304 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THE [1789 



In like spirit, the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury, Bishop of the Church in 

 Connecticut, in his letter to the Rev. Dr. Smith, dated July 23d, writes 

 on the subject of union, etc., as followeth : • 



The wish of my heart, and the wish of the Clergy and of the Church people of this 

 State, would certainly have carried me and some of the Clergy to your General Con- 

 vention, had we conceived we could have attended with propriety. The necessity of 

 an union of all the Churches, and the disadvantages of our present dis-union, we feel 

 and lament equally with you; and I agree with you, that there may be a strong and 

 efficacious union between churches, where the usages are different. 1 see not why it 

 may not be so in the present case, as soon as you have removed those obstructions 

 which, while they remain, must prevent all possibility of uniting. The Church of Con- 

 necticut consists, at present, of nineteen clergymen in full orders, and more than 

 twenty thousand people they suppose, as respectable as the Church in any State in the 

 union. 



After the most serious deliberation upon this important business, and 

 cordially joining with our brethren of the eastern or New England 

 Churches in the desire of union, the following resolves were unanimously 

 adopted in Convention, viz. : 



Resolved, — 1st. That a complete Order of Bishops, derived as well under the English 

 as the Scots line of succession, doth now subsist within the United States of America, 

 in the persons of the Right Rev. William White, D. D., Bishop of the Protestant Epis- 

 copal Church in the Stat^ of Pennsylvania; the Right Rev. Samuel Provoost, D. D., 

 Bishop of the said Church in the State of New York ; and the Right Rev. Samuel 

 Seabury, D. D., Bishop of the said Church in the State of Connecticut. 



2d. That the said three Bishops are fully competent to every proper act and duty of 

 the Episcopal office and character in these United States ; as well in respect to the con- 

 secration of other bishops, and the ordering of Priests and Deacons, as for the govern- 

 ment of the Church, according to such Canons, Rules, and institutions as now are, or 

 hereafter may be, duly made and ordained by the Church in that case. 



3d. That in Christian charity as well as of duty, necessity, and expediency, the 

 Churches represented in this Convention ought to contribute, in every manner in their 

 power, towards sup]ilying the wants, and granting every just and reasonable request of 

 their sister churches in these States; and therefore resolved, — 



4th. That the Right Rev. Dr. White and the Right Rev. Dr. Provoost be, and they 

 herel)y are requested to join with the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury in complying with the 

 prayer of the Clergy of the States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, for the con- 

 secration of the Rev. Edward Bass, Bishop elect of the churches in the said Slates ; but 

 that, before the said Bishops comply with the request aforesaid, it be proposed to the 

 churches in the New England States to meet the Churches of these States, with the 

 said three Bishops, in an adjourned Convention, to settle certain articles of union and 

 discipline among all the churches, previous to such consecration. 



5th. That if any difficulty or delicacy, in respect to the Archbishops and Bishops of 

 England, shall remain with tlie Right Rev. Drs. White and Provoost, or either of 

 them, concerning their compliance with the above request, this Convention will address 

 the Archbishops and Bishops, and hope thereby to remove the difficulty. 



We have now, most venerable Fathers, submitted to your considera- 

 tion whatever relates to this important business of union among all our 



