this expectation has been disappointed, and the missionaries for the ensuing year are again earnestly desired, previously to their attendance, at the next convention, to make, in all the congregations where they labour, collections for the missionary fund, and to bring forward such collections with them to the convention; and it is hoped this suggestion will induce influential individuals in the several congregations served by our missionaries, to exert themselves in assisting the missionaries

to make such collections. It is but rea sonable that the missionary should derive his support from those who enjoy his labour of love; whereas at present the missionary fund consists almost entirely of contributions from congregations and individuals in other parts of the diocess.

It is true, that in parts of the country where the interests of our church are weak and incipient, little pecuniary aid can be expected; but from the accounts which the missionaries have exhibited, of the number and ability of the adherents to our church in the district assigned them, we have reason to believe that much more liberal assistance might be obtained than has hitherto been realized.

The disbursements during the year, including payment of arrears due the missionaries for the preceding year, amount to $922 37; the receipts during the same time, inclusive of collections paid into the treasury at this convention, amount to $1,105 34-leaving on hand a balance of $182 97. Respectfully submitted, WM. HOOPER, WM. M. GREEN, S

Committee.

Dr. Burgess, from the committee on the episcopate, presented the following report:—

The committee, to whom was referred the subject of appointing a bishop, and of inquiring into the probable prospects of raising a fund for his support, ask leave to report, That they have taken the above subject into consideration, and from the flattering representations of the different members of the church now in convention, and a reliance upon the liberality of our brethren generally, your committee entertain no doubt but a sufficient sum may be raised in this diocess, by private contribution, for the comfortable support of a bishop; and from the great need there is in our diocess of the labours of one, and the confident hope that their expectations in being able to support him may be realized, your committee recommend the adoption of the following resolution :

Resolved, that in compliance with a resolution of the last convention, this

convention do forthwith proceed to the election of a bishop for the diocess of North-Carolina.

All which was adopted. Resolved, that the place of holding the next annual convention be at Wil

liamsboro', Granville county.

On motion, resolved, that the thanks of this convention be given to the Rev. Mr. Empie, for his able discharge of the office of president.

Resolved, that the convention does hereby recommend to the several congregations throughout the state, that they should annually elect a vestry of four or more persons, and two churchwardens; and, for the sake of uniformity, does likewise recommend to each congregation Easter-Monday as a day for such purpose.

The clergy having informed the house that they had unanimously nominated, according to the 9th article of the constitution, the Rev. JOHN S. RAVENSCROFT, Rector of St. James's church, Mecklenburg county, Virginia, as a suitable person for the office of bishop in this diocess; the convention proceeded to consider the said nomination, when it was found to be unanimously agreed to by those present.

Resolved, that the thanks of this convention be tendered to the inhabitants of Salisbury and its vicinity, for their kindness in extending to us the uso of their church, during our present session, and likewise for their hospitality to the members of the convention. The committee appointed on the Rev. Mr. Hooper's motion, presented their report, which, after some amendments, was adopted.

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mit to him the testimonials required by the third canon, to enable him to receive consecration to that holy office, at the next General Convention to be held in Philadelphia.

Resolved, that the annual salary of the bishop elect, until the further order of the convention, be fixed at the sum of $750, to be paid semi-annually, exclusively of prochial support; and that the Rev. William M. Green, who hath been appointed agent to raise a fund for that purpose, be requested to remit such sums as he may from time to time receive, to the standing committee for the time being, who are hereby constituted trustees for receiving and disbursing the same.

Resolved, that the committee be requested to invest the surplus of the sum, at the end of each year, in some permanent and productive fund at their discretion.

On motion, resolved, that so much of the second article of the constitution of the church in this diocess, as prescribes the time of the annual meeting of the convention to be on the second Thursday after Easter, be repealed, and that in future the time of meeting shall be on the third Thursday after Easter in each and every year.

Resolved, that a committee consisting of two clerical and one lay member of the convention, be appointed to draft an address to the members and friends of the Episcopal Church of this diocess, setting forth the immediate necessity of creating a fund for an episcopate, informing them of the appointment of a general agent for that purpose, and earnestly soliciting their exertions in aid of the same; and that such address, as soon as prepared, be printed by the secretary of the Missionary Society, and forwarded to the clergymen of the respective congregations in this diocess, and all such other means adopted, as by the committee may be deemed most expedient for the free and general circulation of the same.

The Rev. Messrs. Hooper and Miller, of the clergy, and the Hon. J. L. Taylor, of the laity, were appointed the

committee.

Resolved, that this convention recommend the establishment of Sunday 26

schools to the several parishes in this diocess.

After prayer, by the president, the convention adjourned sine die.

This diocess contains twenty-five Congregations.

Abstract of the Proceedings of the Thirty-ninth Convention of the Diocess of Pennsylvania, held in St. James's Church, Lancaster, on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of May, 1823.

THE Convention was composed of the Right Rev. Bishop White, fourteen presbyters, two deacons, and thirty-four lay delegates, representing twenty-two congregations.

The convention having organized on the first day, and appointed the Rev. William H. De Lancey secretary, adjourned until the second day, when morning prayer was conducted by the Rev. James Abercrombie, D. D. senior assistant minister of Christ church, St. Peter's, and St. James's, Philadelphia, and a sermon preached by the Rev. Gregory T. Bedell, rector of St. Andrew's church, Philadelphia.

St. Andrew's church, Philadelphia, St. Stephen's church, Philadelphia, and Christ church, Greensburgh, Westmoreland county, were received into 'union with this convention.

The Right Rev. Bishop White, in compliance with the 45th canon of the General Convention, read the following address upon the state of the church in this drocess:

Brethren, the Clergy, and Lay

Deputies of this Convention, The following communication is "made in compliance with the requisitions of the 45th canon.

On the 5th of May, in the forenoon, I preached and confirmed in All-Saints church, Lower Dublin; and, in the afternoon of that day, I did the same in Trinity church, Oxford.

On the 30th of May, I laid the cor"her stone of a church in the city of Philadelphia, which church was called af ter the name of the first martyr, St. Stephen.

On the 23d of July, I attended and presided at the annual meeting of the trustees of the Theological Seminary in New-York; on which occasion it was matter of great satisfaction to me, to witness the progress made at so early a period of an institution, which is likely, under the blessing of God, to be the nursery of a pious, learned, and a zealous ministry in our church. This leads me to mention, that in consequence of the exertions of some respectable ladies of the city of Philadelphia, there has been established a scholarship in that institution, by the deposit of $2,500 in its treasury. The sum exacted by the laws of the institution is $2,000; but the ladies have exceeded the requisition. They have done me the honour to call the scholarship after my name; and the appointment of a scholar is to be permanently in the ecclesiastical' authority of this diocess.

On the 5th of September, I laid the corner stone of a church in the city of Philadelphia, to be called St. Andrew's

church.

On the 15th of the same month, in the forenoon, I preached and confirmed in St. Mary's church, Chester county; and, on the afternoon of that day, I did the same in Bangor church, Lancaster

county.

On the 27th of the same month, I admitted to priests' orders, under letters dimissory from Bishop Bowen, Peter Vanpelt, jun. formerly of this diocess.

On the 17th of October, I laid the corner stone of a small church in a settlement called Francisville, at the distance of about a mile from the city of Philadelphia, to the north-west. The church is to be called after the name of St. Matthew.

On the 29th of October, I consecrated Emanuel church, in the borough of New-Castle, in the state of Delaware; on which occasion I preached, and administered the Lord's Supper.

On the 22d day of December, in St. James's church, in the city of Philadelphia, I ordained, to the holy order of priests, Joseph Jaquett, of this diocess.

On the 28th of February, I consecrated St. Stephen's church; the corner stone of which had been laid, as already stated.

Persons confirmed by me within the year are 210 in number. The dates of confirmations held in the churches under my pastoral care have not been noticed.

The Rev. Samuel Sitgreaves, jun. who had been ordained in this his native state, but had been settled for some time in South-Carolina, has returned, and taken the charge of the episcopal congregation in Wilkesbarre: in which borough there has been lately erected a handsome and commodious church, expected to be consecrated in the ensuing

season.

The Rev. Gregory T. Bedell, originally of the diocess of New-York, and since of that of North-Carolina, has become a clergyman of this diocess, being engaged for the church of St. Andrew, now nearly finished, and expected to be consecrated in the course of the present month.

The Rev. James Montgomery has been elected rector of St. Stephen's church, Philadelphia, and has entered on the duties of his office.

The Rev. William H. De Lancey has been elected assistant minister of Christ church, St. Peter's, and St. James's, in the city of Philadelphia.

The Rev. Richard Umpstead Morgan, who was ordained a deacon during the last convention, has taken the charge of St. Paul's church, Chester, and of St. Martin's, Marcus-Hook.

The Rev. George B. Shaeffer has resigned the charge of St. John's church, York, having returned to the diocess of Maryland.

The Rev. John P. Bausman, jun. who had been ordained in the diocess of Maryland, has taken the charge of the congregations of Brownsville and Connelsville, in Fayette county.

The Rev. Joseph Spencer, formerly of this diocess, but resident for some years past in that of Maryland, has undertaken the charge of the congregation in Carlisle; being also appointed a professor in Dickerson college, in that borough.

The Rev. Moses P. Bennet, who had been ordained a deacon in Connecticut, and sent a missionary by the Society for the Advancement of Christianity to the western counties of this

state, has been, and is still successfully employed in raising congregations in Greensburg and Kittaning.

The Rev. Norman Nash, formerly a deacon of the diocess of Virginia, has been transferred to this diocess. Since his settlement in it, he has been employed principally in efforts for the erection of St. Matthew's church, and for the organization of a congregation to worship in it: but he has lately visited some vacant congregations in Huntingdon county, at which there is a probability he may be settled.

Charles G. Snowden, formerly a presbyter of this church, has been displaced by me from the ministry, agreeably to the provisions of the 7th canon of 1820.

The same has taken place in reference to Manning B. Roche, formerly a presbyter of this church, and rector of Trinity church, Southwark; of which the Rev. George Boyd, rector of St. John's church, in the Northern Liberties, has taken the provisional charge.

The only person admitted as a candidate during the present year is William Levington, a coloured man.

The Society for the Advancement of Christianity in Pennsylvania have continued their exertions, which have been blessed by a considerable degree of usefulness; although not sustained by a patronage adequate to its importance. There will be submitted to the convention a narrative of their proceedings; in which it should be especially noticed, that the annual subscription has been lessened, under the expectation that the loss from that measure will be more than balanced by an increase of the number of contributors.

Its auxiliary, the Female Tract Society, has continued their publications with considerable benefit. There has been lately a suspension of their distributions, in consequence of a fire, which, originating in a neighbouring house, consumed that of the bookseller in whose office the tracts were deposited. A considerable proportion of the tracts consumed; and as no small number of those rescued from the flames were in sheets and scattered, it required time to review and to arrange them.

were

The Prayer Book Society has be

come merged in the Society for the Advancement of Christianity; to be in future a branch of it, agreeably to a provision in its constitution. In consequence of too liberal a distribution gratuitously, the benefit will be for some time limited to the furnishing of the book on cheap terms, by means of the stereotype plates.

The Sunday schools are in successful operation. In my last communication I mentioned the Sunday School Society as distinct from the more local associations formed for the giving of instruction in their respective schools; the other being designed exclusively for the furnishing of books on the cheapest terms, to the schools which have been taken into their connexion. It is probable that the knowledge of the advantage of such a connexion has not been sufficiently diffused.

The stock of the corporation for the support of the widows and children of deceased clergymen, has increased to the amount of thirty thousand dollars; the annual produce of which considerably exceeds the legal demands resting on it. We have reason to apprehend, that the knowledge of the existence of such a fund, may create expectations which cannot be gratified, consistently with fidelity to the trust, of which there would be a manifest breach, if any portion of the income should be bestowed on any family of a clergyman, without its having been purchased for them by his annual contributions.

My confidence is still possessed by the Bible Society of Philadelphia: to which it will be continued so long as they shall continue to act on the ground of their original organization. It has been said, that in some societies, formed under the profession of the same object, of distributing the Bible without note or comment, other objects have been associated; perhaps with a pious design, but inconsistent with promise pledged, and tending to aggravate, instead of diminishing the differences subsisting among Christian people.

Every lapse of a year increases my solicitude to hold up, as a very important object, the creating of a fund for the support of a future bishop. I suppose it to be generally understood, that

I have no personal interest in the subject; but it would be a gratification to me to foresee, that my successor, detached from parochial concerns, will have it in his power to bestow all his labours on the work of the episcopacy; and thus be more efficient in the latter line than has been possible in my case on account of my parochial engagements. Having passed my seventyfifth year, it is what ought to remind me, that although my health and strength, under a merciful Providence, are equal to what they have been at any period of my life, there must, ere long, be a decline of body, and perhaps of mind, even in the uncertain event of there being still a lengthening of my days.

It has appeared to me, that the instituting of a Theological Seminary has been met by the general approbation of the members of our church, and yet there does not seem to exist a due consideration of the expense necessary for the conducting of it on a plan adequate to its importance. In addition to this, the liberal bequest of a public spirited member of our church in the state of New-York, seems to have been considered by some as almost sufficient for the satisfying of the call on the generosity of the public. This is a mistake, as must be known by those who are conversant in the construction of institutions of the description stated. It is to be hoped that further information will produce more correct habits of thinking on the subject; an issue which may be effected by statements of the clergy, and of influential gentlemen of the laity, as opportunities may offer.

It is a matter known to those who are prominent in the concerns of our church in this state, and doubtless the same is felt in other sections of the Union, that we receive most pressing entreaties for the extension of beneficence beyond our respective bounds; especially to the scattered episcopalians, who have seated themselves in the states which have derived their exist ence from the federal union. There is also a sentiment considerably prevalent, that it has become a Christian duty to add our efforts to the many recently put forth, as well in America as

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