LIBRARY OF PRlNOElON 
 
 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 BX9075.A^ A615 1840 
 Annals of the Gener^i Aq<;p>.)RL 
 THE Church of Scotland rFRoM 
 OF the Relief in 1752 tq jme 
 
ANNALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 / 
 CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE RELIEF IN 1752, 
 
 TO THE 
 
 REJECTION OF THE OVERTURE ON SCHISM IN 1766 
 WITH AN APPENDIX 
 
 OF 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, ILLUSTRATIVE DOCT'MENTS, 
 AJSD >"OTES. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE. 
 
f nntcd by John Joiinstonc, lli<;li Stret t, Kdirht: 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The present volume of the Annals embraces, like the for- 
 mer, a period of fourteen years; A-iz., from the year 1752, 
 the date of Mr Gillespie's deposition, to the year 176*6, 
 when another conflict ensued between the two parties into 
 which the Church was divided, regarding an overture pre- 
 pared by a Committee of the previous Assembly anent the 
 causes of the " schism " which had been produced bv the 
 Secession and Relief — a schism which was described as " so 
 very remarkable, and which seemed to be on the growing 
 hand" 
 
 That Committee had reported, that " the abuse of Patron- 
 age had been one chief occasion of the progress of Seces- 
 sion," and they overtured "that the Assembly would be 
 pleased to consider what methods might be employed to 
 remedy so great an evil;" and submitted, "whether it 
 might not be expedient for this purpose to appoint a com- 
 mittee to correspond with presbyteries and gentlemen of 
 property and influence, and to report." 
 
 This overture, after a long and stormy discussion, was re- 
 jected, but only by a majority of 99 to 85 ; and the fact of 
 such a proposal having emanated from a Committee of one 
 Assembly, and been lost by so small a majority of the next, 
 shows, in connection with other circumstances, that a cer- 
 tain temporary reaction had taken place in favour of what 
 were called popular principles, and seems, therefore, to 
 mark out the year with which the volume closes, as another 
 remarkable epoch in the Church's history. 
 
 It is true, that in giving eff'ect to the law of Patronage, 
 the practice of the Assembly continued to be in accordance 
 with the precedent set in the memorable case of Inverkeith- 
 ing, in 1752. Disputed settlements, though less frequent 
 
IT PREPACTE. 
 
 than in the former period, occurred from year to year. 
 Sometimes the differences were adjusted by an amicable 
 arrangement among the parties. Thus, in the vacancy at 
 Biggar, Mr Haig, the unpopular presentee, agreed, after a 
 tedious litigation, to exchange situations with Mr Johnston, 
 chaplain of Edinburgh Castle, who was known to be ac- 
 ceptable to the parishioners. In the case of Jedburgh, the 
 person first presented was Mr John Bonar, then minister of 
 Cockpen, and afterwards at Perth, the grandson of Bonar of 
 Torphichen, one of the " twelve Marrow-men ; " but the 
 people of Jedburgh being determined to " stand or fall to- 
 gether " in favoui- of Boston of Oxnam, a son of Boston of 
 Etterick, Mr Bonar declined " to face so numerous an op- 
 position." The Assembly found " that both the presentation 
 and concurrence ought to be sustained, but that it was inex- 
 pedient to prosecute the same," reserving, however, to the 
 crown as patron, the right to present anew any qualified 
 person within six months, in terms of a requisition made 
 by the Lord Advocate to that effect.* A similar compro- 
 mise was entered into the following year, in the case of 
 Abbotshall.t But, on the other hand, in every case upon 
 record in which the patron or presentee urged the matter to 
 a decision, the Assembly uniformly determined it in their 
 favour. 
 
 Yet while the disposal of individual cases proceeded ac- 
 cording to one invariable rule, there arose, as we have seen, 
 towards the close of this period, a fresb movement towards 
 some modification of the law of Patronage ; and it seems to 
 have been encouraged by not a few of those who had here- 
 tofore been reckoned abettors of moderate principles. The 
 principal cause of this is doubtless to be sought for in the 
 alarm occasioned in the minds of many, by the rapid and 
 extensive progress of dissent, or rather separation. The 
 Seceders had split into two bodies — Burghers;|: and Anti- 
 
 * See p. 84. f See p. 134. 
 
 % The former held the lawfulness of the Burgess Oath, the lat- 
 ter denied it. The subdivision of these two bodies inio four, oc- 
 casioned by a difference of opinion as to the power of the civil 
 inaj^istrate in rehf^ious matters, took place at a subsequent 
 period. They then branched out into the Old Light Bur/^hers, 
 the Old Light Antiburghei'S (both adhering to the ancient prin- 
 ciple) ; the New Light Burghers, and the Nfw Light Antibur- 
 ghers, between whom, however, a union has since been effected,. 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 burghers ; but this division, if it was for a time a source of 
 internal weakness to themselves, proved ultimately more in- 
 jurious to the National Church than their continuance in 
 one body would have been, inasmuch as every new con- 
 gregation, however small, formed the nucleus of a new 
 "interest," which could only be maintained by enlisting 
 supporters from the ranks of the Establishment. In the 
 year 1761, moreover, another denomination was originated 
 under the name of "The Relief* — for the re^iV/ of Chris- 
 tians oppressed in their Christian privileges." It was com- 
 posed of the adherents of Messrs Gillespie, Boston, &:c., 
 and was joined by Mr Baine of Paisley, Mr Cruden of 
 Logie-Pert, and other ministers, who resigned their li\4ngs in 
 the Church, solely on the ground of the rigorous application 
 of the law of patronage. These were circumstances which 
 naturally excited attention and concern among men of all 
 parties ; and accordingly, we find that the main ground 
 upon which the overture anent schism was made to rest, was 
 the admitted fact, that by the year 176*5, there were in Scot- 
 land no fewer than 120 meeting-houses, attended by more 
 than 100,000 individuals, t 
 
 But besides the apprehensions created by the increase of 
 separation, " as having so threatening an aspect to the 
 Church, the interests of religion, and the peace of the coun- 
 
 with the exception of a few of the last mentioned body, who 
 after forming for some years a ffth section, ultimately connect- 
 ed themselves with the Old Light Antiburghers. A portion of 
 the Old Light Burghers has lately rejoined the Established 
 Church. 
 
 * The more immediate cause of the formation of the Relief 
 Presbytery, was the transportation of Dr Chalmers from Elie to 
 Kilcouquhar, as described in the present volume (p. 201), where 
 the reader will find the speech of Witherspoon. In consequence 
 of this violent settlement, Messrs Gillespie and Boston met at 
 Colinsburgh, a village in the parish of Kilconqiihar, in October 
 1761 ; and after admitting a Mr Colly er (who had been a Dis- 
 senting minister at Ravenstone, in Northumberland), as pastor 
 of a congregation there, proceeded to form, along with him, " the 
 Presbytery of Relief." 
 
 t Adam Gib, the leader of the Antlhurgliers, maintained that 
 the latter number was greatly overrated ; but there was no dis- 
 pute as to the number of meeting-houses. The population of 
 Scotland in 1755, according to the census of Dr Webster, was 
 1,265,380. 
 
 A 2 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 try" — there was a charn;e brouojlit against the dominant 
 party, which seems to have had considerable eiFect in dimi- 
 nishing for a time their influence, or at least, in reviving 
 more powerfully and extensively the dormant opposition of 
 their antagonists. Their leaders were accused of " eliding 
 processes against scandalous ministers," and of systematically 
 combining to screen from censure all clerical delinquents. 
 The author of " Letters concerning the Church of Scot- 
 land" which appeared in 1767, asserts it as a well-known 
 fact, that " comparatively little dissatisfaction was expressed 
 with him who took the lead in ecclesiastical affairs (Princi- 
 pal Robertson), till he and his friends gave their counte- 
 nance and aid to clergymen whose lives were notoriously 
 scandalous ; * and that this, coupled with the arbitrary 
 execution of the patron's right, had stirred up a body of 
 ministers and lay-elders to attempt a change of measures, 
 from a real concern for the interests of religion." 
 
 In the year 1 76*5, an additional impulse was given to the 
 movement within the Church in favour of popular rights, 
 by the accession to office of the Rockingham administration, 
 
 * As a faithful chronicler, I simply record the accusation, 
 leaving it to the reader to form his own judgment of its truth, 
 from the materials collected in the present volume. The char- 
 acter of a party is not to be estimated by the opinions either of 
 friends or foes. In a recent number of the Foreign Quarterly 
 lieview, an anonymous critic, after extolling the " Characteris- 
 tics " of Witherspoon as " one of the finest pieces of Christian 
 satire that ever was written," goes on to say, " It were an in- 
 teresting problem to inquire how far the Moderation of the Church 
 of Scotland, whose palmy days are now gone, was not a source 
 of concealed rationalism, only prevented from breaking out into 
 manifestation by the natural conservatism of the British charac- 
 ter, and the salutary terror of the French Revolution." — {Foreign 
 (Quarterly Review, July 1838, p. 254, tiote.^ A candid moderate man 
 of the present day will admit that there is some shadow of truth 
 in this representation ; a candid ])0])ular man will acknowledge 
 that it is truth greatly exaggerated. There may have been 
 much heterodoxy avowed, and more concealed ; but that any 
 form of infidelity ever prevailed extensively among the clergy of 
 .Scotland, is an assertion more easily made than substantiated. 
 The policy pursued by one party may be suspected of a tendency 
 to latitudinarianism and indiiference, and that of the other party, 
 of a tendency to enthusiasm and intolerance ; yet it does not 
 thence follow, that the one is composed of sceptics and the other 
 of fanatics. 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 — " The Friends of the People." In the disposal of crown 
 patronage, the Duke of Grafton (who succeeded the Earl of 
 Halifax as Secretary for the Northern Department) pro- 
 fessed to consult the wishes of the parishioners ; and there 
 can be no doubt that this circumstance exercised no small 
 influence on the deliberations of Church Courts. Even the 
 Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, where moderation had al- 
 ways predominated, in addressing the king at their meeting 
 in November 1?6.>, on the death of the IKike of Cumber- 
 land, and the birth of Prince William Henry (afterwards 
 King William IV.), introduced a clause, "expressing their 
 sense of the happiness they enjoy under his Majesty's mild 
 and gentle exercise of the hard law of Patronage, exempli- 
 fied in two late cases in the neighbourhood, viz., those of 
 West Kirk and South Leith." And the Presbytery of Edin- 
 burgh, at their meeting towards the end of the same month, 
 " ordered a letter to be written to the Duke of Grafton, to 
 return their hearty thanks to his Grace for his favourable 
 attention to the applications that were made by the gentle- 
 men of the landed interest, and others principally concerned, 
 for the supply of the vacant charges in the two populous 
 parishes of West Kirk and South Leith." That Principal 
 Robertson felt the policy of the new administration to be 
 hostile to the views of his party, is evident from the com- 
 plaint he made in the course of the debate on the overture 
 on scliism. " I see many gentlemen here, Moderator, who 
 have always uniformly differed from me as to the expedient 
 cy of public measures ; these I regard and esteem as honest 
 men, because they are consistent. But when I see men at 
 one time promoting one set of measures, and at another 
 espousing the opposite, perhaps as one ministrij or another 
 prevails at Court, I most heartily despise such dishonour- 
 able truckling." 
 
 In contrast, however, with this charge of political subser- 
 viency, instances are not Avanting, during the period em- 
 braced by this volume, of the Church venturing to assume, 
 in her intercourse with the Government of the day, a bold 
 and independent bearing, the very opposite of sycophantic 
 obsequiousness. Thus, during the Seven Years' war, when 
 the country had sustamed various reverses (before the reins 
 of government were intrusted to the vigorous hand of the 
 elder Pitt), the Commission of Assembly which met in 
 November 1756, addressed the king "on the well-known 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 losses and disgraces suffered bj the British, nation — cala- 
 mities which (said the address) do not seem to have been 
 brought upon this land hij any signal efforts of the wisdom 
 cr courage of our enemies." Again, in the year 1760, 
 when the Government, being afraid to put arms into the 
 hands of the Jacobites, caused the Scots Militia Bill to be 
 defeated, an extraordinary ferment was excited throughout 
 Scotland, and the General Assembly made a pointed allu- 
 sion to the circumstance in their address to the throne, 
 complaining " that the inhabitants of this part of the island 
 were unable to exert themselves, in repelling the king's ene- 
 mies, wdth such vigour as their principles of religion and 
 loyalty would naturally have inspired." Both this and the 
 other address were excluded from the columns of the Lon- 
 don Gazette^ which was no doubt intended as an intima- 
 tion that they had not been received " very graciously." * 
 
 If the Appendix to the present volume is less bulky than 
 that of the one which preceded it, it is because it was deem- 
 ed advisable to incorporate various documents into the body 
 of the work, where they will be found in their appropriate 
 places, as indicated in the annexed table of contents. 
 
 N. M. 
 Greekock, March 1840. 
 
 * The teuor of the king's letter and the Assembly's answer, 
 of the Commissioner's speech and the Moderator's reply, &c., is 
 so uniform, that they have generally been omitted, along with 
 other matters of routine. But in the account of the Assembly 
 1761 (the first held after the accession of George III.), all these 
 documents are given at length. The closing addresses of the 
 Moderators will be found in the Appendix. 
 
PRIITC 
 I uECJUN lbb» 
 
 CONTENTa 
 
 rag*?. 
 
 Synodical Overtures 1753, . . I 
 Reasons of Dissent from an Overture of the Synod of Lothian 
 
 and Tvveeddale, ... 4 
 
 Assembly 1753, ... 9 
 
 Reasons of Dissent, relative to the Election of an Agent, 10 
 
 Answers to the Reasons, . . 14 
 
 Reasons of Dissent, relative to the Sentence on Mr Gillespie, 21 
 
 June Commission 1753, . . 29 
 
 November Commission do., . . 30 
 
 AVarning against Profaneness and Sabbath Profanation, 33 
 
 Reasons of Complaint in the case of Biggar, . 33 
 
 Assembly 1754, ... 41 
 
 Strictures on the Election of an Agent, , 42 
 Synodical Overtures, . . .50 
 
 Assembly 1755, ... 54 
 Complaint against the Writings of Sopho (Lord Karnes) and 
 
 David Hume, . . .55 
 
 Defence of them by Blair, . . 59 
 
 Charitable Scheme for the Germans in Pennsylvania, 69 
 
 Assembly 1756, . . . 71 
 
 Act for a Fast, . . 71 
 
 Collection for the Education of Highland Students, SI 
 
 Debate in the Committee of Overtures on the Writings of 
 
 David Hume, . . .80 
 
 Anderson's Complaint to the Presbytery of Edinburgh, against 
 
 the Printers and Publishers of Lord Karnes' Essays, 92 
 
 Extracts from their Answers to the Complaint, . 93 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Decision of the Presbytery, . ; 97 
 
 November Commission 1756, . . 98 
 
 Assembly 1757, . . . 101 
 
 Reasons of Dissent respecting certain Elders' Commissions, 103 
 
 Case of Ministers attending the Theatre, . 112 
 Admonition of the Presbytery of Edinburgh against the Stage, 112 
 
 Case of White of Liberton, . . 115 
 
 Circular Letter of the Presbytery of Edinburgh, . 116 
 
 Case of Homej the author of Douglas, . 117 
 
 Steel of Stair, . • 118 
 
 Scot of Westruther, Cupples of Svvinton, Home of 
 
 Polwarch, and Dysart of Eccles, . 119 
 
 Answer from the Dunse Presbytery to that of Edinburgh, 119 
 
 Case of Carlyle of Inveresk, . . 122 
 Declaration of the Presbytery of Glasgow against the Theatre, 130 
 
 May Commission 1757, . » 149 
 
 November Commission do., . . 149 
 
 Assembly 1758, . . . 152 
 
 Demission of Boston of Oxnam, . . 157 
 
 June Commission, . . 169 
 
 Norember Commission, . . 170 
 Act for a Thanksgiving, . .170 
 
 Assembly 1759, . . . 171 
 
 Assembly 1760, . . . 184 
 
 Representation from Glasgow against Sunday Posts, 185 
 
 Address to the King on the Success of his Arms, 189 
 
 Case arising out of the New Style, , 193 
 
 Royal P)Ounty — Proposal for New Erections, . 197 
 
 Witherspoon's Speech in the Kilconquhar Case, . 201 
 
 November Commission 1760, . . 209 
 
 Accession of George III., " . . 209 
 
 Report of the Deputation to London, . 211 
 
 Address to the King, . . 213 
 
 Princess-Dowager of Wales, . '215 
 
 Assembly 1761, . . . 215 
 
 Documents in the Meldrum Case, . 218 
 
 /rhe King's Letter, . . 224 
 
 Commissioner's Speech, . . 226 
 
 Moderator's Reply, . . • 227 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 Pagp. 
 
 Answer to the King's Letter, . . 229 
 
 Address on the King's Accession, , 231 
 
 Moderator's Concluding Address, . 244 
 
 Address to the Commissioner, . 248 
 
 Assembly 1762, . . . 249 
 Moderator's Address to the Commissioner, respecting the State 
 
 of the Highlands, . . 252 
 
 Assembly 1763, . . . 263 
 
 Assembly 1764, . . . 267 
 Addresses from the Merchant Company and General Sessions 
 
 to the Council of Edinburgh, . 286 
 
 June Commission 1764, , . 292 
 
 Assembly 1765, . . , 295 
 
 Report of the Committee regarding the Highlands, 29(j 
 
 Address to the King, in reference to the Highlands, 297 
 
 Committee on Schism, . ^ 3jj 
 Assembly 1766 
 Extracts from Baine's History of the Assembly 1766, 
 
 Forms of Commissions, 
 
 August Commission, do., 
 November Commission, do. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 311 
 
 315 
 
 from a Reply to Mr Baine, . 32^ 
 
 Debate on the Schism Overture, . ^ 32q 
 
 354 
 
 June Commission 1766, . - «^, 
 
 369 
 370 
 
 I. Notices of the Lords High Commissioners, 
 
 1. Earl of Leven and Melville, 
 
 2. Earl of Hopetcun, '. ' ^ ^..^ 
 
 3. Lord Cathcart, . „,^ 
 
 4. Earl of Glasgow, 
 
 II. Leets for the Moderatorsbip, 
 III. Notices of the Moderators, with their Addresses. 
 
 1. Dr Webster, Edinburgh, ' 3,- 
 
 2. Professor Robert Hamilton, Edinburgh, 386 399 
 
 3. Mr George Reid, St Quivcx, . ' ^^.^ 
 
 370 
 
 373 
 374 
 374 
 
Ill CONTENTS. 
 
 Pa-c. 
 
 4. Professor Cuming, Edinburgh, . 391 
 
 5. Professor Leechman, Glasgow, . 392 
 
 6. Mr Thomas Turnbull, Borthwick, . 395 
 
 7. Dr George Kay, Edinburgh, . 396 
 
 8. Dr John Hyndman, Edinburgh, . 402 
 
 9. Dr Robert Traill, Glasgow, . 402 
 
 10. Dr Alexander Gerard, Aberdeen, . 405 
 
 11. Dr James Oswald,* Methven, . 410 
 
 12. Dr John Hamilton, Glasgow, . 414 
 IV. List of Ministers who preached before the Higli Commis- 
 sioner, . . .414 
 
 V. List of Ministers who preached before the Society for 
 
 Propagating Christian Knowledge, . 416 
 
 INDICES. 
 
 I. Index of Persons, . . 417 
 
 XL Places, . . 419 
 
 III. General Index of Matters, . . 421 
 
 * Dr Oswald resigned his charge in 1783, and died at Scotstown, 
 August 2, 1793. 
 
ANNALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GENEEAL ASSEMBLY. 
 
 1753. 
 
 The decision of the Assembly, 1752, in the case of Inver- 
 keithing, gave rise to much excitement and discussion 
 throughout the Church, as is evident from the opposing 
 overtures, in reference to it, that were transmitted to next 
 Assembly. The large and important S}Tiods of Glasgow 
 and Ayr, in the west, and of Lothian and Tweeddale, in the 
 east, were, upon this question, (as upon many similar points 
 of Church polity,) found ranged on different sides. 
 
 The Synod of Glasgow and Ayr met at Glasgow, April 
 10, (]To3.) Next day, after long reasoning, they agreed 
 to transmit the following overtures to the ensuing General 
 Assembly. 1 . " That the authority of the Church shall not 
 be interposed to oblige ministers, under pain of deposition, 
 to have an active hand in caiTpng into execution, such 
 settlements as they shall declare, by their votes or other- 
 wise, appear to them to be contrary to the Word of God, 
 the present standing rules of this Church, and her constantly 
 avowed principles, particularly contained in the Act of As- 
 sembly, 1638, sess. 23 and 24, art. 20, and in the repre- 
 sentation made by the Commission of the Assembly, 1711, 
 approven, and verbatim inserted in the Records of the As- 
 sembly, 1712, act 18, and in act 14, Ass. 1736, at least, 
 until these laws be repealed in a regular manner, with the 
 consent of the majority of Presbyteries. 2. That no minis- 
 ter shall be deposed, without a libel first given him. making 
 special condescension on the rules transgressed by the facts 
 
2 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 libelled ; and these such rules, the transgression of which is 
 already declared to infer deposition ; and that in case of 
 such a libel, the accused have sufficient time allowed them, 
 ten free days at least, to make their defences, except in 
 cases refeiTcd to in the form of process. 3. That the As- 
 sembly would be pleased to take off the censures from Mr 
 Gillespie, and the other brethren of the Presbytery of Dun- 
 fermline, upon a proper application from themselves, and in 
 a manner that may be consistent with the authority and 
 honour of the Church ; hoping this may contribute much 
 to the maintaining the peace of the Church. 4. That the 
 7 th Act of the last Assembly '"' be declared null and void, 
 being made contrary to the fundamental rules of oui* con- 
 stitution, and opening a door for more acts of the same 
 kind ; and that the Assembly may endeavour to fall upon 
 some other expedient to procure retm-ns from Presbyteries, to 
 the overtures transmitted to them." — The two first overtures 
 the Synod proposed should be transmitted by the Assembly 
 to the several Presbyteries, for their opinion of them, f 
 
 On the 12th, the following paper was given in to the 
 Synod, viz., — " Whereas several irregular and disorderly 
 practices have prevailed in this Church, since the meeting 
 of the last General Assembly, occasioned, as 'tis apprehend- 
 ed, by the decisions of that court on the settlement of In- 
 verkeithing ; which practices, if not duly checked, may 
 prove hurtful to the order and peace of the Church. — ]\Iay 
 it therefore please the S\Tiod to resolve, — 1. That Avhatever 
 difference of opinion shall arise concerning the fitness and 
 
 * It related to overtures sent down to Presbyteries. See the 
 former volume, p. 2S1. 
 
 f This Synod, at their meeting in October of this year, trans- 
 mitted the following overture to the then ensuing Assembly : — 
 
 " As from some late decisions of the General Assembly, and the 
 open reasonings of many in that court, there is ground to suspect, 
 that it is the supposition of not a few members of this Church, 
 that ministers, by their general promise of submission to judicatures 
 at their ordination, are bound to give active obedience to every 
 sentence of the annual Assemblies in their judicative capacity ; the 
 Synod humbly propose, that the Assembly should transmit to Pres- 
 byteries, an overture upon this subject, that the sense of the Church 
 may be had, as to the meaning and extent of these our engage- 
 ments." Wither spoon s satire on the Moderate party, entitled 
 " Ecclesiastical Characteristics^"" had appeared at Glasgow the pre- 
 vious month. 
 
1753.]] SYNODICAL OVERTURES. 3 
 
 expediency of any decisions of Assembly, -svith relation to 
 private causes, or processes which come regularly under 
 their deliberation, that ministers entering themselves into 
 associations^ and holding public conventions, in order to state 
 or strengthen an opposition to such decisions, is not a regu- 
 lar or becoming method for redressing any inconveniences 
 which may be fancied to arise from them ; but such measures 
 have a tendency to alarm and infuse unwan-antable jealousies 
 into the minds of the people, — to promote a spirit of faction 
 amongst ministers, — and to weaken the respect which is due 
 to the authority of the supreme judicature. 2. That mi- 
 nisters introducing into the public prayers and religions 
 service of God's people, matters of doubtful disputation, 
 particularly which relate to such determinations of Assem- 
 bly as are above mentioned, is a manifest prostitution of di- 
 vine worship, and ought to be carefully avoided by the 
 ministers of this Church. 3. That as diversity of opinions 
 in all matters of that nature, ought ever to be accompanied 
 with a Christian temper and brotherly aifection, ministers, 
 who, either in their public discourses, or by their writings 
 or private conversation, shall at any time so conduct them- 
 selves, as may have a tendency to weaken the influence, or 
 detract from the credit of their brethren who differ from 
 them, ai-e highly blame-worthy on that account, and act a 
 part very unbecoming the ministers of Christ. 4. That alt 
 artifices and endeavours to model General Assemblies^ in 
 a subserviency to any private views or purposes, which may 
 be intended to be promoted by them, are manifest encroach- 
 ments upon the fi-eedom of elections to Assembly, and ought 
 to be discouraged by all who have a just regard for the wel- 
 fare and peace of the Church." 
 
 Very warm debates ensued on these overtures, which 
 issued in sul^stituting, in place of the resolutions proposed, 
 the following recommendation : — " The Synod considering 
 that some differences of sentiments amongst the ministers 
 of this Synod, has appeared of late, arising from some pro- 
 ceedings of the last Assembly, concerning the propriety or 
 expediency of some measures for maintaining and preserv- 
 ing the authority and peace of this Church, Avliich has made 
 some noise, and yet may produce some unhappy disputes, 
 earnestly recommend to all their brethren, that in this mat- 
 ter they carefully maintain a spirit of meekness, and of ten- 
 der mutual forbearance, judging charitably of one another ; 
 
4 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [l?53. 
 
 that they follow the light and du-ection of their consciences, 
 after the best information they can receive ; and that in 
 their conduct, writings, or sacred ministrations, they care- 
 fully abstain from reproaching one another, and taking any 
 measures which have an evident tendency to lessen the re- 
 gard which is justly due to the authority of this Chm-ch, to 
 hurt the character of then- brethren, or to mar and obstruct 
 the success of the Gospel in their hands/' 
 
 On the other hand, the Synod of Lotliian and Tweeddale 
 passed the following overtm-e. May 1 0. — " Whereas the Synod 
 of Glasgow and Ayi' have sent up, by their coiTespondent, to 
 this Synod, certain overtm-es or instructions to the next Ge- 
 neral Assembly, desiring the concuiTcnce and approbation of 
 the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale ; one of which is of such 
 a nature, that it seems to limit and prescribe to the General 
 Assembly, in matters of judgment ; and others seem to re- 
 flect upon the conduct of the last Assembly ; and, in our 
 opinion, have a tendency to weaken the authority, and sub- 
 vert the good order and government of this Church ; and 
 whereas we are certainly informed, that other Synods have 
 also framed instructions and overtm-es of the same nature 
 and tendency ; therefore, the Synod do hmnbly represent to 
 the Venerable Assembly, that, instead of gi'vang any coun- 
 tenance to, they should take the most effectual methods to 
 discourage all such overtures or instructions fi'om inferior 
 judicatures, as appear designed to prelimit the Assembly, 
 and restrain their freedom in matters of judgment ; and they 
 humbly move. That, in the present circumstances, the Ve- 
 nerable Assembly should strictly attend to, and steadily 
 pursue such measures, as to their wisdom shall appear ne- 
 cessary, for supporting the constitution, and maintaining 
 tlie honour and authority of this Church." 
 
 From this overtm-e a dissent was entered by four mem- 
 bers, for the following reasons : — 
 
 " Reasons of Dissent from the judgment of the Sijnod of 
 Lothian and Tweeddale^ relating to the overture for 
 supporting the authority of the Church. 
 
 [To the printed Beasons is prefixed an advertisement, bearing, 
 That Mr Adams of Falkirk having entered the dissent, Messrs 
 George Wishart, and Alexander Webster, of Edinburgh, and George 
 Lindsay, of North Leith, adhered ; but that the reasons had been 
 
IT.5'3.] SYNODICAL OVERTURES. 5 
 
 drawn up hastily, and could not, in the hurry of public business, 
 have the advantage of being reviewed by Messrs Wishart and Web- 
 ster, who, therefore, though joining in the dissent, could not yet be 
 constructed concurrers in the reasons.^ 
 
 "• I. Because the narrative carries in it a condemnatory 
 Judgment of the resolutions of neighbouring S}mods, which, 
 were it just, we humbly conceive is extraordinary and un- 
 precedented, and, indeed, quite contrary to the spirit of our 
 constitution, which, as it requires correspondence betwixt 
 neighbouring Synods, and, at the same time, admits of no 
 l)retence of jm-isdiction, in one Synod over another ; in all 
 such cases as this before us, there seems to be no more com- 
 petent to Synods, nor suitable to the mutual respect, and 
 decency of behaviour, that ought to be observed betwixt co- 
 ordinate com'ts, than, in the com'se of their correspondence, 
 to impart to each other such subjects of their deliberations 
 and resolutions as are of general concern ; that so Spiods 
 to whom such communications are made, may take the same 
 matters under their own deliberation, or not, as they see 
 cause, without being obliged to give any reason of their re- 
 solutions in relation thereto. 
 
 '' II. Because this same judgment, condemnatory itself, 
 were the thing competent and suitable, which, for the fore- 
 mentioned reason, we humbly conceive it is not, appears to 
 us, in the present case, to be without all foundation, as the 
 grounds are laid in the overture. For, 
 
 " 1. The application relating to Mr Gillespie, and our 
 other brethren of the PresTiytery of Dunfermline, pointed 
 at, as tending to prelimit the judgment of the Assembly, 
 is conceived in these terms : — ' That the Assembly would 
 be pleased to take off the censure from Mr Gillespie, and 
 the other brethren of the Presbytery of Dunfennline, upon 
 a proper application from themselves, and in a manner that 
 may be consistent with the authority and honour of the 
 Church ; ' which, therefore, could not possibly be rejected, 
 and a contrary course followed, upon any other supposition, 
 but that, in the eye of the approvers of this overture, the 
 crime is in its own nature unpardonable. 
 
 " 2. It cannot be reckoned an unsuitable reflection upon 
 the authority of any court which does not claim infallibility, 
 to represent, that some of their decisions, respecting our 
 public and common interests, appear, to a great body of the 
 Church, to be of the most dangerous tendencv, and, in the 
 
 A 2 
 
6 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 manner of procedm-e, contrary to, and inconsistent with, 
 our legal constitution, and established form of process, and, 
 therefore, huml>ly to suggest to the consideration of the su- 
 preme court, what may seem necessary or useful, either in 
 the way of explaining standing laws, so as their import may 
 he better understood, or enacting new laws, if the General 
 Assembly shall judge it proper. 
 
 " 3. Representations from Synods and Presbyteries, in 
 favour of the mild exercise of power, is, in our humble opi- 
 nion, so far from tending to weaken the authority and go- 
 vernment of the Church, as the overture insinuates, that, on 
 the contrary, mild and gentle measures have the most evi- 
 dent tendency to strengthen our constitution, and procure 
 respect to the decisions of the supreme couTt, not from our- 
 selves only, but from the great body of the Church, whose 
 edification is the very thing that gives Church authority all 
 its weight and value. 
 
 " III. Because the overtm-es from other Synods, con- 
 demned by this overtm-e of the S^mod of Lothian and 
 Tweeddale, seem calculated to represent to the General As- 
 sembly, the necessity and fitness of showing some regard to 
 the case of their brethren, who have not freedom to execute 
 violent settlements, and to the peace and harmony of the 
 Church in connection therewith, so far, at least, as not to 
 deprive them of the privileges of our civil establishment, in a 
 summary way, by mere arbitrary will, without a regular pro- 
 cess, and a solemn trial, upon standing laws, concluding the 
 pains inflicted, which we take to be the undoubted privilege 
 of British subjects, in all cases which affect their freehold, 
 and must be applied to the case in question, unless it shall be 
 said, that our civil government is legal, and our ecclesiasti- 
 cal government arbitrary, which we are willing to hope is 
 not the scheme of authority and government which the Rev. 
 Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale would recommend to be 
 strictly attended to, and steadily pursued by the Venerable 
 Assembly. This view of the matter, we will at least be al- 
 lowed to say, is not wholly to be overlooked, while support- 
 ing the authority of the last Assembly seems to be the sole 
 point in view, in the overture from which we have found 
 ourselves obliged to dissent. And though in this we differ 
 from the sentiments of our Rev. fathers and brethren, who 
 approved the overture, we have the pleasure to think, that 
 we have most respectful countenance from the measures of 
 
1753.] SYNODICAL OVERTURES. 7 
 
 some of the wisest and best of our predecessors, whose pubHc 
 conduct in Hke cases we judge more worthy of praise and imi- 
 tation, than of the censure which this overture casts upon it. 
 
 "• IV. Because overtures and representations, from Sy- 
 nods and Presbyteries, to the General Assembly, concerning 
 the sul)jects and occasions of new laws, are so far from de- 
 serving a general check and discouragement, as the Synod 
 of Lothian and Tweeddale's overture proposes, that nothing 
 can be more agi'eeable to the nature of our constitution, 
 ^vhich requires the approbation of the majority of Presl)y- 
 teries before any new law can be enacted. Nothing surely 
 is more the privilege, or more the practice of the subjects 
 of a free government, nor can any thing be more becoming 
 the regard due to lawful authority, than to offer petitions 
 and representations to the supreme courts of judicature, in- 
 trusted with our most, valuable rights and privileges, when 
 there appears great and necessary occasion for it. And we 
 have the pleasure to observe, that these sentiments, so na- 
 tural to the breasts of free subjects, must always prevail 
 over particular prejudices; when, even the Rev. Synod, 
 forgetting their ovna. introduction, — ' The Synod do humbly 
 represent to the Venerable Assembly, that, instead of giving 
 any countenance to, they should take the most effectual 
 methods to discom-age, all such overtures or instructions 
 from inferior judicatures, as appear designed to prelimit the 
 Assembly, and restrain their freedom in matters of judg- 
 ment,' — do with the same breath humbly move, — ' That, 
 in the present circumstances, the Venerable Assembly should 
 strictly attend to, and steadily pursue, such measures as to 
 their wisdom shall appear necessary, for supporting the con- 
 stitution, and maintaining the honour and authority of this 
 Church.' 
 
 " V. Lastly^ Because the aim and tendency of the over- 
 ture, to excite the ensuing General Assembly, in the pre- 
 sent circumstances, to attend to and steadily pursue the 
 authority-measure set on foot by the last Assembly, seems 
 to carry an approbation even of the terms in which this 
 sentence against Mr Gillespie was pronounced, deposing him 
 \a the name of the Lord Jesus Christy upon a ground which 
 could infer no more, even in the sense of the deposers them- 
 selves, than an incapacity to enjoy the privileges of the legal 
 establishment. For who will take upon him to say, that an 
 honest scruple to obey a particular order of a General As- 
 
8 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 semMy of the Cliurch of Scotland, is absolutely incompa- 
 tible with the general character of a minister of the Gospel 
 of Christ ? Have -sve not a plain testimony to this in the 
 fonn of the sentence itself ? which concludes with a prohi- 
 bition to exercise the ministerial office ivitliin this Cliurch, 
 which certainly he must retain, if he can exercise it any 
 where. Nay, further, a motion to the General Assembly, 
 in the present circumstances^ that is, after a sentence of de- 
 position has been passed, to attend to, and steadilij pursue 
 the measures calculated to support the authority of the 
 Church, manifestly points at dri^dng on in the road of dis- 
 cipline, even to excommunication itself; as if an honest 
 scruple to have an active hand in executing a particular ap- 
 pointment of our General Assembly, was sufficient ground, 
 not only of exclusion from the privileges of our legal estab- 
 lishment, but even from the privileges to which Christians 
 are entitled by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ him- 
 self, the sole head and lawgiver of his Church. This, we 
 confess, carries so shocking an appearance, and opens such 
 a view of the high authority-measm-es now in vogue, that 
 we could not have taken upon us so much as to hint at a 
 consequence so horrible, if the thing had not been fairly 
 spoken out in the overture first above referred to,"^* conclud- 
 
 * An overture transmitted to the Synod by a majority of one, 
 bearing, inter alia, in the narrative, " That the Assembly, 1/33, de- 
 clared, that a Presbytery refusing to execute the orders of Assem- 
 bly, deserve the highest censures of the Church," which was ap- 
 pointed to be taken under consideration in the afternoon. Before 
 the Synod proceeded on it, the dissenters entered a protest, viz. : 
 • It is not, in our apprehension, so agreeable as could be wished to 
 the manner in which all our matters ought to be transacted, to in- 
 troduce an overture of such great importance, and universal con- 
 cern, upon a day which is almost constantly the last of the Synod, 
 and after many members have gone away, wthout knowing that 
 such an overture was to come under the Synod's consideration ; 
 and, therefore, we protest, that whatever judgment shall be given 
 in this affair, cannot be considered as a proper evidence of the sen- 
 timents of the majority of the members of which this numerous 
 Synod consists.' While the Synod were considering this overture, 
 the one dissented from was offered, and carried. Approve, 37, Not, 
 8, (including the 4 dissenters,) and 3 declined to vote. There 
 were 48 members present. 
 
 Another overture was transmitted by this Synod to the As- 
 sembly, proposing a rule for planting churches, when the right 
 devolves upon the Presbytery, in substance thus : — That upon 
 
1753.] ELECTION OF AN AGENT. i 
 
 ing the highest censures of the Church, against a Presby 
 tery, refusing to execute the orders of Assembly." 
 
 ASSEMBLY, 1753. 
 
 The General Assembly met on Thursday the 24th May. 
 After sermon by Dr Cuming, the last Moderator, from 
 Proverbs x\4. 32, Mr AYilliam Leechman, Professor of Di- 
 vinity at Glasgow, and Mr Alexander Webster, one of the 
 ministers of Edinburgh, were put on the leet for Moderator, 
 Avhen the latter was chosen. The Earl of Leven was his 
 ]Majesty's Commissioner. * 
 
 The first business was the election of an agent and atib- 
 
 aii application by two or more electors, or, if there is no ap- 
 plication, so soon as is convenient, the Presbytery shall cause in- 
 timation be made from the pulpit of the vacant church, ten free 
 days before the meeting, that a call is to be moderated, and shall 
 appoint one or more of their number, who, after sermon, shall meet 
 with the heritors and elders of the vacant parish, in presence of the 
 congregation, upon a day fixed and duly intimated, and moderate 
 in a call to one to be minister of the parish, to be elected by the 
 heritors and elders in a conjunct body ; that the person elected 
 shall be proposed to the congregation then assembled, for their as- 
 sent ; that if the congregation refuse their assent, they shall offer 
 their reasons to the Presbytery at their first ordinary meeting, who 
 shall judge of, and sustain oi; reject them, as they see cause : That 
 when a vacancy happens in a royal borough, the minister shall be 
 called by the magistrates and town-council, and minister or minis- 
 ters and elders of the kirk-session or sessions, in a joint-meeting, 
 where no part of the parish is to landward ; and by the magistrates 
 and town-council, landward heritors, and minister or ministers and 
 elders, where part of the parish is to landward ; excepting boroughs 
 which have the right of presentation vested in, and methods of 
 election peculiar to, themselves : That all heritors, being Protes- 
 tants, shall be admitted, by themselves or proxies, and also all the 
 elders ordained before the vacancy, to vote at the election of a mi- 
 nister ; excepting heritors disqualified by the Act of Assembly, 
 1748, — those who give separate proxies for dififerent candidates, — 
 singular successors who were not heritors before the vacancy, — and 
 those whose yearly valued rent is under £30 Scots ; all which 
 heritors are to be disqualified to vote : And that in case of any 
 difiference among the electors at the election, the committee do put 
 in writing what shall be alleged on both sides, and lay it before the 
 Presbytery for their decision. 
 
 ' On Thursday the 31st, the Assembly adjourned without doing 
 any business, on account of the Commissioner's indisposition. 
 
10 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. f 1753. 
 
 rlerJc^ in the room of Mr Robert Mackintosh, who died on 
 the 4th January 1753. Of this matter, we had occasion to 
 give an ample accomit in the former volume (p. 832), which 
 it is umiecessary to repeat. From the judgment then deliver- 
 ed, Professor Cuming and others dissented, for the follo^ving 
 reasons : — 
 
 " Reasons of Dissent, entered hi/ the Reverend Professor 
 Cuming^ and other members of the General Assemhly, 
 whose names are hereunto annexed, against the judg- 
 ment of the General Assembly, on Saturday the 26th 
 May 1753, refusing to delay till Tuesday the 29th, the 
 consideration of the Report of the Committee appointed 
 on Thursday the 2-ith, being the first diet of the Assem- 
 bly, to consider the state of the offices of agent for the 
 Church, and sub-clerk to the General Assembly, and 
 clerk to his 31ajestys royal bounty ; arid approving of 
 a proposal by John Baillie, writer to the Signet, of 
 having James Edmonston, ivriter in Edinburgh, joined 
 with him in these offices. 
 
 " It was ^\Ai\\ the greatest concern that we thought our- 
 selves obliged to dissent, on Saturday last, from the above 
 mentioned proceedings of the Venerable Assembly ; and 
 that for the folio wmo- among other reasons : — 
 
 " 1. Because, in om* humble opinion, it was altogether 
 irregular, and contrary to the established consuetudinary 
 forms of the General Assembly of this Church, to receive 
 a motion of such importance, made in so abrupt and harsh 
 a manner, on the first day of their meeting, when a great 
 many members Avere not come to town, and when a great 
 many of those who had been in the Assembly were gone 
 out of the house, on a belief that no such motion would, 
 or ought to have been made. 
 
 " 2. Because it is now apparent, that the intendment of 
 that motion was not calculated with a vicAv to inquire into 
 the validity of Mr Baillie's right to all the ojffices above 
 mentioned, but was solely designed to afford an opportunity 
 of hanging out terrors before Mr Baillie, in order to per- 
 suade him, that he had either no legal title to liis offices, or 
 that he was in danger of being tm-ned out, by being unable 
 to discharge the duty of them. By which unjustifiable at- 
 tack upon Mr Baillie, he was induced to give in a letter to 
 the committee, proposing to sign a demission in favour of 
 
1753.] ELECTION OF AN AGENT. 11 
 
 jMr Edmonston ; Avhich was prescribing rules to the Assem- 
 bly, and limiting them to the choice only of one person. 
 Whereas it is well known, that if jNIr Baillie's offices, or any 
 of them, had been truly vacant, the Assembly might have 
 had their choice of several gentlemen of knowledge and ex- 
 perience in business ; some of whom were better entitled to 
 the favour of this Chm-ch, than the gentleman proposed by 
 Mr Baillie. 
 
 "3. Because, in our apprehension, Mr Baillie's letter 
 does not deliver the true sentiments of his heart, but speaks 
 out the language of force and fear ; as it consists v.ith the 
 knowledge of several of us, and ^^dth the behef of us all, 
 that 3Ir Baillie ^vas determined, and had engaged himself, 
 not to give in any demission, but to serve and officiate in 
 his offices, by himself, and by such helps as he would pro- 
 cure with the Assembly's approbation, whereby several gen- 
 tlemen were prevented from offering themselves in due time 
 as candidates. 
 
 "4. Because we think it derogates from the honour, and 
 is highly deti'imental to the privileges of this Church, to 
 allow their officers, whenever they think proper, to give in 
 demissions of their offices, so as to make way for a new 
 election of themselves, in conjunction with another, and 
 with a survivancy to the longest liver ; for by this means, 
 the officer himself has, in a great measure, the nomination 
 of his successor, by studying a proper opportunity when to 
 give in such demission ; and has it in his power, at all 
 times, to prevent the election of any other. "Whereas, in 
 our humble opinion, unless there be a clear vacancy, by 
 death, disqualification, or absolute demission, no Assembly 
 has it in their poAver to preclude any future Assembly of 
 their just right, in filling up such offices as may be vacant 
 for the time. 
 
 " 5. Because, as the motion on Thursday was altogether 
 irregular and unprecedented, so the proceeding upon Satur- 
 day, to consider the report of the committee, and to deter- 
 mine finally in so important an affiiir as the choice of an 
 agent and clerk to this Church, without agi-eeing to the 
 motion which was made for a delay till Tuesday, when the 
 Assembly would be full, and the members would have an 
 opportunity to deliberate upon so material a concern of the 
 Church, was an infringement of all rule, cannot be justified 
 by any precedent, and is directly contrar}^ to the proceedings 
 
12 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q753. 
 
 which were observed at Mr BailKe's o-syii election, which 
 was first moved on the Saturday, and determined on the 
 Tuesday thereafter ; it being well known to all, and hitherto 
 doubted of by none, that no affair of any great consequence 
 is transacted on the first three days of the Assembly, upon 
 the faith of which a great many members do not come to 
 to^^'n, or do not attend upon these days, which is well known 
 to have been the case on Satm*day last. And we are afraid 
 it may be said with too much justice, that the early attend- 
 ance of a great many members who voted for proceeding on 
 Saturday, has been calculated to prevent a full Assembly 
 from judging in an important affair which concenis the 
 whole Church. 
 
 "6. Because a motion was made on Satm-day, That, as 
 the office of principal clerk was discharged by one clergy- 
 man, so the office of depute-clerk might be performed by 
 another ; and that several ministers in and about the town 
 of EdinJjurgh were Avell qualified for such an office ; and 
 although such a motion deserved the serious attention of 
 the Assembly, and was urged as a strong motive for the 
 delay till Tuesday, yet it was not listened to, it was not 
 duly advised ; but the election was precipitated in the iiTe- 
 gular manner above mentioned. 
 
 " ?. Because we cannot approve of the cruel attempt that 
 was made to tm-n out Mr Baillie, an old man, on pretence 
 of his want of ability, before the Assembly had taken the 
 least trial of him ; and must disapprove of their electing a 
 very young man, before they had the least experience of his 
 capacity. 
 
 " 8. Because it appears to us extremely inconsistent, that 
 the majority of this Assembly, who urged on Thm'sday last 
 Mr Baillie's age and inability, as the chief reason for ap- 
 pointing the committee, should unite on Saturday to elect 
 Mr Baillie and Mr Edmonston conjmict in these offices 
 during their joint lives, and the right to the whole to be in 
 the sur^-ivor ; so that if Mr Baillie shall hereafter be the 
 survivor, when his age and inability will be increased, he 
 will nevertheless become the sole agent and depute-clerk of 
 this Church. 
 
 Patrick Cuming, at Edinburgh. 
 John Squyre, at Forress. 
 Alex. Orr, at Hoddam. 
 
17.53.] ELECTION OF AN AGENT. 13 
 
 Ja. Ogilvie, at Aberdeen. 
 
 Duncan Macfarlan, at Dryrnen. 
 
 Alexander Murray, at Bimie. 
 
 Pat. Gordon, at Bellie. 
 
 John Grant, at Urquhart. 
 
 Henry Millar, at Neilstoii. 
 
 Robert Garden, at St. Fergus. 
 
 William Grant, at Kilmanivaig. 
 
 Alex, Cruickshank, at Meams. 
 
 Ada:\i Fergusson, at Moulin. 
 
 John Lumsden, at Strathdon. 
 
 John Lundie, at Oldhamstocks. 
 
 Patrick "\VoDRO^v, at Tarbolton. 
 
 And. Richardson, at Inverkeithing. 
 
 Ad. Dickson, at Dunse. 
 
 Dug. Allan, at Innerehaolan. 
 
 Arch. Macneil, at Kilchalmanel. 
 
 Hugh Campbell, at Craigneish. 
 
 John Fleming, at Kilmacolm. 
 
 Alex. Stewart, at Blair, Athol. 
 
 Geo. Shepherd, at Tarland. 
 
 George Campbell, at Banchory ternan.* 
 
 Pat. Grant, at Dutliil. 
 
 Ja. Lauder, at Dun. 
 
 Robert Thomson, at Killean. 
 
 James Weemyss, at Errol. 
 
 ^Eneas Shaw, at Pettie. 
 
 Tho. Hepburn, at Birsay. 
 
 Ro. Hall, at Kilmarnock. 
 
 Co. Campbell, Commissioner of the Customs. 
 
 Jo. "Wilson, Merchant in Edinburgh. 
 
 Ro. Dalrymple, Writer to the Signet. 
 
 Tho. Boyes, Writer in Edinburgh. 
 
 Alex. Martin, of Little- Airies, M. D., Edinburgh." 
 
 The Moderator (Mr Webster), and other members, were 
 appointed a committee, to draw up answers to these reasons ; 
 both papers to lie in retentis. The follo^^^ng is a copy of 
 the " Answers," with the exception of the introductory and 
 concluding paragraphs, which will be found in the former 
 volume at p. 322 : — 
 
 * Afterwards Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen. 
 B 
 
14 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY, [1753. 
 
 " Answers to the Reasons of Disseiit entered hy Professor 
 Cuming and other s^ against the judgment of the late 
 General Assembly, resjyecting the election of 3Iessrs 
 JBaillie and Edmonston to he conjunct agents and sub- 
 clerks to the Church. Drawn up hy a committee of 
 that Assembly appointed for that effect. 
 
 " It is well known to eveiy member of the Church judi- 
 catures, that upon the death of Nicol Spence, agent for the 
 Church, and sub-clerk to the General Assemblies and Com- 
 missions thereof, Robert Macintosh, who had been joined 
 with him in these offices, mth the survivancy, claimed the 
 sole right to them ; but that on account of certain informa- 
 lities in the act in favom* of Mr Macintosh, particularly Mr 
 Spence's not having resigned before Mr Macintosh was 
 elected, the Assembly 1743 was of opinion, that the one- 
 half of the offices enjoyed by Mr Spence were vacant by his 
 death ; and thereupon the Assembly, in consequence of Mr 
 INIacintosh's resignation of the other half, came to the reso- 
 lution of electing him, and John Baillie, writer to the Sig- 
 net, conjunct in these offices, and the right of the whole to 
 be in the sm-vivor solely. Which accordingly was done, 
 and the whole form thereof directed by judges of the great- 
 est ability in the law of Scotland ; the Right Honourable 
 Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord President of the Court of 
 Session, the Lord Drummore, Mr Robert Craigie of Glen- 
 doick, advocate, &c., as a committee. 
 
 " It is also notour, that after Mr Baillie and Mr Macin- 
 tosh had held these offices for several years, Mr Macintosh 
 died on the 4th January 1753, whereby the whole devolved 
 upon ]Mr Baillie. And it is known to numbers, that as 
 Mr Baillie found the pressure of old age and infirmities 
 would make it impracticable for him to discharge such a 
 trust by himself alone, he signified his resolution, humbly 
 to apply to the General Assembly then approaching, to allow 
 him an assistant with the survivancy, — a thing common and 
 ordinary to be granted to ministers, professors in universi- 
 ties, and gentlemen in other stations of life, when, by old 
 age or infirmities, they are rendered unfit to do the duties 
 of their respective offices, and which therefore he had 
 ground to believe would not be thought unreasonable to be 
 granted to him, their faithful servant. 
 
 " This being made kno^vn, several gentlemen applied to 
 
1753.] ELECTION OF AN AGENT. 15 
 
 Mr Baillie, signifying their willingness to assist him on the 
 above plan. But as the success of the thing depended on 
 the General Assembly's approbation of the person who was 
 to be his assistant and successor, he left it to the gentlemen 
 who had applied to him, who were all very deserving, to 
 make their several applications to the Assembly. 
 
 " Upon this it is notour, that applications were made by 
 several candidates, not only to the ministers and others 
 about Edinburgh, but to such as lived in the most remote 
 parts of Scotland, informing of their designs, and soliciting 
 friendship. And though what concerned the clerkship was 
 not the matter of greatest importance which came before the 
 Assembly, yet as it was a matter of very consideral^le mc - 
 ment to the Church, and which, from the nature of it, fell 
 to be taken under consideration at the very beginning of the 
 Assembly, there was an uncommon number of members 
 come to town before the Assembly sat down, on pui-pose to 
 be present at the settUng that affair, which, by reason of the 
 broken state of Mr Baillie's health and voice, had now be- 
 come a necessary preliminary to entering on business, so 
 that the very first sederunt consisted of above 170 membei-s. 
 
 " The mind of the members who came to town l)eing soon 
 kno^^^l, and a vast plurality found to be for ISh James Ed- 
 monston, a scheme was thereupon thought of to disappoint 
 that gentleman, which was, that as Mr Baillie's age and in- 
 firmities rendered him credulous and timorous, some person 
 should be got of his acquaintance, to make him believe that 
 Mr Edmonston intended to take undue advantages of him ; 
 though, at the same time, a great body of those who were 
 for i\Ir Edmonston, were ^Ir Baillie's sincere and best 
 friends, to whom he owed, in a great measm-e, his attaining 
 to his office at first, and joined with I\Ir Edmonston chiefly 
 from the assurances given by him, of going into any rea- 
 sonable terms in favour of Mr BailHe. However, * these 
 rotten-hearted advisers of Mr Baillie frightened him to that 
 degree, that he scrupled to go on with the above plan, 
 though proposed by himself, and with which he had hither- 
 to expressed the highest satisfaction. 
 
 " But a motion having been made at the first meeting of 
 Assembly, and agreed to, for a committee to inquire into 
 the state of the offices of agent and sub-clerk, ]Mr Bai) lie's 
 real friends took occasion to explain to him the imposition 
 put upon him, so that he soon became sensible, that the 
 
16 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 advice which he had got, not to resign, was extremely hurt- 
 ful to himself and his family. 
 
 '•• The committee accordingly met ; and though it was 
 composed of a good number of members, whose inclinations 
 were known to be much divided concerning the candidates, 
 and particularly the Rev. Professor Cuming^ the Procura- 
 tor, and some others of the dissenters, were members of the 
 committee, and attended it ; yet the committee agreed un- 
 animously to report it as their opinion, that Mr Bailhe, in 
 virtue of the act of Assembly 1743, had the right of surviv- 
 ancy ; but that if he would signify to the Assembly his 
 desire to have a person joined with him in office, it would 
 bring matters to a happy issue for the service of the Church. 
 Whereupon Mr Alexander Boswel produced a letter from 
 Mr Baillie, directed to him, desiring the same to be com- 
 municated to the committee, and by them reported to the 
 Assembly ; the tenor whereof follows : — ' Edinburgh, 2Mh 
 May 1753. Sir, — As you are a member of the committee 
 appointed to inquire into the state of my affair, I have 
 taken the liberty to trouble you with this letter, to be com- 
 municated to them. I am exceedingly sensible of the ten- 
 derness and affection expressed by the Venerable Assembly 
 towards me this day, and, at the same time, sensible of the 
 weight of years coming upon me ; and therefore, to prevent 
 any further debate upon these matters, T do humbly propose, 
 that James Edmonston be joined with me in the offices I 
 now enjoy, being fully satisfied, that he is ready and willing 
 to do all justice to me and my family in my old age. And 
 if this is approven of by the Venerable Committee and As- 
 sembly, I shall execute the resignation proper for carrying 
 it into execution. — I do not doubt that you and the rest of 
 the committee will be of opinion, that the office is mine for 
 life ; and I likewise hope, that you will make this, my pro- 
 posal, a part of your report, which will bring matters to an 
 issue, not only beneficial to my private interest, but tending, 
 I hope, likewise to the peace and quiet of the Assembly. 
 I am. Sir, your most obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) ' James Baillie.' 
 "The committee having considered this letter, unani- 
 mously agi-eed to transfer the same to the Assembly, with 
 this opinion, ' That one should be chosen conjunct with Mr 
 Baillie upon the plan of his letter, leaving the nomination 
 of the person to be joined with him to the General Assem- 
 
1753.1 ELECTION OF AX AGENT. 17 
 
 bly.' Which report of the committee being transmitted to 
 the General Assembly, was taken under consideration on 
 fSatm'day, when there was a very full house ; and it being 
 observed, that, according to the terms of Mr Baillie's letter, 
 he was not obliged to resign, unless the ^Vssembly would 
 accept of the proposal of ]Mr Edmonston to be joined Avitli 
 him, Mr Baillie declared, as appears from the record, that 
 as two candidates had been mentioned, viz., the foresaid 
 Mr Edmonston, and Mr William Alston, writer to the Sig- 
 net, he was willing, whichever of them the Assembly should 
 think lit to jbin Avith him, to execute the proper resignation 
 for making their election effectual. Which proposal the 
 Assembly accepted of; whereupon ]Mr Baillie resigned all 
 his offices into their hands; and the Assembly of new 
 granted these offices to him and ]Mr Edmonston, with a 
 right of survivancy to the longest liver ; the same forms and 
 words being followed, in Avhat was here done, as had been 
 used when Mr Baillie was admitted, upon the resignation 
 of Mr ]\Iacintosh. And these proceedings were not carried 
 on by what is called a naiTow majority ; for there were no 
 fewer than 109 members who concurred in them against 64. 
 
 •"' This being the case, it will sui-prise those who are not 
 acquainted with the true spirit of dissenting, and the poeti- 
 cal licenses taken on such occasions, that the Rev. Profes- 
 sor and his adherents should have given in such reasons of 
 dissent ; and, particularly, they Avill be sui-prised when in- 
 formed, that very near the same number were in the house, 
 on the first day of their meeting, when the committee was 
 appointed to consider the state of the clerkship, as at the 
 election of the moderator, to find the reverend dissenters 
 affirming, as in the first reason of their protest, that the 
 motion for that committee was received (by which they 
 must mean considered and judged of or they say nothing 
 to the pm-pose), Avhen a gi-eat many of those who had been 
 in the house had gone out, on a belief that no such motion 
 Avould, or ought to have been made. 
 
 " They Avill also think it a little odd, that so many minis- 
 ters of character, and acknowledged veracity, have not 
 scrupled to represent, in their second reason of dissent, 3Ir 
 Baillie's design of having one joined with him in his offices 
 with the survivancy, as such a dead secret, that the Assem- 
 bly was thereby deprived of their choice of several gentle- 
 men of knowledge and experience in busines.s, who would 
 
 B 2 
 
18 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 have offered their service on such occasion ; when it is no- 
 tour, as before mentioned, that the fact was well known 
 over the whole country some months before the meeting of 
 the Assembly, and no fewer than ten candidates entered 
 the lists. Nor is what they have further insinuated in the 
 same reason of dissent less strange, viz., that the Assembly 
 w^ere limited by Mr Baillie's letter to one person only, 
 though their record expressly bears, that he resigned in fa- 
 vour of Mr Alston as well" as Mr Edmonston ; tliat is, in 
 other words, gave in an unlimited resignation, as these two 
 were the only candidates then on the field, ^1 the others 
 having dropped their pretensions. 
 
 " Their third reason is indeed surprising ; for now they 
 have attained the knowledge of the heart, and tell us tliat 
 Mr BailUe's letter, inserted above, though written with that 
 plainness and freedom for wdiich he is remarkable, and con- 
 taining nothing but a few undoubted facts, does not deliver 
 the true sentiments of his heart, but speaks out the lan- 
 guage of force and fear. And as to what follows, where 
 they say he had engaged himself not to give in any demis- 
 sion, &c., &c., they have unwarily betrayed their own se- 
 cret ; and nothing is w^anting to unfold the whole mystery, 
 but the name of the Rev. Gentleman who asked such a 
 promise of him, and the arguments used on that occa- 
 sion. 
 
 " Their fourth reason sets forth, how much it derogates 
 from the honour, and how highly detrimental it is to the 
 interests, of the Church, to allow any of their servants an 
 assistant and successor ; w^hich is illustrated by an induc- 
 tion of imaginary absurdities, that strike equally against 
 "vvhat is daily practised, and allowed by all to be highly rea- 
 sonable, with respect to superannuated ministers, or gentle- 
 men in other offices. 
 
 " The FIFTH reason contains a history-piece of the non- 
 attendance of members in former Assemblies, during the 
 first three days of their meeting, — but prudently forgets to 
 add, that the very reverse happened in the present case ; 
 and that few meetings of any Assembly can be pointed out 
 where the members w^ere better convened. 
 
 " The SIXTH reason complains for not granting a delay, 
 in consequence of a motion, which, say the dissenters, de- 
 served the serious attention of the house, to give the sub- 
 clerkship to a clergyman. The Assembly are obliged to 
 
1753.] ELECTION OF AN AGENT. 19 
 
 the dissenters for reviving tlie memory of this fact ; as it is 
 well known, that this motion was principally insisted on hy 
 some of i\Ir Edmonston's friends, and the question actually 
 stated at their desire, ' Accept, or not, of Mr Baillie's resig- 
 nation with respect to the agency, referring what relates to 
 the clerkship till Tuesday?' when an honourable member 
 (of whose friendship Mr Edmonston cannot boast) called 
 out, with great warmth, ' No; since he is to have one office^ 
 let him have both.' AVhich, together with the S2)eeches of 
 some reverend members, knocked the motion on the head, 
 and brought on the question with respect to both agency 
 and clerkship. 
 
 "• We heartily approve of the dissenters' sympathy with 
 Mr Baillie, in their seventh reason ; but are entirely igno- 
 rant of the attempt to turn him out ; and are sorry that so 
 good judges should disapprove of the Assembly's electing 
 so young a man as Mr Edmonston, and of ^vhose abilities 
 they had so little experience. Only, we must be allowed 
 to ask, what trial had the Assembly of the abilities and ex- 
 perience of Mr David Dalrymple, their procurator, or of 
 any clerk, (Mr Macintosh excepted, which was purely ac- 
 cidental,) when they were elected into their offices ? Or 
 v.ould a delay till Tuesday, which seems to be the great 
 burden of the dissent, have added so much to Mr Edmon- 
 ston's age and experience, as to have made his election then 
 proper or reasonable, which was so culpable three days be- 
 fore ? 
 
 " They conclude with observing, eighthly, ' The ex- 
 treme inconsistency of the Assembly, in electing Messrs 
 Baillie and Edmonston conjunct in the offices dui-ing their 
 joint lives, because of Mr Baillie's age and infinnity, and 
 at the same time to vest the right of the whole in the sur- 
 vivor; so that, in case of Mr Edmonston's predeceasing, 
 Mr Baillie will nevertheless become the sole agent and sub- 
 clerk, when his age and inabihty wall be increased.' — It 
 must be allowed, that it required no small degree of acute- 
 ness to find out this inconsistency. But surely there is not 
 one person in the least conversant in these matters, who 
 does not know, that the survivancy in such cases is granted 
 to secure the superannuated person, whether a minister or 
 vested with any other office, against losing his stipend or 
 salary, in case he should happen to be the survivor ; and, in 
 that event, the grand difficulty suggested by the dissenters 
 
20 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [l?53. 
 
 is removed, by joining another with him on the same plan. 
 In short, stripping these eight reasons of dissent of their 
 varnish and disguise, they resolve into the three following: — 
 
 " I . That in all cases it is detrimental to the interest of 
 the Church, to condescend to give a faithful old servant an 
 assistant and successor. Which we must be allowed to 
 consider as not breathing forth true Christian love and 
 charity, — and which, we are very sure, has unwarily fallen 
 from the dissenters ; the rather, that the Rev. Professoi\ 
 and others of them, concuiTcd in the unanimous opinion of 
 the committee. That it was proper the Assembly should 
 name an assistant to Mr Baillie ; and that he and this as- 
 sistant, and longest liver of them, should enjoy the offices. 
 
 " 2. That it was doing a hardship to Mr Baillie, for 
 whom the dissenters express a wann concern, and who, 
 they say, was determined not to have resigned, but to have 
 continued in the office alone, as is consistent with the 
 knowledge of some of the dissenters. 
 
 " 3. That Mr Baillie, as has been already hinted, from the 
 failure of nature, and artful applications of persons who 
 pretended friendship to him and his family, while they had 
 nothing in view but to serve a particular candidate, who 
 they found could have no chance at last Assembly, was so 
 far imposed upon, as to make a demur about resigning, 
 some know very well; and they also know what pains 
 were taken to discover to him the imposition, and to baffle 
 these sinistrous designs ; which brought him to the resolu- 
 tion of giving the Assembly an opportunity of doing him 
 the substantial piece of service which these dissenters, with 
 professions of regard and tenderness for him, protest against. 
 
 " As Mr Edmonston had not entered into any dark simo- 
 niacal paction, which could not bear the light, he did not 
 scruple to declare, that he was willing to agree to the plan 
 proposed by Mr Baillie and his friends, — a plan similar, 
 mutatis mutandis., to what daily takes place with respect to 
 ministers and their ordained assistants, or professors in uni- 
 versities who have others joined Avith them in their offices. 
 It is also well known, that Mr Alston, the other candidate, 
 had expressed his wiUingness to accept of the office on the 
 same or like conditions. Such, then, were the open and 
 declared terms which the Assembly were so cruel to Mr 
 Baillie and his family as to countenance with their sanc- 
 tion, by accepting of his resignation, — and which the dis- 
 
1753.] CASE OF MR GILLESPIE. 21 
 
 senters, out of pure pity to the good old man and his mo- 
 therless children, opposed with such pious zeal and activity. 
 Hard usage, indeed ! — to allow an aged infirm man an 
 assistant, who was to ease him of all the labour, and take 
 none of his profits." 
 
 The proceedings of this Assembly, in reference to Mr 
 Gillespie^ and jVIessrs Hunter, Daling, and Spence, have 
 been anticipated in the preceding volume, (p. 276-278.) 
 From the resolution then passed, " Not to repone Mr Gil- 
 lespie" a " dissent was entered by Messrs Robert Spears at 
 Burntisland, James OgilWe at Aberdeen, John Currie at 
 Kinglassie, John Erskine at Cuh-oss, John Squire at For- 
 res, James Innes at oMerton, George IMuir at Old Cumnock, 
 William Nimmo at Roberton, Thomas Randal at Inchture, 
 John Dun at Auchinleck, James Scott at Auchtergaven, 
 Sii' William Moncreiif at Blackford, John CoUo at Pen- 
 pont, and Archibald Little at Morton, ministers, and James 
 Murray of Inghston, John iMm'kland, and Alexander Scot, 
 ruling elders/' 
 
 The Reasons of this dissent were as follows : — 
 " 1. Because the obligations to make restitution are not 
 confined to individuals. Even ciAdl societies, when they 
 have done wTong, are bound to repair it ; much more 
 churches, whose power is only ministerial imder the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, our only head. We humbly conceive the 
 last General Assembly did Avrong to Mr Gillespie, by de- 
 posing him upon grounds wan*anted neither by Acts of As- 
 sembly, nor by the practice of the Church in cases resem- 
 bling his. If a new^ penal law was necessary to prevent 
 wanton disobedience, yet last General Assembly had no 
 power to make such a law, no overture about it having been 
 transmitted to Presbyteries ; far less had they power to ex- 
 tend a penal law to things done or omitted before the en- 
 acting it. Besides, though there had been the most explicit 
 laws for deposing ministers in such cases, yet JMr Gillespie 
 Avas not judged according to the form of process, — had no 
 libel given him, — no such law condescended on, — nor so 
 much as ten free days to see and answer. Instead of this, 
 he was called on the Thursday, arraigned on the Friday, 
 and deposed on the Saturday. But we should not have in- 
 sisted on this new and miprecedented procedure, did we not 
 apprehend, that the censure inflicted was not deserved by 
 
22 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. QlT53. 
 
 Mr Gillespie. His refusing to be active in Mr Richard- 
 son's settlement, flowed from com-ii.'tion that he was re- 
 strained by divine authority from doing what only human 
 authority commanded ; and while this jwas his sentiment, 
 we apprehend there was no room for hesitation what part 
 he should act. But if it was a crime, it was a very excus- 
 able one, to refuse to do what appeared to him contrary to 
 the standing laws of the Church, and a breach of his solemn 
 ordination vows. We conceive every argument against last 
 General Assembly's inflicting such a censure, is of equal 
 force against the proceedings of this General Assembly in 
 continuing it. Yea, the not reponing Mr Gillespie, seems 
 equivalent to a renewed deposing him, as the General As- 
 sembly is the only competent court for taking ofi^ what Avas 
 inflicted. We know, that some of our worthy brethren 
 who voted against reponing IMr Gillespie, agree with us in 
 thinking his deposition unjust and anti-constitutional. If 
 so, they will forgive us in saying, that, by continuing this 
 unjust censure, they virtually renewed and repeated it, and 
 punished in so severe a manner what to them, as well as to 
 us, appeared not worthy of such punishment. 
 
 " 2. We conceive one year's deposition a pim^ishment fully 
 adec[uate to any ofi'ence ]Mr Gillespie is charged with. The 
 parish of Carnock has been now for a twelvemonth deprived 
 of the stated ordinances of divine worship dispensed by 
 him ; the Presbytery of Dunfermline, S}aiod of Fife, and 
 the Church of Scotland, of a valuable member ; and him- 
 self and his family, of the legal advantages of his connection 
 Avith the Established Church ; and all this for a conduct 
 for which a rebuke was formerly deemed sufficient censure. 
 We cannot see it consistent AA^th the wisdom Avhich is from 
 above, which is without partiality, and full of mercy, that 
 perpetual deposition should be his doom for no worse a 
 crime. We apprehended the sentence of last General As- 
 sembly was chiefly intended in terrorem^ and as a means 
 of securing obedience to future appointments ; and that his 
 having lain under that sentence a complete year, sufficiently 
 serves that pm-pose. 
 
 " 3. That, by the constitution of Christ's kingdom, for- 
 bearing and forgiving one another in love, is particularly 
 recommended. It is the honour' of a church, to copy after 
 the meekness, the gentleness, and condescension of Jesus ; 
 and to stoop as low as she lawfully can, in seeking that 
 
1753.] ACT AGAINST SIMONY. 23 
 
 which was lost, and bringing back that which was driven 
 away. As Mr Gillespie's hardships flowed from the As- 
 sembly's dispensing with the standing rules of our Church, 
 by which three are a quorum, we think it would have highly 
 tended to the honour of this Assembly, to have relieved him 
 from these hardships, when both law and form befriended 
 their so doing. 
 
 " 4. The many petitions from Synods and Presbyteries for 
 reponing 3Ir Gillespie, are proofs of what is the sense of the 
 Church in this matter, and the assurances given by mem- 
 bers of the General Assembly, of his desire to be restored to 
 the Church of Scotland, convince us, that he would have 
 thankfully accepted that pri-vdlege. 
 
 " 5. The reponing of Mr Gillespie ivould, in our appre- 
 hension^ have contributed to prevent the growth of the Se- 
 cession, and the rise of a new schism in this Church" 
 
 On Saturday, May 26, the Assembly discharged Pres- 
 byteries to elect missionary ministers employed by the 
 managers of the royal bounty, as their commissioners to the 
 Assembly. '^ 
 
 An overture from the S>Tiod of Angus and Meams was 
 before the Assembly on Wednesday, May 30, viz., — " The 
 Synod considering the danger which may arise to the 
 Church, from jjactions entered into by candidates for sup- 
 plying vacancies, or the friends of candidates, and which 
 are homologated by them after their settlement, whereby 
 they are bound up from seeking an increase of their bene- 
 fices, reparations for their manses and ofl&ce-houses, and 
 sometimes not to uplift the whole of the stipend already 
 proWded by law, — instances of all which have of late hap- 
 pened in Scotland, — do therefore humbly overture to the 
 General Assembly, that they would fall upon the most ef- 
 fectual method to prevent these practices in time coming, 
 and give directions to Presbyteries how to proceed in cases 
 of that kind." A committee of fourteen ministers and eleven 
 ruling elders were named to prepare an overture upon the 
 above, and all members of the above S}Tiod were desired to 
 attend the Committee. The report was made June 2d, and 
 approved of, being no new law, but declaratory of the law. 
 It here follows : — 
 
 * This was occasioned by the Presbytery of Mull having sent Mr 
 Thomas Muschat of Strontian as a commissioner to this Assemblv. 
 
24 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY, [1753. 
 
 " The General Assembly taking into consideration a re- 
 presentation made to them by the S>Tiod of Angus and 
 Mearns, relating to bargains bet^vixt patrons or heritors in 
 parishes, and candidates for the ministry, or the friends of 
 such candidates, and the great danger which may thence 
 arise to this Church, do hereby enjoin the several Presby- 
 teries in this Church, in order to prevent such practices for 
 futm-e, to take all proper measm-es to discover if any such 
 have happened in their bounds ; and if, upon inquiry, it 
 shall be found, that any minister or probationer hath 
 obliged himself, or that his friends before his settlement, 
 and in order to promote the same, have obliged themselves, 
 upon the account of the candidate, that he shall not, during 
 his incumbency, commence any process against the heritors 
 for augmentation of stipend, reparation of manse or office- 
 houses, or enlarging his glebe ; or shall have become bound 
 in any sum or sums of money, or any prestation, to the pa- 
 tron, or persons connected with the patron, in order to pro- 
 cure the presentation, or to the heritors or others concerned, 
 in order to obtain a concurrence with the said presentation, 
 or otherwise to procure a call to a vacant parish ; or have 
 entered into any simoniacal paction or practice for that ef- 
 fect ; that such Presbytery lay a presentation of the said 
 matter before the General Assembly, that the procurator 
 for the Chiu'ch may have orders to raise and cany on a 
 process of reduction of such bargains or obhgations before 
 the Court of Session. And also, the Assembly do hereby 
 declare it a just cause of deposition in ministers, or of tak- 
 ing away the license of a probationer ; and ordain Presby- 
 teries to proceed to such sentences against all such minis- 
 ters and probationers as shall be hereafter fomid to have 
 either entered into such bargains themselves, previous to 
 their settlements, or who shall, after their settlements, ho- 
 mologate the deed of their friends, and do not, immediately 
 when they come to the knowledge of it, intimate the same 
 to the Presbytery of the bounds- And further, the Assem- 
 bly appoint this Act to be read by all Presbyteries, to every 
 person, before he be licensed to preach the Gospel, and to 
 every candidate for a settlement in their bounds, before they 
 take any steps towards his settlement. And further, the 
 General Assembly being informed, that in the case of a 
 certain settlement in the Presbytery of Dundee, the present 
 incumbent's friends, before his settlement, had, without his 
 
1753.] ACT AGAINST SIMONY. 25 
 
 knowledge, entered into a bargain with the heritors, which 
 has been very inconvenient for him ever since, they do 
 therefore appoint their procurator to raise and carry on a 
 process of reduction of that bargain before the Lords of 
 Council and Session, at the public charge ; and ordain the 
 Presbytery of Dundee to give the procurator a distinct ac- 
 count of the particulars of that matter, so far as they have 
 access to know them, for the above mentioned purpose." 
 
 The committee appointed by last Assembly, to draw 
 up rules for regulating the method of procedure in causes 
 before the Assembly, not having finished their report, the 
 Assembly renewed their appointment of that committee, 
 and added to their number the ministers and elders, mem- 
 bers of this Assembly, from the Presbytery of Edinburgh, 
 and Messrs Alexander Boswel and Robert Bruce, advocates, 
 and appointed them to give in their report to the Commis- 
 sion. 
 
 A motion was made, June 1, that all the overtures 
 from Synods and Presbyteries, then remaining, should bo 
 referred to the Commission, with an instruction to draw 
 up from them one or more overtures to be laid before the 
 next Assembly ; and upon the question put, it carried in the 
 affirmative by a great majority, Mr IVIurray of Ingliston 
 dissenting. 
 
 A balance of £98 : 13 : 4d. sterling, still in the hands 
 of Messrs Hog and Mansfield, of the money collected for 
 the reformed Protestants at Brealau,^ was ordered to be re- 
 mitted to them. 
 
 On Monday, June 4, Prof. Cuming, the last Modera- 
 tor, produced a letter from the Rev. Mr Chandler at Lon- 
 don, dated the 27th of February, bearing, that he, and 
 several other gentlemen in London, had formed themselves 
 into a society, to act as trustees for the management of the 
 charity for the Protestants in Pennsylvania ; that they pro- 
 posed to maintain a stated correspondence with the Church 
 of Scotland, with that in Holland, with several in Germany, 
 and with the emigrants in Pennsylvania, that all monies may 
 he transmitted to them by a general agi-eement ; that, in his 
 judgment, all the collections made in Great Britain should 
 centre in the hands of the trustees there, who are to settle 
 a correspondence in Pennsylvania, for the more proper dis- 
 
 • See the former vol., p. 233, 
 c 
 
26 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. []l75o, 
 
 ti'ibution and application thereof; that six new ministers 
 are already settled amongst the Protestants in Pennsylvania, 
 and that six more are immediately wanted. After reading 
 the letter, Prof. Cuming represented, that as he had no op- 
 portunity of laying it before the Commission, he had writ- 
 ten a letter to Mr Chandler, bearing, that as the Protestants 
 in Pennsylvania are subjects of Great Britain, it would be 
 necessary, in order to make them more so by their learning 
 the British language, to employ there some English school- 
 masters for instructing their youth. And he now produced a 
 letter from JMr Chandler, dated the 1 9th of May last, approv- 
 ing of the aforesaid proposal, which, he says, makes a prin- 
 cipal article of a memorial presented to his Majesty ; and 
 further, expressing the intention of the said society to keep 
 a constant correspondence vnth. the Church of Scotland, by 
 such persons as the Assembly should appoint. The As- 
 sembly appointed all the money collected in Scotland for 
 the Protestants in Pennsylvania, to be remitted to the afore- 
 said society at London, and nominated all the ministers of 
 the Presbytery of Edinburgh, the Earl of Dumfries, the 
 Lord Justice Clerk, Provost Drummond, and several other 
 gentlemen, of whom four to be a quorum, a committee to 
 correspond with them. 
 
 There were several instructions, remonstrating against 
 the way of passing, i. e., without previously transmitting it 
 as an ovei^ture to Presbyteries, the act * of last Assembly, 
 which enacts, " That when any overture hath been twice 
 transmitted, the Assembly will, without farther transmis- 
 sion, take it into consideration, and pass it mto an act, or 
 reject, as they shall see cause, although Presbyteries shall 
 not have sent up their opinions." On the 4th of June, the 
 Assembly remitted the aforementioned act as an overture 
 to the several Presbyteries of the Church, and appointed 
 them to send up their opinions of it to the next Assembly. 
 
 Of private causes, the first brought in was the settle- 
 ment of Canongate. It came by a reference from the Sy- 
 nod of Lothian and Tweeddale, of an appeal by the callers 
 of Mr James Watson, minister at Newbottle, from a sen- 
 tence of the Presbytery of Edinburgh, sustaining a call to 
 Mr John Warden, minister at Perth, and was taken under 
 consideration on Monday, May 28. After hearing counsel 
 
 * See the former vol., p. 281. 
 
17.33.] CASES OF BTGGAR AND NIGG. 27 
 
 and parties, and reasoning at great length, it was at last re- 
 solved, first to put the question. Lay aside both candidates^ 
 or Not 9 and if it should carry Not^ then to put the ques- 
 tion, Reverse the sentence of the Preshytevy^ or Not ? — it 
 being understood by Reverse^ to sustain the call to Mr 
 Watson. The first question carried Not ; and the second, 
 by a great majority, Reverse. The Assembly therefore ap- 
 pointed the Presbytery to proceed ^vith all convenient des- 
 patch in a process for his transportation from NenHbottle, 
 and his admission as first minister of Canongate. 
 
 Next day came on the case of Biggar parish, on a peti- 
 tion of the patron, and heritors who concur mth the pre- 
 sentation to Mr William Haig, craving that the report of 
 the committee appointed by the Commission in November '^ 
 might be received. The report was received; and, after 
 hearing parties, and long reasoning, the question was put. 
 Appoint the settlement just now., or Delay the affair till the 
 Commission in November.^ and carried Delay. The As- 
 sembly appointed the Presbytery of Biggar to represent the 
 state of the case to the parish ; to deal with them further, 
 in order to reconcile them to Mr Haig ; and to report to 
 the Commission in November, who are appointed to do 
 therein at that time as they see cause. 
 
 The only other settlement was that of Nigg. — It came 
 on upon Saturday, June 2, on a petition of the king's ad- 
 vocate, on behalf of his Majesty, patron, William, Master 
 of Ross, and other heritors of that parish, concurring with 
 the presentation in favour of JMr Patrick Grant, minister at 
 Dutliil. The S}Tiod of Ross had given judgment, " ap- 
 pointing the Presbytery of Tain to deal with the people of 
 the parish, in order to obtain their concurrence with the 
 presentee ; and recommending to them to proceed to his 
 settlement, when they shall be satisfied that it will be con- 
 sistent with the interest and edification of the parish, at 
 any time betwixt and the meeting of next Synod ; till which 
 time they delayed the further consideration of the affair." 
 From this judgment the petitioners appealed ; and craved, 
 that the Assembly would appoint the Presbytery of Tain to 
 proceed to Mr Grant's settlement with all convenient des- 
 patch. Counsel, &c., being heard, the question was put, 
 Whether to appoint Mr Grant's transportation and settle- 
 
 " See the former vol., p. 292. 
 
28 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q1753. 
 
 ment at Nigg^ or Not ? hjNot being meant to affirm the Sy- 
 nod's sentence ; and it carried Appoint^ by a great majority. 
 
 The Assembly finding by the report of their committee 
 for overtures^ that a great number of Presb}i;eries have not 
 yet sent up their returns to the overtures transmitted to 
 them by the last and former Assemblies, do require such 
 Presbyteries as are still deficient, to send up their opinions 
 on these overtures to the next General Assembly, viz. : — 
 
 Overture about the Psalmody^ transmitted in the year 
 J 750. 
 
 Overture about licensing probationers^ transmitted in 
 the year 1749, and, with an addition, in the year 1750. 
 
 Overture m\Qi\i processes against prohationers^ transmit- 
 ted in the year 1748. 
 
 Overture for regulating the effect of dissents from judg- 
 ments of inferior courts, transmitted by the Assembly 1752. 
 
 Committees are appointed to consider the forms of com- 
 missions, and the crowns paid to the clerks of Assembly. 
 No report from the committee respecting the management 
 of the poor. 
 
 The formida prescribed by the 11th act of Assembly 
 1694, signed by the Right Honourable the Earl of Bread- 
 albane. 
 
 The Presbytery of Cairston appointed to coiTespond with 
 the Presbytery of Kirkwall^ as the Presbytery of Kirkwall 
 have a right of corresponding with them, leaving it to these 
 Presbyteries to settle between themselves who the corres- 
 pondents shall be. 
 
 The choice made by the trustees for managing the fund 
 for a provision to ministers' widotvs., &c., of Mr Alexander 
 Tait, writer in Edinburgh, to be their clerk, in place of 
 Robert JNIacintosh, deceased, appro ven of. 
 
 Reference to the Commission to take in and judge of a 
 cause anent the settlement of the parish of Cromarty.^ at 
 their first meeting after the Com-t of Session have deter- 
 mined in a process of declarator, depending before them, 
 anent the right of patronage of the said parish. 
 
 A reference from the Sjiiod of Glasgow and Ayi', of a 
 petition given in to the Presbytery of Hamilton by the Ses- 
 sion of Canibuslang, relating to a decision by the Lords of 
 Council and Session, whereby the Session are decerned to 
 pay out of their pockets a sum laid out by them, according 
 
1753.] MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 29 
 
 to the custom in other parishes, for purchasing utensils and 
 other necessaries for public worship in the place, — referred 
 to the Commission. 
 
 The year appointed to be marked at the top of each page 
 of the AssemUi/ Records, 
 
 The opinion of the committee on the public money, that 
 Mr John Maclennan, present minister at Contan^ pay to 
 Mr Murdo Mackenzie, late minister there, the sum of £3 
 sterling, in full of his demands for a piece of grass ground 
 adjacent to the glebe of Contan, (for which ]Mr ^Mackenzie 
 had formerly got <£l2 out of the Church's money,) and that 
 Mr Maclennan be entitled to repayment of the said £S 
 from his successors in office. 
 
 Act appointing a collection to be made at the church 
 doors of all the parishes in Scotland, for building the har- 
 bour of Eyemouth ; the money so collected, to be paid into 
 the hands of Mr Couts and Company, or of Mr James 
 Stewart, collector of the funds for ministers' widows. 
 
 Protestation admitted at the instance of the heritors and 
 others of the parish of Logie and Pert^ callers of ]\Ir Wil- 
 liaDi Cruden to be their minister, against others of that pa- 
 rish, callers of Mr James Mackail, and against the Presby- 
 tery of Brechin, for not insisting in their appeal from a 
 sentence of the S}Tiod of Angus and Meams, sustaining a 
 call to the said Mr Cruden. 
 
 Protestation admitted at the instance of Mr AVilliam 
 Scot, minister at Kirkpatrickjuxta^ against John Can-u- 
 thers in the parish of Drysdale, and Robert Carruthers in 
 the parish of Mousewald, for not insisting in their appeals 
 from sentences of the S}Tiod of Dumfries, affirming the 
 sentences pronounced by the Presbytery of Lochmaben in 
 the processes of scandal against them. 
 
 The Assembly rose on Monday, June 4. 
 
 The Commission had two sederunts, both on Tuesday, 
 June .5. They appointed a committee to consider the over- 
 tures transmitted to the last Assembly, and by them refer- 
 red to the Commission ; and to draw out one or more 
 overtures from them, to be laid before the Commission in 
 November. This committee consists of twenty-four minis- 
 ters and ten ruling elders. Seven are to be a quorum, of 
 whom five to be ministers. 
 
 c 2 
 
30 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 N0VE3IBER COMMLSSION. 
 
 On report of the committee appointed in June, the 
 Commission of the Assembly, which met at Edinburgh, 
 Nov. 21, transmitted the following overtures to the Assem- 
 bly, viz. : — 
 
 " 1. That all Presbyteries be enjoined to take care, in 
 licensing jjrohationevs^ strictly to observe the rules of the 
 Word of God, and acts of the Assembly relative thereto. 
 
 *■' 2. That they be also enjoined strictly to observe the 
 rules of this Church, with respect to probationers for the 
 ministry licensed in England^ or in foreign parts. 
 
 " 3. As to any minister ordained in England, or in fo- 
 reign parts, that before he be considered as a minister of 
 this Chm-ch, so as to be capable of a chai-ge in the Estab- 
 lishment, he shall preach before the Presbytery in whose 
 bounds the charge is, and be examined by them, in order 
 to their judging if he be duly quahfied. And in case any 
 such minister shall be presented by a patron, or receive a 
 call to any paiish, previously to his undergoing the trial 
 no^v mentioned, it shall be competent for the Presbytery to 
 take trial of him, as above, in order to liis settlement.* 
 
 "'■ 4. That care shall always be taken by Presbyteries, and 
 other judicatures, before taking any steps toward a settle- 
 ment in consequence oi ^ presentation^ that the patron and 
 presentee be duly qualified, and that the presentation be in 
 terms of law. 
 
 '' 5. Tliat Presbyteries be further enjoined, that when 
 one is presented to a parish, against whom there appears to 
 be no just objection, they shall use their best endeavour's to 
 render the j^resentee acceptable to the parish. 
 
 " 6. That as the sentences of the supreme court are 
 final, and therefore should be earned into execution, it shall 
 not be competent for any Presbytery, who have received 
 orders from the Assembly with respect to a settlement, to 
 state a vote, AVhether such orders shall be obeyed, or Not ? 
 And if such vote shall be put, they shall be answerable for 
 their conduct to the superior judicatures. And in case the 
 vote should carry in the negative, it shall not^^^th standing 
 be competent for the minority, if they be a quorum, to pro- 
 ceed to the execution of the sentence. 
 
 * See the case of Heron of Terreagles, in 1 752. 
 
1753.] OVERTURES TRANSMITTED. 31 
 
 "7. That when one is ordained or admitted as minis- 
 ter of a parish, though by a minority of the Presbytery, he 
 shall, in consequence of his ordination or admission, be ipso 
 facto a member of the Preshyterii and Synod. 
 
 " 8. That in case a sentence of the General Assembly ap- 
 pointing a settlement shall not be carried into execution, 
 the Presbytery shall, without any citation, be obliged to sist 
 themselves before the next General Assembly, to lay before 
 them the reasons of their conduct ; and that the Assembly 
 shall shoAv all due lenity and tenderness towards them. 
 
 "9. That if the General Assembly shall see cause to 
 proceed against all or any of the members of such Presby- 
 tery in order to censure, for not carrying such settlement 
 into execution, it shall be in the way of a lihel^ specifying 
 the rules and laws they have transgressed ; it being under- 
 stood, that as long time shall be given them to make their 
 defences, as is consistent with the Assembly's coming to a 
 final decision in that matter.* 
 
 "10. That if, hereafter, the judicatures shall find reason 
 to dismiss any of their members from the ministry of this 
 Church, upon c[uestions relating to the national establish- 
 ment, or as she is distinguished from other Churches of 
 Christ in her outward constitution, they shall vary the or- 
 dinary form of the sentence of deposition, in such manner as 
 the circumstances of the case shall require, and as may be 
 least offensive to other Churches. 
 
 "11. That the Commissions of the General Assembly 
 shall not henceforth be empowered to take in and judge of 
 any causes relating to the settlement of parishes, but such 
 as have first been brought, by reference or appeal, to the 
 General Assembly, and are by them specially referred to 
 their Commission, as affairs which the Assembly themselves 
 cannot overtake. 
 
 " 1 2. That as it is of consequence that causes referred 
 
 • Some Synods proposed, in the overtures which they trans- 
 mitted to the^last Assembly, that every person, when libelled, 
 should be allowed at least ten free days to prepare his defences • 
 but it was argued in the Commission, that though this might be 
 practised with respect to processes before the inferior judicatures, 
 it could not be turned into an invariable rule with respect to trials 
 before the supreme court, as the General Assembly does not usu- 
 ally sit in all more than ten days ; and therefore the overture was 
 framed as above. 
 
82 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 to the Commission, respecting the settlement of parishes^ 
 should be cognosced by them in as full a meeting as pos- 
 sible, they shall be enjoined to determine in all questions of 
 this natm*e, at their first meeting after the rising of the As- 
 sembly, unless there be some special reason for delaying 
 any such question, — and the reason shall be entered into 
 their records." 
 
 Another overture was transmitted on the 22d, viz., 
 " The Commission, considering that the present practice of 
 this Church, whereby the members of inferior judicatures 
 are excluded from judging or voting in the superior judica- 
 tures, in case of an appeal^ is contrary to the practice of all 
 other courts, both of law and equity, and in some measure 
 subversive of that exact parity which is a leading part of 
 our constitution, as it sometimes subjects the sentence of 
 the far greater number to that of the lesser. And farther, 
 considering, that by this means those who a little before 
 acted in the character of judges, are obliged to stand at the 
 bar, on a level with the pannel, must enter into the spirit 
 and warmth of a party, and perhaps are condemned for no 
 other reason than giving sentence according to their best 
 judgment, and which they w^ould willingly have altered 
 upon a review^; and as it often, if not always, happens, 
 when the members of inferior courts before whom the cause 
 was first tried, and thoroughly canvassed, are removed, the 
 affair is not sufficiently understood ; particularly because 
 those who voted among the minority are not allowed to 
 assign any reasons of their conduct, except they have en- 
 tered a complaint, which one would not choose to do, un- 
 less in a very strong case ; and every one knows, that, in 
 the course of reasoning, things frequently cast up w^hich 
 perplex or mislead the judges, that could easily have been 
 obviated or cleared up if the members of the inferior courts 
 had not been deprived of the liberty of speaking. On all 
 these accounts, and for many other obvious reasons, the 
 Commission propose, that the Assembly should transmit an 
 overture to the consideration of the several Presbyteries, 
 for allowng the members of inferior judicatures to sit, 
 judge, and vote, in the superior courts, in cases of appeals, 
 as they do at present in the case of a reference." 
 
 On a motion to take into consideration the abounding 
 profanation of the Lord* s Day, and to think of proper me- 
 tliods for putting a stop to it, a committee w^as named to 
 
1753.] AVARNING AGAINST PROFANENESS. 33 
 
 draw up a warning for this purpose, to be read from the 
 pulpits. A draught of this warning was presented on the 
 2 2d, and approved of, the tenor whereof follows : — 
 
 " An Act and Warning of the Commission of the Gene- 
 ral Assemhly of the Church of Scotland, against Pro- 
 faneness and immorality. 
 
 " Edinburgh^ November 22, 1753. 
 " Which day, the Commission of the General Assembly 
 of the Church of Scotland, taking into their serious consi- 
 deration the declining state of religion within this Church 
 and land, — the \asible decay of the spirit of true piety and 
 godliness, — the bold and abounding instances of gro^^-ing 
 vice and immorality, in open contempt of the glorious Gos- 
 pel of the Son of God, and of many national mercies and 
 awakening judgments ^^^th which he has been pleased to 
 visit us of late ; and observing in particular, with deep con- 
 cern, the prevailing neglect of family religion, and the pub- 
 lic worship of God ; the horrid profanation of the Lord's 
 Day, by unnecessary visits and travelling, frequenting ta- 
 verns, idleness, or people's attending chiefly to their Avorldly 
 affairs, — nay, as to some, it is feared, by gaming, and going 
 into jDarties of pleasure ; and all these in opposition to di- 
 vine authority, and our excellent laws ; all which have a 
 manifest tendency to extinguish in the minds of men a just 
 sense of God and his righteous government, — that great 
 support of true rehgion and morality. The Commission, 
 therefore, from a tender regard to the glory of God and the 
 honour of our Redeemer, — from compassion to precious 
 souls and faithfulness to the trust committed to them, — 
 hereby obtest, in the most warm and solemn manner, per- 
 sons of all ranks, to consider how highly provoking such 
 courses are to a holy God, dishonouring and ungi-ateful to 
 the blessed Redeemer, dangerous to society, and hurtful to 
 every valuable interest of their oami ; and exhort them, in 
 the bowels of Christ, to unfeigned repentance and thorough 
 reformation, — to fly for pardon to divine mercy through the 
 Mediator, lest he turn and do us evil, and, in the fierceness 
 of his wrath, utterly consume us, after he has done us so 
 much good. And the Commission earnestly recommends 
 to all judges and magistrates, in this weighty matter to act 
 as the ministers of God, by being a terror to such evil-doers; 
 
34 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 and strictly enjoin Presbyteries within this Church to exert 
 the powers with which they are invested, and to apply to 
 those in civil authority for con-ecting such gross enormities : 
 and they particularly expect from the elders of this Church, 
 — those in a special manner of distinction and authority, — 
 that they will employ the whole weight of their interest and 
 example, for restraining and suppressing such scandalous 
 Hcentiousness, profanity, and impiety. And, finally, the 
 Commission, in the fear of God, enjoins all the ministers of 
 this Church to take heed to themselves, and their respec- 
 tive flocks committed to them ; and where any of their 
 charge are found irreclaimable from the above mentioned 
 pernicious ways, that, in such cases, Presb}i;eries shall take 
 care that they do not bring upon themselves the heinous guilt 
 of prostituting sacred things, by allowing such persons, of 
 whatever name or station, the benefit of sealing ordinances. 
 And the Commission appoints this act to be read from the 
 pulpits of all the churches within the Synod of Lothian and 
 Tweeddale, on the third Sabbath of January next, and 
 from the pulpits of all the other churches in Scotland on 
 the last Sabbath of April next, with suitable exhortations. 
 And appoint copies hereof to be transmitted to the several 
 Presbyteries." 
 
 The same day an advertisement was ordered to be in- 
 serted in the Edinburgh newspapers, desiring all ministers 
 who have not made collections for the German Protestants 
 in Pennsylvania, in terms of the act 1752, to do it with all 
 convenient speed, and to send the money which they shall 
 collect, to Mr William Hog, merchant in Edinburgh. 
 
 Biggar settlement was also determined that day. A pe- 
 tition for the opposers of Mr William Haig was read ; and 
 several ministers insisting to appoint his settlement, and 
 others moving for a delay, or for leaving the affair to the 
 ensuing Assembly, a vote was put. Settle^ or Delay ? It 
 carried Settle ; and the court appointed the Presbytery to 
 proceed to his trials and settlement accordingly. Mr John 
 Buchanan at Covington, Mr WiUiam Tate at Kilbucho, 
 and Mr John Macaul, at Symington, ministers, for them- 
 selves, and in name of the Presbytery ; and James Smith, 
 portioner of Biggar, for himself, and in name of the heri- 
 tors, elders, and parishioners, opposers of Mr Haig's settle- 
 ment, protested for liberty to complain of the above sentence 
 
1753.] CASE OP BIGGA«. 35 
 
 to the next Assembly, as in their opinion the Commission 
 had exceeded their powers. Mr George Lindsay, minister 
 at North Leith, entered his dissent from the above judg- 
 ment ; to which Messrs John Cunie at Kinglassie, Robert 
 Spears at Burntisland, John Erskine at Culross, James Ste- 
 venson in Edinburgh, John Penman at Bothkennar, John 
 Fergusson at Port, John Ferrier at Largo, James Bayne 
 at Killeni, Thomas Randal at Inchture, and Alexander Dun 
 at Auchinleck, ministers, adhered. The follo^^'ing are the 
 
 Reasons of Complaint against the sentence of the Commis- 
 sion^ unanimousli/ offered to the next General Assembly 
 hy the Presbytery of Biggar : — 
 
 " 1 . It is manifest to the complainers, that this sentence is 
 inconsistent with the i-ules of all courts, where subordination 
 takes place. The want of a concurrence was the capital 
 point we kept in view, in both our unanimous sentences, 
 finding it inexpedient to proceed to Mr Haig's settlement. 
 The Assembly 1751 found, without a vote, ' That in regard 
 no person residing within the parish, save one, has concur- 
 red with the ^Presentation, it is therefore inexpedient to pro- 
 ceed to the settlement of the presentee.' The last Assem- 
 bly viewed this cause in the same light, when they delayed 
 the settlement, and appointed the Presb}'~tery of Biggar ' to 
 use their endeavom-s to reconcile the minds of the people to 
 the presentee.' It is Avell known, that no superior court, 
 when judging of the sentence of an inferior one, can legally 
 take any circumstance into consideration, which was not 
 before the inferior court when they passed the sentence 
 judged of. Though the objections made to the presentee 
 had been proved to be false, this could not have any influ- 
 ence on the cause as it came before the Commission ; for 
 these objections had never entered into any of the former 
 sentences relating to it, and the single question before them 
 was this. Is the concurrence for Mr Haig greater or not than 
 in May 1751 ? If they \dewed the affair in this only just 
 light, they gave judgment contrary to fact. If they viewed 
 it not thus, they took into their consideration circumstances 
 entirely foreign to the question, and determined in a man- 
 ner contrary to reason, and to the invariable practice of 
 every court that resembles theirs. 
 
 ^'2. In our humble opinion, this decision is contrary to 
 
36 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 the principles of justice, and subversive of the ends of all 
 government. To give to every man what appears to be his 
 right,y?'om what is alleged and proved^ is the very essence 
 of just sentences. The parish of Biggar have alleged the 
 weakness of Mr Haig's voice and constitution for their au- 
 dience and charge, as the reason of [their opposition. No- 
 thing can be plainer than the relevancy of this objection, 
 and that it might be true, though he could have been toler- 
 ably well heard in the church of Biggar, for the ordinary 
 time of one sermon. The Reverend Commission in No- 
 vember 1752, allowed, however, no longer a trial, — ap- 
 pointed a committee of their own number to determine as 
 to the truth or falsehood of the allegation, — and made every 
 member of the Presbytery of Biggar a judge. There was 
 no meeting of Commission in March last ; and it appeared 
 by the report made to last Assembly, that the majority did 
 not hear Mr Haig distinctly. Yet the Commission in No- 
 vember last thought proper to order his settlement, and 
 acted as if the Presbytery of Biggar had not been commis- 
 sioned to judge in the trial of his voice ; and, as if compas- 
 sion for the temporal situation of one man, were a sufficient 
 cause for refusing to grant to the eternal interests of above 
 nine hundred souls, what appears to be due to them from 
 the most legal and impartial inquiry. 
 
 " 3. This judgment appears to us to be subversive of the 
 constitution of the Church of Scotland, in a particular man- 
 ner. It is acknowledged universally, that the Commission 
 can neither act nor exist but by a delegated power from the 
 Assembly. AYhatever reasons can possibly be alleged for 
 the Assembly 1751 finding the settlement of Mr Haig at 
 Biggar inexpedient then, have not been diminished, but in- 
 creased since, yet the sentence complained of orders us to 
 proceed to his settlement. We are extremely sorry that a 
 Commission should have stated such a formal opposition 
 against an Assembly, that we cannot possibly obey both. 
 But we hope the ready preference we have given to the 
 Assembly, will be approved of by every sincere and atten- 
 tive friend of this Church. It is a very general opinion, 
 that, in a case of this kind, unless some considerable alter- 
 ation has happened, one Assembly cannot reverse the sen- 
 tence of another, without absurdly declaring the judgment 
 of the supreme court not final, — without making causes run 
 an endless coiu'se, and destroying the constitution. What 
 
1753.] CASE OF BIGGAR. 37 
 
 an Assembly itself cannot do, without laying the whole fa- 
 bric of this Church in ruins, it can never empower a Com- 
 mission to do, while this plain maxim remains indisputable, 
 that he icho has no power can give none. On this occa- 
 sion, therefore, we think we could not have been silent, and 
 have acquitted ourselves to our own conscience, and to the 
 constitution we have solemnly confessed ' to be founded 
 upon and agreeable to the Word of God.' And it were to 
 be wished, that some who have appeared as most strenuous 
 advocates for the constitution at other times, had acted more 
 consistently now. 
 
 '• 4. We cannot turn our eyes to the powers and in- 
 structions given to the Commission by the last Assembly, 
 without being persuaded, that they have been exceeded, and 
 opposed, in some of the most important articles, by this 
 sentence. The last Assembly instructs the Commission ' to 
 advert" to the interests of the Church, on every occasion, 
 that the Church and present establishment thereof do not 
 suifer, or sustain any prejudice, which they can prevent.' 
 But they appear to us not to have attended duly to the in- 
 terests either of religion or the establishment. They have 
 appointed one to be settled, as minister of the Gospel to 
 above nine hundred souls, whose voice has been proved to 
 be insufficient for their audience, — whose settlement would 
 not be attended with the smallest probability of usefulness 
 to them, as things now stand, and would be more pernicious 
 than a vacancy, for it would make this numerous congrega- 
 tion leave the communion of this Church, if we can believe 
 their own very humble remonstrances at the bar, before the 
 sentence was given, — it would spread schism and tumult 
 through the whole populous neighbourhood, which has been 
 harmonious and peaceful hitherto. The Commission are 
 required also, ' in all their actings to proceed according to 
 the acts and constitutions of this Church, and to do nothing 
 contrary thereto, or to the prejudice of the same.' But they 
 have despised formally, and rescinded in effi3ct, an express 
 decision of the Assembly 1751, in the very question now in 
 debate. 
 
 " 5. In our apprehension, this judgment is an attempt to 
 abrogate the invariable practice and procedure, and some of 
 the standing resolutions and laws of this Church. Were 
 the settlement of ^Ir Haig to take place, in its present situ- 
 ation, it would stand the single instance, in a country well 
 
 D 
 
3S ' ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [l753. 
 
 affected to both Church and State, which could be showed, 
 without the concurrence of more than one fixed parishioner, 
 without the concurrence of one residing heritor, or even of 
 one unresiding heritor of above £5 SterUng per annum, 
 against whom a legal objection has not been offered. The 
 la^v allows the natural representatives of the noble family of 
 Wigton no more power than that of annuitants, in the pre- 
 sent state of their affairs. Instead of looking out for ' a 
 favourable opportunity' for seeking relief, or considering 
 patronages in the least, as ' the grievance ' of this Church, 
 agreeably to the standing resolution in the index of the un- 
 printed Acts of Assembly 1736, and their o^^^l instructions ; 
 instead of remembering ^ that it is, and has been, since the 
 Reformation, the principle of this Church, that no minister 
 shall be intruded into any parish, contrary to the will of the 
 congregation,' in confoiTnity to the 14th act, sess. ult. of the 
 same Assembly, which homologates all former acts on that 
 head, the Commission have ordered the most iHolent in- 
 trusion that ever was heard of in this Church ; have acted 
 as if patronages were her joy, not her grievance ; and have 
 given them their strongest sanction. If these standing re- 
 solutions and laws are ^^Tong, let them be repealed in a re- 
 gulai' way. While they are in force, we humbly contend, 
 that no court of the Church of Scotland, not even the su- 
 preme one, can order such a settlement as that under con- 
 sideration, without openly assaulting her constitution, and 
 exceeding their o^Ml powers ; for every member of Assem- 
 bl V is bound, by his very commission, always ' to vote and 
 determine agreeable to the constitutions of this Church.' 
 
 '' 6. This decision introduces, in effect, a new law and 
 form of procedure into the Church of Scotland, in a most 
 irregular manner. By express and well-known rules, no 
 old law can be repealed, or new one made in this Church, 
 until the design has been transmitted in overture by the 
 Assembly, to all the Presbyteries, and the consent of at least 
 the majority of them obtained. That patrons can relieve 
 the Church, has been a very general maxim. Addresses 
 have actually been presented to patrons, for relief from a 
 distressing case, and have been attended with the desired 
 success, as at Oxenham, Manner,* &c., where a second per- 
 son was presented, without so much as even informing the 
 
 * See the former vol., p. 35. 
 
1753.] CASE OF BIGGAR. 39 
 
 first presentee, and settled accordingly. The latter clause 
 of the judgment of Assembly 1751, seems to us to have 
 these principles plainly in \'iew, and to order an application 
 to be made to the patrons, in the present case, by these 
 words, — ' and appoint the Presbytery to deal with all con- 
 cerned^ in order to bring about a comfortable settlement of 
 that parish ; ' for it will not surely be said, that patrons are 
 not concerned in the settlements of their respective parishes. 
 Notwithstanding this, the Commission have ordered the 
 settlement, while it has no parallel for uncomfortahleness., 
 and while it is impossible to conceive how any one can be 
 more uncomfortable. By a new law, made in a new, sum- 
 mary way, they have declared, on the matter, that no pa- 
 tron can relieve the Church, and that she can do nothing 
 but settle, even Avhere there is no concurrence ; and have 
 cut off her last resource, even in the hardest case imagin- 
 able. 
 
 " 7. We humbly conceive, that neither the civil nor 
 the ecclesiastical law of this land furnishes any sort of plea 
 for this sentence. It cannot be said justly, that the law of 
 patronage lays the Church of Scotland under any compul- 
 sitory, to ordain even the most unexceptionable presentee ; 
 neither does it appear to us, to give him any right to the 
 benefice without ordination. If the contrary of either of 
 these positions were the truth, our fears of having the law 
 of patronage made stricter, would be extremely vain ; for 
 the thing would be impossible. The term of paying sti- 
 pends is usually determined by the date of the ordination, 
 not by that of the presentation. In every civil question 
 concerning the benefice, letters of ordination must be pro- 
 duced ; and in all processes arising from the Church of 
 Scotland's refusal to ordain a legal presentee, and ordaining 
 another, the benefice has been found to be the property, and 
 at the disposal of the patron, not of his unordained presen- 
 tee ; particularly by the Court of Session in the cases of 
 Auchtermuchty and Culross, and by the House of Peers in 
 that of Lanark. Even process cannot be legally granted to 
 him who is known to have no legal claim. 
 
 " Whatever power a patron has by law, can be justly 
 pleaded against the settlement in debate. The presentation 
 granted to Mr Haig requires the Presbytery of Biggar, ' if 
 any impediment shall happen, to give us (the patrons) ad- 
 vertisement, that we may present another qualified person 
 
40 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 in due time.' Supposing noAv tliat no objection had been 
 proved, or offered, against the presentee, surely it will not 
 be said by any friend of religion and this Church, that the 
 opposition of so considerable a parish as is Biggar, and the 
 decision of a General Assembly, are not any impediments 
 to the settlement of a particular person as minister of the 
 Gospel there. That they are impediments the patrons ne- 
 ver meant to struggle with, in the present instance, is de- 
 monstrated by every step of their conduct since this affair 
 appeared in its true light. They are three in all. Never 
 could one of them be prevailed upon to grant a commis- 
 sion for prosecuting Mr Haig's settlement, or be heard 
 wishing it to take place, from the moment it wore so dis- 
 agreeable an aspect. The letter wrote by one of these three 
 trustee-patrons, in name of them all, to us, when applying 
 for relief, by appointment of the Assembly 1751, is in the 
 process. It declares their great willingness ' to present an- 
 other,' and gives the highest degree of clearness and strength 
 to this Avhole reasoning. The sentence we complain of, 
 desT)ises these most generous expressions of regard for the 
 Church of Scotland, forbids all patrons to give her relief, 
 and tells the world she will not accept of it, even when 
 granted in consequence of an appUcation by authority of the 
 Assembly itself. 
 
 " Mr Haig, like all the other candidates for the holy mi- 
 nistry in this Church, has, we doubt not, promised and sub- 
 scribed ' submission to the government and judicatures 
 thereof,' as the indispensable condition of being licensed to 
 preach the Gospel, and consequently, of being presented to 
 a benefice ; he cannot, therefore, retain his presentation le- 
 gally, after the supreme com't of this Church have declared 
 it ' inexpedient to proceed to his settlement ; ' for the law 
 cannot impose promises of submission, without giving a 
 power to exact ftilfilment, and to punish disobedience. In 
 one word, we can see no law, no reason for this decision. 
 Every law, every reason seems to us to operate most power- 
 fully against it. 
 
 "8. This sentence was passed by a very small majo- 
 rity. We are far from asserting, that the house was fram- 
 ed for the case of Biggar ; but not a few were present at 
 tlie diet appointed for it, who were absent from every other. 
 We honour and regard the ruling elders ; yet we think we 
 may say, that they cannot so sensibly feel all the conse- 
 
1754.] ELECTION OP AN AGENT. 4-1 
 
 quences of such aii appointment, as ministers can. Four 
 ministers only voted for the decision complained of, and the 
 greater part of those who voted against it, dissented from it 
 also. Though both parties have acted on this occasion with 
 the greatest integrity of heart, yet it seems absolutely ne- 
 cessary to us, that this judgment should be declared irregu- 
 lar, in order to check effectually a designing few, who might 
 otherwise attempt, on some future occasion, what might be 
 still more destructive of religion, and subversive of the con- 
 stitution of this Church. For these reasons, we cannot but 
 hope, that the ensuing General Assembly will find, that the 
 Commission, in appointing Mr Haig's settlement, have acted 
 an unjustifiable part, and exceeded all their powers, and 
 that we behave as becomes the obedient and affectionate 
 sons of the Church of Scotland." 
 
 ASSEMBLY 1754. 
 
 On Thursday, the 23d May, the General Assembly met. 
 The Earl of Hopetoun was his Majesty's Commissioner, 
 and *•' made a very splendid appearance, especially when he 
 went to church, at the opening of the Assembly, and the 
 two Sundays during its sitting. On these occasions, the 
 street, from his Grace's lodgings, in the New Bank Close, 
 to the church door, was lined by five companies of Lord 
 Charles Hay's regiment, and the City Guard. In going to 
 church, his Grace was supported, the first day, by the Duke 
 of Athol on the right, and the Earl of Huntingdon, an 
 English nobleman, on the left ; and, on the Sunday follow- 
 ing, by the Duke of Hamilton on the right, and the Earl of 
 Drumlanrig on the left ; and there was always a great num- 
 ber of noblemen and gentlemen of distinction. The King's 
 seat in the church, and the throne in the Assembly House, 
 were both fitted up anew, in a rich and elegant manner." 
 
 After sermon "" ])y Mr Alexander AVebster, one of the 
 ministers of Edinburgh, and Moderator of the former As- 
 sembly, the Venerable Court met, and chose Mr Robert 
 Hamilton, Professor of Divinity in the University of Edin- 
 burgh, Moderator. 
 
 The discourse was printed with the title, " Zeal for the Reli- 
 gious Interests of Mankind; a Sermon from Psalm cxxxvii. 5, 6." 
 D 2 
 
42 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. []1754', 
 
 Mr Baillie, with whom Mr Edmonstone had been asso- 
 ciated in office, by last Assembly, as joint-agent and sub' 
 clerk ^ died on the 9th January 1754-. Not long after, a 
 paper - appeared, ^^dth the signature M. N., bearing inter- 
 nal evidence of having been written by the same person 
 who drew up the " Reasons of Dissent," at p. 10, against 
 Mr Edmonstone's election, and who was, in all probability, 
 either Professor Cumin^ or Mr Dunccui Macfarlan of 
 Dripnen. The latter gentleman was " the dissenter, Avho, 
 for himself, and in name of all the rest, craved that it might 
 be marked, that as they had dissented from the resolution, 
 accepting of Mr Baillie's proposal, they Vvcre not to concern 
 themselves further in the matter." f The design of this pa- 
 per is to open up the whole question for discussion, in the 
 Assembly 1754; and as it throws some additional light on 
 the points at issue, we here present it entire. 
 
 ^' The offices of sub-clerk to the General Assembly, and 
 agent for the Church, are of general concern to the clergy ; 
 and as they are places of profit as Avell as trust, numbers, 
 no doubt, of the laity, vnW interest themselves. 
 
 " In the histories of remote ages, we admire, and cannot 
 but admire, the manner and character of those princes, and 
 persons in power, whose care it was to fill all places of trust, 
 honour, and profit, with men of real worth and character, 
 v.'lio, far from taking up with the first that offered, sought out 
 for the properest persons, and sometimes brought them even 
 from the remotest pro\inces. We know, too, the raen and 
 their communication^ who, in our otvtl times and countr}', 
 have been loud and long in their complaints, that the road 
 to preferments and places of power, is not ordinarily merit 
 and character, but flexibility, obsequiousness, connections, 
 Parliamentaiy influence, &c. It is but natural to expect, 
 that an Assembly of men who glory of being office-bearers 
 in tlie House of God, would not be rash, hasty, and incon- 
 siderate in the bestoAval of any office in their gift. Sure it 
 becomes them to be examples imto all, in propriety of be- 
 haviour, in whatsoever is lovely and of good report. To 
 them, superior merit should always be the leading consi- 
 
 See the Scots Magazine for 1754, p. 13/ 
 + See the former vol., p. 332. 
 
1754.] ELECTION OF AN AGENT. 4.3 
 
 cleratioii, and real worth the best recomniendatioii, the sole 
 prevailing argument. The factions of this world are found- 
 ed upon worldly views, and conducted by worldly measures, 
 ])ut pity it is they should at any time mix with the Assem- 
 blies of ministers of the Gospel, and be found in the courts 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 '■'■ Many, very many, I am told, are much dissatisfied with 
 the doings of last Assembly in tliis affair. Nor need this 
 be wondered at, if the reasons they found upon are attended 
 to. These are said to be, — 
 
 " 1. The choice they made of agent and su]j-clerk, — a 
 young man, who had not had time or opportunity to found 
 or form a character, who, though he had gone through an 
 apprenticeship, had not, and, indeed, could not, yet have 
 any experience in business. 
 
 " 2. Their manner of conducting it, — first proposed in 
 the close of a meeting, when numbers of members, of such 
 as were not upon the concert, had, according to custom, left 
 the house ; ushered in with a solemn speech, that Mr Bail- 
 lie's age and infirmities rendered him unequal to hold those 
 ofhces alone, though, (which demonstrates that this was all 
 but affected,) the same persons, and the same influence, 
 soon after fomid and determined, that he was equal for, and 
 to hold both offices alone, if he sm'vived the new clerk they 
 had in view ; ten-ors hung out to Mr Baillie, to intimidate 
 him into a compliance with the scheme that had been de- 
 vised ; when these did operate, a proper committee ap- 
 pointed to manufacture and ripen the affair for the Assem- 
 bly ; Mr Baillie dealt with in private ; and, as was said by 
 l)ersons Avhose groimds of knowledge might be relied on, a 
 lucrative bargain for him and family proposed and made ; 
 to this, too, Mr Baillie, in his letter to the committee, plainly 
 enough refers, as the inductive cause of his giving the con- 
 sent they wanted. He, ]\Ir Bailhe, not the Assembly, or 
 their committee, nominates his colleague and successor, h- 
 miting the Assembly to one of two, so as they can have no 
 other choice ; the Assembly, by a solemn vote, accept of 
 this proposal ; and thus make their election, and nominate 
 their agent and sub-clerk, before Mr Baillie gives in any 
 demission or resignation. The Avhole affair, in all its steps, 
 ^vas driven and precipitated the first days of the Assembly, 
 ^vhile numbers of members had not come up, in the belief 
 tliat no business of importance would be transacted, and 
 
44> ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1754. 
 
 which immemorial custom had given them reason to ex- 
 pect ; and this notwithstanding that numbers reclaimed 
 against so hasty a procedm-e, and urged a delay till the As- 
 sembly would be fully convened, that all having interest 
 might have opportunity to give their opinion. 
 
 " 3. The Assembly exceeded their powers, and did what 
 was incompetent and improper. It seems to be a maxim 
 of sound reason and good policy, that no otfice of trust and 
 profit be disposed of till it fairly become vacant, — that no 
 vacancy be filled up till a vacancy take place. The Ge- 
 neral Assembly changes every year, and for one Assembly 
 to bestow an office not yet vacant, is evidently to invade or 
 preoccupy the just right of that Assembly that shall first 
 meet after such office becomes vacant. If any Assembly 
 can bestow the survivancy of an office, if they have a right 
 and power so to do, they may, and they have a right to be- 
 stow the survivancy of that sm*vivor, and a third, and a 
 fourth survivancy ; nor is it easy to see where they are to 
 stop, to find out any data or principles of reason to hinder 
 them from making a sort of entail of it for ages to come, — 
 an absurdity so glaring, that it would be in vain to argue 
 against it. To say that the Assembly have no right to dis- 
 pose of the sur\4vancy of any office in the open and direct 
 way, but that they may in the indirect way, by the artificial 
 device of conjoining one in the office, and the mediation of 
 a sham resignation of an office, the half of which the re- 
 signer is next moment to take up for himself, and the whole, 
 if he survives his colleague, is so thin and refined a distinc- 
 tion, and seems so artfully calculated to serve a resolved 
 purpose, as to do no great honour to a cause or procedure 
 that needs such a support. 
 
 " To this it will be said, that General Assemblies have in 
 fact this right, and have exercised it, — they did it in the 
 Assemblies 1738 and ]7-i3. But the Assembhes 1743 and 
 1753 reversed these l>estowals, and opened them up. We 
 have here two Assemblies against two, equally balancing 
 one another ; so that nothing can ])e fairly concluded from 
 either. That Mr Spence, the then clerk and agent, did not 
 in the year 1738 formally resign, makes no sort of odds. 
 He petitioned the Assembly, praying Mr Macintosh might 
 be appointed his colleague during his life, and successor 
 after his death. Betwixt such a petition, and such a resig- 
 nation as Mr Macintosh made in 1743, or Mr Baillie in 
 
1754.] ELECTION OF AN AGENT. 45 
 
 1 753, there is, to a plain and honest mind, no discernible 
 difference ; though there may be to a skilful designing man, 
 who has a turn to serve, or favourite scheme to promote by 
 such distinction. 3Ir Spence could have no concern or in- 
 terest, in who was to brook the whole or a part after his 
 death ; all his concern could be only, in who was to be his 
 colleague and assistant during his life, or his being in office ; 
 to give him more, would be to give him a power to cany 
 on the affairs of this life when in his grave. If the Assem- 
 bly 1 738 had any power to bestow the survivancy after his 
 death, they, to be sure, had a power to do it independent of 
 liim, or any resignation from him. If it is admitted, that 
 an Assembly can fix v»'ho is to be their clerk or agent after 
 the demise of the person now in possession of these offices, 
 it is absurd to say they cannot do so without the consent of 
 their present servant, or a resignation fi-om him. 
 
 " Be it that the General Assembly have a poAver, in some 
 circumstances, to convey a survivancy, have they therefore 
 a power to do so wantonly, and mthout the colour of a rea- 
 son ? In the Assembly 1753, there w^as no necessity al- 
 leged, no reason given. Mr Baillie was so far from asking 
 a colleague, that he had declared to several members of As- 
 sembly who asked him, that he w^ould not submit to take 
 one; and it is certain he stiniggled it. Any pretence of 
 reason arising from his age and infirmity, was departed from 
 by express determination of Assembly. To say that it was 
 to prevent disputes in the Assembly is all affected, as there 
 was no appearance of, nor foundation for, a dispute, or even 
 a question, but what those gentlemen would needs force, 
 w ho pressed to anticipate a vacancy. Further, if there had 
 been even some reason for an assistant-clerk and agent, there 
 was still no necessity for disposing of the survivancy ; because 
 Mr Baillie might have called for, or the Assembly have no- 
 minated, one to him dm-ing his enjoyment of the office ; — 
 and for this there wanted not precedents upon the face of 
 the Assembly records. 
 
 " Was it even admitted that the Assembly might, by a 
 stretch of power, in some possible situations, bestow a sur- 
 vivance, was it therefore competent and proper to do it in 
 such a manner, and by such procedure ? — when numbers of 
 members were honafide absent, and numbers remonstrated 
 against proceeding till the house was full ; — to bring them- 
 selves so low as to give their old clerk and agent the nomi- 
 
46 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1754. 
 
 nation of the new, and tie themselves down to his nomina- 
 tion ; first to hang out teiTors to intimidate him, and then 
 set a temptation of lucre before him, to induce him to con- 
 sent to and concur in their preadjusted plan ; and in end to 
 give the Assembly's sanction to Mr Baillie's sale of these 
 offices, and his bargain about them. In the opinion of 
 many, this affair brings and leaves such a stain upon the 
 Church and clergy, as can no otherwise be wiped off than 
 by pulling up the whole from the roots. Indeed, the great- 
 est discouragement and check that can possibly be given to 
 jobbers, is to disappoint their designs, — to disconcert and 
 defeat their success. 
 
 " One would think, that if the ensuing General Assembly 
 cannot find a vacancy, it is nevertheless competent to them 
 to make one. I apprehend that all offices of trust are, in 
 the nature of things, during pleasure, if not given in terms 
 for life and good behaviour. And if offices for life do ge- 
 nerally carry it in terminis^ this, I should think, confirms 
 my opinion. There is still something stronger in the pre- 
 sent case, ^^z., that the principal clerk of the General As- 
 sembly, and procurator for the Church, hold their offices 
 only during pleasure ; a very strong presumption, sure, 
 that the under offices are understood to be held in the same 
 manner; and it is observable, that these principal offices 
 were understood to be so held before the year 1 74C ; and 
 that the words during pleasure were then added, because a 
 doubt was then raised, whether they were^or life or during 
 pleasure. The now Lord Advocate ^' held the offices of prin- 
 cipal clerk and procurator for many years; and exerced 
 those offices, as he does the high office he now holds, with 
 great credit, and reputation, and dignity of character ; and 
 , when those offices were given him by the Church, he was 
 to exerce them, and enjoy the emoluments of them, as 
 fully and freely as any ofhisj^redecessors. The Assembly 
 1746 did, notwithstanding, find these offices vacant, with- 
 out any mal-behaviour on his part, or resignation from him. 
 Nor could their so doing be on account of his absence ; in 
 regard he offered a depute to officiate, and that a former 
 Assembly had given him a power of deputation in case of 
 necessary absence. 
 
 " Any footsteps of the office of sub-clerk upon the records 
 
 * Mr Wm. Grant, afterwards Lord Prestongrange. 
 
17.54.] ELECTION OF AN AGENT. 47 
 
 of Assembly, plainly point it out to be during pleasure. 
 At first he seems to have l)een only an assistant to the prin> 
 cipal clerk, chosen by him, and during his pleasure. It is 
 only first mentioned in terms anno 1701 ; and then it is 
 evidently understood to have been during pleasure. Mr 
 
 Spence is said to be continued sub-clerk, &c., sicut ante. 
 
 Indeed, to give the offices of clerks/jr life and good beha- 
 viour, would, or at least might, be attended with very bad and 
 absurd consequences. Mistakes have been kno^^•Il to creep 
 into the minutes of Assembly. The clerks have hitherto 
 in such a case submitted to the correction of next sederunt ; 
 but if they did not, but persisted obstinately, and that m 
 opposition to the coui-t, that the minute bore the res gesta^ 
 (a case I once saw happen in an inferior court.) the con- 
 sequence must be, that the business of the Assembly stop, 
 and go no farther ; or that they have a power to vacate his 
 seat, and choose a clerk who will obey. 'Tis like that a 
 clerk of this temper would contend he was in no fault, and 
 threaten them with a process before the ci\\\ courts, if they 
 affected his freehold, and turned him out of his office. 
 
 " The office of sub-clerk does not seem to be very neces- 
 sary ; it is of no long standing, and the business of Assem- 
 bly was in former times carried on without it. I would 
 therefore humbly move, that, in consideration of the present 
 distressed state of the Church's funds, it be vacated, till 
 the debts affecting these be paid ; and the principal clerk 
 to choose, or the Assembly to nominate, an assistant for 
 him, (to be by him paid,) to do the business of the sub- 
 clerk. And if the worthy minister * that now holds the of- 
 fice of principal clerk dislike this addition of trouble and 
 diminution of revenue, and rather throw up than submit to 
 it, there is no doubt but others will be found, very capable 
 to exerce the office, who will not decline to accept of it even 
 with this additional burthen. 
 
 " The office of agent is most certainly very necessary, and 
 of great importance to the Church and clergy, when wor- 
 thily discharged, and exerced with diligence ; but, to pre- 
 vent any one's stealing into it by surprise, — to secure a good 
 choice, and prevent a bad, or even an indifferent one, — 
 and that the sense of the Church may be knoAvn in the 
 matter, I would propose, that the ensuing Assembly vacate 
 
 * Dr George Wishart. 
 
48 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY [17-54. 
 
 both, offices, and fill up neither, but leave the choice and 
 filling up to the subsequent Assembly. In which case, the 
 generality of the clergy will, I am confident, act with ho- 
 nesty and spirit ; look out fi^r and fix upon a man of tried 
 experience, and approven ability and character in his way, 
 — ^the one who will do most honour to the office he exerces, 
 that \xi\\ be prevailed upon to accept. And if any of the 
 clergy will, from party vieivs and connections, or from a 
 fawning or creeping meanness, be prevailed upon to betray 
 the interests of their own order, (to please or compliment any 
 one whosoever,) by making choice of a person who has only 
 one degi-ee of sufficiency, while one of ten degrees of suffi- 
 ciency may be had, and in their power; such, I should 
 think, would be had in just contempt by the present, and 
 theii' names be branded with infamy in generations to 
 come." * 
 
 At the first diet a motion was made, to consider whether 
 it might not be proper to note in the Assembly minutes, 
 that by the death of iMr John Baillie since last Assembly, 
 the whole of the offices of agent, sub-clerk, &c., had now 
 devolved on Mr James Edm,onston. In opposition to this, 
 it was proposed to delay the afiair till an after-diet. The 
 question was put. Delay till Saturday, or till Tuesday 
 next? and carried for Saturday, 130 to 85. Accordingly, 
 on Saturday the proceedings of last Assembly, relating to 
 this affiiir, were read ; then a motion was made, that the 
 Assembly should find, that the sole right to the offices afore- 
 mentioned hath novv-, by the death of John Baihie, devolved 
 upon James Edmonston, as being entitled, by the act of As- 
 sembly 1753, to the sur\ivancy of all these offices, and 
 should appoint him to exercise them accordingly. After 
 long reasoning, it was proposed to put the question, Ap- 
 prove of the motion^ ov Not ? The opposite side insisted, 
 that the question should be. Are these rffices now at the 
 disposal of this Assembly, or Not ? On this the pre\nous 
 question was put, Whether the first or second shouhl be 
 the state of the vote ? and it carried. The first, 142 to 92. 
 
 * There appeared, about the time of the Assembly (1754.) a 
 " Vindication of the General Assembly 1753, from the INIisrepre- 
 sentations of the Author of a Letter in the Magazine;" and (in 
 reply) " A Just Account of the Proceedings of the Assembly 1753, 
 in the Settlement of the Sub-Clerkship and Agency:" but I h§jve 
 been unable to procure either pamphlet. 
 
1754.] CASE OF BIGGAR. 40 
 
 Then the question first proposed was put, Approve of the 
 motion, or Not ? and it carried Approve, 143 to 86. Ac- 
 cordingly, the General Assembly " did, and hereby do, find 
 that the sole right to the offices of agent for the Church, 
 sub-clerk to the General Assembly and Commissions there- 
 of, and clerk to the committee for managing the royal 
 bounty, hath now, by the death of John Baillie, devolved 
 upon the said James Edmonston, as being entitled, by act 
 of last Assembly, to the survivancy of all these offices ; and 
 he is appointed to exercise them accordingly." 
 
 The Commission-book, on report of a committee ap- 
 pointed to revise it, was ordered to be attested. May 28, 
 with a reservation as to the decision in the case of Biggar, 
 against which a complaint * had been entered. On the 3 1 st, 
 the day appointed for taking in this complaint, it was re- 
 presented by an honourable member, that there was now a 
 pretty certain prospect of having all difficulties removed 
 that had stood in the way of the peaceable settlement of 
 that parish, and that the matter would be brought to such 
 a conclusion as should be to the satisfaction of all concerned. 
 The Assembly agTeed to let the question now brought be- 
 fore them by the complaint, lie over till next Assembly ; 
 and in case the presentation to Mr Haig shall be taken out 
 of the field, empowered the Presb^'tery of Biggar to proceed 
 to the settlement of that parish according to the rules of the 
 Church ; and the Commission, in that event, to cognosce, 
 and finally determine, in any future question that shall be 
 regidarly brought before them with respect to the settlement 
 
 of that parish. The result was, that Mr John Johnston, 
 
 chaplain of Edinburgh Castle, was admitted minister of 
 Biggar on the 26th September, '^ to the satisfaction of all 
 concerned," — while Mr Haig succeeded to the chaplaincy. 
 The latter died on the 19th October 1761. 
 
 On the 30th and 31st of May, and 1st of June, the thirteen 
 Overtures transmitted by the Commission in November, (see 
 p. 30,) were taken under consideration. The Assembly 
 agreed to the 1st, 2d, 4th, and 5th ; and enjoined in terms of 
 them, embodying them into one act. Remitted the 6th to 
 the Commission to be reconsidered ; their opinion concerning 
 the subject-matter of it to be reported to next Assembly. 
 Transmitted the 3d and the 13th to the Presbyteries; their 
 
 * See p. 34. 
 
50 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1754. 
 
 opinions concerning them to be reported to next Assembly. 
 Rejected the 9th, without a vote; dropt the 10th, 11th, and 
 12th; and after reasoning, agi-eed, Avithout a vote, in place 
 of the 7th and 8th, to declare and ordain as follows, viz. ; — 
 
 " The General Assembly do hereby declare, that Avhen 
 one is ordained or admitted as minister of a parish, he shall, 
 by virtue of such ordination or admission, be ijyso facto a 
 member of the Presbytery and Synod in whose bounds the 
 parish lies ; and ordains the clerks of those judicatures 
 forthwith to enrol him. And all clerks of SjTiods and Pres- 
 byteries are hereby enjoined to enrol as members, such as 
 have at any time preceding this been ordained or admitted 
 as ministers of parishes within their respective bounds." 
 
 " The General Assembly finding, that by the act 12, 
 Ass. 1736, Presbyteries refusing to ohey the sentences of the 
 Commission of the General Assembly, are declared to be 
 ipso facto sisted before the next General Assembly, to whom 
 they shall be accountable for their conduct, do hereby de- 
 clare this act to be extended to sentences passed by the As- 
 sembly, and not obeyed by Presbyteries." * 
 
 * The Synod of Glasgow and Ayr met at Ayr, April 16, and the 
 same day passed the following act : — *' The Synod considering the 
 obligations which lie upon them to maintain and support the ex- 
 cellent constitution of this Church, and that this can only be done 
 by a stedfast adherence to, and diligent observation of, the stand- 
 ing acts of the General Assemblies ; as also, that the fundamental 
 laws of any society may be neglected, or not attended to, through 
 length of time, especially when the Church is in outward prosperity, 
 do hereby appoint, in the most express manner, all the Presbyte- 
 ries within their bounds strictly to observe all the fundamental laws 
 and constitutions of this Church, and acts of the General Assem- 
 bly, enacted with consent of Presbyteries. Particularly, — 1st, In- 
 asmuch as the settlement of vacant parishes is a matter of the utmost 
 consequence, — in which the conversion of sinners and edification of 
 saints is very nearly concerned, — they expressly appoint all the 
 Presbyteries within their bounds to observe the standing acts of 
 the General Assembly upon that subject, as they are enumerated 
 in the 14th act of the Assembly 1736 ; which we have the greater 
 confidence to recommend, as we have generally had the happiness 
 in this Synod, by a steady adherence to the said law^s, to be success- 
 ful in getting our vacancies comfortably planted. 2d, That, Ir all 
 processes against ministers, they be careful to observe the rules pre- 
 scribed in the form of process, particularly chap. 1, par. 4; chap. 
 7, par. 5 and 8." Next day the Synod recommended to the members 
 of the Assembly, from the boimds of that Synod, to move that the 
 
1754-.] MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 51 
 
 Two petitions were brought before the Assembly, May 
 27 ; one from the trustees of the College of New Jersey^ 
 and the other from the Synod of New Yoy^k^ — both setting 
 forth the great advantages that must arise from the erection 
 of a college at New Jersey, where a great many students 
 may be educated, — the great difficulties they labour under, 
 through the want of money to carry their design of properly 
 endowing the said college into execution, — and therefore 
 pra3ring for a general collection. By a committee then 
 named, a draught of an act, and recommendation for a ge- 
 neral collection to be made at all the church doors in Scot- 
 land, for the behoof of the said college, was presented on 
 the 31st, and, after some amendments, approved of The 
 Assembly, besides, recommended to ministers to apply to 
 the nobility and gentry, as they may have opportunity, to 
 give their charitable assistance in this matter.* 
 
 A report from the committee appointed by last Assembly 
 to correspond with the society at London for receiving the 
 monies collected for the German Protestants in Pennsyl- 
 vania^ was laid before the Assembly on the 30th, bearing, 
 that Mr William Hogg had remitted, by their order, on the 
 
 above act be extended to the whole Church ; and agreed, that it be 
 likewise humbly proposed, to enjoin all Presbyteries, m settling pa- 
 rishes^ to observe as near as possible, consistently with other standing 
 laws, and with the proper end of the ministry, the regulations estab- 
 hshed in regard to that matter by the act of Parliament 1690, and 
 which do not seem to the Synod to be set aside by any subsequent 
 act of Parliament. Another overture was likewise agreed to, viz. : — 
 "Whereas, except at the meeting of the Commission immediately 
 after the rising of the Assembly, great inconveniences may arise 
 from the determinations in the affair of settlements by any subse- 
 quent Commission, by reason that they are generally very ill at- 
 tended, therefore the Synod humbly propose, that the Assembly 
 would transmit an overture to Presbyteries, whereby all these 
 subsequent meetings of the Commission may be discharged in time 
 to come, except on extraordinary emergencies ; and that upon such 
 occasions they be prohibited from determining in the settlement of 
 any vacancies." 
 
 The eminent John Maclaurin of Glasgow was present at this 
 Assembly, where, we are told, " he had the pleasure to meet the 
 Rev. Messrs Tennant and Davies, agents for the College of New 
 Jersey. It gave him great pleasure to see with what readiness the 
 Assembly granted a collection for carrying on that good design." — 
 Maclaurin's Life, pretixed to his works ; or the Christian Instruc- 
 tor for February 1839. 
 
52 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1754. 
 
 23d of April last, to the Rev. Mr Samuel Chandler, secre- 
 tary to the said society, £ll32 ; which sum, Avith the ex- 
 change at three-foui'ths per cent., was the whole amount of 
 the collections he had then received, making in all^ £ll40, 
 9s. lid. 
 
 The committee for revising commissions remarked, that 
 the commission from the Presbytery of Dunkeld bore, that 
 the Presbytery do not know if the Duke of Athol, one of 
 their ruHng elders, has signed the formula. The Duke of 
 Athol agreed to be continued a member, upon his signing 
 the formula in presence of the Assembly. 
 
 A sentence of the Presbytery of Inverness, sustaining a 
 call by the town and parish of Inverness, to Mr Alexander 
 Fraser, ""' minister of Avoch, to be one of the ministers of 
 Inverness, affimied ; and the said Presbytery appointed to 
 proceed in the necessary steps towards Mr Eraser's trans- 
 portation from Avoch, and his admission as one of the mi- 
 nisters in the said to^^^l and parish of Inverness. 
 
 A sentence of the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, af- 
 firming a judgment of the Presbytery of Edinbm-gh, refus- 
 ing to take in and judge of a libel, given into them by the 
 heritors and elders of the parish of Nigg, against Mr Pat- 
 rick Grant, minister at Duthil, (who, by act of last Assem- 
 bly, was appointed to be admitted as minister of the said 
 parish of Nigg,) affirmed; and the said libel remitted to 
 the Presbytery of Abernethy, and they appointed to pro- 
 ceed upon it with all convenient despatch, agreeably to the 
 rules of this Church. And the Assembly recommended to 
 the prosecutors, if they are to insist in the said libel, to 
 bring it before the Presbytery of Abernethy quam primum ; 
 and empowered the Commission to cognosce and finally de- 
 termine in any reference or appeal that shall regularly be 
 brought before them, with respect to the said process, or 
 the settlement of the parish of Nigg. 
 
 A complaint by the Crown against the Presbytery of 
 Tain, for not proceeding to the transportation of Mr Grant 
 from Duthil, and his admission at Nigg, pursuant to the 
 orders of the last General Assembly, withdraA\Ti, till Mr 
 Grant's innocence should appear in a proper manner. 
 
 A sentence of the Synod of Merse and Teviotdale, sus- 
 taining a call to the Rev. Mr William Trotter to be minis- 
 
 * See the former vol., pp. 182, 370. 
 
1754.] MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 53 
 
 ter of the town and parish of Selkirk, affirmed, and the 
 Presbytery of Selkirk appointed to j)roceed to his admission 
 as minister of the said parish, according to the rules of the 
 Church. 
 
 The cause relating to the settlement of the parish of Cro- 
 marti/, referred to the Commission, with power to them to 
 cognosce and finally determine therein, at their first diet, 
 after the appeal relating to the right of patronage is dis- 
 cussed. 
 
 The committee named 1)y the last Assembly to corres- 
 pond with the society at London, appointed to prepare a 
 draft of answers to the letters produced to the said As- 
 sembly 1752, from the Synod of South Holland and Classis 
 of Amsterdam, and lay the same before the Commission, 
 at their meeting immediately after the rising of the Assem- 
 bly ; and the said committee are continued for the purpose 
 for which they ^vere named by the last Assembly, — of cor- 
 responding with the said society at London. 
 
 Petitions for the commissioners from the Presbyteries of 
 Uist and Zetland, craving viaticums for their attendance 
 on this Assembly, refused, in respect of the resolution anent 
 viaticums entered into by the Assembly 1752. 
 
 An overture anent the qualification of elders, members 
 of the Assembly, referred to the Commission, to be taken 
 in at their first meeting after the rising of the Assembly, if 
 they can overtake it. 
 
 Reference to the Commission, at their first meeting after 
 the rising of the Assembly, to consider an overture, propos- 
 ing that all Presbyteries be enjoined, on the day when they 
 are to choose members of Assembly, that, before the elec- 
 tion, they cause read the 9th act of Assembly 1722, con- 
 cerning the qualifications of elders ; and the 7th act of 
 Assembly 1725, concerning the form of the attestation of 
 commissions. 
 
 An overture anent the j^^^^ii'^g of vacant churches, re- 
 fen-ed to the Commission. 
 
 The remarks made by the visitors of the register of the 
 committee named by last Assembly for managing the royal 
 bounty, read. The present missionary at Strontian, 7iot 
 having the Ii^ish language, appointed to be dismissed from 
 that station, and one having the Irish language to be settled 
 there. 
 
 The committee for managing the royal bounty appointed 
 E 2 
 
54 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [^1755. 
 
 to employ a minister at Fort- Augustus, ^vith a salary of 
 £30 sterling. 
 
 Reference to the Commission to consider of the proper 
 method for having the inconveniences arising from the scar- 
 city of students having the Irish language remedied. 
 
 Protestation admitted at the instance of the Synod of Lo- 
 thian and Presbytery of Edinburgh, against the Tron Kirk 
 Session of Edinburgh, for not insisting in the appeal taken 
 by them, from the sentence of the said S\aiod and Presby- 
 tery, translating Mr John Jardinc from the Lady Tester's 
 Church to the Tron Church. 
 
 The Assembly rose June 3. 
 
 ASSEMBLY 1755. 
 
 The General Assembly met at Edinburgh, May 22. 
 Lord Cathcart was his Majesty's Commissioner ; and Mr 
 George Reid, minister at St Quivox, was unanimously cho- 
 sen Moderator. 
 
 It Avas at this Assembly that the writings of David Hume 
 and Henry Home^ (^Lord Karnes,) became the subjects 
 of discussion, as being supposed hostile to the interests of 
 religion and morality. "Among j\Ir Home's opponents," 
 says his biogi'apher, Lord Woodhouselee,* " were some per- 
 sons of so intolerant a spirit, that nothing less could satisfy 
 their zeal than the interference of ecclesiastical authority, 
 to repress opinions which they conceived to be contrary to 
 the canons of the Established Church, and subversive even 
 of the fundamental principles of religion." Of these the 
 most prominent was Mr George Anderson, a preacher, who 
 had formerly been an army-chaplain, and, in his latter years 
 became chaplain to Watson's Hospital, Edinburgh. " He 
 was a man of a bold spirit and irascible temperament ; of 
 considerable learning and vigour of mind, but deficient in 
 that acuteness of talent which is fitted for metaphysical con- 
 troversy." In 1733 he had acquired some notoriety by a 
 
 * Life of Kames, vol. i., p. 141, where, however, the proceed- 
 ings of the Assembly 1755 are confounded Avith those of the As- 
 sembly 1756. Compare Moncreiff' s Life ofErskine, p. 207, et seq., 
 though there are there also some mistatements of fact, which we 
 have rectified. 
 
1755.] COMPLAINT AGAINST INFIDEL WRITERS. 55 
 
 sermon and various pamphlets against the stage ; and now, 
 though little short of eighty years of age, he attacked, with 
 great vehemence, Lord Kames' Essays on Morality and Na- 
 tural Religion, in his " Estimate of the Profit and Loss 
 of Religion, personally and puhlicly stated." In this work 
 he designated his antagonist by the name of Sopho ; and 
 there can be little doubt that it is to its publication that the 
 subsequent proceedings may ultimately be traced. On Fri- 
 day, the 23d JMay, (the second day of the Assembly,) there 
 appeared an anon3mious pamphlet, ^^^th the title — " An 
 Analysis of the Moral and Religious Seiitiments contained 
 in the ivritings of Sopho and David Hume, Esq. ; ad- 
 dressed to the consideration of the Reverend and Honour- 
 able Members of the General Assembly of the Church of 
 Scotland " It commences thus : — 
 
 " Gentlemen, — As it is the great design of the Christian 
 religion, to teach men to deny all ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the 
 world ; so it is the business of an Established Church to 
 employ that power with which she is invested, in promot- 
 ing purity of faith and sanctity of manners. Then, and then 
 only, doth she act with dignity in her respective courts, 
 when these important ends are the great objects of her at- 
 tention. 
 
 " What particular business may come before you, I do 
 not know. One thing of very general concern, I am sure, 
 deserves your consideration ; and that is, the public attack 
 which in this country has of late been made on the great 
 principles and duties of natural and revealed religion, in 
 the works of David Hume, Esq. ; and in the essays of an 
 author who has been distinguished by the name of Sopho. 
 It is true, one of these gentlemen has some how got the char- 
 acter of a fine writer, and subtle disputant ; and the latter, 
 it is said, holds a place of great importance in this country, 
 and even bears an office in your Church. But, as I am 
 Avell assured that neither the art of the one nor the power 
 of the other, will avail to overthrow those principles they so 
 boldly attack, so I am persuaded, that by neither will ye be 
 diverted from doing your duty ; and your duty unquestion- 
 ably it is, to give warning of the poison contained in these 
 volumes, and to testify to the whole Christian world your 
 abhorrence of such principles. 
 
 " It is not my design, in this paper, to enter into the con- 
 
56 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [l755. 
 
 futation of these opinions. This has been done already 
 with great success, hj the smart and sensible author* of the 
 Estimate of the Profit and Loss of Religion^ and in the 
 modest and elegant Delineatioii of Morality. \ Two other 
 authors have distinguished themselves against particular 
 parts of the scheme, viz., the Rev. Mr Adams, a clergyman 
 of the Church of England, in his answer to the Essay on 
 Miracles ; and Dr John Stewart, in his very masterly re- 
 ply to the Essay on Motion. To these authors I refer all 
 that desire with candour to enter into the controversy. 
 
 " My design only is, to analyse the works of these cele- 
 brated authors, giving their own expressions under the dif- 
 ferent heads to which they seem to belong. This method, 
 I imagine, will not only give the clearest view of the senti- 
 ments of these gentlemen, but is such as they themselves 
 must allow to be the most fair and candid ; because, if in 
 stating the proposition, I should happen to mistake their 
 meaning, their own words subjoined must immediately do 
 them justice. 
 
 " I quote from the following editions : — 
 
 " Essay and Treatises on Several Subjects ; by David 
 Hume., Esq. 4 vols., Edinburgh^ 1753. 
 
 " Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Re- 
 ligion ; Edinburgh, 1751. 
 
 " Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary, 
 read before a Society in Edinburgh, and published by 
 them; Edinburgh, 1754. 
 
 " The History of Great Ey^itain, vol. 1, by David 
 Hume, Esq. ; Edinburgh^ 1754. 
 
 " I begin with the ^vritings of Sopho, whose opinions I 
 shall sum up in the follo^ving propositions :- — 
 
 " Prop. 1. There is no necessary relation betwixt cause 
 and effect. 
 
 " 2. Matter is j^ossessed of a power of self-motion. 
 
 " 3. Nothing appears from reason that can induce us 
 to think that the ivoidd is not eternal. 
 
 * This was the above mentioned Mr Anderson, who also pub- 
 lished " A Remonstrance against Lord Viscount Bolingbroke's Phi- 
 losophical Religion, addressed to David Mallet, Esq., the pub- 
 lisher," 1756. 
 
 f The " Delineation of Morality " was by Mr James Balfour of 
 Pilrig, advocate, and Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University 
 of Edinburgh. It was specially directed against Hume's principles. 
 
1755.] COMPLAINT AGAINST INFIDEL WRITERS. 57 
 
 " 4. The powers of reason ca?i give us no satisfijing evi- 
 dence of the being of a God. 
 
 " 5. The perfections of God are either such as we can- 
 not prove, or cannot comprehend. 
 
 " 6. It is whimsical and absurd to pretend that the ma- 
 terial ivorld is subject to the providence of God. 
 
 " 7. Every class of beings is perfect. 
 
 " 8. Man is a mere machine^ under an irresistible ne- 
 cessity in all his actions. 
 
 " 9- Tlioiigh man be thus necessarily determined in all 
 his actions, yet does he believe himself free^ God having 
 implanted into his nature this deceitf id feeling of liberty. 
 
 " 10. This deceitf ul feeling is the only foundation of 
 mrtue. 
 
 "11. That, since man is thus necessarily determined in 
 all his actions, andean have nothing more than a deceitful 
 feeling of liberty, it follows., as a necessary consequence., 
 that there can be no sin or moral evil in the world'.' 
 
 The -vMiter then proceeds to show, by extracts from Lord 
 Karnes, that his sentiments are correctly exhibited in these 
 propositions. He then passes on to Mr Hume : — 
 
 " Having laid before you these extracts from the writings 
 of this anonjTnous, though well-known author, I shall sub- 
 join some passages no less remarkable from the works of 
 his brother-philosopher and friend, — who has at least been 
 more honest in this respect, that, without disguise, he has 
 pled the cause of vice and infidelity. 
 
 " According to this celebrated moralist, — 
 
 " Prop. 1. All distinction betwixt virtue and vice is 
 merely imaginary. 
 
 " 2. Justice has no foundation further than it contH- 
 butes to public advantage. 
 
 " 3. Adultery is very lawful., but sometimes not expe- 
 dient. 
 
 " 4. Religion and its ministers are prejudicial to man- 
 kind, and will always be found either to run into the 
 heights of superstition or enthusiasm. 
 
 " 5. Christianity has no evidence of its being a divine 
 revelation. 
 
 " 6. Of all the modes of Christianity., Popery is the 
 best, and the reformation from thence was only the work 
 of madmen and enthusiasts." 
 
 Having pursued the same course mth Mr Hume's writ- 
 
58 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1755. 
 
 ings as he had done with those of Lord Kames, the author 
 of the Analysis concludes in the following strain : — 
 
 " Thus, gentlemen, I have laid hefore you a few of the 
 many passages which occur in the works of these two 
 authors, and w^hich at the very first view appear to strike 
 at the foundations of all virtue and religion, both natural 
 and revealed. That the promoters of such impious opinions 
 deserve the very highest censures of the Church, is beyond 
 dispute. "What you shall think proper to do in this As- 
 sembly, a short time will discover ; only I vnW venture to 
 say, that if these things are overlooked, after the zeal you 
 have lately sho^\Ti to support the authority of your oa^ti sen- 
 tences, it Avill in some measure verify a common observa- 
 tion, — That it is safer to revile the king than the ministry. 
 Nor do I know how you will pany the blow, when every 
 one has it in his power to tell you. You deposed a minister 
 who disoMTied your authority, but enrol, as a member of 
 yom- courts,''" an elder who has diso^v^oied the authority of 
 Almighty God ; and that some of you at least live in the 
 greatest intimacy mth one w^ho represents the blessed Sa- 
 viour as an impostor, and his rehgion as a cunningly-devised 
 fable. JMay your conduct be such as fully to wipe off all 
 these reproaches; and testify to the world, that you will 
 have no society with the workers of iniquity." 
 
 The above paper being circidated among the members of 
 Assembly, the subject w^as brought before the committee 
 for overtures, wdiich, on the 28th May, transmitted the fol- 
 lowing overture to the Assembly, by whom it was on the 
 same day unanimously passed into an act : — 
 
 " The General Assembly being filled vdih. the deepest 
 concern, on account of the prevalence of injldelity and im- 
 morality^ — the principles whereof have been, to the dis- 
 grace of our age and nation, so openly avowed in several 
 books published of late in this country, and which are but 
 too well known amongst us, — do therefore judge it proper 
 
 * The minister alluded to is Mr Gillespie; the elder, Lord 
 Kames. It is right to mention, however, that though his Lordship 
 was named a member of the Commission, (an honour it was then 
 customary to pay to noblemen and judges,) by the Assemblies 
 1753 and 1754, he never sat in that court ; and he was not named 
 a member of it by the Assembly 1755. 
 
1755.] COMPLAINT AGAINST INFIDEL WRITERS. 59 
 
 and necessary for them, at this time, to express the utmost 
 abhorrence of those impious and infidel principles ^vhich are 
 subversive of all religion, natural and revealed, and have 
 such pernicious influence on life and morals ; and they do 
 earnestly recommend it to all the ministers of this Church, 
 to exercise the \-igilance and to exert the zeal which be- 
 comes their character, to preserve those under their charge 
 from the contagion of these abominable tenets, and to stir 
 up in them a solicitous concern to guard against them, and 
 against the influence of those who are infected with them." 
 
 No reply appeared to the above paper until the 6*th 
 Jime, four days after the Assembly had risen. There then 
 came out, " Observations upon the Analysis," &c. ; wliich, ac- 
 cording to Lord Woodhouselee, was generally attributed to 
 the celebrated Dr Hugh Blcm\ and was written " y\A\\\ 
 temperate but forcible animadversion." The introductory 
 paragraph is as follows : — 
 
 " The fi-eedom of inquiry and debate, though it may have 
 pubHshed some en'ors to the world, has undoubtedly been 
 the source from whence many blessings have flowed upon 
 mankind. As free inquiry alone could at first have made 
 way for Christianity, and have borne do^^^l the opposition 
 of synagogues, senates, and schools, it is to the same noble 
 principle we owe the Reformation, and are enabled to set at 
 defiance the t}Tannical decisions of popes and coimcils ; — 
 by means of free inquiry the Church of Scotland was origi- 
 nally estabhshed. In this country, therefore, all attempts 
 to infringe so valuable a pri^dlege, in cases where the peace 
 of society is not concerned, must ever l)e regarded -vrith con- 
 cern by all reasonable men. The proper objects of censure 
 and reproof are not freedom of thought, but licentiousness 
 of action, — not erroneous speculations, but crimes pernicious 
 to society. Against these ought the clergy to exert their 
 utmost effbrts ; and by such a conduct they -srill more ad- 
 vance the cause of religion, than by engaging in metaphy- 
 sical disputes, wliich may perplex the understanding, but 
 never can impair the morals of men." 
 
 The burden of Lord Karnes' defence is made mainly to 
 rest on the alleged unfairness of the quotations by the author 
 of the Analysis : — 
 
 " To glean disunited sentences, to patch them together 
 arbitrarily, to omit the limitations or remarks with which 
 a proposition is delivered, — can this be styled exhibiting the 
 
60 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q1755. 
 
 sentiments of an author ? I hope I shall not he thought to 
 deviate into any thing ludicrous, when I refer the reader to 
 a well-known treatise of the Dean of St Patrick's, in which 
 the inquisitorial method of interpretation, used in the 
 Church of Rome, is, by so just and so severe raillery, ren- 
 dered detestable, — Si non totidem seiitentiis, ast totidem 
 verbis ; si non totidem verbis, ast totidem syllabis ; si non 
 totidem syllabis^ ast totidem Uteris. This is the genuine 
 logic of persecution. From arts such as these have the un- 
 happy divisions which so long distracted the Church been 
 derived. At a period when mankind are ftdly sensible of 
 the blessings they enjoy, and liberty, both civil and ecclesias- 
 tical, is become the dearest possession of the people, and 
 the favourite care of the prince, what sentiments ought the 
 revival of those insidious and Jesuitical principles to excite 
 in ever}'' sincere friend to our present constitution, in Church 
 and State ! Most of the members of the Chm-ch of Scot- 
 land are, I dare say, animated with a fervent zeal for reli- 
 gion ; but, knowing that the perfection of religion is the 
 spirit of moderation., they prize too highly the good of the 
 Church to give ear to the counsels of a violent and imchris- 
 tian zeal, which, by adopting the arts, may justly be thought 
 to pui'sue the ends, of persecution." 
 
 On the subject of liberty and necessity, the writer main- 
 tains, that the position of Lord Karnes is, " That man is 
 under a moral necessity, aiising from the will of the Deity ; " 
 and he holds that the doctrine of our Church is the 
 same, — referring also to the authority of Calvin, Beza, Tur- 
 retine, Edwards, &c. As for j\[r Hume's works he says : 
 " Every fair reader must admit and regret, that there are 
 to be found, in the ^^Titings of this elegant author, some 
 principles by no means inconsistent with sound doctrine. 
 There was therefore no necessity for ascribing to him posi- 
 tions which he does not advance, in order to support the 
 chai'ge of irreligion against him." 
 
 " The alarm being thus sounded," says Lord Woodhouse- 
 lee, " a conflict of an mipleasant nature was apprehended 
 between the moderate and the high-church party, in the 
 supreme ecclesiastical judicatm-e." This, however, does not 
 seem to have ensued, for the above decision was unanimous. 
 The only step taken in reference to Lord Kames, was the 
 omission of his name from the list of the Commission, in 
 which (out of courtesy) it had formerly been inserted. 
 
1755.] IRREGULAR MARRIAGES. 61 
 
 When the subject was revived next year, the name of 
 Hume alone appeared in the overture ; it being supposed 
 that a motive of decorum prevented the mention of the 
 other, from the respect due to his station as a judge. 
 
 A petition of the Synod of INIerse and Teviotdale was 
 read on the 26th, naiTating the frequency and bad effects 
 of irregular marriages in their bounds ; that the laws for 
 restraining and punishing of such practices are hitherto 
 evaded, and of no effect, by the remitting or qualifying of 
 fines that by law ought to be enacted ; and therefore crav- 
 ing the Assembly's directions, how the Synod, and the se- 
 veral meml^ers and Kirk-Sessions of it, may proceed, in 
 exacting the full mulcts required by law, and in reducing 
 sentences that seem rather to screen than punish offenders. 
 The Assembly remitted to the Synod to lay a full represen- 
 tation of this affair, and proper queries, in ^^Titing, before 
 the procurator for the Church, that he may give his opinion 
 upon it.'"' 
 
 On the 30th, a representation of the Presbytery of Aber- 
 brothock was read, iDcaring, that at the request of ]Mr Ait- 
 ken, who was lately settled minister of St Vigian's^ they 
 had stented the several heritors of the parish, according to 
 tlieir valuations, in a certain sum of money, for repairing 
 the kirk of St Vigian's, upon which they pronounced u de- 
 creet in the usual way ; but that the greatest part of the 
 heritors refuse to pay any part of the money, in respect of 
 a paction entered into betwixt them and some of ]\Ir Ait- 
 ken s friends before his settlement, whereby these friends 
 obliged themselves to repair the kirk, manse, and office- 
 houses of St Vigian's, in case Mr Aitken should be settled 
 minister of that place ; for doing of which they granted an 
 obligation to the heritors, Avhich w\is produced to the Pres- 
 bytery ; and therefore the Presbytery entreated the Assem- 
 bly to give such orders to the agent for the Church as they 
 
 * The parishes of this Synod being near the English border, 
 were peculiarly exposed to this evil. It was, however, extremely 
 prevalent every where. John Grierson, deputy of the Savoy 
 Chapel, London, being convicted of clandestinely marrying a couple, 
 was sentenced (December 10) to be transported for fourteen years. 
 It is said he had married 1400 couple in the same manner, whose 
 marriages were, by that verdict, null, and the issue illegitimate — . 
 See the former vol., pp. 44, 94, 219, 220, 394. 
 
 F 
 
62 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. ^1755. 
 
 should think proper, for prosecuting this affair before the 
 Lords of Session, to convince all concerned of the illegality 
 of such practices, and prevent the like in time coming. 
 The Assembly agreed to ad^dse the Presbytery to go on in 
 the due coui-se of law, for recovering from the several heri- 
 tors their proportions of the sum necessary for repairing the 
 kirk of St Yigian's. 
 
 Upon report of the committee for overtures, the General 
 Assembly transmits to the several Presb;yi:eries, the over- 
 tui-es formerly transmitted to them by the last and preced- 
 ing General Assemblies, and appoint that such Presbyteries 
 as have given no opinion on these overt m-es, do send up 
 their opinions to the next General Assembly ; and that such 
 Presbyteries as have given their opinions upon them for- 
 merly, do send up a new extract of the same. 
 
 The overtm'es above referred to, are : — 
 
 1. Overture aiieiit pj'ocesses against jivohationers^ trans- 
 mitted by the Assembly 1748. 
 
 2. Overture anent licensing prohationers^ transmitted 
 by the Assembly 1749, vdih. an amendment proposed and 
 transmitted by the Assembly 1750. 
 
 3. Overtm-e anent the Psalmody^ transmitted by the 
 Assembly 1750. 
 
 4. Overtm-e anent the effect of dissents^ transmitted by 
 the Assembly 1752. 
 
 5. Overture anent Presbyteries neglecting to send up 
 their opinions on the overtures transmitted to them by the 
 Assembly; — transmitted by the Assembly 1753. 
 
 6. Overture anent ministers ordained in England^ or in 
 foreign parts; transmitted by the Assembly 1754. 
 
 7. Overture anent members of inferior courts judging in 
 causes appealed fi-om them to the superior courts ; trans- 
 mitted by the Assembly 1754. 
 
 On the 30th May, the Assembly disposed of the appeal 
 of James Rose of Culiss, and Thomas Gair of Damm, for 
 themselves and other heritors, and others of the parish of 
 Xigg, (Ross-shire,) against a sentence of the Synod of Mo- 
 ray, approving of the conduct of the Presbytery of Aber- 
 nethy and coiTcspondents, in finding a libel, exhibited by 
 them, against Mr Patrick Grant, minister at Duthil, (pre- 
 sentee to Nigg,) not relevant y as laid. There appeared for 
 the appellants, Mr Charles Hamilton Gordon, advocate; 
 and for the Synod, Messrs Alexander Chalmers, John Grant, 
 
1755.] CASE OF GRANT OF NIGG. 63 
 
 and other members ; and Mr Patrick Grant for himself, with 
 :Mr Hugh Dalrymple as his counsel. The charge against ]\Ir 
 Grant was drunkenness, alleged to have taken place in pre- 
 sence of the Presbytery of Edinburgh, whereupon (we quote 
 from the original record) '' a motion was made, that, m or- 
 der to bring this matter to a speedy issue, since it appeared 
 that many of the witnesses were either mem])ers of this As- 
 sembly or ministers of Edinburgh, or the neighbourhood of 
 it, they should now be called upon, as many as are here 
 present in the Assembly, to deckire what they know to be 
 the truth in this matter ; and the parties being asked if 
 they had any thing to oifer with respect to this motion, 
 the counsel for the appellants said, that, as he had a good 
 opinion of Mr Grant, he had advised his cUents not to 
 insist in the prosecution ; but he had no instructions from 
 them to make any answer to that motion. Mr Grant ex- 
 pressed his cheerftd acquiescence in what had been pro- 
 posed ; and said he had offered, both to the Presb\^ery 
 and SjTiod, to be judged according to the libel as it stood, 
 without objecting to the relevancy. The General Assembly 
 then did mianimously agree to the motion made, and pro- 
 ceeded to call on such of the mtnesses, members of the As- 
 sembly, and others, as were present in the house. Dv 
 Patrick Cummi7ig being called upon, declared, that the 
 Presbytery of Edinburgh being to meet for the ordination 
 of a young man, who was to be chaplain to a regiment then 
 lying at Gibraltar, and it being his turn that day to have 
 the Wednesday evening seraion, he had desired Mr Grant 
 to preach for him, and had mth some difficulty prevailed 
 vnth him to undertake it, as he complained of being indis- 
 posed : That he remembered the said Mr Grant was pre- 
 sent with the Presbytery, and afterwards dined with them 
 at Richard Walkers, and that he was with them all the 
 time, till it was about five o'clock, when the meeting dis- 
 missed, and he observed no sort of signs of drunkenness 
 about him : That, upon the dismissing of the company, he, 
 the said Dr Gumming, went home, where, being detained 
 by some company, he was so late of getting to church that 
 the sermon was then begun ; and, from the discourse itself, 
 he found the text was, ' His commandments are not griev- 
 ous;' and he heard him speak no nonsense, nor did he 
 observe any thing in his manner of speaking but what might 
 naturally be ascribed to his being accustomed to preach m 
 
64 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1755. 
 
 the Irish language : That, as to what passed at dispensing 
 the Sacrament of Baptism, he remembered that, after Mr 
 Grant had conchided the baptism of two cliiklren, being in- 
 formed of another child to be baptized, he expressed him- 
 self in this manner to the congregation, ' I beg yom* pati- 
 ence, as there is another child to be baptized which I did 
 not observe,' — and so he baptized that other child : That, 
 after dismissing the congregation, he went in with him, for 
 a little time, as is usual, into the aisle of the church : That 
 they did not come out by the passage into the Old Church, 
 but by the ordinaiy door into the Parliament Close : That 
 they walked together the straight way to his house, through 
 that passage that goes from the Parliament Close by the 
 Laigh Council-House and the Tolbooth, and so went up 
 the Lawnmarket ; and that he believes his arm might be 
 in Mr Grant's, or Mr Grant's arm in his ; and that he 
 would never have walked with him in that manner up the 
 open street, if he had had any suspicion of his being dmnk, 
 but would have sent him home in a chair : That, Mr Grant 
 being come into his house, he insisted ^^ith him to sup 
 there, which he declined ; and the said Dr Cumming hav- 
 ing occasion to go out of the room for some time, upon his 
 return he found Mr Grant was gone away. All which he, 
 the said Dr Cumming, could make oath upon, if required. 
 Mr George Kay, Mr John Johnston, Dr Alexander Mar- 
 tin, and 3Ir George Wishart, being severally called upon, 
 concurred in declaring, that they remembered the said Pat- 
 rick Grant dined with the Presbytery on the occasion above 
 mentioned, and that they observed nothing of his drinking 
 to any excess, nor any symptoms of drunkenness about 
 him. Two of the above declarants, to Avit, Messrs Kay and 
 Wishart, having continued with the company till about four 
 o'clock, and the other two having continued till it broke 
 up about five o'clock, and the said Mr Wishart believed 
 that it was near three o'clock before they sat doMH to din- 
 ner ; all which they declared to be the truth. Mr John 
 Hyndman being called upon, declared, that he remembered 
 the said ]Mr Grant dmed that day mth the Presbyter}^ in 
 Richard Walker's, and that after dinner, when the company 
 parted, he and Mr Grant conferred some time at the head 
 of the Advocate's Close, about some business that had been 
 transacted that day before the Presbytery : That ^Ir Grant 
 spoke like a sober and reasonable man ; and that, if it was 
 
1755.] CASE OP GRIER OF DURISDEER. G5 
 
 tlie last words he had to utter, he could declare he saw no 
 signs of insobriety or drunkenness about Mr Grant." Then 
 follows a letter from Mr Whyte of Lilierton, to the same 
 effect ; and finally, the testimony of Mr James Stevenson^ — 
 " That Mr Grant handled the text in much the same way 
 as he had heard others do ; that his manner, he thought, 
 was not engaging, but that he did not hear him speak any 
 nonsense." 
 
 The Assembly, taking into consideration Avhat is con- 
 tained in the above declarations, unanimously found Mr 
 Grant fully exculpated, and the libel to be vexatious and 
 groundless, and therefore dismissed it ; appointed the Pres- 
 bytery of Tain to admit Mr Grant as minister of Nigg, be- 
 twixt and the 1 st September ; and ordered this sentence 
 to be intimated from the pulpits both of Duthil and of 
 Xigg. QSee under the two former years, and the year fol- 
 lo^^^ng.] 
 
 A reference from the Presbytery of Penpont, for advice 
 how they are to behave with respect to a slander raised 
 against Mr Robert Grier, minister at Durisdeer^ by one 
 Elizabeth Cairns, indweller in Kirkcudbright, who alleges 
 that Mr Grier had been clandestinely and irregularly married 
 to her, read, containing Mr Grier's application to the Pres- 
 bytery to have the said slanderous report inquired into, and 
 considered by them, and his denial of the fact charged up- 
 on him ; with the proceedings had by the Presbytery there- 
 anent, and her declinature of their jurisdiction ; together 
 with letters from Mr Gartshore, minister of Kirkcudbright, 
 to the Presbytery, bearing her being in disorder, both of 
 Ijody and mind ; and that, in his opinion, she is not a pro- 
 per subject of discipline. The said Presb\i:ery of Penpont 
 advised to draw up a narrative of the whole affair, to be 
 read in the parish church of Durisdeer, and, if they see 
 cause, in other churches in the Presbytery ; which nan*a- 
 tive shall bear, that the Presbytery find reason, upon the 
 whole, to look upon i\[r Grier as innocent, and upon the 
 report that has been spread to his prejudice, to be gi-ound- 
 less ; and that particular notice be taken in the narrative of 
 the circumstance contained in IMr Gartshore's letter, of the 
 said Elizabeth Cairns being disordered. 
 
 A sentence of the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, re- 
 versing a judgment of the Presbytery of Edinburgh, sus- 
 F 2 
 
G6' ANXALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1753. 
 
 taiiiing a call by the majority of the collective body in use 
 to elect or present a minister to the second minister's charge 
 in South Leith^ to Mr Alexander Stewart, probationer, to 
 supply the vacancy in that charge, reversed. The foresaid 
 judgment of the Presbytery of Edinburgh affirmed, and they 
 appointed to proceed in the trials and settlement of the said 
 Mr Alexander Stewart, as second minister of South Leith. 
 This case occasioned " very long debates." 
 
 Two sentences of the Presbytery of Kirkcudbright, re- 
 specting the settlement of the parish of Cars/aim^ the one 
 finding that the right of settling the parish was fallen into 
 the hands of the Presbytery ; and the other gi'anting a mo- 
 deration of a call to Mr Donaldson alone, — reversed ; and 
 the said Presbytery appointed to moderate in a call to Mr 
 William Boyd, probationer, alone, to be minister of the said 
 parish ; and to proceed to his settlement as minister there, 
 with all convenient despatch, according to the rules of the 
 Church. 
 
 Reference to the Commission, to consider a representa- 
 tion by the Presbytery of Forfar, concurred with by the 
 Synod of Angus and ^learns, anent opposing any process 
 that may be raised for annexing the parishes of Inverarity 
 and Kinnettles. 
 
 Reference to the Commission to take in and settle the 
 accounts of the procurator for the Church.* 
 
 A call to jMr Thomas Simson, who was presented by IMr 
 Ilrquhart of Meldrum, to be minister of the parish of Cro- 
 marty^ rejected, and the Presbytery of Chanonry appointed 
 to proceed to the moderation of a call at large, to one to be 
 minister of that parish, according to the rules of this Church. 
 
 A sentence of the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, finding 
 William Alexander, tenant in Mickle-Dripj^s^ and one of 
 the elders of the parish of Carmunnock^ censm-able, and or- 
 dering him to be rebuked at the bar of the Synod, and the 
 sentence to be intimated from the pulpit of Carmunnock, re- 
 versed ; the said William Alexander restored to the exer- 
 cise of his office as an elder in the said parish of Carmunnock, 
 the session of that parish appointed immediately to receive 
 him back, and this sentence of the Assembly appointed to 
 be intimated from the pulpit of the Church of Carmunnock 
 
 * This is rather an unusual reference, the accounts being gener- 
 ally submitted to the Assembly. 
 
175.3.] NEW CHURCH IN PAISLEY. 07 
 
 the first Lord's Day after it shall be put into the minister s 
 hands. 
 
 The report of a committee named to consider the affair 
 relating to the settlement of the New Church in Paisleij^ 
 brought in, bearing, as their opinion, that the magistrates 
 and council shall, by an act of council, authorise two or 
 more of their number, in their names, to grant bond, bind- 
 ing them, the said magistrates and council, and their suc- 
 cessors in office, as representing the community of the burgh, 
 to pay to the minister to be called and admitted, and to his 
 successors in office in all time coining, an yearly stipend of 
 1 000 merks Scots money, with £ 1 5 sterling money in lieu 
 of manse and glebe, at two terms in the year, Whitsunday 
 and Martinmas, by equal portions, beginning the first term's 
 payment at the first term of Whitsunday or Martinmas after 
 his being legally admitted a minister of the said church : 
 And also, to pay yearly, during a vacancy, the tax appointed 
 by law to be paid for support of the fimd for ministers' wi- 
 dows, &c. : That an extract of the said act of council, with 
 the principal bond, be lodged vAih. the Presbytery, to be by 
 them put in the proper register, and extracts thereof given to 
 the minister called, on his admission to the chm-ch : That the 
 said act of council and bond shall contain a clause, provid- 
 ing, that in case at any time hereafter it shall become ne- 
 cessary and expedient to discontinue or suppress the fore- 
 said church or churches within the said burgh, it shall not be 
 in the power of the magistrates or to^\Ti council to discontinue 
 or suppress the same, other^^se than by the authority of 
 the Lords Commissioners for Plantation of Kirks, »ScC. ; and 
 that, after such suppression of any one or more of such 
 churches, the act of council and bond above mentioned, 
 shall cease and become void, and the community be no 
 longer liable in consequences thereof, farther than for pay- 
 ment of one year's tax to the widows' fund, after the sup- 
 pression : That, at the ensuing moderation, the magistrates 
 and town council of the said burgh, the minister of the 
 church already planted, and the elders of the kirk-session 
 of the said church, not exceeding fifteen, together with the 
 contriJDUtors for the building of the church, who are en- 
 titled to elect, in terms of a contract 'twixt them and the 
 town council, shall be the only voters and electors in the 
 ensuing moderation : That in future vacancies, when the 
 town do not exerce their right of patronage, the moderation 
 
68 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [[1755. 
 
 shall be by such of the said contributors as shall be in life, 
 and inhabitants of the said burgh for the time, — the magis- 
 trates and toMTi comicil, — the incumbents of the other 
 church or chm'ches for the time, — and by the elders of the 
 sessions of the whole churches ; but so as that the number 
 of elders entitled to vote shall not exceed fifteen : That the 
 magistrates and toA^Tl council, agreeing to the settlement of 
 a minister in the said burcjh, either in the ensuinsf modera- 
 tion, or upon a moderation on any future vacancy, shall no- 
 ways hurt or prejudge their right of patronage : That, upon 
 the magistrates and council making the foresaid act, and 
 upon the foresaid bonds being granted in the terms above 
 mentioned, and their agreeing to the said j)lan in the mo- 
 deration, it be recommended to the Presbytery of Paisley 
 to proceed to the said moderation. The members of the 
 Presbytery present, with the committee, having signified 
 that they have no doubt but the recommendation will be 
 complied with, — the said report and opinion approven ; 
 irith the addition, that the bond therein mentioned be re- 
 vised and apj)roven of by the procurator for the Church, 
 and that, of the whole of the elders of the kirk-sessions, 
 only the fifteen senior elders shall vote in the election of a 
 minister ; and the Commission empowered to take in, cog- 
 nosce, and finally determine, in any reference or appeal that 
 shall be regularly brought before them, relating to the settle- 
 ment of the said parish. 
 
 The libel given by the Presbytery of Dingwall to Mr 
 Colin Mackenzie, minister at Fodderty^ dismissed, in re- 
 spect it does not appear in the precognition taken by the 
 Presbytery, that there was any evidence of the facts charged 
 upon him, the same containing nothing but hearsays ; and 
 all the minutes of Presbytery relating to that affair ordered 
 to be cancelled, and not entered in their records ; the said 
 sentence appointed to be intimated from the pulpit of the 
 church of Fodderty. And it is recommended to the Pres- 
 bytery of Dingwall, that in all processes before them, they 
 strictly adhere to the rules laid down in the form of process. 
 
 The report of the committee named to consider the affair 
 of Mr IMatthew Moncrieff, late minister at Bvessaif^ brought 
 in ; and, in respect the sentence of deposition was past by 
 the Presbytery of Zetland against him, when necessarily 
 absent, and in respect of the answers made by him to the 
 several articles of charge, the said sentence declared void 
 
1755.] COLLECTION FOR THE PENNSYLVAMANS. C9 
 
 and null, and he restored to the office of the ministry against 
 the said sentence, as if the same had never been past ; and 
 intimation hereof appointed to be made from the pulpits of 
 Bressay and Burray. 
 
 A letter from the said Mr Matthew Moncrieff, contain- 
 ing a demission of his charge in the parishes of Bressay and 
 Burray^ given in and accepted of as his demission, and or- 
 dered to be recorded in the books of the Presbytery of Zet- 
 land. 
 
 A paper, entitled, " A Brief History of the Charitable 
 Scheme for Instructing Poor Germans in Pennsylvania, and 
 the Adjacent British Colonies in North America," publish- 
 ed by order of the gentlemen appointed trustees for manage- 
 ment of the said charitable scheme, and bearing, on the 
 Title-page, its being presented by order of the trustees to 
 this Assembly, being given in by Professor Cuming^ was 
 ordered to lie on the table, for the perusal of such members 
 as please to inspect the same. The following is a copy : — 
 
 '' The Protestant ministers in Pennsylvania having many 
 years ago found, that their number was too few for the 
 work they had undertaken, appHed to the churches of the 
 United Provinces for assistance; and in 1751 the States of 
 Holland and West Friesland granted 2000 guilders per an- 
 num for five years, for the support of such other persons as 
 should preach the Gospel in those parts. A considerable 
 sum was also raised by a voluntary contribution ; and the 
 assistance of the Churches of England and Scotland Avas 
 solicited in person by Mr Thompson, minister of one of the 
 English chm-ches in Amsterdam. 
 
 " Mr Thompson found gi'eat encouragement among per- 
 sons of the first rank ; and, after taking such measures as 
 were necessary here, he went to Scotland, where, represent- 
 ing his business to the General Assembly, which was then 
 sitting at Edinburgh, a national collection was made, which 
 amounted to near £1200 sterling.* 
 
 " When he returned to England, he found that his pas- 
 toral duty called him immediately back to Holland ; and, 
 at his request, a certain number of noblemen, and gentle- 
 men of rank and fortune, undertook to manage the afiair 
 in his absence, and solicit and receive contributions. 
 
 " Having formed themselves into a society, they began 
 
 * See the former vol., pp. 280, 293. 
 
70 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1755. 
 
 by making a liberal subscription among themselves ; they 
 then laid the case before his Majesty, who was pleased to 
 grant them £lOOO ; the Princess Dowager of Wales, i^lOO, 
 and the proprietors of the pro\'ince engaged to give a cer- 
 tain sum yearly. 
 
 " The society having thus far succeeded, came to the fol- 
 lowing resolutions : — 
 
 " 1 . To assist the people in America to encourage and 
 increase the number of their ministers. 
 
 "2. To establish charity schools, for the instruction of 
 youth. 
 
 " 3. To appoint trustees in America to execute this 
 plan. 
 
 " 4. That the schools be under the foUomng directions : — 
 Ist^ To admit Protestant youths of all denominations. 2d^ 
 To teach the boys the English and German languages; 
 w^riting, arithmetic, psalmody, and the principles of Chris- 
 tianity ; and the girls reading and needlework. 3f/, To teach 
 them by such catechisms as their OAvn parents approve, 
 avoiding all compulsion and partiality with respect to parti- 
 cular notions, not essential to true piety and "virtue. 4^, 
 To distribute among them Bibles, and other good books. 
 5th, To appoint proper deputies, and to visit quarterly. 
 Gth, To examine and state the account at the end of every 
 year, and reward such as have been remarkably diligent." 
 
 To this account is added an earnest addi'ess to the 
 wealthy of all denominations, professing Christianity, to 
 concur in a work so well calculated to deliver many thou- 
 sand souls from ignorance and superstition, to diffuse those 
 blessings which they possess, and confer such gifts out of 
 their abundance as will produce happiness beyond the 
 grave. 
 
 Reference to the Commission to cognosce and finally de- 
 termine in an appeal of Jolin Marshal, baillie in Auchter- 
 tnuchty, fi'om a sentence of the Synod of Fife, appointing 
 him to be rebuked before the congregation, upon an alleged 
 prevarication ; and a naiTative of the process to be read 
 from the pulpit of Auchtermuchty. 
 
 The Assembly rose June 2.* 
 
 * The proceedings of the November Commission, in the case of 
 Isigg, will be found embodied in the account of next Assembly. 
 
1756.] ACT FOR A NATIONAL FAST. 71 
 
 ASSEMBLY 1756. 
 
 The General Assembly met at Edinburgh on Thursday, 
 May 20. Charles Lord Cathcart was his Majesty's Com- 
 missioner ; and Dr Patrick Cuming, Professor of Ecclesias- 
 tical Histor}^ in the University of Edinburgh, and one of 
 the ministers of the city, was chosen Moderator.* 
 
 On the 2 2d a motion was made, and unanimously agreed 
 to, to address the King on occasion of the declaration of 
 war ; a committee was named to draw up the address, to 
 show it to the Commissioner, and report it to the Assembly 
 on Monday the 24th ; and it was resolved, that, after con- 
 sidering and preparing the address, the remaining part of 
 Monday's diet should be spent in prayer, for obtaining the 
 divine blessing on his Majesty's arms. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 24th, a draught of the address was 
 presented, unanimously approved of after some amendments 
 made, and subscribed by the IModerator. At the Assem- 
 bly's request, the Commissioner undertook to transmit it to 
 his Majesty; and the Assembly appointed the Moderator 
 to transmit a copy of it to the Earl of Holdeniesse, one of 
 the principal secretaries of state. Then a motion was made, 
 and unanimously agreed to, that as the nation is now en- 
 gaged in a just and necessary war, a day of solemn humili- 
 ation, fasting, and prayer, should be observed all over Scot- 
 land ; application to be made to the king for the royal 
 authority, and for naming the day. The remaining part of 
 tiiis diet was spent in prayer, pursuant to the aforemen- 
 tioned resolution. 
 
 Act of the General AssemUy for a Fast, dated Edinburgh, 
 May 31, 1756. 
 
 Whereas our sovereign, in defence of Great Britain and 
 Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging, has declared 
 war against France, the formidable enemy of the religion 
 and liberties of our country t ; and whereas the Almighty, 
 in former times, has done gi-eat things for these nations, — 
 
 * He had also filled the chair in 1749 and 1752. 
 t The declaration of war against France had reached Edinburgh 
 on the first Saturday of the Assembly. Such was the patriotic en- 
 thusiasm of the clergy, that Mr Alexander Rose of Nairn had 
 
72 ANXALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1756. 
 
 has bestowed upon them inestimable privileges ; and in the 
 day of danger, when our fathers cried unto God, he heard 
 from heaven, raised up deliverers, and saved according to 
 his manifold mercies, and still continues to distinguish us 
 beyond all nations, blessing us with the best religion, and 
 best of governments : 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding all this goodness showed to these 
 nations, just cause there is to lament, that we have not 
 learned wisdom from our dangers, nor gratitude from our 
 deliverances ; tliat we have not duly prized nor improved 
 our advantages ; but as God has' multiplied his favours upon 
 us, we have multiplied our transgressions against the God 
 of heaven ; and too visible it is, that infidelity, luxury, vice, 
 and profaneness, have widely diffused their contagion, and 
 infected this nation. 
 
 From this aggravated guilt, we have reason to dread that 
 God may be provoked to depart from us, to deliver us a 
 prey into the hands of our enemies ; and, by an inclement 
 season, to blast the fruits of the earth, and break the staff 
 of bread in our land ; thus visiting us, for our iniquities, 
 with the desolating calamities of war and famine. 
 
 The jS'ational Assembly of the Church of Scotland, in 
 this important crisis, when we have much to fear from our 
 enemies, and more from our own follies and heinous trans- 
 gressions, do therefore most seriously call and exhort all to 
 the duties of solemn fasting, humiliation, and prayer, ujDon 
 such a day as his Majesty shall please to appoint, the As- 
 sembly having made humble application to him to name the 
 day, and interpose his royal authority for the due observa- 
 tion thereof; and they do earnestly obtest persons of all 
 ranks, as they tender the favour of Almighty God, and the 
 welfare of these nations, to humble themselves with peni- 
 tent and contrite souls, in the sight of that God who, dwell- 
 ing in his high and holy place, dv/elleth also with them 
 who are of contrite and humble hearts ; to confess and for- 
 sake their sins, imploring, through Jesus Christ, gi*ace and 
 mercy from the Father of mercies ; beseeching the divine 
 Majesty to revive among us a spirit of primitive integrity, 
 piety, and virtue ; that we may be inspired with reverence 
 
 offered a bounty of thirty shillings to every able-bodied seaman ; 
 and Mr William Blair of Ruthven had offered a guinea to every 
 recruit who should enlist in Lord John Murray's regiment. 
 
1756.] NATIONAL FAST. 73 
 
 of the Almighty, loyalty to our sovereign, love and zeal for 
 our constitution, civil and religious ; that there may be one 
 mind and one heart in us all; that every heart may be 
 warm with the love of our country, and every hand cheer- 
 fully employed in her service : and if, in the providence of 
 God, we shall be called to appear in the defence of the Pro- 
 testant religion, and our national privileges, that, in so noble 
 a cause, we may act a part becoming our characters, as 
 Protestants and free Britons, — may be of good courage, and 
 may plav the men for our people, and for the cities of our 
 God. 
 
 The Assembly further enjoins, that, in the day of public 
 prayer, suppHcations be offered to the God of heaven, that 
 he may bless our sovereign, King George, long preserve his 
 valuable life, direct his councils, establish his throne in righ- 
 teousness, and that he may continue to reign in the hearts 
 of a free and happy people ; that God may bless their Royal 
 Highnesses, the Prince of Wales, the Princess- Dowager of 
 Wales, the Duke of Cumberland, the Princesses, and all 
 the royal family ; that God may give wisdom to our coun- 
 sellors, conduct to our commanders, and strength to those 
 who turn the battle from our gates ; that our trust and con- 
 fidence being placed, not in an arm of flesh, but in the 
 Lord Jehovah, in Avhom there is everlasting strength, he, 
 the righteous Governor of the universe, may favour our 
 righteous cause, — the Lord of Hosts may go forth with our 
 fleets and armies, protect those in the day of battle who ex- 
 pose their lives for our safety, and cro\\ii their arms with 
 victory and success ; that God, who setteth bounds to the 
 sea, stilleth the raging of its waves, and the tumults of the 
 people, would make this expensive and dangerous war 
 speedily to terminate in a safe and honourable peace ; that 
 the God of nature, whom all the elements obey, would 
 send such weather as will cherish the fruits of the earth, 
 that our pastures may be clothed ^Wtli flocks, and our val- 
 leys covered over with com, — that our land may yield her 
 increase, and the year at length be crowned with the divine 
 goodness; that we, enjoying the blessings of peace and 
 plenty in all our borders, and being delivered by the Al- 
 mighty from the hands of our enemies, may serve our God 
 without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all 
 the days of our lives ; that the beauty of the Lord our God 
 may be upon us, and glory, the glory of civil and religious 
 
74 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. p VoG. 
 
 liberty, may ever dwell in our land. And the Assembly 
 enjoins all ministers to intimate tins act fi-om their pulpits, 
 upon the Lord's Day immediately preceding the day that 
 shall be appointed by his Majesty for the observation of the 
 fast, and to excite the people to their duty by suitable ex- 
 hortations. 
 
 At the court at Kensington, June 30, the king, in coun- 
 cil, was pleased to appoint Thm-sday, the 22d of July, for 
 the observation of this fast ; and printed copies of the order 
 in council were sent by his Majesty's solicitor to all sheriffs, 
 &c., who were required to send them to all parish churches 
 within their bounds. 
 
 It was agi'eed, on the 25th, to transmit two overtures to 
 the several Presbyteries, in order to have their opinion of 
 them reported to next Assembly, ^Hiz. : — 
 
 1. " The General Assembly having had represented to 
 them the great loss which many of the present ministers of 
 this Church sustain from agreements which have been made, 
 betvvixt their predecessors in office and the heritors of their 
 respective parishes, concerning the extent of their stipends^ 
 whereupon decreets of modification and locality have been 
 obtained with consent of parties, did therefore agree to the 
 following overture, to be transmitted to Presbyteries : — 
 That it be enacted and ordained, that in all time coming- 
 no minister shall make any composition with his heritors, 
 with respect to obtaining a decreet of modification and lo- 
 cality for his stipend, but at the sight, and with the ad^dce 
 and consent of, the Presbytery of the bounds. 
 
 2. " That it shall be among the questions asked by Sy- 
 nods at the several Presbyteries, at the 'privj censures, 
 What vacancies there are in their bomids ? — of how long 
 continuance these have been ? and the reasons why they are 
 not supplied ; and if the Synod shall find any Presbytery 
 dilatory, after the right of planting any parish has by law 
 fallen into their hands, the Synod shall enjoin them to pro- 
 ceed toward the settlement of that parish without fm-ther 
 delay." 
 
 On a reference from the Presbytery of Dunfermline, the 
 presentation and call to Mr James Reid, probationer, pre- 
 sented by the Earl of Moray, to be minister of JBeafh, were 
 unanimously sustained, and the Presbytery were appointed 
 to proceed to his trials and settlement. The peaceable 
 
17.j6.] case op xigg. 75 
 
 temper with which the opposers of Mr ReicVs settlement 
 had conducted their opposition, gave great satisfaction to 
 the Assembly, which was signified to them by the 3Ioderator. 
 On the 27'th came under consideration the case of the 
 parish of Nigg. The facts are thus related, in a printed 
 case. In 1752, Mr Patrick Grant, minister at Duthil, re- 
 ceived the king's presentation to he minister at Nigg. Dif- 
 ficulties having arisen, and the affair having come before 
 the Assembly 1753, Mr Grant's call was sustained, and the 
 Presbytery of Tain were appointed to proceed to liis settle- 
 ment ; but, a few days before ^Ir Grant was to have left 
 Edinbm-gh, to go and take possession of his charge, a story 
 was raised, that he had preached in a church of Edinburgh 
 when intoxicated with liquor, and, while in that state, had 
 committed many indecencies, inconsistent wdth his sacred 
 character. On this, a prosecution was brought before the 
 Presbytery of Edinburgh ; who found that his own Presby- 
 tery were the proper judges, — and their sentence was con- 
 firmed by the Assembly 1754, by wdiom the cause was ac- 
 cordingly remitted to the Presbytery of Abernethy. This 
 judicature foimd the libel too vague, and ordained a more 
 particular condescendence to be given in. An appeal was 
 taken against this sentence by the prosecutors ; which 
 brought the affair before the supreme judicatui'e a third 
 time, in 1755. The sermon libelled on was preached on a 
 AVednesday evening ; and as the Presbytery of Edinburgh 
 had had Mr Grant at dinner "svith them a very short time 
 before, had been with him the whole day, and heard him 
 preach the sermon, the Assembly called them up, one by 
 one, to give a recital of what had passed. They all unani- 
 mously declared, that IMr Grant drank very little at dinner, 
 and that he was perfectly sober in the church. The As- 
 semljly unanimously found ]Mr Grant fully exculpated from 
 the charge of drunkenness, and the libel to be vexatious and 
 groundless, and therefore dismissed it ; and appointed the 
 Presbytery of Tain to proceed to his settlement as minister 
 at Nigg, and that bis admission should be betwixt and the 
 1 St of September, then next ; empowering the Commission 
 to cognosce and finally determine in any reference or ap- 
 peal, in case any such should be regularly brought before 
 them relative to his settlement. Instead of obeying this 
 sentence, the Presbytery, at a meeting, July 23, 1755, stated 
 a vote, Whether they should obey the Assembly's sentence. 
 
76 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1756. 
 
 or Not ? and it carried Not. The votes stood thus : Messrs 
 John Sutherland at Tain, and Gilbert Robertson at Kincar- 
 dine, and a ruling elder, Not ; Messrs George Balfour at 
 Tarbet, and Patrick Grant at Logie-Easter, Obey ; three, 
 viz., Messrs John Porteous at Kilmuir-Easter, Donald Ross 
 at Fearn, and John Bethune at Rosskeen, did not vote, 
 and Mr Joseph Munro at Edderton was absent.* Upon 
 an appeal, the Commission pronounced the following sen- 
 tence, November 19, 1755: — " The Commission do hereby 
 testify their displeasure at the Presbj^tery of Tain, for stat- 
 ing such a vote as Whether they should execute the As- 
 sembly's sentence, or Not ? and, in consequence of this, 
 refusing to obey the same ; and do peremptorily order the 
 said Presbytery to proceed to the settlement of Mr Patrick 
 Grant in the parish of Nigg, and to admit him as minister 
 of that parish betwixt and the 1st day of February next, 
 and to report to the Commission, at their next quarterly 
 meeting, on the first Wednesday of March next. And the 
 Commission do further recommend it to their Moderator to 
 Avrite a letter to that Presbytery, earnestly recommending it 
 to them to give obedience to these orders of the Assembly, 
 now renewed upon them by this Commission, and to con- 
 sider the bad consequences of Presbyteries disobejdng the 
 
 * Such is the account in the Printed Case ; but, strictly speak- 
 ing, the vote stated on the 23d July was, *' Proceed or Delay ; " 
 and, when the latter was carried, a committee was appointed to 
 confer with the parishioners. They reported, that, at a numerous 
 meeting in the church, " they had particularly and warmly exhorted 
 them to fall in with Mr Grant's settlement, and thereby prevent 
 numberless inconveniences, to themselves and others ; but instead 
 of their compliance, the whole of the elders and people then pre- 
 sent declared, they never would accede to Mr Grant's settlement ; 
 that they neither would witness his admission, nor ever afterwards 
 hear him, 7ior any that should juin in his admissio7i ; that it was 
 wormwood and gall to them to hear of that proposal any further ; 
 that the elders said they would choose sufferings unto death rather 
 than comply," &c. This report was given in on the 30th July, 
 when the vote was stated, " Proceed or Not, in present circum- 
 stances, and it canied Not." Such was the prejudice of the people, 
 that when, on the Sunday previous, the Moderator (Mr Patrick 
 Grant of Logie-Easter) appeared to preach, and read and translate 
 the act of Assembly acquitting the presentee, his namesake of Du- 
 thil, from the charge of drunkenness, " though a number of his 
 own parishioners composed an auditory, the parishioners of Nigg 
 totally absented. " 
 
1756.] CASE OP NIGG. 77 
 
 appointments of tlie supreme court ; putting them also in 
 mind, tliat, by the act 12, Ass. 1736, and the act 6, Ass. 
 1754, they are, for their having ah-eady refused to obey the 
 sentence of tlie hist Assembly, ipso facto sisted before the 
 next General Asseml)ly, to be accountable to them for their 
 conduct ; and that now it lies upon them to prevent what 
 they may expect must ensue upon their continuing disobe- 
 dient." The Presl)ytery met at Tain, December 31, 1755, 
 and, by an unanimous resolution, appointed the 28th of 
 January for ]Mr Grant's admission, and wrote him a letter 
 to attend ; which he accordingly did. When the appointed 
 day came, only four of the members attended at Nigg, viz., 
 jMessrs Balfour, Grant, Munro, and Bethune ; of whom 
 Messrs Munro and Bethune, pretending difficulties, slipt 
 ojft', so that there was not a quorum to execute the sentence. 
 An appeal to the Assembly was taken, in name of his 3Ia- 
 jesty's advocate and the heritors concumng with the royal 
 presentation, cmving redress ; for whom a petition was pre- 
 sented, setting forth several of the facts just now related 
 from their printed case. 
 
 The Presbytery being called, five of them appeared, viz., 
 Messrs John Sutherland, Donald Ross, Gilbert Robertson, 
 Joseph Munro, and John Bethune, and gave in a represen- 
 tation, dated at Edinburgh, May 27, and subscribed by 
 them, setting forth. That, as soon as the sentence of the Com- 
 mission in November ^^•as intimated to their ^Moderator, 
 viz., on the 24-th of December, the Presbytery was called to 
 meet on the 31st; at which meeting the edict was ap- 
 pointed to be served, and the 28th of January was fixed for 
 admitting ]Mr Grant : That accordingly four of the Presby- 
 tery met at Nigg that day, but could not find a single mem- 
 ber of the congregation, or any one j^erson iclio had inter- 
 est in the parish^ to witness or concur with Mr Grant's 
 settlement : That only one person appeared^ who told them, 
 that the hlood of the parish of Nigg zvould he required of 
 them if they should settle a man to the walls of the kirk, 
 and then went off: That, in these extraordinary circum- 
 stances, which could not be foreseen by the Assembly or 
 Commission, it was proposed to adjourn to Tain, that a 
 fuller meeting might be obtained, being still within the time 
 limited by the Commission, before they should take upon 
 them to act in a case so straitening and unprecedented ; but 
 this not being agi'eed to, a report of their proceedings was 
 G 2 
 
78 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1756. 
 
 sent up to the Commission in March ; and as, by the Com- 
 mission's not meeting, the Presbytery had no opportunity 
 of getting the advice and directions necessary, they had now, 
 for obtaining these, come to Edinburgh, from a corner far 
 distant, with great inconvenience to their parishes and dis- 
 tress to themselves : That it was with concern they found 
 themselves obliged to lay before the Assembly these new 
 and uncommon circumstances, which had hitherto hindered 
 their carrying into execution the sentence of the Commis- 
 sion, and as they now waited to know the mind of the As- 
 sembly with respect to them, they hoped any delay for this 
 purpose, in an affair so intricate, would not be found to im- 
 ply any disrespect or disobedience to the authority of the 
 supreme judicatures of the Church ; and praying such di- 
 rections anent the premises as the Venerable Assembly in 
 their ^visdom should see meet. 
 
 After parties were fully heard, the Assembly proceeded 
 to consider the affair, and an overture was proposed, viz.. 
 That the brethren, subscribers of the representation, should 
 be rebuked for their disobedience, and this sentence of the 
 Assembly ordered to be recorded in the Presbytery book of 
 Tain ; and, ^\4th respect to the admission of Mr Grant, that 
 the Assembly should appoint in the terms after expressed. 
 The Assembly, after reasoning, having agreed to that part 
 of the overture which respected the appointment to be laid 
 upon the brethren in order to Mr Grant's settlement, but 
 being divided in their sentiments with respect to the cen- 
 sure to be inflicted on them for their past disobedience, and 
 some being for the Assembly proceeding to a higher cen- 
 sure than a rebuke, it was agreed to put the question. Pro- 
 ceed to higher censure than a rebuke, or Not ? and it 
 carried, by a very great majority. Not. " The General 
 Assembly, therefore, considering the conduct of the breth- 
 ren, petitioners, to wit, Messrs John Sutherland, Donald 
 Ross, Gilbert Robertson, Joseph Munro, and John Bethune, 
 do appoint them to be rebuked for their disobedience ; and 
 order this sentence of the Assembly to be recorded in the 
 Presbytery book of Tain : And the General Assembly do 
 appoint the said Presbytery to admit Mr Patrick Grant as 
 minister of Nigg betwixt and the 1st day of August next ; 
 that Mr John Sutherland, minister at Tain, shall preach 
 and preside at the said admission ; and in case of his in- 
 ability, that the Presbytery shall appoint another of the 
 
17.56'.] CASE OF NIGG. 79 
 
 ;ibo> e-named petitioners in his room ; and all of the five 
 petitioners are hereby ordered to be present at the admis- 
 sion ; and if any of them should be absent, he shall give in 
 his excuse to the Presbytery, which shall be recorded by 
 them, and reported to the Commission of this Assembly at 
 their meeting in November next, — before whom such of 
 them as have been absent from the admission are hereby 
 ordained to appear, to be accountable for their conduct ; and 
 the Assembly do empower their Commission to inflict the 
 censure of deposition on such of them as shall be found to 
 have been disobedient ; but in case there shall be no quo- 
 rum of the Commission, they are hereby required to sist 
 themselves before the next General Assembly. And the 
 Assembly do further require the Presbytery of Tain to send 
 up to the Commission in November next, an extract of their 
 whole proceedings in this matter." The Moderator accord- 
 ingly, by appointment of the Assembly, rebuked the said 
 brethren.* 
 
 The same day, a petition of the elders of the lowland 
 congi-egation of Campbelton, and of the parish of Southend, 
 complaining of the Synod of Argyle, for certain acts passed 
 by them relating to the number of sermons to be preached 
 before and after the celebration of the Lord's Supper with- 
 in their bounds, was dismissed as incompetent, and not pro- 
 perly brought before the Assembly, because not brought by 
 
 * A very full report of this case, in all its stages, (as extracted 
 from the Presbytery Records) will be founel in the Appendix to the 
 Commons' Report on Patronage, 1834; pp. 109-122. The edict 
 for Mr Grant's admission was served by Mr Hugh Rose, probationer 
 and Presbytery-clerk, who reported, " That he found none in the 
 church but two servants ; that he did not think it either proper or 
 decent to preach, as he could get no more hearers, but that he made 
 intimation of this diet, and the design thereof, in presence of the 
 said two persons, and left a copy of the edict in the key-hole of the 
 most patent door of the church, and then came away." At the 
 Presbytery meeting (above mentioned) of the 28th January, the rea- 
 son assigned in the record, by Mr Munro of Edderton, for not pro- 
 ceeding to the settlement, is, not that he was disinclined to obey 
 the Assembly's order, but " because he ,is apprehensive the peace 
 of the country, the usefulness of Mr Grant, and of other members 
 willing to proceed to the settlement, \vill be greatly marred and im- 
 peded by the absence of Mr John Sutherland of Tain, as he cannot be 
 tied up, by any law of the Church, or good manners, from encour^- 
 ing any people, when they please to break off from their own minis- 
 
80 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1756'. 
 
 any appeal from the S}Tiod, so as to sist the Synod to an- 
 swer for themselves. By the act which gives rise to this 
 complaint, dated August 12, 1754, "The Synod appoint 
 and ordain, that the use of sermons on the Saturday before 
 and Monday after dispensing the Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper, be discontinued in all time coming ; and that there 
 be no sermons preached on those occasions, but on the Sab- 
 bath-day, and on the Thursday immediately preceding, 
 which is to be observed as a day of fasting and prepara- 
 tion." There was an affair somewhat similar to this before 
 the Assembly 1751.* 
 
 On the 28th, Avere taken under consideration instructions 
 from the Presbyteries of Skye and Uist, representing the 
 great prejudice likely to befall religion and loyalty, through 
 the want of a sufficient number of preachers who have the 
 Irish tongue^ for supplpng the vacancies in those places, 
 of which there are several already, and a near prospect of 
 more. The instnictions were remitted to the committee for 
 overtures ; and on an overture presented by that committee 
 on the 29th, tlie Assembly agreed to the reviAnng of bursa- 
 ries, to be maintained by the Church, for educating students 
 who have the Irish language, which were discontinued by 
 the act 7, Ass. 1737, and to appoint an annual collection 
 in all the churches in Scotland for the same purpose. Ac- 
 cordingly, an act and recommendation was proposed, for a 
 
 ters." He then goes on to accuse Mr Sutherland of giving sealing 
 ordinances to others than his o^vn parishioners, of employing men 
 who leave their own parishes, to speak and pray in his fellowship- 
 meetings, &c. ; and therefore " he (Mr Munro) does not think 
 himself bound, either in duty to the Church, nor from the pri7iciples 
 of self-preservation, to screen Mr Sutherland in his disobedience, 
 and by this give him a large tield for exercising the office of uni- 
 versal bishop in the bounds," &c. The whole minute is a curio- 
 sity of its kind. Mr Munro fully succeeded in his object, for it 
 will be seen, that the Assembly ordered Mr Sutherland not only to 
 be present at the admission, but to preside, which he accordingly 
 did on the 27th July, when this painful business was brought to a 
 close. One consequence of Mr Grant's settlement, however, was 
 the erection of a Seceding Meeting-House, which still exists, and 
 to which, according to the late statistical account, by Mr Lewis 
 Rose, now of Glasgow, 120 families belong, while 160 adhere to 
 the Establishment. Mr Grant's predecessor was Mr John Sal- 
 four, whose ministry appears to have been eminently acceptable and 
 useful. 
 
 * See the former vol., p. 212. 
 
1756.] COLLECTION FOR HIGHLAND STUDENTS. 81 
 
 voluntary collection, in order to the educating of students 
 having ike Irish language, (dated at Edinburgh, May 31, 
 IToG,) viz.: — ''The General Assembly of the Church of 
 Scotland, having taken the state of religion in the High- 
 lands and Islands into their serious consideration, and it 
 being represented to them by the Synods and Presbyteries 
 immediately concerned, That, unless proper precautions be 
 taken in time, there will not be a sufficient number of per- 
 sons capable of preaching the Gospel of Christ in the Irish 
 language, in places where it is absolutely necessary to preach 
 in that tongue : That there are already several vacant pa- 
 rishes in those parts, — one of which in particular, is mostly 
 inhabited by Papists, — which there is no prospect of having 
 soon filled up, through the want of probationers and stu- 
 dents in divinity who are acquainted with the language of 
 the place; and that more parishes of the same kind will 
 soon be in the like melancholy situation,— so that ignorance, 
 Popery, and disaffection to the government, must in all pro- 
 babihty prevail there, ^^ithout some timely remedy, as the 
 implacable enemies of our happy establishment, in Church 
 and State, take care to keep up a constant succession of 
 Popish missionaries in those places : That of those people 
 in the Highlands and Islands who are in a condition to 
 train up their children for the holy ministry, very few are 
 disposed to do it ; and of those who are inclined to it, very 
 few are able to support the expense of an university educa- 
 tion. For these reasons, the General Assembly do hereby 
 appoint, that a pubhc collection be made for this purpose 
 in all the churches in Scotland, on or before the first Sab- 
 bath of December next. The money so collected to be re- 
 mitted to William Ross, clerk to the Society for Propagat- 
 ing Christian Knowledge ; and the same to be laid out on 
 the education of students having the Irish language, at phi- 
 losophy and divinity colleges, according to such a plan as 
 shall be drawn out by the ensuing General Assembly. 
 And it is hoped, that the same charity which has been so 
 generously exercised on several occasions towards our dis- 
 tressed brethren in foreign countries, will be no less forward 
 to exert itself in behalf of those of our own country, whose 
 ignorance or progress in Christian knowledge, whose loyalty 
 or disloyalty, must more immediately affect our present 
 happy constitution, civil and religious. And whereas it 
 were to be wished, that the people of this country did all 
 
82 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [l756. 
 
 understand and speak tlie same language; and it being 
 certain, that one great source of the ignorance and want of 
 industry that prevail in many parts of the Highlands and 
 Islands, is their unacquaintedness with the English tongue, 
 therefore it is hereby pro\dded and ordained, that every 
 student who shall be trained up for the ministry in those 
 places, upon the fund which is proposed to be raised for 
 this purpose, shall, when he comes to be settled as a minis- 
 ter, preach every Lord's Day in English as well as in the 
 Irish language. And all ministers in those parts are ap- 
 pointed to use their best endeavours for the spreading of 
 the English tongue among their people till it become the 
 universal language of the country. And the General As- 
 sembly appoints this act to be read from all the pulpits in 
 Scotland, the Lord's Day immediately preceding that on 
 which the collection is to be made ; and recommends to all 
 the ministers to accompany the same with suitable exhorta- 
 tions." 
 
 A complaint, relating to simoniacal pactions in the settle- 
 ment of the parish of St Vigian's^ was likewise taken into 
 consideration on the 28th, and committed; and on report, 
 next day, the following resolution was agreed to : — " The 
 General Assembly having had represented to them certain 
 illegal practices earned on in the settlement of the parish of 
 St Yigian's, by some concerned in that parish, do hereby 
 testify their abhoiTcnce of such practices, and agree that a 
 committee shall be appointed to prepare an overtm'e for 
 putting a stop to these, of which there is reason to believe 
 there have been frequent instances, and to lay the same be- 
 fore the Commission of this Assembly, at their meeting in 
 November next, who are hereby instructed to consider and 
 ripen such an overture, and transmit it to the next General 
 Assembly." A committee was named accordingly. The 
 complainers, as well as the committee, declared themselves 
 satisfied that Mr Aitken, the minister of St Yigian's, had 
 no concern in the illegal practices complained of. 
 
 A third affair brought in on the 28th was that of Jed- 
 burgh. This parish became vacant on the 1 8th of Septem- 
 ber 1755, by the death of Mr James Winchester. In a 
 short time after, the elders entered into a written associa- 
 tion, viz. : — " Be it known to all to whom these presents 
 may come., that we, the elders in the town and country pa- 
 rish of Jedburgh, do unanimously agree and resolve (through 
 
IToO.] CASE OF JEDBURGH. 83 
 
 tlic Strength of divine grace,"') to stand and fall together in 
 the election or voice of a minister for this parish, against 
 all solicitations, threats, or bribes whatsoever, or from whom- 
 soever, and against all intrusion that may be attempted on 
 said parish by any minister whatsoever ; and that we shall 
 cleave and adhere iirmly to the majority of this parish in 
 the choice, as aforesaid ; and this we do certify, and each 
 of us for ourselves. In witness whereof," &c. This paper 
 was subscribed by seventeen persons, and dated October 2.5, 
 1755 ; and the same day a numerous subscription was pro- 
 cured in favour of Mr Thomas Boston, minister at Oxnam, 
 to be minister at Jedburgh. But, on the 4th of Febi-uary 
 1756, a presentation to that benefice was granted by the 
 king, in favour of Mr John Bonar, minister at Cockpen,t 
 which was duly accepted and lodged ; and a petition was 
 prefen-ed to the Presbytery, for a moderation in a call to 
 jMr Bonar, in name of all the heritors, (except two small 
 ones,) the provost, three of the four bailies, the dean of 
 guild, five counsellors, and sundry heads of fiimilies. Com- 
 pearance was made for the elders, and others, to oppose Mr 
 Bonar's settlement. Of the papers given in for them, one 
 consists of nine objections to JMr Bonar's being their minis- 
 ter ; which turn chiefly upon Mr Bonar's accepting a pre- 
 sentation, notwithstanding his having always been a stre- 
 nuous opposer of violent settlements, — which, they say, are 
 contrary to Scripture, the apostolical practice, and the 
 principles of tlie Church of Scotland. We give the two 
 last objections verbatim, viz. : — " 8. It has been, and is 
 the opinion of some at this day, that vacant churches never 
 was better planted, but since the power was lodged in the 
 hands of patrons ; but, to pass from acts and opinions of 
 men, we shall view the foundation-act, and that is in the 
 2d Psalm, long before this Church, the endu of the earthy 
 Scotland and England, were gifted of the Father to his Son 
 Christ, — and that is an old act of Parliament, decreed bv 
 our Lord, and printed 4000 years ago. Man's acts are but 
 yet printing ; the first act shall stand, let the great ones of 
 the earth, who love Christ's room better than himself, rage 
 as they please. 9. It is a sorry scene, to see the pillars of 
 
 * The words in the pai-eiithesis are interlined in the original, 
 t He was grandson of Mr Bonar of Torphichen, and father ot 
 Mr Bonar of Cramond. 
 
84 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1736. 
 
 God's Church supporting and pleading so avowedly for the 
 disturbers of Sion s peace ; and, as Joah said to David. 
 2 Sam. xix. 6, 7, ' Thou hast declared this day, that thou 
 regardest neither the welfare of the Church nor the edifica- 
 tion of souls, the voice of the people, nor the entreaties of 
 elders ; for this day we perceive, that if Mr John Bonar 
 can hut obtain the stipend of Jedburgh^ it is no matter if 
 we die in ignorance.' Now, therefore, come forth, arise, 
 and speak comfortably unto this poor afflicted congregation, 
 now lying groaning under the heavy yoke of patronage; 
 and if we can procure no comfort at the hands of God's 
 ministers, we declare, roundly, soundly, faithfully, and ho- 
 nestly, that w^e will complain to God himself for a redress 
 of our grievances." 
 
 This cause Avas carried from the Presbytery, first to the 
 SjTiod, and then to the Assembly, by reference. It appears, 
 that before the end of February the opposers of Mr Bonar 
 were credibly informed, that he was determined not to go 
 to Jedburgh in the face of so numerous an opposition ; and 
 before the meeting of the Ass ^mbly he had got a call to 
 Perth. In the Assembly, several members ha^-ing expressed 
 an apprehension of disagreeable consequences, in the event 
 of Mr Bonar s being transported to Jedburgh, the Lord Ad- 
 vocate represented, that as he was desirous to promote the 
 peace of the Church and the quiet of the country, and as 
 his Majesty's right to present anew an}^ other qualified per- 
 son could not be prejudiced by the not carrvang Mr Bonar's 
 settlement into execution, he, in order to remove the diffi- 
 culties in this case, attended with particular circumstances, 
 would make no opposition to any expedient that might 
 seem proper to the wisdom of the Assembly for biinging 
 this affair to a comfortable issue, consistent ^vith the Crown's 
 right of presenting anew to the vacant parish of Jedburgh. 
 The Assembly thereupon agreed, without a vote, to the fol- 
 lowing resolution, viz. : — " Having considered the circum- 
 stances of the case, and what was represented by his Majesty's 
 advocate, the Assembly are of opinion, that the presenta- 
 tion and concurrence there"s\'ith ought to be sustained ; but 
 that it is inexpedient, as matters stand, to prosecute the 
 same, in order to the transportation of Mr Bonar to Jed- 
 burgh ; and therefore the Assembly make no order or deci- 
 sion for that effect, — reser-vdng and declaring, that it shall 
 be competent to his Majesty, the patron, to present any 
 
1756.] MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 85 
 
 qualified person to be minister of Jedburgh ^vithin six 
 months from this date ; and in such case, they appoint the 
 Presbytery of Jedburgh to receive and proceed upon the 
 same according to the rules of the Church. ^Vnd the Ge- 
 neral Assembly do hereby empower the Commission to take 
 in, cognosce, and finally determine, in any question that 
 shall be brought regularly before them relating to the settle- 
 ment of Jedburgh ; and to take into consideration the con- 
 duct of the elders of Jedburgh, — and particularly an asso- 
 ciation entered into by them, — and to judge therein as they 
 see cause." 
 
 On the 29 th a letter Avas given in, dated September 24, 
 1 755, fi-om the trustees for the College of New Jersey^ 
 returning thanks to the Assembly for the collection granted 
 to the said college \ which was read, and ordered to be kept 
 in retentis. 
 
 A reference from the Synod of Perth and Stirling of a 
 cause brought before them, by an appeal taken by ]\Ir 
 James Smith, probationer, who is presented by the Right 
 Honourable the Earl of Kinnoul, patron of the parish of 
 Rattray^ to be minister of that parish, from a sentence of 
 the Presbytery of Dunkeld, finding, " That the six months 
 alloAved by law to the patron to present, were elapsed, and 
 therefore refusing to admit the said presentation, or proceed 
 thereon; and further finding, that the power of planting 
 the parish of Rattray w^as devolved on the Presbytery," — 
 brought in and read, and the Presbytery of Dunkeld ap- 
 pointed, with all convenient speed, to moderate in a call to 
 the said Mr James Smith alone, to be minister of the said 
 parish of Rattray, and to proceed to his settlement accord- 
 ing to the rules of this Church. 
 
 An instruction from the Presbytery of Biggar, for advice 
 how to oblige patrons of churches to apply vacant stipends 
 as directed by law, read ; and the General Assembly re- 
 mitted to the said Presbytery to apply to the procurator for 
 the Church for his advice in the affair, and to follow what 
 directions he shall give thereanent. 
 
 The procurator and agent for the Church appointed to 
 attend to a cause advocated to the Court of Session, con- 
 cerning the settling of a schoolmaster at Neivburn, wherein 
 the callers of one Mr Mitchel to be schoolmaster there, 
 (whose call was rejected by the Presbytery,) had excluded 
 the minister of the parish from a vote in the election. 
 
86 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. []1756. 
 
 The draft of an act and recommendation for a collection 
 for carr\dng on the building of the bridge at Kelso, brought 
 in and approven. 
 
 The Assembly rose May 31. 
 
 Debate in the Committee of Overtures. 
 
 Some members of Assembly, not satisfied with the gene- 
 ral declaration against infidel ivritings, Avhicli had been 
 passed the fonner year, (see p. 58,) proposed, in the com- 
 mittee of overtures, that a special censure should be directed 
 against certain infidel writers. The controversy had been 
 carried on since last Assembly ; and not long before the 
 present meeting, a pamphlet had appeared, with the title — 
 " Infideliiij a projyer object of Censure." Though the mat- 
 ter did not come into debate in the Assembly itself, yet.^ as 
 the discussion in committee excited much interest at the 
 time, we shall here insert an account of it, which appeared 
 soon after : — 
 
 After a few general observations upon the importance 
 of a strict and regular discipline to the purity of the Chris- 
 tian Church, it was moved, that the Assembly should be 
 desired to take notice of some of the infidel writings pub- 
 lished of late in this nation, and their authors ; and, lest it 
 should be found difiicult or improper to make it too gene- 
 ral, it was proposed to confine the inquiry at present to 
 one, viz., David Hume, Esq., because he had publicly 
 avowed his writings, at least some of the most offensive of 
 them, by prefixing his name. This motion was seconded, 
 and some paragraphs of the Confession of Faith and form 
 of process were read, asserting the propriety, and appoint- 
 ing the exercise of discipline in such cases. Next day, in 
 the committee, a WTitten overture was given in and read, 
 the substance of Avhich was as follows : — " The General As- 
 sembly, judging it their duty to do all in their power to 
 check the growth and progress of infidelity ; and consider- 
 ino-, that as infidel writings have begun of late years to be 
 published in this nation, against which they have hitherto 
 only testified in general, so there is one person, styling him- 
 self David Hurney Esq., who hath arrived at such a degree 
 of boldness as publicly to avow himself the author of books 
 containing the most rude and open attacks upon the glori- 
 
1756.] DEBATE ON Hume's WRITINGS. 87 
 
 ous Gospel of Christ, and principles evidently subvei*sive even 
 of natural religion and the foundations of morality, if not 
 establishing direct Atheism; therefore the Assembly appoint 
 
 the following persons, , as a committee to inquire into 
 
 the A\Titings of this author, to call him before them, and 
 prepare the matter for the next General Assembly." 
 
 To this motion a strenuous opposition was made, and 
 a variety of objections were raised. 
 
 1 . It was said, many members had not read the writ- 
 ings in question, and so could not judge of them. 
 
 2. It was often alleged, that it could serve no good 
 purpose, — that it was not to be imagined that prosecution 
 or censure would convince him, or make him change his 
 opinions, in which he seemed to be so firmly rivetted, 
 
 3. It was said by some, that it would be a long and dif- 
 ficult inquiry, and Avould lead to the discussion of many 
 philosophical opinions ; the meeting was put in mind of the 
 many long and fierce debates that had l)een in the Chris- 
 tian Church about fate, free will, &c. ; so that the aifair, if 
 entered upon, might last many years, and become in a man- 
 ner the sole business of the Assembly. 
 
 4. It was alleged, that the AMntings of Mr Hume con- 
 tained opinions that every man of common sense detested ; 
 that they were so gross, and so e\ddently fidse, that they 
 could not do any harm ; that it would be doing them too 
 much honour to take such public notice of them. 
 
 5. It was alleged, that however wrong his opinions 
 were, his ^Titings w^ere mostly of an abstract and metaphy- 
 sical kind, — very little intelligible to the bulk of people ; 
 and therefore, as little danger could arise fi'om them, so li- 
 berty of judgment ought to be allowed ; and they were not 
 proper objects of censure, which ought rather to be applied 
 to practical errors, and things more immediately criminal. 
 
 6. It was alleged, that it would greatly please the man 
 himself, and promote the sale of his book. Here some 
 stories were told, how booksellers had artfully solicited the 
 authoritative condemnation of books in order to get them 
 off their hands ; and it was represented by some" as very 
 dangerous thus to spread such writings, and l)ring them in- 
 to the hands of common or country people, who Avould not 
 otherwise have looked into them ; and the consequences of 
 this were painted very strongly. 
 
 7. It was insisted on by many, that Mr Hume could 
 
88 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1756. 
 
 not be said to be a Christian at all ; that he had openly 
 and publicly thrown off the profession of it, and therefore 
 was one of those "who, in Scripture language, are ivithout^ 
 and so not proper objects of Christian discipline. 
 
 Some of the supporters of tlie overture observed, in ge- 
 neral, that several of the arguments used against their pro- 
 posal contradicted one another, — that whilst some pretend 
 to foretell, that it would lead the Assembly into so long 
 and intricate a debate as would be almost endless, others 
 affirm, that the A^Titings are so gross and evidently false 
 that they can do little or no harm, — that some say they are 
 so abstract and metaphysical that they can have little con- 
 nection with morals, — others, that we ought to beware 
 of exciting curiosity, and spreading a very dangerous poi- 
 son, — all of which assertions could not be true, as being 
 mutually destructive of each other. 
 
 More particularly, — to the ^7^st objection it was an- 
 swered, That it was the weakest imaginable in this case, 
 since no sentence w as immediately craved, but an inquiry 
 proposed ; for which purpose a general fama of the pernici- 
 ous tendency of the writings, and the information of such 
 members as had read them, was abundantly sufficient. 
 
 To the second, That it was a presumptuous limitation 
 of almighty poAver, to affirm, that any man was incapable 
 of being reclaimed ; and that discipline, even can-ied to ex- 
 communication, being one mean appointed in Scripture for 
 this pm-pose, ought to be tried. Besides, that reclaiming 
 offenders themselves w^as far from being the only, perhaps 
 not even the chief, end of the exercise of discipline — which 
 was, to preserve others from infection, and deter them from 
 offending. 
 
 In answer to the third. It was denied that there could 
 be any difficulty or intricacy in finding the pernicious ten- 
 dency of principles levelled against the very foundations of 
 morality. 
 
 To the fourth, which is diametrically opposite to the 
 former, it was answered, That the grossness and wickedness 
 of his assertions made it so much the greater scandal, that 
 such a person should continue to wear the Christian name ; 
 and that, as human nature is exceeding con-upt, it might 
 tempt many to think light of the Christian character, when 
 they saw it prostituted and left open to the possession of 
 those who were so unworthy of it. 
 
1756.] DEBATE ON IIUME's WRITINGS. 80 
 
 To tlie ffth^ That whatever metaphysical turn ]\lr 
 Hume might have shown in some of his writings, the pas- 
 Siiges compkiined of were of the plainest as well as the 
 grossest kind, Tliat liberty of judgment in doubtful mat- 
 ters was very necessary, in the present state of human na 
 ture, but it was very strange, that men could not see the 
 absurdity of supposing, that a good thing cannot be spoiled 
 by excess, or wrong applied ; that a man may say the most 
 immoral things, and defend immorality, and if it be only 
 called an opinion, it must not be considered as a crime. 
 But Avhy are visible crimes an object of censure or Clmrcli 
 discipline ? Is it not because they are a proper evidence of 
 a wicked heart ? And is not an open profession of wicked- 
 ness of heart also an evidence of it ? Is an act of whore- 
 dom or of theft censurable in a professed Christian ? — and 
 is it not censm*able to deride chastity, and refuse its obli- 
 gation ; and to affirm that all justice is founded on power 
 and conveniency ? These are not metaphysical or intricate 
 opinions, but eiTors having the most certain and immediate 
 influence upon practice. Fonnerly it was thought suffi- 
 cient to say, that forbearance is to be used in small matters, 
 ])ut that to overthrow the great doctrines of morality, by 
 Avhich society subsists, demands punishment even by the 
 civil power, — whereas now we have lived to see the grossest 
 immorality taught and subscribed, and then defended as 
 freedom of inquiry. It was also observed, that if people 
 would reflect upon the nature of Church discipline, it would 
 appear quite absurd to consider it as any restraint upon 
 liberty. It is not punishing men in their bodies, not even 
 hindering them to publish their opinions, but only hinder- 
 ing them fit)m injuriously possessing that to Avhich they 
 have no right, viz., the Christian name. 
 
 To the sixth objection it was answered, That it was 
 not certain whether it would give the gentleman mucli plea- 
 sure, if it should issue in his excommunication, and this 
 publicly intimated, and his gross assertions narrated as the 
 cause of it ; and that it w^ould not spread his writings much 
 among any but those who would be in least danger of in- 
 fection. 
 
 But upon this, and indeed with respect to all the pre- 
 ceding oljjections, it was insisted by the friends of the over- 
 ture, that as they could produce not only the Confession of 
 Faith and Form of Process, but express passages of Scripture, 
 H 2 
 
do ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1756'. 
 
 requiring, under strong and awful sanctions, the exercise of 
 discipline against the maintainers of false and pernicious 
 opinions, nothing could be more weak than to produce 
 human conjectures against the expediency of it ; and, as 
 the meaning or application of those passages had not been 
 debated by any who had spoke upon the point, they asked, 
 How, as an ecclesiastical court, the Assembly could excuse 
 themselves for a direct refusal to comply mth an express 
 command of Christ ? 
 
 To this there w ere two or three replies made. 1 st, It 
 was said by one, wdth whom indeed it did not appear that 
 any body concuiTed, that the exercise of discipline in a strict 
 and \'igorous manner might be a duty when the Church 
 Avas pure, and offenders fev/ ; but would any man say, that 
 when the Chm-ch was greatly corrupted, and offenders very 
 numerous, all Avho deserved censure by the rules of the 
 Gospel ought to have that censm-e inflicted upon them ? — 
 that if this Avere the case, it Avould reduce the Church to a 
 A'ery small nmnber. Some of the supporters of the overtm-e 
 afiirmed, that they had [folio Aved], and AA^ould folloAv no other 
 rules of censure, but the rules of the Gospel ; and that hoAv- 
 ever great a reduction this might cause in the number of the 
 Church, no greater number had any title to be in it. 2d, It 
 Avas said, that discipline Avas not of the nature of duties 
 Avhich Avere ahvays binding, independent of their conse- 
 quences, but was a duty or not, according to its apparent 
 expediency. In opposition to this, it was denied that any 
 such license AAas given in Scripture ; and it AA^as aflBmied, 
 that, on the contrary, the universal and impartial applica- 
 tion of it Avas its chief excellence, and did most contnbute 
 to render it successful. But, Sd, The chief reply to this 
 requisition was Avhat Ave have mentioned above, as the last 
 objection against the overture, A-iz., that Mr Hume really is 
 no Christian, has not so much as the profession of it, and 
 therefore is to be considered as one that is without, and so 
 not a subject of Christian discipline. 
 
 This Avas the objection most insisted upon ; and, Avith 
 a discussion of it by mutual interrogations, the debate AA'as 
 closed, pretty much as folloAvs : — The fi'iends of the OA^er- 
 ture alloAved, that one AA^ho Avas not m any sense a member 
 of the Aasible Church, AAas no subject of discipline ; but 
 they observed, that Avhatever gross crimes Mr Hume had 
 committed, he had neither been formally excluded by a sen- 
 
1756.] DEBATE ON RUME's WRITINGS. 91 
 
 tence, nor had excluded himself by any formal declaration ; 
 that he had not renounced his baptism ; that he frequently 
 in his writings ranks himself among professing Christians, 
 saying, ou7' holy religion^ &c. ; and however plainly these 
 words are used in a way of contempt and derision, it the 
 more shows the necessity of a visible separation ; that pro- 
 fessing Christians did ordinarily hold voluntary unnecessary 
 communication with him, and even ministers were seen 
 freely conversing with him, which it is presumed they would 
 not do if he were formally excluded. It was returned, that 
 though he had not said in express words that he was no 
 Christian, he had said it as publicly and as strongly by 
 other forms of expression ; that he was generally considered 
 in this light ; and that Chi'istians were supposed to frequent 
 his company in order to his reformation. The supporters 
 of the overture then said, if the coui-t would give it as their 
 judgment that he w^as no Christian, and so no subject of 
 discipline, and make this any way public, they were satis- 
 fied. They were then asked, whether they could in reason 
 demand that such a sentence should be past, w^hen the per- 
 son had not been before them, nor any regular inquiry into 
 his crime ? They answered, that they did not demand it, 
 imd therefore had proposed an inquiry, but had spoke what 
 is above as the consequence of the reasoning of their adver- 
 saries ; and retorted the question, how they could so often 
 use in their reasoning, and apparently form their own upon, 
 and influence the judgment of others by, an argument 
 which they refused to assign as the ground of their sen- 
 tence ? To this it w^as said by one, that he said it not as 
 his o^^^l opinion, and perhaps had formed no opinion upon 
 it, but that the overture itself represented J\lr Hume as no 
 Christian, and so ought not to be transmitted, as proceed- 
 ing upon a supposition which rendered its o^^^l demand 
 unnecessary; for whoever is guilty of such things as are 
 there laid to his charge, certainly is no Christian. It was 
 then rephed, that it in no other way represented him as no 
 Christian, than by saying, he deserved to be excluded from 
 that character, — it complains that he retains the Christian 
 name, when he had forfeited all right to it ; that, according 
 to this way of reasoning, no person ever could be censured 
 or excluded by a sentence, for as soon as he has been guilty 
 of any thing that .deserves it, he is no Christian, and so 
 must be left to himself. 
 
92 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1756. 
 
 The opposers of the overture moved, that the committee 
 should come to the following resolution, viz., " That though 
 all the memhers have a just abhorrence of any principles 
 tending to infidelity, or to the prejudice of our holy reli- 
 gion, yet, on account of certain circumstances in this case, 
 they drop the overture, because it would not, in their judg- 
 ment, serve the purpose of edification." 
 
 The debate lasted for two days ; but though characterised 
 by Lord Woodhouselee as " very keen," the reporter says 
 " it was carried on with abundance of decency, Avithout any 
 violent altercation, or personal reflections." The vote was 
 at last put. Transmit the overture to the Assem])ly, or Not^ 
 and it passed in the negative; Transmit^ 17, — Not^ 50; 
 and the above resolution was agreed to. 
 
 Notwithstanding of this decision, and that, from motives 
 of decorum, the name of Lord Karnes had this year been 
 omitted in the overture, the indefatigable Mr George An- 
 derson (see under last year, at p. 54,) soon after took the 
 bold step of raising a complaint, before the Presbytery of 
 Edinbm'gh, against the printers and publishers of his Lord- 
 ship's " Essays on Morality and Natural Religion." The 
 complaint being of a singular nature we insert it entire as 
 follows : — 
 
 " That Mr Robert Fleming hath printed, for Messrs 
 Alexander Kincaid and Alexander Donaldson, a book en- 
 titled. Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural 
 Religion^ wherein, among other things, the author main- 
 tains, that God deceives mankind with a fallacious sense of 
 liberty ; and that because man is not really but delusively 
 a free agent, he cannot sin against him, 
 
 " Though these tenets are inconsistent wdth the princi- 
 ples of natural religion, morality, and the Christian revela- 
 tion, nevertheless, the said Alexander Kincaid and Alexan- 
 der Donaldson did, and do continue to publish and vend 
 the said book, to the great scandal and offence of all who 
 believe that God is holy, and that the Gospel is his Word 
 of Truth. 
 
 " The petitioner, therefore, in his own name, and in the 
 name of all who do or shall adhere, prays, that the 
 said printer and booksellers may be summoned to the 
 next meeting of the Presbytery, and there and then to 
 declare and give up the author of the said book ; and 
 
1756.] CASE OF LORD KAMES* PUBLISHERS. 93 
 
 that he and they may be censured according to the 
 law of the Gospel, and the practice of this and all 
 other well-governed Churches." 
 
 The following are extracts from the answers for Messrs 
 Fleming, Kincaid, and Donaldson, to Mr Anderson's com- 
 plaint : — 
 
 ;> * * u -w^ijen books are published with an intention 
 to attack either natural or revealed religion, they justly give 
 disquiet to all well-disposed persons ; but it must be ob^4- 
 ous to every one who looks into this book, that the sole in- 
 tent and purview of it was, to improve the sentiments of 
 natural religion and morality, and to enforce them by such 
 motives and arguments as appeared to the author to carry 
 the strongest conviction. It is well kno^^'n that this was 
 the author's design in the pubhcation ; and that he had it 
 particularly in view, to refute certain sceptical opinions, 
 which appeared to lum prejudicial to the cause of natural 
 religion and virtue. AVhen such is the professed and only 
 intent of a book, it deserves a fair construction. The minds 
 of men are so formed, that in all philosophical disquisitions, 
 especially those of the nicest kind, it will often happen, 
 that those who have the same common end in >'iew, will 
 differ upon the reasonings and deductions that lead to it. 
 To some, one argument will appear more strong and for- 
 cible ; to others, another ; and it will also sometimes hap- 
 pen, that a chain of reasoning which appears to one very 
 strong for demonstrating the soundest principles, may ap- 
 pear to another to have an erroneous tendency in other re- 
 spects, which is not perceived by the author, other\>'ise he 
 would most heartily disclaim it. 
 
 " It must be very apparent to the Reverend Presbytery, 
 that nothing can be more imfair, than to impute to an author, 
 who is investigating truth by such deductions as appear to 
 him most probable, consequences arising from his arguments 
 which he himself entirely disclaims. If this is allowed, the 
 liberty of reasoning, and all the valuable consequences re- 
 sulting from it, are at an end ; — and this is truly the only 
 pretence or handle for the present complaint. The corn- 
 plainer imagines, that he has discovered certain passages in 
 the book that represent the Creator in a disrespectful view, 
 or deny the possibility of sin in man. Nothing can be 
 
94 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1750. 
 
 more manifest than that the general tendency of the book 
 is directly opposite to these inferences. It is plain, that 
 the anxious aim of the author, throughout the whole, is 
 to demonstrate the existence and ever-adorable perfections 
 of the Deity, and to inculcate the love of virtue, and re- 
 gard to the authority of conscience, — the law written in 
 our hearts, AAhereby all sinful and corrupt affections may 
 be destroyed." 
 
 [For proof that such is the author s aim, several passages 
 of the book are quoted.]] 
 
 " The respondents aaiII not trouble the Reverend Pres- 
 bytery with entering into a detail of the several passages 
 referred to in the paper subjoined to the complaint. Tliere 
 are few books written upon subjects of this kind, but it is 
 very possible, by culling out broken sentences from the 
 midst of paragraphs, and drawing remote inferences from 
 them, to make the author appear to maintain opinions that 
 never entered into his thought. Such are the arts that 
 have been used in this case : and the respondents do not 
 know whether even the complainer's ovra. writings would 
 be able to stand an inquisition of this kind. Whatever 
 good intention he may have had in publishing his thoughts 
 on these matters to the world, yet it is not easy to guard 
 every expression with so much caution that inferences may 
 not be drawn which may be liable to objection. If this 
 should happen to be the case, the complainer would think 
 it hard usage, if either he himself, or his printers or book- 
 sellers, Avere brought to the bar of an ecclesiastical court as 
 criminals, upon a charge founded on no better gi-ound than 
 critical wire-drawn inferences from detached sentences in 
 his AATitings. 
 
 " It is evident this is not a fair way of treating any au- 
 thor, to fix upon him, by remote inferences, opinions con- 
 trary to his declared sentiments in other parts of the book. 
 The respondents believe, that many of the passages against 
 which the complainer most loudly exclaims, are to be met 
 with in the writings of the most orthodox divines, who 
 are justly held in veneration by this and other reformed 
 Churches. This is what will be much better known to the 
 Reverend Presbytery than to the respondents, who do not 
 pretend to be much versant in the many learned books that 
 have been A\Tote upon those subjects ; but, Av^thout enter- 
 ing into such disquisition, they are advised, that there is no 
 
1756.] CASE OF LORD KAMEs' PUBLISHERS. 95 
 
 colour for prosecuting an author, still less a printer or book- 
 seller, upon such pretences as are suggested in this case. 
 
 " If it were not lawful for a bookseller to admit into his 
 shop, or dispose of any book, until he had examined it ac- 
 cording to the strict rules of orthodoxy, and found that 
 there was not a sentence in it that could not be supported 
 by the concurring sentiments of some approven author, it is 
 plain this would be equal to an injunction to every book- 
 seller to shut up shop. It is an inquiry he is neither in 
 capacity nor by any means bound to make. * "^ * 
 
 " It is involved in the constitution of every country that 
 is so happy as to be possessed of its liberty, that freedom 
 of inquiry and reasoning is allowed, and subject to no pu- 
 nishment when it is carried on vdih decency. Were such 
 complaints as this to take place, no man could safely print 
 or sell a book upon any religious subject, as he would be 
 liable to stand a trial on every unguarded word that could 
 be possibly misconstructed to an erroneous meaning. So 
 every disquisition and inquiry into matters of this kind 
 would be excluded, until licensed by persons authorised for 
 that purpose. And upon the same gi-ound, all reasonings 
 concerning the administration of aftairs that relate to the 
 interest of the country, would also be excluded until au- 
 thorised by the civil powers. So an imiversal restraint 
 Avould be laid upon the liberty of the press, in the only 
 ])oints where it is of importance to be free, — than which 
 there cannot be a surer badge of approaching slavery in 
 any country. 
 
 " Such restraints have not been known in this island 
 since the time of the Revolution. The spirit of liberty 
 Avhich then shone forth, and still continues, absolutely ex- 
 cludes it. Books are published every day relating to pub- 
 lic affairs, without censure or punishment, even where 
 decency is not strictly observed. . And in matters of specu- 
 lation, it is still more necessary the freedom of inquiry 
 should be allowed, as it is the only means for investigating 
 truth and correcting errors. It is the means by which this 
 island, and many other nations, were happily rescued from 
 the tyranny that formerly predomined, and wherebv even 
 the minds of men were enslaved ; and therefore, in all Pro- 
 testant countries this liberty has been considered as the 
 most valuable preservative and security against such slavery 
 for the future. There is no reason to apprehend it will 
 
96 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ql756. 
 
 give rise to the growth of error ; for when liberty of reason- 
 ing is allowed on all sides, it is not to be doubted that 
 truth, by its own intrinsic energy and force, will still pre- 
 vail. 
 
 " It was upon these principles, that when a motion was 
 made in the committee of overtures named by the General 
 Assembly of this Church in May last, to make an inquiry 
 into some other writings, which Avere thought to be excep- 
 tionable, it was rejected by a great majority ; and the most 
 zealous members declared their opinion, that there was no 
 place for any such inquiry as to the book in question. 
 
 " It cannot make any difference, that the complainer has 
 now thought fit to subscribe and give in a complaint to the 
 Presb}i:ery. It is not in the power of a private party, in 
 any well-governed coimtry, to force a prosecution on pre- 
 tence of a public offence, in any case where it appears to 
 be inexpedient and improper. In the ordinary criminal 
 courts, this is sufficiently guarded against by the privilege 
 of the lawyers entrusted by the crown, or the procurator- 
 fiscals of the court, whose concmTence is requisite in all 
 those processes, and who daily reject them, when they are 
 attempted without sufficient cause. In ecclesiastical coui'ts 
 there is no such office ; but then the court itself is in that 
 respect guardian of the quiet and tranquillity of the lieges, 
 and entitled to prevent its being disturbed, either by the 
 violence, malice, or other sinister view or misapprehension 
 of any private complainer, when they see, from the circum- 
 stances of the case, that it camiot answer any good pur- 
 pose, but quite the contrary. It is not doubted but the 
 Reverend Presbytery will be of the same opinion with the 
 committee of the Venerable Assembly upon this point, and 
 will dismiss this groundless and unprecedented complaint." 
 
 These answers were signed by Messrs James Ferguson 
 and John DalrjTuple, advocates. They were given in to 
 the Presbytery in the end of November. Time was given 
 to the complainer to reply ; which probably he would have 
 done, but he died* before the next Presbytery meeting. 
 At this meeting, (December 20,) the respondents' counsel, 
 waiving any defence that might be pleaded from the want 
 of a prosecutor, of their own accord consented that the 
 
 * Mr Anderson died on the 19th December, in his eightieth year. 
 
1756.] CASE OF LORD KAMES' PUBLISHERS. 97 
 
 Presbytery should give judgment upon the merits of the 
 case. 
 
 On the 26th of January the Presbytery resumed the con- 
 sideration of the complaint. Mr John Dalryraple, one of 
 the counsel for the defendants, gave into court a printed pam- 
 phlet, entitled, Objections against the Essays on Morality 
 and Natural Religion E.vamined^ copies of which had been 
 sent to the members of Presbytery some weeks before, im- 
 mediately on its pubHcation, — and desired the court to con- 
 sider it as a further defence ; being authorised to assure 
 them that it was \\Titten by the author of the book libel- 
 led.* In reasoning upon the aflPair, the members w^ere of 
 different opinions. Some judged the answers to the charge 
 sufficiently satisfactory to waiTant the Presbytery's dismiss- 
 ing the process, and overtured that they should come to 
 the foUo^^^ng resolution or sentence : — " That though there 
 are some very imguarded expressions in the book, and 
 some passages which cannot be justified, and may have a 
 bad tendency, which may have given offence to many sin- 
 cere good people, and have been the foundation of this pro- 
 cess ; yet, as it appears that the author, in several parts of 
 the book, has declared his regard to the principles of reli- 
 gion, and that in the foresaid pamphlet, which they were 
 assured was wrote by the author, he has disavowed and dis- 
 claimed all those bad consequences which were apprehended 
 arose from the reasonings in the book; that upon all these con- 
 siderations, and to prevent their entering further into so ab- 
 struse and metaphysical a dispute, they judge, upon the whole, 
 that it is more for the purposes of edification to dismiss this 
 process." But others being of opinion, that the answers 
 were not satisfactory as to several parts of the charge ; par- 
 ticularly, that though the author says, that virtue has other 
 foundations independent of delusive feelings, yet to them 
 he seemed to rest virtue, in so far as it implies or stands 
 connected vdih. moral obligation, accountable7iess, merits 
 reward, &c., wholly upon these feelings, — Essays, pp. 199, 
 205, 206, &c. ; and therefore they proposed, " That a com- 
 mittee should be appointed to compare the book libelled 
 
 * The substance of this pamphlet was afterwards engrossed by 
 the author in the third -edition of his Essays on Morality ; and Dr 
 Hugh Blair was supposed to have aided in its composition, as well 
 as in the '♦ Observations on the Analysis," &c., noticed last year 
 — See Woodhouselees Life of Karnes. 
 
98 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q756. 
 
 with the charge, and the aforesaid pamphlet, and bring in 
 an overtui-e upon the whole to the next meeting of Presby- 
 tery." A vote was then stated, Approve of the above over- 
 ture/or dismissing the p7'ocess, or, Appoint a committee ? 
 It carried Approve ; and the Presbytery accordingly dis- 
 missed the process. Two ministers dissented.* 
 
 November Commission. 
 
 The Commission met November 17. Next day, a mo- 
 tion was made to address the King on the situation of affairs 
 since the declaration of ivar against France ; which was 
 unanimously agreed to ; and the Moderator, Messrs Alex- 
 ander Carlyle, John Home, Professor Hamilton, Robert 
 Wallace, John Hyndman, William Robertson, and Alexan- 
 der Maclaggan, ministers ; and Lord Somerville, Lord Ad- 
 vocate, Mr SoHcitor, Mr Wedderburn, Mr Smnton, BaiUie 
 
 * We subjoin the following remarks, by Sir Henry Moncreiff, 
 in his Life of Erskine, (p. 207,) though it will be seen that the 
 reverend baronet was in error when he stated that Lord Karnes 
 was Ai7«se/^ prosecuted before the Presbytery : — '* Lord Karnes, who 
 was not more distinguished as a lawyer or a judge, than as a philo- 
 sopher, had already published his Essays ' On the the Principles of 
 Morality and Religion ; ' in which he had also discussed the ques- 
 tion relating to the liberty or necessity of human actions, — and, in 
 terms as unqualified as those which Mr (Jonathan) Edwards em- 
 ployed, asserted the doctrine of necessity. By a letter to Dr 
 Erskine, of December 11, 1755, Mr Edwards acknowledges that 
 he had received from him a copy of Lord Kames' Essays; and tells 
 him, that he had before had an opportunity of reading this book, 
 as well as Mr Hume's Essay on the same subject. When Lord 
 Kames published his Essays, they excited a great clamour against 
 him in Scotland, on the supposition that he had published doctrines 
 subversive of the fundamental principles of Christianity ; and such 
 was the impression which this assertion made on the public mind, 
 that a preacher, of the name of Anderson, actually commenced a 
 prosecution against him, as an elder of the Church, before the Pres- 
 bytery of Edinburgh • affirming, that, in the doctrine of necessity 
 which he maintained, there were not only heretical opinions, which, 
 as an elder of the Church, he could not lawfully circulate, but 
 principles subversive of all religious and moral obligation. This 
 prosecution gave his Lordship considerable uneasiness. He was 
 much better acquainted with the speculations of philosophers than 
 with theological controversies ; and knew better how to defend 
 
1756.] ADDRESS ON THE FRENCH WAR. 99 
 
 Rochead, Sir John Stewart, and the Procurator, ruling 
 elders, — were named a committee to draw it up. The 
 committee presented the draft in the afternoon of the same 
 day. Some amendments were made to it ; then it was ap- 
 proved of and signed ; and the Moderator was ordered to 
 transmit it to the Lord Cathcart, and signify the desire of 
 the Commission, that his Lordship would do them the ho- 
 nour to present it to his Majesty. The Address here fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 " Most Gracious Sovereign, 
 
 " Your Majesty's most fliithful subjects, the ministers 
 and elders of the Church of Scotland, met in the Commis- 
 sion of the General Assembly, deeply affected with the 
 great and unexpected calamities of their country, think 
 themselves called upon, by the late extraordinary events, to 
 testify their anxious concerns for the public welfare, and to 
 renew their ancient and most sincere professions of indis- 
 
 among philosophers a speculative dogma, than how to protect him- 
 self in the Church against a charge of heresy, Dr Wallace, the 
 celebrated author of the dissertation ' On the Numbers of Mankind, 
 and the Populousness of Ancient Nations,' informed him of what 
 he seems not to have known before, — and he received his informa- 
 tion with much eagerness and gratitude, — the doctrine of necessity 
 had been maintained by the greatest and soundest divines of the 
 Christian Church ; referring him particularly to St Augustine, Cal- 
 vin, Turretine, Pictet, &c. His Lordship afterwards published a 
 pamphlet in defence of his Essays, in which he availed himself of 
 the doctrine asserted by these divines ; and, above all, of Mr Ed- 
 wards' book, which he celebrates with unreserved praise, as equally 
 honourable to his talents and to his orthodoxy. He took some 
 pains to distinguish between the doctrine maintained by himself, 
 and the fate asserted by the Stoics, on the one hand, and the liberty 
 of indiflference contended for by the Arminians, on the other. The 
 substance of this publication was afterwards printed in an appen- 
 dix to the last edition of his Essays, published by the author in 
 1779. Dr Erskine had sent the first edition of Lord Kames' Essays 
 to Mr Edwards ; and in return, Mr Edwards addressed a letter to 
 him, of the 5th of July 1757, which was first printed separately, 
 as he intended, and was afterwards subjoined to the Edinburgh 
 edition of bis book on the Freedom of the Will, in 1 768, under the 
 title of a ' Letter from Mr Edwards to a Minister of the Church of 
 Scotland.' In this letter, he attempts to state what he conceived 
 to be the difierence between his own doctrine, and the principles 
 maintained by Lord Kames ; and represents it as of so much im- 
 portance, as to lead to very opposite conclusions. On the other 
 
5 00 ANNALS Of THE ASSEMBLY. [1756. 
 
 soluble attachment to your Majesty's person, family, and 
 government. 
 
 " We are unwilling to enumerate the well-known losses, 
 or to amplify the disgraces suffered by the British nation^ 
 convinced as we are, that so good a king, and so brave a 
 prince, must be sensibly touched with events so fatal to the 
 interest of his kingdoms, and the reputation of his people ; 
 calamities which (though justly merited by a sinful nation) 
 do not seem to have been brought upon this land by any 
 signal efforts of the wisdom or courage of our enemies. 
 
 " From youi- INIajesty's wisdom, and attention to the pro- 
 sperity of your kingdoms, we may justly expect the appli- 
 cation of every remedy to the present evils ; and whatever 
 measm-e the wisdom of this nation shall adopt for the pub- 
 lic defence, we can venture to assure your Majesty, that the 
 members of this Estabhshed Church, who make so great a 
 majority of the people of Scotland, are full of loyalty and 
 zeal, and possessed of such dispositions as entitle them to 
 
 hand, Lord Kames was as much distinguished by the fairness as by 
 the ingenuity of his speculations. Though in philosophy he often 
 formed his judgment hastily, and of course fell into many mistakes, 
 he has publicly retracted a greater number of errors, into which he 
 had been unwarily betrayed, than almost any other writer of cele- 
 brity who can be mentioned. He was apt to seize a sudden thought, 
 and pursue it with avidity, without having sufficiently considered 
 or examined it ; and, of consequence, in many instances without 
 having perceived a fallacy, which he found afterwards to be in- 
 volved in it. It appears to have frequently happened, that the 
 prosecution of other subjects, or his conversation with other men, 
 assisted him to detect the errors which he had thus hastily adopted, 
 and to appreciate the circumstances which had, in the first instance, 
 contributed to mislead his judgment. But, what is equally to his 
 credit, as an author and as a man, as soon as he thought he per- 
 ceived that he had published a false or an incorrect opinion, he did 
 not hesitate to say so, if an opportunity was given him. This 
 is not a very common practice among philosophers; and, though 
 some of his readers may think that there are articles in his original 
 productions left untouched, which, on the same principle, might 
 have required a revisal, this cannot appear surprising to those who 
 recollect the number and extent of his publications, and the late 
 period of life at which he continued to write. In the Preface to 
 the edition of his Essays, which was published in 1779, he has 
 publicly retracted a great proportion of the doctrines on liberty and 
 necessity, which had been objected to by Mr Edwards." See a 
 letter to Lord Kames, from Dr John Macfarlan of the Canongate, 
 in Woodhouselee's Life of Kames, Appendix to Vol. i., No. 4. 
 
1756.] ADDRESS ON THE FRENCH WAR. 101 
 
 your Majesty's confidence, and render them fit for the ser- 
 vice of their country, 
 
 "• In a zeal for religion and liberty, in a grateful attacli- 
 ment to your Majesty's person and family, and a just indig- 
 nation at the triumphs of our enemies, your Majesty's 
 subjects of this National Church yield to none ; and, con- 
 scious of such dispositions, believe that their gracious prince 
 will honour with trust their ardent zeal, that the inhabi- 
 tants of the united kingdoms may give the noblest demon 
 strations of loyalty to their king, and love of their country. 
 
 *' That mutual love and confidence may still subsist be- 
 tween your Majesty and your subjects, — that the Lord of 
 hosts may bless your fleets and armies w^th success, — and 
 that a race of kings of your royal line, lovers of religion, 
 liberty, and their country, may ahvays sway the sceptre of 
 these lands, is the earnest prayer of," &c. 
 
 Nov. 18, 1756 "Pat. Cuming, Modr" 
 
 []This address was of a very different character from those 
 usually presented to royalty. It ascribes, without much 
 ambiguity, the reverses the country had sustained to the 
 mismanagement of Government ; and hence, it proved so 
 unpalatable at head quarters, that it was excluded from the 
 London Gazette. The state of things it bewails was soon, 
 by God's blessing, altered, through the genius of the immor- 
 tal Chatham.] 
 
 The Commission appointed the Presbytery of Dumblane 
 to proceed, without delay, to the trial and settlement of Mr 
 John Robertson, probationer, his Majesty's presentee, as 
 minister of Dumblane. They also sustained a presentation 
 and call to Mr John Douglas, minister of Kenmure, to be 
 minister of Jedburgh ; appointing the Presbytery of Jed- 
 burgh to proceed in a process for his transportation fi'oni 
 Kenmure and settlement at Jedburgh, vAih. all convenient 
 speed. The procurator for the opposition, protested for 
 liberty to complain of the Commission's sentence to the en- 
 suing Assembly. 
 
 Assembly 175' 
 
 The General Assembly met at Edinburgh on Thursday, 
 I 2 
 
102 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 May 19. Charles Lord Cathcart was his Majesty's Com- 
 missioner ; and Mr William Leechman, Professor of Divi- 
 nity in the University of Glasgow, was chosen Moderator.* 
 On the 21st, a report by the committee for re\asing com- 
 missions to members of Assemhly^ was transmitted by the 
 committee for overtures, bearing, 1*^, That the commission 
 from the city of Glasgow was dated the 12th of April, and 
 so three days wdthin the time Umited by act of Assembly. 
 2c?, That the commissions from the Presbyteries of Earl^ 
 ston, Linlithgowy and Dunbar, wanted the clause, bearing 
 that the elders were qualified according to the act 1722. t 
 3c?, That the commissions from the Presbyteries of Stran- 
 raer, Mully and Dunkeld, bore in general, that the com- 
 missioners w^ere every other way qualified according to the 
 acts of Assembly, but did not bear that the elders were 
 quahfied according to the act 1722. And the committee 
 of overtures reported their opinion, that the objection to 
 the commission from Glasgow should be passed from, in 
 regard its being within the forty days was owing to a mis- 
 take, as if the Assembly had been to meet on the 26*th in- 
 stead of the 19th; and the second and third remarks, relat- 
 ing to the commissions from the six Presbyteries, they trans- 
 mitted simpliciter. After long reasoning in the Assembly, 
 some moved to receive the commissions, not\^'ithstanding 
 the informalities ; others opposed this. At last two ques- 
 tions were put, viz., 1*^, Receive the first of these commis- 
 sions, [[that from Glasgow,] or Not ? and, 2d, Receive the 
 other commissions, or Not ? Both carried in the affirma- 
 tive ; the first. Receive, 88, — Not, ^l ; and the second. 
 Receive, 70, — Not, 55. Seven ministers dissented, and an 
 eighth, Mr Archibald Walker, adhered on the 25th. The 
 
 * The famous Whitefield was present at this Assembly, and at- 
 tended every diet. On Saturday the 28th, he dined, by invitation, 
 with the Commissioner, (though not at the same table,) and said 
 grace after dinner. 
 
 t By act 9, Ass. 1722, " The Assembly earnestly beseech, ex- 
 hort, and require, elders and deacons to be faithful in the discharge 
 of their respective offices, tender and circumspect in their v/alk, 
 and punctual in their attending upon ordinances, — and strict in 
 their observation of the Lord's Day, and in regularly keeping up 
 the worship of God in their families: and appoint the judicatures 
 of the Church to take good heed, that none be admitted to, or con- 
 tinued in, these offices, but such as are found qualified, and do be- 
 have themselves as above required." 
 
1757.] QUALIFICATION OF ELDERS. 103 
 
 reasons were given in by Mr Witherspoon on the 28 th, and 
 were read, and ordered to lie in retentis. They are as fol- 
 lows : — ^ 
 
 REASONS of DISSENT from a vote of the Gene- 
 ral Assembly of the Church of Scotlatid, of May 21, 
 1757, receiving the Commissions of several Elders not 
 attested in terms of act 9, Ass. 1722. 
 
 "We are sensible, that there may be many decisions 
 against which it would be imnecessary, nay, indecent, for a 
 minority to dissent ; but we judge the above sentence of 
 such dangerous tendency, that we are bound to testify our 
 disapprobation of it, in as strong and public a manner as 
 good order, and the respect we owe to this venerable court, 
 do permit. On this account we entered our dissent ; and, 
 in support of it, we now offer the following reasons : — 
 
 1. This sentence appears to us a manifest violation of 
 a standing law, by which, until formally repealed, our or- 
 dination vows bind us to conduct ourselves. Our commis- 
 sions from our constituents empower us, in all causes that 
 come before us, to determine according to the constitution 
 of the Church of Scotland ; but vest us vnth. no power of 
 determining in a manner contrary to that constitution. It 
 is the glory of our Church, that she hath noble and excel- 
 lent laws to direct every part of her discipline ; laws which, 
 without the consent of a majority of Presbyteries, even a 
 General Assembly hath no right to abrogate. But claims 
 of dispensing power will as effectually invalidate laws, as 
 even a formal repeal of them. It is the very essence and 
 security of a free constitution, that there, not men, not 
 judges, but laws, bear rule. When laws are suspended, 
 dispensed with, or set aside, by the decisions of any execu- 
 tive court, that security ceases, and despotism prevails. 
 
 2. This vote opens the way to other and greater breaches 
 of our constitution. No laws can be better guarded than 
 those now set aside ; and therefore we may fear, that others 
 may, in like manner, be turned out of doors, if a majority 
 of men, who find them unfavourable to their cause, should 
 get into the Assembly. The distinction used on this occa- 
 sion, between sustaining the commissions in question, which 
 it was yielded could not be done, and receiving the gentle- 
 
104 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [^1757. 
 
 men who bore them as members, which actually was done, 
 exposes rather than vindicates the sentence, as it proves it 
 a violation of a law acknowledged to be in force. Any 
 person, on this principle, may be introduced into the 
 Assembly; though he has no title, the court can receive. 
 him ! 
 
 3. The sentence dissented from, was not a strained in- 
 terpretation, or temporary suspension of a statute in a pri- 
 vate cause, but a breach of it in the constitution of that 
 court which has the decision in the last resort of all other 
 causes, — and a great share, too, of legislative power. No 
 class of laws are more justly accounted barrier-acts, and 
 ought to be more sacredly preserved from contempt or vio- 
 lation, than such as these. A power to dispense with law 
 in other instances, w ill not infer it in this ; because, if a 
 court is limited in any respect, it must be limited by those 
 laws which regard the admission of its members. While 
 such laws stand in force, no person whose commission is not 
 agreeable to them, has a right to sit in a court. The giv- 
 ing, therefore, a seat in this Venerable Assembly to men 
 who have no legal title to it, appears to us as great a stretch 
 of power, as it would be to exclude one whose title was 
 clear and uncontested. Other laws, by distance of time, 
 may lose some of their force ; but the laws in question are 
 annually applied, and therefore may be justly considered 
 as annually renewed. 
 
 4. Of all the laws regarding the election and qualifica- 
 tion of members of Assembly, few or none are more im- 
 portant than those now in question. They require elders 
 to be faithful in the discharge of their office^ tender and 
 circumspect in their walk^ punctual in their attending on 
 ordinances^ strict in their observation of the Lord^s Day, 
 and regular in keeping up the ivorship of God in their 
 
 families. To secure the choice of men thus qualified, com 
 missioners fi'om royal burghs must be first attested by Kirk- 
 Sessions, as best acquainted with them, and least capable 
 of being imposed upon ; next, ih.ej^ as well as the Presby- 
 tery's own representatives, must be attested by the Presby- 
 tery itself; and, lastly, a committee of Assembly is appointed 
 to canvass all, that so no man of doubtful character may be 
 admitted to sit in this court. The stress laid in Scripture 
 upon the positive religious character of Church officers, 
 sufficiently wan-ants all this. In the office of deacons, an 
 
1757.] QUALIFICATION OF ELDERS. 105 
 
 office inferior to that of elders, the Scripture insists, that 
 they should hold the mystery of faith in a pure conscience, 
 and first be proved ; and being found blameless, admitted 
 to that office. Whoever are not attested in terms of act 9, 
 Assembly 1722, for any thing legally kno^^Ti, may be per- 
 sons of riotous and disorderly lives, despisers of divine or- 
 dinances, and unwilling, afraid, or ashamed, to worship God 
 in their famihes ; and shall a door be opened to admit such 
 to bear rule in the Church ? Can the interest of religion 
 receive a severer stroke ? The man who is void of true 
 piety, is but poorly qualified to be a civil judge ; but here 
 the danger is vastly greater. Civil laws may be thoroughly 
 understood by a wicked man ; and if he is possessed of a 
 just and sound judgment, he may see it for his interest, at 
 least in general, to act uprightly ; but the laws of our Re- 
 deemer's spiritual kingdom, his enemies, as they do not love, 
 so they cannot understand. Such may be expected to turn 
 the edge of discipline the wrong way, — to inflict the cen- 
 sures of Christ's Church, not upon those who despise his 
 laws, but on those who obey them, — and in all struggles 
 between the interest of religion and that of profanity, to 
 add strength to the last. Would they not give their votes 
 and influence for filling vacancies with useless ministers ? 
 would they not discourage all attempts for censuring im- 
 morality, and exercising discipline upon ministers or others, 
 who live unsuitably to their profession ? and would not di- 
 versions of the most ensnaring tendency, find in them 
 assured patrons and zealous supporters ? We charitably hope, 
 that no member of the Assembly who gave his vote for 
 receiving the unattested commissions, had this view of the 
 matter ; and no such thing may have hitherto happened, — 
 yet, as it is evidently possible, we trust we will be forgiven 
 for expressing our fears, lest, in any future period, some 
 such event should take place. 
 
 5. Such a decision is pecuUarly unseasonable at this 
 time, when the decay of religion is so great and visible. Is 
 it possible to conceal or dissemble the great progress of im- 
 piety and irreligion in Scotland these last thirty years, the 
 remarkable desertion of the house and ordinances of God, 
 and neglect of family religion, especially among those of 
 higher rank ? Is not the Lord's Day openly profaned, by 
 unnecessary travelling, idle visits, and ill-timed amuse- 
 ments ? And is this a season to make the world imagine, 
 
106 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 from our conduct, that neglect of the worship of God is a 
 light crime, no way inconsistent with a religious character ? 
 If Presbyteries cannot find gentlemen whose characters 
 they can safely attest, shall the Assembly but seem to giye 
 any sanction to this depravation of manners, and thereby 
 contribute to accelerate that corruption Avhich is evidently 
 ruining us, both as a Church and as a nation. 
 
 6. We apprehend, that by this vote the Assembly have 
 acted as much against the spirit of the law, as against the 
 form. With respect to several of the commissions received, 
 it was not so much as pretended, that the defect was 0A\ang 
 to mistake or forgetfulness. Why then did not the Presby- 
 teries attest the commissions of these elders ? Was it from 
 aversion, or want of respect ? Their honouring them with 
 their choice is a demonstration of the contrary. Was it 
 from ignorance of, or inattention to, the necessary forms ? 
 The printed form which Presbyteries have before them in 
 attesting commissions, makes this highly improbable. Had 
 not the Assembly, then, just ground to suspect, that they 
 were receiving members, not only in the eye of the law, but 
 in fact and reality, unqualified ; and that the Presbyteries, 
 however Avilling, did not, because they could not, attest 
 them ? 
 
 If it be said, that the gentlemen attested are good men, 
 but restrained by modesty from worshipping God in their 
 families, — we admit, that, in some few instances, a wise 
 and good man may want courage to pray before others, but 
 the elders of our Church do not seem deficient in speaking 
 with all becoming boldness before numerous and venerable 
 courts, where one would think modesty would operate as 
 strongly as in their own houses. Besides, the station of 
 some of them enables them to keep chaplains, as their fa- 
 thers did. After all, truly religious and modest men should 
 rather decline being members of Assembly at the expense 
 of setting aside a rule so important, than, by claiming a 
 seat in this venerable court, inti'oduce such as want other 
 appearances of religion as well as family worship, — for let 
 it be observed, that family worship is not the only religious 
 qualification which Presbyteries are sti-aitened to attest; 
 and therefore, the argument of modesty, however much re- 
 gard we pay to it, is far from being conclusive. 
 
 7. We think we have the greater reason to complain 
 of such a decision, as it seems to be the conclusion of a gra- 
 
1757.] QUALIFICATION OP ELDERS. 107 
 
 dual progress that has heen made by different Assemblies 
 in this matter. It was alleged in the reasoning, that the 
 Church was resolved to suffer this rule to go into desue- 
 tude ; and in fact we find, that though, no longer ago than 
 Assembly 1744, all informal commissions were rejected, 
 and a special act made to prevent the like for the future, 
 yet since that time several have been received. In 1753 
 informalities were overlooked, — but it was declared it should 
 not be a precedent ; but now commissions wanting the attes- 
 tation in terms of act 1722, are received without any such 
 proviso. A period, therefore, seems to be put to all ques- 
 tions upon this subject, and a new phrase introduced, of 
 not sustaining the commissions, but receiving the members 
 that bear them. An end is put to the use of the commit- 
 tee for revising commissions, and a door opened for filling 
 the Assembly yviih men of the most exceptionable charac- 
 ters. 
 
 8. This decision, in itself so contradictory to order, 
 must naturally be productive of the greatest confusion ; for 
 as the commissions of all members bear, that they are to 
 consult, vote, and determine according to the acts and con- 
 stitutions of this Church, as they will be answerable, what 
 if Presbyteries should call their members to account for thus 
 voting directly in the face of a standing law ? What more 
 plausible accusation could they found upon that clause of 
 the commission ? — and yet what confusion must be occa- 
 sioned, if in different processes any General Assembly should 
 be called to determine the legality of votes in that which 
 preceded it ? 
 
 9. As our public acts and constitutions have the sanc- 
 tion of the civil law, and as many of the decisions of the 
 supreme court have an effect on civil property, such a dis- 
 pensing power assumed in making up the court itself, may 
 provoke parties who suppose themselves aggrieved by the 
 determination of any question, to protest that the court has 
 been illegally constituted, and therefore the whole proceed- 
 ings absolutely void and null. Thus they may refuse to 
 obtemper sentences, till the civil courts shall again decide 
 and confirm them. Many less plausible pleas have occa- 
 sioned processes carried even to the Court of Parliament ; 
 and, as we have often to do with bodies of men, in the 
 settlement of parishes, if they should learn this way of 
 bringing on a ncAv trial, or at least expressing their resent- 
 
108 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757- 
 
 ment by protracting the execution, how troublesome and 
 how unhappy would be the consequences ! 
 
 Jo. WiTHERSPOON, [of Bcith.] 
 
 Tho. Walker, \j)i Dundonald.] 
 Arch. Walker, [of Temple.] 
 Thomas Randall, [of Inchture.] 
 John Erskine, [of Culross.] 
 Geo. Dickson, |^of Bedrule.] 
 Dav. Blair, [of Brechin.] 
 Ja. Walker, [of Leuchars.] 
 
 Another report of the committee for revising commis- 
 sions was transmitted on the 26th, bearing, that the com- 
 mission from the Presbytery of Langholm was dated the 
 10th day of May, and so was thirty-two days within the 
 time limited ; that the commission from the burgh of Dun- 
 bar was dated the 29th of April, and so was twenty days 
 within the time limited ; and that the commission from the 
 burgh of Stirling was dated the 5tli of March, and so was 
 three days without the time limited. The committee for 
 overtures gave their opinion, that these commissions should 
 be received, notwithstanding the informalities ; and they 
 were received accordingly. 
 
 The Assembly, on the 26th, nominated Dr Cuming, Pro- 
 fessor Hamilton, Messrs Glen, Mackie, Watson, Nasmith, 
 Plenderleith, Hyndman, Wishart, Webster, Dick, and Wil- 
 liam Robertson, ministers, — and the Lords Bankton, She- 
 walton, Coalston, Justice-Clerk, Edgefield, Advocate, and 
 Prestongrange, Mr Solicitor, and Messrs William Law and 
 John Swinton, ruling elders, a committee to consider the 
 laws relating to the election and qualifications of members 
 of Assembly ; and from those laws to frame one act, by 
 which the form of commissions to members of Assembly, 
 and of attestations of commissiotis^ shall be fixed with such 
 preciseness, and such penalties annexed to every departure 
 from those forms, as may remove ambiguity, and prevent as 
 much as possible, for the future, disputes upon such com- 
 missions and attestations ; and to report their draft of the 
 act to the Commission in November, that they may further 
 prepare it for the next Assembly. 
 
 A petition of the elders, and several heads of families, 
 communicants, of the Lowland congregation of Campbel- 
 ton^ and of the parish of Southend, complaining of two acts 
 
1757.] SACRAMENTS IN ARGYLESIIIRE. 109 
 
 of the Synod of Argyle, in August 1754 and August 1755, 
 was taken into consideration on the 23d. By the first of 
 these acts the Synod ordained, " That the use of sermons 
 on the Saturdaif before, and Monday after, dispensing the 
 Sacrament of thn Lord's Supper^ be discontinued in all 
 time coming ; and that there be no sermons preached on 
 those occasions, but on the Sabbath-day, and on the Thurs- 
 day immediately preceding, which is to be observed as a 
 day of fasting and preparation." And by the second, the 
 Synod recommended to Presbyteries, " to be at due pains to 
 have the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper celebrated once 
 a-year in their bounds, according to the method prescribed 
 in the former act ; and that they proceed against those who, 
 after admonition, continue refractory, or follow divisive 
 courses, according to the rules of the Church." The peti- 
 tioners represented, that these acts gave great offence to 
 many serious and well-disposed Christians, and appeared to 
 them to give a deep wound to the interest of religion in 
 those parts. The Synod, on the other hand, represented, 
 that the Lord's Supper was treated, in many of their pa- 
 rishes, with a neglect hurtful in itself, and that could hardly 
 miss to tempt the less discerning people to think, that the 
 obligation of it did not reach all the professors of our holy 
 religion ; and that the Synod had it gi'eatly at heart to have 
 that sacrament more frequently administered, but two great 
 difficulties stood in the way, — the extent and discontinuity 
 of their parishes, and the number of sermons usual on com- 
 munion occasions, of which they gave the following ac- 
 count : — 
 
 " The bounds of our Synod take in the shires of Argyle 
 and Bute. In this district there are above twenty inhabited 
 islands ; of which eleven are large and popidous, and most 
 of them divided, not only from the continent, but likewise 
 from one another, by broad and dangerous ferries ; so that 
 the assistance required, when the sacrament is given in any 
 of them, is alwaj^s ill to be got, and often very uncertain. 
 And even on the continent, it is no easy matter to bring a 
 sufficient number of assistants together, as most of our pa- 
 rishes are separated from those next them, either by rough 
 and high moors, cut every here and there with rapid waters, 
 or by arms of the sea, that run up far into our waste, and 
 in many places impassable, mountains. To secure the best 
 we could against the disappointments that attend these in- 
 
 K 
 
110 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 conveniences of our situations, we were oLIiged to crowd 
 our communion-work into the summer season. Though 
 we were sensible this greatly increased the hurry of it, and 
 straitened the brethren employed in it, by calling them often 
 from home, and to places at a gi-eat distance, and that 
 within the compass of two or three months ; yet, with all 
 this precaution, instances can be given of ministers brought 
 to an untimely death, or greatly broken in their health, by 
 their private labour in preaching, or in visiting and catechis- 
 ing their vdde charges, previously to the communion-days, 
 and by being disappointed then of the assistance they ex- 
 pected. 
 
 '"• The number of sermons with us on such occasions is 
 greatly increased, from reasons peculiar to the Highlands. 
 In many parishes there are some w^ho do not understand 
 the common language of the country. For the sake of 
 such, and to give the English language the quicker pro- 
 gress over all our bounds, we think it our duty to carry on 
 this service in both these languages. And then, as most of 
 our pastoral charges have two or three stated places of 
 worship, our principal churches are every where too small, 
 even for the congregations that belong to them, when ga- 
 thered together, and much more so for the crowds that 
 come from neighbouring parishes on those occasions ; and 
 thus, as the service within the church, though begun on 
 the Sabbath mornings at nine, continues often -v^^thout any 
 recess till eight or nine in the evening ; so all this time, 
 after an action-sermon at the tent without, the brethren 
 succeed one another, to prevent as much as they can the 
 people from wearpng, or running into idle amusements. 
 And here it may be proper to observe a circumstance that 
 straitened us still more : the district in which we labour, 
 though very extensive and discontiguous, is di\aded only 
 into two-and-forty pastoral charges ; and they never are at 
 any one time all planted ; so, what by vacancies, and what 
 by the infirmities of elder brethren, and the occasional sick- 
 ness of others, the work to which we are called, lies on the 
 hands of thirty ministers, one year with another." It was 
 added, that the method prescribed by the acts complained 
 of, is agreeable to the ancient practice and the standing 
 laws of the Church. 
 
 Two lavryers (Messrs Williamson and Maclaurin) were 
 heard for the petitioners, and several ministers for the Sy- 
 
1757.] FELLOWSHIP-MEETINGS. Ill 
 
 nod ; and after long reasoning, the Assembly unanimously 
 approved of discontinuing the sermons ; but a question was 
 put, Whether to athrm the clause which enforces the act 
 by a sanction ? and carried, by a majority, Not ; " and 
 therefore the Assembly, considering the particular circum- 
 stances of that country, do unanimously approve of the con- 
 duct of the S>Tio^ of Argyle, so far as they discontinue the 
 sermons on Saturday and JMonday, in order to have the 
 Lord's Supper more frequently and decently administered 
 within their bounds ; but do not affirm that part of their 
 act, enforcing the same by a sanction : and the Assembly 
 recommends to all concerned to study peace and harmony, 
 and to the people in the bounds of the said Synod, to give 
 regular attendance on ordinances dispensed by their minis- 
 ters." 
 
 A case somewhat similar came before the Assembly on 
 the 28 th, by an appeal taken by the elders and communi- 
 cants in the bounds of the Presbytery of Dornoch^ from a 
 sentence of the SjTiod of Sutherland and Caithness, pro- 
 nounced August 19, 1756, by which they discharge fellow- 
 ship-meetings to be held upon the Fridays immediately 
 before the celebration of the Lord's Supper. "With a view 
 to put a stop to those Friday meetings, an attempt was 
 made in 1750, to make Friday, in place of Thursday, the 
 fast-day before the Sacrament; but the Assembly disap- 
 proved of this alteration.* The Synod have now absolutely 
 cUscharged those Friday meetings, because it was usual for 
 the minister to attend them, whose time, it was imagined, 
 might be better employed. The people of Dornoch peti- 
 tioned to be restored to the privilege of meeting vdt\\ their 
 minister as usual, on those Fridays, or at least, that the 
 Synod would permit such ministers as pleased, to meet ^vith 
 their people on those occasions ; but their petition was re- 
 jected. Of this they loudly complain. " It is not past 
 memory of man," say they, "since Presbyterians looked 
 upon it as an intolerable grievance, to be hindered from 
 meeting together for religious worship, or devout exercises, 
 by such as were adversaries to our ecclesiastical constitu- 
 tion ; but what would our fathers have thought, had it then 
 lieen said, that in less than a century, some judicatures of 
 
 * See the former vol., p. 212. 
 
112 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. fl757. 
 
 our own Chiu'ch would pass acts, prohibiting their mem- 
 bers to meet, at the eaiiiest desire of the best disposed of 
 their people, to join with them in mutual and Christian 
 conferences, or to assist at their devotion?" It was al- 
 leged on the other hand, that an humour of disputing was 
 too much encouraged in those meetings; and a reverend 
 member told the Assembly, that in some .of them speeches 
 were made as long as any of those made in that house, and 
 (questions put ichich ail that house could uot answer. The 
 Assembly found that the aifair was not fully laid before 
 them, and therefore sisted further procedure in it at this 
 time ; and appointed the S}'Tiod of Sutherland and Caith- 
 ness to lay an account of the whole matter before the next 
 Assembly. 
 
 Case of Ministers attending the Theatre, — The only in- 
 dividual case brought up to the Assembly, was that of Mr 
 Alejcander Carlijle of Inveresk ; but as there were other 
 prosecutions in the inferior courts, and as the circumstances 
 under which they were originated and carried on produced 
 great excitement at the time, and are not without interest 
 still, we shall enter somewhat into detail. 
 
 The Tragedy of Douglas, by Mr John Home^ minister 
 of Athelstanefurd^ was represented for the first time in the 
 Edinburgh theatre, on the 14th Deceml^er 1756, when the 
 author, and several of his clerical brethren, were present 
 from different parts of the country. 
 
 The Presbytery of Edinburgh, not long after issued the 
 following " Admonition and Exhortation to all within their 
 bounds," (dated Edinburgh, January 5, 1757 :) — 
 
 " The Presbytery taking into their serious consideration 
 the declining state of religion, the open profanation of the 
 Lord's Day, the contempt of public worship, the growing 
 luxury and levity of the present age, — in which so many 
 seem lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, — and be- 
 ing particularly affected with the unprecedented countenance 
 given of late to the playhouse in this place, when the state 
 of the nation, and the circumstances of the poor, make such 
 hurtful entertainments still more pernicious, judged it their 
 indispensable duty to express, in the most open and solemn 
 manner, the deep concern they feel on this occasion. 
 
 " The opinion which the Christian Church has always 
 
17o7.] WARNING AGAINST THE THEATRE. 118 
 
 entertained of stage plays and players, as prejudicial to the 
 interests of religion and morality, is well knoA\'n ; and the 
 fatal influence ^vhich they commonly have on the far greater 
 part of mankind, particularly the younger sort, is too obvi- 
 ous to be called in question. 
 
 " To enumerate how many servants, apprentices, and 
 students in different branches of literature, in this city and 
 suburbs, have been seduced from their proper business, by 
 attending the stage, would be a painful, disagreeable task. 
 
 " The Presbytery, in the year 1727, when consisting of 
 many pious, prudent, and learned ministers, whose praise is 
 in all the Churches, being aware of these evils, did prepare 
 a paper, which was read from the several pulpits within 
 their bounds, warning their people against the dangerous 
 infection of the theatre then erected here. 
 
 " In the year 1737, the legislature, in their great wis- 
 dom, did, by an act of the 10th of Geo. II., enact and de- 
 clare, ' That every person who should, for hire or reward, 
 act, or cjiuse to be acted, any play, or other entertainment 
 cf the stage, without the special license and authority men- 
 tioned in the said act, should be deemed a rogue and a 
 vagabond; and for every such offence should forfeit the 
 sum of £50 Sterling.' 
 
 " At that time a project was set on foot to obtain a 
 licensed theatre in this city ; but the masters and professors 
 of the university, supported by the magistrates, having pre- 
 pared a petition, setting forth the dangerous tendency of a 
 playhouse here, with respect to the important interests of 
 virtue and learning, the project was laid aside. 
 
 " The players, however, being so audacious as to con- 
 tinue to act in defiance of the law, the Presbytery did, at 
 their own charge, prosecute them before the Court of Ses- 
 sion, and prevailed in the process. The players were fined, 
 in terms of law ; and warrants being issued for apprehend- 
 ing them, they fled from justice. But others came in their 
 place, who since that time have attempted to elude the 
 law, by changing the name of the plaj/house into that of 
 the concert-hall. 
 
 " As such a slight evasion, the mere change of a name, 
 could not make the smallest variation in the nature of the 
 thing, the Presbytery continued to do all in their power, 
 and in their sphere, to prevent the growing e.\\\ ; and think 
 themselves at this time loudly called upon, in one hody^ and 
 
 k2 
 
114 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. ^1757. 
 
 with one voice, to expostulate, in the howels of love and 
 compassion, with all under their care and inspection. 
 
 " When our gi'acious sovereign, attentive to the voice of 
 Providence, is calling from the throne to humiliation and 
 prayer, how unseemly is it for his subjects to give them- 
 selves up to mirth and jolHty ! When the war in which we 
 are engaged, and many a^^iul tokens of the di^dne displea- 
 sure, bespeak us, in the language of an inspired writer, to 
 redeem the time because the days are evil, should that time 
 be squandered away in ruiuiing the constant round of fool- 
 ish, not to say sinful amusements ? When the wants and 
 cries of the numerous poor require extraordinary supplies, 
 how miaccountable is it to la^-ish away vast sums for such 
 vain and idle purposes ? When the wisdom of the nation 
 has guarded the inhabitants of this city and suburbs from, 
 the infection of the stage, by a plain and express statute, is 
 it not a high instance of folly, to break down that bamer, 
 and open a door wdth their own hands for theatrical repre- 
 sentations ? — which are in many respects no less inconsis- 
 tent with good policy than mifriendly to religion ; and will 
 1)0 found, sooner or later, to aifect their temporal as well as 
 spiritual interests. 
 
 " On these accounts, and for many other obvious and 
 weighty considerations, the Presbyter}^, wanned \v\i\\ just 
 concern for the good of souls, do, in the fear of God, warn, 
 exhort, and obtest, all within their bounds, as they regard 
 the glory of God, the credit of our holy religion, and their 
 ov.n Avelfare, to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith 
 they are called, by showing a sacred regard to the Lord's 
 Day, and all the ordinances of divine institution ; and by 
 discouraging, in their respective spheres, the illegal and 
 dangerous entertainments of the stage. 
 
 " The Presbytery would plead with all in authority, 
 with teachers of youth, parents, and masters of families, to 
 restrain, by every habile method, such as are under their 
 influence, from fi-equenting these seminai'ies of folly and 
 vice. They would particularly beseech the younger part of 
 their flock, to beware, lest, by example, or from a foolish 
 desire of appearing in the fashionable world, they be misled 
 into such pernicious snares, — snares which must necessarily 
 retard, if not entirely mar, that progress in the respective 
 parts of their education, on which their future usefulness 
 and success depend. And, lastly, they would entreat and 
 
17o7.] SUSPENSION OF WHITE OF LTCKUTON. Il5 
 
 obtest of all ranks and conditions, that, instead of contri- 
 Imting to the growing licentiousness of the age, they may 
 distinguish themselves by shining as lights in the world, 
 lieing ])lameless and harmless, the sons of God, without re- 
 buke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation ; occu- 
 pying, for the great purposes of the honour of God and the 
 good of mankind, that time, that substance, and those other 
 talents which they have received from their Lord and 
 Master. 
 
 '' On the whole, the Presbytery do, in the most earnest 
 manner, call upon all who have the interest of religion at 
 heart, to plead fervently at the throne of grace, in the pre- 
 vailing name of the great ^Mediator, until the spirit he 
 poured upon us from on high, and the witderness he a 
 fruitful field, cind the fruiful field he counted for a forest : 
 then Judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righte- 
 ousness remain in the fruitful field ; and the work of 
 righteousness shall he peace, and the effect of righteousness, 
 quietness and assurance for ever. 
 
 " The Presbytery appoint this Admonition and Exhorta^ 
 tion to be read from all the pulpits within their bounds, 
 on the last Sabbath, being the 30th day, of this month, im- 
 mediately after divine ser^'ice before noon." 
 
 On the 12th of January, Mr White, minister of Liher^ 
 ton, was called before the Presbytery, accused of having 
 been in the playhouse. He owned the charge ; but pleaded, 
 by way of alleviation, that he had gone to the playhouse 
 only once, and endeavoured to conceal himself in a corner^ 
 to avoid gi\'ing offence ; expressing his deep sorrow for 
 what he had done, and firm resolution to be more circum- 
 spect for the future. Some members moved, that the Pres- 
 bytery, in respect of these alle^^ating circumstances, should 
 go no further than a solemn rebuke, to be given in open 
 Presbytery ; but others being of opinion, that these circum- 
 stances notwithstanding, it was necessary, for supporting 
 the credit and promoting the usefulness of the holy minis- 
 try, and to deter others from such practices, to suspend Mr 
 White, a vote was stated, Rehuke or Suspend ? and car- 
 ried Suspend, by a great majority. Mr White acquiesced ; 
 but requested that the suspension might be limited to a 
 certain time. Agreeable to which request, the Presbytery 
 suspended him only till the 2d of February. The sentence 
 
116 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [l757. 
 
 was intimated from Liberton pulpit by j\Ir Warden, the 
 Moderator of tlie Presbytery; and it was duly obtem- 
 perated. 
 
 But the Presbytery of Edinburgh, not satisfied with call- 
 ing to account their own members, thought it their duty to 
 address other Presbyteries on tlie subject. To the jModer- 
 ators of the Presbyteries of Haddington^ ^J/^% Emislon, 
 (now Laudei\) Chirnside^ Dunse^ and Dalkeith, they or- 
 dered a letter to be sent, of the following tenor : — 
 
 " Rev. Sir, — We need not inform your Reverend Pres- 
 bytery of the opinion which the Christian Church has al- 
 ways entertained of stage plays and players, nor of the fatal 
 influence these entertainments commonly have upon the 
 far greater part of mankind, particularly the younger sort. 
 Of this the Presbytery of Edinburgh were so sensible, that, 
 in the year 1727, they appointed Messrs Hamilton, Smith, 
 Craig, &c., to draw up an ' Admonition and Exhortation,' 
 warning and obtesting those under their charge not to 
 countenance the playhouse then erected in this place ; 
 which admonition was unanimously approved of, and read 
 from the several pulpits within our bounds. 
 
 " The unhappy effects of the playhouse were more and 
 more sensibly felt by all ranks ; — servants, apprentices, and 
 students Avere seduced. 
 
 " In the year 1737, the legislature did, in their great 
 wisdom, prohibit, by an express law, the acting of j)lays for 
 hire or reward within this city and suburbs, and other 
 places, as the law more fidly bears. 
 
 " The players being so audacious as to continue to act in 
 defiance of the law, the masters and professors of the uni- 
 versity here petitioned the Parhament to take some effec- 
 tual method for enforcing the same ; and the Presbytery 
 did, at their own charge, prosecute the players before the 
 Court of Session. In this process they prevailed, and ob- 
 tained a decreet against eight players, finding each of them 
 liable in the penalty of £50 sterling. Warrants, pursuant 
 to the above decreet, for apprehending them, being issued, 
 they dispersed. But others came in their place ; and since 
 that time they have attempted to elude the law by a s^ain 
 and unworthy evasion. 
 
 " As such thin pretexts could not make the smallest va- 
 riation in the nature of the thing, the ministers in our 
 
1757.] CASE OF HOME OF ATHELSTANEPORD. 117 
 
 bounds have continued to do every thing in their power 
 and their sphere to put a stop to entertainments so hui'tful 
 and illegal. But we are sorry to inform your Reverend 
 Presbytery, that Avhen the state of the nation, and the dis- 
 tressed circumstances of the poor, make such diversions, in 
 themselves pernicious, still more criminal, om* endeavours 
 for suppressing them have been much interrupted, and in 
 some measure defeated, by of your members, 
 
 , minister at , who, 
 
 ^ve are credibly informed, present in the ^playhouse at 
 
 the head of the Canongate, within the bounds of our Pres- 
 l^ytery, while a tragedy called Douglas was acted. 
 
 " As this conduct is extremely oftensive, we are per- 
 suaded your Reverend Presbytery will take this matter into 
 their consideration, and follow out such measures as to them 
 shall seem meet, for discountenancing such unwan-antable 
 conduct, for vindicating the credit and promoting the use- 
 fulness of the holy ministry, and supporting the interests of 
 religion. This, in name, presence, and by appointment, of 
 the Presbytery of Edinburgh, is signified to you by, Rev. 
 Sir, your most humble and most obedient servants, 
 
 " John Warden, Modr., P, T. 
 '■'- Edinburgh^ Ja. Craig, Phy-Clk" 
 
 December 29, ]7oG." 
 
 The Presbytery of Haddington^ (to which Mr Home be- 
 longed,) took this letter into consideration January 4. Some 
 members alleged, that this step taken by the Presbytery of 
 Edinburgh was irregular and unprecedented, and that there- 
 fore the affair ought to be dismissed. But others were of opi- 
 nion, that the Presbytery of Edinburgh, as the offence was 
 given within their bounds, might have tried the matter them- 
 selves, and consequently had a right, dfortiori^io lay it before 
 the Presbytery where Mr Home of Athelstaneford resided ; 
 that in so doing they had shown, not only due attention to 
 the interests of religion, but respect to the Presbytery of 
 Haddington ; and therefore moved, that the charge should 
 be entered upon their records, and the whole affair delayed 
 till next meeting of Presbytery, in respect of Mr Home's 
 absence ; which was agreed to ^^'ithout a vote. 
 
 jMr Home not having been present at the next meeting, 
 the Presbytery required him, by a letter, to appear before 
 them on the 5th of April, to answer the charge brought 
 
118 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 against him. He wrote an answer bearing, that he de- 
 signed to have attended, but that several things had hap- 
 pened which rendered it impossible for him ; and therefore 
 begging to be indulged till the 1st of May, when he assured 
 them he would attend. Some members were for proceed- 
 ing to consider the charge, others for granting the desired 
 delay. The latter was agreed to without a vote ; \A4th cer- 
 tification, that the Presbytery would judge of the affair on 
 the first Tuesday of May, without further delay, — which 
 they ordered to be intimated to Mr Home by a letter. |^His 
 tragedy was acted at Covent-Garden, London, on the 14th 
 of March ; and he was then at London.] 
 
 AVhen they met on the first Tuesday of May, they re- 
 ceived a letter from jMr Home, begging a further indul- 
 gence, and promising to attend if they would appoint a 
 Presbytery to meet in a week after. The Presbytery refer- 
 red the whole matter to the SjTiod, to meet at Edinburgh 
 on the 10th; and appointed a meeting of Presbytery the 
 same day, at Edinbui-gh, that Mr Home might have an op- 
 portunity of attending if he pleased. The Presbytery met 
 accordingly, and Mr Home was present, but no minute was 
 taken of what passed. 
 
 The S}Tiod of Lothian and Tweeddale met at Edinburgh 
 on the 10th ]\Iay, and Mr Home's aifair came before them 
 on the 12th. They remitted it back to the Presbytery of 
 Haddington, in regard that Presbytery had not so much as 
 commenced the process, and that Mr Home had never been 
 regularly before them, and was not present when the refer- 
 ence to the S}Tiod was made. 
 
 All farther procedure, however, was rendered unneces- 
 sary, by Mr Home's spontaneous resignation of his charge. 
 On Sunday, June the 5th, he preached his farewell sermon, 
 which, we are told, " drew tears from many;" and on the 
 7th gave in his demission to the Presbytery of Haddington, — 
 which appears to have been accepted simjMciter. 
 
 Mr Steele^ minister at Stair, having been called before 
 the Presb}^ery of Ayr, acknowledged that he had been in 
 the playhouse when Dotiglas was acted ; but pleaded, that 
 the playhouse being at a great distance from his parish, 
 he had no reason to apprehend that he icould he knotvn, or 
 that his presence ivould have given offence ; adding, how- 
 ever, that as he was now sensible he had in this been mis- 
 
I 757.] LETTER FROM THE DUXSE PRESBYTERY. 1 1 9 
 
 taken, and that his conduct had heen offensive to his breth- 
 ren, and others, he was extremely sorry on that account ; 
 and declared his firm resolution to abstain from such 
 practices for the future. This acknowledgment and decla- 
 ration Avas accepted by a majority of the Presbytery. 
 
 The Presbytery of Ear 1st on wrote a very discreet answer 
 to the Presbytery of Edinburgh, approving of their zeal for 
 supporting the ministerial character, and the interests of 
 religion ; and assuring them, that they had taken such mea- 
 sures with their brother, Mr Scot of Westriither, as they 
 were firmly persuaded would be most conducive to the great 
 and good ends which the Presbytery of Edinburgh had in 
 view. 
 
 The Presbytery of Chirnside rebuked Mr Cupples of 
 Su'intoii, and dismissed the affair. 
 
 As for the Presbytery of Dunse^ Messrs Home of Pol- 
 ivarth^ and D^sart of Eccles, expressed their sorrow for 
 having given offence, and were rebuked ; but the Presby- 
 tery, at the same time, instructed their Moderator, Mr 
 La\ATie of Langton, to send the folloAving reply to the letter 
 from the Presbytery of Edinburgh : — 
 
 " Rev. Sir, — Yours of the 29th of December last v.-as 
 this day laid before our Presbytery. It was read with the 
 regard, and considered with the attention, that is due to a 
 letter from the Presbytery of Edinburgh. We now return 
 you an answer, vAt\\ that freedom which we think ourselves 
 entitled to use ; and we doubt not you will consider it with 
 that candour which is suitable to your known characters. 
 
 " We need not inform persons so deeply skilled in the 
 constitution of our Church as the members of your Rever- 
 end Presb}^ery are, that the jurisdiction of Presbyteries in- 
 dependent on each other, is a fimdamental principle of our 
 ecclesiastical constitution ; and that they are accountable 
 only to S}Tiods and Assemblies, their legal superiors. 
 
 '•'- Presbyteries know best the characters of their own 
 members, the state of religion, and the temper of the people 
 within their bounds. They can best judge, whether, in any 
 particular instance, the censures of the Church might not, 
 instead of extinguishing a scandal, contribute to increase it. 
 
 " We know not any reason why the Presbytery of Dunse 
 should be deprived of this inherent privilege ; and cannot 
 but look upon your letter as an unconstitutional attempt of 
 
120 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 one presbytery to anticipate the judgment, and regulate the 
 conduct of another. 
 
 " After this remark on the general strain of your epistle, 
 we camiot but observe, that the directions you are pleased 
 to give us, seem repugnant to the rules and canons of this 
 Church. 
 
 " It is enacted in the Form of Process^ chap, i., § 4, 
 That ' nothing ought to be admitted by any church judica- 
 ture, as the ground of a process for censure, but what hath 
 been declared censurable by the Word of God, or some act 
 or universal custom of this National Church agreeable there- 
 to.' We expected that, in compliance with this known 
 statute, you would have mentioned some passages of Scrip- 
 ture, or some Acts of the General Assembly,'^ to which the 
 conduct of our brethren was repugnant. But with respect 
 to these you have thought proper to be entirely silent. How- 
 ever, to make up the want of such authority, you give us a 
 detail of certain acts and proceedings of your Reverend Pres- 
 bytery in the year 1727. 
 
 " Whatever regard may be due to these, we are persuaded 
 you do not apprehend they should be considered as standards 
 of this Church. Nor can we believe you will think a mi- 
 nister of the Presbytery of Dunse should be accounted crimi- 
 nal, because he did not pay suitable regard to the acts of 
 your Reverend Presbytery, Such propositions seem to be 
 assumed in your letter ; how subversive they are of the 
 privileges of other Presbyteries, we need not say. 
 
 " The encroachments on our jurisdiction we could easily 
 pass over; but we cannot overlook the manner in which 
 your Reverend Presbytery have treated our brethren. Our 
 blessed Lord commands us, Matth. xviii. 15, &c. : — More- 
 over^ if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go, and tell 
 him his fault hetiveen thee and him alone^ &c. Suitable 
 to this divine and charitable precept is the statute in our 
 
 * In a pamphlet of the day, " The Morality of Stage Plays con- 
 sidered,'' (ascribed to Dr Adam Ferguson,) it is affirmed, that ihe 
 only law of the Church relating to the theatre is the following : — 
 " That no comedies or tragedies, or such plays, should be made on 
 any subject of canonical Scriptures, nor on the Sabbath-day. If 
 any minister be the writer of such a play, he shall be deprived of 
 his ministry. As for plays of another subject, they also should be 
 examined before they be propounded publicly.'" — Act Ass. 1574 ; 
 Vid. Petrie's CJmrck History. 
 
 I 
 
1757.] LETTER FROM THE DUNSE PRESBYTERY. 121 
 
 Form of Process^ chap, vii., § 4 : — ' All Christians ought 
 to be so prudent, and wary in accusing ministers of any 
 censurable fault, as that they ought neither to publish nor 
 spread the same, nor accuse the minister before the Presby- 
 tery, without first acquainting the minister himself, if they 
 can have access thereto, and then, if need be, some of the 
 most prudent of the ministers and elders of that Presbytery, 
 and their advice got in the affair/ 
 
 " This method of conduct is Christian, is prudent. The 
 precepts of our Lord, the statutes of our Church, enjoin us 
 to follow this plan, in our endeavours of reclaiming a Chris- 
 tian brother who hath gone astray. Did your Reverend 
 Presbytery observe these important rules? We are sure 
 they did not ; otherwise such an unwarrantable eagerness of 
 accusing our brethren had not been discovered. 
 
 " Nor can we reconcile this your extraordinary zeal with 
 your indulgence to several church-officers within the bounds 
 of your own Presbytery, whose countenance ^vill have more 
 influence in supporting these amusements, than the presence 
 of our two brethren, so little knomi in town. Is there not 
 a partiality visible in behalf of some of your own brethren, 
 who, whilst they appeared as representatives of this Church, *■ 
 did. as we have heard, give countenance to entertainments 
 of the same kind ? From whose conduct it was natural to 
 conclude, that being witness to the representation of a tra- 
 gedy which the public voice affirms to have no immoral 
 tendency, would not be considered as criminal by your Re- 
 verend Presbytery. For we cannot allow ourselves to think, 
 that a thing really criminal in itself, and morally evil, in Scot- 
 land, is innocent or indifferent on the other side the Tweed. 
 
 " But to conclude. You say, zeal for vindicating the credit 
 and promoting the usefulness of the holy ministry, and sup- 
 porting the interests of religion, are the motives of your 
 present conduct. And in charity we are bound to believe 
 they are. You call us to co-operate with you in carrpng 
 on these ends. We gladly hearken to the call ; and shall 
 not fail to lend our assistance in every instance that is under 
 the conduct of -wisdom and discretion. You must, however, 
 excuse us, when we say, that your intermeddling in the man- 
 
 * The allusion is to the delegates sent to London, either on the 
 business of the Widows' Fund, in 1744, or of the Augmentation 
 Scheme, in 1751. 
 
 L 
 
122 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757« 
 
 ner you have done -with the conduct of our brethren, who 
 have hitherto been eminently useful in our bounds, hath a 
 natural tendency, and will undoubtedly, unless guarded 
 against by the utmost prudence and caution on our part, 
 greatly mar and obstruct those valuable ends you seem to 
 have in view. 
 
 " This, in name and by authority of the Presbytery of 
 Dunse, is signified to you by, rev. and dear brother, 
 your affectionate brother and humble servant, 
 
 " James Laurie, Mod. 
 " Dunse., " Alex. Hume, P. Clk." 
 
 March 22, 1757." 
 
 We now come to the case of Mr Carlyle of Inveresk., 
 who belonged to the Presbytery of Dalkeith. That body 
 met on the 1st of February, when Mr Carlyle being absent, 
 they caused a letter to be wTitten him, citing him to attend 
 at next meeting. They likewise sent a letter to the Pres- 
 bytery of Edinburgh, approving of their conduct, and assuring 
 them they would follow out such measures as were necessary 
 for supporting the interests of religion. When Mr Carlyle 
 first appeared before them, he did not explicitly acknowledge 
 his having been in the playhouse, nor express his concern 
 for the offence he had given ; the Presbytery, therefore, 
 judged it necessary to give him a libel. Pie took a protest, 
 requiring that the Presbytery of Edinburgh, who had given 
 the information, should be his libellers, according to the 
 Form of Process. Some members, apprehending the clause 
 founded on, viz., par. 3, chap. 7, to be a httle dubious, it 
 was agreed to lay the protest before the Presbytery of Edin- 
 burgh. That Presbytery returned for answer, that the clause 
 in the Form of Process evidently respected an information 
 given by one or more private persons, but could not apply 
 to information transmitted by one Presbytery to another ; 
 and that such intei-pretation as was contended for, was con- 
 trary to the universal practice of the Church, and, if coun- 
 tenanced, would occasion inextricable difficulties or number- 
 less inconveniencies. The Presbytery of Dalkeith, on the 
 ] ,5th of March, having considered this answer, together with 
 ]\Ir Carlyle's protest and requisition, agreed, for obviating 
 all doubts, to give him a libel, in virtue of their ovna. powers, 
 on the footing of iYiefama clamosa ; and appointed a com- 
 mittee to prepare it against the 25th. Mr Carlyle protested, 
 
1757.] CASE OF CARLYLE OF INVERESK. 123 
 
 and appealed to the Synod ; and like^vise insisted, that the 
 Presbytery had mistaken his conduct at their former meet- 
 ing, for that he meant to signify, that he ^vas willing to 
 make proper acknowledgments when they should allow him 
 a fit opportunity for that purpose. As this paper seemed to 
 state what had passed at the former meeting, in a light dif- 
 ferent from what it appeared to the Presbytery, they ordered 
 remarks to be made upon the paper, and the paper and re- 
 marks to be entered in the record. 
 
 At this meeting a petition was presented, signed by three 
 of the elders of the parish of Inveresk, and said to be the 
 deed of the elders ; setting forth, that ]Mr Carlyle, ever since 
 his settlement among them, had been extremely zealous in 
 promoting the interests of religion, and had so abounded in 
 works of mercy and charity, that he had gained the esteem 
 and entire confidence of the whole parish ; and after further 
 setting forth, that the alleged offence, or charge, was, in the 
 apprehension of the petitioners, of such a nature as, by the 
 Form of Process, ought to be taken away without a public 
 discussion, the petition concludes with prapng, that the 
 Presbytery would dismiss the affair in some private brotherly 
 way. This petition w^as read and recorded. 
 
 On the 2.5th, the committee presented a draught of the 
 libel, which was agreed to. This libel was foimded on several 
 texts of Scripture and Acts of Assembly, relating to the good 
 behaviour and conduct of ministers ; on three Acts of Par- 
 liament in the reign of Geo. II., and the opinion of the 
 Christian Church in all ages, relating to stage-plays and 
 players ; and on the known bad effects of a playhouse in 
 Edinburgh. It contained three articles of charge, viz. : — 1 . 
 His associating himself, or familiarly keeping company with 
 the players, persons who, by their profession, and in the eye 
 of the law, are of bad fame. 2. His attending the rehearsal 
 of the tragedy of Douglas^ and assisting or directing the 
 players on that occasion. 3. His appearing openly in the 
 playhouse in the Canongate, within a few miles of his own 
 parish, near to an university seat, and hard by the city of 
 Edinburgh, where he was well known, having often preached 
 and assisted at the administration of the Lord's Supper in 
 that city. This article further charges him wAih having taken 
 possession of a box in the playhouse in a disorderly way, or 
 forcibly turning some gentlemen out of it, and there wit- 
 nessing the representation of the tragedy of Douglas ; a 
 
124 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. Ql757. 
 
 tragedy which tended to encourage the monstrous crime of 
 suicide, and contained such dreadful oaths or expressions, 
 and mock prayers, as were so offensive to the audience who 
 countenance the stage, that they were struck out or varied 
 in the future representations. All which oaths, expressions, 
 and mock prayers, he, says the libel, knew to be contained 
 in that tragedy, having perused it in manuscript, or wit- 
 nessed the rehearsal of it. The libel then shows the bad 
 tendency of such a practice ; and concludes, that all, or any 
 part of the charge being proved, he ought to be censured 
 according to the demerit of the crime or offence. This libel, 
 with a list of witnesses annexed, was put into Mr Carlyle's 
 hand ; and he was summoned, apud acta, to give in his de- 
 fences on the 5th of April.* 
 
 Before the court was dismissed, four more of Mr Carlyle's 
 elders declared their adherence to the petition formerly men- 
 tioned, making in all seven. But five elders gave in a 
 counter petition, disclaiming the other, and declaring their 
 
 * Dr Carlyle believed that this libel was raised against him at 
 the instigation of the younger Dundas of Arniston, then Lord Ad- 
 vocate, upon whom his friend Ferguson took ample revenge in the 
 political satire, entitled, *' The History of Sister Peg." It is cer- 
 tain that the most virulent pamphlets against the play and its sup- 
 porters were written by some of the protegefs of Dundas. It was 
 in reply to these attacks that Carlyle published (mthout his name) 
 the ironical piece, entitled, " An Argument to prove that the Tra- 
 gedy of Douglas ought to be burnt by the hands of the hangman." 
 In an article on Home's works in the Quarterly Review, (Vol. 
 xxxvi., p. 186,) written by Sir Walter Scott, it is said, that Car- 
 lyle's " person and countenance, even at a very advanced age, were 
 so lofty and commanding, as to strike every artist wdth his resem- 
 blance to the Jupiter Tonans of the Pantheon. It was stated in 
 aggravation of this reverend gentleman's crime in attending the 
 theatre, that two rude or intoxicated young men having entered 
 the box, and behaved uncivilly to some ladies, the Doctor took the 
 trouble of turning them out, which his great personal strength en- 
 abled him to do with bttle resistance or disturbance. He under- 
 went a rebuke, which did not sit very heavy on him." At the 
 Assembly )760, Carlyle was named one of the preachers before 
 the Commissioner, but Messrs Pinkerton of Markinch, and Blair of 
 Brechin, objected, and entered their dissent. In 1 789, he was can- 
 didate for the Principal Clerkship, along ^\^th Professor Dalziel, 
 when, after a struggle of unprecedented keenness, the latter was, 
 upon a scrutiny, declared to be elected, although Carlyle, having 
 had the apparent majority, had actually taken the oaths and his seat 
 as clerk. 
 
1757.] CASE OF CARLYLE OF INVERESK. 125 
 
 readiness to lay before the Presbytery, either at their ordi- 
 nary meeting, or at a parochial visitation, if appointed, the 
 reasons why they could not concur with it. The Presbytery 
 delayed the consideration of both petitions till next meeting. 
 On the 5 th of April, Mr Carlyle gave in a paper, bearing, 
 that he thought himself bound to take this first opportunity of 
 answering to the whole charge, and not put the Presln'tery 
 to the trouble of leading a proof; and therefore acknowledges, 
 that he had been once or twice, with some gentlemen of good 
 reputation, and Mr Digges [^manager of the theatre, and 
 the principal actor] in a tavern ; that he had heard read or 
 repeated great part of the tragedy of Douglas at Mr Digges' 
 house, where Mrs Ward and some others of the actors were 
 present ; that he had been sometimes in Mr Digges' house 
 along ^^dth the author, and had some conversation about the 
 tragedy, but that he had never ate or drunk with Mrs Ward, 
 or conversed with her, further than in agreeing or disagree- 
 ing to what was said about the play ; that he had been pre- 
 sent, with several gentlemen, at one rehearsal of it ; and that 
 he was afterwards present when it was acted publicly, and 
 the house being crowded, he was admitted to a seat with 
 some difficulty and pressing. The paper proceeds to apolo- 
 gise for his conduct, from his apprehension of the good ten- 
 dency of the play; and, the play being now published, submits 
 it, how far his apprehension was just. He expresses his 
 extreme sorrow for having given offence ; and declares, that 
 if he had thought such conduct would have been offensive, 
 he would have taken care, as he resolved to do hereafter, to 
 avoid it. He pleads, nevertheless, that the charge brought 
 against him is not, according to the Form of Process^ a 
 proper ground for a libel and a public trial, but of that kind 
 for correcting which privy censures w^ere established ; and 
 therefore prays that the libel may be thrown out. The Pres- 
 bytery, after reasoning, Avere of opinion not to drop the libel ; 
 but in regard Mr Carlyle was not prepared to make his de- 
 fences, they delayed considering the relevancy till the 1 9th 
 of April. 
 
 At the same meeting (that of the 5th April,) the elders 
 who had disclaimed the petition in favour of Mr Carlyle, 
 and had given in a counter petition to the Presbytery of 
 Dalkeith, were desired to give their reasons for their non- 
 concurrence Avith the petition ; but they did not give them. 
 One of these elders, however, on the 19th, gave in a repre- 
 l2 
 
J 26 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. ^1757- 
 
 sentation, in name of himself and of his four brethren, con- 
 taining the reopens of their non-concurrence. Mr Carlyle 
 objected, that it was now too late to assign those reasons, 
 because they had not done it on the 5th, when desired. The 
 representation was lodged with the clerk, and the consider- 
 ation of it delayed to the 3d of May. On the other hand, 
 two petitions were presented, April 19, one by the town- 
 council of Musselburgh, and the other by about 120 heads 
 of families, in favour of Mr Carlyle, declaring their satisfac- 
 tion with his conduct as their minister. 
 
 At this meeting (April 19,) Mr Carlyle renewed his re- 
 quest, that the libel should be dropt, for the reasons formerly 
 mentioned. But in this he was again oveiTuled, and the 
 Presbytery resolved to go upon the relevancy. Mr Carlyle 
 protested, appealed to the Synod, and left the Court. Four 
 ministers, viz., Messrs TurnbuU of Borthwick, Simson of 
 Fala, Mackie of Carington, and Murray of Heriot, dissented 
 from the resolution to go upon the relevancy, and left the 
 Court likewise. The Presbytery found the several articles 
 of the libel separatim relevant to infer censure ; and found 
 all the articles proved by Mr Carlyle's confession, excepting 
 the oaths and mock prayers charged to be contained in the 
 tragedy, and Mr Carlyle's having taken possession of a box 
 in a disorderly way. These particulars they remitted to 
 proof ; and they named a committee of their number, and 
 gave them a commission to take the proof at Edinburgh on 
 the 28th of April, and to report it on the 3d of May; and 
 ordered Mr Carlyle to be cited to attend the examina- 
 tion. The witnesses residing within the Presbytery of Edin- 
 burgh were cited by an order from that Presbytery. Mr 
 John DalrjTnple, advocate, as counsel for Mr Carlyle, ap- 
 peared before the committee, and protested against their 
 examining the vdtnesses, contending that a Presbytery had 
 no power to grant a commission to one or more of their own 
 number to examine A^dtnesses without their own bounds. 
 I\Ir Carlyle appeared likemse, and protested for liberty to 
 cite witnesses, in exculpation or alleviation of his alleged 
 disorderly behaviour in the playhouse, and to examine them 
 before examining the witnesses in support of that article. 
 The committee, judging it not competent for them to con- 
 sider those protests, referred them to the Presbytery, and 
 examined the witnesses in support of the libel. Mr Carlyle 
 attended the examination. 
 
1757.] CASE OF CARLYLE OF INVERESK. 127 
 
 On the 3d of May, the committee laid the proof before 
 the Presbytery. It was deposed, that a player, in the char- 
 acter of the shepherd, swore, By him that died on the ac- 
 cursed tree ; that another, in that of Glenalvon, said, No 
 priest ! no priest ! I'll risk eternal Jire ! and that a third, 
 in that of Lady Barnard,* or Lady Randolph, kneeled down 
 and put up some prayers. It was also deposed, that Mr 
 Carlyle had turned or pushed one or more gentlemen out of 
 a box, but not till after they had refused to go out at his 
 desire. JMr Carlyle objected, that this proof ought not to 
 be regarded, for that the committee ought not to have exa- 
 mined the \\dtnesses after the above mentioned protests were 
 taken ; and craved leave to give in a list of witnesses to 
 prove some alleviating circumstances in relation to his turn- 
 ing the gentlemen out of the box. The Presbytery were of 
 opinion, that Mr Carlyle's offence deserved a higher censure 
 than a rebuke, and that a censure inflicted by the highest 
 authority would have greatest weight, and be followed with 
 the most salutary effects : they therefore referred the con- 
 sideration of the protests, the objection, and the whole affair, 
 to the Synod ; declaring it to be their opinion, that the cen- 
 sure ought to be inflicted, not by any inferior Court, but by 
 the Assembly ; and they appointed their moderator, in case 
 the Synod should finish the process themselves, to appeal 
 to the Assembly. 
 
 The Synod met on the 10th May, and entered on Mr 
 Carlyle's case next day. He appeared along with i\Ir John 
 Dalrymple, advocate, as his counsel. The papers were pro- 
 duced, and read, and parties were heard at great length. 
 The Court sat from ten till four afternoon, and then ad- 
 journed. At six in the evening they met again. A ques- 
 tion was moved. Whether to take up the affair on Mr Car- 
 lyle's appeals, or on the Presbytery's reference ? After some 
 reasoning, it was agreed to begin A\4th the appeals. A long 
 debate ensued ; after which the follomng overture, or sen- 
 tence, was proposed, viz. : — " The S}Tiod finds, that the 
 grounds of proceeding in this affair in the way of a libel, 
 are not sufficiently clear and incontrovertible ; and that it 
 
 * Tlie name Lady Barnard was changed to Lady Randolph, 
 when the play was acted in London. Alterations were made after 
 the first representation at Edinburgh, so that the expressions de- 
 posed to are not in the printed play. 
 
128 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 had been better, and more expedient for the Presbytery, to 
 have endeavoured to bring the same to an issue, either in 
 the way of a privy censui'e, or of brotherly conference, vnth 
 proper admonition foUo^'iing thereon. And further, the 
 Synod does, by this sentence, declare their high displeasure 
 with Mr Carlyle, for the step he has taken in going to the 
 theatre ; and strictly enjoin him to abstain therefrom in 
 time coming." On this a vote was put, Apjyroce of the 
 overture ; or, Remit this affair to the Presbytery of Dal- 
 keith, to take proof of the alleviating circumstances conde- 
 scended on by Mr Carlyle, in case he insists upon it, and 
 to give judgment in this affair before the meeting of the 
 Assembly, as they shall see cause ? It earned " Approve " 
 by a narrow majority. A dissent was entered by Messrs 
 George Lindsay, Alexander Webster, John Glen, Alexander 
 Wardrop, John Lundie, IVilliam Aitken, James Watson in 
 Canongate, and Andrew Williamson, correspondent. It 
 was agi-eed to delay intimating the sentence till next day ; 
 and the moderator. Professor Hamilton, and Messrs James 
 Nasmyth, John Hyndman, and Joseph Williamson, were 
 appointed a committee to confer with the Presbytery of 
 Dalkeith next morning in the Society Hall. 
 
 Next day, Messrs James Stevenson, Robert Walker, John 
 Warden, John Johnston, William Orr, David Spence, and 
 WiUiam Tait, adhered to the aforementioned dissent. Then 
 the committee reported, that they had conversed at great 
 length with the Presbytery of Dalkeith ; but that that Pres- 
 bytery seemed to think themselves obliged to appeal to the 
 Assembly. The Presbytery sat some time after the confer- 
 ence, and then gave in a paper to the S}Tiod ; in which they 
 say, " they are of opinion, that if the resolution of the Sy- 
 nod, which as yet is not intimated to them, shall have con- 
 sidered them as parties, and have condemned their conduct, 
 in forming and carrpng on a libel against Mr Carlyle, that 
 they are, according to the foims of this Church, at liberty 
 to appeal to the General Assembly ; " and they appointed 
 their moderator to enter an appeal accordingly, for reasons 
 to be given in due time. Then the sentence was intimated. 
 The Presbytery appealed. Mr Carlyle said : " He received 
 the admonition and injunction of the Synod with respect. 
 He was sorry for the offence he had given ; and hoped he 
 should never give the Synod, or any other judicature of the 
 Church, occasion to call him before them again for such a 
 
1757.] CASE OF CARLYLE OF INVERESK. 129 
 
 piece of conduct." Messrs Thomas Tumbull, William 
 Mackie, Patrick Simson, John Murray, and Robert Paton, 
 ministers in Dalkeitli Presbytery, desired it might be marked 
 that they acquiesced in the Synod's sentence. The Sjnod 
 appointed the moderator, Professor Hamilton, and Messrs 
 Robert Wallace, William Robertson, and Gilbert Hamilton, 
 and Mr Joseph Williamson, a committee to answer the 
 reasons of the appeal and dissent when given in ; and, in 
 conjunction with others of the Synod who are members of 
 the ensuing Assembly, to support the sentence of the Synod 
 before that Court. 
 
 The Assembly entered on the case on the 24th May. 
 Several ministers of the Presbytery of Dalkeith appeared in 
 support of the appeal ; and several ministers, and Mr Joseph 
 Williamson, advocate, members of the Synod, appeared in 
 support of the Synod's sentence. Mr John Dalrymple, ad- 
 vocate, appeared in support of the Synod's sentence, and 
 likewise as counsel for Mr Carlyle. A member of the Sy- 
 nod, who had dissented from the sentence, asked leave to 
 speak ; but the Assembly foimd, that the dissenters had no 
 title to he heaj'd in support of their dissent. After reading 
 the petition of appeal, and the Synod's sentence and hearing 
 parties at great length, it was proposed that the question 
 should be put. Affirm the sentence of the Synod, or Not ? 
 But others insisting that the question should be, Whether 
 the Presbytery of Dalkeith did right in proceeding in the 
 way of a libel, or Not ? the previous question was put, 
 Whether tlie^^r^^ or second should be the state of the vote ? 
 and carried for the^^r*^, 114 against 45. Then the first 
 state of the question. Affirm the sentence of the Synod, or 
 Not ? being put, it carried Affirm, \\l—Not, 39. 
 
 An overture relating to the stage was taken into con- 
 sideration on the 27tli. After reasoning on it, another 
 overture was proposed in its place, and the first was dropt ; 
 and after reasoning on the second, some arguing against any 
 overture on the subject, and others arguing for one, the 
 question was put. Overture, or Not ? and carried Overture, 
 120 against 54. Then the second overture was approved 
 of without a vote, * viz. : — " The General Assembly, consi- 
 
 This motion was deemed so lenient, as to be seconded by 
 Dempster of Dunnichen, the friend of Home and Carlyle. 
 
180 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q1757. 
 
 dering how much the success of the Gospel depends on the 
 regular and inoffensive behaviour of the ministers of this 
 Church, do earnestly recommend to the several Presbyteries 
 to take such wise and effectual measures as may promote 
 the spirit of our holy religion, and preserve the purity and 
 decorum of the ministerial character ; and that they take 
 care that none of the ministers of this Church do, upon any 
 occasion, attend the theatre." By the first overture, the 
 injunction not to attend the theatre was not confined to 
 ministers, but extended to all the members of the Church.* 
 
 * On the 2d of February, the Presbytery of Glasgow had come 
 to the following resolution, viz. : — " The Presbytery haWng seen 
 a printed paper, entitled. An Admonition and Exhortation of the 
 Reverend Presbytery of Edinburgh, which, among other evils pre- 
 vailing, laments the extraordinary and unprecedented countenance 
 given of late to the playhouse in that city ; and having good reason 
 to believe, that this refers to the following melancholy, but notour 
 facts, — That one who is a minister of the Church of Scotland, did 
 himself write and compose a stage-play, entitled. The Tragedy of 
 Douglas, and got it to be acted on the theatre at Edinburgh ; and 
 that he, with several other ministers of this Church, were present, 
 and some of them oftener than once, at the acting of the said play, 
 before a numerous audience : The Presbytery, deeply affected with 
 this new and strange appearance, do think it their duty to declare, 
 as they hereby do, that they agree with the Reverend Presbytery 
 of Edinburgh, in the sentiments published by them, with respect to 
 stage-plays; and particularly, that such entertainments, from what 
 has been usually exhibited in them, and also from the dissolute lives 
 (for most part) and infamous characters of the players, have been 
 looked upon by the Christian Church, in all ages, and of all dif- 
 ferent communions, as extremely prejudicial to religion and morality, 
 as well as hurtful to the other valuable interests of human society, 
 by the wasteful expense of money and time they have occasioned ; 
 and being convinced, by long experience, a sure test of the tendency 
 of any action or practice, how vain it is to expect such a reformation 
 of the stage, as is consistent with the ends aforesaid, that therefore 
 such entertainments should be discouraged and laid aside. And the 
 Presbytery further considering, that the unprecedented countenance 
 given the playhouse, in the instance mentioned, is greatly aggravated 
 by a late Act of Parliament, rendering tbe stage (because not li- 
 censed,) unlawful in Scotland ; and also from the present circum- 
 stances of the nation with regard to the war we are engaged in, the 
 dearth of provisions, and the awful tokens of the just anger of heaven 
 against us : They therefore hereby appoint and instruct such of their 
 members as shall represent them in the ensuing General Assembly 
 of this Church, to move and insist, in a regular manner. That the 
 Venerable Assembly do declare, by a public act, their judgment, 
 
1757.] OVERTURE ANENT SIMONIACAL PRACTICES. 131 
 
 On the 28th, the following overture was ordered to be 
 transmitted to the several Presbyteries, that they may send 
 their opinions upon it to the next Assembly, the overture 
 in the meantime to have the force of an act, viz. : — " Where- 
 as in the Act of Assembly of the 1st June 1753, against 
 simoniacal practices^ there is the follo\A'ing branch or clause, 
 ' and do not, immediately when they come to the knowledge 
 of it, intimate the same to the Presbytery of the bounds ; ' 
 and whereas it is found necessary to explain and amend the 
 said clause ; it is therefore hereby enacted. That if any such 
 simoniacal practices as are mentioned and described in the 
 said Act, shall be carried on by any person or persons what- 
 soever, in order to the promoting or procuring any benefice 
 or office in this Church to any minister or probationer, 
 
 and that of this National Church, against the entertainments of the 
 theatre, as of very hurtful tendency to the interests of rehgion and 
 society. Secondly, That the Assembly do strictly inquire, if the 
 facts above mentioned, viz., that a minister of this Church has com- 
 posed, and procured to be acted, on the theatre in the Canongate 
 of Edinburgh, the tragedy called Douglas, and that the representa- 
 tion of the said tragedy was attended by him and several other mi- 
 nisters, have been under the consideration of the Presbyteries re- 
 spectively concerned ; and whether these ministers, being found 
 guilty, have been censured as their faults deserved ; and to give 
 such directions as they in their wisdom shall find necessary, that 
 such ministers, and all others, may be sensible, that the Church of 
 Scotland \A-ill never protect her members in a practice so unbecoming 
 their character, and of such pernicious tendency to the great inte- 
 rests of rehgion, industry, and virtue. And, lastly, That the As- 
 sembly would use their best endeavours to obtain such an explication 
 and enforcement of the Act of the 17th of Geo. 11., anent the play- 
 house, as it may not be hable to the pitiful evasions by which it is 
 now eluded." 
 
 On the 13th March, the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale had 
 transmitted the following overture : — " The Synod, being deeply 
 atfected with the countenance given of late to the entertainments 
 of the stage, particularly by several ministers, which entertainments 
 have, from long experience, been found prejudicial to the great in- 
 terests of rehgion and virtue ; and considering that it has been al- 
 leged, that there is no express law or statute of this Church which 
 prohibits her members and ministers to witness theatrical represen- 
 tations, they do humbly overture to the General Assembly, that 
 they would be pleased to take this matter under their serious con- 
 sideration, and lay down such rules as shall obviate that pretext, 
 and may effectually prevent such unwarrantable practices for the 
 future." 
 
132 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ql757. 
 
 though Avithout his consent or approbation ; and if such 
 minister or probationer shall at any time be told or informed 
 that such practices have been or are carried on, or proposed 
 to be carried on, for the purpose aforesaid, and shall not 
 make discovery or intimation thereof to the Presbytery of 
 the bounds, at their first meeting after he shall receive such 
 information, then and in that case, he shall, if a minister, 
 be deposed, and if a probationer, deprived of his Hcense." 
 
 The annual report of the trustees for managing the fund 
 for a provision to the widows and children ofininisters^ &c., 
 was given in on the 25th. To this report is subjoined the 
 follo\Adng comparison between the calculations on which 
 the scheme proceeded, and the facts as they have come out 
 during the first thirteen years of the scheme, viz., from 
 March 25, 1744, O. S., to April 5, 1757, N. S. :— 
 
 " In the calculation, it was supposed that 30 ministers 
 and professors would die per annum ; so that, in the above 
 13 years, 390 ministers and professors might be supposed 
 to die; and in fact, during said 13 years, there have died 
 383. — Difference, 7- 
 
 " It was also supposed, that the ministers and professors 
 dying would leave 20 widows, and 6 families of children 
 without widows, jD^r annum ; inde, for said 13 years, 260 
 widows, and 78 families of children -without widows, — in 
 all, 338 ; and in fact, they have left 262 widows, and 73 
 families of children without widows, — in all, 335. Differ- 
 ence, 3. 
 
 " In the calculation, it was farther supposed that, at 
 Whitsunday 1757, the nimiber of widows on the fund, 
 drawing full and half annuities, would be 177 ; and in fact, 
 their number is 171. — Difference, 6. 
 
 " In the calculation, it was likemse supposed that the 
 stock, at clearing the collector's accounts for ihe 12th year 
 of the fund, anno 1 756, would amount to £43,333 : 3 : s'^d. ; 
 and in fact, it amounted to £42,888 : 17 : 2-^d., — so that 
 the real stock was only £444 : 6 : 0-?-d. less than the calcu- 
 lation ; which, in a fund so great, is of no consequence, as a 
 difi'erence of that, or greater extent, to the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of the fund, will happen, from the accidental 
 circumstance of a greater or lesser mmiber of children fall- 
 ing upon it in the preceding year." 
 
 From the above comparison it appears, that the small 
 
1757.] DISPUTED SETTLEMENTS. 133 
 
 diflPerences between the calculation and the fact, are to the 
 advantage of the scheme, excepting as to the amount of 
 the capital ; with respect to which it is proper to observe, 
 that the calculation brings up the interest to Whitsun- 
 day 1756, whereas the interest of the real stock is brought 
 up only to Martinmas 1755; so that if this half-years 
 interest of the capital, at 4 per cent., be added to the 
 real stock, it will exceed the calculation some hundred 
 pounds. 
 
 Double presentations had been given to the united pa- 
 rishes of Stonykirk, Clashant, and Toscarton ; one by the 
 King, in favour of Mr John Hunter, probationer ; and an- 
 other by Mr Macdouall of Castlesempil, in favour of Mr 
 James Macferrand, minister at Kirkmaiden. In last No- 
 vember, the Commission, to whom this affair had been re- 
 ferred by the preceding Assembly, delayed it till their meet- 
 ing in March, on account of a process then commenced 
 before the Court of Session for ascertaining the right of 
 patronage ; and there was no meeting of the Commission 
 \j\ March. No compearance was made for Mr Macdouall 
 in, the Assembly. The papers were read, particularly the 
 sentence of the Lords of Session of February 9, 1757, find- 
 ing, that the Crown has right to the patronages of Clashant 
 and Toscarton^ united with the parish of Stonykirk, and that 
 Mr Macdouall has right to the patronage of the old parish 
 of Stonykirk; thai? the Crown has right to present to the 
 said united parishes for two vices, and Mr Macdouall for 
 one vice ; and as it was admitted that Mr Macdouall pre- 
 sented last, preferring the Crown's presentation. The As- 
 sembly, May 21, unanimously appointed the Presbytery of 
 Stranraer to proceed to the moderation of a call to the 
 King's presentee alone. 
 
 Upon a competition between Dorothea Lady-Dowager 
 Forbes, and James Lord Forbes, both having presented to 
 the parishes of Forbes and Kearn, the Assembly, on the 
 25th, appointed Mr James Macwilliam, probationer, my 
 Lord's presentee, to be settled by the Presbytery of Alford ; 
 and set aside my Lady's presentation in favour of Mr Wil- 
 liam Coupland, minister. Some members moved to refer 
 the affair to the Commission, in regard my Lady had raised 
 a declarator of her right before the Court of Session ; but 
 
 M 
 
13-1. ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757- 
 
 upon the question put, Proceed or Delay ? it carried Pro- 
 ceed by a great majority.* 
 
 On the 26th, the Assembly took into consideration a 
 complaint of the King's Advocate, and the concuiTers with 
 a royal presentation in favour of Mr John Douglas, minister 
 of Kenmure, to be minister of Jedburgh^ against the Pres- 
 bytery of Jedburgh, for not obeying the sentence of the 
 Commission, appointing Mr Douglas's transportation and 
 settlement ; and a pstition of others of the aforesaid parish, 
 opposers of the presentee, complaining of the Commission's 
 sentence, and craving it might be reversed. After reading 
 the papers, and hearing parties, and reasoning, the question 
 was put. Dismiss the complaint against the Commission 
 or Not ? and it canied Dismiss by a great majority. The 
 Assembly therefore appointed the Presbytery of Jedburgh 
 to proceed in a process towards Mr Douglas's transportation 
 from Kenmure, and his admission at Jedburgh, with all 
 convenient speed ; and nobody insisting in the complaint 
 against the Presbytery, it was dismissed likewise ; and the 
 Assembly empowered the Commission to determine finally 
 in any complaint, reference, or appeal, that shall be regu- 
 larly brought before them, concerning the settlement of 
 Jedburgh. 
 
 Next day, in the case of the settlement of Abbotshall^ the 
 counsel for the patron and presentee, with consent of the 
 Assembly, withdrew the presentation, without prejudice to 
 the patron's right of presenting, within six months from that 
 date, another qualified person. []A compromise of this kind 
 was made last year \^^lth regard to Jedburgh.] 
 
 * The Court of Session having found for Lord Forbes, his presentee, 
 Mr Macwilliam, was settled accordingly ; but in the House of Lords 
 the decree of the Court of Session was reversed, and the patronage 
 declared to be in the Lady Dowager. The consequence was, that 
 Mr Macvv-illiam was not found to be entitled to any of the stipend, 
 which remained with the patroness. — See Morrison's Decisions, 993 1 , 
 Feb. 1762. The Dean of Faculty (Hope) in his speech in the 
 Auchterarder Case, (Report, vol. i., p. 322, com p. p. 402 and vol. 
 ii., p. 49,) says, in reference to this affair : — " The case of Dr Dick 
 (of Lanark) was largely commented on, and explained, on the part 
 of the ordained minister, by Monboddo, Pitfour, and Lord Hailes. 
 who was then Procurator for the Church." But the learned gentle- 
 man has there confounded Lord Hailes with his namesake, David 
 Dalrymple, afterwards Lord Westhall See under the year 1761. 
 
1 757.] CASE OF PROFESSOR BROWX. 1 35 
 
 The affair of Mr William Brown^ late minister of the 
 English Church at Utrecht, came likewise on upon the 27th, 
 by an appeal on the part of Mr Brown, and by a reference 
 of the whole cause on the part of the Presbytery of St An- 
 drews. This affair is related as follows, in the papers for 
 the opposite sides. 
 
 A petition for ]Mr Brown sets forth, — That the petitioner 
 was, in the year 1746, settled minister of Cortachy :" That 
 the appearance he made for the government during the late 
 rebellion, had given such offence to those who are not friends 
 to the present happy constitution, that no means were left 
 unattempted to disturb his ministry ; rumours were spread 
 to his disadvantage, and even attempts made upon his life : 
 That this gave rise to a demission, w hich was accepted of by 
 the Presbytery of Forfar in June 1748 : That some time 
 thereafter, he was settled minister of the English congrega- 
 tion in Utrecht, and on the late vacancy of the Professorship 
 of Ecclesiastical History in the Xew^ College of St Andrews, 
 was presented to that office by his 3Iajesty : That on the 
 18th of August last, he laid before the Presbytery of St 
 Andrews his Majesty's patent, and craved liberty to sign 
 the Confession of Faith and Formula, as law directs : That 
 the Presbytery, declining to allow^ him that pri\dlege, he 
 took a protest of his willingness to comply with the law, and 
 retired, in persuasion that he had done all that was requisite 
 on his part : That during his absence, the Presbytery framed 
 a libel, on an ancient rumour, that one Margaret Alexander 
 had, in the year 1748, brought forth a child, and charged 
 hirn with being its father ; with a copy of which, and a long 
 list of witnesses, a committee of Presbytery served him, in 
 presence of a notary-public, in the house to Avhich he had 
 retired to take a refreshment : That at the next meeting of 
 Presbytery, upon the 29th of September, hoping to remove 
 every scruple, he commissioned his procurator to lay before 
 the Presbytery a number of ample certificates in his favour, 
 and authorised him, in case of their proceeding, to enter a 
 declinature of their jurisdiction, being at that time, in no 
 sense of the word, a member of their Presbytery, but they 
 overruled his declinature ; upon which his procurator ap- 
 pealed to the Synod of Fife, and instantly gave in his rea- 
 sons : That on the 6th of October 1756, the affair coming 
 
 * See the former volume, pp. 88, 360. 
 
136 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 before the Synod, and the question being put, Refer to the 
 General Assembly, or^Determine ? it carried Determine ; 
 and then a second question being put, Dismiss the appeal, 
 or Not ? it carried dismiss ; whereupon his procurator ap- 
 pealed to this Assembly for redress, the grounds of the Hbel 
 being not only long ago prescribed, but the mean of proof 
 aimed at incompetent and illegal ; and therefore prayed, 
 that the Assembly would take in and judge of his said ap- 
 peal, and reasons thereof, reverse the sentences complained 
 of, find the procedure had thereon void and null, and dis- 
 miss the libel. 
 
 A representation for the Presbytery of St Andrews sets 
 forth, — That Mr Brown was settled at Cortachy in July 
 1746, and demitted his office in 1748 : That in his letter 
 of demission, which was dated at Edinburgh on the 14th of 
 March, and delivered to the Presbytery of Forfar on the 1st 
 of June 1748, he founds his demission on the odium of the 
 disaffected, the prejudices of his people, and his life being 
 attacked by a ruffian : That on the 29th of June, the Pres- 
 bytery agreed, nevi. con., to accept of his demission, be- 
 cause, they say, most of the facts narrated in his foresaid 
 letter are publicly known to be founded on truth, and that 
 in his present situation his ministry was rendered almost 
 entirely useless in that congregation : That at that time it 
 was pubhcly reported, and generally believed, that the afore- 
 mentioned were not the chief reasons which induced Mr 
 Brown to demit his office, but that he had involved himself 
 in guilt -vrith one Margaret Alexander, his maid-servant ; 
 and though he had used the most unjustifiable means to 
 extricate himself, and suppress the then flagrant scandal, 
 yet, finding all his art and address ineffectual, he was obliged, 
 either to demit his office, or subject himself to the deserved 
 censure of deposition: That though the Presbytery ac- 
 cepted his demission, and assigned the above-mentioned 
 reasons of their conduct, yet it is impossible that any mem- 
 ber of that Presbytery could be ignorant of Mr Brown's real 
 situation and circumstances ; for that not only was the mala 
 fama against him exceedingly flagrant, but a petition, sub- 
 scribed by some of the elders of Cortachy, and several heads 
 of families, was given in to the Presbytery, intimating. That 
 Margaret Alexander was with child, and made no secret 
 who was the father ; and entreating the Presbytery either 
 to inquire into the scandal themselves, or appoint one of 
 
1757.] CASE OF PROFESSOR BROWN. l37 
 
 tlieir number to meet with the elders for that effect, as then- 
 minister had left them : That the Presbytery delayed the 
 consideration of the petition for a month or two, and in 
 the interim two of the petitioners were, by the solicitations 
 of Mr BroAvn's friends, without communicating their design 
 to the others concerned, engaged to apply to have their pe- 
 tition withdravMi, which was readily agreed to ; and the 
 Presbytery, conscious that their procedure could not bear 
 the light, ordered the whole to be erased out of their mi- 
 nutes : That indeed they did not all concur in these mea- 
 sures; for that when the petition desiring an immediate 
 inquiry was lodged, there were eight members present, of 
 whom three were for granting the desire of the petition, and 
 the moderator was thought to be of the same opinion, but 
 the question was earned in the negative by the vote of Mr 
 Ogilvie, who is father-in-law to Mr Brown; and that though 
 the four ordered the erasing even the reasons of dissent of- 
 fered by their three brethren, yet the whole transaction 
 would appear in a just light from the declarations of the 
 members of the Presbytery of Forfar adduced as M-itnesses 
 for pro%'ing the libel given by the Presbytery of St Andrews 
 to ;Mr Bro^vn : That it appeared, from the time of Margaret 
 Alexander's delivery, that Mr Bro^^^l had been guilty with 
 her not many days before his marriage : That Mr BroA\Ti, 
 being thus rendered destitute, and finding it impossible to 
 get bread in this country, resolved to go abroad ; and that, 
 having been instrumental in relieving some officers who were 
 prisoners at Glammis in 1746, he had by that means got ac- 
 quainted ^ATith some officers of rank in the army, and was 
 by them recommended to the Duke of Cumberland, wlio 
 procured for him a place at Utrecht, Avorth upv.ards of 
 i:JlOO Sterling a-year : That though compassion moved 
 several to whom Mr Brown and his friends applied, to re- 
 commend him to such as might be useful to him, yet none 
 of those, so far as is known to the Presbytery of St Andrews, 
 adventured to attest his moral character ; and that the re- 
 commendation he then obtained from some members of that 
 Presbytery, on account of his loyalty, was, on assurances 
 ^ven by his friends that he was to go into the army, and 
 appear no more as a clergyman : That it is reported, and 
 generally believed, that Mr Bro%ATi and his friends used 
 several unjustifiable means to conceal his guilt, and obtain 
 certificates and recommendations ; and that, when he left 
 M 2 
 
138 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 this country, in 1748, his character was tainted, not only 
 with the afore-mentioned crime, but with a train of other 
 conduct, quite inconsistent, not only mth the character of 
 a minister of the Gospel, but with that of a professor of our 
 holy religion : yet that no fear of deserved reproach, or of 
 rendering himself useless, could deter him from pursuing 
 his selfish views, and returning to a place of the country 
 where his former vicious conduct was notour ; for on the 
 death of Dr Archibald Campbell, Professor of Divinity and 
 Ecclesiastical History in the New College of St Andrews, 
 he obtained a patent for succeeding him : That, so soon as 
 this was known, the afore-mentioned scandal became very 
 flagrant, and all who had a sincere regard for religion or the 
 public good, were deeply affected with, the obvious bad con- 
 sequences of Mr Brown's obtaining so important an office, 
 by which the education of youth designed for the Church 
 behoved to be inti-usted to him : That, as the Presbytery 
 could not tamely connive at the instalment of one of so bad 
 a character, they had applied to one of the principal Secre- 
 taries of State, representing Mr Bro^vn's situation and cir- 
 cumstances, that if possible they might be freed from the 
 disagreeable task of commencing a process against him, but 
 without effect: That, on the 18th of August 1756, Mr 
 Brown gave in his patent to the Presbytery, and asked leave 
 to sign the Confession of Faith and Formula : That the 
 Presbytery retired to consider of Mr Brown's demand ; and 
 every member present, about seventeen ministers and ten or 
 twelve elders, declared, that they had often heard of Mr 
 Brown's scandalous conduct ; that the malafama was, since 
 his return, become more flagrant than formerly ; and that 
 it was the duty of the Presbytery to inquire into the public 
 scandal before they should allow him the privilege de- 
 manded, and for that end to give him a libel founded on 
 the malafama : That a committee appointed for that pur- 
 pose drew a libel, which was unanimously approved of; 
 that Mr Brown being called, and not appearing, a com- 
 mittee of Presbytery delivered to him, in a house to which 
 he had retired, the Ubel, vdth a list of witnesses, to be an- 
 swered next Presbytery day ; and that the Presbytery sent 
 notice of this to the University, and desired them not to 
 admit Mr Brown till his character should be inquired into. 
 That the libel charges Mr Brown, not only with fornication 
 vyith Margaret Alexander, but that, conscious of his guilt. 
 
1757.] CASE OF PROFESSOR BROWN. 139 
 
 he remained under the scandal, without taking the ap- 
 pointed course to vindicate his character, and by demitting 
 his office, and leaving the country, deprived the Presbytery, 
 so far as in him lay, of the opportunity of inquiring into his 
 conduct ; and that he used several indirect means to conceal 
 his bad character, and impose on mankind, by which he had 
 obtained the patent. . . . That on the 29th of September, Mr 
 Brown, by his procurator, declined the jurisdiction of the 
 Presbytery ; and the Presbjiery refusing to sustain his de- 
 clinature, he appealed to the Synod : That the Synod dis- 
 missed his appeal, and he appealed to the Assembly 
 
 That from the whole of Mr Brown's conduct in this matter, 
 it clearly appears, that, far from acting like a man conscious 
 of innocence, and not afraid of bringing his character to 
 trial, he has steadily pursued a fixed design of preventing, 
 if possible, an impartial inquiry, and, by a train of gross 
 falsehoods, endeavoured to make mankind beHeve he met 
 with hard usage, and that those who, from a conviction of 
 the obligation they were under, pushed an inquiry previous 
 to his admission, have been influenced by sinistrous views, 
 and combined with his enemies : That, though it is gene- 
 rally beheved he had privately acknowledged to several 
 members of the Presbytery of Forfar his guilt with Mar- 
 garet Alexander, and that they were conscious this was the 
 chief reason of his resigning his charge ; yet those very men 
 did, at a res nata meeting called the 9th of June last, grant 
 Mr Brown a certificate, bearing — " That during the time 
 of his residence among them, he never was accused of any 
 crime, but, as far as they know, behaved himself soberly, 
 regularly, and piously, and every way as became his station 
 and character as a clergyman ; and therefore deserves to be 
 received and used as a clergyman wherever Providence shall 
 order his lot." That five members granted this certificate ; 
 and as it is believed they are best acquainted with the 
 whole of Mr BroA\Ti's misbehaviour, when they say he was 
 never accused of any crime, and that, so far as they know, 
 he behaved himself as became his station and character, 
 their meaning must be, that he never was accused judi- 
 cially, and so far as they know as a Presbytery ; which the 
 Presbytery of St Andrews look on as a subterfuge, unworthy 
 of any man, especially ministers of the Gospel : That several 
 members of the Presbytery of Forfar dissented from their 
 brethren in granting this certificate ; and intimate, in their 
 
140 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [^1757. 
 
 reasons of dissent, That the meeting was not duly called 
 and constitute ; that the design of that certificate behoved 
 to be, to prevent an inquiry into ]Mr Brown's character by 
 the Presbytery of St Andrews ; that though no process was 
 intented in which oMr Brown was particularly mentioned, 
 yet a process was intented, in which the brethren had good 
 reason to believe Mr Brown Avas particularly concerned, and 
 they had not forgot the way and manner in which the pro- 
 secution was discouraged and dropped ; and that, though 
 he was not accused formally, he was accused by the voice 
 of common fame ; that to concur, therefore, in the said tes- 
 timonial, would not only, as to them, be an asserting a very 
 doubtful fact, but greatly disingenuous, and nothing less 
 than a conscious falsehood; all which appears from the 
 reasons of dissent oifered by Messrs Young, Weath, and 
 Raker. . . . That the Presbytery of St AndrcAvs having una- 
 nimously found the libel relevant to infer censure if confessed 
 or proved, appointed their moderator to ^^Tite to the Pres- 
 byteries of 3Ieigle, Forfar, and Brechin, in whose bounds 
 the witnesses lived, desiring they would cause summon them 
 in due form ; but this they refused, assigning as their chief 
 reason, that Mr Brown had appealed to the Assembly, though 
 of this they could have no evidence but Mr Brown's asser- 
 tion. . . . That Mr Brown having thus effectually stopped the 
 procedure of the Presbytery, summoned the members of 
 the University to answer before the Court of Session, for 
 their delaying to admit him; and obtained a sentence, 
 whereby the Lords find. That the University acted unwar- 
 rantably and illegally in delaying his admission, and as if 
 they had wilfully intended hurt to Mr BroAAm, and delayed 
 his admission without any probable ground of an innocent 
 and honest intention, loaded them personally "\A^th the ex-- 
 pense of process, and ordered the members of the University, 
 or any one of them, to admit him on or before the 1 st of 
 March : That, seeing the laws, particularly the Acts 1662 
 and 1690, require, that no professor be admitted to any 
 ofiice in any college or university, but such as are of a pious, 
 loyal, and peacealDle conversation ; and that the University 
 offered to make good the charge against Mr Brown, in such 
 form as the Lords should prescribe ; the Presbytery would 
 have been much more surprised at the above sentence, had 
 not their Lordships had laid before them an information for 
 Mr BroAMi, in which he not only attacks the characters of 
 
1757.] CASE OF PROFESSOR BROWN. 141 
 
 particular members, but charges both the Presbytery and 
 University with gross calumnies, asserting, that the fama 
 clamosa was of their own raising, that they used the most 
 raahcious methods to defeat the effects of his Majesty's pre- 
 sentation, and that their conduct can bear no other construc- 
 tion but that of an unjustifiable combination to disappoint 
 him; for that these calumnious assertions, and what Mr 
 Solicitor seems to fix as certain maxims, behoved to give 
 the judges a bad impression of the Presbytery : That that 
 learned gentleman asserted, that the Presbytery have no 
 power to deliberate whether they will allow any person pre- 
 sented by his Majesty to subscribe the Confession of Faith 
 and Formula or not ; that they are not to refuse this on any 
 account ; that their power is only ministerial, and that on 
 
 no account can they impede his admission That, firom 
 
 this short narrative, the Presbytery persuade themselves the 
 Assembly will find their conduct in this affair regular, and 
 will order the libel to be proceeded on, according to the rules 
 of the Church ; and as the Presbyteries of Forfar, Meigle, 
 and Brechin, have shown such reluctance to summon v«dt- 
 nesses, they beg the Assembly effectually to interpose, that 
 there may be no further stop to the procedure. And as Mr 
 Brown has appealed, as not subject to the Presbytery, or 
 other judicatures of the Church ; as the Lords of Session 
 have ordained him, though under scandal, and libelled by 
 the Presbytery, to be admitted, though he has never at- 
 tempted to vindicate himself, or, so far as the Presbytery 
 know, even asserted his innocence ; and seeing Mr Solicitor, 
 a gentleman* eminent in his profession, has asserted, that the 
 Presbytery have no power to deliberate concerning the char- 
 acter of a minister, who, as a professor of divinity, is to be 
 a member of the Presbytery ; that their power is only minis- 
 terial, and that on no account are they to refuse his demand 
 of signing the Confession of Faith and Formula, nor can 
 impede his admission ; and as the judges, by ordaining a 
 man in Mr Brown's circumstances to be forthwith admitted, 
 and finding the deed of the University, delaying his admis- 
 sion till his character should be cleared, illegal and unwar- 
 rantable, and loading them with the expense of process, 
 seem to be of the same mind with Mr Solicitor, the Presby- 
 
 * The Solicitor-General at this period was Mr Andrew Pr ingle, 
 afterwards Lord Alemour. 
 
142 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757- 
 
 tery cannot but think it a matter of the highest importance 
 to this Church, and worthy the most mature consideration 
 of the Supreme Court, what is proper to be done for ob- 
 taining redress of a grievance, which may tend to the ruin, 
 not only of the Universities, but also of the Church ; for if 
 a man presented to an office must be admitted, and cannot 
 be called to an account though of the worst character, the 
 consequences are so obdous, that the Presbytery need not 
 mention them. 
 
 [[Besides these two papers, there was a printed Case for 
 Mr Brown, regularly signed by his lawyers, Messrs Joseph 
 Williamson and Patrick Murray ; and for the other side, 
 there appeared a pamphlet, entitled, A Letter to a Member 
 of Assemhlij ; which was lirst sold for 6d. and then for 3d., 
 but was at last given gratis, like the cases.] 
 
 In the Case it is said, that the Cortachy petitioners were 
 desired to give in a more formal and particular petition 
 against next Presbytery day ; but that the petitioners, in- 
 stead of such a petition, sent a letter to the Presbytery, de- 
 claring, that, " upon mature deliberation, they found reason 
 for diso\vning and retracting what they had done, and pro- 
 fessing their sorrow for the trouble they had given the Pres- 
 bytery, and entreating that every thing might be erased from 
 out their books concerning that affair." In the Letter it is 
 said, that Mr Brown's friends entered into a sort of treaty 
 with some managers for the people, whose gTeat view was 
 to get rid of Mr Brown as their minister ; and therefore, 
 upon assurances given that Mr BroAvn ^vould demit his 
 charge, they agreed to drop their prosecution. 
 
 In the Case insinuations are made, as if it was the dis- 
 appointed hopes of some members of the University, or their 
 friends, that gave rise to the violent attack upon Mr Brown s 
 character, and made them represent him in the most odious 
 colours to those great personages at London, who, as they 
 were most able, had been very willing to assist him ; it is 
 said, that Principal Murison's ingenuity, in saying the re- 
 commendation he gave Mr Brown at his leaving Scotland, 
 " was not to be used for obtaining any office as a clergy- 
 man," is submitted, upon perusing his letter to Mr Brown's 
 father-in law, five years after his being appointed minister 
 at Utrecht : "I rejoice that your son-in-law is in so good a 
 way, and reflect with pleasure on my contributing what I 
 could, at your desire, for his welfare." And then it is asked, 
 
1757] CASE OF PROFESSOR BROWN. 148 
 
 If it tnily appeared to the University, that Mr Brown's set- 
 tlement amongst them would be hurtful to the interest of 
 religion and learning, but that, as they express themselves 
 in one of their papers, he might have been useful elsewhere, 
 where his story was not known ; would it not have been 
 equally becoming, as well as more humane, to have addressed 
 him privately, and left it to his choice to have remained quiet 
 in Holland, or stand the brunt of their opposition, which, 
 after such public remonstrances, it is obvious he behoved 
 either to defeat, or see himself, his family, and usefulness in 
 life, both here and in Holland, for ever ruined ? Dr Camp- 
 bell died April 24, 17o6 ; Mr Bro%Mi's patent bears date 
 May 10 ; Mr Gregory had accounts of it on the 18th or 
 20th, and soon communicated them to Messrs Murison and 
 Schaw, and other members of the University, and an Uni- 
 versity meeting was called upon the affair on the 1 5th of 
 June. In the Letter it is said, that the Principal, when the 
 afore-recited passage was read by Mr Brown's lawyer in the 
 Synod, desired to see the letter, and that the whole of it 
 might be read, but neither were granted ; that he complained 
 of such an abuse of pnvate letters, because it tended to de- 
 stroy the mutual confidence upon which this friendly inter- 
 course is founded ; and told, that a gentleman happening to 
 tell him, just when he was about to ^^Tite a friendly letter 
 to 3Ir Ogilvy of Mr Brown's having got a good place, and 
 of his beha^^ng well, he was thereby led to make mention 
 of Mr Brown, and perhaps to express himself in terms he 
 would not upon any other occasion have chosen ; adding, 
 that his words implied no approbation of Mr Brown's con- 
 duct while in Scotland, for his plain meaning was, that he 
 Avas glad that Mr Brown, who had formerly been in such 
 dismal circumstances, was now in a comfortable way of liv- 
 ing, and behaving with so much decency as to procure a 
 good degi-ee of esteem and regard fi'om persons of all ranks 
 in that country. 
 
 At the afore-mentioned meeting of the University, called 
 June 15, 1756, at which all the members were present, ex- 
 cept Principal Tullideph, and another, who was confined by 
 age and infirmity, it was agreed, without a contradicting 
 voice, except Mr Gregory's, (upon a representation by Prin- 
 cipal Murison, that a few years ago a report had prevailed, 
 and was generally believed, that Mr Brown was guilty of 
 an immorality, which, if it had been confessed, or proved 
 
144 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 upon him, was punishable by deprivation, and that there- 
 upon he had demitted his charge, and left the country,) 
 " That they should represent to the Duke of Cumberland, 
 their chancellor, the report, universally credited, which af- 
 fected Mr Brown's character, and was the true cause of his 
 demitting his charge, and the bad consequences that would 
 follow the putting him into the office of Professor of Church 
 History and Divinity, and crave the interposition of his 
 Royal Highness to prevent it." This representation was 
 sent up under cover to Sir Everard Fawkener, the Duke's 
 secretary ; and this gentleman returned the University an 
 answer, dated July 13, 1756, in which he acquaints them, 
 (as is recited in the Case,) " That Mr Brown was no other- 
 wise known to his Hoyal Highness, than by the imques- 
 tioned testimonials he had received of many very eminent 
 services performed by him to His Majesty and his country 
 during the late rebellion : That Mr Bro^vn having come to 
 the head-quarters in Flanders, represented, that the ca- 
 lumnies and menaces, and other vexations brought upon 
 him by the Jacobites, had made him determine to quit his 
 church, and seek his bread where he could get it in quiet ; 
 which declaration he supported by full testimonials of his 
 moral character, and by his demission, proceeding upon the 
 calumnies and menaces with which he was harassed, which 
 demission the Presbytery accepted, upon this averment, that 
 most of the facts therein set forth were kno^vn to be true : 
 That his Royal Highness was strongly induced to believe 
 there must be some misunderstanding in this affair, from 
 the different manner in which Mr Brown's withdrawing 
 from Scotland has been represented, from what the testi- 
 monials plainly set forth : That his Royal Highness could 
 not but feel a great uneasiness, to find himself pressed to 
 give up a worthy man to infamy and ruin, upon an impu- 
 tation of immorality which is not named, and which there 
 is great reason to think is a calumny." — Sir Everard adds, 
 " Is calumny new in the world ? have not the best men in 
 all ages been exposed to it ? and is it not very natural to 
 believe, that those who set off with the most violent preju- 
 dices to him, who tried all ways to make him uneasy, and 
 who even attempted upon his life, would not scruple to raise 
 a calumny to hurt him ? Consider how hard must his case 
 be, if all the reward of his public services must be, to be 
 given up to the revenge of his enemies, who were so for 
 
1757.] CASE OF PROFESSOR BROWN. 145 
 
 those very services, and to be exposed to greater punisliment 
 than the law inflicts for many sorts of felony, and this for a 
 bare imputation, raised in a place where he had avowedly 
 so many and so deadly enemies." — Sir Everard is also pleased 
 to condescend on a number of very ample testimonials in 
 his fiivour, which are subjoined to his Case^ and with his 
 usual goodness of heart subjoins. — " It is impossible not to 
 take notice, that these testimonials agree in the accounts 
 they give of the sweet,- friendly, and engaging temper and 
 deportment of Mr Brown. This happy disposition is a 
 main source of charity, which covers a multitude of faults, 
 and is of more use to society in general, and towards pro - 
 pagating true rehgion, and all moral \^rtues, in a society set 
 apart more immediately for the culture of them, than all 
 the human learning that any man was ever possessed of. — 
 I doubt not but this affair vnW be considered ^vith that can- 
 dour which may be expected from such a place." It is 
 added, that the University, not satisfied with this warm re- 
 presentation in favour of Mr Bro%vn, -wrote a second letter 
 to Sir Everard, to which, it is believed, they did not obtain 
 the honour of an answer ; neither did the Presbytery receive 
 any answer to the letter they \vrote to the Earl of Holder- 
 nesse. In the Letter we are told, that Sir Everard, after 
 transcribing the deed of the Presbytery of Forfar accepting 
 Mr BroMTi s demission, goes on : — " Is there the least rea- 
 son to suppose that there is any concealed meaning in so 
 plain a declaration on so solemn an occasion ? If any one 
 can entertain a suspicion of any such disguise, he lays to 
 the charge of the Reverend Presb}'tery a greater immorality, 
 imd of more scandal to religion and the ministry, than any 
 thing, be it what it may, laid to Mr Brown's charge." 
 
 The Letter writer -\vould depreciate the loyalt;^ of Mr 
 Bro^\Ti. " As in the course of my narrative," says he, 
 " frequent mention has been made of the loyalty of Mr 
 Brown, and his signal services to the government, I doubt 
 not but you, who know the attachment of the clergy of Scot- 
 land to our happy establishment, and with what affection 
 and zeal ministers and preachers appeared on that side in 
 the time of the unnatural rebellion, will be desirous to know 
 how Mr Brown could signalize himself so rem.arkably where 
 all were zealous, and merit such particular distinction from 
 men in power. Though I have no inclination to detract 
 from Mr BroAvn's loyalty, it is proper you should know the 
 
 N 
 
14<l ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ql757. 
 
 truth of this matter. Some officers of the army, who had 
 heen taken prisoners by the rebels at Preston, were confined 
 by them to the village of Glammis in Angus, and some places 
 in that neighbourhood. Upon the precipitate retreat of the 
 rebels before his Royal Highness, it vras feared they would 
 carry these officers along with them, and might treat them 
 barbarously and inhumanely. To prerent this, a party of 
 people, of low rank, but zealous for the goyemment, formed 
 a project of rescuing them. Being met upon this design at 
 Dundee, it occurred, that it would contribute to facilitate 
 and secure the success of their design, to send a person be- 
 fore them well acquainted in that neighbourhood, to assemble 
 the officers into one house, that they might carry them off 
 instantly and >^4thout noise. Mr Brown, who happened 
 accidentjdly to be in Dimdee, was pitched upon as a proper 
 person for this serrice, which he performed, and got him^lf 
 considered as a sort of leader or commander among those 
 well-meaning people, and had the honour to present and 
 deliver the rescued officers to the commander-in-chief of his 
 Majesty's forces at Edinburgh. This, Sir, so far as I can 
 learn, was the first exertion of Mr Brown's loyalty ; and 
 from this, I think, he has been dubbed with the title of 
 General Brovni. . . . No doubt Mr Bro'v\ii was loyal and 
 zealous in his heart during the whole of that imnatural re- 
 bellion ; but this zeal was tempered with great prudence 
 and caution until the rebels b^an to fly, — as an evidence 
 of which, we are informed, by good authority, that before 
 this happy turn of affairs, when he was requested by Mr 
 Thomson, minister at Airly, to preach for him, he excused 
 himself by a letter, because the country was divided into 
 two parties, and he did not incline, by appearing in public, 
 to disobjige either. But when the rebels b^an to fly, and 
 were afterwards defeated, Mr Brown's zeal, we find, flamed 
 out the more fiercely, perhaps because it was pent up be- 
 fore ; for he became very instrumental and active in dis- 
 tressing those unhappy people, carrying off their effects, as 
 appears from a process before the Court of Session against 
 his fiither and Inm, for Ogilvy of PeeFs books and effects ; 
 which was at last submitted, and the books decerned to be 
 restored to the owner. ... It is not surprising that Mr Brown, 
 by sucli feats of loyalty as the^, should incur the resentment 
 of the Jacobites. But this could be no reason for resigning 
 his charge; for the rebeUion was extbgui^ed, and the 
 
1757.] CASE OP PROFESSOR BROWN. 147 
 
 country reduced to order, long before March 1748, so that 
 no man needed then be afraid of that party. . . . Davidson, 
 who made an attempt upon his Ufe, made a Uke attempt 
 upon other ministers, and actually robbed some of them ; 
 but as this fellow was hanged the year before * at Aberdeen, 
 it could not be for fear of him that Mr Brown demitted his 
 office." 
 
 In the Case^ prescription is pleaded upon this clause in 
 the Form of Process : — " If a scandal shall happen not to 
 be noticed in order to censure for the space of five years, it 
 should not be.reWved again, so as to enter in a process 
 thereanent, unless it be of an heinous nature, or become 
 again flagrant ; but the consciences of such persons ought 
 to be seriously dealt with in private, to bring them to a 
 sense of their sin and duty," With respect to the two ex- 
 ceptions, it is contended, that the first, unless the scandal 
 he of an heinous nature^ surely points out guilt of so deep 
 a dye, that no penitence, or length of time, without some 
 public animadversion, can be deemed sufficient to quiet the 
 minds of men ; and that, as to the second, or become again 
 jlagrant^ the exception, as it is understood by some, is as 
 broad as the rule, and so the wise regulation of our ances- 
 tors is exposed to ridicule ; for what could be more trifling, 
 than to lay down a rule which might be baffled by the breath 
 of envy, or the folly of the meanest changeling ? and that, 
 
 * This is contrary to fact, for I find that the execution of David- 
 son did not take place till the 1st of July 1748, when he was hanged 
 between Aberdeen and the Bridge of Dee, and his body hung in 
 chains. This man was long the terror of the " How of the 
 Mearns," and districts adjoining. He had been once a soldier, but 
 having deserted to the French at the battle of Fontenoy, he came 
 to Scotland during the rebellion in Drummond's regiment. After the 
 rebellion was suppressed, he headed a band of broken men, and seems 
 to have singled out for attJick the houses of the Presbyterian clergy 
 and schoolmasters. In addition to the outrages mentioned in the 
 former volume (p. 95,) he robbed, during the month of February 
 1747, the manses of Messrs Morison of Kinnel, Ferguson of Farn- 
 well, Knox of Kinnaird, and Dow of Fettercairn. The last men- 
 tioned gentleman defended himself, and took Davidson prisoner, 
 but the gang rescued him. He was at length apprehended by two of 
 Mr Brown's parishioners at Cortachy, after he had committed two 
 robberies there. Mr Brown's demission of his charge may have 
 preceded Davidson's apprehension, but its acceptance by the Pres- 
 bytery, in June 1748, was certainly subsequent to that event. 
 
148 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1757. 
 
 therefore, the exception can have no other sensible meaning 
 but this, that after five years, a scandal or offence cannot be 
 again re^^[ved, in order to a process, unless the conduct of 
 the person against whom it is charged has, by a similarity 
 of offence or unbecoming behaviour, justly given rise for 
 the re\dving the memory of the former real or supposed 
 guilt. 
 
 Parties having been fully heard, the cause was taken up 
 on the footing of the appeal ; and after reasoning, the As- 
 sembly, mthout a vote, reversed the sentence of the Synod, 
 and found, that the process ought, in the present circum- 
 stances, to proceed no further ; and therefore assoilzied Mr 
 Brown. 
 
 The General Assembly haA-ing heard the report of the 
 trustees for managing the fand for a provision to ministers' 
 widows, &c., concerning the manner of keeping the separate 
 registers^ do appoint, that, for the future, the separate re- 
 gisters shall be divided into as many parts as the respective 
 Presbyteries consist of parishes ; and that the facts respect- 
 ing the ministers and vacancies of every parish, shall be 
 stated under its own proper head or division, marked with 
 the name of the parish : And farther, as an abstract is to 
 be prepared of the two acts relative to the fund, and of what 
 other papers are necessary for the direction of Presbyteries 
 and Universities respecting the said fund, the General As- 
 sembly appoint, that, as soon as this abstract shall be trans- 
 mitted, every Presbytery and University shall cause it to be 
 bound up with a quire of clean paper, in order that, what- 
 ever after-regulations shall be found necessary with respect 
 to the fund, these may be copied over into the said book ; 
 by which means the whole of the rules concerning the fund 
 will be always at hand. 
 
 The overture anent ministers making agreements tvith 
 their heritors concerning the extent of their stipends, and 
 that anent the more speedily supplying of vacancies, trans- 
 mitted to such Presbyteries as have not sent up their opi- 
 nions thereon. 
 
 An appeal o^ Mr jEneas Sage, minister at Lochcarron, 
 from a judgment of the Synod of Glenelg, delaying to give 
 judgment in a complaint given in against him to the Pres- 
 bytery of Gairloch by Mr J^neas M'Aulay, minister at Ap- 
 plecross, and referred by the Presbytery to the Synod, re- 
 
1757.] DEPOSITION OP MR GRIER. 149 
 
 mitted back to the said Synod ; and the Commission, at 
 their meeting in November, empowered to take in, cognosce, 
 and finally determine in any reference or appeal that shall 
 be made to them relative thereto. 
 
 A petition for Mr James Richardson, minister at Aber- 
 foyle, craving some allowance for the expense and trouble 
 he is put to in officiating at the barracks of Glendow, re- 
 mitted to the committee for managing the royal bounty. 
 
 A petition for Mr Henry Gordon, minister at Ardersier, 
 setting forth the smallness of his stipend, the great expense 
 and trouble he is exposed to by the building of Fort George 
 within his parish, and craving some addition to his living 
 out of the royal bounty, read, and remitted to the managers 
 of the said bounty. 
 
 The Assembly rose on Monday the 30th. 
 
 On the 31st, the Commission took up the affair of Mr 
 Robert Grier, minister of Durisdeer, accused of fornication 
 and other immoralities. In the forenoon sederunt, the court 
 found the libel relevant ; and in the afternoon went upon 
 the proof. After prayer to God for direction in this weighty 
 affair, the Commission, considering the whole evidence ad- 
 duced for proof of the libel, did unanimously find the libel 
 proven, so far as to infer deposition : " And therefore, the 
 Commission did, and hereby do, in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the sole King and Head of the Church, and by 
 virtue of the power and authority committed by Him to them, 
 actually depose the said Mr Robert Grier from the office of 
 the holy ministry, hereby prohibiting and discharging him to 
 exercise the same, or any part thereof, in all time coming ; 
 and the Commission do hereby declare the said church and 
 parish of Durisdeer vacant from the date hereof." Mr Grier 
 being called upon, the above sentence of deposition was so- 
 lemnly pronounced upon him by the moderator. His pro- 
 curator protested for liberty to complain of the sentence to 
 the next Assembly. 
 
 November Commission. 
 
 The Commission met Nov. 1 6. — Upon an overture from 
 the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, That in regard the 
 N 2 
 
150 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q757. 
 
 late taa; on ivindows bears hard upon many ministers of this 
 Church, the Commission would take this matter into consi- 
 deration, and take such steps as to them should seem most 
 proper, in order to obtain relief; a committee of twenty-six 
 ministers and three ruling elders were named, to take the 
 most prudent measures, and make such applications as may 
 be most proper and expedient, in order, by an explanation 
 of the law, to obtain the relief desired ; provided that no 
 expense in making such application be laid upon the public 
 funds of the Church, without the authority of a subsequent 
 meeting of the Commission, or of the General Assembly.* 
 
 Next day, upon a motion from the same Synod, the Com- 
 mission unanimously agreed, that, in respect of the present 
 situation of affairs in this nation, a day of solemn fasting, 
 humiliation, and prayer, should be observed in all the 
 Churches in Scotland, upon such day as the king shall be 
 pleased to appoint ; and remitted to the moderator to ^mte 
 to the Secretary of State and Lord Cathcart, that they may 
 represent to his Majesty the Commission's humble and ear- 
 nest desire of having the royal authority interposed, for the 
 observance of any day his Majesty shall think fit to name. 
 I^By a royal proclamation, dated December 6, Thui-sday the 
 16th of February 1758, was observed in Scotland, and 
 Friday, the 17th, in England and Ireland, as a fast.] 
 
 The same day, Nov. 17, upon a complaint by the callers 
 
 * The ministers in the county of Clackmannan having been 
 charged, by the surveyor of the windows, with the window-tax for 
 their manses, appealed to the commissioners, alleging, That, by 
 sundry Acts of Parliauient, the benefices provided to them, in place 
 of the teinds, which had formerly belonged to them, are declared 
 to be free from all taxations and impositions whatsoever. The 
 commissioners, on the 14th of January 1757, found, That by the 
 Act Jas. VI., Pari. 13, cap. 162, minister's stipends are declared in 
 all time coniing free from all taxations and impositions whatso- 
 ever ; and that by the Acts Jas. VI., Pari. 3, cap. 48, and Pari. 
 22, Act 3, and Car. I., Pari. 1, Act 8, their legal stipends consist 
 of a manse, a glebe, and 800 merks at least ; and that these statutes 
 are not repealed by any clause in the three Acts 20, 21, and 26, 
 Geo. II., laying the duties on windows; therefore, they sustained 
 the appeals, and found the ministers not liable in the duties. But 
 the case was stated by the commissioners, at the desire of the sur- 
 veyor, and laid before the Lords of Session ; and their Lordships 
 found, July 29, that ministers' manses are not exeemed from the 
 window-tax. 
 
1757.] CASE OF JEDBURGH. 151 
 
 of Mr John Douglas at Kenmore, to be minister of Jed- 
 burgh.^ against the Preshytcrv of Jedburgh, for not executing 
 the sentence of the last Assembly, parties were heard, and 
 a representation from that Presbytery, containing their rea- 
 sons for not executing the sentence, was read, the tenor 
 whereof follows: — " The Commission have ordered the Pres- 
 b}'tery to proceed in the transportation of ]\Ir Douglas, ac- 
 cording to the rules of the Church, when all the rules of the 
 Church forbid it. They must transmit the presentation, 
 and the few subscriptions for the presentee, under the name 
 of a call from the parish ; when the whole parish, excepting 
 five, are openly declaring against him. They cannot make 
 out a process of transportation, without reasons to support 
 it ; when they cannot find one for it, and all the reason in 
 the world against it. When he comes to be admitted, he 
 must make a solemn declaration of his stedfast adherence, 
 not only to the doctrine and worship, but the whole disci- 
 pline of the Church of Scotland, as founded on, and agree- 
 able to, the Word of God; when it is evident he could never 
 come there but by the breach or neglect of some of the most 
 important articles of it : That zeal for the glory of God, 
 love to Jesus Christ, and a desire of sa^ang souls, are his 
 chief motives and inducements, and not worldly designs and 
 interests ; when, to say the thing in the softest terms, no- 
 body will believe him : And that he has had no undue 
 hand, either by himself or others, in procuring his trans- 
 portation ; when all the world sees that it is owing allenarly 
 to his absolute acceptance of, and resolute adherence to, his 
 presentation. He must, after all this, be gravely asked, 
 Whether he closes with this call, and is wiling to take the 
 pastoral charge of that people ? and they must be asked, 
 Whether they receive and submit to him as their minister ? 
 and if they -s^-ill permit, if must be taken for granted they 
 do ; when all present know they do not. But this is not 
 all : This must all be done in the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; solemn addresses must be made for his blessing on 
 his own ordinance, and his blessing on him whom he has 
 thus set over that congregation, and he solemnly admonished 
 to feed the flock of God, over which the Holy Ghost hath 
 made him overseer. What will profane scoiFers say, and 
 what will serious Christians think of such proceedings ? " 
 After reasoning, the Commission, without a vote, concurred 
 with the call to Mr Douglas, and authorised the callers to 
 
152 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1758. 
 
 prosecute the call in the Commission's name, as well as 
 their own, before the Presb}i;ery of Dunkeld, and other ju- 
 dicatures competent. The members from the Presbytery of 
 Jedburgh protested for liberty to complain of this sentence 
 to the ensuing Assembly. 
 
 Assembly 1758. 
 
 The Assembly met on the 25th May. — Lord Catheart 
 was Commissioner. After sermon * by Professor Leechman, 
 the former Moderator, Messrs Thomas Turnbull of Borth- 
 wick, and David Duncan of Stow, were put on the leet for 
 Moderator, when the former was chosen. 
 
 On the 29th, the settlement of Jedburgh was taken into 
 consideration. In pursuance of the sentence of the Com- 
 mission, the Presbytery of Dunkeld, February 7, 1758, 
 transported Mr Douglas from Kenmore to Jedburgh, leaving 
 it to the Presbytery of Jedburgh to admit him minister of 
 Jedburgh with all convenient speed. This sentence was laid 
 before the Presbytery of Jedburgh ; and they were requested, 
 by petition, to proceed to the settlement. But as they had 
 protested for liberty to complain of the Commission s sentence 
 to the then ensuing Assembly, they delayed giving any sen- 
 tence on this petition till after the meeting of the Assembly. 
 Against this delay an appeal was taken to the Synod, who, 
 April 26, on the vote put. Appoint Mr Douglas to be ad- 
 mitted minister of Jedburgh ; or. Refer the whole cause to 
 the next Assembly ? it canied, by the Moderator's casting 
 vote. Refer. The parties in this cause were, the callers of 
 Mr Douglas, the Presbytery of Jedburgh, and the Commis- 
 sion. 
 
 A case for the Crown, patron, and the callers of the pre- 
 sentee, was printed ; in which the judicial proceedings are 
 briefly recited, and objections to the settlement are answered : 
 such as — '" Ohj. 1. The concuiTence of the elders, and of 
 the magistrates and town-council, is necessary to the call. — 
 Ans. The elders disqualified themselves by the unlawful 
 
 * The sermon was published, with the title, ** The Wisdom of 
 God in the Gospel Revelation," — (the text being in 1 Cor. i. 21,) — 
 and will be found in the first volume of his collected sermons, p. 263. 
 
1758.] CASE OP JEDBURGH. 153 
 
 combination into T\liich they entered. But further, they 
 are now no more : they have formally renounced their of- 
 fice, and have departed from the Church.* The conduct of 
 the magistrates is attended with circumstances which only, 
 in this age of liberty, could have occurred, and which scarce- 
 ly, in this age of liberty, can pass unobserved and uncen- 
 sured," — Something to this purpose was let drop likewise in 
 a speech made in the Assembly by the Lord Advocate. — 
 " Ohj. 2. By the standing rules of the Church, no minister 
 is to be put into a charge without the consent of the congre- 
 gation, which, in the present case, has not been obtained. — 
 Ans. By congregation must be understood they of the pa- 
 rish who adhere to the Church of Scotland ; a great majo- 
 rity of this parish have seceded, and the rest make no ob- 
 jection to Mr Douglas, and must therefore be understood to 
 acquiesce in his call. But, 2(%, The consent of the con- 
 gregation is only required when the congregation is mlling 
 that a minister be settled. Now, it cannot be affirmed that 
 this congregation, even supposing all to be members of it 
 who were once so, are ^^dlling that a minister be settled. 
 They had conceived prejudices against Mr Bonar, stronger 
 prejudices against INIr Douglas, and the same prejudices 
 must prevail against every man who Is presented by the 
 king, and called by the heritors. Their prejudices are of 
 two sorts : 1*^, in favour of one teacher; 2c%, against the 
 legal method of presenting ministers. The olDJections are 
 not against Mr Bonar, or Mr Douglas, or any other minister 
 of the Church, but against every one whatever, one darling 
 pastor excepted. On him they had centred their affections ; 
 him they have seduced from that Church in which he might 
 have been so useful, and so distinguished ; in his favour they 
 would even dare to obey the laws of their country, and sub- 
 mit to patronage." 
 
 Several papers were read in the Assembly ; then parties 
 were heard on the question between the Presbytery and the 
 Commission, Whether the Commission had exceeded their 
 powers ? and, after reasoning, a vote was put upon it, and 
 carried Not, by a great majority. So the complaint against 
 the Commission was dismissed. Then, after reasoning, the 
 Assembly agreed, without a vote, that the sentence of the 
 Presbytery of Dunkeld, transporting Mr Douglas from Ken- 
 
 * See the next case. 
 
154 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. ^1758. 
 
 more to Jedburgh, should he carried into execution ; and, 
 after further reasoning on the manner of executing it, the 
 following judgment was given : — " The General Assembly 
 did, without a vote, and hereby do, appoint the Presbytery 
 of Jedburgh to admit Mr Douglas as minister of the town 
 and parish of Jedburgh, with the usual solemnities, bet^vixt 
 and the end of July next, so as to be in condition to report 
 their having done so to the Commission in August, or, fail- 
 ing of a quorum of the Commission in August, to the Com- 
 mission in November next : And the Assembly ordains every 
 member of the Presbytery to be present at the said admis- 
 sion, and such of them as shall be then absent, are hereby 
 declared to be ipso facto sisted before the Commission in 
 August or November, as above, to account to them for their 
 absence ; and the Commission are hereby empowered to 
 judge of the relevancy of their excuse, and in case they find 
 it not relevant, to inflict such censure as they shall think 
 proper : And the General Assembly do further empower 
 the Commission to be named by them, to take in and judge 
 of any complaint, reference, or appeal, that shall be made 
 to them relative to the settlement of Mr Douglas as minister 
 of Jedburgh." 
 
 QMr Douglas was admitted July 28, when all the minis- 
 ters of the Presbytery were present.] 
 
 Out of this disputed settlement of Jedburgh, arose the 
 case of Mr Thomas Boston. He was son of Boston of Et- 
 terick, and had been minister of Oxnam, near Jedburgh. 
 "When the parish of Jedburgh became vacant, in September 
 1755, the elders entered into an association to " stand or 
 fall by one another" in the election of a minister, (see p. 
 83,) and there was a numerous subscription got up by 
 them in favour of Mr Boston. When the Assembly of 1 757 
 gave sentence in support of the presentation of ]\Ir Douglas, 
 the to^vn-council of Jedburgh offered to bear the Presbytery's 
 expense in obtaining a declarator of the/w^ devolutum from 
 the Court of Session, which, however, the Presbytery de- 
 clined. Mr Boston's friends then built a spacious meeting- 
 house, which they called the New Churchy and gave him a 
 call, which he accepted. On Wednesday, the 7th December 
 1757, he gave in to the Presbytery his demission of the 
 charge of Oxnam, (on which occasion " there was such a 
 concourse of people in the church of Jedburgh as broke 
 
1758.] CASE OF BOSTON OF OXNAM. 155 
 
 down most of the pews ; " ) and on Friday, the 9th, he was 
 admitted in the New Church by Mr Roderick Mackenzie,* 
 a dissenting minister from England. The Presbytery, after 
 accepting Mr Boston's demission of Oxnam, referred his case 
 to the Synod of Merse and Tev-iotdale. The Synod foimd, 
 that Mr Boston's conduct deserved severe censure ; but that, 
 in order to give weight to any censure that might be inflicted, 
 the authority of the Assembly should be interposed, and 
 therefore, they appointed the Presbytery to transmit to the 
 Assembly extracts from their records of the demission given 
 in to them by Mr Boston, and of their deliverance on it, and 
 to cause Mr Boston be summoned to appear before the As- 
 sembly, in order to their giving a final judgment in the 
 affair ; which was accordingly done by the Presbytery. 
 
 * He was a probationer of the Scotch Church, and had been set- 
 tled minister of Lochbroom, in opposition to the patron, but the 
 settlement was reversed by the Assembly 1743. — (See the former 
 volume, p. 41, 357.) Mr Boston's call was signed by the town- 
 council, the session, and all the heads of families, except five. On 
 the day of his admission, " the bells were rung, the magistrates 
 and coimcil, in all their formalities, and the people, amoimting to 
 at least 2000, repaired to the New Church, where Mr Mackenzie 
 preached from Rom. x. I, — ' Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer 
 to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.' A Presbytery was 
 constituted ad hunc effectum, and the questions usually put to mi- 
 nisters at their admission were put to Mr Boston on this occasion, 
 with a small variation in one or two of them, arising from the pe- 
 culiarity of this case, which was so supplied as to bind him to hold 
 communion with, and be subject to his brethren in the Lord, if an 
 opportunity shall be afforded him; and he was moreover taken 
 bound against Episcopacy and the supremacy on the one hand, and 
 Sectai-ianism on the other, and to maintain the succession to the 
 crown of these realms in the illustrious house of Hanover. Mr 
 Boston having answered all these questions agreeable to the eccle- 
 siastic constitution of the Church of Scotland, the town-council, 
 the session, and the whole body of the people, were desired to de- 
 clare their adherence to the same principles, and to Mr Boston as 
 their minister, which aU of them did, by the stretching out of their 
 right hands ; and then they joined in humble and fervent prayer for 
 God's blessing on him who was thus set over them as their minister. 
 In fine, the day was religiously observed, in fasting, prayer, and 
 sermons adapted to the occasion, and the whole performed with as 
 much solemnity and decency as hath been known in these parts on 
 like occasions." 
 
 On the Sabbath foUowing, Dec 11, Mr Mackenzie preached in 
 the New Church before noon, to the magistrates, elders and people, 
 on these words, Isaiah xxvi 4, — *' Trust ye in the Lord for ever ; 
 
156 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1758. 
 
 The demission was as follows : — " The demission of me^ 
 
 Mr Thomas Boston^ minister at Oxnam Humhly sheweth^ 
 
 Albeit there are several things in the National Church which 
 have been all along disagreeable to me, yet the present me- 
 thod of settling vacant churches by the mere force of presen- 
 tations, whichhasbeen so longpersisted in, and is almost every 
 year prosecute more vigorously, is so diametrically opposite 
 to all the laws of Jesus Christ about that matter, has such a 
 manifest tendency to fill the Church with naughty members, 
 to mar the edification of the body of Christ, and, in fine, 
 utterly to destroy the dying remains of religion in the nation, 
 that I can no longer sit a member of the present judicatures 
 of this Church, but must leave my place there, that I may 
 take part with the oppressed heritage of God. When I en- 
 tered on my ministry in the National Church, more than 
 twenty years ago, even then with concern I beheld violent 
 settlements authorised by the General Assemblies thereof. 
 But in those days there was a very considerable number of 
 members who opposed such violences, and they w^ere, by 
 their number and influence, a pretty good balance against 
 
 for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Mr Boston 
 preached in the afternoon, on these words, Ephes. vi. 18, 19, — 
 " Praying always, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may 
 open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the Gos- 
 pel ; " and, in the application, said, among other things, that as he 
 had never entertained liis hearers with reflections on any set of men, 
 those who expected such things would be disappointed. 
 
 The audience was so numerous, that many of them sat without, 
 opposite to the windows, which were opened ; and about fifty, who 
 could not hear, went to the Old Church, where Mr Rogers, minis- 
 ter of Hownam, was preaching by ai)pointment of the Presbytery ; 
 whose whole auditory, it is said, did not exceed eighty. 
 
 It was said that sixty persons entered into a bond, bearing to be 
 for love and favour, binding themselves, and their heirs, to pay Mr 
 Boston annually, as long as he lived, £2 each, making in all £120 
 Sterling, The stipend of Oxnam, converting the victual at the 
 usual rate in the sale of lands, including the value of the glebe, and 
 the sum allowed for communion elements, was between iG80and£90. 
 Mr Boston remained unconnected wdth any body of Christians till 
 the year 1761, when the Presbytery of Relief was formed by him, 
 in conjunction with Messrs Gillespie and Collyer. In consequence 
 of the violent settlement of Mr Grant at Nigg, in Ross-shire, (see 
 p. 80,) a meeting-house was there erected, of which the above 
 mentioned Mr Mackenzie became the first minister. It fell into 
 the hands of the Secession. 
 
1758.] CASE OP BOSTON OF OXN AM. 157 
 
 those who favoured them. Hence, when the General As- 
 sembly, or their Commission, had authorised a -violent set- 
 tlement, the next Assembly was readily composed of such 
 members as were inclined to check and control those tyTan- 
 nical measures. But alas ! the times are visibly altered to 
 the worse ! The bulk of those worthy men who opposed 
 the encroachments complained of, are, it is likely, retired to 
 their rest and reward. The evidence hereof is, that, for a 
 course of years past, we find one Assembly after another 
 changing their members, but never changing their tyrannical 
 measures in settling vacant churches. Those who adhere to 
 the ancient principles and practice of the Church of Scot- 
 land in this matter, are now reduced to such a small and 
 inconsiderable handful, that they are quite run doA\Ti by the 
 numerous opponents, and have it not in their power to re- 
 form those crying abuses, nor to do justice to the oppressed, 
 while they continue in the communion of the Church. Upon 
 these, and other considerations, which afterwards may be 
 made manifest, I judge it my duty to give up the place which 
 I hold as a minister of the National Chm-ch, and at the same 
 time to continue in the full exercise of that ministry which 
 I have received of the Lord Jesus, as God in his pro-\4dence 
 shall give me opportunity. Therefore, wit ye me, the said 
 I\Ir Thomas Boston, to have demitted and laid down, likeas 
 I hereby simpliciter demit and lay do^^Ti, my pastoral charge 
 of the parish of Oxnam, and deliver over the said parish into 
 the hands of the Reverend Presbytery of Jedburgh, within 
 whose bounds it lies ; craving that the said Reverend Pres- 
 bytery may, upon this my demission being lodged in their 
 clerk's hands, and read in their presence, find the said pa- 
 rish vacant, and cause the same be declared in due fonn, 
 and proceed to the settlement of a Gospel minister therein 
 with all convenient speed. Upon all which I take instru- 
 ments, and crave extracts. — T. Boston." After the demis- 
 sion was read, Mr Boston read a paper,* which he had pre- 
 pared, to explain and illustrate it. The Presbjtery reasoned 
 
 * In that paper, while he declared his dissent from the present 
 Church judicatures, and at the same time his willingness to hold 
 ministerial and Christian communion with all who faithfully avouch 
 the Gospel system, and aim at a sincere discharge of its duties, he 
 professed his utmost aversion at dividing the congregations of his 
 brethren bearing that worthy character ; and justified this his partial 
 secession, by the almost universal conduct of the present judica- 
 tures, in intruding pastors upon reclaiming congregations, contrary 
 O 
 
158 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. ([1758. 
 
 long with Mr Boston, both in public and private, and were 
 all, except the elder of Jedburgh, of opinion, that he should 
 continue in his charge, enjoined him to continue in it at least 
 till their next meeting, and kept the affair open till then. 
 But he would not comply. Therefore, at their next meet- 
 ing, January 4, the Presbytery found, that " Mr Boston L^d, 
 by his demission, renounced and given up all ministerial com- 
 munion in the present Estabhshed Church of Scotland, and 
 left the parish of Oxnam vacant in their hands ; and that the 
 church of Oxnam was vacant from the date of his demission." 
 An execution of the summons against Mr Boston was 
 given in to the Assembly, and he was called, but did not 
 
 to Scripture, to our ecclesiastic laws, and to sound reason ; at the 
 hazard of alienating the people from our happy constitution in 
 Church and State, and setting up their own corrupt practices, as 
 of equal or greater authority than the old standing unrepealed laud- 
 able laws ; — he further urged the indispensable necessity laid upon 
 ministers, of endeavouring to keep up and perpetuate a faithful 
 Gospel ministry, and of relieving the Lord's oppressed heritage, 
 who, without following such a course, would be left in a great 
 measure destitute of the food of their souls; and anticipated an 
 answer to several objections made without doors to the part he was 
 now acting. One objection was this : As Mr Boston was allowed 
 to testify his dislike of the conduct of our judicatures as freely as 
 he pleased, was connected with a Presbytery whose opposition to 
 the courses complained of was notorious, and was not forced out of 
 the Church by deposition, as some others were ; how came he to 
 demit his charge in the Establishment for one out of it ? To this 
 his answer was, in effect, That the town of Jedburgh (who allege 
 that the right of presentation, when Mr Douglas got it from the 
 crown, wa,s, jure devoluto in the Presbytery,) having offered to bear 
 the Presbytery's expense in obtaining a declarator of the Court of 
 Session, and, if frustrated, to give security to their contentment, 
 for a stipend to a minister whom they choosed, the Presbytery 
 would do nothing in the matter ; — that were he, Mr Boston, to 
 testify in judicatures to his life's end, this could not, as the times 
 go, afford any relief to the oppressed congregation of Jedburgh ; 
 and he submitted, whether he who voluntarily gives up a certain 
 living in the Establishment, for a precarious subsistence out of 
 it, and undertakes the relief of the oppressed, purely for the sake 
 of relieving them ; or he who stirs not to their relief till he is 
 forced to it, and is reduced to the same situation ^A'ith themselves, 
 acts the most worthy part ? The one he compared to a man who, 
 being informed that his neighbour is drowning, runs out of his warm 
 house, in the midst of a storm, and, by throwing him a rope, be- 
 comes his deliverer ; and the other, only to a plank of wood floating 
 on the waters, at which the drowning passenger grasps for preser- 
 vation. 
 
1758.] CASE OF BOSTON OF OXNAM. 159 
 
 appear. Questions were moved concerning some alleged 
 informalities * in the method of proceeding against him ; 
 ])ut, after reasoning, the Assembly came unanimously to the 
 following resolution : — " The General Assembly, in respect 
 of the particular circumstances attending this cause, did agree 
 to take Mr Boston's demission under their consideration, to- 
 gether ^Yith the proceedings of the Presbytery of Jedburgh 
 relating to him, whereby they find, that he has declared him- 
 self to be no minister of this Church, and that he will not 
 hold communion with her judicatures ; and did, therefore, 
 without a Tote, declare, that he is incapable of receiving or 
 accepting a presentation or call to any parish in this Church, 
 without the special allowance of some future General As- 
 sembly ; and the General Assembly do hereby prohibit all 
 the ministers of this Church from employing him to preach 
 or perforai any ministerial offices for them, or from being 
 employed by him, unless some future Assembly shall see 
 cause to take off this prohibition." And Mr Boston being 
 again called, and not appearing, the above sentence was 
 publicly read. 
 
 The affair brought in next was a petition for Mr William 
 Brown, bearing, — That hj virtue of his Majesty's patent, 
 he was admitted, on the 28th of February 1757, regius pro- 
 fessor of di\anity and church history in the University of 
 St Andrews; that being advised, that ministers admitted 
 professors of divinity in any of the universities in Scotland, 
 have always been, and are entitled by the constitution to be 
 admitted members of the church judicatures in whose bounds 
 the universities lie, he applied to the Presbytery of St An- 
 drews to be enrolled a member, agreeable to their own prac- 
 tice in like cases ; and that, on the 1 0th of May current, 
 tlie Presbytery gave judgment, dela}ang the consideration 
 of the affair till their next ordinary meeting, in regard it ap- 
 peared to them to be a matter of great importance, which 
 may be attended yvith consequences that may much affect 
 the interest of religion in that corner. Against this sentence 
 
 The only question which the MS. Record mentions as havinc: 
 been raised was, " How far it was proper for the Synod to have 
 taken up this affair, and to have brought it immediately hefore the 
 Assembly? " instead of proceeding, by way of libel, to the sentence 
 of deposition, as enjoined by the act of 1739, respecting future se- 
 ceders from the Church.— See the former volume, pp. 9, 10. 
 
160 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1758. 
 
 Professor Bro^vn appealed to the Assembly. Parties ap- 
 peared, and were heard ; Professor BroA\Ti himself, and Mr 
 Joseph Williamson, as his counsel ; and for the Presbytery, 
 Professor Shaw, and Mr James Gillespie. The Assembly, 
 A^ithout a vote, appointed the Presbytery to receive and en- 
 rol Professor Brown as a member at their first meeting. 
 
 On the 31st, the court took up a cause concerning the 
 settlement of an assistant and successor to Mr James Stew- 
 art, minister of Kilmory^ in Arran, in the Presbytery of 
 KintjTC. In February last, three ministers and their elders, 
 vv'ho then made a majority of the Presbytery, sustained a 
 presentation to this charge in favour of Mr. James Stewart 
 of Kilwhinlick, late minister in Bute.* From this sentence 
 Messrs John Macalpin and Archibald Macneil appealed to 
 the Synod of Argyle. Mr Stewart, the inciunbent, was not 
 present at this meeting of Presbytery, but as soon as he was 
 apprised of the sentence, he appealed to the Assembly. On 
 the 23d of March, the Presbytery di^dded ; the aforemen- 
 tioned Messrs ^lacalpin and Macneil, and Mr Gershom 
 Stewart, who was moderator, and is son of Mr Stewart, the 
 incumbent, on one side; and Messrs John Hamilton at 
 Skipness, Charles Stewart at Campbelton, and Robert Thom- 
 son at Killean, on the other side. Not^v^thstanding the 
 appeals, the three ministers last mentioned admitted Kil- 
 wliinlick in the church-yard, April 26, the other side having 
 taken possession of the church. The Assembly unanimously 
 declared the settlement to be void ; and found, that the three 
 ministers who had separated from the Presbytery, and ad- 
 mitted Mr Stewart, had acted so irregularly as to deserv^e 
 high censure ; and in regard Mr Hamilton at Skipness pre- 
 sided at that irregular meeting, suspended him from the 
 exercise of his ministry for three months from May 31, the 
 date of the sentence — empowering, however, the Synod of 
 Argyle, at their first meeting, to take ofi* the suspension for 
 
 * He had been minister of Kingartb, and his memory is still pre- 
 served in the traditions of Bute under the name of Master Shemus, 
 (James.) He forfeited his living by the following extraordinary 
 act. He had gone to give a woman, one of the tenants or cottars 
 on his estate of Kilwhinlick, (now called Stewarthall,) notice to 
 quit possession, and being a man of violent passions, he threatened 
 to set the house on fire unless she removed. She immediately 
 brought him a piece of burning peat, and told him he had better do 
 it then. He without hesitation set fire to the thatch, and the house 
 was buint to the ground. 
 
1758.] CASE OF THE EDINBURGH CHURCHES. 161 
 
 the remainder of the time, if they see cause ; and appointed 
 the Synod of Argyle to call Messrs Robert Thomson at Kil- 
 lean, and Charles Stewart at Campbelton, before them, at 
 their first meeting, and in the Assembly's name to rebuke 
 them for their irregular conduct, and to send up an extract 
 of their minute, bearing their having done so, to the next 
 General Assembly ; and appointed the sentence to be inti- 
 mated from all the pulpits within the bounds of the Pres- 
 bytery of KintjTC, betw-ixt and the last day of July next. 
 
 On the 1 st of June, there came on a cause concerning the 
 settlement of the New ■"' and College Churches of Edin- 
 burgh. After the death of jNIr Logan, in 1755, Mr Blair 
 was translated from Lady Tester's to the College Church, 
 but was to continue to serve in Lady Yester's Church till 
 that parish should be pro\4ded in a minister. By a subse- 
 quent appointment of the Presbyter}^ March 2, 1757, before 
 5lr Blair's translation to the College Church had taken place, 
 he was translated to the New Church, but was still to serve 
 in Lady Yester's Church till the parish should be provided. 
 On the 26th of April 1758, f the Presbytery settled the other 
 vacancies in Edinburgh thus : — Mr Macqueen in the Old 
 Church, M^ith Mr Cumming ; Messrs Dick and Lundie in 
 the College Church ; Mr Robertson in Lady Yester's, and 
 Mr Erskine to succeed Mr Dick in the Xew Greyfriars. 
 But the Synod, on the 17th of May, appointed i\Ir Blair to 
 be settled in the College Church, and Mr Lundie in the 
 
 * Now called the High Church, 
 f So far back as the 15th August 1756, Messrs Daniel Macqueen 
 of Stirling, John Erskine of Culross, Henry Lundie of Abercorn, 
 and William Robertson of Gladsmuir, had been elected to supply 
 the vacant charges in Edinburgh, occasioned by the death of Messrs 
 George Logan, Robert Kinloch, James Bannatyne, and James Nis- 
 bet.— (See the former vol., pp. 297, 298, 316.) But on the 30th 
 March 1757, the Presbytery resolved not to proceed towards 
 their settlement till Whitsunday 1758, in regard it was necessary 
 to repair several of the churches, and particularly to take off the 
 roofs of the Old find New Greyfriars' Churches, which would not 
 only occasion an expense that the town-revenue could not bear, but 
 superseded the necessity of bringing in any new ministers, as the 
 ministers whose churches were repairing would, with very small 
 assistance from the Presbytery, be sufficient for supplying the va- 
 cancies. A motion was made in the Synod to review this deed of 
 the Presbytery ; but the four gentlemen chosen to supply the va- 
 cancies having declared, personally or by their friends, their acqui- 
 escence in what the Presbytery had done, the motion was dropt, 
 
 o 2 
 
162 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [^1758. 
 
 New. This judgment, which was carried by a majority of 
 only two votes, was appealed from to the Assembly. The 
 parties before the Assembly were, the to^^Ti-council of Edin- 
 bm-gh, and Dr Hugh Blair, appellants ; and the Synod of 
 Lothian and Tweeddale, respondents. On a motion made 
 to that effect, a committee was appointed to take this affair 
 into consideration, in order to accommodate differences. 
 This committee having met, a proposal was made by one of 
 their number, That the New Church should be made an 
 auditory, in which all the ministers of Edinburgh should 
 preach by turns ; and that the Lady Tester's and New Grey- 
 friars, the only uncollegiated churches in the city, shoidd be 
 collegiated. This proposal was transmitted to the town- 
 council, the ministers of the city, and other parties interested. 
 The town-coimcil was forthwith assembled, and passed an 
 act, bearing, That they were unanimously of opinion, that 
 the proposal was attended Avith many difficulties, and might 
 prove highly prejudicial to the interest of the city. An ex- 
 tract of this act was laid before the Assembly Committee, 
 as was likeAvise another paper of the foUoAving tenor : — 
 '• We, the ministers of Edinburgh subscribing, having con- 
 sidered the remit of the Committee of Assembly, are of 
 opinion, that the turning of the New Chm'ch into an audi- 
 tory, and coUegiating the other churches, might be attended 
 with very good consequences ; and do agree, that the same 
 shall be immediately caiTied into execution, provided Mr 
 Dick and Mr Limdie be appointed ministers in the New 
 Greyfi-iars' Church, Mr Walker and Mr Erskine in the Col- 
 lege Church, Mr Blair and Mr Robertson in the Lady 
 Tester's Church ; * without which destination we cannot 
 consent to an auditory at present, because we apprehend it 
 will not answer the good intended by the committee. And 
 we are further of opinion, that the scheme of an auditory 
 cannot at present take place with advantage, unless the other 
 parties interested give their consent. And Mr Walker, the 
 present minister of the New Chm-ch, signs this paper mth 
 his brethren, in confidence that they are the proper judges 
 who these parties are. (Signed) Johii Gleiiy Patrick 
 Cumingy George Wishari, Robert Wallace^ Ja. Steven- 
 
 * The object of this provision evidently was, to place together 
 as colleagues, men of kindred sentiments in religion and Church 
 policy. 
 
1758.] MR NAIRN REPONED. 163 
 
 .voM, Ale.v. Webster^ Jo, Jardine, Hugh Blair, Robert 
 Dick, Geo. Kay, R. Walker." The committee reported 
 both papers to the Assembly next day. The project of 
 making the New Church an auditory coidd not take effect, 
 because parties would not consent ; the Assembly therefore 
 went upon the merits of the cause. After long reasoning, 
 the question was put. Reverse the sentence of the Synod, or 
 Not ? and carried Reverse^ 64 against 54. So that Dr Blair 
 is to be minister of the New Church, and Mr Lundie of the 
 College Church.* 
 
 On this day also, the Assembly disjoined Moneidie parish 
 from the Presbytery of Dunkeld, and annexed it to that of 
 Perth. 
 
 A petition for Mr Thomas Nairn, sometime minister at 
 Abbotshall, but who, on account of his secession from the 
 Church, was deposed by the Assembly 1 740, was read, (June 
 5,) bearing, That the petitioner was admitted to all Church 
 privileges by an act of the Presbytery of Kirkaldy, dated 
 May 2, 1751 ; and containing an acknowledgment of his 
 error in seceding from this Church, his promise and engage- 
 ment (by the strength of God) to walk orderly for the fu- 
 ture, and subject himself to the judicatures of this Church ; 
 and his earnest desire that the Assembly would take off the 
 sentence of deposition under which he had so long groaned, 
 and restore him to the exercise of his ofl&ce and duty. Mr 
 Nairn having been heard on the subject-matter of his peti- 
 tion, the Assembly, without a vote, agreed to grant the de- 
 sire of it, and accordingly took off the sentence of deposition 
 pronounced against him, and reponed him to the office of 
 the holy ministry in this Church ; which, in the Assembly's 
 name, was intimated to him by the moderator from the chair, 
 wdth suitable exhortations. In return, Mr Nairn made the 
 following speech : — " Moderator, I rejoice, bless God, and 
 thank the Venerable Assembly, that I am now eased of a 
 heavy burden, and heartily welcome the exhortation that 
 has been tendered to me from the chair ; and considering 
 the goodness of God, and the lenity and kindness that has 
 
 Mr Dick had taken an appeal against being placed in the Col- 
 lege Church, but he fell from it. The four new ministers, viz., 
 Messrs Macquesn, Erskine, Lundie, and Robertson, were settled 
 according to the Presbytery's sentence thus affirmed, on the 15th 
 June following. 
 
164 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1758. 
 
 been showed me from first to last, I cannot but lament that 
 I not only separated from all communion with the said ju- 
 dicatures, but also associated mtli others in a distinct and 
 opposite body, gathering a church out of a church or churches, 
 which, in the opinion of the best casuists, is schism by way 
 of eminence, which, though I formerly made light of, I am 
 now convinced is a grievous sin, as being contrary to cha- 
 rity, my own edification, the honour of Christ, and what 
 leads in even to heresy, and every evil work ; and therefore 
 I sincerely purpose, and shall endeavour, in the strength of 
 the Lord God, to walk orderly in time coming, in opposition 
 to all schism, division, and defection wdiatsoever ; and I 
 hope all that I have offended will endeavour the duty of 
 Ijrotherly forgiveness," 
 
 There was transmitted to the General Assembly, from 
 the Committee for Overtures, a representation by the So- 
 ciety in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge^ 
 setting forth, " That by divers laws and acts of Parliament, 
 particularly the 17th act of the Parliament 1646, and 26th 
 act of the Parliament 1696, it is statute and ordained, that 
 there be a school settled, and a schoolmaster appointed in 
 every parish ; and for that effect, that a commodious house 
 be provided for a school, and a salary modified for the 
 schoolmaster, not under 100 merks, nor above 200 merks, 
 to be paid by the heritors and liferenters, according to their 
 valuations, and to be laid on and uplifted in manner men- 
 tioned in the foresaid acts : And particularly by the said 
 acts it is provided. That if the heritors of the parish shall 
 not convene and agree amongst themselves anent the pre- 
 mises, that the commissioners of supply, or any five of 
 them, upon application from the Presbytery, shall have 
 power to settle a school, and modify a salary to the school- 
 master, as aforesaid. That, notwithstanding of the above 
 quoted, and other acts of Parliament, as well as several acts 
 of the Privy Coimcil of Scotland, to the same purpose, the 
 Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, 
 are sorry to find, that in no less than 175 parishes, within 
 the bounds of 39 Presbyteries, where the society's schools 
 are erected, parochial scJiools are not yet erected, and of 
 these parishes the society have given in a list, founded on 
 the information of the Presbyteries in which the parishes 
 lie. The society are extremely sensil^le, that it would be 
 improper for them to point out to the Assembly the fatal 
 
1758.] STATE OF PARISH SCHOOLS. 165 
 
 consequences of this neglect ; these must occur to every 
 person who considers of how much consequence it is to 
 train up the youth of this, or of any country, in learning 
 and Christian knowledge. The society are also unwilling 
 to suggest to the Assembly, to what causes, at least in some 
 places, this neglect may be o^ving. They are sorry to say, 
 that those for whose benefit this salutary regulation was 
 principally designed, are not always so ready and willing 
 as they ought to be, to caiTy it into execution, although the 
 burden it lays upon them is so extremely small, as to bear 
 no proportion to the benefit derived from it. The society 
 have done every thing in their power to have this neglect 
 remedied ; so far as their influence has reached, they have 
 excited all concerned to comply Avith so reasonable a de- 
 mand ; they have done more, they have threatened to with- 
 draw their charity schools from those parishes who neglect 
 or refuse to provide parochial ones ; they have passed an 
 act to that purpose, and have notified the same to every 
 Presbytery where their schools lie. It was never surely 
 the intention of the donors, nor of the Society for Propa- 
 gating Christian Knowledge, to substitute their charity 
 schools in place of parochial schools, ivhich are by law ap- 
 pointed to be established through the whole country. It 
 Avill easily occur to the Assembly, that there is work enough 
 for both. As it is but too certain, that in many places the 
 heritors are backward in raising and establishing parochial 
 schools ; and as by the acts ah-eady quoted in every case 
 when that happens, the remedy is by an application from 
 the Presbytery to the commissioners of supply, the Society 
 in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge thought 
 it their duty to apply to the Assembly, that, by their autho- 
 rity, it may be recommended to every Presbytery through 
 Scotland to inquire, whether or not a parochial school is 
 established in every parish Avithin their bounds ; and in 
 every instance where that shall not be found to be the case, 
 that an immediate application be made by the Presbytery 
 to the commissioners of supply, to have a parochial school 
 forthwith established in that parish : And as they conceive 
 this afi*air to be of the last consequence to the interests of 
 learning, rehgion, and virtue, and to the peace and pros- 
 perity of the country, the society beg leave further to sug- 
 gest, that the result of the above inquiry and requisition be 
 forthAA-ith notified to the procurator and agent for the 
 Church, that under their direction a process may, in name 
 
166 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1758. 
 
 of the particular Presbytery, and of the procurator, be, in 
 case of necessity, immediately commenced, for having a 
 school erected in that parish, and that the expense of these 
 processes, which cannot be considerable, as the law is clear, 
 and as one summons mil do for all the parishes within the 
 same Presbytery, may be defrayed out of the Church's 
 funds." The General Assembly having heard the said re- 
 presentation read, with the opinion of the committee for 
 overtures thereupon, do hereby appoint the several Presby- 
 teries of this Church to inquire whether or not a pa7'ochial 
 school is established in every parish in their bounds^ and, 
 where such schools are wanting, the Presbyteries concerned 
 are hereby appointed to make application to the commis- 
 sioners of supply for having parochial schools, with legal 
 salaries, erected in every parish, as the law directs. And 
 the General Assemhly appoint the j^t'ocurator and agent 
 for the Churchf at the public charge^ to commence and 
 carry on all processes necessary for having the laws re- 
 specting jmrochial schools put in execution. 
 
 The General Assembly, in respect few Presbyteries have 
 sent up answers to the overtures transmitted by last As- 
 sembly, agreed again to transmit the said overtures to such 
 Presb\^eries as have neglected to send their opinions there- 
 on, to the end they may send up the same to the next Ge- 
 neral Assembly. 
 
 The overtures are : — 
 
 1st, Overture anent ministers making agreements -with 
 their heritors concerning the extent of their stipends. 
 
 2d, Overture anent the more speedily supplying of vacan- 
 cies. 
 
 3d, Act and overture anent simoniacal practices. 
 The report of the committee for re\4sing commissions 
 brought in, representing that the commission from the Pres- 
 bytery of Kintyre, bears, that that Presbytery, on the 3d of 
 March, elected Mr John Hamilton, minister at Saddil, as 
 one of their commissioners to this Assembly, but at an after- 
 meeting, elected Mr Gershom Stewart, minister at Kilbride, 
 in regard Mr Hamilton had, since his election, laid himself 
 open to censure. The opinion of the committee for over- 
 tures on the above report,'"' that the said commission lie upon 
 the table until a cause that comes fi'om that Presbytery to 
 the Assembly be judged in, appro ven; and agreed that 
 
 * See p. 160. 
 
17.58.] QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS. 167 
 
 neither Mr Stewart nor Mr Hamilton stand on the roll till 
 that cause be determined. 
 
 The remark made on the commission from the Presby- 
 tery of Kintyre, as mentioned in the minutes of last meet- 
 ing, concerning the election of Mr John Hamilton and Mr 
 Gershom Stewart considered. Mr Hamilton found to be 
 the member duly elected ; and that it was not competent 
 for the Presbytery, at an after-meeting, to alter that elec- 
 tion ; but, in respect of his suspension, that he is deprived 
 of his privilege as a member. 
 
 The commencement of the six months allowed to the 
 patron for presenting a qualified person to be minister of 
 the parish of Oxnam^ declared to be from the 14th day of 
 May current. 
 
 A sentence of the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, authoris- 
 ing the erecting of a second and separate session in the 
 town of Paisley^ reversed ; and the erecting of a new or 
 separate session for the High Church of Paisley, till that 
 part of the town shall be legally disjoined, and formed into 
 a separate parish, prohibited. 
 
 TJie report of a committee named by the Commission in 
 November last, to take proper measui-es for ha^^ng the mi- 
 nisters of this Church reheved of the tax upon window lights^ 
 brought in and read, bearing their having made application, 
 for the purpose above mentioned, to persons of power and 
 interest, both here, by waiting on them, and at London, by 
 letters, and put into their hands, or transmitted to them, a 
 memorial upon that subject ; but though they have reason 
 to believe that these applications have met with a very fa- 
 vourable reception, what the issue may be, cannot as yet be 
 determined. This affair remitted to a committee, who are 
 authorised to take the most prudent measures, and make 
 such applications, as may be most proper and expedient for 
 obtaining an explanation of the law upon this subject, in 
 order to the relief of the ministers from the said tax, pro- 
 vided that no expense in making such application be laid 
 upon the public funds of the Church, without the authority 
 of the Commission. 
 
 The report of the committee appointed by the last Gene- 
 ral Assembly, for considering the law^s respecting the elec- 
 tion and qualijications oj* members of Assembli/, and fixing 
 the forms of commissions, and attestations thereof, given 
 in, and a committee named to receive what has been pre- 
 pared by the committee of last Assembly, hear and consider 
 
168 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. p758. 
 
 what they have further to lay before them on this subject, 
 ripen the whole affair, and report to the Commission. 
 
 An excuse for the Procurato7\ why he could not attend 
 this Assembly, as being necessarily detained by business at 
 London, offered and sustained, and the Commission em- 
 powered to receive and pass his accounts. 
 
 A complaint for Mr jEneas Sage^ minister at Lochcar- 
 ron^ against the committee for bills, for not transmitting an 
 appeal taken by him from a judgment of the Sjmod of 
 Glenelg, pronounced in a cause depending before them, 
 betwixt the complainer and Mr ^neas Macaulay^ minis- 
 ter at Applecross^ relating to a sermon preached by Mr 
 Macaulay, against which the complainer had exceptions, 
 refeiTed to the Commission at their meeting in November 
 next, and the clerk to the Synod of Glenelg strictly enjoin- 
 ed, betwixt and that time, to transmit all the proper ex- 
 tracts relative to that process. 
 
 The report of the committee for overtures^ respecting the 
 overtures transmitted by the Assembly 1756, and preceding 
 Assemblies, classed by the clerks by appointment of last 
 Assembly, brought in and approven, and all these overtures 
 superseded, excepting the one which relates to Presbyteries 
 neglecting to send up their opinion concerning ovei;tures 
 transmitted to them, which is retransmitted. 
 
 A letter from the Prince of Saarbruck, recommending 
 an application by the refonned congregation at Saarbruck, 
 for a collection to be made in this Church for the relief of 
 the said congregation, to enable them to pay the debt they 
 had contracted for building a church, with the opinion of 
 the committee for overtures thereon, read and ordered to lie 
 on the table till next Assembly, and the moderator appointed 
 to write a return to the said letter from the Prince of Saar- 
 bruck. 
 
 A sentence of the Presbytery of Dunse, appointing a day 
 for the moderation of a call to Mr WilHam Hume, minister 
 at Polwarth, his Majesty's presentee, to be minister of i^o^o, 
 affirmed, and the Presbytery appointed to proceed to the 
 transportation of the said Mr William Hume from the pa- 
 rish of Polwarth, and his settlement as minister of the parish 
 of FogOc 
 
 A presentation and call in favour of Mr Da^dd Mac- 
 Lellan, probationer, to be minister of the parish of Beith^ 
 sustained, and the Presbytery of Irvine appointed to proceed 
 to his trials and settlement as minister of that parish. 
 
17.38.] MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 169 
 
 An appeal by Dorothea Lady Dowager of Forbes, from 
 a judgment of the Synod of Aberdeen, dismissing an appeal 
 taken by her, from a sentence of the Presbytery of Alford, 
 admitting Mr James Macwilliam as minister of the parish 
 of Forbes^ heard ; the sentence of last Assembly, appointing 
 the said Presbytery to proceed to Mr Macwilliam's settle- 
 ment, as minister of that parish, read, and the said settlement 
 affirmed. 
 
 The report of the committee for revising the proceedings 
 of the committee named by last Assembly, for managing the 
 Royal Bounty^ bearing, as their opinion, that Mr Blair, mi- 
 nister at Kingussie, sliould be struck off the scheme ; and a 
 proposal for applying part of the royal bounty for educating 
 of students, having the Irish language, in the Synod of Glen- 
 elg, brought in and read. What concerns Mr William Blair 
 remitted to the committee to be named by this Assembly for 
 managing the Royal Bounty ; and the said proposal remitted 
 also to the foresaid committee, and they enjoined to take 
 care not to employ any part of the Royal Bounty, otherwise 
 than in terms of the royal grant. 
 
 The Commission empowered, in the event of a question 
 presently depending in the Comi; of Session, anent the pa- 
 tronage of Hutton being determined, to take in, cognosce, 
 and finally determine in any reference or appeal that shall 
 regularly be brought before them, relative to that settle- 
 ment. 
 
 Protestation admitted, at the instance of the Presbytery 
 of Abertarff, against his Grace the Duke of Gordon, and 
 his tutors, and Mr Alexander JMurray, preacher of the Gos- 
 pel, for not insisting in an appeal taken by them, from a 
 sentence of the said Presbytery, rejecting a presentation by 
 his Grace the Duke of Gordon in favour of the said IMr 
 Murray, to be minister of the parish of Laggan. 
 
 The Assembly rose June 5th. 
 
 The Commission met on Tuesday, June 6, when they 
 took under consideration an appeal taken by the elders and 
 communicants in the bounds of the Presbytery of Dornoch, 
 from a sentence of the Synod of Sutherland and Caithness, 
 which discharged fellowship-meetings of the ministers and 
 people, that had been usually held in that comer on the 
 Fridays before the celebration of the Lord's Supper. After 
 hearing parties, and reasoning, the Commission agreed, with- 
 
 p 
 
170 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1758. 
 
 out a vote, to set aside the acts of Synod which prohibited 
 those meetings ; to allow every minister to attend them or 
 not, as he shall see cause ; and to recommend to all of them 
 to take such measm-es as may prevent any inconveniencies, 
 and to follow such methods as may best promote the great 
 ends of peace and edification. 
 
 November Commission. 
 
 The Commission, " highly sensible of the many causes 
 we in this nation have at this time for solemn thanksgi^dng 
 and fervent prayer to Almighty God, recommended to the 
 several Presbyteries, to set apart such a day for those reli- 
 gious acts as they should respectively judge most conve- 
 nient." * 
 
 * Accordingly, Thursday, Dec. 28, was observed in Edinburgh, 
 in pursuance of an act of Presbytery, dated Dec. 20 ; the preamble 
 of which recites the grounds of thanksgiving and prayer thus : — 
 
 " It is but lately that a threatened famine gave us the justest 
 alarm ; and the melancholy effects of scarcity were felt by many, 
 and known to all. But, in our extremity, the Lord prevented us 
 with his mercies. By his blessing, our land .has yielded increase ; 
 he has opened his liberal hand ; he has relieved the poor, and made 
 the widow and the orphan sing for joy. 
 
 " For some years past, we have been engaged in a just and ne- 
 cessary war wth France. That mighty and fraudulent power had 
 prevailed in several attempts against us ; but, amidst our anxieties 
 and fears, a gracious Providence interposed, and was pleased lately 
 to crown his Majesty's arms mth remarkable success at Louisburg, 
 St John, Fort Frontenac, Senegal, and Cherburg, besides many 
 advantages obtained at sea. 
 
 " And, on this occasion, we cannot fail to reflect on the state of 
 affairs in Germany. There our most illustrious ally, the King of 
 Prussia, and in him the Reformed religion, and the liberties of Eu- 
 rope, have been attacked by a most unnatural combination of the 
 greatest powers on the continent. But the Lord has been his 
 helper. He has honoured him with many signal victories ; and has 
 made his enemies, even in their greatest pride of heart, to turn back 
 as ashamed. 
 
 " Nor can we forbear to remind all around us of the peculiar 
 goodness of God to these lands ; in that, amidst the tumults and 
 devastations of war, severely felt by our friends in America, Ger- 
 many, and other places abroad, we have enjoyed the precious 
 blessings of liberty and peace. 
 
 " But the danger is not yet over. By several checks and dis- 
 
1759.] CASE OF LOGIE. 171 
 
 Assembly 1759. 
 
 The General Assembly met on the 24tli of May. Charles 
 Lord Cathcart was his Majesty's Commissioner ; and Dr 
 George Kay, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, was chosen 
 Moderator. 
 
 The only settlement before them Avas that of Logie^ in 
 the Presbytery of Dumblane. INIr Patrick Duchall, the last 
 incumbent, died on the 5th of May 1758. Both the Earl 
 of Dunmore, and Mr John Erskine of Carnock, advocate, 
 pretended to be patrons of the parish. A presentation from 
 each, in favour of Mr James Frame^ preacher at Alloa, with 
 Mr Frame's letters of acceptance, was given in to the Pres- 
 bytery, Sept. 19. That from the Earl, signed by George 
 Ross, Esq., his acting trustee, was dated Aug. 3, and that 
 from Mr Erskine was dated Sept. 15. One elder, for him- 
 self and his brethren, protested against both presentations. 
 Mr Frame having afterwards got an offer of a presentation 
 to another parish, where he expected to be more serviceable 
 to religion, and to enjoy more peace and comfort, a renun- 
 ciation of both his presentations to Logic was given in to the 
 Presbytery, Dec. 26. Next Presbytery, Feb. 13, 1759, a 
 petition was presented, signed by several heritors, and all 
 the elders, craving a moderation of a call to Mr William 
 Cruden* minister of Logie and Pert^ in Angus, the right 
 having devolved on the Presbytery, as was alleged, by the 
 lapse of more than nine months from the death of Mr 
 Duchall. But the Presbytery being told, that there was 
 good reason to believe Lord Dunmore would present another 
 person so soon as he heard of Mr Frame's renunciation, de- 
 layed giving any dehverance on the petition till next meet- 
 ing. From this resolution three ministers dissented. Next 
 Presbytery, March 27, two presentations were given in ; 
 one by Captain Robert Haldane of Plean, (to whom Mr 
 Erskine had disponed his right,) in favour of the aforemen- 
 tioned Mr Cruden, dated Feb. 10, accepted Feb. 27, and 
 
 appointments, Providence forbids us to boast ; and calls us to apply 
 ourselves to him, who is the Lord of hosts, great in might, and 
 strong in battle. 
 
 " On all these accounts," &c. 
 
 * Mr Cruden resigned his living some years after, and became 
 minister of a Relief Chapel in Glasgow. 
 
172 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1759. 
 
 intimated to the moderator of the Presbytery, March 10 ; 
 and the other, by Mr Ross, for the Earl of Dunmore, in fa- 
 vour of Mr James Wright^ probationer, dated March 15. 
 The Presbytery referred the affair to the Synod of Perth and 
 StirHng, who, April 19, found, without a vote, that the time 
 allowed by law to patrons to present to vacant parishes was 
 expired before either of the presentations was offered to the 
 Presbytery, and that the power of settling the parish was 
 fallen into the hands of the Presbytery, jure devoluto. — 
 Against this sentence Lord Dunmore appealed to the As- 
 sembly. For his Lordship (for whom Messrs Joseph Wil- 
 liamson and John Maclaurin were counsel,) it was pleaded, 
 That by the act 10 Anne^ the patron's right devolves on the 
 Presbytery, only in case he neglect to present a qualified 
 person for six months after the vacancy happens ; that the 
 act 5 Geo. L, upon a narrative, " That great obstructions 
 had been made to the planting of vacant churches," further 
 provides, " That if any patron shall present any person to 
 a vacant church who shall not be qualified, &c,, or who shall 
 not accept, &c., within the said time, such presentation 
 shall not be accounted any interruption of the course of 
 time allowed to the patron for presenting, but the Jus devo- 
 lutum shall take place as if no such presentation had been 
 offered ;" that from these statutes it is clear, that a presen- 
 tation to a qualified person, and his acceptance, interrupts 
 the com*se of time allowed for presenting ; and that there- 
 fore, as it is the effect of every interruption to make the 
 course of prescription begin anew, a patron has six months 
 to present after the death, renunciation, or refusal of his 
 presentee by the church, as well as after the death, demis- 
 sion, or translation of a settled minister. It was pleaded on 
 the other side, for whom Mr Da-sdd Rae was coimsel. That 
 patronages are not the objects of favour, though established 
 by law, and therefore the laws relative to them are to be 
 strictly interpreted ; that the act 7 Ja. VL, 1567, provides, 
 " That in case the patron presents ane person quahfied to 
 his understanding, and, failing of ane, another, within the 
 said six months, and the said superintendant or commis- 
 sioner of the kirk refuses to receive and admit the person 
 presented, it shall be leisome to the patron to appeal," &c., 
 Avhich clearly supposes, that not only the first presentation, 
 but any subsequent ones, should be given within the six 
 months ; that the clause of the act 5 Geo. I., above recited. 
 
1759.] CASE OF LOGIE. 173 
 
 shows, that the six months should not be interrupted in the 
 cases mentioned, but it is not to be from thence positively 
 concluded, that where a presentee accepts, and afterwards 
 renounces, a legal interruption is made, as it is evidently the 
 sense of the Legislature to limit the exercise of patronages 
 witliin the strictest bounds ; that, in the present case, even 
 supposing the time between the lodging of Mr Frame's pre- 
 sentation and his renouncing it, i. e., from Sept. 19 to Dec. 
 20, should be deduced, there ^vould be seven months and 
 fifteen days from Mr Duchall's death, May 5, to ^larch 27, 
 when Mr Wright's presentation w^as offered; that Lord 
 Bankton, in his late Institute, vol. ii., p. 25, expresses him- 
 self thus : — " The i-ule is, that if the patron present one le- 
 gally qualified, who duly accepts the presentation ^vithin the 
 six months, he saves his pri\alege ; and if the person pre- 
 sented shall be refused by the Church judicatures, he has the 
 residue of the six months that remained at the time of his 
 first presentation to present another ;" and that if six months 
 was to be allowed from the time of a presentee's renuncia- 
 tion, a parish might be kept vacant for ever by a patron, 
 y\ii\i the connivance of successive presentees. The argu- 
 ments urged by either party from expediency, it is unneces- 
 sary to mention. There were long pleadings on the affair 
 on the 28th ; and next day, after long reasoning, the ques- 
 tion was put. Affirm, or. Reverse the aforementioned sen- 
 tence of the Synod ? and carried Reverse, 59 to 48. The 
 Assembly, therefore, remitted to the Presbytery to proceed 
 to the settlement of the parish according to the rules of the 
 Church ; and empowered the Commission to determine 
 finally in any appeal that shall be regularly brought before 
 them relative to that settlement. 
 
 On an overture from the Synod of Perth and Stirling, 
 That the Assembly should class the missions and catechists 
 on the roi/al bounty into three divisions, and appoint two 
 ministers for visiting each, who should sign an attestation 
 on the place, how far the missionaries or catechists act up 
 to their instructions, or are proper to fulfil them, a commit- 
 tee was appointed. May 30, to consider that overture, and 
 propose any scheme that would answer in the most effectual 
 manner the ends of the royal bounty, who next day reported, 
 That they saw no necessity at present for appointing such 
 visitors ; but overtured. That so long as his Majesty should 
 p 2 
 
174 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. f 1759. 
 
 be pleased to continue his royal bounty, tlie purpose of it 
 might be more effectually answered, if it were applied partly 
 for making new erections ; and that the Assembly should 
 appoint a committee to prepare a memorial to this purpose 
 to be laid before the next Assembly, and apply to the Com- 
 missioner for his good offices, in order to obtain an alteration 
 in the terms of his Majesty's grant, so far as to extend the 
 application of it to the making new erections of parishes, as 
 well as employing itinerant preachers and catechists, as shall 
 appear to the Assembly most proper for answering the pious 
 end of his Majesty's grant. A committee was accordingly 
 appointed ; and the moderator having applied to the Com- 
 missioner, his Grace was pleased to midertake to use his 
 good offices, for which he received the thanks of the As- 
 sembly. 
 
 Two overtm-es transmitted to Presbyteries by the Assem- 
 bly 1756, and one by the Assembly 1757, were passed into 
 acts. May 30. The first enacts. That no minister shall make 
 any composition with his heritors^ with respect to obtaining 
 a decreet of modification and locality for his stipend, but at 
 the sight, and with the ad^dce and consent of his Presbytery. 
 The second. That Presbyteries shall be asked, by Synods, at 
 the privy censures, Whiat vacancies ai'e in their bounds ? 
 of how long continuance they have respectively been ? and 
 the reasons why they are not supplied ; and the Synod, if 
 they find any Presbytery dilatory after the nght of planting 
 a parish has by law fallen into their hands, shall enjoin them 
 to proceed to the settlement without further delay. And the 
 third. That the act 1753, against simoniacal jjvactices^ and 
 the explanation of that act overtured by the Assembly 1757, 
 be printed together among the acts of this Assembly. On 
 the 1st of June, an overtm*e of an addition to the first of 
 these three acts, was agreed to be transmitted to Presbyteries 
 for their opinion, against next Assembly. The act, with the 
 addition, is as follows : — " That, in all time coming, no 
 minister shall make any composition or agreement ^vith his 
 heritors, or any others, vdih. respect to obtaining a decreet 
 of modification and locality for his stipend, or with respect 
 to his glebe, grass, or any other emoluments to which a mi- 
 nister has or may have right, but at the sight, and ^Adth the 
 advice and consent of the Presbytery of the bounds, under 
 the pain of such censure as the Presbytery of the bounds 
 
1759.] QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS. 175 
 
 shall think proper to inflict ; and that no minister shall enter 
 into any agi-eenient, or accept of any payment of his stipend 
 inconsistent with the decreet of modification and locality, or 
 use and Avont of payment, without an acknowledgment in 
 writing obtained from the heritor or heritors, produced to 
 the Presljytery, and such acknowledgment inserted in the 
 Presbytery records." 
 
 A committee appointed by the Assemblies 1757 and 1758, 
 to consider the laws relating to the election and qualifications 
 of members of Assembly, gave in (May 31,) an 
 
 Overture of an Act and Rules concerning the Election 
 and Qualijications of Members of Assembly. 
 
 The General Assembly, considering that the acts respect- 
 ing the election and qualifications of members of Assembly 
 are very much scattered, having been made on different oc- 
 casions, and therefore are not sufficiently attended to, and 
 that difficulties and disputes have often arisen in the appli- 
 cation of them; do therefore, in place of all former acts 
 concerning the election and qualifications of members, and 
 forms of commissions to them, and attestations thereof, which 
 are hereby declared to be repealed, enact and ordain as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 That the representation of the several Pres1)yteries of this 
 National Church in its General Assemblies, shall hold pro- 
 portion to the number of parishes within each Presbytery, 
 in manner follomng : That is to say. Presbyteries consisting 
 of twelve parishes, or under that number, shall send two 
 ministers and one ruling elder ; Presbyteries of above twelve 
 and not exceeding eighteen, shall send three ministers and 
 one ruling elder ; Presbyteries of above eighteen, and not 
 exceeding twenty-four, shall send four ministers and two 
 ruling elders ; Presbyteries of above twenty-four, and not 
 exceeding thirty, shall send five ministers and two niling 
 elders ; and Presbyteries of above thirty, shall send six mi- 
 nisters and three ruling elders : And it is hereby declared, 
 that collegiated churches, where there are in use to be two 
 or more ministers, are, so far as concerns the design of this 
 act, understood to be so many distinct parishes. 
 
 That it shall not be lawful for any Presbytery, university, 
 or borough, the Presbyteries in the western and northern 
 
176 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1759. 
 
 isles excepted, to choose their commissioners sooner than 
 seventy days preceding the first day of the meeting of the 
 Assembly ; and all Presbyteries, universities, and boroughs, 
 without exception, shall make their election at least forty 
 days before the first day of the meeting of the Assembly, 
 and shall appoint the day of election by an order to be en- 
 tered into their minutes at a lawful meeting, at least ten 
 free days before such election, and shall make their respec- 
 tive elections betwixt the hours of twelve and four after- 
 noon. 
 
 That Presbyteries shall elect no missionary minister, nor 
 any minister who is not a constituent member of the Pres- 
 bytery ; and no elder shall be chosen by any Presbytery but 
 one who either does usually reside, or is an heritor on the 
 cess-roll, or has formerly resided, and officiated as an elder, 
 within their bounds : That universities shall choose such 
 only to be their representatives as are members of that imi- 
 versity by whom they are chosen : That no minister or 
 elder shall be chosen by any borough but one w^ho either at 
 present officiates, or hath formerly officiated, as a minister 
 or elder in that borough, or in the bounds of the Presbytery 
 where the borough lies, or is a residenter or heritor in that 
 borough, or an heritor on the cess-roll in the bounds of that 
 Presbytery. 
 
 That all commissions from Presbyteries, universities, and 
 boroughs, shall bear, that the elders have signed the formula 
 prescribed by the 11th act of Assembly 1694; and instead 
 of a general clause, " That they are every way qualified 
 according to the acts of Assembly," the commission shall 
 contain the particular qualifications of elders as follows : — 
 " That they are mindful of the duties of their office, are 
 circumspect in their walk, religiously observe the Lord's 
 Day, regularly attend on divine ordinances, and duly regard 
 the public and private worship of God." Provided always, 
 that in case the commission does not mention that the elders 
 have subscribed the formula, act 11, Ass. 1694, they shall 
 be allowed to supply this defect, by subscribing it in pre- 
 sence of the Assembly, or of a committee appointed by them, 
 or by instructing to the Assembly that they have already 
 subscribed to it." 
 
 * By act 11, Ass, 1694, a commission of fifty ministers and 
 twenty-five ruling elders were appointed to take under consider- 
 
1759."| QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS. 177 
 
 That all commissions from Presbyteries, after they are 
 written out and extracted, and before they are put mto the 
 hands of the commissioners, shall be read m presence ot 
 the Presbytery, and re>'ised by them ; and it shall be at- 
 tested by the moderator or clerk that this was done. 
 
 That no commissions from royal boroughs to their repre- 
 sentatives in the Assembly shall be sustained, but such as 
 shall be attested by the ministry and kirk-sessions ot the 
 borough, and also by the Presbytery of the bounds ^^^thln 
 which the borouoh lies: And every commission from an 
 university, in order to its being sustained, shall carry along 
 with It an attestation from the Presbytery of the bounds 
 within which the university lies ; which attestations of com- 
 missions from boroughs and universities shall be m the torm 
 after mentioned. But it is hereby provided, that if a kirk- 
 session or presbytery shall refuse their attestation to a com- 
 mission from a borough or university, they shall assign the 
 reasons of their refusal, to be laid before the Assembly, and 
 iudoed of by them ; and if either they assign no reasons, or 
 these be judged insufficient by the Assembly, the commission 
 shall be sustained, as if it had been duly attested. 
 
 Aoreeably to the foregoing rules, the General Assembly 
 do hereby appoint and ordain the following forms of com- 
 missions and attestations * to be punctually observed by 
 
 ation such affairs as the Assembly should commit to them ; and 
 were empowered to receive into ministerial communion such ot the 
 late conform ministers as, having qualified themselves according to 
 law, should apply personally to them, one by one, duly and orderly, 
 and should acknowledge, engage, and subscrioe, upon the end ot the 
 
 Confession of Faith, as follows, viz. :— " I, , do sincerely 
 
 own and declare the above Confession of Faith, approven by former 
 General Assembhes of this Church, and ratified by law m the year 
 1690 to be the confession of my faith, and that I own the doctrine 
 therein contained to be the true doctrine, which I will constantly 
 adhere to ; as likewise, that I own and acknowledge Presbyterian 
 government of this Church, now settled by law, by kirk-sessions, 
 presbyteries, provincial synods, and general assembhes, to be the 
 only government of this Church, and that I will submit thereto, 
 concur therewith, and never endeavour, directly nor mdirectly, the 
 prejudice or subversion thereof; and that 1 shall observe unitor- 
 mity of worship, and of the administration of all public ordinances, 
 within this Church, as the same are at present pertormed and al- 
 lowed.'' . 
 
 * These forms of commissions and attestations have been super- 
 seded by others of more recent date. 
 
3 78 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1759. 
 
 presbyteries, kirk-sessions, universities and boroughs re- 
 spectively, in all time coming ; with certification, that every 
 commission not agi-eeable to the above rules, and attested 
 exactly and in express words according to these forms, shall 
 be rejected, and the persons therein named shall not be ad- 
 mitted members of the Assembly. 
 
 The preceding paper having been read, some members 
 proposed to transmit it to Presbyteries, and others that it 
 should lie on the table till next Assembly. After long rea- 
 soning, the question was agreed to be put. Whether it should 
 lie upon the table till next Assembly, or if the Assembly 
 should consider it now ? and the vote being stated. Proceed 
 or Delay ? it earned Proceed ; and the Assembly agreed to 
 enter upon it next day. 
 
 Next <lay, the Assembly approved of this committee's di- 
 ligence, and thanked them for the care and labour they had 
 taken. In reasoning on the afi*air, members were divided 
 in their opinion, concerning that part of the overture which 
 allows royal boroughs to choose either ministers or ruling 
 elders as their commissioners to the Assembly^'''' whether this 
 clause should be transmitted to Presbyteries with the rest 
 of the overture, or if it should be set aside, or referred to 
 the Commission to be considered by them, or otherwise be 
 reserved as the subject of further deliberation. At last, it 
 was unanimously agreed to transmit the overture in all the 
 other parts of it ; and concerning this part of it, to put the 
 question. Whether to transmit it or Not ? it being under- 
 stood, that if it canied Not, the Assembly would then con- 
 sider what other resolution they should come to concerning 
 it. The question being stated. Transmit or Not ? it earned 
 Transmit, 52 to 50. Accordingly, the whole overture was 
 transmitted to Presbyteries, in order to their sending their 
 opinions of it to next Assembly, whether or not it should 
 be passed into an act. 
 
 A memorial from the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr was 
 
 * This clause excited great jealousy among the laity of the 
 Church. Soon after the rising of the Assembly, a letter appeared 
 in opposition to the proposal, addressed to the Convention of Royal 
 Boroughs, and calling upon them to make an act, discharging bo- 
 roughs to elect ministers as their representatives to the Assembly. 
 The Convention accordingly passed an act to that effect on the 11th 
 July. 
 
1759.] COMPLAINT AGAINST SUNDAY POSTS. 17J) 
 
 presented to the Convention of the Royal Boroughs which 
 met at Edinburgh in the end of April, to consider of the 
 alteration proposed to be made iyi the course of the post ; 
 bearing, inter alia, that the Synod had been informed, that 
 by the alteration proposed, the post would come into and 
 return out of Glasgow, Hamilton, Paisley, and several other 
 trading tow^is in Scotland, on the Lord's Day : That the 
 Synod could not, without the deepest concern, reflect upon 
 the blow which would by such a scheme be given to reli- 
 gion, not only in all those populous places, but also (through 
 the natural contagion of every bad custom,) in other parts 
 of the nation : That in a little time many of our trading 
 people would get into a habit of absenting from public wor- 
 ship, some part, if not the whole, of the day : That if they 
 read their letters before going to church, their minds would 
 be distracted with worldly thoughts, and if after coming 
 home from church, what good impressions could be sup- 
 posed to remain of what they had been about ? and what 
 room for the more private exercise of rehgion in the family 
 and the closet ? and that, besides, many indecencies w^ould 
 ensue, such as hurrying to and fro upon the streets, servants 
 and porters caiTying messages, people standing together in 
 the streets in crowds, or meeting in coffee-houses or taverns, 
 avowedly on business, and in a little time (the infection 
 spreading) the lower people filling the streets and places of 
 public resort, so that all decency, mth respect to the observ- 
 ance of the Lord's Day, would be at an end : * The S}Tiod 
 therefore beseech, in the most earnest manner, every person 
 and society in the nation to endeavour to prevent so perni- 
 cious a design. A copy of this memorial was laid before 
 the committee for overtures; and the members from the 
 Synod were instructed to move, that the affair might be re- 
 presented to the Assembly. The members from the S}Tiods 
 of Perth and Stirling, and Angus and Meams, concurred in 
 the motion for representing this matter, as affecting also the 
 towns of Perth, Stirling, and Dundee. On report of the com- 
 mittee, the Assembly, June 1, appointed a committee to take 
 the memorial into consideration, and to do all in their power 
 
 The religious public of Edinburgh were greatly scandalised this 
 year by the Gazette Extraordinary, containing an account of the 
 battle of Minden, being printed and sold publicly on the streets on 
 Sunday, the 12th August. 
 
180 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1759. 
 
 to prevent any hurt that might arise to the interests of reh- 
 gion should the proposed alteration take place ; this com- 
 mittee to meet in the Assemhly House immediately after the 
 rising of the first diet of the Commission, and to advertise 
 in the Edinburgh newspapers the times and places of their 
 after meetings. 
 
 On the 4th of June, a petition of Mr Christian Lewis 
 Finne^ chaplain to the King of Prussia, and minister of the 
 Reformed Church at Crossen, in Silesia, formerly at Breslau,'^ 
 setting forth the misery and distress the citizens of Custrin, 
 and the inliabitants of the New March of Brandenburg, are 
 reduced to by the hostilities of invading Russians, who burnt 
 their churches, plundered their habitations, and consumed 
 their substance, and pra}4ng for such method of relief as the 
 Assembly's goodness and humanity should suggest, was or- 
 dered to lie upon the table till next Assembly. 
 
 The report of the window-ta.i' committee was read, bear- 
 ing, That they had applied to several noblemen and gentle- 
 men, members of both Houses of Parliament, who declared 
 their readiness to promote any habile method for easing the 
 ministers of that burden, but thought it improper to apply 
 at this time for a Parliamentary relief; and that the com- 
 mittee hoped such measm-es might be thought of as would 
 in the interim have the same happy effect. The Assembly 
 thanked the committee for their care, and renewed the for- 
 mer powers gTanted to them. 
 
 There was transmitted to the General Assembly from 
 their committee for bills, a representation and petition by 
 the Pro\4ncial Synod of Ross, setting forth. That the said 
 Synod consists only of three Presbyteries, which are made 
 up of twenty-five parishes : That the bounds, however, are 
 very spacious, and interjected by branches of the sea, where 
 the crossing of ferries, especially about the time of the Sy- 
 nod's meetings, which happen to be about the seasons of the 
 equinoctial stomis, makes the attendance of members both 
 dangerous and precarious : That there have been instances 
 more than once, and one at the very last meeting of S}Tiod, 
 when all the members of a Presbytery have been stopt at 
 ferries, and their design of attending disappointed, whereby 
 it frequently happened that in some cases the sentence and 
 
 * See the former volume, p. 343. 
 
1759.] MEETINGS OF THE SYNOD OP ROSS. 181 
 
 decree of the Synod was only the deed of one Presbytery, 
 the other being removed as parties, and the third almost or 
 altogether absent : That of late years business has not been 
 throng, so that two Synodical meetings yearly have been held 
 more for form's sake, and in obedience to the Assembly's 
 act, than for real necessity. For which causes, and several 
 others too tedious to be enumerated, the said S}Tiod have for 
 a long time had under deliberation, and at length at the last 
 meeting which held in April, determined and appointed, 
 that an application should be made to this Assembly for an 
 act repealing the former act, which appointed the Synod to 
 meet twice annually, viz., once in September, and again in 
 April ; and instead thereof, that the annual meeting of the 
 SjTiod of Ross should be appointed to hold yearly upon the 
 second Tuesday of the month of May, which the S}Tiod are 
 encouraged to insist for, and hope, not only for the onerous 
 causes above mentioned, but because also the same is the 
 case with the two adjacent Synods of Caithness and Glenelg, 
 the correspondents of which Synods might, with great pro- 
 priety and conveniency, attend the Synod of Ross, in their 
 way to the General Assembly, their annual meeting holding 
 only in the month of July. And therefore prapng the As- 
 sembly would take the premises under their consideration, 
 and appoint the said Synod to hold but one meeting an- 
 nually, and that upon the second Tuesday of May : Which 
 petition being read, with the opinion of the committee for 
 bills thereupon, the General Assembly did, in tenns thereof, 
 and hereby do, repeal the act of Assembly appointing the 
 Synod of Ross to meet tmce in the year, viz., in the months 
 of April and September ; and the General Assembly do ap- 
 point, that in time coming the said S}Tiod meet once in the 
 year, and that on the second Tuesday of May yearly. 
 
 There was transmitted to the General Assembly from the 
 committee for bills, a petition by the Synod of Lothian and 
 Tweeddale, bearing, that it was found very inconvenient to 
 have their meetings in IMay, sometimes on the second Tues- 
 day, and at other times on the third Tuesday of that month, 
 therefore praying that their meetings after this might be 
 fixed on the first Tuesday of May : Which petition being 
 read, u-ith the opinion of the committee for bills thereon, the 
 General Assembly unanimously agreed to grant the desire 
 thereof, and accordingly do appoint, that in the month of 
 
182 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [\759. 
 
 May the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale shall meet in 
 time coming on the first Tuesday of that month. 
 
 A representation by Mr David Thomson, minister at Gar- 
 gunnock, bearing his having waited on the reverend the de- 
 puties of the Provincial Synods of South and North Hol- 
 land^ before leaving that country : That they enjoined him, 
 in a very particular manner, to ofi«r their most affectionate 
 compliments to the General Assembly of this Church, and 
 to represent to them how agreeable it was to the Belgic 
 Churches, their having so generously concurred with them 
 by a general collection, to promote and advance an under- 
 taking wherein the interests of the Protestant religion, as 
 well as that of the British nation, were so deeply concerned ; 
 that they were affected for the success and prosperity of this 
 interest in America, Ty^here they had been using their best 
 endeavours, for eight years running, to have ministers set- 
 tled, and schoolmasters erected in these parts ; that at that 
 time they had accounts of a Presbytery being regularly con- 
 stituted, consisting of fourteen ministers, and six or seven 
 schools. This representation being read, the zeal and con- 
 duct of the said deputies in planting of ministers, and erecting 
 of schools, was approven of. 
 
 Reference to the Commission to cognosce and finally de- 
 termine in an appeal by James Earl of Balcarras, patron of 
 the parish of Kilconquhar, and by the heritors of that pa- 
 rish, concurrers with his presentation in favours of Dr John 
 Chalmers, minister at Ely, to be minister of the parish of 
 Kilconquhar, from a judgment of the Presbytery of St An- 
 drews, delaying the consideration of the affair till their meet- 
 ing on the 4th of July next. 
 
 Reference to the Commission to take up an appeal by Mr 
 u'Erieas Sage, minister at Lochcarron, from a sentence of 
 the Synod of Glenelg, finding, that a sermon preached by 
 Mr jEneas Macaulay, minister at Applecross, did not con- 
 tain any heterodox opinions, but testifying their dissatisfac- 
 tion with Mr Macaulay for some indecent and some obscure 
 expressions contained in that sermon, and recommending to 
 him not to preach above the capacity of his hearers, and 
 agreeing to reprove Mr Sage for his conduct in the affair, 
 and to enjoin him 7iot to he over -ready tojish out heresies, 
 without very good and justifiable reasons. 
 
 The sum of £lO Sterling agreed to be paid yearly to Ar- 
 chibald Govan, clerk to the cashier of the royal bounty, for 
 
1759.] MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 183 
 
 his trouble in the distribution thereof, commencing from the 
 term of AVhitsunday 1759. 
 
 Two overtures, the one respecting the right and power of 
 ordained assistants and successors advising, voting, and de- 
 termining in causes coming before Presbyteries and Synods, 
 even where right and property takes place ; and the other, 
 that the act 13th May 1732, should be so far altered as to 
 make it lawful for Presbyteries not only to take trials and 
 serve the edict, but to proceed to the ordination and ad- 
 mission^ notwithstanding of any appeal to the contrary, in 
 such cases only where the opposition is small, read and re- 
 ferred to the Commission, that they may take them under 
 consideration, and, if they see cause, prepare an overture 
 thereupon to the next General Assembly. 
 
 A committee named, to take under consideration w^hat 
 shall be the requisite qualifications of students^ particularly 
 in respect of the time of their having studied philosophy and 
 divinity, in order to their being received upon trials by Pres- 
 byteries, pj-epare an overture thereupon, to be laid before the 
 Commission, to be further ripened by them for the next As- 
 sembly ; or, in case there should not be an opportunity of 
 having such overture considered by the Commission, that the 
 committee shall themselves report to the Assembly ; and to 
 correspond by letters with such professors of divinity as can- 
 not attend their meetings, that they may assist with their 
 sentiments on this subject. 
 
 The report of the committee for revising the commission 
 ]>ook again read, and the follo^^dng affairs depending before 
 the last Commission, and not determined by them, referred 
 to the Commission of this Assembly, viz. : — An overture 
 anent the execution of sentences of the supreme courts ; to 
 draw rules, stating the method of procedure in causes be- 
 fore the Assembly ; to consider the power of kirk-sessions 
 in the management of the poors' money ; to consider a re- 
 ference from the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, anent the 
 session of Camhuslang. 
 
 The appeals of Michael Bell, David Johnston, John Mac- 
 taggart, and his spouse, John Ferrier, Quintin Dick, and 
 David Macmurtrie, dismissed, in respect they have been de- 
 pending before the Commission for a number of years, Avith- 
 out being insisted in. 
 
 The overture anent planting of vacant parishes read, and 
 delayed till next Assembly. 
 
184 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1759. 
 
 The application to last Assembly by the congregation at 
 Saarhruck^-pTSLjing a collection might be made in this Church 
 for their relief, delayed till next Assembly. 
 
 An extract of a minute of the S}Tiod of Argyle, dated the 
 4th of August last, reciting the sentence of last Assembly 
 pronounced on the 31st of May, in the affair relating to 
 the settlement of the parish of Kil movie, in Arran, whereby 
 J/r John Hamilton, minister at Skipness, was suspended 
 from the exercise of his office for three months from the 
 date of the sentence, with power to the S>Tiod of Argyle, at 
 their first meeting, if they saw cause, to take off the sus- 
 pension for remainder of the time ; and appointing the Sy- 
 nod to call before them, at their first meeting, Mr Robert 
 Thompson, minister at Killean, and Mr Charles Stewart, 
 minister at Campbelltown, and in the Assembly's name to 
 rebuke them for their irregular conduct in the settlement of 
 the foresaid parish of Kilmorie ; and bearing, that Mr Ro- 
 bert Thompson compeared, and was rebuked in name of the 
 Assembly, but that Mr Charles Stewart being detained from 
 the Synod by indisposition, they had appointed the Assem- 
 bly's sentence should be intimated to him by a letter : That 
 the brethren from the Presbytery of Kintyre having applied 
 to the Synod to take off the sentence of suspension upon Mr 
 Hamilton for the remainder of the time, because of his ex- 
 tensive parish, and the many vacancies in their bounds, the 
 S}Tiod saw no cause of compMng with their request, as Mr 
 Hamilton did not attend that meeting of the Synod, or in- 
 struct any other to apply for it, read, and the Synod's con- 
 duct in that matter appro ven of. 
 
 The Assembly rose June 4th.* 
 
 Assembly 1760. 
 
 The Assembly met on the 1 5th of May. — Charles Lord 
 Cathcart was his Majesty's Commissioner ; and Dr Robert 
 Hamilton, Professor of Divinity in the College of Edin- 
 burgh, was chosen Moderator. He had filled the chair in the 
 year 1754. 
 
 * The Commission which met in November, presented an address 
 to the King on the taking of Quebec, which may be seen in the 
 Scots Magazine for 1759, p. 599. 
 
1760.] COMPLAINT AGAINST SUNDAY POSTS. 185 
 
 On the 17th, the Assembly referred to the committee for 
 overtures, a representation of the ministers and elders of 
 Glasgow, met in the General Session, May 7, 1760, to the 
 Presbytery of Glasgow, concerning the Sunday Posts, and 
 a recommendation of it by that Presbjtery to the Assembly, 
 and also petitions for the commissioners from Dundee Pres- 
 bytery, and the inhabitants of Borrowstounness, and what- 
 erer other papers might be given in on the same subject. 
 This representation sets the matter in so clear and strong a 
 light, that we insert it verbatim, viz. : — 
 
 " That by a late alteration* in the course of the Post, whereby 
 he arrives in this place on Sabbath morning, and returns the same 
 night, there is great reason to apprehend, that the sanctification of 
 the Sabbath, so solemnly enjoined, and on which the very being 
 of religion so much depends, %vill be neglected, and that holy day, 
 in whole or in part, turned into a day of worldly business by many. 
 Upon this account, it has given great alarm to all well-disposed 
 persons, nay to the generality of the inhabitants, who are anxiously 
 concerned to have this grievance redressed. 
 
 '* It is well known that the city of Glasgow carries on an exten- 
 sive trade, and a trade so much transacted by receiving and answer- 
 ing of letters in course of post, that a scheme of this kind must, in 
 the nature of the thing, be attended uath unspeakably worse con- 
 sequences here, than in other places where the circumstances are 
 different. This consideration has indeed procured a provision in 
 the scheme, of a courier to set out from Glasgow every Monday 
 morning at eleven o'clock. But, from what has already appeared, 
 this provision, however well intended, is likely to prove but a poor 
 insufficient remedy. The courier can only assist our merchants in 
 their correspondence \\dth England, and perhaps a very little with 
 Edinburgh ; but \vith respect to all the posts that go to our port, 
 and other places to the westward of us, the courier is wholly insig- 
 nificant, and they must either lose the Sabbath's post entirely, or 
 absent themselves from public worship in the forenoon, and prepare 
 their letters for going off with the posts that set out against two 
 o'clock. And how strong a temptation this will prove to many to 
 neglect the sacred exercises of the Lord's Day, needs little illustra- 
 tion. But besides, notAvithstanding the foresaid provision, a num- 
 ber of the most considerable merchants, at a meeting with the 
 magistrates, declared, that their business would not permit them 
 to want their letters on Sabbath longer than five or six in the even- 
 ing. 
 
 * This alteration had taken place about the end of April. The Edinburgh 
 mail for London (despatched three times a-week,) had hitherto reached New- 
 castle after the post had left that town for the south, and was consequently de- 
 tained at Newcastle nearly two days. By a new arrangement this time was saved ; 
 but one of the consequences was, that the Edinburgh mails for the west and 
 north now set out at nine o'clock p. m. on Saturday, so as to enter Glasgow and 
 other places on Sabbath morning. 
 
 q2 
 
186 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 *' The postmaster has given notice to all the traders, that if they 
 incline to have their letters on Sabbath, care shall be taken to 
 send them to their houses ; and not a few have already called for 
 them between sermons. .Nay, we are assured, there is an express 
 statute subjecting postmasters to a penalty of £20 Sterling, if they 
 do not deliver out letters, when insisted for, within an hour after 
 the arrival of the post. 
 
 " These facts, we apprehend, will satisfy the Rev. Presbytery, 
 that our fears with respect to the observation of the Sabbath are 
 not chimerical, but too well-founded. And although some decency 
 may bs observed at the beginning, (and indeed one who knows this 
 place would have been apt to expect more decency than has already 
 appeared,) yet by and by, through the natural tendency of evil 
 practices, the habit of reading and answering letters, and talking of 
 business on the Lord's Day, will so prevail, that we shall see di- 
 vine ordinances neglected, our streets, taverns and coffee-houses 
 crowded, servants and porters going messages, and all the while 
 the infection spreading among the lower classes of people, who are 
 so ready to follow the example of their superiors in rank and sub- 
 stance. 
 
 *' Our youth will be early corrupted by attending to secular bu- 
 siness on the Lord's Day, and so lose the benefit of that excellent 
 instrument of religion ; and if once an opinion shall prevail, that 
 there is no harm in reading and answering letters of business on 
 that holy day, the next generation may be easily induced to think 
 there is as little harm in transacting other worldly affairs ; and so 
 this unhappy innovation may in time make way for a total disregard 
 to Sabbath sanctification, — a consideration which no lover of reli- 
 gion can think of without horror. And that these are not the sug- 
 gestions of fancy, is evident from the example of some towns in 
 England, where we are assured that all evils of this kind take 
 place. 
 
 " May it therefore please the Reverend Presbytery to take this 
 weighty affair into their most serious consideration, and transmit 
 this petition to the ensuing General Assembly ; and further, to 
 instruct their commissioners to insist, in the most earnest manner, 
 that the Assembly take such further measures as to their wisdom 
 shall seem proper, for procuring us, and the other towns concerned 
 in this alteration of the course of the post, deliverance from so great 
 a calamitv." 
 
 The afiftiir was subcommitted, and a report was made to 
 the Assembly on the 24th, bearing, That a plan had happily 
 been fallen upon, so far as concerns Glasgow and Paisley, 
 which gives satisfaction to the gentlemen from those places, 
 and their constituents, and which, it is believed, will in a 
 great measure remedy the evil complained of. The Assem- 
 bly appointed a committee of tweutj-two ministers and fif- 
 
1760.] COMPLAINT AGAINST SUNDAY POSTS. 187 
 
 teen ruling elders, seven of them a quorum, of whom four 
 to he ministers, to consider how far relief can he given to 
 other towns tliat complain of the same grievance, and to take 
 all proper measures for procuring it ; this committee to nieet 
 in the Assemhly House immediately after the last diet of 
 Assemhly, and themselves to name, and previously advertise 
 in hoth the Edinburgh newspapers, the times and places of 
 their subsequent meetings. 
 
 The alterations proposed by the new plan are as follows. 
 The post from Edinburgh, Avhich now arrives at Glasgow 
 about nine o'clok on Sunday morning, and sets out thence 
 westward at two afternoon, is not to come into Glasgow till 
 about eight in the evening, and, without making any stay 
 there, except to drop the mail for Glasgow, and to take up 
 the one from that city, is to proceed immediately westward ; 
 and the post from the west for Edinburgh, which now ar- 
 rives at Glasgow at five afternoon, and sets out thence east- 
 ward at eight, is not to come into Glasgow till about seven, 
 and, without making any stay there, except to drop the mail 
 for Glasgow, and to take up the one from that city, is to 
 proceed immediately eastward. The post-office at GlasgoAv 
 is not to be opened till after the departure of both these 
 j)Osts, at which time, and no sooner, such persons as choose 
 to send for their letters, may have them ; but none are to be 
 distributed by the letter-carriers till seven on ^londay morn- 
 ing. Letters from Glasgow to go by either of these mails, 
 must be put into the post-office before twelve on Saturday 
 night, and the bags are then to be sealed : so that no letters 
 are to be received into the post-office at Glasgow on Sun- 
 day. 
 
 The proposers of this plan observe, that all the toAN-ns to 
 the west of Glasgow, who have an opportunity of writing by 
 the return of the post that now sets out thence at two o'clock 
 afternoon, will have the opportunity of doing so when he 
 shall not set out till nine ; and with respect to Glasgow, that 
 returns to the letters brought from England and Edinburgh 
 by the post on Sunday evening, may be sent by the express 
 niail, wliich sets out on IMonday at eleven, so as to reach 
 Edinburgh before the departure of the posts thence on ]\Ion- 
 day night for England, and for the north and west of Scot- 
 land. So that the only loss to be sustained is, that the 
 people of Glasgow will be deprived of an opportunity of 
 writing by the mail westward, between ten before noon and 
 
188 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 two after noon of the Lord's Day, the very time of pubUc 
 worship, in consequence of such acb'ices as may be brought 
 them by the mail, w'hich arrives that day from Edinburgh. 
 This loss must be inconsiderable ; because, as the merchants 
 may have their letters on Sunday evening at eight or nine 
 o'clock, if they should, at a particular time, receive intelH- 
 gence which w^ould oblige them to WTite to their correspon- 
 dents in the west before the next post, they can do it by 
 express for a trifle. But though the inconveniency were 
 greater, those gentlemen Avould cheerfully submit to it, rather 
 than give the least handle for turning that sacred day into 
 a day of worldly business. 
 
 In further prosecution of their scheme, the General Ses- 
 sion of Glasgow proposed to the Presbytery, that they should 
 make it a part of their application to the Assembly, that 
 that supreme court should appoint a national fast, on ac- 
 count of the great increase of vice and immorality, owing, 
 in no small degTee, to the growing profanation of the holy 
 Sabbath ; and in pursuance of this proposal, and of similar 
 instructions to members from other places, a motion was 
 made, on the 24th, after the affair relating to the post was 
 finished, to emit a warning against the profanation of the 
 Lord's Day, and other immoralities. In the course of rea- 
 soning, all the members expressed the highest regard for the 
 sanctification of the Sabbath, and w^ere sensible that in too 
 many instances it was not observed in such a religious man- 
 ner as they sincerely washed ; but it was remarked, that as 
 the aforementioned instructions were founded chiefly on the 
 present course of the post, the cause which gave rise to them 
 w^as in a great degree removed by the proposed alteration 
 with respect to Glasgow, and other towns to the westward, 
 and the measmTS now in agitation for the relief of other 
 considerable towns ; that the gentlemen employed in regu- 
 lating the course of the post, w^ere using their utmost endea- 
 vours to give all the redress possible, in a consistency with 
 the police of the country ; that the proposed w'aming, at 
 such a junctui-e, might weaken their hands, might inflame 
 the minds of the populace, might possibly occasion outrages 
 and violences, and unhappily delay, if not altogether ob- 
 struct, the desired redress ; and that such a warning, if ne- 
 cessary, may be hereafter emitted, vath. better effect, and 
 w ithout any hazard of bad consequences. These arguments 
 had such weight, that the question being put, Whether it 
 
1760.] ADDRESS TO THE KING. 189 
 
 Avas expedient to emit such a warning at this time, or Not ? 
 it carried, hy a majority, Not, 
 
 A motion was made on the 20th, and unanimously ap- 
 proved of, to address the King upon the many signal suc- 
 cesses of his Majesty s arms since last Assembly. A com- 
 mittee named to draw up the address, presented it next day. 
 It was approved of, and signed ; and the Commissioner, at 
 the Assembly's request, undertook to transmit it to his Ma- 
 jesty. 
 
 The strain of such addresses being usually the same, we 
 have, in general, thought it unnecessary to record them ; 
 but there were circumstances connected with this address, 
 which induce us to present it entire. 
 
 " May it I'lease your Majesty, 
 
 " We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the minis- 
 ters and elders of the Church of Scotland, met in a National As- 
 sembly, take this first opportunity of approaching your sacred 
 person, with our most humble and sincere congratulations upon the 
 signal and uninterrupted success mth which, since our last meet- 
 ing, it hath pleased Almighty God to bless your arms. All the 
 efforts of your Majesty's enemies have been disconcerted or de- 
 feated ; while every battle fought by your fleets and armies hath 
 led to victory, every armament hath accomplished its intention ; 
 and as the operations of war have been more extensive, they have 
 likewise been more prosperous than those any former age can boast of. 
 These great events we have observed with the utmost gratitude to 
 your Majesty, under whose prudent and vigorous administration we 
 enjoy such distinguished blessings ; nor have we ceased continually 
 to offer up our devout acknowledgments to the Lord of hosts, from 
 whom alone strength and wisdom are derived, and who hath en- 
 a'oled us both to fight and to overcome. 
 
 " But amidst our rejoicings for victories obtained in every part 
 of the world, it was with the utmost concern that we beheld the 
 approach of domestic calamity, and were witnesses of the alarm 
 and terror which the invasion, threatened and attempted by the 
 French King, spread among the inhabitants of this part of the island ; 
 sensible, at that juncture, both of the danger to which they were 
 exposed, and of their inability to exert themselves in repelling your Ma- 
 jesty's enemies with such viijour as their principles of religion and loyalty 
 would naturally hare inspired. 
 
 " We have always reckoned it an important part of our duty, to 
 animate the people committed to our care with zeal for the Protes- 
 tant religion, with veneration for our happy constitution, and with 
 attachment to your Majesty's person and family ; nor have our un- 
 wearied endeavours been unaccompanied with success ; and it is 
 
190 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 with great pleasure we can assure your Majesty, that the wisdom, 
 justice, and lenity of your Majesty's administration, your paternal 
 attention to the welfare of this part of Great Britain, and your 
 magnanimity in reposing confidence even in those who, from their 
 former conduct, could not hope for such marks of your royal favour, 
 have operated with a most powerful and happy influence, and have 
 gone far towards overcoming ancient and unreasonable prejudices. Our 
 constant intercourse with the people under our charge, gives us the 
 best access to be acquainted with their principles and inclinations ; 
 and we think ourselves called upon, by our duty to your Majesty, 
 as well as in justice to them, to assure your Majesty, that the mem- 
 bers of this National Church (of whom the great body of the people 
 is composed) have discovered such sentiments as become British 
 subjects, upon every appearance of danger with which your Ma- 
 jesty's kingdoms and government were threatened ; that they would 
 embrace, with joy, every opportunity of exerting themfielves in defence 
 of both ; and would act with such spirit and loyalty as would ren- 
 der Great Britain still more formidable to its enemies, and add to 
 its internal strength and security. 
 
 " That Almighty God may long preserve your Majesty's impor- 
 tant life ; that he may bless your royal family ; that he may con- 
 tinue to go forth with your fleets and armies • and that, after blessing 
 your Majesty with success in war, he may enable you to put a pe- 
 riod to the desolation and calamities of Europe by a lasting peace, 
 are the daily and fervent prayers of, may it please your Majesty, 
 your Majesty's most faithful, most dutiful, and most loyal subjects, 
 the Ministers and Elders met in this National Assembly of the 
 Church of Scotland. 
 
 " Signed in our name, in our presence, and at our appoint- 
 ment, by 
 
 " Robert Hamilton, Moderator. 
 
 " Edinburgh, May 21, 1760." 
 
 This address never appeared in the Gazette ; and with 
 regard even to the Assembly's usual answer to the King's let- 
 ter, though insertion was given to it, nothing was said of the 
 person by whom it was presented, nor of its being graciously 
 received. The cause of offence was this : There had been 
 very gi'eat excitement throughout Scotland in favour of a 
 national militia., similar to that of England ; but the Go- 
 vernment being afraid of arming a people among whom 
 there were still many disaffected Jacobites, had caused the 
 Scots Mihtia Bill to be thrown out, (April 15.) The allu- 
 sions in the above address, to the consequent national dis- 
 appointment, were, of course, not very acceptable to persons 
 in office, though it is somewhat remarkable, that an address 
 
ITfiO.] COMPLAINT OF THE DUNDEE MINISTERS. 191 
 
 of a similar tenor had been presented by the Synod of Mo- 
 ray, and was inserted in the Gazette of the 13th May.* 
 
 With respect to two overtures transmitted by last Assem- 
 bly, the committee for overtures reported, on the 20th, That 
 twenty-five Presbyteries had sent up their opinions on the 
 overture relating to the qualifications of meinbers of As- 
 sembli/ ; that of these, seven approved of the overture as it 
 stood ; that nine proposed amendments, of whom all were 
 for permitting boroughs to choose ministers as their repre- 
 sentatives, but some were for confining them to ministers 
 of the Presbyteries w^ithin which the boroughs respectively 
 lie ; that eight were against the overture ; and that one pro- 
 posed that it should be retransmitted. That twenty-one 
 Presbyteries had sent up their opinions on the overture re- 
 lating to agreements hy ministers with their heritors ; of 
 whom twenty approved of it as it stood, and one proposed 
 an addition to be made to it ; — and. That the committee 
 were of opinion that both overtures should be retransmitted 
 to the Presbyteries; and that in the one last mentioned, 
 manses should be specified, as one of the things about which 
 agreements should not be made, but at the sight, and with 
 the advice and consent of the Presbytery of the bounds. 
 The Assembly unanimously approved of the committee's 
 opinion ; and ordered the two overtures to be transmitted, 
 with the above mentioned addition to the second, that Pres- 
 byteries may send up their opinions on them to next As- 
 sembly. 
 
 On a motion made on the 2 2d, the Assembly resolved, 
 That in time coming, applications for a share of the public 
 money for carrying on processes, shall be referred to the 
 procurator, Avith some other gentlemen of the law, and some 
 ministers, to consider them, and report their opinion ; and 
 that along ^^^th their report there be laid before the Assem- 
 bly a state of the public funds. 
 
 The same day, a petition from the ministers and kirk- 
 session of Dundee^ was referred to a committee. This pe- 
 tition sets forth various complaints in the following terms : — 
 
 * It was the rejection of the Scots Militia Bill that gave rise to 
 the famous Poker Club, and prompted Adam Ferguson to write a 
 continuation of Arbuthnott's Satirical History of John Bull, under 
 the title of " The History of Margaret, other^^^se called Sister 
 Peg." — See Mackenzie s Life of John Home. 
 
192 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 " That for some considerable time past, your petitioners 
 have been opposed and distressed by the present provost 
 of Dundee, and a party of his in the council, in a very 
 uncommon manner. . . . Delinquents have been forbid to ap- 
 pear before us, and the disobedient have been screened. . . . 
 The charity collected at the church-doors has, by the pro- 
 vost's order, been taken from the elders, and applied by him 
 at his pleasure. . . . The penalties for fornication and other 
 crimes, which before were paid in to the church poor, and 
 by law belong to them, the provost has either intercepted, 
 or else endeavoured to elude our demand of them. . . . The 
 place for baptism in our principal church was taken do\^Ti, 
 and we were told there was to be no baptism there. . . . An 
 act of council was passed, to refuse us the communion ele- 
 ments in their usual manner and frequency. . . . We have 
 been denied access to the established places for M'orship, 
 which, by express decreet of the Lords of Session, had been 
 secured to our predecessors. . . . Our o'vvn servants have been 
 discharged to obey us, even in the most common and neces- 
 sary cases, A\ithout first obtaining the permission of the ma- 
 gistrates Of&ces which have always been, and from their 
 
 own nature must be in our gift, have, in repeated instances, 
 been filled up by those gentlemen, \Adthout ever acquainting 
 
 or acknowledging us Proclamation for maniage has 
 
 sometimes been forbid by the provost, and sometimes or- 
 dered by him in an illegal and irregular manner. . . . Our 
 session registers of baptisms and marriages have been de- 
 manded, and attempted to be wrested from us, as belonging 
 to the town. . . . Our moderator has been ^ned for alleged 
 contumacy in not appearing before the provost, after he had 
 pled indisposition, and ordered to be apprehended by the 
 town-officers and imprisoned ; and all this on a pretended 
 libel framed by the provost himself, in name of the fiscal, 
 who was absent, and of the session-clerk, who remonstrated 
 against it, but for fear of imprisonmnent was forced to sub- 
 scribe it, as his declaration more fully shows." 
 
 On the 23d, the following report was given in : — " The 
 committee having heard the case at great length, and ma- 
 turely considered the same, are unanimously of opinion, that 
 according as the facts are therein represented, it is a case of 
 a verif e.vtraor dinar y nature^ desei-ves the particular atten- 
 tion of the General Assembly, and is of universal concern 
 to the Church ; and as the ministers and kirk-session of that 
 
1760.] COMPLAINT OF THE DUNDEE MINISTERS. 193 
 
 pirish have been reduced to the necessity of commencing 
 processes before the Court of Session, in support of their 
 rio-hts, for reparation of the injuries done to them, and for 
 the interest of the poor, the committee overture to the Ge- 
 neral Assembly, that the procurator and agent for the Church 
 be appointed to appear for the interest of the Church in these 
 processes ; and that the said ministers and session should 
 be assisted to carry them on out of the public fund of the 
 Church, in case, on their after-application, that shall be found 
 needful. But as the grounds of this report cannot fully ap- 
 pear to the General Assembly, unless they hear the memo- 
 rial which was read before the committee, they therefore 
 overture that the said memorial should be read in open As- 
 sembly." And Mr Gershom Carmichael, one of the ministers 
 of Dundee, having read the memorial at the bar, the Assem- 
 bly unanimously approved of the opinion of the committee, 
 and appointed accordingly. 
 
 The inconveniencies arising to ministers from a defect or 
 ambiguity in the sti/le act^ and from the consequent contra- 
 dictory decisions of the Com-t of Session on the question. 
 Whether the payment of ministers' stipends is to be regu- 
 lated by the old style or the new ? appeared in so strong a 
 light to the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale in November 
 last, that they framed a petition to the Assembly, that pro- 
 per measures might be taken to get that matter ascertained, 
 and such lawsuits as had formerly occurred prevented for 
 the future. On report of the committee for overtures, the 
 Assembly, on the 23d, remitted this petition to the Synod 
 from whom it had come, with this instruction. That if a 
 case of this kind should occur, none ha^-ing been specified 
 in the petition as presently existing, notice should imme- 
 diately be given of it to the procurator and agent for the 
 Church, whom the Assembly appointed to carry on the pro- 
 per process, upon the public funds ; " that a matter of so 
 great consequence to the ministers of this Chm-ch may re- 
 ceive a decision of the Lords of Session, and that point be 
 fixed and ascertained in all time coming." * 
 
 * The following question had been decided by the Court of Session 
 on the 24th of June 1757, viz., Whether the determination of a minis- 
 ter's stipend, who had been settled previous to the commencement 
 of the new style, is to be governed by the old style or by the new ? 
 
 R 
 
194 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. []1760. 
 
 On the 24th, the windoiv-tax committee reported, that a 
 plan had been under their consideration, which they hoped 
 would go far towards answering the end of their nomina- 
 tion ; and proposed that the Assembly should renew the 
 appointment of the committee, which the Assembly accord- 
 ingly did. 
 
 A representation from the committee for managing the 
 royal bounty was given in, importing, That few of the mem- 
 bers can have any personal knowledge of the places where 
 most of the missionaries and catechists are employed, and 
 therefore the committee must rely wholly upon the informa- 
 
 The case was this : — Mr George Hume, who had been upwards of 
 fifty years minister of Chirnside, died on the 5th of October 1755, 
 i.e., before the old but after the new Michaelmas ; and Mr Walter 
 Anderson was ordained minister of that parish on the 13th of May 
 1756. This gave rise to a competition between Mr Hume's execu- 
 tors and Mr Anderson ; the former claiming the whole stipend 1755, 
 as belonging to Mr Hume ^^roprioj^Mre, because he survived Michael- 
 mas, and the half of the stipend 1756, as the ann ; and the latter 
 claiming the whole stipend 1756, because he was admitted before 
 Whitsunday. Both parties admitted, that by the act 1672, cap. 
 13, which is confessedly the rule, a minister has right to half the 
 year's stipend if he survive Whitsunday, and to the whole if he sur- 
 vive Michaelmas. For the executors it was pleaded, That in the 
 cases of heirs and executors, of terce, courtesy, and adjudication, 
 the new style is undoubtedly the rule ; and that the new style must 
 be the rule in all cases after it has taken place, otherwise there 
 appears to be no reason why it should be the rule in any case hap- 
 pening in a future period, contrary to the plain intention of the 
 statute : That the new style fixes the term at which dies cedit, or 
 the right is vested ; and that this has no connection with the con- 
 ventional terra, at which dies tenit. or payment may be exacted ; 
 and, That the term of Whitsunday, which of old was the same 
 with the moveable feast, was, by the act 1693, cap. 24, fixed to the 
 15th of May ; but that though all the ministers then in Scotland had 
 entered to their benefices and stipends, either by the moveable feast 
 of Whitsunday, or by Michaelmas, it never entered into one's 
 thoughts to doubt, that the right of their executors was to be de- 
 termined according to their survivance of the fixed term established 
 by the statute, in place of the moveable one repealed. It was, on 
 the other hand, pleaded for Mr Anderson, That the principal in- 
 tention of the style act was, to put our computation of time upon 
 the same footing with that of other nations, and to settle the festi- 
 vals of the Church of England ; and that, though the legal terms 
 are to be governed by the new computation in matters where no 
 loss or advantage would happen to private persons by the change, 
 
1760.] DEPUTATION TO THE HIGHLANDS. 195 
 
 tion they receive from Presbyteries, ministers and gentle- 
 men, who reside in those places ; that these informations are 
 in many cases so different, and sometimes so contradictory, 
 that the committee are often utterly at a loss how to judge 
 or determine, and have not the satisfaction to be assured that 
 their sentences have been just and well-founded, however 
 pure their intentions may have been ; that the committee 
 would, however, by no means insinuate that those Presby- 
 teries, gentlemen, or ministers, were guilty of giving false 
 information, being persuaded, that the seeming opposition 
 of those informations, flows from each one s feeling his own 
 distress more sensibly than he can possibly feel that of 
 others ; that it is the unanimous opinion of the committee, 
 
 yet it is expressly provided, " That the act shall not accelerate or 
 anticipate the time of payment of any rents, annuities, or sums of 
 money, which shall become pa3'able by any custom, writing, or 
 agreement now subsisting, or which shall be entered into before 
 the 14th of September 1752, or which shall become payable by 
 virtue of any act now in force, or which shall be niade before the 
 said 14th of September, or the time of doing any thing directed by 
 such act : " That accordingly, as by the act 17th Geo, II., for estab- 
 lishing a fund for ministers' widows and children, &c., the terms 
 of paying the rates, &c., are settled, no alteration was intended or 
 understood to be made by the style act upon the regulations estab- 
 lished by that act 17th Geo. II., by accelerating the term of pay- 
 ment of the rates, or the terminus a quo, the commencement of 
 these rates was established by the former law ; but the payment 
 and division of the rates between the stipend and the ann continue 
 to be regulated by the old style, of which several instances have 
 occurred since the new took place : That if the executors' doctrine 
 should hold true, it would be singularly severe on Mr Anderson ; 
 for as Mr Hume had not acceded to the widows' scheme, his chil- 
 dren would sweep away the full half of the stipend 1756, and Mr 
 Anderson, as he was ordained before Whitsunday, would pay the 
 rate for that whole year, though he would draw only the half of 
 the stipend : and, That tlie executors' doctrine, that the new style 
 might regulate the right, but the old the payment, is in no wise 
 authorised by the statute ; for that, how soon the obligation takes 
 place, performance may be compelled, dies et cedit et cenit. — The 
 Lords found. That Mr Hume having died before Michaelmas 1755, 
 according to the old computation, had no right to the last half- 
 year's stipend for that year, but that the same does belong to his 
 nearest of kin, as ann ; and that Mr Anderson having entered be- 
 fore Whitsunday 1756, according to the same computation, has 
 right to the first half-year's stipend payable for crop 1756. — See 
 the former volume, p. 282, Note. 
 
196 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 that tlie only remedy for so enormous an evil is, the ap- 
 pointing a visitation of the counties and places where the 
 missionaries and catechists are employed, that so, from 
 ocular inspection of the country, and personal conversation 
 with Presbyteries, ministers, itinerants, &c., the visitors may 
 be able to give full and clear information, and the commit- 
 tee may in time to come have more sure ground to proceed 
 upon than they have hitherto had ; that, however laborious 
 and difficult the task, and therefore not to be desired, the 
 visitors should be some of the constant members of the com- 
 mittee, who will be always at hand to give such information 
 in particular cases as may be Avanted ; and that to two such 
 visitors it will be necessary to add a minister who under- 
 stands the Highland language, and has some knowledge of 
 those places of the country, but in whose parish or bounds 
 no itinerant or catechist is employed. The Assembly, on 
 the 26th, appointed 3Ir John Hyndman of Westkirk^ and 
 Z)>' Robert Dick of Edinburgh^ ministers, as their com- 
 missioners for the purposes in this representation mentioned, 
 leaving it to them to choose one or two ministers w^ell ac- 
 quainted Avith the Highlands to go along vnth. them, such 
 choice to be approved of by the royal bounty committee ; 
 and that committee is empowered, on failure of any of these 
 two ministers, through indisposition or other necessary cause, 
 to appoint one in his place, and also to draw up instinictions 
 to be observed by the commissioners in their visitation. A 
 sum not exceeding £200 of the Church's money is to be paid 
 the commissioners to defray the expense of this visitation. 
 
 The Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge have, 
 from similar motives, ordered a visitation of the schools 
 established by them ; particularly, to take trials of the qua- 
 lifications of the schoolmasters for instructing children in 
 the principles of the Christian religion, and for teaching 
 them reading, writing, arithmetic, and church music ; and 
 to inquire into their diligence in the discharge of their trust, 
 and whether they are at due pains to cause the children 
 under their care to understand the English language. 
 The society have recommended to the afore-mentioned com- 
 missioners of the Assembly to visit their schools in the islands 
 and in the western and northern parts of Scotland, through 
 which they are to pass, and which lie at the greatest dis- 
 tance from Edinburgh, and have remitted to a committee to 
 
1760.] NEW ERECTIONS IN THE HIGHLANDS. 197 
 
 name proper persons for visiting the other schools in the in- 
 terior parts of the country ; the expense of this visitation 
 not to exceed <£lOO. 
 
 A committee was appointed by the Assembly 1759, to 
 prepare a memorial relating to the application of a part of 
 the Royal Bounty for erecting new parishes. QThe fund 
 to which this name has been given, is an annual donation 
 to the General Assembly, to be applied for the reformation 
 of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. This royal 
 donation was begun by King Geo. I., in 1725, and it has 
 been continued annually ever since. The grant is of the 
 following tenor : — " Whereas it hath been represented unto 
 us by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, that 
 Popery and ignorance do increase and prevail in the High- 
 lands and Islands there, and that one of the principal causes 
 thereof is the large extent of the parishes in those parts, 
 whereby the ministers of those parishes find themselves 
 unable to visit their parishioners in their several bounds as 
 they ought, and give such instructions as are absolutely ne- 
 cessary to enlighten them, and arm them against the prac- 
 tices of Romish priests that resort thither in order to pervert 
 and seduce them from the profession and principles of the 
 Reformed religion : Now, as the evil thereof may he of 
 dangerous consequence to our government^ and we are 
 sensible, that nothing can more effectually stop the growth 
 and increase of it, than giving encouragement to itinerant 
 preachers and catechists to go into those parts, and to be 
 assisting to the ministers established there; we are gra- 
 ciously inclined, for the promoting so good and pious a 
 design, to contribute yearly the sum of £1000.* — Our will 
 is," &c.] — The management of this fund is by the Assem- 
 bly referred to a committee ; and, in terms of the grant, it 
 has been hitherto distributed to itinerant preachers and ca- 
 techists appointed to officiate in certain districts, imder the 
 inspection of the ministers. Presbyteries, &c., within whose 
 bounds their districts respectively lie. But an alteration is 
 now proposed. The committee appointed by the Assembly 
 1759, in their report, which was called for, and produced, 
 on the 26th, (immediately after the appointment of the vi- 
 sitation afore-mentioned,) proposed, that proper measures 
 
 * This sum was increased by Geo. IV. to £2000 per annum. 
 R 2 
 
198 ANNALS OF THE ASSE3IBLY. [l?00. 
 
 should be taken for having the royal grant conceived so as 
 to authorise the application of the money towards erecting 
 and endowing new parishes, or building and endowing 
 chapels of ease in large and extensive parishes, as well as 
 giving encouragement to itinerant preachers to go into those 
 parts. The Assembly unanimously approved of the pro- 
 posal ; and the Commissioner, at the Assembly's request, 
 undertook to use his endeavours for furthering the design. 
 
 By the alteration proposed, the gi-ant, after the words — 
 " nothing can more eifectually stop the growth and increase 
 of it," will run thus — " than by erecting and endowing new 
 parishes, or by building and endowing chapels of ease in 
 large and extensive parishes, or by giving encouragement 
 to itinerant preachers to go into those parts, and to be as- 
 sisting to the ministers established there ; we are graciously 
 inclined," &c. The grounds and reasons for this alteration 
 are thus expressed in a paper given in by the committee : — 
 
 " The Highlands of Scotland, the seat of Pojyery and disaffection, 
 are of much greater extent than is generally imagined. Some pa- 
 rishes are so very large, being thirty-five computed miles Scotch in 
 length, and twenty-five in breadth, that it is impossible for the mi- 
 nisters to give that attention to them which is necessary, for in- 
 structing them in the principles of our true religion and loyalty. 
 Hence ignorance, superstition, and disaffection prevail amongst 
 them. To keep up this spirit, many Popish priests are sent, who 
 fix their residence in places where they can most successfully pro- 
 pagate their pernicious principles ; and to whom those of the Popish 
 religion, and some Protestants, who cannot have access to their 
 own ministers because of the great distance of their manses, repair, 
 in order to be married, or to have children baptized. By this 
 means the Papists are confirmed in their superstition, and many 
 Protestants are in the greatest danger of being perverted. To re- 
 medy these evils, his most gracious Majesty makes a donation of 
 £1000 yearly for itinerant preachers and catechists. 
 
 " The General Assembly have found by experience, that the 
 method of employing itinerants and catechists, has not answered 
 the ends of his Majesty's pious intention. For, besides the great 
 extent of country, difficulty of access, by high mountains, rapid 
 rivers, and arms of the sea, the smallness of their salaries, their 
 being obliged to go from place to place, without any fixed resi- 
 dence ; besides all this, their not having authority to marry and to 
 baptize, as not being ordained, makes their labours less successful. 
 It would be therefore necessary that preachers should be ordained, 
 that they might administrate marriage, baptism, and the Lord's 
 Supper. But it is not agreeable to the constitution of the Church of 
 Scotland, to ordain any hut those loho have a fixed and legal benefice. 
 
1760.] NEW ERECTIONS IN THE HIGHLANDS. 199 
 
 " It is therefore humbly proposed, that whilst his Majesty shall 
 be pleased to continue this bounty, it may be applied for the erect- 
 ing and endowing new parishes, or for the building and endowing 
 of chapels of case, to which well qualified persons might be pre- 
 sented by his Majesty from time to time, as the fund would allow, 
 and thus have a fixed residence or manse, to which the people might 
 at all times have access. This would be a permanent good, and in 
 a course of years, if the gift should be continued, defeat all the 
 attempts of the Popish priests to pervert the minds of the people : 
 for it is very observable, that there are few or no PajAsts in the neigh- 
 bourhood of nicmses, where the ministers reside. By this method of 
 employing the royal bounty, it may reasonably be expected, that 
 the people who reside in those remote parts of the nation, the ha- 
 bitation of ignorance, superstition, Popery, and rebellion, shall be 
 instructed, reformed, and civilized, made useful members of society, 
 and loyal subjects. 
 
 " It is proposed, that the royal grant should contain an alterna- 
 tive to erect and endow either new parishes or chapels of ease, that 
 in case difficulties should cast up in the erecting new parishes, the 
 other may be carried into execution in the meantime. But the 
 applying the bounty towards new erections would be far more ad- 
 vantageous. 
 
 "1. Because such parishes being once erected, will be a lasting 
 benefit to the country, and the ministers of the parochial churches tcill 
 hate uwre weight and authority than those xcho officiate only in cluipels of 
 ease, and consequently will have greater influence in defeating the 
 designs of trafficking priests. 
 
 " 2. This will establish so many new sessions, consisting of elders, 
 who, in their separate districts, may be of considerable use in coun- 
 teracting the artifices of the priests, and promoting the interests of 
 religion and loyalty ; and it will likewise secure the regular cele- 
 bration of the Lord's Supper in the remotest parts of the Highlands 
 and Islands, which may have a very happy effect upon the minds of 
 the people. 
 
 " 3. It also merits attention, that if chapels of ease shall be 
 erected, ministers may remain there twenty or thirty years, icithout 
 paying one farthing for supj)ort of the ividoics fund ; and upon their 
 after obtaining a settlement, their families would be entitled to 
 draw very large sums out of the fund, though they paid but a few 
 years' tax for support of it ; whereas in the case of new erections, 
 the incumbents must pay from the beginning, and their annual rates 
 will bear proportion to the sums to which their families will become 
 entitled. 
 
 " The j)citronage of all the neic erected churches must be secured to th^ 
 Crov^n ; and the Assembly, in concurrence with the officers of the 
 Crown, must determine, from time to time, where such erections 
 shall be made, and in what order," 
 
 The annual report of the trustees for managing the ui- 
 
200 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. f 1760. 
 
 doivs' Jund,* was given in on the 26th. It was observed 
 in the report 1757, that the facts respecting the fund, and 
 the whole scheme, corresponded very nearly to the supposi- 
 tions on which the calculations for establishing the fund 
 proceeded ; and by the present report, this correspondence 
 appears to be still nearer — nay, in one particular it is exact. 
 The calculation supposed 30 ministers and professors to die 
 annually, at a medium, and consequently, that from the 
 commencement of the scheme, March 25, 1744, to Nov. 11, 
 1759, (i.e., 15 years 7 months and 17 days,) 468 would 
 die ; which has turned out to be the precise fact, not one 
 more or less having died in that period. And in the stock 
 the correspondence is very near in 1759, the calculation 
 supposing it to be JB49,261 : 11 : 104-d., and the real stock 
 coming out in fact to be precisely £49,128 : 7 : 10 Vd. ; so 
 that the difference is only £l33 : 3 : 1 I4d. 
 
 Kilconquhar., Stirling., and Logie, were the only settle- 
 ments determined by this Assembly. With regard to the 
 first, the Earl of Balcarras, the patron, had given a presen- 
 tation to Dr John Chalmers, minister of Elie, to be minister 
 of Kilconquhar. This case ha\ang come before the Com- 
 mission in November last, that reverend court sustained the 
 call to Dr Chalmers, and appointed the Presbytery of St 
 Andrews to proceed to his transportation and settlement. 
 The Presbytery did not obey this sentence ; and thereupon 
 a petition and complaint for the patron, and the heritors 
 and elders, callers of Dr Chalmers, against the Presbytery, 
 was given in to the Assembly. The opposers of the settle- 
 
 * The contributors to the fund were at this period divided into 
 four classes, and paid yearly £2 : 12 : 6d., ^3 : 18 : 9d., £5, 5s., or 
 .£6:11 : 3d. Every marriage of a minister, except when the 
 \vife was an annuitant on the fund, was taxed in a sum equal to 
 his annual tax ; and a minister, if married when admitted to a bene- 
 fice, paid a like sum on account of his marriage. Out of vacant 
 stipends £2, 10s. was paid annually to the fund. On the other 
 hand, widows of contributors received an annuity corresponding to 
 what their husbands had paid, viz., £10, £15, £20, or £25: and 
 the children of ministers who left no widow, received a sum equal 
 to ten years of the annuity the widow would have been entitled to. 
 But if a minister died before having paid in to the fund a sum equal 
 to three years of the annuity to which his widow would be entitled, 
 the deficiency was deducted out of the widow's annuity or chil- 
 dren's stock. 
 
1760.] CASE OF KILCONQUHAR. 201 
 
 ment pleaded, That the Commission had exceeded their 
 powers ; and the question having been put, Whether they had 
 or Not ? it carried Not^ by a great majority. This question, 
 by which the judgment of the Commission, sustaining the 
 call, was found to be final, w^as detennined on the 19th. 
 Next day, the remaining part of the cause was taken into 
 consideration. A question was stirred. Whether the Pres- 
 bytery of St Andrews, and the Synod of Fife, were parties ? 
 The court, after hearing the sentence of the Commission 
 read, and the Presbytery's reference to the Assembly, and 
 after reasoning upon the case, agreed, that the Presbytery 
 and Synod were not parties, and that the parties were, the 
 patron, and the callers of Dr Chalmers, on the one part, and 
 the parish of Elie on the other. Counsel were heard for 
 the transportation, but none appeared for the parish of Elie, 
 After long reasoning on the expediency of the transportation, 
 the question was put, Whether to transport Dr Chalmers 
 from Elie to Kilconquhar, or Not ? it being understood, 
 that if it carried Not^ the patron should have six months 
 from that date to present another qualified person. It car- 
 ried Transport ; and the Assembly appointed the Presby- 
 tery of St Andrews to admit Dr Chalmers as minister of 
 Kilconquhar betwixt and the 1st of August next. From 
 this sentence Messrs John Witherspoon of Paisley, George 
 Blair of Brechin, Alexander Dick of Dairy, John Gillies of 
 Glasgow, James Ballingal of Dundee, and George Lyon of 
 Longforgan, ministers, entered their dissent. 
 
 The following was Dr Witherspoon s speech on this occa- 
 sion, as given in his Essays : * — " Moderator, As it is usual 
 for people to differ almost upon every subject, I am not 
 surprised that there should be some in this Assembly' who 
 are for appointing that this transportation shall take place ; 
 but I apprehend it is really ground of surprise to see the 
 way in which they urge their opinion. They do not speak 
 as if they were weighing and deliberating upon the cause, 
 that they might be able to give a just determination ; they 
 do not speak as if clearly satisfied themselves, or as if they 
 
 * Essays, Vol, iii, p. 283 In the decision of transportation 
 
 cases, it had been the Assembly's uniform practice to engage in 
 prayer; but the MS, Record says nothing of it on the present oc- 
 casion. 
 
202 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 desired to convince others, and bring them over to their own 
 opinions ; but they speak in an overbearing manner, and 
 press the conclusion \viih a visible displeasure at the time 
 spent upon it, and impatience that any body should differ 
 from or contradict them. But as positiveness is seldom any 
 strong presumption of a good cause, so I think it is very 
 much misplaced here ; and as the quiet and comfort of a 
 hirge parish immediately, and the whole country-side more 
 remotely, depends upon our decision, I hope the Assembly 
 will not give it till after mature deliberation, and with real 
 impartiality. 
 
 " The first thing, no doubt, to be considered is, whether 
 the Commission have exceeded their power, that we may 
 see whether we have room at all for the other question about 
 the expediency of this transportation ; and after reading the 
 words of the Assembly's remit, I cannot help being of opi- 
 nion, mth the great majority of the members of Presbytery, 
 that the Commission had no power to determine this cause. 
 Is it not plain that this is not the cause which was before 
 the last Assembly ? and is it not confessed on all hands, that 
 the Commission had no title to take in any causes but such 
 as were remitted to them ? Is it not plain, that the words 
 in any after-question relating to this settlement, are not to 
 be found in it ? It is also proper to observe, from the al- 
 most constant use of these words in the remits of the Assem- 
 bly, that they do not suppose that a question relating to the 
 same settlement with another makes it the same cause. The 
 answer made to this is, that it was a mistake or omission in 
 the clerk of the Assembly, Admitting, Sir, that this had 
 been the case, it would be extremely \^Tong and dangerous 
 to approve the Commission in papng no regard to that legal 
 defect, but taking in the cause. For the Assembly itself to 
 make free with, and despise established forms of procedure, 
 is of the very worst consequence. I have heard some ho- 
 nourable members, eminently skilled in the law, affirm, that 
 for a court to despise even its own forms, is to make way for 
 the admission of many instances of great and real injustice. 
 But for the Commission, Avhich is a delegated court, so far 
 to come over form as to take in a cause not remitted to them, 
 is a bold transgression with a witness ; and, if allowed, must 
 be attended with consequences which it is impossible to fore- 
 see, but can scarce be imagined worse than they really \\dll 
 be in effect. 
 
1760.] DR WITHERSPOON's SPEECH. 20.3 
 
 '•• But, Sir, Avhy should any say this was either an omission 
 in the clerks, or an oversight in the last Assembly ? I am 
 sure, for my part, I think they would have done wTong had 
 they done it in any other way. What is the reason of this 
 clause (or any after- question,) when it is inserted ? It is 
 after the part of the cause is decided, to prevent contentious 
 people to protract a settlement by foolish and frivolous ap- 
 peals upon every little interlocutor or resolution of a Pres- 
 bytery in caiTying it into execution. But in this case, neither 
 all the parties, nor the principal part of the cause itself, was 
 before the Assembly at all ; and I dare say, we may all re- 
 member to have heard it given as the opinion of the most 
 judicious members of this Church, that it is a very wrong 
 measure to refer any cause of moment to the Commission, 
 that hath not been in a good measure heard and understood 
 by the Assembly itself. Moderator, I beg leave further to 
 say, that I hope this Assembly wall not authorise the Com- 
 mission in making a long arm, to take in causes without 
 sufficient powers, because the Commission is certainly the 
 most unhappily constituted court of any in this Church. I 
 say this without intending, and I hope without gi^'ing of- 
 fence to any body ; for, supposing human nature in us to be 
 just what it is in other people, the members of the Commis- 
 sion being so numerous, and spread over all Scotland, few 
 of them attend voluntarily, and it is the easiest thing in the 
 world for interested persons to bring up a number of a par- 
 ticular way of thinking, and they may carry any cause what- 
 ever. 
 
 " Thus, Sir, it appears, that the sentence of the Commis- 
 sion has plainly exceeded their powers in some measure, even 
 by the confession of the friends of this transportation. Let 
 us consider it a little in itself, and see if it is like to be so 
 great a benefit, or so great an honour to this Church, as that 
 we should either forgive the Commission the encroachment 
 they have been guilty of, or should now do ourselves what 
 they have formerly done in a precipitate and irregular man- 
 ner. Upon this branch of the subject I am very much at a 
 loss, not what to say, if every thing were to be brought out 
 that might be urged against it, but to bring the argument 
 within some compass, and chiefly indeed to discover some 
 hope of success, by reasoning from some common principles 
 on Avhich we shall generally agree. 
 
 " Moderator, I take this opportunity of declaring before 
 
204. ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 this Assembly, that I have always had the deepest sense of 
 the dishonour and loss of authority which this Church has 
 suffered, and what indeed is infinitely more, the injury which 
 the souls of men have suffered, by many settlements in which 
 we have ordained a pastor without a people ; at the same 
 time, I am sensible that many worthy men and faithful mi- 
 nisters look upon themselves as under a necessity in some 
 such cases from the law of patronage ; and I am afraid many, 
 from a habit of doing this where there is necessity, are un- 
 willing to come out of the same tract, and continue to do it 
 when there is no necessity at all. 
 
 " Moderator, I desire it may be observed, that I do not 
 believe, and I know nobody so foolish as to believe what is 
 commonly imputed to us, that any Christian, as such, has a 
 right to call a minister on an establishment. We know that 
 nobody has any right to call a minister on an estabhshment 
 excepting those to whom the law has given it ; neither would 
 I contend that every man ought to have a right, though we 
 had it in our power to make laws upon that subject, since 
 this seeming equality would be a vile inequality. But, Sir, 
 I would choose to form my judgment upon a few principles, 
 in which, I should think, hardly any in this Assembly would 
 disagree. Has not every man a natural right, well secured 
 to him in this happy island, to judge for himself in matters 
 of rehgion, and in fact to adhere to any minister he pleases ? 
 Is not the legal stipend intended to pro%dde a sufficient and 
 useful pastor to the people within the bounds of a certain 
 parish ? Can he be of much ser\dce to them, if he be upon 
 ill terms with them ? or can he do them any at all if the}- 
 will not hear him ? Does any body desire to compel them 
 by penal or ecclesiastical laws to hear him ? or would such 
 forced religion be of any worth ? Is not, then, the legal en- 
 couragement unhappily lost and misapplied by somebody's 
 fault, when a minister is settled to whom nobody will ad- 
 here ? Now, Sir, the inference that I w^ould draw from these 
 principles is no more than this, that decency, and our indis- 
 pensable duty as a Church Court, requu'es us to make no 
 such settlements but vdth regret, and never without a real 
 necessity ; and the cause we have now before us is one in 
 which no such necessity exists. It is a transportation. Sir, 
 the expediency of which we are to judge of, and the person 
 concerned is not only bound in duty, but can be easily com- 
 pelled by law, to submit to our decision. The great argu- 
 
1 760.] Du witiierspoon's speech. 205 
 
 inent that ahvays has been used against this or the like rea- 
 soning, has been brought out in this cause, that the people 
 were unreasonable and prejudiced, and have been stirred up 
 by evil-minded persons. This argument, Sir, is so old and 
 stale, that I am surprised people are not ashamed of it, and 
 that the ingenuity of the lawyers has not been able to invent 
 another that shall have the advantage of being new. How 
 often have we heard from this bar, this parish would have 
 been agreeably and peaceably settled, but very early a com- 
 bination Avas formed — this is all in all, the rest follows of 
 course. I am persuaded, Sir, from the certain knowledge 
 of many particular instances in which this was alleged, that 
 in nine cases of ten the allegation is false. One person in 
 a parish or country side may be active, and it may be said 
 Avith plausibiUty, that he is the mainspring of the opposi- 
 tion. Sir, it is very easy to lead a people according to their 
 own inclinations ; but it is not so easy as many seem to sup- 
 pose, to change their inclinations and direct their choice. In 
 the meantime, it is always forgotten that the argument is 
 founded, not upon the cause or occasion, but upon the re- 
 ality of the aversion of the people to the minister. 
 
 " Moderator, an argument that is made use of to persuade 
 us to order this transportation is, that if it should be refused, 
 it would encourage the people to resist in other cases. I 
 am afraid. Sir, that the tame submission which indeed is fast 
 approaching, and which many seem so ardently to desire, 
 can never take place, till there is a total indifference about 
 religion among all the members of the Established Church ; 
 take our neighbour country of England as an example of 
 that desirable peace. But if this argument be laid as it 
 ought to be, that people should not be headstrong and un- 
 reasonable, it operates plainly the contrary way ; for there 
 is nothing whatever that would give us so much weight and 
 influence with the people, as that Ave sIioav a proper tender- 
 ness to them, as Ave have opportunity. If Ave do not oppress 
 them AA'hen Ave have it in our poAver to relieve them, Ave may 
 expect to have some influence over them, Avhen Ave are strait- 
 ened and distressed ourselves. 
 
 " Besides, Sir, on this subject of the prejudices of the 
 people, this pretence is carried a most unreasonable and ex- 
 travagant length, and nothing but the prejudice in themselves 
 could make men speak in such a style. Many Avill needs 
 have it to be prejudice, and groundless prejudice in a people, 
 
206 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [[1760. 
 
 if they do not fall in with a man to be their minister, against 
 M'hose life and doctrine they cannot bring any legal objec- 
 tion. Alas, Sir, all such things are matters of election and 
 choice, and not of legal proof. In illustration of the people's 
 case, there is a very good example given, that a man would 
 have just cause of complaint, if you should force a physician 
 upon him of whose skill he had no opinion, though he could 
 not prove him insufficient before the faculty. 
 
 " But, Sir, as it would be wrong to attribute opposition 
 to a minister's settlement in all cases to groundless prejudice, 
 I am sorry to say it, but I am obliged in justice to say it, we 
 have very little reason to do so in the present case. Even 
 in the case of a probationer, when he absolutely adheres to 
 a presentation, notwithstanding the greatest opposition from 
 the people, it is but a sony mark of love to souls, and of 
 that self-denial which every Christian should continually 
 maintain. Many things, however, may be said in favour of 
 a probationer ; yet. Sir, for a settled minister not only to act 
 this part, but to excel all that ever were before him, in a 
 bold and insolent contempt of the people, as plainly appears 
 to be Dr Chalmers' case, is such a conduct, that I shall have 
 a worse opinion of this Assembly than I have at present, if 
 they do not openly express their indignation at such inde- 
 cency of behaviour. In the history of the Church we find 
 no character more odious, or more unclerical, if I may speak 
 so, than ambition and open solicitation of ecclesiastical pre- 
 ferment. Little changes in forms. Sir, do often produce at 
 last great changes in manners and characters. In former 
 times, in our Church, the probationer or minister himself 
 was never considered as a party, but was considered as the 
 subject concerning which that process was carried on by the 
 callers or referees ; but now they have been for some time 
 past considered as parties — they begin to allow the cause to 
 appear at the bar — to urge their claim — to consider the people 
 Avho are to be their charge as their adversaries, and to treat 
 them with contempt and disdain. 
 
 " I confess. Sir, I am not able to imagine what are the 
 views of a minister who acts in this manner. It is not, I 
 fear, easy to answer, that he resolves to change his situation 
 and take upon him that office, from sincere regard to the 
 glory of God and love to souls, which he must profess at his 
 admission. But as we must be tender and cautious in judg- 
 ing of the inward motives of others, I shall leave that to Him 
 
1 760.] CASES OP STIRLING AND LOGIE. 207 
 
 who judgeth the secrets of all hearts ; but in the meantime, 
 every one in this house is now called to judge, whether it 
 would be for the glory of God and the good of mankind, to 
 suffer him to execute his intention. Let it be considered 
 with seriousness. Moderator, it is not only the people of 
 the parish, or those of lower rank, but many of all stations 
 whom we shall ojffend, in the proper sense of the word, if 
 we order this settlement. They are led by such things to 
 treat, and they often do treat ^\^th derision, a minister's con- 
 cern for his usefulness, and affirm that it is no more than a 
 desire of a comfortable benefice and salary for life. I shall 
 be sorry to see the day, when, by resembling them in their 
 practice, we shall learn from England to leave the people 
 and the work altogether out of the act, and so call our charges 
 no more parishes but livings ! " 
 
 In the case of Stirling^ the Presbytery had sustained a 
 call to Mr David Plenderleath, minister of Dalkeith, to be 
 second minister of Stirling ; the Synod of Perth and Stirling 
 reversed this sentence, and sustained a call to Mr John 
 Muschet, probationer, to that charge ; and the Assembly, 
 on the 21st, without a vote, affirmed the sentence of the 
 Synod, and empowered the Commission to determine finally 
 in any question that may be regularly brought before them 
 in relation to Mr Muschet's settlement. 
 
 The Presbytery of Dumblane, notwithstanding the sen- 
 tence of the Assembly 1759, found, that the validity of the 
 presentation by George Ross, Esq., acting trustee for the 
 Earl of Dunmore, patron, in favour of Mr James Wright, 
 probationer, to be minister of Logie, was not sufficiently 
 instructed, as it appeared to them ; and therefore that they 
 were at liberty to proceed to the settlement of the parish 
 according to the rules of the Church. By the will of John 
 Earl of Dunmore, (who died on the 18th April 1752,) the 
 Duke of Athol, the Viscount Stormont, the now Lord Mans- 
 field, and the afore-mentioned Mr Ross, were appointed 
 trustees for certain purposes ; this presentation was signed 
 only by Mr Ross ; and the want of the subscription of the 
 other trustees was by the Presbytery thought a nullity. It 
 was, however, observed for the Earl of Dunmore, and the 
 callers of Mr Wright, that Mr Ross was the only acting 
 trustee, none of the other three having ever accepted or 
 acted ; and that he singly has transacted the whole business 
 
208 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [^1760. 
 
 of the family, as to which he had the best advice that either 
 kingdom could afford. The Assembly, on the 22d, mthout 
 a vote, reversed the before recited sentence of the Presby- 
 tery, sustained the presentation in favour of Mr Wright, and 
 appointed the Presbytery of Dumblane to proceed to the 
 moderation of a call to him alone, empowering the Com- 
 mission finally to determine in any question to be regularly 
 brought before them relating to that settlement. 
 
 On the 23d, two collections were appointed to be made 
 in all the churches of Scotland ; one, on a petition for the 
 magistrates of Crail^ for repairing the harbour of that town ; 
 and the other, on a petition of the corporation for the relief 
 of poor and distressed Presbyterian ministers, their mdows 
 and orphans, in Pennsylvania^ Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex 
 upon Delaware^ for support and relief of such ministers as 
 are, or may hereafter be, called to preach the Gospel among 
 the benighted Indians, or to such congregations as cannot 
 afibrd them a sufficient maintenance. The collection for 
 Crail harbour was granted, on condition that the magistrates 
 should report to the Assembly 1763 what money they had 
 received, and how it was expended. The person who pre- 
 sented the Pennsylvania memorial was Mr Chat'les JBeatti/y 
 minister of Newshaminy, in that country. He requested the 
 Assembly, in case a collection should be granted, to specify 
 whether it was to be for the support of ministers, or for their 
 widows and orphans. The Assembly fixed on the fonner 
 object. 
 
 Petition for Mr Harry Gordon, minister at Ardersier, set- 
 ting forth the smallness of his stipend, being only, at the 
 common conversion, 500 merks, which exhausts the free 
 teinds of the parish, by reason of the building of Port 
 George, which has taken up more than one-third of the 
 lands, and therefore praying the Assembly's recommendation 
 to the managers of the Royal Bounty for an addition to his 
 living, read, and remitted to the committee for managing 
 the Royal Bounty, w^th an instruction that they give him 
 £25 Sterling for this year. 
 
 The precentors in Dundee enjoined to observe the 5th 
 act of the Assembly 1699, anent ihe proclamation ofhanns 
 for marriage. 
 
 Report of the visitors of the registers of the committee for 
 managing the Royal Bounty brought in, the committee's con- 
 
1760.] ACCESSION OP QE(»RGE III. 209 
 
 duct approver! of, the students of divinity employed on the 
 Royal Bounty appointed to produce certificates from the 
 Presbytery of the bounds wherein they officiate, as well as 
 from the minister of the parish, and the register ordered to 
 be attested. 
 
 Protestation admitted at the instance of the Synod of 
 Angus and Mearns, against John TVillock, one of the elders 
 of the parish of Laurencekirk^ for not insisting in an appeal 
 taken by him from a sentence of the said Synod, sustaining 
 a call to Mr David Forbes to be minister of Laurencekirk. 
 
 The several Presbyteries desired in time coming to be 
 more careful in sending up their commissions, with a list of 
 probationers on the back, as directed by the acts of Assem- 
 bly, and letters appointed to be sent to them for that purpose. 
 
 The Assembly rose on the 26th. 
 
 November Commission. 
 
 George II. died on Saturday, the 25th October 1760. The 
 intelligence reached Edinburgh on Tuesday, the 28th, and his 
 grandson, George III., was proclaimed the day following.* 
 
 In the London Gazette of Sunday, the 26th October, 
 there appeared the following declaration : — 
 
 " At the Court at Carleton House^ Oct. 25, 1760. 
 
 Present — The King's Most Excellent Majesty. 
 
 Viscount Falmouth. 
 Viscount Barrington. 
 
 His Royal Highness the Duke 
 
 of Cumberland. 
 Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 Duke of Leeds. 
 Duke of Newcastle. 
 Earl of Holdemesse. 
 Earl of Cholmondeley. 
 Earl Waldegrave. 
 Earl Gower. 
 
 Viscount Ligonier. 
 
 Lord Anson. 
 
 Lord Mansfield. 
 
 Mr Vice-Chamberlain. 
 
 Mr Secretary Pitt. 
 
 Henry Fox, Esq. 
 
 Sir Thomas Robinson. 
 
 • During the previous night, a detachment of dragoons " pa- 
 trolled the streets two and two, with dravon swords ; but there was 
 not the smallest disturbance." 
 
210 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 " His Majesty, at his first coming into the council, was 
 this day pleased to declare, That understanding that the law 
 requires he should, at his accession to the croAvn, take and 
 subscribe the oath relating to the security of the Church of 
 Scotland., he was now ready to do it this first opportunity : 
 which his Majesty was graciously pleased to do according 
 to the forms used by the law of Scotland, and subscribed 
 two instruments thereof in the presence of the Lords of the 
 Council, who witnessed the same ; and his Majesty was 
 pleased to order, that one of the said instruments be trans- 
 mitted to the Com-t of Session, to be recorded in the books 
 of sedei-unt, and afterwards to be forthmth lodged in the 
 public register of Scotland ; and that the other of them re- 
 main among the records of the council, and be entered in 
 the council-book." 
 
 When the Court of Session met on the 12th November, 
 the judges, clerks, advocates, ^mters to the signet, and agents, 
 took the oaths of office to the new King ; and the Lord Pre- 
 sident gave in to the Court the instrument of his INIajesty's 
 oath, relating to the security of the Church of Scotland., 
 usually taken at the accession of a king, which was ordered 
 to be recorded in the sederunt -book, and then lodged in the 
 general register ; a copy of which here follows, viz. : — 
 
 " I, George the Third, King of Great Britain, France, 
 and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., do faithfully promise 
 and swear. That I shall inviolably maintain and preserve 
 the settlement of the true Protestant religion, with the go- 
 vernment, worship, discipline, rights, and privileges of the 
 Church of Scotland, as established by the laws made there 
 in prosecution of the claim of right, and particularly by an 
 act, entitled. An act for seeming the Protestant religion and 
 Presbyterian Church government, and by the acts passed in 
 the Parliaments of both kingdoms for union of the two king- 
 doms. — So help me God." " George R." 
 
 [Witnessed and subscribed by all the Lords of the Privy 
 Council present.] 
 
 On Sunday, November 16, the royal proclamation for the 
 encouragement of virtue and the punishment of vice, was 
 read fi'om the pul^iits of all the churches in Edinburgh. 
 In the New [or High] Church, Mr Walker preached from 
 
1?60.] DEPUTATION TO LONDON. 211 
 
 Psalm vii. 9, and introduced the proclamation in the close 
 of his sermon. The Magistrates, the Lords of Session, the 
 Barons of Exchequer, and all the congregation, rose up re- 
 spectfully at the beginning, and stood all the time of the 
 reading of it. 
 
 The Commission of the General Assembly met on the 
 19th of November. The moderator (Dr Hamilton,) re- 
 ported, that he had received a letter, dated Oct. 27, from 
 the secretary to the Privy Council, relating to the prayers for 
 the royal family,* which, by the advice of sundry ministers, 
 he had notified to the several Presbyteries ; which was ap- 
 proved of. It was then resolved to address the King on his 
 accession to the throne. Having agreed on the form of the 
 address, it was resolved to send some ministers as their com- 
 missioners to present it. The question was put. Whether 
 to send three or Jive ? both these numbers having been 
 proposed, and it carried ior Jive by a great majority. Then 
 it was unanimously resolved. That the moderator, Dr Ro- 
 bert Hamilton, Professor of Divinity in the University of 
 Edinburgh, should be one of the five, and that the other 
 four should be chosen by a vote. The vote carried in fa- 
 vour of Dr George Wishart, Mr Alexander Webster, Dr 
 George Kay, and Dr John Jardine, all ministers of Edin- 
 burgh. To these five ministers the Commission unani- 
 mously joined 3Ir Gilbert Elliot, advocate, appointing them 
 their commissioners to wait on his INIajesty with their ad- 
 dress. It was likewise resolved to address the Princess- 
 Dowager of Wales, (the King's mother.) 
 
 The follomng is an abstract of the report given in by the 
 deputation to next Assembly : — " On our arrival at Lon- 
 don, we waited on his Majesty's secretaries of state, and 
 others of his ministers, being joined by Gilbert ElHot, Esq., 
 one of the Lords of the Treasury, who was named in com- 
 mission with us, and to whose assistance we were greatly 
 
 * By the order in Council, (of date 27th October,) his Majesty 
 declared his royal will and pleasure, that in all prayers for the royal 
 family, instead of the words, " Their Royal Highnesses George 
 Prince of Wales, the Princess-Dowager of Wales, the Duke, the 
 Princesses, and all the Royal Family," be inserted, " Her Royal 
 Highness the Princess-Dowager of Wales, and all the Royal Fa- 
 mily.'' 
 
212 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 indebted in the proper discharge of the trust committed to 
 us. 
 
 " As commissioners from the Church of Scotland, we 
 thought it our duty to represent, That if the precedents and 
 established forms in cases of this kind could admit of it, we 
 hoped to have the honour of presenting the address to his 
 Majesty on the throne. But upon inquiry it appeared, that 
 such audiences were only given to whole bodies or societies 
 of men, and never to their commissioners or delegates, how- 
 ever numerous, not even to deputations from both Houses 
 of ParUament.* At the same time we had the pleasure to 
 be assured, that his Majesty would receive our address with 
 particular marks of his royal regard. 
 
 " Accordingly, when we were introduced to his Majesty 
 by the Right Hon. the Earl of Holdernesse, then one of the 
 principal secretaries of state, and had the honour to present 
 the address, his Majesty was pleased to receive it in the most 
 gracious manner ; and after each of us had the honour like- 
 wise to kiss his hand, we received, as a distinguishing mark 
 of his royal favour, an answer in writing, which his Majesty 
 seldom gives, except when he receives addresses on the 
 throne." 
 
 [Here are inserted the King's and the Princess of Wales' 
 answers to the addresses, as given below, and an account of 
 the commissioners' gracious reception by her Royal High- 
 ness.]] 
 
 " We have only to add, that we had the pleasure to re- 
 ceive fi-om all his Majesty's ministers warm and repeated 
 assurances of their regard for the Church of Scotland, and 
 their hearty concern for its Avelfare and prosperity ; and that 
 the noble person who now represents his Majesty in this 
 Assembly [Lord Cathcart,] and all the other noblemen and 
 gentlemen of Scotland, members of parliament, and others 
 then at London, whom we had the honour to see, behaved 
 towards us on that occasion in such a friendly manner, as 
 gave us most agreeable impressions of their affectionate re- 
 gard to this Church/' 
 
 The following is the account which appeared in the Lon- 
 don Gazette : — 
 
 * This point of etiquette has since been departed from, both in 
 the case of the Church of Scotland and of Dissenting bodies. 
 
1760.] ADDRESS TO THE KING. 213 
 
 " St James's^ Dec. 20. — The following address of the 
 Commission of the General Assembly of the Church of Scot- 
 land, has been presented to his Majesty, by Dr Robert Ha- 
 milton, Professor of Divinity in the University of Edinbm-gh , 
 their moderator ; Dr George Wishart, Dr '•■ Alexander Web- 
 ster, Dr George Kay, Dr John Jardine, ministers of Edin- 
 burgh, and Gilbert EUiot, Esq., one of the Lords of the 
 Admiralty, and an elder of that Church. They were intro- 
 duced by the Right Hon. the Earl of Holdemesse, one of 
 his Majesty's principal secretaries of state. 
 
 " Mai/ it please your Majesty., 
 
 "• AVe, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, 
 the ministers and elders met in the Commission of the Ge- 
 neral Assembly of the Church of Scotland, humbly beg leave 
 to take this first opportunity of presenting to your Majesty 
 our sincere expressions of condolence for the loss which your 
 Majesty and the nation have sustained, by the death of our 
 late most gracious sovereign. 
 
 " "^VTien we reflect on the many eminent virtues which 
 adorned his character, and the prosperity w^e enjoyed under 
 his long and happy reign, Ave cannot but be alfected Avith 
 the deepest concern for the loss of a life so valuable and 
 important. 
 
 '• At the same time, we do most thankfully acknowledge 
 the goodness of God, who raised up a successor in that royal 
 family, which hath been so remarkably the blessing and 
 glory of these kingdoms. 
 
 " Permit us, Sir, in all humility, to approach your sacred 
 person with our most hearty congratulations upon your JMa- 
 jesty's happy accession to the croAAii of your ancestors. The 
 early discoveries you have given of that greatness of mind 
 and goodness of heart Avliich form true majesty, and insure 
 the happiness of a free people ; your gracious declaration, 
 expressing your tenderest aff*ection for this your native 
 country, and your resolution to preserve and strengthen the 
 constitution both in Church and State, are to us the surest 
 pledges of the continued prosperity and glory of Great Bri- 
 tain ; and make us reflect, with gratitude to Almighty God, 
 upon that happy period when our religion and liberties were 
 
 * He received the degree of doctor in divinity before he set out 
 for London. 
 
214 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1760. 
 
 secured by the settlement of the succession to the crown in 
 the illustrious house of Hanover. 
 
 " Rejoicing with our fellow-subjects in the security of all 
 our important interests under your Majesty's government, 
 we have a peculiar satisfaction, and an entire confidence, in 
 the solemn assurance your Majesty has given us, that you 
 will inviolably maintain and preserve the rights and privi- 
 leges of the Church of Scotland as by law established. 
 
 " Bound as we are to your Majesty by every tie of duty 
 and interest, w^e beg you to be assured of our unshaken 
 fidelity and inviolable attachment to your Majesty's person 
 and government. 
 
 " Impressed with these sentiments, we shall not fail to 
 inculcate upon the minds of a loyal people the principles of 
 duty and obedience to your Majesty, and to use our utmost 
 endeavours to promote the pious design of your royal pro- 
 clamation against profaneness and immorality. 
 
 " That the God of all grace may abundantly bless you 
 with all spiritual and temporal blessings ; that your reign 
 may be long and glorious ; that your throne may be estab- 
 lished in righteousness, and in the affections of your people ; 
 that the Lord of hosts may continue to bless your arms, and 
 those of your allies, with signal success ; that the calamities 
 of this just and necessary war may speedily terminate in an 
 honourable and lasting peace ; and that, when your Majesty 
 has acted your part -with honour and renown, as a faithful 
 servant of God upon earth, you may shine with the highest 
 glory in the heavenly kingdom, are the sincere and fervent 
 prayers of," &c. 
 
 " Robert Hamilton, Moderator. 
 
 " Edinburgh, Nov. 19, 1760." 
 
 To which address his Majesty was pleased to return the 
 foUomng most gracious answer : — 
 
 " The zeal and fidelity the Church of Scotland express 
 for my person and government, in this dutiful and loyal ad- 
 dress, are very agreeable to me ; and I thank them for it. 
 They may depend upon my constant support and protection." 
 
 The address to the Princess of Wales did not appear in 
 the Gazette, but it wa^s published in the London Chronicle 
 of December 20, as follows ; — 
 
1761.] ADDRESS TO THE kino's iMOTHER. 215 
 
 " To her Royal Highness the Princess-Dowager of Wales, 
 the humble Address of the Commission of the Ge- 
 neral Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 
 
 " May it please your Royal Highness^ 
 
 " We, the ministers and elders of the Commission of the 
 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, beg leave to 
 approach your Royal Highness with the most profound re- 
 spect. 
 
 " Whilst we condole with your Royal Highness on the 
 death of our late most gracious sovereign, permit us to ex- 
 press our congratulations on the accession of the King, your 
 son, to the imperial cro^^^l of these realms. 
 
 " His Majesty's distinguished regard to the interests of 
 religion and virtue, we consider, with gratitude to your Royal 
 Highness, as the happy fruit of your pious attention to his 
 education, and as a sure pledge of the future glory of his 
 Majesty's reign, and the happiness of his subjects. 
 
 " That your Royal Highness may be long preserved a 
 blessing to the royal family, beloved and honoured by the 
 British nation, and cro\^^led at last with glory, and honour 
 and immortality, are the most ardent prayers of," &c. 
 
 " Robert Hamilton, Moderator. 
 
 " Edinburgh, Nov. 20, 1760." 
 
 To which address her Royal Highness was pleased to re- 
 turn the following most gracious answer : — 
 
 " I return you my hearty thanks for this mark of your 
 attention to me, and of your duty to the King, my son ; 
 and you may always depend on my good wishes." 
 
 Assembly 1761. 
 
 The General Assembly met at Edinburgh on Thursday, 
 May 21. 
 
 After sermon by Dr Robert Hamilton, moderator of the 
 Assembly 1760, from Psalm cxxvi. 3, the members met in 
 the Assembly House, and chose Dr John Hyndman, one of 
 the ministers of West Kirk, moderator. 
 
 Then the Lord Advocate informed the Assembly, that a 
 commission from the King had come down, appointing a 
 
216 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1761. 
 
 Noble Lord then in Edinburgh to be his Majesty's Com- 
 missioner in this Assembly ; but the commission being ad- 
 dressed in the usual style, To the Lord Keeper of the Great 
 Seal, and that office being now vacant [by the death of the 
 late Duke of Argyle,*] and the late deputy-keeper not 
 thinking himself authorised to append the seal to any writ 
 or commission, A\dthout a special warrant for that purpose ; 
 by these accidents it had happened, that his Majesty's gra- 
 cious intention of being present by his Commissioner in this 
 first Assembly of the Church of Scotland since his happy 
 accession to the throne, could not take place in this first day 
 of their meeting ; but as an express had been despatched to 
 London, in order to obviate this stop to the expeding his 
 Majesty's commission, there was no room to doubt but that, 
 upon the return of that express, his Majesty's Commissioner 
 would be enabled to meet with this Assembly ; which, till 
 the commission was certified under the great seal, he was not 
 authorised to do. The Assembly thereupon appointed their 
 usual committees, t 
 
 On the 23d, the Assembly called for the report of the 
 ministers appointed by the Assembly 1760 to visit the High- 
 lands and Islands ; which being produced and read, a com- 
 mittee was appointed to prepare an overture from it, for 
 carr}ang the design of the visitation into execution. Then 
 the moderator, (Professor Hamilton in the chair, Dr Hynd- 
 man, the moderator of this Assembly, having himself been 
 one of the "vdsitors,) at the Assembly's desire, returned their 
 thanks to the visitors for their care and diligence in exe- 
 cuting the commission given them. And the ^asitors having 
 represented the civilities shown and assistance given them 
 by the ministers in the Highlands and the north ; the favour 
 conferred on them by the commissioners of the customs, by 
 ordering them the use of one of the King's wherries as they 
 had occasion for it ; and also the civilities shown them by 
 the officers of the army, in consequence of a letter received 
 from Lord George Beauclerc, commander-in-chief ; the mo- 
 derator, at the Assembly's desire, and in their name, re- 
 turned their thanks to such of the ministers from the High- 
 
 * Archibald, Duke of Argyle, died on the 15th of April, in his 
 80th year. 
 
 f The proceedings of the Assembly 1746, on a like occasion, 
 were somewhat different. — See the former vol., p, 83. 
 
ITfil.] NEW ERECTIONS IN THE HIGHLANDS. 217 
 
 lands and north as were present, for their kindness and 
 assistance to the visitors in the course of their \4sitation ; 
 and the Assemhly named Dr Cuming and Mr Nasmith, 
 ministers, and 3Ir Alexander 3Iurray, ruling elder, as a 
 committee to wait on the commissioners of the customs and 
 on Lord George Beauclerc, and return them the Assembly's 
 most hearty thanks for the favours and assistance given by 
 them to the \asitors. 
 
 The report of the committee was received May 30, im- 
 porting. That the committee had made out an abstract of the 
 visitors report, sho^ving the substance of it at one \aew, and 
 that they had also added to that report such information as 
 had been given in by members of the Assembly relative to 
 places in the Highlands and Islands which the visitors were 
 not instructed to visit, but which seemed to require the same 
 attention from the Assembly with the places visited ; and 
 upon the whole, the committee overtured, that from the re- 
 port it appears necessary, — 
 
 1 . That there should be about forty new erections, at the 
 places or in the parishes specified in the report, and abstract 
 of it, with a competent stipend, and a proper church, manse, 
 and glebe, to each. 
 
 2. That there should be a parochial school at each of the 
 places of new erection, with a legal salary to each school- 
 master. 
 
 3. That besides these parochial schools, there ought to be 
 erected five schools of a higher kind, for teaching the dead 
 languages, together with arithmetic, writing, and other 
 branches of Hterature, ^Wth a legal salary ; and that these 
 schools should be erected at the follo^-ing places, viz., one 
 at Arros in Mull, in Argyleshire ; one at North Uist, one in 
 the Isle of Skye, and one at Fort Augustus, (these three 
 in Tnvemess-shire,) and one at Tarbet, in Argyleshire. 
 
 4. That a copy of the report and abstract should be put 
 into the hands of the Commissioner ; and that the Assem- 
 bly should desire of his Grace to lay them before the King, 
 for his royal consideration. 
 
 5. That in the meantime, the Assembly should appoint a 
 general collection through Scotland for the maintenance of 
 students having the Irish language. 
 
 The Assembly approved of this report, appointed a collec- 
 tion to be made as mentioned in the last article, and made 
 the request to the Commissioner proposed in the 4th. In 
 
 T 
 
218 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q1761. 
 
 answer to which his Grace was pleased to undertake to lay 
 the report of the visitors, and the abstract of it, before the 
 King. 
 
 On a representation by the Presbjrtery of Garioch, in re- 
 lation to a simoniacal paction betmxt Mr Urquhart of Mel- 
 drum, pati'on, and Mr Likly, minister of the parish of Mel- 
 drum^ (who, before he was settled as assistant and successor 
 to his father in that parish, had granted an obligatory letter 
 for £50 Sterling to the patron, payable two years after his 
 father's death, which sura the patron is now claiming pay- 
 ment of,) the Assembly, on Monday, May 25, unanimously 
 appointed the procurator and agent of the Church, at the 
 public charge, to appear in defence of Mr Likly, in case the 
 patron shall pursue him for payment of the £50. 
 
 As this case created much interest throughout the Church, 
 and especially in the north, we present the followdng papers 
 in illustration of it. 
 
 JMr Likly, conceiving that the act of Assembly 1759 
 against simony, rendered it imperative on him to communi- 
 cate the transaction to the Presbytery, laid the circumstances 
 before them in November 1760. They instructed their mo- 
 derator to address Mr Urquhart, the patron, who sent in 
 reply the following letter : — 
 
 Aberdeen, Dec. 5, 1760. 
 
 Rev. Sir,— lam favoured with the Presbytery's letter of the 
 26th ult., subscribed by you as their moderator, concerning the case 
 laid before them by Mr John Likly at their last meeting ; and I 
 give you the trouble of my answer, which you will be pleased to 
 communicate to your brethren. 
 
 I reckon myself obliged to the Reverend Presbytery for the jus- 
 tice they do me, in allowing me an opportunity of vindicating my- 
 self before they come to any resolution ; and I shall therefore give 
 them a full and genuine account of the whole affair. 
 
 What favours I have done Mr Likly and his family are known to 
 himself ; I do not choose to mention them particularly ; I shall only 
 say in general, that when it was in my power to show him any marks 
 of friendship, or do him real service, I never missed an occasion. 
 
 In the year 1741, Mr Henry Likly, minister at Meldrum, finding 
 himself (through age and infirmity,) unable to discharge all the 
 duties of his office, inclined to have an assistant ; and his eldest 
 son being then a preacher, it was natural to employ him rather than 
 a stranger, which being intimate to me, I not only approved of it, 
 but proposed that the son should be settled as successor to the 
 father, and have the survivance ; and for this end wrote a letter to 
 
1761.] CASE OF LIKLY OF MELDRUM. 219 
 
 the Presbytery, ceding my right of presentation for that vice, and 
 consenting to the moderation of a call, whicli was accordingly ap- 
 pointed ; and I procured an unanimous call to Mr John Likly, who 
 was soon after ordained and settled in consequence of it. 
 
 But previous to this, I had represented to Mr John Likly, that 
 I, as patron, would have right to the disposal of any vacant stipends 
 that would become due after his father's death, for pious uses with- 
 in the parish, in case no interim settlement were made ; and it 
 would be unreasonable that the parish should lose that benefit, and 
 I the application of the money, or that my kindness and good- will 
 for him should prejudge any right to which 1, as patron, was en- 
 titled by law ; and therefore I gave him the scroll of a letter, which 
 I desired he might write over with his own hand, narrating what 
 is above mentioned, and therefore discharging any right to the first 
 year's stipend after his father's death, and the payment of the ann 
 to his executors. And he having advised with some of his friends, 
 and those he put trust in, told me, that though he was sensible that 
 what was proposed was highly reasonable, yet he was afraid his 
 granting a letter in these terms might be misconstructed, and ex- 
 pose him to the censure of the Presbytery, if it should happen to 
 come to their knowledge ; and therefore he offered me a holograph 
 letter, obliging himself to pay to me £50 Sterling, (being one year's 
 stipend, reckoning the victual at the conversion,) at the end of one 
 year and a half or two years after his father's death ; and so cautious 
 was he, that he gives no date to the letter, that it might not appear 
 to be granted at tho time of his admission and settlement. Although 
 1 did not think Mr Likly's scruples well-founded, or that there was 
 any thing unlawful in what I myself had proposed, yet, to satisfy 
 him, 1 departed from it, and accepted of the letter he made offer of. 
 
 Some time after, although I was uncertain when this money 
 would become due and payable to me, I applied £50 and upwards 
 out of my o^^^l pocket, for building a steeple to the town-house of 
 Old Meldrum, and purchasing a clock and bell for it, which 1 had 
 no doubt was a p'o«5 use within the meaning of the law, as well as 
 building bridges, which is expressly named in the act of parliament ; 
 and as this bell is the only one that has been used these several 
 years for convening the parishioners to the church, it seems to be 
 both a public and a pious use. 
 
 In the year 1755, when the minister's manse was to be repaired, 
 Mr John Forbes, my factor, told me, that if 1 would give up the 
 letter above mentioned, Mr John Likly would pay the expense of 
 the reparations out of his own pocket ; and although I cannot be 
 positive that„Mr Forbes said he had authoiity from Mr Likly for 
 making this offer, yet it is not to be supposed he would have done 
 
 it without his knowledge and approbation But I would not 
 
 hearken to this proposal, because I reckoned this money belonged 
 to myself alone, as being formerly laid out for a pious use ; and I 
 was only bound to pay the half of the expense of the reparations. 
 And soon after this time, Mr John Likly and I happening to talk 
 on this subject, he said he remembered the letter very well, and 
 
220 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [^1761, 
 
 did not speak of it as a thing he thought wrong, or repented of; so 
 that I never doubted of its being paid when it should fall due. 
 
 In July last old Mr Likly died ; and then I sent to Mr John Likly, 
 and proposed he might retire his letter, and give a bill for the mo- 
 ney, payable at the time it becomes due. But this he refused, and 
 said he had done the thing rashly, and for his own safety he was 
 obliged to communicate the whole affair to the Presbytery, who 
 probably would forbid his making payment of it ; and if they should 
 proceed to depose him, he did not doubt that Bethelnie, to whom 
 the right of patronage now belongs, would give him a new presen- 
 tation, by which he apprehended Meldrum would be deprived of 
 any pretence for asking payment of this money. After this I did 
 not intend to say any more about it, until the term of payment fixed 
 in the letter should elapse ; but about the beginning of last month, 
 I received a letter from Mr Likly, acquainting me that he was to 
 lay the affair before the Presbytery at their first meeting, and ask- 
 ing a copy of the letter for that purpose. In answer to which I 
 desired Mr Forbes, my factor, to acquaint him, that he might do 
 whatever he thought best, and would conduce most for his interest ; 
 but that I saw no occasion for sending a copy of the letter, as he 
 no doubt remembered the contents of it. However, for the Pres- 
 bytery's satisfaction, an exact copy of it is subjoined. 
 
 Thus I have given an ample and fair detail of the whole trans- 
 action, which I affirm, upon the word of a gentleman and a Chris- 
 tian, to be strictly true ; and as the truth of all the particulars are 
 consistent wdth Mr Likly 's own knowledge, I dare say he mil not 
 refuse or contradict any one of them. 
 
 I hope therefore the Reverend Presbytery wdll see, that nothing 
 unfair was intended upon my part ; and wall not countenance or 
 encourage one of their members in refusing payment of a just debt, 
 which I humbly think is well founded both in law and equity. But 
 if they shall be of a different opinion, and resolve to support him 
 in it, I must be excused to defend myself, and endeavour to main- 
 tain my right in the best manner I can. — I am, Rev. Sir, yours and 
 the Presbytery's most obedient humble servant, W. Urquhart. 
 
 To the Ret. Mr James Chalmers, Minister of the} 
 Gospel at Daviot, — to be communicate. y 
 
 Copy of Mr John Liklfs Letter. 
 
 Honoured Sir, — At the end of one year and a half, or two years, 
 after my father's death, I hereby oblige myself to pay to you, at 
 your own house of Meldrum, the sum of fifty pounds Sterling mo- 
 ney. And I beg you'll accept of this my holograph letter, as suffi- 
 cient security for the same, which I hereby declare to be obligatory, 
 although I may have mistaken in the form. The many obligations 
 you have already laid me under, in the frankest and most obliging 
 manner, encourages me to expect this other favour. — I am, with 
 the greatest sincerity, and highest regard, honoured Sir, your most 
 obliged and most humble servant, John Likly. 
 
1761.] CASE OF LIKLY OF MELDRUM. 221 
 
 The Presbytery, after privately rebuking Mr Likly, ad- 
 dressed to the Assembly the following representation : — 
 
 Unto the Very Reverend the Moderator and remanent Members of the 
 Venerable Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Representation of 
 the Presbytery of Garioch ; 
 
 Humbly Sheiceth,— That whereas, by act 8. Ass. 1759, the Pres- 
 byteries of this Church are ordained to lay a representation before 
 the General Assembly, of any simoniacal paction or practice within 
 their bounds, that the procurator for the Church may have orders 
 to raise and carry on a process of reduction of such bargains or ob- 
 ligations before the Court of Session ; and whereas Mr John Likly, 
 minister of Old Meldrum, from an apprehension of the duty incum- 
 bent on him, in consequence of the said act, did represent to the 
 said Presbytery of Garioch, in November last, a transaction of his 
 with Mr Urquhart of Meldrum, patron of the said parish, in which, 
 by his holograph letter, in the year 1741, he obliges himself to pay 
 the sum of fifty pounds Sterling to the said patron, in a year and 
 an half or two years after the death of the deceased Mr Henry Likly, 
 his father, at that time minister at Old Meldrum, and to whom his 
 son, the said Mr John Likly, was at that time settled assistant and 
 successor ; and whereas the said Mr Henry Likly died only in July 
 last, and the said deed is not yet implemented ; and whereas the 
 Presbytery did acquaint the said Mr Urquhart of Meldrum of the 
 said representation to them, that he might have an opportunity to 
 acquaint the Presbytery of any thing that he might judge to be ma- 
 terial relative to that affair ; and he having accordingly wrote to 
 the Presbytery, acquainting them of all he judged necessary on that 
 subject ; and whereas, on comparing Mr Likly's representation and 
 the said letter together, the Presbytery did find the following facts 
 to be acknowledged on both sides : — 
 
 1. That the letter is in the following terms. — (See preceding page.) 
 
 2. That though the letter bears no date, nevertheless it was 
 granted much about the time of Mr Likly's ordination as colleague 
 and successor to his father. 
 
 3. That though no onerous cause is mentioned, yet that the said 
 obligation was granted and demanded as a compensation to the said 
 patron or parish, for the loss of vacant stipend which he or they 
 might sustain through that manner of settlement. 
 
 4. That the sum of fifty pounds Sterling money, which Mr Likly 
 has bound himself to pay to the patron, is equal to the amount of 
 one whole year's stipend of the said parish, including the commu- 
 nion element money, and without any deduction of the taxation for 
 the widows' fund, to which vacant stipends are subjected. 
 
 And whereas the Presbytery, having fully and maturely consi- 
 dered the said afiair, and being of opinion, that the design of the 
 law in appointing stipends was for the maintenance of the ministry, 
 in order to the regular administration of Gospel ordinances in pa- 
 rishes ; so that, when circumstances permit a settlement to be made 
 
 T 2 
 
222 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ql76I. 
 
 in a parish, without giving time for vacant stipend, this must, in 
 the eye of the law, as well as reason, appear to be a benefit and not 
 a loss to that parish ; and the Presbytery being also of opinion, 
 that the patron has no right to the vacant stipend as his property, 
 and that he has only a trust, to dispose of them to pious uses, when 
 there happens to be any vacant, which is also merely casual ; so 
 that, in justice, he can allege no loss to himself by the want of va- 
 cant stipend, and consequently, that this supposed loss can be no 
 sufficient onerous cause for an incumbent to oblige himself to pay 
 any sum of money to a patron : Therefore, the Presbytery unani- 
 mously found, that the letter granted by Mr Likly, by which he 
 obliges himself to pay fifty pounds Sterling to the patron, being 
 acknowledged on both sides to have been granted in consequence 
 of the consent given by the patron to his settlement, and in order 
 to make up the supposed loss of vacant stipend, appeared to them 
 to be a simoniacal deed, and that it is their duty to lay this case 
 before the General Assembly, in terms of act 8. Ass. 1759, that the 
 Assembly may give such orders to their procurator thereanent as 
 they shall see cause : And further, the Presbytery were of opinion, 
 that Mr Likly cannot homologate the said deed, by commuting the 
 security, or any other way implementing the same, till the mind of 
 the General Assembly be known thereanent, or he be otherwise 
 compelled in due course of law, without manifestly exposing him- 
 self to the highest censure : Therefore, in obedience to the said 
 act of Assembly 1759, they appointed this representation of the 
 said affair to be laid before the next General Assembly, that they 
 may do therein as to them in their great wisdom shall seem meet. 
 And this representation is, in name, presence, and by appointment 
 of the said Presbytery, signed by 
 
 James Chalmers, Moderator. 
 
 Follows, a Copy of the Letter from the Rev. the Presbytery of Garioch 
 to the Moderator of the General AssenMy, which accompanied the 
 above Bepresentation. 
 
 Very Rev. Sir, — The Presbytery of Garioch have transmitted 
 to the General Assembly a case of simony which has happened 
 within their bounds, and they beg leave to entreat of the Assembly 
 to take that affair under their most serious consideration, as they are 
 humbly of opinion, that it makes some further explication necessary 
 of the acts of Assembly on that subject. 
 
 Though the Presbytery were of opinion, that the transaction, 
 however veiled, was truly simoniacal, and have censured Mr Likly 
 according as the circumstances of his case seemed to require, yet 
 they were informed that some eminent lawyers were of opinion that 
 the transaction was valid in law, on account of a supposed onerous 
 cause, viz., a compensation for the want of vacant stipend, on which 
 it is acknowledged to have been founded. This circumstance, in- 
 
1761.] CASE OF LIKLY OF MELDRUM. 223 
 
 stead of deterring the Presbytery from troubling the Venerable As- 
 sembly with this transaction, rather determined them so to do, that 
 they might thus put in the Assembly's view a method which, if au- 
 thorised or disregarded, might introduce a train of simoniacal deeds, 
 under the guise of legal transactions, and that the Assembly might 
 take such proper steps for giving a check to such pernicious prac- 
 tices, as to them may seem meet. Though cases circumstanced in 
 all respects as the present cannot oft occur, because settlements of 
 "c^ikoorues and successors are but rare, yet if a compensation for loss 
 of vacant stipend be in general admitted as a legal onerous cause, 
 as the duration of vacancies is quite indefinite, a patron can never 
 want a legal pretence for a simoniacal deed in any settlement, by 
 alleging that he ought to have had more vacant stipend, and that 
 this loss must be compensated. How far these deeds might be 
 found good in civil courts, the Presbytery are far from pretending 
 to judge, but hope they will be excused for representing a matter 
 to the Assembly, the consequences of which appear to them so 
 alarming. 
 
 As avidity sets ingenuity constantly to work to find out disguises 
 for these simoniacal transactions, the Presbytery beg leave humbly 
 to submit to the wisdom of the Venerable Assembly, whether or 
 not, besides giving the orders directed by the Assembly 1759, if so 
 they shall think proper, and explaining that act, so as specially to 
 comprehend all transactions founded on a compensation for loss of 
 vacant stipend, under the denomination of simoniacal deeds, they 
 will not also see fit in general to declare, that all lucrative deeds 
 done in consequence of a patron or heritor's giving consent to a 
 settlement for an onerous cause, not legally binding on the candi- 
 date before the said deeds were granted, however they may be 
 binding in law after they are granted, shall be deemed simoniacal. 
 The Presbytery did not think it expedient to trouble the Assembly 
 with a tedious extract of papers, but rather chose simply to represent 
 the material facts which they found acknowledged on both sides, 
 as they were all on which the Presbytery could found their judgment. 
 But lest the Assembly should incline to see the representation and 
 letters to the Presbytery, they have also appointed attested copies 
 of them to be in readiness to be produced when called for. This, 
 in name, presence, and by appointment of the Presbytery, is sub- 
 scribed by 
 
 James Chalmers, Moderator.* 
 Chapel of Garioch, 
 Aug. 1, 1761. 
 
 * A letter from Mr Urquhart, attacking the Assembly's decision, may be seen 
 in a short-lived periodical, called the Aberdetn Magazine (conducted by Francis 
 Douglas,) for the year 1761, p. 385. He complains, that though Mr Likly was full 
 twenty-five years of age when he signed the obligation, he took no qualm of con- 
 science about it till after his father's death, (twenty years after,) when the term 
 of payment became fixed. Mr Likly's reply is in the same Magazine, at p. 474. 
 He grounds his defence on the act of Assembly 1759. For a discussion of the 
 points of casuistry involved in the case, the reader may consult the Scots Magazine 
 for 1761, pp. 467, 622, and the Aberdeen Magaxin", p. 539. 
 
224 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1761. 
 
 The same day, the following overture for preventing the 
 dilapidation of stipends, was transmitted from the com- 
 mittee for overtm*es, viz. : — " The General Assembly enjoin 
 the several Presbyteries of this Church to take an exact ac- 
 count, on the place, of the extent of the stipend, glebe, grass, 
 and other emoluments, belonging to every minister \\ithin 
 their bounds, and record the same with accuracy in the 
 Presbytery books, so that every succeeding incumbent may 
 see at once what he is entitled to, and Presbyteries may be 
 the better able to give a check to any dilapidations which 
 may be attempted." Which overture being read, the As- 
 sembly agreed to transmit it to the consideration of the 
 Presbyteries, mth this addition, — " That where a minister is 
 possessed of more glebes than one, and has been in use of 
 letting the glebe or glebes most remote from his manse, that 
 such glebe or glebes shall, in all time coming, after the boun- 
 daries and limits thereof are ascertained as above directed, 
 be let only by tack, in which the extent and marches thereof 
 shall be particularly set forth, and the same lodged with the 
 Presbytery clerk." 
 
 In return to the express sent to London, one of the King's 
 messengers arrived at Edinburgh on Monday the 25th, with 
 his Majesty's wari'ant to the late deputy-keeper of the Great 
 Seal, to append the seal to the commission. Next day, 
 (Tuesday, the 26th,) Lord Cathcart assumed the dignity of 
 Commissioner ; and " being accompanied by a great number 
 of noblemen and gentlemen, and attended by a splendid 
 retinue, his Grace walked in procession from his lodgings to 
 the High Church aisle, the street being lined by the city 
 guard, and several companies of General Holmes' regiment." 
 After the usual formalities, he produced the King's com- 
 mission, duly sealed, constituting liim his Majesty's High 
 Commissioner and representative in this Assembly ; which 
 was read, and ordered to be recorded. His Grace then pre- 
 sented the King's letter to the Assembly, which was likewise 
 read, and ordered to be recorded. It is as follows : — 
 
 To the Right Reverend and Well-beloted the Moderator, Ministers, and 
 Elders of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 
 
 George R. 
 
 Right reverend and well-beloved, we greet you well. Having 
 
1761.] THE king's LETTER. 225 
 
 the most perfect confidence, as well in your loyalty and affection 
 to our person and government, as in your zeal for the encourage- 
 ment of virtue and piety, we take this first opportunity of assuring 
 you of our fixed purpose and resolution to support the Presbyterian 
 Church of Scotland in the full enjoyment of its rights and privileges, 
 as by law established. 
 
 At the same time, as we have no doubt of your coming together 
 in the best intentions to promote the happiness of our reign, and 
 the true interest of the Church whereof you are members, we have 
 a particular satisfaction in countenancing your present meeting with 
 our royal authority. 
 
 The many and repeated proofs which your former Assemblies 
 have given of their wisdom, prudence, and temper, are an earnest 
 to us of the moderation which we may expect from you, in avoiding 
 all unnecessary debates and contentions amongst yourselves, and 
 giving your whole attention to the means of advancing true reli- 
 gion, and the service of Almighty God. 
 
 The preventing as much as possible the growth of Popery, and 
 suppressing of vice and immorality to the utmost of your power, are 
 objects of so great consequence, that you may be fully assured of 
 our ready concurrence with you in whatever may tend to the at- 
 tainment of this desirable end. 
 
 And as you cannot but be affected with the most sensible plea- 
 sure in reflecting upon the present undisturbed tranquillity and 
 freedom which you enjoy, in common with the rest of our good 
 subjects of Scotland, we are persuaded you will think it of the 
 highest moment, to infuse into the minds of the people under your 
 charge, such principles and such a spirit as may be best adapted to 
 the security of our happy constitution, and their own most valuable 
 interest. 
 
 We have appointed our right trusty and well-beloved Charles, 
 Lord Cathcart, to represent our royal person in this Assembly, 
 being well satisfied wnth his loyalty, integrity, and zeal for our 
 service. You have before .had experience of his abilities for the 
 discharge of this important trust which we now confer upon him, 
 and of his particular afiection to the Church of Scotland, and con- 
 cern for its prosperity ; so that we have the greatest reason to be- 
 lieve, that our choice of him, upon this occasion, will be most 
 agreeable to you. 
 
 There is nothing more remaining, but to acquaint you with our 
 hopes, that the charity, brotherly love, and unanimity of your pro- 
 ceedings in the business before you, will bring this your meeting to 
 as happy a conclusion as that of any former Assembly. And so we 
 bid you heartily farewell. 
 
 Given at our Court at St James's, the 6th day of May 1761, 
 in the first year of our reign. 
 
 By his Majesty's command. 
 
 Bute. 
 
226 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1761. 
 
 Then the Commissioner made the following speech to the 
 Assembly : — 
 
 Right Rev. and Right Hon., 
 
 You were informed by a very honourable and worthy servant of 
 the Crown, that his Majesty's not being present amongst you by a 
 Commissioner, as usual, on the first day of your meeting, was ow- 
 ing to a very particular incident, and not to any want of regard, or 
 even of attention, in his Majesty towards you. I hope this infor- 
 nqation gave you the satisfaction it was meant it should ; and I am 
 very glad it is now in my power to do myself the honour and plea- 
 sure to confirm it to you. 
 
 I had his Majesty's orders to take the earliest opportunity of as- 
 suring you of his entire satisfaction in your conduct in former As- 
 semblies, and of enforcing to you the sense his Majesty is pleased 
 to entertain of your aflfectionfor his person, and zeal for his service 
 and government. I was likewise commanded to repeat to you, in 
 his Majesty's name, those assurances which he has been pleased to 
 give you in his most gracious letter, of his resolution to maintain 
 Presbyterian government in this part of his united kingdom, and to 
 support the Church of Scotland, as established by law, in the pos- 
 session and enjoyment of all her rights and privileges. 
 
 His Majesty, greatly sensible of the advantages which have arisen 
 both to religion and to government, from the application you have 
 made in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, of the annual do- 
 nations which his royal immediate predecessors have given for the 
 propagation of Christian knowledge, and of the principles of the 
 Reformed religion, hi those remote parts of this kingdom, has been 
 pleased to grant the sum of £1000 for his donation for this year, 
 to be applied by you to the same purposes ; and has commanded 
 me to give you a warrant on his exchequer for that sum, which I 
 have the honour to deliver to you. 
 
 Right Rev. and Right Hon., 
 Since I had last the honour of meeting you here, it has pleased 
 Almighty God to put a period to the Ufe and reign of our late most 
 excellent sovereign. I need not, I am sure, remind this Assembly 
 of the many and great advantages the nation uninterruptedly enjoyed 
 under the long and most mild administration of his late Majesty, 
 nor of the particular share which this National Church always pos- 
 sessed of his honour, of his approbation, and of his royal munificence ; 
 the continuance of which I had the honour, in your last meeting, to 
 give you the strongest assurances of, by his Majesty's express com- 
 mand. I am convinced this unexpected and most awful stroke of 
 Providence must have made upon your hearts, at the time it hap- 
 pened, those impressions which were natural and proper upon an 
 occasion so affecting ; and if I now endeavour to renew them for a 
 moment in your breasts, it is because in the place where I have the 
 honour to stand, this place where formerly I have so often stood as 
 a servant of his late Majesty, I feel myself called upon to do so, by 
 
1761.] THE MODERATORS SPEECH. 227 
 
 the voice of duty and of gratitude, with an impulse not to be re- 
 sisted. 
 
 But having paid to the honoured memory of my late royal master 
 this small tribute of praise, of affection, and of concern, there re- 
 mains a more animating part of my office ; it remains that I should 
 congratulate my happy country, which I do from the bottom of my 
 heart, that a prince, British by his birth, British by his education, 
 and British by every virtue, every thought, wish, and inclination, 
 now fills the British throne. It is not now the time, nor the place, 
 to commemorate the many gracious acts, public and private, by 
 which this most auspicious reign has been opened, and which serve 
 demonstrably to prove the firmness of the King's character, as well 
 as the gentleness of his nature, his affection for his people, his re- 
 gard for the constitution, his deep sense of religios, and his zeal to 
 promote in others, both by the weight of his authority, and by his 
 own example, the love and practice of virtue and of true piety ; but 
 were it possible to conceive there could be a man in this Assembly, 
 who had passed his time so remote from all intelligence, that the 
 fame of these joyful truths had never reached him, to him I would 
 recommend to form his judgment upon them from the contents of 
 the gracious letter from his Majesty, which I have just had the ho- 
 nour to deliver to you. From that letter, all the King's subjects 
 in Scotland %vill easily see what they may hope and expect from his 
 Majesty ; and from that letter this Assembly may very clearly per- 
 ceive what his Majesty wishes, and does expect from them. That 
 being the case, I have nothing to add, but the assurances of my own 
 great desire to be useful and assisting to you, by every opportunity 
 of serving you, which the high trust his Majesty is at present pleased 
 to repose in me, may furnish me with ; and I will rest assured, from 
 former experience, that your conduct will be such in this Assembly 
 as will enable me, at the close of it, to make that report of your 
 proceedings to the King which will be most agreeable to his Ma- 
 jesty, and most for the advantage and for the honour of the Church 
 of Scotland. 
 
 To this speech the moderator, in name of the Assembly, 
 made the following return : — 
 
 May it phase your Grace, 
 
 The account which the Lord Advocate, by your direction, was 
 pleased to give us of the reasons which hindered your Grace from 
 honouring the first meeting of this Assembly with your presence, 
 gave most entire satisfaction to all its members ; and we are now 
 extremely happy to b&hold his Majesty's person represented by your 
 Grace, and the Assembly fully countenanced with the royal autho- 
 rity and favour. 
 
 Since the last General Assembly of this Church was holden in 
 this place, it hath pleased Almighty God to call out of this world 
 our late most gracious king ; an event most sincerely lamented by 
 
228 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1761. 
 
 all his faithful subjects, and by none more than by the members of 
 the Church of Scotland. 
 
 It was with reverence, and the deepest affliction of spirit, that we 
 contemplated this awful dispensation of Divine Providence, in re- 
 moving out of this mortal life a sovereign, whose justice, integrity, 
 and magnanimity ; whose love to his people, whose inviolable re- 
 gard to the constitution and laws of this realm, had long enthroned 
 him in our hearts, and had rendered him the most beloved of princes. 
 At the same time that we had the highest reason to bless the Al- 
 mighty, who had so long preserved to us the precious life of a great 
 monarch, under whose mild and happy government this nation, and 
 this Church, had so remarkably flourished, we considered the death 
 of our good King as a loud call from heaven to humble ourselves 
 before God, and to acknowledge that we had been the unworthy 
 receivers of so many great and distinguished blessings. With the 
 most lasting affection we will record in our hearts the memory of 
 this excellent prince, who reigned beloved, who died lamented by 
 all, who died full of days and full of honour, and whom posterity 
 will always rank in the number of the greatest and the best of kings. 
 But these clouds of melancholy and distress which oppressed our 
 hearts, were (thanks to the King of heaven,) soon and happily dis- 
 pelled, by the accession of one of our late sovereign's royal race to 
 the throne of these realms. With the most devout and grateful 
 hearts, we adore the providence of God, who hath raised up a 
 prince, not far advanced in years, but mature in wisdom and in 
 virtue, a native of these realms, and who glories in the name of 
 Briton, to reign over a free, loyal, united, and happy people. 
 
 It is with the highest pleasure that we join the general voice of 
 his subjects, in extolling the piety, and the many princely virtues 
 which adorn our illustrious King. Secure and happy we esteem 
 ourselves in the possession of all our religious and civil blessings, 
 under the government of a sovereign, whose love to religion, and 
 to the liberties of Great Britain, is of the most distinguished kind. 
 
 May it please your Grace, 
 
 The declarations of his Majesty's favour and protection to the 
 Church of Scotland, which he hath been pleased to communicate 
 in his most gracious letter, and of which your Grace hath so fully 
 assured us, give us the most sincere pleasure, as they do us the 
 greatest honour. In a prince whose life is an example of piety and 
 virtue to his subjects, " who is a terror to evil-doers, and a praise 
 to them that do well," the members of the Church of Scotland rest 
 assured they shall always find a friend, a protector, and a father. 
 
 His Majesty's royal donation of ^1000 for the reformation of the 
 Highlands and Islands, we accept with all thankfulness. We con- 
 sider it as one of the many proofs he hath already given of his pa- 
 ternal regard to his people, and of the tender respect he hath for 
 their spiritual and most important concerns ; and we will endeavour 
 so to apply this donation, as that, by the blessing of God, it may 
 answer the pious and generous purposes for which it is bestowed. 
 
1701.]] ANSWER TO THE KING's LETTER. 229 
 
 May it please your G-race, 
 It is with very great truth and pleasure I assure you, that no- 
 thing could he more acceptable to us, and to the whole Church of 
 Scotland, than the choice his Majesty has made of your Grace to 
 represent his royal person in this Assembly. The long experience 
 we have had of your Grace's great abilities to discharge the duties 
 of this high station, your steady attention to, and warm zeal for, 
 the true interests of the Church of Scotland ; and, above all, my 
 Lord, the virtues which adorn your life, and your well-known re- 
 gard for the doctrines and institutions of the Gospel, mark out your 
 Grace as the proper representative of such a prince, and as emi- 
 nently well qualified to preside in a National Assembly, where the 
 interests of piety and loyalty are to be consulted. I hope your 
 Grace may be assured, that the proceedings of this Assembly -will 
 be such as shall give pleasure to our sovereign, to your Gi'ace, and 
 to every good man ; and that they will testify, that we are the 
 faithful servants of the King of kings, and at the same time most 
 dutiful and loyal subjects to the best of princes. 
 
 A committee was then appointed to draw an answer to 
 his Majesty's letter. After which a motien was made, and 
 unanimously approved of, that the Assembly should address 
 his Majesty on his accession to the throne ; and a committee 
 was named to draw it up. Draughts of these were next day 
 presented, read, and approved of; and the moderator was 
 appointed to transmit them to the Earl of Bute, one of the 
 principal secretaries of state. The Commissioner undertook 
 to transmit them. 
 
 The Answer of the General Assembly to the King's Letter, transmitted 
 to and presented by the Earl of Bute. 
 
 May it please your Majesty, 
 
 Your Majesty's most gracious letter to this first General Assem- 
 bly of the Church of Scotland which hath had the happiness to 
 meet since the beginning of your Majesty's most auspicious reign, 
 we received \vith the greatest joy, and do acknowledge with the 
 utmost gratitude. 
 
 Your Majesty's being pleased, in so gracious a manner, to take 
 this first opportunity of assuring us of your fixed purpose and re- 
 solution to support the Church of Scotland in the full enjoyment* 
 of all its rights and privileges, as by law established, is a most en- 
 dearing testimony of your royal favour to us, which we humbly 
 accept of with the greatest thankfulness, and rely upon with the 
 firmest confidence, as esteeming your Majesty's royal protection to 
 be, under God, our greatest security. Your Majesty does us the 
 greatest honour, when you are pleased to express the most perfect 
 confidence in our loyalty and affection to your person and govern- 
 
 U 
 
230 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [[1761. 
 
 meiit, and in our zeal for the encouragement of virtue and piety ; 
 and it shall be our constant care, through divine assistance, so to 
 acquit ourselves upon every occasion, as that your Majesty may 
 never have reason to entertain a less favourable opinion of this 
 Church. These sentiments are deeply rooted in our hearts, and 
 we shall most cheerfully embrace every opportunity of expressing 
 them. 
 
 Your Majesty's countenancing our present meeting with your 
 royal authority, we take as a great blessing from God, and a most 
 engaging evidence of your Majesty's royal goodness. To promote 
 the happiness of your Majesty's reign, and the true interests of this 
 Church, are great and desirable ends, which we are bound always 
 to have in view; and we should be most unworthy of your Ma- 
 jesty's favour, and of the character we bear, if we had not the best 
 disposition to contribute to them all in our power. 
 
 The mention your Majesty is pleased to make of the many and 
 repeated proofs which our former General Assemblies have given 
 of their wisdom, prudence, and temper, shows us your Majesty's 
 kind inclination to approve what hath been done by others before 
 us according to their duty, and is a great incitement to us to follow 
 the good example of those with whom your Majesty hath the good- 
 ness to express yourself so well satisfied. We are sensible how 
 much disputes and contentions among ourselves would give advan- 
 tage to those who are enemies to the peace and prosperity of your 
 Majesty's government, upon which our own welfare, under God, 
 does depend ; and we humbly acknowledge your Majesty's fatherly 
 tenderness for us, in being pleased to caution us against them, and 
 ill recommending to us the giving our whole attention to the means 
 of advancing true religion, and the service of Almighty God. We 
 pray and hope, that the good Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of 
 love and peace, %vill assist us to despatch all our business with that 
 unanimity, brotherly love, and charity, which becomes the servants 
 of the Prince of peace, and which is so necessary to the bringing of 
 our meeting, at this time, to a happy conclusion. 
 
 We cannot but thankfully acknowledge your Majesty's royal 
 wisdom and watchful care, in calling upon us to prevent, as much 
 as possible, the growth of Popery, and the suppressing of vice and 
 immorality to the utmost of our power ; and the assurance your 
 Majesty gives us of your ready concurrence in whatever may tend 
 to the attainment of so desirable ends, is at once the greatest en- 
 couragement and obligation for us to exert ourselves in the most 
 vigorous manner for accomplishing them. 
 
 The present undisturbed tranquillity and freedom we enjoy in 
 common wdth the rest of your Majesty's good subjects, excite in us 
 the most sensible pleasure ; and it shall always be our principal care 
 to make the people under our charge deeply sensible of the many 
 great and invaluable blessings they now enjoy under your Majesty's 
 wise government and administration ; and to infuse into them those 
 principles of piety and loyalty, on which the security of their own 
 most invaluable interests entirely depend. 
 
1761.] ADDRESS TO THE KING. 231 
 
 To this we are greatly animated by your royal proclamation in 
 the beginning of your reign, and in a special manner by your princely 
 donation to this General Assembly, for promoting the knowledge 
 and practice of religion in the Highlands and Islands, and places 
 where Popery and ignorance prevails. For this we beg leave to 
 return your Majesty our most humble and grateful acknowledg- 
 ments, and earnestly pray that God may abundantly reward you for 
 so great a charity ; and we shall take the most effectual care faith- 
 fully to apply it to the pious purposes for which it is granted by 
 your Majesty. 
 
 Lord Cathcart hath given such eminent proofs of his loyalty, in- 
 tegrity, and zeal for your Majesty's service, and of his abilities, on 
 many former occasions, for the discharge of this important trust, 
 which your Majesty has reposed in him, and of his most affectionate 
 concern for the prosperity and happiness of this Church, as render 
 your Majesty's choice of him to represent your royal person in this 
 Assembly, most acceptable and obliging to us ; and vve humbly ac- 
 knowledge it as a particular evidence of your Majesty's goodness. 
 
 That the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ may long 
 preserve your Majesty to be a blessing to these lands, the guardian 
 of our liberties, civil and sacred, and the support of the Protestant 
 interest ; that he may bless your Majesty's arms in the just and ne- 
 cessary war in which you are now engaged, for vindicating the 
 honour of your crown, and redressing the injuries done to your 
 subjects ; and that he may prosper all your Majesty's endeavours 
 for restoring the peace, and preserving the liberties of Europe ; 
 that he may bless the Princess-Dowager of Wales, and all the 
 branches of your royal family ; that there may never be wanting 
 one of your most illustrious house to fill the throne of these king- 
 doms to latest ages ; and that, after a long and happy reign, over a 
 free and dutiful people, you may exchange an earthly for a heavenly 
 crown, are and shall be, the sincere and hearty prayers of, may it 
 please your Majesty, your Majesty's most faithful, most obedient, 
 and most loyal subjects, the Ministers and Elders met in this Na- 
 tional Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 
 
 Signed in our name, in our presence, and at our appointment, 
 by John Hyndman, Moderator. 
 
 Edinburgh, May 27, 1761. 
 
 The AssetMy's Address on the King's Accession^ likewise transmitted to 
 and presented by the Earl of Bute. 
 
 May it please your Majesty, 
 We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the ministers 
 and elders of the Church of Scotland, as we heartily approve the 
 conduct of the Commission of the late Assembly, in congratulating 
 your Majesty's auspicious accession to the throne of your ancestors, 
 so we embrace with pleasure this first opportunity which our meet- 
 ing together in a National Assembly affords us, of expressing our 
 own joy on account of an event so happy for Great Britain. 
 
232 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1761. 
 
 The many blessings which we had enjoyed, during so long a tract 
 of time, under the mild and paternal government of your royal 
 grandfather, gave us the highest reason to join in that deep and 
 universal sorrow which filled the nation on his death. The me- 
 mory of so just and gracious a sovereign, whose counsels and arms 
 were so remarkably blessed by the Almighty, as it must long remain 
 engraved on our hearts, cannot fail to endear to us the more every 
 descendant of his illustrious family. 
 
 With most lively gratitude to heaven, we now behold your Ma- 
 jesty raised, in the prime of life, to the throne of these realms ; and 
 under your happy administration, we have the greatest reason to 
 promise ourselves the continuance and increase of all public felicity. 
 Trained up from your earliest youth to every princely virtue ; con- 
 spicuous for a steadiness and greatness of mind superior to the 
 snares of royalty ; endowed with a heart and affections truly Bri- 
 tish, and formed to know, and to love, that constitution of which 
 you are the guardian ; distinguished, in particular, for that sincere 
 regard to religion, which adds so much lustre to your exalted char- 
 acter ; your Majesty became, from the moment of your accession to 
 the crown, the object of the highest hopes to all your subjects. 
 Every step of your administration, since that time, has confirmed 
 and enlarged these hopes. 
 
 Nor can we omit to join in the general admiration and applause 
 due to that virtue, which disposed your Majesty to relinquish power 
 and revenues, which, though most safely lodged in hands so pure as 
 yours, might have been employed, in some future period, to the 
 prejudice of that liberty which you love and cherish. With hearts 
 full of affection, we repose an entire confidence in your Majesty, as 
 the great defender of our faith and liberties, and in particular, as 
 the protector of the rights and privileges of the Church of Scotland, 
 which you have given us the most gracious assurances of your in- 
 tention to maintain. 
 
 Permit us to assure your Majesty, that amongst all your subjects, 
 none are more distinguished for their fidelity and loyalty to your 
 person and government, than the members of the Church of Scot- 
 land. A Church, which dates the era of its secure establishment 
 from that happy period of the Revolution which introduced your 
 royal house to the throne of Great Britain, must have the strongest 
 motive to a most sincere and faithful attachment to your Majesty. 
 Animated, as we are, with the deepest sense of the inestimable 
 happiness we derive from our sacred and civil constitution, it ever 
 has been, it ever shall be, our zealous endeavour, to inspire with 
 like sentiments all who are within our influence, or under our care. 
 The blessings of a wise and merciful government, now so univer- 
 sally felt in every part of your dominions, give us the best reason 
 to hope, that your Majesty will reign in the hearts, and may com- 
 mand the united strength of all your people. 
 
 That the great God of heaven, by whom kings reign, may crown 
 all your undertakings with success ,- that he may inspire you with 
 the spirit both of counsel and of might ; that he may scatter all 
 
1761. J SCHOOLMASTERS* WIDOWS* FUND. 233 
 
 your foes; and that, after having long made you the instrument of 
 blessing a free and happy people, he may raise you to an higli place 
 in his glory above, are the sincere and fervent prayers of, &c. 
 
 (Signed in the same manner as the preceding, and of the same date.) 
 
 On the 26'th, the Assembly took into consideration a pe- 
 tition for the established sclioolmasters in Scotland^ praying 
 for a general collection to enable them to make appHcation 
 to the Legislatm-e for establishing a fund for a small provi- 
 sion to their Avidows. The Assembly appointed the peti- 
 tioners first to lay their plan before members learned in the 
 law, and also before those concerned in the management of 
 the ministers' Avidows' fund, that they might report their opi- 
 nion thereon to the Assembly. No report having been made 
 relating to this petition, the Assembly, June 1, remitted it 
 to the Commission, that they may prepare an opinion upon 
 it, to be laid before the next Assembly.* 
 
 The moderator acquainted the Assembly, when met on 
 the 27th, that the Commissioner was indisposed, and could 
 not be present that day, but that his Grace expected the 
 Assembly would proceed on the business before them in the 
 same manner as if he were present, which they accordingly 
 did. 
 
 The following overture was agreed to be transmitted to 
 the several Presbyteries, that they may send their opinion 
 thereon to the next Assembly ; with certification, that if 
 they fail therein, that Assembly may take up the overture, 
 ancl pass it into a law, as they see cause, viz. : — " That con- 
 sidering how dilatory Presbyteries are in sending up their 
 opinions on overtures transmitted by the Assembly, which 
 shows, that all preceding regulations to enforce a due return 
 have been ineffectual ; in order, therefore, to remedy this in 
 time coming, that it should be enacted, That, in all time 
 coming, no commissions from any Presbytery to their repre- 
 
 * There had been a meeting of schoolmasters in reference to this 
 matter, on the 17th of September 1760. They ordered the design 
 to be notified to all their brethren by a circular letter, and appointed 
 a committee of twelve of their number to meet on the second Mon- 
 day of November, the second Wednesday of March, and the first 
 Monday of May. It was proposed to have three classes of an- 
 nuities, viz., £10, £8, and £6, per annum, and that every school- 
 master who acceded to the scheme should pay yearly 12 per cent., 
 according to the class he might choose. 
 u 2 
 
234 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [l761. 
 
 sentatives in Assembly shall be sustained, unless it bears the 
 
 following clause, viz. : — The Presbytery of having 
 
 considered the overtures transmitted hy last Assembly, their 
 answer to which is hereto subjoined, jwoceeded to the elec- 
 tion, &c. Or, in case there be no overtures transmitted, 
 then the form to be, — There being no overtures transmitted 
 
 by last Assembly, the Presbytery of proceeded" &c. 
 
 The Commissioner was present on the 28th and subse- 
 quent days. The 28th, on report of the visitors of the Com- 
 mission-book, containmg their objections to the Commission s 
 giving £300 to the commissioners sent to London with the 
 address to his Majesty, £200 to Dr Dick, to indemnify him 
 for the expense he was put to, both before the Court of Ses- 
 sion and the House of Peers, in defending his right to the 
 stipend of Lanark, and £30 to Mr James Macivilliam, mi- 
 nister of Forbes, for defraying the charge of a process with 
 the Lady-Dowager Forbes, who refused payment of his sti- 
 pend ; * parties being heard, and papers and precedents read, 
 after long reasoning, two motions were made, viz. : — 1 . " That 
 the Assembly should find that the Commission have exceeded 
 their powers, in disposing of the several sums ordered by 
 them out of the pubhc funds of the Church, and that no 
 money should be issued in \artue of these orders ; leaving it 
 to the commissioners sent to London, and others concerned, 
 to apply to the Assembly in common form." — 2. " That the 
 Assembly, taking into consideration the report of their com- 
 mittee upon the Commission-book, were of opinion, that the 
 purposes for which the Commission appointed money to be 
 applied were just and reasonable ; but whereas the Com- 
 mission s assuming the power of applying the public money 
 of the Church at their pleasure, may be attended w4th dan- 
 gerous consequences, the Assembly do enjoin for the future, 
 that no Commission shall have power to issue out orders to 
 the procurator for payment of any sums of money, even for 
 
 * On tlie last vacancy in this parish, Lord Forbes presented this 
 gentleman, and the Lady-Dowager presented another ; and the As- 
 sembly 1757 preferred his Lordship's presentee, Mr Macwilliam. A 
 declarator of the right of patronage, raised by Lady Forbes, was then 
 in dependence before the Court of Session. That Court decided 
 the question in favour of Lord Forbes ; but upon an appeal, the 
 House of Peers found the right to be in Lady Forbes, and in virtue 
 
 of that judgment, her Ladyship claimed right to the stipend See 
 
 p. 134. 
 
1761.] CASE OF OLD GREYFRIARS. 23-5 
 
 reasonable purposes, without leaving it to the determination 
 of the following General Assembly." After long reasoning 
 on these two motions, it was agreed to put the question, — 
 Whether to approve of the first or second motion ? and it 
 carried, by a great majority, to approve of the first. So the 
 Assembly found, that the Commission had exceeded their 
 powers in disposing of the several sums ordered by them out 
 of the public funds of the Church, and appointed that no 
 money be issued in virtue of these orders ; leaving it to the 
 commissioners sent to London, and others concerned, to ap- 
 ply to the Assembly in common form. 
 
 Petitions for these gentlemen, and for several others, were 
 next day remitted to the committee on the public accounts ; 
 on report of whom, on the 30th, the Assembly agreed, that 
 £300 be paid to the commissioners sent to London, with in- 
 terest from the time of their setting about the execution of 
 their commission, (and the commissioners received the thanks 
 of the Assembly from the chair, for their care in executing 
 the said commission ; ) that £200 be paid to Dr Dick, ^^dth 
 interest from the date of the decree of the House of Peers in 
 his cause ; and that £35 be paid to ]Mr Macwilliam for de- 
 fraying the expense of his process with Lady Forbes. 
 
 In consequence of a subsequent report of the committee 
 on the public accounts, the Assembly resolved, June l,that 
 for the future all collections appointed by the Assembly shall 
 be burdened with the expense attending those collections ; 
 and that all the expenses attending the management of the 
 Royal Bounty, such as the cashier and his clerk's salaries, 
 amounting to £35 Sterling, shall be paid out of the Royal 
 Bounty itself, and not out of the funds of the Chui'ch. 
 
 A motion was made, May 29, and agreed to, that the acts 
 of the Assembly 1712 and 1714-, respecting the public mo- 
 ney, be reprinted Avith the acts of this Assembly ; and that 
 the instructions to the Commission shall contain a particular 
 appointment on them to observe these acts. 
 
 A vacancy having occurred in the collegiate church of the 
 Old Greyfi'iars, Edinburgh, by the death of Mr James 
 Stevenson, the Presbytery translated thither Dr William 
 Robertson, ^^^th a proviso, that he should continue in Lady 
 Tester's Church, his present charge, till a minister should 
 be called to supply the vacancy in the city. The session of 
 the Old Gre^^ars craved, that Mr Erskine should be trans- 
 lated from the New Greyfriars to their church ; and they 
 
236 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ql761. 
 
 appealed from the sentence of the Presbytery, first to the 
 Synod, and next to the Assembly. The session appeared by 
 counsel, the Presbytery and Synod appeared by some of their 
 o>vn members and by counsel, and Dr Robertson appeared 
 for his own interest.* The Assembly, May 26, mthout a 
 debate, unanimously affirmed the sentence of the Presbytery 
 and Synod. 
 
 Case of the Parish and Borough of Kirkcudbright. — 
 To this benefice a presentation was obtained from the Crown, 
 on the recommendation of the Earl of Selkirk, in favour of 
 Mr Thomas Blacklock., probationer, the celebrated poet, 
 who was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Dumfries 
 in 1758. This gentleman had the misfortune to be totally 
 deprived of sight soon after his birth, which happened in 
 1721. Upon account of his blindness solely, (for upon 
 inquiry, they found sufficient reason to esteem his moral 
 character, as is candidly acknowledged in their Case^) the 
 town-council, and a considerable number of the elders, he- 
 ritors, &c., resolved to oppose his settlement. With this 
 view, they wrote him a letter, June 18, 1760, expressive of 
 all due respect to himself, and sympathy for his unfortunate 
 situation, but intimating that they could not think him a fit 
 person to undertake the pastoral charge of their towTi and pa- 
 rish. This letter they sent by a deputation of their number ; 
 and they received the follo>ving answer, dated June 24 : — 
 
 " Gentlemen, — Your information that 1 am the person pro- 
 posed as a successor to the late Rev. Mr Gartshore in the parish of 
 Kirkcudbright, is true ; and permit me to add, that before the ar- 
 rival of yours, a presentation from the Crown to that charge has 
 
 * The moderator being a party, the chair was taken by Principal 
 TuUidelph. The compearance at the bar (in addition to Dr Ro- 
 bertson) was : — For the session, Messrs David Rae and John 
 M'Laurin, advocates; for the Presbytery and Synod, Drs Hynd- 
 man and Carlyle, and Mr Walker of Glencorse, \\ath Mr Joseph 
 
 Williamson, advocate " The appellants having, in their pleadings, 
 
 insisted on an old contract betwxt the Presbytery of Edinburgh 
 and the town-council, by which it was pled, that the session had 
 a right of choosing their own minister, — to which it was answered 
 by the respondents, that that contract had been reduced by a decreet 
 of the Court of Session, an extract of which was now in their 
 hands ; and the grand decerniture in the said decreet being read 
 
 from the bar, reducing the said contract," &c (Then follows the 
 
 Assembly's judgment.) 
 
1761.] CASE OF BLACKLOCK. 237 
 
 been formally accepted by me. Had the dissuasives contained in 
 vour letter, or the arguments used by the gentlemen whom you 
 deputed, appeared solid and conclusive, they might have found a 
 different reception, and produced different effects j but, as far as a 
 man can be thought to judge disinterestedly where he himself is 
 concerned, these objections neither appeared of any weight agamst 
 my assuming the pastoral character in general, noragainst accepting ot 
 the parish of Kirkcudbright in particular. I am extremely sensible ot 
 that svmpathv and regret which you express, for an inhrmity, not 
 inflicted on me for the crimes of my ancestors, not the result ot any 
 bad conduct in myself, but my misfortune, and mine alone. How 
 far that incapacitates or leaves me qualified for the pastoral ottice, 
 if the considerations which common sense and humanity suggest are 
 not heard, time and experience can alone determine ; meanwhile, it 
 I would be useful to mankind in general, if I would endeavour to 
 exert my being and its advantages to the glory of that God who 
 gave them, every principle of honour, duty, and conscience, appear 
 to dictate the sentiments and measures which I have embraced m 
 accepting the presentation; and, from principles like these, it may 
 be expected, tbat every man of resolution will act determmately. 
 I heartily pray the people who form this opposition, if they are to 
 oppose, may be conducted and animated by such motives as will 
 support them in that day when all our principles, and all our beha- 
 viour, will obtain their true character and real estimate. From the 
 genteel and moderate deportment of the gentlemen of your deputa- 
 tion, it is fairly and naturally presumed you mil act a part becoming 
 men and Christians. With the most cordial wishes to your welfare 
 in this world and your salvation in the next, I am, &c. 
 
 (Signed) " Thomas Blacklock. 
 
 The Presbytery of Kirkcudbrl^rht, before whom this affiiir 
 was brought in August last, '^ referred the objection taken 
 from Mr Blacklock's blindness, as the thing seemed quite 
 new and unprecedented, to the S}Tiod of Galloway ; " and 
 the Synod, in October, referred it to the Assembly. 
 
 From the Cases we give the follomng extracts, distin- 
 guishing the parties who were Objectors and Respondents, 
 by the abbreviations Ohj. and Resp. 
 
 Ohj. By the law of Moses, no man labouring under the 
 
 want of sight, or even less bodily defects, could be a priest. 
 The Lord spake unto Moses, saying. Speak unto Aaron, 
 saying. Whatsoever he he of thy seed in their generations, 
 that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the 
 bread of his ^God ; for whatsoever man he be that hath a 
 blemish, he shall not apjyroach ; a blind man, or a lame, 
 &c.— Lev. xxi. 16, &c. In the earliest ages of Christianity, 
 
238 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1761. 
 
 blindness was held to disqualify a person from being ad- 
 mitted to an ecclesiastical office, 7ie ecclesiastica impediantui\ 
 although the loss of sight, after admission to such office, did 
 not infer deprivation of it. . . . That this is the first parish in 
 Scotland, and Kirkcudbright the first royal borough, to whom 
 a person totally blind from his infancy has been presented 
 for a minister, will not be denied. Such a minister never 
 was before ordained, it is believed, in this or in any other 
 Church. The Church of England, according to information, 
 never confer the priesthood on a blind man; and it is be- 
 lieved other Reformed Churches have adopted the same 
 principle ; at least, no instance can be pointed out of their 
 conferring orders, and a cura animarum, on one bUnd at 
 the time, much less on one bhnd from his birth or in- 
 fancy. 
 
 Resp. — The Jewish law was adapted by their Divine le- 
 gislator to the particular genius of that people. By it, a 
 lame man, or one who had a flat nose, a maimed foot or 
 hand, one who was crookbacked, or a dwarf, that had a 
 blemish in his eye, or the scurvy, or any thing whatsoever 
 superfluous, was debarred, as Avell as the blind man ; but it 
 would be absurd to maintain, that such could not be mi- 
 nisters of the Church of Scotland. . . . The Canon law^, in its 
 original purity, appears to have put no prohibition on a 
 blind man from being a bishop. In the oldest canons, com- 
 monly called. The Canons of the Holy Apostles, as collected 
 by Clement, ordained by St Peter first bishop of Rome, § 
 76 and 77, are these words : — Si quis oculo defectus aut 
 obtuse crure existat, et dignus sit^ episcopus efficitor ; non 
 enim mutilatio corporis ipsum jiolluit, sed inquinatio ani- 
 tnce ; qui vero mutus surdusve et ccecus est^ episcopus non 
 efficitor ; non quia ohlceso corpore est, sed ne ecclesiastica 
 impediantur niunia. From this it appears, that blindness 
 alone did not disqualify ; but that if any one was deaf and 
 blind, or both dumb and bhnd, he was disqualified, as being 
 incapable to execute the duty of the office. . . . "What consti- 
 tutions Avere afterwards introduced by corruption into the 
 see of Rome, will have no weight. So many hocus-pocus 
 tricks were introduced to be executed by the priests, that it 
 became necessary for them to have both their eyes to be able 
 with proper dexterity to perform them ; and so it was en- 
 acted, that none who were blind of one eye should be ad- 
 mitted into the priesthood. But this cannot have the least 
 
1761.] CASE OF BLACKLOCK. 239 
 
 weight with us, where the Gospel institutions are performed 
 in their original simplicity. 
 
 Obj. — However extraordinary Mr Blacklock's genius and 
 apphcation may be, all his knowledge, even in the sacred 
 Scriptures, must be had by second-hand, and the justness 
 of it depends on the fidelity and judgment of those who 
 read or speak to him. Supposing him in this way to be 
 sufficiently qualified as a preacher, still there are many 
 branches of the ministerial duty, which he either cannot 
 perform, or may be misled in. Lecturing on portions of 
 Scripture is required of every minister : a blind man cannot 
 read a single Avord that he is to explain ; and the employing 
 a reader for him is at least a novelty. The holy sacraments 
 are to be given by the minister, and they cannot be admi- 
 nistered vaih. the requisite decency by one who sees not the 
 objects before him. What indecencies may not be com- 
 mitted in his presence, even on the most solemn occasions, 
 without his being sensible of the offence ? If he is to be 
 directed and informed by his reader, then all must depend 
 on him, and he, rather than the minister, may be said to 
 govern the spiritual concerns of the parish. 
 
 Besp. — The question comes shortly to this, Can Mr 
 Blacklock, notwithstanding his blindness, execute the se- 
 veral duties of the ministerial function, as established in the 
 Church of Scotland ? That he is qualified to preach the 
 Gospel, with equal piety and ability, is not denied, and is 
 well knoAvn in this metropolis ; and that he can administrate 
 the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, by the 
 smallest assistance directing his hand, or even >vithout such 
 direction, experience evinces, by the example of those who 
 continued to perform these, as well as the other duties of a 
 minister, long after they were afflicted with the same mis- 
 fortunes. Mr BroAMi, minister of Kilmarnock, Mr Millar 
 at Paisley, Mr Macfarlane at Buchanan, and Mr Jamison, 
 Professor of Church History in the University of Glasgow, 
 continued to officiate with universal satisfaction after they 
 became blind. 
 
 Ohj. — To deprive a worthy pastor, upon a casual misfor- 
 tune happening through no fault of his, is an act unworthy 
 of a Christian Church. ]\Iinisters afflicted with such bodily 
 distress after their settlement, must still have greatly the 
 
240 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. p761. 
 
 superiority of one blind from his infancy. While blessed 
 with sight, they must have had the benefit of reading, and 
 perfecting themselves in every necessary branch of know- 
 ledge. Their acquaintance too with their parishioners, may 
 already have been thoroughly established ; and consequently, 
 with little assistance, they might, after the loss of sight, be 
 enabled to discharge their important duties. Even suppos- 
 ing such ministers were rendered altogether incapable of 
 officiating by becoming blind, as others often are by age and 
 infirmities, their parishes, as customary, would be supplied 
 by their brethren, or by assistants. Other Reformed Churches, 
 who make antecedent blindness a cause for debarring from 
 the ministry, do not, when happening subsequent to admis- 
 sion, unjustly add weight to misfortune, by deprivation. It 
 is believed, however, no instance can be given, where a mi- 
 nister of this Church, after the loss of sight, was translated, 
 or admitted to a new charge. 
 
 Resp. — Presbyteries are the proper courts for licensing 
 probationers : the licensing of Mr Blacklock stands unchal- 
 lenged ; by it he was virtually declared capable of being a 
 minister, notmthstanding his blindness, and thereby a jus 
 qu6esitu7n was established to him, of which he cannot now 
 be deprived. 
 
 Ohj. — The duties of a preacher of the Gospel, or proba- 
 tioner, are, in their number and importance, far short of those 
 of an ordained minister to a parish. Hence it is, that by 
 the rules of the Church, when a probationer is called or pre- 
 sented to a parish, he must pass new trials before the Pres- 
 bytery of the bounds, that they may be fully satisfied of his 
 qualifications for that higher trust, notwithstanding his for- 
 mer trials and license as a preacher. 
 
 Resp. — As Mr Blacklock has all along been obhged to 
 employ a person skilled in the languages to read to him, he 
 is now determined to employ an ordained assistant, who 
 consequently can assist him in executing the ministerial 
 functions. This step, which Mr Blacklock is fully deter- 
 mined upon, takes its rise from his own goodness of heart, 
 and anxiety for the faithful execution of the pastoral office ; 
 but is altogether unnecessary, as, through the Divine assist- 
 ance, he is fully able to perform every duty himself. 
 
 The Cases having been previously distributed to the mem- 
 
1761.] CASE OP MONKTON. 241 
 
 bers, and parties heard in court, May 29, after long reason- 
 ing, it was moved to appoint the Presbytery to moderate in 
 a call to the presentee, and to proceed to his trials and settle- 
 ment. But some members opposing the motion, the question 
 was put upon it. It carried, by a great majority, in the affir- 
 mative; and the Assembly empowered the Commission to 
 determine in any reference, appeal, or complaint, that shall 
 be regularly brought before them relating to this settlement.'' 
 Upon reading the minutes of the day preceding, it was 
 proposed by a member. May 30, that before any Presbytery 
 or S}Tiod agree to take upon trials a blind man, they shall 
 first consult the General Assembly. This motion was agreed 
 to, and the Assembly appointed accordingly. 
 
 Another settlement was that of Monkton, similar in some 
 respects to that of Logic. The patron presented within the 
 six months; his presentee accepted, but afterwards renounced 
 the presentation ; the patron presented anew ; and the Pres- 
 bytery contended that the right had fallen into their hands 
 by the lapse of the six months. The case seemed to resolve 
 itself into these questions : 1 . Whether, when a presentee 
 accepts, and afterwards renounces, the law allows the patron 
 six months after such renunciation to present another ; or, 
 if it allows him only as much time as remained unexpired 
 when his first presentation was given in to the Presbytery ? 
 2. Whether, in cases of translation, the six months begin 
 to nm from the date of the act of Presbytery translating the 
 incumbent, or only from the date of his admission into his 
 new charge ? On the latter question, it was observed for 
 the patron, that the four ministers last admitted into Edin- 
 burgh were translated from their former parishes on the 
 20th and 27th of April, and 2d and ^th of May 1758 respec- 
 tively, and yet drew the stipends of these parishes falling 
 due at Whitsunday 1758, though after the date of the acts 
 translating them, because it was before their admission to 
 their new benefices, which was upon the 15th of June there- 
 
 * The compearance in this case was : — For the patron and pre- 
 sentee, Messrs Charles Hamilton Gordon and John M'Laurin, 
 advocates ; for the objectors, Messrs Joseph Williamson and David 
 Rae. Notwithstanding the decision of the Assembly in Blacklock's 
 favour, he did not remain long at Kirkcudbright, but resigning the 
 living for a moderate annuity, removed to Edinburgh in 1 764. He 
 died on the 7th July 1791. 
 
 X 
 
242 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1761. 
 
 after ; * whereas, had the vacancies commenced at the date 
 of the acts of translation, these stipends would have he- 
 longed to the patrons. The parties were, the Earl of Dun- 
 donald, patron, and the Presbytery of Ayr ; Mr John Cun- 
 ningham was the presentee. After hearing parties, the 
 Assembly came unanimously to the following resolution : — 
 " The General Assembly, considering the importance of this 
 cause, and the influence it may have upon the future deli- 
 berations of Assemblies in the settlement of parishes, do 
 authorise and appoint the procurator for the Church to raise 
 a declarator against the patron, to have it found and declared 
 that the right of presentation, hac vice, has fallen into the 
 hands of the Presbytery ^i^^'e devoluto ; and do ordain the 
 agent to issue the necessary expense for this purpose. And 
 the General Assembly do hereby refer the cause to their 
 Commission, with power to them, after a decision is given 
 in the process of declarator by the Court of Session, to cog- 
 nosce and finally determine in the said cause, and also to 
 judge and finally determine in any futiire references and ap- 
 peals that shall be regularly brought before them thereanent." 
 On the 1st of June, the Assembly appointed the commis- 
 sioners sent to London to give in their report to the Com- 
 mission, to be kept in retentis. f 
 
 Upon the motion of a member from the Synod of Ross, 
 the Assembly appoints that S3Tiod to have their meetings 
 henceforth upon the third Tuesday of April. 
 
 An appeal by Mr John Witherspoon, minister at Paisley, 
 from a sentence of the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, of the 
 15th October 1760, disapproving of a plan agreed to by the 
 magistrates and kirk-session, for uniting the offices of Eng- 
 lish schoolmaster and session-clerk in the tOA^^l and parish 
 of Paisley ; with an appeal by Wilham Aidie, who, on the 
 1 2th of August last, had been elected by the kirk-session 
 of Paisley to be their clerk in the interim, from a sentence 
 of the said session passed on the 15 th current, refusing to 
 admit him to his said office, notwithstanding of the Synod's 
 recommendation to them, of the 14th of April last, and his 
 several applications for that purpose, heard ; the decreet of 
 erection of this parish, vesting the right of choosing the 
 session-clerk in the magistrates, produced at the bar, the 
 
 * Seep. 163. t See p. 211, 
 
1761.] CASE OP KILMENY. 243 
 
 decemiture thereon read ; and, in respect of the said decreet 
 of erection, the Assembly find, that they cannot disapprove 
 of the conduct of the session in approving the plan of ac- 
 commodation given in by the to^vn-council, and that there 
 is nothing in it injurious to the rights of the kirk-session ; 
 and therefore the sentence of the Synod, in October last, 
 reversed, the election of Mr Aidie as interim-clerk sustained, 
 and the session of Paisley ordained to admit him accordingly. 
 
 An appeal by the United College of St Salvator and St 
 Leonard, in St Andrew^s, patrons of the parish of Kilmeny, 
 and who granted their presentation to JVIr WilUam Gib, pro- 
 bationer, to be minister of that parish, from a sentence of 
 the Presbytery of Cupar, finding that there was no such call 
 to Mr Gib from the parish of Kilmeny as the laws of the 
 Church do require, and that it was not competent to them, 
 as an inferior judicatory, to do what was contrary to the 
 rules of the Church, and therefore referring the whole cause 
 to this Assembly, heard ; the presentation to Mr William 
 Gib to be minister of the parish of Kilmeny sustained and 
 concurred with ; and the Presbytery of Cupar appointed to 
 proceed to his trials and settlement as minister of that parish. 
 
 The report of the trustees of the widows' fund, bearing 
 their having made choice of Mr Alexander Stevenson to be 
 their clerk, in place of Mr Alexander Tait, who, being named 
 as one of the principal Clerks of Session, had resigned his 
 ofiice as clerk to the trustees, heard ; and their choice of Mr 
 Stevenson to be their clerk approven of. 
 
 Two overtures, transmitted from the committee for over- 
 tures, respecting the ofiices of agent and sub-clerk, read and 
 dismissed. 
 
 Recommendation to all such ministers as judge, from the 
 circumstances and inclinations of their people, that it will 
 be agreeable to them to have an opportunity of contributing 
 for the relief and support of the Reformed Church in Saar- 
 hruck^ to make a collection for that purpose : the ministers 
 within the bounds of the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, 
 to make the collection on the fourth Sabbath of this month 
 of June, and those in other places of Scotland on or before 
 the first Sabbath of August next, and the money collected 
 to be paid in to Messrs William Hogg and Son, merchants 
 in Edinburgh. — A committee named to call for an account 
 of what the collection shall amount to, out of which they 
 shall cause to be paid to ^Ir John James IMansa, minister 
 
244 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1761. 
 
 in Saarbruck, or any having his order, what they shall judge 
 to be a proper allowance for his expense in travelling to this 
 place, and returning home, together with £lOO Sterling for 
 the use of the said church ; and after further allowing for 
 the incidental charges in making the collection, the com- 
 mittee shall report the overplus to the next General Assem- 
 bly, to be disposed of by them as they shall think proper. 
 
 Protestation admitted at the instance of the Presbytery of 
 Mull, against the parishioners of the parish of Harris^ for 
 not insisting in an appeal taken by them from a sentence of 
 the Presbytery of Uist, transporting Mr Kenneth Macaulay 
 from the parish of Harris, in the Presbytery of Uist, to the 
 parish of Ardnamurchan, in the Presbytery of Mull. 
 
 When the business of the Assembly was finished, on 
 Monday, June 1, the moderator addressed the court in the 
 following terms : — 
 
 Right Rev. and Right Hon., 
 
 It is now time that this Assembly should come to a conclusion. 
 You have decided in a great many of the causes that were brought 
 before you, and others you have referred to your Commission. 
 
 I should be lost to all sense of gratitude, did I omit this oppor- 
 tunity of returning my most sincere and hearty thanks to the mem- 
 bers of this General Assembly, for the great honour they did me in 
 unanimously choosing me for their moderator. I have studied so 
 to conduct myself in the chair, as to give just cause of offence to 
 none. If I have unwarily given any, I most humbly ask pardon ; 
 and let this serve for an apology, that you yourselves were pleased 
 to choose a younger man, and a younger minister, for your modera- 
 tor, than, I believe, ever filled this chair. I view this distinguished 
 honour, I confess, in a light which extremely flatters me, as an evi- 
 dence that the Church beheves me to be a sincere well-wisher to its 
 interests, and to the interests of all its members. I hope you have 
 not been mistaken. If my own heart does not deceive me, no man 
 can love the Church of Scotland more than I do, no man can with 
 greater warmth and earnestness wish to promote its real welfare. 
 The heat of youth, inexperience, and rashness, may have led me, 
 in some parts of my former public conduct, to engage in measures 
 which a wiser, which a cooler man than I, would have guarded 
 against. Yet, even then, I think I can appeal to my own con- 
 science, and to Him who is greater than conscience, my intentions 
 were pure, and though I judged ill, I meant well.* 
 
 * On the supposition that Dr Hyndman was the author of the pamphlet en- 
 titled, " A Just View of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland," (which 
 called forth IVitherspoon' s " Ecclesiastical Characteristics,") I presume he is 
 apologising here for the active partizanship he had displayed in opposition to Gil- 
 lespie and the popular party, in the case of Inverkeithing. — See the former vol., 
 p. 242. 
 
245 
 
 1761.] DR HYNDMAN S ADDRESS. 
 
 My very rev. fathers and brethren,— You will now soon return 
 to your several parishes, and resume the care of those souls which 
 God hath committed to your charge ; mU you permit me, then, to 
 remind you of the zeal and diligence with which you ought to dis- 
 charge your ministerial work. To instruct the ignorant, to awaken 
 the secure, to soften the hard-hearted, to reclaim the sinner, to 
 comfort the mourner, to succour the tempted, and to build up the 
 just in our most holy faith,— is not this a noble and a divine em- 
 ployment ? Was not this the employment of all those great and 
 holy men whom God was pleased, in different ages, to send into 
 this world as public blessings to mankind ? Is not this the em- 
 ployment of angels, of beings far exalted above us ? Are they not 
 ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto them who shall be 
 heirs of salvation ? Was not this the work of Jesus, the gi-eat 
 high-priest of our profession ? He " continually went about doing 
 good." Nay, is not this the unwearied exercise of God himself, 
 the great source and standard of all perfection and goodness ? With 
 ardour and zeal, then, let us employ ourselves in this noble service ; 
 let us '• preach the word, and be instant in season and out of sea- 
 son ; " and, above all, let our own lives be shining examples of all 
 those precepts which we recommend unto others. 
 
 The General Assembly, I hope, will forgive me for making this 
 one observation with respect to our public discourses,— That, for 
 the most part, we ought to be very particular in explaining the 
 duties of the Christian life, and in enforcing all the virtues of piety, 
 of charity, of purity, of meekness, of temperance, and mercy. I 
 own I think our discourses run too much, and too often, upon ge- 
 neral topics, concerning the advantages and the exceUence of reli- 
 gion ; and though this is, upon many occasions, highly proper, yet, 
 if we would reaUy instruct our people, we must study to point out 
 to them what are their particular duties in every circumstance ot 
 life. We must guard them against those vices which we are sen- 
 sible are most predominant amongst them, and point out the guilt 
 and fatal consequences of them. In short, we must be frequent in 
 reminding them, what those duties are which we owe unto God 
 and to one another, what those duties which are incumbent upon a 
 Christian as a father, as a husband, as a son, as a neighbour, as a 
 friend, as a member of society, and as a partaker of the human na- 
 ture To explain these minutely, and to enforce them from the 
 great doctrines and motives of the Gospel, is surely taking the most 
 effectual way to enlighten and instruct our hearers ; it is surely 
 preaching the Gospel ; for it is preaching in the same manner m 
 which Jesus preached. . 
 
 In order the more effectually to recommend our instructions and 
 ourselves to our people, let us by all means cultivate a spirit ot 
 brotherly love and forbearance towards one another. An intem- 
 perate zeal to promote opinions, or to establish forms in their own 
 nature doubtful, or of small importance, has cost the world, 1 am 
 sure, a great deal more than they were worth ; as it has led men to 
 trample upon the great laws of charity, of forbearance, and mercy, 
 
 x2 
 
246 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. QlTOl. 
 
 and to break those bonds of union which ought always to subsist 
 amongst all Christians, and particularly amongst the ministers of 
 the Gospel. I shall make no difficulty of affirming, that our conti- 
 nuing in some errors as to the external forms of religion and modes 
 of worship, nay, even in errors as to some speculative truths and 
 opinions, must be less culpable in the sight of God, than our en- 
 deavouring to correct them by rage and violence, by traducing the 
 characters of our brethren, and laying aside " the ornaments of a 
 meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price." 
 Let us never forget it, that " the wrath of man worketh not the 
 righteousness of God ;" that " the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, 
 peace, long-suffering ;" that " the wisdom which comethfrom above 
 is pure and peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated." We are 
 all, my brethren, in a state of great moral imperfection : our under- 
 standings are cloudy, our views narrow and confined ; "we see but 
 as through a glass darkly ; " let us then mutually take compassion 
 on the infirmities of each other ; let us persecute with nothing but 
 argument : for force and violence may oblige men to dissemble or 
 conceal their opinions, but can never enlighten or convince the 
 judgment, 
 
 There is one act passed by this General Assembly, which I must 
 consider myself as called upon in a particular manner to recommend 
 to your observation and care, namely, the act enjoining a public 
 collection to be made for students having the Gaelic language. The 
 situation of many parts of the Highlands, with respect to the ordi- 
 nances of religion, is truly deplorable. You yourselves must be 
 fully sensible of this, from the report of the visitors. The evil is 
 indeed so great, that if a timely remedy is not applied, they are 
 threatened with the utter deprivation of that inestimable blessing. 
 Can we, as Christians, as ministers of the Gospel, as Scotsmen, hear 
 this, without feeling the utmost pain and sorrow of heart ; without 
 deeply mourning for the unhappy situation of a brave, a generous, 
 and a kind-hearted people ; without earnestly calling upon all our 
 hearers, as they fear their God, as they regard the advancement of 
 the kingdom of Jesus, to stretch forth their friendly hands to assist 
 their countrymen ; to assist the friends of those who, during this 
 war, have, in defence of our kingdom and rights, drawn the sword 
 with so much ardour and success ; who so bravely fought, and 
 many of whom so gloriously fell, in supporting the honour, the in- 
 terest, and safety, of the British nation ? The further prosecution 
 of the plan for efiectually providing the Highlands with the benefits 
 of divine ordinances and religious instruction, is now wisely com- 
 mitted to one, whose great wisdom and prudence will fully dictate 
 to him the most eflfectual means of prosecuting it. It is put into 
 the hands of one whose generous heart always warmly feels for 
 every distress of his fellow-mortals ; whose zeal for religion, whose 
 loyalty to his prince, whose love to his country, will determine him 
 to do whatever can be done to insure success to a scheme the most 
 important, I think, I ever saw under the deliberation of a General 
 Assembly. 
 
1761.] DR hyndman's address. 247 
 
 Bljht Rev. and Right Hon., — Since the meeting of the last Ge- 
 neral Assembly, it hath pleased the Almighty toaffiict these nations 
 by the death of our late good and excellent king ; but it hath also 
 mercifully pleased him to revive us by the accession of a prince, 
 whose many and distinguished virtues are the subject of admiration 
 and joy to all his people. When, therefore, you return to your 
 several homes, impress upon the minds of all his people, a just sense 
 of the blessings they already enjoy, and may further hope for, under 
 the government of a prince who loves them, who loves their con- 
 stitution and laws, who will defend their faith, who will protect 
 them in their religious and civil rights ; a prince who, by his own 
 example, will point out to them that path wherein they ought to 
 walk, that they may attain the favour of God and everlasting felicity. 
 
 Right Hon., — What I have just now said demands your particular 
 attention, and I hope will have its due influence. God bath raised 
 you above many of your fellow- citizens, and by this hath put into 
 your hands the means of doing much good or much evil. It is com- 
 mon with you to comply with, and to imitate the manners and 
 fashions of those who are yet superior to you ; let me then persuade 
 you to turn your eyes to that great prince who now wears the Bri- 
 tish cro^vn, and learn from him, that piety and virtue, a steady re- 
 gard to, and regular attendance upon, the service of Almighty God, 
 and a faithful discharge of all the duties of the Christian life, are 
 the noblest ornament of every station, and the highest glory of a man. 
 
 Right Rer. and Right Hon. , — As we met in the name of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the great King and Head of his Church, so, in the 
 same sacred name, let us dissolve ; and as, by the good laws of this 
 kingdom, of which his Majesty is the faithful guardian, it is pro- 
 vided that a General Assembly of the Church of Scotland shall 
 meet once in the year, I suppose it 1^•ill be agreeable to you, that 
 the next General Assembly shall meet in this place on the third 
 Thursday, being the 20th day of May 1762. 
 
 Brethren, — We must now part. How long God may preserve us 
 in this world, how long we shall sojourn in this wilderness of life, 
 through what new scenes we may yet pass, what new temptations 
 may yet assault us, what unthought of afflictions may yet overtake 
 us, we know not : it is our comfort that " the Lord liveth ; 
 blessed be our rock : The God of Jacob he is our refuge, and he 
 that keepeth Israel never slumbereth nor sleepeth." Fain would I 
 cherish the joyful hope, that we who met together in this Assem- 
 bly shall, by the grace and mercy of God, meet in a happier world, 
 and shall at last sit down in the general assembly and church of the 
 first-born. 
 
 I presume it will be your pleasure, that in your name, I address 
 myself to his Majesty's High Commissioner, with sincere and thank- 
 ful acknowledgments of his friendship to this Church, and of his 
 indulgence and favour to this General Assembly. 
 
 Then turning to the Commissioner, he spoke thxis : — 
 
248 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [176'1. 
 
 May it please your Grace, 
 It is with very great pleasure that I execute the commands of the 
 Assembly, in returning to your Grace their united and most hearty 
 thanks for the favour and countenance you have showed them, and 
 for your patient attendance upon so many of their meetings. But 
 when we consider your known principles, disposition and conduct ; 
 when we call to mind the steady and distinguished zeal of your 
 noble ancestors for the support of the Presbyterian government, we 
 confess we were led to hope for all that favour and indulgence which 
 this and former Assemblies have experienced from your Grace. 
 
 Your Grace has been witness to many of our proceedings and 
 decisions ; and though, in a court where there is so great a number of 
 judges, the debates that arise, and the opinions that are given, may 
 sometimes be improperly enforced, which it were to be wished could 
 be avoided ; yet, upon the whole, I hope our conduct has been such 
 as may enable your Grace to give a favourable representation of us 
 to his Majesty ; for, next to the approbation of Almighty God, we 
 would wish to recommend ourselves to the favour and countenance 
 of our most gracious king. 
 
 I must particularly consider myself as bound to return the thanks 
 of the Assembly to your Grace, for your condescending to assure 
 them that you will, to the utmost of your power, promote and give 
 success to a plan for more eiFectually accommodating the Highlands 
 and Islands with the benefit of divine ordinances. Your Grace is 
 perfectly acquainted with their distressed situation in this respect, 
 and I know you feel deeply for it. Your Grace has considered this 
 scheme with that acuteness and precision, with that concern and 
 warmth, which becomes a great and a good man ; and we firmly 
 rely upon your taking every step that shall appear proper to for- 
 ward and execute so pious and so laudable a purpose. 
 
 This General Assembly, and all the Church of Scotland, have 
 been highly honoured by the testimony his Majesty hath been pleased 
 to give of the favourable opinion he has of our loyalty and good af- 
 fection to his person and government. It is true, and your Grace 
 knows it, that in a steady and firm attachment to his Majesty, and 
 to our happy constitution, we are excelled by none of his subjects. 
 We feel the blessings of his most righteous administration ; we daily 
 offer up our thanks to Almighty God for them ; we pray for long 
 life and a happy reign to our most giacious king ; and we study to 
 animate the hearts of all those who are under our care with the 
 same devout and loyal sentiments. 
 
 It is our sincere and hearty prayer to the Almighty, that he may 
 take your Grace into his kind and holy protection ; that you may 
 be long preserved, an eminent example of virtue, a faithful friend 
 to your country, and to every good man ; that the Divine provi- 
 dence may watch over and prosper your noble family ; that you 
 may always continue happy in the favour of your sovereign, ho- 
 noured in your public stations, and blessed in all manner of domes- 
 tic comfort ; and that, at last, when you are called from this mortal 
 life, you may be united \vith the spirits of just men made perfect. 
 
1762.] NEW ERECTIONS IN THE HIGHLANDS. 249 
 
 Then the Commissioner made a speech ; in the end of 
 which his Grace dissolved the Assembly in the King's name, 
 and concurred with the moderator in appointing the next 
 Assembly to meet on the 20th of May 1762. The session 
 concluded with prayer and singing of psalms, as usual. 
 
 Assembly 1762. 
 
 The Assembly met on the 20th of May. — Charles Lord 
 Cathcart was the King's Commissioner, and Dr Robert 
 Traill, Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow, 
 was chosen Moderator. 
 
 After the King's letter had been read, and ordered to be 
 recorded, the Commissioner made a speech to the Assembly, 
 and gave in the following extract from it in writing, viz. : — 
 
 " I am to inform this venerable meeting, That in con- 
 sequence of the last Assembly's request, I had the honour 
 to lay before the King the papers committed to my care for 
 that purpose, containing the report of Dr H}Tidman and 
 others, appointed by the General Assembly of 1760 to visit 
 the Highlands and Islands^ and the places where itinerants 
 and catechists are employed ; as also the report of the com- 
 mittee appointed thereupon by the last General Assembly, 
 together with the resolution of the said Assembly upon the 
 said report : and I have it particularly in command to ac- 
 quaint you. That his Majesty entirely approves of the zeal 
 you have shown, on this occasion, for the better observance 
 of religious duties in those parts of his dominions where 
 proper opportunities have hitherto been wanting for that 
 purpose ; that his Majesty, animated by sentiments of the 
 same true religion and piety, will not fail to show the great- 
 est attention to this object, and that you will in due time be 
 informed of such resolutions as his Majesty may think pro- 
 per to come to upon it. In the meanwhile, as it appears 
 that some of the principal defects complained of by the re- 
 port of the visitors may be remedied by yourselves, by virtue 
 of that authority which the law has placed in you, it is his 
 Majesty's royal pleasure, that I recommend to you the proper 
 discharge of your own duties in these respects ; and parti- 
 cularly, that you will make use of the powers you have by 
 the statute law of Scotland, to obhge heritors, in such pa- 
 rishes where kirks and manses are fallen down, or out of 
 
250 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q1762. 
 
 repair, to contribute, by an equal assessment, according to 
 the situation of their lands, to rebuild and repair them ; and 
 in such parishes where schools are not properly estabHshed 
 or kept up, to assess themselves, according to law, to supply 
 such defects : And this I accordingly do most seriously 
 recommend to the immediate consideration of this General 
 Assembly." 
 
 To this speech, the moderator, in the name of the Assem- 
 bly, made a proper return. 
 
 At this first sederunt, three committees were appointed ; 
 one, to draw up an answer to the King's letter ; another, 
 to draw up addresses to the King and Queen on their 
 marriage, (which were this day moved for and unanimously 
 agreed to ; as was, next day, an address to the Princess- 
 Dowager of Wales, on the marriage of the King her son, to 
 be drawn up by the same committee ; ) and a third, to con- 
 sider of that part of the Commissioner's speech which re- 
 lated to the building and repairing of kirks and manses, and 
 to the establishing of schools in parishes where they are 
 wanting. The answer to the King's letter was given in on 
 the 2 2d, as were the addresses on the 26th ; all were ap- 
 proved of. 
 
 A petition was presented to the Assembly for the estab- 
 lished schoolmasters in Scotland, setting forth. That a scheme 
 had been prepared by the Rev. Dr Webster, for establishing 
 a fund for a small provision for their widows, (similar to the 
 estabhshment made nearly twenty years ago, for the widows 
 and children of ministers in the Church, and professors in 
 the universities,) founded on an annual tax to be paid by 
 schoolmasters out of their salaries, of 15s., or 30s., or 45s. ; 
 their mdows to draw corresponding annuities, of £3, or £6, 
 or £9 : That they could not spare so much out of their small 
 incomes as would be necessary to procure an act of parUa- 
 ment ; and therefore prayed the Assembly to appoint a ge- 
 neral collection to be made for that purpose through all the 
 parishes of Scotland ; to which it was not doubted many 
 persons in the coimtry would be ready to contribute, if an 
 opportunity were afforded them. After reasoning on this 
 petition, the Assembly, May 24, remitted it to the com- 
 mittee on kirks and manses, recommending to the commit- 
 tee to consider if any other method could be fallen upon, 
 more effectually to relieve the petitioners, than that proposed 
 in their petition. 
 
176*2. J SCHOOLMASTERS WIDOWS' FUND. 251 
 
 This committee reported, on the 25th, as their opinion, 
 That the Assembly ought to enjoin the several Presbyteries 
 forthwith to carry into execution the acts of parliament for 
 building and repairing kirks and manses ^2tiidi settling schools^ 
 in the several parishes ^vithin their bounds ; that a com- 
 mittee of the Assembly should be appointed, to whom Pres- 
 byteries might apply for directions, as occasion should require ; 
 that the Presbyteries should report their proceedings to the 
 next Assembly ; and that the procurator and agent for the 
 Church should be appointed to carry on such processes as 
 should be necessary for the above purposes, at the pubhc 
 charge. 
 
 With respect to the schoolmasters' petition^ the committee 
 reported, That they had good reason to believe that above 
 one-third of the schoolmasters do not enjoy, including their 
 salaries and emoluments, £l2 Sterling per annum ; and that 
 therefore, as the scheme prepared by Dr Webster, at the de- 
 sire of the Commission of the last Assembly, proceeds upon 
 an annual tax to be paid out of the schoolmasters' salaries, 
 the committee were unanimously of opinion, that the ear- 
 ring the scheme into immediate execution, would bring a 
 burden upon future schoolmasters greater than their circum- 
 stances could bear ; but the committee, being ftdly sensible 
 of the importance of that order of men, and deeply affected 
 >vith their present situation, himibly moved to the Venerable 
 Assembly, that they would represent, in their answer to that 
 part of the Commissioner's speech which relates to the erect- 
 ing of schools, that the present salary of 100 merks is too 
 small,* submitting it to his Majesty what relief he, in his 
 royal wisdom, shall think proper to grant. The Assembly 
 approved of the first part of the report ; but delayed the 
 enacting part of it, the naming the committee proposed, and 
 likewise the consideration of the latter part of the report, 
 and recommended to the committee to prepare the proper 
 form of a return to that part of the Commissioner's speech. 
 
 On overtures from the Synods of Galloway and Angus 
 and Meams, and the Presbyteries of Haddington and Dal- 
 keith, relative to the window-tax^ which w^ere transmitted 
 to the Assembly by the committee for overtures on the 26th, 
 
 * The minimum was 100 merks ; the maximum 200, — the former 
 being equal to £5 : 1 1 : If d. Sterling, and the latter to £1 1 : 2 : 2|d. 
 The fee for English, &c., in many parishes, not more than 13^d. ; 
 for Latin, from Is. 8d. to 5s. 
 
252 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q76'2. 
 
 with their opinion, " That they deserved the immediate and 
 serious attention of the Assembly, being a matter of the 
 greatest importance," the Assembly appointed a committee to 
 consider them, and to report their opinion next day. This 
 report was accordingly given in on the 27th, bearing. That 
 the Assembly shoiUd appoint a committee, with full powers, 
 to apply to parliament, in name of the Assembly, for an ex- 
 emption from the window-tax, if they shall see cause ; to 
 take all such preparatory steps as shall be prudent or neces- 
 sary in order to carry that application into execution ; and 
 to report their diligence to the next Assembly. The As- 
 sembly imanimously approved of this report, and appointed 
 the committee proposed, consisting of twenty -four ministers 
 and twenty-eight ruling elders, of whom three ministers and 
 two ruling elders to be a quorum. 
 
 The report of the committee on hirks^ manses^ and schools, 
 was given in on the 29th. It was unanimously approved 
 of; and agreeably to the opinion of the committee, the As- 
 sembly referred to the ^^'indow-tax committee to correspond 
 with and give directions to Presbyteries, as occasion may 
 require, in executing the acts of parliament for building and 
 repairing kirks and manses, and settling schools in the se- 
 veral parishes. Then the moderator, turning to the Com- 
 missioner, addressed his Grace, in the Assembly's name, as 
 follows : — * 
 
 Mai/ it please your Grace^ 
 
 I am appointed by this Venerable Assembly to return 
 your Grace their humble and sincere thanks, for laying be- 
 fore his Majesty the inquiries and resolutions of the Assem- 
 blies 1760 and 1761, with regard to the state of religion in 
 the Highlands and Islands^ and for representing these to 
 his Majesty in that favourable manner which your well- 
 known zeal for the important objects those Assemblies had 
 in view naturally suggested. 
 
 His Majesty's goodness, in approving the proceedings of 
 former Assemblies respecting this matter, gives this Assem- 
 bly the highest satisfaction. They entertain the most grate- 
 ful sense of his gracious declaration, that he would take it 
 under his royal consideration, and communicate to them in 
 
 * The substance of this address had been prepared by the com- 
 mittee, in pursuance of the instructions given them. 
 
1762."] DILAPIDATION OF STIPENDS. 253 
 
 due time his resolutions upon it. And they beg leave to 
 assure your Grace, that they rest with full confidence in the 
 signification of his Majesty's intentions, which they trust will 
 issue soon in eff'ects corresponding to the piety of his dispo- 
 sition, and his paternal care for the welfare of his subjects. 
 
 The Assembly acknowledge, with the utmost respect, his 
 Majesty's goodness, in recommending to them the discharge 
 of their duty, by enforcing the laws for establishing of 
 schools in the several parishes where they are wanting, and 
 for repairing kirks and manses ; and have, in humble obe- 
 dience to his Majesty's recommendation, enjoined, by an act 
 of this date, the several Presbyteries of this Church forthwith 
 to carry into execution the acts of parliament respecting these 
 matters. They have likewise appointed a committee of their 
 number, with whom Presbyteries are to coiTespond, and from 
 whom they are to receive directions, as occasion may require. 
 Tliey have further ordered the several Presbyteries to report 
 their proceedings to the next General Assembly, and the 
 procurator and agent for the Church to carry on such pro- 
 cesses as may be necessary for the above purposes, at the 
 public charge, as the said committee shall direct. 
 
 The Assembly embrace this opportunity of acquainting 
 your Grace of the sense they have of the importance of the 
 parochial schoolmasters in Scotland, with respect to the in- 
 terest both of Church and State, by training up those com- 
 mitted to their charge in the knowledge of rehgion and 
 virtue, and are deeply afi*ected with their present distressed 
 situation, arising from their small livings, as they have good 
 reason to beheve that more than one-third of them do not 
 enjoy, including their salary and whole emoluments, £l2 
 per annum. The Assembly therefore humbly hope, that if 
 it shall be found necessary to apply to parliament for in- 
 creasing their present legal salary, which amounts to no 
 more than £5 : 11 : Id. and one-third, his IMajesty vnW be 
 graciously pleased to give such countenance to that applica- 
 tion as to his royal wisdom shall seem proper. 
 
 To this representation his Grace was pleased to make a 
 return, and he promised to report it to the King. 
 
 Upon report of the committee for overtures, May 28, an 
 act was passed to prevent dilapidation of stipends, to which 
 an addition next day was proposed to be made, and agreed 
 to ; so that the act is as follows :— " The General Assembly 
 
254 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q1762. 
 
 enjoin the several Presbyteries of this Church to take an 
 exact account, on the place, of the extent of the stipend, 
 glebe, grass, and other emoluments, belonging to every mi- 
 nister within their bounds, and record the same with accu- 
 racy in the Presbytery books, so that every succeeding in- 
 cumbent may see at once what he is entitled to, and Presby- 
 teries may be better able to give check to any dilapidations 
 w hich may be attempted : And the Assembly appoint, that 
 the respective incumbents, in case any persons Hable in pay- 
 ment of stipends refuse or withhold any part thereof, shall 
 report the same to the next Presbytery after such refusal ; 
 who are to give such directions for recovery of the same as 
 the nature of the case may require ; and that where a mi- 
 nister is possessed of more glebes than one, and has been in 
 use of setting the glebe or glebes most remote from his manse, 
 that such glebe or glebes shall, in all time coming, after the 
 boundaiies or limits thereof are ascertained as above directed, 
 be let only by tacks, in which the extent and marches there- 
 of shall be particularly set forth, and the same lodged with 
 the Presbytery clerk." 
 
 On a motion made on the 28 th, That the Assembly should 
 appoint a committee to inquire into the extent of the sum 
 collected in virtue of an act of last Assembly, for the educa- 
 tion of students having the Gaelic language^ and to draw 
 proper regulations for the disposal of that money, the As- 
 sembly referred to the committee for overtures to prepare an 
 overture on this subject. This overture was given in on the 
 31st, importing : — 
 
 " That the money collected within the Synods of Glasgow and 
 Ayr, and Argyle, be lodged in the hands of a collector to be named 
 at Glasgow, to be laid out by him at interest, till called for ; and 
 the collector at Edinburgh to receive the remainder, to be laid out 
 by him in like manner. 
 
 •' That two committees be named, the one to meet at Glasgow, 
 the other at Edinburgh, to whom reports are to be made from Synods 
 and Presbyteries, and who are to issue precepts upon the collectors 
 for the payment of the sums allowed to students, and give such fur- 
 ther directions as may be found necessary. 
 
 " That six students be named and recommended in manner fol- 
 lowing, viz., three from the Synod of Glenelg, two from the Synod 
 of Argyle, and one from the Synod of Perth and Stirling ; the said 
 students to continue four years at the study of divinity, with £\o 
 Sterlinar yearly to each of them. 
 
1762.] COLLECTION FOR HIGHLAND STUDENTS. 255 
 
 •* That the Synod of Glenelg recommend, in the first instance, 
 one from the Presbytery of Gairloch, one from the Presbytery of 
 Skye, and one from the Presbyteries of Uist and Lewis ; and, in 
 the second instance, that the Presbytery of AbertarfF be preferred, 
 and next, Lewis and Uist. 
 
 " That the Synod of Argyle recommend always one from the 
 Presbytery of Mull, and one from the Presbyteries of Lorn and In- 
 verary, beginning with Lorn. 
 
 '• That the said sum of £15 Sterling be paid to the students, 
 upon production of the recommendation of the respective Synods, 
 and certificates from the professors of divinity of their attendance 
 for four months in the session to the said committees, who are to 
 issue precepts upon the collectors respectively, in common form. 
 
 " That the, several students so recommended, before receiving 
 payment of any part of their allowance, do find sufficient security 
 for the repayment of the sums of money that shall be by them re- 
 ceived, in case of their applying themselves to any other business 
 in life than that of the church, or in case of their accepting a set- 
 tlement in the Low country in preference to a Highland parish. 
 
 '* That a list of the students so educated upon the above fund, 
 be annually reported to the General Assembly : That the Assem- 
 bly renew their appointment, that parishes who have not as yet 
 collected for the above purpose, do it within a limited time, and 
 enjoin Synods and Presbyteries to see the same duly executed ; 
 and that the several parishes who have already collected, transmit 
 the same to the respective collectors without loss of time. 
 
 " That the committee at Glasgow be the ministers of the town 
 of Glasgow, and Mr Hill of the Barony, with Principal Leechman, 
 Professors Traill, Muirhead, and Williamson, Bailies Ingram and 
 Baird, and Mr Duncan Macfarlane : That the Assembly recom- 
 mend to Bailie Ingram to take the trouble of receiving the collec- 
 tions at Glasgow, and lay out the same upon interest in the most 
 proper manner. 
 
 " That the committee at Edinburgh be, Drs Hyndman, Dick, 
 Webster, Robertson, and Cuming, Professors Matthew Stewart and 
 Ferguson, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the Procurator, and 
 Messrs Swinton and Campbell of Stonefield, advocates. — Three 
 of each committee to be a quorum." 
 
 This overture was approved of. The money collected 
 AA-ithin the SjTiods of Glasgow and Argyle, to be transmitted 
 to Bailie Archibald Ingram, merchant in Glasgow, and the 
 rest to Mr William Ross, ^vriter in Edinburgh. And the 
 Assembly appointed, that the act of the Assembly 1761, for 
 the aforementioned collection, be transmitted to the Pres- 
 byteries, and that such ministers as have not yet made the 
 collection, do make it betwixt and the 1st of March next. 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Perth, That the As- 
 
256 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. ^1762. 
 
 sembly should address the King, that his Majesty would he 
 graciously pleased to order, that such regiments as are le- 
 vied in North Britain may have Presbi/terian chciplains, 
 was remitted, on the 28th, to the committee on kirks, manses, 
 &c. ; and next day the committee gave in their report, bear- 
 ing, as their opinion, that it is improper to address the King 
 on this subject, but that other means may be thought of to 
 attain the end in view; which opinion was unanimously 
 approved of. 
 
 A petition for Messrs John Macalpin, minister of the 
 Lowland congregation of Campbelton, and David Campbell, 
 minister of Southend, was taken under conside^:ation on the 
 26th. The petitioners represented. That they had directly 
 complied \viih the act of the Synod of Argyle, which en- 
 joined the discontinuing the sermons on the Saturday before 
 and Monday after the Sacrament^ and did every thing in 
 their power to persuade their people to comply w4th it ; but 
 the breach between their people and them became every day 
 wider and mder, till at length their ministry became in a 
 great measure useless. " For three successive years," these 
 are the words of the petition, " the sacrament was dispensed 
 in your petitioner Mr Macalpin's parish, at least offered to 
 his people, agreeable to the regulations of the act of S}Tiod ; 
 but very few, not above seventeen persons, would commu- 
 nicate, and his elders would not officiate ; and it became at 
 last necessary for him to make the compromise with his 
 people, of giving them a preparation-sermon upon the Sa- 
 turday, in order thereby to restore and preserve his usefulness 
 as minister of the parish ; and since the preparation-sermon 
 on the Saturday was given, his people did communicate mth 
 the same decency and harmony as before the act of Synod 
 commenced ; and there were no less than seven hundred 
 
 communicants In justice to our people," say both the 
 
 petitioners, " we must say, that they are religious, regular, 
 and well disposed ; in so much, that there are few or none 
 within our parishes that do not regularly keep up the wor- 
 ship of God in their families, and take great care to have 
 their children educated in the principles of our holy reformed 
 religion." For this deviation from the injunction of the act 
 above mentioned, the aforenamed two ministers were brought 
 before the S3m.od ; and sentence was pronounced, Aug. 6, 
 1761, by which the Synod, waiving at that time the consi- 
 deration of Messrs Macalpin and Campbell's past behaviour, 
 
176*2.] ENZIE AND PORTSOY MISSIONS. 257 
 
 unanimously resolved to adhere to the acts of Synod 1754 
 and 1755, whereby the sermons upon the Saturday before 
 and JNIonday after the sacrament are appointed to be discon- 
 tinued, and appointed these gentlemen to conduct themselves 
 accordingly in time coming. From this sentence they ap- 
 pealed to the Assembly. Parties being heard, this supreme 
 court, after long reasoning, granted the desire of the appel- 
 lants' petition, and allowed j;hem to have sermon on the 
 Saturday before the sacrament, as they shall see it for the 
 interest of religion and the ends oC edification. 
 
 On the 29th, the Assembly took into consideration, — a 
 petition and representation of the Presbytery of Strathbogie^ 
 giving an account that there was a great number of Papists 
 and other disaffected people within their bounds ; complain- 
 ing that, this notwithstanding, the committee for managing 
 the royal bounty had withdrawTi the itinerancy, not only 
 from the Enzie, but also from Ruthven ; and praying, that 
 both these itinerancies might be restored ; — a representation 
 l)y the minister and kirk-session of Belly to the aforemen- 
 tioned Presbytery, recommended by the Presbytery to the 
 Synod of Moray, and by that S}Tiod to the Assembly, com- 
 plaining of the withdrawing of the itinerancy from the Enzie, 
 and praying it might be restored ; — and two petitions fr-om 
 the Presbytery of Fordyce, complaining that the royal bounty 
 committee had disallowed a salary for the missionary in the 
 Enzie this year, and withdra^^'n the itinerancy from Portsoy, 
 and pra}'ing the Assembly might recommend to that com- 
 mittee, to continue an itinerant to preach at Portsoy and to 
 catechise in the Enzie. After all these papers were read, 
 and the parties concerned heard, the Assembly had a good 
 deal of reasoning on 'them ; in the course of w^iich it Avas 
 remarked, that the royal bounty committee had, in conse- 
 quence of an appointment of the last Assembly, erected five 
 schools, with large salaries, for teaching the dead languages. 
 A motion was then made, and seconded, to put the question. 
 Could the last Assembly, agreeably to the terms of his jNIa- 
 jesty's royal grant, withdraw the salaries from the itinerants 
 and catechists, and erect schools for teaching the dead lan- 
 guages, or Not ? But several members opposing the putting 
 of this question, a second was proposed, and seconded, viz., 
 Grant the desire of the petitions, or Not ? This occasioned 
 the putting of the previous question. Whether to put the 
 Jirst or second f and it carried for the second. Tlien the 
 Y 2 
 
258 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [|1762. 
 
 question was put, Grant the desire of the petitions, or Not ? 
 and it carried, by a great majority, Not. Therefore the As- 
 sembly refused the desire of the petitions. 
 
 A motion was made by Dr Webster on the 31st. This 
 rev. gentleman observed. That the King had not yet sig- 
 nified his pleasure concerning the plan laid before his Ma- 
 jesty by the Commissioner, at the desire of the last Assembly, 
 for the more effectual reformation of the Highlands and 
 Islands., by erecting new parishes and parochial schools, 
 endowed with proper stipends and salaries, and, besides 
 these, five other schools of a higher nature, for teaching the 
 dead languages, with legal salaries ; as, therefore, his Ma- 
 jesty had not yet signified his pleasure concerning this plan, 
 but had again issued his royal warrant for payment of £ 1000, 
 in the precise terms of former grants, the Doctor moved, 
 That no part of his Majesty's pious donation for this year 
 should be applied to the purposes intended by that plan, but 
 wholly employed, agreeable to the former grant, for main- 
 taining itinerant preachers and catechists. The Assembly, 
 after reasoning on this motion, agreed to appoint the royal 
 bounty committee to continue the five persons who were 
 employed last year as schoolmasters, to be catechists in their 
 respective stations ; recommending to them to employ the 
 time they can spare from their business as catechists, in 
 teaching such parts of literatm'e as may be useful to prepare 
 persons for the university who have a view to be students 
 of divinity. 
 
 Upon a motion made on the 26th, the Assembly appointed 
 that the act of parliament against murdering of childreoi^* 
 be read from the pulpit of each parish in the Church at 
 least twice every year ; that the Presbyteries, at their privy 
 censures, make inquiry whether this has been done ; and 
 that the several ministers cause engross the act into their 
 session records respectively, that it may be always at hand, 
 and not lost. 
 
 As to settlements. — On an appeal for the Duke of Ha- 
 milton, patron of the parish of Bothwell^ the Assembly, on 
 the 24th, remitted to the Presbytery of Hamilton to proceed 
 to the translation of his Grace's presentee, Mr James Baillie, 
 minister of Shotts, to be minister of Bothwell ; and em- 
 
 * See the former volume, p. 219. 
 
1762.] CxVSE OF DALRYMPLE OF DALLAS. 259 
 
 powered the Commission to determine finally in any ques- 
 tion that shall be regularly brought before them relative to 
 this settlement. 
 
 On an appeal by Lieutenant-Colonel George Moncreift' of 
 Reidie, patron of the parish of Auchtermuchty^ from a sen- 
 tence of the Synod of Fife, affirming a judgment of the 
 Presbytery of Cupar, refusing to sustain and concur with a 
 presentation and call in favour of Mr Thomas Mutter, mi- 
 nister at Lesswalt, to be minister of Auchtermuchty, the 
 question was put, on the 25th, Reverse the sentence com- 
 plained of, or Not ? and it canied, by a great majority, 
 Reverse. The Assembly therefore reversed the sentence ; 
 and sustained the call to the presentee to be minister of 
 Auchtermuchty ; remitted to the Presbytery to proceed in 
 the necessary steps towards his transportation from Lesswalt 
 and his admission in Auchtermuchty, with all convenient 
 speed ; and empowered the Commission to determine finally 
 in any complaint, reference, or appeal, that shall regularly 
 be brought before them relative to this settlement. 
 
 There Avere long pleadings and reasoning. May 27 and 
 28, on a petition for Mr Robert Dahymple, minister at 
 Dallas^ tabling an appeal taken by him from a sentence of 
 the Synod of Moray, affirming a sentence of the Presbytery 
 of Forres, whereby, on a libel, charging him with being 
 guilty of fornication yyith. Margaret Lee, his maid-servant, 
 they deposed him from the office of the holy ministry, ap- 
 pointed the parish of Dallas to be declared vacant, and Mr 
 Dalrymple to appear on a Lord's Day before the congrega- 
 tion of Dallas, to make public profession of his repentance. 
 jVTr Dalrymple, in his petition, complains of the Presbytery 
 for precipitation, and other in-egularities, in conducting the 
 process against him ; particularly, in proceeding sometimes 
 in his absence, and without timely notice given him ; and 
 in refusing him an exculpatory proof. On this case, the 
 judgment was in these words : — " The General Assembly 
 did, and hereby do, without a vote, reverse the sentences of 
 the Presbytery of Forres and Synod of Moray, deposing the 
 said Mr Robert Dakymple from the office of the holy mi- 
 nistry ; and leave it to the Presbytery to proceed of new, liy 
 Avay of libel, against the appellant, as they shall see cause ; 
 and if they shall proceed in a new process, that they allow 
 him a full proof of all facts and circumstances that may tend 
 either to exculpate or alleviate." 
 
260 ANNALS OF THE ASSE3IBLY. f 1762. 
 
 On report of the committee for overtui'es, May 31, the 
 follomng overtures were agreed to be transmitted to the 
 several Presbyteries of the Church, that they may send up 
 their opinions upon them to the next Assembly, viz. : — 
 
 1. " The General Assembly, considering that, by Form 
 of Process^ ch. ii., § 13, the judicatures of this Church are 
 enjoined to consider and sustain the relevancy of the excul- 
 pation offered by the defender, before they give wan-ant to 
 cite Avitnesses for the proof thereof; and considering like- 
 wise, that a practice more equitable obtains in the supreme 
 civil and criminal courts of this part of the united kingdom, 
 viz., that the defender is always allowed to prove all facts 
 and circumstances which he may apprehend to have any 
 tendency, either to his entire exculpation, or to the allevia- 
 tion of the crime charged in the libel against him, and that 
 before the court proceed to consider the relevancy of the 
 grounds of exculpation offered by the defender : Therefore, 
 the General Assembly did, and hereby do, repeal the article 
 in the Form of Process above referred to ; and enact, and 
 appoint all judicatures in this Church, to grant warrant to 
 cite such witnesses as the defender or his procurator shall 
 name, for proving all facts and circumstances which the said 
 defender or his procurator may judge to be of use for excul- 
 pating the defender from the crime or crimes libelled, or for 
 alleviating the same, A\dthout giving any previous judgment 
 on the relevancy of the grounds or articles of exculpation. 
 And further, they appoint the said judicatures, before pro- 
 nouncing final sentence, to weigh deliberately, not only the 
 relevancy and proof of the libel, but like^^dse the relevancy 
 of the said exculpation, and the proof thereof." 
 
 2. The overture transmitted by the Assembly 1754, con- 
 cerning members of inferior courts judging in causes appealed 
 from to superior courts, — to be again transmitted. 
 
 3. The overture of last Assembly, relating to Presbyteries 
 sending their opinions on overtures transmitted to them, — 
 to be also again transmitted. 
 
 4. And the Assembly remitted to the window-tax com- 
 mittee to review the Form of Process as it presently stands, 
 and prepare an overture for altering such parts of it as may 
 be thought necessary, — to be laid before the Commission in 
 November, who are empowered to transmit it to the Pres- 
 byteries. 
 
STATE OF THE WIDOWS FUND. 
 
 2et 
 
 IT 02.] 
 
 According to the report of the trustees for managing the 
 u'idoivs'fund, the facts continue to correspond, to a surprising 
 degree of exactness, with the suppositions on which the cal- 
 cufations for estabhshing the fund were founded, as appears 
 by a comparison of the calculations previously made, with 
 the facts as they have come out since the commencement of 
 the establishment, being eighteen years, as follows :--The 
 Jirst column contains the suppositions and the calculations, 
 previously made ; the second^ the facts as they have come 
 out : and the thirds the differences between these : — 
 
 SUPPOSITIONS AND CALCULATIONS. 
 
 FACTS. 
 
 DIFF. 
 
 It was supposed, 
 
 
 
 That 30 ministers and professors would die an- 
 
 
 
 nually ; inde, for 18 years - 540 
 
 — 537 — 
 
 — 3 — 
 
 That they would leave 20 widows 
 
 
 
 annually ; indr, for 18 years 360 
 
 — 358 — 
 
 — 2 — 
 
 That 6 families of children with- 
 
 
 
 out a widow would be left an- 
 
 
 
 nually ; inde, for 18 years - 108 
 
 — 107 — 
 
 — 1 — 
 
 That 4 ministers and professors 
 
 
 
 would die annually, without 
 
 
 
 leaving either widows or chil- 
 
 
 
 dren ; inde, for 18 vears - 72 
 
 — 72 — 
 
 — — 
 
 That the number of annuitants 
 
 
 
 drawing full and half annuities. 
 
 
 
 at Whitsunday 1762, would 
 
 
 
 amount to within a small frac- 
 
 
 
 tion of - - - 229 
 
 — 224 — 
 
 — 5 — 
 
 That the medium of their annui- 
 
 
 
 ties would be - - - L20 
 
 *L19 17 3 10 
 
 LO 2 8 2 
 
 That the medium of the annual 
 
 
 
 rates would be - - - 5 5 
 
 5 16 9 
 
 3 5 3 
 
 That the free stock, at clearing 
 
 
 
 accounts with the collector, in 
 
 
 
 the 1761, would amount to - 52,660 4 4 
 
 52,122 9 3 
 
 538 3 6 9 
 
 * The 4th denomination in these sums is 12ths of a penny. 
 
 The Rev. Br George Wishart, principal clerk to the 
 Assembly, was excused from not attending this Assembly 
 on account of an accident he met with, which confined him 
 to the house, and the Rev. Mr James Hogg, minister at 
 LinUthgow, was authorised to act for him as clerk. 
 
 A reference from the Presbytery of Paisley, of a case 
 brought before them anent the transportation of Mr John 
 Wither spoon * fi'om Paisley to Dundee, with an appeal by 
 the magistrates, to%vn- council, town-session, and incorpora- 
 tions of Paisley, opposers of the transportation, from the 
 
 * The previous transportation of Witherspoon from Bei*h to 
 Paisley never came before the Assembly. But it had been opposed 
 by the Paisley Presbytery, (chiefly on the ground of his bemc: the 
 reputed author of the " Characteristics;") and his defence before 
 the Synod may be seen in his " Essays," vol. iii. 
 
262 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [^1762. 
 
 foresaid reference of the Presbytery, heard ; the said Mr 
 John Witherspoon continued at Paisley, and his transpor- 
 tation from thence to Dundee refused. 
 
 A petition for the Synod of Merse and Teviotdale, for 
 advice in a cause before them, anent repairing the kirk of 
 Kelso ; in which cause, the Synod appointed the Presbytery 
 of Kelso to proceed to a regular visitation of the kirk, be- 
 twixt and the 1 st of July next ; against which the Presby- 
 tery entered an appeal, but afterwards dropt it ; and the 
 heritors obtained an advocation of the cause to the Court 
 of Session, given in and read ; the procurator and agent for 
 the Church appointed, quam primunh to call for the advo- 
 cation, and get the reasons thereof discussed. — The power 
 of the Synod to enjoin Preshyteries to do their duty with 
 respect to visitation of churches according to law^ asserted. 
 
 Act and recommendation for a general collection in the 
 several churches in Scotland to the Society in Scotland for 
 Propagating Christian Knowledge among the North Ame- 
 rican Indians. — The collection to be made in the bounds of 
 the Presbytery of Edinburgh, on the first Sabbath of Feb- 
 ruary next, leaving it to the other Presbyteries to name a 
 day that they shall judge most proper to answer the pur- 
 pose. — The money collected appointed to be transmitted to 
 John Davidson, writer to the signet, treasurer to the said 
 society; and the several Presbyteries appointed to report 
 their diligence to their respective Synods. 
 
 The report of the committee named to inquire into the 
 extent of the sum collected for the Protestant congregation 
 at Saarbruck, given in, bearing, tifat the collectors named 
 to receive that collection, received collections only from nine- 
 teen parish churches, amounting to £39 : 2 : 4d. Sterling, 
 out of which they paid £7, 4.S., as the expense of printing 
 and transmitting the said recommendation. — The said re- 
 port read, and the recommendation of last Assembly for this 
 collection ordered to be reprinted and transmitted to the 
 several Presbyteries, to the end that such ministers as have 
 not collected may yet have an opportunity of collecting. 
 
 A motion for renewing the act and recommendation of 
 the^ssembly 1760, for a collection for repairing the har- 
 bour of Craill^ in respect of the smallness of the sum col- 
 lected, being only £58 : 4 : 5^d. SterHng, refused. 
 
 The printed Acts of Assembly appointed to be sent yearly 
 to the several Universities, as well as to Presbyteries. 
 
1763.] DALRYMPLE OF DALLAS DEPOSED. 263 
 
 Protestation admitted at the instance of the Presbytery of 
 Paisley, and John Snodgrass and others, against Mr John 
 Witherspoon, minister at Paisley, and the kirk-session of 
 Paisley, for not insisting in an appeal taken by them from 
 a sentence of the Presbytery of Paisley, pronounced in a 
 process of scandal depending before them against the said 
 John Snodgrass and others. 
 
 The Assembly rose May 31. 
 
 Assembly 1763. 
 
 The General Assembly met on the 26th of May. Lord 
 Cathcart Avas the King's Commissioner, and Dr William 
 Robertson, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, was 
 chosen moderator. 
 
 A motion was made, the first sederunt. That an humble 
 address should be presented to the King, to congratulate his 
 Majesty on the birth of the Prince of Wales, and upon the 
 happy conclusion of the war, by a safe, honourable, and, to 
 all appearance, a lasting peace. Which motion being se- 
 conded, was unanimously agreed to, and a committee was 
 appointed to draw it up. The draught was presented on 
 the 28th, and approved of. An address to the Queen was 
 then moved for, agreed to, and a draught of it presented 
 and approved of. 
 
 Mr Robert Dalrymple, minister of Dallas, who had 
 been deposed by the Presbytery of Forres for the crime of 
 fornication, was restored to his office by the Assembly 1762, 
 but the Presbytery raised a new libel against him ; and 
 haWng alloAved him a proof of all facts and circumstances 
 that might tend to his exculpation, and taken the proof on 
 l)Oth sides, they referred the case to the Synod of Morav. 
 The Synod deposed him. Mr Dalrymple appealed. Parties 
 were heard at great length before the Assembly, May 31 ; 
 and on the 1st of June, after long reasoning, the question 
 was put. Affirm, or Reverse, the sentence of the Synod ? 
 and it earned, by a great majority. Affirm the sentence of 
 the Synod of Moray, deposing Mr Robert DalrjTuple from 
 the office of the holy ministry. Next day, on a motion made 
 on reading the minute of this affair, the Assembly declared 
 the church and parish of Dallas to have become vacant from 
 and after the 1st of June, from which dav the sentence of 
 
264 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ql763. 
 
 deposition was declared to take effect, and the right of Mr 
 Dalrymple to the stipend to determine. 
 
 The Assembly ordered, That all applications for a share 
 of the public money in time coming, shall be transmitted to 
 the agent for the Church, with the grounds of the claims, 
 on or before the 1st of May yearly, that the same may be 
 laid before the procurator, who is hereby appointed to give 
 a short state of the case, and report the same, vA\h his opi- 
 nion thereon, to the General Assembly at their third sede- 
 runt ; with certification, that all petitions or applications for 
 money, not lodged in terms of this overtiire, shall not be 
 received by that Assembly, but left in the agent's hands, to 
 be considered and reported to the Assembly in the year 
 thereafter. And the General Assembly recommended to all 
 Presbyteries to pay the greatest attention to the 8th act of 
 Assembly 1719, which was ordered to be reprinted, and 
 inserted with the public acts of this Assembly. 
 
 Upon report from the committee for overtures^ trans- 
 mitted by the last and preceding Assemblies, the General 
 Assembly agreed, that all these be again transmitted, and 
 appoint, that such Presbyteries as have not yet sent up 
 their opinions concerning them, do send up the same to 
 the next General Assembly. The overtures are these : — 
 \nio^ Anent sending up opinions on overtures transmitted 
 by the Assembly. 2c?o, For repealing that part of the Form 
 of Process anent exculpations. Stio^ Anent members of in- 
 ferior courts judging in causes appealed from them. And 
 that the report concerning them be brought in to an earlier 
 diet of the Assembly. 
 
 An appeal of the magistrates and town-council of the 
 burgh of Dundee^ and ministers and kirk-session of the 
 town and parish of Dundee, from a sentence of the Synod 
 of Merse and Teviotdale, whereby they affirmed a sentence 
 of the Presbytery of Jedburgh, refusing to transport Mr 
 Alexander Ferrier, minister at Oxnam^ to be minister of the 
 town and parish of Dundee, heard ; the General Assembly 
 reversed the above sentence, and translated the said Mr 
 Alexander Ferrier from the parish of Oxnam to the town 
 and parish of Dundee, and appointed the Presbytery of 
 Dundee to proceed to his settlement as mmister there, ac- 
 cording to the rules of the Church, Avith all convenient des- 
 patch. 
 
1763.] DR DICKSON SUSPENDED. 265 
 
 A petition for the Synod of Merse and Teviotdale, anent 
 the insufficiency of the church of Kelso, and that they had 
 recommended the A-isitation thereof to the Presbytery of 
 Kelso, -which they had not done ; that an advocation had 
 been brought by some of the heritors of the S\Tiod's sen- 
 tence, and that they had apphed to last General Assembly 
 for advice, and the Assembly appointed the procurator and 
 agent for the Church to give in answers to the bill of advo- 
 cation, if not passed, and" if it was passed, to get the reasons 
 discussed ; and the Assembly did assert the power of Synods 
 to enjoin Presbyteries to do their duty with respect to the 
 visitation of churches ; that the Lord Ordinary had assoilzied 
 the heritors ; against which interlocutor a representation had 
 l)een given in by the procurator, which was appointed to be 
 answered, and craving further advice and direction, and to 
 gTant what further aid of the procurator and agent, or other 
 counsel, and assistance of the public money, as should be 
 found necessary in carrpng on and completing so important 
 an affair. — A committee was named to consider the above 
 petition, and to report their opinion thereon to the Assem- 
 bly. 
 
 A letter from his Grace the Lord High Commissioner to 
 the moderator, informing the Assembly of his Grace's indis- 
 position, and that the Assembly might proceed to business 
 in his absence, if they thought proper. 
 
 The report of the committee named to consider the appeal 
 of Z)r David Dickson, minister at Newlands, from a sen- 
 tence of the Presbytery of Peebles, to the S\'nod of Lothian 
 and Tweeddale, deposing him from the office of the holy, 
 ministry, and by the Synod referred to the Assembly, called 
 for and given in ; beanng, as their opinion, that the Assem- 
 bly should, in respect of the whole circumstances of the case, 
 agree to take off the sentence of deposition, and suspend Dr 
 Dickson from the exercise of his ministry, until the said 
 Presbytery shall see cause to take off this sentence. — The 
 said report and opinion read, and unanimously approven of, 
 and the General Assembly do pass sentence accordingly. 
 
 A petition of the Presbytery of Chimside, craA-ing a dis- 
 junction of the parish of Bunkle from the Presbytery of 
 Dunse, and an annexation thereof to the Presbytery of Chirn- 
 side, given in and read. — The General Assembly agreed, as 
 the parish of Bunkle is vacant, to delay the determination 
 of this question till that parish is supplied. 
 
266 ANNALS OP TUB ASSEMBLY. Q763. 
 
 An appeal of the Right Hon. Wilham Earl of Glencaim, 
 from a sentence of the Synod of Glasgow and A}t, whereby 
 they affirmed a sentence of the Presbytery of Irvine, refusing 
 to sustain a call for 3Ir William Lindsay^ minister of the 
 parish of Cumhry^ and to transport him from said parish to 
 the second ministers charge of Kilmarnock, heard. — The 
 General Assembly reversed the above sentences, and sus- 
 tained the presentation and call to Mr William Lindsay, and 
 appointed the Presbytery to proceed without delay to judge 
 in the question of his transportation according to the rules 
 of the Church. 
 
 The report of the committee concerning the church of 
 Kelso, called for and read, bearing, That they had read a 
 state of all the facts, and were of opinion, as the cause is 
 now depending before the civil court, it would be improper 
 for the Assembly to interpose any further, than to appoint 
 the procurator and agent to get the reasons of advocation 
 discussed, and to advert to the interest of the Church in this 
 matter. — This was imanimously agreed to by the Assembly. 
 
 A petition for the Presbytery of Dunse, bearing, that the 
 united parishes of Preston and BunMe being vacant, two 
 presentations were laid before them, one by his Majesty, the 
 other by the curators of Archibald Douglas of Douglas, Esq. ; 
 that Archibald Douglas had obtained a decreet of declarator 
 in his favour against the CroMTi, but that an appeal was 
 intended, and cra-vdng the Assembly's advice. — The General 
 Assembly, upon consent of Mr Douglas's curators, agreed to 
 delay proceeding to the settlement till the right of patronage 
 be determined, and recommended to the Presbytery accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of Perth and Stirling, concerning 
 plurality of benefices, dismissed, by a great majority. 
 
 Upon a petition oiMr John Ahell, minister of Rothiemay, 
 the Assembly recommends to him, to bring an action for 
 recovering any dilapidation of his stipend, or obtaining an 
 augmentation ; appoints their procurator and agent to attend 
 to the same, with power to Mr Abell to apply for such allow- 
 ance of expense, at the issue of the cause, as the Assembly, 
 from the circumstances of the case, shall think him entitled 
 to ; arid the Assembly testifies their approbation of the Pres- 
 bytery of Strathbogie, for their attention to what is enjoined 
 by the 8th act of the last Assembly, concerning the taking 
 an account of the extent of stipends and glebes. 
 
1 764.] VISITATION OF THE HIGOLANDS. 267 
 
 Appointment of the same committee concerning the win- 
 dow-tax, with the addition of some members, with the same 
 powers and instructions as were given by last Assembly, and 
 with power to them to call for aid out of the public fund of 
 the Church, for carrying on an application to Parliament for 
 relief from the said' tax, if such appHcation shall be found 
 expedient. 
 
 The Assembly rose June 6.* 
 
 Assembly 1764, 
 
 The General Assembly met on the 24th of May. — Dr 
 Alexander Gerard, Professor of Divinity in the Marischal 
 College, Aberdeen, was unanimously chosen moderator. — 
 John, Earl of Glasgow, was his Majesty's Commissioner. 
 
 A motion was made, IMay 28, That Mr John Walker, 
 minister at ^Moffat, had been employed by the trustees on 
 the annexed estates^ to visit the Western Highlands and 
 Islands, in order to report to them concerning the natural 
 productions, and the state of agriculture, manufactures, and 
 commerce, in those countries ; that in performing this, he 
 would have occasion to be in several places which could not 
 be visited by the commissioners appointed to visit those 
 countries by the Assembly 1760 ; that he was desirous of 
 procuring the Church the most perfect information concern- 
 ing the state of religion in those countries ; and therefore it 
 was proposed, that the Assembly should instruct and em- 
 power him to visit those parts, ^vith the same instructions as 
 
 • Among other apphcations made to this Assembly for aid out ot 
 the public money, was one from Mr John Mmsden, Professor of Di- 
 vinity, King's College, Aberdeen, setting forth,—" That the four 
 members of said college had raised a process of reduction and decla- 
 rator, with a view to exclude him from being a member, and from 
 sharing in the public increased revenue of the college ; that the Sy- 
 nod of Aberdeen are the original mortifiers of the professor's revenue ; 
 that they are properly patrons of the office, and electors of the pro- 
 fessor of divinity, they having sixteen votes of nineteen in the no- 
 mination ; and that the office, as it is of general utility, so is the 
 only one of that kind which is at the disposal of a church judicatory, ' 
 &c. The Svnod recommended the case, which was also supported 
 by the procurator ; and the Assembly agreed to grant the aid de- 
 sired. 
 
268 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1764. 
 
 were given to the commissioners by the royal bounty com- 
 mittee in 1760; and that he would report to the ensuing 
 General Assembly, and that "without bringing any burden 
 on the funds of the Church. The Assembly instructed and 
 empowered him accordingly, and appointed the Presbytery 
 of Lochmaben to supply his church during his absence. 
 
 Tuesday and Wednesday, May 29 and 30, were taken up 
 by the Eclinhurgh settlement^ of which the following is an 
 account : — 
 
 Dr John Hijndman^ minister of X««'j/ Yesters Churchy 
 Edinburgh, died on the lOth August 1762. Soon after the 
 vacancy, six different persons were talked of for supplying 
 it, two of whom were supposed to have some friends in the 
 town-council ; but a letter was afterwards said to have come 
 from London to the Lord Provost, recommending three mi- 
 nisters ; Mr John Drysdale, minister of Kirkliston, who was 
 one of them, to have the preference. Be this as it may, a 
 presentation was granted by the town-council to this gen- 
 tleman, Dec. 1, 1762, and sent him by express ; which, vdih. 
 his acceptance, dated also Dec. 1, was delivered to the mo- 
 derator of the Presbytery on the 3d. Great opposition was, 
 however, made to his settlement, by three different orders of 
 men, viz., the minority of the to^v^Ti-council, the merchant 
 company, and almost all the incorporations, and the general 
 sessions.* 
 
 Many papers were published on this subject ; the chief 
 of which were : — " Reasons of Protest by Messrs John 
 Walker, a present bailie, and James Stuart, a late bailie, 
 and present councillor, adhered to by JSlessrs Thomas Hog, 
 old bailie, William Gibson, merchant-comicillor, and Charles 
 Cuningham, baker, and William Thomson, weaver, deacons 
 extraordinary, dated Dec. 8, 1762 ; " with " Answer shy the 
 magistrates and council, dated Dec. 23," and " Replies by 
 the protesters, dated Dec. 29." — " Minutes of the General 
 
 * In the city there were then nine parishes ; seven of which had 
 two ministers each, the other two but one each ; and for each parish 
 there were six elders and six deacons : so the general sessions con- 
 sisted of sixteen ministers, fifty-four elders, and fifty-four deacons ; 
 in all, 124, when full. The Provost of Edinburgh in 1762-4, was 
 the famous George Drummond ; but in September 1 764 he was 
 succeeded by Mr Stuart, one of the leaders of the opposition in the 
 present contest. 
 
1 764.] CASE OP LADY YESTER's CHURCH. 269 
 
 Sessions of Edinburgh^ containing an act, dated Dec. 3, 
 17G2." — ''Answers by the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and 
 Council, to the resolutions contained in this act, dated Dec. 
 1 5 ; and Replies by the General Sessions to these answers, 
 dated Dec. 23." — " Faction detected" published about the 
 end of January 1763, on the side of the council ; and, " The 
 True State of the Case" dated March 7, 1763, on the side 
 of the opposition. From these, and other papers, we shall 
 give extracts ; prefixing an O to what was said for the op- 
 position, and a C to what was said for the council. 
 
 O. — It has long been the practice of the Lord Provost of 
 Edinburgh, to convene at his own house his brethren of the 
 magistracy, the convener of the trades, and frequently the 
 merchant-councillors, on the day preceding the stated meet- 
 ing of council, as a select committee, to plan the operations 
 of the following day ; and it has always been understood, 
 that nothing of a pubHc nature was to be moved in coimcil 
 \\-ithout the previous knowledge of that committee. At this 
 meeting, Nov. 30, 1762, not a word was spoken concerning 
 the supply of the vacant charge. The consequence was, that 
 they who were best qualified to give sound advice, were 
 altogether unprepared; and as a report had gone abroad 
 from one of the clerks, that there was to be no council 
 held that day, some members of no mean character were 
 absent. 
 
 C — This objection, That it had been industriously spread 
 that no business of consequence was to be done on the 1st 
 of December, appeared in various shapes. First, the Lord 
 Provost made it to be believed there was to be no council 
 that day : A gentleman heard him say so; but upon laaiure 
 recollection^ it was some other person said so at his Lord- 
 ship's desire ; at least somebody had given out that the Lord 
 Provost was not to be there. In short, this story took a new 
 form every day, and in every form gained credit with some. 
 But nothing can better demonstrate how much the good 
 citizens are imposed upon by a spirit of faction. This was 
 a regular stated meeting of council, held in the ordinary place, 
 and on Wednesday, the ordinary day of meeting throughout 
 the year. If it is foreseen that there is to be no meeting on 
 this stated day, billets are regularly sent, some time before, 
 to warn every individual member not to attend ; but in the 
 present case, no such billets were sent. The council met as 
 usual ; and this meeting was more numerous than any that 
 z 2 
 
270 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [l76'4, 
 
 had been for some weeks before. Of thirty-tliree members, 
 only four were absent ; one of whom was confined to his bed 
 by indisposition ; and we have not heard that any of the other 
 three ventured to say their absence was occasioned by their 
 having heard the above mentioned report. But what is re- 
 markable, the persons who have been most industrious in pub- 
 lishing this report, were actually present in council. Every 
 artifice of this kind seems to have been altogether unneces- 
 sary ; for, of twenty-nine members present, twenty-three 
 voted. Present Mr Drysdale ; five voted against it, and 
 one was non liquet. 
 
 O. — Mr Hog declares, that he was led to believe there 
 would not be a meeting of council on the 1st of December, 
 and therefore did not come to the council-chamber. His 
 friend, Mr Stuart, entertained the same belief; but ha-vdng 
 some business with one of the clerks, and caUiug upon him, 
 he found the council met, and Bailie Walker engaged in 
 debate upon the subject of a presentation. This gentleman 
 had been some time indisposed, and that was the first day 
 of his going abroad. Had not he been in council, and taken 
 up a good deal of time in reasoning, the afiair would have 
 been over before Mr Stuart's arrival. . . . Exceedingly sur- 
 prised at what he then heard, ^^Ir Stuart afiirmed in open 
 council, that the j^rovost had said to him some days before, 
 that he would not be in town that day; from which Mr 
 Stuart concluded, either that there would be no meeting of 
 council, or that there would be no business of consequence 
 before them. He afiirmed further, that Mr Lindsay, the 
 clerk, had told him, in the Provost's name, that his Lord- 
 ship would not be in council that day ; and Mr Lindsay 
 being urged to declare whether he had not said so, acknow- 
 ledged his having said to Mr Stuart that the Provost had 
 told him, " he beheved he would not be in council that 
 day." 
 
 C. — Immediately after, or rather before the death of Dr 
 H}Tidman, warm solicitations were begun, and carried on 
 in such a manner, in order to influence the kirk-sessions, and 
 secure their votes for a particular person, as plainly indicated 
 that no regard was to be paid to the sentiments of the ma- 
 gistrates and town-council, though undoubted patrons of all 
 the churches in the city. Frequent experience had formerly 
 proved the pernicious tendency of such solicitations ; and 
 the magistrates and council had good cause to be alarmed at 
 
1764.] CASE OF LADY YESTER's CHURCH. 271 
 
 such a notorious abuse of their lenity and indulgence 
 
 The convener represented, in council, Dec. 1, 1762, That 
 having had a meeting that morning with his brethren, (as 
 usual every council day,) he was desired by them to request 
 the council to take such measures as appeared to them most 
 proper, for allaying the heats and animosities that were al- 
 ready begun, and were daily increasing, about the choice of 
 a minister. Upon this motion, the Lord Provost desired, 
 that the resolution of council, dated June 6, 1750, should 
 be read ; by which it Avas agreed, ••' That no motion rela- 
 tive to the caUing and settUng of ministers in Edinburgh, 
 should be taken into consideration by the council till three 
 weeks after it was entered into the record ; " and represented, 
 that if the council judged it an advisable measure at this 
 time to present a minister, it would be proper to rescind that 
 act of council ; which, after some reasoning, and protests 
 taken, was accordingly rescinded. After this, the council 
 resolved, by a vote, to proceed immediately to present a 
 minister to supply the vacancy ; and the question being put, 
 Whom they should present ? twenty-three members named 
 Mr Drysdale. The presentation, which had been previously 
 prepared, was then called for, and signed. 
 
 O. — The rescinding the act of council 1750 was unjust, 
 and incompetent to be done by the council. The design of 
 that act was, to guard against designing men taking advan- 
 tage of their brethren by sui^rise. 
 
 C. — A resolution hastily foniied the first moment it is 
 brought into the council, cannot, it seems, be afterwards re- 
 scinded, however inconvenient, till five Aveeks after the mo- 
 tion for so doing is made ; for it is two weeks after a motion 
 is made before it can enter the record — a most cumbersome 
 restraint upon the freedom of the council. But every society 
 have a right to set aside the fetters intended to be imposed 
 upon them by their predecessors ; for it is not in the power 
 of the administrators of any community, to bind up them- 
 selves or successors from acting with that freedom which is 
 inherent in the nature of the constitution, and disentanglijag 
 themselves from all embarrassments that may retard the ad- 
 ministration of the trust reposed in them. Agreeable to this 
 doctrine was the determination of the Court of Session ; for 
 though, in 1720, the then magistrates and council entered 
 into articles of agreement with the Presbytery, the sum of 
 which was, that the kirk-sessions, consisting of the ministers, 
 
272 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1764. 
 
 elders, and deacons of each parish, and where the deacons 
 vote along mth the other members, were to give in each 
 session a leet of three candidates for every vacancy ; and on 
 a day to be appointed by the Presbytery, the magistrates 
 and town-council, together with the ministers, and the elders 
 of the several sessions, were to meet, and elect out of those 
 leets a person to fill the vacant charge; yet, upon a reduc- 
 tion brought of these articles, the Court of Session, Feb. 1 3, 
 1739, " reduced and declared these articles, and haill acts 
 approving thereof, to have been from the beginning, to be 
 now, and in all time coming, null and of none avail ; and 
 found and declared the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Coun- 
 cil of Edinburgh, to have the only right of presenting mi- 
 nisters to all the vacant churches built or to be built >vithin 
 the city."* And sure, a resolution respecting themselves only, 
 could far less be any bar in the way of the magistrates and 
 council, to remove any obstruction that could be supposed 
 to prevent the exercise of a right fully vested in them by 
 law. 
 
 O. — We have no where disputed the power which every 
 society has to alter their bye-laws, when found hurtful ; but 
 such alteration ought to be made in an orderly, fair, and 
 discreet manner, the whole society made acquainted with 
 the intended alteration some reasonable time before it is 
 made, that they may have it in their power to weigh it de- 
 liberately. No society can, consistently with honour, alter 
 a law that has been maturely considered before it was en- 
 acted, Avithout great and necessary causes. We think laws 
 and forms necessary for supporting common justice and 
 equity ; we cannot look upon them as fetters cumbersome 
 to hberty, but of the highest utility in preventing jobs, in- 
 justice, and surprise. These were the reasons for which the 
 act 1750 was made; the want of such a law having been 
 severely felt by the unjustifiable jobbings that had frequently 
 happened before it was made. Nor was it hastily formed, 
 as is insinuated, but enacted after having been under con- 
 sideration for several weeks. In these circumstances, no 
 society could abruptly repeal such a beneficial regulation on 
 
 * The decision of the Court was unanimous. The action had 
 been brought by the town-council in consequence of the opposition 
 given to the settlement of Principal Wishart. — See the former vol., 
 p. 310. 
 
1764.] CASE OF LADY tester's CHURCH. 273 
 
 an instantaneous motion, (when several that had a right to 
 be consulted, were not only absent, but had never heard of 
 the design,) without breaking through every bond of society 
 and public faith. 
 
 C. — The act 1 750 had no reference to any other method 
 of settling ministers but that established by the agreement 
 1720 ; and therefore could not be pleaded against a presen- 
 tation, which was not in the view of the framers of that act^ 
 nor is comprehended in the words of it. Besides, that act 
 was itself proposed and made in one hour, without any 
 previous deliberation, and disregarded the very next vacancy 
 that happened. 
 
 O. — This act has been constantly in observance, and the 
 invariable rule of procedure, with respect to the settlement 
 
 of ministers, ever since its date. C — The fact stands 
 
 quite otherwise. This act, probably made with a particular 
 view, was never strictly observed but at the time it was 
 made, being, on other occasions, sometimes very little re- 
 garded, and sometimes not at all O. — We agree that 
 
 this act was made with a particular \'iew, the view to guard 
 against trick and artifice, which are too frequent in some 
 societies ; and it has been regularly observed ever since it 
 was made, excepting in some instances |^ which were speci- 
 fied,] when the present Lord Provost was in the chair, or 
 in council. 
 
 O. — We apprehend it is not in the power of the council 
 to present a minister ; in regard that, by the invariable cus- 
 tom, as well as in consequence of the aforementioned agree- 
 ment 1720, the method of calling and settling of ministers 
 has been by the to^^^l-council and general kirk- sessions in a 
 collective body ; and no instance can be given where the ma- 
 gistrates and council have taken upon them to grant presen- 
 tations since the Revolution. And with regard to the decree 
 of the Court of Session in 1739, as the Lord Provost refused 
 a week's delay, though urged for, that it might be considered 
 deliberately, it must probably have been in absence, or void 
 and null ; because the right alleged to be thereby established 
 has never been exercised, but the ancient method of settling 
 ministers has been constantly observed since its date. 
 
 C. — The decree 1730 was infuro; all parties having in- 
 terest were called, compearance was made for tlie defenders 
 by a number of eminent lawyers, and the decree was pro- 
 nounced after a long debate and printed informations. It 
 
274 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1764. 
 
 must therefore follow, according to what is pleaded on the 
 other side, that the right vested in the magistrates and coun- 
 cil ought to be exercised, that the decree in their favour may 
 be no longer considered as in absence, or void and null, and 
 that the plea of prescription may be cut off. 
 
 O — The right of patronage in a private patron may be 
 considered as a part of his property ; but the magistrates 
 and council of Edinburgh, who are chosen annually, can be 
 considered only as trustees and guardians for their fellow- 
 citizens and the public ; they take an oath of fidelity when 
 they enter upon their office ; and whenever they depart from 
 the liberties and privileges of their fellow-citizens, much 
 more when they infringe and impair them, as we apprehend 
 is done remarkably in this case, they are guilty of a breach 
 of the trust committed to them by the community whom 
 they represent. 
 
 C. — What can be meant by insisting upon the council's 
 being trustees for their fellow-citizens ? Do the gentlemen 
 thence infer, that the inhabitants miLst be consulted and have 
 a vote in every part of the administration ? What endless 
 confusion would this introduce ! Who then are to be the 
 judges, in what respects, and how far the council should 
 depart from or surrender any right vested in them as re- 
 presenting the community ? (whose rights, by the way, 
 cannot be maintained but by the exercise of them by the 
 magistrates and council.) After all, should the right of 
 patronage be found not to belong to the magistrates and 
 council, it would in that case belong to the Cro^vn ; and 
 what would the gentlemen in the opposition gain by this ? 
 Can the community be safer in other hands, than in that 
 respectable body chosen according to the constitution, for 
 the government of the city, and maintaining its rights and 
 privileges ? 
 
 O. — We have no occasion to enter into the general ques- 
 tion. Whether administrators or governors ought in all cases 
 rigorously to exercise the rights vested in them by strict law ? 
 Thus much we know, that the spirit and maxims of this 
 nation repudiate such rigour. The Legislature itself has, 
 in many cases, listened to the voice of the people ; nay, the 
 magistrates and council of this borough have, on several oc- 
 casions, paid great deference to the voice of the inhabitants. 
 It is not long since the council took upon them, without 
 consulting or acquainting the inhabitants, to apply to par- 
 
1764.3 CASE OF LADY yester's ciiurcii. 275 
 
 liaraent for a severe additional tax upon their property,* as 
 well as other steps of a very extraordinary' nature ; which, 
 as soon as their fellow-citizens were apprised of them, ap- 
 pearing either unconstitutional or improper, were quickly 
 abandoned by those who made them. 
 
 O, — If the method of settling ministers in this city by 
 presentations be followed, we apprehend it must have the 
 most fatal tendency, in alienating the minds of the people 
 from attending on the regular stated ministry in the churches, 
 already too much neglected, and to the erecting of diflFerent and 
 separate places of worship in this populous city. How hurtful 
 this will be to the morals of the people, already greatly cor- 
 rupted, must be apparent to all disinterested persons, who 
 are not determined to carry their own arbitrary measures 
 into execution, whatever be the consequence ; and how de- 
 structive it must be to the revenue of the poors'-house, which 
 is mostly maintained by the collections of those who frequent 
 the churches, and cannot be maintained otherwise, must like- 
 wise be apparent ; the proper revenue of the towTi being al- 
 ready so much impaired, that all that can be spared from it 
 is £200 per annum ; Avhereas the voluntary collections at the 
 church- doors amount, at an average, to about £1200 yearly. 
 
 C. — Sure no well-disposed mind will be induced to ne- 
 glect their duty, though their inclination or fancy be not 
 gratified on every occasion. It is hoped the council will 
 always make such a choice of ministers as will be most con- 
 ducive to the interests of true religion and sound morals ; 
 and it were to be wished the gentlemen had avoided the 
 hard name of arbitrary measures^ which can serve no pur- 
 pose but to inflame weak minds : at the same time, the 
 council have so good an opinion of the inhabitants of this 
 city, as not to be in the least apprehensive that they will 
 either desert the ordinances of the Gospel, or make any 
 abatement of their charity to the poor. 
 
 O. — We must be permitted to call a measure arbitrary^ 
 which was altogether unprecedented, which stripped several 
 respectable bodies of the privileges of which they had been 
 possessed for time immemorial, without once calhng or 
 hearing them, and could be attended -with no earthly ad- 
 vantage to the community ; on the contrary, must have the 
 most disagreeable consequences, as it is notoriously contrary 
 
 * This refers to an attempt made in 1760, to impose a tax for 
 supplying the city with water. 
 
276 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [[1764. 
 
 to the practice approved of by the experience of ages, and 
 the bulk of the sober and intelhgent persons in the city. 
 
 O. — When the minutes of Dec. 1 were read on the 8th, 
 concluding with an appointment on the Lord Provost to 
 transmit the presentation to Mr Drysdale for his acceptance, 
 JMessrs Walker and Stuart asserted, that no such appoint- 
 ment had been given or proposed ; adding, that they had 
 seen the minutes in the afternoon of the 3d, and that no 
 such appointment was then engrossed. 
 
 C. — This appointment was not taken down in writing in 
 the scroll-book on the 1st of December, but was added on 
 the Friday evening foUomug, in the council-chamber, by 
 Mr Williamson, who acted as clerk, on his having the omis- 
 sion pointed out to him by a deputy-clerk, and his recol- 
 lecting that such appointment had actually been made. Ar- 
 tifice would have been much misapplied in this case, because 
 the signing the presentation implied an authority for every 
 other step necessary to carry it into execution ; and the 
 council would certainly have approved of the Lord Provost's 
 conduct in transmitting it to the presentee, although an ap- 
 pointment had neither been made, nor mentioned in the 
 minute, in the same manner as they would have approved 
 of his transmitting a bond, or any other deed, that had been 
 signed in the usual form. 
 
 O. — The general sessions think it their duty to testify' 
 their disapprobation, in the strongest manner, of a measure 
 [[that of presenting a minister,] so new and precipitate, so 
 unreasonable in itself, and injurious to them ; which over- 
 turns the method of election that has been uniformly fol- 
 lowed for a long course of j^ears, and which may be accom- 
 panied with the most deplorable effects with regard to the 
 interests of religion in the city ; and they would fain hope 
 the magistrates and council will reconsider the matter. They 
 appoint an extract of this their unanimous resolution to be 
 transmitted to the council. A motion was then made, that 
 extracts of the resolution should also be transmitted to the 
 merchant company, and the several incorporations of the 
 city ; which, upon the question put. Agree or Not ? cari'ied 
 Agree, by a great majority. From which appointment Drs 
 Wishart, Jardine, Blair, and Robertson, ministers, and the 
 Rev. Dr Matthew Stewart, the Rev. Mr Adam Ferguson, 
 Mr Joseph WilHamson, and Mr John Campbell, elders, en- 
 tered a dissent. 
 
1764.] CASE OF LADY YESTEr's CHURCH. 277 
 
 C. — The council are undoubted patrons. They have, it 
 is true, for many years past, allowed the ministers and elders 
 to vote along With, them in calling and electing ministers ; 
 and while that indulgence was used with moderation, it did 
 not occur that any bad consequence could follow upon it ; 
 but being informed, that on Dr Hyndman's death, parties 
 were forming, in order to disappoint the council of the choice 
 of his successor, which might have been productive of un- 
 usual heats and animosities, they could not avoid conclud- 
 ing, that the exercise of the right of patronage was not only- 
 proper in itself, but highly expedient at this time. 
 
 O. — As the right of patronage hath not been brought into 
 dispute, the general sessions are surprised to find the pre- 
 servation of that right alleged by the coimcil as the reason 
 of their late act of presentation, while they do not pretend 
 that they were in danger of losing their right, or that they 
 could not secure it by a less offensive method. . . , The ge- 
 neral sessions, who are unacquainted with any means, either 
 unlawful or unusual, employed towards forming parties on 
 Dr Hyndman's death, admit, that the fear of disappointment 
 in the election of a minister, was the chief motive that in- 
 duced the council to exercise the right of patronage, but are 
 at a loss to discover what public interest, either civil or re- 
 ligious, would have been endangered by this disappointment. 
 As little can they comprehend what pecidiar title the pre- 
 sent council enjoy, beyond all their predecessors since the 
 Revolution, to have their pleasure submitted to in the elec- 
 tion of a minister. Is the right of patronage more valid in 
 their hands, than it hath been in the hands of their prede- 
 cessors for fifty years past ? Are the present magistrates 
 and councillors who adopted the measm-e complained of, so 
 much distinguished by superior abilities and virtues from all 
 who have held the same station before them, as to render a 
 difference of opinion from them in the choice of a minister 
 inexcusable and contemptible ? Although the public should 
 be disposed to pay them this compliment, the sessions are 
 persuaded that the modesty of the council w^ould decline 
 accepting it. The present council had a good example of 
 moderation set them in the conduct of their predecessors, 
 who, in the election of a minister, chose to act upon a level 
 with the members of the general sessions, claiming no other 
 pre-eminence than what arose from the respect and confi- 
 dence of their fellow-citizens, nor calling to their aid the 
 
278 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. []1764. 
 
 rigour of a grievous law, and the heavy hand of power, in 
 order to conceal the low state of their own influence, and to 
 supply the want of that natural authority which is the usual 
 attendant of wisdom and integrity. The reason of expe- 
 diency alleged for presenting a minister, " in order to pre- 
 vent unusual heats and animosities ! " would have occurred 
 to no body of men within the city but the council. Any 
 other society, who had published their opinion upon this 
 subject with candour, would have foretold a presentation to 
 be a fruitful source of the most violent animosities ; such a 
 practice being universally odious to the inhabitants, and 
 contrary to their ancient and most respectable usages. 
 
 C. — The act of the general sessions is conceived in terms, 
 importing, that the indulgence formerly shown is not now 
 claimed as a favour, but demanded in point '.^f right. At 
 the very time they voted their application to the council, 
 they agreed, without waiting to see in what manner it would 
 be received, or what effect it would produce, to transmit 
 minutes of their proceedings to the merchant company and 
 the several incoi-porations ; thereby plainly indicating, that 
 they meant to extort a compliance ^dth their request by ir- 
 regular means, rather than to obtain it by way of favour. 
 
 O. — Had the ministers and elders been assertinar a right, 
 they would have acted as a party-litigant against the coun- 
 cil ; instead of a request, would have sent them a summons ; 
 but their application has been by remonstrance and entreaty. 
 If the sessions have not relied so much upon the equity and 
 impartiality of the council, as to neglect all other means of 
 relief, the council cannot be unacquainted Avith the gToimds 
 of this diffidence. The irregular steps by which the act of 
 presentation was completed, the dark machinations and un- 
 seemly circumstances which, according to our information, 
 accompanied this whole transaction, had diminished that 
 confidence which the council might otherwise have thought 
 themselves entitled to from the sessions. For this reason, 
 they communicated their sentiments, in the most regular 
 and decent maimer, to the societies whose representatives 
 make a great part of the council, that the application of the 
 sessions to the council might be aided by the more powerful 
 interposition of these societies. 
 
 C. — The publication * and transmission of this resolution 
 
 * The act of the general sessions Avas published immediately after 
 it was passed. 
 
1704.] CASE OF LADY YESTER's CHURCH. 279 
 
 seems to have been contrived with an intention to aHenate 
 the minds of the inhabitants from those who have the ad- 
 ministration of the city. 
 
 O. — An insinuation of this kind against such a body as 
 the general sessions, is not Ukely to gain credit at any pe- 
 riod, unless when it shall generally be beheved, that the 
 council have, by a violent, oppressive, and interested con- 
 duct, forfeited the esteem, and merited the resentment of 
 their fellow-citizens ; a supposition which the sessions are 
 not disposed to apply to the present council, and which, no 
 doubt, they would think highly injurious. 
 
 C. — Were matters entire, this act of the general sessions, 
 so framed and published, would have laid the coimcil under 
 a necessity of exercising the right of patronage vested in them 
 by law ; and as the presentation, and letter of acceptance, 
 are lodged in the hands of the moderator of the Presbytery, 
 a jus qucEsitum is thereby acquired to the presentee, which 
 puts it out of the power of the council to recall what is past ; 
 and therefore, they would fain hope the ministers and elders 
 will, upon cool recollection, do every thing in their power 
 to promote peace and harmony in the city, by cordially con- 
 curring with the choice made by the magistrates and coun- 
 cil. 
 
 O. — If this jus quissitum means a right to the vacant 
 benefice, it is not easy to conceive how this right can be ac- 
 quired by a presentee who hath a pastoral charge, and pos- 
 sesseth a benefice in the church, till he be removed from his 
 present charge, and admitted a minister of this city. If the 
 jus qu(Bsitum imports the right of a presentee to insist be- 
 fore the ecclesiastical courts, independent of his patron, in 
 a process for obtaining a translation, the sessions freely ad- 
 mit, that the exercise of it would make a becoming coun- 
 terpart to the act of presentation by the present council, as 
 neither the one nor the other of these odious practices will 
 find a parallel in the history of our Church, since the glo- 
 rious era when we were blessed by Pro\4dence with the 
 complete establishment of our civil and religious liberties. 
 The sessions, in their present capacity, cannot mth propriety 
 either concur ^vith or oppose the choice made, as they are 
 neither judges nor parties in this affair ; but will most cor- 
 dially comply with the view of the magistrates and council 
 for promoting peace and harmony in the city, and Avill more- 
 over use their best endeavours to advance (what they hope 
 
280 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q764. 
 
 the coifncil have equally at heart) a regard to justice, fidelity 
 and truth, without which no solid peace and harmony can 
 subsist in any society. The general sessions beg leave to 
 entreat the magistrates and council to consider seriously the 
 unhappy consequences that may be apprehended, if they 
 should persist in the measure they have lately adopted, and 
 to proceed no farther in a design which may long prove fatal 
 to the peace of the city ; and they are persuaded the council 
 may yet find a remedy for what is past, if they employ their 
 own prudence to search for it. If these entreaties should 
 prove ineffectual, nothing remains for the general sessions 
 but ardently to ^Wsh, that this unhappy contention may be 
 brought to a speedy and good issue ; and their firm resolu- 
 tion is, that in whatever capacity they may be obliged to act 
 in the progress of this affair, their conduct shall be entirely 
 regulated by a regard to the interests of our holy religion, to 
 the laws of our country, to the rules of the Church, and to 
 the real welfare of the city of Edinburgh. . . . The replies 
 for the general sessions were, upon the question put, approved 
 of by a great majority; but the six rev. gentlemen who for- 
 merly dissented, entered a second dissent now. 
 
 The validity of this presentation, and the right of the 
 council to present ministers, were challenged, both in a sus- 
 pension and in a reduction and declarator, (the summons 
 dated Dec. 22, 1762,) brought before the Court of Session, 
 at the instance of the six protesters before mentioned, and 
 James Somerville, deacon of the bonnetmakers, against the 
 other twenty-six members of council, concluding to have 
 the presentation, with the acts and minutes of council rela- 
 tive to it, of the 1st, 8th, and 15th of Dec. 1762, reduced, 
 on the following allegations : — 1. That the council have only 
 a joint right with the ministers and elders to call and settle 
 ministers in the city. 2. That the said acts of council were 
 irregular and illegal ; and concluding also to have it found 
 and declared, that the right of calling and settling ministers 
 is in the council, ministers and elders, jointly. The result 
 of these processes was, that the Court of Session found, Feb. 
 18, 1763, " That the magistrates and town-council of Edin- 
 burgh have the sole privilege, exclusive of, and without con- 
 sulting the ministers and kirk-sessions, of presenting ministers 
 to all the vacant churches ^vithin the city, and therefore re^ 
 pelled the reasons of reduction and suspension, and assoilzied 
 
1764.] CASE OF LADY YESTER's CHURCH. 281 
 
 the defenders in the reduction with respect to that point ; " 
 and with respect to the rest of the cause, the Court, July 15, 
 176*3, " repelled the reasons of suspension and reduction of 
 the presentation granted to Mr Drysdale ; found the letters 
 orderly proceeded, and assoilzied the defenders from the re- 
 duction and declarator, and declared thera quit thereof and 
 free therefi'om in all time coming." On an appeal, these 
 judgments Avere affirmed by the House of Lords, March 13, 
 1764. 
 
 Resolutions to oppose the settlement were early entered 
 into, and published in the ncAvspapers, by the merchant com- 
 pany, and by all the incorporations, two excepted, the sur- 
 geons and waulkers ; and the prosecution of it was delayed 
 by the church courts during the dependence of the civil ac- 
 tions. After the appeal was dismissed, a new objection was 
 made to the presentation, that the city's seal was not affixed 
 to it ; on which a new reduction having been raised, a pro- 
 test was entered in the Presbytery, March 28, 1764, in the 
 name of Mr Lindsay, present convener of the trades, on this 
 new objection ; which was adhered to by other three mem- 
 bers of the present council, and by the merchant company 
 and the incorporations. It became a question, "WHiether 
 such of the merchant company or incorporations, or of Lady 
 Yester's kirk-session, who had given in a petition in favour 
 of the presentee, as were members of Presbytery, should 
 be deemed parties ? They all, however, voted mider pro- 
 tests. Upon the question put. Appoint a limited moderation 
 to ]\Ir Drysdale ? or. Refer the cause simplicitev to the Sy- 
 nod ? it carried Refer, by the moderator's casting vote. An 
 appeal was entered by the council from this sentence. 
 
 The Synod, which met May 1, found, by a narrow ma- 
 jority, that the members of the merchant company and in- 
 corporations were parties, by which three members in the 
 opposition were excluded ; they found also, that the elder 
 from Lady Yester's kirk-session, who was a friend of the 
 presentee, was a party. The determination of the Synod 
 was. That the Presbytery should be appointed to meet on 
 the 17ih with the magistrates and to-wn-council, the minis- 
 ters and elders, being the usual callers of ministers to the 
 city ; then to moderate in a call to Mr Drysdale alone, and 
 to supervise the signing of it by the magistrates and council, 
 
282 
 
 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [l76'4. 
 
 ministers and elders, or such of them as should signify their 
 concurrence ; the sentence to he communicated to the council 
 by the Lord Provost, and to the general sessions by the oldest 
 minister of the city. Against which an appeal was entered 
 for the gentlemen in the opposition. 
 
 Dr George Wishart, who was the oldest minister in the 
 city, instead of convening the general sessions, to make the 
 aforementioned communication to them, sent a copy of the 
 Synod's sentence to each of the ministers and elders, (the only 
 persons who claim a vote along with the council in the mo- 
 deration of calls to ministers,) subjoining to it, in the way 
 of a letter, that the above sentence of the Synod was, in obe- 
 dience to their order, intimated to them by him ; but he sent 
 no intimation to the deacons, who are indeed members of the 
 general sessions, but have no vote in the moderation of calls. 
 When the Presbytery met on the 17th, Mr John Forrest, 
 merchant, one of the elders, gave in a representation against 
 Mr Drysdale's settlement by a presentation, and protested 
 against the Presbytery's moderating in a call to him alone ; 
 to which protest several elders and ten members of council 
 adhered. Another representation was given in, signed by 
 thirty-two session deacons, complaining that the S\Tiod's 
 sentence had not been intimated to them. The first ques- 
 tion put in the Presbytery was. Whether the ministers of 
 Edinburgh, and their elders, members of Presbytery, parti- 
 cularly four elders whom the S}Tiod had declared parties, 
 should be judges in the affair ? The persons whose right 
 was the subject of the question, were themselves allowed to 
 vote, (as they had done in the Synod,) and it carried here 
 by their own votes that tliey were not parties. It was then 
 moved to find. That the Spiod's order had not been obeyed, 
 (because Dr Wishart had not communicated the sentence 
 to the general sessions,) or to put the question, Obeyed^ or 
 Not ? Others moved, that the question should be. Whether 
 the intimation of the sentence of the Synod by Dr Wishart 
 to the ministers and elders of Edinburgh, in the manner 
 above represented, was a sufficient intimation of the sentence 
 to them, or Not ? On this the previous question was put, 
 and carried for the first state of the vote. Then the Pres- 
 bytery found, without a vote, a division not having been 
 insisted upon, that the Synod's sentence had not been obeyed. 
 This led to the final question, viz.. Proceed to the moder- 
 ation of a call to the presentee alone ; or. Delay till the 
 
1764.] CASE OF LADY YESTER's CHURCH. 283 
 
 several appeals taken from the sentences of the Synod shall 
 be discussed by the Assembly ? Dr Robertson protested, 
 that the putting this question was incompetent, and an act 
 of disobedience to the Synod's sentence ; but it was put, and 
 it carried, by a single vote. Delay. Against which protests 
 were taken, and appeals entered. Provost Drummond pro- 
 tested. That as the Presbytery had refused to supervise the 
 subscribing of the call, it should be lawful to subscribe it in 
 presence of two notaries, before witnesses, as is usually done 
 in cases of this kind. Accordingly the call was so signed 
 by twenty-three of the magistracy and council, twenty elders, 
 and seven ministers of the city, making in all three of a ma- 
 jority of the ordinary callers, whose full number (there being 
 now two minister's charges vacant,) was 101, of whom four 
 being members of the council and also elders, the number 
 of callers was thereby reduced to 97. In this shape the 
 affair came before the Assembly. 
 
 It employed that venerable court two days (May 29 and 
 30,) and both long sederunts. The points chiefly insisted 
 on in the Cases were : — 1. The exclusion of three members 
 by the S^Tiod. 2. The not afl&xing the city's seal to the 
 presentation ; and, 3. The not communicating the Synod's 
 sentence to the general sessions. The Assembly went first 
 on the appeal from the sentence of the Synod ; and it being 
 moved to put the question, AVhether the dissenters from that 
 sentence should be heard, or Not ? the consideration of it 
 was reserved till the parties should be heard ; and parties 
 having been fully heard, as the Assembly were about to re- 
 sume the question, one of the dissenters, in name of the rest, 
 declined speaking as dissenters ; but craved, as members of 
 the Presbytery of Edinburgh, that the Assembly, before 
 giving judgment on the Synod's conduct, would hear parties 
 concerned in a question relating to the conduct of the Pres- 
 bytery of Edinburgh, in consequence of that of the Synod, 
 as the one, they believed, would throw some light on the 
 other. After reasoning, the Assembly agreed to put the ques- 
 tion, Proceed to give judgment on the conduct of the Synod 
 of Lothian and Tweeddale, before they hear parties on the 
 conduct of the Presbytery of Edinburgh, or Not ? and it 
 was agreed, that if it carried Ao^, it should be understood, 
 that because of the connection between the sentence of the 
 Synod and that of the Presbytery, the Assembly should hear 
 
284 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1764. 
 
 parties in tlie appeal from the Presbytery before giving judg- 
 ment in the appeal from the Synod. It earned, by a great 
 majority, Proceed. So the Assembly resolved to give judg- 
 ment on the conduct of the Synod before entering on the 
 other part of the cause ; and then adjourned. 
 
 Next day, after reasoning, the question was put. Affirm 
 the sentences of the S}Tiod in all points, or Not ? and car- 
 ried Affirm., by a great majority. The points affirmed were. 
 The Synod's finding, that certain members of the merchant 
 company and incorporations, who were also members of the 
 Synod, ought not to judge in the cause, but were to be 
 deemed parties ; and their appointing a moderation of a call 
 to Mr John Drysdale, the presentee, alone, in the manner 
 expressed in their sentence. 
 
 Then the Assembly took into consideration the appeal 
 from the sentences of the Presbytery, by the patrons and the 
 callers of Mr Drysdale. Papers being read, and parties heard, 
 there was produced the aforementioned call to Mr Drysdale, 
 by a majority of the conjunct body of the usual callers, viz., 
 the provost, magistrates, town-council, ministers, and elders 
 of Edinburgh, signed by them in presence of two notaries- 
 public, attesting their subscriptions ; which was read, and 
 one of the callers heard. Then a motion was made, that 
 the Assembly should come to the following resolutions, viz., 
 "' The General Assembly find, that the ministers of Edin- 
 burgh, and the elders chosen by the respective sessions there 
 to represent them in Presbytery, being part of the usual body 
 of callers of ministers to the city, and having been summoned 
 by order of the Synod to attend the meeting of Presbytery 
 on the 1 7th of May in that capacity, ought not to have been 
 admitted by the Presbytery to judge, and to vote, in any of 
 the questions relative to the moderation of a call, in which 
 they were to act as parties, and therefore reverse the sentence 
 of the Presbytery \>ath regard to them ; and appoint, that 
 they shall not judge in any subsequent question in the Pres- 
 bytery concerning this cause : Find,, That sufficient inti- 
 mation of the sentence of the S3mod of Lothian and Tweed- 
 dale, appointing a moderation to the presentee alone on the 
 17th of May, had been made to all parties who had any in- 
 terest in the moderation, or who had any right to appear 
 and to vote there ; and that therefore, it was incompetent 
 and irregular in the Presbytery to state a vote, Whether 
 they should p7'oceed or not to ohei/ the appointment of their 
 
1764.] CASE OP LADY YESTER's CHURCH. 28.5 
 
 superiors ? Finely That the call to Mr Drysdale produced 
 in the General Assembly, is sufficient evidence of the con- 
 currence of a majority of the usual callers to his settlement ; 
 and the General Assembly did, and hereby do, sustain the 
 same ; and appoint the Presbytery of Edinburgh to meet in 
 the Old Church aisle on Friday next, at iew o'clock in the 
 forenoon, and then and there to appoint commissioners, who, 
 in their name, shall lay the said presentation and call before 
 the Presbytery of Linlithgow at their first meeting; and they 
 further appoint the Presbytery of Edinburgh to report, on 
 the said day, being Friday next, their obedience to the Ge- 
 neral Assembly, in nominating commissioners, as aforesaid, 
 and that these commissioners shall prosecute the translation 
 of Mr Drysdale from Kirkliston to Edinburgh ; and upon a 
 sentence of translation being passed by the Presb}i:ery of Lin- 
 lithgow, appoint the Presbytery of Edinburgh to proceed to 
 the admission of Mr Drysdale to Edinburgh with all conve- 
 nient speed, according to the rules of the Church ; and fur- 
 ther, appoint the said Presbytery to report their diligence 
 herein to the Commission of this Assembly, at their meeting 
 in August next ; and empower the said Commission, at that 
 or any of its subsequent diets, to receive any reference or 
 appeal that may be made to them concerning this cause, and 
 to judge and finally determine therein." After hearing the 
 above motion, the question was put. Agree to the same in 
 all its parts^ or Not F and the rolls being called, and votes 
 marked, it carried, by a great majority, Agree ; and there- 
 fore, the General Assembly did find and ordain accord- 
 ingly.* 
 
 * In obedience to this order, the Presbytery of Edinburgh met 
 on the 1st of .June, and appointed Dr Gilbert Hamilton, and Messrs 
 Warden, Craig, Stewart, and James Robertson, ministers, and Mr 
 John Robertson, elder, as their commissioner;?, or any one of them, 
 to prosecute the call before the Presbytery of Linlithgow, or any 
 other church judicature ; and reported their having done so to the 
 Assembly. 
 
 It may be observed on this contest, that the exercise of the right 
 of patronage was disapproved of by the general sessions unanimously ; 
 that no exception, however, ever was made to the presentee ; that, 
 on the contrary, a petition was presented to the Presbytery in his 
 behalf by the session of the parish of which he was to be the pastor, 
 (in which they declared that he was extremely agreeable to them, 
 and they were persuaded he would be very acceptable to the con- 
 gregation ; ) that his call was unexceptionable, even supposing the 
 
286 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [176 4. 
 
 On the 31st, the Assembly took into consideration an ap- 
 peal taken by five of the kirk-sessions of Glasgow^ from a 
 sentence of the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, concerning a 
 presentation granted by the magistrates and council of that 
 
 presentation not to be in the field, he having a majority of three 
 for him of those who were admitted by the gentlemen in the oppo- 
 sition to be the usual callers. The ministers of Edinburgh were 
 equally divided on the question, — Drs Wishart, Cuming, Wallace, 
 Jardine, Kay, Blair, and Robertson, being for the settlement ; and 
 Doctors and Messrs Webster, Glen, Walker, Dick, Macqueen, 
 Lundie, and Erskine, against it. The next vacancy which occurred 
 in Edinburgh was occasioned by the death oiDr George Kay of the 
 Old Greyfriars' Church, on the 10th April 1766. But the town- 
 council, with a view to effect a harmonious settlement, prudently 
 waived their prerogative. The following address of the merchant 
 company to the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council, was agreed 
 to on the 20th, and presented on the 22d of October 1766, viz. : — 
 
 " We beg leave to testify, in the most respectful manner, the 
 just sense we have of the wisdom and moderation of the honourable 
 council, in permitting the legal term to elapse for presenting a mi- 
 nister to one of the vacant churches in this city. 
 
 *' When the exercise of the right of patronage, which, from the 
 happy era of British liberty, had been suffered to lie dormant, was 
 for the first time reassunied by a former council, our duty to the 
 public, as a corporate society, then moved us to remonstrate against 
 an act of administration which had no precedent but in the worst of 
 times, and which, in our apprehension, would be attended with many 
 disagreeable consequences. 
 
 " It now gives us the greatest pleasure to express our gratitude 
 to the present and immediately preceding coimcil, for returning to 
 those milder and more approved measures of government, which, by 
 securing the confidence of their fellow-citizens, lay the firmest foun- 
 dation for that cordial respect, upon which the true dignity of the 
 governors, and the peace and good order of the governed, do so 
 necessarily depend. 
 
 " Permit us therefore to assure you, that this early and obliging 
 discovery of your intention to give place to the ancient and most 
 agreeable mode of electing ministers to this city, is greatly relished 
 by the true friends of our happy constitution, and leaves no room to 
 doubt, that the whole of your future administration will be equally 
 honourable to yourselves, and beneficial to the community over 
 which you preside." 
 
 An address of thanks from the incorporation of goldsmiths like- 
 wise was presented to the town-council on this occasion. 
 
 For supplying the vacancy, leets were laid before the Presbytery 
 from the several kirk-sessions of the city, on the 26th of November. 
 The Presbytery appointed Friday the 28th for the moderation in a 
 call ; and they ordered the thanks of the Presbytery to be given to 
 
1764.] CASE OF THE WYND CHURCH, GLASGOW. 287 
 
 city to Mr George Bannatync, minister of Craigie^ to be 
 one of the ministers of Glasgotv, and of the W}Tid Church 
 there ; by which sentence the Synod had reversed a sentence 
 of the Presbytery of Glasgow, and sustained the presenta- 
 
 the town-council for the tender regard they had sho\vn for a peace- 
 able and harmonious settlement. Accordingly, on the 28th, the 
 magistrates, town-council, ministers, and elders, met, and unani- 
 mously made choice of Mr James Brown, minister of Melross, to be 
 one of the ministers of the city. 
 
 On the 2d of December, the general sessions unanimously agreed 
 that the following address should be presented : — 
 
 " Unto the Right Hon. the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council 
 of the City of Edinburgh ; 
 
 " We, the ministers, ciders, and deacons of the city of Edinburgh, 
 presently assembled in a general meeting of sessions, think it our 
 duty to express, with becoming gratitude, the just sense -we have of 
 your mild and prudent administration Avith regard to the ecclesias- 
 tical concerns of the community. 
 
 " The free election of a minister for supplying one of the churches 
 under your patronage, from lists made up by the several sessions, 
 according to the ancient usage, which issued in a call voted and 
 signed with perfect unanimity upon Friday last, and your allowing 
 the legal term to expire for presenting to the other vacant charge, 
 are events that cannot fail to give us the siucerest joy. 
 
 " We are fully persuaded, that such indulgent attention to the 
 general voice of your fellow- citizens, in a matter with which their 
 spiritual interests are so intimately connected, will naturally be pro- 
 ductive of peace and good order, and cherish that cordial esteem of 
 your wisdom and equity, and that entire confidence in the kindness 
 and purity of your intentions, which are the most effectual principles 
 of dutiful respect on their part, as well as the most permanent foun- 
 dation of that authority and influence which belong to the office of 
 magistracy. 
 
 " We reckon ourselves peculiarly honoured by the obliging proof 
 you have given of your regard to us, in restoring thus far an impor- 
 tant privilege, which we and our predecesfsors have uniformly en- 
 joyed, from the full establishment of our civil and religious liberties 
 at the glorious Revolution, downwards to the year 1762; and it 
 shall be our constant care, both as office-bearers and citizens, to 
 conduct ourselves by the same wisdom and moderation which we so 
 justly applaud in you: the happy effects whereof are sensibly felt, 
 and gratefully relished, by the great body of inhabitants, to whom, 
 as members of the Established Church, we, in our respective sta- 
 tions, are more immediately related. 
 
 " By appointment of the general sessions, in their presence and 
 name, by 
 
 '* Daniel Macqueen, Moderator." 
 
288 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [^1764. 
 
 tion. After reading papers, heai-ing parties, and long rea- 
 soning, it was moved, That the question should be put. 
 Affirm or Reverse the sentence of the Synod ? But another 
 motion being made. That the determining of this affair 
 should be delayed till the validity of the presentation should 
 be ascertained in a civil court ; and that the state of the 
 question should be. Proceed or Delaij 9 it was agreed to 
 put the previous question. First or Second state of the vote ? 
 and it carried, by a great majority, the First. Then the 
 Assembly, without a vote, affirmed the sentence of the Sy- 
 nod, and sustained the presentation. To which judgment, 
 on report of a committee, June 1, there was added as fol- 
 lows : — ■" In respect of the particular circumstances of this 
 case, find. That the presentation given by the magistrates 
 and town-comicil of Glasgow, joined with the petition of 
 those who had rented seats in the AV\Tid Church, are suffi- 
 cient to found a process of translation before the Presbytery 
 of Ayr, in order to have Mr Bannatyne removed from his 
 present charge to the said Wynd Church ; and therefore, 
 the Assembly appoint the Presbytery of Glasgow to meet on 
 Wednesday, the 20th of June current, and at that meeting, 
 without farther delay, to name commissioners to prosecute 
 Mr Bannatyne's translation, in order to his being settled 
 minister of said W}Tid Church, with all convenient speed : 
 And in case any question shall arise with regard to the said 
 translation, they empower the Commission to receive any 
 reference or appeal thereanent, and to judge and finally de- 
 termine therein : And they further appoint the Presbytery 
 of Glasgow to report their obedience to this injunction to 
 the Commission in August next." 
 
 A letter was given in to the Assembly, June 1, from the 
 corporation in the city of Philadelphia for the relief of poor 
 and distressed Presbyterian ministers, and of their widows 
 and cliildren, in Pennsylvania^ &c., dated at Philadelphia, 
 Feb. 10, 1763, thanking the Assembly for the charitable 
 donation of i^l284 : 4 : lid. Sterling, transmitted to them 
 at sundry times for the above purpose, in consequence of 
 the application made to the Assembly 1760. Which letter 
 was read, and ordered to be recorded. 
 
 A minister who lived at a distance from Edinburgh, and 
 had but a small stipend, having been appointed to succeed 
 Mr Haig as minister of the Castle of Edinburgh, divine ser- 
 
1704.] CASE OF KILMARNOCK. 289 
 
 vice was not now performed there regularly. This moved 
 the Presbytery of Haddington to overture, concerning that 
 ministerial charge, " That the Assembly should make a re- 
 presentation to his Majesty's secretary of state for the north- 
 em department, of the circumstances of the inhabitants of 
 the said garrison, as totally destitute of the benefits of pub- 
 lic worship in the church there, by reason of the want of a 
 fixed minister of the Gospel residing in the Castle, a privi- 
 lege they have enjoyed ever since the happy Revolution." 
 The opinion of the committee of overtures on this was, 
 '" That whereas the said alleged ministerial charge appears 
 to be constituted merely by a commission in common form, 
 from the secretary at war's office, to one to be chaplain to a 
 company of foot in the said Castle, and who is consequently 
 subject, as such, not to the judicatures of this Church, but 
 to the war department ; and finding also, that the last Ge- 
 neral Assembly thought meet to dismiss a similar overture 
 [[concerning ia. plurality of henejices^ that came before them 
 from the Synod of Perth and Stirling ; therefore, the present 
 General Assembly should dismiss the said overture from the 
 Presbytery of Haddington, withal declaring, that they judge 
 the proposal therein contained to be altogether improper and 
 inexpedient, to be followed out and carried into execution 
 by the judicatures of this Church." After reasoning, the 
 question was put in the Assembly, Approve of the opinion 
 of the committee, or Not ? and carried Approve, by a great 
 majority ; therefore the Assembly dismissed the overture. 
 
 An appeal of the Right Hon. William, Earl of Glencaim, 
 patron of the parish of Kilmarnock, and certain heritors, 
 elders, and heads of families, from a sentence of the Presby- 
 tery of Irvine, to the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, refusing to 
 transport Mr WiUiam Lindsay, minister of the parish of 
 Cumbray, from said parish, to the second minister s charge of 
 Kilmarnock, and the said Synod of Glasgow and A}t s re- 
 ference to this Assembly, heard. — The General Assembly 
 reversed the sentence of the Presbytery of Irvine, sustained 
 the reasons for the transportation of Mr Lindsay from Cum- 
 bray to the parish of Kilmarnock ; and accordingly trans- 
 ported the said Mr Lindsay from Cumbray to Kilmarnock, 
 and appointed the Presbytery of Irvine to admit ]\[r Lind- 
 say minister of Kilmarnock betwixt and the 17th day of 
 July, and to report their having done so to the Commission, 
 
 Bb 
 
290 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. fl7b'4. 
 
 who are empowered finally to determine any question re- 
 lating to this settlement.* 
 
 Upon an overture from the Synod of Perth and Stirling, 
 concerning the proper i^cparation of churches^ and render- 
 ing them more commodious, a committee was appointed to 
 consider and prepare an overture thereanent ; as also to take 
 under their consideration a plan for manses, churches, and 
 schoolhouses, and to report to the Commission, or the next 
 Assembly. 
 
 A petition of the Society for Propagating Christian 
 Knowledge^ craving a collection to be made in such parishes 
 as had been hitherto deficient, granted. 
 
 An appeal of Alexander Earl of Galloway, and the other 
 tutors of his Grace George James Duke of Hamilton and 
 Brandon, patron of the parish of Shotts^ against a sentence 
 of the Presbytery of Hamilton, refusing to proceed to the 
 settlement of Mr Laurence Wells, presentee, and referring 
 the cause to the S3mod, and from a reference of the same 
 by the SjTiod to this Assembly, being heard, the General 
 Assembly sustained the presentation and call to Mr Laurence 
 Wells, and appointed the Presbytery of Hamilton to proceed 
 to his trials and settlement, as minister of the parish of Shotts, 
 with all convenient speed, according to the rules of the 
 Church, f 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Glasgow, concerning 
 the practice of admitting students as students of divinity, 
 while attending the study of philosophy, having been con- 
 
 * Mr Lindsay was ultimately settled, but not without violent 
 opposition. At the Ayr Circuit Court in October of this year, 
 Alexander Thomson, William Wylie, James Crawfurd, John Hill, 
 Adam White, David Dunlop, William Nimrao, William Davies or 
 Davidson, Hugh Thomson alias Bulloch, and Robert Creelman, 
 tradesmen and journeymen in Kilmarnock, were tried for raising a 
 tumult in and about the church of Kilmarnock, at the settlement 
 of Mr Lindsay as minister of that parish. The jury acquitted the 
 last seven, but found the first three guilty ; who were thereupon 
 sentenced to be imprisoned a month, th^n to be whipped through 
 the streets of Ayr, and to find caution for their good behaviour for 
 a twelvemonth. 
 
 t In a pamphlet, entitled, " Considerations on the Riyht of Pa- 
 tronaye," which appeared in 1766, it is asserted, that " the strong 
 decisions in favour of patrons by the Assembly 1764, (in the cases 
 of Gla gow and Shotts,) were carried through by a majority of 
 H)inisters against the ruling elders." The case of Shotts will ap- 
 pear again in discussion. 
 
IT 64..] MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 201 
 
 sidered by the committee for orertures, they found the affair 
 of greater weight, and more involved in circumstances, than 
 to admit of their bringing in at present a proper overture 
 upon the subject, but that the professors in the universities 
 had agreed to correspond on this matter, and endeavour to 
 prepare an overture to be laid before next Assembly ; the 
 same was accordingly delayed. 
 
 The committee appointed for considering the overture 
 concerning the reparation of churches, &c., appointed to 
 consider a proposal for applying his Majesty's bounty to the 
 purpose of new erections of parishes, and to report to the 
 next General Assembly. 
 
 All future applications for a share of the Royal Bounty^ 
 appointed to lie on the table for the space of two months. 
 
 The case of the second charge of Kirkaldy referred to a 
 committee, to report to next Assembly. 
 
 The. procurator and agent for the Church authorised to 
 prosecute the executors of the deceased William Ross, for 
 recovery of the money collected for the education of the 
 students ha%nng the GaHic language^ or to transact that 
 matter -with the said William Ross's executors, by the ad- 
 vice and direction of a committee named for that purpose ; 
 and they are appointed to correspond with the committees 
 at Edinburgh and Glasgow, appointed by former Assemblies 
 for the management and application of the money collected 
 for the purpose above mentioned. — A recommendation to 
 the parishes that have not made the above collection, to do 
 it without delay, and the several S}Tiods appointed to re- 
 port to the next Assembly such parishes as shall still be 
 deficient. 
 
 Upon a petition from Mr Kenneth Morison, student of 
 divinity, having the Gaelic language^ craving payment of 
 £30 Sterling money, as two years' fees allotted him as bursar 
 for the Presbytery of Le-wHs, to enable him to prosecute his 
 studies, the General Assembly ordered payment to the said 
 Mr Kenneth Morison out of the public fund of the Church, 
 and also others in the Hke situation to have what is due to 
 them of their bursary^, paid out of the said fund, upon his 
 and their granting to the procurator, assignations of their 
 claim upon the fund raised by the collections for the edu- 
 cating of students having the Gaelic language. 
 
 The committee on the window-tax renewed, with the same 
 powers as formerly ; and in case any minister should find 
 
292 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1764, 
 
 himself distressed, the moderator of the committee is em- 
 powered, upon notice given him, to call a meeting of the 
 committee to give him advice. 
 The Assembly rose June 4. 
 
 The Commission sat the 5th and 6tli of June. The first 
 cause brought before them was ti reference from the Synod 
 of Glasgow and Ayr, respecting Mr Alexander Simson. 
 This gentleman wrote a letter to the Presbytery of Paisley 
 in August last, in which he declared his resolution of ac- 
 cepting a call from the parish of Bothwell, that parish not 
 being able to reconcile their minds to the minister lately 
 settled among them by a presentation, having resolved to 
 call a minister on their own charges, with the assistance and 
 countenance of the Presbytery generally known by the name 
 of The Presbyterif of Relief; and craving an extract of his 
 license, and certificates of his moral character. Instead of 
 complying with Mr Simson's request, the Presbytery framed 
 a libel, accusing him of schismatical and disorderly courses, 
 in having, on the 27th of October 17G3, received ordination 
 from Mr Thomas Gillespie, late minister of Camock, now 
 under sentence of deposition, and others, assuming to them- 
 selves the name of Ministers of the Preshyterif of Relief ; 
 in having thereafter entered on the exercise of the ministry, 
 and continuing it, in the parish of Bothwell, ^vithout con- 
 sent of the incumbent ; and in having since administered 
 the sacrament of baptism in the High Church of Paisley, 
 and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the College Church 
 of Glasgow. The libel was read to Mr Simson in Presbytery 
 Jan. 18, 1764 ; he was heard in his own defence; and on 
 the question put, it carried, that he should be served witli 
 it. This being intimated to him, he said, that he desired 
 no time to make answers, nor would he give the Presbytery 
 any trouble in proving it, acknowledging his having been 
 ordained by the Presbytery of Relief, and all the other facts 
 charged ; but alleged, that neither he, nor the Presbytery of 
 Relief, taught any separating principles ; that he was af- 
 fording a temporary relief to a part of the parish of Both- 
 well, who were still desirous to continue on the Establish- 
 ment, and that he apprehended he was doing a service to 
 the Establishment ; he consented that the Presbytery should 
 proceed immediately to give a decision, adding, that he very 
 much desired to continue on the EstabHshment, and that he 
 
1764.] CASE OF MR SIMSON, PROBATIONER. 293 
 
 did not think he had done any thing to prevent it. At the 
 next meeting of Presbytery, March 28, Mr Sirason having 
 been asked if he had any thing further to say, declared he 
 had not. Then, upon the question put, Whether to pro- 
 ceed to a decision, or Refer to the Synod ? it carried Refer. 
 Upon another question, it carried, to adject to the reference, 
 as the opinion of the Presbytery, that the judgment of the 
 Assembly should be had on the affair ; and upon a third 
 question, it carried, that in case the Synod should neglect to 
 take in the affair, or should not refer it to the Assembly, the 
 Presbytery should appeal. 
 
 Mr Simson appeared before the Commission. The afore- 
 mentioned proceedings were read ; and he was heard in his 
 own defence. He objected to the Presbytery of Paisley 
 being judges in the cause, particularly on account of the 
 clause adjected to their reference, and their directing an ap- 
 peal if it should not be complied with. The Commission 
 repelled this objection, and sustained the Presbytery of Pais- 
 ley as judges. After long reasoning, the Commission came 
 to the following resolution, without a vote : — " The Com- 
 mission having considered the libel exhibited against Mr 
 Alexander Simson by the Presbytery of Paisley, and his ac- 
 knowledgment of the facts therein charged against him, viz., 
 his having received ordination from Mr Thomas Gillespie 
 and others, who take to themselves the name of The Pre^- 
 bf/tert/ of Relief and bis exercising the office of the ministry 
 within the parish of Bothwell, and dispensing sealing ordi- 
 nances in other places, upon the said ordination ; find his 
 conduct to be such as to be a sufficient ground of declaring, 
 and accordingly the Commission did, and hereby do, declare, 
 the said Mr Alexander Simson incapable of receiving a pre- 
 sentation or call, as a licentiate of this Church, to any of the 
 parishes within the same." 
 
 They next took into consideration an appeal by Mr Ro- 
 bert Caisson, minister at Anicoth, from a sentence of the 
 Synod of Galloway, deposing him for alleged fornication 
 with Grisel Macmaster, his servant-maid. Parties and 
 counsel were heard ; and after reasoning, a motion was 
 made, " To reverse the sentence of the Synod of Galloway ; 
 and in respect of some things appearing in Mr Carson's con- 
 duct which have given offence to the country wherein he 
 lives, that he be admonished at the bar, and exhorted to 
 behave for the future with more circumspection." But 
 B b 2 
 
294? Annals OF THE ASSEMBLY. [|1764. 
 
 others being for affirming the sentence, the question was 
 put, AiJiviYi or Reverse ? it being understood, that if it 
 should carry Reverse, he should be admonished and ex- 
 horted as above. It carried Reverse, 47 to 30 ; and he was 
 accordingly admonished and exhorted by the moderator.*" 
 
 An appeal by Mr Thomas Lyell^ minister of Sandaij^ 
 from a sentence of the Spiod of Orkney, was next taken 
 into consideration. After hearing parties, and reasoning, 
 the Commission, without a vote, found the procedure of the 
 Synod void and null, in respect of the irregularities of their 
 proceedings, and reversed a sentence of suspension for al- 
 leged fornication, passed upon Mr Lyell by the Presbytery 
 of North Isles, and a committee of correspondents from the 
 Synod ; reserving to that Presbytery to proceed, in what 
 concerns the conduct of ]\Ir Lyell, as they shall see cause, 
 according to the Form of Process, and standing rules of the 
 Church. 
 
 * The decision in this ease gave great and just offence (See p. 
 
 299.) In the " Letters concerning the Church of Scotland," which ap- 
 peared in the year 1767, we meet with the following passage : — 
 " Let those who charge the promoters of the late overture (con- 
 cerning the settling of parishes,) with sinister and ambitious views, 
 please to consider, that they never expressed any dissatisfaction with 
 him who took the lead in ecclesiastical affairs, till he and his friends 
 gave their countenance and aid to an old minister convicted of for- 
 nicalion, and of other most illicit and inhuman practices. Nor did 
 they exert themselves till the whole party employed all their powers 
 in subtle reasonings on terms of law unknown to ecclesiastical judges, 
 with a view to set aside the fullest proof by which another minister 
 was convicted of fornication, attended with circumstances of the 
 most barbarous cruelty, in the judgment of almost every one of the 
 judges, and actually got the notorious delinquent assoilzied. Let 
 the arbitrary execution of the patron's right be connected with the 
 arts of eluding processes against scandalous ministers, and any one 
 may judge of the condition to which the Church of Scotland must 
 be reduced, if a speedy check is not given to these measures. Take 
 into consideration the little progress that is made in convicting scan- 
 dalous ministers in different parts, and the unheard-of licentiousness 
 that prevails in some corners of the Church, through the counte- 
 nance given to every art of evasion, on the one hand, and the little 
 encouragement given the honest zeal of judicatories on the other, 
 and every one will determine for himself, whether it is at all im- 
 probable, that a body of ministers and lay elders should attempt a 
 change of measures, from a real concern for the interests of reli- 
 gion. 
 
 " I remember it was always a maxim in our church courts. That 
 
i765.] WALKKU's REPORT ON TIIK HIGHLANDS. 2.0o 
 
 Assembly 1765. 
 
 The General Assembly met on the 23(1 of 3Iay. — .Mr 
 James Oswald, minister of Methren, Perthshire, was una- 
 nimously chosen moderator, and John, Earl of Glasgow, was 
 his Majesty's Commissioner. 
 
 It was resolved, on the 25th, to call, on Monday the 27th, 
 for the report of Mr John Walker, minister of Moffat, who 
 was appointed by the preceding Assembly to \'isit some parts 
 of the AVestern Highlands and Islands which had not been 
 visited by the commissioners appointed by the Assembly 
 
 we ought to proceed secundum allegata et probata ; that is, not by 
 suspicious conjectures, or even by the most certain information we 
 might have in private, but by that evidence which lay in the pro- 
 cess, subjected to the judgment of the court, and to the review of 
 superior judicatories, where that was competent; or to the whole 
 world, where it was not. If the cause of a certain delinquent had 
 been tried by these rules, he must have been condemned by a great 
 majority. It was pleaded before the Commission full seven hours, 
 and the sentence adjourned till next day ; at the rising of the .Com- 
 mission, after hearing the cause, and at sitting down next day, after 
 thinking upon it, I was persuaded, as many others were, that it was 
 impossible for him to escape. I3ut, to my great surprise, long, 
 learned, and laboured speeches were made, not only by the gentle- 
 men of the law, but by divines, founded on tlie nature of evidence, 
 of legal evidence, which had a tendency — nay, seemed contrived — 
 to weaken, and indeed to set aside the whole proof. A clergyman 
 of great eminence and perspicacity, who had made the nature of 
 evidence his study, stood up and said, that be was no civilian, there- 
 fore would not take upon him to fix the idea of legal evidence ; but 
 affirmed, and to the satisfaction of all present demonstrated, that we 
 had before us the strongest of all evidence, that, viz., which duly 
 attended to, must convey conviction to every judge of common un- 
 derstanding. This had effect, but not that which in reason and 
 justice might have been expected. Things do not make the same 
 impression at a distance as on the spot ; and therefore you cannot 
 form a just idea of the alarm given to the friends of religion and 
 virtue, by witnessing the absolution of a minister who had been 
 deposed by bis Presbytery and Synod, and convicted of fornication 
 in the judgment (I take upon me to say) of almost every member 
 of the Commission ; and all by the flimsy artifice, that though there 
 was a proof, there was a want of legal evidence — that is, of the 
 evidence which would be deemed legal by civilians, but of which 
 clergymen, and I presume country gentlemen, were either ignorant, 
 or had not that kuowledge which is necessary to found a sentence 
 of absolution or condemnation." 
 
296 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [_i7 65. 
 
 176*0. — ^The University of Glasgow had conferred the ho- 
 norary degree of Doctor in Medicine on this rev. gentleman 
 on the 28th of February.] Dr Walker s report was accord- 
 ingly produced on the 27th, and read ; a committee was 
 appointed to consider it, and the report of the former com- 
 missioners, and to prepare proper overtures upon them ; and 
 the Doctor received the thanks of the Assembly for his faith- 
 ful and diligent execution of the commission given him. . . . 
 This committee gave in to the Assembly, on the 1st of 
 June, — 
 
 Report of the Committee appointed hif the Assembly to 
 take under their consideration Dr Walker s report^ and 
 the former report^ together with the overture respecting 
 new erections in the Highlands. 
 
 The committee having considered the report, with the 
 various steps already taken for reforming and civilizing that 
 country, particularly the act of parliament vesting certain 
 estates in the Crown, and appointing, among other purposes, 
 thatxthe rents of these estates be applied towards ciidlizing 
 the inhabitants of the Highlands and Islands, promoting 
 among them the Protestant religion, good government, and 
 the principles of duty and loyalty to the king, do report as 
 follows : — 
 
 That his Majesty's Commissioner, at the desire of the 
 General Assembly 1762, laid before his Majesty a copy of 
 the report of the visitors of the Highlands, specif^dng the 
 number of new erections necessary, and the places where 
 they ought to be made ; and humbly submitting it to his 
 Majesty to make such alterations in the terms of the royal 
 grant of <£lOOO yearly, as might authorise the Assembl}^ to 
 apply that fund for the purpose of new erections. 
 
 That the report was graciously received, and his Majesty's 
 Commissioner to the General Assembly 1761 was particu- 
 larly directed by his JMajesty to acquaint the Assembly, 
 " I'hat his jNIajesty entirely approved of the zeal the As- 
 sembly had shown upon that occasion, for the better observ- 
 ance of religious duties in those parts of his dominions where 
 proper opportunities have hitherto been wanting for that 
 purpose; and that his Majesty, animated by sentiments of 
 the same true religion and piety, would not fail to show the 
 greatest attention to this object, and that the Assembly would 
 
1765.] walker's REPORT ON THE! HIGHLANDS. 297 
 
 in due time be informed of such resolutions as his Majesty 
 mi^ht think proper to come to upon it." 
 
 The committee, therefore, humbly give it as their opinion 
 to the General Assembly, That missionaries are of advantage 
 for civiHzing and reforming the inhabitants of the Highlands 
 and Islands, and that the erection of new parishes will also 
 be attended with the most salutary effects ; but that the 
 sum of £1000 allowed annually by his Majesty's bounty, is 
 insufficient to answer these ends. 
 
 For these reasons, they are of opinion, that an address 
 should be presented to his Majesty, praying, that he would 
 be graciously pleased to order such assistance out of the rents 
 and produce of the annexed estates as he in his great wis- 
 dom may think proper, for accomplishing these valuable 
 purposes ; that, along with their address, a copy of Dr 
 TValker's report ought to be transmitted to his JNIajesty, and 
 that a committee should be appointed to correspond with 
 tlie commissioners of the annexed estates, in order to obtain 
 their concurrence. 
 
 This report was unanimously approved of by the Assem- 
 bly. A committee was accordingly appointed to draw up 
 an address to the King, and the same committee was ap- 
 pointed to correspond with the commissioners of the an- 
 nexed estates. 
 
 The address here follows : — 
 
 May it phase your Majesty^ 
 
 We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the 
 ministers and elders met in the National Assembly of the 
 Church of Scotland, humbly beg leave to approach your 
 throne in behalf of our fellow-subjects residing in the more 
 remote comers of this part of the united kingdom. With 
 the deepest concern, w^e behold many of them labouring 
 under gross ignorance, or deluded by dangerous errors, which 
 render them insensible to those blessings, religious and civil, 
 which the inhabitants of the other parts of your Majesty's 
 extensive dominions enjoy under your auspicious reign. 
 
 To communicate to the inhabitants of the Highlands and 
 Islands a more perfect knowledge of true religion, and to 
 inspire them with just sentiments concerning our happy con- 
 stitution, we have always considered as objects worthy of 
 our most serious attention ; and we are confident, that every 
 measure calculated for attaining such important ends, will 
 
298 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [l765. 
 
 not only merit your Majesty's approbation, but receive such 
 countenance from your royal authority, as may be necessary 
 towards carrying it into execution. Animated by these 
 hopes, the General Assembly of this Church held in the year 
 1761, thought it their duty to lay before your Majesty the 
 report of commissioners who had been appointed by the pre- 
 ceding General Assembly to visit the Highlands and Islands, 
 and to inquire into the state of religion in those parts ; and 
 at the same time they humbly suggested to your Majesty, 
 that if you should be pleased to continue the royal donation 
 which you have annually made to this Church, for refor- 
 mation of the Highlands and Islands, such alteration might 
 be made in the terms of the grant, as to permit a part of it 
 to be applied towards the erection of new parishes, with 
 fixed pastors in different parts of those countries, as the most 
 effectual method for instructing and reforming the people. 
 
 The gracious reception which your Majesty was pleased 
 to give to that application, hath encouraged us to lay before 
 you the report of a reverend minister, who, in obedience to 
 the appointment of last General Assembly, visited several 
 parts of the Highlands and Islands, the state of which the 
 former commissioners had no access to inspect. Although 
 we are fully satisfied, that the labours of the missionaries 
 and catechists, which your Majesty's royal bounty enables 
 us to employ in the Highlands and Islands, are attended 
 with good effects, we are persuaded, that the erecting of new 
 parishes in different parts of those countries would be pro- 
 ductive of more certain and permanent advantages ; but as 
 the sum granted annually to the Church does not enable us 
 to carry on both these plans in that vigorous manner with 
 which we would wish to prosecute your Majesty's pious in- 
 tentions, and promote the happiness of our fellow-subjects, 
 we, with all humility, suggest to your royal wisdom, that 
 some part of the rents and produce of those estates, which, 
 by a statute made in the 25th year of his late Majesty, were 
 annexed unalienably to the Crown, may be applied towards 
 erecting parishes in those places of the Highlands and Islands 
 where to your Majesty they shall appear to be most wanted. 
 By that statute, the rents and produce of these estates are 
 declared to be applicable to the pm-poses mentioned in it, 
 or " in such manner as his IVIajesty, his heirs or successors, 
 should, from time to time, by wari'ants under his or their 
 sign-manual, be pleased to direct, to the purposes of civil- 
 
1765.] CASE OF CARSON OF ANWOTH. 290 
 
 izing the inhabitants of said estates, and other parts of the 
 Highlands and Island^ of Scotland, the promoting amongst 
 them the Protestant rehgion, good government, industry, 
 manufactures, and the principles of duty and loyalty to his 
 Majesty, his heirs and successors, and to no other use or 
 purpose whatsoever." 
 
 From our certain knowledge of the state of the Highlands 
 luid Islands, we beg leave to assure your Majesty, that the 
 application of some parts of the rents and produce of these 
 estates in the manner we have humbly proposed, will greatly 
 conduce to promote the salutary purposes which the Legis- 
 lature had in view ; and we have such confidence in your 
 Majesty's paternal tenderness towards all your people, that 
 we are persuaded it will appear to you an object highly 
 worthy of your royal consideration. 
 
 That it may please Almighty God long to continue the 
 blessing of your Majesty's reign, and that the principles of 
 true religion and virtue, with a firm attachment to our in- 
 valuable constitution, may, under your gracious government, 
 be diffused into every part of your extensive dominions, is 
 the earnest prayer of, &c. 
 
 John Oswald, Moderator. 
 
 On a reference from the Synod of Dumfries, the Assem- 
 bly, May 25, unanimously sustained a presentation and call 
 in favour of Mr Matthew Cleghom, minister of St Andrews 
 in Orkney, to be minister of Drysdale ; and appointed the 
 Presbytery of Lochmaben to proceed in his transportation 
 with all convenient speed. 
 
 Petitions were presented to the Assembly from the Synod 
 of Galloway, and from the parish of Anwoth, relating to 
 Mr Robert Carson^ minister of Anwoth., who was deposed 
 by the aforementioned Synod for alleged fornication with 
 his servant-maid, but restored to his office by the Commis- 
 sion in June 1 764. It was alleged in the petition for the 
 parish, that three letters produced for Mr Carson before the 
 Commission, and on which the sentence of that court was 
 founded, were forgeries ; and therefore it was prayed, that 
 the Assembly would appoint the Synod of Galloway, or the 
 Presbytery of Kirkcudbright, to serve Mr Carson with a 
 libel, on the above and other grounds of complaint against 
 him, and in the meantime indulge the petitioners with the 
 benefit of seahng ordinances without any application to Mr 
 
300 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1765. 
 
 Carson for tliat end. The Assembly, May 28, found that 
 the petition from the Synod contained expressions indecent 
 and unbecoming, and was incompetent, and that the prayer 
 of the petition of the parish was incompetent in both parts, 
 and therefore they rejected both petitions. 
 
 On the 2.9th, the Assembly took into consideration a pe- 
 tition of Jfr Robert Park, minister of Old Monkland, 
 tabling an appeal from a sentence of the Presbytery of Ha- 
 milton. 
 
 The following detail is taken from the appellant's Case. 
 Mr Park married Mrs Margaret Robertson, a gentlewoman 
 of considerable fortune, and in every respect a suitable match 
 for him. He made his addresses to her in 1750, but some 
 of her connections used all their influence to his prejudice, 
 which, though unable to prevent, had the effect of retarding 
 the marriage. However, on the 7th of October 1752, they 
 entered into solemn matrimonial vows, and took one another 
 for husband and wife ; by which he and she then both un- 
 derstood, and he is now advised, that a marriage, irregular 
 indeed by reason of its privacy, but of unquestionable legal 
 validity, took place. He would have willingly soon declared 
 it, but Mrs Park Avas extremely desirous to have their mar- 
 riage publicly solemnized, and he yielded to her anxiety, 
 though it was delayed from time to time, for various rea- 
 sons. These facts are vouched by, and what happened af- 
 terwards is related in, the following declaration, signed some 
 short time before Mrs Park's death, which happened in April 
 1758:— 
 
 " We, Robert Park, minister at Old Monkland, and Mar- 
 garet Robertson, spouses, for divers causes moving us here- 
 unto, and particularly to enable the survivor of us to do 
 justice to Andrew Park, our son, have agreed to make the 
 following declaration, viz. : 
 
 " That upon the 7th day of October 1752, we made so- 
 lemn vows of marriage, and accepted each other as husband 
 and wife, intending the public solemnization of our marriage 
 soon. This Mr Park pressed earnestly every time we met ; 
 and one day, as he was soliciting and urging it by several 
 considerations, and expressing doubts of the sincerity of my 
 intentions, I admitted him to the privilege of a husband, 
 and promised to marry openly without delay. But, alas ! 
 
1T<>.'>.] CASE OF PARK OF OLD MONKLAND. 301 
 
 being too much influenced by some about me, I had not 
 power to do it till the 3d day of December 1753, being at 
 that time convinced I Avas with child, and far advanced. 
 "We have suffered much for one single in-egular step ; God 
 alone knows the degrees of guilt. We have mourned for 
 it before him, and hope have obtained his pardon. We 
 have lived together in perfect love and harmony ; and when 
 the world was censuring us, particularly Mr Park for harsh- 
 ness to his wife, a fault which he has ever been at the great- 
 est distance from, we were mutually supporting and com- 
 forting each other, and through the divine indulgence have 
 lived very comfortably. 
 
 " To prevent giving offence as much as we could, we set 
 out from home the first Tuesday of January 1754, and tra- 
 velled in post chaises to Aiton in Yorkshire. Mr Park, at 
 the earnest request of his wife, for reasons we had in view, 
 returned home; recommending her to the protection of 
 Divine Providence, and to the care of Mr James Simson, 
 minister of the Gospel at Aiton, and Mr John Jolly, farmer 
 in Newton, near Aiton, in w^hose house she brought forth a 
 son, on the 31st day of January 1754, Mrs Muir, mid\Wfe 
 in Stocksly, assisting. Mr Park returned a few days after, 
 and Mr James Simson baptized our son Andrew, in the 
 presence of John Jolly, his servants, William Thomas and 
 his wife, and some other neighbours, whose names I cannot 
 recollect. Elizabeth Robertson in Newton undertook to 
 nurse the child, where w^e, while we staid there, Mr Simson, 
 Mr Jolly, and his servant Katie, might see him every day. 
 In the end of February, Mrs Park thought she might ven- 
 ture to travel ; and having concerted measures concerning 
 the child, we set out, Avith Messrs Simson and Jolly, and 
 that night came to Sagefield. Mr Simson and Mr Jolly re- 
 turned home, and we came the next night to Newcastle, the 
 next to Belford, the next to Haddington, the next to Whit- 
 burn, and the next day home before dinner, the 5th of March. 
 
 " To all whom it may concern, we solemnly declare, that 
 the above is a true narrative of facts ; and, in testimony 
 hereof, we have subscribed the same, written by ]Mr Park, 
 on this and the preceding page, at Old Monkland, 7th day 
 of February 1758 years." (Signed) " Robert Park, Mar- 
 <;aret Robertson." 
 
 Mr Park brought his son from England, first to Edin- 
 c c 
 
302 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. []l765. 
 
 burgh, and then to Glasgow, and acquainted the gentleman 
 under whose care he placed him with his story ; but, at the 
 same time, recommended to him not to profale it, as he 
 had not then fixed upon the time and manner of making it 
 public ; which, however, he was, and had all along' been, 
 firmly resolved to do. 
 
 The boy had not been long in Glasgow before the affair 
 took air, of which Mr Park was no sooner informed, than 
 he thought it his duty forthwith to disclose the whole truth, 
 which he accordingly did to his session, Feb. 3, 1765, and 
 on the Sabbath following, after sermon, to a very crowded 
 audience of his people, with which, on their return from 
 church, they expressed gi-eat satisfaction ; and next Sabbath, 
 and ever since, Mr Park had a good congregation. 
 
 Seven of his elders, however, gave in a petition to the 
 Presbytery, setting forth. That a scandal of antenuptial for- 
 nication had arisen against their minister, of which, by his 
 own accoimt of the matter, he appeared to them to be guilty, 
 and therefore praying the Presbytery to take such steps as 
 they should judge most proper for the honour of religion, 
 and the welfare of the parish. The Presbyter}^ appointed 
 the elders to turn their petition into a libel. They answered. 
 That tiiey did not mean to become libellers of their minister, 
 but only to infonn the Presbytery of the scandal that was 
 spread against him. Being then asked, If they desired that 
 the affair should be inquired into ? they answered in the 
 affirmative ; in which Mr Park concuiTed, earnestly begging 
 it might be done as soon as possible. The Presbytery agreed 
 to take the advice of the Synod in Avhat manner the affair 
 should be conducted. The Synod remitted it to the Pres- 
 b\ tery, appointing them to proceed with all expedition, that 
 if practicable, the affair might be finished before the next 
 Assembly. 
 
 Other facts than those mentioned in Mr Park's narrative 
 having been alleged to be in the fama clamosa, they were 
 intimated to Mr Park ; which, with his answers, follow. 
 
 1 . You called your son 3'our nephew ? Ans. September, 
 ] 758, Avhen I brought my son to Edinburgh, the gentleman 
 to whom I applied, asked. Is this your son ? I answered, 
 "^"es. Wlien I brought him to Glasgow, I told Mr Barr 
 that the boy was my son. I was never asked by any other 
 person what the boy was. I own that Mr Barr's family, 
 
1765.] CASE OF PARK OF OLD MONKLAND. 303 
 
 and others, have spoke of my son as my nephew, and of nie 
 as being his uncle ; and I did not contradict this. 
 
 2. Why did not you enter his name into the separate re- 
 gister ? [of the widows' fund.] Ans. For reasons obvious; 
 and particularly, because I never intended he should rea]) 
 any benefit from that fund. 
 
 3. You entered your daughters heirs to their mother, to 
 the prejudice of your son ? Ans. Mrs Park died April 
 1758, and the child died on the 20th of that month. I was 
 in deep distress, when a gentleman who was at the child's 
 burial proposed, that my children should be entered heirs 
 to their mother. I said to him. You know the situation of 
 my affairs ; I shall be obliged to you, if you will take the 
 trouble of doing every thing necessary, for at present I can- 
 not think of any thing of that kind. I apprehended, that 
 this was necessary to vest my daughters in that part of their 
 mother's fortune which had not been made over to me (i.e., 
 in marriage articles,) and which, I hope, is less than will 
 justly fall to their share. Of the manner and forai of a 
 service I was entirely ignorant ; all I did in entering my 
 daughters heirs was, to sign a commission to Messrs John 
 Campbell, Coats, and Robert Barclay, writer, to act for me. 
 
 4. You %dndicated to the congi-egation fi-om the pulpit 
 what you had done, and alleged there was no moral turpi- 
 tude in it? Ans. February 10, Sabbath. — I said to the 
 congi-egation, that when I considered the honourable views 
 and intentions which I had all along in the affair, I was 
 conscious of no great guilt ; and was confirmed in this my 
 judgment, by the concurring opinion of a worthy minister 
 (I named nobody) whom I had seen the Friday before, who 
 said, I see no moral turpitude in what you have done, but 
 there is a breach of a good rule. Yet I acknowledged wrong 
 steps, and professed sorrow for them, though I had been 
 led into them, not from any depravity of heart, or bad de- 
 sign . 
 
 Mr Park gave in also two letters, one from Mr Simson, 
 minister at Eastwood, to the Presbytery, dated April 2JJ, 
 1765; and the other from Mr James Barr, rector of the 
 grammar school at Glasgow, to ^Ir Park, dated April 1 7, 
 1765, — in which 
 
 Mr Simson writes : — " Mrs Park oftener than once to me, 
 with deep concern, declared, that she was only to blame in 
 the affair ; that he urged the public marriage over and over 
 
304. ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. f 176*5. 
 
 from the beginning of their mutual regard, but that some 
 circumstances in her situation then made her to put it off 
 from time to time ; that they regarded themselves as mar- 
 ried persons fi-om the time that they had given their hearts 
 and their hands to one another; she regretted the great 
 trouble and anxiety she had given to Mr Park, and that he 
 might thereafter be put to, on account of her delay." 
 
 Mr BaiT writes : — " You desire me to inform you what 
 I remember you said to me concerning your son, when you 
 first put him under my care. After the terms M^ere agreed 
 upon, you told me he was your son ; that, for certain rea- 
 sons, it had been kept a secret from- every body, except a 
 few^ ; but that it would be made known soon. Upon my 
 being harassed with people's idle curiosity, inquiring, whether 
 he was a relation of yours ? I thought proper to make you 
 a visit, when I asked what accomit I should give of him ? 
 You answered, Say he is a boy I have committed to your 
 care. I ^vrite this in haste, that it may go with the bearer. 
 I am," &c. 
 
 The Presbytery, after long reasoning, whether to proceed 
 by libel or not, put the question. Libel or Not ? and it car- 
 ried Libel, by three votes. Against which sentence four 
 ministers dissented, and Mr Park protested, and appealed 
 to the Assembly. 
 
 After hearing parties, and reasoning, the Assembly came 
 to the following resolution : — " In regard there is no private 
 party offermg to insist in a prosecution by way of libel against 
 Mr Park, and iii respect of the whole circumstances of this 
 case, the General Assembly finds, that there is no necessity 
 for giving Mr Park a libel, as his conduct has been impru- 
 dent and irregular rather than criminal ; therefore, they ap - 
 point the moderator to rebuke Mr Park for his irregular and 
 incautious behaviour, and so do dismiss this process." Mr 
 Park was rebuked accordingly, and exhorted to be more 
 circumspect in his behaviour for the future. 
 
 A petition for the Duke of Hamilton, and Mr Laurence 
 Wells, preacher of the Gospel, his Grace's presentee to the 
 parish of Shotts, tabling appeals from two sentences of the 
 Presbytery of Hamilton, was likewise taken into considera- 
 tion on the 29th. The Assembly 1764 sustained Mr Wells' 
 presentation and call to this parish, and appointed the Pres- 
 bytery to proceed to his trials and settlement. After his 
 
17 Go.] CASE OF SHOTTS. 305 
 
 trials were finished, the Presbytery passed the following sen- 
 tence upon them, Apiil 2, 1765 : — " Upon mature deliber- 
 ation, though the Presbytery will not take upon them to 
 say that Mr Wells is wliollij df^ficicnt in point of knowledge, 
 yet they are of opinion, that his knowledge, particularly of 
 divinity, is very low and moan, and far short of that degi-ee 
 of understanding which is necessary in one who takes upon 
 him to be a teacher of others, and in such a situation too, 
 where the greatest abilities are required to overcome the 
 universal rooted prejudices which the parish of Shotts has 
 against him. They judge him also to be very much unac- 
 quainted Avith the rules of composition, and greatly wanting 
 in the talents necessary for communicating knowledge, and 
 making a suitable impression upon the minds of common 
 and ordinary hearers, to excite them to a sense of their duty, 
 and persuade them to the practice of it ; and that he does 
 not come up to the character which the apostle gives of a 
 minister of the Gospel, that he is apt to teach. And there- 
 fore, they hereby do find him not qualified to be a minister 
 of that numerous and extensive parish of Shotts." Tlie As- 
 sembly, on the 29th and 30th, remitted to the Presbytery to 
 set aside Mr Wells' former trials, and to proceed of new to 
 take trial of his qualifications, and appointed them to take 
 down their questions and his answers in writing ; and in 
 case they shall proceed to a sentence from which an appeal 
 shall be taken, that the said questions and answers, together 
 with all the discourses he shall have delivered as parts of his 
 trials, with the Presbytery's remarks, which shall also be 
 taken down in writing, shall be transmitted to the superior 
 courts. 
 
 The follomng overture was transmitted to the Assembly 
 by the committee of overtures, on the 31st : — " As the pro- 
 gress of the schistn * in this Church is so very remarkable, 
 
 * This overture was by no means palatable to the Seceders, as 
 appears from the following extracts from a letter soon after pub- 
 lished by the famous Adam Gib of Edinburgh, the leader of the 
 Antihirghers : — " All Papists in this country, — and all Episcopa- 
 lians in it, non-jurors as well as jurors, — (who caimot be understood 
 as among the persons ' who were formerly of our communion, but 
 have now separated themselves from the Church of Scotland,') are 
 plainly'abstracted from by this overture ; so that it takes no notice 
 of their case as an ' alarming evil,' of any • threatening aspect to 
 c c 2 
 
30(5 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. []tT0.5. 
 
 and seems to be on the growing hand, as it is credibly af- 
 firmed that there are nov/ one hundred and twenty meeting- 
 houses erected, to which more than a hundred thousand 
 person^ resort, who were formerly of our communion, but 
 have noAV separated themselves from the Church of Scot- 
 land, and that the effects of this schism begin to appear, and 
 are likely to take root, in the greatest and most populous 
 towns ; it is humbly overtm-ed. That the Venerable Assem- 
 bly would take under their mature consideration this alarm- 
 ing evil, which hath so threatening an aspect to this Church, 
 
 this Church, to the interests of religion, and to the peace of the 
 country ; ' but the overture seems plainly restricted to the SecessioTf, 
 under the character of the schism. Accordingly, as 1 am informed 
 by some who were present, the debate on the overture was properly 
 concerning the Seceders ; and I suppose it might be chiefly with an 
 eye to that body of Seceders which I am in communion with, as 
 they are known to be more numerous, and to stand at a greater dis- 
 tance from communion Avith the Established Church, than others 
 of that denomination. 
 
 " I shall not meddle particularly with the account which the 
 overture gives of the number of meeting-houses which the Seceders 
 hav^e erected, and of persons who resort to these meeting-houses, 
 as I have never sought the knowledge of these matters ; only, so 
 far as I can judge, the number of persons is greatly exaggerated. 
 But, however far the number of those Seceders whom I am con- 
 nected with may yet be short of what would fall to their proportion, 
 according to the overture, they have ground of thankfulness to the 
 Lord, that he has raised up so many to appear on the side of the 
 Reformation testimony, at a time when the interests of the Refor- 
 mation, and of religion in general, are at so very low a pass in this 
 country. 
 
 " They appear upon no private or sectarian footing. Their 
 whole profession lies in a genuine adherence to the Reformation 
 principles, and established standards of the Church of Scotland ; 
 and if they must be charged with schism, because they will not con- 
 cur with the grievous defection from these principles and standards 
 which is now the prevailing fashion, they will patiently bear the 
 groundless imputation. Their testimony has no sort of threatening 
 aspect on the Established Church in any of her interests as a Chris- 
 tian Church : nor has it any sort of threatening aspect, but all the 
 contrary, in what were oncea-day reckoned the interests of religion 
 in all the Reformed Churches. Neither do I know any ejfects of 
 their pretended schism that now ' begin to appear, and are likely to 
 take root, in the greatest and most populous towns,' more than 
 took place above twenty years ago. 
 
 •' What sort of remedies for this pretended schism the authors of 
 the overtu-e might have an eye to, I shall not offer to guess : but 
 
176.5.] OVERTURE ON SCHISM. .'?(j7 
 
 to the interests of religion, and to the peace of the country ; 
 and that they would provide such remedies against this 
 schism as in their gi'eat wisdom they shall judge most })ro- 
 per." After this overture was read, and reasoned upon, two 
 motions were made, viz. : — 1 . That the overture should be 
 transmitted to the several Presbyteries, and they appointed 
 to inquire after the number of meeting-houses erected by 
 those who have seceded from this Church, and the state of 
 the congregations thereto belonging ; as also to inquire con- 
 cerning the rise, progress, and causes of such secessions, and 
 
 I may venture to affirm, that the only remedies which consist with 
 Christianity, and with the rights of human nature, must he in set- 
 ting about reformation ; and let tlie Seceders ^chom I am speaking of be 
 once satisfied about proper entertainment being given to Christianity in 
 the EstabiisJted Church, they icill then most humbly crave to be entertained 
 in her communion. If the overture should have respect to any other 
 sort of remedies, I shall leave others to judge how far it is out of 
 character among Presbyterians ; but I may say, that, to the great 
 mercy of these lands, it is near seventy-seven years out of time. 
 
 " There is one thing in the overture which I beg leave to take 
 particular notice of; as it affirms, that their pretended schism 
 ' hath so threatening an aspect — to the peace of the country ! ' I 
 shall abstain from any strong language about the injuriousness of 
 this allegeance, — with any remarks about the spirit and tendency 
 of it ; as I am confident that their character is well enough known, 
 for being every way proof against any such imputation in this 
 country. Yet they ought to entertain a grateful sense of the jus- 
 tice which I am informed was done to them on this head, during 
 the debate in the General Assembly, by some honourable inembers 
 of that court ; particularly by one gentleman of distinction, who 
 strongly affirmed their loyalty to the present government~-from 
 this consideration, that none of them took up arms against it in the 
 year 1745." 
 
 He then dwells on the exertions the Seceders had made during 
 the rebelHon, and thus concludes : — 
 
 " After all, I must observe, with satisfaction, that according to 
 my information, the overture was far from being rehshed in the 
 General Assembly by the majority of either the reverend or hon- 
 ourable members of the court ; and that their putting it into the 
 hands of a committee was no act of favour to it, but w«s carried in 
 opposition to a transmitting of it to the several Presbyteries, which 
 the friends of that overture insisted for. However, even supposing 
 the worst, the Seceders have ground of confidence, — that a sup- 
 pressing of the testimony among their hands, whatever might be 
 done with their persons, would prove too hard work for all the 
 people of the earth." 
 
308 ANNALS OF THE ASSExMBLY. ^1765. 
 
 to transmit what informations they receive to the next As- 
 sembly. 2. That a committee should be appointed to con- 
 sider the overture, and report their opinion thereupon to the 
 next General Assembly. After long reasoning, the question 
 was put, Transmit or Appoint ? and it earned, by a great 
 majority, Appoint. A committee was appointed accord- 
 ingly, of twenty- three ministers and sixteen ruling elders. 
 
 On the 1st of June, the Assembly again transmitted the 
 following overtures to Presbyteries: — 1. Anent sending up 
 opinions on overtures transmitted by the Assembly. 2. 
 Anent repealing a part of the Form of Process relating to 
 exculpations. 3. Anent members of iafeinor courts judg- 
 ing in causes appealed from them to superior courts. 
 
 The same day, on a report from the committee of over- 
 tures. That three ministers in the Presbytery of Dunfermline, 
 viz,, Messrs David Hunter at Saline, Alexander Daling 
 at Cleish, and John S pence at Orwell, who, for twelve years 
 past, have lain under a suspension from sitting in a judicative 
 capacity in Presbyteries, Synods, or General Assemblies,* 
 have, since falling under that sentence, behaved with all 
 due submission, and lived in good correspondence with their 
 brethren, and that the Presbytery of Dunfermline must sus- 
 tain a loss through the want of their assistance, — the As- 
 sembly took oif the sentence of suspension, and reponed 
 these brethren to their former judicative capacity. 
 
 Then the Assembly took up an appeal by Mr John An- 
 derson, minister of the Gospel at Glendovan., from a sen- 
 tence of the S}Tiod of Perth and Stirling, deposing him from 
 the office of the holy ministry. The crimes laid to his charge 
 were, — brawling, and immoderate anger ; drunkenness ; in- 
 decent speech and behaviour at a sacrament ; tolerating gross 
 disorders in his family, particularly in the time of worship ; 
 foolish speaking and jestings, which are not convenient. — 
 Counsel were heard on the 1st of June ; and on the 3d, after 
 very long debates, the question was put, Affirm the sentence 
 of the Synod ; or. Suspend Mr Anderson until next Sy- 
 nod ? and it carried, by a majority of one voice. Affirm. 
 
 According to the report of the trustees for managing the 
 widows fund., the facts continue to correspond, to a surpris- 
 
 * See the fonner volume, p. 274. 
 
1765.] 
 
 STATE OF THE WIDOWS FUND. 
 
 309 
 
 ing degree of exactness, with the calculations made previous 
 to the establishment of the fund, as appears from the sub- 
 joined table, — in which the first column contains the cal- 
 culations previously made, and the suppositions on which 
 they were founded ; the second^ the facts as they have come 
 out; and the thirds the difference between these : — 
 
 SUPPOSITIONS. 
 
 CALCULAT. 
 
 FACTS. 
 
 DIFF. 
 
 It was supposed, 
 
 Number. 
 
 Number. 
 
 Number. 
 
 That 30 ministers and professors 
 
 
 
 
 would die annually ; inde, for 
 
 
 
 
 21 years . - - - 
 
 630 
 
 — 615 — 
 
 — 15«- 
 
 That they would leave 20 widows 
 
 
 
 
 annually ; ind : for 21 years 
 
 420 
 
 — 411 - 
 
 — 9 — 
 
 That 6 families of children with- 
 
 
 
 
 out a widow would be left an- 
 
 
 
 
 nually ; inde, for 21 years 
 
 126 
 
 — 122 - 
 
 — 4 — 
 
 That 4' ministers and professors 
 
 
 
 
 would die annually, withouf 
 
 
 
 
 leaving either widows or chil- 
 
 
 
 
 dren ; i7ide, for 21 years 
 
 84 
 
 — 82 - 
 
 — 2 — 
 
 That the number of annuitants 
 
 
 
 
 drawing full and half annuities, 
 
 
 
 
 at Whitsunday 1762, would 
 
 
 
 
 amount to . - - 
 
 253 
 
 — 241 - 
 
 — 12 — 
 
 That the medium of their annui- 
 
 
 
 
 ties would be - - - 
 
 * L20 
 
 L20 1 2 6 
 
 LO 1 2 6 
 
 That the medium of the annual 
 
 
 
 
 rates would be - - - 
 
 5 5 
 
 5 1 11 6 
 
 3 6 
 
 That the free stock, at clearing 
 
 
 
 
 accounts with the collector, 1765, 
 
 
 
 
 would amount to - - 
 
 57,049 8 19 
 
 57,468 18 6 6 
 
 19 10 4 9 
 
 * The 4th denomination in these sums 
 
 is 12ths of a peni 
 
 ly- 
 
 * As the period during which the above facts have happened, commences with 
 the scheme upon the 25th March 1744, and concludes upon the 22d November 
 1764, being about four months short of twenty-one years, if 10 (the number of 
 deaths supposed to happen, according to the calculations, in four months.) were 
 added to the above number of 61.5, the difference betwixt the calculation and fact 
 would be only 5. The same observation may be applied to some others of the 
 above particulars. 
 
 An overture from the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, 
 together with the overtures from the Synod of Perth and 
 Stirling, and Presbytery of Langholm, anent the General 
 Assembly's judging in all causes of importance themselves, 
 and not to refer the same to their Coinmissions ; particu- 
 larly, processes respecting the moral character of ministers 
 of this Church, called for and read ; and, after some debate, 
 were ordered to lie on the table. 
 
 An overture anent the inclosing of glebes referred to tho 
 Commission, that they might digest and ripen the same for 
 the next Assembly. 
 
 An appeal of the Right Hon. John Earl of Hopeton, and 
 the whole other heritors, elders, and parishioners of the pa- 
 
310 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [17(J5. 
 
 rish of Kirkliston^ against a sentence of the Presbytery of 
 Lochmaben, refusing to transport the Rev. ]Mr James Lindsay 
 from the parish of Lochmaben to the parish of KirkUston, 
 being heard, the General Assembly unanimously reversed 
 the sentence of the Presbytery of Lochmaben, and trans- 
 ported Mr Lindsay from the parish of Lochmaben to the 
 parish of Kirkliston, and appointed the Presbytery of Lin- 
 lithgow to proceed to the settlement of Mr Lindsay, as mi- 
 nister of the parish of Kirkliston, with all convenient speed. 
 3Ir John Chieslj/, minister at St Monance^ appeared at 
 the bar, and signified, that he now withdrew an appeal which 
 he had taken from a sentence of the Presbytery of St Andrews. 
 The General Assembly declared the said appeal fallen fi'om. 
 A petition for Mr John Chiesly, minister at St Monance^ 
 craving a share of the public money, to enable him to carry 
 on his defence against a process he was concerned in before 
 the commissary of St Andrews, for an alleged freedom upon 
 a person's character, luhen delivering his opinion as a judge 
 in an ecclesiastic court ; which petition being read, the Ge- 
 neral Assembly ordered him £5 Sterling to enable him to 
 carry on the defence in the said process, and recommended 
 him to the procm-ator and agent of the Church. 
 
 A committee named to take under their consideration the 
 Form of Process^ and what additions or alterations may be 
 made thereupon, or whether a new Form of Process is ne- 
 cessary, and to bring an overture on that subject to the next 
 General Assembly. 
 
 The committee appointed to consider the petitions of the 
 Presbytery of Peebles and parish of Neivlands, respecting 
 Dr Da\dd Dickson, gave in their report ; which was read, 
 and approved of by the Assembly.* 
 
 The committee appointed to consider the petition of Messrs 
 James Lesly, &c., anent Mr Thomas Lyell, minister at Sandy ^ 
 gave in their report ; which was read, and approved of by 
 the Assembly, t 
 
 * Dickson had bound himself by missive letters, to make provi- 
 sion for a regular assistant, but now refused to implement his agree- 
 ment. The committee recommended the Assembly to instruct the 
 procurator to assist the Presbytery in any civil action that might 
 be necessary. 
 
 t The committee in this case reportc'l, that as there were great 
 informalities in the procedure against Mr Lyell, the Presbytery 
 should be appointed to give him a new libel in proper form. 
 
IT<;').] COMMITTEE ox SCHISM. 311 
 
 A letter from the Presbytery of Abertarff, craving that 
 the General Assembly would order the missionary ministers 
 employed among them to attend their meetings, and be as- 
 sociated n;iembers, on account of the smallness of their num- 
 ber in said Presbytery. — Which letter was read, and the 
 desire thereof refused. 
 
 LTpon a motion, the Assembly ordered, that all future 
 applications to the committee of the Roijal Buuntij, should, 
 instead of two months, lie only one month upon the table. 
 
 A report by the Presbytery of Jedburgh, anent the school- 
 master's salary at Crailing^ given in, read, and ordered to 
 ]:e recorded. 
 
 The Assembly rose on the 3d June. 
 
 Committee on Schism. — On the 19th of November, the 
 committee appointed by last Assembly to consider the over- 
 ture relating to the schism in the Church, met at Edinburgh 
 and agreed to the follomng report : — " In respect of the 
 dangerous consequences that are to be apprehended from 
 the increase of Secession from the legal establishment of this 
 Church, and as it is reported that no fewer than 07ie hun- 
 dred and twenty meeting-houses are already erected, al- 
 though it never was^ nor is intended, that any sort of severity 
 should be used against any of those persons, it is overtured 
 that it may be recommended to Presbyteries to inquire into 
 the truth of this fact : And further, as the abuse of the right 
 of patronage has been one chief occasion of the prooress of 
 Secession, it is also overtured, that the General Assembly 
 would be pleased to consider what methods may be employed 
 to remedy so gi'eat an evil ; and it is humbly submitted, 
 whether it may not be expedient for this purpose to appoint 
 a committee to correspond with Presbyteries, and gentlemen 
 of property and influence, and to report." 
 
 Assembly 176*6. 
 
 The Assembly met at Edinburgh on Thursday, May 22. 
 John, Earl of Glasgow, was his Majesty's Commissioner. — 
 Mr John Hamilton, one of the ministers of Glasgow, and 
 Principal Murison at St Andrews, were put upon the leet 
 for moderator ; and it carried for the former, 83 to 78. 
 
312 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 On the 24th, the Assembly took into consideration the 
 commission of the Presbytery of Paisley to their represen- 
 tatives in this Assembly, in number four ministers and two 
 elders. This Presbytery had refused to admit two elders as 
 members, against which Dr John Witherspoon, minister of 
 Paisley, protested. A debate having arisen, "Whether Dr 
 AVitherspoon s protest, and the matter in it contained, was 
 properly before the Assembly? it was agreed to put the 
 question. Whether it was competent to take in the affair or 
 not ? and it carried in the affirmative, 76 to 70. And it 
 having been represented, that a judgment of the Presbytery, 
 refusing to admit the two elders aforementioned, had been 
 reversed by the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, from which 
 sentence the Presbytery had taken an appeal, the Assembly 
 appointed the committee for bills to receive all papers re- 
 lating to the matter, that the Assembly might have the 
 whole before them next sedermit. On INIonday the 26th, 
 there was transmitted to the Assembly fi-om the committee 
 for bills, a petition of the said Presbytery, tabling an appeal 
 taken by them from two sentences of the Synod ; one find- 
 ing a cause {i.e., that the affair was properly before them,) 
 in the case of William Turner, who had been elected elder 
 from the session of Greenock., and was refused to be put on 
 the roll by the Presbytery ; and the other, ordaining him to 
 be put on the roll, together with the reasons of appeal ; also 
 a petition of Dr Witherspoon, craving that the committee 
 Avould transmit to the Assembly two extracts of the proce- 
 dure of the S}Tiod anent the affair of William Turner. — 
 After reading the papers, hearing the parties, and long rea- 
 soning, the question was put. Affirm the sentence of the 
 S}Tiod, finding a cause ; or, Reverse the same ? and carried 
 Affirm, 107 to 33. Then the Assembly, without a vote, 
 affirmed the second judgment of the Synod, reversing the 
 sentence of the Presbytery, whereby William Turner was 
 rejected, and they ordained him to be put on the roll of the 
 Presbytery of Paisley, as an elder duly elected by the kirk- 
 session of Greenock. The court then proceeded to consider 
 what eftect this decision should have upon the election of 
 members to represent the Presbytery in the present Assem- 
 bly ; and whether or not, in consequence of their excluding 
 a constituent member from voting, their election should be 
 found void. After reasoning, the court, without a vote, 
 found and declared the commission from the Presbytery of 
 
1766.] CASE OF BAINE OF PAISLEY. 313 
 
 Paisley to their representatives in this Assembly void and 
 null, and ordained the members' names to be scored out of 
 the roll of Assembly. On intimating this sentence to the 
 parties, instruments were taken in name of the Synod, and 
 also by Dr Witherspoon. This affair took up two days, 
 during which several points of form were reasoned upon 
 with great accuracy ; and it occasioned the new act relating 
 to the form of commissions. 
 
 On the 27th, the Assembly entered upon the affair of Mr 
 James Baine, late minister of the High Church of Paisley^ 
 now settled minister of the Church of Relief at Edinburgh.* 
 A letter written by this gentleman, dated Paisley, Feb. 10, 
 1766, was laid before the Presbytery of Paisley on the 26th 
 of March by their moderator, Mr Alexander Cruickshanks, 
 minister of Mearns, viz. : — 
 
 " Rev. Dear Sir, — It would have given me great pleasure to 
 have met with my brethren of the Presbytery of Paisley, as it would 
 have given me an opportunity of acquainting them with what I now 
 inform you of, as their moderator, to be laid before them, viz.. That 
 I entirely give up my charge of the High Church in this town, and 
 the care of the flock belonging to it, into the Presbytery's hands. 
 They know not how far I am advanced in life, who see not, that a 
 house for worship, so very large as the High Church, and commonly 
 so crowded too, must be very unequal to my strength ; and this 
 burden was made more heavy, by denying me a session f to assist me 
 in the common concerns of the parish, which I certainly had a title 
 to ; nor am I singular in thinking so, as I have the opinion of the first 
 judge of the kingdom that it was peevish to refuse it. But the load 
 became quite intolerable, when, by a late unhappy process, the just 
 and natural right of the common session was wrested from us, which 
 drave away from sitting in it twelve men of excellent character ; so 
 that I have not one elder for five hundred examinable persons in 
 my proportion. Nor does it alleviate the burden, that this right 
 of the session was so tamely given up (some perhaps will say be- 
 trayed) by those who ought to have defended it ; for in any society 
 where candour is thought to be gone, confidence must die. I would 
 earnestly beg of my very rev. brethren to think, that this change of 
 my condition, and the charge I have now accepted, makes no change 
 in my former creed and Christian belief, none in my principles of Chris- 
 
 * The compearance was :— Messrs Warner, Davidson, and Ken- 
 nedy, for the Presbytery; Messrs Dun, Fairbairn and Colin 
 Campbell, for the Synod ; and Joseph Williamson, Esq., for the 
 town of Paisley. 
 
 t See p. 167. 
 D d 
 
314 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 tian and ministerial communion — nay, none in my cordial regard to 
 the constitution and interest of the Church of Scotland, which I have 
 solemnly engaged to support some more than thirty years ago, and 
 hope to do so while I live. At the same time, I abhor persecution 
 in every form, and that abuse of church power of late, which to 
 me appears inconsistent with humanity, with the civil interests of 
 the nation, and destructive of the ends of our office as ministers of 
 Christ. I would only add, and assure my brethren, that I go away 
 with a grateful sense of their civilities to me while among them ; 
 as a small I'ecompense, it is my heart's desire to God, that they and 
 their flocks may prosper, and they may be directed to promote a 
 speedy and comfortable settlement of a pastor over that very nu- 
 merous and affectionate people who are now my charge no more. 
 With esteem, I am, Rev. dear Sir, your aiFectionate brother, and 
 most humble servant, James Baine." 
 
 After this letter was read, the town-council of Paisley 
 craved, that the Presbytery would immediately declare Mr 
 Baine's church vacant. But the Presbytery resolved to 
 write to Mr Baine to attend a meeting of Presbytery to be 
 held on the 23d of April, that he might be heard before the 
 final sentence was passed, and delayed the further consider- 
 ation of the affair till that day. The town-council appealed 
 to the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, which put a stop to the 
 Presbytery's writing to Mr Baine. The Synod sustained 
 the appeal, accepted of Mr Baine's demission, declared his 
 church vacant, and appointed the Presbytery to meet on the 
 23d of April, in order to receive any appHcation that might 
 be made for supplying the vacancy. The Presbytery ap- 
 pealed to the Assembly. The toAvn-council had prepared a 
 petition to be given in to the Presbytery on the 23d of April, 
 praying, that they would proceed to moderate in a call to 
 Mr George Muir, minister of Old Cumnock, to be minister 
 of the High Church of Paisley. But the Presbytery did not 
 meet that day ; therefore the town-council protested against 
 them for non-attendance, and petitioned the Assembly to 
 order the moderation. 
 
 All the before mentioned papers and proceedings having 
 been read in the Assembly on the 27th, and parties heard, 
 the court, after reasoning, ordained Mr Baine to be sum- 
 moned to appear at the Assembly bar on Thursday, the 
 29th, to answer for his conduct in giving up his charge at 
 Paisley. Mr Baine appeared on the 29th, and having been 
 heard, and his letter of demission read, the Assembly, after 
 some debate, came to the foUo^ving resolution : — " Find, 
 
1766.] CASE OP BAINE OF PAISLEY. 315 
 
 tliat the Presbytery of Paisley did nothing improper in their 
 delay of the 26th of March last, and that therefore the ap- 
 ])eal from them was unnecessary ; but in regard that Mr 
 Baine's letter to that Presbytery, dated Feb. 10, is now be- 
 fore the Assembly, the Assembly do declare the church of 
 Paisley to have been vacant from the 26th of March last, 
 the time the said letter was given in to the Presbytery : re- 
 serving to themselves the full consideration of any irregu- 
 larity in Mr Baine's conduct, or in the expressions of his 
 letter." This sentence was intimated to the parties. Then 
 the court took under consideration Mr Baine's conduct ; and 
 he being again called, was further heard. After a very long 
 debate, a motion was made by a member to the following 
 purport : — 1 . That the Assembly should declare Mr Baine 
 to be no minister of this Church, and that he is incapable 
 of receiving or accepting of a presentation or call to any 
 parish in this Church, without the special allowance of some 
 future General Assembly ; and, 2. That the Assembly should 
 prohibit all the ministers of this Church from emplopng him 
 to preach or perform any ministerial offices for them, or from 
 being employed by him, unless some future Assembly shall 
 see cause to take off this prohibition. After dehberating on 
 this motion, the Assembly agreed to the first part of it with- 
 out a vote ; but members being divided Av^th regard to the 
 second part of it, a vote was put, Agree to the last part 
 of the motion, or Not ? and it carried, 107 to 5Q^ Agree. 
 Therefore the Assembly found and declared accordingly ; 
 and the sentence was intimated to Mr Baine. 
 
 Not long after the rising of the Assembly, Mr Baine pub- 
 lished his " Memoirs of Modern Church Reformation ; 
 01', The History of the General Assembly 1766," — from 
 which we present the following extract in relation to his 
 owTi case : — 
 
 " Your corner * was not the only one of this land, high in hope, 
 that the late Assembly would prove a reforming one ; and there 
 are not a few who tell us, that it has been eminently so, sweeping 
 away some old offensive parts of our constitution, supporting the 
 rest of it by various deeds and decrees fiim as brass. In the opi- 
 nion of others, the raised expectation of multitudes, Uke a gilded 
 vapour, has discharged itself in smoke and stench. 
 
 " In two of the first diets of Assembly, a controverted election 
 
 * The work is in the form of Six Letters, addressed to a brother clergyman, 
 whose name is not given. 
 
316 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Q1766. 
 
 of their members from the Presbytery of Paisley, was subject of 
 debate, when the Assembly found the election null and void, as one 
 constituent member of Presbytery, who had an undoubted right to 
 vote in the election, had been unjustly denied that right. This, 
 Sir, you see, was annihilating the Presbytery on that day as a court, 
 and in effect finding that they were none. Upon this principle, all 
 the other deeds of Presbytery on that day were null too ; how then 
 could any cause, decision, or sentence, of such an illegal meeting, 
 be received, and regularly reviewed, by the Assembly ? Upon 
 Thursday, however, they grasped at a cause from that nominal ju- 
 dicatory ; and as they had begun, went on, and quickly discussed 
 it, in defiance of fundamental rules and form." 
 
 After observing, that '* the good people of Dunbar have a just 
 title to pity, and are harshly treated, some think, for what may be 
 their infirmity, but cannot be their crime, viz., that their organ of 
 hearing is not so nicely constructed, or of such an immoderate length, 
 as some more delicate venerable ears in that country," and that 
 '• the number of callers to the candidate for Eaglesham amounted 
 to one," he adds: " As our Assembly has on some occasions as- 
 sumed a dispensing power, a power to innovate, alter, and change, 
 I would humbly move, that at their next meeting they interpone 
 their authority, without loss of time, and that instead of the present 
 form, ' Do you accept of the call from this congregation, and take 
 the charge of their souls, promising,' &c., the address to the candi- 
 date should be, ' Having used every habile genteel method to ob- 
 tain this presentation, do you accept of it as giving you full right to 
 the manse, glebe, and established living of this parish ; and further, 
 as authorising you to enter into the church of said parish and pulpit 
 on the Sabbath, when convenient ? And do you promise, with the 
 help of these emoluments, to instruct your people, and give them 
 an example of hospitality, husbandry, and other good-humoured 
 social virtues?' &c. &c. &c. This, Sir, or something like this, 
 some people think, would suit our circumstances, and the disposi- 
 tions of many in our age, much better than those solemnities which 
 our fathers appointed, and bore their part in most devoutly, when 
 ordaining any man a minister of the everlasting Gospel. . . . 
 
 " If any such report has reached you, as that of personal invec- 
 tive, or indiscreet usage, I should have met with in the course of 
 the trial, you may believe it is ill founded. 1 must absolve the 
 General Assembly from every thing of that kind, save in one in- 
 stance, and from a very unexpected quarter, the indelicacy and 
 rudeness of which the house did not applaud. It was on Tuesday 
 that this affair appeared first before the Assembly ; the Presbytery 
 of Paisley having brought it there by an appeal from a sentence of 
 the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, which had received my letter as a 
 demission, and found the High Church of Paisley vacant. 
 
 " This letter being read on Tuesday, and reasoned upon, the 
 Assembly ordered that I should be summoned to compear before 
 them on Thursday, to answer for my conduct in giving up my mi- 
 nisterial charge at Paisley. This, Sir, was making a long arm, and 
 
ITfiG.] CASE OP BAJIJE OF PAISLEY. 317 
 
 ^Tasping at a cause which was not, nor indeed could be before them, 
 as it had been before no court on earth. In the Presbytery of Pais- 
 ley, and Synod of Glasgow, there was not the shadow of complaint 
 against me; but, whether they should receive my letter as a demis- 
 sion, and find the High Church vacant, or not ? However, I com- 
 peared, rather out of deference to the Assembly, than that 1 thought 
 myself strictly bound to do so, or to give any sanction to proceed- 
 ings so summary and irregular. But finding that, from penury of 
 articles and evidence, they were to make me my own accuser, and 
 evidence against myself, I said, that instead of a Protestant Assem- 
 bly, I began to breathe, I thought, in the air of an inquisition, and 
 if such was their form of process, they would forgive me to insist 
 upon the chief and most natural privilege of every man, and every 
 British subject in particular, viz., to give me a libel in form, and 
 time to make my defence ; that as yet I saw nothing faulty alleged, 
 if it was not in that expression in the summons, ' to answer for 
 giving up my ministerial charge,' in which, I presumed, they could 
 find nothing criminal ; for often had ministers resigned their chai-ge 
 upon different accounts, and justifiable; nay, some have given it 
 up for the more entertaining and elegant employ of the stage * who were 
 not called in question, or found delinquents. This natural and most 
 just requisition, however, could not be granted. Nay, to make 
 matters as easy as possible, I declared myself willing to have the 
 cause tried before the Presbytery of Edinburgh, (and at some one 
 Presbytery or another every such process ought to commence.) But 
 this was as warmly opposed by some reverend doctors, and their 
 young auxiliaries of tJie long robe. How hard is the man's fate, who 
 is dragged into a bar, where, without libel, witnesses, or proof, he 
 stands a trial, the issue of which may deeply affect his character, 
 fortune, family, and usefulness in the world ! where libel and proof 
 must be furnished by himself, else there is none ! and, tortured by 
 queries, is reduced to the dilemma of being charged as a prevaricator 
 if silent, or by his answers founds his own condemnation ! Infamy 
 and inquisition, in all its forms, be for ever wedded ; when that in- 
 human illiberal engine sinks under the weight of disgrace in Por- 
 tugal and Spain, may it never set up its head in our happy isle. At 
 the same time it is but candid to confess, that some members, most 
 eminent in knowledge of the law, justice, and our constitution, did 
 not forward these arbitrary measures ; and by withdrawing, gave 
 no countenance to the sentence and issue. 
 
 " We had, from a rev. member, a kind of prediction what the 
 issue of the afiair would be, some time before the sentence was 
 pronounced ; and upon the back of that public intimation or pro- 
 phecy, I was called once and again to speak, or (as I understood 
 it) to give my opinion of the sentence to be ; so that of a pannel, I 
 was quickly and complaisantly enough metamorphosed into a mem- 
 ber of the house, and a judge. Accordingly I said, that if the As- 
 sembly had had Moper evidence that I was now a member of the 
 
 » See p. 118. 
 
 Dd2 
 
318 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766'. 
 
 Presbytery of Relief, in that case I had no objection to the first 
 part of the sentence, viz., to be incapable of a presentation or call 
 to a charge upon the Establishment. But the misfortune is, Sir, 
 this sentence in every branch has no legs to support it. I say it 
 again, there was no proper evidence in court that I was a member 
 of the Presbytery of Relief, unless you go into the very singular 
 opinion of a learned civilian, that notoriety was in place of proof, 
 i.e., the common talk without doors is sufficient to condemn. What 
 must the impartial world think, when they are told, that a mistake 
 in some punctilios of form, has overturned sentences of Presbyteries 
 and Synods against the scandalous and immoral ; that such a defect 
 has been their protection, at least for a season ; whilst the essential 
 rules of justice, and forms of all courts, are in a hurry leaped over, 
 to stigmatize others, not said to be immoral, and to cut them off 
 from ministerial communion \\ath a whole church ? 
 
 " This, Sir, was the other part of the sentence, discharging mi- 
 nisterial communion, to employ, or be employed by me, till some 
 future Assembly think proper to take it off. Against this judgment 
 I could not but remonstrate with concern, as alike impolitical and 
 unchristian. And I am still of opinion, that though all that was 
 alleged had been properly verified, such a sentence is greatly dispro- 
 portioned to the fault, and cannot be reconciled to the spirit and 
 laws of the New Testament. There the terms of Christian and 
 ministerial communion are unchangeably fixed, and by the highest 
 authority, viz., oneness in the uncorrupted faith and worship of 
 Christ, in hope and holy practice. Where his ministers and dis- 
 ciples are united in these, they are indispensably bound to love, and 
 to public fellowship with one another, in acts of worship and spi- 
 ritual privileges ; and no posterior human establishments can destroy 
 that sacred bond, or make it a rope of sand. But it will be said. 
 There is here a breach of order ; a stepping aside from rank and 
 regularity ; a setting up altar against altar, and what not. After 
 all this noise and clamour. Sir, (supposing no such necessity for 
 breach of parish order as the times plead for,) may one be allowed 
 to ask, What are the mischiefs of this irregularity ? what, or whom 
 does it hurt ? Not the interests of vital Christianity in our land, 
 nor the civil interest and privileges of established clergy. It does 
 not poison our people with principles of bigotry and separation, but 
 rather keeps them from that snare, and preserves them in as full 
 communion with the worthy ministers of the Church of Scotland 
 as ever. Is it candid then, or political, first to cast such men out 
 of her communion, which they and their people earnestly desire, 
 and yet to cast on them the most injurious calumny of sectaries 
 and schismatics ? Whatever may be said of others, slander itself 
 will almost blush to say, that the Presbytery of Relief have any se- 
 parating principles. They dare not decline communion with any 
 who have the knowledge, the visible uncorrupted profession of real 
 Christianity : the laws of Jesus Christ ordain to receive such ; by 
 what authority, then, are they intercommuned * 
 
 " Had you been in the Assembly, Sir, you would have got a 
 
1766,] CASE OF BAINE OF PAISLEY. 319 
 
 short answer to this from a principal doctor, viz., That without 
 such censure the very being of our Establishment could not be pre- 
 served. If he meant, that otherAvise there was no preserving the 
 influence which merit and ministerial qualities had promoted him 
 to, influence pregnant with prudence and clemency in the exertions 
 of it, perhaps he was right. Men of truly moderate principles, and 
 the steady advocates of liberty, and the rights of mankind, have 
 ever+been the scourge and terror of tyrants. It was a pity that no 
 one asked the rev. gentleman, what he understood by the Estab- 
 lishment ? The things that can properly be called so, are the faith, 
 the judicatories, the livings established by law. The Presbytery 
 of Relief, I hope, do no hurt to the first of these ; nor make they 
 any pretensions to the other two. What then can give such an 
 alarm ? Is it that that Presbytery preaches the faith, which others 
 too have subscribed, and are bound to maintain ? Or is it, that the 
 Presbytery of Relief stand up for our ancient Established Church 
 constitution, so shamefully changed from the limited into the arbi- 
 trary ; from a truly Christian, British model, into a despotic, French 
 mould ? This, Sir, some people tell you, is the secret ; and there- 
 fore the old scarecrow must be raised from the dead, to affright the 
 weak, as if the whole fabric were coming down on them, and to 
 keep the crafty in countenance. ' The Church ! the Church is in 
 danger ! ' was the cry in the infamous day when many who joined 
 in the cry were notorious for corruption and cruelty ; and the en- 
 gine, it is well known, was played off against a set of men who 
 preferred Christian knowledge, faith, holiness, communion of saints, 
 to uniformity in merely human impositions ; against men who de- 
 tested dissimulation and servility, in order to preferment and bread, 
 whose consciences dictated strongly the humane office of peacefully 
 preaching the Gospel in corners where it was not, or from which 
 it had been greatly banished by ignorant, erroneous, or scandalous 
 ministers. To conclude. Sir, it astonishes thinking people, to see 
 with what unrelenting severity a certain class of men are excluded 
 the communion of their brethren, whilst great zeal and talents are 
 
 displayed to preserve in the bosom of the Church, a Dal le, an 
 
 And n, a Car n,* and the like, whose history pollutes our 
 
 ecclesiastic records. 
 
 " While attending the Assembly on Thursday, the only diet 
 where I was present, nothing struck me with such surprise as a 
 remark of a principal doctor, who, in the course of his laboured de- 
 clamation, observed it to be a great aggravation of my offence, 
 that I was admitted to my charge by a man whom a former Ge- 
 neral Assembly had deposed from the ministry in the name of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. Some men are very bold, but the bold- 
 est (there is some hope) may be brought, one time or other, to 
 blush. What greater dissipation of thought and reason could there 
 
 * Mr Baine here alludes to the cases of Dalrymple of Dallas, Anderson of Glen- 
 dovan, and Carson of Anwoth ; but he ought in candour to have added that the 
 two former were deposed. 
 
320 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 be, than unnecessarily, (for there was no evidence to the court of 
 the truth of his assertion,) unnecessarily, I say, to take up the 
 noisome ashes of an affair, about which, if prurience had been con- 
 sulted, she would have said. Let it lie for ever in the bottom of 
 oblivion and contempt ? Though that harsh unconstitutional sen- 
 tence was pronounced in the ever-blessed name of our exalted Lord, 
 does the rev. doctor, when on his knees, really think that it is 
 bound in heaven ? With me, it was a very agreeable circumstance 
 to be admitted by the Rev. Mr Gillespie ; it gave me an opportu- 
 nity of exemplifying, in a public manner, a favourite maxim in my 
 letter to the Presbytery of Paisley, viz.. That I abhor persecution 
 in every form, and Mr Gillespie's deposition was of that kind. The 
 principles which led to it, will justify all the severities with which 
 our dissenting brethren were treated under reigns stained with op- 
 j)ression and blood. And in very deed. Sir, the lofty language in 
 those times, and in our later days, of high kirk usurpation, and im- 
 plicit obedience, were very like. I shall never forget it ; the fre- 
 quent style of some rigid rulers in our Assembly about fourteen 
 years ago, was this : — ' We'll enlighten these scrupulous under- 
 standings with their uives and children : ' i, e.. We will compel 
 them to promise and execute against their con$cience and duty, or 
 starve or beg ; for dig they cannot. And what followed ? Why, 
 Sir, if your sons of reason promised not to smile, I would tell you, 
 that that mighty menacing tone in some mouths, soon sunk down 
 into the childish, or nigh to the changeling ; whilst the much-injured 
 deposed minister, with understanding, and all his heart, mth ho- 
 nour and success, is still serving God in the Gospel of his Son. 
 But does the conduct of Divine Providence, in these and such like 
 instances, merit any notice ? I had been in use hitherto to think 
 that verily it does ; when God * pours contempt upon princes, and 
 sets the poor on high from affliction,' then ' whoso is mse, and will 
 observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness 
 of the Lord.' According to some principal lights of our land, all 
 this is no other than a superstitious whim : a Providence in general 
 some will admit of, but its agency in what they call every minute 
 thing, or that moral instruction is intended by every event, they 
 cannot so readily allow. Can the creature then, a second cause or 
 agent, in any one moment of time, be independent of the first cause ? 
 It is a contradiction in terms. A sparrow falls not to the ground 
 without the will of God ; and without the same will, can there be 
 a fall from first-rate accomplishments, into a stupor and lethargy ; 
 a fall from active life, into immediate silence and death ? * Have 
 such occurrences no sound in reason's ear ? and are they not calcu- 
 lated to convey what is salutary to the mind ? Reject this, and I 
 do not see but we list under Epicurus' banner, whose favourite 
 maxim, and that of his whole herd, is well known,— 
 A^on vacat exiguis rebus adesse Joti. 
 
 * Can this be an unfeeling allusion to the sudden death of Dr Jardine of the 
 Tron Church, Edinburgh, who dropt down dead in this Assembly during the de- 
 bate on the overture upon schism ? 
 
1766.] CASE OP BAINE OP PAISLEY. 321 
 
 ' " Here, Sir, I should have stopped, if you had not told me, that 
 there is something which you greatly desiderate still. You can- 
 didly admit, that the proceedings of the Assembly on Thursday 
 appear to be summary and irregular ; that they leaped over funda- 
 mental rules to bring in the cause ; and that having found it before 
 them, I had a right to see my accusation, and witnesses to be led 
 against me, prior to any sentence ; a sentence founded on no rele- 
 vancy, and no better proof than town-talk, and what was said with- 
 out doors. But what is all this to the public, supposing I was in 
 the right, before an Assembly not to give way to the inquisitorial 
 method, yet the most part of this country know the change of my 
 condition. Have they no claim to be satisfied, or to know the mo- 
 tives of such conduct ? I confess, Sir, I think they have. Is not 
 my letter to the Presbytery of Paisley now public ; and may not 
 that satisfy ? Was I to sink under an intolerable burden, of which 
 my superiors were bound to ease me, and that ease was regularly 
 sought before all the judicatories of the Church, but denied me ? 
 Contrary to my real and declared persuasion, as Presbyterian, was 
 I to be member of a kirk-session, where no man can sit quietly but 
 upon Erastian principles ? for the nature of that court in Paisley is 
 fundamentally changed and overthrown. And is not the constitu- 
 tion of the Church fundamentally changed and overthrown too ? 
 Have not our Assemblies assumed a legislative and dispensing 
 power ? Do they not, in the face of her declared principles and 
 unrepealed laws, exerce much of an imposing spirit by their deci- 
 sions, when under no necessity from law, thrusting ministers into 
 parishes, and with such determined rigour, that insufficiency, error, 
 or scandal, in such ministers, are scarcely sufficient some times to 
 stop the career of it ? Are not reclaiming parishes frowned upon ? 
 and is not the man in danger of being ruined who would formally 
 table and follow out any such complaint ? What then are the many 
 thousands of our people in Scotland to do ? the people who are the 
 strength and ornament of a nation, who, of all other, do most 
 esteem the Gospel, and the institutions of it ? are they to want 
 these wholly, or go and receive them against their conviction ? 
 Your chapels of ease are an expedient, which I suppose few minis- 
 ters or people will be fond of; it is so unconstitutional and unscrip- 
 tural likewise, that in all the New Testament I find not a teaching 
 preacher, fixed and statedly ministering to a flock, who is not a go- 
 verning one too ; but in your chapels of ease, you see one ordained 
 to preach, with power to dispense the sacraments, but without ju- 
 risdiction or kirk.se?sion of his own ; without authority to judge 
 of the character of his people, or scandals that may arise among 
 them. It is true, he is admitted to his office by the laying on the* 
 hands of the Presbytery ; yet is no member of it, and in the most 
 important afiairs relating to his people, has not the privilege to 
 judge and determine. He may come, I believe, to the Presbytery's 
 bar in the case of scandals, and stand as an accuser. The question 
 then recurs, What are hundreds of congregations in Scotland to 
 do ? Are they to lie at home on Sabbath, and behave worse than 
 
322 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 the heathen, till they become of one mind with our more enlightened 
 rulers, or more submissive to their ecclesiastic decrees ? If there- 
 fore such people have a title to the means of salvation, they must 
 have a right to ministers statedly to dispense these among them ; 
 an undoubted right to ministers, by whose doctrine and gifts they 
 find fi-om experience their souls may be bettered. If our kirk go- 
 vernors are so harsh and severe, or fettered some how, that they 
 either cannot, or will not, give any such redress, are others there- 
 fore to be deaf to the cry of these people in their extremity ? I 
 think not. 
 
 " Advantages no doubt there are from an Establishment and 
 parish order ; but these are little to be regarded when they come 
 in competition mth the salvation of souls and the great ends of 
 Christianity. And are not these ebbing away \nth a quick pace 
 from our once happy land? Is there not a remarkable decay of 
 Christian knowledge and practice of late ? a melancholy swell of 
 infidelity and profaneness, threatening a deluge universal ? What 
 an increase and frequency of crimes unnatural, rare, or unheard of 
 by our fathers ? and even amongst our ownselves, how have scandals 
 multiplied of late ? Would to God they could have been concealed ! 
 but they are open and flagrant ; more in number, I suspect, in these 
 ten or twelve years past, than in sixty preceding ones. And if the 
 most probable source of all this mischief be, the abuse of the law 
 of patronage, the violent stretch and severity of church power, and 
 Assembly decisions to enforce it, are they the enemies of God, their 
 king, or country, who dislike and oppose such measures, or would 
 prevent the wretched havoc made by them of every valuable inte- 
 rest in our land ? I hope not, Sir ; nor do I see any such efiectual 
 expedient and preventive under heaven, as the plan of the Presby- 
 tery of Relief. Upon this view of the whole matter, I am perfectly 
 satisfied with my conduct, and wonder greatly that some worthy 
 ministers of the Establishment have not taken the same course. 
 Their principles, if I mistake not, lead them to it ; they see, with 
 great concern, the fatal growth of ignorance, gross errors, profanity 
 overflowing the land ; they see multitudes of poor and needy ear- 
 nestly seeking for water and there is none, and their tongue faileth 
 for thirst, (the Lord hear them ! ) for such worthy ministers cannot 
 help these congregations and corners in their extremity, while on 
 the Establishment, as when oflTof it. And from some late proceedings 
 it is obvious enough, that no manner of redress is to be expected 
 from the chief administrators in it. 
 
 *' You are asked, it seems, by some people in your -corner, what 
 is this Presbytery of Relief ? what are their principles and consti- 
 tution ? Look, Sir, what the Church of Scotland was sixty or 
 seventy years ago ; find out this from her own creeds and confes- 
 sions, her canons, public acts, and authentic records, and, excepting 
 some privileges purely civil, and derived from law alone, you have 
 the full portrait of that Presbytery ; in doctrinal articles, ordinances 
 of divine worship, in principles of government, and Christian com- 
 prehensive communion, the same. They must go to other pulpits, 
 
1766.] CASE OF BAINE OF PAISLEY. 323 
 
 than those of that Presbytery, who would be entertained and edified 
 by Arian or Pelagian tenets ; who would hear the bold unscriptural 
 assertions and criticisms of Dr Taylor* maintained, the doctrine of 
 original sin treated as original jargon, the present purity and powers 
 of human nature extolled to the skies, and the wonders it can work 
 in its own salvation, whilst the Redeemer, and his most Holy Spirit, 
 are allowed a very small share of the honour. 
 
 '• And now, Sir, I submit it, if there is much of the spirit or 
 wisdom of Christianity in treating those men with the severities 
 the world has been witness to. Is it candid to deny them society ; 
 to drive them from that communion they earnestly desire, and in 
 which they labour to keep their people ; and after all, to calumniate 
 them as separatists ? There is not any one thing of which the 
 narrow ruffled mind can be more liberal, than that of bad names. 
 It is easy for a little angry member to stand up in the Assembly, 
 and tell the house, that he must call that Presbytery a sect, and 
 schismatics ; a sufficient demonstration that he knew not the men, 
 or understands not his Bible. Upon studying the New Testament 
 more accurately, I suppose he will find the Scripture notion of 
 schism to be, not so much diversity of opinion in religious matters, 
 nor different places, or even modes of worship, as the imposing, 
 censorious, uncharitable spirit, of which the Presbytery of Relief 
 have discovered nothing, but the reverse of it, by any doctrine or 
 deed of theirs. And I admire the prudence of our high authority 
 measures as little as the Christian spirit of them. If the dissenting 
 interest in Scotland were united as they ought, and may hereafter 
 be, they are a much more respectable body than some sorry poli- 
 ticians dream, or are willing to have it believed to be. Supposing 
 that they are but one hundred thousand who join, and statedly at- 
 tend Presbyterian meeting-houses just now, I may affirm, that there 
 is twice that number of the very same principles, and as jealous of 
 their liberty as they. And is it political, or friendly to the govern- 
 ment, to fret such a body ? Can it be expected that they will tamely 
 submit to rigid ecclesiastic taskmasters, when under the civil admi- 
 nistration they are so happy and free ? when the laws of the land, 
 as it were, point out the remedy, and declare that toleralJle which 
 churchmen will scarcely tolerate ? If our General Assemblies go 
 on, by mere authority, to cram down upon people ministers whom 
 they look upon as the nuisance of the country, and their sorest 
 enemy, is there no such thing to be feared as that these people may 
 fall into hands weak or designing, who may mislead them, both in 
 their principles of religion and loyalty ? In such a disturbed state 
 of the Church, is there no danger from the most artful, restless 
 spirit of a society, now annihilated in France, but no doubt at work 
 in our land, and particularly the great cities of it ? Whilst our 
 country is in this distracted situation, and measures steadily going 
 on which manifestly inflame it more and more, is the Presbytery of 
 
 ♦ The reference is to Dr John Taylor of Norwich, and specially to his works on 
 the Epistle to the Romans and Original Sin. 
 
324 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 Relief so highly criminal, to send forth pastors who will be received 
 with open arms, from whose ministry their people may imbibe a 
 sound belief, and sober morals, love to our excellent civil constitu- 
 tion, and cordial loyalty to the most illustrious head of it ? The 
 impartial world, I trust, will think more favourably of them, and 
 cease from reproach, till they find that in the spirit and way of the 
 Presbytery which may justly denominate them sectaries in religion, 
 or the incendiaries of their native country." * 
 
 In reply to this " History of the Assembly 1766," there 
 appeared at Glasgow, " Observations on the Letters pub- 
 lished by the Rev. Mr Baine" in three letters to him, (of 
 date Jan, 28, 1767.) The signature is Philalethes, a de- 
 signation sometimes assumed, in his anonymous productions, 
 by Mr Thomas Walker., then minister of Dundonald ; but 
 whether it he referable to him in the present case we have 
 no means of ascertaining. The following is an extract from 
 the first letter : — 
 
 " Your reasons for demitting your charge are three : — 1. ' They 
 do not know how far I am advanced in life, who see not that a 
 house for worship so very large as the High Church, and commonly 
 so crowded, must be very unequal to my strength.' 
 
 " Now, Sir, how did prudence dictate this ? or how can charity 
 itself construe itj? You afterwards tell the Presbytery you had 
 accepted another charge ; and they, and all mankind, were soon to 
 see you ministering in a place of worship, if not fully equal, yet 
 certainly of great extent, where old age and decayed strength may 
 still complain, and the rather, that in the place you left under these 
 infirmities, your afifectionate congregation had provided you a stated 
 helper, besides the access you had from your situation to occasional 
 assistance ; advantages, you well know, you have not now under 
 your gro^ving infirmities. I must therefore think you extremely 
 unfortunate in this your first reason for giving up your charge at 
 Paisley, and fear that impartial men will hardly be brought to say, 
 it is only weak. 
 
 " Neither can I admit your second to be a better ground for the 
 step you have taken. In it you complain of ' the heaviness of your 
 burden, by being denied a session to assist in the common concerns 
 of the parish ; that this became intolerable, when, by the unhappy 
 issue of a process, your right to it was taken away, and twelve 
 members of session were drove away.' All this is afterwards en- 
 larged upon, where you expostulate, ' Was I to sink under the in- 
 tolerable burden, of which my superiors were bound to ease me, 
 
 t Mr Baine became minister of the Relief Chapel in Nicolson's Park, in the 
 suburbs of Edinburgh. It was opened on the 12th January 1766, and he was ad- 
 mitted on the 13th February. He was succeeded in the High Church of Paisley 
 by Mr George Muir of Old Cumnock, of whom there is a notice in the Christian 
 Instructor for April 1838. 
 
1766.] CASE OF BAINE OF PAISLEY. 325 
 
 and vvbicb I sought before all the judicatories of the Church, and 
 was refused ?' Admitting the truth of all you have said on this 
 point, what, I pray you, has it to do as a reason for demitting your 
 charge at all ? far less, as you now set it forth, as a part of your 
 apology to the world for leaving the Church of Scotland, and going 
 into a separate society for the exercise of your ministry ? Let us 
 consider : — You were denied a session to assist in the common 
 affairs of the parish ; but is this precisely fact ? Was there not 
 indeed a constituted session, where the common concerns of your 
 parish had the advantage of being duly attended to ? Was there, 
 in reality, any point of order or discipline with you, that stuck 
 merely at this, that there was no session to direct and rule in it ? 
 A stranger (and the world in general is so) to the particular affairs 
 of Paisley, would imagine this was your hard situation there. But 
 it was not so. There was a session, you must o^m, ' But it was 
 not my oxrn session, i. e., where I presided, the particular s3Ssion of 
 my congregation : it was that of the town, where others interfered.' 
 And is this all ? Alas, Sir, was not this the situation of all the 
 great towns in Scotland at the Reformation, called in Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow the general sessions to this day, and to this very hour 
 the constitution of many very considerable places, where the churches 
 and ministers are more numerous than in the towni of Paisley ? That 
 this is the preferable way might be argued from the acknowledged 
 principle of safety being in the multitude of counsellors. But 
 however that may be, I dare say you are the first man who ever 
 thought its not being so, a good reason for demitting a charge. 
 
 " But ' their right (in choosing a clerk) was taken away.' To 
 avoid unnecessary dispute, admit this to be contrary to the original 
 right of any society, and in a Christian one, Erastiaaism ; yet, if 
 you consent not, but oppose the encroachment to the utmost, the 
 crime can never be imputed to you, and the whole world will ac- 
 quit you. But it is a grievance. Allow it : it is properly so in 
 the election only : for if the officer so chosen failed in his duty, it 
 was still as entire to you to have recourse against him for his mis- 
 conduct, as it would have been if he had been chosen ever so regu- 
 larly. The great ends of the office were secured. 
 
 " But it was intolerable, as twelve elders upon this gave up their 
 charge, and you had a very small proportion of these officers for 
 your numerous congregation. Without charging you with infusing 
 or raising the spirit which drove them to that step, it is asked, Were 
 there no other proper persons in the parish to have supplied their 
 places ? or wU the minister who succeeds you find none to under- 
 take the office ? I doubt you will not hazard the question upon 
 that foot ; and yet, if it so falls out, what becomes of this ground 
 of demission ? 
 
 " It was ' an additional weight in this burden, that the session's 
 right was given up, some will say betrayed, by others who ought 
 to have defended it ; for, in any society where candour is thought 
 to be gone, confidence must die.' Still, taking things here in the 
 very worst construction, will all this bear the weight of a demission ? 
 E e 
 
326 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ql766. 
 
 Must Christians, must the ministers of Christ, have all things to their 
 wish in the stations where providence has placed them, or otherwise 
 desert ? Do you find this in the New Testament, or in the practice 
 of the most faithful followers of Jesus Christ ? Does he not warn 
 the apostles themselves, that he was to send them forth as sheep 
 among wolves ? And, in like manner, did not the apostle Paul say 
 to the elders of Ephesus, ' I know that after my departure grievous 
 wolves shall enter in among you ; and of yourselves shall men arise 
 speaking perverse things ? ' And does he not say of himself, that 
 he was ' in perils from false brethren ? ' But, on such occasions, 
 did he ffun away, or encourage others to do the like ? Quite the 
 contrary ; and you know it is under heavy threatenings from Jesus 
 Christ if they do. The more false those that troubled you were, 
 and the greater danger there was of your affectionate people's being 
 torn in pieces by a new unhappy settlement, fthough, without thanks 
 to you, this may have been prevented by a kind providence,) the 
 more you have offended by exposing them. In this point of view, 
 the heavier their burden was, the more forcible were the reasons 
 for your staying \\dth them, bearing with patience, and, for the sake 
 of the Lord and his people, labouring and not fainting, as the faithful 
 servants of old did, — even when men calling themselves apostles 
 were tried, and found to be liars. And you was still the more 
 bound to do so, that in your situation there were many alleviations ; 
 — you had a church to yourself, and an affectionate people, and no 
 man interfered with you in doctrine or in ordinances. You did run 
 wellf who did hinder you ? 
 
 " I acknowledge you point at one thing, in illustrating this rea- 
 son, that goes deep : * Contrary to my real and declared persuasion 
 as a Presbyterian, was I to be a member of a kirk-session where no 
 man can sit quietly but upon Erastian principles?' From the con- 
 nection, T take quietly to belong to conscience ; for the question was 
 now decided before the highest courts, and before them you showed 
 yourself free of all tendency to cul|)able quietness. But you could 
 not, with a good conscience, be a member of the session of Paisley. 
 Now, I desire to be very tender of conscience, and by no means to 
 judge that of another. He may be weakly, very weakly, persuaded ; 
 yet, if he be truly so, let him, for me, act accordingly, knowing if 
 he acts otherwise, it is sin. If, therefore, it was a matter of con- 
 science wnth you, as against your real and declared persuasion, to 
 sit in a court so constituted as the kirk-session of Paisley is, how 
 came you to sit in it for years ? This is no longer to be called a 
 grievance, but is indeed your sin : you ought never to have set your 
 foot in that court after the unrighteous decision, excepting once for 
 all, in order to have declined being any longer a member ; for, in a 
 matter where conscience was concerned, you ought to have done 
 your duty, and taken the consequences. 
 
 " The last reason of demission is set forth in these terms : — 
 * The late abuse of church power, inconsistent with humanity, and 
 with the civil and religious interests of the nation, &c., the church 
 constitution fundamentally overthrown, Assemblies assuming a legis- 
 
1766.1 CASE OF BAINE OF PAISLEY. 327 
 
 lative and dispensing power, exercising an imposing spirit, without 
 necessity, and with great rigour, in settlements,' &c. ; and there- 
 fore you demit your charge at Paisley, and accept another. 
 
 " I do not judge it necessary to enter into a discussion ot the 
 precise truth of these your averments, thinking the argument with 
 you ought to be taken up on quite another foot ; for I can conceive 
 a minister having very disadvantageous ideas of our late church ma- 
 nagement, and yet the question remaining with him perfectly entire 
 and distinct,— Whether, upon that account, it is his duty, of ^«'«- 
 self, to demit his charge, and forsake the Establishment altogether { 
 ''' However oppressed congregations may be at liberty to seek 
 relief out of the chm-ch to which they belonged, when all hopes ot 
 finding it in her bosom are at an end ; yet you were still bound, by 
 your ordination engagements, to have kept your place, when neither 
 from your congregation you had received any offence, nor by the 
 judicatories of the Church you had been called to act in any incon- 
 sistency mth your vows, or the idea you had originally formed ot 
 her constitution ; nay, when oppression was so far from touching 
 you, that nobody ever heard of your zeal's being hampered, in rea- 
 soning openly, opposing or protesting publicly, against whatever 
 acts in her courts to you seemed to be wrong. 
 
 '♦ In two cases alone would I admit separation to be lawful : 
 First when in conscientious searching the Scripture, it appears to 
 a minister that the constitution of the church he once thought well 
 of is not agreeable, or contrary to this infallible standard ; and that, 
 on this account, he, with a good conscience, can no longer remain 
 a member of it, but desires peaceably to depart. Before God and 
 man, such minister is surely to be absolved for folio wmg the tair 
 light that now shines within him. Accordingly, had you been ot 
 the sentiments of some, and as 1 hear, of the most considerable of 
 your present congregation, who are truly of the Independent per- 
 suasion, and who, on that very account, have declined the office ot 
 eldership with you, and who, very consistently wth their principles, 
 have long been desirous of a meeting separate altogether from the 
 Establishment, I should not have blamed you. But your sentiments 
 are different, as you every where declare that you consider your 
 vows binding to support the Church of Scotland, and still love her. 
 And while you retain these, you must be condemned in so publicly 
 and ardently endeavouring to influence both ministers and people to 
 come into the way of Relief, wondering that other worthy ministers 
 follow not your steps ; for surely this is not the way to fulfil vows, 
 and to support the Church : on the contrary, is it not the way to 
 ruin her, by draining away that strength by which it can only be 
 hoped she can ever be revived to her former beauty and usefulness I 
 Is not this calculated to weaken the things that remain, and that 
 are ready to die ? The sooner to die, that you would so much dram 
 her vitals ? Some secessions, I own, have had other tendencies. 
 The one at Rome, in her 259th year, had great eff'ects. But then 
 the whole Plebeians were iu it to a man, without whom the State 
 could not exist. And you indeed seem to have an eye upon this 
 
328 ANXALS OP THE ASStMBLY. [t766. 
 
 SO desperate remedy, when, in the end of your letters, not without, 
 as I think, a little of the air of fleshly wisdom, you pompously set 
 forth the numbers of all dissenters, in hopes of their formidable 
 union against the Church. But alas, Sir, your policy here is quite 
 mistaken : there are still enough, I am afraid, unalarmed at all dan- 
 gers, remaining, to answer the name and purposes of an Establish- 
 ment, and who still make the body of the people, however unwor- 
 thily or unconcernedly they sit still under their grievances, and are 
 greatly fitted, by their tame spirit, to the purposes of designing 
 men. 
 
 •• On the other hand, you ought to observe, that partial secessions, 
 though they may please at the time, be the causes of them what 
 they will, better or worse, like weak lebellions, ever establish more 
 strongly the prevailing party. Thus the secession in the parliament 
 1641, effectually made those who remained at London to triumph. 
 As you seem not averse to policy, this very consideration, were 
 there no other (and there are many besides,) might make you cease 
 to wonder that other ministers in the Church, whom you seem to 
 hint at, follow not your steps. Who these may be I know not, nor 
 the situation of their minds in the present state of things. But it 
 requires no deep discerning of spirits to guess, if a man follows rea- 
 son, that ho\vever dissatisfied he may be with many measures lately 
 taken, he will see it still to be wise to abide in the post providence 
 hath assigned him, do his duty, and be ever ready for what occasions 
 God may offer for serving his country and his church according to 
 its good old constitution, — supported, in the meantime, by this con- 
 sideration. That the Lord hath often, by few and inconsiderable 
 instruments, caused Zion to arise when she hath been low, and that 
 when the time to favour her is come, it is most likely those shall 
 be so honouiably employed who are found in the way. But how- 
 ever that may be, they would not desert their stations, unless some 
 unlawful act is required by their superiors, turning the question to 
 this, Whether it is right to obey God or man ? 
 
 " In this situation, if indeed they change places, their doing so is 
 not so properly their own act as that of their oppressors, who by 
 their severities cast them out. And this pen had never drawn a 
 stroke against you, had such been the ground of your leaving the 
 church and the congregation you was united to. So far from con- 
 demning, I should have judged your conduct very laudable, and that 
 in the measures you have taken, you fell to be acquitted at the 
 hands of God and man, yourself having reason of thankfulness that 
 it was given to you, not only to believe, but to suffer for the name 
 of Jesus, 
 
 " With respect to yourself, I still charitably desire to believe you 
 have done what you thought was right, though, by what 1 have said, 
 you see, I cannot think you justifiable in it. But in this poor world, 
 it is to be expected men will see things in different lights ; and this 
 is our comfort, that God overrules all for the best. Only, in your 
 future conduct, take it not in ill part that I counsel you — to lay 
 aside all bitterness, wrath, guile, envy, and evil-speaking. You are 
 
1706.1 OVERTURE ON SCHISM. 329 
 
 a man of like passions with others. Yonr situation is that of temp- 
 tation to anxiety, to partial representations of persons and things ; 
 and we all ought to be on our guard, not being ignorant of the de- 
 ceitfulness of our own hearts, nor of Satan's devices. Study things 
 that make for peace, and that edify. Exaggerate not offences, but 
 as love dictates, (though I say not you should, or can be blind,) 
 put the best construction truth can bear on the conduct of others. 
 It is the way to sweet peace, and it will be ever true, that in recto 
 deem I am," &c. " Philalethes." 
 
 The report of the committee appohited by the last As- 
 sembly to consider of the overture relating to the causes and 
 growth of schism,"* was taken into consideration on Friday 
 the 30th. That day's sederunt was a very long one, the 
 court having met at ten o'clock, and having sat till about 
 nine at night. After a very long and deliberate debate, the 
 Assembly agreed, without a vote, to pass from that part of 
 the committee's report respecting the remit to Presbyteries 
 to inquire into the number of meeting-houses ; and as to the 
 remaining part of the overture, respecting the abuse of the 
 right of patronage, and the appointing a committee to cor- 
 respond with Presbyteries, and gentlemen of property, for 
 remedying so great an evil, a vote was put, Approve, or 
 Reject ? and it carried Reject, 99 to 85. Therefore, the 
 Assembly rejected the overture and opinion. 
 
 For the following account of the debate we are indebted 
 to a correspondent of the Scots Magazine (Vol. xxviii., p. 
 337.) 
 
 " It is common, on setting out in an undertaking of this 
 kind, to begin by professions of impartiality. These I wholly 
 omit, as well knowing hoAv little credit is commonly given 
 to them, and sensible how very ridiculous they must appear, 
 if, after all, the writer appears to have taken a side. One 
 thing only I must premise further, that having heard a great 
 deal on the subject in private companies, as well as in the 
 house, it is impossible, at this distance, to be certain that a 
 sentiment or expression may not be inserted that was not 
 thrown out in the debate, but has been gleaned up in conver- 
 sation. The reader, however, may rest assured, that the 
 whole of the following account is repeated, and not invented ; 
 the reasoning on each side being taken from the members of 
 
 - See pp. 305, 311, 320, note. 
 E e 2 
 
330 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [^1766. 
 
 Assembly either in or out of doors, and as little as possible 
 of the last kind. 
 
 " The overture itself consists of a short narrative as to the 
 increase of secession, and these propositions: — 1. That the 
 Assembly should appoint an inquiry into the fact. 2. That 
 as the abuse of patronage has been one great cause of 
 schism, they would consider what methods may be employed 
 to remedy so great an evil. 3. That they woidd appoint 
 a committee to correspond with Presbyteries and gentlemen 
 of property and infuence, and to report. 
 
 " The debate was opened by the moderator of the pre- 
 ceding Assembly,"'^ who spoke, as he always does, with great 
 strength and propriety, and with very much dignity. He 
 stated the fact as to the numbers who had separated from 
 the Church of Scotland of different denominations — the pro- 
 portion they bore to the whole — the continuance and increase 
 of separation every year — the unhappy consequences of it 
 both in a spiritual and temporal view — the obligation upon 
 the General Assembly to endeavour at least in some degree 
 to remedy it. He then took notice of the abuse of the law 
 of patronage ; showed how it might be, and had been, abused 
 by patrons ; but particularly insisted, that he did not under- 
 stand the abuse of patronage meant in the overture to be 
 confined to patrons, but that it had been abused by the church 
 courts in many respects ; and that if they desired reforma- 
 tion, they ought to begin at home, and do every thing within 
 their ov.n sphere in a legal and constitutional manner to 
 promote it. He complained of the unjust and slanderous 
 representations which had been made without doors of the 
 designs of the friends of the overture, as if they were mad 
 unreasonable men, of fuiious tempers, and enthusiastic prin- 
 ciples, who intended to bring every thing into confusion both 
 in Church and State ; he declared, that he knew none but 
 who desired to be determined in their judgment by cool and 
 rational principles, to conduct their designs according to law 
 and good order, and to attempt nothing towards an alteration 
 of the statutes now in force immediately, nor at all, miless 
 they could convince gentlemen of rank and property, that it 
 was their own interest, and that of their country. He then 
 concluded in favour of tlie overture in all its ])aits. 
 
 " The question being thus stated, were I to attempt giving 
 
 _^ 9 
 
 * Dr Oswald of Methven. 
 
1766.] DEBATE ON SCHISM. 331 
 
 an account of the speeches on each side alternately in the 
 order of time, and the reference in the manner of expression 
 to what had been most recently thrown out by others, the 
 summary given of every particular speech would appear very 
 defective, and yet the argument in general would be by far 
 too diffuse ; and therefore it seems most proper to collect 
 and digest the chief topics which were insisted on against 
 the overture, and then the substance of the answers made 
 to them, and the arguments used in its support. 
 
 " An attempt Avas made, near the beginning of the de- 
 bate, to persuade the Assembly, that it was not public spirit, 
 but private and factious designs, that had given birth to the 
 overture. This was done by an eminent member,* reputed 
 to be the head of the majority. He told the Assembly, That 
 there Avere two Avays of coming to the knoAvledge of AA'hat 
 Avas intended by any measure proposed ; one Avas, from the 
 arguments openly used in court to support it ; and the other, 
 from reports of out-of-doors couA^ersation : That the last of 
 these Avas often more to be depended upon than the first : 
 That by this surer channel of information he Avas given to 
 understand, that the spring of this attempt Avas envy and 
 resentment against him in particular, and the measures he 
 had supported. He Avas then pleased to make a very hand- 
 some encomium on himself, and his conduct in the manage- 
 ment of public affairs ; not Avithout some reflections against 
 a certain class of those Avho opposed him. This last was 
 done very nearly in the folloAving Avords : — ' I see many 
 gentlemen here, moderator, aaIio have ahA-ays uniformly dif- 
 fered from me as to the expediency of public measures : 
 these I regard and esteem as honest men, because they are 
 consistent. But AA'hen I see men at one time promoting one 
 set of measm-es, and at another espousing the opposite, per- 
 haps as one ministry or another prcA-ails at Coui-t, I must 
 heartily despise such dishonourable truckling.' The remain- 
 ing part of his reasoning Avill afterwards come in under the 
 different heads of argument used on this side of the question. 
 
 " 1 . One of the first of these arguments Avas, That the over- 
 ture Avas funcUtus absurd, and ought to be rejected in the 
 lump, because the evil complained of in it Avas not an evil., 
 ])ut, on the contrary, a great beauty and advantage : That 
 •<\& in the works of nature, for example in a bed of floAvers, 
 
 * Principal Robertson, 
 
332 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. (_1766. 
 
 great part of the beauty arises from the variety in shape, 
 size, and colour ; so, in the moral world, the differences of 
 opinion in religion, the various sects, and opposite modes of 
 worship, constituted a remarkable beauty in the system 
 upon the whole. 
 
 "2. It w^as alleged by one who did not seem to diifer 
 much in opinion from the author of the last argument, That 
 if schism was an evil, it was a necessary evil, and absolutely 
 incurable : That there always had been, and always would 
 be, divisions in the Church : That the minds of men were 
 of so different makes, their education, and the train of ideas 
 to which they were accustomed so different, that it was im- 
 possible to prevent contests and animosities on the subject 
 of religion : That the means used to cure this disorder in all 
 ages, had generally increased it ; and therefore that nothing 
 of that kind ought at any time to be attempted. 
 
 " 3. It was again and again insinuated, That the overture 
 had a tendency to persecution : That though it pretended to 
 disclaim any thing of this kind in words, yet, if it succeeded, 
 it w^ould certainly in the end have this effect : That the over- 
 ture proposed an inquiry into the number of separating meet- 
 ing-houses, and their situation ; which very much resembled 
 the orders of Government issued in some tyrannical reigns, 
 to take up exact lists of conventicles and separating societies, 
 in order to their being subjected to the rigour of penal sta- 
 tute. This seemed to be dwelt upon with some pleasure ; 
 and many things were said in praise of the Seceders, as ho- 
 nest and peaceable men, and in particular of the most unsus- 
 pected loyalty to the present Government, which they had 
 supported in the year 1745 with uncommon zeal. 
 
 "4. It was strongly urged, That to appoint Presbyteries 
 to make an inquiry into the truth of the facts presumed in 
 the overture to have taken place, would be attended with 
 the worst of consequences. It could not be supposed that 
 members of Presbyteries would be unanimous, either in their 
 obedience to such order, or in the manner of carrying it into 
 execution. This would make their meetings scenes of con- 
 tention, and occasion the greatest uncertainty in their report : 
 That perhaps the account sent of the progress of schism, and 
 its causes, from one corner of the Church, would be directly 
 opposite to that sent from another. At the same time it was 
 observed, that making the result of this inquiry public, and 
 pointing out the places where, and the times when, the se- 
 
176G.] DEBATE ON SCHISAf. 333 
 
 veral meetinj^-hoiises were erected, would be extremely in- 
 vidious and disagi-eeable, for the most obvious reasons. 
 
 " 5. It was observed, That there was only one cause of 
 schism mentioned in the overture, viz., the abuse of the pa- 
 tronage act ; but that it was no way certain that this was 
 either the only or the chief cause of it. One great cause of 
 it was mentioned, and l^id to the charge of the opposite party, 
 viz., instilling into the minds of the people that they had a 
 divine right, purchased to them by Christ, to choose their 
 own pastors ; M'liich imaginary right had taken such posses- 
 sion of them as had made them quite untractable ; so that 
 they refused submission to the pastors settled among them 
 in an orderly manner. Here occasion was taken to inveigh 
 severely against the unreasonable prejudices and obstinacy 
 of the common people. Instances were mentioned of their 
 opposition to persons of the greatest ability, and most unex- 
 ceptionable character, merely because they had accepted of 
 presentations. To this also it was alleged they were gener- 
 ally stirred up by the conduct of Presb)i:eries, or by the artful 
 insinuations of particular ministers.* 
 
 " 6. There were some who scrupled not to give it as their 
 opinion. That patronage was the best way of settling churches : 
 That the nobility and gentry, in whom the right of present- 
 ing was usually vested, must be presumed the best judges of 
 the qualifications of ministers, and were naturally entitled to 
 that distinction by the eminence of their station : That if 
 the election were in the common people, they would be easily 
 carried away by men of superficial rather than solid talents ; 
 one candidate would be set up against another, and the ani- 
 mosity of the contending parties would occasion infinite tu- 
 
 * The Reporter says : — " I have purposely omitted, in the above 
 narrative, such causes of schism as were evidently ludicrous, and 
 received ludicrous answers ; and shall here only mention one as a 
 specimen. One gentleman said. That by what information he could 
 get, many people went to seceding meeting-houses for no better rea- 
 son than because the seats were cheaper there than in the church. 
 To which it was answered, That the fact was directly otherwise, 
 the seats in meetings being commonly dearer than in churches ; and 
 further, that it might be demonstrated that it was not to save money 
 people seceded, for the Seceders would often build a house from 
 the foundation, and settle a minister, in a poor country, on the 
 side of a hill, before the heritors of a parish could be prevailed on 
 to mend a broken pane in a church window." 
 
334 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 mult and confusion. On the contrary, it was observed, that 
 the law of patronage, when supported by uniformity in the 
 decisions of the Church, always produced peace and good 
 order, as in our neighbour Church, where nobody thinks of 
 making any opposition to the person presented. 
 
 " This being indeed the hinge of the cause, Avas most la- 
 boured by the speakers on both sides. The eminent doctor 
 formerly hinted at, favoured us with a sketch of the history 
 of patronage in the Church of Scotland, with a particular 
 view to show its happy influence on the characters of minis- 
 ters. He told us. That at the Revolution, and for a con- 
 siderable time after it, the ministers of the Church of Scot- 
 land were sober and pious men, but of mean abilities, and 
 little acquaintance with the world : That about the end of 
 Queen Anne's reign, patronage was re-established in a man- 
 ner well enough kno^ATi ; and after that, young gentlemen 
 intended for the ministry endeavoured to accomplish them- 
 selves by a more free and liberal education, and such quali- 
 fications as might render them acceptable to the politer part 
 of mankind : That if, in attempting this, some of them had 
 fallen into a few faults on the side of levity, it was natural, 
 and very pardonable ! That in his opinion, nothing of this 
 kind had ever happened worth mentioning, or being laid in 
 the balance with the opposite conduct of others : That no 
 character whatever was more contemptible in a minister, 
 than a mean and low desire of popularity among the vulgar ; 
 and upon the whole, That the Church of Scotland never was 
 in higher reputation for the characters of her ministers than 
 at present ; which ought in justice to be imputed to the way 
 in which public measures had been carried on for some time 
 past. 
 
 " 7. It was very much insisted on, That patronage was 
 now established by law in this country, and made a part of 
 our happy constitution : That therefore all opposition to it 
 was flying in the face of the law, and the present attempt 
 must necessarily have the efi'ect of encouraging people in 
 their resistance, instead of teaching them that obedience and 
 submission which becomes good subjects : That were there 
 even a greater hardship in it than there is, it is now so fixed 
 by the late decisions in the House of Peers, that it is im- 
 possible to evade its force ; nor is there the least prospect of 
 success in attempting to procm-e a repeal of it. 
 
 "8. In support of this argument another was added, That 
 
1766.] DEBATE ON SCHISM. 335 
 
 if at any time unworthy or improper men were settled in 
 parishes, it could not be attributed to patrons, but to the 
 church courts themselves : That the patron was obliged by 
 law to present a qualified person, — that is to say, either a 
 probationer or licentiate of the Church, or a minister already 
 settled in it. Great use was made of this argument in the 
 house, as indeed it is repeated in conversation. Gentlemen, 
 said they, why all this complaint ? You have nobody to 
 blame but yourselves. The matter is wholly in your o^^'n 
 hands. In the first place, take care whom 3'ou license ; then 
 after they are licensed, keep a watchful eye over their beha- 
 viour. If this is done, it will be impossible for patrons to 
 make a wrong choice. And as for the opposition of the 
 people, arising from mere whim and caprice, or from ground- 
 less prejudice, no regard ought to be paid to it at all ; or 
 rather, it is your duty to discourage and suppress it. 
 
 " 9. There is one part of the overture of which I have 
 not yet said any thing, viz., applying to gentlemen of pro- 
 perty and infuence. I confess I was not well able to com- 
 prehend the reasoning on this part of the subject. I think 
 the enemies of the overture would have done well to have 
 taken no particular notice of this clause of it at all, because 
 it leans entirely upon the two former. Supposing they had 
 shown it to be improper to do any thing at this time for 
 lessening the gi'owth of schism, it followed of course, that 
 there was no occasion for applying to the gentlemen for their 
 assistance. But it is probable that orators think themselves 
 obliged to show their ingenuity and invention, by offering 
 arguments against every circumstance, as well as the sub- 
 stance of what they have undertaken to oppose. Therefore, 
 we had a good many declamations, showing it to be a piece 
 of great indiscretion to gentlemen of rank to make any such 
 apphcation to them. It was said to be an implied affront, 
 as if the landed interest did not understand their own in- 
 terest or duty unless it was pointed out to them by the clergy. 
 But of this I shall give no further account, because, indeed, 
 I look upon all that was said upon it to have been thrown 
 out merely to fill up room, and to make every gentleman's 
 discourse in opposition to the overture complete and round. 
 
 " I now proceed to give some account of the reasoning 
 in support of the overture. 
 
 " To the insinuations made by the learned doctor. That 
 the overture was intended against him, and his reflections 
 
33:6 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 upon individuals of his opposers, answers were made by 
 different speakers, with some disdain and indignation : That 
 they had other and higher things in view, than to point at 
 any particular person, who might have, or suppose himself 
 to have, the chief influence in public affairs : That it was 
 but a poor refage in any question of general moment, instead 
 of resting on the merits of the cause, to presume and impute 
 sinister motives to those of the opposite side : That this gen- 
 tleman had distinguished himself in every diet of the Assem- 
 bly by personal attacks on the characters of members, which 
 looked much more like chagi'in and resentment than cool de- 
 liberation : That as to the charge of inconsistency, now for 
 the third or fourth time brought out since the Assembly sat 
 down, it was neither relevant nor true. It w^as said, with 
 a great deal of seeming justice, If experience has shown that 
 any measures have been wrong, and are likely to be attended 
 with hurtful consequences, it is the part of a candid and 
 honest man to be open to conviction, and to stop in time. 
 To do otherwise is not consistency, but obstinacy. Besides, 
 it w^as alleged that there was a great difference in the de- 
 grees of the same thing ; and that the members intended to 
 be wounded by the above reflection, never had earned mea- 
 sures to the same height they had been carried of late. One 
 in particular, who ^vas so often and so plainly pointed at, 
 that he was at last obliged to make some reply even to what 
 was personal, declared. That though he could not deny that 
 he had a hand in procuring several presentations from the 
 Cro^vn, not one of them had ever been the subject of a pro- 
 cess in the church courts. 
 
 " 1. As to the argument. That schism was no evil, but 
 a beauty, it was alhrraed to be one of the poorest deceptions 
 in reasoning that ever was produced. If truth in opinion, 
 and unity in affection, be desirable, contradictory principles, 
 and all the contention that flows naturally from such a 
 source, must be an e^dl. The liberty, indeed, which gives 
 an opportunity for different sentiments to show themselves 
 is a great and invaluable blessing ; but for any one to say 
 that schism or division, though the consequence of liberty, 
 is not in itself an evil, or that no remedy should be applied 
 to it, is the grossest absurdit3\ Many good things, perhaps 
 every good thing, has some accidental consequences which 
 are evil ; but would it not be madness to say, that because 
 they spring in part from a cause that is good, nothing should 
 
17^)0.] DEBATE ON SCHISM. 337 
 
 be done to remove or alleviate the hurtful effects ? Deep 
 and broken roads are a certain consequence of the populous- 
 ness and commerce of a country ; but what pretty reasoning 
 would it be to say, that deep roads,' on this account, are a 
 great beauty, and therefore nothing ought to be done to re- 
 pair them. 
 
 " 2. Much of the same strain was the second argument. 
 That if schism was an evil, it was a necessary evil, and ab- 
 solutely incurable, ^"^hicli is just as if a man should say, 
 There will always be diseases, therefore there ought to be 
 no physicians. The above two arguments, it was often said, 
 deserved no answer ; and yet they received a great many, 
 there being scarce a speaker in favour of the overture who 
 did not introduce himself AA-ith an expression of contempt 
 or displeasure at such ridiculous propositions. The truth 
 is, I greatly suspect, that these things Avere not said from a 
 conviction of their truth, or from any hope of being able to 
 persuade by their eA^dence, but thrown out in the beginning 
 as a sort of forlorn hope, to keep the enemy in play and 
 exercise, or tire him a little, before they should come to a 
 closer engagement. In this view, I believe, they answered 
 their end ; and, though they brought no credit to the speak- 
 ers, were of some little benelit to the cause. 
 
 " 3. As to the charge of persecuting the Seceders, the 
 friends of the overture complained of it as injurious to re- 
 peat this allegation so often. They could hardly think their 
 opponents sincere in producing such an argument, as it was 
 well known that none of them had ever shown a disposition 
 of this sort : That, on the contrary, they had uniformly and 
 openly supported the right of private judgment, and opposed 
 every attempt to bear hard upon the consciences of others 
 in the exercise of church power : That they had the greatest 
 tenderness and regard for the Seceders, and showed it in 
 every part of their conduct ; — at the same time, that they 
 could not help lamenting the separation, which did in their 
 case, as in others of the like kind, frequently introduce nar- 
 row and bigoted sentiments in religion, as well as fierce and 
 uncharitable debates upon matters of little moment : That 
 the Seceders now brought up for the ministry must have but 
 a very confined and defective education, and therefore it 
 could not be desirable to commit the care and inspection of 
 the people to ignorant and insufficient men.""" But above 
 
 * " I am informed that some persons have given out of the mem- 
 Ff 
 
.338 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. LlTGf). 
 
 all, that there was a peculiar injustice in the charge of per- 
 secution in 'the present instance ; for it appeared, ex facie 
 of the overture, and every hodj knew, the design of it was, 
 if possible, to take away the cause of secession, by remedying 
 ill ourselves those very things of which the Seceders com- 
 plain. 
 
 ''' 4. That part of the overture which proposed that Pres- 
 l)yteries should be appointed to inquire into the number of 
 separating meeting-houses, seemed, after some time, to be 
 fallen from by consent. The fact, it "vvas said, was abun- 
 dantly notorious, and every member of the Church of Scot- 
 land must have so much general knowledge of it as was 
 sufficient to induce him to agree to the substance of what 
 was intended. 
 
 "5. It was agreed by the friends of the overture, That 
 there might be other causes of schism besides what is mainly 
 pointed at ; and that accordingly they had not called this 
 the onl^i^ but one great cause of the disorders that had hap- 
 pened. They mentioned particularly relaxation of disciphne, 
 as what might be justly complained of, and what they hoped 
 the Assembly Avould take into their serious consideration, 
 and set an example to futm-e Assemblies by the vigorous 
 exercise of it in some cases that were to come before them ; 
 but that as they could not help thinking that the relaxation 
 itself was in a good measure owing to what they had pointed 
 out, so it was a thing manifest, and beyond all question, that 
 
 l)er who reasor.ed in this nitinner, that he said the Seceders brought 
 up their people in ignorance and vice. I am not able to recollect 
 that he said aiiy more than what is inserted above ; and thus much 
 he might be allowed to say, without the least degree of malevolence 
 to the Seceders, oi contempt of the principles of the Secession. I 
 have heard some of themselves candidly own, that they are at a 
 great loss in the education of their students ; and it is impossible 
 it can be otherwise. Excluded in a great measure from the uni- 
 versities, and either not having, or not choosing to have, the op- 
 portunity of general converse with men of letters, and never hearing 
 any preachers but their own sect, it is of necessity that their edu- 
 cation must be defective. It is the case with all others in their 
 circumstances; and is very justly brought as an argument against 
 such measures as render secession either necessary or eligible. Let 
 the Seceders also remember, that the argument was general, and 
 did not reflect upon particulars. It is probable the member who 
 used it is persuaded, there are among them men of piety, ability, 
 and learning, notwithstanding all their disadvantages." 
 
17^)0.] DEBATE ON SCHISM. 339 
 
 patronage?, in the manner in whiili it had heon exevciserl, 
 was the chief and immediate cause of tlie erection of all or 
 most part of tlie meeting-houses tliat liad ])een l)uilt in Scot- 
 land : That this was not a matter of conjecture, but the rea- 
 son openly professed for the building of such houses, by 
 those who were concerned in them. And who has not seen 
 many examples of whole parishes going oif at once upon a 
 disagreeable settlement taking place ? 
 
 " It was denied that any minister now alive could be 
 justl}'^ charged with instilling false principles into the minds 
 of the people as to their right in calling their pastors : That 
 the meaning of this phrase deserved well to be a little at- 
 tended to, for it was capable of two senses : That it might 
 seem to relate to the natural right which every man has to 
 choose or judge for himself in religion, and every thing be- 
 longing to it ; and therefore, in particular — to choose his 
 own pastor, to whom he was to cornmit the care of his soul, 
 and on whom he was to depend for daily instruction and 
 comfort : Or, 2. It might relate to the question, Who had 
 a right in fact, or who ought in justice to have the right, of 
 calhng a parochial minister upon an Establishment ? That 
 in the first sense it belongs to every individual, no consistent 
 Protestant will perhaps be hardy enough to deny. And in 
 the second, perhaps it mil be as difficult to find any body 
 who ever asserted it. Who has the power at present among 
 us, being a matter of fact, and not of right, depends upon 
 the statutes now in force. Nay, though a new law were to 
 be made upon the subject, probably nobody would plead for 
 every adult inhabitant having an equal share, because such 
 a seeming equality would be a real inequality. But at the 
 same time it is certain, that where any power of judging is 
 left to us, such regard ought to be had to the general prin- 
 ciple, as to promote the end of settling a Gospel ministry ; 
 which undoubtedly is, the edification of the people within a 
 certain district. When this end is not answered, men may 
 say or think of it what they please, but it is just so much of 
 the public money entirely thrown away. 
 
 *•' As to the prejudices of the people, it was said, that 
 though neither they nor their betters are without prejudices 
 of dilFereut kinds, yet the time was long passed in which 
 they excepted against any man merely for his getting a pre- 
 sentation. When a man is presented with whose doctrine 
 and life they are well satisfied, the presentation giving him 
 
340 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 a right to the henefice is never quarrelled. How many in- 
 stances might be given, and those very recent, of whole 
 parishes uniting to supplicate their patron for a presentation 
 in favour of a minister of whom they had an high esteem ? 
 So that, if ever there were any such childish prejudice as to 
 be offended at the very name, it is plain that it has not at 
 this time any existence. 
 
 " As to the stale complaint, of opposition being raised or 
 fomented by Presbyteries or ministers, nothing could be more 
 easily refuted by experience. Many instances might be given 
 of the most uncomfortable settlements, where all possible 
 pains had been taken by the Presbyteries of the bounds to 
 reconcile the people, and where every body knew it was both 
 their interest and inclination to do it effectually, if it had 
 been in their power. But however innocent they were in 
 this matter, it was said they despaired of being free from the 
 false accusation ; for it was abundantly sufficient in the eye 
 of many, to accuse a minister of fomenting an opposition, 
 unless he would fairly give up all his own professed prin- 
 ciples and openly embrace theirs. 
 
 " 6. As to the expediency of settling churches by presen- 
 tations, it was said. That both the reason of the thing, and 
 daily experience, showed the unhappy consequences of en- 
 forcing them in the rigorous and tyrannical manner they had 
 been of late : That it was natural for patrons to look upon 
 the right as merely a piece of civil property, and accordingly 
 to dispose of them so as they might best promote their pri- 
 vate interest : In former periods, indeed, considerable regard 
 was paid to the inclinations of gentlemen of rank and influ- 
 ence in the parish, but now this was entirely laid aside : 
 That there had been discovered some very scandalous ways 
 of obtaining presentations, and many more were strongly 
 suspected : And if things went on in the present chaimel, 
 the same practices would prevail to a degree still more open, 
 more offensive, and more hurtful. 
 
 " Could it be denied, that when a presentation absolutely 
 secured a man's settlement, whatever was liis character among 
 the people, it would make students and probationers much 
 less watchful and circumspect in their behaviour ? This was 
 the more to be regarded in our Church, which, Avanting the 
 splendour of dignities and revenues, could only obtain or 
 preserve respect ])y the purity and regularity of the clergy : 
 That there were too many instances of our falling short of 
 
17()6'.] DEBATE ON SCHISM. 341 
 
 our fathers in these particulars ; and as the effect was mani- 
 fest, the cause was not hard to discover. 
 
 ^* That we need but open our eyes to see the bad effects 
 of the present measures : Whole parishes scattered, the mi- 
 nisters hated or despised, and rendered utterly useless either 
 in a civil or religious capacity. What instruction can a 
 minister give to those who will not hear him ? What au- 
 tliority can he have over those who despise him ? What 
 comfort among those that hate him, unless he become wholly 
 indifferent about his work, and warming himself with the 
 fleece,'give up all care of, or attention to, the flock ? How 
 far this is the case with too many already, the world is at 
 liberty to judge. 
 
 •• As to what Avas alleged. That enforcing presentations 
 A\ ould produce peace and good order ; it was only such peace 
 as Nvas to be seen in tyrannical and arbitrary governments : 
 That wherever there is liberty, there is greater apparent dis- 
 order in public proceedings than where tyranny prevails, but 
 at ;he same time much more comfort and happiness: That 
 any tumult or confusion in elections, where the parish has 
 been consulted, was only occasional and temporary ; and, 
 when one agreeable to the plurality was settled, did always 
 speedily subside, and good order, properly so called, did im- 
 mediately succeed. 
 
 " On the other hand, what is the conset|uence of en- 
 forcing presentations with rigour ? People despair indeed 
 of making resistance, and so do not follow^ the cause from 
 one church com-t to another ; but at the same time they re- 
 fuse submission to the presentee, whom they leave to preach 
 to empty walls, and wander about from parish to parish, or 
 build a meeting-house, and call a minister from any of the 
 parties that have separated I'rom the Church which they 
 think proper. So that truly the peace or good order boiisted 
 of under the influence of presentations is well described by 
 an ancient writer, who complains of the rulers of his own 
 times in the following words, — Salitudinemfhciunt^ et pa- 
 ce in vocant. 
 
 '' As mention had been made of the neighbour Church 
 of England, it was observed, this was no way favourable to 
 the cause of presentations. There, v»^hoever is presented, be he 
 of ever so immoral a character, is indeed ordained without op- 
 position, but the consequence is, that the parishes are shame- 
 fully neglected ; and the common people in England of the 
 F f 2 
 
342 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY, [1760. 
 
 Church persuasion, are perhaps more ignorant and profane 
 than the members of any Protestant Church in the workl. 
 Can any man desire to reduce us to a similarity with them 
 in this particular ? Surely not ; and yet patronage conti- 
 nuing on its present footing, is the high road to lead us to 
 it. It is in vain to hope to make men indifferent about their 
 ministers till they are indiiferent about religion itself. The 
 last may be sometimes without the first, but the first never 
 was, nor ever will be, without the last, 
 
 ••' It was also much insisted on. That as the present me- 
 thod of planting churches is contrary to the interest of reli- 
 gion, so it is also contrary to the civil interest of the country, 
 and the revenue of the gentlemen of property. No fewer 
 than 120 meeting-houses are already erected in this small 
 country, and new^ ones building every season. Experience 
 shoAvs, that w^here men are in earnest about religion, they 
 w ill spare no cost to obtain the means of it. This wall ex- 
 haust the lower class of people, and render them less able 
 to pay their rents, or to advance them higher ; so that every 
 new establishment of that kind is ultimately a tax upon land. 
 Take it which w^ay w^e please, it must be a great injury to 
 the public. If, on the one hand, the people fall into indif- 
 ference about religion, they will be brought up in ignorance 
 and vice ; than w hich nothing is more immediately destruc- 
 tive of industry in every branch, whether of agriculture or 
 manufactures. JMen of higher rank may so far supply the 
 want of religion by a sense of honour, or other worldly prin- 
 ciples, as to serve their country and themselves ; but the 
 common people, when they are irreligious, are almost con- 
 stantly idle, and poor at the same time. On the other hand, 
 if they retain their religion, and are obliged by their treat- 
 ment "in the Establishment, to set up separating meetings, 
 it is unnecessarily saddling the country with an immense 
 charo-e ; wdiile the Established ministers are buckled to the 
 stipends, without any w^ork, and appear in the contemptible 
 light of so many wens or excrescences on the body-politic, 
 eating its nourishment, and hurting its peace. 
 
 " I must not omit an observation made. That violent set- 
 tlements prove the greatest injury to the poors' funds in the 
 parishes where they are made. This, said they, is a circum- 
 stance to which the landed interest ought to pay the greatest 
 regard. At present, the poor in Scotland are maintained by 
 the voluntary contributions of the people, managed at no 
 
17(jf).] DEBATE ON SCHISM. 'S4-'-l 
 
 expense, and with very little, if any, suspicion of fraud. But 
 if the evil spread, and the greatest part of the congregations 
 through the country, are driven away from the Established 
 Church, the poor must starve, or the heritors must maintain 
 them by a voluntary taxation. This in a little time would 
 probably be so ill executed, that it would issue in an act of 
 parliament for a poors'-rate, similar to that in England ; and 
 we all know that there they complain as heavily of the ex- 
 pense of the poors'-rate as of any imposition under which 
 they labour. 
 
 " The history given of patronage, and its effects, did not 
 })ass unnoticed. It was observed, That from the Reforma- 
 tion downwards, the friends of the Presbyterian Establish- 
 ment always considered patronage as unfavourable to, or 
 rather inconsistent with, that form of government. As there 
 was a constant struggle before the Revolution between Pres- 
 bytery and Episcopacy, so it might be said, almost without 
 any exception, that Avhen Presbytery prevailed, patronage 
 was either wholly abolished, or greatly restrained. At the 
 Revolution, in particular, it was taken away by the act of 
 parliament 1690 ; and the restitution of it in 1712, is well 
 known to have been brought about by the inveterate ene- 
 mies of our constitution, and to have been intended as a 
 thrust at its very vitals, though it did not come to have much 
 influence in. the settlement of parishes till many years after, 
 and that by slow degrees. 
 
 '• The preference in point of character given by the learned 
 Doctor to the ministers of the present, in comparison Avith 
 those of former generations, was not only doubted, but de- 
 nied. For though just at the Revolution, from the penury 
 of ministers, some of but indifferent abilities might find ad- 
 mission, yet it was well known, that in the following years 
 there appeared in the Church of .Scotland a set of men who, 
 for learning, piety, usefulness, and every truly ministerial 
 quahfication, have been equalled by few, and exceeded by 
 none, of the present boasted period. It was also thought, 
 that magnifying the reputation of the present ministers of 
 the Church of Scotland savoured a little of vanity, as being 
 supposed to contain a tacit reference to some late successful 
 publications, which, whatever evidence they might be of the 
 ability of the particular authors, must be a very slender 
 proof, if any at all, of the clerical merit of the Avhole body. 
 "- 7. To the expression frequently thrown out, That the 
 
344 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. []1766. 
 
 present attempt was a flying in the face of the law, it was 
 answered, That though we ought to give submission to every 
 law which is in force, and so far as it is in force, nothing 
 can be more suitable to the spirit of the British constitution 
 than to point out the inconveniencies attending any law, 
 and consider of the most effectual method of getting it al- 
 tered or repealed. Is it not strange, said they, that any 
 minister of the Church of Scotland should use such an ar- 
 gument, when he knows, or ought to know, the language of 
 the General Assembly in the amiual instructions given to 
 the Commission. They are authorised and appointed to em- 
 brace every favourable opportunity of obtaining a redress of 
 the grievance of patronages. Nor have there been wanting 
 many persons of the greatest ability, both among the clergy 
 and laity, who have maintained, that the act restoring pa- 
 tronages was an infringement of the articles of the Union ; 
 and therefore, though passed by the Legislature j^f^^" incu- 
 riam, a fair representation of the matter ought to be laid 
 before them. 
 
 " But what they principally complained of was. That the 
 law, as it stood, had been made a great deal harder by ec- 
 clesiastical decisions, than the plain meaning of the statute 
 w^ould authorise : That the act of parliament 1712 makes 
 no other alteration in that of 1690, than putting the patrons 
 in the place of the heritors and elders : That their pow^er 
 was, to nominate a person, who was to be laid before the 
 congregation ; who, if they had any objections, might offer 
 them, and they were to be judged by the Presbytery.* It 
 is also well known, that no patron can put a man in pos- 
 session of the benefice without the permission of the Church, 
 who have the exclusive and final determination of every 
 such cause committed to them by law. Now it is certain, 
 that many just and competent objections may be made by 
 a congregation against a minister's settlement, although they 
 
 * The words of the act 1690 are as follows : — " That for sup- 
 plying with a minister any particular church that shall become 
 vacant, the heritors of the parish, being Protestants, and the elders, 
 are to name and propose tlie person to the whole congregation, to 
 be either approven or disapproven by them ; and if they disapprove, 
 that the disapprovers give in their reasons, to the effect that the 
 affair may be cognosced by the Presbytery ; at whose judgment, 
 and by whose determination, the calling and entering of a particular 
 minister is to be ordered and concluded." 
 
1766.] DEBATE ON SCHISM. 345 
 
 <lo not undertake to prove him unsound in his doctrine, or 
 immoral in his life His voice may be so weak as to make 
 it impossible for him to be heard in a laro;e congregation : 
 lie may be lame or blind, and unfit to undergo the fatigues 
 of an extensive country parish ; or he may be so poor in 
 abilities as to be quite unequal to the importance of a city 
 charge. All these disqualifications have been pleaded, and 
 others of the same nature, and yet no regard paid to them 
 at all. 
 
 '' It was also observed. That as the Church hath un- 
 doubtedly a power of decision, even as to the settlement of 
 a probationer, much more hath it a power of ordering or 
 forbidding the translation of a minister already settled. This 
 appears from the very reason of the thing ; for his presen- 
 tation to the benefice he already possesses is just as legal as 
 to the other to Avhicli he desires to remove ; and in which 
 of the two he shall serve the cure, ought to be determined 
 by reasons of general expediency. But further, this is sup- 
 ported by the plain grammatical meaning of the act of par- 
 liament 1719, intended for our relief, but of which we never 
 received the benefit, fi-om the con*uption of our own courts. 
 In that act a presentation to a minister already settled, is 
 declared to be void and null ; and yet some of the most 
 troublesome and offensive settlements appointed by General 
 Assemblies have been on presentations of this kind.'"" 
 
 * The words of the act 1719 are : — " That if any patron shall 
 preseiit any person to a vacant church from and after the 1st day 
 of June 1719, who shall not be qualified by taking and subscribing 
 the said oath (of abjuration) in manner aforesaid, or shall present 
 a person to any vacancy who is then, or shall be, pastor or minister 
 of any other church or parish, or any person who shall not accept, 
 or declare his willingness to accept, of the presentation and charge 
 to which he is presented, within the said time, such presentation 
 shall not," &c. There are some, indeed, who, instead of consider- 
 ing these three clauses as distinct and separate disqualifications, 
 would interpret the two last as connected together, and suppose 
 that the acceptance is like an alternative to the preceding, ami takes 
 away its effect. But this does not seem the proper meaning of the 
 act, for two jeasons : — 1. If it were, the third clause would be 
 sufficient of itself, and there would be no necessity for the secoiul 
 at all. 2 The words will not bear this construction, unless you 
 suppose that the acceptance would also atone for the presentee's 
 not being qualified to the Government, which it certainly would 
 not. — Note by the IiejJort<;r. 
 
346 ANNALS OF Tin: ASSEMBLY. [1700'. 
 
 " One thing on this subject, it was observed, gave the 
 greatest ground of complaint, That while so much pains was 
 taken to force a reluctant people to comply with a presentee, 
 not once in a hundred times could the church courts be pre- 
 vailed upon to try their influence with the patrons by a dis- 
 creet representation : That this was the more inexcusable, 
 as in the very few cases in which it had been tried, it had 
 hardly ever failed of success. 
 
 " As to the decisions of the Supreme Court of Judicature 
 in favour of patrons, they have confirmed the power of the 
 church courts as to appointing the legal pastor of the parish, 
 though they have allowed the patron to retain the stipend. 
 Xow, as this affords the fairest opportunity for treating with 
 patrons to use their right >\'ith moderation, so it points out 
 a remedy in the Church's own power for the most difficult 
 cases. If they were to settle a man agreeable to the con- 
 gregation, it would be easier for the people to find a main- 
 tenance for him, to continue during his incumbency, than 
 to build a meeting, and endow it, and keep it up perhaps 
 for a century to come. 
 
 " It hath been indeed commonly pretended, That it is 
 indecent to take any legal advantage against a presentation, 
 and also dangerous, as it may provoke the Legislatui'e to 
 bind it harder upon us. But the danger is nothing ; for it 
 is impossible to make us worse by any law than we every 
 day make ourselves ; and for the indecency, it can appear 
 in this light only to persons of slavish and dependent prin- 
 ciples, for in this free country, nothing is more common in 
 civil causes than to plead every legal exception, and even 
 every point of form, against the claims of the Crown itself. 
 
 " 8. As to the remedy proposed, by taking care of li- 
 censing probationers, it was observed, that it had been, and 
 would be, altogether ineffectual ; for it proceeded upon a 
 supposition, which the present state of human nature plainly 
 shows to be impossible, \'iz., That the majority of not one 
 Presbytery in Scotland should ever be deceived, or unfaithful, 
 in granting a license to a young man. Besides, even this 
 itself would not do ; for by constant practice we have sus- 
 tained presentations to probationers and ministers from 
 among the Protestant Dissenters, both in England and Ire- 
 land. 
 
 " .9. As to the last particular, viz., the application to gen- 
 tlemen of property and influence, it was said to be a plain 
 
1T()'C).] CASE OF MR LYELL. 347 
 
 evidence tliat those ulio proposed the overture had no inten- 
 tion of doing any thing precipitately, or any thing that was 
 wild or extravagant in itself. They could not help being 
 of opinion, that it was one of the highest marks of respect 
 they could put upon the landed interest, as it flowed from 
 a persuasion that no effectual relief could be obtained from 
 the present grievances but by their assistance. 
 
 " I shall subjoin no observation to the above account but 
 one : That I cannot help thinking all the arguments against 
 the overture were far-fetched, excepting those which at- 
 tempted to evince that patronage is indeed the best way of 
 settling churches. If this is not true, then surely to think 
 at least of some remedy, was exceeding proper. But if it 
 is true, undoubtedly the overture was justly rejected by the 
 Assembly. I have therefore been the larger on this point 
 in both accounts ; and on the strength or weakness of the 
 arguments on each side, depends the righteousness and ex- 
 pediency of the above decision." 
 
 On the 28tli, the Assembly appointed Mr George Bruce, 
 minister of 3Iin to, presented' by the Duke of Roxburgh, to 
 be settled minister^of Dunbar. There w^as a pretty numer- 
 ous opposition ; but the weakness of Mr Bruce's voice was 
 the only objection, his opponents professing their esteem for 
 him as a man of piety, learning, and experience." 
 
 ()n the 31st, the Assembly took into consideration the 
 aliair of 3Ir Thomas Lyell. This gentleman was ordained 
 minister of Lady Parish, in the Presbytery of North Isles, 
 in 1 754. Some time after, he was accused'by common feme 
 of indecencies and immoralities. In 1756 his maid-servant 
 AA as said to be pregnant by him, to have been sent to Edin- 
 burgh, and there to have brought forth a child, supported 
 at his expense. In 1762, another servant-maid of his be- 
 came pregnant, and though he M-as informed by one of his 
 elders that it was the general opinion he was the father he 
 kept her in his serWce till she was delivered in his house. 
 Upon her recovery, having so ordered matters that the child 
 ^vas ascribed to his brother, who then lived in familv with 
 him, the parties were absolved by him, before two or three 
 
 Tlie Synod had refused to proceed to his settlement, referring 
 the case to the Assembly. Against that judgment an appeal was 
 taken by the patron, town-council, and other callers. 
 
348 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ql766'. 
 
 elders convened for that purpose. In 17C3, tlie S3Tiod of 
 Orkney found the conduct of this Presbytery to have been 
 remiss, censured them on that account, and appointed a 
 committee ; which, joined with the Presbytery, held a vi- 
 sitation of jMr L^^ell s parish. His parishioners ha^ang ac- 
 cused him of various enormities, the committee suspended 
 him. These proceedings having been laid before the Synod, 
 were referred to the Assembly 1764, and by them to the 
 Commission, who reversed the sentence of suspension, on 
 account of irregularities in the proceedings, and remitted to 
 the Presbytery to prosecute Mr Lyell by a libel in common 
 form. After this sentence, the three youngest ministers of 
 the Presb3^tery (in which there are only six,) seemed to fa- 
 vour Mr Lyell. In August 1764, the two other ministers 
 applied to the Synod to appoint some members of S}mod to 
 sit in Presbytery with them, and to dispense with their meet- 
 ing within the bounds of their own Presbytery, on account 
 of the age and infirmities of some of the corresponding mem- 
 bers. This request having been granted, the Presbytery 
 met at Kirkwall, where a libel, in name of the Presbytery, 
 was brought in against Mr Lyell, and he was cited to make 
 his defence against a subsequent diet. The Presbytery met 
 again accordingly, but split ; and a Synod having been called 
 pro re nata, reversed the aforesaid appointment. On this 
 the party of the Presbytery who were against i\Ir Lyell met 
 again in Presbytery at Kirkwall, and again refen*ed the affair 
 to the Assembly ; and the other party having met in the 
 ordinary place, assoilzied Mr Lyell simpliciter. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr William Nisbet, minister at Firth and 
 Stenness, in the neighbouring Presbytery, that of Cairston, 
 was reported to have kept as his concubine a married wo- 
 man ; the clamour against whom had by this time greatly 
 increased. His Presbytery, and likewise the Synod, had 
 enjoined him to dismiss this woman from his house. These 
 injunctions were not, however, properly complied Avith, and 
 it was suspected that a party in his own Presbytery inclined 
 to protect him, and that this party were uniting themselves 
 with the party formed to protect JMr Lyell, so as to make a 
 majority in the Synod. Thus matters stood when the As- 
 sembly 1765 again reversed all the proceedings in Mr Lyell's 
 affair, on account of irregularity ; and appointed the Presby- 
 tery of North Isles " to begin his trial de novo, upon a 
 libel in proper form, and without delay." 
 
1 7 CO.] CASE OF MR LYELL. 349 
 
 " In the Synod of Orkney, met in August thereafter (1765,) 
 some of the members intended to have moved the Synod to 
 inquire why no obedience had been given to this last ap- 
 pointment of the General Assembly in relation to Mr Lyell. 
 But a motion having been first made, to inquire what had 
 been done by the Presbytery of Cairston, in consequence of 
 an appointment of last Synod, enjoining that Pr. ^bytery to 
 proceed against the brother charged with adultery, the mo- 
 derator of the Presbytery of Cairston asserted, — ' That the 
 Synod's appointment had been obeyed ; ' and being contra- 
 dicted by three of his brethren, who appealed for the falsity 
 of this averment to the minutes of Presbytery then in their 
 hands, a vote was stated. Whether the moderator of a Pres- 
 bytery was the mouth and voice of the Presbytery in the 
 Synod ? It w^as carried, by a majority, that he was, and 
 therefore could not be contradicted, or his assertions any w^ay 
 disproved by his co- presbyters." * — Mem. for Messrs Trail 
 and ScoUai/, p. 6. 
 
 Matters standing thus, Mr George Trail of Hobister. mi- 
 nister of Dunnet, in the Presbytery of Caithness, and the 
 principal heritor in Mr Lyell's parish, thought himself bound 
 to become his prosecutor. When Mr Trail's resolution be- 
 came known in the country, which was not till about six 
 months after the Assembly 1765, the Presbytery of Xorth 
 Isles was, by their moderator, summoned to meet on the 3d 
 *of December, " to take under consideration the appointment 
 of the Assembly in relation to ^Ir Lyell." Mr Trail's letter 
 was presented at this meeting of Presbytery, signif>ang his 
 intention to prosecute Mr Lyell, and assigning his reasons. 
 At their next meeting, Jan. 21, the Presbytery resolved to 
 libel Mr Lyell themselves, though a libel against him, at Mr 
 Trail's instance, was presented to them by a procurator, upon 
 Avhich he required them to proceed to trial. Then Mr Lyell 
 produced a libel against Mr Jerom Dennison of Noltland, 
 who claimed to sit as a ruhng elder, and another hbel against 
 Mr John ScoUay, minister of Crosskirk, charging them with 
 malice against him ; on which both were excluded. They 
 refused to admit Mr Balfour, Mr Trail's procurator, to act 
 before them, on pretence that he had not taken the oaths. 
 
 In a paper in one of the causes referred to the Commission, 
 which shall be taken notice of when we give the proceedings of 
 that court, this allegation is denied, and the Synod minutes ap- 
 pealed to for disproving it. 
 
 G g 
 
350 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 in terms of the act 1747; * on which he appealed to the 
 Assembly. The Presbytery, however, framed a libel against 
 Mr Lyell, and cited him to answer it against the 4th of 
 March. 
 
 The above is taken from a memorial for Messrs Trail at 
 Dunnet and Scollay at Crosskirk. In a memorial for Mr 
 Lyell, we have an extract from the minute of the Spiod of 
 Orkney, of Aug. 1 2, 1763, which was dra^vn up by Mr John 
 Scollay, moderator, and Messrs Tyrie and Mouat, senior, 
 bearing, — " That Mr James Tyi-ie, minister of Stromness 
 and Sand^A-ick, in the Presbytery of Cairston, represented to 
 the Synod, That it was reported all over the country of Ork- 
 ney, and elsewhere, that Mr Thomas Lyell had enter- 
 tained, and does continue to entertain, one Margaret Scot 
 as his housekeeper, who, since last meeting of Synod, had 
 brought forth a child in his house, which is nursed in a house 
 by the side-wall of his garden : That a packed meeting of 
 two elders and himself, with the clerk, being assembled in 
 Mr Lyell's ot^ti house, and said Margaret Scot being called, 
 and compearing, named for the father of the child she was 
 then pregnant with, David Lyell, a young lad, brother to Mr 
 Lyell the minister ; and she being simply rebuked, was dis- 
 missed ; and that the foresaid David Lyell being called, 
 compeared, and being asked if he was the father of the 
 housekeeper's child, made a reverential bow, was spoke to, 
 and immediately dismissed ; — which unprecedented beha- ' 
 viour had revived the story of Mr Lyell the minister's for- 
 mer housekeeper, Elspeth Smith, her being sent in a clan- 
 destine manner out of the country, when it was well known 
 to the whole parish she was big with child : That the said 
 Elspeth Smith, after ha^^ng been secreted for several nights 
 in a private house in the village of Stromness, was shipt on 
 board a vessel bound for Leith, where she brought forth a 
 child, or somewhere thereabout ; and that the child is still 
 in life, and maintained at the expense of Mr Lyell, minister : 
 That the Presbytery of North Isles had neglected to take 
 notice of such unprecedented procedure in the minister and 
 session of Lady Kirk, both as to the elopement of the first 
 housekeeper, Elspeth Smith, which fact was well known to ■ 
 
 * This refers to a proviso in the Act abolishing Heritable Juris- 
 dictions, (20 Geo. II.,) but there is no mention of procurators in 
 church courts. 
 
1766.] CASE OF MR LYELL. 351 
 
 the Presbytery of North Isles, and as to the second house- 
 keeper, ^Margaret Scot, her having brouglit forth a child, and 
 being still continued in her former station of housekeeper, 
 while David Lyell remained one of the family, notwith- 
 standing the great indecency of such conduct, and its giving 
 universal oflfence and discontent to all well-thinking people." 
 And it is observed, that the S^yTiod, de plano^ without so 
 much as calling on Mr Lyell, did think proper, as their mi- 
 nutes bear, " to take both the first and last alleged instances 
 of Mr Lyell and his scandalous housekeepers under their 
 immediate consideration ; " that they unanimously agreed to 
 appoint the visitation of Lady Parish, formerly mentioned, 
 by the Presbytery of North Isles, and two ministers and one 
 eider from each of the Presbyteries of Kirkwall and Cair- 
 ston, of whom Mr Tyrie, above mentioned, w as one ; that 
 attendance at this visitation was enjoined with uncommon 
 anxiety ; which did not seem necessary, Mr Tyrie, who ta- 
 bled the complaint at this meeting, having, with uncommon 
 warmth, expressed himself in the following words, — " The 
 hare is started ; run her down ! run her down ! kill her ! " 
 for which keenness of exyression., as the committee of visit- 
 ation term it, they apologise, as proceeding from his zeal 
 that irregularities should not pass Avith impunity ; that not- 
 withstanding what is above inserted from the Synod minute 
 as to Elspeth Smith, not a single person could be found that 
 had any such suspicion concerning her before she left the 
 country, or that could condescend upon a single circumstance 
 of ^Ir Lyell's indecent behaviour with her, or any other wo- 
 man, or his ha\ang the least correspondence with her, after 
 her leaving Orkney in the 1756; that the meeting of the 
 Presbytery of North Isles, held Dec. 3, to give Mr Lyell a 
 new libel, w\as summoned by the moderator's letter of Oct. 
 21, whereas Mr Trail's letter was dated Nov. 26, which dis- 
 proves the alleged neglect of the Presbytery to obey the or- 
 der of the Assembly 1765, till ^Ir Trail signified his reso- 
 lution of becoming ^Ir Lyell's prosecutor ; and that at the 
 Presbytery held ^larch 4, 1766, a hst of the witnesses an- 
 nexed to Mr Trail's lil^el against Mr Lyell was produced, to 
 which was subjoined a paper, dated March 4, 1766, and 
 signed by Mr Balfour, complaining, That the Presbytery had 
 assumed a power to model itself, by excluding radical mem- 
 bers, in order to screen Mr Lyell, and contrived a hbel for 
 that purpose, and notwithstanding an appeal, were going to 
 
352 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1 766 
 
 proceed to his trial, concluding with these words : — " And 
 protest, That if you, or any other person or persons pre- 
 tending to be, or assuming the judicative capacity of the 
 Presbytery, shall cite before you, and examine any person 
 contained in the list annexed hereunto, you, and all others 
 acting, aiding, and assisting, in such illegal practices, shall 
 be liable in the pains of law for subornation, and misleading 
 and practising upon witnesses ; " than which, it is said, a 
 greater insult w^as never offered to any court. . . . As an in- 
 stance of Mr Scollay's warmth, a part of a letter wrote by 
 him, Jan. 7, 1765, when the Presbytery was divided, in an- 
 swer to one he had received from the moderator, dated Jan. 
 1, calling a meeting of Presbytery to be held on the third 
 Tuesday of that month, viz. : — " Reverend Sir, I have just 
 now received your legerdemain letter, coram testibiis^ gar- 
 nished over with glaring falsehood." Addressed — To the 
 Reverend Mr Leshj^ mock moderator, — to he communi- 
 cate. 
 
 This affair came before the Assembly by a petition for Mr 
 Trail, and another for Messrs ScoUay and Dennison, afore- 
 mentioned, and also by a petition and representation of the 
 Synod of Caithness and Sutherland, representing, that the 
 reports concerning both Mr Lyell and Mr Nisbet were gen- 
 erally believed all over that country, and were attended mth 
 consequences very hm-tful to religion. 
 
 The papers having been read, and parties heard, the As- 
 sembly, after reasoning, found, ^\'ithout a vote, the libel given 
 in by the Presbytery of Notth Isles ex facie irrelevant and 
 improper, and therefore dismissed it, and found the whole 
 proceedings thereon void and null, and dismissed these pro- 
 ceedings, in respect of the gi'eat irregularity of the proceed- 
 ings, and of the conduct of the Presbytery in this affair ; and 
 that as Mr Trail had now appeared, and offered to insist in 
 a libel against Mr Lyell, the Assembly agreed to receive that 
 libel, and appointed it to be served on Mr Lyell quavn pri- 
 mum, and him to give in answers against the day to be ap- 
 pointed for the meeting of the Commission in August ; and 
 empoAvered that or any subsequent meeting of the Commis- 
 sion to judge of the relevancy of that hbel, and every other 
 question that may occur concerning that affair ; and autho- 
 rised them to grant commissions for taking a proof, and to 
 cognosce and finally determine, or to refer this cause to the 
 next Assembly, as they should see cause ; and further, ap- 
 
1766.] COMMITTEE ON THE WINDOW-TAX. 353 
 
 pointed the Commission to inquire why the appointment of 
 the last Assembly with respect to the libelling Mr Lyell was 
 not punctually obeyed, and to cite the Presbytery, or any 
 particular member thereof, to the bar of the Assembly, if 
 they should see cause ; and empowered the Commission to 
 give 3Ir Trail what money might be necessary for carrying 
 on the cause out of the public fund of the Church. The 
 Assembly likewise referred the libel against Mr Scollay, and 
 whole procedure had thereon, to the Commission, empower- 
 ing them to judge and finally determine therein. 
 
 On the 2d of June, the Assembly appointed the following 
 ministers, viz.. Principal Robertson, Professor Hamilton, Drs 
 Macqueen, Dick, Wishart, Blair, and Webster, and ]Messrs 
 John Glen and John Erskine, a committee to consider of 
 two overtures : — One concerning the licensing of proba- 
 tioners^ which was some years ago transmitted to Presby- 
 teries, on which they are to prepare a new overture, and to 
 give it in to the Commission, to be by them ripened for the 
 next Assembly ; the other, an overture respecting the me- 
 thod of settling parishes* in cases where the right falls to 
 the Presbytery, to be reported likewise to the Commission. 
 
 The report of the committee on the window-tax was given 
 in, importing. That there was no prospect of procuring an 
 exemption to the clergy from payment of that tax other than 
 by an application to parliament ; but that there was great 
 reason to believe the aiTears unpaid may be got free of: 
 That the committee saw no proper opportunity for applying 
 to parliament, ^vith any hopes of success, since last Assem- 
 bly, not even when the bill for making an alteration in that 
 tax was brought in, the committee judging it might probably 
 have passed before any application from them could have 
 reached London, and their petition run a great risk of being 
 all at once rejected, which they thought of dangerous con- 
 sequence, it being so late in the session ; all which deter- 
 mined them to leave the affair to the consideration of the 
 Assembly. The report concluded with observing, that the 
 want of a fixed agent at London to give timeous information 
 
 * This overture called forth " Letters concerning the present 
 state of the Church of Scotland, and the consequent danger to re- 
 ligion and learning from the arbitrary and unconstitutional exercise 
 of the Law of Patronage." 1767- 
 
 Gg2 
 
354 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ql766. 
 
 when acts were proposed in parliament which might affect 
 the Church or its members, was a great disadvantage ; and 
 therefore overturing that such an agent should be appointed. 
 The Assembly approved of this report, and appointed Wil- 
 liam Gordon, LL.D., to be their agent, empowering him to 
 correspond with this committee, and ^^^th the procurator, on 
 all affairs which concern the Church ; and the committee 
 were appointed to cause Mr Gordon inquire after an origi- 
 nal copy of the acts of Assembly in Zion College Library^ 
 and endeavour to recover the original, or an authentic copy 
 of it, leaving it to next Assembly to settle Mr Gordon's sa- 
 lary. 
 
 Then the report of a committee appointed to consider the 
 form of commissions to members of Assembly, was given in 
 and read. After reasoning on it, the question was put, Ap- 
 prove of the report, or Not ? and it carried Approve, 99 to 
 18. The Assembly, therefore, enacted as follows : — 
 
 " The General Assembly banning had laid before them the 
 report of a committee appointed to revise the forms of com- 
 missions to members of the General Assembly, and consider- 
 ing that it is of the greatest importance for the honour and 
 interest of religion, that the office-bearers of the Church 
 should behave and conduct themselves in all respects be- 
 coming their character, do, in terms of the act of Assembly 
 22d May 1722, earnestly beseech, exhort, and require all 
 ministers to take heed to themselves, and to their doctrine, 
 and to be exemplary to their people in sobriety, righteous- 
 ness, and holiness, abstaining from all appearance of evil : 
 And in like manner, the General Assembly do earnestly be- 
 seech, exhort, and require the elders and deacons to be faith- 
 fiil in the discharge of their respective offices, tender and 
 circumspect in their walk, punctual in their attending upon 
 ordinances, strict in their observation of the Lord's Day, and 
 regular in keeping up the worship of God in their families. 
 The Assembly do farther enjoin and require, for the more 
 regular election of members to the Assembly in time com- 
 ing, Presb)i;eries, burghs, and universities, strictly to observe 
 the acts of former Assemblies, appointing that the election 
 shall be made at least forty days before the meeting of As- 
 sembly, and mthin a month preceding the first of the said 
 forty days, except those lying in the Northern and Western 
 Isles, and shall appoint the day of election at a meeting to 
 
176'fJ.] FORMS OF COMMISSIONS. 355 
 
 he entered in their minutes, at least ten free days before 
 such election ; and that on the day of election, they shall 
 make their elections betwixt the hours of one and eight 
 o'clock in the evening. 
 
 " The General Assembly, considering also that some acts 
 regulating the manner and time of electing members to the 
 Assembly are posterior to the act 17th May 1725, estabhsh- 
 ing the present form of their commissions, and that these 
 forms refer in general to acts of Assembly that contain some 
 particulars, of which Presbyteries, universities, and burghs, 
 cannot have any certain evidence, and are thereby reduced 
 to the necessity either of attesting what does not come pro- 
 perly under their own knowledge, or of omitting clauses in 
 the established form, whereby their commissions have been 
 rendered void and null, the Assembly did, on all these ac- 
 counts, and hereby do, appoint and ordain the forms of com- 
 missions and attestations, hereunto subjoined, to be observed 
 by Presbyteries, sessions, universities, and burghs ; and enact 
 and ordain, that all such commissions and attestations as are 
 not conceived and attested in these very words of the form 
 now prescribed shall be rejected. 
 
 " The General Assembly do farther declare and enact. 
 That when a kirk-session or Presbytery refuse their concur- 
 rence or attestation to a commission by a burgh or university, 
 without assigning the reasons of their refusal, that commis- 
 sion shall be sustained, as if duly attested, in case the mat- 
 ter shall be brought before the Assembly by protest or appeal. 
 And they appoint the agent for the Church to cause print 
 this act, together with the following forms of commissions, 
 and transmit the same to the several Presbyteries, univer- 
 sities, and burghs." 
 
 Form of Commissions by Presbyteries. 
 
 At ,the dnyof years. — The which 
 
 day the Presbytery of being convened betwixt the hours 
 
 of one and eight o'clock in the evening, in order to elect their re- 
 presentatives to the ensuing Assembly, pursuant to a resolution 
 entered into their minutes on the day of , did, and 
 
 hereby do, nominate and appoint Mr , minister at , 
 
 and Mr , minister at , and and 
 
 ruling elders, their commissioners to the next General Assembly 
 of this Church, indicted to meet at , the day of 
 
 next to come, or when and \vhere it shall happen to sit, mlling 
 them to repair thereto, and to attend all the diets of the same, and 
 
856 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 there to consult, vote, and determine in all matters that come be- 
 fore them, to the glory of God and the good of his Church, ac- 
 cording to the Word of God, the Confession of Faith, and agreeable 
 to the constitutions of this Church, as they will be answerable ; 
 and that they report their diligence therein at their return there- 
 from. And the said Presbytery does hereby testify and declare, 
 That all the ministers above named have signed the Formula, en- 
 joined by the 10th act of the Assembly anno 1711, and the ruling 
 elders above written have signed the Formula prescribed by the 
 11th act of the Assembly 1694. And further, that the said elders 
 are of unblemished characters, circumspect in their walk, regular 
 in giving attendance on the ordinances of Divine institution, and 
 behave in other respects agreeable to their office ; all which the 
 Presbytery have hereby attested on proper information. 
 
 Attestation. 
 
 At , the day of years. — The which 
 
 day the Presbytery of having had the above extract of 
 
 their commission to their representatives in the ensuing Assembly 
 laid before them, they caused it to be read, and having revised and 
 considered the same, they did approve thereof. Attested by 
 
 A. B., Moderator. 
 Or, Ch. 
 
 Form of Commissions from Universities. 
 
 At , the day of years. — The which 
 
 day the principal, professors, masters, and other members of the 
 University of , having right to elect, being convened be- 
 
 twixt the hours of one and eight o'clock in the evening, in order to 
 elect their representative to the ensuing Assembly, pursuant to a 
 resolution entered into their minutes on the day of , 
 
 did, and hereby do, nominate and appoint their commis- 
 
 sioner to the next General Assembly of this Church, indicted to 
 meet at , the day of next to come, or when 
 
 and where it shall happen to sit, wiling him to repair thereto, and 
 to attend all the diets of the same, and there to consult, vote, and 
 determine in all matters that come before them, to the glory of 
 God, and the good of his Church, according to the Word of God, 
 the Confession of Faith, and agreeable to the constitution of this 
 Church, as he will be answerable ; and that he report his diligence 
 therein at his return therefrom. And it is hereby testified and de- 
 clared, that the said is a minister, or (an elder) of this 
 Church, lawfully ordained, and hath signed the Formula enjoined 
 by the 10th act of the Assembly anno 1711 ; or, (if an elder) hath 
 signed the Formula prescribed by the 11th act of the Assembly 
 1694. And further, that the said commissioner is every other way 
 qualified to be a member of the Assembly, according to the acts of 
 the Assembly ; and (if an elder, it must be said) and in particular, 
 
1766.] FORMS OF COMMISSIONS. 357 
 
 he is of an unblemished character, circumspect in his walk, regular 
 in giving attendance on the ordinances of Divine institution, and 
 behaves in other respects agreeable to his office ; all which the uni- 
 versity have hereby attested on proper information. Extracted by 
 
 C. D. 
 
 Attestation. 
 
 At , the day of years. — The which 
 
 day the Presbytery of having had before them a commis- 
 
 sion given by the University of to to represent 
 
 the said university in the ensuing General Assembly of this Na- 
 tional Church, do, in terms of the 4th act of Assembly 1720, the 
 7th act of Assembly 1723, and 4th act of Assembly 1724, testify 
 and declare, that the said is a minister or (an elder) law- 
 
 fully ordained ; that he has signed the Formula enjoined by the 10th 
 act of Assembly 1711 ; or (if an elder) hath signed the Formula 
 prescribed by the Uth act of Assembly 1694; and that he is a 
 master of the said university, or . And further, that the 
 
 said commissioner is every other way qualified to be a member of 
 the Assembly, according to the acts of Assembly. This signed 
 by A. B., Moderator. 
 
 Form of Commissions from Bm-ghs. 
 
 At , the day of years. — The which 
 
 day the magistrates and town-council of being convened 
 
 in council, betwixt the hours of one and eight o'clock in the even- 
 ing, in order to elect their representative to the ensuing Assembly, 
 pursuant to a resolution entered into their minutes on the day 
 
 of , did, and hereby do, nominate and appoint 
 
 their commissioner to the next General Assembly of this Church, 
 indicted to meet at , the day of next to come, 
 
 or when and where it shall happen them to sit, willing him to repair 
 thereto, and to attend all the diets of the same ; and there to con- 
 ^;ult, vote, and determine in all matters that come before them, to 
 the glory of God, and the good of his Church, according to the 
 Word of God, the Confession of Faith, and agreeable to the consti- 
 tution of this Church, as he will be answerable ; and that he report 
 his diligence therein at his return therefrom. And it is hereby 
 testified and declared, that the said is an elder of this 
 
 Church, lawfully ordained, and hath signed the Formula enjoined 
 by the 11th act of Assembly 1694, and is every other way qualified 
 to be a member of Assembly, and likewise that he is (a residenter 
 in the said burgh,) or (an heritor in the said burgh,) or (an heritor 
 in the bounds of the Presbytery of , mthin which the 
 
 said burgh lies,) or (has formerly resided and officiated as an elder 
 in the said burgh,) or (Presbytery of , within which the 
 
 said burgh doth lie,) according to the acts of Assembly; and in par- 
 ticular, that he is of an unblemished character, circumspect in his 
 walk, regular in giving attendance on the ordinances of Divine in- 
 
358 ANNALS OP THE ASSEMBLY. [^1766. 
 
 stitution, and behaves in other respects agreeable to his office. All 
 which the magistrates and town-council have attested on proper 
 information. Extracted by C. D., Cls. 
 
 Attestation hy the Kirk-Session. 
 
 At , the day of years The which 
 
 day the kirk-session of having had laid before them a 
 
 commission given by the magistrates and town-council of 
 to to represent the said burgh in the ensuing General 
 
 Assembly of this National Church, do, in terms of the 4th act of 
 Assembly 1720, tesrify and declare, that the said is an 
 
 elder lawfully ordained, and that he has signed the Formula pre- 
 scribed by the 11th act of the General Assembly 1694. Extracted 
 by A. B., Moderator. 
 
 c. D., as. 
 
 Attestation hy the Presbytery. 
 
 At , the day of years. — The which 
 
 day the Presbytery of having had produced before them 
 
 a commission given by the magistrates and town-council of 
 to to represent the said burgh in the ensuhig General 
 
 Assembly of this National Church, with an attestation of the kirk- 
 session of the said burgh, conform to the directions of the act 9th 
 of Assembly 1718, act 4th Assembly 17'20, and act 4th Assembly 
 1724, do, in the terms of the foresaid acts, likewise testify and de- 
 clare, that the said is an elder lawfully ordained, and 
 that he has signed the Formula prescribed by the 11th act of As- 
 sembly 1694; and likeways, that he is (a residenter in the burgh,) 
 or (an heritor in the said burgh,) or (an heritor in the bounds of 
 the Presbytery of , within which the said burgh lies,) 
 or (has formerly resided and officiated as an elder in the said burgh,) 
 or (Presbytery of , within which the said burgh does 
 lie ; ) and further, that the said commissioner is every other way 
 qualified to be a member of the Assembly, according to the acts of 
 Assembly. This signed by A. B., Moderator. 
 
 Upon report from the committee for overtures, transmitted 
 by the last and preceding Assemblies, the Assembly agreed, 
 that all these be again transmitted, and do hereby appoint, 
 that such Presbyteries as have not yet sent up their opinions 
 concerning them, do send up the same to the next General 
 Assembly. The overtures are these : — l«io, Anent sending 
 up opinions on overtures transmitted by the Assembly. 2f/o, 
 For repealing that part of the Form of Process anent excul- 
 pations. 3/io, Anent members of inferior courts judging in 
 causes appealed from them ; and that the report concerning 
 them be brought into a earher diet of the Assembly. 
 
1 766.] MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 359 
 
 The commission from the burgh of Montrose rejected, it 
 l)eing found that the person chosen had not that relation to 
 the burgh or Presbytery which the acts of Assembly require. 
 
 The moderator produced a letter from General Mur- 
 ray, Governor of Canada, directed to hira, relating to the 
 great fire that happened at Montreal in May last ; together 
 Avith an attested account of the loss sustained by that fire, 
 under the hands of the proper officer, and seal of the island 
 appended, craving a collection through the churches of Scot- 
 land. The Assembly having considered said application, 
 rejected the same, and appointed the moderator to Amte a 
 respectful letter to General JNIurray. 
 
 There was produced a memorial from the Presbyterian 
 Church at New York\ praying the interest of this Assembly 
 at the Com*t of London, for a royal mandate to his Majesty's 
 Governor and Council there, to grant the congregation a 
 charter of incorporation for the uses specified in the copy of 
 said charter lying before the Assembly. The Assembly ap- 
 pointed a committee to consider the said memorial, and to 
 report. 
 
 Upon a letter from Dr George Wishari^ principal clerk 
 of Assembly, his absence this day (May 31,) is excused, and 
 ]Mr Archibald Stevenson, minister in St Madoes, appointed 
 to officiate in his place. 
 
 The moderator of the committee of bills moved for a meet- 
 ing of that committee, at the desire of Dr Da\4d Dickson ; 
 which desire the Assembly refused, in regard Dr Dickson 
 had not apphed within the time limited by the acts of As- 
 sembly. 
 
 The report of the committee appointed to consider the re- 
 presentation from the Presbytery of Meigle, produced and 
 approven of, and the opinion and overture of the committee 
 agreed to, viz.. That the suppressing of the small parish of 
 Ridhveji, and annexing it to contiguous parishes, and that 
 the dismembering of parts of the five parishes of Alyth^ 
 Bendochie, Blairgowrie, Rattray^ and Caputh, and getting 
 them united, and erected into a distinct and separate parish, 
 would be for the interest of religion in these bounds : And 
 therefore it is recommended to the Presbytery of Meigle to 
 settle and adjust, with all parties having interest, the scheme 
 proposed ; to procure from the cess-books a certificate of the 
 total valuation of each parish, and the proportion thereof be- 
 longing to the several consenters ; and to ascertain other facts 
 
360 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 contained in tlie memonal : And they are required to trans- 
 mit these materials to the agent for the Church, to be laid 
 before the procurator, who is appointed to draw out the pro- 
 per summons, and carry on the process at the public expense : 
 But if opposition is likely to happen, or the expense of pro- 
 cess shall exceed the sum of £sl) Sterling, he is to lay the 
 matter before the Commission, or the next General Assem- 
 
 The report of the committee appointed to consider the 
 petition of the heritors, elders, and whole heads of families 
 M-ithin the perambulated bounds of Norriestoivn^ given in, 
 and their opinion agreed to ; and accordingly it is appointed, 
 that the allowance to a schoolmaster there be withdrawn, 
 and a preacher be settled there, and ordained, and he be 
 under the direction of the Presbytery of Dumblane. And 
 it is remitted to the committee to consider the state of the 
 funds, and to report upon Monday next. 
 
 The report of the committee appointed to consider the 
 application from the Presbyterian Church at New York, 
 given in ; the desire of the said church is granted, and 
 the ministers of Edinburgh, Solicitor Dundas, Mr Cros- 
 bie, Mr Wight, advocates, named as commissioners, Avith 
 full powers of executing the pm-poses of the said applica- 
 tion, 
 
 A reference from the Presbytery of Glasgow anent a new 
 session read. The General Assembly appointed the Pres- 
 bytery of Glasgow to authorise 3Ir Ballantyne, with his 
 brethren the ministers of the city of Glasgow, the principal, 
 the professor of divinity, and Mr La^Tence Hill, minister, 
 as a committee of Presbytery, to agree upon a nomination of 
 proper persons to be members of session for the new erected 
 church of Glasgow, called TJie Wynd Church : And when 
 that nomination is agreed on by the said committee, that 
 Mr Ballant}Tie shall serve their edict fi-om his pulpit in the 
 said W}Tid Church ; and thereafter, Mr Ballantyne, vaih. 
 the committee, or any two of them, shall ordain the persons 
 nominated to be members of session in the Wynd Church, 
 and to have the oversight of that parish. 
 
 The report of the committee appointed to consider the 
 No7'ryston accompts given in, and appro ven of, and the 
 preacher allowed 700 merks at present ; but the Commission 
 empowered, upon their finding the fund to amount to 1200 
 merks, to allow the preacher £50 of salary. 
 
1766.] CASE OF SHOTTS. 361 
 
 An appeal by the RiGjht Hon. the Earl of Eglinton, pa- 
 tron "^ of the parish of Eaglesham^ from a sentence of the 
 S}Tiod of Glasgow and Ayr, for delaying to proceed to the 
 trials and settlement of Mr Thomas Clark^ as minister of 
 the parish of Eaglesham, heard, and the Presbytery of Glas- 
 gow appointed to proceed to the trial and settlement of i\Ir 
 Clark, as minister of the parish of Eaglesham, with all con- 
 venient speed, according to the rules of the Church. 
 
 The Assembly rose June 2. 
 
 Commission Meeting. — The Commission met, as usual, 
 the day after the Assembly rose, and sat for two days, June 
 3 and 4. The most remarkable of their determinations were 
 these three, \\z. : — 
 
 1. The case of Mr Lawrence Wells, the Duke of Ha- 
 milton's presentee to the parish of Shotts. This gentleman 
 was found unqualified by the Presbytery of Hamilton, and 
 the Assembly 1765 remitted to the Presbytery to take his 
 trials of new.t After taking his trials, in obedience to this 
 order, the Presbytery, April 29, 1766, "found no sufficient 
 reason for changing their former opinion of his qualifications ; 
 yet as the Assembly, by remitting to them to take the whole 
 of his trials cle novo, had in eftect declared, that the sen- 
 tences of Presbyteries, with regard to the trials of intrants, 
 are not final, and as they had ground to believe that this 
 affair would, in some shape or another, be carried before 
 their superiors, therefore they referred the whole cause to 
 the Assembly." From this judgment the patron and the 
 presentee appealed to the Assembly. Parties ha\'ing been 
 heard before the Commission on this appeal, June 3, the 
 court proceeded to hear Mr Wells' discourses ; and he being 
 asked, if he himself would read any of them, he agreed, and 
 read his Exercise and Addition on Phil. iii. 9. After hear- 
 ing the Presbytery, the Commission, without a vote, approved 
 of this discourse. The Presb}i:ery did not insist that his 
 popular sermon should be read, but insisting that his Exe- 
 gesis should, he read it himself; and the Presbytery having 
 been heard on their objections to it, the Commission approved 
 likewise of this part of the trials. The court then caused 
 
 * Though the Earl of Eglinton was proprietor of 39-40 of the 
 parish, Mr Clark's call was signed by only one individual. The 
 linal disposal of this case, as well as that of Shotts, belongs to a 
 subsequent year. f See p. 305. 
 
 Hh 
 
362 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 them read the questions put to him on his extemporary 
 trials, and his answers ; and having heard the Presbyter/s 
 remarks on them, this part of the trials was likemse ap- 
 proved of; and therefore, upon the whole, the Commission 
 unanimously found Mr Wells qualified. Several members 
 expressed great satisfaction with Mr "Wells' trials, especially 
 with his answers to the questions on his extemporary trials, 
 which by some were thought severe. 
 
 2. A petition and complaint of Mr Edivard Irvin^ mi- 
 nister at Walls and Flota, dated May 28, 1766. This pe- 
 tition sets forth. That in 1763, a general report prevailed, 
 that Mr William Nishety minister of Firth and Stenness^ 
 lived in an indecent familiarity with a married woman : 
 That in June that year he took this woman into his manse, 
 and lived vnth. her there, and persisted, notwithstanding the 
 expostulations of friends, and of Mr T3rrie, his co-presbyter : 
 That at the meeting of the Synod of Orkney, the members 
 found it absolutely necessary to take notice of this scandal, 
 in consequence of which Mr Nisbet was admonished by his 
 Presbytery (that of Cairston,) to dismiss the woman ; to 
 which admonition he paid no regard : That thereupon the 
 Presbytery, Nov. 2, appointed him to separate from her by 
 the 20th then current, with certification : That Mr Nisbet 
 paid a sham obedience to this appointment ; he removed the 
 woman out of his manse, to one of the offices, not twenty 
 yards distant, fitted up in the interim for her reception : 
 That he soon thereafter married ; an event which, it was 
 expected, would have put an end to the affair ; but so far 
 otherwise, his maniage seems to have been intended as a 
 cloak ; for immediately after it he took back the woman to 
 his family, and not only continued his familiarity with her, 
 but even countenanced her in the most insolent usage to his 
 wife : That the Presbytery, on the 18th of January 1764, 
 finding their orders disregarded, referred the affair to the 
 Synod, which was to meet in March 1764 : That the Sy- 
 nod appointed Mr Nisbet to remove the woman in four 
 months^ — a pretty odd determination, considering that Mr 
 Nisbet had, in open defiance of the Presbytery's sentence, 
 taken her into his house after his marriage, and by his in- 
 decent familiarity, and her rude behaviour, had obliged his 
 wife to leave him in four months after the marriage ; de- 
 claring, however, her willingness to return, if he would se- 
 
1 766.] CASE OF IRVIN AND NISBET. 363 
 
 parate from the woman, which it was expected the Synod 
 would appoint him instantly to do ; and in which expecta- 
 tion being disappointed, his wife resolved to separate from 
 him altogether : That Mr Nisbet kept the woman in his 
 manse till the very last day of the four months, and then 
 removed her to a lodging provided for her at less than half 
 a mile's distance, where the same intercourse as formerly 
 was kept up between them without disguise : That there- 
 upon the Synod, in August 1764, instructed the Presbytery 
 peremptorily to enjoin him to separate from her company 
 and conversation in five days, under pain of suspension : 
 That the steps hitherto taken in this affair seemed to have 
 l)roceeded unanimously, but that from this time some of his 
 co-presbyters seemed resolved to screen IVIr Nisbet : That 
 the Presbytery having met, Aug. 10, 1764, fixed a meeting 
 for the 5th of September folloAving, to inquire into Mr Nis- 
 bet's conduct : That at this meeting, Mr Nisbet alleged 
 that he had obeyed the order of the Synod, and entirely 
 separated from the woman ; and as there was not a quorum, 
 the Presbytery adjourned to the 4th of October : That to 
 this meeting of Oct. 4, JMr Nisbet sent a letter of excuse for 
 not appearing, which, though objected to by several mem- 
 bers as trivial, was sustained ; but the Presbytery enjoined 
 him to separate from the woman in five days : That having 
 met again on the 15th of November, they came to a reso- 
 lution to desire a meeting of S}Tiod to be called for advice 
 and instructions ; against which resolution Mr Hepburn, the 
 moderator, protested, alleging that Mr Nisbet's afikir was not 
 yet ripened : That the Presbytery having again met on the 
 28th, Messrs Ir\'in and Reid intended to have served Mr 
 Nisbet M-ith a libel ; but Mr Hepburn appeared as Mr Nis- 
 bet's procurator, and in his name protested against the pro- 
 ceedings of the Presbytery of Aug. 1 0, " as unjust, illegal, 
 a^^d inquisitorial, in the highest degree," and appealed to the 
 Synod, which was to meet at Lammas 1765 : That on this 
 Mr Tyrie, finding his endeavours to bring Mr Nisbet to 
 justice of no effect, and being anxious not to appear as con- 
 niving at his conduct, declined acting as a member of Pres- 
 bytery ; which declinature was afterwards made use of to 
 favour ISIr Nisbet : That Messrs Irvin and Reid, however, 
 Ijeing determined to proceed against him, got another meet- 
 ing of Presbytery appointed ; but as this Presbytery consists 
 but of six ministers, of whom Mr Tyrie had declined acting, 
 
364 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 Mr Nisbet was a party, and Messrs Hepburn and Sands ab- 
 sented themselves, they could not proceed for want of a 
 quomm, so were obliged to wait with patience the meeting 
 of the Synod : That in the interim, Messrs Hepburn, Nis- 
 bet, and Sands, held a Presbytery at Mr Hepburn's manse 
 at Birsay, and there, notwithstanding Mr Nisbet's situation, 
 chose him one of their members to the then ensuing Assem- 
 bly : That the Synod met in August 1765 ; and a motion 
 having been made, that the Presbytery of Cairston should 
 show what obedience they had paid to the instructions of 
 the S^aiod respecting Mr Xisbet, Mr Hepburn, moderator 
 of that Presbytery, asserted that these instructions had been 
 fully obeyed : that Messrs Irvin, Tyiie, and Pteid, heard 
 this assertion Avith astonishment, knowing that the instruc- 
 tions had been in no shape obeyed, except by ordering IMr 
 Nisbet to separate from the woman ; and that, notwithstand- 
 ing, he still continued his intercourse with her, and it was 
 now pubhcly kno^Mi she was big with child by him ; they 
 therefore immediately contradicted Mr Hepburn, affinned 
 that the instructions had not been obeyed, and appealed to 
 the minutes of Presbytery, then in their hands, in support 
 of their assertion : That hereupon a formal debate ensued, 
 [it is not here said, as elsewhere,* that a vote was stated,] 
 the result of which was to find, that Mr Hepburn, the mo- 
 derator, was the mouth of the Presbytery in the Synod, and 
 could not be contradicted either by the members or the mi- 
 nutes : That it can hardly be conceived ^Yith. what indig- 
 nation all ranks of people expressed themselves against this 
 behaviour of the clergy ; they saw vice and immorality, if 
 not publicly allowed, at least tacitly permitted by them ; 
 they saw a clergyman suffered to go on in a continued com- 
 mission of the grossest crimes, without being censured by 
 any ecclesiastical court ; till at last they came to such a 
 height that the civil magistrate found it necessary to inter- 
 pose : That for these reasons, Messrs Irvin, Tyrie, and Reid, 
 resolved to give Mr Nisbet a libel against next meeting of 
 Presbytery, which was held Oct. 2, 1765 ; and that they 
 might secure a quorum, brought each a ruling elder alongst 
 M ith them : That Mr Hepburn, as moderator, having all 
 along refused to admit Mr Tpie, on account of his declina- 
 ture, though it had been formally recalled, IMr Tyrie now 
 
 * See p. 349. 
 
176G.] CASE OF IRVIN AND NISBET. 365 
 
 gave in a written recall of it, and protested to be admitted ; 
 but Mr Hep])m*n not only refused to allow him to sit, but 
 loaded liim with virulent reproaches, for which Mr Tyrie 
 was laid under a necessity of commencing a process against 
 him for defamation : That two ruling elders, having pro- 
 duced commissions from their sessions, and claimed to be 
 admitted as members of the Presbytery, i\Ir Hepburn, ^%ith- 
 out assigning any reason, rejected them both, and threw their 
 commissions over the table ; though, ha-ving thus secured to 
 himself and his adherents the sole direction of the Presby- 
 tery, he afterwards alleged, as a reason for rejecting the elders, 
 that they had not taken the oaths to the Government ; an 
 allegation which, if made when the elders were rejected, could 
 have been easily disproved, as the elders had formerly sat 
 as members of the Synod : That Messrs Irvin, Tyrie, and 
 Reid, seeing that all church discipline was at an end so long 
 as Mr Hepburn and his adherents had the ascendant in the 
 Presbytery, constituted apart ; but upon advice of counsel, 
 departed from their resolution of acting separately, and re- 
 solved to adhere to their Presbytery : That accordingly they 
 required Mr Hepburn to call a Presbytery, which he refused 
 to do, adhering to an adjournment made last meeting, by 
 which the Presbytery were appointed to meet on the 1 9th 
 of March 1766, not at the usual place, but at Cursetor, Mr 
 Nisbet's manse, in order to choose their members to the As- 
 sembly : That Messrs Irvin, Tyrie, and Reid, could not 
 agree to meet at this adjournment; because, 1. the King's 
 Advocate, in consequence of an application made to his Lord- 
 ship by iMr Nisbet's parishioners, had by this time caused 
 a precognition be taken ; and as the persons precognosced 
 made no secret of what they had declared, Mr Nisbet was 
 looked upon in the country as in a manner convicted, which 
 rendered it highly improper to hold a church court in his 
 house ; and, 2. because Mr Hepburn's illegally rejecting Mr 
 Tyrie and the ruling elders, rendered null all subsequent pro- 
 ceedings, till matters were restored to the order prescribed 
 by law : TJiat for these reasons, Messrs Irvin, T;yTie, and 
 Reid, refused to attend that meeting ; but that the public 
 business might not be neglected, the petitioner (Mr Ir^-in) 
 again required Mr Hepburn, and that under form of instru- 
 ment, to call a Presbytery to meet at the usual place ; and 
 upon his refusal, and persisting in his resolution to meet at 
 Mr Nisbet's manse, followed the method pointed out by law 
 H h 2 
 
366 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766'. 
 
 in such a case, and recjuired ]Mr T^a-ie, the preceding mo- 
 derator, to call a legal meeting of Presbytery, Avhich Mr Tyrie 
 accordingly did ; and a Presbytery was held, at which a day 
 was fixed for choosing commissioners to the Assembly : That 
 though this meeting was notified to all the members, only 
 Messrs Tpie, Irvin, and Reid, with the elders, appeared ; 
 these, however, proceeded to business, and chose the Pres- 
 bytery members to the Assembly : That, on the other hand, 
 Messrs Hepburn, Sands, and Nisbet, met and constituted a 
 Presb}i;ery in Mr Nisbet's manse ; where, ha^dng first chosen 
 members for the Assembly, Messrs Heplmm and Sands, in 
 conjunction wdth Mr Nisbet, taking the petitioner's conduct 
 into consideration, and interpreting his not appearance at 
 that meeting as schismatical, and tending to introduce and 
 foment divisions in the Church, they therefore, without libel 
 or citation, suspended the petitioner from acting in a judi- 
 cative capacity in the Presbytery of Cairston till the meeting 
 of the S>mod in August next : That as the Assembly might 
 be at a loss to account for Mr Hepburn's motive in this last 
 step, it was proper to inform them, that it w^as in prosecu- 
 tion of a plan he had formed to protect Mr Nisbet ; for as 
 Mr Hepburn had been made choice of to go as member to 
 the Assembly, he was afi-aid lest, in his absence, any steps 
 might be taken as a Presbytery against Mr Nisbet ; he there- 
 fore, in order to prevent all possibility of this, passed that 
 sentence, which, by suspending the petitioner, as Mr Tyrie 
 had never been admitted to sit in Presbytery since his de- 
 clinature, did not leave a quorum of ministers to form a 
 Presbytery till he should return. — The petitioner, therefore, 
 prayed the Assembly to find. That the sentence passed by 
 Messrs Hepburn, Nisbet, and Sands, was not only null in 
 itself, but likewise contrary to law and justice ; and in re- 
 spect to Mr Hepburn's conduct through the Avhole of this 
 affair, to proceed in such manner as the interest of virtue 
 and religion required. 
 
 The Presbytery of Cairston, in short answers, dated ]May 
 3 1 , say — That from beginning to end of the complaint, there 
 is nothing to be found but gross misrepresentations : That 
 the Presbytery oppone the Synod's minutes, and do aver, 
 that no such thing will be found there as is affirmed in the 
 complaint ; and no such thing ever happened in the Synod : 
 That it is surprising the complainer should accuse the Pres- 
 bytery for admitting trivial excuses for Mr Nisbet's absence. 
 
17G().] CASE OF IRVIN AND NISBET. 367 
 
 when the excuse offered was sickness, attended with con- 
 vulsive fits ; and that w hen he is pleased to call !Mr Hepburn 
 Mr Nisbet's procurator, this poor unhappy man was confined 
 in prison for debt : That when the complainer avails him- 
 self of the Synod's appointment to dismiss the woman in 
 four months, it would have been candid to liave told at the 
 same time, that jVIr Hepburn was the only member of Synod 
 who opposed this appointment, and insisted for an imme- 
 diate dismission ; and that the complainer, and Mr Reid of 
 Orpher, were most active and zealous in bringing about this 
 strange appointment : That far from being backward, Mr 
 Hepburn was the keenest member of the Presbytery to libel 
 Mr Nisbet, till Mr Reid of Orpher informed him that a gen- 
 tleman (who has since been active in bringing about the 
 prosecution against Mr Nisbet before the Circuit Court,) 
 would advance the Presbytery £l50 Sterling to defray the 
 expense of the process, provided it issued in a sentence of 
 deposition ; a circumstance which IMr Hepburn frankly ac- 
 knowledges shocked him not a little. — They conclude with 
 hoping, that the Assembly would dismiss Mr Irvin's com- 
 plaint as false and groundless, and inflict such censure on 
 him, for his disregard to truth, as they should see cause. 
 
 The cause came before the Commission June 3, upon an 
 appeal taken by Mr Irvin fi-om a sentence of the Presbytery 
 of Cairston. Parties having been heard, the Commission, 
 without a vote, found the proceedings of the Presbytery, in 
 suspending Mr Irvin, and excluding the two elders, to have 
 been irregular; and therefore declared the sentence against 
 Mr Irvin void and null, and also the sentence against the 
 two elders, and ordered them to be enrolled as members of 
 the Presbytery. 
 
 Next day, at another calling of this cause, the Commission 
 appointed the Presbytery of Cairston to fill up their book 
 fjiiam jjvimum to the 1st of May last, and lay the same be- 
 fore the Synod of Orkney at their first meeting, which the 
 Commission ordained to be held at Kirkwall ; appointed 
 the Synod to lay the same before the Commission in No- 
 vember, and to receive in any complaint that shall be regularly 
 brought before them concerning the conduct of that Presby- 
 tery, and to transmit the same in like manner to the Com- 
 'mission in November ; and ordained the correspondents from 
 the Synod of Sutherland and Caithness to attend that meet- 
 ing of the Synod of Orkney ; this order to be signified by 
 
368 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 the clerk of Assembly to the moderators of the several Pres- 
 byteries within the S\Tiod of Orkney. — In respect of the sin- 
 gularity of Mr Ir\'in's case, the Commission ordered him ^20 
 Sterling out of the Church's funds as a viaticum. 
 
 3. The only other remarkable case was the following. — On 
 the 4th of June, the Commission took into consideration two 
 representations, one from the SjTiod of Sutherland and Caith- 
 ness, the other from the Presbj^ery of Kirkwall, and a pe- 
 tition of Mr Edward Irvin, minister of Walls and Flota, all 
 respecting the aforementioned Mr William Nisbet, minister 
 of Firth and Stenness, in the Presbytery of Cairston. The 
 Presbytery of Cairston were called, and Mr Thomas Hep- 
 burn, minister at Birsay, appeared in their name, and was 
 heard. The before mentioned papers, a narrative of the 
 proceedings of the Presbytery of Cairston, and the minutes 
 of Presbytery, were read ; fi'om which it clearly appeared, 
 that a fama clamosa had for some time past prevailed in 
 that country against Mr Nisbet ; that he had been guilty of 
 the sin of notour adultery with one Mrs Agnew; and the 
 Commission,^?^a'^/2^ that he had been tried before the Cir- 
 cuit Court at Inverness for that crime, and sentenced to 
 be banished to the Plantations for life,^ therefore the Com- 
 mission, considering that Mr Nisbet still remained a minister 
 of the Chiu'ch of Scotland, notwithstanding the sentence 
 passed upon him by the Lords of Justiciary, appointed the 
 Presbytery of Inverness, in whose bounds Mr Nisbet then 
 was, (being in the prison of Inverness,) to bring him to a 
 trial concerning the aforesaid crime as soon as possible, by 
 giving hira a libel, and examining -sritnesses, and to pass 
 sentence thereon as they should see cause ; and ordered the 
 expense of the trial to be forthmth paid out of the public 
 fund of the Church. The Commission appointed the Lord 
 Conservator and Principal Robertson to apply to the com- 
 missioners of the customs, for an order to one of the king's 
 cutters to bring over from Orkney what witnesses might be 
 needed in the course of the trial. 
 
 * He was indicted for adultery with a married woman both be- 
 fore and after his own marriage, and by a unanimous verdict was 
 found guilty aft^r his marriage. He was sentenced to imprisonment 
 for two months, and to be fed on bread and water only, and there- 
 after to be transported to the Plantations, and banished for life. — 
 See the former volume, p. 221, note. 
 
ITGG.] CASE OF 3IR LYELL, 369 
 
 August Commission. 
 
 Wednesday, August 13, was the day appointed for the 
 quarterly meeting of the Commission of the Assembly. — 
 Some members met on the forenoon of that day ; but not 
 being a quorum, they adjourned, first to the afternoon, 
 then to Thursday, then to Saturday the 1 6th, (on which 
 day, by some mistake in the summons, Mr Lyell had been 
 summoned to appear,) and then to Tuesday the 19th; 
 when, at last, there was a quorum, letters having been 
 Avritten to several ministers requiring their attendance. — Mr 
 Lyell having been called on the Saturday, his agent appeared 
 (the attendance of his advocate being hindered by family 
 distress,) and protested against the adjournment, because 
 there was not a quorum. Mr Lyell was again called on 
 Tuesday, and his agent protested again; but the court pro- 
 ceeded. The libel was read, and a petition for Mr Lyell was 
 presented, craving. That before litigation, the court should 
 cause Mr Trail undertake to make out the whole of his libel, 
 under the pain of being censured as a slanderer, and should 
 administer to him the oath of calumny. The court found, 
 that the first of these requests had been already compHed 
 with, Mr Trail having signed the complaint, and undertaken 
 to make out the libel ; and the second request the court re- 
 fused, in regard the Assembly had received the libel. A 
 thii-d protest Avas taken on this for Mr Lyell. Defences for 
 him, which had been given in to the clerk, were then read ; 
 and the court ha^-ing heard parties, and considered the hbel 
 tmd defences, found the libel relevant, and that the defences 
 were not sufficient Avholly to exculpate from it ; repelled the 
 objection of prescription against receiving certain articles, as 
 going back beyond the space of five years, in respect of the 
 heinous nature of the crimes libelled, and the continued 
 flagrancy of the scandal ; and therefore allowed the pursuer 
 a proof of his libel, and the defender a proof of such facts 
 and circumstances as may tend to alleviate ; excepting, how- 
 ever, from the allowance granted to the pursuer, certain ar- 
 ticles of the libel concerning which the defender pleaded 
 alibi^ which plea the court sustained, and allowed the de- 
 fender a proof of it, directing this proof to be taken before 
 any evidence be admitted for proving those parts of the libel ; 
 and if the proof of alibi be sufficiently proved, all proof of 
 
370 ANNALS OF THE ASSEMBLY. [1766. 
 
 such article or articles of the libel shall sist. A commission 
 for taking the proof was given to seven ministers, and Mr 
 Graeme of Graemeshall, a ruHng elder, sheriff-depute of Ork- 
 ney, or any of his substitutes, any three of whom to be a 
 quorum, the proof to be reported to the Conmiission on the 
 third Wednesday of November. A protest was taken for 
 Mr Lyell against allo^\^[ng the proof. 
 
 November Commission. 
 
 On Wednesday, Nov. 1 9, the Commission of the General 
 Assembly met at Edinburgh ; but there not being a quorum, 
 adjourned. Next day, there being a quorum, the affair of 
 Mr Lyell, minister of Sanday, in Orkney, was taken under 
 consideration. As the proof was not completed, the Com- 
 mission adjourned the cause till their meeting in March. — 
 Meantime they desired the procurator for the Church to 
 apply to the Lords of Session for their authority to summon 
 witnesses that may be called to give evidence in the cause ; 
 and appointed some of their members to examine such wit- 
 nesses as were then in Edinburgh.* 
 
 * The case ended in Mr Lyell's deposition by the Assembly 1768, 
 after a tedious process. 
 
 THE END. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 I Notices of the Lords High Commissioners. 
 
 1. The Earl of Leven and Melville. From 1741 to 1753, 
 (both years inclusive,) the Commissioner was Alexander, the fifth 
 Earl of Leven, and fourth Earl of Melville, of whom a notice was 
 given in the former volume, (p. 296,) where the reader will also 
 tind his pointed allusions to the case of Gillespie in his opening 
 speech in the Assembly, 1752, (p, 260.) These allusions became 
 still more direct in his address to the Assenjbly, 1753: " The 
 preservation, the welfare, and the honour of our happy constitution 
 is, I know, so dear to you all, that I cannot but expect, that in the 
 management of the important affairs which are to come under your 
 consideration at this time, you wall carefully observe, as you have 
 hitherto done, a just medium betwixt an undue remission of your 
 authority on the one hand, and unnecessary severities on the other. 
 As all acts of severity are disagreeable, even when absolutely re- 
 quisite for the good of society, — ^by such a due mixture of justice 
 and mercy, you will act a consistent part, worthy of yourselves, 
 disappoint the hopes of your enemies, and give satisfaction to all 
 your friends. How much soever you may have differed in your 
 sentiments from one another, as to the expediency of interposing 
 the authority of the Church in a certain case, in this all ought to 
 agree, that since that authority has been interposed, it must, in 
 consistency mth the established rules of society, be supported ; for 
 whatever is fixed by a majority, becomes the common concern of 
 each member to support, (although against his own private opi- 
 nion,) as it is upon this foundation alone that society can subsist. 
 But I shall sincerely rejoice if the acknowledgment and submission 
 of that offending brother can pave the way for his being again re- 
 ceived, consistently with your honour, into the bosom of the 
 Church." 
 
 The Moderator, (Dr Webster,) must have felt some awkward- 
 ness in replying, inasmuch as he had taken the most active part in 
 promoting an opposite line of policy. His rejoinder we shall give 
 the more readily, as no record has been preserved of his address at 
 the close. " May it please your Grace ! when now assembled, in 
 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the countenance and pro- 
 tection of lawful authority, it becomes us to remember, with hum- 
 ble thankfulness, the many instances of Divine goodness towards 
 this Church since the glorious Revolution, and to consider the h;.^)- 
 py accession of the present Royal Family to the crown of these 
 realms, as the great mean, under God, of the multiplied blessings 
 we this day enjoy. We should be of all men the most ungrateful, 
 
372 APPENDIX. 
 
 if the distinguished proofs, and renewed assurances which we have 
 received of his Majesty's paternal care and concern, did not warm 
 our hearts \vith every loyal and every dutiful sentiment. We feel, 
 but want words to express, what gratitude and thankfulness be- 
 comes the subjects of such a Sovereign. The good opinion which 
 your Grace is pleased to entertain of the members of this house, 
 gives us the most sensible pleasure ; and we trust, hy a steady ad- 
 herence to the Laws of the Great King and Head of this Church, 
 and a due attention to the nature of our happy constitution, to man- 
 age the important affairs which may come before us, in such a man- 
 ner as shall satisfy your Grace, and convince the world that no 
 society, no assembly, can have the true honour, the real interest 
 and welfare of this Church more at heart. We hope to make it 
 appear, enemies themselves being judges, that we may justly claim 
 the character of those who pray for the peace, and wish well to the 
 prosperity of Zion. 
 
 " His Majesty's liberal donation for maintaining itinerant preach- 
 ers and catechists in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, we 
 accept ^vith all thankfulness, and shall endeavour to employ the 
 same in the best manner for instructing the ignorant, reclaiming the 
 vicious, and bringing the disaffected to a just sense of their great 
 happiness under his Majesty's ausjucious reign. What your Grace 
 has been pleased to recommend on this occasion, deserves the high- 
 est regard ; and we should indeed be greatly wanting to ourselves, 
 as well as undutiful to the best of kings, if not solicitous to suppress 
 the first risings of sedition and rebellion. The dreadful ruin which 
 of late threatened every thing dear to us as men and Christians, 
 the enemies which still lurk in our bosom, and the restless endea- 
 vours of surrounding foes, are arguments more than sufficient to 
 awaken attention, and animate the zeal of this house. Your Grace's 
 well known regard for the interests of religion, your hearty concern 
 for this Church, and firm attachment to his Majesty's person and 
 Government, supersede the necessity of my assuring you, that the 
 high character you now sustain as representing his Majesty's royal 
 person in this Assembly, is most agreeable to them, and your 
 Grace Avill permit me to say, in a peculiar manner, acceptable to 
 me. It only remains to hope and pray, that this Assembly may be so 
 influenced by the wisdom which is from above, as that all their de- 
 cisions may tend to the divine honour and the good of this Church, 
 which we know will most effectually recommend us to the con- 
 tinuance of his Majesty's royal favour and protection." 
 
 This nobleman married Mary, daughter of Colonel Erskine of 
 Carnock, an aunt of Dr Erskine. He died on the 2d September, 
 1754. 
 
 2. The Earl of Hopetoun. The Assembly of 1754 had for 
 its Commissioner, John, second Earl of Hopetoun, who, accord- 
 ing to the chroniclers of the day, made on that occasion " a very 
 splendid appearance, especially when he went to church," (see p. 
 41.) He was born in 1704, and succeeded his father in 1742. He 
 
NOTICES OP THE LORDS HIGH COMMISSIONERS. 373 
 
 was thrice married; and dying on the 12th February, 1781, in his 
 77th year, was succeeded, first by his son James, and then (in 1816,) 
 by James' half-brother, John, long known during the previous war 
 as the gallant " Sir John Hope." Professor Hamilton, the Mo- 
 derator of the Assembly, 1754, in addressing Lord Hopetoun, 
 said, that by his appointment as Commissioner, the Assembly was 
 greatly honoured, and he added, " the world about us will think so 
 likewise." In his address at the close he mentions, that more " no- 
 ble peers, and persons of high rank and distinction," had been pre- 
 sent then than at any former Assembly. Of his Lordship's speeches 
 there is no record, as he gave in none of them in writing. He was 
 a man much esteemed both for his public and private virtues. 
 
 3. Lord Cathcart. In nine successive Assemblies, (1755 to 
 1763,) and again in 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, the royal person was 
 represented by Charles, the ninth Baron of Cathcart, the son of that 
 Lord Cathcart, who being appointed commander of the land forces 
 in Vernon's expedition against Carthagena, died at Dominica * on 
 the 20th December, 1740. His son became Lieutenant- General in 
 the army ; one of the sixteen peers for Scotland, First Lord Com- 
 missioner of Police there, a Lord of the Bedchambor, K. G., &c. 
 During the war between Russia and the Porte, he was sent as Am- 
 bassador Extraordinary to St Petersburg, where, (in 1771,) he lost 
 his wife, Jane, daughter of Lord Archibald Hamilton, whom he had 
 married in 1753. 
 
 Mr Reid of St Qui vox, Moderator of the Assembly 1755, (the 
 first where Lord Cathcart appeared as Commissioner,) alluded, in 
 his reply to his Lordship's speech, to his conduct in former capaci- 
 ties, in which he had acted a part " becoming the character of a 
 brave and honourable man. . . . The great ornamental and useful 
 qualities which your Grace possesses in an eminent degree, and 
 which have been formed and improved by the great examples of 
 your ancestors, who were distinguished and honoured in life upon 
 account of their loyalty and bravery in the service of their prince, 
 and in supporting and maintaining the religion and liberty of their 
 country, and whose memory is, and ever will be blessed, — give us 
 the fullest assurance that the important trust committed to your 
 Grace wall be managed and discharged with attention, fidelity, and 
 honour, and with proper dignity and lustre, "f 
 
 He died on the 14th August 1776, after a tedious illness, and 
 was described in the obituaries of the day, as " a nobleman no less 
 distinguished for the virtues which adorn private Life, than he was 
 eminent for all those which exalt a public character. In the capa- 
 city of father, husband, and friend, his Lordship had few equals, 
 and he was exceeded by none in discharging with dignity and abi- 
 
 * In the " Peerage of Scotland," (Edin. 1834,) it is said that he was slain at 
 St Christopher's ; but this is a mistake ; he was cut off by dysentery in the Island 
 of Dominica, where the fleet had gone to water. 
 
 t See also the addresses of Cuming in 1756, and of Leechman in 1757, which are 
 given below. 
 
 I i 
 
374 APPENDIX. 
 
 lity, the duties of the high stations in which he had been placed by 
 his Sovereign." He was succeeded by his son the present vener- 
 able Earl of Cathcart, by whom the name has been rendered still 
 more illustrious. 
 
 4. The Earl of Glasgow. The High Commissioner from 1 764 
 to 1772, (inclusive,) was John, third Earl of Glasgow, and father 
 of the present Earl. He had succeeded his father in 1740 ; married 
 Elizabeth, sister and sole heiress of the last Lord Ross ; and died 
 at Kelburn, on the 7th March 1775. 
 
 Dr Gerard, Moderator of the Assembly 1764, thus alluded to 
 Lord Glasgow's appointment in his reply to his Grace's speech : — 
 " Permit me to assure your Grace, in the name of the Assembly 
 of this whole Church, that his Majesty's nomination of your Grace 
 to this high commission, is the object of universal approbation and 
 joy. The Church of Scotland has not become unmindful, and I 
 hope never will become unmindful, of the zeal with which your 
 Grace's illustrious ancestors have promoted its interests of civil 
 liberty, ever since the happy Reformation inseparably connected 
 with them, and that in the days when both were most in danger. 
 It is with pleasure we look back, my Lord, to your noble grand- 
 father having for several years filled the high office now committed 
 to your Grace, with the great approbation of the Assemblies of our 
 Church." He then refers to his Lordship's early attachment to 
 the Presbyterian constitution, his having defended the country in 
 the field of battle, with the most intrepid bravery, &c. 
 
 II. — Leets for the Moderatorship.* 
 
 1753. Alexander Webster, Edinburgh, (by a majority ;) Profes- 
 
 sor Leechman, Glasgow. 
 
 1754. Professor Hamilton, Edinburgh, (unanimously ;^ Andrevv 
 
 Gloag, West Calder. 
 
 1755. George Reid, St Quivox, (unanimously;^ Robert Malcolm, 
 
 Ewes. 
 
 1756. Professor Cuming, Edinburgh, (by a great majority ;') John 
 
 Lookup, Mid- Calder. 
 
 1757. Professor Leechman, Glasgow, (by a great majority ;) John 
 
 Richardson, Aberfoyle. f 
 
 1758. Thomas Turnbull, Borthwick, (by a majority;) David 
 
 Duncan, Stow. 
 
 1759. Dr George Kay, Edinburgh, (by a majority ;) John Gow- 
 
 die, Ersiltoun. J 
 
 1760. Professor Hamilton, Edinburgh, (by a majority ;) Joseph 
 
 M'Cormick, Kilmenv. 
 
 * The person first named was elected, 
 t Father of Professor Richardson of Glasgow. 
 % Probably a relative of Professor Gowdie, who had once been minister of Earl- 
 ston. See the former volume, p. 320, note. 
 
NOTICES OF THE MODERATORS. 375 
 
 1761. Dr John Hyndman, West Kirk, Edinburgh, (unanimously ;) 
 
 Donald M'Leod, Glenelg. 
 
 1762. Professor Traill, Glasgow, (6^ a majority;) Joseph Fer- 
 
 gusson, Tundergarth. 
 
 1763. Principal Robertson, Edinburgh, (by a majority;) James 
 
 Laing, Glasserton. 
 
 1764. Professor Gerard, Aberdeen, (by a majority;) George 
 
 William Algernon Gordon, Tullynessle. 
 
 1765. James Oswald, Methven, (by a majority;) David Mon- 
 
 criefF, Rogerton, (Redgorton.) 
 
 1766. John Hamilton, Glasgow, (83 to 78) ; Principal Murison, 
 
 St Andrews. 
 
 III. Notices of the Moderators,* with their Addresses. 
 
 1753. Dr Alexander Webster^ Edinburgh. The following 
 sketch of this eminent man, appeared in the Scots Magazine for 
 1802, and was probably drawn up by Dr John Leyden, or his friend 
 Alexander Murray, the former being at that period editor of the 
 Magazine, and the other a frequent contributor : — 
 
 Dr Alexander Webster was the son of the Reverend James Web- 
 ster, minister of the Tolbooth Church in Edinburgh, and born in 
 that city about the year 1707. His father was descended of an an- 
 cient family in Fife, and educated in the University of St Andrews. 
 His bright natural abilities, and rapid progress in the literature of 
 those days, were not more conspicuous than a fervent early piety, 
 and warm zeal for the Presbyterian Church Government and forms 
 of worship. St Andrews was then the first seminary of learning 
 in Scotland, and the seat of an Archbishop. But the generality of 
 the nation, and, particularly, those who had any correct notions of 
 civil and religious liberty, detested the perfidy of the man, who 
 had sold the interests of his native Church for the splendour of a 
 mitre. James Webster incurred the resentment of Archbishop 
 Sharp, and was obliged to fly from college, in his mayistrand year, 
 without a degree. He associated himself with that party which 
 had all along refused to abjure the covenant, accept the Episcopal 
 establishment, or acknowledge, as their sovereign, the king who 
 had imposed it on the nation. Consequently he underwent the 
 persecution of the nonjurant clergy. He was apprehended and im- 
 prisoned for eighteen months in Dundee, in a place obviously in- 
 tended for condemned malefactors, by which his constitution was 
 broken, and his health rendered infirm and precarious. 
 
 He was soon after licensed to preach by the wandering votaries 
 of Presbytery ; and again confined in a dungeon in Dumfries, 
 whence he was probably liberated by King James's Act of Tolera- 
 tion, 
 
 The designs of Government were at last clearly understood. 
 The voice of reason, of freedom, and religion, expelled the ancient 
 
 * The other Office- Bearers during the period have been noiiced in the former 
 volume, p. 326." 
 
376 APPENDIX. 
 
 family of Stuart from a throne which, for many ages, it had possess- 
 ed under the shadow of divine right. Presbytery was instantly 
 re-established in Scotland, according to the wishes of the nation. 
 James Webster was ordained minister, first at Liberton, near Edin- 
 burgh, then at Whitekirk, and, lastly, about the year 1693, in the 
 Tolbooth Church in the city, where he remained nearly twenty- 
 seven years, and died on the 17th day of May 1720. His funeral 
 was attended by a vast concourse of people, and many of the mem- 
 bers of the General Assembly of the Church, then sitting. As he 
 was extremely popular, he was generally and deeply lamented. Many 
 elegies * were composed in honour of his memory, which show, 
 at the same time, the rude state of Scottish taste in the beginning 
 of the 18th century. 
 
 His son, Alexander, was only thirteen years of age at the death 
 of his father ; and consequently, could derive little from parental 
 instruction or example. It was expected, however, that he would 
 resemble him in piety, abilities, and zeal for religion ; and the peo- 
 ple were not deceived. He studied at the University of Edin- 
 burgh, the several branches of college learning, with great approba- 
 tion, particularly those connected with the mathematics, for which 
 he showed an early predilection. He afterwards attended the lec- 
 tures of the professor of divinity in that university ; but it is not 
 certain whether he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of 
 Edinburgh. A Minute appears in the Records of the Presbytery, 
 in the year 1732, mentioning a certificate and testimonial, granted 
 in the usual form to Alexander Webster, student in divinity. 
 
 In the year 1733, Mr Webster was ordained minister of the 
 Gospel in the parish of Culross, in the Presbytery of Dunfermline. 
 His first appearance, as a preacher, was uncommonly flattering. 
 His eloquence was noble and manly ; his piety conspicuous ; his 
 discharge of all the duties of the pastoral office, faithful and labori- 
 ous. To these essential qualities of a clergyman, he added an ar- 
 dent, but enlightened zeal for the external interests of the Church, 
 a jealousy of corruption, a hatred of false politics and tyrannical 
 measures, which sometimes exposed him to calumny from the guilty, 
 but secured him the unbounded esteem of all who could value inde- 
 pendence of soul and integrity of heart. 
 
 A double portion of the popularity of the father now rested on 
 the son. The congregation of the Tolbooth Church beheld, with 
 delight, the hopes of former times completely realized, and, by an 
 
 * " A curious pamphlet, containing three of these, and a kind of historical char- 
 acter in prose, printed in the year of his death, has partly furnished this account. 
 Mr Webster's manner of preaching may be gathered from his select sermons on 
 particular texts, printed after his death, in 1723. It was plain and homely lo ex- 
 cess ; his style was fitted to the capacity of his hearers, to such a degree, that most 
 of his sermons are now almost ridiculous. Yet it is easy to discover, through the 
 rude dress of the times, the true evangelical preacher, the heart that leads to hea- 
 ven. He who is disposed to laugh at the preacher, who descends from his learning 
 to instruct the ignorant, forgets that Infinite Wisdom employed t\\e parable." Va- 
 rious notices of Mr James Webster will be found in Traser's Memoir of Ebenezer 
 Erskine, (p. 207, 258. 312, 320,) whose second wife was his daughter. He took an 
 active part in the prosecution of Professor Simson. 
 
MEMOIR OF DR WEBSTER. 
 
 377 
 
 unaniraous'call elected Mr Webster their minister, in the place of 
 the Reverend John Taylor, deceased. Mr Webster was accordingly 
 ordained 2d June, 1737. Mr Robert Wallace of the Tron Church, 
 who had been brought into the city in the same year with the fa- 
 ther of the celebrated Dr William Robertson, (August 29, 1733,) 
 preached the ordination sermon from Daniel, chap. iii. verse 3. 
 
 The prosperity of fortune which placed Mr Webster in his fa- 
 ther's church, and restored him to the literary and polished society 
 of his native city, was not confined to these favours. Eleven days 
 after his settlement in Edinburgh, he obtained the hand of Mary 
 Erskine, a young lady of considerable fortune, and nearly related 
 to the noble family of Dundonald. As Mr Webster was minister 
 at Culross, and the lady resided at Valley field in Fifeshire, it is 
 probable that the marriage was arranged before his preferment. 
 He is said to have been at first employed by a gentleman of his 
 acquaintance to gain Miss Erskine for an absent lover. The suit 
 of that lover he urged with uncommon eloquence, and received a 
 complete refusal, to which the lady naively added, " Had you 
 spoken as well for yourself, perhaps you might have succeeded bet- 
 ter." The hint was too obvious to be mistaken. Few could have 
 resisted an invitation which was evidently prompted by the con- 
 tempt of a man, who could entertain the frigid idea of making love 
 by proxy. The marriage was hastily celebrated, and some verses 
 of great beauty and feeling, are said to have been produced on the 
 occasion.* 
 
 The genius of Mr Webster now began to unfold itself. Family 
 connections extended his acquaintance with the nobility. Edin- 
 burgh, at that period, possessed a number of men, both in civil and 
 ecclesiastical stations, who had served or adorned their country. 
 With these, he was soon to co-operate in defending the Protestant 
 interests, both civil and religious, from the arms and artifices of 
 rebellion. 
 
 In the year 1733, five or six ministers seceded from the National 
 Church, on real or pretended grounds of corruption in that estab- 
 lishment. Anxious to draw away as many people as possible from 
 the communion which they had renounced, they, in the year 1741, 
 invited down to Scotland, Mr George Whitefield, a young English 
 preacher of great piety, and extraordinary pulpit abilities. Mr 
 Whitefield, on his journey to Dunfermline, one of the principal 
 abodes of the Secession, was met, and entertained at Edinburgh, 
 by Mr Webster, and some of his brethren. From them he learned 
 the state of church prejudices and parties in Scotland, and though 
 he kept his promise of preaching first in Fife, he openly refused to 
 connect himself with any particular sect. The astonishing effects 
 of Mr Whitefield's preaching were accordingly ascribed by the Se- 
 ceders to a very different cause from what was generally supposed. 
 Mr Webster had an opportunity of viewing these effects in their 
 amplest extent at Cambuslang, near Glasgow, about the middle of 
 
 * " Several patriotic songs have likewise been attributed to the same hand. 
 The song, " For lack of gold she left rae," has been ascribed to Dr Webster. 
 
378 APPENDIX. 
 
 February 1742; and convinced, not more by the extraordinary 
 impressions which that celebrated Gospel orator made on his 
 audience, than by the future lives of many that were present, 
 he wrote a small pamphlet, ascribing the cause of their conver- 
 sion to the influence of the Holy Spirit. This account of the 
 matter was strangely contrasted with that of the Secession, who 
 imputed the whole to sorcery and the devil, excluded from the com- 
 munion table those who maintained the contrary, and held a 
 solemn fast for the unspeakable wickedness going on in the land. 
 
 During these exertions in the cause of practical religion, Mr 
 Webster was not forgetful of works of benevolence and mercy. 
 His natural abilities, as a profound calculator, he had now improv- 
 ed by a diligent attention to the mathematical chances of human 
 life, as founded on the best printed accounts of population, the his- 
 tory of annuities, and careful observation of the state of particular 
 parishes. This information he resolved to apply to a benevolent 
 purpose, in the execution of which, perseverance was not less re- 
 quisite than intellect. 
 
 The Scottish clergy, at the Reformation, obtained for the support 
 of themselves and the new establishment, a very scanty portion of 
 the revenues of the ancient church. The rapacity of the nobles 
 and crown seized on the rest, and promoted the interests of religion 
 and liberty, from motives that scarcely acknowledge the shadow of 
 virtue. The clergy were, however, content with their conduct ; 
 many of that body being as austere and simple in their lives, as the 
 most recluse religieux. As they were mostly of plebeian origin, 
 and ignorant of the luxury of the better sort, they easily sub- 
 mitted to a poverty, which was not to them privation. The 
 consequence of this was, that while Scotland remained without 
 trade, and ^vithout improvement, they experienced no difficulty ; 
 when the kingdom began to advance in both the foremention- 
 ed respects, the nominal value of money changed, and the minis- 
 ters of the several parishes were reduced to indigence. What 
 they received from the Exchequer or tiend-lands, was not sufficient 
 to support their families, much less provide for these after their 
 death. Their widows and children were commonly left destitute 
 of every resource, — a situation the more distressful, as it was often 
 novel to the sufferers. 
 
 Mr Webster matured his scheme of a perpetual fund to relieve 
 these contingencies, soon after his settlement in Edinburgh. From 
 an accurate list of the ministers of the church, and the members of 
 the three Southern Universities, compared with the ordinary ratio 
 of births, marriages, and deaths, in this and other kingdoms, he 
 was enabled to fix on a series of rates to be paid annually by the 
 members of these two departments, the amount of which rates was 
 to supply a specific annuity to every widow, whose husband should 
 be a contributor, and a proportional sum for the children of the 
 same. To forward this scheme, he opened a correspondence vdth 
 the different Presbyteries in the kingdom ; and, in the year 1742, 
 received for it the sanction of the General Assembly of the Church, 
 
MEMOIR OF DR WEBSTER. 379 
 
 which, after suitable examination, approved of the whole plan,'vvith 
 the exception of a few immaterial particulars. Accordingly, the 
 several presbyteries and universities concurred with the Assembly 
 in petitioning Parliament for the act, enabling them to raise and 
 establish the fund, and obliging the ministers of the Church, with 
 the heads, principals, and masters of St Andrew's, Glasgow, and 
 Edinburgh, to pay annually, each according to his option, one of 
 the following rates, viz., L.2 : 12 : 6d. ; L.3 : 18 : 9d. ; L.5 : 5s., or 
 L.6 : 11 : 3d. ; to be repaid in proportional annuities of 10, 15, 20, or 
 L.25, to their widows, or in similar provisions of 100, 150, 200, or 
 L.2o0, to their children. The act was obtained in terms of the pe- 
 tition, (17, Geo. II.) with liberty to employ the surplus of the an- 
 nual payments and expenses in loans of L.30 a-piece among the con- 
 tributors, and put out the remainder at interest, on proper security. 
 A second act, amending the former, was procured on the 22d year 
 of the same reign (1748), regulating the several parts of the man- 
 agement, and granting liberty to raise the capital to L.80,000, in- 
 cluding the sums lent to contributors.* The commencement of 
 the fund is reckoned from the 25th of March 1 744. In the year 
 1770, a new Act of Parliament, procured by advice of Dr Webster, 
 prescribed the full form, in which the fund is at present conducted. 
 The loans granted to contributors were discontinued, as prejudicial 
 to the parties concerned ; liberty was granted to extend the capital 
 to L. 100,000 ; the methods of recovering payments, the nomination 
 and duties of trustees ; the salaries of the collector and clerk ; in 
 short, the whole economy of the institution, were fixed and deter- 
 mined. A tax on the marriage of each contributor, amounting to 
 one year's annual rate of his particular option ; and, if he were 40 
 years of age at his accession to his benefice, and had children, the 
 sum of two years and a-half of his rate, besides his ordinary dues 
 and marriage, were added to the revenues. Further, a sum of half 
 his particular rate was declared due to the fund, out of the ann. ; 
 or, in case of its not falling, out of his real or personal estate, on 
 the death of a minister ; and patrons were assessed in the sum of 
 L.3 : 2s. for every half-year's vacancy. 
 
 A report of the state of the fund was ordered to be made annu- 
 ally to the General Assembly by the trustees, and this afterwards 
 to be printed. 
 
 Dr Webster, in the year 1748, had finished a series of calcula- 
 tions, in which he not only ascertained the probable number of 
 ministers that would die annually, of widows and children that 
 would be left, of annuitants drawing whole or half annuities, and 
 the medium of the annuities and annual rates, but also the different 
 annual states of the fund, in its progress to completiug the capital 
 stock. These calculations have approached the fact with astonish- 
 ing precision.! On the 22d of November 1799, in the 56th year of 
 the fund and the year which completed the capital stock fixed by 
 
 * " By this act, the University of Aberdeen was included on request." 
 t In proof of this the reader may consult the present volume, p. 261, 309. 
 
380 APPENDIX. 
 
 Act of Parliament, Dr Webster's calculations, after having approach- 
 ed the truth for a long series of years with surprisiiig accuracy, 
 stood in the following manner : The stock and surplus for that 
 year were L. 105,504 : 2 : 11 d. 3-12ths, and the calculated stock 
 was L.86,448: 12: lOd. 8-12ths; consequently, the difference was 
 L.19,055 :10s. 7-1 2ths. 
 
 Such was the progress of the most benevolent institution which 
 Scotland has ever established. The infant scheme had scarcely 
 commenced, when Mr Webster was called upon to take an interest 
 in an event which, had it succeeded according to the mshes of one 
 of the parties concerned, would probably have again banished Pres- 
 bytery to the mountains. This was the attempt of the house of 
 Stuart in 1745, to recover its ancient kingdoms. Mr Webster was 
 remarkable for his hatred and open censure of vice in all parties. 
 In the year 1740, he preached a sermon at the election of the city 
 magistrates, on the character and fate of Haman, in which a great 
 and very corrupt Minister of the State (Sir Robert Walpole) was 
 so clearly alluded to, and the corruption of his politics so strongly 
 exposed, that it has even been reprinted, to serve the purpose of 
 perpetual censure. 
 
 In the year 1745, Mr Webster remained in the city when it 
 was taken by the rebels, and employed his universal popularity 
 and vigorous eloquence in retaining the minds of the people in 
 the interests of the house of Hanover. His exertions in this par- 
 ticular were not overlooked by the spirited gentlemen who acted 
 in quelling the rebellion. He became an intimate friend of Dun- 
 can Forbes of Culloden, Lord Milton, Preston of Valleyfield, the 
 Dundasses of Arniston ; and, in short, of every patriotic name, 
 about or within the city. 
 
 On the 23d of June 1746, the day appointed by the General As- 
 sembly for a thanksgiving for the victory of Culloden, he preached 
 the longest of all his printed sermons. The passage of Scripture, 
 was Esther viii. 17, which, with his usual facility of adaptation, he 
 applied to the general professions of loyalty then made by the Tory 
 party throughout the kingdom. He compared the new-born zeal 
 of this party to that of the heathens in the Persian Empire ; who, 
 awed by the influence of the Jews at Court, made an external pro- 
 fession of Judaism. This discourse is entirely a history of the 
 successive events of the rebellion, delivered in strong, animated, and 
 impressive language, with appropriate comments on the cruelty of 
 the rebel chiefs, and dark masterly sketches of the effects of Popery. 
 The parallel between the heathens and tories, the Jews and the 
 loyal party, is generally kept in view, by occasional recurrence to 
 the context; yet, the author thought proper to desert the subject 
 for a considerable time, to pronounce, with all the ardour of patri- 
 otism, an eulogium of the King, the Duke of Cumberland, the Earl 
 of Leven, the Dukeof Argyle, President Forbes, and several others 
 of the loyalists. 
 
 Mr Webster now was equally caressed by the people, the govern- 
 ment, and the nobility. His great talents, as a deviser of new 
 
MEMOIR OF DR WEBSTER. 381 
 
 schemes and improvements ' in the city of Edinburgh and the 
 kingdom at large, joined to the unerring accuracy of his calcula- 
 tions, soon rendered him a necessary attendant at all meetings, 
 where public or private good was to be projected. He entered 
 with enthusiasm into the plan of civilizing and propagating the 
 Gospel in the Highlands. Most of the measures were either con- 
 certed or amended by himself. He was the intimate friend of Pro- 
 vost George Drummond, to whom Edinburgh is indebted for a 
 new city, and the poor and destitute for an asylum. In the year 
 1755, he drew up, at the desire of President Dundas, for the in- 
 formation and service of Government, an account of the number 
 of people in Scotland. This he was enabled to do, by a general 
 correspondence which he had opened in 1743, both with clergy and 
 laity, for the purposes of the fund. " Dr Webster's well-known 
 character for accuracy," says the honourable and patriotic baronet 
 who drew up the Statistical Account of Scotland, " and the suc- 
 cess with which his calculations have been uniformly attended, 
 ought to satisfy everyone that the report he drew up may be safely 
 relied upon." In the year 1754, he published a sermon, preached 
 at the opening of the General Assembly in that year, entitled, 
 " Zeal for the civil and religious interests of Mankind recommend- 
 ed." In this discourse, he mentions with great warmth and elo- 
 quence, the royal exertions for the improvement of the north, and 
 points out the various branches of a duty which, during his whole 
 life, was ever nearest his heart. 
 
 Our limits will not allow us, nor our information suffice to enu- 
 merate, all the charitable institutions or projects of public welfare, 
 temporary or lasting, in which Dr Webster was engaged. As he 
 lived to an advanced age, he had the pleasure of seeing many of 
 them arrive at their maturity of usefulness ; and, of receiving the 
 blessings of the widow and orphan, — the noblest reward of living 
 merit. He persevered, to the latest period of his course, in that acti- 
 vity both of mind and body, which distinguished him in the prime 
 of life ; and ripe, like the sheaf in autumn, obtained his frequent 
 wish and prayer, an easy and peaceful death, after a very short in- 
 disposition, on Sunday the 25th of January 1784, aged seventy-six. 
 In a few days after, his remains were deposited in the Greyfriars' 
 Churchyard, in that common mass, where the ashes of Buchanan, 
 Robertson, and Black, with those of many other illustrious dead, 
 are lost among vulgar dust, without a monument or a name. His 
 grave was, for some time, inclosed with wood ; and a project of a 
 monument to his memory, was moved in the General Assembly, 
 which, not much to the honour of the country, has not been exe- 
 cuted. 
 
 Mary Erskine, Dr Webster's only wife, died on the 28th day of 
 November 1766. By her he had seven children alive in the year 
 1759, the year in which their names and dates of birth were en- 
 
 * " He is reported to have given the first plan of the New Town,* and even of 
 the public places of amusement." 
 
382 APPENDIX. 
 
 tered in the register of the Presbytery, kept for the widow's fund, 
 and attested by himself. Of six sons, only the eldest, Major Web- 
 ster, is now alive, (1802.) One of them, Colonel Webster, fell 
 gallantly fighting in the service of his country, in the contest with 
 America. His only daughter Anne, was married to a Captain Min- 
 go, and is now dead also. 
 
 To give a complete character of Dr Webster, is almost beyond 
 the power of writing. Nature had endowed him at his birth, with 
 strong and gigantic faculties, which a very considerable share of 
 learning had matured and improved. For extent of comprehension, 
 depth of thinking, and accuracy in the profoundest researches, he 
 stood unrivalled. In the knowledge of the world, and of human 
 nature, he was a master. It was not wonderful, that the best so- 
 cieties in the kingdom were perpetually anxious to possess a man 
 who knew how to soften the rancour of public theological contest, 
 with the liberality and manners of a gentleman. His address was 
 engaging ; hu wit strong as his mind ; his convivial powers, as they 
 are called, enchanting. 
 
 As a minister of the everlasting Gospel, his character was popu- 
 lar in the extreme. His voice was harmonious, bis figure noble ; 
 the dignity of his look, the rapture of his eye, conveyed an electric 
 impression of the fervent devotion which engrossed his soul. In 
 prayer, and in sacramental addresses, his manner was particularly 
 noble and august. The style of his preaching was deeply evange- 
 lical ; his language strong and animated, rather than polished, and 
 somewhat lowered to the capacity of his hearers, to whose situa- 
 tion in life he always was attentive. His church was crowded by 
 the common people, who ran in multitudes to hear a minister, who 
 preached the great doctrines of religion without corruption, as they 
 are found in the Word of God. 
 
 To the poor, Dr Webster was a father and a friend. To men- 
 tion his name, is to mention charity itself. He was a liberal patron 
 of poor theological students ; the spark of genius, and the bud of 
 piety he cherished, wherever he found them, without vanity or os- 
 tentation. As a husband, father, and head of a family, his heart 
 was naturally too good, his feelings too strong, and his sense of re 
 ligion too great, to be in any respect habitually deficient. 
 
 His political sentiments, both civil and ecclesiastical, were those 
 of a Whig, firm, independent, manly, and constitutional. He was 
 jealous of corruption and error, and expressed his unqualified cen- 
 sure of both, with equal spirit and abhorrence. Popular in the ex- 
 treme himself, he highly disapproved of the conduct of those min- 
 isters, who, when forced upon a congregation, neglect to cultivate 
 the acquaintance of its members ; and, by either preaching not 
 evangelically, or above the capacity of the audience, scatter it up and 
 down among the different sectaries. His particular share in the 
 Government of the Church, was accordingly managed for the inte- 
 rests of the people. 
 
 f "..In his person, Dr Webster was tall, of a thin and meagre habit. 
 The several features of his face were strongly marked ; the confor- 
 
MEMOIR OF DR WEBSTER. 383 
 
 mation of the whole indicated genius and independence.* The dig- 
 nity of his eye, and the natural grandeur of his look, were never 
 employed to intimidate the poor or the humble. He was affable to 
 all, liberal both of his money and of his interest ; accessible to the 
 voice of distress, under whatever form. Towards the end of his 
 life, he stooped much, under the pressure of age. During the long 
 period of seventy-six years, he maintained a uniform reputation as 
 a man, a patriot, and a minister ; and the effects of his genius and 
 benevolence will record his memory in the breast of the widow and 
 the orphan, as long, (to use the animated language of his funeral 
 eulogium,) as an university shall flourish, or the vestige of a church 
 shall be seen in his native land." 
 
 On the Sabbath after Dr Webster's death, a funeral sermon was 
 preached by his colleague, Dr Gloag, from John xi. 11, " Our 
 friend Lazarus sleepeth." The peroration was as follows: — 
 
 " You, my friends of this congregation, have no doubt antici- 
 pated me already, in the further prosecution of this subject, and 
 prevented me in the application I intend to make of it to the char- 
 acter of your late most valuable and worthy pastor, whose death 
 you are now lamenting. I sincerely pity and feel for you on this 
 melancholy occasion ; I could even mingle my tears with yours, as 
 I have but too great reason to join with you in your grief, when I 
 consider the many endearing obligations I received, from his pecu- 
 liar attention and regard to myself. He was the first who intro- 
 duced me to public life ; and from that period till the day of his 
 death, he honoured me with a steady, invariable, and most affec- 
 tionate friendship. His memory will therefore be always dear to 
 me ; gratitude calls on me to speak in his praise, while at the same 
 time I must acknowledge ^vith regret, how unequal I am to the 
 painful task which has fallen to my lot this day. They who best 
 knew his eminent distinguished worth, will not hesitate to confess, 
 that to do full justice to his character, would require a genius as 
 great, a mind as comprehensive, and a tongue as eloquent as his 
 own. The sincerity, however, of my affection to him, and the 
 purity of my intention, will compensate, I hope, in some measure, 
 for the imperfections of the present attempt to do honour to his 
 memory. Where, then, shall I begin ? or in what point of light 
 shall I endeavour to represent his most instructive and useful char- 
 acter ? 
 
 " Shall I desire you first to behold him in the dear relation of a 
 kind and indulgent father, loving, and beloved, by his children ? 
 Alas ! the very mention of the name may perhaps irritate those 
 feelings which, I fear, are but too painful already by the sudden 
 and unexpected shock they have received. 
 
 " Consider him next, if you please, as a minister of the Gospel 
 of the Son of God, leading the public devotions of his people, and 
 admonishing, instructing, and comforting them from his Holy Word. 
 
 * There is a portrait of Dr Webster in the Trustees* Hall. 
 
384 APPENDIX. 
 
 Think on the humility, the earnestness, and the fervour of his 
 prayers, when he poured out his very soul to God on our behalf, 
 from the place where I now stand ; think on the solemnity with 
 which he delivered the message of his great Master, and the concern 
 of spirit Avith which he besought sinners to be reconciled to God ; 
 think on the tender, aflfectionate, and most encouraging manner in 
 which he addressed the desponding mind, and the sorrowful heart ; 
 and then say, if he did not * watch for your souls, like one that 
 must give an account ? ' 
 
 " Follow him next to a communion table, holding in his hands 
 the sacramental pledges of the broken body and shed blood of the 
 Redeemer, and, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, set- 
 ting them apart from a common to a sacred use — Say, for you know 
 it well, did he ever appear in so grand and august an attitude as on 
 that solemn occasion ? Did not his manner, his voice, his counte- 
 nance, his every feature, show the intense devotion of his heart ? 
 Difficult it was to tell, whether admiration, or gratitude, or love, 
 or joy, or humility and contrition of spirit, did then most prevail ; 
 or if his soul felt the happy influence of all these gracious affections 
 acting in concert and harmony together. One would have thought, 
 that on such a solemn occasion his faith was elevated to an uncom- 
 mon degree, and permitted to take a view of the glory of the great 
 Immanuel himself within the veil. 
 
 " The heart, you may believe, that was so full of devotion to 
 God, could not be destitute of love and charity to men. Consider 
 him, then, as an advocate in the cause of liberty, as a friend to the 
 sacred rights of conscience, and the exercise of private judgment in 
 matters of religion. Here he made a noble and most amiable 
 figure, displaying at once the quickness of his apprehension, the so- 
 lidity and strength of his understanding, and the extensive candour 
 and benevolence of his heart. He allowed, ^vith great propriety, to 
 others the same privilege he claimed and exercised in his own con- 
 duct, the privilege of thinking and judging for themselves, in the 
 discussion of every question wherein God and religion were con- 
 cerned. No haughty forbidding airs of superiority did he assume ; 
 his sentiments he delivered with an easy freedom, great temper and 
 moderation of spirit, paying a becoming deference to those who held 
 opinions different from his own ; and when the debate was closed, 
 he treated even his keenest antagonists \vith all the complaisance 
 and agreeable manners of the polite and accomplished gentleman. 
 
 " If you imagine, that the man who was so well qualified to shine 
 in public, was inattentive to the concerns of private life, you must 
 be strangers indeed to his character. He was a friend to the poor. 
 He heard their complaints with the affection of a man, and relieved 
 their wants with the generosity of a prince. Well did they know, 
 for they knew it from experience, that his hand was as ready to give 
 as his heart was to devise liberal things. 
 
 '* From this beautiful part of his character, let me lead your at- 
 tention to another, in which he appeared in a truly amiable and 
 conspicuous light. You will easily perceive, that I now refer to 
 
MEMOIR OF DR WEBSTER. 385 
 
 the most ingenious, useful, and justly admired scheme, which the 
 God of all wisdom and grace enabled him to contrive and accom- 
 plish, for the support of the widows and children of all the ministers 
 of the Church, and for the support also of the widows and children 
 of all the principals and professors of the four learned uni verities of 
 Scotland. This is a scheme of such invention, labour, excellence, 
 and real utility, as surpasseth all praise, and will transmit the name 
 of your late worthy pastor, with distinguished honour and respect, 
 to the latest posterity. Suffice it only to say of it in general, that 
 it is founded on the best principles of calculation, and a thorough 
 knowledge of human life ; and during the time that it pleased the 
 Sovereign Disposer of all events to allow its most ingenious author 
 to remain with us, to superintend and direct its progress, it was put 
 to such a full and satisfactory proof, that, under the care and pro- 
 vidence of God, it will continue to be a sure and lasting fund of 
 relief to the wdow and the fatherless, so long as an university shall 
 flourish, or the vestige of a church shall be seen in our native land. 
 Many a time hath your late pastor, by means of this most benevolent 
 scheme, * delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him 
 that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to 
 perish came upon him ; and he caused the widow's heart to sing for 
 joy.' Numbers already gone have praised the Lord on his account ; 
 and thousands yet unborn will rise up, and bless the great Father 
 of the fatherless, and the Husband of the widow, for giving them 
 such a kind and tried friend, — such a humane, generous, and unwea- 
 ried benefactor, as tliey found in the great and good man whose 
 death we are this day lamenting. Thus you see how he lived ; he 
 lived to his God, and to his country, \vith much honour and credit 
 to himself, and great benefit to society ; and at last, according to 
 his own icish and prayer, (if my information be good, and I have rea- 
 son to believe it to be good,) he was blessed with an easy and a 
 peaceful death, and carried to the end of his journey through life, in 
 a good old age, * like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.' 
 On the morning of the last Sabbath, while we were assembling for 
 the worship of God in his courts below, his precious spirit was 
 called to the temple above, to keep an endless Sabbath with his 
 God and Father in heaven ; and his body was left to rest in the 
 grave, in hope of a joyful resurrection to eternal life." 
 
 Dr Webster received the degree of Doctor in Divinity in the 
 year 1760, when about to proceed to London as one of the deputa- 
 tion sent to address George III. on his accession. (See p. 213.) 
 In 1772 he succeeded Mr James Stewart as collector of the Wi- 
 dow's Fund, a situation to which he was well entitled. 
 
 The following are the titles of his printed sermons: — (1.) " The 
 Wicked Life, and Fatal but Deserved Death of Haman, Ahasuerus' 
 Prime Minister," 1740. (2.) " Supernatural Revelation the only 
 sure hope of Sinners," (preached before the Society for Propagating 
 Christian Knowledge,) 1741. (3.) " Heathens professing Judaism 
 when the fear of the Jews fell upon them." Two sermons from 
 Esther, viii. 17, preached on the thanksgiving for the late victorv, 
 Kk 
 
386 APPENDIX. 
 
 (CuUoden,) 1746. (4.) " Zeal for the civil and religious inte- 
 rests of mankind recommended," (preached at the opening of the 
 Assembly,) 1754. 
 
 It had been the practice of both the Commissioners and Modera- 
 tors to give in their speeches in writing, that they might be en- 
 grossed in the Record ; but Webster set the example, (which was 
 soon generally followed,) of withholding a copy of his concluding 
 address. We have embodied, however, in the notice of Lord Le- 
 ven, his reply to that nobleman at the opening of the Assembly. 
 
 1754. Professor Robert Hamilton^ Edinburgh. " Upon Princi- 
 pal Wishart's death in 1754, he was succeeded by Dr John Goldie, 
 professor of divinity ; and Mr Robert Hamilton, one of the minis- 
 ters in Edinburgh, was elected to the theological chair. It was 
 this gentleman's father who held the same office for so many years, 
 and was afterwards advanced to be Principal.* 
 
 " Mr Hamilton was born within the walls of the college ; was ini- 
 tiated into the knowledge of the Latin language at the High 
 School ; and, in due time, was entered a member of the university. 
 He had been early destined for the Church ; and having performed 
 the requisite exercises with approbation, he was licensed to preach 
 the Gospel by the Presbytery of Edinburgh. Some time afterwards, 
 he was presented to the church of Cramond, in the vicinity of 
 Edinburgh. He then removed to Edinburgh, and was succes- 
 sively minister of Lady Yester's, and of the Old Greyfriars 
 Church. 
 
 " The patrons adhered, in his case, to the resolution which they 
 had formerly made, that, upon being elected professor of divinity, 
 he should demit his office as one of the ministers of the city. 
 
 " Dr Hamilton was a man of abilities. He was particularly well 
 skilled in controversial theology ; and took great pains to give an 
 accurate view of those systems of divinity which had been most 
 celebrated in the world. In doing this, he discovered great address, 
 as well as candour ; for he took no undue advantage, though he was 
 careful to state his objections to the opinions which they defended, 
 whenever he considered it necessary. He was also remarkably can- 
 did in his critical remarks upon the discourses which the students 
 delivered in the divinity hall ; and acquitted himself in that delicate 
 department of his office, so as to gain the esteem even of those 
 upon whose errors in doctrine, defects in composition, or mode of 
 delivery, he had used the liberty to animadvert. He never took 
 
 * " Dr William Hamilton was a man much esteemed for the wisdom and good 
 temper with which he conducted the debates of the General Assembly, and no 
 less esteemed for his learning, judgment, and candour as a teacher. I have heard 
 Dr Leechman sav that he was under great obligations to Professor Hamilton ; that 
 he learned much" from him in many points, about which the Professor spoke his 
 mind openly ; and that, young as he was, he learned something also in other points, 
 about which the Professor said nothing. The silence of such a man struck him, 
 it should seem, and led him to investigate the causes of it." Memoir of Leech- 
 man, (prefixed to his Sermons,) by Dr James Wodrow of Stevenston, vol. i., p. 4. 
 The reader will find allusions to his father in Professor Robert Hamilton's address 
 to the Assembly, 1754, given below. 
 
NOTICE OF DR HAMILTON. 387 
 
 a very active part in the public management of the politics of the 
 General Assembly, though party spirit never ran higher during any 
 period of the history of the Church of Scotland than it did in his 
 time. Such was the respectability of his character, however, that 
 he was twice raised to the dignity of being Moderator of that ve- 
 nerable court, viz., in 1754 and 1/60. 
 
 " When he began to feel that the general state of his health pre- 
 vented him from performing the duties of his class, as he wished, 
 aiid had been accustomed to do, he was desirous to have an assist- 
 ant and successor. The patrons, therefore, elected Dr Andrew 
 Hunter, as conjunct professor of divinity, upon the 10th September 
 1779. 
 
 " Dr Hamilton on that occasion retired from public business; and 
 he died on the 3d April 1787." Bower's History of the Univer- 
 sity of Edinburgh, vol. ii., p. 366. In the Assembly 1748, Hamilton 
 acted as clerk, in the room of George Wishart, who was Modera- 
 tor. He was put on the leet for Moderator in 17o2, when Cun^^ng 
 was chosen. Being Moderator at the time of the death of George 
 
 II. in 1760, he headed the deputation sent to congratulate George 
 
 III. on his accession. 
 
 The following was his address at the close of the Assembly 
 1754 : — " Right Reverend and Right Honourable, — As this National 
 Assembly is now drawing to an issue, custom and precedents, and 
 your expectation founded upon these, will authorise my addressing 
 you from the chair, in which it was your pleasure to place me. 
 For the honour thereby done me, an honour greatly heightened by 
 your unanimity in conferring it, I return my most sincere and re- 
 spectful thanks to you all. I am deeply conscious that on the 
 tooting of personal merit I had no pretensions to such a distinguish- 
 ing mark of your favour, nor could ever have expected to receive 
 it ; and well might this consciousness have sufficed of itself to check 
 and bear down all risings of vanity ; but I have another safeguard, 
 another most effectual preservative against all such weakness ; it is 
 the firm persuasion which I have, and which I shall cherish, and 
 must ever retain, that the true source of the honour done me on 
 this occasion, and your great judgment to unite in bestowing it, is 
 a kind remembrance of the merit and affectionate services of a late 
 eminent member of this Church, whose assiduous cares and labours 
 are well known to have been devoted, while he lived, to her in- 
 terests and honour. Pardon this digression, if you judge it to be 
 one ; a fulness of heart, the genuine effect of my just gratitude to 
 you. Right Reverend and Right Honourable, mingling with the 
 workings of filial reverence and affection, have constrained me to 
 make it. It will, I flatter myself, be unnecessary, after the true 
 sense I have been expressing of your favour, to take up much of 
 your time in declaring, that from the moment of my entering this 
 place of honour, which you were pleased to assign me, it has been 
 my incessant and sincere desire to behave with all dutiful respect 
 to every reverend and honourable member of your Assembly. I 
 hope I have given offence to none. If, unhappily and unawares, I 
 
388 APPENDIX. 
 
 have done so in the smallest degree, I desire and hope to be forgiven. 
 Nothing ought to have been, nothing indeed was or could be fur- 
 ther from my intention. In this Assembly, Right Reverend and 
 Right Honourable, you have beheld, and if I may presume to judge 
 of your feelings by my own, you have with pleasure beheld many 
 of our noble peers, and persons of high rank and distinction wit- 
 nessing your conduct — more, I am persuaded, than ever were pre- 
 sent in any former Assembly of your Church ; and may we not 
 conclude, from the honourable and just applause which, both in 
 early and in latter diets, was openly given you by some of them 
 who' favoured us with their presence and assistance as members, 
 and who are not more distinguished in their noble birth and high 
 rank in the world, than by their great abilities, — may it not, I say, 
 be concluded, that you have gained universal esteem and approba- 
 tion, such an acquisition is a most valuable treasure ; let us study 
 
 to preserve it entire, and to improve it for the best of purposes. 
 My* reverend brethren in the ministry know well how much the 
 favour and esteem of persons, whose power and influence is so con- 
 siderable, may contribute, by the Divine blessing, to the success of 
 their faithful labours to the revival, credit, and progress of religion ; 
 and may we not hope that a kind and gracious Providence has been 
 at this time sowing the seeds of future benefit to this National 
 Church. When I am thus recollecting with delight, and remind- 
 ing you of those honourable testimonies in your favour, it would 
 be the height of ignorance and presumption in me to add or attempt 
 any thing on that head. I bless God on my own behalf, for the 
 order and decency with which all your deliberations and proceed- 
 ings have been conducted. These have rendered my task easy and 
 comfortable, and prevented from appearing to public view those 
 weaknesses and that incapacity for the station assigned me, which 
 (had matters been otherwise) could not in all probability have been 
 concealed. To conclude : may I not, my reverend and dear breth- 
 ren in the holy ministry, without being thought too assuming, recom- 
 mend to you with all earnestness — now that you are to separate and 
 to resume the exercise of your ordinary ministrations in the several 
 congregations committed to your care — to exert your best endea- 
 vours in the services and for the honour of your great Lord and 
 Master. Feed his flock which he hath redeemed by his own blood. 
 Let your whole conduct discover that you have taken the oversight 
 thereof, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Watch for the 
 conversion and salvation of precious and immortal souls. Express 
 that reverence and love towards the Lord Jesus which you incul- 
 cate upon others, by doing what in you lieth for promoting the 
 great and glorious end of his redeeming mercy, by warning every 
 man, and teaching every man in all wisdom. By setting patterns 
 of all holy conversation and godliness, aspire after the inestimable 
 honour of presenting many perfect in Christ Jesus, — after that crown 
 of glory which fadeth not away, which the chief Shepherd, on his 
 return, will bestow on every good and faithful servant of his. Op- 
 pose, by every method becoming the Gospel, becoming your sta- 
 
ADDRESS OF MR REID. 389 
 
 tions in the Church of God, and the spirit of our Great Master, 
 the growth and process of infidelity, impiety, and profaneness. Let 
 us cherish that loyalty to our most gracious Sovereign, for which 
 we have all along been conspicuous. The repeated assurances we 
 liave been honoured with throughout the whole course of his aus- 
 picious reign, of his royal favour and protection, his sacred and in- 
 violable regard to these must render us inexcusable if we do not 
 distinguish ourselves as patterns of loyalty and affection to his per- 
 son and government. Let nothing in our power be wanting to 
 promote, diffuse, and strengthen the principles of an unshaken loy- 
 alty in the hearts of all his other subjects to whom our intiuence 
 or example can be extended. No tribute can be more just, nor any 
 method more effectual for their own safety and true interest, than 
 to keep them steadily in their affection to a prince who has ever 
 been a most faithful guardian of the privileges and rights of his 
 subjects." 
 
 His address at the close of the Assembly, 1760, will be found 
 below. 
 
 1755, Mr George Reid, St Quivox. He was born in the year 
 1692 ; was settled at St Quivox (or St Evox, as it is often found 
 written) about the year 17*23; and died at Ayr on the 21st 
 March 1763, in his 71st year. 
 
 The following was his' concluding address: — " Very Reverend 
 and Honourable, I am to make my humble and thankful acknow- 
 ledgments to you for the undeserved honour you conferred upon 
 me when you gave me this seat. My want of proper qualifications 
 required your direction and assistance, which was kindly afforded 
 me ; and I would gladly hope, that making favourable allowances, 
 my endeavours to perform my duty, however imperfectly, have 
 been accepted by you. If I have erred in any thing through ignor- 
 ance, mistake, or inadvertency, I hope you have forgiven me. If 
 I have injured or offended any person, I crave and expect forgive- 
 7iess from them. The business which by the help of God you have 
 despatched, hath been various. There were several things relat- 
 ing to the general interests of the Church and religion ; others to 
 particular circumstances of some of the ministers of it. You have 
 endeavoured to make provision for removing the difficulties and 
 easing the grievances of such who had ground. You have, I hope, 
 justly restored the characters of others* who had been defamed by 
 very foul and injurious imputations, and by this means have given 
 a proper proof of the inviolable regard that is due to the laws of our 
 constitution, and the still more important laws of charity. Your 
 decisions in these cases, it may be hoped, will be a perpetual check 
 and discouragement to the effects of malice and partial designs in 
 evil-minded men. At the same time we ought all to receive instruc- 
 tions from such instances, that as we see any trivial incidents, any 
 the most slender circumstances laid hold on by malice or prejudice. 
 
 * This refers to the cases of Grant, Grier and others. See p. 65. 
 
 Kk 2 
 
390 APPENDIX. 
 
 magnified by forced and artificial constructions, mixed scandalous 
 colours, and sent abroad into the world in a most deformed sbape 
 and appearance, cannot but attract the notice of all, and will re- 
 ceive the worst construction from the peevish and unamiable, which 
 is, I fear, the greater part of mankind, who are ever ready to inter- 
 pret the most distant appearances to be certain proofs of guilt. That 
 upon these accounts, and that our character is of a very delicate 
 nature, the utmost caution is to be used, lest in our conduct we 
 should give occasion to those who seek occasion, to vilify and de- 
 fame our ministry. You have shown a just and laudable zeal and 
 concern for the interests and credit of true religion ; the very being 
 of which, so to speak, has been exposed in some late books produc- 
 ed or dispersed in this country. The measure you have taken to 
 impress the minds of men with a proper abhorrence of the impiety 
 of these attacks made upon religion, and to warn and caution those 
 under your care, lest they should be led away by the errors of the 
 vain or the wicked, it is to be hoped will have a good efiect. It 
 may be expected that your authority in determining some vacant 
 parishes, should allay animosities among those concerned, and unite 
 them in a cheerful compliance with your just decisions, — the ra- 
 ther, as these contentions have been at all times the unhappy 
 sources of great divisions among ourselves, and of distractions 
 among the people ; which have produced Christian alienation of af- 
 fection among brethren, and proved to be an effectual bar to edi- 
 fication. It would be a great consolation to us had we ground to 
 hope that these sources of disorder were a drying up, and a stop 
 putting to the poisonous streams issuing from them. Some things 
 ycfu have referred in your Commission, which, I doubt not, will 
 receive a righteous determination. And now the affairs which 
 came under your consideration being (I hope I may say) happily 
 ended, as we did assemble in the name and by the authority of 
 Jesus Christ, our Great Lord and Master, the Head of the Chris- 
 tian Church, so in like manner we do dissolve and separate accord- 
 ingly.^' After the usual form of dissolving this Assembly and in- 
 dicting the next, he goes on : " And now, my Reverend Fathers and 
 Brethren, we are to return to the particular parishes v/here our 
 pastoral labours are to be employed. The great object of our care 
 and attention, — the great, the proper views and aims of all our sa- 
 cred ministrations, is true religion, which consists in sound faith 
 and holy conversation, duty likewise, and loyalty to our most gra- 
 cious Sovereign, and an affectionate regard and concern for the 
 constitution, peace, and order of our country. These valuable and 
 important ends we can never sufficiently promote by other means 
 than sound doctrine, and the powerful example of quiet and peace- 
 able lives in all godliness and honesty. It might be justly con- 
 structed as an instance of arrogance and presumption in me to as- 
 sume the office of an instructor, exhorter, or monitor to you. Let 
 me only beg leave to observe, that the best method we can take, 
 that our preaching and our life may, by the blessing of God, hap- 
 pily conduce to the intiuence and power of true religion among all 
 
PROFESSOR CUMING S SPEECH. 391 
 
 ranks, is to keep strictly to the Law and to the Testimony, — in 
 this way holding forth the pure word of life. The apostle has sum- 
 med up a minister's duty, and his encouragement in performing it, 
 in an exhortation full of divine force and energy ; ' Take heed,' 
 says he to his disciple Timothy, ' Take heed to thyself and to the 
 doctrine, for in so doing thou shalt both save thyself and them that 
 hear thee.' May I take the liberty to make an observation more, 
 — that factions among ministers, which will ever be destructive of 
 that which is the great bond of unity, I mean charity, must neces- 
 sarily counteract the efforts, and mar the influence and efficacy of 
 their sacred ministrations, while each party will zealously endea- 
 vour to disafFect the people from the other, especially as these ani- 
 mosities and contentions are often vented in public debates, in their 
 courts of judicature, or in more private conversations, and some- 
 times sent abroad into the world in private libels and pamphlets — 
 of which very blameahle practice, I am sorry to say it, there are not 
 wanting instances at this time. But, my dear fathers and brethren, 
 let us endeavour to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of 
 peace ; and may the God of peace, who brought again from the 
 dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of the flock, 
 through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in 
 every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well 
 pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be 
 glory for ever. Amen." 
 
 1756. Professor Cuming of Edinburgh. Of this gentleman, 
 who took the lead on the Moderate side, until supplanted by Ro- 
 bertson, some notice will be found in the former volume, at p. 319. 
 He was Moderator three times, viz., in 1749, 1752, and 1756. 
 
 His concluding address to the Assembly 1756, has not been pre- 
 served ; but his speech to the Commissioner (Lord Cathcart) was 
 as follows: — " May it please your Grace, when we meet in a Ge- 
 neral Assembly of this Church, we cannot but with the greatest 
 gratitude and thankfulness to God, commemorate the invaluable 
 blessing he conferred upon it by the Revolution, under King Wil- 
 liam, of glorious and immortal memory, who restored it to its anci- 
 ent privileges, and who, by settling the succession upon the illus- 
 trious house of Hanover, which hath given us our most gracious 
 Sovereign, did all that he could to perpetuate these blessings to 
 latest posterity. His Majesty's constant regard for the rights of 
 his people, his steady attachment to the interest of the nation, both 
 at home and abroad, particularly in this critical juncture,* hath'en- 
 deared his character to all his subjects, makes his life precious, and 
 will embalm his memory. The protection he hath given this 
 Church, his zeal for propagating true religion in the Highlands and 
 Islands, his countenancing this Assembly by his royal authority, his 
 appointing your Grace to be his High Commissioner, cannot but 
 excite our warmest affection to his sacred person, and prompt us 
 
 * Seep. 71. 
 
392 APPENDIX. 
 
 to pay the most cheerful obedience to his wise Government. I 
 can with great assurance affirm, in the name of this venerable As- 
 sembly, that no choice could be more acceptable to us than that of 
 your Grace to represent his royal person. Every body must be 
 persuaded of this, who knows any thing of your most ancient and 
 noble family, in which honesty and honour, courage and clemency, 
 a zeal for the reformed religion, and a love of true liberty, have been 
 hereditary. In this glorious cause, not a few of your noble ances- 
 tors have sacrificed their lives. We remember with what conster- 
 nation all ranks of men were struck, upon the accounts of the death 
 of the late Lord Cathcart,* your father, when one might view his 
 character in the eyes of a whole nation. What joy must it give to 
 see his son so early distinguished in the camp and in the court, in 
 the senate and in the country, adding every day new lustre to a fa- 
 mily already illustrious. We can only, by our ardent wishes and 
 sincere prayers to God for the prosperity of your noble house, and 
 by using all our endeavours to make your high station as easy as 
 possible, express the honour we have for you, and earnestly desir- 
 ous to merit your Grace's approbation, that you may be able to 
 give (and we are sure you will with the greatest pleasure give) a 
 favourable report of us to our most gracious Sovereign." 
 
 1757. Professor Leechnan of Glasgoic. — William Leechman was 
 the son of a farmer in the parish of Dolphington, Lanarkshire, 
 where he was born in the year 1706. He was educated at the pa- 
 rish school of Dolphington, and afterwards at the University of 
 Edinburgh, not without some assistance from the family of Baillie 
 of Jerviswood, who took an interest in him from the circumstance 
 of his father having had the courage to take down from the Tol- 
 booth of Lanark one of the quarters of their unfortunate ancestor, 
 (executed in 1684,) and give it a decent burial. Having distin- 
 guished himself at college, Leechman was recommended as tutor to 
 the son of Geddes of Kirkurd, in Peeblesshire. He began his theo- 
 logical studies about the year 1724, under Professor WiUiam Ha- 
 milton.! In 1727, having become tutor to young Mure of Caldwell, 
 he thenceforth attended the College of Glasgow, where he attracted 
 the notice, and enjoyed the friendship, of the celebrated Hutcheson, 
 and of Dunlop, Professor of Greek. Some of his more intimate 
 companions were Messrs Clerk, Craig, Fleming, and Warner, after- 
 wards ministers respectively in Neilston, Glasgow, Kilmalcolm, and 
 Kilbarchan. In the month of October 1731, he was licensed to 
 preach by the Presbytery of Paisley ; and in the same month of the 
 year 1736, he received and accepted a unanimous call from the pa- 
 rish of Beith, the Countess of Eglinton having waived her right of 
 patronage, and recommended him to the Presbj'tery of Irvine. Here 
 he remained for seven years, residing for the most part at Caldwell 
 House, which lies within the parish. Being chosen moderator of 
 the Synod in 1740, he opened the next meeting with a sermon " on 
 
 ■" See p. 373. t See p. 386, Note. 
 
NOTICE OF LEECHMAN. 393 
 
 the temper, character, and duty of a minister of the Gospel," which 
 was published, as was likewise his famous sermon on j)raiier, in 
 1743. In July of that year he married Miss Bridget Balfour of 
 Pilrig, and was soon after invited to be pastor of a church in Belfast, 
 which, however, he declined. In the month of November, the chair 
 of divinity at Glasgow became vacant by the death of Mr Michael 
 Potter, formerly minister of Kippen, Two candidates were brought 
 forward, the famous John Maclaurin and Leechman, when the latter 
 carried it by the casting vote of the Rector, George Bogle, Esq. of 
 Daldowie. The minority made an unsuccessful attempt before the 
 Presbytery of Irvhie to prevent his transportation ; but when he 
 appeared before the Glasgow Presbytery, that body refused to enrol 
 hiih as a member, and at last, at the instigation of Mr Robe of Kilsyth, 
 raised against him a process of heresy, (grounded on his sermon on 
 prayer,) of which a full account has been given in the former vo- 
 lume of the Annals, (pp.46, 386,) and which ended in his acquittal, 
 Leechman followed the example that had been set by Hutcheson, 
 in writing his lectures in English instead of Latin. His text-book 
 in Systematic Theology was Pictet, afterwards changed to Oster- 
 rald. A copious abstract of all his prelections has been given by Dr 
 Wodrow, in his Memoir of Leechman prefixed to his " Sermons." 
 In 1748 he edited the posthumous essay of his first pupil, Geddes, 
 " on the Composition of the Ancients; " and in 1755, (about which 
 time he received the title of D. D. from his own college,) he pre- 
 fixed an account of the life of his friend Hutcheson to his " Moral 
 Philosophy," which was then published by the author's son. He 
 was put on the leet for moderator of the Assembly in 1753, when 
 Webster was elected ; he himself was chosen moderator in the year 
 1757, and opened the Assembly 1758 with a sermon (afterwards 
 printed) on the " Wisdom of God in the Christian Revelation," On 
 the death of Principal Neil Campbell, in 1761, Leechman was raised 
 to that office through the influence of his old pupil. Mure of Cald- 
 well, then one of the Barons of the Exchequer. In this capacity 
 he gave a lecture for some time, once a-week, to the students of 
 divinity, as Primarim Professor ; and also weekly lectures on Sun- 
 day evening to the whole university. In 1767 he preached the 
 anniversary sermon before the Society for Propagating Christian 
 Knowledge, which was published, wth the title, " The excellence 
 of the spirit or genius of Christianity, as a spirit of fortitude, ot 
 love, and of a sound mind," Dr Leechman, after a series of para- 
 lytic shocks, died on the 3d December 1785, in his 79th year. He 
 left his library to his nephew, the Rev. William Pairman of Ely, 
 except a large present of books and pamphlets, which he bequeathed 
 to the library belonging to the divinity students, A selection from 
 his sermons, in 2 vols. 8vo., appeared in 1789, with a sketch of his 
 life, by the Rev. Br James Wodrow, (a son of the historian,) minister 
 of Stevenston, — to which the reader is referred for a full delineation 
 of his simple, but dignified and amiable character. As to his literary 
 merits, Lord Woodhouselee says : — " The style and composition 
 of Leechman, with equal purity, bad more elegance than Hutche- 
 
304 APPENDIX. 
 
 son's, and contributed greatly to form the taste of his pupils in 
 theology, and improve the eloquence of the pulpit in Scotland. 
 He was himself a most celebrated preacher ; and it was generally 
 regretted that his appointment to the professorship of divinity, which 
 has no pastoral charge annexed to it, made his appearances in the 
 pulpit from that time rare, and only occasional. But this disappoint- 
 ment was in the main for the benefit of the Church, as his theolo- 
 gical lectures, which were extremely popular, were the fruit of 
 great knowledge of his subject, a sufficiency of leaining, a sound 
 judgment, a good taste ; and, above all, of a liberal and candid 
 spirit, which had a sensible influence on the characters and the opi- 
 nions of his pupils. As Principal of the University, he conducted 
 himself with becoming dignity, and with the esteem and veneration 
 of the whole body over which he presided." " He had (says Dr 
 Carlyle) the appearance of an ascetic monk, reduced by fasting and 
 prayer nearly to the figure of a skeleton ; but in aid of fine compo- 
 sition and excellent matter, he delivered his sermons with such a 
 pathetic voice, and earnest persuasiveness of manner, that he capti- 
 vated every audience." — Dr Carlyle' s MS. Memoirs* To this we 
 may add the testimony of Sir Henry Moncreifl!',f who speaks of him 
 as " a man of primitive and apostolic manners, equally distinguished 
 by his love of literature and his liberal opinions." 
 
 Leechman's address to the Assembly 1757 is not recorded ; it 
 was probably of the same tenor as the conclusion of the above men- 
 tioned sermon at the opening of the Assembly J 758, which may be 
 seen in the first volume of his printed sermons, p. 263. 
 
 The following was his reply to the Commissioner, (Lord Cath- 
 cart:) " May it please your Grace, — It always becomes us, when 
 we meet in a General Assembly, to acknowledge, with the most 
 lively gratitude to Divine Providence, the many invaluable blessings 
 we have long enjoyed, and do still enjoy, under his Majesty's most 
 gracious and auspicious reign. His Majesty's constant regard for 
 the rights of his people, his watchful care over all the interests of 
 the nation, both at home and abroad, particularly in the present 
 critical situation of public affairs, must endear his character to all 
 true Britons, and confirm them in the most inviolable attachment 
 to his royal person, his gracious government, and illustrious house. 
 His Majesty's continual protection of the Church of Scotland, his 
 countenancing this Assembly with his royal authority, his zeal for 
 propagating true religion in the Highlands and Islands, — those parts 
 of our country which still remain in a great measure ignorant and 
 \nicivilized, — and the continuance of the royal bounty for that im- 
 portant end, fill our hearts with the warmest affection to his sacred 
 person, make us rejoice in our happy privileges, and excite us to 
 the faithful and cheerful discharge of all the duties of loyal and 
 happy subjects. May it please your Grace, I hope I may be al- 
 lowed to say, in the name of this Venerable Assembly, and wth 
 their full, hearty, and unanimous consent, that the choice his Ma- 
 
 * Supplement to Kames' Life, p. 14. t Life of Erskine, p, 85. 
 
NOTICES OF TURNBULL AND KAY. 395 
 
 iesty lias been pleased to make of your Grace to represent his sacred 
 person in this Assembly is highly acceptable. The particular rea- 
 sons for our most entire satisfaction with the choice of your Grace, 
 arising from your character and behaviour in public and private life, 
 we choose rather to tell of you than to you. Permit us only to say, 
 that we have the firmest persuasion of your Grace's zealous attach- 
 ment to the service and honour of your prince, and the prosperity 
 and happiness of your country, and that you ^vill discharge the im- 
 portant trust of High Commissioner committed to you with atten- 
 tion and fidelity, and with honour and dignity. The assurances 
 vour Grace is pleased to give us of your regard for the religion and 
 constitution of this National Church, and of your zeal to promote 
 its interest and prosperity, we rely upon with the most entire con- 
 fidence. We can only express the honour we have for your Grace, 
 by ardent wishes and prayers to God for the prosperity of your 
 Grace and your noble family, and by using all our endeavours to 
 make your high station as easy as possible. Allow us to add, that 
 we hope we shall conduct all our deliberations and debates in this 
 Assembly in such a manner as to justify the good opinion your 
 Grace is pleased to express of us, and to enable you to give (and 
 we are sure your Grace is always willing to give) a favourable re- 
 port of us to' our most gracious sovereign ; and if any causes should 
 come before us in which a just zeal may be shown to maintain and 
 secure the purity and decency of the ministerial character, we hope 
 that, at the same time, we shall preserve that good temper and mo- 
 deration which becomes the disciples of Jesus, and the ministers of 
 the Church of Scotland." * 
 
 1758. Mr Thomas TurnhuU of Borthnck.—Of this gentleman I 
 am unable to furnish any information, beyond the circumstance that 
 he had long taken a prominent part in the business of the Assem- 
 blv, and was, if I mistake not, rather a keen partizan of the Moder- 
 ate interest. None of his official addresses have been preserved. 
 
 1759. Dr George Kay of Edinburgh.— I take this to have been 
 the same person who was minister of Colessie, in Fife, previous to 
 the settlement of Mr Hugh Blair there, in 1741. From thence he 
 seems to have gone to Kirkaldy, and then to the West Kirk, Edin- 
 burgh ; and in 1752 (July 30) he was called to the New Grey- 
 friars' Church, in room of Mr Frederick Carmichael. He was after- 
 wards translated to the Old Greyfriars', and died on the 10th April 
 1766, being succeeded (as a minister ot Edinburgh) by Mr James 
 Brown of Melrose. — See p. 286. 
 
 The following was his closing address :— " The business of this 
 Assembly is now, by the favour of Divine Providence, brought to 
 a happy conclusion. Such matters as were most proper for your 
 
 * There is a striking similarity in the phraseology of this address to that of 
 Professor Cuming's the previous year. The references at the close are to the 
 cases of Carhie of Inveresk, and Brown of St Andrews. 
 
396 APPENDIX. 
 
 own cognizance, you have determined yourselves ; the rest you 
 have referred to your Commission, \rith full power to give a 
 final judgment. Questions that relate to vacant churches have 
 too often been the occasion of warm debate, and sometimes 
 of much heat and animosity. You have had but two cases 
 of this kind before you. In the one, [Logie,] you have deter- 
 mined a preliminary point, which may be a means of preventing 
 disputes on that head for the future. The other, [Kilconquhar,] 
 you have thought proper, for particular reasons, to refer to the 
 Commission. Both of them fall of course to be remitted to the 
 several Presbyteries, and both, I hope, will terminate in the peace- 
 able and happy settlement of the respective parishes. You have 
 had under your consideration other matters that concern the more 
 general interests of religion and the Church, Such of them as were 
 thought ripe for decision you have happily concluded with great 
 unanimity, and so as to merit the approbation of wise and good 
 men. One question of this nature, touching the representation 
 from the royal boroughs, you have transmitted to all the Presby- 
 teries, that they may consider of it, and report their opinion to the 
 next General Assembly. As this is allowed to be a matter of great 
 importance and delicacy, it is to be wished that any future laws 
 concerning it may be the fruit of the most cool and mature deliber- 
 ation. I cannot but observe, with great pleasure, that no process 
 of heresy or scandal hath been brought into this Assembly against 
 any minister or member of this Church ; an evidence, as I humbly 
 think, that purity of doctrine and manners is still the respectable 
 characteristic of the Church of Scotland. You will give me leave 
 to take notice of another circumstance, which, according to my 
 present view of things, is a considerable advantage to the Church, 
 and that is, the Assembly hath not been overloaded with business. 
 You have been able, during the usual time of your sitting, to de- 
 spatch the greatest part of your affairs, without being under the 
 necessity of leaving too much to the Commission, the meetings of 
 which court have of late years been more uncertain and less fre- 
 quent than formerly. It was not to be expected that so great a 
 body of men, in reasoning on such a variety of subjects, should all 
 express the same sentiments. There has been some small difference 
 of opinions with regard to the means, but you have all agreed in the 
 same end, viz., to promote the honour of God, and the good of his 
 Church. 
 
 It must be a pleasure to reflect, that in the course of your de- 
 bates, you have discovered nothing of a fierce uncharitable spirit, 
 but have conducted yourselves with that good temper, with that 
 moderation and charity which may be expected from the followers 
 of Christ, and the ministers of the Gospel to Peace. It may be 
 presumed that we are firmly established in loyalty and duty to the 
 best of Sovereigns, that we have the highest value for our happy 
 constitution in Church and State, and that we ^vill exert ourselves 
 in our several stations to support his Majesty's Government, and 
 promote the peace and good order of the country. It would be far 
 
NOTICE OF DR GEORGE KAY. 397 
 
 more agreeable for me to receive instruction from you, my very 
 reverend fathers and brethren, than to be obliged, as I am, by an estab- 
 lished custom, to offer something by way of advice to this vener- 
 able Assembly. As this is not a proper time or place for expatiat- 
 ing upon the duties of the ministerial office, which I would gladly 
 hope are well understood, and faithfully performed by the reverend 
 pastors of this Church, I shall only take the liberty to mention two 
 things suggested to me from the proceedings of this Assembly, 
 which, in my humble opinion, are of too great importance to be 
 overlooked upon this occasion. The law of patronage has always 
 been reckoned a hardshij) hij the Church of Scotland, but tchih it doth not 
 Interfere trith the rights of conscience, we are bound by the law of Christ 
 to submit to the late of our country. The right which this law gives 
 to patrons to present ministers to vacant parishes is noic exercised in 
 almost every instance ; and for this reason, we ought to give a more 
 particular and strict attention to the character and qualifications of 
 those whom we license to preach the Gospel, that they may be men 
 of good knowledge and learning, sound in the faith, of a sober, virtu- 
 ous, and godly conversation, men of discretion and good sense, of 
 whom it may be justly expected that, by the blessing of God, they 
 will support the dignity of the ministerial character, and do the du- 
 ties of the sacred function with real advantage to religion and with 
 credit to themselves. It is impossible for me to express how 
 much dishonour will be done to the name of Christ, and how hurt- 
 ful it will prove to the interests of truth and virtue, if, through a 
 careless neglect and inattention, or through a false and ill-judged 
 compassion, we shall allow weak or worthless men to creep in 
 amongst us. On the other hand, if we stand like faithful watch- 
 men at the gates of Zion, and suffer none to enter but the wise and 
 worthy, those who are truly fit to minister in holy things, may 
 we not justly hope that the pastoral office will still be venerable, 
 that the kingdom of our Redeemer will flourish and prosper, and 
 our Jerusalem become a beautiful habitation, the joy of all the 
 earth. 
 
 "Another thing that 1 recommend to your serious attention, is the 
 religiotts observation of the Lord's day. It must be confessed that in 
 this respect we are sadly fallen off from the purity and sanctity of 
 more ancient times; for though I cannot allow the justness of that 
 reflection which has been cast upon our forefathers, as if they had 
 carried this matter too far, even to a degree of superstition, yet it 
 must be acknowledged by all, that we, their degenerate sons, have 
 run into the opposite extreme by an irreverent neglect, or superfi- 
 cial performance of the duties and devotions of that holy day. It 
 is high time for us, my brethren, to use the most prudent and ef- 
 fectual methods for restoring in the minds of men a just veneration 
 of this divine and merciful institution. Let us endeavour, by sound 
 and solid reasoning, to convince them of the guilt and danger of pro- 
 faning or mispending that portion of our time which God hath 
 consecrated to himself. Let us endeavour, by the most powerful 
 and winning motives, by fervent and pathetic exhortations, and br 
 Ll 
 
398 APPENDIX. 
 
 the constraining influence of our own example, to prevail with and 
 engage them to yield obedience to the high command of the Great 
 God and our Saviour — ' Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it 
 holy.' 
 
 " In one word, let us endeavour, through the grace of God, to 
 perform all the duties of our holy function, with zeal and faithful- 
 ness, with prudence and moderation, and with the temper and spi- 
 rit of our Lord and Master. In so doing we may expect to meet 
 with reproach and injuries from worldly and wicked men; but 
 let not our spirits be damped, or our hearts dismayed with the pro- 
 spect of these things. Let us maintain a holy boldness and forti- 
 tude, adopting that noble sentiment of the Apostle — ' None of these 
 things move me, neither count I my life dear to me, so that I may 
 finish my course \\ath joy, and the ministry which I have received 
 of the Lord Jesus.' May the God of all grace and consolation 
 strengthen us with all might, by his Spirit in the inward and out- 
 ward man, that we may be faithful pastors in the Church of God, 
 taking heed to ourselves and the whole flock, over which the Holy 
 Ghost hath made us overseers ; and when the Chief Shepherd shall 
 appear, we shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. 
 Right Reverend and Right Honourable, this being the birth-day ofhia 
 Royal Highness the Prince of Wales* when that illustrious Prince, 
 the joyful hope of three great kingdoms, enters upon the twenty- 
 second year of his age, we cannot forbear to express on this occa- 
 sion our great thankfulness to God, who hath mercifully preserved 
 him to that period of life when men are supposed to be capable of 
 managing the weighty affairs of Government, as well as the busi- 
 ness of private life. While we heartily pray that God may bless 
 his Royal Highness with long life and many happy days, let us 
 be no less earnest in our prayers to the Almighty that our present 
 most gracious Sovereign, under whose mighty and good Govern- 
 ment we enjoy so many signal blessings, may live long, and sway 
 the sceptre over a free and happy people.' 
 
 " Before I leave this chair, very Reverend and Honourable, you 
 will be pleased to accept of my humble acknowledgments for the 
 undeserved honour you have done me, in assigning to me such an 
 important part in the conducting of your affairs. I hope you are 
 disposed to forgive my failures, as I am conscious to myself that 
 1 have endeavoured to do the duties of this station, with an honest 
 mind, and according to my best ability. If I have given oflfence to 
 any reverend or honourable member of this house, I ask your par- 
 don, and beg you will impute it, not to design, but to mistake or 
 inadvertency. And now, Right Reverend and Right Honourable, 
 I presume it is your pleasure, that I should return the thanks of 
 this Assembly to his Majesty's High Commissioner, [Lord Cath- 
 cart] : 
 
 " May it please your Grace, it is with the greatest pleasure that I 
 obey the command of this venerable Assembly, to offer in their 
 
 • Afterwards George III. 
 
ADDRESS OP PROFESSOR HAMILTON. 399 
 
 name to your Grace, their most humble and hearty thanks, for all 
 the favours you have been pleased to show to us, on this and for- 
 mer occasions, for your regular and patient attendance on all our 
 meetings, and for the close attention you have given to all our pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 " It would be the highest satisfaction to us to see your Grace 
 often standing in the place where you now are ; acquitting your- 
 self, as you always have done, with so great fidelity to your Sove- 
 reign, with such an amiable mixture of dignity and mildness, and 
 with such favourable regards to the Church of Scotland. We humbly 
 hope that no part of our conduct hath given your Grace occasion to 
 be offended with us. We doubt not your Grace will approve of 
 our honest zeal for the interests of true religion, and of our inviol- 
 able attachment to his Majesty's person and Government, as well 
 as of our hearty concern for the Rights of the Church, and the 
 liberty of our country. We rely with entire confidence on your 
 Grace's candour and goodness, and that you will be pleased to 
 make a favourable representation of our conduct to our most gra- 
 cious Sovereign. May I be permitted to assure your Grace, in the 
 name of this Assembly, that we have the highest honour for your 
 worthy character, the most sincere aflfection for your person, and 
 the warmest good wishes for the prosperity of your family. It is 
 our fervent prayer to God, that he may graciously reward all the 
 good services you have done to your king, to your country, and 
 to the Church of God, and that you may have more and more ex- 
 perience of that high enjoyment which results from honouring God, 
 and doing good to mankind ; that God may abundantly bless your 
 noble family, and make them truly great, and good, and happy ; and 
 that after a long time honourably and usefully employed here on 
 earth, you and they may be advanced to a state of pure and perfect 
 happiness in the world to come." 
 
 1760. Professor Robert Hamilton of Edinburgh. — (See above, 
 under the year 1754.) At the close of the Assembly, 1760, he 
 addressed the Court as follows : — 
 
 " By the good hand of God upon us, the business about which 
 we met together in this General Assembly is mostly despatched. 
 Some matters which seemed to require more mature deliberation in 
 Older to ripen them, and others of less general concern, are referred 
 to your Commission, to whom you have given proper instructions 
 and powers necessary in such cases. Your decisions relating to 
 the settlements of parishes have been all such as wall, it is to be 
 hoped, approve themselves to the candid and dispassionate ; con- 
 cerning the two last, [Stirling and Logie,] your judgments were 
 unanimous ; the first, [Kilconquhar,] by reason of some peculiar 
 circumstances attending the case, did indeed occasion some warm 
 debates, but may we not reasonably hope, that upon cool recollec- 
 tion of the solidity of those grounds upon which your sentence 
 turned — general expediency for the safety and benefit of the whole 
 
400 APPENDIX. 
 
 Church, — many who were, or it'may be, are still dissatisfied, will 
 change their opinion, and that the prudent and dutiful conduct of 
 the reverend judicatory, to whom the execution of the sentence is 
 remitted, not to mention the acknowledged merit of our brother 
 [Dr Chalmers,] who is personally the object of it, will in part pre- 
 vent and in the end get the better of these disagreeable consequen- 
 ces of which some appeared to be apprehensive. It must yield you. 
 Right Reverend and Right Honourable, a very high degree of satis- 
 faction, to reflect that your endeavouring to obtain such an arrange- 
 ment of the course of the Post as might prevent the profanation of 
 the Lord's Day, and ward off temptations to turn that day into a 
 day of secular business, have been in a good measure successful. 
 With respect to a great and flourishing city, the second in this part 
 of the kingdom, and many other places considerable for their com- 
 merce or manufactures, the end has been attained to the general 
 satisfaction of all concerned, and you have received assurances from 
 persons the best qualified to give them, that matters may, without 
 much difficulty, be soon accommodated so as no trading place may be 
 left underany hardship, or exposed to any danger from that quarter. I 
 gladly embrace the opportunity that naturally here presents itself 
 of declaring, that the gentlemen for whose assistance your commit- 
 tee found necessary to call, gave it with cheerfulness and assiduity, 
 and with very acceptable tokens of zeal for the honour and sanctifi- 
 cation of the Lord's Day. I u-ill not dissemble, Riyht Reverend 
 and Right Honourable, that in my private thoughts I have been a good 
 deal straitened , whether I should be altogether silent concerning the 
 undue heats and personal animosities which, I say with heavy regret, 
 have been but too visible and frequent since we came together.* 
 This is a very tender point, and to touch it rightly, would require 
 a far more masterly hand than mine. But as the place where, by 
 your authority, I stand, will plead for my using more freedom 
 than might otherwise be becoming in me to assume, or allowed by 
 you, I shall only say these few Mords. Would to God no occasion 
 of this kind had been given to grieve our friends, or to please such 
 as wait for our halting. Such things always do, and must detract 
 in some measure, from the respect and authority of our Courts. I 
 have no intention, God is my witness, to disparage or cast reproach 
 upon any. Allow me, then, in that sacred name which we all re- 
 vere, to obtest every one who upon recollection shall be conscious 
 of having exceeded in this way, to keep both his heart and the door 
 of his lips with greater diligence on all future occasions. Allow 
 me to obtest such, (unless their own goodness of heart has not al- 
 ready prevented,) to lay aside and bury all rancour, to carry home 
 no remnant of wrath, or bitterness, but to seize all opportunities of 
 making it manifest that they have put on the bowels of mutual love, 
 and that charity which is the bond of perfectness. To spectators I 
 
 * He no doubt refers to the debate on the Kilconquhar case, and specially to the 
 speech of Witherspoon, p. 201 . 
 
ADDRESS OP PROFESSOR HAMILTON. 401 
 
 shall only say, that from the incidental heats which are, humanly 
 speaking, unavoidable in great Assemblies, where matters of doubt- 
 ful disputations are debated, nothing can be more unreasonable and 
 injurious, than to form opinions and draw harsh conclusions con- 
 cerning the temper and general character of any who, being men of 
 like passions with others, may be hurried occasionally into some 
 indecencies or excesses, which argue in reality no more than is 
 true of us all, that they have not attained, neither are already per- 
 fect. Permit me, my Reverend Fathers and Brethren, whilst, with a 
 heartfelt pleasure and justice, to you I observe, that in your con- 
 duct during the course of this Assembly, many marks of your zeal 
 for the honour of God and the interest of religion have appeared, to 
 stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, by noticing, in a 
 word, that the great end of the pastoral office is to inculcate the 
 doctrines of our holy Christian faith, and to enforce, both by ex- 
 hortation and example, the practice of pure and undefiled religion. 
 Our meeting in judicatories, supreme and subordinate, is indeed 
 necessary on many accounts, and therefore, it is our duty to attend 
 on thtm and to employ such talents as our Great Master hath in- 
 trusted with us in that branch of his service ; but the more con- 
 stant ol)ject of the pastoral care is, to instruct the ignorant, to re- 
 claim the vicious and erroneous, to build up the saints in their 
 most holy faith, and to warn every man and teach every man in all 
 wisdom, that we may present many perfect in Christ Jesu=. Under 
 such impressions let each of us return to, and resume the discharge 
 of our stated and ordinary duty in the Church of* God. Permit 
 me farther to put you in mind, that as we have met and sat under 
 the protection of our most gracious Sovereign, (whom, may God 
 abundantly bless and long preserve,) as this Church have received 
 most honourable and distinguishing marks of his royal favour on all 
 occasions, we are under indispensable obligations to cherish within 
 ourselves, and to propagate in our fellow-subjects, the most affec- 
 tionate loyalty to his person and government. Let us discharge 
 this part of our duty with that ardent zeal which becomes our 
 reiterated professions, and the full persuasion that we all have that 
 our sacred and civil interests do, under God, depend on the firm 
 establishment of his throne. Can we recollect, without feeling the 
 strongest emotions of gratitude, the liberty, peace, and safety, 
 which this National Church has enjoyed during the whole course of 
 his glorious and auspicious reign, and, indeed, ever since the happy 
 accession of his illustrious family to the throne of these realms. 
 Let the remembrance of the loyal and dutiful address you have 
 sent to bis Majesty enforce all this with peculiar strength. Having 
 said so much on topics of so high a nature, it would ill become me, 
 Right Reverend and Right Honourable, to detain you with much 
 concerning myself. I shall, therefore, only add, that I am deeply 
 conscious of my own unworthiness to fill your chair, and afraid lest 
 this may have been but too obvious. My only apology is, that I 
 have endeavoured to execute this trust to the best of my power. I 
 jl12 
 
402 APPENDIX. 
 
 may have offended, but have never done so intentionally, and of 
 all who may think I have given reason to complain, I humbly ask 
 forgiveness." 
 
 1 761. Dr John Hyndman of Edinburgh, — He was for some time 
 one of the ministers of the West Kirk, whence he was translated 
 to Lady Tester's. When comparatively a young man, he took an 
 active part in Church business, and became noted for his keen par- 
 tisanship on the moderate side. I conjecture him to have been the 
 author of the pamphlet, entitled " A Just View of the Constitution 
 of the Church of Scotland," which appeared in 1753, in reference 
 to the Inverkeithing settlement, and which called forth the " Ec- 
 clesiastical Characteristics" of Witberspoon. (See the former 
 volume, p. 242, notc.^ In Hyndman's address to the Assembly, 
 1761, he made an apologetic allusion to this part of bis former 
 history, admitting that " the heat of youth, inexperience, and 
 rashness, might have led him to engage in measures which a wiser 
 and cooler man would have guarded against." 
 
 Dr Hyndman was King's Almoner for Scotland. In 1760 he 
 was deputed, along with Dr Dick, to visit the Highlands and Islands. 
 (See p. 196.) He selected, as his Celtic colleague on that occa- 
 sion, Mr Duncan Macfarlane of Drymen, who likewise accompa- 
 nied him to London in April 1 762, to present the Commission's 
 address to the King on the occasion of his marriage. 
 
 Dr Hyndman died on the 18th August 1762, while still in the 
 vigour of life. In his address when Moderator the previous year, 
 he remarked that the Assembly had chosen in him *' a younger man 
 and younger minister than had ever filled the chair before." The 
 vacancy in Lady Tester's church, caused by his death, gave rise to 
 the litigation in the ecclesiastical and civil courts, of which a re- 
 port has been given at p. 268. 
 
 All Dr Hyndman's official addresses will be found in the present 
 volume under the year 1761. 
 
 1762. Dr Robert T,aill of Glasgow. — He was minister of 
 Banff, when in 1761 he was appointed to succeed Mr James Bu- 
 chanan as Professor of Oriental Languages in the University of 
 Glasgow. But he had scarcely been nominated when the Profes- 
 sorship of Divinity became vacant by Leechman becoming Princi- 
 pal, and in that chair Traill succeeded him. He died the 19th 
 October 1775. 
 
 The following was the closing address of Dr Traill : — 
 " Right Reverend and Right Honourable, — You have, by the bless- 
 ing of God, happily finished the affairs which have come before 
 you either by deciding them yourselves, or by referring them to 
 your Commission, with proper instructions. Before I proceed to 
 execute the remaining duty of the chair, 1 beg leave to express the 
 just sense I entertain of the honour you have been pleased unani- 
 
ADDRESS OF DR TRAILL. 403 
 
 mously to confer upon me, by calling me to it. I can very honestly 
 acquit myself of any intentional failing in that respect and atten- 
 tion that is due to any member of this house ; and I rely upon 
 your candour and generosity to forgive those involuntary mistakes 
 and inadvertencies which, 1 am afraid, have been not a few. 
 
 "I beg leave to congratulate you upon the unanimity, the temper 
 and moderation, which you have shown during the course of this 
 meeting. You have wisely discouraged those causeless prejudices 
 which are often taken against worthy persons presented to vacant 
 benefices, especially as the law puts it out of your power to grant 
 relief, even though these complaints were better founded than they 
 generally are. At the same time, you have shown a becoming re- 
 gard to the rights of conscience and the ends of edification in other 
 cases where the relief demanded was clearly in your power. You 
 have made a decision * of great consequence in all trials before the 
 judicatories of this Church, — sensible of the danger that must arise 
 from any transgression of those equitable forms of law which are 
 the best security of innocence from injustice and oppression. You 
 have expressly enjoined all inferior judicatories to allow the de- 
 fender a proof of all facts or circumstances which he shall judge to 
 have any tendency to exculpate or alleviate. 
 
 " In pursuance of the recommendation with which his Majesty 
 was pleased to honour us by his High Commissioner, you have 
 appointed a committee to assist and direct Presbyteries in the dis- 
 charge of their duty, — in putting the laws in execution with respect 
 to parish churches, manses, and schools. I am sure you heartily join 
 with me in the most grateful sentiments to his Majesty for his 
 generous attention to the concerns of this Church and of her minis- 
 ters; and I make no doubt of your entertaining in the like manner 
 a just sense of his gracious goodness in undertaking to represent 
 your proceedings upon this subject in the most favourable manner 
 to his royal master. You have likewise passed an act against dilapida- 
 tions, which have proved so hurtful to the just and legal main- 
 tenance of the parochial clergy. 
 
 " These several proceedings reflect honour upon you, the authors 
 of them, and I hope they shall be followed by the happiest conse- 
 quences. I am indeed ashamed to speak to such a reverend, learn- 
 ed, and honourable audience in the style of advice or injunction, 
 and I beg you would consider what I have to offer this way, as in 
 a manner extorted from me by the duty of that office which I have 
 the honour, through your favour, to sustain. 
 
 " Having been assembled for some time about the public afifairs 
 of the Church, we are now to return to our more particular sta- 
 tions of service ; and I make no doubt of your frequently recollect- 
 ing the strong obligations you lie under to apply yourselves with 
 vigour and assiduity to the important duties of your function ; to 
 feed the flock of God with that substantial food by which their 
 souls may be nourished to eternal life; to teach them the whole- 
 
 * Dr Traill is not quite correct ; it was merely an overture. 
 
404 APPENDIX. 
 
 some words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine which is 
 according to godliness ; not handling the word of God deceitfully, 
 but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every 
 man's conscience, in the sight of God ; and giving weight to our 
 instructions by a correspondent example, in all things showing our- 
 selves patterns of good works. 
 
 " You will readily perceive that this is the only way to acquire 
 esteem and honour from men, the only way to secure that heart- 
 felt satisfaction which results from the consciousness of doing our 
 duty; and, above all, this is the only way to obtain the approbation 
 of our great Master, whose favour is better than life itself. 
 
 " Indeed, we have nothing but our learning and our virtue to 
 support us. We have no other way left to be eminent. Let us 
 beware of parting with either the one or the other. From that 
 moment we may date our ruin. But with these associates we shall 
 be able to hold up our heads before the world, and to maintain, by 
 the blessing of God, a character of usefulness, and even of dignity. 
 Learning can by no means be dispensed with in a clergyman at any 
 time, and still less at this time. It is absolutely necessary to en- 
 able us to combat and bear down infidelity, as well as every species 
 of false religion, whether it assume the form of bigotry, of super- 
 stition, or of enthusiasm. This Church hath happily acquired some 
 distinction in the learned world. Thanks to the genius and learn- 
 ing of some of her sons, who have accustomed our ears to the voice 
 of literary fame. What pity would it be if this should prove in the 
 issue but a transient and perishing acquisition ! How mortifying 
 the reflection, that the world, perhaps, gives us more credit this way 
 than we are able to answer ! Let this stir us up to what I may 
 call a pious jealousy of our character in this respect, and to take 
 every proper method to secure, and, if possible, to increase it. The 
 law gives you all the power you can desire, as judges of the quali- 
 fications of candidates for the sacred office. You are not only 
 judges of the abilities, literature, and morals of persons presented 
 to vacant benefices, but, what is of much more consequence, you 
 are judges of those qualities before they become capable of being 
 presented. So that, if the Church shall, at any time hereafter, 
 fall into disgrace, from the ignorance, weakness, or wickedness of 
 her ministers, the Church herself, to her no small additional sorrow 
 and mortification, must likewise bear all the blame." 
 
 He then congratulated the Assembly on the flourishing state of 
 public affairs, by the blessing of God upon his majesty's arms ; and, 
 in inculcating loyalty and affection to the sovereign, said, " Let us 
 call upon the people to join with us in blessing God for giving us 
 a king who supports religion, no less by his character than by his 
 authority, — who will endure no wicked thing before his eyes, — and 
 who walks before his people in the paths of piety and virtue." 
 
 1763. Dr William Robertson, Edinburgh. > 
 
 1764. Dr Alexander Gerard, Aberdeen. 3 
 
 Of men so well known as Robertson and Gerard, it seems un- 
 
ADDRESS OP DR GERARD. 405 
 
 necessary to present any particular account. Had our limits allow- 
 ed, we would have inserted the sketch of the ecclesir\stical policy 
 pursued by the former, which was drawn up by Principal Hill, and 
 revised by Drs Blair, Carlyle, and Grieve ; it is to be found in 
 Dugald Stewart's Life of Robertson, * a work which we may pre- 
 sume to be as generally accessible as it is justly admired. The 
 reader may compare Mancreijf's Life of Erskine, pp. 233, 462. 
 None of Dr Robertson's addresses from the modeiatorial chair seem 
 to have been preserved. 
 
 The following was Dr Gerard's address at the close of the As- 
 sembly 1764 :—" Right Reverend and Right Honourable, the time 
 now approaches when this Assembly must be dissolved. When I 
 rise up to speak to you on this occasion, it is impossible for me 
 not to begin with acknowledging the honour you have conferred 
 upon me, by placing me in the chair where I <iow stand,— an 
 honour which I am sensible neither my abilities nor mv experience 
 ever gave me any claim to ; but which, unexpected and undeserv- 
 ed, your harmonious choice decreed for me. Conscious as I am, 
 that I have sincerely endeavoured to maintain that coolness and im- 
 partiality which becomes this chair, and that respect which I have 
 to my very Reverend Fathers and Brethren, and to the honourable 
 members of this house, I, nevertheless, cannot venture to flatter 
 myself that I have not, tbroujjh weakness or want of recollection, 
 fallen into many mistakes, which it was my wish and mv intention 
 to have avoided. It is my happiness that your candour will judge 
 of me by the goodness of my intentions, notwithstanding the im- 
 perfection of my execution. I am assured of it by the indulgence 
 and the assistance which I have all along received from you, and 
 of which I shall ever retain a grateful sense. What I had no' per- 
 sonal authority to command, your own regard to propriety has in- 
 duced you to give, of your own accord, to the office with which 
 you have invested me. In the multiplicity of causes which have 
 come under your deliberation, there have been several which, by 
 reason of their extensive consequences and other circumstances,' are 
 deeply interesting to this whole Church. The uniformity of your 
 decisions, and the consistence of the opinions delivered by indivi- 
 duals, have been remarkable, and is a strong proof that you chuse 
 your part from real conviction and the sense of justice. I hope 
 your determinations have been such as will tend to prevent, in 
 future instances, those heats and fruitless oppositions which draw 
 off the minds of the people from the substantial duties of religion. 
 A fixed constitution well understood, is the parent of peace and 
 order, and a continifed uniformity of judgments is not only the 
 honour of the Court which gives them, but the great mean of fix- 
 ing their constitution and making it to be understood. So much 
 has been said in the course of your debates concerning the law of 
 patronage, that it would perhaps be scarce excusable in me to be 
 altogether silent on that topic. It has been called a hard law, but 
 
 * At p. 159 of the octavo edition. 
 
406 APPENDIX. 
 
 however it is a law, and if it be hard, that is the strongest reason 
 possible for our doing nothing to render it harder. By willing and 
 resolute submission, things grievous in themselves often become 
 supportable, but a yoke is always made to gall the deeper by in- 
 effectual struggles to throw it off. I pretend not to an extensive 
 knowledge of the history of our Church, but in our present situa- 
 tion, it is certainly worth while to inquire by the light which that 
 history affords, Whether, ever since our happy reformation from 
 Popery, patronages have, or have not, been a part of the constitu- 
 tion of the Presbyterian Church ? Whether our forefatkers, in the 
 period of which we boast, did, or did not, submit to them ^\^thout 
 reluctance ? Whether they were, or were not, first rendered dis- 
 agreeable, by being employed for subverting the Presbyterian con- 
 stitution ; and if it was so, whether the aversion which was excited 
 against them by their being thus employed, has not been heedlessly 
 continued after they have come to be employed in the service of 
 the Church? I only propose these, with all humility, as questions 
 deserving a careful and dispassionate examination, as questions 
 capable of a certain determination from the authentic records of 
 history, and as questions, the determination of which would lead 
 us to perceive, whether the opposition which prevails in many 
 places against the powers with which patrons are by law invested, 
 proceed from an essential principle of Presbytery, or from an un- 
 happy prejudice retained after that situation ceased which gave 
 occasion to it. If these questions should be resolved in that way, 
 which the decisions of this Assembly have supposed to be truth, I 
 need not mention the conduct to which it would naturally lead 
 both the ministers of the Gospel and all who have influence with 
 the people. But even though they should be resolved in the other 
 way, it would still be our duty to endeavour to remove the preju- 
 dices of the people against what we cannot deliver them from ; it 
 would be our duty to inculcate on them their obligation to submit 
 to the law while they enjoy the protection of the law ; and while, 
 to the authority by which it is enacted, they owe the security of 
 so many valuable privileges, to represent to them how much ques- 
 tions of this sort be without their sphere, how much more impor- 
 tant is it to bestow all their zeal on the practice of true virtue, 
 than to spend it in contentions about matters of doubtful disputa- 
 tion, and how much more they are concerned in the character and 
 abilities of a minister, than in the particular manner of his settle- 
 ment. Our situation with respect to patronage puts me in mind 
 to recommend to you another duty of great importance, which is, 
 indeed, incumbent on us in every situation, and binding upon us by 
 the most sacred ties. It is to be very strict in examining the char- 
 acter and abilities of those who are licensed to preach the Gospel. 
 Great is the difference of abilities, and congregations are different ; 
 yet I am persuaded, that no man who is fully qualifi^ed to preach 
 the Gospel in any one place, can be absolutely unfit for preaching 
 it with decency in every place. If you license only such as are 
 unblamable, and possessed of the intellectual and moral character 
 
ADDRESS OF DR GERARD. 407 
 
 which the pastoral office requires, you will not be partakers of 
 other men's sin. Either, there will be no opposition from the 
 people, or their oppositions will not be chargeable to you. It 
 would be unpardonable in me not to take notice of the moderation, 
 decency, and order with which your debates have been carried on. 
 In every question, you have expressed your sentiments with a be- 
 coming freedom. You have enforced them by reasoning with a 
 degree of warmth, which sliowed they were the real sentiments of 
 your hearts ; and permit me to say, that I can recollect very few 
 opinions proposed which have not been supported by arguments so 
 plausible, that they might confessedly beget conviction in an 
 honest mind. You have listened on all sides to the opposite argu- 
 ments of your brethren ; you have examined them with candour, 
 and you have avoided throwing blame on those whom you could 
 not convince. In the conduct of all, your firm adherence to what 
 you reckoned truth, and your readine:«s to allow others to act the 
 same part, have been eminently united. It has been an example 
 and a proof of the perfect consistence of zeal and moderation. You 
 will allow me further to observe, that many of your brethren have 
 had occasion, in diflferent questions, to appear before you in the 
 character of parties ; and to mention to their honour, that almost 
 in all these questions, and very remarkably in one question relating 
 to this metropolis, ' they appeared vyith all the candour, temper, 
 and decorum which would have become them if they had sat as 
 judges. The inoffensive and mild spirit of Christianity has appear- 
 ed among you in no inconsiderable degree ; let that spirit be car- 
 ried home by each, and preserved by all in their ordinary conduct. 
 It will render you amiable and venerable to your people and to 
 mankind, and it will greatly promote those important interests of 
 religion, in a concern for promoting which I trust the hearts of all 
 of us are united. I have thus suggested such admonitions regard- 
 ing our duty, as seemed to arise most naturally from the business 
 that has been before you. I cannot prevail upon myself to add to 
 the fatigues you have already undergone, by enlarging in exhorta- 
 tions of a more general kind. We ought both to pursue intellec- 
 tual accomplishments, and to cultivate moral and Christian virtue. 
 Ignorance renders a minister contemptible ; knowledge will not 
 only fit us for discharging our several duties, but will procure us 
 that respect from men which adds weight to our ministrations. 
 Every vice will be in us detestable ; the more open vices will ex- 
 pose us to the abhorrence of all. The whole spirit of our office is 
 directly repugnant to them. Some vices of a more secret kind, 
 and capable of a more easy disguise, have been sometimes said to 
 flow from the spirit of that office. This may escape the notice of 
 the generality, or may even procure approbation from the weak and 
 the prejudiced, but they will give our more subtle enemies the 
 greatest advantage against us, and the most plausible occasion to 
 revile religion on our account. Every virtue is necessary for giv- 
 
 » The Case of Lady Yester's Church, p. 268. 
 
408 APPENDIX. 
 
 ing a lustre to our character, nay, even for preserving us from cen- 
 sure. We must not only comply with strict obligations, but like- 
 wise observe the more delicate rules of propriety. 
 
 " A concern for the interests of religion arises from a sense of its 
 importance, united with a warm benevolence to the minds of men, 
 and cherished by fervent piety. We should be possessed with this 
 concern, and actuated by it; we should be diligent in teaching pure 
 and genuine Christianity ; we should inculcate both its doctrines 
 and its duties upon ourselves and upon the people. They stand in 
 the closest connection. The precepts of the Gospel deserve our 
 obligations, and its doctrines are motives or means of fulfilling them. 
 It is by attention to the former that the exertions of our virtues 
 can be rendered regular and legitimate ; and it is by the influence 
 of the latter that the principle from which they proceed becomes 
 pure and Christian. We are soon to return to our several homes. 
 Let us always by example, and, whenever we have an opportunity, 
 by instruction, recommend piety and virtue to mankind. Let us 
 inculcate not only the general duties to which they are obliged as 
 creatures and as Christians, but also those duties which are incum- 
 bent on them as subjects. We are the members of a Church estab- 
 lished by law ; we are blessed with an excellent constitution of 
 government, and with a wise and virtuous king who reveres the 
 constitution. Let us recommend to the people, so far as our in- 
 fluence reaches, loyalty to our king, and attachment to our consti- 
 tution. In former days our liberties were sometimes in danger from 
 princes setting themselves above the law, and in these days our fore- 
 fathers boldly set themselves against the usurpation and vindicated 
 the honour of the laws. Now the danger ari?es from another quarter ; 
 it is from faction and licentiousness in the people that we have rea- 
 son to apprehend an attack upon our liberties. To resist this attack 
 with the bravery of our forefathers is the part that belongs to us. 
 We can resist it successfully only by following the same course 
 which they followed, by being champions for the laws. Without 
 laws liberty cannot possibly subsist, but must be like a helpless 
 orphan, destitute of a patron and a friend. To instigate us there- 
 fore to enforce reverence for the laws, love of liberty ought to join 
 its force with principles of loyalty. You have now determined in 
 many of the causes which have come before you, and referred the rest 
 of them to your Commission ; and as this Assembly meet in the 
 name and by the authority of Jesus Christ our great Lord and Mas- 
 ter, and the Head and King of the Chiistian Church, so it becomes 
 us to separate in the same manner ; and accordingly in the same 
 sacred name and authority this Assembly is dissolved, and the 
 next Assembly is indited to meet in this place upon the twenty- 
 third day of May one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five years, 
 being the fourth Thursday of that moiith. I am sure that I have 
 your commands to turn to his grace his Majesty's High Commissioner, 
 and return him hearty thanks, in your name, for his favour to the 
 Assembly." 
 Then turning to his grace the Commissioner he addressed him in 
 
ADDRESS OP DR GERARD. 409 
 
 the Assembly's name as follows : — '* May it please your Grace, with 
 the sincerest pleasure I obey the commands of the General Assem- 
 bly to return, in their name, the most thankful acknowledgments to 
 your Grace for the favour with which you have been pleased to 
 honour them. The great number and the important nature of the 
 causes brought before this Assembly, has made us stand in need of 
 more than ordinary indulgence from your Grace, as it has often pro- 
 tracted our meeting to an unusual length. Justice obliges us to 
 OUT! that this indulgence has contributed greatly to our being able 
 to bring so great a variety of matters to a conclusion ; and that 
 your Grace's attention to our proceedings, and attention from know- 
 ledge of our ecclesiastical constitution, from love to it and from 
 concern for the interests of religion and the order of society, has 
 conduced greatly to promote the decency and regularity of our 
 debates in this Assembly. Different sentiments have been main- 
 tained — we own it. An accurate uniformity of opinions on all things 
 can take place only among those who do not think for themselves. 
 But I am persuaded that your Grace's candour will impute our dif- 
 ferences only to that manly spirit of liberty which is essential to 
 the religion of Protestants, and friendly to every virtue ; and that 
 you will be disposed to think, that in general the opinions proposed 
 have been supported chiefly by arguments, and urged by no greater 
 warmth than may fairly arise from the firm conviction of an honest 
 mind, and from the concern of a good man, for what appears to him 
 to be concerned with the interests of religion. We flatter ourselves, 
 likewise, that some instances have occurred, in the course of our 
 debates, of candour, moderation, temper, and decorum worthy of 
 praise and worthy of imitation. We hope that no part of our con- 
 duct will represent us to your Grace in any other light than that 
 of loyal subjects, friends to religion, and dutiful sons to the Church 
 of Scotland as by law established. And we trust that our deter- 
 minations have been such as tend to confirm our constitution, and 
 to give the laws relating to it due force. The confidence which 
 we placed in your Grace's favourable declarations, made at the be- 
 ginning of this Assembly, though then most entire and unreserved, 
 has been greatly confirmed by our own experiesces in the course 
 of our meeting. By this we are encouraged to hope that your Grace 
 wiW be pleased to represent to his Majesty the conduct of this As- 
 sembly with regard to the interests of religion and the peace and order 
 of the country, in as favourable a light as truth permits. We flatter 
 ourselves that our future endeavours to promote loyalty, virtue, and 
 religion, either in our private capacities, or in our constitutional 
 Assemblies, so far as they may fall under your observation, will re- 
 ceive that degree of approbation which they shall deserve, and that 
 in your Grace the Church of Scotland will always find a patron and 
 a friend. May it please your Grace, we shall always reckon ourselves 
 bound in duty and in gratitude to offer up our fervent prayers to 
 God that you may more enjoy that happiness which arises from 
 pure virtue, unaffected piety, and the consciousness of eminent 
 usefulness, and that your good services to your country and to the 
 M m 
 
410 APPENDIX. 
 
 Church of God may be rewarded with all blessings, spiritual and 
 temporal, poured down from heaven upon you and your family in 
 this world, and with everlasting life in the world to come." 
 
 1765. Dr James Oswald of Methven Of this gentleman, a 
 
 short notice was given in the former volume, p. 185, note. His 
 closing address follows : — " Your thoughts have been so long and 
 so intensely employed on concerns of importance, that I should be 
 shy of turning your attention to a subject so little deserving your 
 notice ; but that I cannot dispense with rendering you my grateful 
 and respectful acknowledgments for an honour you hare done me 
 so much beyond my merit, and so foreign to my thoughts ; which 
 I accepted with timidity, and under which I must have sunk if I 
 had not been supported by the same goodness from whence it was 
 derived. Beside the assistance afforded me from the advice of 
 those Reverend Brethren who had gone before me, my defects were 
 supplied and covered, and my way made open and easy by the 
 judgment and candour of your proceedings. The variety of your 
 councils have enlarged and improved my understanding, and the 
 spirit with which you conducted them hath filled my heart with 
 joy ; and, as I found myself under a strict obligation to give an 
 uncommon attention to the course of your debates, 1 shall quit this 
 honourable station with a higher idea of the excellency of your 
 constitution than I could otherwise have reached. Much of your 
 time has been occupied by subjects that it were to be wished had 
 never come before you; but you have given them a treatment 
 which will prevent their doing so often. The frailty of human 
 nature does not allow of that purity of manners in every individual 
 which the sacred office requires, but the spirit of the Church of 
 Scotland, when excited, will maintain its character in this as it did 
 ia former times. It is now no longer possible to render our ser- 
 vices acceptable to mankind, by that distant and solemn behaviour 
 so much revered in those who came before us; and it must, for 
 some time, be difficult to unite dignity with ease, and the charms 
 of a free and open conversation with the purity and circumspection 
 so essential to our character. As, in departing from the inflexible 
 severity by which our predecessors stood the most violent assaults, 
 and in adopting that amiable complaisance which suits the genius 
 of the age, and so well becomes our profession, some mistakes 
 must have been committed even by the wise and circumspect, so 
 we are not to wonder that thoughtless and inconsiderate men should 
 be seduced thereby into the hope of an indulgence, which the 
 Church of Scotland will not grant. But you undeceived them. 
 The same object will appear in different lights to different under- 
 standings. But my Reverend Fathers and Brethren of the Church 
 of Scotland cannot hesitate long about the treatment due to those 
 who are found to dishonour the sacred character, because this fide- 
 lity and uprightness of your hearts will unite you in measures which 
 you all acknowledge to be necessary for the preservation and secu- 
 rity of those interests which are your great object. You have 
 
ADDRESS OF DR OSWALD. 411 
 
 tempered severity with mercy, and zeal with moderation. We are 
 favoured with a form of ecclesiastical government corresponding to 
 the best and most perfect constitution of civil government, which 
 gives full scope to a generous freedom in what is right, and checks, 
 at the same time, licentiousness of every kind. Our hands are 
 strengthened by the concurrence of honourable members, descend- 
 ants of those noble families who hazarded their lives and fortunes 
 in maintaining our civil and sacred rights, and erecting and support- 
 ing this excellent fabric ; and we should be the most v.orthless of 
 the human kind, if we sacrificed it to low designs, or suffered its 
 essential privileges to be invaded for the sake of temporary gratifi- 
 cations. No ! I do not insinuate the least suspicion of any such 
 baseness. My Reverend Fathers and Brethren will go on to do 
 justice to their character, and to make it shine with new lustre. 
 Indeed, perfection is not to be reached in the meanest offices of life, 
 and ought not to be expected in the highest and most arduous; but 
 when you make an estimate of the advantages you enjoy, and the 
 aids with which you are furnished, it will not be in your power to 
 fix the point where you ought, or where, consistently with a sense 
 of duty, you can stop in your progress toward perfection. Ye act 
 under the eye of the Father of mercies, who compassionates your 
 manifold infirmities ; under the patronage of his only Son, who ap- 
 pears in bis presence as the High Priest of our profession ; under 
 the direction of the Spirit of Truth, who hath undertaken to guide 
 into all truth. Ye act under the protection of the best and most 
 amiable of Princes, who calls upon you to exert yourselves in your 
 office, and hath assured you of his countenance and favour. You 
 have the countenance of men of rank and taste, who rejoice in 
 every advance you make in literature and virtue. You have the 
 good will and kind aftVction of a body of people, who will love, and 
 reverence, and follow you in proportion as you keep to the steps 
 of your divine leader; and, let me add, you act in the sight, and 
 under the observation, of a considerable body, icho, though they have 
 withdrawn from our communion, have not deserted the cause we pur- 
 sue, and whose hearts, be assured, are not impregnable, however 
 erroneous they may be in their judgment. And 1 need not add what 
 your own thoughts will suggest, that ye act with the prospect of 
 an approbation and reward of your labours, exceeding the utmost 
 stretch of your desires and exf)ectations. Animated with these 
 views, judge with yourselves where you can stop your progress 
 toward that perfection in virtue to which you are called. The 
 many interpositions of Providence in favour of the Church of Scot- 
 land, in former times, are sufficient to counterbalance those fears 
 you entertain, and are indeed entertained by all thinking men, con- 
 cerning the manner in which their places will be filled up. It is 
 apparent to all, that a liberal turn of mind, opened and enlarged by 
 the knowledge of books, and of men animated with piety and adorn- 
 ed with the virtues and graces of conversation, is now mOre than 
 ever necessary to give success to our m.inistry among a people who 
 make a rapid progress in all the politer acts, and is not to be ex- 
 
412 APPENDIX. 
 
 pected from those of low condition and in straitened circumstances. 
 But you are not to think, that men of enlarged views and generous 
 sentiments will suffer our office to come into the hands of those 
 who, in place of being qualified to promote its end, will be found 
 the ready tools of ill-designing men in their attempts on the liber- 
 ties and rights of mankind. Our fellow-citizens have, through the 
 blessing of God on their laudable industry, arrived at a consider- 
 able height of opulence and elegance ; and, as they are not ignorant 
 that the clergy of Scotland have always been distinguished, and 
 are still ready to distinguish themselves, by their zeal for the in- 
 terest of religion and the liberties of mankind, so you ought to 
 believe that they put too great value on those interests, to grudge 
 a little expense to support our order in a creditable independence. 
 We are happily stripped of all the implements of pomp and luxury, 
 and of every branch of civil power, and reduced to the single power 
 of subduing the heart by the force of truth, by which, however, 
 we are capable of rendering eminent service to the public ; and, to 
 attain that skill in the highest degree possible, ought therefore to 
 be the chief concern of the ministers of the Gospel. It hath, in- 
 deed, been matter of surprise to many, that the persuasion so labo- 
 riously studied by the patriots of Greece and Rome, should be so 
 neglected by those who are engaged in a yet more noble and arduous 
 task ; and it must give joy to those who are going off the stage, to 
 see their successors in the way of attaining accomplishments which 
 they could never reach. But my younger brethren will indulge 
 me the liberty of putting them in mind, that whilst they are stu- 
 dious of attaining every accomplishment which belongs to their 
 office, they ought to lay the stress of their success on the intrinsic 
 force of that system of truth, so fitly represented as the engine 
 devised by infinite wisdom, and set on motion by almighty power, 
 for captivating the thoughts and affections of the human heart. In 
 which system, if you can do it tolerable justice, you will find powers 
 of persuasion far exceeding those possessed by the Greek or Ro- 
 man orators. The eloquence of Greece and Rome did form, con- 
 duct, and support great and mighty states, under plans of govern- 
 ment the most beautiful and perfect the world ever saw till the 
 British constitution appeared. But the system of which I speak 
 hath, under the influence and direction of the Fountain of all truth, 
 subdued nations, baffled the opposition of mighty empires, barbar- 
 ous and civilized, and triumphed over folly and vice from age to 
 age, and sits triumphant, and to the end of time will sit triumphant, 
 over the malice of devils and wicked men. Your great business, 
 then, is day by day to get a more intimate and extensive knowledge 
 of this system of truth, to feel its power, and to make others feel 
 it. We have trifled too long with sceptics ; let us remit their 
 subtlety to the schools, and, assuming the dignity which belongs to 
 our office, let us present the human understanding with truth 
 which no man of sense will gainsay, and the human heart with 
 motives which no man of probity will resist. And aided and sup- 
 ported by that secret influence and co-operation of God, which it 
 
ADDRESS OF DR OSWALD. 413 
 
 would be injurious and impious to doubt of, let us endeavour to 
 exhibit in our temper and manners, and in the temper and manners 
 of those committed to our care, the only unanswerable proof of the 
 divine original of the doctrine we teach. However unnecessary 
 it may appear, I cannot forbear recommending to you, to return 
 from this place with hearts full of gratitude to God for the best con- 
 stitution of government, civil and ecclesiastical, under the patronage 
 and protection of the most amiable of princes ; for that spirit ct 
 liberty, of equity, of industry, and of universal benevolence which 
 reigns among us ; begging, at the same time, that, by an unshaken 
 confidence in God, accompanied with a holy fear of offending, you 
 will contribute your utmost endeavours to perpetuate these blessings 
 to the latest posterity. As this Assembly met in the name and by 
 the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King and Head of the 
 Christian Church, so in the same name, and by the same authority, 
 this Assembly is dissolved." 
 
 Then turning to his Grace the Commissioner, he addressed him 
 in the Assembly's name as follows, viz. : — *' May it please your 
 Grace, I gladly accept the office of rendering to your Grace the 
 acknowledgments of this Venerable Assembly, for the countenance 
 you have given to their proceedings, and of begging your Grace to 
 believe that our sense of it corresponds to the endearing manner 
 in which you represent the sacred person of our amiable Sovereign. 
 Your Grace hath submitted with cheerfulness to many inconve- 
 niences attending the office assigned to you by his Majesty, and 
 hath given us repeated proofs of the kind indulgence we are en- 
 couraged to expect from our Gracious Sovereign. Your serious 
 and impartial attention to our deliberations hath been accompan- 
 ied with an unfeigned coTicern for the great interests we have in 
 view; and we are hereby confirmed in the belief of a truth which 
 occurs to common observation, that they who are cordial in the 
 worship and obedience of God, are the best and firmest friends to 
 the ministers of religion ; and must observe, at the same time, that 
 in proportion as those of rank and power are endued with exten- 
 sive views of the interests of society, and of the interest and honour 
 of the country, they will give attention to the concerns of the 
 Church. Little minds consider our order as a burden on the State, 
 and view every privilege conferred on us as foreign to its glory and 
 prosperity ; but your Grace will believe, that they who have ac- 
 cess in public and private to form the minds and manners of the 
 people, ought not to be regarded as the least considerable members 
 of society, and that the right discharge of their office is of great 
 moment to the public. Sorry we are that your Grace's delicacy 
 should be hurt by those disagreeable but necessary inquiries which 
 have been made into the characters of offending brethren ; but your 
 Grace will be pleased to observe, that the instances are new and 
 uncommon, and we trust in your Grace's candour, to believe that 
 no care shall be wanting to redress this evil. When we give up 
 the purity of manners by which the Church of Scotland has been 
 long distinguished, we shall justly forfeit the esteem of the public ; 
 
 M M 2 
 
414 APPENDIX. 
 
 but whilst we continue to take proper measures for maintaining 
 the dignity of our character, for rendering our ministry subservient 
 to the happiness of mankind, we will promise ourselves the protec- 
 tion of his Majesty, and the friendship and favour of all who have 
 a true discernment of the welfare of the public. We beg and hope 
 your Grace will be pleased to represent to his Majesty, our zealous 
 and firm attachment to his Majesty's person, family, and govern- 
 ment ; our utter detestation of licentiousness, and hearty concern 
 for those rights and privileges of free Britons, whereof his Majesty 
 is the guardian and protector. And it is our determined purpose, 
 wdth the help of God, to diffuse among the people intrusted to our 
 care, those principles'! of religion and loyalty which are conducive 
 to the happiness of his subjects, and to the glory and prosperity of 
 his Majesty's government." 
 
 1766. Dr John Hamilton of Glasgow. — He was minister, first 
 of the Barony, and then of the High Church, of Glasgow. Sir 
 Henry MoncreifF* says of him, " that he was as eminent for the 
 soundness and vigour of his understanding, as for the steadiness 
 and respectability of his pastoral character." None of his addresses 
 are upon record. 
 
 IV. — List of Ministers who Preached before the High 
 Commissioner. 
 
 1753. John Hamilton, Glasgow. 
 William Robertson, Gladsmuir. 
 James Baine, Killearn. 
 David Hunter, Monimail. 
 
 1754. John Warden, Perth. 
 John Drysdale, Kirkliston. 
 William Home, f Polwarth. 
 Thomas Scott, Cavers. 
 
 1755. James Fordyce, Alloa. 
 David Schaw, Coylton. 
 William Leechman, Glasgow. 
 John Schaw, Greenock. 
 
 1756. Henry Spence, Wemyss. 
 William Dalrymple, Ayr. 
 William Moodie, Glencairn. 
 Andrew Richardson, Inverkeithing. 
 
 1757. John Cunningham, Dalmellington. 
 John Bonar, Perth. 
 
 John Fleming, Kilmalcolm. 
 Alexander Duncan, J Smailholm. 
 
 1758. George Bannatyne, Craigie. 
 David Schaw, Coylton. 
 
 * Life of Erskine, p. 85. 
 
 + John Home, the author of Douglas, married his daughter in 1770. 
 
 X Not having come to town, Mr Robert Finlay, Glasgow, was named in his 
 
PREACHERS BEFORE THE COMMISSIONER. 415 
 
 James Gillespie, St Andrews. 
 Gilbert Lang, Largs. 
 
 1759. John Main, Atbelstaneford. 
 John Chalmers, Ely. 
 William Craig, * Glasgow. 
 John Schaw, Greenock. 
 
 1760. Robert Traill, Banff. 
 Alexander Carlyle, + Inveresk. 
 James Fordyce, J Alloa. 
 Joseph Maccormick, Kilmenie. 
 
 1761. Dr Harry Spence, Wemyss. 
 James Scott, Kinfauns, 
 Alexander Gerard, § Aberdeen. 
 John Walker, Glencorse. 
 
 1762. Thomas Blacklock, Kirkcudbright, (see p. 236). 
 Henry Grieve, Twynholm. 
 
 Michael Grinlaw, Creich. 
 John Drysdale, Kirkliston. 
 
 1763. George Cupples, Swinton. 
 John Goldie, Pennycuick. 
 Dr William Wight, Glasgow. 
 James Laing, Glasscrton. 
 
 1764. John Ogilvie, Midmar. 
 William Macgill, Ayr. 
 Alexander Glen, Galashiels. 
 William Bell, Arbroath. 
 
 1765. Charles Bannatyne, Irvine. 
 David Dow, Dron. 
 Algernon Gordon, TuUynessle. 
 Gilbert Lang, Largs. 
 
 1766. David Imrie,|l St Mungo. 
 David Hunter, St Andrews. 
 John Risk, Dalserf. 
 James Roy, Prestonpans. 
 
 * Being unable from indisposition, Mr James Allan, Eyemouth, was appointed 
 to lecture, and Mr Thomas Scott, Cavers, to preach. u ^ ^.^a 
 
 t S seems to have been the only case on record ^he^e the preacher proposed 
 bv the Committee was objected to in thei Assembly. On the Report bcmg read 
 '• Mr Pinkerton (I believe he was minister of Markinch) objected to the nanimg 
 of Mr Carlyle : and having proposed Mr James Thomson, mnnster at Dunfermlme, 
 ?he General Assemblv, at^er hearing some members, did, without a vote, approve 
 o theTeport of the'Committee, whereupon ^^^ ?i"kerton and Mr David Bl^^^^^ 
 ^ of Brechin 'Centered their dissent from the nommation of Mr Carlyle. 1 he 
 obection very probably was founded on Mr Carlyle's conduct m the affair of 
 Home's Douglas. See under the year 1757. „ , , u ■ „,.f„^ 
 
 t^his waTthe last sermon Dr Fordyce preached in Scotland, haying accepted 
 a call to the congregation of Monkesw^U Street. London. It was published under 
 the tie of, '' The follv, infamy, and misery of unlawful pleasure } / ^^J^^^l'^'^ 
 Prov vii 7 •• In a n6tice of it in a periodical of the day, it is said, " tins sernaon 
 was prl"ched before the grandrst audk-nce in Scotland, was delivered with all the 
 eracL of oratorv and is bought up with the greatest avidity, especially by the 
 l?au'mondl!^^^^hUst circumsUnce is very uncommon with regard to .ermons. 
 
 § The sermon was printed. 
 
 I See the former volume, p. 216. 
 
416 APPENDIX. 
 
 V. — List or Ministers who Preached before the Society 
 IN Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge. 
 
 The Sermons marked with an Asterisk were never published. 
 
 * )7o3 Rev. Robert Hamilton, Edinburgh. 
 
 1754. Jan. 4 Religion a Treasure to Men, and the Strength and 
 
 Glory of a Nation. Isaiah xxxiii. 6 By Rev. David 
 
 Plenderleath, Minister at Dalkeith. 
 
 1755. Jan. 6. — The Situation of the World at the Time of Christ's 
 
 Appearance, and its Connection with the Success of 
 
 his Religion considertKl. Col. i. 26 By Rev. William 
 
 Robertson, Gladsmuir. 
 17o6. Jan. 5. — The Influence of Religion on National Happiness. 
 Isaiah Iv. 13. — By Rev. John Erskine, Minister of the 
 Gospel at Culross. 
 
 * 1757. — Rev. John Jardine, Edinburgh. 
 
 1 758. Jan. 2 The Absolute Necessity of Salvation through Christ. 
 
 Acts iv. 12. — By Rev. John Witherspoon, A.M., Minis- 
 ter of the Gospel at Paisley. 
 
 1759. Jan. 1 A Sermow on Col. i. 23 By Rev. Daniel Mac- 
 
 queen, D.D., one of the Ministers of Edinburgh. 
 17G0. Feb. 4 A Sermon on Matt. xi. 5.— By Rev. Patrick Cum- 
 ing, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity and Ecclesias- 
 tical History in the University of Edinburgh, and one 
 of tbe Ministers of the City. 
 
 1761. Feb. 23 A Sermon on Proverbs xiv. 34 By Rev. John 
 
 Hyndman, one of the Ministers, West Kirk. 
 
 1762. Jan. 4. — The Counsel of Gamaliel considered. Acts v. 34, 
 
 35, 36, 37, 38, 39.— By Rev. Robert Dick, D.D., Mi- 
 nister of the Trinity College Church of Edinburgh. 
 
 1763. Jan. 3. — Christian Benevolence. I Cor. x. 33, & xi. 1 By 
 
 Rev. Thomas Randall, Minister of the Gospel at Inch- 
 ture. 
 
 1764. Jan. 2. — The Causes of Opposition to the Gospel, and the 
 
 Moral Tendency of its Doctrines to Remove them con- 
 sidered. Phil, i. 27. — By Rev. Andrew Mitchell, A.M., 
 Minister of the Gospel at Muirkirk. 
 
 1765. Feb. 25. — The Resemblance of Jesus to Moses considered, 
 
 and the extraordinary and continued punishment of the 
 Jews shown to be a standing evidence of the truth of 
 Christianity. Dent, xviii. 15, 18. — By Rev, James 
 Robertson, A.M., Professor of Oriental Languages in 
 the University of Edinburgh, 
 
 1766. June 6. — The Conversion of the Gentiles illustrated. Matt. 
 
 viii. 11 By Rev. George Muir, Minister of the Gos- 
 pel at Cumnock. 
 
 END OF THE APPENDIX. 
 
INDEX OP PERSONS. 
 
 417 
 
 1. INDEX OF PERSONS. 
 
 Abell, John, 266. 
 Aitken, of St Vigeans, 61, 82. 
 Alexander, William, 66. 
 Anderson, George, 54, 92, 96. 
 Anderson, John, 308. 
 Anderson, Walter, 194. 
 Athol, Duke of, 52. 
 
 Baillie James, 10, 16, 42, 258. 
 Baine, James, 313. 
 Bannatyne, George, 287, 360. 
 Beatty, Charles, 208. 
 Blacklock, Thomas, 236. 
 Blair, Hugh, 59, 97, 161. 
 Blair, William, 71. 
 Bonar, John, 83. 
 Boston, Thom-ds, junior, 83, 154. 
 Boyd, William, 66. 
 Breadalbane, Earl of, 28. 
 Brown, Professor, 135, 158. 
 Bruce, George, 347. 
 
 Carlyle, Alexander, 112, 122, 
 
 124 ?iote, 415 note. 
 Carmiehael, Gershom, 193. 
 Carson, Robert, 293, 299. 
 Cathcart, Lord, 54, 171, 184, 
 
 216, 224, 226, 373. 
 Chalmers, John, 182, 200. 
 Chandler, Samuel, 25, 52. 
 Chiesby, John, 310. 
 Clark, Thomas, 361. 
 Cleghorn, Matthew, 299. 
 Copland, William, 133. 
 Cruden, William, 29, 171, 207. 
 Cuming, Patrick, 10, 25, 42, 63, 
 
 71, 101, 391. 
 Cupples, of Swinton, 119. 
 
 Daling, Alexander, 308. 
 
 Dalrymple, Robert, 259, 263. 
 Davidson, James, 147. 
 Dick, Robert, 161, 196, 216, 
 
 234,-5. 
 Dickson, David, 265, 310, 359. 
 Donaldson, Alexander 92. 
 Donaldson, of Carsphairn, 66. 
 Douglas, John, 101, 134, 151, 
 
 152. 
 Drvsdale, John, 268. 
 Duchall, Patrick, 171. 
 Dysart, of Eccles, 119. 
 
 Edmonston, James, 10, 42. 
 Edwards, Jonathan, 98. 
 Erskine, John, 235. 
 
 Ferrier, Alexander, 264. 
 Finnic, C. L., 180. 
 Fleming, Robert, 92. 
 Forbes, David, 209. 
 Fordyce, James, 415, note. 
 Frame, James, 171, 207. 
 Eraser, Alexander, 52. 
 
 Gerard, Alexander, 267, 404. 
 Gib, Adam, 305. 
 Gib, William, 243. 
 Gillespie, Thomas, 1, 21. 
 Glasgow, Earl of, 374. 
 Gordon, Henry, 149, 208. 
 Govan, Archibald, 182. 
 Grant, Patrick, 27, 52, 63, 75. 
 Grier, Robert, 65, 149. 
 Grierson, John, 61, note. 
 
 Haig, William, 27, 34, 49. 
 Hamilton, John, (Skipness) 160, 
 
 166, 167, 184. 
 Hamilton, John, (Glasgow) 414. 
 
418 
 
 INDEX OF PERSONS. 
 
 Hamilton, Robert, 41, 184, 388, 
 
 399. 
 Hamilton, William, 386, note. 
 Hogg, James, 261. 
 Home, of Polwarth, 119. 
 Hopetoun, Earl of, 41, 372. 
 Howe, John, 112, 117. 
 Hume, Darid, 54, ^Q. 
 Hume, George, 194. 
 Hume, William, 168. 
 Hunter, David, 308. 
 Hunter, John, 133. 
 Hvndman, John, 196, 215, 244, 
 
 402. 
 
 Irvine, Edward, 382. 
 
 Jardine, John, 54 
 Johnston, John, 49. 
 
 Kames, Lord, 54, 88, 92, 98. 
 Kay, George, 171, 286, 395. 
 Kincaid, Alexander, 92. 
 
 Leechman, William, 9, 102, 392. 
 . Leven and Melville, Earl of, 9, 
 
 371. 
 Likly, John, 218. 
 Lindsay, James, 310. 
 Lindsay, William, 266, 289. 
 Lumsden, John, 267. 
 Lundie, Henry, 161. 
 Lyell, Thomas, 293, 310, 347, 
 
 369, 370. 
 
 M'Aulay, iEneas, 148, 168, 182. 
 Macfarlane, Duncan, 42, 198, 
 
 216. 
 Macferrand, James, 133. 
 Mackenzie, Colin, 68. 
 Mackenzie, Murdoch, 29. 
 Mackenzie, Roderick, 155, 156. 
 Mackintosh, Robert, 10, 44. 
 Maclaurin,. John, 51. 
 Maclellan, David, 168. 
 Macwilliam, James, 133, 160, 
 
 234, 235. 
 Marshal, John, 70, 
 i*»Iitchel, (Newburn) 85. 
 .Moncrieff, Matthew, 68, 69. 
 
 Murray, Alexander, 169. 
 Muschat, Thomas, 23. 
 Muschet, John, 207. 
 Mutter, Thomas, 259. 
 
 Nairn, Thomas, 163. 
 
 Nisbet, William, 348, 362, 268. 
 
 Oswald, James, 410, 
 
 Park, Robert, 300. 
 Pienderleath, David, 207. 
 
 Reid, George, 54, 389. 
 Reid, James, 74. 
 Richardson, James, 149. 
 Robertson, John, 101. 
 Robertson, William, 235, 263, 
 
 405. 
 Rose, Alexander, 71. 
 
 Sage, iEr.eas, 148, 168, 182. 
 Scot, (of Westruther) 1 18. 
 Simson, Alexander, 292. 
 Simson, Patrick, 196, 216. 
 Simson, Thomas, 66. 
 Smith, James, 85. 
 Snodgrass, John, 263. 
 Sopho, (^. e., Lord Kames) 54, 
 
 88, 92. 
 Spence, John, 308. 
 Steel, William, 118. 
 Stevenson, Archibald, 359. 
 Stewart, Alexander, 65. 
 Stewart, Charles, 161, 168, 
 
 184. 
 Stewart, Gershom, 160, 166, 
 
 167, 184. 
 Stewart, James, 1j60, note. 
 Sutherland, John, 79. 
 
 Thomson, David, 69, 182. 
 Thomson, Robert, 161, 166, 
 
 184. 
 Traill, George, 349. 
 Traill, Robert, 249, 402. 
 Trotter, William, 52. 
 Turnbull, Thomas, 152, 395. 
 
 Urquhart, (of Meldrum) 218. 
 
INDEX OF PLACES. 
 
 419 
 
 Walker, John, 267, 295. 
 Warden, John, 26. 
 Watson, James, 26. 
 Webster, Alexander, 4, 9, 40, 
 
 371, 375. 
 Wells, Laurence, 290,304, 361. 
 White, (of Liberton) 115. 
 
 Whitefield, George, 102. 
 W^incliester, James, 82. 
 Wishart, George, 261, 359. 
 Witherspoon, John, 2 note, 103, 
 
 201, 242, 261, 263, 312. 
 Wright, James, 172, 207. 
 
 II. INDEX OF PLACES. 
 
 Abbotshall, 134, 
 Aberdeen College, 267. 
 Abertarff, 311. 
 Amsterdam, 53. 
 Andrew's, St, 135. 
 Andrew's St, (in Orkney) 239. 
 Anwoth, 293, 299. 
 Applecross, 1G8. 
 Ardersier, 149, 208. 
 Argyle, Synod of, 109- 
 Athelstaneford, 112, 117. 
 Auchtermuchty, 70, 259. 
 Avoch, 52. 
 
 Beath, 74. 
 Beith, 168. 
 Biggar, 27, 34, 49. 
 Borthwick, 152. 
 Bothwell, 258, 292. 
 Brandenburg, 180. 
 Breslau, 25. 
 
 Bressay and Burray, 68, 6C. 
 Bunkle, 265, 266. 
 
 Cairston, (Presbytery) 28. 
 Cambuslang, 28, 183. 
 Campbelltown, 79, 108, 256. 
 Canongate, (Edinburgh) 26. 
 Carmunnock, 66. 
 
 Carsphairn, 66. 
 
 Chirnside, 194. 
 
 Chirnside, (Presbytery) 265. 
 
 Contin, 29. 
 
 Cortaeby, 135. 
 
 Craigie, 287. 
 
 Crailing, 311. 
 
 Cromarty, 28, 53, 66. 
 
 Cumbray, 266, 289. 
 
 Gastrin, 180. 
 
 Dallas, 259, 263. 
 
 Delaware, 268. 
 
 Dornoch, (Presbytery) 111, 169. 
 
 Drysdale, 299. 
 
 Dunbar, 347. 
 
 Dunblane, 101. 
 
 Dundee, 191, 208, 261, 264. 
 
 Dunse, (Presbytery) 265. 
 
 Durisdeer, 65, 149. 
 
 Duthil, 27, 52. 
 
 Eaglesham, 361. 
 Eccles, 119. 
 Ely, lvS2, 200. 
 Enzie, 257. 
 Eyemouth, 29. 
 
 Foderty, 68. 
 
420 
 
 INDEX OF PLACES. 
 
 Fogo, 168. 
 
 Forbes and Kearn, 133, 169, 
 
 234, 235. 
 Fort Augustus, 54. 
 Fort George, 149, 208. 
 
 Glasgow, 102, 185, 286, 360. 
 Glasgow and Ayr, (Synod of) 
 
 1,50. 
 Glendovan, 308. 
 Glendow, 149. 
 Greenock, 312, 414, 415. 
 Greyfriars, Old, (Edinburgh) 
 
 235. 
 
 Holland, 53, 182. 
 Hutton, 169. 
 
 Inverarity, 66. 
 Inveresk, 112, 122. 
 Inverness, 52. 
 
 Jedburgh, 82, 101, 134, 151, 
 152, 154. 
 
 Kearn.— (S^e Forbes. 
 Kelso, 85, 262, 265. 
 Kilconquhar, 182, 200. 
 Kilmarnock, 266, 289. 
 Kilmeny, 243. 
 
 Kilmory, in Arran, 166, 184. 
 Kingarth, 160, note. 
 Kingussie, 169. 
 Kinnettles, 66. 
 Kirkcaldy, 291. 
 Kirkcudbright, 236. 
 Kirkliston, 268, 310. 
 Kirkpatrick Juxta, 29. 
 Kirkwall, fPresbytery) 28. 
 
 Laggan, 169, 
 
 Laurencekirk, 209. 
 
 Leith, (South) 65. 
 
 Leswalt, 259. 
 
 Liberton, (Mid-Lothian) 115. 
 
 Loehcarron, 168. 
 
 Lochmaben, 310. 
 
 Logie, (Stirlingshire) 171, 207. 
 
 Logie and Pert, 29, 171. 
 
 Lothian and Tweeddale, (Synod 
 of) 1, 4, 181. 
 
 Meldrum, (Old) 218. 
 Minto, 347. 
 Monkland, (Old) 300. 
 Monkton, 241. 
 Montreal, 359. 
 
 Newburn, 85. 
 New Jersey College, 51. 
 Nevvlands,'265, 310. 
 New York, 51, 359, 360. 
 Nigg, 27, 52, 63, 75, 156. 
 Norrieston, 360. 
 
 Oxnam, 154, 167, 264. 
 
 Paisley, 67, 167, 242, 261, 312, 
 
 313. 
 Pennsylvania, 182, 208, 288. 
 Polwarth, 119, 168. 
 Preston. — See BunUe. 
 
 Quivox, St, 54, 389. 
 
 Rattrav, 85. 
 
 Ross, ('Synod of) 180, 242. 
 
 Rothiemay, 266. 
 
 Ruthven,'359. 
 
 Sandav, 293, 310, 347, 369, 
 
 370! 
 Selkirk, 53. 
 
 Shotts, 258, 290, 304, 361. 
 Southend, 79, 108, 256. 
 Stair, 118. 
 Stirling, 207. 
 Stonykirk, 133. 
 Strathbogie, (Presbytery) 257. 
 Strontian, 53. 
 Sutherland and Caithness, 
 
 (Synod of) 111. 
 Swinton, 119, 
 
 Vigians, (St) 61, 82. 
 
 Walls and Flotta, 362. 
 Westruther, 119. 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 421 
 
 Iir.— GENERAL INDEX OF MATTERS. 
 
 Accession of Geo. III., 209. 
 Acts of Assembly, ^62. 
 Address to the Princess of 
 
 Wales, 215. 
 Addresses to the King, 71, 99, 
 
 184, 189, 211,213, 231, 263. 
 Agent, Election of, 9, 42, 243. 
 Annexation of Parishes, 66. 
 Annexed Estates, 267. 
 Answer to the King's Letter, 
 
 229. 
 Appeal Cases, Overture Anent, 
 
 32, 49, 62, 260, 264, 308, 
 
 356. 
 Assistants and Successors, 183. 
 Authority of the Church, I, 7, 
 
 30. 
 
 Blindness, Case of, in a Minis- 
 ter, 235, 24L 
 
 Bounty, Royal. — See Royal 
 Bounty. 
 
 Burghs, (Royal) Members from, 
 178. 
 
 Calendar, (change in thej 193. 
 Chaplain in Edinburgh Castle, 
 
 288. 
 Chaplains in the Army, 256. 
 Child Murder, 258. 
 Clerk's Fees, 28. 
 Collections, 25, 29, 34, 51, 69, 
 
 80, 85, 168, 184, 208, 243, 
 
 254, 262, 281, 288, 290. 
 Collections, Regulation Anent, 
 
 235. 
 College Church, (Edinburgh) 
 
 161. 
 Commission of Assembly, (its 
 
 powers) 31, 32, 49, 50, 309. 
 Commissions of Members, 28, 
 
 49, 102, 108, 166, 167, 175, 
 
 191, 354. 
 
 Deposition of Ministers, 31, 49. 
 Deputation to London, 211. 
 Dilapidation. — See Stipends. 
 Dissents, Effect of, 28, 32, 49, 
 
 62. 
 Divinity — Professors, 141, 159. 
 Divinity— Students, 290. 
 Dunse Presbytery, (Letter 
 
 from) 119. 
 
 Edinburgh Castle, (Chaplain 
 
 of) 288. 
 Edinburgh Churches, 161. 
 Edinburgh, (Town-Council of) 
 
 268, 286-7. 
 Edinburgh Presbytery, Admoni- 
 tion regarding the Stage, 1 12 ; 
 
 Letter from, 116; Letter to, 
 
 119. 
 Elders' Commissions, 102, 354. 
 Elders', (Qualifications) 53. — 
 
 See Qualifications. 
 Election of Members, 175. — Se^ 
 
 Qualifications. 
 Erections (New) 291. 
 
 Fast Day, (Act for a) 71, 150, 
 
 170. 
 Fellowship Meetings, 111, 169. 
 Forms of Commissions, 354. — 
 
 See Commissions. 
 Form of Process, 260, 264, 
 
 308, 310, 358. 
 Formula, 28, 52. 
 Funds of the Church, 191, 234, 
 
 235, 264. 
 
 Gaelic Language, 53, 54. 
 Glebes, Overture anent inclos- 
 ing, 309. 
 
 Heritors, (Agreements with) 
 
 74, 148, 166, 174, 191. 
 High Church of Edinburgh, 161. 
 
422 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Highlands, Visitation of, by 
 Hyndman and Dick, 194, 
 196, 216, 249, 252, 258. 
 
 Visitation of, by Wal- 
 ker, 267, 295-6. 
 
 New Erections in, 197, 
 
 217. 
 
 Highland Students, 80, 169, 
 208,209,254,281. 
 
 Infidel Writers, (complaint 
 against; 54, 86, 92. 
 
 Jus Devolutum, 172, 241. 
 
 King's Letter, 224. 
 Kirk-Sessions, (Right of) 28, 
 183. 
 
 Lady Tester's Church, 268. 
 Lord's Supper, 79, 109. 
 
 Marriages, (Irregular) 60. 
 Members of Assembly. — See 
 
 Election and Qualifications. 
 Militia, (Scots) 190, 191. 
 Missionary Ministers, 23, 311. 
 Moderatorship, (Leets for the) 
 
 374. 
 
 Oath of Security, 210. 
 Ordination, (Foreign) 30, 62. 
 Overtures, 1, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 
 
 49, 50, 62, 166, 168, 233, 
 
 260, 264, 308, 358. 
 
 Patronage, 8 note^ 30, 50 note, 
 53, 353. 
 
 Pennsylvanian Churches, (Col- 
 lections for) 25, 34, 51, 69. 
 
 PluraUty of Benefices, 266, 289. 
 
 Poor, Management of, 28, 83. 
 
 Popery, 257. 
 
 Posts, (Sunday) 179, 185. 
 
 Preachers before the Commis- 
 sioner, 414. 
 
 Probationers, 28, 30, 49, 62, 
 209, 353. 
 
 Procedure, Method of, 25, 183. 
 
 Process against Ministers, 31, 
 
 49, 50 note, 63. 
 Proclamation of Banns, 208. 
 Procurator for the Church, 66, 
 
 168. 
 Profaneness and Immorality, 33. 
 Psalmody, 28, 62. 
 Public money. — See Funds of the 
 
 Church. 
 
 Qualifications of Members, 108, 
 167, 1 75, 1 91 . — See Commissions. 
 Quebec, (Address on the taking 
 of) 184. 
 
 Records of the Assembly, 29. 
 Relief Presbytery, 292, 313. 
 Repairing of Churches, 290, 
 
 291. 
 Royal Bounty, 169, 173, 182, 
 
 194, 197, 208, 291, 311. 
 
 Saarbruck, (Collections for the 
 
 Church of) 168, 184, 243, 
 
 262. 
 Sabbath Posts, 179, 185. 
 Sabbath Profanation, 32, 33, 179, 
 
 188. 
 Sacraments in Argyleshire, 256. 
 Schism, (Overture on) 305, 311, 
 
 326. 
 Schoolmasters, 85. 
 
 (Widows' Fund), 
 
 233, 250, 251. 
 Schools. — See Highlands, 164. 
 Sentences of the Assembly, 
 
 (Effect of,; 1, 29, 30, 49, 50, 
 
 183. 
 Session- Clerkship, (of Paisley) 
 
 242. 
 Settlements, Disputed, 183. 
 Simony, 23, 131, 174, 218. 
 Simoniacal Pactions, 61, 82, 131, 
 
 166. 
 Society for Propagating Chris- 
 tian Knowledge, 164, 196, 
 
 262, 290, 416. 
 Stage, Admonition against, 112. 
 Letters respecting, 116, 
 
 119, 130 note, 131. 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 423 
 
 Stage, Overtures anent, 129. 
 Stipends, (Dilapidation of) 224, 
 
 253, 266. 
 Students, Qualifications of, 183, 
 
 209. 
 Style, (New) 193. 
 
 Theatre, Case of Ministers at- 
 tending it, 112, 116. 
 Translation, (Case oQ 241. 
 Tron Chui'ch, Edinburgh, 54. 
 
 Universities, (Power of the 
 Church in regard to) 141. 
 
 Vacancies, 74, 148, 166, 174. 
 Vacant Stipends, 85, 
 Viaticums, 53. 
 Visitation and Reparation of 
 
 Churches, 262, 265, 266, 290, 
 
 291. 
 
 Widows' Fund, 28, 132, 148, 
 200, 243, 261. 309, 379, 
 
 Window Tax, 150, 167, 180, 
 194, 251, 267, 291, 353. 
 
 Wynd Church, Glasgow, 287, 
 360. 
 
 Yester's, (Lady) Edinburgh, 54. 
 
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