to continue their arduous task of reformation, and might have averted the long reign of secular principles, cold legal and moral preaching, and uncensured immorality, which, shaken and dethroned for a few brief years during that anxious struggle, too soon recovered their ascendency, and maintained their dreary and fatal sway for almost a century. And it cannot be doubted, that if the fathers of the Secession could have foreseen what principles would be adopted by their successors in later times, could have anticipated the deadly warfare that would be waged against the very existence of the Church of Scotland, which they revered and loved,-they would not have taken a single step on the path that has led to such a strange and disastrous issue. Both the Church and those who seceded from her communion sinned, when they permitted human pride and wrath to fill their hearts and overcloud their better judgment; and the third and fourth generations are suffering, and may yet more deeply suffer, from the baneful consequences of their guilty conduct. Surely a time will come, if it has not come already, when those who hold the principles for the assertion of which the Erskines and their friends unwisely seceded from the Church, and in defence of which Boston and Willison, and such men, earnestly contended within it, will unite in the one great cause, the reassertion of the Redeemer's sole Sovereignty and Headship of his Church, which cannot but be held inestimably precious equally by both,-by all who know the import and have felt the power of that sacred and glorious truth. Yes, that time must come, whether soon or late, and it may be sooner than many think; for the hour of trial, like the fierce heat of the furnace, | may melt and blend into closest union, materials which, in the frigid temperature of selfishness, had long remained in hard and sullen separation, contiguous yet uncombining.

[1741.] The transactions of the Assembly which met in 1741 present nothing memorable. The elevation of Mr James Ramsay of Kelso to the moderator's chair, indicated very plainly, that the Moderate party had regained the power of which they had been deprived by the vigorous exertions of the Evangelical party in 1734. Another event proved but too clearly that their temporary loss of power had not taught them to use it with greater gentleness. A complaint of the parishioners of Bowden against the decision of the Commission, ordering the presbytery to proceed to the settlement of an unacceptable presentee, was disregarded, on the ground that the Commission had not exceeded their powers; the presbytery were ordered to proceed without delay, on pain of being censured as contumacious; and, in case of their refusal, the synod was empowered to take the necessary measures for having the sentence of the Commission executed.* This, it will be observed, was in reality equivalent to a resumption of the scheme of effective intrusion settlements by means of riding committees," which had been prohibited by the Assembly of 1735; and though the language of the prohibition was allowed to remain for a little longer in the instructions given to the Commission, yet in a very short time the tyrannical practice was again in full operation.

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The sudden and complete reacquisition of power by the Moderate party had arisen in a considerable degree from the comparative paralysis to active exertion in church courts, which seized upon their opponents when the seceding ministers not only refused to accede to the overtures of peace which were offered to them, but even repelled the advances of their former friends with re*Acts of Assembly.

In

proaches, invectives, and expressions of distrust. their dejection they retired from the struggle, in which to have secured complete success, would have demanded their most strenuous and united exertions for many years, especially as the Moderate party enjoyed more of the countenance of politicians than can ever be expected by men who act solely on Christian principles. But though they in a great measure abandoned the contest in church courts, they did not sink into the lethargy of dejection in other matters. They saw well that the course of Moderate policy was both introducing into the Church ministers who cared little for the spiritual welfare of the people, provided they could secure the emoluments of the charge;* and at the same time expelling men who were faithful and able ministers of the gospel, but could not submit to Moderate despotism. The only remedy which presented itself in such a deplorable state of matters, was for every faithful minister to be doubly zealous in the discharge of his own pastoral duties, by which vital religion might be preserved in at least some portions of the land, during this period of general defection. This was accordingly done, and the results very soon began to appear.

[1742.] The year 1742 will be for ever memorable, not only in the annals of the Church of Scotland, but in the history of Christianity, on account of the remarkable revivals of genuine religion which took place at that time in various parts of the country, particularly at Cambuslang and Kilsyth. It was at Cambuslang that this remarkable manifestation of spiritual power first appeared. The minister of the parish, the Rev. Mr Macculloch, had been peculiarly earnest in preaching the characteristic doctrines of the gospel, regeneration and justification by faith, during the greater part of the year 1741; and a greater degree of quickened attention than usual began to appear in the congregation in the course of that winter, and early in the year of 1742. At length, on the 18th of February, the people who attended meetings for prayer, which had been previously established, manifested such a degree of intense anxiety for their spiritual interests, and such deep convictions and supplicating earnestness to hear of the Saviour, that Mr Macculloch was constrained to preach to them almost daily, and to request the assistance of his friends in the ministry from other quarters. This naturally excited the attention of the kingdom; and ministers of the most undoubted piety, and the highest character for theological attainments and soundness of judgment, hastened to the spot, to satisfy their minds by personal investigation, and returned not only convinced of the reality of what they had seen, but filled with gratitude to God that they had enjoyed the privilege of beholding so glorious a proof of the convincing and converting power of the Holy Spirit. Among these may be mentioned Dr Webster of Edinburgh, Dr Hamilton and Messrs M'Laurin and Gillies of Glasgow, Willison of Dundee, Bonar of Torphichen, and Dr Erskine of Edinburgh, at that time a young man pursuing his theological studies. The celebrated Whitefield, hearing of this remarkable event, hastened to Cambuslang, and preached repeatedly with his usual eloquence, and more than usual impressiveness.

In the beginning of May a similar scene of religious awakening took place at Kilsyth, under the ministry of the Rev. James Robe, a man of considerable abilities, who had been for some time an active defender of the

"What must they think of a man that tells a reclaiming parish by word and deed, I'll be your minister in spite of your teeth; I'l have the charge of your souls whether ye will or not; and if ye refuse ordinances and means of salvation from me, ye shall have none!"" (Willison's Testimony, p. 54.)

constitutional principles of the Church against the corrupt and secular innovations of the Moderate party. The anxiety manifested by the people of Kilsyth was not inferior to that of the people of Cambuslang; and several adjacent parishes experienced a portion of the sacred influence so graciously vouchsafed by the Divine Visitant. Mr Robe appears to have acted with consummate prudence, exercising the most vigilant care over those who came to him in deep distress of mind under conviction of sin, giving to them the most judicious instruction in spiritual truth, and keeping a private record of all cases of religious awakening, that he might deal with each according to its own peculiarities, mark the progress of the feelings and the knowledge of the people, and be able to discriminate between what was mere excitement, and what by its fruits proved itself to be true conversion. The subsequent publication of his Narrative gave to the religious community the means of judging as to the nature and extent of the remarkable work of the Holy Spirit in Scotland at that period; and it may be safely said, that the strength of prejudice must be very great in any man who knows what vital religion is, who can peruse that judicious production, without being constrained to glorify God, who had so graciously visited his people.* Yet it is not easy to estimate the force of prejudice. It was to be expected that irreligious men would calumniate and deride the proceedings at Cambuslang and Kilsyth, and that the Moderate ministers, the greater part of whom regarded Christianity as merely an improved system of morality, and whose sermons were generally little more than carefully composed and coldly plausible moral essays, would look upon the whole as the delusion of heated enthusiasts and fanatics; but it could scarcely have been expected that such truly pious men and experienced ministers as were the fathers of the Secession should not merely have viewed these religious revivals with distrust, but should have assailed them with excessive bitterness. They even proceeded to the extreme absurdity of appointing a solemn fast to be held on account "of the awful symptoms of the Lord's anger with this Church and land, in sending them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, particularly when a judicial testimony for the Reformation principles of this Church was emitted, after all other means had proved ineffectual." These good but narrow-minded and prejudiced men seem to have come to the conclusion, that the Church of Scotland was so thoroughly corrupt that it would be derogatory to the character of the Holy God to suppose that he could deign to visit her in mercy, and to revive his own work in a Church so fearfully polluted. Their deplorable conduct at this time ought to be a warning to every Christian Church, and to every body of professing Christians, not to think of themselves more highly than they ought, lest they come to despise those whom God hath not despised.

Many serious Christians, in that eventful time, were led into speculations of a different character,-as to what might be the probable object to be effected by these remarkable manifestations of convincing and converting grace,—whether they might not be preparatory for some great advancement of religion throughout the world, such as sacred prophecy so emphatically foretells. It is at all times hazardous to attempt to

*See Robe's Narrative; and the testimonies of many eminent ministers of the period; also Sir Henry Moncreiff's Life of Erskine, pp. 112-123; Gillies' Collections; and Life of Whitefield.

To their writings on this subject we do not choose to refer more specifically, wishing them rather to sink into oblivion. Dr Erskine's Signs of the Times, &c.

explain the meaning of any peculiar dispensations of providence or grace, in a prospective point of view, and not surprising that men should err when they make the attempt. Nor is it easy to connect peculiar dispensations with subsequent events, so as to perceive what has been produced by them, even at the lapse of a century. Yet one or two remarks may be offered of a historical character, not perhaps unworthy of consideration. It will be remembered, that in different periods of the Church of Scotland's history, God was pleased to send her a time of refreshing from His presence; and that these were invariably before a time of searching trial, as if to give her a principle of sacred life sufficiently strong to survive the period of suffering. Such was the general revival in 1596, immediately before her protracted struggle with Prelacy under James. Such were the revivals of Stewarton, Shotts, and other places, a short while before her second great contest with Prelacy in the time of Charles I., and the wasting persecution of the two following reigns. And though no direct persecution followed the revivals of Cambuslang and Kilsyth, yet the long and dreary domination of Moderatism which immediately followed was more calculated to destroy vital religion in the land than could have been the most relentless persecution; and it seems no very strained conjecture, that these gracious influences were vouchsafed to the Church at that period, to sustain her during her lengthened sojourn in a moral and religious wilderness. Certain it is that the deep and earnest spirit and feeling of vital and personal religion passed not away like a temporary excitement. Not only did many hundreds of the converts of that period continue to exhibit the beauty of holiness throughout the remainder of their lives, proving the reality of the great change which they had experienced, but also the very knowledge that such events had taken place continued to operate, silent and unseen, but with mighty efficacy, in the hearts of thousands, constraining them to believe that there was more in true spiritual Christianity than could be expressed in a cold moral harangue, and rendering them quick to mark and eager to receive instruction of a more evangelical and living character.

And here, also, it may be fittingly stated, that although the First Reformation began, as it necessarily must have done, by the conversion of Romish priests, who thus became reformed ministers, and then taught the people, yet, as the Scottish Reformers gave to the people schools as well as churches, and communicated to them the highest amount of instruction which circumstances would permit, it repeatedly happened in subsequent times, that the people remained sound and faithful in the possession of true religious principles, long after a large proportion of the ministers had fallen into error. This was strikingly the case during the time of the persecution, when so many of the ministers accepted the indulgence, while the people maintained their integrity, although exposed to at least equal perils from the vengeance of prelatic informers and the licentious and cruel soldiery. This was the case after the Revolution, when the tortuous expediencies of worldly policy corrupted the church courts, and a false system of theology became prevalent among the ministers, long before the people were tainted by such low secular views, or imbibed such erroneous doctrinal tenets. And it may be added, that it was for this very purpose that the law of patronage was brought forward by the Jacobites, who saw clearly that its operation would prevent the church courts and the people from acting together; and out of the alienation which it so soon and

so fatally caused, arose in a great measure the baneful policy of the moderate party, who regarded with dislike the warm interest taken by the people in religious matters, and the decided preference which they showed to evangelical doctrine. It was perfectly manifest, that if the popular mind were to be consulted in any other way than as a mere matter of form, few except evangelical ministers would ever obtain admission to the Church; and, as has been already proved, having little knowledge of, and no love for, evangelical doctrine, they had no other way of securing their own admission to the Church as a profession, than by exerting themselves to the utmost in weakening popular influence by the rigid enforcement of patronage. Could they have contrived at once to have reduced the people to such a state of comparative ignorance of sound doctrine as to have felt little interest in one kind of preaching more than in another, there would have been no necessity for such strenuous exertions for the repression of popular rights and popular feeling; but as this could not be accomplished with the intelligent and religious people of Scotland, there was no resource but to reduce the popular consent to a mere empty form, and to crush the popular resistance by the strong arm of an unconstitutional law, surreptitiously thrust into the statute-book by infidels and traitors. Taking all these things into consideration, it will not be denied, that true Christianity, as existing among the orthodox ministers and people of Scotland, was indeed entering into a long and dreary period of trial, and greatly needed an extraordinary infusion of spiritual life, that it might not become utterly extinct before the dawning of a brighter and a happier day.

[1743-49.] It does not appear necessary to occupy space in detailing the proceedings of the Assemblies year by year from this time forward, occupied, as they chiefly were, with discussions arising out of disputed settlements, and terminating generally in the same manner, the opposition of the people being disregarded, and the presentee appointed with or without the assistance of a military force, according to the amount of the opposition which had to be overcome. Some of these cases, however, involved the question respecting the jurisdiction of the civil courts, with regard to the settlement of ministers. In the case of Dunse, for instance, in 1749, one of the applications made to the civil court was, that they would arrest the proceedings of the church court, by forbidding them to moderate a call at large, or settle any other man than the presentee. "This conclusion the Lords would not meddle with, because that was interfering with the power of ordination, or internal policy of the Church, with which the Lords had nothing to do."* Several decisions of a precisely similar character were made by the Court of Session, indicating clearly the opinion of that court, that while it fell within their province to determine whether a settlement should carry with it the civil emoluments attached to the ministerial office, they were not entitled to interfere with the spiritual proceedings of the Church, either in conferring or withholding the ministerial character. Nor is there a single instance on record, till those of recent occurrence, in which the civil courts presumed to interfere with the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Church, to the extent of offering an opinion whether ordination should be given or withheld, even when patrons attempted to induce them to overstep their legitimate boundaries. When the Church ordained

*Brown's Supplement, vol. v. p. 768; Annals of the Assembly, vol. i. p. 147. See also a remarkable paper by Lord Kames in his Law Tracts.

a person who was found not to have a legal claim to the fruits of the benefice, according to the law of patronage, the civil court decided that he could not receive it, but refused to order the Church to annul the pastoral tie of ordination, or to ordain the person to whom the legal presentation had been given. Of this, the case of Lanark is a remarkable instance, in which Dr Dick remained minister of the parish, discharging all the pastoral duties for upwards of four years, while the patron was found to be entitled to retain the stipend.

*

[1750.] In the year 1749, a subject came before the Assembly which seems to have exercised great influence upon its spirit and the whole course of its proceedings for many years. This was an overture respecting the small livings in the Church, many of which were not sufficient to yield a respectable maintenance. It was decided that a committee should be appointed to draw up a report to be laid before next Assembly. The Assembly of 1750 directed Dr Cuming, the moderator, to proceed to London at the head of a deputation, to lay the report before government, and to apply for an augmentation. The nobility, gentry, and landed proprietors in general, took the alarm, and made preparations for the most strenuous opposition, although they were in possession of the teinds, which were always regarded as the patrimony of the Church, and subject to such augmentations from time to time as might be required. One of the methods employed by the heritors to defeat this rightful claim of the Church, was a threat that the law of patronage should be more stringently applied than it had hitherto been, and that presbyteries should not be allowed to evade it, by showing any deference to the people, as they had occasionally done.+ The result was, that the scheme was defeated, and the Moderates were made to feel that the heritors were well contented to make use of them in taking away the rights of the people by the violation of the Revolution Settlement and the Treaty of Union, but were not disposed to refund any portion of their illegal pillage, which they possessed in consequence of that violation. This disappointment seems to have paralyzed the energies of Dr Cuming, who had been the chief leader of the Moderate party for many years, and to have been the cause of a new developement of Moderate policy, which soon afterwards appeared, under the management of an abler and a bolder man.

[1751.] The first appearance of this new aspect of Moderate policy was in the case of Torphichen, which was decided in the year 1751. It had arisen three years before, when, after the death of Mr Bonar, the last of the Marrow-men, a Mr Watson was presented to the parish by the patron, to whose settlement the parishioners could not be persuaded to consent. Twice was the case brought before the Assembly,-in the years 1749 and 1750,-and the presbytery of Linlithgow were each time enjoined to admit Mr Watson. But as the opposition continued, they declined to obey the ungracious injunction. They were rebuked by the Assembly of 1751, and again ordered to proceed; but in case they should still delay, a riding committee” was empowered to effect the settlement, which was done on the 30th of May 1751, by the aid of a military force. This was the last instance of a settlement effected by means of a "riding committee." That device, it will be remembered, had been adopted in order to accomplish the settlement of an unacceptable presentee, without doing violence to the feelings and con

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*Annals of the Assembly, vol. i. pp. 169-180, Ibid. pp. 190-95, 197.

Ibid. pp. 156,181, 198-212; Patronage Report, Appendix.

provided he can secure the fruits of the benefice. Yet such unpresbyterian, unscriptural, unchristian principles, were promulgated by Robertson as the manifesto of the Moderate party, formed the rule of his long and vigorous administration, were lauded and followed by Hill, and have ever been regarded, by subsequent Moderate leaders, as the very standards of their policy, till the present time, when, finding that their own principles would lead to the direct condemnation of some of their own party, they have discovered that supreme ecclesiastical authority resides in the Court of Session, and that they are bound in conscience to render implicit obedience to its dictates in matters of ordination. Even this is natural: men who hold a false principle are inevitably led from bad to worse, far, very far, beyond what they at first would have conceived possible. It may be added, as pointing out the ultimate bearing of these brief remarks, that while the Moderate party would readily depose a minister for mere contumacy, or disobedience to the commands of his superiors, however sinful these commands might be in themselves, although they very generally screened immorality and heresy; the Evangelical or truly constitutional party could not depose except for some deed in itself sinful, either as immoral or heretical. No man who can estimate aright the true nature of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, will hesitate a moment to say which of these two modes of procedure is that which ought to be followed by a true Christian Church.

It is not denied that the constitution of the Presbyterian Church requires the submission of the inferior to the superior courts; for were that not the case, the Church of Scotland must sink into the Independent system; and in some of their arguments the minority of that period were not sufficiently guarded against that extreme. But while sound Presbyterian polity requires this due subordination of courts, it leaves the conscience of individuals free both to protest against, and to abstain from, actively assisting to carry into effect what they think sinful, provided they offer no actual opposition, having always this resource, that it can appoint others to execute its orders when that is still held necessary.

CHAPTER X.

FROM THE PERIOD OF THE SECOND SECESSION TILL THE ASSEMBLY OF 1841.

Struggle against the new Moderate Policy-Defence of Hume and Kames-Assessment for the Poor-Cases of Nigg and JedburghOvertures respecting the Elders-Home and the Theatre-Schools in the Highlands-Simony-The Relief Secession formed-Character of the Moderate Party in Preaching, Discipline, Secularity, &c.-The Schism Overtures-Intrusion Settlement at St Ninians -Increase of the Secession, and the Consequences viewed statis

Ministerial Communion with all other Churches, which completes the Moderate System-Rapid Growth of Evangelism-Contest between Dr Hill and the Edinburgh Doctors-Dr Andrew Thomson-Dr M'Crie-Debates on Pluralities-Dr Chalmers-Decline of Moderatism-Mission to India-Apocrypha Controversy-The Voluntary Controversy-Ascendancy of the Evangelical PartyAdmission of Chapels of Ease-Subsequent Contentions and Struggles-Present Position-Concluding Remarks and Re

flections.

THE decision of the Assembly of 1752, in the case of lowed by the severe and despotic measure of Mr Inverkeithing and the presbytery of Dunfermline, folGillespie's deposition, gave rise to feelings of strong indignation and alarm throughout the kingdom. Å general apprehension prevailed among the friends of religious liberty, that the reign of absolute and spiritual despotism was now indeed begun in Scotland, since the General Assembly had committed a deed distinctly subversive of the first principles of the Presbyterian constitution, which had always hitherto been the very The subject citadel of freedom, civil and religious. was discussed with great anxiety in many of the synods and presbyteries; overtures were framed for the purpose of obtaining a repeal of the Assembly's decision, and the restoration of Mr Gillespie to his charge; and numerous pamphlets were written both against and in defence of the new developement of Moderate ecclesiastical polity. Great exertions were also made by the orthodox party to procure a return to next Assembly of a sufficient number of true Presbyterians to reverse the recent despotic and unconstitutional measure; and not less strenuous were the Moderates on their part to retain their ascendancy and confirm their new position.

But this

[1753.] When the Assembly met in 1753, it speedily appeared that the struggle was to be of a very arduous and doubtful character. A comparative trial of strength arose on the question respecting the election of a legal agent for the Church, and in this Dr Cuming, the recognised Moderate leader, was defeated. defeat seems to have had the effect of leading to a greater degree of union in that party, and a more determined effort to secure their predominance. The case of Mr Gillespie came next under consideration; and the question proposed for the vote was, whether he should be restored to the exercise of his office as a minister of this Church or not. It was decided in the negative by a majority of three. Next day an attempt was made to procure the remission of the subject to the Commission, with power to that court to restore Mr Gillespie, if he should make application; but this also was resisted, and again lost by the narrow majority of three.* A considerable number of ministers and elders dissented from these decisions of the Assembly, and gave in their reasons of dissent, which the ruling party prudently abstained from attempting to answer. By these reasons it was made clearly to appear that the sentence of deposition had been pronounced on account of an alleged offence, against which there existed no law declaring it to deserve deposition; while the whole

Retirement of Principal Robertson from the General AssemblyCauses of his Retirement-Proposal of the Moderates to abolish Subscription to the Confession of Faith-Dr Hill-Proposal to abandon the Moderation of a Call-Dr Cook's Theory of the Settlement of Ministers-Dr Hardy's views concerning PatronageDiscussion on the Subject of Patronage-Opinions of Dr Hill and Dr Cook-Declining State of Religion in Scotland-A Settlement without Subscribing the Confession of Faith-The New-Light Controversy in Ayrshire-Robert Burns the Poet-SocinianismExcitement at the Period of the French Revolution-Revival of a Religious Spirit generally-Christian Missions-Opposed by the Moderate Party-Chapels of Ease-Rowland Hill-Refusal of

beyond censure, so that the sentence of itself was unconstitutional if tested by the laws of the Church, and unchristian by those of the Scriptures.† But the Moderate party had the possession of power, and they could therefore the more easily set aside right and Besides, since the laws of civil disregard reason. society demand complete subordination, therefore, according to the fundamental maxim of the new Moderate dynasty, "ecclesiastical society" must be governed in

*Annals of the Assembly, vol. i. p. 278.

Ibid., vol. ii. p. 21.