last meeting, the parties, who wished for the restoration of the Prayers and Directions, met and agreed, in a declaration on the 19th of December 1717, that it was necessary to restore them as primitive usages. On the 20th of December, two of them gave orders for an alteration in the service. A new office was then composed: communion with those who adhered to the Book of Common Prayer was prohibited: and the New Service was actually used at Easter in the year 1718.
The same divisions existed also in Scotland, as will be shewn in a distinct chapter; but it may be mentioned in this place, that the dispute was referred to the Scottish Bishops for their opinion on the matter. Skinner, however, says that the source even of the Scottish divisions "was in England, whence it reached Scotland." Mr. Peck went to Scotland in 1718, on behalf of Collier and his friends, or the Usagers, as they were designated, requesting Bishops Rose and Falconer to procure a synodical determination. This was prudently declined by the Scotch Bishops, who recommended peace. Spinkes too, on his part, wrote to the same Bishops, who replied in the same way to his application. They however employed Dr. Rattray to draw up proposals for an accommodation, which did not give satisfaction. Campbell and Gadderer, the two Scottish Bishops resident in London, espoused the views of Collier in this question. Of the Bishops in Scotland some were opposed and some were neutral.[1]
It appears, that the new office was at first sanctioned only by eight English and six Scotch clergy-
- ↑ Skinner's Ecclesiastical History, ii. 623—626.
