the continent, and for the space of more than one hundred and fifty years subject to no Episcopal supervision or control that could be at all effective. It is true that the Bishop of London had nominal jurisdiction over the Churches in the provinces, and occasionally imposed some restraints and exerted some salutary influence through the medium of his commissaries. But in the absence of all proper discipline, many of the clergy not only became negligent in the performance of the spiritual duties of their office, but brought discredit upon their profession by indulging in the vices and dissipations of the world.

Notwithstanding the very depressed state of the Church in Virginia, arising chiefly from the causes which have been adverted to, it was organized into an ecclesiastical body by the calling of a convention, soon after the close of the revolutionary war; and an early attempt was made to complete its organization and secure episcopal services, by the election, in 1786, of the Rev. David Griffith, of Fairfax parish, to the office of Bishop. But we have melancholy proof of the slender attachment of the people to the Church and its divine institutions, in the fact, that the convention did not furnish the means necessary to defray the expenses of the Bishop-elect in proceeding to England to procure consecration; and as his own resources were too limited to enable him to bear the expense himself, Dr. Griffith was not consecrated; and in 1789 he resigned the honourable appointment to which the suffrages of the Convention had called him. It was not until one hundred and eighty-four years after it was first planted at Jamestown, that the Church in Virginia received its first Bishop, in the person of the Right Rev. James Madison,' D. D., who was elected by the convention in 1790, and consecrated at Lambeth, in September of the same year.

Bishop Madison seems to have entered upon the duties of his office with a sincere desire to elevate the character of the Church, and to employ a commendable zeal in the prosecution of such measures as would be likely to promote its prosperity. In his addresses to the convention he exhorted the clergy to fidelity, activity, and energy in the performance of the various duties of their sacred function, enforced upon the laity the duty of contributing to the support of the ministry and other institutions of religion, recommended the catechising of children, the distribution of religious tracts, and other efforts which seemed well adapted to advance the interests of truth and piety in the diocese. But however wise and judicious were his schemes, and however serious his purpose to have them carried into execution, it is certain that the result was in no wise answerable to his anticipations and desires. The deep-rooted prejudices against the Church grew and strengthened. The minds of men, animated by the spirit of revolution-and too often mistaking licentiousness for liberty-burned with hatred towards every thing connected with the government whose yoke they had cast off, and seemed disposed to break loose from all restraints, those of religion and virtue not excepted. The mad demon of blaspheming infidelity, which had rode upon the whirlwind of the French Revolution, was welcomed as an angel of light and freedom by the leading civilians of Virginia. And it was no difficult matter to persuade the vulgar to treat with abuse and violence the sacred things which their superiors and leaders contemptuously despised. The sectaries had long viewed the Church with jealousy, suspicion and hatred, and were willing to combine with the enemies of all religion to strip her of her inheritance and lay her dignity in the dust. This alliance of sectarianism and infidelity in the prosecu

tion of a common object, having succeeded in procuring a repeal of the law incorporating the Episcopal Church in Virginia, paused not in the prosecution of its end till it had obtained a sacrilegious enactment confiscating the glebes and other property of the Church to the uses of the state. In the midst of these adverse and counteracting influences the course of the Church in Virginia was constantly retrograde. Like a strong man, she staggered under the heavy blows inflicted by her enemies, in rapid succession one after another, till at length, exhausted and spiritless, she fell prostrate in the dust. Bishop Madison himself seems to have yielded to the spirit of the times. Despondency led to an entire remission of effort;-for several successive years not even a convention was called, or a single combined attempt made to preserve the Church from irretrievable ruin. During fifteen years of his episcopate, the state of ecclesiastical affairs had become more and more disas trous; and then he seemed to be like a pilot with his ship among the breakers, who, in despair of escape, resigns the helm, in expectation that his noble barque will soon lie stranded as a shattered wreck upon the shore.

Need we dwell longer upon the melancholy scene of spiritual barrenness and desolation which that period of our ecclesiastical history presents to view? Need we more minutely recapitulate the painful tale which the faithful pen of history has recorded in part, and the disgraceful remainder of which the busy, restless tongue of tradition has not suffered to be forgotten? Need we say more of the poor inheritance of unwatchful shepherds and slumbering flocks the only relic of a proud establishment that had survived the revolution? Need we speak of careless generations who suffered churches to sink in ruins, ecclesiastical property to be scattered to the winds-and, in some

instances, profanely used the sacred vessels of the sanctuary in their bacchanalian orgies? No: we need advert ?* no farther to a former state of things which renders it almost a miracle that the Church was not utterly exterminated in Virginia. Nought but pure gold could have abided the test of such a fiery ordeal. No tree except that which the hand of the Lord hath planted could have survived the withering effects of such a storm.

But low and prostrate as was the condition of the Church at the time of which we now write, there were some few "faithful among the faithless found." Some humble pastors of the flock who, in the retirement of their parishes, resisted the influence of the times, and conscientiously performed their duty, without the praise of men, content only with the approbation of their Lord. Among them there was one upon whose memory the shades of oblivion should never settle, for in the darkest period of the Church's history, he was "a burning and shining light ;" and so long as truth and holiness continue to be prized in the Church of Virginia, the thoughts of her devout sons will dwell with grateful veneration upon the name of DEVEREUX Jarratt.

This extraordinary man, who was self-educated under the most discouraging circumstances, after his conversion, devoted himself to the work of preparation for the ministry with such success that the Bishop of London, who ordained bim, complimented him by saying, that according to the testimony of Dr. Jortin, and others who examined him, he passed his trials better than some graduates of Oxford and Cambridge who received ordination at the same time.

*In one instance a marble baptismal font was converted into a watering trough for horses; and in more than one the communion cups were profaned to the same purposes to which Belshazzar degraded the vessels of the temple at Jerusalem.

Having received priest's orders in one week after he was ordained deacon, at Christmas, 1762, he returned to Virginia, and in the following August was unanimously received as minister of the parish of Bath, Dinwiddie county.

Mr. Jarratt was a fearless and zealous advocate of the great doctrines of the cross, and an uncompromising opposer of all those worldly vices and pleasures which are inconsistent with the Christian profession. He brought strange things to the ears of his people; and his style of preaching, so entirely different from any thing to which they had been accustomed, awakened the enmity of their carnal hearts, and brought forth decided manifestations of hostility. But in his case, as in all others, the preaching of the pure and unadulterated Gospel, while it encountered the enmity of men, was followed by the blessing of God. He preached the Gospel amidst the effusions of the Holy Ghost. Many were convinced of sin, and led to inquire "what must we do to be saved?" Souls were converted to God; and at every communion season "the Lord added to the Church of such as should be saved." When Mr. Jarratt looked around him and contemplated the desolations of Zion, his heart yearned within him, as did that of his Master, when gazing upon the multitudes, he had compassion on them, because they were scattered as sheep having no shepherd.

His large soul, glowing with zeal for the salvation of men, and the glory of Christ, could not rest satisfied while his labours were confined to the limits of a single parish. He therefore went on enlarging the sphere of his operations, till it embraced a circuit of hundreds of miles; and he became daily employed in preaching to anxious and solemn congregations, in different and distant places, the words of eternal life. He found great delight in thus "doing the work of an Evangelist." His vigorous mind, lively imagi