On motion, the Rev. Mr. Judd was appointed Chairman; and the Rev. Mr. Empie, Secretary.

On motion, Resolved, that the Rev. Mr. Clay be requested to perform Divine Service, and the Rev. Mr. Judd to deliver a' Sermon this fore

noon.

On motion, Resolved, that the Rev. Mr. Judd, the Rev. Mr. Clay, and the Rev. Mr. Empie, together with Mr. John Stanley, and Mr. John R. London, be appointed a Committee, to draw up and present to this meeting, a Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church of this state.

Adjourned until one o'clock.

Divine service having been performed, the Clergy and Lay Delegates convened according to adjournment; and the Committee presented the following

CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE I. The Protestant Episcopal Church in this state accedes to, recognizes, and adopts, the general Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States; and acknowledges its authority ascordingly.

ART. II. There shall be an annual Convention of this Church, on the second Thursday after Easter, at such place as shall be fixed by each preceding Convention.

ART. III. The Convention shall be composed of such regularly ordained ministers as are settled in this stateof such as are employed as professors er instructors of youth in incorporated seminaries-of such as are missionaries of the Protestant Episcopal Church-and of one or more Lay Delegates, for each Church, chosen by the vestry or congregation thereof. ART. IV. Every Convention shall be opened with prayer and a sermon; and the preacher shall be nominated by the ecclesiastical authority of the Church.

ART. V. A President shall be annually appointed, who shall preside in all meetings of the Convention, exsept when a Bishop shall be present, who shall, ex officio, be President of said Convention.

ART. VI. A Secretary shall be annually chosen, whose duty it shall be to keep a record of the proceedings, and to give due notice to each minister and vestry of the time and place of the next meeting of the Convention.

ART. VII. A Standing Committee shall be annually chosen, of not less than three, or more than seven, persons; who shall have power to admit candidates for the ministry; and, until a Bishop shall have been appointed, to examine the testimonials of foreign clergymen, to call special meetings of the Convention, and to transact all such other business as Constitution and Canons of the Gethey are empowered to do by the

neral Convention.

ART. VIII. In all matters which shall come before the Convention, the Clergy and Laity shall deliberate in one body; and in voting, the Clergy shall vote by individuals, and the Laity by congregations. But if in any case it be required by two votes, the two orders shall vote separately; and a concurrence shall be necessary to constitute a decision.

ART. IX. The election of a Bishop of this Diocess shall be made in Convention, in the following manner: The order of the Clergy shall nominate and appoint, by ballot, some fit and qualified Clergyman for that office-and if this appointment be approved of by the Lay order, he shall be declared duly elected. In the above mentioned nomination and appointment, a majority of each order shall determine the choice; provided that two thirds of all the Clergy entitled to votes be present, and two thirds of all the congregations entitled to votes be represented; otherwise two thirds of the votes of each order shall be necessary to determine the choice.

ART. X. This Constitution may be altered or amended by a concurrent vote of two thirds of the attending members, at any annual meeting of the Convention.

(Signed) BETHEL JUDD, Rector of St. John's Church, Fayetteville.

The preceding Constitution having been unanimously adopted and signed, the Rev. Mr. Judd was duly elected President, and the Rev. Mr. Empie, Secretary, for the ensuing year. The following gentlemen were chosen also to compose the Standing Committee-of the Clergy, the Rev. Mr. Judd, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Empie; and of the Laity, Messrs. John S. West, of Newbern; John Winslow, of Fayetteville; John B. Blount, of Edenton; and Marsden Campbell, of Wilmington.

On motion, Resolved, that a copy of the Constitution now adopted, together with the proceedings of this Convention, be, by the Secretary,

Resolved, that the next Annual Convention be holden at Fayetteville. Adjourned until 4 o'clock.

Met pursuant to adjournment. The preceding minutes were read and approved.

On motion, Resolved, that the Secretary cause 200 copies of the Constitution to be printed, and that he distribute the same, equally, among the congregations here represented.

Resolved, that it is expedient that the Rectors of the several Churches cause an annual collection, in their respective Churches, for the support of a Missionary in this state; and that the same be a fund subject to the order of the Convention.

1

Resolved, that the Rev. Mr. Clay be a Committee, to select or to draw up such canons as he may deem most expedient, and to report the same to the next Convention. (Signed)

Attested,

BETHEL JUDD, President of the Convention.

ADAM EMPIE, Secretary.

of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, with a request, that, agreeably to the fifth article of the Constitution, the Protestant Episcopal Church in this state may be recognized and admitted to representa

tion.

Resolved, that the Right Rev. R. C. Moore, the Bishop of Virginia, be invited to visit and perform the Episcopal offices in this state, agreeably to the 20th Canon of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States.

Resolved, that the President of the Convention present this invitation to the Right Rev. Bishop Moore, together with a copy of the Constitution and proceedings of the Convention.

Resolved, that the Rev. Mr. Judd and Mr. Moses Jarvis, of Newbern, be appointed Delegates to the ensuing General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States.

Institutions.

AN EXTRACT.

There is, in the religious fervour of the present day, a predisposition to favour novelty,-publicity, and what may be termed congregational sanctity, and collective beneficence. Old institutions, whether religious or charitable, have had somewhat of disrepute annexed to them, simply because they are old. They are said, on this account, to have become inert and supine; but the life of associated bodies depends upon the accession and activity of their members; and do not the Seceders, who utter these accusations, contribute to the supineness which they condemn? Our Saviour was not the patronizer of novelties; he ever preferred purifying and re-edifying what was old. The moral law of Moses was the text book, to which his sermon on the Mount supplied a lucid and spiritual commentary; and the

sacraments which he instituted, as pledges of his disciples abiding in Him, were, as we have already seen, Jewish customs spiritualized by his adoption. Combined with this love of novelty, we are concerned to observe a passion for notoriety, which is indeed essential to the propagation of new systems and associations, whose necessity and importance must be pressed upon public attention; and this sometimes in a manner, that gives an air of quackery to the scheme, especially if combined, as is too often the case, with insinuations that are prejudicial to a prior establishment. That parental partiality which we all feel to projects either of our forming, or to whose developement we have largely contributed, inclines us, when success crowns the undertaking, to burst forth in a strain of felicitous gratulation; and we have lately seen it in the oratorical effusions of public bodies, trespassing on a style of encomium which, if not irreverent towards God, shocks the modesty of Christian diffidence. Do these eloquent advecates recollect, that in the superlative praise they bestow upon any public body of which they are themselves active agents, the impugners of their labours must discover more of vanity than judgment? If the work in which they so ardently engage be really useful, will it not stand on the firm foundation of a plain report, and the attestation of fact, without their assimilating, (doubtless in the unweighed rapidity of rhetorical embellishment) the activity of uninspired men, with the patient sufferings of the blessed apostles?

Has religion no existing obligations, binding us to charity, piety, social kindness, and zeal for God's glory, in our individual capacities, that we are thus eager to take upon ourselves so many new covenants?

It is greatly to be feared, that, combined with a desire of doing good, a passion for distinction, a consequential dictatorial humour, satiety of home, and inattention to the quiet routine of domestic duty, have assisted to engender many institutions, which court popularity with somewhat of empirical pretensions to preference.

We are apt to mistake the impulse of vanity for a call to activity; and to suppose ourselves influenced by a zeal for God's glory, while we only pant for flattery and renown. A steady and quiet pursuit of our duty, in our domestic, social, and civil capacities, would subdue this interfering propensity. Nor let us lament, if our power of correcting evil, and diffusing virtue and happiness, be limited to our own families; but rather rejoice in the safety of such privacy; and remember, that the aggregate of many well ordered homes constitutes a moral and flourishing community.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

NEW-JERSEY.

On Thursday, 1st of May last, the Right Rev. Bishop Croes visited the congregation of Trinity Church, Newark, and administered the holy rite of Confir mation to 37 persons. Divine service was

performed by the Rev. Mr. Bayard, and an appropriate discourse delivered by the Rev. Mr. Rudd.

In a late visitation of the Churches in the southern part of the Diocess of NewJersey, the Right Rev. Bishop Croes held an ordination in Trinity Church, at Swedesborough, on the first Sunday after Trinity, (June 8th,) at which Mr. Samuel Creighton Stratton was admitted to the holy order of Deacons. Divine service was performed on the occasion by the Rev. Simon Wilmer, Rector of said Church, and a sermon delivered by the Rev. George Y. Morehouse, Rector of St. Andrew's Church, Mount-Holly. The Bishop also delivered discourses in the above named day, the 12th days of June. In the course Church, on Saturday, the 7th, and Thursof his tour, he likewise visited and officiated at St. Stephen's Church, Mullica'sHill, on Thursday, the 5th; St. Thomas's, Glassborough, on Friday, the 6th; St. John's, Salem, on Wednesday, the 11th; St. George's, Penn's-Neck, on Thursday, the 12th; St. Peter's, Berkeley, on Friday, the 13th; St. Andrew's, Mount-Holly, on Sunday, the 15th; St. Mary's, Cole'sTown, on Monday, the 16th; St. Mary's,

Burlington, on Tuesday, the 17th; and

St. Michael's, Trenton, on Wednesday, the 18th day of June; to respectable and attentive congregations.

On Tuesday, June 24, being the festiRev. Bishop Croes visited the congregaval of St. John the Baptist, the Right tion of St. Peter's Church, Spotswood, for a long time vacant. In the morning, divine service was performed by the Rev.

James Chapman, Rector of St. Peter's Church, Perth-Amboy, and a sermon, adapted to the occasion, was preached by the Rev. John C. Rudd, Rector of St. John's Church, Elizabeth-Town, to a erowded and attentive audience; after which the apostolic rite of Confirmation was administered by the Bishop to 37 persons. In the afternoon divine service was performed by the Rev. Lewis P. Bayard, Rector of Trinity Church, Newark, and a sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Chapman.

The high degree of interest and pleasure manifested by the people of this congregation in the exercises of the day, and their gratitude for this first opportunity of receiving Confirmation, furnish the most gratifying proof of the increasing zeal of Episcopalians here, and justify the expectation that this congregation, for a long time in a depressed state, will, at no distant day, become a flourishing section of the Church.

Wednesday, 25, Bishop Croes proceeded with several of his Presbyters to Christ Church, Shrewsbury, for the purpose of attending a meeting of the Directors of the Episcopal Society. Divine service was performed by the Rev. Mr. Rudd, and an appropriate sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Bayard. After divine service the Board of Directors held their seventh annual meeting.

It must be gratifying to Episcopalians, especially in New-Jersey, to observe the unexpected progress of this institution. From the smallest beginnings it has risen into a degree of consequence and usefulness which its most sanguine friends never anticipated. This society has received with gratitude very important aid from the Female Bible and Common Prayer Book Societies of Newark and ElizabethTown, and from the ladies in the city of New-Brunswick. In addition to these auxiliaries, it is gratifying to notice another, just organized, denominated "The Female Episcopal Society of Shrewsbury and Middletown, for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge and Piety."

The Churchmen of New-Jersey, for many years desponding under the numerous discouragements which have surrounded them, cannot but contemplate with affection and thanksgiving to the great Head of the Church, the blessings which have lately attended their Communion, espe cially in the attainment of the Episcopate, and the advantages which are evidently resulting from the affectionate and prudent attentions of their worthy Diocesan.

From the organization of the Episcopal Society, there have been distributed 176 Bibles; 570 Prayer Books, and about 300 religious Tracts, and the Society has a permanent fund in a state of gradual augmentation, amounting to about $ 600.

The object of this fund is to afford aid to young men of piety and talents, who may need assistance in their preparations for the ministry.

WORKS IN THE PRESS IN GREAT-BRITAIN.

Dr. Montucci has in the press, an Account of the Rev. Robert Morrison's will form a quarto volume, containing Chinese Dictionary, and of his own. It about 200 pages, on superfine vellum paper, with above a thousand engraved

Chinese Characters.

In the press, a Theological Inquiry into the Sacrament of Baptism, and the Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, in five discourses, preached before the University of Cambridge, April, 1817. By the Rev. C. Benson, A. M.

The Author of the Antidote to the Miseries of Human Life, has in the press, a work entitled, Calebs deceived.

The Clerical Guide, or Ecclesiastical Directory, containing a register of the dignitaries of the Church, and a list of all the benefices in England and Wales, is in the press.

LATE PUBLICATIONS IN ENGLAND.

Parochial Instruction; or, Sermons de-livered from the Pulpit, at different times, in the course of thirty Years. By James Bean, M. A. one of the Librarians of the British Museum, and Assistant Minister of Welbeck Chapel, St. Mary-le-bone. 8vo.

Fifty-two Lectures on the Catechism of the Church of England: to which are added, three Introductory Discourses on the Subject, addressed to the Inhabitants of the Parish of Hinxworth, Herts. Dedi. cated, by permission, to the Right Rev. Bowyer Edward, Lord Bishop of Ely. By the Rev. Sir Adam Gordon, Bart. M. A. late of Christ Church, Oxford, Rector of West Tilbury, Essex, Prebendary of Bristol, &c. 3 vols. 8vo.

The Fulfilment of Prophecy further illustrated by the Signs of the Times; or, an Attempt to ascertain the probable Issues of the recent Restoration of the Old Dynasties; of the Revival of Popery; and of the present Mental Ferment in Europe; as likewise, how far Great-Britain is likely to share in the Calamities by which Divine Providence will accomplish the final Overthrow of the Kingdoms of the Roman Monarchy. By J. Bicheno,

M. A. 8vo.

Printed and published by T. & J. SWORDS, No. 160 Pearl-street, New-York; where Subscriptions for this Work will be received, at one dollar per annum, or 24 numbers.All Letters relative to this Journal must come free of Postage,