and nothing could afford greater pleasure to me, as an humble individual of that Church, and I may safely venture to add, nothing could more gratify the Episcopal Church at large, than having the honour of occasionally corresponding with our venerable brethren in America, and mutually communicating what may at any time seem interesting in ecclesiastical affairs. ***. That your valuable life may be long preserved to the Christian Church, and to that portion of it in particular over which you so worthily preside, is the earnest and devout prayer of, "Right Rev. and dear Sir,

"Your most faithful and affectionate

"Brother in Christ,

"W. SKINNER."

In 1820 Bishop Hobart addressed a Pastoral Letter to the Clergy and Laity of his diocese, relative to measures for the theological education of candidates for orders. From the earliest period of his ministry he had felt a deep solicitude on this subject. It had at length excited a degree of interest in the Church at large. The expediency of establishing a Theological Seminary had been referred, by the General Convention in 1814, to the consideration of the Bishops in the several dioceses, and to the Standing Committees in the states where there were no Bishops; and though from a variety of circumstances the season was not altogether auspicious, yet in the succeeding Convention of 1817 a committee was appointed for the purpose of carrying the plan into execution. Some of the most respectable clergymen of our Church wore VOL. I.

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appointed to solicit donations for this important object in various sections of the Union, but their efforts were followed by no adequate results. Though the experiment was unsuccessful, the institution was, nevertheless, organized; and the hope was entertained that the next meeting of the General Convention might afford the means of awakening the attention of the members and friends of the Protestant Episcopal Church to an object so essentially connected with its honour and prosperity. Thus far Bishop Hobart, as a member of the committee, interested himself sincerely in the establishment of the General Seminary.

At the General Convention of 1820, the measure was adopted of removing the institution from NewYork to New-Haven, in Connecticut. This measure could not have been carried without the co-operation of the Bishop and deputies from New-York. They yielded to it, however, from the persuasion that diocesan institutions would ultimately be established that a general institution would rather be acquiesced in than cordially supported—and thus, while the principal part of the funds of the general institution would be raised in New-York, that diocese might be one of the few which would not have a Theological Seminary subject to her own control. The removal, therefore, of the General Seminary was consented to, on their part, as a measure of conciliation, it being understood, as was supposed, that a theological institution would be organized in New-York, for which the resources and contributions of the Episcopalians in that state were to be exclusively reserved.

After this explanation, Bishop Hobart entered into a consideration of the right of every diocese to make provision for the theological education of candidates for the ministry; the expediency of this provision being made by the diocese of New-York, and the mode in which it should be effected. Having discussed these points in a way which he thought would be satisfactory to the great body of the clergy and laity, he earnestly urged upon them the immediate formation of a diocesan seminary, and made such suggestions as he supposed might be useful in the definitive settlement of the plan at the approaching Convention, in case his proposal should be adopted. The subject was brought up in his annual address to that body, and while he anxiously guarded against the suspicion of his cherishing any hostility to the general institution, he again set forth the reasons in favour of the establishment of one for ourselves. The extent of our resources, arising from the numbers, the respectability, and the wealth of the individual members of the Church-the munificent gift of a generous individual, of sixty lots of ground in the immediate vicinity of New-York, for the benefit of a theological school-the faults in the organization of the general institution, as to the appointment of trustees, in which no proportional regard was paid to the relative numbers of the Episcopalians of the several dioceses, nor to the amount of their contri butions, and in consequence of which our own would be deprived of her just degree of influence and control; all these considerations seemed to make it a duty to adopt a measure which was so

vitally connected with the prosperity and honou of the Church in this extensive diocese. These reasons appeared so forcible and conclusive to the members of the Convention, that the "Protestant Episcopal Theological Education Society" was immediately established, and went into operation the following year.

The following letter from Mr. Cornelius R. Duffie to Bishop Hobart, it is thought, will be read with interest even by those who were not acquainted with the writer, but it will awaken in those who were, the tender recollections of one who, from his eminent piety and worth, and his unwearied and successful labours, was regarded with universal esteem, and by a large circle of friends with enthusiastic admiration and love.

"RIGHT REV. SIR,

"New-York, October 10, 1821.

"I come to give you notice of my desire to present myself as a candidate for holy orders, and of my readiness to enter upon such preparatory exercises as you may appoint.

"If the time of life at which I have arrived is not without disadvantages, I believe it has brought a due sense of the responsibility of the sacred office, and of the importance of deliberating well before it is assumed. I hope I have not deceived myself in judging of the motives which govern me; but lest I may have overlooked any objection to the reasonableness of my intention, or to the prospect of my usefulness, I submit my purpose, with entire deference, to your consideration and revision.

"I cannot, however, avoid perceiving that the events of my life for some time past, and the dispositions they have produced in my mind, tend strongly to point out the path I have chosen; and as far as these may be regarded as indications proceeding from the Spirit of God, I am compelled, though it be with apprehension and self-distrust, to allow their influence.

"A few years of practical acquaintance with the world, by showing me that fortune and the fairest prospects were often vain and deceptive, and that even success and prosperity were less to be desired than feared for their tendency to make men forgetful of themselves, had forced upon me a sober, and perhaps a severe estimate of life. But that last and most overwhelming of all earthly bereavements* which I have recently suffered, has made me feel the uncertain tenure even of the most cherished and valued happiness, and by disconnecting me in a great measure from the ordinary motives to exertion, has taken from me all inclination or ability for mere worldly pursuits.

"It is now not less necessary to my health and tranquillity, than to my sense of duty, that I should place before me some great and useful object, in the prosecution of which I may occupy my time

The loss of his companion and partner in life, who, from the sweetness of her disposition and the heavenly frame of her mind, was the object of the most pure and exalted affection during her life, and whose memory was cherished by him with such a tenderness and sacredness after her death, as seemed to soften all his feelings, to hallow all his thoughts, and to wean him completely and effectually from that world which he had long before renounced.