glory, and the welfare of his church. If these are promoted, it is very immaterial whether it be by me or not. I can have no worldly interest in view; wherefore do I request and charge you to suffer no undue partiality for me, however flattering and grateful that partiality may in other respects be to me, to influence your judgment. The gratifying of such feelings neither is, nor ought to be, beneath our notice; but in the present instance, much higher interests demand our attention." Unfortunately, however, the purposes of the church were in this instance frustrated. A report was propagated, that " the scheme in agitation was to introduce bishops into Scotland, with the sanction of government, and on such a footing as to entitle them to some legal jurisdiction." Mr. Boucher at once declined proceeding farther in the matter; but continued, during his useful life, a warm supporter of that humble church which had thus, by the ignorant and fanatical rumour above alluded to, been deprived of his valuable services. This excellent man died suddenly, in 1804, regretted by all with whom he was connected.

In the mean time, many of the clergy submitted to the jurisdiction and authority of the Scottish bishops. Among the first of these may be mentioned, the congregation at Banff, of which the Rev. Charles Cordiner was minister, a gentleman who greatly distinguished himself by his antiquarian researches. The clergy and congregations of Cruden, Peterhead, and Stonehaven (Aberdeenshire), Musselburgh and Leith (in Mid-Lothian), and various other congregations, all voluntarily united themselves to the Scottish Episcopal Church, as did also all the chapels in the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. So convinced were the clergy of their duty in this respect, that, previous to the year 1805, all those of English ordination had acknowledged the Scottish Episcopal authority in the united diocese of Edinburgh, with the exception of two, viz., those of Kelso and Dumfries; both of whom, however, with their congregations, subsequently adhered. A few in the northern dioceses remained, nevertheless, in a state of separation; but they are now reduced to the number of three, and these we shall notice more particularly in the sequel.

From the year 1793 to the year 1804, no event of particular interest occurred in the Scottish Episcopal Church, except the consecration of the present venerable Bishop of Moray, Dr. Alexander Jolly, as coadjutor to the late Bishop Macfarlane of Ross and Argyle. During that interval, we find the bishops and clergy occasionally approaching the throne with loyal addresses and congratulations, which were on every occasion most graciously received. The only circumstance of a local nature was the constitution of the Scottish Episcopal Friendly Society in 1793-4, which will be more particularly noticed afterwards. In 1803,

Bishop Skinner, of Aberdeen, published his well-known work, entitled "Primitive Truth and Order vindicated from Modern Mis-representation, with a Defence of Episcopacy, particularly that of Scotland, against an attack made upon it by the late Dr. Campbell, of Aberdeen, in his Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, with a Concluding Address to the Episcopalians of Scotland." The work to which the Bishop wrote this admirable reply, was a posthumous performance of the celebrated Dr. George Campbell, Principal of Mareschal College, in the University of Aberdeen, and contained the substance of his prelections to the theological students of that College. The "Lectures on Ecclesiastical History" contained a violent tirade against Episcopacy in general, and that of Scotland in particular, asserting "that not only the polity of the Church of England seems to have been devised (!) for the express purpose of rendering the clerical character odious, and the discipline contemptible, but that, as no axiom in philosophy is more indisputable than that 'quod nullibi est, non est,' the ordination of our present Scottish Episcopal Clergy is solely from Presbyters, for it is allowed that those men who came under the hands of Bishop Rose, of Edinburgh, had been regularly admitted ministers or presbyters in particular congregations before the Revolution; and to that first ordination," adds the Principal, "I maintain that their farcical consecration by Dr. Rose and others, when they were solemnly made the depositories of no deposits, commanded to be diligent in doing no work, vigilant in the oversight of no flock, assiduous in teaching and governing no people, and presiding in no church, added nothing at all.”—(Vol. i. p. 74, 355, 356.)

The orthodox reader will probably smile at Dr. Campbell's opinion of the polity of the Church of England—an opinion so strange as to induce us to call in question the reputation of the writer. As to his assertions relative to Scottish Episcopacy, it is needless to observe, that no Presbyterian can understand the nature of the Episcopal succession, for ordination in the Presbyterian communion is held to be a mere form, the call of the people, being that, according to them, which constitutes a minister. No man but an Erastian will maintain that unless a church be established by the civil power, it is no church, but a mere schismatical association. An Act of Parliament may dissolve the church as the legal Establishment; but it can neither make nor unmake it-it can only take away that which it gave, viz. certain rights and privileges; but it cannot affect the apostolical succession, which it never had in its power at any time to confer. The sneer at Dr. Rose's consecrations and ordinations, after he was ejected at the Revolution from the See of Edinburgh, is as ineffectual as it is ignorant and illiberal. The first Protestant VOL. III.-Jan. 1833.

D

Revolution Bishops in Scotland were the Rev. John Sage, formerly one of the ministers of Glasgow, and the Rev. John Fullarton, minister of Paisley, both of whom had received Episcopal ordination as presbyters, when Episcopacy was the national religion of Scotland. These two Bishops were consecrated, in 1705, by Dr. John Paterson, the deprived Archbishop of Glasgow, Dr. Robert Douglas, the deprived Bishop of Dunblane, and Dr. Alexander Rose, the deprived Bishop of Edinburgh. There were six consecrations held afterwards, during Bishop Rose's life-time, that prelate having survived all the deprived Bishops for a few years, at all of which he assisted, along with Bishop Douglas, during the life of that prelate. It is by these and the subsequent consecrations that the apostolical order has been preserved in Scotland to the present time.

It is unnecessary, in this historical sketch, to offer any analysis of Bishop Skinner's work-a volume which has had a most extensive circulation, and which ought, especially in these times, to be in the hands of every member of the Episcopal Church throughout the empire. The worthy prelate received many congratulatory letters respecting it from some of the most distinguished clergymen of the Church of England, and so convincing are its arguments that it has never received a reply. It is worthy of remark, that a presbyterian minister of the present Established Church, who held the office of Principal of St. Mary's College, and Professor of Divinity in the University of St. Andrew's, pronounced "Primitive Truth and Order" to be the best defence of Episcopacy in the English language, and more than a sufficient refutation of Dr. Campbell.

While Bishop Skinner thus gained a complete victory over the illiberal attacks of his deceased antagonist, the publication of his work was attended with the happiest consequences to the church. It was so generally read in Scotland by Episcopalians, that it tended to revive the desire for union between the remaining English clergy and those of Scottish ordination, and that measure, which had been frustrated in 1793, was now destined to be accomplished. In order to accelerate the measure, Bishop Skinner, who was then head of the Episcopal College, summoned a general convention of the whole Church at Laurencekirk, in the county of Aberdeen, on the 24th day of October, 1804, the purpose of which meeting was, as the Bishop expressed himself in his circular to the clergy, "to exhibit, in the most solemn manner, a public testimony of our conformity in doctrine and discipline with the Church of England, and thereby to remove every obstacle to the union of the Episcopalians of Scotland."

It is to be observed that, previous to this period, one of the great objections to the Scottish Episcopal Church by the English

Episcopalians in Scotland was, the want of a confessional, or acknowledged Articles of Faith; for, although the Act of 1792, which removed the penal laws, had made it imperative that all the clergy should sign the Thirty-nine Articles, such a public acknowledgment had either been neglected or delayed. Meanwhile, previous to the meeting of the convocation, a correspondence commenced between the late Right Rev. Dr. Sandford and Bishop Skinner on the subject of union, in which the former stated, that however anxiously a union might be desired, subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles would be indispensable; and that, were these Articles made "the permanent confessional of the Scottish Episcopal communion, the continuance in separation of the English clergy could not be justified on any ground which would bear the scrutiny of ecclesiastical principles."*

This excellent prelate, then Dr. Sandford, and formerly Student of Christ Church, Oxford, had since the year 1792 resided in Edinburgh, where he officiated to a most respectable and intelligent congregation of Episcopalians, not under the jurisdiction of the Scottish bishops. The worth, piety, and learning of Dr. Sandford were universally known, and any representations from him were certain of having a due influence. Accordingly, these communications had the desired effect. The convocation assembled at Laurence kirk on the appointed day, at which were present four bishops, thirty-eight presbyters, and two deacons. After divine service was concluded, the convocation was formally constituted by Bishop Skinner, and the thirty-nine articles of the church of England, without alteration or addition, were adopted and subscribed as the permanent standard of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and enjoined to be subscribed in all time coming by every candidate for holy orders. And as many of the indigenous clergy used the eucharistical office as set forth in the Scottish service-book of Charles I., it was enjoined that the English clergy uniting themselves to the church should be at liberty to use the communion office as it is contained in the Book of Common Prayer. As soon as the convocation was dissolved, Bishop Skinner addressed a letter to each of the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England, including the Bishop of Sodor and Man, and to the Archbishop of Armagh, as Primate of the Irish church, making known to these prelates the result of the convocation. Letters were received in reply, from almost the whole of their Lordships, expressing sentiments of the most friendly regard for the Episcopal Church in Scotland, and their fervent wishes for her prosperity.

Dr. Sandford now made no hesitation in uniting himself and

Remains of Bishop Sandford, vol. i. p. 46.

his congregation to the Scottish Episcopal Church, and accordingly acknowledged Bishop Skinner, of Aberdeen, as his Diocesan, the See of Edinburgh being then vacant by the resignation of Dr. Abernethy Drummond. On this occasion, he addressed his congregation in a most affecting manner, in which he laid before them the reasons which had induced him to adopt the course he had done, shewing them the benefits of episcopal jurisdiction, and proving to them that a continuance in a state of separation was unnecessary, and consequently schismatic.

The example of Dr. Sandford was followed by the Rev. Archibald Alison, LL.B., one of the ministers of the Cowgate chapel, Edinburgh; the Rev. Robert Morehead, M.A., then minister of the chapel in Leith, afterwards Mr. Alison's colleague; and by others of the clergy of the city of Edinburgh. Only two attempts were made to disturb the now prosperous state and the future prospects of the church. A layman in the town of Banff, where the two congregations had united, after in vain attempting to make an impression on the members by his representations of the doctrines and discipline of the church, raised a process before the Supreme Courts of Scotland, with a view to dissolve the union of the two chapels. The defendants were successful, but obtained their victory at the expence of law charges amounting to 270. This sum, to which the factious opposition of one individual subjected them, the united congregation of Banff would have been unable to pay, had it not been for the kindness of Dr. Horsley, the distinguished Bishop of St. Asaph, and well known friend of the Scottish Episcopal Church. His Lordship instituted a subscription among the English and Irish bishops, and procured from these prelates and from private individuals and clergymen in England, the sum of 2941. 5s., which he remitted to Scotland, and thus relieved the united chapels of Banff from their serious embarrassments. The other attempt to disturb the peace of the church was made by an English divine, residing in Scotland, the Rev. Alexander Grant, D.D., "minister of the English Episcopal congregation in Dundee," who published what he termed "an apology for continuing in the communion of the church of England." A copy of this pamphlet was transmitted by Dr. Grant to Bishop Horsley, and also to the other prelates of the church of England. From the Bishop of St. Asaph, however, he received a reproof, which silenced him on the subject; although he continued during his life in a state of separation from the other bishops, he did not, I believe, receive any reply. "It has long been my opinion,' says the Bishop of St. Asaph to Dr. Grant, "and very well known to be my opinion, that the laity in Scotland of the Episcopal persuasion, if they understand the genuine principles of