next day, in his visits among his people, the mystery of this strange occurrence was revealed. He found that while he had been addressing the ears of the assembly, God's spirit had been working powerfully upon their hearts. Under those sermons many were awakened to righteousness; it was the commencement of a glorious revival of religion, as the fruits of which more than sixty new-born souls were added to the communion of the faithful.

While Dr. Moore was rector of St. Andrew's, Staten Island, he was elected one of the clerical deputies to represent the diocese of New York in the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, holden in Baltimore, in the month of May, 1808. During the session of the Convention he preached several times in the churches of the latter city with his usual success, and afterwards, on the death of Dr. Whitehead, received an invitation from St. Paul's parish to become their rector. This was the second call he received to that important church; both of which, however, he felt it his duty to decline. At that General Convention, the only one ever held south of Philadelphia, the hymns of the Church were increased from twenty-seven to fifty-seven. Dr. Moore was chairman of the committee by which the additional hymns were selected. When the report was read by the chairman, one hymn after another was adopted without discussion; till at length an opponent of the measure paid the following compliment to the sweet voice and impressive manner of the reader. "I object to the hymns being read by that gentleman, for we are so fascinated by his style of reading that we shall without hesitation adopt them all."

During the whole of his more than twenty years' ministry in St. Andrew's, he was incessantly engaged in the arduous

but delightful duties of a faithful parish priest. He was in labours most abundant; "in season and out of season;" in the churches on the Lord's day, and in school-houses and farm-houses in different parts of the Island on week-days, he ceased not to proclaim to the people of his charge "the unsearchable riches of Christ." His ministry there was, in its character and effects, very much like that of the sainted LEGH RICHMOND, in the Isle of Wight. Such scenes of pastoral fidelity on the one hand, and docile piety on the other; of cordial co-operation and mutual affection between ministers and people, give joy to Heaven, but, alas! are too seldom witnessed upon earth.

The following extract from the funeral address delivered in the Monumental Church, by the Rev. Wm. Norwood, Bishop Moore's assistant in said church, will form an appropriate conclusion to this review of his ministry on Staten Island.

"His faithfulness in all the departments of ministerial duty; his zeal in the advancement of true religion; his love of his Divine Master, and of his work; his unaffected love of all men; his serenity of manners and entire freedom from spiritual pride, and all moroseness in his theological views, gave him not only an unbounded popularity among the people, but won for him their warm admiration and sincere attachment. The fruits of such labours, and of such a Christian character, were soon abundantly manifested. His congregation soon overflowed, and it became necessary to enlarge the church edifice. The number of his communicants rapidly increased, and the standard of their piety was much elevated. Even after a large addition to the sittings of his church, it soon became necessary to make still further provision for the numbers who flocked

to his ministry, and a Chapel of Ease was provided, six miles distant from the parish church. During his attendance upon the late General Convention, in October last, the writer of this sketch visited this scene of the early labours of his venerated and beloved friend. It was grateful to every good feeling of the heart to witness the ardent love and unaffected veneration for their old pastor, which were still cherished, and remained enshrined in the hearts of his former parishioners and their children. It was delightful to address, in the two beautiful churches of the Parish, large congregations of zealous worshippers of Almighty God, and to see the son of this venerable man, who had, in his earliest manhood, and immediately after his admission to Holy Orders, succeeded his father in this interesting charge, now himself more than fifty years of age, and honoured with the title of Doctor of Divinity, after a useful and successful ministry of thirty-two years, still occupying the post of his father's duties, and walking in the steps of that good old man as a faithful and beloved shepherd of Christ's flock."

F

CHAPTER III.

FROM 1809 TO 1814.

The advantages and disadvantages of city and country charges respectively. Dr. Moore's call to St. Stephen's Church, New York. The state of the Church in that city. Ministry of Dr. Hobart. The depressed condition of St. Stephen's when Dr. Moore took charge of it. Its rapid increase. The active efforts of George Warner, recorded by Bishop Moore in a letter to his widow. Lecture-room services and prayer meetings. The opinion of Bishop Moore respecting them. Their propriety discussed. Approval of Nelson, Bishops Claggett and Kemp, and the present presiding Bishop. Letters on Prayer Meetings and Associations. Revivals of Religion and Clerical Associations. Letters to Bishops Meade and Bowen on Anxious Seats and Revivals. The course of Dr. Moore in reference to an unhappy controversy in the Church of New York. A succinct review of the effect of his ministry in St. Stephen's.

WHILE Dr. Moore was prosecuting that long career of success and duty which has been imperfectly sketched in the preceding chapter, the nature and effects of his ministry upon the Island were closely watched by multitudes in the neighbouring city. He enjoyed a high and enviable reputation for the meekness, benevolence and devotion of his character; for his bold and uncompromising exhibition of the great principles of evangelical truth; for faithfulness and assiduity in the performance of parochial duties; and for a powerful and persuasive eloquence, which riveted the attention, and moved the hearts of the auditories he addressed. If there were some who contemplated his course with an envious and malignant eye, there were others who gazed on it with admiration, and resolved to embrace the first opportunity which offered to procure his

removal to the city, which was then rapidly rising into importance, and has since become the commercial emporium of our country.

If a country parish, with its homogeneous society, fixed character, simple unsophisticated habits, and peaceful seclusion from the dissipations and vices of fashionable life, holds out the greater promise of personal comfort and happiness, it must be admitted that the large and crowded city opens a wider field of usefulness to the able and faithful minister of Jesus Christ. Large cities are the chosen theatres for the strife of covetousness, the emulation of vanity, and the struggles of ambition. There are concentrated pomp, and pride, and luxury. There is to be found every incentive to passion-every allurement to excess. There the polluted temples of pleasure throw open their gilded portals, through which multitudes of thoughtless votaries are lured to eternal ruin. There the din of incessant occupation, the exciting bustle of traffic, the ever-changing variety of scenes, combine with the pageantry and vanity of wealth to distract the attention and wean the thoughts of men from the great themes of morals and religion. There intemperance, debauchery, and impurity are exhibited in all their degrees, from decency to loathsomeness. There we behold an exhibition of all those varieties of profligacy and vice, which it is the design of the Gospel to eradicate, and which that divine system alone has the power to restrain and reform. There the enemies of our faith are combined in most formidable numbers; its advocates are required to grapple with the whole legion of adversaries, and are compelled to be incessantly engaged in close conflict with "the world, the flesh, and the devil." Is the Gospel to be preached to sinners? In large cities they are found in the greatest numbers. Are ministers "fishers of men?" Then, like