The last occasion on which he officiated in St. George's was Sunday, October 3rd, 1841. By the kindness of my beloved friend and brother, the rector of that Church, I am enabled to present a touching account of a most interesting incident of the day as related in a sermon preached by him in St. Andrew's Church, Staten Island, occasioned by the decease of his venerated friend.

"In closing this notice of our lamented friend, may I be allowed to notice a slight, but affecting, incident of recent

occurrence.

"From our long intimacy and friendship it has always been my desire on his visits to New York to obtain for my people the privilege of hearing his pleasing and pathetic annunciations of heavenly truth.

"During the session of the late General Convention I sought and obtained this favour at his hands. It was the solemn occasion of our monthly communion, and his discourse (from the text, 'It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,') delivered almost with the same command of voice, and earnest and affecting interest of manner, that characterized his earlier years, was not only delightfully in consonance with the views that have been presented of the general character of his pulpit communications, but peculiarly affecting and impressive by its adaptedness to the duties of the day.

"While the sacred elements were in the course of distribu tion, he asked of me a few moments' suspension; and taking his place in the desk, he stated to the congregation in a few emphatic sentences the peculiar feelings of his mind at that interesting moment. Here,' said the venerable speaker, in this very Church I was baptized; here I renewed my baptismal vows in the rite of confirmation. Here I first knelt to receive the emblems of the dying love

of my Redeemer; here I was ordained a deacon, and here I was advanced to the order of the priesthood. Meeting with you on this solemn occasion, and standing in this consecrated place, these reminiscences of some of the most interesting incidents of my life, at my present advanced age, and with little expectation of ever again being with you, are to me so deeply affecting that I thought you would excuse a few moments' interruption of the service, that J might be allowed, with heartfelt gratitude to my heavenly Father, thus briefly to advert to thern.'

"Little more was added; but you may easily imagine the effect of such a communication, brief as it was, delivered at such a time, and in such a manner, and by such a man. There were few dry eyes in the congregation; and it was well calculated to deepen the impression of his excellent discourse, and the sacred service by which it was followed.

"To me it is a grateful reflection that the house of God, which has been the place of my humble ministrations for the last quarter of a century, had been the scene of my aged friend's first dedication to God, then of the confirmation of his vows, and his first communion, and afterwards of his investiture, in two of its grades, with his ministerial commission.

"But our venerable father and friend is gone. Never again in this world shall we hear that melodious voice, which, even on the verge of death, lost not its sweetness; never again behold that countenance of calm serenity, which beamed with affection on all around him; that 'hoary head,' which to him was a crown of glory, being found in the way of righteousness; that venerable form clothed in its plain and modest attire, so well befitting his age and station. He is gone! Death, the mighty destroyer, has done his work. But his shaft, though sudden, found him

not unprepared; and that goodness and mercy, which had followed him all his days, permitted him an easy passage into his eternal rest. If the depressing character of his disease prevented his saying much, he was privileged to say enough to satisfy all around him that he was resigned to the will of God, and ready for the summons.

"It is not so much on the bed of death, where the prostration of the body bears down all the mind's activities, that we would in general seek our strongest evidences of a spiritual state. It is to the tenor of the life we resort, as the surest and the safest test; and to that we may confidently appeal for a well-grounded assurance that our dear departed father is now resting in the bosom of his Father and his God."

Dr. Moore was subjected to but a brief trial in the diaconate; and we are not informed of the special field of his labours while he held the lowest order of the ministry. But having been admitted to priest's orders in September, 1787, he was immediately appointed to the pastoral charge of Grace Church, in Rye, Westchester county, in the diocese of New York. For his services in this small and feeble parish he received a salary of three hundred dollars per annum and his fuel. Out of this stinted stipend he was obliged to pay thirty dollars for house rent. But notwithstanding his limited income, which would afford him the means of procuring but few of the comforts and none of the luxuries of life, he has been heard to say, that he enjoyed much peace and happiness in this his earliest parochial connexion. His fidelity and zeal in the discharge of ministerial duty won the respect, confidence and affection of his flock. He there secured the attachment of some warm and valuable friends; and especially that of the HON. JOHN JAY, who to the highest qualities of a jurist,

civilian and statesman, added the graces of a devout and exemplary follower of Christ: who amidst all the temptations of diplomacy and politics, maintained a conscience void of offence, because actuated by religious principles: who in the whole of his brilliant public career never performed an act which could sully his reputation, or bring disgrace upon his holy profession; and who in the reception of all the high honours with which his services were rewarded by a grateful country, was ready to lay them all at the foot of the cross, and counted them as nothing and less than nothing in comparison with God's favour which is life, and his loving-kindness which is better than life. This great and good man, who was a vestryman of the parish while Dr. Moore was rector at Rye, cherished ever afterwards a sincere friendship for him, which was interrupted only by death. And any minister of the Gospel might consider himself honoured in having enjoyed for many years the confidence and affection of such a man as John Jay.

The ministry of the youthful rector in his first parish was, as we have reason to believe, not only acceptable but useful.

"The edifice in which the congregation at Rye now worship, is a monument of his zeal, and a part of the first fruits of his labours in promoting the temporal as well as spiritual welfare of the Church, which he so long and so truly loved: it was by his exertions that the money was raised with which this church was built."* If we had access to the register of that parish, or if we could inquire of any of the surviving attendants upon his services there, we might probably be able to state facts which would show that his labours were not without their appropriate

* Dr. Hawks.

results in the edification of that spiritual temple, formed of lively stones, which God animates by his Spirit: but in the absence of such information, the success of his subsequent labours affords ample ground for the conviction that some will be gems in his crown of rejoicing who were seals of his earliest ministry.

At the close of a ministry of about two years at Rye, Dr. Moore was called to decide upon a change of residence by an invitation to take charge of St. Andrew's parish, Staten Island. To prevent those heart-burnings and misunderstandings which are so apt to arise from an unexpected sundering of parochial ties, Dr. Moore adopted a prudential course worthy of imitation by all clergymen under similar circumstances. He summoned his vestry together, communicated to them the call he had received, and solicited their friendly advice as to the decision which it would be proper for him to make in the premises. The confidence thus reposed in the vestry was well adapted to disarm prejudice, and to shield him from reproach. His friend Jay was the organ of communicating the result of their deliberations; which was, that, although the vestry and the parishioners would deeply regret the loss of his valuable services; yet, as his friends, they could not with propriety object to a removal by which, in all probability, the comfort of his family and his ministerial usefulness would be greatly enhanced.

He was not a stranger to the inhabitants of Staten Island. On the contrary, he was well known to many of them, having, while a student of theology, practised medicine there for a short time. During that period he officiated on one occasion, as a lay reader in the Church at Richmond, and a very favourable impression was produced by the fervent and animated manner in which he performed the services of the Church. The first sermon he preached on