The CASE of the Inhabitants of GREENWICH, in the County of Kent, and Reasons why they ask Relief for Rebuilding their Parish-Church.  
showing.  
THAT on Tuesday the 28th Day of November last, about Midnight the Roof of the said Parish-Church fell in, whereby the Walls of the said Church are so shaken, that by the judgement of skilful Workmen that made a View thereof, the said Church cannot be Repaired but must be Rebuilt: The Charge whereof, by a moderate Computation, will amount to the Sum of 6000 l. and upwards, which the Inhabitants of the Parish are not able to raise; but humbly hope the Honourable HOUSE of COMMONS will compassionate their deplorable Condition, and give them such Relief therein, as they in their Wisdom shall think fit, and for the Reasons following:  
I. The Decay of the said Church was not perceived by the Inhabitants, and consequently could not be prevented; and that the fall of the Roof was sudden and unexpected, occasioned by a hidden Defect in the innermost Part of the largest and principal Pillar, that fell and brought the Roof with it, and not by Negligence of the parishioners, who from Time to Time constantly and diligently Repaired all Defects of the said Church as soon as discovered, and within a few Years last past had laid out several Hundred Pounds in the Support and Decoration thereof, and did not apprehended the same in any Danger; but believed it might have stood Hundreds of Years.  
II. That the Town is within this Twenty Years mightily Depopulated and Deserted by the Richer Sort, who formerly lived there, and gave it the Reputation of a Wealthy Parish, as is evident by the largest and best Houses now being Empty, and having been so for some Years.  
III. That the greatest Part of the few Gentlemen that now live there, are only Tenants at Will, and therefore it cannot be expected they will be at so great an expense as the Building of a Church in a Parish where they have no Estate, and from whence they may remove at Pleasure; so that the Burden of Building the said Church must be upon the greatest Number, which are the Poorest of the Inhabitants.  
IV. That Nine Parts of Ten of the Inhabitants of the said Parish consists of Seamen, Watermen, Fishermen, and others, who for the most part are employed in Her Majesty's and the Merchants Service at Sea, and have numerous Families: And the Trading Part of the Town( consisting only in the Necessaries of Life) are in a low Condition by the long Credit they are forced to give to Sea-fairing-Men and their Families, which are frequently in long Arrears of Pay.  
V. So many Master of Families, Inhabitants of the Parish, have been lost in the great Storm, Sir Cloudsley Shovel's Misfortune; and other Accidents of War, their Widows and Children, to the Number of 3000 and upwards, have become a Charge to the Parish, and have been Maintained and Provided for( and many of them are still so) at the Charge of the rest of the parishioners.  
VI. That the said parishioners having for Forty Years past, contributed to the Rebuilding of St. Paul's and other Churches by the Taxes on Coals, the greatest Number of the Inhabitants( and upon whom the insupportable Burden of Building the Parish Church must lye) being Persons that Daily venture their Lives in Her Majesty's Service, and for the Defence of their Country, It is Humbly Presumed they may be entitled to the Compassion of the Honurable HOUSE of COMMONS for some Relief in this their Deplorable Calamity; and that as the Town hath hitherto been without Dissenting Meeting-House, so the Hopes of such who( taking Advantage of the want of a fit Place for the Service of God) endeavour to seduce the Inhabitants from their former Zeal for the Church of England to Schism and Enthusiasm, may be frustrated.  
And as St. Paul's is now finished, or near it, and the Duties granted on Coals for that Purpose have several Years yet to come, and may probable produce much more than will pay all Debts and Charges of the said Building, and also all moneys borrowed on that Account.  
Therefore they Humbly Pray, that the said Sum of 6000 l. or what other Sum your Honours shall think fit for Rebuilding the said Parish-Church of Greenwich, may be assigned out of the Overplus of the said Duties which shall remain over and above defraying all Debts and Charges depending thereon, or such other Relief as to your Honours shall seem meet.   

THE CASE Of the Inhabitants of Greenwich in the County of Kent, and Reasons why they ask Relief for Rebuilding their Parish-Church.