Page:History of the University of Pennsylvania - Montgomery (1900).djvu/455

Rh attended " a convention of the clergy of New Jersey, and some of their Brethren from New York and Pennsylvania, held at Perth Amboy " and presided at it, as' he had at the Conventions of the clergy held in Philadelphia in 1760 and 1761.* His activities could not find their limits; and these diversions as they may be termed from his duties in a "collegiate way," while bringing him in close association with his cotemporaries may have consumed time which the College might have claimed, especially after his long absence from it. The Convention at Perth Amboy, of 1764, took some notice of charges preferred against a missionary, the Rev. Andrew Morton, who had been a Tutor in the College from March, 1753, to October, I759- 5 It was at the close of the year 1764 that Dr. Smith met Colonel Bouquet on his return from his successful expedition against the Ohio Indians, and undertook to write for him an Historical Account of it from the Journals and other papers which Bouquet furnished him for that purpose. This came from the press of William Bradford in 1765, and the title page bore on it, Published from Authentic Documents, by a Lover of his Country,. Many years elapsed before the Author was known. The book was eagerly sold, and in the year following a handsome quarto edition was published in London, and later it met with editions at Paris and Amsterdam. Dr. Smith's Introduction added to the value of the work, as it made a very entertaining narrative of the Indian wars immediately preceding the time of Bouquet's expedition, and contributed to our Colonial history a chapter as interesting as it was reliable. No one in the province, it was recognized, was so capable of editing Bouquet's materials as Dr. Smith, whose constant interest in local politics had kept him well informed on all subjects which afifected the welfare of the community, whether from within or from without.

4 At this Convention " Dr. Smith produced a plan of a corresponding society in America agreed to by the Venerable Society in England, but as he said sent over to the clergy here for their opinion," which was also urged by the Rev. Mr. Auchmuty of Trinity Church, New York, but proved unacceptable to the other clergy. Letter of Rev. Hugh Neill. Perry's Historical Collections ii. 304.

5 Smith, i. 384.