logical seminary in connection with a college is already in contemplation.

In the eastern states the progress of the Church has also been rapid and steady. The Church in Vermont had become in 1832 sufficiently strong to separate from the eastern diocese of which it had formed a part, and, accordingly, in the same year the Rev. Dr. Hopkins was elected and consecrated its bishop. It is highly probable, as I have mentioned in a former chapter, that before many years, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine will be provided with their respective prelates.

The General Convention of 1835 must be regarded as one of the most important events in the history of the Church. Bishop Chase was recognised as the head of the new diocese of Illinois. The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the operations of which had now become extensive, ceased to exist as a separate body, and the Church, assuming its responsibilities, stood forth as one grand missionary association. It was resolved that missionary bishops should be provided for the states and territories destitute of episcopal supervision, and ultimately for the stations in heathen lands occupied by the American Church. The Rev. Dr. Hawks was accordingly appointed by the House of Bishops to the episcopate of Louisiana, Arkansas,

1

and Florida; and the Rev. Dr. Kemper to that of Missouri and Indiana. The former gentleman declined his appointment. The latter was consecrated at Philadelphia, and immediately proceeded to his destination.

The wisdom of the House of Bishops in the nomination of Dr. Kemper has been abundantly proved. The members of the Episcopal communion in the remotest parts of the west have been strengthened and encouraged, and their numbers have greatly increased. At the time of Bishop Kemper's consecration there was but one clergyman in Indiana. Now there are eight, whose reports indicate a continued and rapid increase in their respective congregations. The same is true in regard to Missouri, where a prospect of future prosperity gladdens the friends of the Church. The indefatigable missionary bishop occasionally extends his travels to remoter regions, sometimes visiting the Indians of the western wilds, and sometimes the more refined population of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and Florida. A fund of twenty thousand dollars has been contributed in New York towards the establishment of a college in Missouri under the superintendence of Dr. Kemper.

In Michigan, an episcopal diocese has in two years risen into great respectability and influence

under the charge of the active and zealous Bishop M'Coskry. In Florida a diocese has been organized during the present year under promising circumstances. In Virginia, the Church has nearly recovered her former standing, and under eightyfour faithful pastors, with the superintendence of two excellent bishops, is a blessing to the country. The course of events throughout the American Church seems to promise that the neglect and devastation of former years will yet be repaired, and that the experience of the past will teach wisdom for the future.

This narrative cannot be more appropriately closed, than by recording an event still fresh in the memory of American Episcopalians. Bishop White, the good and great prelate, whose character this portion of the Catholic Church will ever regard with reverence, died on the 17th of July 1836, in the eighty-ninth year of his age, the sixtysixth of his ministry, and the fiftieth of his episcopate. He was raised up by Providence at a crisis when a person of his description was pre-eminently necessary. Steady and sober from his youth, he was prepared to advise in time of peril and excitement. Conciliatory in his measures, he was a man perfectly adapted to the promotion of harmony, at a time when diversity of opinions and high claims respecting the independence of dioceses, threatened

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HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH.

to rend the Church in pieces. Under the influence of his blended meekness and wisdom, objections to the Liturgy and Articles melted away; and many a root of bitterness was plucked up and allowed to die. The General Convention is the offspring of his prudence and brotherly love; and from its first organization till the last meeting before his death, he was always at hand with his pacific counsels, superior to paltry manœuvre and selfish policy. His humility and piety were evinced more by actions than by words; and he always acted on the maxim, that for any man to assume dictatorial airs, on the ground of ecclesiastical distinction, is in America most unwise, and in every country most unbecoming. Hence while he lived, he was venerated as a patriarch and loved as a man, and when he died, the event was regarded by the Church as an irreparable loss, and by the nation as a public calamity.

CHAPTER XII.

EDUCATION.

Arrival at Lexington.-Common schools in New England, New York, &c. Benefits of common schools.-Inadequate remuneration of teachers.-Grammar schools.-Colleges.-Their number, students, classes, and teachers.-State Colleges.Theological Seminaries.-Their number, students, classes, and teachers.-Course of study in Kenyon College and Theological Seminaries.-Female schools.-St. Mary's Hall.—Republicanism of students.-General remarks on American education.

I ARRIVED at Lexington in May, 1834, and immediately entered upon my duties as professor of Sacred Literature in the Theological Seminary of the diocese of Kentucky. It is my object in the present chapter to present the reader with a concise view of education in America, and of theological education in particular.

If recent statistical reports may be credited, the common rudiments of education are more generally diffused in the United States than in England, but less generally than in Prussia. Yet between the