273

1786] WHITE, FIRST BISHOP OF PENNSYLVANIA. opinions, and finding his way to New York, had supported himself by the practice of medicine; about the same time he became chaplain of the king's American regiment. Seabury proceeded to England, and waited sixteen months to obtain consecration from the English bishops. There was, however, no possibility of compliance with the request without legal authority, for every bishop on his consecration is obliged to take an oath of allegiance to the sovereign; consequently, the sanction of the law was required for this portion of the ceremony to be omitted. In the case of a bishop of the United States compliance with any such proceedings was simply impossible. Seabury was, therefore, consecrated at Aberdeen in 1784 by bishops Kilgour, Petrie and Skinner, representing the Scotch episcopate. It may be asserted that the embarrassment experienced in his case led to the future solution of the difficulty three years later.

At Philadelphia steps were taken to advance the movement commenced by Mr. White, and on the 26th of May, 1784, a council was assembled. After some preliminary proceedings, a convention was held in that city on the 27th of September, 1785. Alterations were then made in the liturgy, and an address formulated to the episcopacy of the Church of England and Ireland for the creation of bishops in the United States, the new liturgy being sent with it.

An

At the convention of 1786 White was elected first bishop of Pennsylvania, upon which he proceeded to England, and arrived in London in November, accompanied by Samuel Provoort, who had been elected bishop of New York. act of parliament was passed to admit of the consecration of the two bishops, permitting the omission of such parts of the ceremony as were not applicable to their situation. Both were consecrated in London on the 4th of March, 1787, by the archbishop of Canterbury and York and the bishops of Bath and Wells and of Peterborough. Bishop White lived until 1836, and during his life assisted at the consecration of eleven bishops.

Provoort was of a good New York family and had taken

S

his degree at Saint Peter's, Cambridge. He was assistant minister at Trinity church, New York, where Auchmunty was rector, and Ogilvie, afterwards known in Canada, and Charles Inglis, afterwards first bishop of Nova Scotia, were assistant ministers. The opinions of these clergy were loyalist. The sentiments of Provoort were towards the revolution; he accordingly resigned his charge and left the city. After the evacuation of New York by Carleton in 1783, he became rector of Trinity church, and in 1786 was elected bishop.

The third bishop was Madison of Virginia, who, in 1777, was president of the William and Mary college. In 1790 he was chosen the first bishop of Virginia, and was consecrated in London.

Thus, while the proposal to appoint bishops during the colonial period was proclaimed by those who laboured for the dismemberment of the empire to be an intolerable act of tyranny, the first years of the independence of the States furnish its complete historical vindication. There are at this date eighty-four bishops of the Episcopal church in the United States.

The reverend Charles Inglis, appointed to the see of Nova Scotia, was born in Ireland in 1734. In his early career he had charge of the free school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Receiving a licence from the bishop of London in 1758, he had been sent to America by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and was established at Dover, in Delaware. Subsequently he became assistant minister of Trinity church, New York.

Early in 1776 Paine published his "Common Sense," in which the independence of the provinces was plainly formulated a proof in itself of the extent to which the desire of complete independence existed, even when the strongest declarations to the contrary were being made to the supporters of the colonial cause in London. This pamphlet was answered by Inglis so ably as to call forth the denunciations of the extreme partisans of the revolution who had assumed

*

1789]

FIRST EPISCOPAL VISITATION.

275 the name of "the Sons of Liberty," and it took the form of publicly burning Inglis' reply.

Although requested by Washington to omit the prayer for the king and the royal family, Inglis continued to read it; consequently, on the declaration of independence, in 1776, Trinity church was closed, and Inglis retired to Flushing, in Long island.

During his ministry in New York, Inglis was constant in his duties with all classes, not excepting the negroes. In connection with Sir William Johnson, he actively intervened for the evangelization of the Mohawks. After the defeat of the congress troops at the battle of Long island, in 1776, and the abandonment of New York, he returned to the city. On the death of Auchmunty, in 1777, he was appointed rector of Christchurch, being inducted by governor Tryon amid the ruins of the burned edifice. The consequence of Inglis' loyalty was that what property he had was confiscated, and his name appears in the act of attainder in 1779.

On the evacuation of the city by the British he proceeded to Halifax, and four years later, on the 12th of August, 1787, he was appointed the first bishop of Nova Scotia. It is pertinent to call attention to the fact that the appointment took place in the same year when the first bishops of the American episcopal church were consecrated in London. It may be inferred that the proceedings taken in regard to them in no unimportant degree influenced the colonial. appointment.

Early in 1789 bishop Inglis visited Canada, the only occasion of his doing so; for four years later, in 1793, the first protestant bishop of Quebec, Dr. Mountain, was appointed.

Bishop Inglis arrived at Quebec on the 11th of June, to be received with due ceremony. After a fortnight's visitation. in the city he ascended the river, stopping at Three Rivers, Sorel and Montreal. In these several places he was presented with addresses, to which he replied, stating that there was now hope of seeing the protestant church emerge from the obscurity into which she had fallen. Until this date, the

services in Montreal had been held at the church of the Recollets, which with great liberality had been granted to the protestants at the hours when the fathers were not themselves engaged in their own services. The congregation of this city urged upon the bishop to obtain permission for the use of the jesuits' church, which, owing to the suppression of the order, was in disuse and bad repair. Lord Dorchester acceded to this request, and further agreed to place the building itself in good condition, leaving to the congregation the expense of fitting up the pews and furnishing the interior. He enforced the duty of retaining a pew for the governor, and proposed that the church should be called Christchurch: the first systematic establishment of the church of England in Montreal.

Bishop Inglis subsequently held a visitation at Quebec. There were then eight clergymen in the whole of Canada, exclusive of three army chaplains. The first episcopal conference of the protestant church was held in the Recollets' church, Quebec, on the 5th of August. Mr. Toosey, the rector of Quebec, preached the sermon. He was followed by Mr. Stuart, of Kingston, and Mr. Daly, of Sorel. On that occasion the bishop held a confirmation, the first time the rite had been performed in Canada.

Bishop Inglis laid down admirable rules for the guidance of the church, which can still be followed with advantage. He preached his farewell sermon in August, and on the following day sailed for Halifax.

There is one point to which I am impelled to allude, feeling that some explanation is necessary, owing to the want of knowledge on the subject and the consequent misapprehension which has arisen. I allude to the term, "my lord," given to bishops of the Anglican church, even when elected by the synod. I avail myself of the explanation furnished by the late Dr. Alpheus Todd, the former librarian of parliament, whose contributions to the history of parliamentary government have gained for him a permanent place in the literature of the empire, and whose personal amiability and courtesy still continue as a tradition with the old frequenters of the library.

He thus explains the matter in a few words: "It was during the administration

* [Parliamentary Government in England. 2 vols.]

1789]

TITULAR DISTINCTION.

277 of William Pitt, and soon after the first appointment of colonial bishops in the West Indies, that it was agreed to allow these dignitaries to be styled, 'my lord.' Since then the practice has become general; although, in the various letters-patent issued to bishops in North America and Australia, up to the year 1866 (when the issue of episcopal letters-patent in the colonies was abandoned) no uniform practice was observed. At one time and in one instrument, the title

of 'lord' would be appended to that of bishop, on another occasion it would be omitted; and that indifferently, and upon no definite principle." Stubbs tells us, however, that "the title of 'lord' does not in England imply a dignity created by the crown, but is simply a descriptive or honorary appendage to some other dignity." It "belongs to all bishops in all churches"-"nor has it anything to do with a royal prerogative of conferring titles not being a recognized grade of peerage." If this be correct, and few would be disposed to question the accuracy of so learned and painstaking a writer as Stubbs, it disposes of this vexed question in a very satisfactory manner.

* [Parliamentary Government in the British colonies, page 238.J