Though the Church of England had numbered among her American Clergy, previous to the Revolution, not a few eminent men, yet, up to that time, and indeed for a considerable period afterwards, her energies were but very partially developed. In the whole country North and East of Maryland, the number of parochial clergymen, at the commencement of the War, did not exceed eighty; and all, with the exception of those who resided in Boston and Newport, New York and Philadelphia, received the principal part of their support from the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts. In Maryland and the more Southern Colonies, where her Clergy were supported by a legal establishment, their number was much larger; though this very feature of her condition naturally awakened the jealousy of other denominations, and, however it may have contributed to her growth and influence, must have involved at least a drawback on her peace and comfort.

During the progress of the Revolution, the interests of all the denominations, and of Religion generally, suffered greatly from the engrossing and agitating scenes of which almost the whole country became the theatre; but undoubtedly the Church of England had the hardest lot of all; for she, especially as represented by her Clergy, was considered as the very impersonation of rebellion. That spirit of independence that burned to the nation's inmost heart, could not tolerate the least holding back from the contest that was expected to make us a free people; while, on the other hand, a large portion of the Clergy felt pressed, by both their civil and ecclesiastical obligations, to remain true to the British Crown. The consequence of this was that many of them were forced to leave their country,—some finding a refuge in England, and others in the Provinces; while those who remained behind, and held fast to their loyalty, had scarcely any thing else left, unless it were the testimony of an approving conscience. The very small number who were enabled to continue their ministrations, succeeded in doing so, either by their remarkable prudence, or by engaging in conflicts or submitting to deprivations, which must have rendered life itself little less than a burden. Looking at their course from the stand-point which we now occupy, we may wel! afford to honour the motives which controlled their conduct, while we give thanks to the God of nations for having smiled upon the course which they felt themselves conscience-bound to oppose.

As the churches in this country, previous to the Revolution, had been united only through the medium of the Bishop of London, so, when that bond came to be severed by the acknowledgment of our Independence, it was necessary that they should be combined on some new principle of association. The first step towards this result was taken at a meeting, for another purpose, of a few clergymen of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, at New Brunswick, N. J., in May, 1784. Another meeting was held in New York, in October following, which resulted in agreeing upon a few general principles to be recommended in the respective States, as the basis on which a future ecclesiastical government should be established: these principles involved a recognition of Episcopacy and of the Book of Common Prayer; and provided for a Repre

sentative Body of the Church, consisting of Clergy and Laity, who were to vote as distinct orders. A third meeting, which had been agreed upon at the second, was held in Philadelphia in September, 1785, in which seven of the thirteen United States were represented,—namely, from New York to Virginia, inclusive, with the addition of South Carolina. At this meeting, the first business was to make certain alterations in the Book of Common Prayer, accommodating it to the recent changes in the State; and to propose certain other alterations which were thought to be an improvement in the mode of stating some of the Articles of Faith. These were published in a book ever since known as "The Proposed Book."

The Rev. Dr. Scabury of Connecticut had, sometime previous to this, applied to the English Bishops for Episcopal Consecration, but, after having become discouraged by protracted delay, had transferred his application successfully to the Non-juring Bishops of Scotland, and had, a few months before this meeting, returned to this country, and entered upon his Episcopal duties in Connecticut; and two or three gentlemen from the Southern States had already received ordination at his hands. The members of this Philadelphia Convention, though entertaining great respect for Bishop Seabury, and generally admitting the validity of his Episcopacy, were still disposed to make a vigorous effort to secure the office directly from England. Having taken measures to remove certain obstacles which were understood to have prevented the success of Dr. Seabury, they framed an Address to the English Bishops and Archbishops, respectfully acknowledging the favours they had formerly received from them, through the medium of the Society for Propagating the Gospel, stating their desire to perpetuate among them the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Church of England, and praying that their Lordships would consecrate to the Episcopate such persons as should be sent with that view from any of the different States. This Address was forwarded by a Committee appointed for the purpose to John Adams, then the American Minister at the Court of St. James, with a request that he would deliver it to His Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Mr. Adams cheerfully complied with the request, and at the same time made some explanatory statements to the Archbishop, which were adapted to promote the object.

In the spring of 1786, the Committee received an answer, signed by the two Archbishops, and eighteen Bishops out of the twenty-four, expressing themselves well disposed to comply with the wishes of the Convention, but desiring some further information in regard to the alterations which had been male in the Book of Common Prayer and the Articles of Religion; a report Laving reached them that those alterations involved a material departure from the Church of England. Soon after the receipt of this letter, another came from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, stating that they had seen the "Proposed Book," and specifying several things in it which they deemed exceptionable; at the same time informing them that they were likely to obtain an Act of Parliament enabling them to consecrate for America.

The objections of the English Prelates having at length been satisfactorily disposed of at a Convention held at Wilmington, in the State of Delaware, in October, 1786, the deputies from the several States were inquired of whether any persons had been chosen in them respectively for Consecration; when it appeared that the Rev. Samuel Provoost, D. D., Rector of Trinity Church, New York, the Rev. William White, D. D., Rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's in Philadelphia, and the Rev. David Griffith, D. D., Rector of Fairfax Parish, Virginia, had been chosen by the Conventions of their respective States. The two former of the above named clergymen, having received the requisite testimonials, embarked together for England early the next month, and, on reaching London, were most kindly received by the American Minister, who not only introduced them to His Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury, but did all he could in other ways to facilitate the object of their visit. Their Consecration took place in the Palace of Lambeth, on the 4th of February, 1787, the service being performed by the Most Reverend John Moore, Archbishop of Canterbury. They returned to the United States immediately after, and entered at once upon the exercise of their Episcopal functions.

The General Convention assembled on the 28th of July, 1789, and duly recognised the Episcopacy of Bishops White and Provoost, though the former only was present, the latter being detained by sickness. One of the principal subjects that occupied the Convention was the importance of taking measures to perpetuate the Episcopal succession. Dr. Griffith, who had been prevented from going to England for Consecration, had tendered his resignation to the Convention of Virginia, and had come on as one of their deputies to attend the General Convention at Philadelphia, but was taken suddenly ill and died before the close of the session. The Clergy of Massachusetts and New Hampshire had just before elected the Rev. Edward Bass, Rector of St. Paul's Church in Newburyport, their Bishop, and had addressed letters to each of the three Bishops, in Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, requesting that they would join in consecrating him. Bishop White, being the only one of the three who was present, laid the letter addressed to him before the Body; but while he expressed a strong desire that a permanent union might be formed with the Churches in the Eastern States, he intimated a doubt whether it was not due to the English Prelates that, before they should proceed to any Consecration, they should obtain from them the number which their Canons made necessary to such an act. Bishop White's opinion, thus expressed, proved to be the opinion of the Convention, though they passed a vote recognising the validity of Bishop Seabury's Consecration— in which their President concurred. The difficulty referred to was obviated, not long after this, by the election of the Rev. James Madison, D. D., as Bishop of Virginia, and by his being consecrated in England.

Previous to the adjournment of this Convention, an invitation was given. to Bishop Seabury, and the Eastern brethren generally, to attend the next session, to be held on the 29th of September, with a view to a permanent union. When the Convention reassembled, Bishop Seabury, with sundry cler

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gymen from Connecticut and Massachusetts, was present; and the evidence of his Consecration in Scotland having been laid before the Body, a conference ensued between a Committee of the Convention and the Clergy from the Eastern States, the result of which was that, after one alteration of the Constitution, made at the suggestion of the latter, the Convention declared their acquiesence in it, and gave it their signatures accordingly. The first Consecration that took place after Bishop Madison's return from England was that of the Rev. Thomas John Claggett, D. D., elected by the Convention of Maryland, in 1792,—in which Bishop Seabury united with Bishops White, Provoost, and Madison.

The Constitution formed in 1786 had provided that the arrangement of two Houses should take place as soon as three Bishops should belong to the Body; and as this circumstance occurred in the Convention of 1789, the House of Bishops was accordingly formed. The two Houses then entered on a review of the Liturgy; the Bishops originating alterations in some Servi ces, and the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies proposing others. The result was the Book of Common Prayer, as it was then established. The different portions of the Ordinal Office, were added at different times afterwards.

Of the details of the History of the Protestant Episcopal Church, since the period now referred to, it does not comport with the designed brevity of this sketch to speak-suffice it to say that it has had a regular and vigorous growth, and has now a footing in every part of our country, not excepting even the most newly settled portions of it. The following statistics will convey some idea of its progress and present state:

In 1792, the number of its Bishops was five; of its Clergy, one hundred and seventy-eight, exclusive of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In 1832, there had been twenty-nine consecrated to the Episcopate, of whom fourteen were then living; and the number of Clergy was five hundred and forty-eight. In 1857, the whole number of Bishops was sixty-three,—the number then living, forty; and the number of the Clergy eighteen hundred and twentynine.

The General Theological Seminary was first established in the city of New York in 1817. It was removed to New Haven in 1820; but the next year, being incorporated with the Theological Seminary of the Diocese of New York, it was removed back to New York city, where its present organization commenced. Besides this, there are several flourishing Diocesan institutions for the study of Divinity, particularly one in Fairfax County, Virginia, one at Gambier, in Ohio, and the Berkeleian School at Middletown, Conn. There are also a large number of Colleges and other institutions of learning, scattered over the country, which are exclusively under Episcopal control.

A Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society was established by the General Convention in 1829, which, in 1857, had in the Domestic field a hundred and twenty-six missionaries, and in the Foreign field, eighteen. The General Protestant Episcopal Sunday School Union and Church Book Society; the

Protestant Episcopal Society for the Promotion of Evangelical Knowledge; the Protestant Episcopal Historical Society; the Western Church Extension Society; and the University of the South, are all highly successful or promising institutions, not under the control of the General Convention.

The following paragraph, explanatory of the distinctive economy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, is extracted from an article contributed by the Rev. Isaac Boyle, D. D., formerly an Episcopal clergyman in Boston, to the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge :

"The different Episcopal parishes throughout the United States are united by a Constitution which provides for a General Convention of the Church. once in three years at some place previously determined, in which the Church. in each State or Diocese is represented by Lay and Clerical Delegates, chosen by the State Convention, (every State or Diocese having a Convention of its own to regulate its local concerns,) each order having one vote, and the concurrence of both being necessary to an Act of the Convention. The Bishops of the Church form a separate House, with a right to originate measures for the concurrence of the House of Delegates, composed of Clergy and Laity; and when any proposed Act passes the House of Delegates, it is transmitted to the House of Bishops, who have a negative on the same, so that the consent of both Houses is requisite to the passage of any Act. The Church is governed by Canons framed by this Assembly, and which regulate the election of Bishops, declare the qualifications necessary for obtaining the Orders of Deacon or Priest, the studies to be previously pursued, the examinations which are to be made, and the ages which it is necessary for candidates to attain before they can be admitted to the several grades of the ministry, which are three in number, and are believed to be of Apostolical institution,-namely, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. Deacon's Orders can be conferred on no person under twenty-one, nor those of a Priest before that of twenty-four; nor can any person be consecrated a Bishop until he be thirty years of age. The Thirty-Nine Articles are not signed by those who are admitted to Orders, as in the Church of England, but candidates are required to subscribe the following declaration:-'I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrines and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in these United States.' These doctrines, however, are understood to be contained in the Articles of Religion which are printed with the Book of Common Prayer, and implied in the Liturgy of the Church. In these documents the Trinity of Divine Persons, the Atonement of Christ, and the influence of the Holy Spirit in the renewal of the heart, are recognised. In general, the doctrinal views of the Church accord with. those which have been usually termed the doctrines of the Reformation, and were generally professed by those who separated from the Communion of the Church of Rome."