In 1707 Scotland and England were merged into a single Kingdom of Great Britain. The Scottish Episcopalians Act of 1711 protected the Episcopal Church, which marked its virtual incorporation as a distinct society. However, matters were still complicated by a considerable, though declining, number of Episcopalian incumbents holding parish churches. Moreover, the Jacobitism of the non-jurors provoked a state policy of repression in 1715 and 1745, and fostered the growth of new Hanoverian congregations, using the English Prayer Book (served by clergy who had been ordained by a bishop but amenable to none), who qualified themselves under the act of 1711. This act was further modified in 1746 and 1748 to exclude clergy ordained in Scotland.