In an address, dated October 5, 1785, from the clerical and lay deputies of the Church, in sundry of the United States of America, to the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England, the following grateful acknowledgment is made:

"All the Bishops of England, with other distinguished characters, as well ecclesiastical as civil, have concurred in forming and carrying on the benevolent views of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts; a Society to whom, under God, the prosperity of our Church is, in an eminent degree, to be ascribed. It is our earnest wish to be permitted to make, through your lordships, this just acknowledgment to that venerable Society.""

1 Note to Bishop Bagot's Sermon, 1790, p. 16.

CHAPTER XV.

NEWFOUNDLAND.

Discovery-Name-Area-Its Fishery-Lord Bacon's Patent-Lord Baltimore's Settlement-Finally ceded to England-First Report-Rev. Mr. Jackson-Rev. Jacob Rice--Rev. R. Killpatrick-Rev. Henry JonesRev. Mr. Peaseley-Rev. Edward Langman-Rev. Lawrence CoughlanRev. James Balfour-Gift of William the Fourth.

THIS island, the nearest to the mother country of all the Colonies of Great Britain, was discovered in 1497, by Sebastian Cabot, the celebrated Venetian navigator, who sailed from the port of Bristol under authority of letters patent, granted by King Henry the Seventh. To that projecting peninsula, on which the capital was afterwards built, Cabot gave the name of St. John's, because it was first seen on the festival of St. John Baptist (June 24). The island itself was called by the Venetian Prima Vista, but has never been known by any other than the descriptive English name of Newfoundland. Its extreme length is about 420 miles; its greatest width about 300. The area is computed at 36,000 square miles; and it is therefore somewhat larger than Ireland. The value of the newlydiscovered country, as a fishing station, soon became known; for, in 1517, it was "stated by the crew of an English ship that they had left forty vessels,-Portuguese, French, and Spanish,-busily employed in the fishery." In 1578 the English had fifty vessels engaged in the trade; but the Spaniards had no fewer than one hundred, besides twenty

1 Edinburgh Cabinet Library; British America, vol. ii. p. 278.

or thirty whalers from Biscay; and the French "had one hundred and fifty, though of smaller dimensions."1

After various unsuccessful attempts by private adventurers to form a settlement on the island, a patent was granted in 1610, by James I., to Lord Chancellor Bacon and others, conveying a grant of land for the purpose of securing the fishing trade. This scheme of colonization, however, seems to have met with no better success than those which had preceded it. In 1623, Lord Baltimore obtained the grant of a considerable tract of land, from Cape St. Mary to the Bay of Bulls, with the view of planting a body of his countrymen, who, professing like himself the Roman Catholic religion, might enjoy there its uninterrupted exercise; and a few years later, Lord Falkland, as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, engaged to send a colony from that country.

This history of the first settlement of the island, together with the constant immigration of Irish labourers, will account for the predominance of Roman Catholics in the population. For a long period the possession of Newfoundland was disputed by the French, but at the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, it was finally ceded to England.

The following short account of the state of the island at the commencement of the last century, occurs in the first Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, a report which bears date February 4th, 1704.

"Newfoundland has several settlements of English, with many occasional inhabitants, as workers, mariners, &c., at the fishing seasons, to the amount of several thousands, but no public exercise of religion except at St. John's, where there is a congregation, but unable to subsist a minister." It appears, however, that the Rev. Mr. Jackson, who

1 Edinburgh Cabinet Library; British America, vol. ii. p. 278.

had previously been maintained for a limited period at St. John's, by private subscription, was, in May 1703, adopted as a Missionary by the Society for three years, at a salary of £50.'

In 1705, some merchants trading to Newfoundland waited upon the Society with a memorial, praying that two Missionaries might be appointed for St. John's; and undertaking that the people of the country should contribute to their support. The Rev. Jacob Rice was sent out about this time, by the Bishop of London.

In 1729, the inhabitants of Trinity Bay represented to the Society their earnest wish to have a Clergyman settled amongst them; pledging themselves to build a Church, and raise a salary of 301. for the support of a minister. The Rev. Robert Killpatrick was accordingly sent to this station on a salary of 30%.per annum; but after a residence of some months, receiving but very inconsiderable contributions from the people, and being unable to subsist upon the allowance of the Society, he requested to be transferred to some other Mission, and was consequently sent to New Windsor, in the colony of New York. So far, however, was his condition from being improved by the change, that he was glad to return to his first Mission; for in New Windsor he could meet with no one who would give him a lodging on any terms. On his way back, he was detained three months at Placentia, where he preached six Sundays, and baptized ten children. He describes the settlement as in great want of a Clergyman, for the inhabitants were regardless of all religion, and a great many of them abandoned to infidelity.3

Mr. Killpatrick was welcomed back to the Bay in 1734, with much joy, and found a numerous congregation. He 1 Journal, vol. i. p. 107. 2 Ibid. vol. v. p. 255. 3 Report for 1734.

occasionally visited Old Perlican, ten leagues distant, where he had about 200 hearers.

Being under the necessity of coming to England in 1737, he brought a letter signed on behalf of the justices of the peace, churchwardens, and inhabitants of Trinity Bay, in which they "gratefully and humbly thanked the Society for their great favour in sending a Missionary to be their spiritual director according to the usage of the Church of England." Commodore Temple West wrote also on the same occasion to the Bishop of London, to say, that as he had the honour of commanding one of His Majesty's ships on the station, he took the liberty of representing the condition of the Clergyman residing at Trinity, whom he characterises "in one word, the most comprehensive of all others, as a good Christian."

Mr. Killpatrick continued, after this, to labour in his Mission for a space of four years; the average number of his congregation in the summer being 250, many of whom were converts from a profane life. He died in August,

1741.

In January, 1726, the Bishop of London laid before the Society a letter which he had received from the Rev. Henry Jones, a clergyman settled at Bonavista, stating that he officiated in that place, and had established a school; on which the Society agreed to make him a gratuity of £30, and to send over to him 5l. worth of Common Prayer Books and Catechisms. A similar gratuity was afterwards annually voted. In 1730 he reported that his Church was nearly completed, and that a gentleman of London had presented to it "a set of vessels for the Communion, and a handsome stone font." In 1734 he informed the Society that his congregation was in a flourishing condition, and 3 Ibid. vol. v. p. 76.

1 Journal, vol. vii. p. 202.

2 Ibid.