To  those,  of  course,  who  regard  the  supremacy  of  the  Crown
in  matters  ecclesiastical  as  an  intolerable  burden,  even  where,  as
in  the  United  Kingdom,  it  brings  with  it  the  compensation  of
legally  secured  endowments,  the  caricature  of  Church  and  State
presented  by  the  flimsy  credentials  of  Letters  Patent,  and  the
empty  form  of  royal  nomination,  must  be  eminently  distasteful.
And  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  advocates  of  a  Free  Church
should  find  even  a  more  favourable  platform  in  the  colonies
than  at  home.  They  say — and  with  truth — that  the  bargain  is
one-sided.  Their  bishops  and  clergy  do  not  even  get  the  food
and  shelter  which  is  the  consideration  received  by  their  brethren
at  home  for  wearing  what  Mr.  Hallam  calls  "  the  collar  of  the
watch-dog."  Their  power  and  freedom  of  action  are,  if  not
actually,  theoretically  fettered  by  masters  who  have  no  equiva-
lent either  in  dignity,  authority,  or  worldly  advantages  to
confer.  The  Patent,  even  supposing  it  to  be  valid,  gives  nothing
to  its  possessor  which  his  own  character  and  the  consent  of  his
flock  will  not  as  fully  confer  on  him.  All  the  clerical  argu-
ments against  the  Koyal  Supremacy  find  sympathy  in  free  colo-
nies, not  only  among  the  enemies  of  dominant  Churches  who
swarm  everywhere,  but  among  the  aspirants  to  colonial  inde-
pendence who  want  to  elect  all  their  officers,  and  regard  all
nominations  by  the  Crown  as  badges  of  tyranny  and  op-
pression.
