There were some, however, who were not satisfied with Mr Grove's sentiments with respect to church order, and they expressed their dissatisfaction in a way which made Lady Glenorchy very uneasy. However, to put an end to this, she applied by letter to the Presbytery of Edinburgh, informing them of her wishes to gratify the congregation of her chapel, by appointing Mr Grove to be their minister, and respectfully requesting their countenance therein; to which she received an answer, stating the terms on which they were disposed to acquiesce in Mr Grove's settlement.

Of these circumstances the reader will be further informed by an extract from her Diary, and copies of these letters.

Edinburgh, Sunday, October 22.—I came yesterday to this place; found my soul refreshed in conversing with some dear Christian friends. To-day the word of God, and the whole services of the church, have been comfortable. To him be the glory!

December 20.-On Sunday the 17th I begged the Lord to show me what my real state was before him; my trouble increased; I began to murmur at my situation. The enemy for a season was permitted to plead the cause of his votaries, and drew a comparison between them and the church to the disadvantage of the latter: thus my mind was drawn aside into awful and dangerous depths. Upon this I ventured to pray that God would manifest himself and his work of redemption to my soul. In bitterness of spirit I arose from my knees, took up the Bible, and cried to the Lord to give me faith in his word, and an answer of peace from it. On reading, the snare by which I was held gave way, and my soul escaped as a bird. From me

ditating on the Scriptures, peace was restored to my soul, my doubts and distresses vanished away, and my relish for the word of God and access to the throne of grace have been restored. Glory be to God!

The letter to the Presbytery of Edinburgh which has been mentioned, is in the following terms :

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To the Moderator of the Presbytery of Edinburgh.

"Edinburgh, December 27, 1775.

"Rev. Sir, I acquainted your reverend Presbytery, in a letter sent to them in March 1774, that the chapel which I had built, for the purposes mentioned in that letter would soon be ready for the reception of a congregation; that I intended to have it supplied with a minister of approved character and abilities; and was persuaded it would be agreeable to the Presbytery, that, in the mean time, I should ask occasional supply from such ministers and probationers as I was acquainted with.

"The Presbytery having been pleased to signify their approbation of my design, several ministers and probationers have cheerfully given their assistance; and I have no doubt they will continue it, which in future will only be necessary, at particular times, as the chapel is now statedly supplied by the Rev. Thomas Grove, a minister of established character and abilities, who for several years has been pastor of a Protestant dissenting congregation in England, and as such gave the security required by law in that part of the kingdom for his loyalty to Government, and his adherence to those essential doctrines of the Reformation in which the established Confessions of both churches are happily agreed. He is well known to several ministers of

this city and suburbs, with whom he has joined in ministerial communion; and to those who attend at the chapel, having preached to them during the space of three months last year, and as many this year; to whom his ministrations are so acceptable that they have expressed their earnest desire of his continuance among them as their pastor, which it is my intention to comply with, that, besides the preaching of the word, they may enjoy the comfort and benefit of the other ordinances of religion, which are dispensed to their brethren of the same communion in their parish churches. I beg you will do me the favour to communicate this letter to the Reverend Presbytery at their first meeting, with my respectful compliments, which will oblige, Rev. Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, "W. GLENORCHY."

To this letter Lady Glenorchy received the subjoined reply:

To the Right Honourable Lady Glenorchy.

"Madam,-Your Ladyship's letter was laid before us; and although we continue to approve of your pious intentions in establishing the new congregation within our bounds, we cannot give countenance to any person's being admitted minister thereof, until we have satisfying evidence of his having been regularly licensed and ordained, of his loyalty to Government, and of his conformity to our standards. We have the honour to be your Ladyship's most obedient most humble serH. MONCRIEFF WELLWOOD, Moderator."

vants.

1776.-Mr Grove was a gentleman of some landed property, of good address and talents, and of pleasant

manners. He was one of the six young men, who, in the year 1768, were expelled from the University of Oxford, for praying extempore in a private house; but was by his severe judges acknowledged to be the least exceptionable of them in every respect: and although with great humility and earnestness he petitioned for restoration, and the Vice-Chancellor admitted that his case was very hard, his application, notwithstanding, was refused. This harsh treatment made Mr Grove a decided dissenter in his own country, and gave him a distaste to national religious establishments in general; and as he found Lady Glenorchy determined not to separate her Chapel from the Church of Scotland, of which she was a member, and with which her oldest, ablest, and best friends were connected, he determined, but not without much reluctance, to return to England.

This event occasioned Lady Glenorchy considerable perplexity; and the suspicion, and clamour, and evil speaking to which it gave rise, hurt her so much, that she seriously meditated a plan of selling her estate, and leaving Scotland altogether. This resolution both alarmed and distressed her friends, who did not fail to remonstrate against her intentions in very strong terms: among these was Lady Henrietta Hope, who wrote to her, on the 18th of January, in the following manner :—

"I did not receive your's, my dear Madam, till this morning; and then, I must own, I felt sensations which your ever welcome letters have not been used to excite. So little am I reconciled to the plan you have eventually formed, that the determined manner in which you write of it as if really to take place, was more than I could bear unmoved; and I know not how long the damp it threw on my spirits would have

continued, had it not been brought to my remembrance, that you might propose, but that God would dispose, and surely overrule all things for his glory. To me it appears next to impossible, that by such an event this great end shall be advanced; but, as your Ladyship seems at present to be absolutely fixed in your determination, I shall not trouble you more on the subject, till some better occasion offer to remonstrate more strongly."

The circumstances of Mr Grove's family would not admit of his immediate return to England. He therefore remained, and no objection being made to it, preached in the chapel till the end of February, when it again was supplied by the ministers and probationers of the city and neighbourhood.

k

When Mr Grove finally left Edinburgh, Lady Glenorchy consulted her friends with respect to the most eligible mode of conducting and settling her chapel. She herself was of opinion, that the best way to prevent all suspicions and jealousies with respect to her objects and designs, would be to invite a minister from the church, of whose ecclesiastical views no doubt could be entertained, either by the Presbytery or the public; and having fixed upon the mode of management, her mind became tranquil and easy, as will appear from her Diary.

Sunday, January 14.-The Lord has seen meet to afford me some glimmerings of light on the path of duty. I have seen it right to give up my own plans and wishes concerning the settlement of the chapel, and simply to follow whatever seems most likely to promote faith, peace, and love, in the Church of Christ.