the persons so to be consecrated; nor until the said archbishop has been fully ascertained of their sufficiency in good ļearning, of the soundness of their faith, and of the purity of their

manners. Provided also, and be it hereby declared, that no person or persons consecrated to the office of a bishop in the manner aforesaid, 'nor any person or persons deriving their consecration from or under any bishop so consecrated, nor any person or persons admitted to the order of deacon or priest by any bishop or bishops so consecrated, or by the successor or successors of any bishop or bishops so consecrated, shall be thereby enabled to exercise his or their respective office or offices within his majesty's dominions. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that a certificate of such consecration shall be given under the hand and seal of the archbishop who consecrates, containing the name of the person so consecrated, with the addition as well of the country whereof he is a subject or citizen, as of the Church in which he is appointed bishop, and the further description of his not having taken the said oaths, being exempted from the obligation of so doing by virtue of this act.-Now, know all men by these presents, that we, the said John, lord archbishop of Canterbury, having obtained his majesty's license, by warrant under his royal signet and sign manual, did, in pursuance of the said act of parliament, on Sunday, the fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, in the chapel of our palace, at Lambeth, in the county of Surry, admit our beloved in Christ, William White, clerk, D. D. a subject or citizen of the state of Pennsylvania, in North-America, and rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's, in the city of Philadelphia, in the said state, of whose sufficiency in good learning, soundness in the faith, and purity of manners, we were fully ascertained, into the office of a bishop of the Protestant Episcopa! Church, in the state of Pennsylvania aforesaid, to which the said William White hath been elected by the convention for the said state, as appears unto us by due testimony thereof by him produced; and him, the said William White, did then and there rightly and canonically consecrate a bishop, accordiny to the manner and form prescribed and used by the Church of England, his taking the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and canonical obedience only excepted, he being exempted from the obligation of taking the said oaths by virtue of the above recited act. Provided, that neither he, the said bishop, nor any person or persons

kieriving their consecration from or under him, nor any person or persons admitted to the order of deacon or priest by him, or his successor or successors, shall be enabled to exercise his or their respective office or offices within his majesty's dominions. In testimony whereof, we have caused our archi-episcopal seal to be affixed to these presents. Given at Lambeth House, the day and year above written, and in the fourth year of our translation.

J. (L. S.) CANTUAR.

We, William, lord archbishop of York, Charles, lord bishop of Bath and Wells, and John, lord bishop of Peterborough, were present and assisting at the consecration within mentioned.

W. EBOR,
C. BATH & WELLS,
J. PETERBOROUGH.

The signatures of the archbishops of Canterbury and York, and of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Peterborough, were made in my presence, February 4th, 1787.

W. DICKES, (Copy.) Secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury. On Sunday, the fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and in the fourth year of the translation of the most reverend father in God, John, by divine Providence, lord archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and metropolitan, in the chapel at the palace at Lambeth, in the county of Surry, the said most reverend father in God, by virtue and authority of a certain license or warrant from his most gracious majesty, and our sovereign Lord George the third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, and so forth, to him, in this behalf, directed, the most reverend father in God, William, by the same Providence, lord archbishop of York, primate of England, and metropolitan, and the right reverend fathers in God, Charles, by divine permission, lord bishop of Bath and Wells, and John, by divine permission, lord bishop of Peterborough, assisting him, consecrated the reverend William White, doctor in divinity, rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's, in the city of Philadelphia, a subject or citizen of the United States of North-America, and the reverend Samuel Provoost, doctor

in divinity, rector of Trinity Church, in the city of NewYork, a subject or citizen also of the United States of North-America, to the office of a bishop, respectively, the rites, circumstances, and ceremonies anciently used in the Church of England being observed and applied, according to the tenour of an act passed in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of his said majesty, entitled, “An Act to empower the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Archbishop of York, for the time being, to Consecrate to the Office of a Bishop, Persons being Subjects or Citizens of Countries out of his Majesty's Dominions," in the presence

of

me, Robert Jenner, notary-public, one of the deputy registers of the province of Canterbury, being then and there present, the reverend and worshipful William Backhouse, doctor in divinity, archdeacon of Canterbury, the Rev. Lort, doctor in divinity, the Rev. — Drake, doctor in divinity, William Dickes, Esquire, notary-public, secretary to his grace the said lord archbishop of Canterbury, with many others in great numbers then and there assembled. Which I attest.

RT. JENNER, (Copy.)

Notary-Public, actuary assumed, And we, the underwritten notaries public, by royal authority duly admitted and sworn, residing in Doctor's Commons, London, do hereby certify and attest, to all whom it may concern, that Rober Jenner, whose name is subscribed to the aforegoing act, was and is a notary-public, and one of the deputy registers of the province of Canterbury, and that the letters, name, and words, “ Rt. Jenner, notary-public,” thereto subscribed, were and are of the proper hand writing and subscription of the said Robert Jenner, and that we saw him sign the same, and that full faith and entire credit is and ought to be given to all the acts, subscriptions, and attestations of the said Robert Jenner, as well in judgment as out. In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names, to serve and avail as occasion may require, at Doctor's Commons, London, this fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven. Which we attest.

EDWARD COOPER, Notary-Public, (Copy.) WILLIAM ABBOT, Notary-Public,

No. 15. Page 139.

Note of the Archbishop.

The archbishop desires, to have the proper direction for a letter to Bishop White at Falmouth; where, if he can find time, he means to send a letter to Dr. Chandler. 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. He wishes also for such a direction, as will be most proper for a letter, should occasion call for one, to the bishop in Philadelphia.

It is proper that the bishops should be informed, that the archbishop was mistaken about the consecrations in the province of York. They have always been attended by two bishops with the archbishop.

a

No. 16. Page 139.

1. From his Excellency Richard Henry Lee, Esq. President

of Congress, to the Hon. John Adams, Esq. Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Great-Britain.*

: New-York, October 24, 1785. DEAR SIR,

Having yesterday written a long letter to you, I have now only to request your attention to the following business, which is of very great importance to those whom it concerns; and who form a considerable portion of the citizens of these states. The representatives of those professing the Church of England system of religion, having been lately assembled at Philadelphia, where lay and clerical deputies from seven states were convened in General Convention, for the purpose, among other things, of preserving and maintaining a suc.cession of divines in their Church, in a manner which they

In the answer of Mr. Adams, he calls Mr. Lee “late president of Congress.” The presidency of the latter ended two days after his writing of the letter, as appears from the printed journals of the body, and the circumstance must have been nown to Mr. Adams. Therefore, the letter was written while Mr. Lee was president, and must have been designed to carry with it the weight of his official Abaracter.

judge consonant to the Gospel, and no way interfering with the religious or civil rights of others, have sent an address to the archbishops and bishops of England, proposing a plan for the consecration of American bishops. It is imagined that before any thing is done in this business by the bishops of England, they will consult the king and ministry; who, it is apprehended, may now, as heretofore, suppose that any step of the kind being taken in England, might be considered here as an officious intermeddling with our affairs, that would give offence on this side the water. Should this be the case, the Church of England members of congress have the greatest reliance on your liberal regard for the religious rights of all men, that you will remove mistaken scruples, from the mind of administration, by representing how perfectly consonant it is with our revolution principles, professed throughout all these states, that every denomination of Christians has a right to pursue its own religious modes, interfering not with others. That instead of giving offence, it must give content, by evidencing a friendly disposition to accommodate the people here who are members of the Church in question.

In proof of this, congress did lately show their attention to the accommodation of this class of Christians, by communicating to the different executives your information from the Danish minister, of that king's willingness to facilitate the business of ordination for our Church, and the assembly of Virginia hath incorporated this society, under which act of incorporation the assembly was held in that state that sent both lay and clerical deputies to the General Convention lately held in Philadelphia.

I have the honour to be, with sentiments of the truest esteem and regard, dear sir, your most obedient and very humble servant,

RICHARD HENRY LEE. His Excellency John Adams, Esq. Minister Plenipotentiary

from the United States of America to the Court of London, at his House in Grosvenor-Square, London.