EXTRACT OF A LETTER TO THE REV. GEO. GASKINS, D. D.

LONDON.

"United States of America, Charleston, S. C., July 22, 1827. "Rev. and Dear Sir, The Protestant Episcopal Society for the Advancement of Christianity in South-Carolina would be altogether unworthy the station they hold, were they not deeply sensible of the debt of gratitude due to you by themselves, by the diocese of South-Carolina, and indeed by the Episcopal Church throughout our Union. The liberal and benevolent zeal displayed in projecting and completing the republication of Bishop Dehon's Sermons, in England, entitle you, and the gentlemen concerned with you, to our most grateful acknowledgements. It is a satisfaction to know, that whilst you have conferred on the diocese of South-Carolina this signal favour and honour, you have subserved, in a great degree, the dignity and interests of the Episcopal Church in England and America. Although we can venture to form no judgment of the extent to which the Church may have been benefited in your country, by the reprinting of Dehon's Sermons there, we may be permitted to view it as one step towards the payment of that large and ancient debt of gratitude which the Protestant Episcopal Church of these United States owes to the Church of England, for her first foundation and a long continuance of nursing care and protection.' How delightful is the reflection, that such a debt should be repaid in the spirit and in the manner in which the educated son repays the watchfulness and solicitude, the faithfulness and love, of his parents. That the origin and nature of this relation may never be forgotten by the elder Church of the old world, or the younger Church of the new world, is the humble trust, the faithfal prayer, the fervent hope, of the latter. In conclusion, let me request your acceptance of the acknowledgement as expressed in the accompanying resolution. Yours, with great respect,

6

"THOMAS S. GRIMKE, Cor. Secretary.

"At a meeting of the Trustees, July 2, 1827, it was Resolved, that the thanks of this Board be given to the Rev. Dr. Gaskins, and the gentlemen associated with him, by whose benevolence our Society has realized the sum of £321, being the profit on the sale of Bishop Dehon's Sermons, which those gentlemen caused to be published in England.'"

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM G. W. MARRIOTT, ESQ., OF LONDON, TO BISHOP BOWEN.

པེ, ཙམ London, July 4, 1832.. "I have the pleasing task of informing you, as president of the Society for advancing Christianity in South-Carolina, that Messrs. Rivingtons have paid to me (as the surviving editor of Bishop Dehon's Sermons) the sum of £81 12s. 6d. as the half profits of the third edition of those excellent sermons. Each edition was of a thousand copies, and I know of no instance of such a sale for any English sermons. In any way you will direct me to pay the above sum to your order, for the use of the Society, I will instantly obey your directions. I cannot help now stating that I had great satisfaction in destining one copy of to Mr. Cogdell, whose work, as a self-taught sculptor, 1 shall ever think wonderful, and, as preserving to future generations the likeness of Dehon, is quite inestimable. "G. W. MARRIOTT."

At a meeting of the Trustees, August 31, 1832, it was "Resolved, unanimously, that the bishop (the president of the Society) be respectfully requested to communicate to Mr. G. W. Marriott, their deep sense of gratitude to him, and the other gentlemen who were concerned, in having three editions of the sermons of Bishop Dehor printed in England, whereby not only honour has been reflected on our Church in this country, and the cause of Christianity in general promoted, but our Society in particular has been much benefited, a large proportion of the profits, arising from the sale of the books, having been generously added to its funds."

But there was no memorial, no expression of feeling, more appropriate than the instituting of a scholarship, bearing his name, at our General Theological Seminary.* This undertaking on the part of a number of ladies, was induced by his well known interest in that institution, of

* The following is a copy of the paper circulated to obtain subscribers for the object:

January 15, 1821. The ladies of South-Carolina desirous to do their part in the excellent charity of assisting pious young men in their education for the sacred office, propose to establish a scholarship at the General Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, to be called the Dehon Scholarship.*

"Should the sum subscribed be more than sufficient for this purpose, the balance shall be appropriated towards the endowment of a professorship at the said Seminary, to be called the South-Carolina Professorship. The bishop and the rectors of St. Paul's and St. Philip's Churches, Charleston, are hereby constituted trustees of the money collected. The Episcopal clergy, and in the vacant parishes, the chairman of the vestry, are respectfully requested to act as agents for this collection. The subscription papers to be returned to the trustees, at latest, in three months from this date.

"Some of the considerations which recommend the present and similar measures. "1. The great need of an increase of clergy in our extensive country. "2. The advancement of candidates in virtue and in knowledge to be expected, under the Divine blessing, from the good examples, the pious habits, and the systematic instruction in the Theological Seminary.

"3. The preparation of candidates for the ministry is a high duty, which belongs (as it respects the providing of unexceptionable and sufficient means, and the exercise of unappellate jurisdiction over it) most appropriately to the supreme council of the Church; and an united effort affords the best promise of an institution respectable for its endowment, its talent and learning, and the number of its pupils.

"4. More than one Theological Seminary in our Church, at present, would appear to be an unnecessary expenditure of its resources, as the whole number of candidates does not exceed seventy,† and even should that number be trebled, one seminary would be sufficient..

"5. The General Seminary would be a bond of union to the confederated dioceses, as common property, the acquisition of united zeal and perseverance, the object of united affection and care; and the association of candidates from the different dioceses, would moderate local feeling, lay the foundation of friendship and unanimity, and in other respects promote the prosperity of the Church.

“6. A Theological Seminary, with a sufficient endowment and a complete library, would naturally create a body of learned men, who would greatly benefit the Church and mankind, by the publication of their researches."

*"This design originated shortly after the lamented death of this bishop, whose zeal for the General Seminary is well known."

"See Journals of the General Convention (1820), and other documents.

which, as we have before remarked, he deserved, more than any other individual, to be considered the founder. The scholarship was commenced in 1821, has now a capital of $3903, and has already had two beneficiaries.

In conclusion, the author takes occasion to remark, that if any persons have been interested by this work-by this imperfect picture, how much more would they have been, had they been permitted, as he was (a privilege claiming his devout gratitude), to contemplate-for so long a time, and in so many aspects-the original.

APPENDIX.

No. I.

ORATION ON TASTE:

Delivered at Harvard University, on the occasion of taking his first degree in the Arts: 1795.

THE faculties of man are inexhaustible sources of observation. There are no subjects which the mind contemplates with more substantial satisfactionnone which more earnestly interests curiosity, or more fully repay the fatigues of attention. So different are their natures, so various their complexions, that every eye may discern some agreeable object; to every palate they afford its proper dish. The poet, the philosopher, the disputant, and the orator, may here choose an observatory congenial with his feelings; where he may paint with fancy, investigate with judgment, or with imagination soar. Each individual faculty may be considered as a luminary in the firmament of intellect; and they all may collectively be viewed as a system, beautiful, harmonious, and sublime. The phases, motions, and eccentricities of the heavenly bodies, are not more fertile of discoveries interesting and important, than are those of the faculties which constitute man, and place him so high in the scale of preferment. When assembled to commemorate the birth-day of the thousands, who, by improving these faculties, have rendered deathless Harvard's fame, and added fresh trophies to the triumphs of Columbia, where shall we look for a theme, appropriate, interesting, or amusing, but among the noblest energies of Nature's skill, the boasted causes of man's superiority? What though they want the aid of novelty ?-an attempt at novelty would be an attempt at impossibility. Politics have long since lost their novel attractive-power, and become a jargon of dissonant sounds. The various branches of science have so frequently and so forcibly been shaken, that scarce a blossom remains, to revive, by its fragrance, the fainting spirits of a fatigued audience. So completely has the rich, extensive wardrobe of art been rifled, that not a veil remains to cover deficiencies from the discerning eye of a literary assembly. Let us, then, dedicate our attention to that faculty of the mind, whose pleasure and utility, the present occasion, and present objects, so loudly speak.