" We have attentively considered the Petition of the Minister, Elders and Deacons of the Lutheran Church, praying for a Charter of Incorporation ; and though we sh.all be at all Times desirous of concui-ring in any Measure, that may contribute to the Satisfaction of every pious Community, the principles of which are not adverse to the Religious Constitution of these Kingdoms : Yet it does not appear to us from any

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thing set forth in their Petition, that such an Incorporation is at present Necessary or Expedient." .

Except the Charters granted to the Church of England, all the Instances of sucli Incorporations within this Province, (four only in Number) arc confined to the Dutch, whose Claims to this Distinction, are, the Committee apprehend, groimded on one of the Articles of Capitulation, on the Surrender of the Colony in the year 1GG4, by which it is declared " tliat the Dutch here, shall enjoy the Liberty of their Consciences in Divine Worship^ and Church Discipline."

In the Petition now under Consideration, it is asserted as an Inducement to the Royal Grant ; " That his Majesty's Subjects of the Province of New York, Dutch and English of the Presbyterian Persvvasion, are a great majority of the whole Number of its Inhabitants" : This Suggestion, though it should be allowed in respect to Numbers, cannot be admitted, as to the Connection it supposes between the People of those twa Denomination* : The Dutch were originally part of tlie Church of Holland, and conform themselves to the Doctrine Worship and DiscipUne approved by the National Synod at Dordrecht ; Whereas the Prayer of the Petiti^iners, is to be incorporated by the "Name and Stile of the Ministers, Elders, Deacons and Truste<^ of the Presbyterian Church of the City of New York^ according to the Westminister Confession of Faith, Catechisms^ and Directory, agreeable to the present established Church of Scotland." -- In regard to the other Allegations in the Petition^ the Committee discover no essential or material Difierence in the Circumstances of the Petitioners, and the other Protestant Congregations, not of the Communion of the Church of England, whereon to ground any Preference But it is asserted by the Petitioners, That " the old English Statutes of Uniformity, do not extend to America ;" Whether these Statutes, or that of the 5'h Anne Cap : 5, which is made an essential part of tlie Act of Union ; do or do not extend to the Plantations ; is a Question of which the Committee do not conceive themselves competent Judges ; and which appears necessary to be determined on the highest authority, previous to any final Resolution on the Petition ^