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might prevent your good Intentions to serve us, under this
Consideration we thought it more advisable & safe that we
should Imediately set out in serch for a Gentleman who would
answer the purpose of suplying the Vacancy as an Incumbent
and at the same time determining to procure none but such as
from a general character both as to Abilitys and Morals would
render him undeniable agreeable both to your Excellency and
the Parishioners, and as we had not been altogether thought-
less on this occasion prior to Whitakers death we had been
forming in our minds a Gentleman that should answer this
purpose so that we should not be altogether to seak when
Whitaker should leave us, this being the case we Imedeately
upon the receit of your first letter made application for the
purpose above related and on receiving your second Letter, it
some measure put us under a restraint to know how to act so
as not to give your Excellency the least room of offence, your
favourable premisses in that joined with what went before
could leave no room to doubt but you remained fixed in your
resolutions of oblidging us, and duty bound us to comply with
your requisition, but as we aprehended your Excellency might
not expect that we had been so diligent in our preparations
towards obtaining a Gentleman to fill the Vacancy and also that
you did not then reflect on the consequence of a delay which
prior to this you had been kind enough to give the hint might
prove dangerous We therefore concluded it could not be
disagreeable to your Excellency to pursue our Scheem, but at
the same time to advise your Excellency thereof as also Mr
Read the Gentleman proposed to us by you as a Reader, so
that it might answer the Good purposes of informing you our
designs, and also that Mr Read might not be put to any
unnecessary expence in moving and for that purpose we
wrote to Mr Ridout an answer to the two Letters before
received from him, that in consequence of our former resolu-
tions accordingly two Gentlemen (being agreed on by the
people and Vestry) for the purpose afd went on the formed
design of obtaining the Consent of the Gentleman we had
before Solicitted, and to convince your Excellency that we
did not depend on our strength, (as was falsly affirmed to
you) they took with them Mr Ridouts two letters to shew the
Gentleman they were to apply to, as the foundation of our assur-
ance from your Excellency, and they had nothing more from
the Vestry then a Certificate of their concurring in such choice
of the man, and also the amount of the Salary, but as soon as
some ill disposed persons understood the arrand these Gentle-
men were gone on, we could hear nothing else but false
reports constantly propagating and spreading to our disadvan-
tage, but being fixed in our resolutions, never said more then
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