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the unhappy embroilments which disturbed the peace of the colony in the following year, and ever since, all parties have been anxious to secure the good opinion of the Colonial Minister.

Nor should the sagacity, tact, and kindness of the Governor be omitted in noticing the causes which have imparted a pleasant memory to this Royal visitation. He identified himself with all the preparations to do honour to the event-he sought by all means in his power to make the stay of his illustrious guest a pleasure to himself and a boon to the people. He caused the grounds of Government House to be open to the public, so as to furnish every possible opportunity of seeing the Prince, a privilege which was freely and respectfully taken advantage of, without being in a single instance abused. On the whole, His Excellency's endeavour to make the occasion one of satisfaction to all parties concerned, and his untiring and successful exertions on that behalf, merited and received unstinted praise.

An

On the morning of Thursday the 26th, His Royal Highness was announced to take his leave. immense multitude of people, estimated at upwards of thirty thousand, many having come from distant parts of the colony, lined the route by which he proceeded to the ship. From the time of his setting out from Government House, there commenced a roar of cheering which, taken up again and prolonged, seemed to be uninterrupted until its subject was out of hearing on the sea. After the Prince had embarked, and the ships were slowly steaming out of the harbour

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towards the Narrows, hundreds flocked along the road that they might give him one cheer more. the Hero passed on, His Royal Highness saw on the rocks, on every spot where footing could be had, crowds of persons who had sought a slippery stand from which to bid him God speed, these expressions of loyalty being gracefully acknowledged by him.

Then the guns from the heights waked reverberating echoes with a Royal salute. Even from below the waters there was a contribution to the general acclaim. It so happened that a few days previous, preparations had been made for blasting a sunken rock on one side of the deep channel in the Narrows, and the moment fixed upon for firing the charge was that immediately after the Prince passed the spot. The plan was completely successful, and while the guns were roaring and forming a high canopy of cloud overhead, low down, more than twenty feet beneath the surface of the waters, a shock was felt which made those waters surge and bubble and hiss, as if striving to articulate a rude good-bye.

CHAPTER XVI.

ECCLESIASTICAL.

SOME account of the principal religious denominations of the colony has entered into the general history of the country as narrated in this work. But as the religious element, especially in its sectional aspects, has a large influence on the present condition of the community, it is thought advisable to supply in a special chapter some details as to the rise and growth of the various Christian bodies into which society in - Newfoundland is divided.

The history of the Church of England in Newfoundland may be said to date from the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In the efforts then made to colonise the island, letters patent were granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, constituting him the governor, and giving him full and absolute sway over such colonists as might be induced to settle there. The principal conditions that were imposed upon him were, that the laws he enacted should be 'as neere as conveniently may, agreeable to the forme of the laws and pollicy of England,' and 'that they be not against the true Christian faith or religion, now professed in the Church of England.' This clause appears to indicate

the desire of the Queen and her advisers, to maintain the authority of the Church in her newly peopled colonies, so as to avoid the encroachments of Roman Catholicism on the one hand, or the spread of Puritanism on the other. Chancellor Bacon, in one of his earlier works, makes the following remarks on the subject of the church and the colonies:

For the discipline of the Church in those parts it will be necessary that it agree with that which is settled in England, else it will make a schism and a rent in Christ's coat, which should be seamless; and to that purpose it will be fit that by the king's supreme power in cases ecclesiastical within all his dominions, they be subordinate under some bishop or bishopric of this realm.

These words were written during the reign of James I., and probably reflected the sentiments of the Court on that subject.

From this period till the commencement of the eighteenth century, very little was done for the dissemination of Church of England principles in the colony. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was established in 1701, and from its first published report it would appear that at that date, although there were several English Settlements in the colony, there was no public exercise of religion, except at St. John's, where the congregation was unable to subsist' a minister. Accordingly a Mr. Jackson was forthwith sent out by the society at a stipend of 50l. a year for three years, and a benefaction of 301.-probably in addition to what his congregation could raise for his support. Soon

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afterwards a handsome church was built in St. John's. This, however, was destroyed in 1705, and replaced by a smaller one. These appear to have been the first efforts at church building in the colony. In the progress of years other missionaries were sent out by a Propagation Society-a Mr. Jones being stationed at Bonavista, and a Mr. Kilpatrick at Trinity Bay, the inhabitants at the latter place promising to raise an annual stipend of 30l. towards his maintenance. Meanwhile, congregations were established in various parts of the island; amongst other places, at Great Placentia, where Prince William Henry, afterwards William IV., showed his attachment to the religion of the State, by presenting the church with a valuable set of communion vessels, when on a visit to the place. This gift is still retained in the church at Great Placentia.

At length a very important period arrived in the history of the Episcopalian Church in Newfoundland. In 1805, on the creation of the bishopric of Nova Scotia the first colonial see under the British Crown, Newfoundland was annexed to its jurisdiction. Shortly afterwards the bishop paid a visit (an account of which has been given in a previous chapter) to the colony, and was deeply impressed with the spiritual destitution which he there discovered. There were probably less than half a dozen clergymen of the Church of England in the island. It was in consequence of earnest representations from several quarters that in 1839 Newfoundland, with the Bermudas, was detached from Nova Scotia, and