ON reading Dr. Chandler's appeal to the public, in behalf of the church of England in America, I met with a long quotation in favour of an American epiſcopate, from a ſermon preach'd by your lordſhip before the incorporated ſociety, for the propagation of the goſpel in foreign parts, at their anniverſary meeting in the pariſh church of St. Mary-le-Bow, on the 20th of February, 1767. This raiſed my curioſity to procure the ſermon itſelf; and your lordſhip will pardon me for ſaying, that the peruſal of it excited at once my indignation and ſorrow;—my indignation, that any man ſhould ſo groſsly have abuſed your lordſhip's confidence in his veracity, by the moſt unparallelled miſrepreſentation of facts; and my ſorrow, that a perſon of your lordſhip's good ſenſe and diſtinguiſhed character, ſhould have placed any confidence in ſo impudent an informer. For indeed, my lord, I queſtion whether there be a pamphlet in the nation, that in proportion to the length of the ſermon, contains ſo great a number of aberrations from the truth. And as the facts alledged are extremely injurious to the characters of men, and many of them, to the memory of the moſt excellent perſons deceaſed, (whom we have the greateſt reaſon to believe, have, long ſince, received the approbation of their and your lordſhip's final judge) whoever abuſed your lordſhip's credulity, is on this account, the more inexcuſably culpable. How far your lordſhip is yourſelf to blame, for preaching and publiſhing ſo many intereſting facts, on ſuch incompetent teſtimony as your lordſhip has relied on, I will not preſume to determine. This however, I think I may venture to ſay without offence, that as the charges adduced by your lordſhip, affect the reputation of great numbers of his majeſty's loyal ſubjects in theſe colonies, proportionable deliberation and pains were neceſſary to inveſtigate the truth. And tho' the moſt ſedulous and impartial inquirer may be deceived by miſinformation; yet in the preſent caſe, it was ſo eaſy a matter to have attained to the utmoſt certainty, that directly the reverſe of many aſſertions in your lordſhip's ſermon was true; that it is not a little ſurprizing your lordſhip ſhould have ſuffered yourſelf to have been ſo palpably miſled. And if a prelate of your lordſhip's abilities and candour, was ſo unhappily induced to take up an ill report againſt your neighbour, from the mouth or pen of ſome malicious deceiver, how much eaſier may we imagine, will a misjudging and cenſorious world adopt, what has been preached and printed by ſo diſtinguiſhed a perſonage as the biſhop of Landaff. It cannot therefore, I humbly preſume, be deemed officious or impertinent, in vindication of the characters ſo unjuſtly defamed in your lordſhip's ſermon, to remove thoſe prejudices you have unfortunately imbibed; or to prevent their being farther diffuſed, and more deeply rivetted, by a diſcourſe, which from the dignity of its author, muſt naturally carry great weight, and make very durable impreſſions. And it appears truly wonderful to me, that amongſt the great numbers in this country, who are capable of performing this benevolent taſk, not one that I know of, except Dr. Chauncey of Boſton (to whom I am obliged for ſeveral facts and obſervations) hath hitherto attempted it. The paſſages in your ſermon, my lord, which I would be underſtood to have particularly in view, are thoſe which relate to the American colonies. Your lordſhip ſays, page 6, Since the diſcovery of the new world, the ſame proviſion hath not been made of miniſters, neceſſary to the ſupport of chriſtianity among thoſe who removed thither, eſpecially in the Britiſh colonies. This, my lord, affirmed of the colonies without diſcrimination, is ſo contrary to truth, that with reſpect to many of them, they exceed perhaps in ſuch proviſion, every other part of the chriſtian world. In the New-England colonies particularly, they have from their earlieſt ſettlement been peculiarly attentive to the moſt ample proviſion of a goſpel miniſtry. Their legiſlative acts, from the commencement of thoſe colonies, abundantly evince this attention. By theſe proviſion is always made for the eſtabliſhment and ſupport of the goſpel miniſtry in every new-erected townſhip; and without ſuch eſtabliſhment, within three years from the ſettlement, the grants are liable to an abſolute forfeiture. In conſequence of this proviſion, with the divine bleſſing on their pious endeavours, chriſtianity has not only been ſupported, but ſo faithfully preached, and ſo zealouſly inculcated, that I will venture to affirm, there is not a more virtuous, not a more religious people upon the face of the earth. Indeed, my lord, from the moſt authentic accounts reſpecting the ſtate of religion in England, I have reaſon to think, they ſurpaſs both in the theory and practice of chriſtianity, thoſe who have the advantage of enjoying it under the ſupports of a legal eſtabliſhment, and are perpetually baſking in the full ſunſhine of epiſcopal pre-eminence. Nay, I doubt not your lordſhip will readily admit, that notwithſtanding the millions expended on the dignitaries of the church, and the boaſted advantage of epiſcopal ordination, the people of England do not outſhine in purity of morals, either the proteſtant cantons of Switzerland, the republic of Holland, or the church of Scotland; all which however know nothing about epiſcopacy, except, as theſe colonies, I mean, at a convenient and comfortable diſtance. And though recrimination, my lord, is reputed to be juſt; yet it is ſo very diſagreeable, that I ſhall not attempt to heighten the luſtre of the lives and examples of the New-England clergy, by the foil of thoſe in the mother country. Let it ſuffice to inform your lordſhip, as what may be depended upon for matter of fact, that there are now within the bounds of New-England, not leſs than five hundred and fifty miniſters, ſome of the preſbyterian, but the greater part of the congregational perſuaſion, regularly ſet apart to the paſtoral charge of as many chriſtian congregations, having been previouſly qualified with divine and human literature in the courſe of a liberal education, at ſome of their colleges. They are moreover, men of irreproachable lives, and orthodox in principle, who diſcharge their ſacred function in a manner that does honour to the holy religion they profeſs. And can it be ſaid, my lord, with the leaſt appearance of truth, of ſuch a country as this, (a country ſo thinly inhabited, and ſo recently emerging out of a ſtate of political nonexiſtence) that it has not made a proviſion of miniſters neceſſary for the ſupport of chriſtianity? In truth, my lord, however the people of Britain, may, on account of their remote ſituation from us, be prevailed on to credit ſuch marvellous reports, the North-Americans could not be more aſtoniſhed, ſhould your lordſhip aſſert, that this part of the world is not inhabited by any of the human ſpecies, but only by Satyrs, and Centaurs, and Griffins.

YOUR lordſhip proceeds, A ſcandalous neglect (to wit, this of not making proviſion for miniſters) which hath brought great and deſerved reproach both on the adventurers, and on the government whence they went, and under whoſe protection and power they ſtill remained in their new habitations. To convince your lordſhip, by an induction of particulars, that theſe colonies have of late indeed felt the power of the country whence they emigrated, would oblige me to protract this letter to an inexcuſable length. A great part of that auguſt aſſembly, the Britiſh parliament, and his majeſty's miniſters in particular, have exhibited recent proofs, by removing ſome of our complaints againſt an undue exertion of power, that it had made us feel but too great a proportion of it. I am ſorry, my lord, that ſo few of the right reverend bench concurred with them in ſentiment. But with reſpect to the protection which the mother country hath afforded us, your lordſhip has no reaſon to triumph. Many of the colonies were not only ſettled without her protection, but by reaſon of her perſecution and intollerance. The emigrants fled from her, into the wilds of America, to find an aſylum from thoſe uſurpations over the conſciences of men; which it will be an eternal blemiſh on her character, that ſhe ſo wantonly exerciſed. After having forſaken houſes and lands, and the moſt tender connections, with every thing dear and eſtimable amongſt human kind, for the undiſturbed fruition of the rights of private judgment, ſacred by the laws of God and of nature, they had to encounter, without the protection of the government, the ſanguinary ſavages of the deſart, with all thoſe unſpeakable difficulties of ſettling a new world in a howling wilderneſs; which nothing but an inflexible truſt in God, and the moſt infrangible reſolution of adhering to their religious principles, could ever have ſurmounted. A character this, my lord, that will, in the opinion of all impartial men, make a brighter figure in hiſtory, than can poſſibly be acquired by haranguing on the excellency of chriſtianity from the downy couch of ſecurity and eaſe; or recommending the propagation of it among the pagans, the orator the mean while, remaining at the ſalutary diſtance of three thouſand miles from the ſcene of action.

YOUR lordſhip proceeds in the following words. To the adventurers, what reproach could be caſt heavier than what they deſerv'd? Who, with their native ſoil, abandoned their native manners and religion; and er'e long were found in many parts without remembrance or knowledge of God, without any divine worſhip, in diſſolute wickedneſs, and the moſt brutal profligacy of manners. Inſtead of civilizing and converting barbarous infidels, as they undertook to do, they became themſelves infidels and barbarians. And is it not ſome aggravation of their ſhame, that this their neglect of religion was contrary to the pretences and conditions under which they obtained royal grants, and public authority to their adventures? The pretences and conditions were, that their deſign was, and that they ſhould endeavour the enlargement of commerce, and the propagation of chriſtian faith. The former they excuted with ſincerity and zeal; and in the latter moſt notoriouſly failed. —While ruminating, my lord, on thoſe ſtriking words, living without remembrance or knowledge of God, without any divine worſhip, in diſſolute wickedneſs, and the moſt brutal profligacy of manners! I am almoſt tempted to think, that your lordſhip hath miſtaken ſome hiſtory of the Cape of Good-Hope, for that of New-England. Indeed, I have no conception that the moſt exquiſite pencil is capable of drawing a more hideous picture of human nature: Nor do I think that even the Hottentots themſelves, if we may credit the more modern travellers, are ſunk into ſuch an amazing depth of depravity and pollution. Bating the article of divine worſhip, I never heard of a people, whom your lordſhip's picture more ſtrongly reſembles, than ſome of the epiſcopal clergy in the province of Maryland, and the Weſt-India iſlands; but for them alſo, it is rather too high-wrought, and coloured beyond the life. Your lordſhip, 'tis true, has not been pleaſed in direct terms, to tell us in what parts the adventurers were thus irreligious, diſſolute, brutal, and beyond all parallel profligate in their manners: But by certain diſtinguiſhing ſtrokes in this deep-ſhaded and diſmal portrait, it is ſufficiently evident, that your lordſhip intends the adventurers who ſettled New-England. This I collect from the following words in the paragraph under conſideration.— Their not civilizing and converting the barbarous infidels, as they undertook to do: And this in contrariety to the pretences and conditions under which they obtained royal grants; and in a word, their implicative declaration by thoſe pretences and conditions, that their deſign was, and that they would endeavour the propagation of the chriſtian faith.

As I cannot find, my lord, that any incorporated company of adventurers to America, entered into the engagements mentioned by your lordſhip, or obtained any charter on ſuch condition, except thoſe who fixed their reſidence in New-England; I muſt conclude thoſe were the emigrants, to whom your lordſhip more particularly alludes. I therefore take it for granted, it is againſt them, that your lordſhip has preferred the heavy accuſation, of abandoning with their native ſoil, their native manners and religion, &c. It is certainly to be preſumed, my lord, that you was not perſonally acquainted with any adventurers who died an hundred years before your lordſhip was born. Nor from any hiſtory of that people, could ſo diſguſtful a deſcription be collected, there being no account of them extant, but what does honour to their moral and religious character. Nay, my lord, ſo far from deſerving to have their memories ſtigmatized with ſo uncommon a brand of infamy, that they were remarkable for all the oppoſite virtues. Inſtead of living without the remembrance or knowledge of God, they maintained a conſtant ſenſe of the deity, to whom, for his preſervation of them amidſt the perils of the great deep, and their deliverance out of the hands of their perſecutors, they conceived themſelves under renewed and additional obligations. Their lives were ſuitable to thoſe devout ſentiments. Inſtead of living without divine worſhip, their firſt care was to found churches, to found colleges for a learned goſpel miniſtry, and to frame laws for the ſupport of the public worſhip of God. Nor have thoſe colonies from their firſt ſettlement to this day, been without provincial laws, to enforce an attendance on public worſhip, and puniſh the profanation of the ſabbath. Laws religiouſly obſerved, and not wantonly violated, as in London, where the lord's-day is leſs diſtinguiſhable by a proportionate appearance of religion, than a partial depopulation of the city, diſgorging her myriads to revel in the country, and ſpend that conſecrated portion of time, (to borrow your lordſhip's expreſſive, and in this place, moſt appoſite language, in more than mere diſſipation even) in diſſolute wickedneſs. So far from being diſſolutely wicked, that they were remarkable not only for their ſobriety, temperance, chaſtity and gravity, but moreover for a kind of preciſion and rigidneſs of manners, very prevalent in the nation at the time of their departure; but which king Charles the ſecond, and his profligate courtiers ſoon laughed out of it; and together with it, a great deal of real and ſubſtantial piety, which all the Engliſh clergy, with their united efforts, have not been able hitherto to reſtore to the ſame flouriſhing and vigorous condition. With reſpect to their brutal profligacy of manners; the charge, my lord, is ſo groſs, and the contrary ſo univerſally known to be true, that an attempt to refute it, after what has already been ſaid (and for which I vouch every hiſtory of that people) would be a manifeſt miſpending of your lordſhip's time. You cannot, my lord, require, that we ſhould tranſmit depoſitions from hence, to prove, that the ſun ſhines in America as well as in Europe. And yet it is not more notorious to all this part of the continent, that the people to whoſe memories your lordſhip has been ſo injurious, did, in fact, deſerve the above amiable and excellent character, than that we enjoy the light of that glorious luminary. Nay, in a matter ſo generally known, it were a ſtrange taſk to be obliged to adduce particular teſtimony. It would be like the hardſhip complained of by archbiſhop Tillotſon, in his ſermon againſt tranſubſtantiation, that it might well ſeem ſtrange if any man ſhould write a book, to prove that an egg is not an elephant, and that a muſket bullet is not a pike.

BUT as your lordſhip has neither acquired this intelligence by perſonal acquaintance, nor hiſtorical information, I can conceive of no ſource from whence it could ſo probably have been drawn, as that of the ſociety's miſſionaries. And believe me, my lord, if you make uſe of no other channel of conveyance, your lordſhip will but too ſeldom be juſtly informed. This declaration muſt naturally appear ſo harſh and uncharitable, that I think myſelf obliged to aſſign the reaſon on which it is grounded. I will, my lord, aſſign two. In the firſt place, many of thoſe miſſionaries, in their accounts reſpecting their miſſion, have for many years paſt, made it a practice to miſrepreſent facts. And ſecondly, it being their intereſt ſo to do, a moderate ſhare of the knowledge of mankind, will be ſufficient to induce us to conſider as incompetent witneſſes, any ſet of men who are perſonally intereſted in the teſtimony they deliver.

But in what ſenſe, my lord, did thoſe adventurers abandon their native religion? If your lordſhip means by their native religion, the doctrines of chriſtianity as contained in the thirty-nine articles of your church; they were ſo far from abandoning it, that it were to be wiſhed it had been as inviolably preſerved by thoſe whom they left behind them. Theſe were the very doctrines which they, in their time, univerſally believed, conſtantly taught, and warmly inculcated. Theſe are the doctrines which their poſterity, to this day, believe, teach, and inculcate. Nay, they believe, teach and inculcate them, in the ſame ſcriptural and unadulterated ſenſe, in which they were believed, taught and inculcated at the time of the reformation. They believe, teach, and inculcate them, without thoſe ſophiſticating gloſſes, by which they have ſince, in the mother-country, been wreſted to favour the hereſy of Arminius; which your lordſhip well knows was not their native ſenſe; and conſequently, as far as the Engliſh clergy do now pervert them to any ſuch meaning; ſo far have they abandoned their native religion. And if there be any among the deſcendants of thoſe adventurers, who have, in this ſenſe, I mean in a perverſion of thoſe articles, abandoned their native religion, they generally happen, I know not by what fatality, to be members of the epiſcopal churches. Few, my lord, very few of any other denominations amongſt us, have hitherto profeſſed that wonderful dexterity in taylorſhip, of making robes of righteouſneſs, and garments of ſalvation, out of—filthy rags.

YOUR lordſhip's charge, is certainly ſo groundleſs, that there never was a people in the world, who have been more aſſiduous in preſerving their native religion, and in tranſmitting it, pure and incorrupt, to their poſterity. If catechiſms are conducive to this end, they have publiſhed as judicious and elaborate ones as any part of the proteſtant world hath ever produced. Let any impartial man read their productions of this kind; a leſſer and a larger one by Mr. Norton, the like by Mr. Mather, ſeveral by Mr. Cotton, one by Mr. Davenport, one by Mr. Stone, one by Mr. Norris, one by Mr. Noyes, one by Mr. Fiſk, ſeveral by Mr. Elliot, one by Mr. Sea-Born Cotton, and a large one by Mr. Fitch; and then let him ſay, whether true divinity was ever better handled; or whether they were not the moſt genuine ſons of the church of England, who thus maintained her fundamental articles: Articles, ſo often ſubſcribed, and afterwards denied, by ſome who are moſt prompt to monopolize that name to themſelves. Have eccleſiaſtical councils any tendency this way? I find one at Cambridge ſo early as the year 1648, adopting the Weſtminſter confeſſion of faith; and another at Boſton in 1680, ſettling the doctrine and diſcipline of their churches. The reſolutions of the latter, my lord, are comprized in a work of great theological erudition; and which required a little more towards its compoſition, than the ſkill of conſtruing a chapter in the Greek teſtament, or reading a ſermon of another man's writing, a la mode D'Angleterre. Eccleſiaſtical ſynods or con-ſociations have ever ſince been in uſe among them; and what may appear extraordinary to an Engliſh prelate, they have been ſo conducted as never to give any juſt umbrage to the civil power.

BUT if your lordſhip means by their native religion, an implicit ſubmiſſion to eccleſiaſtico-political power arbitrarily aſſumed, and tyrannically exerciſed; or, a recognition of any man on earth, as ſupreme head of the chriſtian church, in derogation of the tranſcendent authority of him, to whom angels and authorities, and powers are made ſubject; or a ſuperſtitious attachment to rights and ceremonies of human invention, to the neglect of vital piety and purity of heart; it is agreed, my lord, that in this ſenſe, they did in good earneſt abandon their native religion; and 'tis devoutly to be wiſhed, their poſterity may never be ſo infatuated as to reſume it.

OF this part of your lordſhip's charge, I cannot take my leave without humbly adoring (in which I am confident your lordſhip, with every other pious chriſtian, will heartily join me) that all-wiſe and over-ruling providence, which out of the evil of that prelatical oppreſſion whereby thoſe venerable perſons were expelled their native ſoil, hath educed ſo important a good, as the ſettlement of ſuch an immenſe territory; and by that means of being greatly inſtrumental in advancing the Britiſh empire in America, to an unrival'd degree of extent, power and opulence. Nay, of the ſtill ſuperior and more ineſtimable good, of preſerving amongſt their progeny, that pure and undefiled religion, which in the land of their nativity, hath, ſince their emigration, to your lordſhip's certain knowledge, ſuffered ſo lamentable a declenſion. After having thus, my lord, had the honour of ſo largely contributing towards the augmentation and grandeur of his majeſty's dominions; after the many illuſtrious proofs of riſing ſuperior to the moſt diſcouraging obſtacles; and ſurmounting perils, and want, and toil, and famine, and the ſword of the wilderneſs, when they had but to return to their native ſoil, to be reſtored to all the comforts and delights of life; would they have conſented (about what the generality of men, and eſpecially thoſe in queſt of preferment, make no long deliberation) to ſacrifice their conſciences to their temporal intereſt!—After ſuch ſignal interpoſitions of heaven,—ſuch irreſiſtible manifeſtations of the finger of God in their behalf;—and, after having left behind them ſuch a ſweet memorial, ſuch a more than brazen monument, of the ſincerity of their profeſſion: After all this, I ſay, it might have been hoped, my lord, that their aſhes at leaſt ſhould have remained undiſturbed; nor their memories been traduced with reproaches, greater perhaps, than were ever deſerved by the moſt flagitious of mankind. Sorry am I therefore, ſorry on your lordſhip's account, as well as from the veneration I bear to their memory, that a prelate of the church of England, in theſe boaſted times of moderation and candour, at the diſtance of more than a century, and for the ſingle crime of (what by far the greater part of proteſtant chriſtendom, is deemed no crime at all) non-conformity to the epiſcopal mode of church government, ſhould purſue them, even beyond the grave, with a ſpirit ſo apparently vindictive, and with ſuch unuſual aſperity and virulence of language.

I ſhall diſmiſs this head, my lord, with obſerving, that had I met with the terms native religion, in the works of an author of inferior name, I ſhould have been apt to heſitate about their propriety. I have often heard of a man's native country, as ſignifying that in which he is born: But as no man is born in, or with, any religion, I ſhall for the future, in adopting that mode of expreſſion, think it prudent to avail myſelf of (what no critic will perhaps preſume to controvert) your lordſhip's authority and example.

YOUR lordſhip proceeds by ſaying, that, inſtead of civilizing and converting barbarous infidels, as they undertook to do, they became themſelves infidels and barbarians; and that it was ſome aggravation of their ſhame, that this their neglect of religion was contrary to the pretences and conditions, under which they obtained royal grants, and public authority to their adventures. Had you levelled this charge, my lord, againſt that venerable body before whom your lordſhip delivered the ſermon in queſtion, they would doubtleſs have complained of the accuſation: And yet with reſpect to their endeavours, in civilizing and converting barbarous infidels, which I ſuppoſe will be allowed to be part of the grand deſign of their incorporation, I will venture to affirm, that they have been more deficient than the adventurers upon whom your lordſhip is pleaſed to fix the charge. If by the propagation of the goſpel in foreign parts, is to be underſtood the epiſcopiſing of diſſenters in the American colonies; they have indeed made ſome attempts towards it. But how the preaching of the goſpel, by their miſſionaries, in places in which it was preached, before either the ſociety or their miſſionaries had a being, can be called civilizing and converting barbarous infidels, I leave your lordſhip and the whole world to judge. What barbarians, my lord, have they civilized? What infidels have they converted? The immenſe ſums expended by the venerable ſociety, are not laid out in miſſions amongſt the native pagans, who know not the only true God, and Jeſus Chriſt, whom he hath ſent: They are ſquandered, ridiculouſly ſquandered on miſſions to places where the goſpel was preached, and, (admitting the articles of the church of England, as the ſtandard of orthodoxy) more faithfully preached before. This, my lord, however people at home may be mendicated or ſermonized out of their money, is ſo notorious here, that an attempt to adduce proofs to evince it, would be like holding a candle to the ſun. Nor are they generally ſent, even into thoſe interior ſettlements, in which people are more deſtitute of the means of grace; but into ſuch, where they are moſt amply provided with them. In ſhort, my lord, if the original deſign of the ſociety, in their miſſions to thoſe parts of America, was, as before obſerved, to proſelyte diſſenters to epiſcopacy; they have executed it with a conſiderable degree of aſſiduity; and the pay hath undoubtedly been more than the purchaſe. But if it was to chriſtianize aboriginal indians; or to ſubſerve the cauſe of chriſtianity in any other ſenſe, except as abovementioned, they have; (with all due ſubmiſſion and reverence be it ſpoken) notoriouſly failed. Or ſhould it be inſiſted upon, that the principal deſign of the ſociety is not to chriſtianize indians; but to maintain the public worſhip of God among our own people in the American plantations; it will appear, from a ſurvey of great part of Maryland and Virginia, the true ſtate of which, from their conſtant commercial intercourſe with Great Britain, cannot be a ſecret, that in the execution of this part of their deſign, they have been extremely delinquent.

MAY I now entreat your Lordſhip's patience, while I recount, by way of contraſt, ſome of the attempts of thoſe adventurers and their poſterity, in the execution of the laudable purpoſe of civilizing and converting barbarous infidels.

IT appears by a ſermon of Dr. Cotton Mather, printed in the year 1698, that there were then in the province of the Maſſachuſetts-Bay, more than thirty indian aſſemblies, for religious worſhip; and above three thouſand chriſtian indians. The ſacred books of the old and new teſtament, were, in their day, by the ſkill and labour of the indefatigable Elliot, tranſlated into the indian language; and diſperſed among the natives for their inſtruction in things pertaining to the kingdom of God and of Chriſt. For this purpoſe, he made himſelf firſt acquainted with their language; when thus accompliſhed, he preached to them in their own tongue, and in many of their villages; and by the bleſſing of God, on his diligent endeavours, many believed and turned to the lord. He ſoon had ſeveral companions, and afterwards ſucceſſors, who were faithful and zealous in inſtructing theſe ſavages in the goſpel-method of ſalvation. Schools were erected among them, and ſuch books put into their hands, in their native language, as their edification called for. The conſequence was, that in ſeveral villages, indians met together every lord's-day, for the worſhip of God through Jeſus Chriſt, and churches of them were gathered, who walked in the fear of the lord, and the religious obſervation of all goſpel ordinances. To the bible, Mr. Elliot added, a verſion of the pſalms in indian metre; which it was their practice to ſing. This indian bible is the only one that was ever printed in this hemiſphere of the univerſe. After being made acquainted with the above facts, I doubt not, if your lordſhip's ſermon ſhould ever be re-printed, you will at leaſt think it proper, to except that worthy and venerable ſervant of God, Mr. Elliot, out of the number of thoſe, who, inſtead of civilizing and converting barbarous infidels, became themſelves infidels and barbarians. For my part, I cannot but think, that the laborious work of learning an indian language; of tranſlating the holy ſcriptures into that language, and of ſpending one's life amongſt ſavages, inevitably ſubject from their manner of living to innumerable inconveniences, for the benevolent purpoſe of inſtructing them in the chriſtian religion, juſtly merits a note of approbation, from the pen of a chriſtian biſhop. Could any of the ſociety's miſſionaries, my lord, boaſt ſo illuſtrious an inſtance of labour, fatigue, patience, and ſelf-denial; in what ſplendid and glowing colours might we not expect to find it immortalized; when their uſual exploits of baptizing a few infants or negroes, which might have been done by others at leſs than a tenth part of the expence, or the reading a borrowed ſermon, to perſons in the full enjoyment of all goſpel ordinances, is annually celebrated with notable oſtentation and applauſe; to the great conſumption of the paper manufactory, and the no ſmall effuſion of epiſcopal ink!

WHAT follows, my lord, is extracted from the rev. Mr. Thomas Prince's general account of the Engliſh miniſters, who reſided at Martha's Vineyard. Mr. Thomas Mayhew, ſon of an excellent man of this name, began, in another part of the province, the work of goſpeliſing the infidel-natives, ſo far back, as 1642. And this good work, has been carried on by one and another of this name and family, from that day to this. In 1657, many hundred indian men and women, were added to the chriſtian ſocieties, in this part of the country, of ſuch as might be ſaid to be "holy in their converſation;" and that did not need for knowledge, to be taught, "the firſt principles of the oracles of God;" beſides many hundreds of more ſuperficial profeſſors. In the year 1689, the indian church, under the care of Mr. John Mayhew, ſon of the above Thomas, conſiſted of an hundred communicants, walking according to the rule of the ſcriptures.

I ſhall now, my lord, beg leave to lay before your lordſhip, an hiſtorical quotation from Dr. Chauncey's remarks, on certain paſſages in your lordſhip's ſermon. The Rev. Mr. Experience Mayhew, ſon of the before mentioned John, and father of the late memorable Dr. Mayhew, a gentleman of ſuch ſuperior natural endowments, that he would, had he been favoured with common advantages, been ranked among the firſt worthies of New-England; and who ſpent a life protracted ſeveral years beyond eighty, in the ſervice of the indians, publiſhed in the year 1727, an octavo volume, entitled, Indian Converts; in which he has given an account of the lives of thirty indian miniſters, and above eighty indian men, women, and young perſons, within the limits only of Martha's Vineyard, an iſland in the Maſſachuſetts province. And of theſe, as he was a gentleman of eſtabliſhed reputation, for both judgment and veracity, it may be charitably ſaid, they were all real converts, to the faith of Chriſt, and ſome of them in a diſtinguiſhing degree, clearly evidenced by their manner of life; which was ſuch, as may make many Engliſh profeſſors bluſh, of whom it may be hoped, that they are chriſtians in truth, as well as name. In the atteſtation to this account, ſigned by eleven Boſton miniſters, ſome of whom are now alive, it is ſaid, that they who may ignorantly and imperiouſly ſay, nothing has been done, may be confuted; and that they, who are deſirous to ſee ſomething that has been done, may be entertained and gratified; here is now exhibited a collection of examples, wherein the glorious grace of our great redeemer has appeared to, and on, the INDIANS of New-England. It muſt not be imagined, theſe are all that could have been collected; for all theſe are only ſelected from one iſland. —It is ſaid farther, the author of this hiſtory, Mr. Experience Mayhew, is a perſon of inconteſtable veracity:—We again ſay, his truth may be relied on, his fidelity is irreproachable.

HERE, my lord, before we proceed farther, let us enquire, whether the miſſionaries in theſe parts, muſt not be guilty of the moſt inexcuſable neglect, in not informing themſelves about the propagation of the goſpel amongſt the indians, or render themſelves obnoxious to the heavier charge of wilful and pertinacious miſrepreſentation? Nay, my lord, was it not their duty, their bounden duty, as faithful miniſters of Jeſus Chriſt, and embarked in the ſame common cauſe, with others, his profeſſed diſciples, of enlarging the borders of his kingdom, and eſpecially of directing ſome of the benign rays of the ſun of righteouſneſs, to illuminate thoſe who ſat in the region and ſhadow of death;—was it not their indiſpenſible duty, I ſay, to have informed the ſociety of thoſe glorious endeavours, and inſtead of wilfully concealing, or artfully diſguiſing them, to have employed the ſuperior advantage of their correſpondence with the ſociety, in ſoliciting their aid, or rather importunately imploring their chriſtian munificence? And may I not aſſert, without ſpeaking unadviſedly, that your lordſhip appears, from what has been already offered, to be ſo notoriouſly miſtaken, with reſpect to the not civilizing and converting barbarous infidels, that the ſingle family of the Mayhews, hath done more towards accompliſhing that deſirable end, than all the ſociety's miſſionaries on the continent of North America?

AND what hath not been attempted in times of more modern date, for the advancement of the ſame glorious deſign? "There are at this day," ſays that reverend and learned divine Dr. Chauncey, already mentioned, within the province of the Maſſachuſets-Bay only, ſixteen miniſters, engliſh and indian, ſtatedly labouring, as paſtors of ſo many Indian churches, or as preachers to aſſemblies of Indians, that meet together for divine worſhip; nine engliſh lecturers, and ſeven ſtated ſchool-maſters, beſides occaſional ones; all which are under the care of commiſſioners here, from the honourable company for the propagation of the goſpel in New-England, and parts adjacent in America. The above account was handed to me from the records of the above commiſſioners. There are at the ſettlement called Maſhpe, two hundred Indians, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Hawley, who know no God beſides the ever-living Jehovah, and ſtatedly pay worſhip to him, through the one mediator Jeſus Chriſt. Doth this, my lord, look like a notorious failing, in their endeavours to propagate the chriſtian faith? Does this look like becoming themſelves infidels and barbarians? But on this important head, ſo highly wrought up in your lordſhip's ſermon, to perſuade the people of England of the neceſſity of an American epiſcopate, which to me appears the grand burden of the diſcourſe, I muſt beg your lordſhip's patience a little longer.

IT is now above thirty years ſince an indian miſſion hath been eſtabliſhed at Stockbridge, on the borders of the Maſſachuſets-Bay, and executed by diſſenting miniſters. Accounts of this undertaking are in print; and the ſociety's miſſionaries could be at no loſs to procure them. Mr. David Brainard, a diſſenting miniſter, and miſſionary from the ſociety in Scotland, for propagating chriſtian knowledge, ſpent his life in goſpelizing ſeveral tribes of the natives, both in the province of New-York and New-Jerſey. Being of too delicate a conſtitution, to undergo the hardſhips to which he was expoſed, and too ardently engaged in the work to quit it, he fell a ſacrifice to the cauſe; and his name ought to be tranſmitted to poſterity with immortal honour. A journal of his labours and ſucceſs among the indians, was publiſhed by himſelf in his life-time, and ſince his deceaſe reprinted in London; ſo that it appears incredible, that any miſſionary in New-Jerſey ſhould be ignorant of the matter. He was ſucceeded by his brother, Mr. John Brainard, a miſſionary from the ſame ſociety, equally laborious and indefatigable, who is ſtill purſuing the ſame laudable deſign. At Lebanon, in the colony of Connecticut, Dr. Wheelock, another diſſenting miniſter, has for ſome years paſt carried on a ſchool, for the inſtruction of indian children in reading, writing, and the principles of chriſtianity, with an expreſs view of ſending the goſpel among the indians. Of this he has publiſhed a narrative; which it is amazing ſhould never have fallen into the hands of any of the miſſionaries.See it publiſhed at Boſton, 1763, and the continuation in 1765. Mr. Kirtland, a young gentleman educated at this ſchool, has for three years paſt, with indefatigable induſtry, and ſometimes at the peril of his life, been propagating the chriſtian faith amongſt ſome tribes of the ſix nations. There is now, my lord, in England, an indian miniſter, educated at this ſchool, who has for two years paſt had his majeſty's brief to make collections for its ſupport, and hath during that time been preaching throughout the kingdom. I am aſtoniſhed, that a thing ſo extraordinary in its nature, and ſo frequently mentioned in the engliſh prints, ſhould not have reached the ears of a perſon ſo ſollicitous as your lordſhip appears to be, about the propagation of the goſpel amongſt our barbarous infidels. Can it be a ſecret in England, my lord, that his moſt gracious majeſty, hath, by his royal bounty and liberality, at once encouraged and dignified that undertaking; and thereby ſet a ſhining example to all chriſtian monarchs, not to forget, amidſt the arduous affairs of ſtate, the kingdom of THE PRINCE OF PEACE? Nay, had your lordſhip only vouchſafed to ſpare a moment from ſecular buſineſs, during the laſt ſeſſion of parliament, that amiable and pious nobleman, my lord Dartmouth, could minutely have informed your lordſhip, of the riſe and progreſs of that excellent ſeminary; and that himſelf was preſident of a board of truſtees, for the diſtribution of the money collected for it in England.

YOUR lordſhip is equally miſtaken in another fact. In the 19th page of the ſermon I find theſe words. The want of ſeminaries in thoſe parts, for the education of perſons to ſerve in the miniſtry of the goſpel: A great diſadvantage; ſo great that there is reaſon to apprehend, it may one day undo all that the ſociety have been for many years labouring to do. Strange it is, my lord, and to me utterly unaccountable, that ſo accurate an enquirer ſhould ſo egregiouſly err, in a matter of ſuch general notoriety, as public ſeminaries of learning. We have no leſs than ſix colleges on the continent of North America; which are perhaps more by one half, than are really neceſſary for the purpoſe of a liberal education, in the preſent ſtate of this country. There is a very antient one in the Maſſachuſets-Bay ▪ The contiguous colonies of Connecticut, New-York, New-Jerſey, and Pennſylvania, have each of them one; and the dominion of Virginia another. That in New-York, being able to boaſt a moſt honourable origin; being diſtinguiſhed by a preſident, a clergyman of the church of England, as by law eſtabliſhed, and founded with a particular eye to the advancement of epiſcopacy in America, will probably e'er long appear as conſpicuous above the reſt, as father Aeneas amongſt his fellow-adventurers. Such a number of ſeminaries of learning is amply ſufficient, one would imagine, for the education of miniſters, to propagate the goſpel throughout the whole extent of the habitable globe. Inſtead of being deficient in this reſpect, the moſt judicious among us, think our public ſeminaries ſuperfluouſly multiplied. We want hands, my lord, more than heads. The moſt intimate acquaintance with the claſſics, will not remove our oaks; nor a taſte for the Georgics cultivate our lands. Many of our young people are knocking their heads againſt the Iliad, who ſhould employ their hands in clearing our ſwamps, and draining our marſhes. Others are muſing, in cogitation profound, on the arrangement of a ſyllogiſm, while they ought to be guiding the tail of a plough. It therefore gives me concern, my lord, that your apprehenſions of the want of ſeminaries undoing all that the ſociety have for many years been labouring to do, ſhould unhappily diſcompoſe the ſerenity of your lordſhip's mind, even for a ſingle moment. The apprehenſion is certainly groundleſs. But I will not venture to promiſe, my lord, that our ſupernumerary colleges will not, by diffuſing a ſpirit of inquiry, create a general conviction, that it may, with greater truth be affirmed of the labours of the ſociety, what Grotius ſo modeſtly ſaid of his own, that they had been loſt, nil operoſe agendo; or that your lordſhip hath, by preaching and printing the ſermon in queſtion, —done thoſe things which you ought not to have done.

IT muſt indeed, be admitted, that ſome of our colleges, for want of profeſſors, and the comparative ſmallneſs of their libraries; and others, through a very ſlender philoſophical apparatus, cannot pretend to vie with the univerſities at home. Conſidering, however, the infancy of the country, they are far from being contemptible; nor has it ever been remarked, that the clergy of the church of England, who have received their education at any of thoſe ſeminaries, ſeveral of whom have been honoured with the degree of doctors of divinity, in England,Dr. Johnſon, Dr. Cutler, Dr. Auchmuty, and Dr. Chandler, are inſtances, which I now recollect. are inferior in literary accompliſhments, to thoſe who have been educated in the Engliſh univerſities. Be this as it may, it is notorious, that the American colleges are friendly to liberty, and our excellent conſtitution; and ſo firmly attached to revolution-principles, and the illuſtrious houſe of Hanover, that not one of them, as far as I have been able to learn, hath ever produced (with all humble ſubmiſſion to the famous univerſity of Oxford) a ſingle Jacobite or Tory.

WITH this, my lord, I ſhall humbly take my leave, hoping that for the ſake of truth, and the cauſe of religion, eſpecially remembring how greatly your lordſhip has been deceived in the preſent caſe, you will be ſo gracious for the future, in whatever concerns the American colonies, as to require the higheſt evidence of which the nature of the thing is capable. And heartily wiſhing, my lord, (it being eaſy to ſee for what purpoſe theſe kind of miſinformations are calculated) that your lordſhip may be ſo ſucceſsful, and ſo thoroughly ſatisfied in the diſcharge of your epiſcopal function, within the limits of your preſent dioceſe, as never to think it your duty, to exchange the See of Landaff, for an American Biſhoprick.