IIOUDIN TO TIIE SECRETARY. [extract.] "Treston, New Jebsey, Nov. 1st, 1750. Rey. Sir. -- ' ' Having my residence at New York, I heard of repeated complaints made by gentlemen and principal inhabitants of this place, Allen's Town, and Borden's Town, it being for many years past destitute of a Church of England minister, and without any sort of application of mine, about five months ago some of them were pleased to press me by letter to come amongst them. I, being then conscious to myself that I had no license from the Lord Bishop, or sanction from the Society, I deliberated some time till I had consulted several gentlemen of the clergy in New York, the Governour and others, who unanimously advised me to go over to them, and hear their proposals. TYhen I waited on them, I really found they were destitute indeed, there not being a minister of the Church of England nearer than Burlington. "a

To this may be added the following, from the Society's abstracts for 1753: -- "The Rev. Mr. Houdin, having for some years officiated at Trenton and the neighboring places in the Province of New Jersey, among the members of the Church of England, upon such slender sup. port as they, in their poor circumstances would afford him, with the addition of one gratuity of ^30 from the Society ; they have lately thought fit, upon the especial recommendation of the Rev. Mr. Barclay, rector of Trinity church in the city of New York, and of other worthy persons, bearing witness to Mr. Houdin's merits and diligence in the pastoral office, to appoint him their itinerant missionary to officiate in Trenton, and in the parts adjacent. Mr. Houdin is a converted priest from Popery, formerly superior of a convent in Canada -- and from his letters of orders, it appears he was ordained priest by the Archbishop of Treves on Easter day, 1730 ; and on Easter day, 1747, he made a public renunciation of the errors of the Church of Rome, received the holy communion according to the liturgy of the Church of England, in the city of New York, and he afterwards took the oaths of allegiance, and subscribed to the XXXIX Articles of our Church : and after having made himself a tolerable master of the English language, he began to officiate in it and hath behaved, according to full testimonials, as it becometh a good Christian and a good clergyman -- and by his letters of thanks to the Society, dated Trenton, Nov. 4th, 1753, it appears that he is usefully, and to very good purposes employed, he having baptized from the 13th of December preceding, forty-five children and five adults, after proper instruction; and at Annwell, a town within his mission, above two hundred Presbvterians and some families of Anabaptists, during the last summer, joined with