Episcopal Church of England,—an iniquitous law; and the Erastians, who think only of worldly establishments, are constantly endeavouring to insult our brethren in Scotland in order to conciliate the members of the Scottish Establishment. But GOD has laughed to scorn the devices of man. Persecution could not annihilate the true Church of Scotland. Driven sometimes to dens and caves, and often to upper rooms, the Bishops continued to consecrate fresh Fathers for the Church; discipline was canonically exercised; the sacraments duly administered; the services of the sanctuary performed in an orderly and decent manner. Erastians and worldlings fell away, but the Church became purified thereby, so that in the beautiful language of Bishop Horne, "If the great Apostle of the Gentiles were upon earth, and it were put to his choice with what denomination of Christians he would communicate, the preference would probably be given to the Episcopalians of Scotland, as most like the people he had been used to." So true are the words of St. Hilary: "Hoc habet proprium Ecclesia: dum persecutionem patitur, floret: dum opprimitur, proficit: dum læditur, vincit: dum arguitur, intelligit: tunc stat quum superare videtur."

Such was the Church to which Dr. Seabury applied for assistance in his difficulties. And in an upper room, which was at that time the Chapel in which the Right Reverend Dr. Skinner, Bishop of Aberdeen, ventured to officiate, Dr. Seabury was consecrated Bishop of Connecticut. In alluding to his consecration, in his primary charge on his return to America, he observes: "As under GOD the Bishops of the remainder of the old Episcopal Church of Scotland, which at the revolution, fell a sacri

Jones's Life of Bishop Horne, p. 151. Dr. McVicar puts the sentiment into the mouth of Bishop Horsley: but this is a mistake.

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fice to the jealous apprehensions of William III. were the sole instruments in accomplishing this happy work, to them our utmost gratitude is due. And I hope the sense of the benefit we have through their hands received, will ever remain fresh in the minds of all the members of our communion to the latest posterity. Under the greatest persecutions GOD has preserved them, and, I trust, will preserve them; that there may yet be some to whom destitute churches may apply in their spiritual wants; some faithful shepherds of CHRIST's flock who are willing to give freely what they have freely received from their LORD and Master."

The pious prayer has been heard-and perhaps at the present time the Church of America is more proud of her descent from the persecuted Church in Scotland than from the Church more favoured in England. To that connection the American Church, in all probability, owes certain alterations in the Communion Service, which every unprejudiced Churchman must admit to be improvements. But we must honour the sentiment which induced the Episcopalians of America still to look for the succession to the Mother Church of Engand.

In the years 1784 and 1785, Conventions of all the Clergy, except those of Connecticut, were held at NewYork and Philadelphia; of which the first business was to obtain for their proceedings the sanction of the civil Government, that thus the English ministry, influenced more by human policy than by zeal for God's truth, might be satisfied. The next business was to enter into a correspondence with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Moore: the correspondence is deeply interesting,-and if the caution of the Archbishop appear sometimes to amount almost to coldness, allowance must be made for the peculiarity of his situation, while the American Church must acknowledge that a debt of gratitude is due to his

memory for the judicious manner in which he checked the disposition at one time unhappily evinced, to innovate.

At length all preliminaries having been settled and all difficulties overcome, Dr. William White and Dr. Samuel Provoost, on the 2nd of November, 1786, set sail for England to be consecrated, the former as Bishop of Pennsylvania, the latter as Bishop of NewYork.

By the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of England they were kindly and courteously received; and by his Grace they were introduced to his Majesty, King George the Third. Of this interview and the subsequent proceedings relative to their mission, the account may best be given in the words of the late Bishop White himself: "On being introduced to the king," says the venerable prelate, "I made this preconceived address-That we were happy in the opportunity of thanking his Majesty for his license granted to the Archbishop of Canterbury. to convey the Episcopal succession to the Church in America.' The king made this answer, (which I set down to show the kindness of the Archbishop) 'His Grace has given me such an account of the gentlemen who have come over, that I am glad of the present opportunity of serving the interests of religion.' His Majesty then asked Dr. Provoost whether the Episcopal connection were not numerous in New-York, and was answered by the Doctor in the affirmative, with further thanks for the license granted. The king then passed on to the next circle, and after a little while we withdrew with the Archbishop. We had contemplated this measure of waiting on the king with peculiar delicacy. In the character of citizens of the United States of America, we should have thought it inconsistent in us to have made any application to the civil authority of Great

Britain. The Act of Parliament (permitting the Archbishop to consecrate foreigners without incurring the penalties of a præmunire) had laid on the Archbishop the necessity of obtaining the consent of the king under his sign manual. This consent had been obtained before our going to court, and therefore we saw no impropriety in the visit.

"On Sunday, February the 4th, we attended at the palace of Lambeth for consecration. The assistants of the Archbishop on this occasion were,-the Archbishop of York, (Markham,) who presented; the Bishop of Bath and Wells, (Moss,) and the Bishop of Peterborough, Hinchliffe,) who joined with the Archbishop in the imposition of hands. It was particularly agreeable to us to see among them the Bishop of Bath and Wells, because we had all along understood, that, in the beginning, this aged and venerable Prelate had entertained scruples on the subject of the application of our Church; and it was principally owing to his Lordship that such a point was made of the Descent into Hell in the Apostles' creed. We presumed that his difficulties were now removed. Dr. Drake, as one of the Archbishop's chaplains, preached; and Dr. Randolph, the other chaplain, read the prayers. The sermon was a sensible discussion of the long-litigated subject of the authority of the Church to ordain rites and ceremonies; but had little reference to the peculiarity of the occasion. The truth was, as the Archbishop told us in our way to court, that he had spoken to a particular friend to compose a sermon for the occasion, and had given him a sketch of what he wished to be the scope of it. This friend had just sent him information of a domestic calamity which would excuse him from attendance; and the Archbishop was under the necessity of giving a short notice to one of his

chaplains. The consecration was performed in the chapel of the palace of the Archbishop, in the presence of his family and household and very few others—among whom was my old friend the Reverend Mr. Duché. had asked the Archbishop's leave to introduce him, and it was a great satisfaction to me that he was there; the recollection of the benefit which I had received from his instructions in early life, and a tender sense of the attentions which he had shown me almost from my infancy, together with the impressions left by the harmony which had subsisted between us in the discharge of our joint pastoral duty in Philadelphia, being no improper accompaniments to the feelings suited to the present very interesting transaction of my life. I hope I have felt the weight of the occasion. May God bless the meditations and recollections by which I endeavoured to prepare for it, and give them their due effect upon my temper and conduct in the new character in which I am about to appear. The solemnity being concluded, we dined with the Archbishop and Bishops, and spent with them the remainder of the day. I took occasion to mention to the Archbishop my conviction that the American Church would be ever sensible of the kindness now shown; and my trust that the American Bishops, besides the usual incentives to duty, would have this in addition, lest the Church of England should have cause to regret her act performed this day. He answered, that he fully believed there would be no such cause, and the prospect was very agreeable to him; that he bore a great affection for our Church, and that he should always be glad to hear of her prosperity, and also of the safe arrival and welfare of us individually. After spending the rest of the evening very agreeably we took our leave, which was affectionate on both sides, and on our part with hearts