94 /.//'£• AND CORRESrOXDEA'CE OF THE [l/Sj 



there should be a council or consultation of clergy held imme- 

 diately for the purpose of considering " What alterations might 

 be necessary in our liturgy and service ; and how our church 

 might be organized and a succession in the ministry kept up, so 

 as to be an object of public notice and support, in common with 

 other Christian churches under the Revolution." A convention 

 accordingly assembled in the hall of Washington College, May 

 12-15, ^7'^'!i\ D''- Smith presided. 



It was considered by this convention that some legislative 

 interposition or sanction might probably be necessary in the 

 course of this business ; for as our church derived her liturgy 

 from the Church of England, and was formerly dependent on the 

 same church for. a succession in her ministry, and had certain 

 property reserved to her by the constitution of Maryland, under 

 the name of the Church of England, it became a question 

 whether, if any alterations should be made in the liturgy, or in 

 the mode of succession in the ministry, she could any longer be 

 considered as the church described in the constitution of this 

 State, or entitled to the perpetual use of the property aforesaid. 

 An incorporating act, or charter, was also deemed necessary to 

 enable the clergy, or some representative body of the church, to 

 raise and manage a fund for certain charitable and pious pur- 

 poses ; such charters having been granted to Christian societies 

 of every denomination in other of the neighboring States, wher- 

 ever they had been prayed for. 



Dr. Smith, who, with the Rev. Mr. Thomas Gates,* had been 

 appointed a committee, with extensive powers, accordingly now 

 prepared another petition. It was thus : 



To THE Honourable the General Assembly of the State of Maryland, 

 THE Memorial and Petition of the Subscribers in Behalf of Them- 

 selves AND others, the CLERGY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCHES, 



Sheweth — That the happy termination of War, the establishment 

 of Peace, and the final recognition and ackno\vledgment of the Sover- 

 eignty and Independence of these United States among the Powers of 



* Thomas Gates, D. D. — a native of England; brought up in the church. He 

 was ordained in England. In 1781 he became rector of St. Ann's, Annapolis; in 

 1785, of St. Peter'.-;, Talbot, a member of the Standing Committee. In 1789 he 

 removed to South Carolina, and there continued till his death in 1832. (Allen's 

 History.) 



