643 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



elders, in consequence of their objections to 

 signing the Confession in its present shape ; 

 and that some parishes were entirely without 

 elders on this account. It was also stated in 

 the debate that the subscription at present re- 

 quired was without parliamentary sanction, 

 and that any elder objected to by the Assem- 

 bly, on the ground that he had not signed the 

 Confession of Faith, could call upon the civil 

 courts to establish him in office. The pro- 

 posed modification of the subscription was de- 

 nied, by a vote of 173 to 104. A motion that 

 the Established Church should join with other 

 denominations in securing the inspection of 

 religious instruction in schools was voted down. 

 A committee was appointed to inquire as to 

 the condition of the Church of Scotland in 

 England, with the view of endeavoring to 

 strengthen its position. The fact was pointed 

 out, in connection with this subject, that the 

 congregations in England were in circum- 

 stances of extreme difficulty and delicacy. 

 Delegates were appointed to the General Pres- 

 byterian Council. The Assembly was visited 

 on Friday, the 1st of June, by the Archbishop 

 of Canterbury, who listened to the debates for 

 about two hours. He was received on his en- 

 trance by the moderator and the Assembly 

 rising. On leaving he expressed to the mod- 

 erator the gratification he felt on having been 

 present. In closing the Assembly, the moder- 

 ator spoke of the movement for disestablish- 

 ment as not only unwise and unscriptural, but 

 positively sinful. Even though disestablish- 

 ment came, he said, it would be the duty of 

 the Church to hold aloof from those sections 

 of Presbyterians who were now working for 

 the destruction of the connection with the 

 State. 



VII. FBEB CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND RE- 

 FORMED PRESBYTERIANS. The General Assem- 

 bly of the Free Church of Scotland met at 

 Edinburgh, May 24th. The Rv. Dr. Goold, 

 late of the Reformed Presbyterian Church 

 (now united with the Free Church), was chos- 

 en moderator. In his opening address, the new 

 moderator spoke at length on the agitation for 

 a revision of the Confession of Faith, in which 

 he agreed against revision, while admitting 

 that the confession was not perfect, and that 

 there might be progress in theological science, 

 in that the truths communicated by God could 

 be more correctly and fully apprehended by 

 men. The principal business before the As- 

 sembly was the consideration of the case of 

 Prof. W. Robertson Smith, of the Free Church 

 College, at Aberdeen, who was charged with 

 heresy. Prof. Smith, who was also a member 

 of tlie Committee for the Revision of the Bible, 

 had contributed an article to the new edition of 

 the " Encyclopaedia Britannica " on the Bible, 

 in which he presented as the fruits of mod- 

 ern scholastic research some views on inspi- 

 ration and the authorship and composition of 

 the Scriptural books, at variance with the doc- 

 trines which had been taught in the Church. 



The case had been before the Church for sev- 

 eral months. It had been referred to the Col- 

 lege Committee, who had made a report to 

 the Commission of the Assembly, expressing 

 regret and disapprobation that the article in 

 question did not adequately indicate that Prof. 

 Smith held the doctrine of the Divine inspira- 

 tion of the Bible, the history of which he had 

 investigated and described, and also that he 

 held that the instruction and laws, which in 

 the book of Deuteronomy appear as uttered 

 by Moses, were post-Mosaic, and could not, in 

 fact, have been given by him. The Presbytery 

 of Aberdeen had considered the questions in- 

 volved, and had obtained answers from Prof. 

 Smith, which were forwarded to the Assem- 

 bly. On the case being brought up in the 

 Assembly, Prof. Smith stated that he had de- 

 termined to ask his Presbytery at its next 

 meeting to cause all charges against him to be 

 reduced to the form of a libel, so that, accord- 

 ing to the ordinary operations of the rules of 

 procedure, his functions as a teacher could be 

 suspended till the case was exhausted and de- 

 cided. The Assembly resolved, by a vote of 

 491 to 113, to direct the Presbytery of Aber- 

 deen to proceed with the case according to 

 the rules of the Church, and that Prof. Smith 

 should " cease from the discharge of his duties 

 as professor until his case has been fully dis- 

 posed of." The minority of the Assembly 

 voted for a resolution refraining from express- 

 ing any opinion on the case or any of its 

 points, and referring the whole matter to the 

 Presbytery. Fifty overtures had been sent up ( 

 from the Presbyteries and Synods in favor of 

 the disestablishment and disendowment of the 

 Church of Scotland. On this subject, the As- 

 sembly, after a long debate, adopted, by a vote 

 of 460 to 78, a motion : 



That the principles of the Claim of Right and 

 Protest of 1843 admit the existing connection be- 

 tween Church and state in Scotland : that the cir- 

 cumstances of the country and the relative position 

 of the Church preclude the present establishment on 

 a scriptural basis of a National United Church ; that 

 it is now the duty of the legislature, while making 

 due provision for life interests, to terminate the con- 

 nection of the state with the existing Established 

 Church and to give facilities for the beneficial ad- 

 justment of ecclesiastical matters in Scotland ; that 

 a committee be appointed to take suitable means for 

 representing the views of the Church as stated in 

 this deliverance, as occasion may arise, and the As- 

 sembly direct the committee to consider and report 

 to a future General Assembly on the whole sub- 

 ject. 



The minority voted for a resolution offered 

 by Dr. Begg to the effect that, while not satis- 

 fied with the existing relations between Church 

 and state in Scotland, the Assembly held that 

 it was the duty of the Free Church to maintain 

 the supremacy of Christ as King of Nations, 

 whereas the tendency of a policy of mere dis- 

 establishment was to subvert the principles of 

 the Reformation. A committee was appointed 

 for the consideration of a proposal to enter in- 

 to the same federal relations with the English 



