|
|
all the Authority the Power of the Crown can give (and we
apprehend that no less Power than that of the Crown can
either totally or partially abrogate an Act passed by the
Authority of the Crown) tho' it may plead Prescription from
the Consent of the People for near Seventy years and the
Province derives from it the inestimable Blessing of Civil and
Religious Union, yet there have not been wanting prejudiced
Persons who have excited such Doubts concerning its Legality
in the Minds of the People which however groundless might
if not timely check'd greatly endanger the Establishment of
the Church itself.
Nor were our Fears less excited by a Bill that lately passed
both Houses of Assembly enabling the Governor to nominate
Commissioners for ecclesiastical Matters, which we apprehend
was not only contrary to Act of Parliament but being formed
on the Presbyterian Plan would had it been made a Law
forever have precluded the Introduction of episcopal Govern-
ment.
To remedy these growing Evils before it be too late We
humbly request your Grace to present this Petition to His
Majesty in the Name of the established Clergy of Maryland,
and to support it with an influence which can never want
weight whilst noble Birth, sound Learning and true Piety are
added to the first Dignity of the Church.
For the Arch Bishop
of Canterbury.
To
The King's most Excellent Majesty
May it please your Majesty.
We your Majesty's most faithful Subjects the Clergy of
Maryland of the Communion of the Church of England beg
leave to offer at the Foot of your Majesty's Throne those
professions of Loyalty which our Duty dictates and those
returns of Graitude which your Majesty's Regard for and
protection of the Church of England wherever established
demands.
The Church received its first Endowment in Maryland at a
Time when the Administration of this Government rested in
the Crown, which at once placed the Clergy above a depend-
ance on precarious Contributions, and freed the Province from
the Convulsions which the Equality of Sectaries by their
struggles for Power and pre-eminence still occasions in other
Colonies.
To confirm and improve this Establishment, we supplicate
your Majesty to extend to your Dominions here that Salutary
form of ecclesiastical Government by Bishops the good Effects
|
Lib. C. B.
No. 20
|
|
