ance on your liberal regard for the religious rights of all men, that your will remove mistaken scruples from the mind of administration, by representing how perfectly consonant it is with our revolution, principles professed throughout all the states, that every denomination of christians have 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 shew 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 convention was held in that state, that sent both lay and clerical deputies to the general convention lately held in Philadelphia. I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the truest esteem and regard, Dear Sir, your most obedient, and very humble servant. 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. [No. V.] MR. Jar's BILLET to rev. mr. prevost. MR. JAY presents his compliments to the Rev. Mr. Prevost, and has the honour of sending him, herewith enclosed, a copy of a letter from the honorable Mr. Adams, of 4th Jan. last, to Mr. Jay. New-York, April 5, 1786. [NO. VI.] DEAR SIR, HON. MR. ADAMS'S LETTER TO MR. Jar. GROSVENOR SQUARE, JAN. 4, 1786. A DAY or two after the receipt of your letter* of Nov. 1st, and that of President Lee, which came with it, I wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury, by Col. Smith, for an hour when I might have the honor of paying my respects to his Grace; and was answered very politely, that he would be glad to have the honor of seeing me next day, between eleven and twelve. Accordingly I went yester day, and was very agreeably received, by a venerable and candid prelate, with whom I had before only exchanged gifts of ceremony. I told his Grace that, at the desire of two very respectable charac ters in America, the late President of Congress, and the present Secretary of State for the department of foreign altors, I had the bee or to be the bearer to his Grace, of a letter from a convention of deie. gates from the episcopal churches in most of the southern States, which had been transmitted to me open, that I might be acquainted This better from Mr. Jay does not appear among the file. with its contents: That in this business however, I acted in no official character, having no instructions from congress, nor indeed from the convention; but I thought it most respectful to them, as well as to his Grace, to present the letter in person. The Archbishop an swered, that all that he could say at present was, that he was himself very well disposed to give the satisfaction desired, for he was by no means one of those, who wished that contentions should be kept up between the two countries, or between one party and another in America; but on the contrary, was desirous of doing every thing in his power to promote harmony and good humor. I then said that if his Grace would take the trouble of reading two. letters, from Mr. Lee and Mr. Jay, he would perceive the motives of those gentlemen, in sending the letters to my care. I gave him the letters, which he read attentively and returned, and added that it was a great satisfaction to him to see, that gentlemen of character and reputation, interested themselves in it; for that the episcopalians in the United States could not have the full and complete enjoyment of their religious liberties without it; and he subjoined that it was also a great satisfaction to him, to have received this visit from me, upon, this occasion And he would take the liberty to ask me, if it were not an improper question, whether the interposition of the English Bishops would not give uneasiness and dissatisfaction in America. I replied that my answer could be only that of a private citizen, and, in that capacity, I had no scruple to say, that the people of the United States in general were for a liberal and generous toleration-I might indeed employ a stronger word, and call it a right and the first right of mankind, to worship God according to their consciences; and therefore that I could not see any reasonable ground for dissatisfaction, and that I hoped and believed there would be none of any consequence. His Grace was then pleased to say that religion in all countries, especially a young one, ought to be attended to, as it was the foundation of government. He hoped the characters which should be recommended would be good ones. I replied that there were in the churches, in America, able men, of characters altogether irreproachable, and that such and such only, I presumed would be recommended. I then rose to take leave, and his Grace then asked me, if he might be at liberty to mention that I had made him this visit on this Occasion; I answered, certainly, if his Grace should judge it proper. Thus, Sir, I have fulfilled my commission and remain as usual, JOHN ADAMS. Yours &c. His Excellency JOHN JAY. Literary Intelligence. THE Rev. Dr. Claudius Buchanan, Vice-Provost of the College of Fort William in Bengal, by the last accounts from thence, was about to proceed to Cochin on the coast of Malabar, for the purpose of examining the ancient Hebrew manuscripts preserved in the Synagogue of the Jews at that place. The manuscripts are represented to be of a very high antiquity, being supposed to contain that portion of the scriptures which was written before the first dispersion of the Jews. A collection of them, with the European copies, has Jong been desired by the learned. Another object of Dr. Buchanan's mission will be, to enquire into the state of the native christian churches in the provinces of Travancore and Malabar; particularly of the thirty-five congregations, denominated by the Roman Catholics, the Schismatic churches. These christians refuse communion with the church of Rome, and adhere to the simple ritual of an early age. They are noticed in history as early as the fourth century, and are supposed to have emigrated from Syria and Chaldea. At this day, the syro-chaldaic language is used in their churches, and their liturgy is composed in that language and character. Agreeably to instructions received from the ecclesiastical authorities at home, a report is to be made on the constitution and doctrine of these churches, with a view to ascertain how far it may be the duty of the English church to recognize the christians of Malabar, now that they have become subjects of the British empire. Their churches have been governed for fifteen hundred years by a regular succession of bishops. Another subject of literary research offers itself among those ancient christians. When the Portuguese first arrived in India, they burned the writings and records found in the christian churches, and amongst them, says a Romish author, some apostolical monuments, in order to destroy the evidences of their antiquity, and force them to a union with the church of Rome. But it has been stated, by a respectable authority, that certain ancient manuscripts in the Chaldaic language are yet preserved in the country of Travancore. Obituary. DIED, at Coopers-Town, (N. Y.) on the 31st October, in the the 57th year of his age, in the town of Hartwick, Mr. ISAAC MALLERY, of an asthmatic complaint of many years standing, leaving a bereaved consort and a number of children, to deplore the loss of a kind husband and parent, in which their neighbors will unite in sympathetic grief. In the formation of Mr. Mallery, nature seemed to have deviated from her nsual uniformity. He was born without feet; the stumps on which he stood, or walked, exhibited an appearances as if his feet had been separated by an amputation, square and perpendicular, to the front of his legs. Wanting the usual springs, wherewith to poise himself, he could not walk with that ease and dignity so natural to others, and could never stand in a fixed posture; but could, in the prime of life, step a hornpipe with grace and exactness. He had but one arm, and but a deficient hand, which lacked one joint in all the fingers as well as the thumb; his fingers were webbed or joined together within an inch of the ends; he was nevertheless a beautiful writer, and an excellent School-master; from his left shoulder projected a part of an arm about eight inohes in length, and without an elbow, which however he made a shift to render, occasionally, very useful, and could handle an axe, a hoe, and even a scythe, to considerable effect. By his industry he acquired a decent competence for his family, and has left them in a situation to procure a comfortable subsistence, by common industry. "I am fearfully and wonderfully made- To Correspondents. DAVID. THE Communication from New-York, signed A. B. is received and under consideration. The writer of the piece signed B. will not, it is hoped, think himself neg lected if we delay publishing his strictures until we shall have an opportunity of seeing and judging for ourselves, concerning the merit of the work on which he remarks. The Life of the Right Rev. Thomas Wilson, D. D. LORD BISHOP OF SODOR AND MAN. [Continued from page 86.] ON the 15th of January 1697-8, Mr. Wilson, being first created doctor of laws by the archbishop of Canterbury, was confirmed bishop of Man, at Bow church, by Dr. Oxenden, dean of the arches, and on the next day he was consecrated at the Savoy church, by Dr. Sharp, archbishop of York, assisted by the bishops of Chester and Norwich. On the 5th of April following, he landed at Derby-Haven, in the Isle of Man, and on the 11th was enthroned in the cathedral of St. Germain's, in Peel Castle: And from the prayer that he composed on the occasion, we may see with what piety and circumspection he entered upon his new dignity.* When he arrived at his bishopric, he found the palace in a most ruinous state, having been uninhabited for eight years; nothing but an ancient tower and chapel remaining entire. He was therefore obliged to rebuild the dwelling-house, and almost all the out offices from the ground. He stocked the garden with fruit trees, &c. fenced in the demesnes, planted many thousand timber trees, and laid out a farm, which afterwards became valuable to himself and successors; the expenses of these buildings and improvements amounted to the sum of fourteen hundred pounds. He says, "It having pleased God to bring me to the bishopric of Man, I find the house in ruins, which obliges me to interrupt my charity to the poor in some measure." This interruption was, however, of short duration, and his beneficence was afterwards increased with his income. About this time the Earl of Derby again offered him the living of Baddesworth, to hold in command, and probably as a compensation for the dilapidation on his bishopric; but this our conscientious prelate refused as utterly inconsistent with his duty, and with the obligation that he had formerly made of "never taking two ecclesiastical preferments * Mr. Hewetson's memorandum book. Q do it. But as many christians cannot do this, I beg leave to recommend to them carefully to study the Companion to the feasts and fasts, by Mr. Nelson.* Few books contain so much christian knowledge. In it instruction is mixed with entertainment, and much learning with true piety. Whoever is so happy as to be able to read and understand that book, possesses a treasure of divine knowledge and true devotion. Having now taken a general view of the public service of our church, let me beg you to consider what a blessing it is to us. In many countries, men know not God; in many they do not worship him as he has commanded; but in our land, christians may have the blessing of hearing God's word; and receiving his sacraments; he may join in prayer with a faithful congregation and receive the instructions of a minister commissioned by Christ; and if he do this constantly and attentively, I venture to say that the honest man among us, though unable to read, and without any other religious instruction, may gain more useful knowledge than the wisest man in the heathen world ever possessed. Let him only attend to the Sunday lessons, and consider the great truths which he may learn from them. The heathens knew not how the world was made; some thought that it was formed by chance, and some that it existed from all eternity. But the first verse in the bible removes all these doubts; In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. They knew not how sin and misery came into the world; but from the bible we learn that it was through envy of the devil, who persuaded Adam to disobey God. The heathen knew not whether there was one God only, or whether there were many; and they worshipped wood and stones. But from the bible we learn, that the great Creator said, I am the Lord thy God, and thou shalt have none other Gods but me. They never heard of a Redeemer, and knew not how to obtain pardon for their sins; but the bible tells us, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. The heathens knew little of the will of God, or how they ought to act in order to please him; but in the bible we learn his will, and our duty to him and to our neighbor. Lastly, the heathens knew not what to expect after death, nor whether they were ever to live again after leaving this world; but from the the bible we learn this most important truth: That all men shall rise again with their bodies, and give an account of their own works, and the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Such are the treasures of divine knowledge, which are open to every christian. Let us thankfully acknowledge such great blessings; but let us also remember that unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. No man among us can justly plead ignorance of the law of God, as an excuse for not obeying it; for every man may know what is necessary for the salvation of his soul, if he will This valuable book has been lately published, with revisions, and many judicious improvements by the Rev. Dr. Hobart, an assistant minister of Trinity Church, New-York. This truly excellent work should be in every family attached to the episcopal church. And would other denominations of christians read it, with candor and attention, many deep rooted prejudices would in all probability be removed. They would then perceive the beauty and excellence of the service of our holy and apostolic church. |