ASSFMANNI ASSEMBLY. 



303 



ASSRMAXNI, Simon ; one of the most learned 

 Mnronites of modern times, born Feb. 20, 1752, at 

 Tripolis di Soria. He was educated in Rome, where 

 his family enjoys the rights of citizenship and patri- 

 cian honours. In 1785, he was appointed professor 

 at Padua, where he died, April 8, 1821. He began 

 the series of his works with Museo Citfico Naniano 

 (Venice, 1788, 2 vols. folio), an explanation of the 

 Cufic Arabian antiquities in the palace of Nani at 

 Venice. His Explanation of Arabian Monuments in 

 Sicily, is highly esteemed, and equally so his Descrip- 

 tion of a Globus Ccelestis, with Arabian letters, which 

 was in the museum of the cardinal Borgia. Asseman- 

 oi was a very laborious student till his death. 



ASSEMBLY, GENERAL ; the name of the supreme ec- 

 clesiastical court in Scotland. In order properly to 

 understand the constitution of this court, it will be 

 necessary to take a view of the government of the 

 Scottish kirk. By the " Act for securing the Pro- 

 testant Religion and Presbyterian Church Govern- 

 ment," which is incorporated with the Treaty of Union 

 between England and Scotland, and declared to be a 

 fundamental article and condition thereof, it is " pro- 

 vided and declared, that the true Protestant religion, 

 contained in the Confession of Faith, with the form and 

 purity of worship then in use within the church of Scot- 

 land, and its presbyterian church government and dis- 

 cipline, that is to say, the government of the church 

 by kirk-sessions, presbyteries, provincial synods, and 

 general assemblies, all established by the acts of par- 

 liament before referred to, pursuant to the Claim of 

 Right, shall remain and continue unalterable; and 

 that the said presbyterian government shall be the 

 only government of the church within the kingdom 

 of Scotland." Under this constitution, every parish 

 has a Kirk-session, consisting of the parish minister or 

 ministers and of so many elders, selected from the 

 most respectable inhabitants of the parish, who are 

 solemnly ordained to their office in presence of the 

 congregation, according to established laws. The 

 number of elders is not limited. It cannot be less 

 than two to constitute a kirk-session, in the smallest 

 parishes ; and should, in general, be proportioned to 

 the extent and population of each parish. When 

 vacancies occur in the eldership, they are supplied 

 by other respectable individuals, elected by the minis- 

 ter and elders who survive. If, when a vacancy 

 occurs, the kirk-session does not then consist of three 

 to make a quorum, the presbytery of the district has 

 the power to appoint two or more of their own number, 

 to be associated with the minister or ministers of the 

 parish in filling up the vacancies, so as to restore the 

 kirk-session to its legal functions. To the kirk-ses- 

 sion is entrusted the ordinary management of the 

 parochial poor, the application of the weekly collec- 

 tions, made at the church for their benefit, and 

 of any voluntary donations which they receive in aid 

 of the weekly collections. When these funds are not 

 sufficient to provide for the" poor, a joint meeting of 

 the heritors and kirk-session is empowered, and re- 

 quired, by act of parliament, to assess the parish, in 

 order to make up the deficiency ; the one-half of the 

 assessment being raised from the landlords, and the 

 other from the tenants. It should be mentioned, at 

 the same time, that the kirk-session is entitled to 

 retain in their own hands the one-half of the collec- 

 tions made at the church, to defray the expense of 

 the clerks and officers of the inferior ecclesiastical 

 courts, and to meet the demands for occasional chari- 

 ties, not included in the ordinary management of the 

 poor. It is not immaterial to mention these particu- 

 lars, either as they bring to view a considerable de- 

 partment of parochial labour, or as they contain the 

 substance of the Scottish laws relating to the poor. 

 And it deserves to be added, that, though the latest 



of those laws is as old as the time of William 

 and Mary, there was scarcely any regular assessment 

 for the poor, which was continued for any length of 

 time, in any parish of Scotland, before the year 1755. 

 As long as there was no secession of presbyterians 

 from the established church, the weekly collections 

 under the management of the kirk-sessions, were in 

 general found sufficient for the maintenance of the 

 poor. In some years of peculiar hardship or scarcity, 

 such as the four last years of the seventeenth century, 

 or the year 1740, voluntary assistance was no doubt 

 given, and in some instances temporary assessments 

 were resorted to, to enable the kirk-sessions to meet 

 such unusual emergencies. But on all ordinary oc 

 casions, the resources of the kirk-sessions were con f 

 sidered as sufficient ; and continued to be so, at least 

 as late as 1755. Besides the case of the poor, the 

 kirk-session has a general inspection of the morals 

 of the parishioners, and a right to administer the dis- 

 cipline of the church, according to established laws. 

 To the effect of ecclesiastical censures, it has the 

 power to institute processes, to cite parties and wit- 

 nesses, to examine witnesses on oath, and to pro- 

 nounce sentences, and inflict censures, according 

 to the evidence adduced. But both its citations and its 

 sentences depend on ecclesiastical authority alone, and 

 seldom either receive or require any assistance from 

 the civil power. The proceedings of a kirk-session 

 are matter of record; and the record is regularly 

 kept, so as to be preserved or extracted for the bene- 

 fit of the parties, or for the information or the inspec- 

 tion of the courts of review. Every proceeding or 

 sentence of a kirk-session is subject to the review oi 

 the presbytery of the district ; and can be brought 

 there, either by a reference made by the kirk-session 

 itself, by a complaint at the instance of any member 

 of the court who may be dissatisfied, or by an appeal 

 from the parties who may think themselves aggrieved. 

 If any striking irregularity, or any real injury can be 

 substantiated, the control of the presbytery is always 

 sufficient to correct or redress it. But the usual 

 management of the kirk -sessions is favourable to all 

 the best interests of the parishioners ; and compara- 

 tively few instances occur in which it becomes a just 

 subject of either complaint or remonstrance. The 

 Presbytery is the court immediately above the kirk- 

 session. A presbytery consists of the ministers of so 

 many contiguous parishes, who are ex officio members, 

 and of an elder from each kirk-session within the 

 district, who, by the present usage, is elected at the 

 end of every six months. The presbytery, besides 

 being a court of review, to affirm, reverse, or alter 

 the sentences of kirk-sessions, when regularly brought 

 before it, or to direct or advise them with regard to 

 any part of their proceedings, has a radical jurisdic- 

 tion of its own, both ecclesiastical and civil. It has 

 the immediate superintendence of the private conduct, 

 as well as of the professional labours, of the clergy of 

 the district, who are not amenable to the kirk-ses- 

 lions. It has the power to admonish, to censure, and 

 even to deprive them, according to the established 

 laws, and upon evidence regularly taken. The induc- 

 tion of presentees to benefices belongs exclusively to 

 presbyteries. All presentations to benefices must be 

 directed to the presbyteries, in whom the original 

 right is vested, to take trial of the qualifications of 

 presentees, to give them induction if they are found 

 qualified ; and, if they want the necessary qualifica- 

 tions, to reject them. Besides this security against 

 the introduction of unqualified men, no individual 

 can be presented to a benefice till he has, in the first 

 instance, been licensed to preach by a presbytery, 

 after due trial of his qualifications. At the same 

 time, the trial prescribed for a license does not super- 

 sede the second trial of qualifications required when 



