"money, which their own ingratitude and obftinacy will "have made it neceffary for Great-Britain to expend upon "them; and the produce of the few port-duties now "fubfifting in America will be much too fmall to defray "this great expense-it will be neceffary in the eighth "place, that the parliament of Great-Britain fhould esta"blish fome further port-duties in America, to be applied "to the foregoing purposes, or to the fupport of the new "civil and military establishment which will be made "there. And perhaps, alfo, it will be thought expedient "to lay fome reasonable and equitable internal tax on the "Americans in aid of the faid port-duties, which might "hardly by themselves be fufficient to defray the whole ex"pense of fo large an establishment. Such, for example, "might be another stamp-duty, upon the plan of that "which was laid upon the Americans by the British par"liament in the year 1765, and too haftily, and most un"happily, taken-off in the following year, 1766; and "which, by the confeffion of the Americans themselves, "was the moft judicious internal tax that could be imposed upon them, if (say they) it had been right to impofe any "tax at all. This tax, therefore, might be again impofed (( upon the Americans, after the appeal to the decifion of the

66

Almighty, which the Americans have made concerning "the right of the British parliament to govern them, fhall "have been determined against them, as we may hope it "will now foon be. And, if this tax fhould be again im

posed on them, it will probably be neceffary to double "the quantity of it, on account of the great excefs of the "expenfe of the new American eftablishment, (which the "rebellious conduct of the Americans will have rendered "neceffary,) above that which was thought fufficient at the time of paffing the former ftamp-act.

"Thefe, and other fuch, mcafures will probably be

"thought

thought by the British parliament to be the proper and "neceffary remedies for the feditious diforders of America, "and will, therefore, no doubt, be applied without delay, "in order to preferve a real, and not a nominal, dependance "of thofe colonies on Great-Britain. And thus the temporal affairs of that country will now fpeedily be ar❝ranged.

"But what more immediately demands our attention, "and, no doubt, muft excite the concern of the congrega "tion here affembled, is the fate of religion in those pro"vinces; which, it must be confeffed, has hitherto been "too little attended-to by the government of Great-Britain. "But now we may juftly hope this fault will be repaired, "and that fuch meafures will be adopted, in favour of the

pure and holy church of which we are members, as fhall "effectually establish and support it throughout all America. "Thefe, we may prefume, will be as follows.

"In the first place parliament will now, at laft, eftablish "tythes, or fome other legal payment, in the colonies of "America, for the maintenance of the clergy of the church "of England that are fettled in it. This feems fo highly "reasonable, that it is almost a matter of ftri&t juftice. For "it is no more than what has been done in Canada, by "the late Quebeck-act, in favour of the clergy of the church "of Rome, upon this equitable principle, That, if the "British government allowed the religion of the Roman"catholicks to be profeffed in that province, (which, by "the capitulation in 1760, and the treaty of peace in 1763, "it seemed bound in juftice to do,) they muft alfo provide "a maintenance for their priests.' "Now, furely, the "fame principle may be applied to our own church, and "will prove that, fince it is neceffary to allow the religion "of the church of England to be profeffed in the other " colonies

D 4

"colonies of North-America, it is alfo neceffary to provide "a maintenance for its minifters.

"Nor ought these payments for the maintenance of the "minifters of the church of England to be made only by "those persons who are members of the church. This "would be much too narrow a fund for the decent and "honourable fupport of that denomination of protestants "who may be called the only established church in all Ame"rica. In confequence of this pre-eminence of our holy <6 church above all the fetarian perfuafions in religion, "(which, indeed, are but too frequent and numerous in "those provinces, but which, in a legal confideration, are "only tolerated in them, and not established, any more than "they are here in England,) it is fit and just that a general "contribution fhould be made for the maintenance of its "minifters by all the inhabitants of America without "diftinction, even as here in England prefbyterians, and "quakers, and other diffenters from the established church, 66 are obliged to pay tythes to its minifters. For those who 66 are disposed to worship God in peace and charity, that is, "the members of the church of England, are entitled to a "regular and decent fupport for their minifters.

"In the fecond place, it may be hoped that the parlia "ment will make use of the prefent glorious opportunity to "eftablish bifbops in America. This is a measure of the "utmost confequence to both the laity and the clergy of "the church of England in America;-to the laity, that "they may not want the important office of Confirmation, "without the benefit of which even a Toleration of the "church of England is not compleat:-and to the young "men who devote themselves to the miniftry of the gospel, by affording them an opportunity of receiving epifcopal "ordination in the country in which they have been born

"and

" and educated, without being forced, (as they have been "hitherto,) to come to England for that purpose, at an ex"penfe which they can ill fupport, and with the hazard "of their healths and lives in a long fea-voyage, which has "been already fatal to many of them. Till this important "measure is adopted, and carried into effectual execution,

"

by establishing a proper number of bifhops in America, "with revenues fuitable to the dignity of their office and "station, the church of England (though it is, in point of right and law, the only established church in America,) may be truly faid to be in fact in a state of perfecution or oppreffion, while every other denomination of proteftants enjoys the highest degree of liberty: which is an event "of a fingular nature, and contrary to the example of all "other governments in the world; as they always take care "to provide fuitable encouragements and supports for the "feveral religions they think fit to adopt and establish. It "is fit, therefore, that England fhould, at laft, follow the

fame juft policy, and that every encouragement that the "British government can afford to any religion in America "should be afforded to that of the church of England.

"As to what relates to the perfons who have engaged in "this wicked and unnatural rebellion, we, that are minifters " of the gospel of peace and mercy, should, if we were to "follow the inclinations of our hearts, rejoice to see those "offenders discharged, at the close of these troubles, with no "other punishment or reproof, than our Saviour's exhorta"tion to the woman taken in adultery, Go, and fin no "more. But policy and prudence forbid fo mild a con❝duct, and make it necessary to the future fafety and tran

quillity of the ftate, that many of thofe who have been "moft guilty in exciting this rebellion in America should "receive due punishment for their crimes by the fentence

" of

"of thofe laws which they have fo wantonly and atrociously "violated. The members of the Continental Congress in

particular, who have paffed the vote of Independance, " and thereby themselves renounced, and inftigated their "countrymen to renounce, the allegiance due to the king's "facred majefty, muft be confidered as having offended beyond all hopes of mercy; which, if it were extended to "offenders of that deep malignity, might be justly cenfured 66 as weak and dangerous, and injurious to the publick wel"fare. For it would counter-act the good effects of the "fucceffes with which God hath been pleafed to bless our "arms in this unhappy conteft, and would render precari

ous the future peace and tranquillity of the American "colonies, and the future authority of Great-Britain over "them, (by which alone that tranquillity can be preferved,) "by preventing the exiftence of the ftrongest of all fecu"rities for the continuance of thofe bleffings, to wit, the

terror arising from the fight and memory of a fevere and "extenfive execution of the laws against those who have fo "wickedly overthrown them. Thefe very great offenders, "therefore, together with the principal members of the "feveral provincial affemblies, or conventions, that have

ufurped the government of their refpective provinces fince "the general rejection of his Majesty's lawful authority, "we must now prepare ourselves to fee punished in the "manner the laws direct, in order to insure to future gene"rations the advantages of peace and harmony between "Great-Britain and the American colonies, with a due fub"ordination of the latter to the parental authority of the "former, which, by God's bleffing on his Majefty's arms, "6 are likely now foon to be eftablished.”

This I take to be a fair and moderate interpretation of the above-mentioned paffage of the Archbishop of York's

fermon.