place within the said three provinces, the president shall call such occasional meeting at the place requested by the committee, giving such public notice thereof, by the secretary, as is directed above. And at all such meetings, whether occasional or stated, any number of members met, not being less than fifteen, shall have power to make bye-laws, and in general, shall have all the powers granted by charter to this corporation, other than the making, altering or repealing fundamental laws and regulations; provided always, that when any part of the stock of the corporation is to be disposed of, or any augmentation of annuities to be made, the same shall be expressed in the previous public notices hereby directed to be given of such meetings.

IV. The treasurer or treasurers, shall give such security to the corporation every year, or as often as thereto required, in such sum or sums as the corporation at any annual meeting may judge sufficient, for the faithful disharge of the trust reposed, and to be reposed, in him or them; and farther, he or they shall, at each annual meeting, exhibit his or their accounts to the corporation, for their inspection and approbation.

V. Every clergyman who shall become a contributor, in order that his widow and children may be entitled to an annuity at his decease, is to continue the payment of his yearly contribution during his life, and not to stop at the end of fifteen years; the whole calculation being on the principle of payments for life. And if any clergyman shall die in arrears of his annual payments, all his arrears with the penalty of one penny in the pound per day, are to be deducted out of the annuity payable to the widow and children.

By the foregoing laws and regulations a plan was settled for the management and disposition of a fund, that was partly to arise from the stated contributions of those whose families were to be intitled to relief and assistance from it. These contributions of the clergy are considered as the annual savings of a strict and severe economy, laid out in the purchase of small annuities, to be kept in reserve for their wives and children, in case they should come to be widows and orphans. To such a fund, where the parties to be benefited by it, were themselves to exert their utmost ability towards its establishment, it 3 I

VOL. II.

could not be doubted that large additions would be made by the generosity and charity of the benevolent and tender-hearted; especially as the wants and distresses of those, who by this institution are to be relieved and assisted, could not fail to have been peculiarly interesting and affecting to persons of humani ty and sensibility.

SECOND MEETING, AT NEW-YORK, OCTOBER 2, 1770.

An address having, at last year's meeting, been sent to the Lord Bishop of London, his Lordship in answer, was pleased to "assure the corporation, that he should always be happy in giving them his advice and assistance that they had his best wishes for the success of a scheme which reflects so much honour upon the promoters of it, and which seemed so well calculated to relieve the distresses of such objects, as more immediately call for their attention and compassion." His Lordship was further pleased to accompany these his most benevolent wishes, with a kind benefaction of Twenty Pounds Sterling, towards the fund.

A Letter to the Reverend Dr. Smith, from the Reverend Mr. Thomas Wharton, Rector of St Michael's, in Bridgetown, Barbadoes, was read, setting forth that he had been favoured with a copy of the Doctor's Sermon, delivered the preceding year, at the first meeting of the corporation, which Mr. Wharton was pleased to say, "carried with it such arguments as made him desirous of offering something more than empty praise to so meritorious a design, and that he proposed to set a collection on foot in the island of Barbadoes for the benefit of the charity."

IN PURSUANCE OF THE PRECEDING LETTER FROM REVEREND MR. WHARTON OF BARBADOES, DR. SMITH RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING, DATED MAY 23, 1772, viz.

REVEREND SIR,

"We have a pleasure in remitting the collections in our "island by the hands of Mr. Gilbert, for the use of the corpo"ration for the relief of the widows and children of clergymen

in the communion of the church of England in America,

"amounting to the sum of one hundred and ninety pounds, "nine shillings and eight pence half-penny, sterling-Some "small sums remain uncollected of the subscriptions of our "friends, which we will endeavour to get in and send you by "the next convenient opportunity.

"If our wishes could have met with adequate success, the ❝ amount would have been considerably larger. But when you "call to mind the calamities which this island hath suffered from "dreadful fires, and still labours under from unfavourable "weather, we flatter ourselves we shall be thought in some "degree to have shewn a friendly inclination towards our "brethren in North-America, although our encouragement of "your laudable scheme is not answerable to our own desires. " HENRY DUKE. "THOMAS WHARTON."

Signed.

TO REVEREND DR. WILLIAM SMITH.

N. B. This letter was accompanied with a list of the subscribers, which is inserted in the general list of contributors annexed hereunto.

REMARKS ON THE SCHEME OF THE CORPORATION FOR THE RELIEF OF THE WIDOWS AND CHILDREN OF CLERGYMEN, IN THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN AMERICA; DRAWN UP BY DR. PRICE, AT THE REQUEST OF DR. FRANKLIN, AND BY HIM TRANSMITTED TO THE CORPORATION; VIZ.

"The experience of twenty-seven years has proved, that the widows of the ministers in Scotland, live one with another twenty years in a state of widowhood. Let this be supposed to be the fact among the widows of clergymen in America; and let it be also supposed that all, who do not leave widows, leave children, who, by the scheme will be entitled to an annu ity for thirteen years.

"The consequence of these'suppositions is, that at the death of every married clergyman an annuity will become due, payable for either twenty years, or for thirteen years.

"Taking widows and families of children together, let the annuity be supposed payable for sixteen years. As more

widows will be left than families of children without widows, I reckon this a moderate supposition, after allowing for such families of children, as may become extinct before the expiration of thirteen years; and also for the payment of only half annuities for two or three years (by article sixth) to the widows of such clergymen as have not made fifteen annual payments. Should this supposition, however, be a year too much, or too little, no great difference will arise.

"According to these suppositions, the solution of the following question will determine whether this scheme is adequate or inadequate.

"What is the value to a person of a given age, in annual payments during life, the first payment being made immediately, of an annuity of one pound for sixteen years, payable after his death, provided he lives four years, or so long as to make five annual payments?

"Answer. Find (by question tenth, in observations on reversionary payments, &c.) the value, in annual payments during the given life, of an annuity payable forever, or of a perpetuity, after the failure of a life four years older than the given life. Diminish this value in the proportion of the value of the perpetuity to the value of an annuity for sixteen years, found in table second. And this reduced value, multiplied by the value of one pound to be received at the end of four years, and also by the probability that the given life shall exist four years, (found in tables third, fourth, or fifth) will be the an

swer.

"Supposing the given life thirty, and reckoning compound interest at four and a half per cent. the answer thus calculated will be very nearly a quarter of a year's purchase-Supposing the age forty, the answer will be three-tenths of a year's purchase. This supposes all the clergy who marry, to leave, at their deaths, either widows or families of children.-In Scotland, for the last twenty-seven years, one in twenty-six, of all the ministers who had been married, have died widowers without children. In the present case, let only one in twenty be supposed to die so circumstanced, and the consequence will be, that the values just given ought to be lessened a twentieth

part; or, that the annuity being one pound, the annual payment ought to be four shillings and eight pence for the age of thirty, and five shillings and eight pence for the age of forty. "From hence it follows that, taking all ages together, five shillings per annum for life, ought to be paid by every married member of such an establishment as that under consideration, for every annuity of one pound promised to his widow and children; or that the proportion of the annuity to the annual payment ought to be four to one, and not five to one as in this scheme.

"I have taken interest at four and a half per cent. because I suppose it possible in America to improve money perfectly at this rate of compound interest. If interest may be taken as high as six per cent. the proportion in the scheme, of the annuity to the annual payment, will be nearly right.

"I have further supposed, that no such extraordinary payment is made on a second marriage as is mentioned in article fourth. And that the meaning of article ninth is, that if there be a widow and one or more children, and the latter should all die before the end of thirteen years, the whole annuity shall be payable to the former, if then living and single. If this is not the meaning of this article, a difference that seems improper will be made between the provision for a widow without children, and a widow with children.

"I also suppose the interest of all the money arising from benefactions, to go towards increasing equally annuities just adequate to the annual payments, and capable of being supported by them, without any aid from charitable benefactions.

"Batchelors might, I think, be induced to encourage such a scheme as this, tby offering that, should they marry after becoming members, all the payments they had previously made, should entitle their widows and children to the same annuity, as if they had been married before they became members.

"This is the best account I can give of this scheme on a general examination of it. A more minute and accurate exa

* The meaning of the article is as Dr. Price understands it. It was always intended that payments made by Batchelors before marriage should be thus taken into the account.