USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston : the Old North Church of Paul Revere fame : historical sketches, Colonial period, 1723-1775 > Part 16
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tude of the church officers toward a rector, and, perhaps, indicating their intent of being a dominant rather than a co-ordinate power: "The Rev. Mr. Mather Byles was introduced to the Vestry and desired to be present at our future meetings."
Seeds of trouble, sown very early, were destined to produce a considerable amount of friction. Mr. Byles had come with an agreed-upon salary of £100, of which £40 was an allowance from the S. P. G. He evidently understood that Christ Church could give its share only with difficulty as, October 4, he offered to waive £20 of his salary under existing conditions, relying upon the vestry's generosity to restore it when it could. In due time, the rector felt that improved conditions war- ranted payment of the full salary; and the state of affairs became known in the town, probably through his kinsman, the Reverend Mr. Walter of Trinity Church.
At a proprietors' meeting on April 4, 1771, the ques- tion whether Dr. Byles' salary should be £100 was put to vote, and decided in the negative; but he was offered the proceeds of a collection to be taken "Sunday after next." He replied that they might supply the pulpit on the next Sunday and declined the collection. The vestry promptly voted: "That this Church is Destitute of a minister according to our opinion"; and the wardens were instructed to provide a supply until the proprietors could agree on a minister. Christ Church, in the mean- while, availed itself of the services of the Reverend Mr. Moseley, chaplain of the Salisbury, man-of-war.
The records of April 25 show that Dr. Byles desired to return at £80 salary, leaving anything further to their generosity. On May I, it was determined that time should be allowed him to " Reconcile the Members of the Church." On May 7, a letter signed by Dr. Byles and witnessed by the wardens is entered in the Christ Church vestry records, in which the former restates the
[ 20] ]
original circumstances but agrees to continue at £80 salary.
The wound was temporarily closed but never actually healed. The same trouble broke out again in 1772. The Venerable Society (S. P. G.) seems to have favored the Byles' side of the controversy and suggested that the church accounts be examined to ascertain what financial conditions might warrant. The plan was agreed upon in 1774; but the result is unknown, as the vestry records break off abruptly on September 6, 1774, and are not resumed for some four years. The proprietors' records, however, show the final result.
On Easter Tuesday, April 18, 1775, the proprietors enquired if Dr. Byles were in treaty with any other church. He replied that the church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had applied to him and that he was "willing to give up the keys & quit the Church." The resignation was accepted since the salary could not be collected; but the happenings at Lexington and Concord on the follow- ing morning put an end to the Portsmouth plan. Christ Church was closed; but Dr. Byles remained in Boston 1 until the evacuation of the British on March 17, 1776, when he departed for Halifax.
In Halifax, he became assistant to the rector of St. Paul's Church and also chaplain to the British troops. In May 1784, he went to London again and a renewal of the Portsmouth invitation reached him there; but he had obtained a permanent commission as chaplain to the garrison and had an offer of a parish in New Bruns- wick. One of the purposes of his journey to England
1 In a letter to the Venerable Society dated October 7, 1775, Dr. Byles further says: " I should have informed you that on Easter Tuesday, tho' the Proprietors of Christ Church told me expressly that they would no longer engage one farthing of Salary to their Minister, I still offered to officiate to them as long as I continued in Boston; but they treated my kind proposal with neglect. They chose rather to shut up the Church, nor has it since been opened for a single Sunday. Indeed it is now scarce worth while to attempt it - most of them having left the town - not more than six or seven families remaining."
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had been the presentation of his claims, in which he was partially successful, as on June 20, 1786, nearly a year after his return to Halifax, he wrote to his sisters in Boston that he had received from the Treasury "the Compensation of Part of my Losses." While in England, he also wrote to his sisters : " I was also instrumental in procuring a Diploma from Aberdeen for Brother Wal- ter,"1-the Reverend Mr. Walter of Trinity Church, who had preceded him by some months.
Dr. Byles visited St. John, New Brunswick, in the summer of 1778 and, after preaching two sermons, was unanimously chosen to be the minister. In either Febru- ary or March 1789, he wrote: "On the 16th Instant, I received my appointment to the Rectory of St. John's," undoubtedly from the Venerable Society. He also in- formed his Boston relatives that he could retain the chaplaincy to the Halifax Garrison, appointing a deputy as a matter of form. On May 4, 1789, he moved with his family to St. John and was pleased with the change.
Dr. Byles was once more in Boston from July 19 to September 4, 1790, in connection with the settlement of his father's estate. He noted in his journal that he had seen Mr. Walter who was there on a visit. He was also on very friendly terms with the Reverend Samuel Parker of Trinity Church and preached there on July 25. No mention is made of Christ Church, although toward the end of August he records that he had received a call from Mr. Montague-possibly the Reverend William Montague of Christ Church.
Contented with his settlement in St. John, New Bruns- wick, Dr. Byles continued in service there until his death on March 12, 1814. He was buried there in an unmarked grave in what is popularly known as the Loyalist Burial Ground 2 near the Court House.
1 Reverend William Walter, D.D. King's College, Aberdeen, 1784. Rector Christ Church 1792-1800. Mather Byles' first wife, Rebecca Walter, sister of the Reverend William Walter.
2 " Loyalist Souvenir."
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THE OLD NORTH CHURCH OF PAUL REVERE FAME
T HE wording of the title of this chapter was coined by the late Dr. Dewart while rector of Christ Church, during one of the periodic con- troversies about the signal lanterns of Paul Revere. If you do not know the story, you will, for this hardy per- ennial in the garden of Boston history has a way of cropping up at unexpected times and places.
The whole story came about when, in 1876, the City of Boston proposed to place a tablet on Christ Church to commemorate the birth of the nation on April 18, 1775. A great hue and cry arose in the press by those who did not agree that Christ Church was the church to be so honored, some even asserting that Christ Church was not only not the Old North but not even the North Church. Thereupon an impartial commission was estab- lished by the City of Boston, no one connected with the church being represented. After two years, the decision was unanimous that Christ Church was the church in which the lanterns were displayed for the guidance of Paul Revere and his associates, and a tablet to that effect was placed on the church in that year.
In the Christ Church Chronicle, a parish paper pub- lished by the church, Dr. Dewart reviewed the pros and cons, stating among other proofs that for many years Christ Church was known as the North Church. In the course of reading all the carefully preserved papers of the parish, I made notes of every reference to the name of the church on bills, subscription papers, and in city and newspaper comments.
Let us begin first with the records. In 1726, the deed , for the land on which Christ Church stands was drawn
[210 ]
up by George Hughes. His bill for his services was made out to the "North Churche's Account of Business Done." This, then, was its colloquial designation, known to its contemporaries from the beginning.
When Christ Church was built in 1723, the north wall of the church abutted on John Baker's pasture. In 1737, the church bought a strip, twenty feet wide, of this ad- joining land. The transaction included the release to the "North Church" of a previous mortgage recorded in the Registry of Deeds (Suffolk Deeds-Lib. 55, Fol. 152).
In 1766, the town voted to maintain the " Old North clock." There are many other references to the North Church in the town records, such as the maintenance of the clock, ringing of the bell and, in 1790, the " erection of a blacksmith shop near the North Church."
In 1768, the Reverend John Graves of Providence, in a letter, mentions the North Church in Boston where Dr. Cutler was long pastor; and this was the year in which Mather Byles was elected rector and he refers to it as his " call to the North Church in Boston."
Thus we see that for quite a half century the church was known colloquially as the North Church. We might compare the use of this name to that of the well-known "Little Church Around the Corner," the legal name of which, of course, is The Church of the Transfiguration. But you will hardly find a single person who knows this New York church by its legal name.
The colloquial use of the name North Church continues in both private correspondence and town records. In 1786 the sexton of the "Old North" was ordered to ring the bells. A reprint of the Boston Directory in 1796 gives the name "Robt. Newman, Sexton of North Church, Salem Street"; and the next year the town ordered "Mr. Newman, who had rung the bell at the North Church, to cease ringing."
A noted Salem preacher, the Reverend William Bent-
[21] ]
ley, born in the North End of Boston, every so often made a tour of the district recalling incidents of his youth, always including a visit to what he calls the "North Church," - one time to inspect the tomb of the Rever- end Dr. Cutler "under the alter."
In October 1804, the steeple was blown down in a great gale. A subscription paper to repair it contains the name of one subscriber who signs only "A Friend to the North Church." The bill for the repairs by Eben- ezer Leman was made out to the " Committee for North Church."
In the January 15, 1945, issue of Life magazine, the author of an article on Boston furnishes the following erroneous statement to accompany a picture of the church :
" This was not called Old North Church when Revere saw two lanterns hanging from the steeple on the night of April 18, 1775. It was called Christ Church then, and there was another Old North Church which was destroyed during the Revolution."
The documentary evidence starting in 1726 of the con- sistent use of the name North Church is irrefutable. It is quite true that the church was not "old " when Newman displayed his lanterns, although the town records.of 1776 ordered the ringing of the "Old North Bell upon Capt. Malcolm's house being attacked," but Longfellow wrote of it in 1861 as it was known to his generation. As for the statement that there was another Old North Church in the North End, the reference is doubtless to the Second Church of Boston which was the "North Meeting House in North Square." Bostonians distinguished the Church of England from the local meeting houses; and as for the lanterns being displayed in the meeting house in the North Square, it is a well-known fact that the North Meeting House was the only one of the four churches without a steeple. By triangulation, it was shown that no light dis- played anywhere in the North Meeting House could pos-
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sibly have been seen in Charlestown; moreover Copp's Hill at that time was ten feet higher than at present and would have barred effectually the signal. Sewall 1 in his diary refers to preachers at " Ye North " and to the " pull- ing down the Old North Meeting-house " in 1775.
We shall have to look a little later to, say, the cente- nary of the church before it might properly be called "old"; and then we find in the diary of the Reverend William Croswell, rector of Christ Church from 1829 to 1840, where he writes of the " dear old North," and a series of letters headed "From the Cloisters of the Old North Church."
Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion, in an article on Christ Church, in 1851 refers to the Venerable Dr. Eaton, who was rector from 1805 to 1829, as "the aged rector of the Old North."
Answering a query about the name North Church, William H. Montague, son of the Reverend William Montague, rector of Christ Church from 1786 to 1792 and father of the late Henry W. Montague, who was long an officer in Christ Church, states " I have always heard my father call the Episcopal church in Salem Street the North Church "; but perhaps the most con- clusive evidence is the closing paragraph in Dr. Dewart's article in the Christ Church Chronicle:
When Paul Revere wrote his letter to the Secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society, January 1, 1798, giving his recollection of what took place April 18, 1775, and speaking of the " two lanthorns in the North Church steeple," he knew ex- actly what he was talking about.
That was Dr. Dewart's opinion; and taken with the documentary evidence given above, it should settle the question for all time.
1 Judge Sewall, arch-enemy of the Church of England, always re- ferred to the Congregational Meeting House in North Square as "ye North " or the "North Meeting House," never the North Church. The Church of England building was a Church, the Congregational building a Meeting House.
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To commemorate this historic event, the City of Bos- ton caused a tablet to be placed on the tower of the church October 17, 1878, containing the following inscription :
The Signal Lanterns of PAUL REVERE Displayed in the Steeple of this Church April 18, 1775 Warned the Country of the March of the British Troops to Lexington and Concord
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THE SIGNAL LIGHTS An April Reverie
Seated within these walls of storied fame, I heard above me in the April air The ancient Christ Church bells once more proclaim Freedom to men of good will everywhere. Around me hover spirits from the grave, Workman and preacher, pattering childish feet, Sea captain, merchant, gentlefolk and slave, Foregathered as of old, here God to meet.
The vision fades. Time marches on. Tonight A nation brave and strong, forever free, Forged in the fires of destiny must fight, That Freedom's torch may flame eternally. For what the People will, can never fail,
'Gainst them the Gates of Hell shall not prevail. Mary Kent Davey Babcock.
Written for the Lantern Service of April 18, 1945
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SEMPER PLUS ULTRA
M ANY of the hidden treasures in our unprinted Colonial Church records which crop to the sur- face when one is in search of a particular nugget, have to be pushed back again into obscurity where another may or may not unearth them. Many contain valuable data for historical research: a case in point aptly illus- trates this. A survey going back to the Colonial period, of cost prices of labor, materials, foodstuffs, wages, etc., recently undertaken by the School of Business Ad- ministration of Harvard University, would be materially aided by a check-up of the bills covering the building and upkeep of Christ Church in the 18th century. Other pertinent topics constantly present themselves to the re- search worker.
The "good old days" of which I have been writing, before the clutter of civilization had strewed our lives with its impedimenta, extended well into my generation. Then an apposite Latin phrase judiciously inserted into a "composition" was considered to give it the final touch of distinction. So, though here is the end of this little book, it is by no means the sum of what I hope may yet be written around the Christ Church records. Reluctantly I leave many stories untold for the future historian of this ancient parish to bring to light, know- ing I may safely close my contribution with the well- worn phrase
Finis, sed non finis.
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APPENDIX
List of Subscribers & Benefactors (from the S. P. G. in London) Acct from a Committee for Subscriptions 1722
Subscription for ye Subsistence of Mr Timothy Cutler while at Lon- don 1722
Letter to My Lord of London 1722
Deed for land on which Christ Church was built 1725
Bill for drawing deed 1725
Deed for land 1737
Deed for land 1753
Memorandum of Agreement for Carpenter's Work - Undated & Unsigned
Work done at Christ Church by Thos. Tippin & Thos Bennett 1723/4 Bill of James Varney & Compy to Ebenz Clough 1723
Dementions of the Stone work of the Church
Cost of Building the Church - Barnes Acct.
Invoice & Letter from Sandford & Lowe for Mr. John Barnes 1723
List of Money received for Pews 1723
Bill of Peter Secombe (receipt) 1725
Copy of articles of agreement for work to be done by Thos. Tippin 1729
Bill for Pall 1729
Vote re Dr. Cutler's House 1734
Deed of house - James Smith 1734
List of subscribers towards Organ 1736
List of subscribers for Expenses of John Cutler 1736
Bill of Robert Jarvice and Jenkins 1737 (Organ)
Bill for Steeple 1740 Bond for Bells 1743 Subscription to the Bells 1746 Will of Timothy Cutler 1757
Bills - Funeral expenses of Dr. Cutler 1765 List of names of people who received funeral Sermon 1766
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A List of the Subscribers and of their Subscriptions towards the Building of Christ Church in Boston Viz -
Mr George Monk
Mr Thomas Phillips 20
Capt William Person 24.2
Capt Benjamin Atkinson 30
Mr Aspless Vincent 15
Capt Francklyn Mŕ Darrough Sanker of
Antigone
19.IC
olson Esp. Gov' of South
69
Mr John Gilbert I2
Cap John Cox 10
IO
The Revd M. S. Trapp £2.2
Capt Thomas Lethered
IO
Sterling Exchange at 6.6
Capt William Ward
IO
200 I
Capt Thomas Tudar
15.9
Madm Jane Bonnille £18 Sterling
54
Mr Phillip Musgrave
IO
M William Rous Mercht
9.9
Doctr John Cuttler
IO
Mr Prichett 9.9
9.9
Mr. John Franklyn
IO
Mr George Cradock
50
Mr Job Lewis 50
Mr Henry Franklyn
50
Mr. Joseph Watson
IO
Gillam Phillips Esq"
65
Mr George Campble
IO
and two large brass
Mr Francis Newland
IO
branching Candlesticks Value Each £25 Sterling
100
Capt Robert Harris
IO
Capt James Sterling
50
Mr William Jones
IO
Mr Edward Watts
50
Mr William Connery
IO
John Valentine Esq.
30
Mr John Atkinson
IO
Doctr Freeman and son of Antiaguo
42.4
Capt Robert Dench
15
John Jekyle Esq
20
Mr Joshua Wroe
IO
Henry Douglas Cap. Esq" of Antiny
31.5
Mr S. W.
10
The Honble Lady Blacket
IO Capt John Chapman
IO
Leonard Vassall Esq™
20 Mr Benjamin Allford
10
Mr Henry Caswell
25
Mr Thomas Clark
IO
Mr Charles Apthorp
25
Mr William Pearce
IO
Capt Robert Buttler
25
Mr Miles Townsend
10
Maj" Majorum
20 Mr George Skinner
I3
Capt William Hender
20 Mr Henry Willen
IO
Samuel Weeks
20
Mr Peter Seccomb
IO
Thomas Selby
20
Mr Rowland Haughton
IO
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£1452.8 £1452.8
Thomas Graves Esqr
50
Mr. Sumner Gording
IO
Mr William Maxwell
45
Capt Thomas Childs
IO
Mr John Barnes
50
Mr William Speakman
IO
of London Sterling £9.9
Col1 Hatch
IO
The Right honble Thoms
Earle of Thanet £90 Ster- ling advance at 200 I cwt His Excellence Francis Nich-
90
I5
Mr Henry Laughton 19.9
Carolina and also 5 Cedar posts and 65 Planks fwd: freight free
Mr North Ingham
Capt Charles Brown
IO
Sum Brought Over
Mr Anthony Blunt
IO
Capt Gidion Ball
IO
20
Doct" George Stewart
IO
Mr George Jordin 5
Doct" John Gibbins
IO Mr Gab1 Escott 5
Doct" George Pemberton
I3
Mr William Woolin
5
Capt Peter Pappilion
IO Mr James Powell
5
Mr William Patten
IO Maj™ Mullin of Barbadoes
5.10
9 Maj Bissell of Do
5
7
Mr Thomas Gill of Exeter
5
Mr William Price
8 Capt William Brown
5
Mr Adam Tuck
8 Mr John Stoughton
5
Mr James Boyer
6 Mr Thomas Payne
5
Mr Joseph Bissell
IO Mr William Mark
5
Mr James King
6
Mr John Harvey
5
Mr Edward Stanbridge
IO
Capt Gillam
5
Mr Edward Totthill
6 Mr Jeremiah Clements
5
Mr Thomas Sandiford
5 Mr Jeremiah Totthill
5
Mr William Rundle
5
Mr Samuel Grainger
5
Mr John Thomlison
5 Mr Abraham Olivet
5
Capt Daniel West
5 Mr Thomas Warren
5
Mr Benjamin Funevill
5
Mr Thomas Price
5
Mr John Greenwood
5
Mr James Wilks
5
Capt Thomas Souder
5
Mr Gilbert Walner
5
Capt Henry Barlow
5 Mr Luke Vardy
5
Mr Joseph Thornton Mr John Shippie
5
Mr Edward Lock
5
Mr George England
5
Capt William Young
5
Mr John Fletcher
5
Mr John Steel
5
Mr Richard Avery
5
Doct™ Wright
5
Mr George Mayo
5
Capt Wukkuan Guffird and
Mr Peter Britton
5
Mr Ebenez' Coffin
5
Mr Andrew Halyburton
Mr Peter Funevill
5
Mr James Allsot
5
Mr Edward Mills Sen™
5
Mr William Dove
5
Cap Blum
5
Mr John Gwinnet
5
Cap Hutchingson
5
Mr Peter Oswald
5
from a Purse of a man of
5
Mr John Jones
5
Cap Ewer
5
Mr Robert Temple
5
Mr John Howert
5
Mr Richard Shower
5
Mr John Mathews
5
£1938
Mr William Doyle
2
jum Brought Over
£1938
Mr John Ewing
2
Mr Thomas Barrick
5 Mr William Webster
2
Mr Samuel Sleigh
5 Mr Samuel Prigg
3
Mr George Shore
5
Mr Dan11 Skinner
3
Mr Robert Abbot
5
Mr Thomas Dunklyn
.15
Ar James Clark
5 Mr Samuel Movine
2
[219]
Hugh 7.6
Mr Robert Skinner
5
5
Ware at Barbadoes
}
Mr Thomas Bennet
5
Capt William Coffin
5
5
Doctr Edward Elliss
5
Capt George Oliver Doct" Thomas Creese
Mr Thomas Delaplace
Mr Joseph Sleigh 2
3
Mr Robert Hays
3 Capt Sisell of New York I
Mr John Bulberton
3 Mr John Williams 2
Mr Incs Gatchell
3
Mr Thomas Shaw 3
Mr Thomas Peling
2 Mr Chily
I
Mr George Scundit
3
Mr John Dant
2
Mr Godfry Mallbone
3 Mr Benj Jakson
I
Mr Richard Pope
3 Mr Nichº Byard of New York
I.IO
Mr John Humil
3 Mr Nath1 Marston
2
Mr. John Pottales
I
Mr Thomas Hughs
2
The Widow Davis
I
Capt Armstrong
.IO
Mr Isaac Mathews
2 Mr Abraham Lyason of N. York Mr Clifford
3
Sum Brought Over
£2201.19
Capt George Chatterton
3
Mr James Hullwell
3
Mr William Ridoubt
2
Mr Benjamin Barker
3
Capt Joshua Amy
6
Mr Francis Baker
2
Mr Robert Jenkins
3
Mr Isaac Doubt
2
Capt Robert Ward
3
Mr Robert Homer
2
Mr Dan1 Crockford
3
Mr James Franklyn
2
Mr Thomas Bennit
3
Mr John Austin
3
Mr John Hoston
3
Mr George Berwick
2
Mr Thomas Tippin
2
Mr John Edget
I Mr Walter Browne
3
Mr Jacob Johnson
2 Mr Nath1 Taylor
3.3
Capt Arnute Scurmerhorne
3 Mr Anthony Lane
3
Mr Henry Phillips
5
Cash by an unknown hand Do
2
Mr Nichº Roach
3
Mr John Ruchell
7
By Collo Goff
20
Mr Thomas Lawlor
4
Mr Jacob Crouch
2.10
£2317.2
2
Mr Christ™ Rymer
2 Mr William Beckman of Do
2
£2201.19
Capt Peter Adams
I.IO
FOOTNOTE : This photostat copy of a report by Dr. Cutler sent to me from the S. P. G. in London differs from the list in the Christ Church rec- ords by the addition of other subscriptions and the notation regarding Captain William Maxwell's gift of the brass chandeliers. It also enables us to verify omissions caused by improper folding of the Christ Church list.
2
[ 220]
An Acct of what I have recd from a Committee for secs, Subscriptions Viz. Es d
I722
bE
8:22 Mr John Gibbins as acct .
12. - --
26 MY Thos Graves
20. - -- 4 bI
4 Thos. Selby
27. 14 .-
9 Sent to Mrs Cutler by order of the Committee as p acct
20.
15 pd Mr Came in pt for Timber to bldd in the Spring
20. - -- Jan.
8 Recd of Thos Selby · 12. Ch
Feb. 26 of Mr Blount
10. - --
27 of Dr Gibbons .
15.
March 7 D°
20. --
Recd of Mr Valentine
30. - -
- II Payd Clough
50. -.-
30th pd the Diggers in pt as p acct 7. 15. - 30:
Apr" I Pd one of the Carpenters for going to York about the Timber -
2. 15 .6
pd for 2 Letters to Mrs Cuttler
- 3 .9
pd James Vincent 8 0 : £2:19.9 & when he returnd I pd him 2
4. 19 .9
3 Recd of Dr Gibbins
5. -. -
4 Pd in p for Stones as act recd .
5. -. -
8 pd for Digging as p act .
6. 5. -
The committee's receipt as endorsed on the folder.
[22] ]
1
Boston Octber 1722
Subscription for ye Subsistence of Mr Timothy Cutler while at London at paying his & Messrs Brown and Johnsons Passages thither
XX
I. IO. O
2. -
Henry Laughton
2 - - -
xx Jn Cutler James Smith
2. -
Xx
xx Mr Buckridge
I. IO
xx John Barnes
10.0- (
xx Jn Valentine
4 -
-
xx Geog Cradock
3 - --
xx John Gibbs
2:
xx Francis Brinley
10:0-(
xx Tho. Cross Sen.
2: 0: 0
xx R Penart
3. o. (
xx William Price and (?)
2-12-0
xx Thos Greaves
3. O. (
xx Hattie Blount
2. 0. (
xx William Speakman
3- 0-0
xx John Gibbins
2. O. (
xx Watts
3 .- - -
xx Sam1 Banister
I. O. (
xx John Jd Smyth
5 - -
xx Casdel V
.
xx John Yeanell Jn
2-IC
xx Ester Hatch
3
-
xx James Stirling
5 - -
xx Susan Leyland
5 -
xx George Monk
2 10 (
Archibald Cumming
7 -
xx John Powell
2 - -
xx Benj Faneuil Gm Phillips
10- -
x Joshua Wroe
2 -
-
xx Tho: Creese Jun" XX
2 - -
5 - -
x Henry Whitton 2 -
xx Jane Walker 2 -
-
-
1
-
[ 222 ]
2: 0: (
A Copy of a letter to My Lord of London
MAY IT PLEASE YOF LORDSHIP, - We, the Minister, Church Wardens, and Vestry of the King's Chappel in Boston in New Eng- land, humbly wait on Yor Lordship, begging leave to lay before You the present State of the Church in this Place.
It hath pleased Almighty God to bless the Vine which his Right hand hath here planted, and committed to Yor Care, wth a very fruit- ful Encrease. It has taken deep Root, and now begins to fill ye Land. The Number of Strangers and Converts who are daily added unto the Church are become so Considerable that we are under the Necessity of Erecting another House for the Publick Worship of God in this Town.
In order to Advance the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, by Carrying on a Work so indispensably Necessary for his Service, God hath blest us (we hope) wth Unanimity and a General Disposition to promote and, Under Yor Lordship's influence and Favour, finish what is so much Wanted and desired here; And We most humbly address our Selves to our Right Reverend Diocesan, that he would be pleas'd in his abun- dant Love and Care for the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made him Overseer, to regard this distant Portion thereof by Contin- uing His Care and Protection of us in this Undertaking.
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