152 



SCOTLAND (ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY). 



the support of the clergy. Bishops continued til 

 1592, when presbyterian government was establishe 

 by an act of parliament, and a division was made o 

 the church into synods and presbyteries. But tLe 

 king, desirous of having the power of the bishop 

 restored as a balance to the nobles in parliament 

 prevailed on a majority of the clergy, in 1597 am 

 1598, to agree that some ministers should represen 

 the church in parliament, and that there should b< 

 constant moderators in presbyteries. In 1606, bj 

 act of parliament, the temporalities of bishops wer 

 restored ; and they were allowed a seat in parlia- 

 ment. Thus the presbyterian government was 

 overturned. In 1610, episcopacy was establishec 

 by an act of the general assembly at Glasgow. To 

 this change of government the civil sanction was 

 given in 1612 ; but the subordination of judicatories 

 was regularly kept up until Charles I. mounted the 

 throne. Assemblies were then set aside; bui 

 synods and presbyteries were continued. Bishops 

 now being under no control, and encouraging 

 tyranny in the state and innovation in the church, 

 became so hateful, that all ranks concurred in their 

 ejection. By an act of the general assembly in 

 1638, episcopacy was condemned, and the bishops 

 were deposed. This restoration of presbyterian 

 government was ratified by parliament in 1641. 

 By another act, landholders were permitted to buy 

 their own tithes, at from six to nine years' purchase, 

 liable however to the augmentation of stipends. 

 General assemblies were annually kept till 1653, 

 when this court was put down by the civil power. 

 From this time till 1690, there was not a meeting 

 of the general assembly, In 1662, the government 

 of the church by bishops was restored by the royal 

 prerogative, and in the same year was ratified by 

 parliament. Synods and presbyteries were allowed. 

 A persecution of presbyterians ensued, during 

 which about 400 ministers were ejected for non- 

 conformity, and great numbers of covenanters 

 perished for their testimony. 



In 1689, prelacy was declared, by a convention 

 of estates, to be a national grievance, which ought 

 to be abolished. In 1690 the presbyterian govern- 

 ment was restored and established by parliament ; 

 and the general assembly met, after it had been dis- 

 continued from the year 1652. Hitherto, the pro- 

 vision for the maintenance of the clergy was inade- 

 quate. Complaints being made to king James in 

 1602, commissioners, in 1617, were appointed to 

 plant churches and modify stipends. By these 

 commissioners the lowest stipend was fixed at six 

 chalders of victual, or 500 merks. In 1633, the 

 minimum of stipends was raised to 800 merks, or 

 eight chalders of victual. As the value of grain 

 soon after rose to 100 Scots per chalder, this be- 

 came the legal conversion in adjusting stipends, and 

 in the valuation and sale of tithes. 



The presbyterian church government, afterwards 

 secured in the treaty of Union, is founded on a 

 parity of ecclesiastical authority among all its pres- 

 byters or pastors, and modelled after the Calvinis- 

 tic plan in Geneva, which Knox recommended to 

 his countrymen. This form of government ex- 

 cludes all pre-eminence of order, all ministers being 

 held equal in rank and power. The manner in 

 which power is distributed among the judicatories 

 of the church is as follows : Scotland is divided into 

 parishes, each of which has one pastor, who dis- 

 charges the pastoral office according to his discre- 

 tion, and is accountable to the presbytery of which 

 he is a member. In matters relating to discipline, 



a pastor is assisted by elders, who ought to be se- 

 lected from among the most intelligent and consist- 

 ent of the parishioners, but who have no right to 

 teach, nor to dispense the sacraments. Their pro- 

 per office is to watch over the morals of the people, 

 and to catechize and visit the sick. They likewise 

 discharge the office of deacons, by managing the 

 funds for the maintenance of the poor within their 

 bounds. The elders and ministers compose what 

 is called a Kirk or Church-session, the lowest eccle- 

 siastical judicature in Scotland. When a parishioner 

 is convicted of immoral conduct, the church-session 

 inflicts some ecclesiastical censure. If a person 

 thinks himself aggrieved he may appeal to the pres- 

 bytery, which is the next superior court. The 

 ministers of an indefinite number of contiguous pa- 

 rishes, with one ruling elder chosen half-yearly, out 

 of every church-session, constitute what is called a 

 presbytery, which has cognizance of all ecclesiasti- 

 cal matters within its bounds. Presbyteries take 

 trial of candidates for the ministry, whom, if they 

 find duly qualified, they license to preach, but not 

 to dispense the sacraments. Holy orders are not 

 conferred on such licentiates till they acquire a right 

 to a benefice. Presbyteries also judge their own 

 members, at least in the first instance. But appeals 

 from their judgments to the synod, in whose bounds 

 the presbytery lies, are competent. Presb'yteries 

 originally held their meetings every week, now 

 every month; and they have power to adjourn to 

 whatever time or place within their district they 

 shall think proper. But, if they neglect to adjourn, 

 they are considered as defunct, and can only be re- 

 vived by the General Assembly, and not by act or 

 deed of their own. 



Synods are composed of several presbyteries, and 

 of a ruling elder from every church-session within 

 their bounds. Most of them meet twice a year, viz. 

 in April and October. They review the procedure 

 of presbyteries, and judge in references, complaints, 

 and appeals from the inferior court. But their de- 

 cisions and acts are reversible by the General As- 

 sembly, which is the highest ecclesiastical court, and 

 from which there is no appeal. For a more full 

 account of church judicature, see our article, Assem- 

 bly, General. 



There are thirteen provincial synods : 1. Lothian 



and Tweeddale, containing the presbyteries of Ediii- 



Durgh, Linlithgow, Biggar, Peebles, Dalkeith, Had- 



dington, and Dunbar. 2. Merse and Tiviotdale; 



jresbyteries, Dunse, Chirnside, Kelso, Jedburgh, 



Selkirk, and Lauder. 3. Dumfries; presbyteries, 



Middlebie, Lochmaben, Penpont, and Dumfries. 4. 



alloway; presbyteries, Kirkcudbright, Wigton,and 



Stranraer. 5. Glasgow and Ayr; presbyteries, Ayr, 



[rvine, Paisley, Hamilton, Lanark, Glasgow, and 



Dumbarton. 6. Argyle; presbyteries, Dunoon, 



ampbelton, Inverary, Kilmoir, and Skye. 7. Perth ; 



>resbyteries, Dunkeld, Perth, Dumblane, Stirling, 



and Auchterarder. 8. Fife ; presbyteries, Dunferm- 



ine, Kirkaldy, Cupar, and St Andrew's. 9. Angus 



and Mearns ; presbyteries, Meigle, Dundee, Forfar, 



Jrechin, Aberbrothock, and Fordoun. 10. Aber- 



leen; presbyteries, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Alford, 



Garioch, Deer, Turreeff, Fordyce, and Ellon. 11. 



Moray ; presbyteries, Strathbogie, Elgin, Forres, In- 



erness, Abernethy, and Aberdour. 12. Ross; 



resbyteries, Chanonry, Tain, Dingwall, and Dor- 



och. 13. Orkney; presbyteries, Caithness, Orkney, 



and Shetland. For an account of the most numer- 



us and important body of dissenters in Scotland, 



ee the article Secession. 



