good will as to our business, but seemed surprised that it was not already finished, until we mentioned the reason of the archbishop, whom his lordship had not seen.

GENTLEMEN,

Westminster, January 20, 1787.

I now address you, with the pleasing prospect of being soon able to re-embark for America, after the accomplishment of the business committed to me. It is possible, indeed, that I may arrive before the vessel, by which this letter will be conveyed. Even in that case, it may serve for a continuation of the narrative of the proceedings of my honoured colleague and myself. And as there is entire harmony between us, both of sentiment and of affection, I shall, for the sake of brevity, omit distinguishing between us in the following account; using the plural number, in stating any thing that was said by either of us on the occasion.

After my last letter, we received from the archbishop, through a friend who had spoken to him on the subject, full satisfaction, that the delay arose from no other cause, than his grace's waiting for the arrival of the bishops; and that it was his intention to finish the transaction in time for our departure by the February packet; it being the opportunity, by which he had understood from us, that it was our inclination to return.

The queen's birth-day, and the near approach of the meeting of parliament, have brought to town many of the right reverend bench. Accordingly, we received yesterday a note from the archbishop, desiring us to call on him this morning. We attended, and had a conversation of two hours; of which it is now my intention to give you the substance, as far as my memory serves, and as is connected with the affairs of our Church.

His grace began with expressing his hopes that we had not thought him inattentive to our business. He said, that soon after our arrival, he had mentioned the matter to the king; that the necessary powers from government would be soon obtained; and that the consecration should be either on the 28th instant, or on that day seven-night; and that the latter day the best suited his convenience, and should be made the appointment, provided it were consistent with our intentions of returning by the packet.

After making the suitable acknowledgments of his good

ness, and declaring our full conviction that he had used all possible expedition, we said, that the day after the last mentioned Sunday was the intended time of our departure, in the event of our being ready for the packet; and that, therefore, we could not press for the matter to be expedited, sooner than was convenient to his grace.

He then gently touched on the subject, in regard to which our last convention had not complied with the recommendation of the two archbishops. He said, that some were dissatisfied with the omission of the creed here alluded to; that, for his part, he was not uneasy on the head, being satisfied that the doctrine of the creed is retained in many places of the Prayer Book; but that, however, he did not like the manner in which it appeared on the minutes; preferred the mode of doing business used in all the bodies with which he was acquainted; among whom, it was customary to mention the business brought before them, and the result of the debate, without specifying the votes of the individual members. Whether his grace had here a view to the votes of those whom he was addressing in regard to the Athanasian Creed, we did not know; but the answer which he received was to this purpose-That if the convention had taken a wrong method in the above particular, it proceeded from their wish to show themselves open and candid; and that the Church in one of the states, had instructed their deputies to move for the so specifying of the

votes.

His grace then said, that in the beginning of the business, there had been many reports and apprehensions; that this required of the bishops to be circumspect; and that even when our proceedings arrived, there were some things, which they could not but wish otherwise. And here, said he, I am not alluding to the liturgy, but to the very easy manner in which the degradation of bishops seems allowed to be done. It was remarked to his grace, that the offensive article had been altered. He answered-Yes, and much for the better.

From this, his grace passed to some remarks concerning the Psalter. He said, that whatever use there might be in leaving out some parts of the Psalms, he saw no propriety in altering the connexion, in the manner in which we had done it. He did not mean to undervalue the abilities of those employed in it, but thought it was a work of more time and difficulty, than they seem to have conceived. From a desire of taking his grace's meaning precisely on

this subject, it was here mentioned to him, that if we understood him, he did not object to the omission of some portions of the Psalms, from the worship of the Church. The reply was-He had not fully considered that subject; and only meant at present to remark on the connecting of portions together, in such a manner as might break the connexion, and alter the sense of the original compositions; especially of such of them as are prophetical. But his grace did not allege, that the sense had been actually altered, in any place.

In speaking of the liturgy, the archbishop expressed his hopes, that it would not be a matter liable to alterations, at every convention. He was answered, that although it was still submitted to the Church as a proposed liturgy, so as to allow of the correction of any part of it, which might appear, on mature consideration, to have been hastily done; yet there were no description of men in this country, who would more object to the leaving of the liturgy in so fluctuating a state, than the great body of Episcopalians in America.

The archbishop took notice of a want of formality, in our not having brought a regular instrument of our election: although he allowed, that our election was fully implied in the papers which had been produced.; so as to leave no doubt of the fact. This naturally led us to speak of the forms of recommendation, prescribed by the two archbishops. In respect to these we ventured to declare, that the Church at large in America acknowledged great obligations; and would expect that their future bishops should make it a rule of their conduet. He replied, that the appointment of persons to the Episcopal character was of the highest consequence; and earnestly wished that it may be managed with great discretion in America; and that he thought himself obliged to use the precautions which we had mentioned. For, said he, gentlemen, you were strangers to me; although I had heard you respectfully spoken of. At the same time, there were some who apprehended, that persons of a very unsuitable description would be sent. I thought it improbable-he continued that general and particular conventions would unite in recommending such persons; and yet it was my determination, that if such should be sent, and under circumstances carrying full evidence of the unsuitableness, not to have troubled the bishops with the affair, but to have taken the brunt of a refusal on myself. The answer was to this effect-That if

there had been any danger of such a measure, the requisitions of the two archbishops must have operated as a prevention: that we trusted, however, there was not a sufficient number of our brethren, in any state, capable of wilfully imposing an improper character on his grace; and that, therefore, if any such character had been recommended, it must have been some years ago, and from the want of due information.

His grace, in some part of the conversation, was led to speak of the act of parliament: in respect to which, we took notice of the clause, requiring the consent of the king, under his sign manual. This clause, we told him, we had understood from private information, not to have been in the act as proposed by the bishops. We ventured to say, however, that the principle of the restriction was well understood in America, so as to occasion no offence there. The archbishop answered, that it was not in the act, as proposed by the bishops, but that he thought it a very proper clause, and that it was particularly acceptable to himself; since otherwise the matter would have rested wholly with him, which he did not wish.

1

He introduced a subject which was unexpected to us, and may influence measures in America. He said, that, when bishop of Bangor, he had presented the bishop elect of the Isle of Man to the archbishop of York for consecration; and that none were concerned in the consecration besides the archbishop and himself: that he had set on foot an inquiry, respecting past usage in the province of York and that if the practice had been the same in times past, perhaps it might prove unnecessary for another gentleman to come from America. In the conversation that ensued on this head, it was thrown out on our side, that if the ancient canonical number should be dispensed with, perhaps doubts might subsist in the minds of some, in regard to the validity; and that such an apprehension might be productive of some irregularity and inconvenience. To this the archbishop replied, that the latitude, if left, would be intended merely for our accommodation, but was by no means to prevent the coming over of a third applicant, if that should be thought eligible by us.

I think it a matter worthy to be mentioned in this letter, that the archbishop informed us of thoughts entertained by him, of giving to the world a publication, relative to the business before us, stating the reasons influencing him in the measures which he had adopted. We took the liberty

of expressing our hearty approbation of the proposal; and as his grace did not seem to have come to a determination, we hoped that he would find no objection to it, on further consideration.

After discussing the above-mentioned subjects more fully than I can be expected to relate, we apologized for taking up so much of his grace's time, and arose to take our leave. But we were encouraged by the condescension shown, to mention, that as the king was to open the parliament in a few days, it would be a gratification to us to gain admittance to the House of Lords, on that occasion, through the good offices of his grace. The archbishop took this freedom in very good part, desired us to consider him as on terms of friendship, and assured us, that he would send us a note of admission, and express in it the time, which his majesty should appoint for his coming to the house, in order to prevent our unnecessary waiting.*

I suppose that this incident reminded the archbishop of a question which had been asked him by Mr. Adams, at our first interview-Whether it would not be proper for us to wait on the king; and whether, in that case, the archbishop or himself would be the proper person to introduce us. To this question the archbishop had answered at the time, that the first step was for himself to be satisfied, before any notice could properly be given to the king. In relation to this subject, his grace now said, that if we were to be introduced to the king, it ought to be on the ground of thanking him, for his leave given for the ensuing consecration, under his sign manual; and that whether this would be liable to any objection or not, we must judge. We made no scruple to answer, that there could be no objection to it, arising out of the relations in which we stood. He then said, that he supposed Mr. Adams chose to introduce us himself. We answered, that although the proposal originated with Mr. Adams, yet we believed he wished to leave it to his grace to determine on the manner. To this he replied, that he would consider of it further, and let us know.

His grace then said, that he was desirous of appointing some day for our dining with him again; intending to ask some of the bishops to meet us, and also some of our friends. This led us to ask his grace's opinion, as to the propriety of our calling at the houses of all the bishops; in order to thank them for the good office soon to be done, through the

* The promise was fulfilled.