Page images
PDF
EPUB

powerfully was the expediency of this measure urged, that the celebrated leader of the ruling party rose to express his inclination to accede to it. By this concession, he seemed to establish his claim to the character of a moderate man. But an uproar ensued, and many voices were raised in unison, to charge him with a dereliction of his principles, and to inform him that if he was thus to desert his friends, he was not in future to look to them for support. He rose considerably agitated, and said that he felt himself in an awkward situation, that his right hand was fighting against his left; but that since the concession he had made, for the purpose of reconciling all sides of the house, had not beenattended with the desired effect, he felt himself under the necessity of adhering to his right hand, and of supporting, by his suffrage, his original motion. After a long debate, that motion was put and carried. It was the opinion of many at the time, that this eminent man, convinced that the party he had trained were disposed to adopt stronger measures than he found congenial to his own

mind, began to perceive it to be expedient for him to retire from the bustle of ecclesiastical politics. It is impossible perhaps to discover, nor is it proper to dive into the motives which led to the resolution to which he afterwards inflexibly adhered. Certain it is, that, while still in the full possession of his extraordinary powers, and while he might still have retained his influence, he never accepted a seat in any but the immediately subsequent assembly, but chose to devote the residue of his days to the instruction of his flock, to the interest of the celebrated university over which he presided, to domestic enjoyment, and to the composition of the last of those works which are to confer immortality on his name.

When the principles of a constitution are distinctly traced and settled, it is the chief business of those who understand and are attached to these principles, to act upon them, and to resist innovations by which they may be corrupted or lost. It is the lot of all hu man institutions to be stopped in their progress towards perfection, and gradually to

tend to decay. Permanency is not there fore to be expected to characterise the institutions of the church of Scotland. Both of the parties, which have contended for the administration of its government, have charged each other with an innovating spirit ; and out of these charges have arisen the chief general subjects of debate, which of late years have been presented to the notice of the public. The popular party has been charged with giving too much countenance to Chapels of Ease, and thereby introducing an anomaly into the constitution. They, on the other hand, have recriminated, by maintaining that their opponents have adopted measures hostile to that purity which is essential to a Presbyterian church.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

A Chapel of Ease is an erection within the pale of the establishment. The congregation is at the expence of erecting it, and of supporting the minister. He is called by themselves uncontrolled by a patron, but their choice is limited to those who are qualified to accept a parochial charge. He is în

ducted to his office by the presbytery of the bounds, but is disqualified from acting as a constituent or elected member of the ecclesiastical judicatories,

Two causes chiefly have led to the erection of Chapels of Ease. 1st, They have taken place in parishes, the charge of which, by reason of their great extent, or overflowing population, have been found too weighty for the established ministers. 2dly, They have been solicited by those who have been reluctant to submit to settlements made under the law of patronage, as interpreted and enforced by the decisions of the General Assembly,

When it has been satisfactorily established that the former of these causes has led to particular applications, the sanction of the church has been readily obtained. But the ruling party has been generally disposed to refuse petitions from such as have expressed dissatisfaction with those whom the law of the land hath provided to instruct them. It has been argued, that, by granting such petitions, all the evils incident to popular elections may be brought on a certain portion of

the clergy and of the people; that the hands of the parochial minister are weakened by his rival for the affections of his flock, and that he is deprived of the prospect of overcoming, by his fidelity and diligence, the aversion with which it was his misfortune at first to be received. On the other hand, it has been said that secessions and schisms are always alarming, and ought, as far as possible, to be prevented; that the mild spirit of our laws permits those who choose not to attend their established teachers, to choose others for themselves; that when they have formed a determination to do so, it is better policy to retain them in communion with ourselves, than to drive them for refuge to those of whose principles we have no pledge, and over whom we have no controul; that in Chapels of Ease both ministers and people continue subject to the authority of the parent church; that if the dispensation of the word and of the ordinances of religion be promoted, the most important of all ends is attained; that the funds for the support of the poor are increased by such erections, and

« PreviousContinue »