ton's remark on due to the party. may be told over again of a failure in our analogy, CHAP. XIV. because the civil courts have, while the ecclesiastical Lord Fullerhave not, the means of enforcement,-the very reason, what is as was beautifully said by my Lord Fullerton, why defenceless the constitutional rights of the church, as being the defenceless party, should be all the more sacredly respected. But, sir, if these be the maxims which are henceforth to prevail-if the weak, because weak, are thus to be overborne,-and every voice of remonstrance from them to be unheard,—if the aphorism of might is right' is now to be acted on by men in authority, there are men not in authority who may learn from their example to act upon it too,-and in whose doings, when only let slip over this our fair and well-ordered territory, that saying of holy writ might find its fearful verification—'If such things be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?' God may please, sir, in the exercise of a wise and holy discipline, thus to afilict our church, and bring it to the trial of her faithfulness,-insomuch, that for not giving the things of God unto Cæsar, for her adherence to this sacred principle, she may be made to suffer that worst of all violence-the violence of iniquity under the forms of law: and this, too, because the force of law is on the side of her adversaries. But, sir, if with this argument of force, now in the The lawless mouths of senators and magistrates, judgment is to learn the begin at the house of God,-when this very argument in the name passes into the mouths of the lawless and disobedient, of the ungodly and sinners, what, I ask, shall the end be? or where shall tyrants and persecutors appear after that their own wicked and worthless argument, may come to lesson thus taught them of the law. CHAP. XIV. taken up by men who have the strength of millions upon their side, is heard in a voice of thunder, or pours itself forth in some wide-spread war of turbulence and disorder, over the face of our commonwealth?" Dr. Gordon seconds the motion. His speech. "I second the motion for the adoption of this overture," said Dr. Gordon, rising when Dr. Chalmers sat down, "with a hope which I am not willing to relinquish, that when our claim of right is brought before an enlightened legislature,-before high-minded and honourable men, they will not refuse, at least, a patient perusal of that claim; and I have the conviction, which I am as little willing to relinquish, that if they do give to it a patient perusal, they will see the justice, and therefore the policy of acceding to it. But, sir, if unhappily it should be otherwise,-if they have resolved on refusing to grant what we think reasonable on our part to ask, I feel for one, that we are bound, as honest men and as christian ministers, with all calmness and with all respect, but with all firmness and determination, to tell them, that we cannot carry on the affairs of Christ's house under the coercion of the civil courts; and, however deeply we may deplore the loss of those advantages which we derive from our connection with the state, if ultimately the legislature determine that they will not listen to our claim, then those advantages we must relinquish, because we could not hold them with a good conscience." The supporters of the overture were curious to know in what way it would be met by its opponents. Would they dispute the facts, or would they justify the facts,-on which the overture proceeded? They nents evade the motion. took a more convenient course, they treated the CHAP. XIV, wounded and bleeding church, as the priest of the The oppo parable treated the man who had fallen among thieves, -they passed by on the other side. Their amendment never looked at the overture, or at the great question which it so solemnly raised. It took the form of a series of resolutions. The first set forth, that "as the act on calls, commonly denominated the veto-act, infringes on civil and patrimonial rights," it should be declared "null and void." The second announced, that while the members of this church were at one in believing that Christ is the Head of the church, that its government has been placed by Him in the hands of church officers, distinct from the civil power, and that the "intrusion of unqualified or unsuitable ministers is decidedly at variance with the principles of the church," yet that in the application of these doctrines there was room for "conscientious diversity of opinion," and that such diversity was no reason "for those who may so differ, separating from each other.” A very good-natured certainly, The third but a somewhat latitudinarian conclusion. The resolu posed as an tions pro amendment. Their singular charac ter. these resolu whole con Church was founded in mistake. CHAP. XIV. "there exists at present great security against the settlement of unqualified and unjustifiable ministers, whilst ample opportunities are afforded to the office-bearers of the church, as members of the different ecclesiastical judicatories, to propose, in a legal and constitutional manner, any measures which may appear to them calculated to increase that security.' In short, According to according to these singular resolutions, the conflict tions, the now going on was a pure mistake,—the adversaries of fit of the church, against whose encroachments and usurpations she had been contending for years, were as much the creatures of imagination as the giants of Don Quixote, the court of session was as harmless as the windmill, whose flappers never moved an inch beyond their legitimate round, and which unhorsed the unhappy knight of la Mancha in spite of themselves, and only because he wilfully rode up against them, and as for the Strathbogie ministers, they were as innocent as the poor sheep which fled from the thunders of Rosinante's tread! But was it really so? Was it a delusion that a presbytery had been dragged to the bar of a civil tribunal, and its members threatened with a jail for laying their hands on a licentiate of the church and ordaining him to the office The Church's of the holy ministry? Was it the fancy of a fevered brain that the court of session had prohibited the preaching of the gospel, even in the open fields? Were the shameful scenes of Marnoch and Culsalmond nothing but the nightmare phantoms of a dream? Were Lords Brougham and Cottenham mere scarecrows, dressed up in full-bottomed wigs, to frighten childish non-intrusionists? Had many of dream. faith com the first intellects of the age been struggling, as in a CHAP. XIV. matter of life and death, to break imaginary fetters, and to gain liberties which they already enjoyed? It a great act of is hard to believe all these things, but no doubt the passed by framer and supporters of those four famous resolutions must have found out a way to compass this great act of faith. the framer and sup porters of these resolu tions." speech. The adoption of the resolution was moved by Dr. Cook. After going over the old ground of the vetolaw, and expatiating with considerable warmth on the evils of agitation and strife, he came at length to the important question of the doctrine of Christ's Headship, touched in his second resolution. "What I Dr. Cook's maintain then is," he observed, "that when the general doctrine that Christ is the Head of the church is conscientiously held, there is nothing wrong in believing that there may be ground for diversity of sentiment as to what is comprehended under that Headship in all cases, or particularly where there are not express and unambiguous declarations of scripture upon the matter: and consequently that the members. of a church may remain in the same communion, although they are not agreed under the view of the matter which I have taken as to the extent of the Headship, or as to what must be embodied in it. Holding the Head as we all do, it is quite natural and right that the members of a church should, by constitutional means, or by the influence of representation and argument, endeavour that their own notions upon this subject may be embraced by the whole church: but this is merely what takes place as to all points as to which men differ,--and differ without once imagin |