discharge of my official duties, and the advancement of the interests of the Church. I did not doubt, moreover, that in the lapse of time, the course of Providence would be developed with sufficient clearness. Soon after I had gone into temporary residence at Burlington, (to which I was chiefly induced by local and personal considerations,) I received from the Rector, Wardens, and Vestry of Trinity Church, Newark, an invitation of the most gratifying character, to establish myself in that place; accompanied with an offer from the Congregation, of so generous a nature as to leave no doubt on my mind, that the desire for my removal there was not only universal, but most sincere and hearty. To an expression from such a source, so earnest in its terms, and so liberally enforced, I felt it my duty to respond in the affirmative, the more especially as I should thus be left free from parochial responsibility; when the death of Rev. Dr. Wharton, and the peculiar circumstances of the parish of St. Mary's, Burlington, presented a conflicting duty. After mature deliberation, with inquiry of those whose judgments in the matter were best instructed, it seemed incumbent on me to assume the charge of the interesting parish thus vacated; which I did,first for six months, and, afterwards as its Rector. In thus yielding to a strong sense of ecclesiastical duty, I am happy in knowing that my munificent friends at Newark, though disappointed, have not been displeased. The same liberal spirit which devised such liberal things to induce my residence among them, enabled and disposed them cheerfully to yield their own preference, to what seemed to be essential to the welfare of a sister parish. May brotherly love so continue, and ever increase amongst us! It is due to my office, to my own judgment, and to the best interests of the Church, to say, that it is not well that the Bishop of any diocese should be responsible for the entire pastoral charge of a congregation. When this is the case, either the parochial or the diocesan interest must suffer. Cases may occur, where the Rectorship of a parish seems proper, or indeed necessary, as the means of support, to be united to the Episcopate; but provision should then be made, not merely to relieve the Bishop from such portion of the duty of preaching, as may enable him to accomplish his visitations, but for the discharge, under his direction, of those daily pastoral offices, without the faithful, constant performance of which, Christ's sheep can never be duly fed. An economical and judicious arrangement for this purpose has always seemed to me, the appointment of a clergyman, to reside in the Bishop's parish, to supply the pulpit in his absence, to take the immediate charge of the Sunday School, and other interests of the parish, and to perform occasional Missionary duty. The provision for the support of such a Clergyman, as Missionary assistant to the Bishop, might properly be chargeable on the Missionary fund of the diocese. I commend the subject to the consideration of the Convention. The extensive plan of visitation which I propose, cannot well be carried into effect unless there be some such provision."-Episcopal Address, 1834. 66 THE REMAINS OF THE REV. DR. WHARTON." Under this title, Bishop Doane in 1833-4, published two volumes, containing a Memoir, the Funeral Sermon, twenty sermons, selected papers, and controversial tracts, of the Rev. Dr. Wharton; "of which the leading religious journals of Great Britain spoke with distinguished favor." THE REMINISCENCES OF A FORMER RESIDENT. The following, written in 1833, by one, who in his school-boy days, almost forty years before, had engaged in rural sports about the place, is a vivid portrayal of Burlington, in 1797: Ah, old acquaintance! there thou art— I hail thee with a beating heart, I'll sing of thee, before we part, Green bank of Burlington. May I a passing tribute pay, Where many a happy school-boy day, At early morn I thought thee fair, With Eden's lovely bowers. And most enchanting was the grace Like mother Eve of old. Your melons were for flavor rare, Your cream and strawberries sweetest were, By pebbly shore and lofty tree, Our good old bathing place I see, Where school-boys all with loudest glee, Lightly that batteau seems to glide, With helm in hand, her course to guide, 'Twas sweet to leave the tiresome book, A dozen silvery fish to hook, Then take them home to plague the cook My tale of pleasure is begun, We also sometimes got a gun, Through weed and mire all day to run, Sometimes we hired a boat to speed On a duckling trip where wild ducks feed, How spreads this river like a bay, I've skated on it many a day, While Bristol boys have had a fray, † Keenly the crowded wharf I view, And cannot see one face I knew, I could have sprung from off the deck, My dear old Burlington. Sadly my memory loves to trace + Snow-balling battle. Hotel keeper and ferryman. The lapse of almost forty years, No steamboat then in stately pride, The goodly sloop May-Flower. † Thy sister cities have the fame, Thy precincts show no battle-field Ere Trenton saw the deadly fray, In thy Town Hall these patriots sate, With them to stand or fall. I cannot see Saint Mary's fane; It often gave me heartfelt pain Meekly as one who plainly saw St. Mary's lifts no towering spire, Who filled her desk so long. I hear my fellow travellers say There is a locomotive's way Where school-boys used to fight and play, And woodman's axe with sturdy stroke This packet belonged to Captain Myers, a well-known skipper. Principal of the Academy. St. Mary's has a pastor new, † May he a shepherd's duty know, This steamer goes as if it flew, To thee, sweet Burlington. BISHOP DOANE'S FIRST REPORT AS RECTOR. May 28th, 1834. Bishop Doane's first report, as Rector of St. Mary's Church, says:— "The Rector has not been long enough in charge of the Parish to give any thing more than the mere statistics. The manner in which the Offerings of the Church have been collected, is stated in the Pastoral Letter, in the Appendix. There were no subscriptions larger than twenty-five cents per week, and of these but five. Many of them were less than five cents, and several but one cent per week. A small amount remains uncollected, which will go into the account of the next year. In another Report, greater fullness may be expected.-Twenty-five copies of the Children's Magazine are taken. The Rector is always present in the Sunday School, when not absent on Episcopal duty. In the absence of the Rector, the parish has been much benefited by the gratuitous and very acceptable services of the Rev. Dr. Williams." t + THE LIBRARY OF ST. MARY'S CHURCH. "The library of St. Mary's Church, Burlington, lately increased by the bequest of part of Dr. Wharton's books, is about to be brought into more general use. The remark is sometimes made, that parish libraries are little used, and soon dispersed; and the fact is adduced that, of the excellent collections with which all our parishes, by the wise provision of the venerable society for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, were furnished, are now, with scarcely an exception, squandered. + Bishop Doane. The Rev. Charles Williams, D. D. |