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 Judgment of skillful 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 perceiv'd by the Inhabitants , and consequently could not be prevented ; and that the fall of the Roof was sudden and unexpected , occasion'd 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 Parishoners , who from Time to Time constantly and diligently Repaired all Defects of the said Church as soon as discover'd , and within a few Years last past had laid out several Hundred Pounds in the Support and Decoration thereof , and did not apprehend 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 liv'd 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 Expence 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 Imploy'd 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 forc'd 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 Parishoners .

VI . That the said Parishoners 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 lie ) 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 finish'd , 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 Monies 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 .