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BISHOP'S ADDRESS.
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Brethren of the Clergy and Laity:
We are again called upon to record the acts of another year, and to note its blessings. The blight of no ravaging disease has been permitted to rest upon and waste our communities. We have been blessed with a season unusually fruitful in the reward of the husbandmen; and the operations of commerce have not been obstructed by any of those agitations, which interfere so injuriously with the successful labors of those devoted to that department of the business of life.
Nor have our blessings, as a Diocese, been temporal only; as the means of grace have been, with an occasional exception, enjoyed very generally throughout our borders, where churches have been established, and encouraging evidence given on the part of communities where they have not, of a desire to provide themselves with her ministrations.
For all this goodness and mercy, I would call upon you, my brethren, to united with me in offering unfeigned thanks to Almighty God, from whom alone cometh every good and perfect gift.
We are, however, called up on to tender to some of our sister Dioceses, our sympathy under the afflictions they have been called to experience, in the loss of their Chief Pastors.
In the death of the Rt. Rev. C. E. Gadsden, D. D., and the Rt. Rev. J. P. K. Henshaw, D. D., the Dioceses of South Carolina and Rhode Island have been severally deprived of the presence and spiritual oversight of two of the most efficient and laborious of the Bishops of the
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JOURNAL OF THE PROCEEDINGS
Church; Prelates, whose flocks will every hold their labors and their virtues in cherished and merited remembrance.
In the death of the Rt. Rev. Philander Chase, D. D., Bishop of Illinois and Presiding Bishop of the American Church, we have had to mourn the loss of a venerable man. Of one, whose patient toil and extraordinary activity and energy in the service of the Church, for above fifty years, have signalized his career as more remarkable than that of any other individual who has served at our altars. In the number and variety of his labors in all parts of the Great West and South-west-for he was the first to found the Church in this city--he has had no superior, nor any equal; and the two Western Dioceses, which he organized and so firmly established, will ever remain monuments of his early Missionary zeal, his wise forecast, and his fidelity as a Pastor of the flock of Christ.
North Carolina, too, has been deprived of Episcopal over-sight; but from a cause wholly different from the other three--a cause which can only be explained upon the hypothesis of either mental or moral insanity on the part of the unhappy man, who, until recently, presided over and directed its spiritual interests. Nothing, it is presumed, will be done toward relieving that Diocese and the general Church of their official relations with the individual in question by a formal act, until the meeting of the General Convention, next ensuing.
My official acts during the year, in consequences of the Convention assembling much earlier than usual, have not reached the usual average; and, in this connection, I may state that as a matter of convenience to us, should it be equally convenient to the Convention, I should much prefer our meetings to be fixed for the month of May.
I have given my official consent, during the last year, to the Consecration of the Rev. J. M. Wainwright, D. D. , D. C. L., Oxon, as Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of New York; who has since been duly Consecrated.
On the 26th of May, last--after Divine Service and a Sermon, during the Session of the Convention--I administered Confirmation to five persons, in St. James' Church, Baton Rouge.
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OF THE CONVENTION. 19
The three months next ensuing, I was absent from the Diocese, chiefly for the benefit of my health; and shortly after my return, I took charge, temporarily, of the Parish Church near my residence; in which I have officiated regularly on Sundays and other days ever since, except when absent on other duties.
On September 20th, I officiated at a funeral, in the Parish of Terrebonne.
On Sunday, October 31st, after Service and a Sermon, by Rev. Mr. Crane, I confirmed seven persons.
November 1st, I officiated at a funeral, in the Parish of Assumption.
December 19th, I officiated also at a funeral, in Lafourche Interior.
December 30th, I celebrated a Marriage, in Ascension Parish.
January 7th, I baptised {sic} a child, in Ascension; on the day following, I preached in Napoleonville, in the same Parish, and baptised {sic} three adults.
On the day following that, first Sunday after Epiphany, I preached in the same place, and Confirmed four persons; and, on the same day, I baptised {sic} one adult.
On Monday, next ensuing, I organized in that village a Congregation, composed of some of the villagers, but chiefly of the families of Planters living on the Lafourche, above and below--to be entitled Christ Church--under circumstates of great encouragement. The individuals composing it, with the most commendable liberality, subscribed the requisite amount for the support of a clergyman, and, also, for the building of a Church edifice. The Rev. J. F. Young, late of the Diocese of Mississippi, was invited forthwith to take charge of the Congregation, which he has done, and, having obtained from an eminent architect of New York, the requisite plans, they are already engaged in the construction of an exceedingly beautiful Church, in the Gothic style. Such promptitude and liberality are worthy of the highest commendation.
January 30th, I preached in Trinity Church, New Orleans, and confirmed two persons.
Quinquagesima Sunday, Feb. 6th, I preached in Christ Church, Covington, celebrated the Holy Communion and confirmed five persons.
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in the morning. In the afternoon of the same day, I attended Divine Service in Algiers, at the Missionary Station in that village.
At night I preached in St. Peter's Church for Seamen in New Orleans. Feb 16th, I celebrated a marriage in Christ Church, New Orleans. Feb 25th, I officiated at a funeral in Lafourche Interior.
On the Sunday before Easter, I visited the Church of Ascension, Donaldsonville, and preached. The property secured to the Parish by the liberality of Gov. Henry Johnson, for a Rectory and Parish School, of which I spoke in my last Conventional Address, has been put in complete repair, and is now a well arranged establishment for the accommodation and instruction of youth. It is situated in one of the most eligible parts of the town, and is a very valuable property for the Church. Some debt is still due for the repairs, which, I trust, the liberality of Churchmen in the Diocese at large, will speedily enable the Parish, which is very small and weak, to cancel.
On Good Friday, I visited the Parish of St. John's, West Baton Rouge, where I preached. On Easter Sunday I preached in the same Parish to the white congregation in the morning, celebrated the Holy Communion and confirmed three persons.
I preached to the colored people of the Rector's charge in the afternoon and confirmed thirteen persons.
On Wednesday, 30th March, I celebrated a marriage in Christ Church, New Orleans.
On the first Sunday after Easter, I preached in St. Paul's Church, New Orleans, in the morning, and confirmed four persons.
At night of the same day I preached in Trinity Church, New Orleans, and confirmed eight. The services in this latter congregation were held in the basement of their new church, an edifice, which bids fiar to be one of the most commodious and beautiful churches in the Diocese.
On Tuesday, 5th, I confirmed two sick members of the Church at the Annunciation, privately.
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OF THE CONVENTION. 21
The desire for the extension of church accommodations in New Orleans, among churchmen, has manifested itself in the most creditable manner, in the movement recently mad for the transfer of the church building, lately occupied by the congregation of St. Paul's, to another part of the city.
This has been done by the liberality of a few gentlemen, who have become responsible for the removal and erection of the church, and for the purchase of the lots on which it is to be placed.
The design is to make it a Missionary Station, as soon as the new building of St. Paul's shall be completed.
The Clerical changes in the Diocese are as follows:
The Rev. W. C. Crane has been transferred to the Diocese of Maryland.
The Rev. John Benson has been transferred to the DIocese of Illinois.
The Rev. J. Lloyd Johnston as been transferred to this Diocese, from the Diocese of Illinois, and has taken charge of Chirst Church, Covington.
The Rev. W. T. Leacock, D. D., has been transferred from the Diocese of Mississippi, and has taken charge of Christ Church, New Orleans.
The Rev. J. F. Young has been transferred from the Diocese of Mississippi, and has taken charge of Christ Church, Napoleonville.
The Rev. J. S. Chadbourne, has resigned the charge of St. James' Church, Baton Rouge.
The Rev. H. T. Lee has resigned the charge of St. Mary's Church, Bayou Goula.
The sentence of suspension which was imposed on the Rev. J. H. Linebaugh, has been removed.
The Congregation of Grace Church, New Orleans, has been favored, for several months by the labors of the Rev. D. G. Estes, of the Diocese of Missouri, whose state of health has made it expedient for him to pass the winter in a Southern climate. It is still hoped, that this Congregation may yet be revived and reestablished.
Rev. R. H. Ramsey has resigned the charge of Graced Church, Munroe; and has taken charge of a school in Algiers.
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It gives me pain to state to this Convention that the Rev. Mr. Dean, our worthy and estimable brother, who is still absent for the benefit of his health, in a letter received by me, from him, yesterday, dated Cairo, in Egypt, gives such discouraging accounts of himself, as to leave little hope of his restoration.
The candidates for Order, in the Diocese, are two, Messrs. Benson and Bacon, both of whom are expecting to be ordained in the course of this Spring.
For the state of the Schools, I commend you, in all your deliberations, to the guidance and blessings of Him, "who hath loved us, and given Himself for us."
LEONIDAS POLK.
The Parochial Reports were presented and read. [See Appendix.]
The following Preamble and Resolutions were offered by G. B. Duncan, Esq.:
WHEREAS, it appears from the printed journal of the last Convention of the Church in this Diocese, that the following proceedings took place, to wit: that while the proposed amendments to the Constitution and Canons which had been submitted at the previous Convention, were under discussion. "Article 5 was then taken up and amended as follows: by inserting immediately after the word "Laymen," the words "Communicants of the Church." 2d, immediately after the words "a larger number," inserting the words "the Standing Committee shall have power to fill vacancies in their own body, occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise." The Article as amended, was adopted.
And whereas, it doth appear, that while sundry other proposed amendments were under discussion, various changes and amendments were made to said propositions, and, as amended, adopted.
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And whereas, also, the Constitution of this Diocese, as it then stood, its 8th article doth declare, that "this Constitution shall not be subject to alteration, except at the annual meeting of the Convention, by a vote of two-thirds of the members present; nor unless such alteration shall have been proposed and accepted at a previous annual meeting."
Therefore, Resolved, That as the sense of this Convention the amendments made to said propositions were not in order, and their adoption were clearly unconstitutional, and are therefore null and void.
While the above Preamble and Resolution were under debate, On motion, the Convention adjourned until 10 o'clock, A. M., tomorrow.
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FRIDAY, APRIL 8th.
The Convention met pursuant to adjournment.
Prayers were read by the Bishop.
The journal of the proceedings of yesterday, was read and approved.
Rev. A. B. Russell, of Emanuel Church, Plaquemines, appeared and took his seat.
A certificate of Lay Deputies, form Emanuel Church, Plaquemines, was received, examined, and found in due form.
Messrs. C. B. Penrose, B. W. Wilkinson, and Effingham Lawrence were chosen Delegates to this Convention, who being called, Mr. C. B. Penrose answered and took his seat.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
The Committee on Education respectfully Report:
That, as far as they can learn, the various schools in our Diocese, under Church influcence, remain in general as at last report.
The "Southern Institute," at Jackson, under the charge of the Rev. Dr. Lacey, is, they are happy to perceive from his report to the Bishop, in a much more flourishing and prosperous condition than it has been at any other time during the nine years of its existence; and it is gratifying to find that the persevering efforts of its venerable and well qualified Rector are at length receiving that patronage and encouragement they so richly deserve, and which, we trust, will rebound to the permanent good of the Church.