boast of since the days of Buchanan. If this man had received a more liberal education, and had his situation in life been less remote from literary society, his talents would have been more generally useful and respected, and his name, ere now, more widely extended.—But, "Full many a gem of purest ray serene, The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear; And waste its sweetness in the desert air."* These are only a few of the learned names that might be produced from a long list of those that are departed hence in the Lord, and "whose works have followed them."-And here I cannot refrain from dropping a tear to the memory of a faithful and valuable friend, lately deceased-the Right Rev. Jonathan Watson, Bishop of Dunkeld, who, called hence in the midst of his days, exchanged the mitre for the crown, on 28th June, 1808.* He, good man, never ventured to pub * Mr. Skinner died in May 1807, at the advanced age of 86; and those who respect his talents and character, will be glad to learn that his Posthumous Works are now preparing for the press, and will soon be published by subscription, in 2 vols. 8vo. ↑ Of this pious and worthy man, whom I had the happiness of knowing almost from my childhood, and to whose instructions and fatherly counsels I am much indebted, I now say what M. Formey said of M. Reinbeck, viz. that he was "Theologien qui avoit toutes les vertus de son état, sans qu'elles fussent obscurcies par le moindre défaut, qu' on me permette ce mot sur un homme respectable, dont je chérirai toujours la memoire." 7 lish any work, great or small; but that now presented to the public, having been submitted to his inspection in MS., was much improved by his suggestions and remarks. And, for the outlines of this article, the author was indebted to a worthy and respectable Presbyter of this Church, a man of character and disposition congenial to those of the late Bishop of Dunkeld, and who is now very deservedly raised to his see and chair. But delicacy forbids my pointing out the virtues of this his successor, and also prevents my here naming any of the living authors of this Church. Their works, some of which are referred to above, speak for themselves, and must convince their impartial readers, that however little encouragement she can hold out to literary merit, she is by no means barren of such merit, but may still claim the honour that is due to genius, taste and learning. Nor can it be expected that I should presume to give any character of her clergy in general; suffice it to say, that their education is not worse, and that in several instances it is even better, than what the clergy of the establishment usually receive; and that some of them might do credit to any church. And that, as a body, they are, or ought to be, men of distinguished learning, piety, and worth, will be admitted by every reader who is aware that they are always liable to be decimated for the Episcopate: for, though the bishops of this Church be but just lifted above their clergy by the powers essential to their order, yet, as says an ancient bishop and father-" nihil est in hoc sæculo excellentius sacerdotibus, sublimius episcopis, si nomen congruat actioni, et actio respondeat nomini."* * D. Amb. De dignit. Sacerdot. THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. RISE, PROGRESS, &C.-While arms and arts find their way into remote regions of the earthwhile trade penetrates, with inconceivable assiduity, the secret recesses of inhospitable shores, and traces the footsteps of the savage inhabitants of the forest, we are happy to remark an extension also of religious benefits. * And, among the cir cumstances favourable to the Protestant religion, which resulted from the troubles in England in the 17th century, was doubtless the colonisation of several large districts in North America. As the different sides were predominant, such of the oppressed party as were peaceably inclined, emigrated at different times to that distant Continent, and there planted a number of Protestant societies, which have almost uniformly persevered in the systems of their ancestors, to the present day. While the American provinces were subject to Great Britain, the members of the Church of England made so small a proportion of their inhabitants, that it was found difficult to establish Episcopacy in that country; and though the whole body of the clergy, and many of the lay members of that communion had long and anxiously desired, and earnestly requested, to have resident bishops among them, their superiors in England did not see fit to grant their request. But, after the convulsions of a destructive war, the declaration of independence in civil and religious rights "dissolved the established connexion which had hitherto subsisted between the Episcopal people in America, and the bishop of London, who had always been, by appointment and practice, the proper ordinary of the Episcopal Church there, but could no longer now be submitted to by them in that character. And as the United States had found it for their interest to grant an universal liberty of conscience to all professions, without preference to any by way of establishment, the Episcopal clergy, thus left to themselves, and destitute of any superior, began to look about how to get this fundamental defect removed, and have their new orphan church duly organised, in such a form as they believed essential to her being, and might find consistent with the civil constitution of their new government."* "In this important undertaking, the clergy of * Mr. Skinner's Eccles, History of Scotland, Vol. II. p. 684. |