mitive and evangelical doctrines, order, and worship. With this view, we cannot but regard with the most lively interest, every facility which she receives, in advancing, in any way, the great cause which she has in charge. It gives us, therefore, most heartfelt satisfaction to advert to the distinguished instance of individual liberality which, since our last meeting, has gladdened the hearts of the true friends of the Church, and consecrated to the perpetual affectionate remembrance of her sons, the name of JACOB SHERRED. The effect of his munificence in the permanent location of the General Theological Seminary of our Church, where peculiar facilities are afforded to the promotion of its objects, and in its establishment upon principles best calculated to insure its harmonious and successful operation,—we also esteem a subject of sincere felicitation. To the name of this revered benefactor, it is our privilege to add that of another, who, devoutly attached to the Church in life, did not, in death, forget it. Mrs. SARAH STARTIN, long a pattern of walking in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, has set her seal to the sincerity of her desire for the diffusion, through the Church, of the inestimable blessings of religion, by a liberal bequest to that high and important object. Such instances of beneficence cannot but warm the Christian heart with gratitude and admiration; and must be viewed by the true patriot, and enlightened statesman, as the best evidences of love of country; inasmuch as they tend to diffuse that religion which forms the most upright magistrates, the most faithful citizens, and the best members of society. Let them encourage us in the sphere of usefulness which has fallen to our lot; and excite our hopes, and warm our prayers, that our labour may not be in vain in the Lord. Signed by order of the Board, New-York, Ash-Wednesday, VOL. VI. The above report having been read, was accepted, and ordered to be printed. The Society then proceeded to elect ten laymen to be associated with the Bishop of the diocess, and the Clergy of the city, as a Board of Managers for the ensuing year. The following gentlemen were chosen : Matthew Clarkson, John Onderdonk, John Slidell, Henry Rogers, George Dominick, Gulian Ludlow, Isaac Carow, Richard Whiley, Henry M'Farlan, Richard Platt. At a meeting of the Board of Managers, on Friday, March 1, the Rev. Benjamin T. Onderdonk was chosen Secretary, Mr. Gulian Ludlow, Treasurer, and Mr. Henry M'Farlan, Agent. For the Christian Journal. up Gather the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost, St. John vi. WE may remark our blessed Master's care, that the fragments remaining might be gathered up, and put into baskets; for which, no doubt, this had been a sufficient reason, that those might prove both the reality of the miracle, and the exceeding greatness of the increase. But, in regard our Lord assigns another, when saying, "Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost;" the proper use, I think, of this head is, thence to form a direction how to manage our substance to the best advantage; and so to approve ourselves charitable and kind, as at the same time not to be profuse and indiscreet. Jesus, it is true, by setting his whole store be fore the multitude, hath left us a pattern of beneficence and largeness of heart. The provisions, growing so prodigiously upon his hands, are an emblem and intimation of those unaccountable accessions, which we may sometimes observe to the fortunes of generous and merciful persons: and, by some passages of Scripture, an unwary reader might be led to think, that in those actions there could be no excess, at least no possibility of offending by such excess: but yet the same Jesus would not, that even fragments" should be lost. And herein he hath shewed, that all reserving for the future 16 is not unlawful; that charity is very consistent with frugality; indeed not only that they may, but should, go together. For God will be sure to make a mighty difference between the virtue, and the specious extreme beyond it; between the liberal, and the lavish man. [Dean Stanhope. For the Christian Journal. On the Duty of parents to lay up money for their children; and the Folly of amassing Fortunes for them. ture. IF I be asked, "Should Christian parents lay up money for their children?" I answer-It is the duty of every parent, who to lay up what is necescan, sary to put every child in a condition to earn its bread. If he neglect this, he undoubtedly sins against God and na"But should not a man lay up, besides this, a fortune for his children, if he can honestly?" I answer, Yes, if there be no poor within his reach; no good work which he can assist; no heathen region on the earth to which he can contribute to send the Gospel of Jesus; but not otherwise. God shows, in the course of his providence, that this laying up of fortunes for children is not right; for there is scarcely ever a case where money has been saved up to make the children independent, and gentlemen, in which God has not cursed the blessing. It was saved from the poor, from the ignorant, from the cause of God; and the canker of displeasure consumed this ill saved perty. [Dr. Adam Clark. For the Christian Journal. pro An Attempt towards a Right Construction of a Rubric concerning the Use of the Ante-Communion Service. AT the last General Convention, the House of Bishops "deemed it their duty to express the decided opinion, that the rubrics of the communion service, as well as other general considerations, enjoin the use of that part which precedes the sermon, on all occasions of sermon or communion, as well as on those festivals and fasts when neither sermon nor communion occurs." And this opinion was accompanied by several arguments drawn from fitness, from expediency, and from the consistency of the whole service, and the rubrics concerning it. Besides its intrinsic force, and the weight of the authority from which it emanated, it will be readily admitted that great deference is due to the senti ments of the venerable and learned presiding Bishop, to whose pen the entire document is generally attributed; because, having been a member of the Conventions by whom the Liturgy was modelled into its present form, when the words which have given rise to a dif ference in opinion and practice were introduced, he is not only acquainted with the professed purpose of their introduction, but also with the cotemporaneous interpretation given to them, to which he observes, “a contrary sense had not been heard of for a long course of years." The exposition given by the House of Bishops, it is believed, cannot be refuted in any of its parts. Still there are some clergymen, and perhaps laymen too, embracing a few who claim to be rubrical, but probably more who are disposed to indulge in a wider latitude on these subjects; who persist in the disuse of the ante-communion service if there be a sermon. They contend that the plain language of the rubric admits of no other interpretation than their own, that as it declares that if there be no sermon, &c. the service is to be used, the converse necessarily follows, that if there be a sermon, &c. it is not to be used, that there being no sermon, &c. is the condition and the only one upon which the use of the service is permitted,—and, in answer to general considerations, extrinsic to the rubric, they allege, that in the construction of a law we can have nothing to do with the supposed views or intentions of its makers, if they vary from its obvious import,-that, whatever be the inconveniences or incongruities which follow, these must be supposed to have been in the contemplation of the lawgiver, and submitted to for the attainment of some greater good,—that the last law, if it be inconsistent with former ones, should be considered as repealing, but ought on no account to be annulled by, them, and, finally, that the rubric may be altered, but, while it stands in its present shape, it is enough for them to know" ita lex scripta est.” Without stopping to inquire into the soundness of these reasonings, at least some of which might be safely questioned, it is proposed to meet the question upon the ground which is assumed, and to inquire critically into the meaning of the words of the rubric. The rubric stands thus. "Upon the Sundays and other holy days [if there be no sermon or communion] shall be said all that is appointed at the communion, until the end of the general prayer," "&c. The words italicised were introduced by the Convention of 1789. We must bear in mind that the rubric, with the exception of the words ❝ sermon or" was established so long ago as in the reign of king Edward. We ought therefore to go far back for authorities to fix the meaning of the words; and should there be any variance between their ancient and modern acceptation, the former is to be preferred. For it cannot be supposed that the Convention did not understand the meaning of the old rubric, and still less that, when they altered it, they intended the words should have sense in relation to the new matter they introduced, different from that which they had originally, and that “if” should mean one thing when applied to "sermon," and another thing when applied to "communion." Yet "it is said of those" who differ from us in this matter" that they conceive themselves bound to use the whole service on a communion day! a The construction depends then upon the interpretation of the word "if," which it is proposed to ascertain. Horne Took, the author of the Diversions of Purley, complained that, in a certain prosecution, he was made the miserable victim of two prepositions and a conjunction. Whatever may be thought of this, it is believed that no one will deny that, on the subject of philology, his book is unrivalled authority. On it, it is intended therefore, mainly to rely. In his eighth chapter, title "Etymology of the English Consonants," will be found a full explanation of this one, and of its derivation, which in page 111 of the same volume, he had affirmed to be the imperative of the verb "to give." "If" and "an," says he, "may be used mutually and indifferently to supply each other's place," and "an" is nothing more than the imperative of the verb "to grant." "If" is rendered by him "dato," i. e. "grant"-" allow that ;" and he observes that "gif," which is the same as "if," is to be found in all our old writers; many of whom he cites and quotes in confirmation of its meaning. Again, in p. 154,"as the Latin 'si' means be it,' and nisi and sine (unless and without) mean be not;' so 6 etsi' (although) means and be it." And in page 150, he states "the-though," to be derived from the same source with "if" or "gif," and to mean, to allow, permit, grant, yield, assent. The reader is requested to refer to the book itself, and it will be presently shewn, from the best authority, that "if" in this very rubric, is regarded as synonymous with "although." In Mr. Reeves' Introduction to the Book of Common Prayer, we find this rubric closely examined. He remarks, that whereas formerly the ante-communion service was directed to be read on Wednesday and Friday, "at present the rubric does not make such appointment, but only for Sundays and holy-days, when, although there be no communion, all shall be said," &c. If we turn to Johnson, our construction will be found to be sustained by him also. "If," explained, 1. "Suppose it to be so, or, it were so, that." 2. "Whether or no." 3. "Allowing that;" "Suppose it be granted that." Perhaps a vulgar acceptation has been given to the word somewhat different from these authorities, but surely there is no need to use words in support of these, when opposed to vulgarism. Let the rubric then be read accordingly" grant that"-" allow that". "suppose it to be so that" or, as Reeves and the House of Bishops, "although" there be no sermon,-or as Johnson" whether or no" there be a sermon, and, it is presumed all difficulty vanishes. It will not surely be then pretended, that the rubric allows the omission of the ante-communion service, "if" there be a sermon; and then it will be rescued from the otherwise palpable contradiction, of directing a part of a service to be omitted at the same time that it requires the whole of it to be performed. A LAYMAN. Second Report of the Managers of the Episcopal Missionary Association of Zion Church, New-York. THE Managers of the Episcopal Missionary Association of Zion Church, congratulate their fellow members on the arrival of a second anniversary, and, in the discharge of their official duty, present the following report of their proceedings for the past year : We have been enabled, from the bounty of our subscribers, after defraying the contingent expenses of the institution, to pay over into the fund of the general society the sum of $59, leaving a balance of 12 cents in the hands of our Treasurer. The parent association, in their fifth annual report, acknowledges the receipt of our donation in the following very flattering and encouraging terms: "The auxiliary association of Zion Church, whose institution was last year particularly noticed, have continued their liberality, and have paid our Treasurer this year the sum of $59." Commendation for our feeble efforts, emanating from so high a source, we shall ever be proud to deserve; we shall always welcome it with gratitude and respect; it will, we trust, warm us into acts of beneficence and zeal in the sacred cause we have espoused, and enable us to maintain for our infant institution a distinguished rank among her sister auxiliaries in the future annals of the parent society. As a further incentive to untiring benevolence and exertion, we would bring into view the destitute condition and pressing wants of our Christian brethren, who are widely scattered over the counties in the more remote parts of our state. Our pious and indefatigable Bishop, in his late charge to the Convention of Delegates, observes, that to "Missionary labours we are indebted for the advancement of our Church, which, in almost every instance, in the new settlements, has risen from the smallest beginnings;" he describes "Churchmen few in number, adhering with a zeal which no depression could extinguish, and no difficulties daunt, to the faith, the ministry, and the worship of that fold of their Redeemer in which they are to be nurtured for heaven; communicating their zeal to others, gradually augmenting their small assemblies, and cherished by the occasional visits of a Missionary, forming congregations and erecting edifices for worship." This "is the history of the rise of our Church in almost all those many cases in which we see her exhibiting the standard of apostolic truth and primitive order in the new settlements of our state; and this," he continues, "might be the history of the rise of our Church in innumerable more cases, could we extend the sphere of Missionary exer`tions. Could every individual of our Church," exclaims our faithful Bishop, "feel as I have felt, when compelled to damp every hope, urged by the most affecting entreaties of receiving even the occasional supply of Missionary services, the means of furnishing them would be amply afforded." To this well drawn picture of the wants, the hopes, and expectations of our assistant brethren, we will only add, that if every spark of Christian charity and love have not taken a final leave of our bosoms; if every obligation which the well known commandment imposes of "loving our neighbour as ourselves," and "doing unto others as we would they should do unto us," be not totally blotted from our memory, then are we sure the foregoing forcible and eloquent appeal to the most exalted attribute of the Christian heart, cannot, will not, be made in vain." We would, moreover, invite your aid, not merely as Christians, but as philanthropists, from the happy results which have already flown from Mis sionary labours among our untamed brethren of the wilderness; for since the disciples of our blessed Saviour have been sent out among them, from whose lips the precepts of the Redeemer's kingdom have been poured forth in strains of " peace and good will towards men," humanity has seldom had to mourn over the smoking ruins and butchered remains of our innocent and unoffending borderers; the scalping knife and tomahawk, those terrific ensigns of torture and of death, have become, through the mild whisperings of the Gospel, converted into useful instruments of husbandry; the ruthless savage has become disarmed of his wonted ferocity, and his thirst for blood, rapine, and brutal vengeance, have been lulled to sleep by the sweet melody of religion's voice. With these brief remarks on the importance and worthiness of our object, we shall repose with confidence on the known spirit and liberality of our members and Church in general, for our future advancement and usefulness; reminding them of the admonition of an inspired writer, "that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate." Officers for the year 1822. The Rev. Thomas Breintnall, President; Mr. B. R. Robson, 1st VicePresident; Mr. James M'Murray, 2d Vice-President; Mr. Richard E. Purdy, Secretary; Mr. William Bakewell, Treasurer. Managers. Samuel Sparks, William H. Earle, Richard Ten Eyck, John Graff, John Rogers, John F. Hawes, Peter Lorillard, jun. William T. Pinkney, George C. Morgan, Samuel Heath, John Richardson, William McLaughlin. Delegates to the Board of Managers of the General Society.-Samuel Jarvis, William Bakewell. Translation of an Easter Hymn, sometimes recited in the Churches of the Greek Communion. O what an awful, awful hour, Beheld our Saviour die! The sun, in dire eclipse, withdrew The waters of the troubled deep, To their abysses fled; That struck, even in the heaven of heavens, At that tremendous, awful hour, The gates of heaven were closed: Meantime what deeds were done on earth! The powers of death and darkness strove And conquered as they vainly deem'd! That they should, by that heinous act, The darkness flies away! the gates Of heaven are opened wide! Emerging from the cloud of light, Their radiant forms unfold. "Ten thousand thousand angels then Shall join the vocal lay; Amid the hosts of heaven, "Then, pealing with tremendous voice, Shall, as his flames expire, proclaim Messiah's reign begun. "Roused by that voice, in white array, And to the Spirit pure! For ever shall endure." The New Testament in Persia. A Russain captain, lately returned from Persia, mentioned to a friend, in Astracan, that, when he was in that country, he happened one day to go into the house of a native, where he |