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the communion at large in these states, which will make him a valuable acquisition to the order, and, we trust, a rich blessing to the Church.

Done at a meeting of the Presbyters, whose names are underwritten, held at Salem, in the County of Essex, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the fourth day of June, Anno Salutis, 1789.

SAMUEL PARKER,

Rector of Trinity Church, Boston.
T. FITCH OLIVER,

Rector of St. Michael's Church, Marblehead.
JOHN COUSENS OGDEN,

Rector of Queen's Chapel, Portsmouth, New-Hampshire.

WILLIAM MONTAGUE,

Minister of Christ Church, Boston.
TILLOTSON BRUNSON,

Assistant Minister of Christ Church, Boston.

Resolves on the foregoing.

1st. Resolved, That a complete order of bishops, derived as well under the English as the Scots line of Episcopacy, doth now subsist within the United States of America, in the persons of the Right Rev. William White, D. D. bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the state of Pennsylvania; the Right Rev. Samuel Provoost, D. D. bishop of the said Church in the state of New-York; and the Right Rev. Samuel Seabury, D. D. bishop of the said Church in the state of Connecticut.

2d. Resolved, That the said three bishops are fully competent to every proper act and duty of the Episcopal office and character in these United States, as well in respect to the consecration of other bishops, and the ordering of priests and deacons, as for the government of the Church, according to such rules, canons, and institutions, as now are, or hereafter may be duly made and ordained by the Church in that case.

3d. Resolved, That in Christian charity, as well as of duty, necessity, and expediency, the Churches represented in this convention ought to contribute, in every manner in their power, towards supplying the wants, and granting every just and reasonable request of their sister Churches in these states; and, therefore,

4th. Resolved, That the Right Rev. Dr. White, and the Right Rev. Dr. Provoost, be, and they hereby are, requested to join with the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury, in complying with

the prayer of the clergy of the states of Massachusetts and New-Hampshire, for the consecration of the Rev. Edward Bass, bishop elect of the Churches in the said states; but that, before the said bishops comply with the request aforesaid, it be proposed to the Churches in the New-England states, to meet the Churches of these states, with the said three bishops, in an adjourned convention, to settle certain articles of union and discipline among all the Churches, previous to such consecration.

5th. Resolved, That if any difficulty or delicacy, in respect to the archbishops and bishops of England, shall remain with the Right Rev. Doctors White and Provoost, or either of them, concerning their compliance with the above request, this convention will address the archbishops and bishops, and hope thereby to remove the difficulty.

No. 19. Page 143.

An Address to the Most Reverend the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

MOST VENERABLE AND ILLUSTRIOUS FATHERS

AND PRELATES,

We, the bishops, clergy, and laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the states of New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and SouthCarolina, impressed with every sentiment of love and veneration, beg leave to embrace this earliest occasion; in General Convention, to offer our warmest, most sincere, and grateful acknowledgments to you, and (by your means) to all the venerable bishops of the Church over which you preside, for the manifold instances of your former condescension to us, and solicitude for our spiritual welfare. But we are more especially called to express our thankfulness, for that particular act of your fatherly goodness, whereby we derive, under you, a pure Episcopacy and succession of the ancient order of bishops, and are now assembled, through the blessing of God, as a Church duly constituted and organized, with the happy prospect before us of a future full and undisturbed exercise of our holy religion, and its extension to the utmost bounds of this continent, under an ecclesiastical constitution, and a form of worship, which we believe to be truly apostolical.

The growing prospect of this happy diffusion Christianity, and the assurance we can give you that our Churches are spreading and flourishing througho these United States, we know, will yield you more sold joy, and be considered as a more ample reward of your goodness to us, than all the praises and expressions of gratitude which the tongues of men can bestow.

It gives us pleasure to assure you, that, during the present sitting of our convention, the utmost harmony has prevailed through all our deliberations, that we continue, as heretofore, most sincerely attached to the faith and doctrine of the Church of England: and that not a wish appears to prevail, either among our clergy or laity, of ever departing from that Church in any essential article.

The business of most material consequence which hath come before us, at our present meeting, hath been an application from our sister Churches in the eastern states, expressing their earnest desire of a general union of the whole Episcopal Church in the United States, both in doctrine and discipline; and, as a primary means of such union, praying the assistance of our bishops in the consecration of a bishop elect for the states of Massachusetts and NewHampshire. We therefore judge it necessary to accompany this address with the papers which have come before us on that very interesting subject, and of the proceedings we have had thereupon, by which you will be enabled to judge concerning the particular delicacy of our situation, and, probably, to relieve us from any difficulties which may be found therein.

The application from the Church in the states of Massachusetts and New-Hampshire is in the following words. [Here follows the application as in the preceding number.] At the meeting aforesaid,

Voted, That the Rev. Samuel Parker be authorized and empowered to transmit copies of the foregoing act, to be by him attested, to the right reverend the bishops in Connecticut, New-York, and Pennsylvania; and that he be appointed our agent, to appear at any convocation to be holden at Pennsylvania or New-York, and to treat upon any measures that may tend to promote an union of the Episcopal Church throughout the United States of America, or that may prove advantageous to the interest of the said Church. EDWARD BASS, Chairman

A true copy. (Attest) SAMUEL PARKER.

This was accompanied with a letter from the Rev. Samuel Parker, the worthy rector of Trinity Church, Boston, to the Right Rev. Bishop White, dated June 21st, 1789, of which the following is an extract:-"The clergy here have appointed me their agent, to appear at any convocation to be held at New-York or Pennsylvania; but I fear the situation of my family and parish will not admit of my being absent so long as a journey to Philadelphia would take. When I gave you encouragement that I should attend, I was in expectation of having my parish supplied by some gentlemen from Nova-Scotia ; but I am now informed, they will not be here till some time in August. Having, therefore, no prospect of attending in person at your General Convention, next month, I am requested to transmit you an attested copy of an act of the clergy of this and the state of New-Hampshire, electing the Rev. Edward Bass our bishop, and requesting the united assistance of the right reverend bishops of Pennsylvania, New-York, and Connecticut, to invest him with apostolic powers. This act I have now the honour of enclosing, and hope it will reach you before the meeting of your General Convention in July.

"The clergy of this state are very desirous of seeing an union of the whole Episcopal Church in the United States take place; and it will remain with our brethren at the southward to say, whether this shall be the case or not; whether we shall be an united or divided Church. Some little difference in government may exist in different states, without affecting the essential points of union and communion."

In the like spirit, the Right Rev. Dr. Scabury, bishop of the Church of Connecticut, in his letter to the Rev. Dr. Smith, dated July 23d, writes on the subject of union, &c. as followeth :-" The wish of my heart, and the wish of the clergy and of the Church people of this state, would certainly have carried me and some of the clergy to your General Convention, had we conceived we could have attended with propriety. The necessity of an union of all the Churches, and the disadvantages of our present dis-union, we feel and lament equally with you; and I agree with you, that there may be a strong and efficacious union between Churches, where the usages are different. I see not why it may not be so in the present case, as soon as you have removed those obstructions, which, while they remain, must prevent all possibility of uniting. The Church of Connecticut consists, at present, of nineteen clergymen in full

orders, and more than twenty thousand people, they suppose, as respectable as the Church in any state of the union."

After the most serious deliberation upon this important business, and cordially joining with our brethren of the eastern or New-England Churches in the desire of union, the following resolves were unanimously adopted in convention, viz.

[Here follow the resolves, as given in the preceding number.]

We have now, most venerable fathers, submitted to your consideration whatever relates to this important business of union among all our Churches in these United States. It was our original and sincere intention to have obtained three bishops at least, immediately consecrated by the bishops of England, for the seven states comprehended within our present union. But that intention being frustrated through unforeseen circumstances, we could not wish to deny any present assistance, which may be found in our power to give to any of our sister Churches, in that way which may be most acceptable to them, and in itself legal and expedient.

We ardently pray for the continuance of your favour and blessing, and that, as soon as the urgency of other weighty concerns of the Church will allow, we may be favoured with that fatherly advice and direction, which to you may appear most for the glory of God and the prosperity of our Churches, upon the consideration of the foregoing documents and papers.

Done in Convention, this 8th day of August, 1789, and directed to be signed by all the members, as the act of their body, and by the president officially.*

No. 20. Page 146.

A General Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

ART. 1. There shall be a General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, on the first Tuesday of August, in the year of our Lord 1792, and on the first Tuesday of August in every

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