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loved and celebrated that he conceived, at the age of forty-five, the design of devoting his life to reclaim and convert the natives of North America; and he employed as much influence and solicitation as common men do for their most prized objects, in obtaining leave to resign his dignities and revenues, to quit his accomplished and affectionate friends, and to busy himself in what must have seemed an intellectual desert. After four years' residence at Newport, in Rhode Island, he was compelled by the refusal of Government to furnish him with funds for his college, to forego this work of heroic, or rather godlike, benevolence; though not without some consoling forethought of the fortune of the country where he had sojourned.

"Westward the course of empire takes its way:
The first four acts already past;

A fifth shall close the drama with the day-
Time's noblest offspring is its last."

Our missionary friends, now assembling from all parts, will know what use to make of this anecdote-but how Mr. Hawkins would have us understand the concluding prophecy, or what were the precise views-what the consoling forethought of the philosophic Berkeley and Mackintosh touching the "future fortunes" of America, we cannot say. It would be easy to start a glorious speculalation on this tempting theme-a speculation of more than common interest at the present juncture. But the Christian must not lose himself in dreams. It is enough for him to know that "the Lord reigneth," and that ere long the glorious vision shall be realized-"The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ."

"Now the fierce bear and leopard keen
Are perish'd as they ne'er had been,
Oblivion is their home:

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We may read these words somewhat differently from Mr. Keble,

but to this consummation (in our sense) we believe all things surely tend and to hasten it by prayer-to besiege heaven, and to pray without ceasing-" Thy kingdom come," we deem far better than to indulge in any, even the most probable, speculations touching the time and manner, the precedents or the consequents. Not that speculation is forbidden: this were to stunt and cripple one of the noblest of the human faculties; the written word throughout, the prophetic page especially, invites to speculation,-to look" at the things which are not seen:" the Church must still "search" and "search diligently "-she must still "take heed to the 'light shining in a dark place' till 'the day dawn and the day-star arise:' -but the written word is at once her guide and her limit; and, thus restrained, there is a sense in which she meddles not with things unseen-she fears as well as hopes: she is sober and watches unto prayer from prophecy itself she gathers warning no less than encouragement; and as the Lord's witness, His word is her rule'Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature :' His promise- And, lo, I am with you always,' her hope and her stay.

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We had written thus far, with the view of entering upon a wide question-the history of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America; the history of the Church of England in the Colonies and Foreign Dependencies of the British Empire; Church Missions; and sundry points of a practical nature arising out of this question. Such was our dream. A little sober thought, however, has clipped our wings, and reminded us of that most judicious maxim-a maxim as valuable for the reviewer as the poet :"Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, æquam

Viribus et versate diu, quid ferre recusent,

Quid valeant humeri:"

And though we cannot promise to verify what follows—

"Cui lecta potenter erit res,

Nec facundia deseret hunc, nec lucidus ordo,"

we do hope that our bumbler flight will not be unprofitable to ourselves or our readers. The simple point, then, to which we would call attention in our present notice-a point much forced upon us by a hasty glance at the works we have classed together, in connection with present movements, is-the Colonial Episcopate, and Colonial Missionary training. We feel a little doubtful how far we shall be able to communicate our views. Yet the point does strike us as one of so much importance, that we shall not apologise for making it the subject of a distinct article; and if we fail to convey a distinct impression in our first attempt, let us hope

that by keeping the subject before us, we may be able to indicate its various bearings, and keep alive attention to the duties and prospects of the Church as connected with it. For the present, then, we shall simply introduce the subject-waiving the more comprehensive view we had intended; unless, indeed, our space should admit of a partial notice of Mr. Anderson's work, preparatory to an historical survey of the general question of the Colonial Church and Church Missions. But the one practical point which just now forces itself upon our attention, and with which all the documents and publications above noticed are more or less connected, is-Colonial Episcopacy and educational training for the colonies, and for Church of England missions.

As regards the Colonial Episcopate, it has now become an important chapter in Church history, and we may be allowed perhaps to present a condensed view of it, as furnished by Mr. Hawkins, in his Historical Preface to the Documents relative to the Erection and Endowment of additional Bishoprics in the Colonies. It will, indeed, detain us a little from the more practical view at which we are aiming-but the facts are important, and embodying, as the Sketch does, a summary of the more comprehensive outlines with which Mr. Hawkins has since favoured us in the pages of the British Maagazine, and his recently published work-"Historical Notices of the Missions of the Church of England in the North American Colonies, previous to the Independence of the United States," -we can hardly do less than give the substance of it. A very slight addition will complete the sketch of Colonial Episcopacy

as an historical one.

Mr. Hawkins' outline thus opens

"It is impossible," he observes, " to estimate the loss which the Church of England has sustained by the want, for nearly two centuries, of bishops in the colonies. It was in the year 1607, that Robert Hunt, an English clergyman, landed in Virginia, with a party of settlers; but it was not until 1785, after the separation of the states from the mother country, that a single bishop was consecrated for any part of the North-American continent. Thus, for upwards of 170 years, and while so many new communities, of British origin, were growing to maturity, the Church was left unorganized-shorn of its ordinances subject to every sort of disorder-and in a position of disadvantage, as compared with the Nonconformist bodies. As early, however, as in the year 1638, the sagacious mind of Laud had conceived a design for the remedy of an evil then at its rise, by sending a bishop to New England: but the scheme was thwarted by the outbreak of troubles in Scotland. A similar proposal was made, soon after the Restoration, by Lord Chancellor Clarendon, and so fully approved by the king, that a patent was actually made out, constituting Dr. Alexander Murray, bishop of Virginia, with a general charge over the other provinces. But this noble project, which, if carried into effect, would doubtless have exercised a seasonable influence on the religious and political institutions of America, was defeated by the accession to power of the Cabal' ministry.

"The very first missionaries who were nominated by the Society for the

Propagation of the Gospel made strong and repeated representations on the necessity of sending out bishops.”—(Preface, pp. vii. viii.)

And thus it continued till the boon was finally obtained. Mr. H.'s "Historical Notices" abound in allusions to this subjectwhile an entire chapter, of considerable length, is devoted to it, sketching with great minuteness and accuracy the long-continued struggle for the episcopate. We must content ourselves, however, with the main facts, as noticed by Mr. H. in his briefer outline. The narrative (omitting quotations) thus proceeds :

"These urgent and repeated solicitations for the complete organization of the American Church, were not unheeded by the Society, who embodied them in a memorial to the queen, in the year 1709. And it was about this time that, as we are informed by his biographer, a plan was proposed for sending out Dean Swift as bishop to Virginia, but it is needless to say that no appointment was made.

In 1710, Colonel Nicholson, the governor of Virginia, and a most munificent benefactor to the Church, expressed, in a letter to the archbishop of Canterbury, his opinion, that unless a bishop be sent in a short time, the Church of England would rather diminish than increase in North America."

At length the society appears to have matured a comprehensive plan for providing the Church in the colonies with episcopal government and accordingly, on the 24th March, 1713, a representation on the subject was drawn up, and in due time presented to her Majesty, setting forth, as the opinion of the society, after the most mature deliberation,

"That it is highly expedient that four bishops be sent thither as soon as conveniently may be, to forward the great work of converting infidels to the saving faith of our blessed Redeemer, and for the better regulating such Christians in their faith and practice, as are already converted thereunto: that is to say, two for the care and superintendency of the islands, and as many for the continent.''

"There appears to be no doubt that the queen's approbation was given to this proposal and that the bishoprics were to have been endowed by the proceeds arising from the sale of land in St. Christopher's; but, unhappily, the death of her majesty put an end to the arrangements."

The society, it seems, renewed their memorial, on the accession of George I., but without success. Archbishop Tenison, however, and others, showed their lively interest in this question, by bequeathing handsome sums towards the settlement of bishops in America and an event occurred in 1723, which induced Bishop Gibson to press the matter more urgently on the attention of the

minister.

"The Rev. Robert Welton and the Rev. John Talbot, who had so long and so warmly contended for the establishment of the episcopate in America, were consecrated by the nonjuring bishops, and went back to the colonies. The government at home successfully interfered to prevent the exercise of their functions, but still unaccountably refused to sanction the consecration of clergymen friendly to the Hanoverian line.

"In 1725, the Society received a memorial from the clergy of New England, complaining of the grievances to which themselves and their congregations were subject: and suggesting, as the most effectual remedy, the sending of an orthodox and loyal bishop to reside among them.'"

That the heads of the English Church were not indifferent to the claims of their American brethren, or backward to maintain them, Mr. H. has clearly shown. The detail we must omit, and content ourselves with recording the final issue of this hard-fought contest for an American episcopate; connecting with it, in Mr. H.'s own words, the progress of the general question of a comprehensive colonial episcopate up to the present time.

"Political and sectarian feeling," he tells us, "combined to thwart the plans of the Church, till the independence of the States had been established, when the question of the episcopacy became with the republicans a matter of secondary importance. The same objections were no longer entertained to the introduction of bishops. The only difficulty, therefore, that remained was, for the several conventions to agree upon the time and manner of seeking the episcopate. The middle and southern states were for delay: 'Let us first gather together,' said they, our scattered members.' The language of the east and north was wiser: 'Let us first have a head to see, and then we shall be better enabled to find our members.' Ultimately, in 1783, the clergy of Connecticut elected Dr. Samuel Seabury, many years a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel on Long Island, to be their bishop, and commended him to the bishops of the English Church for consecration. But the Archbishop of Canterbury felt a delicacy about complying with their prayer, both because the bishop elect was not the choice of the whole Church, and because the government was unwilling to sanction such a step till they had ascertained in what light it would be viewed by the now independent States. Impatient of further delay, Dr. Seabury proceeded to Scotland, and was there consecrated, on the 14th November, 1784, by Bishops Kilgour, Petrie, and Skinner. Early in the summer of the ensuing year, he returned to Connecticut, the first bishop of our Church that had yet been seen in the whole of the North American continent. Two years afterwards, on the 4th February, 1787, the Rev. William White and the Rev. Samuel Provost, who had been duly elected to the sees of Pennsylvania and New York, were consecrated in the chapel of Lambeth palace, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of Bath and Wells and of Peterborough.

"Among those who contributed to bring about this happy result, by removing the obstacles which prevented the consecration of bishops for a foreign independent power, Mr. Granville Sharp should be mentioned with honour. He wrote urgently to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the subject; and spoke of the time as being important and critical for the promotion of the interests and future extension of the Episcopal Church in America.'

"The two bishops did not linger in England, but embarked a few days after their consecration, and arrived in New York on the 7th of April-Easter day-a happy omen, as it was considered, for the reviving Church of that

country.

"Thus at last, after nearly two centuries of struggle, the Church was perfected in America; and from this moment her course has been rapidly progressive. Before, however, this happy settlement, many of her most devoted children had been driven, by the troubles of the times, to seek a refuge in the provinces which still maintained their allegiance to the British crown. Thousands of loyalists passed over to Nova Scotia and Canada; and it was wisely 2 P

1846.

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