EVEN if the Epistle, from which the text is taken, could be considered as a composition merely human, there would be a striking beauty in this modest introduction to the weighty argument that follows. The apostle, after some expressions of his good will to the Roman converts, and after giving them a general account of his labors in the gospel, is beginning to open the design of the epistle: which is to unfold the mystery of redemption; to defend it against prejudice and misrepresentation; to trace it back to the counsels of God, before time began; to note the intimations which had been given of it, as well before as under the law; and finally, to anticipate the accomplishment of it, in the bringing of both Jews and Gentiles to the family and flock of Christ. This is the design: yet the apostle, intending to rise in the importance of his subjects, and in the evidences of his arguments, begins with the moderate declaration, that he is not ashamed of that gospel, the scope of which he is about to open and to defend.

[6] It will be expected, that this discourse is not to be without a reference to the duties of the many reverend brethren present; and especially of one of them, who is to be admitted to the higher order of the ministry: and yet it might seem irrelevent to call their attention to the very moderate duty of not being ashamed, of what they are habitually employed in enforcing, by argument and by persuasion. For this reason, the text has been opened according to its liberal design, and not under the limitation of the letter: and if, in treating of the subject, there should be presented any considerations, which however short of conveying information, may be an incitement to the minds of the reverend hearers, and to that of the preacher, to a consistent sustaining of the doctrine and of the morals of the gospel, the subject will not be unsuitable at this time.

In the passage thus brought before us, we may perceive--

I. An express denial of the apostle, that he was "ashamed of the gospel of Christ;"
II. An implied declaration, that he gloried in it; and
III. The ground of both, in its being "the power of God unto salvation."

I. There is an express denial of the apostle, that he was ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

What were the reasons, which might have made him ashamed of the gospel, any further than as his mind was borne above them by the energy of divine truth, may be, in part, gathered from the circumstances of the times in which he lived.

On the one hand, there were the prejudices of the heathen: not of the vulgar only, against every thing [6/7] which might be considered as "a setting forth of strange gods;" [* Acts xvii.18] but also of those devoted to the study of wisdom; who were wedded to a philosophy, the greater part of which was visionary; while even what was founded in nature, had not kept them from "worshipping the creature more than the Creator." [* Romans i. 25] If some wise men were found, who aimed to bring philosophy from the clouds, to dwell on earth; that is, to apply its discoveries to the moral improvement of mankind; yet the benefit of their labors went little further than the schools; being unlike, in this respect, to the powerful instructions of christianity; which are clothed with an evidence, that opens itself to common understandings; and with a persuasion, that addresses itself to every heart.

On the other hand, there were the prejudices of the rulers and the learned men among the Jews; who imagining that their law should last forever would not hear of a dispensation, under which "old things were to be done away, and all things were to become new;" [* 2 Corinthians v. 17] and who, expecting a Messiah with temporal splendor, disdained one, whose life of poverty and whose death of ignominy, were declared to be the beginning of a spiritual reign, which should never have an end.

Besides these grounds of shame, there were others in the peculiar circumstances of the apostle in his education; in the estimation in which he had stood; and above all, in his having been a persecutor of the faith, to which he was now a convert. From the possession of privileges, as they stand in his own enumeration, where he says, "Circumcised the [7/8] eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; and as touching the law a Pharisee;" to "count all these things," as he says he did, "loss for Christ;" [* Phil. iii. 5,7] from having "profited in the law," and consequently being honored therein "above his equals," [* Gal. i. 14] to acknowledge that it was merely "a schoolmaster," which should bring its disciples to "the end of the law," [* Ibid. iii. 24] now revealed; to make the humiliating confession, in reference to his past persecuting zeal, that he was the "chief of sinners," [* 1 Tim. i. 15] and that even in the apostolic office, however distinguished by his labours and by his successes, he was, on the same account, "the least of the apostles, and not meet to be called an apostle;" [* 1 Cor. xv. 9] all these were sources of shame, in a cause which involved such discouragements and such sacrifices.

Here, then, were powerful temptations; either peculiar to the times, or attached personally to the apostle: and if the subject embraced no other, the difficulty would be now over. But it is a fact--and it ought to be confessed; lest men, when they take on them the Christian name, be like him who began to build his house, without calculating whether he were able to finish.--It is a fact, that there is a temptation to this thing, deeply laid in the genius of the christian calling; being the repugnancy in which it stands, to the disordered passions of human nature. For let any one take a survey of those high demands of the Gospel, which require us to be "holy in body and in spirit;" [* 1 Cor. vi. 20] which aim to bring "all the [8/9] thoughts of our hearts, in subjection to the law of Christ;" which enjoin us, to "take up the cross" and to follow him, "through evil and through good report;" [* 2 Cor. vi. 8] and which tell us, that "the friendship of the world," meaning, on all occasions when it interferes with duty, "is enmity against God." [* James iv. 4] Having done this, let him contemplate the world, as it stands before him; let him think of the many, by whom religion is ridiculed and reviled; of the many more, in whom an inward reverence of her, accommodates itself to the prevalent levity, which affects to treat all serious impressions as mental weakness, and of the many more, with whom fashion stamps its sanction on practices and on opinions contrary to the eternal law of morals; especially to the standard of morals laid open in the scriptures: and then, let him doubt; if it be possible, of their being temptations in human nature and in human life, to the being ashamed of a gospel, which is a standing protest against the conduct of all those, who so flagrantly violate its commands.

The reason of there having been notice taken of the more literal meaning of the declaration of the apostle, is to display a trait of character, as inconsistent as any that can be named, with the christian calling. Accordingly, it is never brought into view in scripture, but with the most evident stamp of divine disapprobation: Thus, when Nicodemus, to guard against the reproach of men, came to our Saviour under the cover of the night; however ample his acknowledgment of a divine mission, he received from him, not a commendation, not even a [9/10] rebuke addressed to the fault that gave occasion to it; but an intimation, that his mind was radically wrong, and that, to make him a fit subject of the Messiah's kingdom, it must undergo such a change, as may fitly be compared to the being "born again." [* John iii. 3] So, when we read of some, who, from being the hearers of our Lord's discourses, the spectators of his works, and the attendants on his person, "went back and walked no more with him," [* John vi. 66] it is thought sufficiently descriptive of the essence of their apostacy, that "they loved the praise of men, more than the praise of God." [* John xii. 43] But what the most strongly displays the fault, as it stands in the estimation of the christian system, is the express declaration of our Saviour:--"He who is ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." [* Mark viii. 38]

II. The foundation of this, will appear from the sense in which it was proposed, secondly, to consider the text; that is, as an implied declaration of the apostle, that he gloried in the gospel.

When the apostle's glorying in the gospel is spoken of, the meaning will be understood to be, such an open and steady profession of it, as must have resulted from full conviction of its truth; and from his esteeming of it a most valued treasure, connected with all his interests and his hopes.

It is such a profession of the gospel, as integrity and truth call for, that is in opposition to the criminal timidity stigmatized in the text. For it is a property of the subject, that it has not left its instructions [10/11] to the ascendeney which they may acquire over men individually, but, 'considering them as social beings, has formed its professors into a body, for the better accomplishment of its ends. The evidences of this, are in its ministries, in its public worship generally, and in its sacraments in particular: all of which are so involved in the system, and a due regard to them is so evidently a part of the profession required, that it well becomes those who live in the neglect of the consequent duties, to inquire how far an omission, in itself faulty, is aggravated by the false shame, which, however pleaded in extenuation, is, itself, a greater fault; and indeed evidence, that the heart is as much uninfluenced by the spirit of the gospel, as the conduct is unconformable in this respect to its commands.

As to the apostle, the manner in which he gloried in the gospel, may be collected from many instances in his conduct: such as his defence of it before king Agrippa, and the Roman governor Festus: such too, as his asserting of the foundation of it in the Jewish law, "when he stood before the council:" [* Acts xxiv. 20] such too, as in his displaying of its superiority over the idolatry of the heathen, on Mars-Hill at Athens: [* Acts xvii. 22] such too, as in his vindicating of its genuine character against those false brethren who would have encumbered it with the abrogated ordinances of the law, "only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ:" [* Gal. vi. 12] and such as when, in opposition to some of his brethren in the apostleship, led away by the dissimulation of intruders, he asserted [11/12] the liberty from the ritual observances of the law of Moses, "wherewith Christ had made them free." [* Gal. v. 1] All of these instances are here mentioned, not so much in proof of the point, which is too conspicuous in scripture, to be overlooked; as to display the manner, firm yet temperate, and open yet void of ostentation, in which the apostle displayed the christian heroism of glorying in the cross.

If any one should ask the grounds of that reliance of the mind, which alone could produce such a determination of the profession, they may be gathered from his general conduct and declarations.

He considered the gospel, in its doctrines and its morals, as competent to an extent of reformation, which no civilization, no refinement and no philosophy had accomplished. On this account, he exultingly declared--"after that in the wisdom of God," meaning as displayed in the creation, "the world by wisdom knew not God," that is, had not so attended to this book of wisdom, as to adore the perfections of its Almighty author, "it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching," as some, because of its simplicity, considered the preached word, "to save them that believe." [* 1 Cor. i. 21]

Further, he gloried in the consolations of the gospel, as applicable to every calamity of life; to sickness, to disappointment, to the loss of wealth; to the loss of friends; in respect to all of which he lays open its enlivening influence; when he describes himself, as "troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [12/13] as perplexed, but not in despair; as persecuted, but not forsaken; as cast down, but not destroyed." [* 2 Cor. iv. 8, 9]

And he doubtless contemplated the system in which he gloried, as pointing beyond this transitory world, to an eternal state of being; and as opening to the prospect of mankind an happiness, of which nature had given no more than a vague hope; which had been but darkly shadowed under the law; but of which there was now full assurance under the gospel. The happy efficacy of the latter system, in this point of view, he describes, as in many places, so especially where he calls it, "the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen:" [* Heb. xi. 1] a sentiment, which could never have entered into a mind, wherein faith were not so strong, as to be assimilated to vision; and wherein the expectation of the inheritance had not taken such entire possession, as strongly to resemble the enjoyment of it.

All these instances of his glorying in the gospel, are tests by which to try, whether we glory in it also: and it is well if they do not discover to us, that what should be thus our glory, is an occasion of our being ashamed. For it is certain, that whenever we shrink from the acknowledging of the doctrines of the gospel, as the brightest discoveries of the divine counsels to mankind, and its precepts as the highest cultivation of their manners; or when we are backward to avow the interest which we take in its consolations, as the best remedy of those griefs, in respect to which, "man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward;" [* Job v. 7] or when we hesitate to own, as our real dignity and our most substantial treasure, the being "a fellow citizen of the saints and of the household of God;'' [* Eph. ii. 19] then it is, that we are influenced by the false shame, the guilt and the danger of which the text implies, and many other places positively affirm.

III. Yet, in stating the reasons of the apostle's glorying, there has been kept out of sight, one reason, which is more operative than any other; or rather, in which they are united and experimentally displayed. It is that reserved to the third head, in the commendation bestowed on the gospel, of its being "the power of God unto salvation."

The cause is here expressed by its more immediate effects, through which it acts, with a view to a further end: so that when it is said, "the gospel is the power of God unto salvation;" the meaning is that the said system of truth is the medium, by which the power of God acts, to the salutary purpose stated.

We may suppose it so called, partly in reference to the exercise of the divine power, in the establishment of it: this being agreeable to the language of scripture, which speaks of the "demonstration of the Spirit and of power;" the former applying to the evidence of prophecy, and the latter to that of miracles.

Another ground on which the gospel may have been thus called, is the efficacy of that principal subject matter of its revelation, the sacrifice of the cross. In comparison of this the offerings under the [14/15] law are called "weak and beggarly elements:" [* Gal. iv. 9] in another place, it is said to have been "weak through the flesh:" [* Romans viii. 3] and it is declared to have been intended, in due time, to cease, "for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof." [* Heb. vii. 18] The gospel, therefore; in comparison of the law, may well be said to have been with power.

But, although these may be in part the reasons, why the gospel is called "the power of God unto salvation;" another reason, and that on which the stress seems to lie, is in the influences of the Holy Spirit and in their effect to the amendment of the heart, the very scope of the apostle, in this place, being to prove that whereas the law, being a dispensation preparatory to a better, "worked wrath," by pointing to an holy obedience, which it gave no ability to perform; the gospel, while it relieved from the curse of the law, communicated a divine energy; enabling to "serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." [* Rom. viii. 6]

Very many are the places in scripture, which give the encouraging assurance, that by the act of our admission to the visible Church of Christ, there are covenanted to us those aids of the Spirit, which, duly improved, will "keep us through faith unto salvation:" [* 1 Pet. i. 5] and the end of these "precious promises given to us," is said to be, "that by them we might be partakers of the divine nature." [* 2 Pet. i. 4] So full, indeed, is the gospel to this effect, that were a man to find its truth to fail him, after giving himself up to it, without reserve; were it to happen, [15/16] after such a surrender of his affections, that he is not sensible of an high and heavenly principle, in its influences of lifting them above the world; and of rendering it more and more easy to him, to discharge every duty, to God and to his neighbour; he would have better reason for doubting of the divine origin of the promises which should have thus fallen short; of their object, than any to be gathered from the common topics of licentiousness and irreligion.

That the apostle had reason: to rejoice in this efficacy of the gospel, is evident from his own account of what he was, before he had been brought by it "from darkness to light." I was (says he) "a blasphemer, a persecutor and injurious:" being all this, as he afterwards adds, "ignorantly in unbelief;" [* 1 Timothy i. 13] yet under the dominion of the passions; which form the dark character drawn by him. Now a faith, which, finding him obstinate and haughty, had made him "gentle and easy to be intreated;" which, from his being prone to injuries, had rendered him "full of mercy and good fruits;" [* James iii. 17] and ready to offer himself a sacrifice on the faith of those, whom he had, before, persecuted in every city; in short, by the aid of which, he had "put off the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts," had become "renewed in the spirit of his mind;" and had "put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness;" [* Eph. iv. 22, 23, 24] such a faith had been found by him, in happy experience to be "the power of God unto salvation."

[17] In how winning a point of view, does this represent the energy of gospel grace; as powerfully, although indeed persuasively, effecting a renovation of the mind! Too often, is this system of truth contemplated as the stern deliverer of duties, which create a perpetual war with opposite inclinations. That it does enjoin the whole circle of human duties; and that it requires the mortification of every interfering passion, is true. But if, at the same time, it be clothed with a mighty power; making that which is our duty, our inclination also; if by a progressive change of our desires, it calls them off from a transitory world, which we know to be "vanity and vexation of spirit," [* Eccles. i. 14] to fix them on a better state, in which are the "fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore;" [* Psalm xvi. 11] also, finding men licentious or proud, or passionate or arrogant, it can render them temperate, humble, meek and modest; if it can bring them to be affectionate to their families, submissive to public law and order, honest in their dealings, and inclined, "as they have opportunity, to do good unto all men;" [* Gal. vi. 10] and that it has such effects on some, while it is competent to them in all, can hardly be denied; then may we consider this as the most attractive of its blessed properties; and especially, as supporting the apostle's declaration, that it is the "power of God unto salvation."

Having contemplated that part of the subject, which is the ground of all the rest, we may perceive, that it not only accounts for the great delinquency of many, but suggests a practical improvement to all.

[18] For the former, how should it be expected of them, to glory in the gospel; or rather, not to be ashamed of it; when they have no inward evidence of its reforming influence, as a counterpoise to that levity, that scorn, that odium, with which it is sometimes, treated; and in which its professors must be occasionally involved. The way, therefore, to get rid of the temptation, is to destroy the root of it; that is, to surrender the heart and the life, to the government of gospel grace; and thus to find it--for it will then be found--"the power of God unto salvation." In that case, there will be no danger of our denying; or rather, there will be a security of our acknowledging, on all fit occasions, the foundation of our highest interests and hopes.

In what way this subject of glorying should be declared before the world, is a question, principally indeed of duty, but in part, also, of propriety and prudence. To do it in the spirit of contradiction, much more with ostentation, cannot be agreeable to the genius of the gospel, which is meek, modest and retired; and which requires us to "let our light shine before men;" not to disgust them; but to allure them to "glorify our Father, who is in heaven." [* Matthew v. 16]

A profession, however, is of necessity: and it is to be made, not only on the many occasions which incidentally call it forth; but in the public duties of our holy religion, ordained for this end.

But the true, the consistent, the unequivocal way of glorying in the gospel, is by manifesting, in the ordering of our conduct, the place which divine truths have held in our contemplation; and the [18/19] ascendency which they have acquired over our hearts. For in like manner as the prophet declared of justice, mercy and humility, that they are more precious in the sight of God, than the sacrifice of "thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil;" [* Micah vi. 7] so, we
may affirm of the same and of the like graces, not independent on, but in connection with the instituted duties of religion, that they are more available than the most weighty arguments and the most eloquent exhortations, for the reformation of mankind.

The subject applies to the christian minister, more weightily than to any other person. For as, on the one hand, any real ground of shame, if such there were, would reflect especial dishonor on his profession and his person; so, on the other hand, whatever reason for glorying there may be in it, as to its evidences, or as to its promises, or as to its precepts; there must be a peculiar interest in favor of him, who is supposed to have most studied, and to be best able to defend, to explain, and to recommend them.

Reverend Brethren of this diocess: Your preacher is the more free in addressing to you the sentiment of the apostle in the text, in consequence of his long intercourse with those of his Right Reverend Brethren, who have filled the episcopacy among you, ever since the introduction of it within the United States; and whose place he would fain consider himself as at this moment supplying; although with less weight either of authority or of influence, than what was due and yielded to their persons. [20/21] With your first Bishop, [* The Right Reverend Bishop SEABURY, who was the first American Bishop; He was consecrated at Aberdeen, in Scotland, November 14, 1784--and died February 25, 1796.] he was connected in preparing and establishing our Book of Common Prayer. The Bishops of our Church, were then three in number, and one of them, owing to indisposition, was absent from our counsels: so that the business was gone over in familiar conversation between your Bishop and him who now addresses you; who has ever since retained a pleasing recollection of the interviews of that period, and of the good sense and the Christian temper of the person with whom he was associated.

After his decease, it was in this city, above twenty-two years ago, when the present speaker was the principal agent in the consecrating of a successor. [* The Right Reverend Bishop JARVIS.--He was consecrated in Trinity Church, New-Haven, October 18, 1797--and died, May 3, 1813.] Many have been the subsequent occasions, when "we took sweet counsel together, and walked in the house of God as friends. [* Psalm iv. 15] His memory will be precious to his surviving Brother, until he shall follow to "the rest that remains to the people of God," [* Heb. iv. 9] when the labours of life shall be over: if, through divine mercy, he should attain to such a termination of his pilgrimage.

With your Bishop, [* The Right Reverend Bishop HOBART, who was vested, by a vote of the Convention of Connecticut, with the provisional charge of that diocess, June, 1816.] who has sustained a provisional charge of the episcopacy among you, the intercourse of your preacher has been longer and more [20/21] intimate; in consequence of a knowledge of him from his infancy: and, while the sense of his active usefulness among you is cherished throughout this diocess; it is here associated with many recollections which give a personal interest in the issue.

The design of our being at this time assembled, is the providing of a permanent episcopacy for the diocess: and, it will not escape the recollection of the reverend Brother elected to this charge, that he will be labouring in a field already prepared for cultivation; and, that in proportion to the zeal and the success of his predecessors, will be the call on him that there be no loss, but a proportionate gain under his ministry. His present reputation in the Church, sets him on too high a ground for any admonition, which the giver ought not to take equally to himself: but there will be nothing assuming in regard to him, and to all the reverend hearers, in applying the lesson of the text, that the best preparation for ministerial labors, and the best security for faithful employment in them, is personal experience of the salutary influence of the gospel which they preach, in its being found by them "the power of God unto salvation:" that is, in its having subjected fallen nature to the dominion of divine grace; and in its moulding of the mind to whatever is known in scripture, under the name of "the fruits of the Spirit." Without this preparation for the work of the ministry, it is drudgery at the best. Even with a disposition of mind suited to it, there are difficulties and discouragements; but they are counterbalanced by consolations, even in the present life; and poor are the [21/22] prospects of that minister of the gospel, who cannot look forward with humble hope, to the account which he is to render, when this life, and all pertaining to it, shall be over.

Although there has been an especial application to the ministry; it is not from the supposition that the other hearers are without an interest in the subject: for who is there, without opportunities of discountenancing irreligion and immorality, sometimes by an open testimony against them, and at least by silent tokens of sorrow or of disgust? Every loss of such an opportunity is a contributing to the mass of the wickedness of the world: and much more does this happen, if there be the least appearance of satisfaction on such occasions. It is not necessary at present, to enlarge on such surrender of Christian principle; since the text points to a sufficient preservative from it, in the experience of the truth of the position, that the gospel is "the power of God unto salvation." This is that renewal in the temper and disposition of our minds, that creation anew to good works, that consenting testimony of our spirits with the Spirit of God in scripture, which the Almighty Father will own as the work of his own blessed Spirit, in the day when the wheat shall be severed from the chaff.

APPENDIX

CONTAINING

An ADDRESS of the Right Rev. Bishop HOBART, to the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Connecticut, relinquishing his provisional charge of the Diocess;--

An ADDRESS of the Rev. Dr. BRONSON, as Chairman of the Standing Committee, in behalf of the Convention, to the Right Rev, Bishop BROWNELL, recognising him as their Diocesan;--

The REPLY of the Right Rev. Bishop BROWNELL, to the Convention expressing his acceptance of the charge;--

And an ADDRESS OF THANKS from the Convention to the Right Rev. Bishop HOBART, for his temporary services in the diocess.

[25] IN CONVENTION OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH
OF THE DIOCESS OF CONNECTICUT
NEW-HAVEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1819
BISHOP HOBART'S
ADDRESS
________

Brethren of the Convention,
Clergy and Laity,

MY charge of this diocess now ceases, in consequence of an event which gives to the important and respectable Church in this state, by the hands of our venerable Father and presiding Bishop, a resident diocesan. 1 shall furnish to your secretary, for insertion on the journals, a statement of my proceedings since my address to you at the Convention in eighteen hundred and seventeen.

My connection with this diocess, has afforded me abundant evidence of the fidelity of the clergy, in the discharge of their responsible duties and of their attachment, and of that of the laity, to the pure and primitive doctrines and institutions of our Church. In numerous acts of attention and hospitality, I have received expressions of your liberal and kind feelings, [25/26] which ought to be acknowledged, and can never be forgotten.

A connection thus consecrated and endeared, I cannot consider as now dissolved, without emotion. But I should be selfish indeed, if I did not check the feelings of regret, by those of congratulation, at the auspicious event which this day places over you a Bishop, who, in the fidelity and the talents that have distinguished him in the stations which he has hitherto filled, has inspired our sanguine expectations of his great usefulness, in the important relation which he will now sustain to you.

My newly consecrated brother in the episcopacy, who, as a presbyter of my immediate diocess, and a minister of the Church of which I have the parochial charge, has enjoyed that confidence and affection which his virtues and his talents merit, will accept my earnest prayers, that the blessing of that divine Master who has this day received his vows, may attend him in the arduous sphere of duty on which he now enters.

And in bidding you, in my official character brethren of the Clergy and Laity--farewell--you will, I trust, permit me, in the fulness of a heart deeply solicitous for the prosperity of your Church and for your individual welfare, to implore for you the benediction of the Almighty.

The Lord bless you and keep you, The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

[27] ADDRESS TO
BISHOP BROWNELL
________

Right Reverend Father in God,

IN behalf of the Clergy and Laity in Convention here assembled, I congratulate you on your elevation to the episcopate of this diocess. With great satisfaction have we witnessed the solemnities of this day, which have initiated you into the sacred office of Bishop, and completely reorganized our Church, according to the mind and will of Christ. Having with great unanimity invited you to become our spiritual head under Christ, we can but entertain the most sanguine hopes that your administrations will be attended with mutual harmony and concord: As little do we doubt, that it is a source of much satisfaction to yourself; and that you will feel the wisdom of acting, in every thing concerning your high office, with decision and promptitude. Influenced by your example, your godly admonitions, and the sacred authority with which you are entrusted, we look forward with raised expectations, to see an increase of zeal and unanimity in the work of the Lord, in promoting peace on earth, and good will [27/28] among men; in drawing them by gentle persuasives to be reconciled to the Divine Saviour of the world, and to walk in love and peace together. To this important work, we of the Clergy solemnly pledged ourselves at our ordination. To your frequent admonition, counsel, advice, and steady example, we shall look to quicken our zeal and encourage our perseverance, in bringing many sons into the Church and fitting them for glory hereafter in the Church triumphant. Faithfully to administer the ordinances of the gospel--to dispense the sincere milk of God's word, in due season; to all the flock over whom we have charge--to drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines, and thereby cultivate peace and harmony, is our bounden duty. And in the discharge of it we doubt not you will go before us, with alacrity and ardour.

In things external, but yet of interesting moment, to the honour and respectability of the Church, over which you are now to preside, we look with confidence to your patronage. Among these externals may be enumerated competency in the ordinary branches of literature, among the Clergy. Next to the one thing needful in a clergyman, fervent piety towards God, we hesitate not to believe you are fully sensible of the importance of much reading, and extensive learning, and consequently, that you will exert all the influence of your high station, to preserve and further extend this blessing to the Church militant.

Looking back to the time when that venerable man Bishop Seabury, the first Protestant Bishop is America, took charge of this diocess, and reflecting [28/29] upon what we this day have witnessed, we see abundance of reason for thanksgiving and praise to the Great Head of the Church. Under his prudent, yet energetic administration and that of his dignified successor, we have increased greatly in numbers, we have become a consolidated and uniform body; as far as is consistent with fallen human nature we are united in doctrine, in discipline, and the service we render to Almighty God. By the liberality of our civil rulers, and the joint contributions of the Church at large, we are now able, as we hope, to disencumber the episcopal office of parochial services, that it may be wholly dedicated to its peculiar duties. For the accomplishment of this so desirable an object, much has been due to the exertions, and unremitting recommendations of those two eminent characters in our Church.

Excited by the present interesting occasion, suffer us, sir, to use the language of sincerity, perhaps of self-exaltation, while we say, that you are honoured in becoming the successor of two such men, and we doubt not this will inspire you with resolution to walk in their steps; to assist in further strengthening the walls of our Zion, in promoting the work which they began, and brought to its present state, that we may become a model of peace and harmony; and an honour to the community among whom we dwell.

Accept, Right Reverend Sir, of our cordial reception, and recognition of you as our Bishop, according to the appointment of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church of [29/30] America. We tender you as such, our solemn promise of all canonical obedience to your authority; and our fervent prayers to the Head of the Church that you may long continue to walk before us in love, to the edification of the people of God, and your own eternal joy.

TILLOTSON BRONSON,
Chairman of the Standing Committee..

[31] BISHOP BROWNELL'S
REPLY.

My Brethren of the Clergy, and of the Laity,

I THANK you for the favourable sentiments in which you have expressed your solemn recognition of that important station to which I have been called by your suffrages, and to which I have been consecrated by the solemnities of this day.

Never, so deeply as in the present instance, have I felt the force of that humiliating exclamation of a great Apostle, "Who is sufficient for these things?" But I derive encouragement from another sentiment of the same Apostle--"Our sufficiency is of God." And since the great Head of the Church has promised to be with his ministers "to the end of the world," I humbly trust to the assistance of his Spirit, to guide me in my duties, and support me in my labours.

Still, however, I feel that I shall need your liberal indulgence to my imperfections, your candid interpretation of my conduct, and your zealous cooperation in the performance of my duties:--The [31/32] sentiments expressed in your address warrant me in the belief that I shall not fail to experience them. The friendly welcome which you have given me alleviates my anxiety, and inspires me with confidence. And the unanimity which has marked all your proceedings in relation to my settlement in this diocess (no less than the kindness with which I have been received by you) affords me a pledge that I shall continue to experience from you all that charitable allowance and zealous support which I so much need and on which I confidently relied when I consented to be placed in so arduous a station.

In the performance of my duties, it shall be my sincere endeavour to imitate that prudence and zeal which characterized the earliest Bishop of this diocess, and of this country; and to cultivate those virtues which distinguished his immediate successor. These venerable men have gone to their reward, and we now enjoy the fruit of their labours. While we cherish their services and their worth in grateful remembrance, we cannot be unmindful of the zealous and disinterested services of a Bishop now present, who has, for two years past, performed the episcopal duties of this diocess, under the twentieth canon of the general Convention. Having lived under his episcopal jurisdiction ever since the Church has enjoyed the benefit of his labours in his present station, and having been for more than a year past, associated with him in the intimate relation of assistant in his parochial labours, I should do violence to my feelings if I neglected, on the present occasion, to acknowledge my obligations to his [32/33] personal friendship, or to express my sense of his services in this diocess, and to the Church at large.

I fully accord with your sentiments concerning the necessity of a more thorough education for the clerical profession and I hope soon to see the period when a Theological Seminary shall be endowed, and organized on a scale adapted to the wants, and commensurate with the abilities of the Episcopal Church.

My Brethren of the Clergy;

We are fellow-labourers in the vineyard of Christ; mutually engaged in extending the boundaries of his kingdom, and in building up his Church in the most holy faith:--In what strong bonds of fellowship and affection should these common labours unite us?--With you, I cannot but anticipate "perfect unanimity in this work of the Lord." And it shall be my constant endeavour to merit your confidence, and to secure your counsel and support by an unreserved communication with you, and by an impartial discharge of my official duties.

We are fellow-labourers in repairing the "waste-places," and in building up a Church which concentrates our common affections, and demands our united labours: a Church eminent throughout the world for the salutary influence which it sheds on civil society, and social life and for its devout and rational piety: a Church, apostolic in its ministry, scriptural in its doctrines and ordinances and fervent and evangelical in its liturgy and worship. We are mutually engaged in the highest cause that can [33/34] engross the attention and occupy the talents of men:--We are co-workers with God in effecting the salvation of immortal souls:--Let us then devote all our faculties to a work so important, and to which we have pledged ourselves by the most solemn vows.

My Brethren of the Clergy, and of the Laity;

I accept with thankfulness your recognition of our new relation, and the pledges you have proffered of your active co-operation in the common object of our labours. Let us cherish among each other harmony of sentiment; and let our prayers ascend together to the Father of Mercies, that He would unite our hearts, strengthen our hands, direct our labours, and bless our exertions,

T. C. BROWNELL.

[35] ADDRESS OF THANKS
To THE RIGHT REV. JOHN HENRY HOBART, D. D.
BISHOP OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH
IN THE DIOCESS OF NEW-YORK.

Right Rev. and dear Sir,

WE have the honour to tender you the thanks of the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the diocess of Connecticut, for those temporary services which are this day terminated by the consecration of the Right Rev. Dr. BROWNELL to the episcopate of the diocess.

In performing this duty, you will permit us to express the high sense entertained by the Convention, by ourselves, and by the Church generally, of the distinguished benefits which have resulted from your provisional connection with the diocess.--When we reflect on the sacrifices which you made, and the labours which you incurred, in adding the care of the Church in this state to the arduous duties which devolved on you as the episcopate of the large and extensive diocess of New-York--when we consider that this sacrifice was made, and these labours undertaken, without any view to pecuniary interest--and when we call to mind the eminent services which [35/36] you have rendered; the new impulse which your visitations have given to our zeal; and the general success which has attended the exercise of your episcopal functions--we feel bound to offer to the Great Head of the Church and Supreme Disposer of all things, our sincere and heartfelt acknowledgment of the distinguished blessings which he has been pleased to confer upon us through the medium of your services.

We shall ever cherish a grateful recollection of these services: and although we are no longer connected by official ties, we indulge a hope, that there may be no diminution of the friendship and affection which have grown out of your occasional visitations among us.

Accept, Right Reverend and dear Sir, from ourselves personally, and from the body in whose behalf we address you, the assurance of our highest respect; and permit us to add, that it is with sentiments of the most cordial esteem, that we bid you an affectionate farewell.

Committee
TILLOTSON BRONSON,
HARRY CROSWELL,
SAMUAL W. JOHNSON,
NATHAN SMITH.

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