happy to hear that M Lawrence is appointed to fill the other. Inclosed I send your Lordship a printed Copy of the Votes & Proceedings of the Assembly during the two last Meetings at Burlington. They contain nothing particular (besides the Messages I before transmitted relative to the Assembly's Refusal to grant Money for the Supply of the Troops) except three Messages which pass'd between us on the Subject of a Member having resign'd his Seat in the House on Account of his having become insolvent.' The House accepted his Resignation, and ordered their Speaker to issue his Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown, to make out a Writ for a new Election which the Clerk accordingly did, and apply'd to me to have the Great Seal affixed to it as usual. But, as I had some Doubts of the Legality of such a Resignation, I consulted the Council upon it, who were of Opinion with me that it was by no means regular or constitutional. It appears to me, indeed, that if it was once admitted that the Assembly have an uncontroulable Right to permit the Members to resign whenever they think proper, it would be nearly the same Thing as allowing them the Power of dissolving themselves; as a Dissolution might by such Means be brought about at any Time when the House should incline to have one, though against the Inclination of the Governor. The Law of the Province which directs the Qualifications of Members, and gives the House a Right to judge of their Qualifications, is similar to that in England. I apprehend that when the Person elected is judged to be duely qualified and admitted to take his Seat, it cannot be vacated merely on Account of his afterwards becoming a Bankrupt or Insolvent; and, if I mistake not, there are more than one who 1 See Governor's Franklin's letter of April 6th, 1772; also the letter of the Earl of Hillsborough of August 7th, 1772. hold their Seats in the present House of Commons tho' they have long since become Bankrupts, and consequently not possess'd of the Qualifications required by Law to entitle them to be elected. But the Assembly contend that in such a Case, if a Member does not resign, that they have the Right to expel him, as being the sole Judges of the Qualifications of the Members. There are Instances of Resignations being admitted, where it has been clearly proved that a Member was absolutely disabled by Bodily Infirmities from attending his Duty in Parliament, but not otherwise that I can find; and I imagine if Resignations in other Cases could be accepted by the House of Commons, it would not be so much the Practice as it is for Members to accept of Places under the Crown, for the Purpose only of vacating their Seats. However, as it appears to me to be a Matter which nearly concerns the Prerogative, I have refused to seal the Writ for a new Election until I can obtain further Light on the Subject, or receive His Majesty's Directions for my Conduct. I beg leave to refer your Lordship for the Particulars of what pass'd between me & the Assembly on this Head to Pages 11, 21, 22, 23, & 24 of the Votes & Proceedings sent herewith. I have the Honour to be, with the greatest Respect, P. S. I have receiv'd from M: Pownall Ten printed Copies of the Account of the Process used in Sweden in the Manufacture of Pitch and Tar, which I shall not fail to distribute in such Manner as may be most likely to answer the good Purposes intended.-W. F. Address of a Committee of the Clergy of the Church of England in New York and New Jersey, to Secretary Hillsborough, relative to the distressed state of the Church in those parts, through the want of Bishops. [From P. R. O. America and West Indies, Vol. 258 (276).] NEW YORK Oct 12th 1771 To the Honorable the Earl of Hillsborough May it please your Lordship, We, his Majesty's dutiful, loyal and affectionate Subjects, the Clergy of the Church of England in the Colonies of New York and New Jersey, beg Leave to address your Lordship in Behalf of our distressed Church in this Part of the World, which, through the want of Bishops, labours under many Difficulties and Hardships. The Case of our Church in the Colonies, may it please your Lordship, is peculiarly hard. It exists only in a maimed, imperfect State, being destitute of the highest Order of its Clergy; whilst all other religious Denominations fully enjoy their respective Forms of Church Government. Even the Moravians and Roman Catholics have their Bishops; the various Sects of Dissenters completely exercise the Discipline, and possess the Privileges, of their several Systems. The national Church only, which is an essential Part of the Constitution, is excepted from this general Indulgence, and is denied the Privileges that are granted to others. This mortifying Distinction marks them out as the only Sufferers in this way. We can have no Ordination, but at a heavy Expence; and the Hazard to Candidates for the Ministry, and the Time lost, in crossing an Ocean 3000 Miles in Breadth, are very considerable. The Expence amounts, at a moderate Computation, to £100 sterling to each Candidate: and the Risque may be estimated from this Circumstance that, according to an exact Account taken in 1767, out of Fifty-Two Persons, who had gone home for holy Orders from these Northern Colonies, Ten had perished, either in the Voyage, or by Sickness which it occasioned. We are deprived of that regular Discipline over the Clergy, which is necessary to the Welfare and Prosperity of every Church; and of the apostolic Ordinance of Confirmation, which we esteem to be highly beneficial. These Grievances are very great, besides their being peculiar to us; and become daily more obvious, and more sensibly felt. Under these Circumstances, esteeming it to be a Duty we owe to God, to his Church, and to the State, to use every justifiable Method in our Power to have them removed: We have by this Conveyance humbly supplicated the Throne, and laid our Case before his Majesty. From his paternal Goodness we entertain the most sanguine Hopes of Redress; and that he will graciously interpose his royal Authority and Power, for the Removal of these Hardships from near a Million of his loyal Subjects belonging to the Church of England in these Parts, by appointing one or more Bishops for America. We also most earnestly request your Lordship's Countenance and Assistance in promoting this Measure, which is dictated by every Motive of good Policy, as well as Piety. The Relation in which your Lordship stands to the Colonies, points You out as the properest Person, next to our gracious Sovereign, to whom we should prefer our Complaint and Request, And it is a pleasing Circumstance, that our Duty, on this occasion, should coincide with our Inclination, to address a Nobleman, whose many amiable Qualities, and whose Zeal in the Service of the best of Kings, as well as his warm Attachment to the Constitution, we cannot but look upon as very favorable to an Application of this Nature. The only Plan on which an Episcopate is requested, as the Public has been often assured, is, that Bishops may be sent to the Colonies with purely ecclesiastical Powers, without any temporal Authority, and without any Jurisdiction over the Dissenters of any Denomination. From hence it is evident that we only desire an Exemption from the peculiar Hardships we have hitherto suffered, and to be placed on an Equality with other religious Denominations. We wish not to interfere with the Rights or Privileges of others, or to abridge that ample Toleration they already enjoy. With this Disposition we conceive it to be no more than reasonable, that we should be indulged with the same religious Privileges which are granted to them; especially considering our Relation to the national Establishment. Yet notwithstanding the Equity of our Claim, it has met with Opposition from a certain Quarter. Objections against it have been publickly offered; but these have been minutely discussed, and refuted to the entire Satisfaction of the impartial.' And we submit it to your Lordship's Wisdom, whether, even waving the Justice of our Cause, The Rev. Dr. Chandler, of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, whose name is appended to this address, was by his brother clergymen constituted the champion of an American Episcopate, and published voluminous works on the subject in 1767, 1768 and 1770. The Rev. Dr. Charles Chancy, of Boston, was perhaps his ablest antagonist. The literature of the subject is exceedingly ample. At the close of the war Dr. Chandler was appointed Bishop of Nova Scotia, but felt constrained to decline on account of his health, and the Rev. Charles Inglis, at one time Rector of Trinity Church, New York, was appointed. -[W. N.] |