For the more perfect understanding of the relation of Mr. Keith's missionary labors, we here insert a general view of the state of religion in the colonies. about the time of his visit.

An Account of the State of Religion in the English Plantations in North America, by Col. Dudley, Governor of New England.

The Plantations on the Shore of America as they lye from South to North may be thus accounted:

SOUTH CAROLINA contains Seven thousand Souls, will admit and support three Ministers.

NORTH CAROLINA, Five thousand Souls, alike three Ministers, and both stand in need of Schools.

VIRGINIA, Forty thousand Souls, was by the Lord Culpepper divided into about Forty Parishes with an Established Maintenance by Act of Assembly, but are not fully supply'd, and the Maintenance hurt by disuse, but will be always encouraged by Colonel Nicholson the present Governor.

MARYLAND, Twenty five thousand Souls in twenty six parishes, I suppose well supply'd by the care of Dr. Bray.

PENSILVANIA and the Lower Counties annext, Fifteen thousand Souls, will well support Four Ministers; one at Philadelphia, and one in each County, with dependant Schools upon each.

WEST JERSEY, Two thousand Souls most Quakers, may yet have one Minister, at present, supported from England.

EAST JERSEY Six thousand Souls in about Seven Towns and Parishes, may at present support Two Ministers, the rest being Dissenters.

CONNECTICUT, Thirty thousand Souls, about thirty three Towns, all Dissenters, supply'd with Ministers and Schools of their own persuasion.

NARAGANSET or Kings Province, Three thousand Souls, without any Ministry or public form of Religion, may have two Ministers, and might well Support them.

ROAD ISLAND and Providence Plantations, Five thousand Souls in Seven Towns, at present under a Quaker Government; but might have Two Ministers and Schoolmasters, at first subsisted from hence, at least one of them.

MASSACHUSETTS or New England, Seventy thousand Souls, in Seventy Towns, all Dissenters, that have Ministers and Schools of their own persuasion, except one Congregation of the Church of England at Boston, where there are two Ministers.

NEW HAMPSHIRE, Three thousand Souls in Six Towns, all Dissenters, that have Ministers and Schools of their own persuasion.

PROVINCE OF MAYN, Two thousand Souls in Six Towns (the rest of that great Province being in ten years past wasted and driven off by the Indians) are all Dissenters, and have Ministers and Schools of their own.

In the three last Colonies and Connecticut, by an early law providing for Ministers and Schoolmasters, I am of opinion there are no Children to be found of ten years old, that do not read well, nor men of Twenty that do not write tolerably.

The Ministers to be sent from England to any of the abovesaid Colonies, must be men of good learning, sound morals, and should not be very young; and where there is not the view of a good support from their hearers, must be supplied from hence that they be not in Contempt, but may be well provided for in those parts where the Governments are immediately dependant upon the Crown and Government of England.

After Mr. Keith came over, and had made a survey of the field before him, he, in conjunction with the few clergymen then in the northern part of the country (with the exception of the two or three in New England), made the following statement, designed for the Venerable Society. It contains no details of Mr. Keith's journeyings or labors, as set forth in his Journal; but is nevertheless valuable as contributing to a picture of the religion of the times, as viewed by the eyes of churchmen.

An Account of the State of the Church in North America, by Mr. George Keith and Others.

A Brief account of the State of the Church in the American parts, hereafter mentioned, and a scheme of such proper and expedient ways and methods as we humbly Conceive by the blessing of God, may be useful to the reducing the main body of the Dissenters of all sorts to yo Church of England, by way of Question and Answer.

In what circumstances the Church of England is, as by Law Established and the Schools?

PENSILVANIA.-There is no Church or School established by any Law in the Province, nevertheless in Philadelphia (the Chief Town in Pensilvania) there is one Church consisting of a large Congregation, having Mr. Evans for their Minister, and Mr. Thomas his Assistant, with three Congregations in the Country, viz. Chester, Radner (being a Welch Church), and Oxford, which are supplied only in the week days by the said Ministers.

WEST NEW JERSEY.-There is no Church or School established by Law of the Province.

EAST NEW JERSEY.-There are eight English Towns, and two Dutch, but neither Church or School established by any Law.

NEW YORK.-There are some Counties, five of which are inhabited by Dutch, and those of Dutch extraction, viz. Albany, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, and King's County, in which the Church and Church of England Schools have not yet been settled, but the Presence of the present Governor of that Province, his Excellency the Lord Cornbury, has mightily influenced many of

the people of the said Counties to desire that Church of England Ministers and Schoolmasters may be sent amongst them, particularly Albany representatives have desired his Lordship that an English Schoolmaster might be established in that county, and some of the Inhabitants of Ulster County passionately desire a Church of England Minister; Suffolk County is the only English County without a legal Establishment of a Church of England Minister; for in ye County of West Chester, Queen's County, Richmond, and New York County, the Church is Established by Law, this Province, though it hath a great number of Inhabitants, could never yet obtain a publick legally Established School.

NEW ENGLAND.-There is no Church, nor Church of England School established by Law in all the Colonies Eastward of the Province of New York, viz. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth and New Hampshire, except at Boston, where there is one Church of England, consisting of a large Congregation, having two Ministers, Mr. Myles and Mr. Bridge, and one in Rhode Island consisting of a large Congregation and one Minister, viz. Mr. Lockier Lockyer], and another in Braintry which has no Minister. How Ministers and Schoolmasters are maintained?

PHILADELPHIA.—The two Ministers are maintained by the Voluntary subscriptions of the Congregation, and the constant munificence of his Excellency Col. Nicholson, Governor of Virginia.

JERSEYS.-In the West and East New Jerseys, there is neither Minister nor maintenance.

NEW YORK.-A Provision is made by Law for six Ministers, viz: in the City and County of New York £100 per annum of the money of this province, for one Minister; In Queens County on Nassau Island £120 per annum for two Ministers to be equally divided betwixt them; £40 per annum for one Minister in the County of Richmond; in West Chester County a maintenance for two Ministers, viz. £50 for each, besides her Majesty allows £130 per annum for the maintenance of the Chaplain of the Forces. There is yet no provision for Schoolmasters made by Law, though by the zealous Recommendation of the Lord Cornbury to the general Assembly, a legal maintenance is undoubtedly expected, and till then the Church of England Schoolmaster in the County of New York as heretofore, will be supported by the Voluntary Contributions of those whose children are instructed by him; notwithstanding it is humbly conceived that an annual Pension from England for the Support and farther encouragement of some Ministers and Schoolmasters in poor Towns will be of great use and service to the Church.

BOSTON.-Mr. Myles is maintained by the Contribution of the Church and Mr. Bridge out of her Majesty's Treasury in England.

RHODE ISLAND.-Mr. Lockier, the Minister, is maintained partly by the Contributions of the people, and partly by a Supply from England.

What Number of Churches, Schools and Ministers ?

As for Pensilvania, Jerseys and New England this is answered already ut supra.

NEW YORK.-There are in this Province one Chapel and four Churches, viz. one Chapel in Fort William Henry, two Churches in Queens County, one in the County of West Chester, and one large Church in the City of New York, founded Anno Domini, 1695, and erected by the charitable Contributions of many well disposed persons, especially the generous donations of his Excellency Col. Nicholson, Governor of Virginia, and Col. Fletcher, late Governor of New York.

The Reverend Mr. Edmund Moll, is Chaplain to the Fort and Forces; Mr. Bartow, Rector of West Chester County; Mr. Vesey, Rector of New York; the Reverend Mr. Gordon, late Rector of Queens County, who to the grief of all good men is removed by Death.

No School house yet erected in this Province.

How the People are inclined to promote them?

PHILADELPHIA.-The English Congregation is very forward to encourage and promote the Interest of the Church of England; as for the congregations of the County, being lately reduced from Quakerism, they are very averse from a Maintenance and therefore the Ministers of Philadelphia freely serve the Cures.

EAST AND WEST JERSEY.-There is a considerable number of People that were formerly Quakers, and other Dissenters in a good disposition to embrace Communion with the Church, but not so forward to contribute to the Maintenance of those who discharge these offices, wherewith God is served by his Church.

NEW YORK. In all these Counties where the Church is established by the law of this Province, the People generally are in a readiness to embrace the Doctrines and Worship of the Church, and to Encourage Free Schools.

NEW ENGLAND.-In Swansey, Naraganset, Seconet, Braintry, Salem, Ipswich, and Piscataway, there are several hundreds of People in those and other places of New England, desirous of Church of England Ministers among them, a considerable Number of which in Swansey and Seconet have already petitioned the Lord Bishop of London for two Ministers.

What Number of them are of the Church of England and in what Places ? In PHILADELPHIA and the adjacent places by a modest Computation, there seems to be 7 or 800, the number being considerably increased since the arrival of the two present Ministers.

EAST AND WEST JERSEYS, ut supra in the 4th Question.

NEW YORK. That large Church is now thronged, and the Congregation daily increasing, by an addition of Dutch and French, as well as English People, also in other Counties of this Province, the number of those who are earnestly desirous of a Church Minister is very considerable, though at present the exact number cannot be known.

NEW ENGLAND, ut supra in the 1st Question.

What hopes there are to bring more over, and by what ways and means? In PENSILVANIA, the WEST and EAST JERSEYS, and the several Colonies of

NEW ENGLAND, there are great hopes, were there a considerable number of pious, learned clerks, well versed in the controversies between the Church and the Brethren of the Separation, speedily sent over and supported by England and by maintenance, and as for the ways and means, we humbly conceive, that if the Queen, the Lord Chancellor, the Arch Bishops, Bishops, Collegiate Churches, and Universities, would be pleased to present as many pious and learned Ministers, as are needful, to livings, as they fall, of £200 per annum, at least, upon condition that they come to the aforesaid places, to preach the Gospel for such time as their Graces and Lordships shall soe arrange.

That if a competent portion of the Tyth may be reserved for the supply of the Cures, and the residue sent Yearly to supply the Missionaries; with submission, we believe that this would effectually contribute to the Proselyting, the main body of the Dissenting People, to their Ancient Mother, the Church; or if this Method be not so agreeable to the persons above mentioned, it is humbly suggested that until the fund to be raised by that Noble and Illustrious Society, for the Propagating of Christian Faith, in these Parts, be able to answer the charge of their great and pious undertaking, that their Lordships would be pleased to contrive how the profits of such Sine Cures, as are in the Queen's and their Lordship's gifts may be sequestred as they fall, for the supply of the Missionaries; and it is humbly prayed that a remarkable encouragement may be given to such as will undertake the study of the Indian languages in order to their Conversion; and that above all, a Suffragan Bishop may be sent over for the Confirming the Baptized, and giving orders to such as are willing and well qualified to receive them, there being a considerable number of actual preachers and others of New England education well disposed to serve in the Ministry.

NEW YORK.-If proper methods be speedily taken, we have reasonable hopes that the English Counties of that Province will be easily reconciled to the Church, as to ways and means, by sending a pious and learned Clergy among them as aforesaid: again that in the small Towns the Ministers have directions and Encouragement given them to officiate as Ministers and Schoolmasters, than which a more effectual way cannot be taken to establish the Church on the Sure and lasting foundations of Truth and Peace.

And as to the Dutch Counties and Towns in the Province it would be of admirable Service to send such Dutch Ministers to their Vacant Counties and Towns, especially forthwith one to Kings County, now destitute, ordained by the Bishop of London, with whom they would as readily comply as if they were Ministers of their own persuasion.

What opposition and Discouragement the Church of England meets with, from the Government, Society of people or private persons?

PENSILVANIA. The chief opposition and discouragment the Church of England meets with, ariseth from persons disaffected being put into places and offices of trust in council, in Commission of the peace and Courts of Jurisdiction.

One other great discouragement which the Church labours under, is from the pretended Ministry of Quakers, who have threatened our Reverend and worthy Brother, Mr. Keith, at their Meeting places, which he has visited in