form of ordination contained a declaration of three orders of ministers
from the times of the apostles; namely, bishops, priests, and deacons,
to which they had subscribed; but he and his brethren conceived, that
without a royal license, they had not authority to attempt, enact,
promulge, or execute any canon, which should concern either doctrine or
discipline. The lower house answered this declaration in very petulant
terms; and the dispute subsisted when the parliament was prorogued. But
these contests produced divisions through the whole body of the clergy,
who ranged themselves in different factions, distinguished by the names
of high-church and low-church. The first consisted of ecclesiastical
tories; the other included those who professed revolution principles,
and recommended moderation towards the dissenters. The high-church party
reproached the other as time-servers, and presbyterians in disguise; and
were in their turn stigmatized as the friends and abettors of tyranny
and persecution. At present, however, the tories both in church
and state triumphed in the favour of their sovereign. The right of
parliaments, the memory of the late king, and even the act limiting the
succession of the house of Hanover, became the subjects of ridicule.
The queen was flattered as possessor of the prerogatives of the ancient
monarchy; the history written by her grandfather, the earl of Clarendon,
was now for the first time published, to inculcate the principles of
obedience, and inspire the people with an abhorrence of opposition to
an anointed sovereign. Her majesty's hereditary right was deduced from
Edward the Confessor, and as heir of his pretended sanctity and virtue,
she was persuaded to touch persons afflicted with the king's evil,
according to the office inserted in the Liturgy for this occasion.

ACCOUNT OF PARTIES IN SCOTLAND.

The change of the ministry in Scotland seemed favourable to the
episcopalians and anti-revolutioners of that kingdom. The earls of
Marchmont, Melvil, Selkirk, Leven, and Hyndford, were laid aside; the
earl of Seafield was appointed chancellor; the duke of Queensberry
and the lord viscount Tarbat, were declared secretaries of state; the
marquis of Annandale was made president of the council, and the earl of
Tullibardin, lord privy-seal. A new parliament having been summoned, the
earl of Seafield employed his influence so successfully, that a great
number of anti-revolutioners were returned