judices against our Communion are thus softened, if not removed; and not unfrequently these prejudices are made to give place to a warm attachment to it. I but speak the experience of most, if not all, of my reverend brethren, the clergy, when I state that many of the flourishing congregations of our country owe their origin, under GOD, to a seasonable and judi cious distribution of the book of Common Prayer. Doubtless your own experience can bear testimony to the truth, that not a few are the individuals who are indebted for their first serious impressions, or the confirmation of their pious principles and hopes to a faithful and devout use of the Prayer Book, with which they had not been acquainted, until placed in their hands by the charity of these associations. 3. Societies for the distribution of tracts, exhibiting views in accordance with the evangelical sentiments of our Church, and explaining her distinctive principles and institutions, present manifest means of diffusing Gospel truth. I should scarcely have felt it necessary to call your attention to their importance, but for the inadequate support and encouragement extended to the society instituted in this city, having this object in view. Tracts from its depository have been distributed to the full measure of its ability, to parishes and missionary stations within and without the diocese, while a very few have returned a feeble tribute into its wasted treasury. It was remarked on this subject, and in this place, by one whose memory we all love to cherish, and whose principles we are ambitious to emulate and to follow, that " on the subject of diffusing religious knowledge by tracts, one would think there would be no difference of opinion or of measures among us. A union here with our Christian brethren, who differ from us, must inevitably, to say the least, endanger our religious system, either by circulating sentiments in dissonance with its distinctive principles, or by keeping them out of view in a general association of commanding influence, lead to the belief common among ourselves, that they are of little importance.' Christian charity is not opposed to Christian truth; and is best maintained * Bishop Hobart's Address to Convention, 1826. by associations among ourselves, and exclusively under the guardianship and authority of our own Church. It is by societies such as these, my fellow Christians, organized and efficiently prosecuted in every parish of our diocese, that a Christian laity have invaluable means in their own hands for furthering on the Gospel to its completion of filling the earth. True, there is danger-and to my mind it appears the leading tendency of the present day-of overlooking the fact, that the Christian Church is the only society ordained and instituted of GOD, as the divinely appointed instrument for evangelizing the world. Associations resting on mere human appointment, though highly useful and important as auxiliaries, yet based, as they are, solely on the sanction of human authority as measures of human wisdom and policy, are nevertheless in no degree capable of occupying the place, much less of superseding, that visible society of which GoD is the founder; his eternal Son, the head and Saviour, having purchased it by his precious blood-shedding; and the blessed SPIRIT its daily strength, and support, and sanctification. These societies, however, when carried on in subserviency to the grand distinguishing principle of connecting the Church and the word of GOD, uniting the sacred volume with the ministry; the worship and the ordinances which that word enjoins as of divine institution; and the instruments it puts forth for diffusing and sustaining Gospel truth:-in a word, when wholly and exclusively used as the agents of CHRIST's mystical body, the Church, under its guardianship and in submission to its authority, fall peculiarly under the care and patronage of the laity, as in a measure connected with the temporalities of the Church. They demand the devotion of time and talents and influence, as well as wealth, to their pious objects; and by concentrating the united efforts of every parish, and calling into active exercise the enlightened and cheerful benevolence of every parishioner, accumulate an aggregate of pecuniary means which will enable the Church to carry on the work of converting the nations to a degree of which it is impossible to estimate the results. VOL. IV.-5 Episcopalians could be persuaded to enter upon some plan of systematic benevolence, laying by in store on the Lord's day, as an inspired apostle has left us in charge, or at other convenient and stated periods, a portion of their earthly gains, according as GOD has blessed them, to the cause and service of his Church;-if every individual, I say, connected with our Church, either as a pew-holder, or regular attendant upon its services, would conscientiously and cheerfully discharge this duty according to his ability, how vast the increase of good that would flow from this united effort in these objects of Christian philanthropy ! Yes, my brethren, if the laity of our Church would become deeply interested, as they ought to be interested, in these associations, as auxiliary to the Church itself; and would lend themselves wealth, and time, and talents, and influence, to the work as a sphere of usefulness peculiar to their order, how soon would the Church of the Redeemer put on her beautiful garments as the bride and spouse of CHRIST, her divine head, and thus sooner be prepared for the coming of her LORD! And where is the believer in CHRIST'S Gospel who can look around upon this world of ours, a large portion of which lies wrapped in the gross darkness of heathenism, and yet refuse his aid in conveying to his fellow immortals, thus benighted, the cheering, invigorating, and sanctifying rays which are diffused by the light of Gospel truth? Where is the Christian mother, who realizes the rank in the scale of being and of society to which her sex has been exalted by the Gospel of the Son of GOD; the controlling influence she is enabled to exercise over our race, by having the rising generation so unreservedly intrusted to her guidance:—and, on the other hand, contemplate the wretchedness and degradation sitting over the female of every other system of religion but the Christian; led on by a blind idolatry to sacrifice the fruit of her body for the sin of her soul; or by a horrid superstition persuaded to follow a selfimmolated victim on the funeral pyre, the corpse of her deceased partner; and yet withhold her influence, grudge her means, or restrain her exertions in the cause of Bible truth,-to convey to earth's remotest ends the inestimable blessings of that liberty wherewith CHRIST hath made us free? But, alas! how often is it that those golden streams, which ought to enrich the treasury of the Church, are made to flow through other channels, to the cause of institutions, which, if not adverse to her interests, are nevertheless beyond her control! From the peculiar circumstances of our Church, it must ever be that she has most urgent claims upon the entire charitable contributions of her members. While other Christian communities, from identity of interests and similarity of views, may extend their application through a wider range, and receive aid from more numerous donors, the Church can look for support to institutions devoted to her exclusive interests only from the members of her own communion. She is constrained to rely wholly upon the resources within her own pale for the advancement of her distinctive institutions and her evangelical services. The separation involved in the present divisions among the professors of our common Christianity, can only be defended on the ground that the differences which keep them asunder are essential to the integrity of Gospel truth. So long, therefore, as it continues the duty of the Christian "earnestly to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints," it will be obligatory upon Episcopalians zealously to support, and unweariedly to labor for the extension of those distinctive principles of their Church which so endear her to their best affections, and so eminently entitle her to a primitive and apostolic character. And, my fellow Christians, what sufficient reason can be given for neglecting her institutions, or bestowing on other associations that zeal, or those pecuniary means for which her urgent need so eloquently pleads, and which her evangelical purity so eminently deserves? This direction of your pious. liberality from general objects to the necessities of your own household of faith, until the wants of that household be sup * Jude 3. plied,-bestowing your contributions, surrendering your time, exerting your influence, and devoting your talents to the Missionary and Education Associations, the Bible and Prayer Book and Tract Societies, and other institutions, exclusively under the control of your own Church, is in no wise contrary to the spirit and design of CHRIST's Gospel, or the precepts of his apostles. It does not frustrate any system, nor oppose any principle of sound and enlightened benevolence; nor does it in any sense lessen the obligation to extend in their highest purity the Gospel of the Church of CHRIST. No, brethren, again to use the energetic language of our late diocesan, an ever lamented prelate,—“ In promoting the extension of this pure branch of the Church of the Redeemer, you will best advance the glory of GoD and the salvation of men; and faithful to the lessons of evangelical truth which our Church inculcates, you will save your own souls, while you contribute your part in the most exalted work of benevolence, the salvation of the souls of your fellow-men;"* and then it is that you become in a peculiar manner the "helpers in CHRIST JESUS" to your clergy. My Brethren of the Clergy, I have already trespassed so long on your time that I must solicit your indulgence for a few moments longer, while, in unfeigned humility and a deep sense of my own insufficiency, I proceed to offer, in a few words chiefly derived from the Ordination services, thoughts designed merely to "stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance."+ If it be the duty of a Christian laity to become our "helpers in CHRIST JESUS," so is it likewise obligatory upon us to become "fellow-laborers" and "workers together" with our bishop, as the chief shepherd and pastor, on whom daily falls the care of all the Churches, by a zealous and faithful discharge of the duties pertaining to the clerical office. Fearful, indeed, are our responsibilities; for we are to "give our faithful diligence always so to minister the doctrine and sacraments, and the discipline of CHRIST, as the LORD hath commanded, that we * Bishop Hobart's Address, Convention of 1818, p. 22. † 2 Peter iii. 1. |