of Nova Scotia was, without solicitation, offered to him, while he had the satisfaction of showing, by his equally decided refusal, that he had petitioned in former times for the Church, not for himself.

That he was not forgotten in England in the better sense of affectionate remembrance, may be judged from the parting letter, some years after, of the Archbishop of Canterbury to Bishop White on his consecration. If he should not be able to write to Dr. Chandler, he begs the Bishop 'to assure him of his affectionate esteem and regard, and his hearty prayers for his better health.'*

The home picture given of Dr. Chandler by one who had the best means of gathering information, is full of beauty and interest, the true picture in short of the village pastor. Upon his missionary salary of 507., with some slight contributions from the congregation, a parsonage and small glebe, he lived,' says Dr. B.,†with such a degree of ease and comfort, with such a free and unbounded hospitality, as are remembered by many still living, both with wonder and pleasure. I have scarcely ever met,' says he, 'with any aged person belonging to our Church,

* White's Memoirs, Protestant Episcopal Church, p. 397. + Berrian's Narrative, p. 71.

who had visited Elizabethtown, that did not delight in recalling the many happy hours he had spent in that agreeable family, and at that hospitable board. But extensively as he was known and respected by strangers, he was still more beloved by his parishioners and friends. Cheerful in his temper, easy and accessible in his intercourse with others, fond of study, of retirement, and all rural pursuits, but yet of blending and sweetening them with social enjoyment; remaining much at home, and from an aversion to preaching elsewhere, never out of his own pulpit, it was natural that his affability, his kindness, his constant presence, and unintermitted labors, should greatly endear him to his people.'

But the storm of the Revolution at length broke in upon his peaceful retreat. In common with many whose characters forbid their motives being impeached, he had deprecated the contest with the mother country, and not only so, but labored with no feeble pen to avert it. When actual war came, and there was no longer room for the peace-maker, he retired before the storm, and after a short concealment in New-York, eventually took refuge in England. But even there we may trace the footsteps of one who had preached the Gospel. Such was the remembrance he had left behind him; such the

sanctity of the home where he had dwelt, and the respect universally felt for his widowed family, that amid the fluctuations of alternate success, which awaited the contending parties in New-Jersey, the parsonage was often made a place of common refuge. These Christian charities, on the edge of war, it is indeed delightful to contemplate: they are like the sweet budding flowers that grow up on the brink of the torrent or the avalanche.

The reception he met in England was that due to a scholar, a divine, and a faithful subject. The University of Oxford conferred on him her highest academic degree; the government quadrupled his annual stipend, raising it to 2001.; and upon the erection of Nova Scotia into a bishopric, its acceptance, as already mentioned, was not only proffered but pressed upon him. Persisting in his refusal, to which, in some degree, he was led by feeble health, the Archbishop of Canterbury called upon him to name the candidate, and it was on his suggestion that the station was conferred on the Rev. Dr. Inglis, former Rector of Trinity Church, New-York, who, on his part, was at the very time uniting with others of the American clergy in recommending Dr. Chandler to the same office, 'as one every way qualified (as their letter

expresses it) to discharge its duties with dignity and honor.'*

From a manuscript journal kept by Dr. Chandler during his absence, and now in the possession of the author, we find him still laboring for those whom he had left; raising funds for his destitute brethren; urging upon the government plans of conciliation, and upon the bishops, with whom he seems to have lived in habits of intimate friendship, the completion of his longcherished plan of an American Episcopate. Among other interesting documents on this subject, which he mentions as being placed in his hands by the Bishop of London, he speaks of the original patent made out by Sir Orlando Bridgman for an American Bishop in the reign of Charles II.'

Ten tedious years of banishment were thus passed by him, and when at length, in 1785, it was judged safe and expedient for him to return, it was in age and sorrow, after having lost, as we learn from his journal, a beloved daughter' and an only son,' and with an incurable disease fixed in his constitution; one, which, if any outward circumstance could destroy the happiness of a good man and sincere Christian, must have been fatal to his; but he came, with cheer

• White's Memoirs, p. 331.

fulness in his heart, to die in the bosom of his family; in inward as well as outward peace. On the last page of his diary his entry is, 'God's will be done.'

But while he had life his heart was with the Church; and a letter of expostulation, written by him after his return, to the Convention in Philadelphia in 1786, 'I have no doubt,' says Bishop White, 'was among the causes that prevented the disorganizing of the American Church.'* But the hand of death was upon him, though lingering in its approach. A cancer in the face terminated his mortal existence in 1790.

But to return to the subject of our memoir. It was in the month of May, as if to crown all other blessings with the bright hopes of spring, that Mr. Hobart and his youthful bride took possession of their destined parsonage in the quiet village of Hempstead, L. I.

Whether it answered the picture which fancy had drawn, we must leave to fancy to conjecture, for there are no memorials; certain, however, it is, it was not the true station for one of his talents long to rest in, either for usefulness to the Church or happiness to himself. The

* White's Memoirs, p. 131.