terians; Hamilton was good-natured and weak, and both he and Fairfull had been zealous in past times to enforce the Covenant; Leighton was a man of primi- tive holiness and an accomplished scholar, but in other resjiects not qualified for his office. Tlie conduct of Sliarp, especially in forbidding the clergy to meet in their presbyteries "till such time as the bishops should appoint," greatly irritated the people. The first act of the new Parliament vested the whole government an<l jurisdiction of the Church in the several dioceses in the bishops, whereas previously the presbyteries had pos- sessed a voice in the administration of the diocese. A proclamation was issued that all who had not obeyed the late act — that is, who held their livings only by virtue of a call from the people and an appointment In'' the presbytery — should desist from preaching and other ministerial functions. Above two hundred churches were closed in one day, often men of weight and ability being displaced by men unfit, by lack of education and morals, for the pidpit. The Conventicle Act (q. v.), passed by the English Parliament in 1663, was imme- diately adopted bj' the Scotch Legislature. Another act followed, substituting a national synod in the place of the General Assembh'. The business of the synml was to be laid before it by the crown, and if agreed to by the president, the archbishop of St. Andrew's, and sanctioned l>y the king, it then became one of the ec- clesiastical laws of the land. In 1666 the Covenanters r(>se in arms, but were entirely subdued, many of them being hanged for rebellion. The course of Sharp in se- ciu'ing hostile legislation and in persecuting the Cov- enanters was disapproved of by many of the clergy and bishops of the Church. A com[)romise was proposed by Leighton and api)roved of by Charles (1667). It was substantially to the effect that the Church should be governed jointly by the bisho]is and clergy assem- bled in ecclesiastical court, the bishop acting only as president; that the Presbyterian ministers, in taking their seats, might declare that their recognition of a bishop was made only for the sake of peace. Other concessions were made, so that the episcopacy was re- duced to the lowest point of authority compatible with its bare existence. But neither the Covenanters nor Episcopalians would accept the compromise, and mat- ters grew worse until, in 1679, Sharp was assassinated; then a rebellion, and fresh severities on the part of the governii\ent. In 1688 the Scotch Convention, in their claim of rights, stated the conditions upon which they admitted William, prince of Orange, to the vacant throne. They affirmed in this state paper that "all jirelacj' was a great and insupportable grievance." The bishops retired from the convention, the Presbyterians were left to carry matters as they pleased, and episco- pacy W.1S once more abolished. At this date the Epis- copal Church of Scotland stood thus: there were two archiepiscopal provinces— St. Andrew's and Glasgow — with twelve bishoprics. The clergymen were about 900, some of whom transferred their allegiance to Will- iam and Mary, but the greater part declined to do so, and formed a union with the Nonjurors of England, with whom their history is closely entwined for ninety years, until the latter disappeared. In 1702 queen Anne wrote to the privy comicil, expressing her desire that the Episcopal clergy should be permitted the free exer- cise of pul)lic worship — an act of generosity, as they still declined the oath of allegiance to the reigning family. The next year the Episcopalians presented her an ad- dress, in which they mention the suffering of the clergy in 1688 and 16H9, and to which the queen returned a kind and gracious answer. Such toleration gave great offence, and the General Assembly addressed their re- monstrances to the lord high commissioner. The Act of Union, by which England and Scotland were united, took place May 1. 1707, Init did not immediately benefit the Episcopalians, even the English regiments stationed in Scotland not being allowed the use of the I^nglish i'raver-book. Queen Anne died in 1714, and the next
SCOTLAND, EPISC. CHURCH OF 453
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