dioceses." Bingham. Antiq. Chr. Chh. b. ix. cap. 1. s. 3. and so passim.

This list of authorities might be extended, but I forbear from the fear of overburdening the subject, and shall now consider to what conclusion we are, led by analogy.

The regular formation of the plural from diocess, would make it "dioces. ses," not "dioceses." Thus witness, witnesses, excess, excesses, success, successes, abbess, abbesses, weakness, weaknesses, process, processes, &c. To be consistent, therefore, Johnson should have written either diocese, dioceses, or diocess, diocesses. If the latter were to be preferred, why should we not also write diocessan, instead of diocesan ? Diocess seems also to be as contrary to etymology as it is to analogy; for by what rule can the termination "cess" be formed from is? Can any instance of a like derivation be produced from our language?

J.

Shorn of its bloom, and rifled of its pow'r,
Sear'd by the blast, and scattered in the vale!
So youth shall wither, beauty pass away!
The bloom of health, the flush of mantling
Nor wealth, nor skill, nor eloquence, can save,
pride!
From swift decay!

Beauty and youth are dust, to dust allied,
And time returns its tribute to the grave!
Pale, unobtrusive tenant of the field!
Thy fair, unsullied form shall still remain,
Mid summer's heat, and autumn's chill career,
And winter's reign.
Ev'n the first honours of the floral year,
To thee alone shall gay Narcissus yield.
Fair emblem art thou of the spotless breast!
Like thee, unfading flow'r, shall virtue bloom,
When youth and all its bustling pride repose,
When beauty's cheek shall wither, like the
Deep in the tomb!

Extracts from the journal of the proceedings of the bishops, clergy, and laity, of the protestant episcopal church in the United States of America, in a special general convention, held in St. Peter's church, in the city of Philadelphia, from the thirtieth day of October, to the third of November, inclusive, A. D. 1821.

HOUSE OF CLERICAL AND LAY DEPUTIES.

October 30, 1821. The house proceeded to the election of a president, secretary, and assistant secretary, when it appeared that the reverend William H. Wilmer, D. D. was chosen president, the reverend Ashbel Baldwin, secretary, and the reverend J. C. Rudd, assistant secretary. On motion, the rules of order, adopted by the last general convention, were adopted as the rules of this convention.

were read.

On motion, Resolved, That the papers received from the house of bishops, relative to the theological seminary, and the report of the trustees of the seminary, be referred to a committee of seven on the part of this house, and that the house of bishops be respectfully requested to appoint such number of their own body as they may think proper, to be, with the members appointed on the part of this house, a joint committee on the said papers and the matters therein contained.

The following gentlemen were appointed the committee: Duncan Cameron, esquire, Richard Harison, esquire, colonel Alexander Jones, reverend Daniel Burhans, reverend David Butler, reverend Dr. Wharton, reverend Dr. Gadsden. This resolution was sent to the house of bishops.

A message was received from the house of bishops, informing this house of their concurrence with the resolution proposing a joint committee, and that the right reverend bishops Hobart and Kemp had been appointed on the part of their house.

The report of the presiding bishop on the

subject of a standard copy of the book of common prayer, was read, and referred to a select committee.

November 1-1 o'clock, P. M. This being thanksgiving day, the members attended divine service in the different churches.

The house met.

The report of the managers of the missionary society was presented and read.

On motion of the reverend Simon Wilmer, it was referred to a committee.

The reverend Mr. Boyd, reverend Dr. Jarvis, and reverend Simon Wilmer, were appointed the committee.

November 2. Duncan Cameron, esquire, from the committee on the theological seminary, made the following report, which was read.

The committee, to whom was referred the communications relative to the general theological seminary, having had the same under consideration, report the following constitution for the general theological seminary of the protestant episcopal church in the United States of America.

Constitution of the general theological seminary of the protestant episcopal church in the United States of America.

1. The theological seminary of the protestant episcopal church in the United States of America, shall be permanently established in the state of New York. The trustees of the said seminary shall have power, from time to time, to establish one or more branch schools in the state of New York, or else where, to be under the superintendance and control of the said trustees.

11. The management of the said seminary shall be vested in a board of trustees, who shall have power to constitute professorships, and to appoint the professors, and to prescribe the course of study in the respective schools, and to make rules and regulations, and statutes for the government thereof; and generally to take such measures as they may deem necessary to its prosperity; provided, that such rules and regulations, and course of study, and measures, be not repugnant to the constitution and canons of the church, and to the course of study for candidates for orders, which is or may be established by the house of bishops. The bishops, in their individual and collective capacity, shall be visitors of the seminary, and shall see that the course of instruction and discipline be conducted agreeably to the foregoing provision. The trustees shall make report to every general convention of their proceedings, and of the state of the seminary.

III. The board of trustees shall be permanently constituted, as follows. The bishops of the church shall be ex-officio members

of the board. Every diocese shall be entitled to one trustee, and one additional trustee for every eight clergymen in the same; and to one additional trustee for every two thousand dollars of moneys in any way given or contributed in the same, to the funds of the seminary, until the sum amounts to ten thousand dollars; and one additional trustee for every ten thousand dollars of contributions and donations, as aforesaid, exceeding that sum. The trustees shall be resident in the dioceses for which they are appointed. They shall be nominated by the diocesan conventions respectively, to every stated general convention, who may confirm or reject such nominations. The senior bishop present shall pre. side at every meeting of the board of trustees; and whenever demanded, by a majority of the bishops present, or a majority of the clerical and lay trustees present, the concurrence of a majority of the bishops present, and a majority of clerical and lay trustees present, shall be necessary to any act of the board. Eleven trustees shall constitute a quorum. The trustees shall continue in office until their successors are appointed. In the interval between the stated meetings of the general convention, the board shall have power to supply all vacancies, from the dioceses respectively, in which they may have occurred.

IV. For the present, and until the next stated general convention, the board of trustees shall consist of the bishops of the church, and of the twenty-four trustees of the general theological seminary,heretofore established by the general convention, and of fourteen trustees chosen by the managers of the protestant episcopal theological education society in the state of New York. These trustees shall exercise the powers of the perma nent board, as detailed in the foregoing article, and agreeably to the provisions thereof.

The board of trustees shall always meet in the diocese where the seminary is established, at such stated periods as they may determine; and special meetings may be called by the bishop of the said diocese, and shall be called by him at the requisition of a majority of the bishops.

v. The professors of the general theological seminary heretofore established by the general convention, and the professors in the theological seminary in the diocese of New York, shall be professors in the general theological seminary hereby established in that diocese.

The board of trustees shall have power to remove professors and other officers; but no professor shall be removed from office, except at a special meeting of the board called to consider the same; nor unless notice of an intended motion for such removal, and of the

grounds thereof shall have been given at a previous meeting of the board. The nomination of professors shall be made at one meeting of the board of trustees, and acted upon at a subsequent meeting; due notice being given of the object of the said meeting to every member of the board.

vi. The funds and other property, and claims to funds or property of the general theological seminary, heretofore established by the general convention, shall be vested in, and transferred to the general seminary here by established, as soon as an act of the board of managers of the protestant episcopal theological education society, in the state of New York, shall vest in and transfer to the same seminary, all their funds, and other property, and claims to funds and property-and all engagements and responsibilities entered into, or assumed by either of the said institutions, for the purpose of their foundation, consistent with the other provisions of this constitution shall be considered as binding upon the general seminary, so established within the state of New York.

VII. This constitution shall be unalterable, except by a concurrent vote of the board of trustees, and of the general convention. The house proceeded to the consideration of the proposed constitution, which passed a first and second reading.

A message was received from the house of bishops, informing this house that they had unanimously adopted the constitution of the general theological seminary of the protestant episcopal church in the United States of America, as reported by the committee to whom were referred all papers relative to the subject.

Evening.

The house resumed the consideration of the constitution of the general theological seminary, which was read a third time, and adopted, as reported by the committee, and notice sent to the house of bishops.

Mr. Meredith, from the committee on the subject of a standard copy of the book of common prayer, reported the following resolution, which was adopted and sent to the house of bishops.

Resolved, by the house of clerical and lay deputies, the house of bishops concurring, That a joint committee of one or more bishops to be appointed by the house of bishops, and of three members of the house of clerical and lay deputies to be appointed by the house last mentioned, be authorized during the recess of the general convention, to superintend the printing of an edition of the book of common prayer, correcting and supplying therein any errours and omissions in the edition heretofore established as the standard book, and intro

ducing a table of the days on which Easter will fall for thirty eight years, being the time of two cycles of the moon, as reported by the presiding bishop to this convention; and that in the choice of an edition for this purpose, the said committee for the sake of greater accuracy, give a preference to one to be printed from stereotype plates, and authenticate the same by their certificate.

The committee also proposed a canon, "providing for a new and more complete and correct standard of the book of common prayer," which was adopted and sent to the house of bishops.

November 3.

committee on the proposed substitute for the The reverend Mr. Henshaw, from the present constitution of the missionary society, reported the substitute sent from the house of bishops, with some amendments, which were considered, and the constitution as amended was sent to the house of bishops.

A message was received from the house of bishops, proposing further amendments to the constitution of the missionary society, which were concurred in by this house, and notice of concurrence sent to the house of

bishops, and the constitution as amended was finally adopted.

The house proceeded to the choice of twenty four directors and two secretaries of the mis

sionary society.

[It was our intention to insert the constitution of the missionary society and the list of officers, but we are obliged to defer them to the next number.]

On motion, Resolved, That the thanks of this house be presented to the president and secretaries for the services rendered by them respectively, during the present session.

The house of bishops informed this house that they were ready to rise, and proposed closing the session by prayer. This house informed the house of bishops that they were ready to unite in the proposed devotions. The house of bishops then attended in this house, and prayer was performed by the presiding bishop, after which he addressed the convention in the following words:

Brethren of this convention,-I take the liberty of giving vent to the feeling which possesses me, at the conclusion of our session. I have attended all the meetings of the general conventions, from the beginning of our organization. On some of those occasions, we assembled with apprehensions in the minds of many judicious men who had the interests of the church at heart, that the deliberations would be disturbed by angry passions, and end in disunion. In every instance, the reverse was the issue: which led me to hope, that there was in this matter a

the church, of being with her to the end of the world.

The reason of this call of your attention to the fact stated, is the harmony with which we are concluding the present session; after having met with diversity of sentiment on some important points; on which, in consequence of mutual concession, and the merging of local attachments in the great object of general good, we are now separating with confirmed zeal for the great cause in which we are engaged; to be followed, it is to be hoped, by renewed endeavours for its advance ment, each of us in his proper sphere.

you

With this prospect before me, I invite to lift your hearts and your voices, in singing to the praise and glory of God, a psalm appropriate to the occasion.

The members of both houses then united in singing the 133d psalm-after which the benediction was pronounced, and the house adjourned, sine die.

The bishops attended divine service. Prayers were read by the reverend doctor Wyatt, and a sermon was delivered by the right reverend bishop Kemp. The holy communion was administered by the right reverend the presiding bishop, assisted by the other bishops present.

The presiding bishop stated to the house that in consequence of the request of the major number of the bishops, grounded on an application made to them by the trustees of the theological seminary, herewith presented, and agreeably to authority vested in him, he had called this special convention.

The presiding bishop made a report แ on certain matters referred to him by the last general convention, to take order." Whereupon the house adopted the proposal in the said report with regard to a standard book -and appointed the presiding bishop on the part of this house, a committee to carry the same into effect.

A message was received from the house of clerical and lay deputies, that they had adopted a resolution to refer all papers relative to the general theological seminary to

This being thanksgiving day, the bishops attended divine service in the several churches.

The presiding bishop made a communication relative to the missionary society.

The house adopted an opinion on the use of part of the communion service, which was sent to the house of clerical and lay deputies. November 2.

The report of the committee, to whom were referred all papers relative to the theological seminary, was read; whereupon the house unanimously resolved to adopt the constitution of the general theological seminary of the protestant episcopal church in the United States of America, as reported by the committee-and gave notice thereof to the house of clerical and lay deputies.

The report of the managers of the general missionary society was read.

[With this report were communicated letters from the secretaries of the London society for propagating the gospel, the society for promoting Christian knowledge, and the church missionary society, expressing their satisfaction at the formation of this society, and accompanied by copies of several of the publications of these societies. That from the church missionary society also gave notice that the directors have appropriated two hundred pounds sterling to aid this society.]

A message was received from the house of clerical and lay deputies, with an alteration of the constitution of the general missionary society; whereupon this house disagreed to the proposed alteration, and adopted a substitute for the present constitution, and sent it to the house of clerical and lay deputies.

The house adopted a resolution and a canon respecting a standard book, received from the house of clerical and lay deputies, and appointed the presiding bishop on the part of this house, a committee to carry the

resolution into effect.

November 3.

The house returned thanks to the right reverend bishop Kemp for his discourse, delivered at the opening of the convention, and requested a copy of the same for publication. The constitution of the domestick and foreign missionary society of the protestant episcopal church in the United States of America, after undergoing amendments proposed by the house of clerical and lay deputies, was finally adopted.

The house of clerical and lay deputies sent the names of certain persons chosed directors and officers of the missionary society, which this house concurred in by ballot.

"Resolved, That the thanks of the house be given to the secretary for the attention and ability with which he has discharged the duties of his office."

The convention being ready to rise, the house adjourned to the house of clerical and lay deputies. After which the convention adjourned, sine die.

The thirty-eighth annual convention of the diocese of New Jersey assembled in St. Andrew's church, Mount Holly, on the twenty-second and twenty-third days of August, 1821. It appears, from the journal, that there are now, within the diocese, fourteen clergymen, viz. the bishop, ten presbyters, and three deacons; and that there are twenty-five congregations, besides the few episcopalians scattered in Amwell, Woodbury, and some other towns, fifteen of which enjoy the stated ministrations of clergymen. The rest are kept alive by the occasional visits of missionaries, and by the practice, which cannot be too much commended, of having the church service regularly, every Sunday, and a sermon read by some pious and respectable member of these little flocks. The liturgy constantly used, will preserve a church in the worst of times. This has been strikingly evinced in the state of New-Jersey. Originally settled by the Swedes and Dutch, and, when it became an English province, inhabited chiefly by quakers and baptists, it was not till the year 1704, that any congregation existed there in communion with the church of England. When the revolutionary war commenced, a few scattered congregations had been formed under six or seven missionaries, sent over by the society for propagating the gospel. That event operated there, as it did every where else. The connexion of the church with the state of England, led to the persecution of the flocks, and the dispersion of the shepherds. The destitute congregations were like sickly hot house plants, which withered under the chilling influences of desertion, poverty, and reproach. In this condition they have continued to preserve a frail and tremulous life, even till the present moment. The first bishop was consecrated in 1815, and there were then barely enough clergymen in the diocese, to constitute the canonical number of electors. Compared with this state of things, the growth of the church, for the last six years, has been rapid, though it has consisted principally in the renovation of decayed and destitute congregations. "On Friday, September 22, [1820,] I visited," says the bishop, "the episcopalians at

Amwell, and preached at the house of Mr. Robert sharp; and on Sunday the 24th, I also visited St. Thomas's church at Alexandria, at which I performed divine service, and preached, twice. This congregation, I rejoice to say, has, through divine goodness, risen from a state bordering on extinction, to one comparatively prosperons. It has indeed so much improved, that it is not only repairing its church, which was literally in ruins, but enjoys already the stated services of the reverend Mr. Dunn, for a portion of his time.

"Shortly after, on the twenty-eighth of the same month, I visited St. Peter's church, Perth-Amboy, and administered the apostolick rite of confirmation; on which occasion, I also preached. The number confirmed was twenty-eight. St. Peter's church preserves its standing, and has, within a few years, considerably increased.

"On Friday, the twentieth of the succeeding month, I visited the episcopalians at Woodbury, and preached in the evening; and on Sunday, the fifth of November, I also visited St. Peter's church, at Berkeley, and performed the same service.

"The day following, I repaired to Salem, and on Tuesday, the seventh of November, I held an ordination in St. John's church, in that town, preached on the occasion, and admitted to the holy order of priests, the reverend Richard F. Cadle, rector elect of that church, and of St. George's church, Pennsneck. On the succeeding day, I instituted Mr. Cadle into the rectorship of the church first named."

Salem was one of the missionary stations established by the society for propagating the gospel, in 1722. For more than fifty years of the century which hath now elapsed, it has been without a clergyman. Yet from the report of the rector, it appears, that there are twenty-eight families now belonging to the church. The revival," says the bishop, "and thus far, the restoration of this respectable, though not numerous congregation, which, with the exception of a short time, had been for more than fifty years without a rector, and in a state but little removed from extinction, whose church indeed, for a considerable period, had lain in ruins, the common resort of birds and beasts: the revival, I say, and re-establishment of this church, and the neat and decorous style in which its building has been repaired, are not only matter of surprise, but of joy, and gratitude to God for his goodness, and cannot but encourage and animate us to renewed exertions, in our endeavours to build up our decayed and waste places."

The rector mentions an unpleasant circumstance which, for a time, threatened the