f) POLICY OF CONCEDING CLERICAL RANK. 



Catholic in the colonies of Nova Scotia and New Bruns- 

 wick, and therefore more entitled to consideration at the 

 fountain of honour. If there be any way in which it 

 could be done, therefore, the head of these several bodies 

 — their moderator or president for the time being — 

 should be equally honoured with the more permanent 

 heads of the Episcopalian sects ; — that is, if the distinc- 

 tive title is to be retained at all, and the precedence of 

 high clerical office retained. 



It may be said that the Presbyterian, Baptist, and 

 other bodies, are opposed upon principle to the connec- 

 tion of honorary precedence with clerical office, and have 

 therefore never asked such distinctions for the head of 

 their several denominations. This is probably true ; but 

 my intercourse with the inhabitants of these colonies has 

 satisfied me that much lurking ill-will against the mother 

 country has arisen from the kind of half-establishment 

 originally granted to the English Church ; and that this 

 ill-will, instead of being lessened, has been deepened in 

 intensity by the selection of the Roman Catholic body 

 for a similar distinction. Why should the mother country 

 procure ill-will — manufacture it, I may say, for herself — 

 by intermeddling in the religious disputes of the different 

 denominations in the colonies ? Either we ought to leave 

 these entirely to the control of the local legislature, as 

 all other internal political and social matters now are 

 left, or the offer, at least, of similar honours should be 

 made to the head of each religious body possessing a 

 certain numerical force, and consequent political weight, 

 in the province. This offer, whether accepted or not, 

 would at least remove the complaint of invidious distinc- 

 tions from the shoulders of the Home Government, and 

 would confine the discussion in future to the general 

 question of precedence or no precedence to the holders 

 of high clerical office. Should any unfortunate circum- 

 stances bring about a separation from the mother country, 



