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convinced that Christianity is the only means by which the temporal condition of mankind can be rectified and elevated, as well as the only means of their eternal salvation; being convinced that it alone is possessed of sufficient power to abolish slavery; to extirpate tyranny; to civilize the savage; to refine the barbarian; to stimulate and excite the human mind when it has fallen into torpor during the long and dreary reign of priestcraft and tyranny; being convinced that Christianity, alone, can produce such ends, the subject of missions to the heathen shall receive our constant and most cordial support.

On the public questions that may be agitated, we shall endeavour to deliver our opinions with temperate and respectful firmness,―avoiding every thing like a factious, censorious, supercilious spirit, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, being on our guard against obsequious compliance with the views of any particular party. We will not pledge ourselves, to go along with any party, neither will we pledge ourselves to oppose them; but we will pledge ourselves, and, by the grace and blessing of God, we hope to redeem that pledge, so long as our labours continue, that we will always endeavour, with religious fidelity, to oppose whatever we believe to be wrong, and to support, zealously, whatever we believe to be right.

HADDINGTON, 7th October 1846.

"THE TWO SECESSIONS."

THE Reformed Church of Scotland, has, now, subsisted during part of four centuries, each, of which, has been distinguished by its own leading and striking event. The two first were the eras of the first and second reformations, the two last have been rendered, equally, remarkable, by the first and second secessions. The historian, of the 16th and 17th centuries, gives to the two reformations the prominent place in his pages,the development of their causes, their characters, and their issues, forms the great subject of his narrative, and often he pauses to compare them together to illustrate their correspondence and diversity, and to shew the influence of the one upon the other. The faithful historian, of the 18th and 19th centuries, will have the same duty to perform in reference to the two secessions. In the following brief remarks we do not pretend to anticipate his task. To do justice to so extensive a subject would require, not a few pages, in a periodical, but a volume. All that we propose is merely a glance at its general aspects, particularly, as explanatory of the peculiar interest which the recent movement has awakened in the original secession, and the relative position into which both parties are brought by it.

One of the first things that strikes us, in comparing the two events,

is the apparent contrast which exists between them. On not a few points, the last secession, seems far to outstrip its more humble predecessor. The first secession consisted of four ministers, the last numbered upwards of 400. The first was caused by the tyranny of the Ecclesiastical Courts, the last sprung out of the direct resistance of these courts, themselves, to the oppression of the Civil authorities. The first seceders came forth as insulated individuals, and, then, formed themselves into a Presbytery, to uphold their constitutional rights, and rally their brethren who adhered to them; the last came forth as a constituted court, with their moderator at their head, and claiming, not only the rights, but, the very form of the General Assembly. The first seceding ministers were followed by thousands of people, chiefly gathered, however, from the humbler walks of life; the last brought with them hundreds of thousands, embracing all ranks-from the peer of the realm, and honoured host of Majesty, to the pauper subsisting upon parish alms. The first seceders were no financiers. The temporal support of their cause seems scarcely to have cost them a thought; and for years afterwards, in many cases, a fixed stipend was to them a thing unknown; the last secession came forth with a complete financial system, admirably adapted to the exigencies of their situation, which, in three years, has yielded more than a million for the purposes of the association, and, if properly sustained, would supply, in a great degree, the lack of those public endowments which they so honourably sacrificed. In these circumstances, we need not be surprised, that the recent secession scarcely acknowledges that name, and feels as if justice is hardly done her when she is put upon a level with her elder sister.

But, under these circumstantial diversities, will be found, not a few very striking and interesting points of resemblance. Both events (under whatever name you choose to designate them) were a voluntary surrender of the immunities and privileges of the Established Church, and a solemn judicial withdrawal from the communion of a corrupt majority. Both were noble testimonies to the power of truth and conscience,testimonies given in circumstances of peculiar trial, and with strong temptations to resile from or modify them*. Both tended greatly to enlarge the freedom of the witnessing parties, and to place them in a position to make a decided and effective demonstration in behalf of evangelical truth. Both were followed, by many tokens of the countenance of God, and of the opposition of man. These things are obvious in the present position, struggles, and attainments of the Free Church; and the early annals of the secession furnish many a parallel to them. The numerous villages, in once remote and moorland districts, that have

*One of the most honourable characteristics of the recent disruption was the firmness with which the non-intrusion party resisted all the attempts of crafty politicians and time-serving brethren to break their ranks. The first seceders were subjected to a still stronger temptation, when a back-door was opened for their readmission in 1734, but they came as honourably out of it. We are aware this is a step for which they get small credit from many even of their new brethren, but we apprehend it will not be difficult to shew that their decision in this difficult crisis was prompted by true wisdom as well as a disinterested and faithful adherence to the truth and cause of God. We intend to return, however, to this subject on some future occasion.

sprung up round the old secession meeting houses, are a standing testimony to the difficulty which the first secession experienced in obtaining sites; while the savoury recollection which still lingers in many of these, of the ordinances of her early days, the rapid increase of her numbers, nothwithstanding the numerous divisions that obstructed it, and the unquestionable influence which she has had in preserving and transmitting pure evangelical truth, in a dark and declining age, prove that God's special presence has been eminently vouchsafed to her. *

But the principal, and most interesting, points of correspondence, between the old and the new secession, certainly, is the substantial identity of the cause that produced them. The one, indeed, was caused by the tyranny of the ecclesiastical Courts, the other by that of the Civil, but the Erastian bonds which both sought to impose were precisely the same. Accordingly, in both cases, the leading point of testimony was the headship of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the independence of his spiritual kingdom. This principle has long occupied a prominent place in the contendings of the Church of Scotland. It has struck its roots deep into her soil; its vitality is, in a manner, identified with her own; and, whether, her revival, from seasons of temporary decay, has appeared in the parent stem, or in vigorous offshoots that have overtopped it, and threatened to supplant it, that cardinal doctrine may always be recognised as forming the pith of her strength and the beauty of her foliage. The doctrine of Christ's headship is twofold. It consists of twin doctrines closely connected and mutually dependent, and which, like the Siamese twins, cannot be dissevered without their mutual dissolution. That the Lord Jesus Christ is at once" King of Saints," "and King of Nations," "Head of his body the Church" and "head over all things for her sake." The first of these, has, recently, been shewn to be of paramount interest. The importance of the latter, and its intimate connection with the former, is presently in the process of practical elucidation, all over the world, and we have no doubt, will, bye and bye, be placed in as clear a light. It may be illustrated by a very simple comparison. If two men reside in one house, and either, or both, claim to be the head of it, and, under the notion of the danger of an imperium in imperio, require the unreserved submis

The traditions of the secession would amply repay the labours of a judicious and enthusiastic collector, and might be found not much inferior in interest to the traditions of the Covenanters. Often has the writer listened with pleasure to the anecdotes of aged fathers, fully corroborative of the above remarks. Take the following as a sample: A friend used often to mention the remark of an aged matron, who had witnessed the ordination of Adam Gibb, in the open air, "O I was sae glad," said she, "when the ministers laid their hands upon his bonnie head and screened it frae the falling snaw." The sacramental occasions at Abernethy were long memorable for the crowds that attended, and the unwearied interest that was kept up among them. For many a night the sough of prayer, as it was called, was heard throughout the neighbouring fields and woods, from parties who neither could find, nor sought accommodation in the neighbouring houses. On one occasion Old Culfargie, (Mr Moncrieff) is said to have risen at 12. P.M. on the Communion Sabbath, in that or some adjoining congregation, and made the following intimation, (such was the number of Communicants and services.) "The Sabbath, my friends, is now over, but the work of the Sabbath is not over, let us consecrate to it a part of Monday morning."

sion of the other, their home will soon become a scene of perpetual contention but let them enter a family, as the servants of a common master, whose superiority is unquestionable, and whose word is law to both, and you may expect to find them, not only dwelling in unity, but cordially co-operating in promoting the comfort and interest of the household. The powers that God hathi ordained, in Church and State, are the twin stewards of the human family. To place them under different roofs is impossible, unless it were practicable for the Church literally to "go out of the world." So long as either claims the superiority, there will be neither concord, nor co-operation, between them. Nor will the matter be mended, as some vainly imagine, by their assuming towards each other the attitude of sullen neutrality. In such close contact, there is no medium, between indifference, and hostility. But let both learn their proper place as "ordinances of God," as servants of one divine master-let them bow to his law as their supreme rule, and take it as the infallible arbiter of all their differences, and their mutual jealousies will soon disappear, their hands will be, reciprocally, strengthened, and the best interests of the human family, most extensively, and gloriously, promoted.

Such, in all its breadth, is the doctrine on the headship, which has produced both the first and the second secession. Viewed, not in one only, but in both its kindred departments, it forms the leading point in the testimony of both periods. Both phases of the doctrine, were indeed required, to produce in either case such a public appearance for its truth and magnitude. Without the free acknowledgment of both, an independent national church had never existed in Scotland; had either of them been overlooked, no formal, public, vigorous secession, had ever been made from it. Without a decided view of the independence of the Church, it is plain no appearance would have been made for her rights. Without a conviction, as decided, of the duty of the State towards the Church, that appearance would have been tame and inefficient. The system which maintains that nations, in their national capacity, have nothing to do with religion, wants the cementing principle, the concentrating force, required for organising such a public demonstration against Erastianism, and undermines the only ground upon which it can be made. A conscientious adherent, of this opinion, ashamed to find himself in a national church, will naturally withdraw from it; and in place of taking advantage of existing statutes in defence of the Church's independence, thinks that it is best promoted by giving all such securities to the winds. Had such sentiments been held by the first secession, her testimony, for the national and covenanted reformation of Britain and Ireland, had never appeared. Had they prevailed among the nonintrusion party, in the recent contest, their Protest and Claim of Rights had never been published. Happily, however, they did not. The first seceders, and the last, are agreed on these two points, that Jesus Christ is both "King of Zion" and "King of Kings," and to these, we owe, on both occasions, a testimony for these truths, not only substantially the same, but of a peculiar form—a form that has brought it directly to bear upon the great ecclesiastical and civil interests of the whole com

munity, and given it a consequence, and a point, which otherwise it would not have attained.

Viewed, then, in reference to their leading point of testimony, the two secessions, like the two reformations, are substantially identified. On which of the two occasions, that testimony was exhibited most fully, faithfully, and consistently, will afterwards be matter of legitimate discussion; but the correspondence is, unquestionably, such as to form a ground of general harmony, and awaken, in both, a special interest in each other's movements. What adds to this is the powerful influence which the one has had in the production of the other. The first reformation, was the parent of the second. May not the same be affirmed of the first and the second secession? Though this, however, should not be admitted, it cannot be denied that the first has had a very extensive influence, in giving to the last its form, and direction. Its share in preserving, through the late dark period, the constitutional principles of the Church of Scotland, has not been small: When these began to revive, in the National Church, its existence as a sister, and, perhaps rival, association, tended greatly to stimulate their energy, and, when attempts were made again to repress them, pointed out a practical and easy way for their successful vindication. The late solemn and decided, but painful step, of judicial withdrawal from a corrupt connection, was, no doubt, taken with the greater freedom, that it was not new, and that its efficacy had been formerly tested.

But the influence of the old secession, on that event, is still more direct and intimate. We affirm no more than the truth, when we say, that one portion of the old secession led the way to that remarkable movement, and that the other, had no small share in pushing it forward. The first secession, it cannot be concealed, no longer maintains the freshness and vigour of her early days. Various internal revolutions, have broken up her constitution, and wasted her energies, and she now presents the painful aspect of two hostile bands. A comparatively small party, still adhering to her original standards, and maintaining her original ground, justly claim to be regarded as the true representatives of the men of 1733. The rest arranged under another banner, and occupying ground, entirely new, are actively employed in pulling down, what they once laboured so assiduously to establish, the duty and obligations of national religion. Even this breach, however, in the ranks of the old secession, God has remarkably overruled, to give a double impulse to the new. Each department, of the first, has had its own part, to act in helping forward the movements of the second. For the Original Seceders we claim the honour (and we think we may do so without presumption) of stirring that movement in its first origin, and raising aloft the standard by which it has been directed. The writings, at least, of one individual, of that body, will be, generally, acknowledged as having contributed more than any other cause to the revival of reformation principles in present times. No Free Churchman, we believe, will deny it. Why should he? If the revived Evangelism of Geneva, and France, and the Free Church of the Pays de Vaud, own their obligations to Robert Haldane, shall the Free Church of Scotland, be ashamed to own her

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