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 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 BX 9084 .W3 1895 
 
 Walker, Norman L. 
 
 Chapters from the history oj 
 
 the Free church of Scotlanc 
 
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r^HAPTERS FROM THE HISTORY 
 OF THE FREE CHURCH OF 
 SCOTLAND 
 
ohc^l^ .^ rs uec + ' ^ ' ,---^^ ^fVy ^er. 
 
 HAPTERS FROM THE 
 HISTORY OF THE 
 FREE CHURCH OF 
 SCOTLAND 
 
 BY THE 
 
 y 
 
 Rev. NORMAN L. WALKER, D.D. 
 
 Author of 
 
 "Robert Buchanan, D.D.: An Ecclesiastical Biography" 
 
 "Scottish Church History" 
 
 Etc. Etc. 
 
 Published by 
 
 OLIPHANT ANDERSON & FERRIER 
 
 EDINBURGH & LONDON 
 
PRrNTKD BV 
 
 MOKRISON AND (.IBK, KDlNBUKcMl 
 
 Kill; 
 
 OLIPHANT, ANDERSON, & F E K I! I E R 
 
 EDlNliUIiCU AND LONDON 
 
PREFACE 
 
 rpHE Chalmers Lcdiiresliip was founded by Eobert Macfie, 
 Esq. of Airds and Oban, in memory of the late Thomas 
 Chalmers, D.D., and as an expression of his interest in main- 
 taining the principles of the Free Church of Scotland. With 
 these ends in view, Mr. Macfie transferred to a Committee, to 
 be appointed from time to time by the General Assembly, the 
 sum of £5000, the half of the interest accruing from which 
 was to be given to the Lecturer (who holds the ofiice for four 
 years), and the other half to providing means for sending a 
 copy of the Lectures to every minister and missionary of the 
 Free Church. 
 
 Six of the following chapters have been delivered as 
 Lectures in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen ; but the 
 Committee — considering the nature of my subject, and the 
 circumstance that it is now half a century since the Disrup- 
 tion — have kindly allowed me to enlarge the scope of my 
 book, and to give, not indeed a history of the Free Church, 
 for no attempt has been made to write an account of all 
 that has happened in it in chronological order, but a series of 
 sketches descriptive of the leading experiences through which 
 the Church has passed. 
 
VI PREFACE 
 
 In preparing the record of Contributions to Literature, I 
 have been greatly indebted to the help of Mr. Kennedy, the 
 Librarian of New College, Miss liainy, the Eev. E. Logan, 
 Dr. George Smith, the Rev. A. Simpson, B.Sc, Glasgow, 
 Dr. Charles M'Crie, Mr. Eobert Young, and the Eev. James 
 Hastings. 
 
 NOEMAN L. WALKER. 
 
 Edinburgh, A2)ril 1895. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. WHAT LED Tf) THE DISRUn'ION 
 
 11. THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 III. RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK • 
 
 IV. REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS . 
 V. EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOW.S 
 
 VI. HOW THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 VI r. THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 VIII. SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS . 
 
 IX. THE HIGHLANDS . 
 
 X. MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 XI. THE CONVERSION OP ISRAEL 
 
 XII. IN THE COLONIES 
 
 XIII. ON THE CONTINENT 
 
 XIV. SABBATH SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 
 
 XV. THE CARDROSS CASE AND SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE . 
 
 XVI. EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 
 
 XVII. THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 XVIII. CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 XIX. "after FIFTY YEAR.S " ..... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 17 
 
 40 
 
 53 
 
 64 
 
 75 
 
 92 
 
 113 
 
 130 
 
 149 
 
 ICS 
 
 181 
 
 190 
 
 203 
 
 212 
 
 22(5 
 
 271 
 
 298 
 
 348 
 
CHAPTERS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE 
 FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 
 
 "ITrHEN" the second quarter of the present century was 
 ' ^ beginning, signs of the stirrings of a new life appeared 
 in this country almost everywhere. 
 
 These were manifested, for example, in the keen political 
 agitation which sprang up. The people, dissatisfied with see- 
 ing power and privilege confined to the few, became clamor- 
 ous for an extension of the suffrage, and Parliament was 
 obliged to meet the demand by passing the Reform Bill of 
 1832. A historian, referring to the excited state of feeling 
 which then prevailed, says that the nation had never before 
 been so much in earnest since the days of the Long 
 Parliament. 
 
 It was natural that the Churches should come to feel the 
 swell of this tide. It was now that the Oxford Movement 
 began which has told so influentially on the Church of 
 England, and it was about the same time that that remark- 
 able wakening up in Scotland took place which has affected 
 so sensibly its subsequent history. 
 
 The new era here it is customary to trace almost wholly 
 
2 WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 
 
 to spiritual causes — to the conversion of Chalmers, the 
 ministry of Dr. Andrew Thomson, the writings of Dr. M'Crie, 
 and the evangelical revival which was the fruit of their 
 labours. But it would be quite an oversight to take no 
 account of the electric condition of the age, and of the 
 strength of the currents that were then running in favour of 
 the recognition of popular rights. It is undoubtedly in con- 
 siderable measure to these currents that we are to ascribe the 
 beginnings of that ecclesiastical agitation which ultimately 
 culminated in the formation of the Free Church. 
 
 From the Eeformatiou, the Scottish people had been 
 taught to believe that they were entitled to have some say in 
 the choice of their ministers. When Moderatism, however, 
 became dominant, these rights were disregarded, and a very 
 unsatisfactory state of things was the result. Congregations 
 came either passively to acquiesce in the appointments made 
 by patrons, no matter how unpalatable they were, or they 
 sought relief by quietly seceding from the Establishment. 
 But now a time had arrived when this was no longer to be 
 submitted to. The popular will was discovered to be a more 
 potential force than had been supposed in determining the 
 character of public institutions, and demands were made 
 requiring reforms in the Church as well as in the State. 
 
 Dr. Andrew Thomson at once took a radical view of the 
 situation, and so early as 1825 insisted on the necessity for 
 abolishing patronage altogether. But the Church was so 
 little prepared then to go that length, that when in 1832 — 
 the year of the Keform Bill — a proposal was made in the 
 General Assembly to consider " whether the call might not 
 be restored to its constitutional and salutary efficiency," the 
 reasonableness of such a motion was so little recognised that 
 it was not allowed even to be sent to a Committee. 
 
 It is evident that at that time, as afterwards, the Moderate 
 
WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 3 
 
 party imagined that they could stem the tide which had 
 begun to flow, by opposing all changes ; but in doing so they 
 simply exhibited one of their most distinguishing character- 
 istics. In some quarters they are credited with possessing a 
 great deal of worldly wisdom. But the truth is that their 
 wisdom is of that sort which sees clearly only within a very 
 limited circle. They have always shown themselves to be 
 incapable of taking a comprehensive view of things, or of 
 estimating the power of forces other than those that can be 
 seen. As matters then stood, it was no more possible to 
 suppress the determination of the people to have more 
 influence in the Church, than it was to arrest the popular 
 movement for some reform in the State. The time had come 
 when more or less of " acceptability " behoved to be recognised 
 as an indispensable condition in the formation of the pastoral 
 tie. And prudence and policy (to speak of nothing higher) 
 were unmistakably with the Evangelicals when they 
 addressed themselves to the business of at least limitinof the 
 powers of the lay patron. 
 
 But the difficulty was to find the method of readjustment 
 to which the minimum of objection could be taken. 
 
 Nominally the " call " was still maintained. Before any 
 man could be ordained, he needed to be able to show not only 
 a presentation by a patron, but also an invitation from the 
 people among whom he was to settle. This had become a 
 mere formality, and nothing was really considered but the 
 will of the patron. But the call might have been vitalised, 
 and the Church might have decreed that no settlement should 
 take place where a clear majority of the communicants did 
 not express a distinct wish for it. This was regarded, how- 
 ever, to begin with, as too advanced a step, and a more modest 
 and moderate proposal was made — to the effect that a pre- 
 sentation should be set aside only when a majority of the 
 
4 WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 
 
 male heads of families in a parish (all of them being communi- 
 cants) came forward to express their dissent from it. In this 
 scheme there was nothing extreme. All the communicants 
 were not allowed a voice in the matter, but only the male 
 communicants, and not all of these either ; standing was con- 
 ceded to none of them who were not heads of families. 
 Besides, they were asked not to come forward and to express 
 their hearty concurrence in a presentation, but simply to say 
 if they viewed it with positive aversion. 
 
 An Act embodying this arrangement was introduced in 
 the Assembly of 1833 by Lord Moncreiff, but it was then 
 defeated. In the following year, however, it was again pro- 
 posed by Dr. Chalmers, and carried. And its suitableness to 
 the time was at once demonstrated. The scandal of in- 
 trusions into parishes was stopped — the interest of the people 
 in the Church was increased — and the process of secession 
 was arrested. But ere very long the sky became suddenly 
 overcast. In connection with a vacancy which had occurred 
 at Auchterarder, the presentee named by the patron was set 
 aside by the Presbytery, because with only two exceptions the 
 whole of the male heads of families in the parish objected to 
 his settlement among them. The right of the Presbytery to do 
 that was called in question, the competency of the " Veto Act " 
 (as it was called) was disputed, and the Civil Courts were 
 appealed to, to say whether the General Assembly was entitled 
 to decree as it had done. 
 
 Then began a " Conflict " which raged for a number of 
 years, and in connection with which other questions came to 
 be discussed of far graver interest than that of the place of 
 the people in the Church. 
 
 What conclusions the Civil Courts arrived at, after review- 
 ing the whole situation, have been given with, one might say, 
 almost brutal frankness, in a comparatively recent work 
 
WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 5 
 
 edited by Professor Story.^ The section of that work which 
 deals with the " Helation of the Church to the Law and 
 to the State," was written by Dr. Macgeorge, a recognised 
 authority on that particular subject ; and the following is 
 his summary of the judgments pronounced first by the Court 
 of Session and afterwards by the House of Lords : — 
 
 " It was authoritatively settled," he says — 
 
 " 1. That patronage was a civil right which it was within 
 the province of the Civil Court to deal with and to vindicate. 
 
 " 2. That Presbyteries were under an obligation of statute 
 law to take on trials a presentee of a patron with a view to 
 his induction if found qualified, and this was a civil minis- 
 terial duty enforceable by civil law. 
 
 " 3. That it was a ministerial civil duty incumbent on 
 Presbyteries to fill up vacancies in parishes according to law, 
 and that this duty could not be evaded by any attempt to 
 separate the spiritual office from the temporalities. 
 
 " 4. That the Veto Act, as interfering with these civil rights 
 and obligations, was outwith the powers and jurisdiction of 
 the Church, and illegal. 
 
 "And 5. That the refusal of the Church Courts to fulfil a 
 statutory duty subjected them to damages." 
 
 It seems almost incredible nowadays that anyone could 
 suppose that the Church of Scotland might have settled down 
 content under such conclusions ; but to the author of the 
 summary now given, the conclusions indicated seem to have 
 been entirely satisfactory, and what is more strange, his 
 arguments in defence of them have been pronounced to be 
 " unanswerable " in liigli quarters within the present Estab- 
 lished Church. 
 
 The Auchterarder Case, he held, lay in a nutshell. " The 
 whole question," he said, " arose from the refusal of the 
 
 ^ The Church of Scotland, Past and Present. London : William Mackenzie. 
 
6 WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 
 
 Presbytery to adopt the introductory step of taking the 
 presentee on trials." It was true, in a sense ; but within 
 that question lay another touching the heart of the whole 
 controversy, namely, this : " Was the element of acceptability 
 to be considered or no ? " In the opinion of the Moderate 
 party, that was a point of no importance ; or rather, it was one 
 in regard to which they had made up their minds. The will 
 of the people was not to be considered at all. On that 
 subject Dr. Macgeorge spoke quite explicitly ; for here, accord- 
 ing to him, was the effect of the Veto Act : " The whole 
 matter of the settlement of a parish minister was then for the 
 first time taken out of the hands of the Church and committed 
 to cm irresponsible hody of laymen." " The irresponsible body 
 of laymen," it will be recollected, were the male heads of 
 families, being communicants, who represented the congrega- 
 tions to be ministered to ; and surely no language could more 
 significantly than this express the scorn felt by the writer for 
 the principle of popular election. 
 
 The reason why the Presbytery did not proceed to take 
 the presentee on trials was that his unacceptability had been 
 already proclaimed. This was held by them to be at the very 
 outset an insuperable hindrance to his ordination, and to 
 discover afterwards that he had Greek and Hebrew enough 
 would have been nothing to the purpose. To Dr. Macgeorge 
 and those associated with him the attitude thus assumed was 
 an intolerable one, but it was so simply because they had no 
 sympathy with the position which the Church felt itself con- 
 strained to take up. It had finally adopted the principle of 
 Non- Intrusion, and it was not to be driven to surrender it by 
 any consideration whatever. 
 
 When the Auchterarder decisions were made known ^ 
 indeed, it felt constrained to survey the situation afresh, so as to 
 decide upon its course in future. It had come to the parting 
 
WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 7 
 
 of two ways. On the one hand if it acquiesced in the judg- 
 ments which had pronounced it to be legal to force men into 
 parishes against the will of the people, it would put back the 
 hands on its dial-plate and undo the work of the reformation 
 that had been begun ; while, on the other hand, if it persevered 
 with the " Forward Movement " which had commenced so 
 auspiciously, it would expose itself to collisions with the Civil 
 Courts, and run risks the seriousness of which could only be 
 vaguely apprehended. 
 
 There were, however, three considerations which seemed to 
 shut it up to the conclusion to which it came to go on. 
 
 One was that to which we have already referred the 
 character of the times. The era of the democracy had begun. 
 The people were asserting their rights in the State in a 
 manner which compelled attention, and it seemed absurd to 
 suppose that in such a Church as that of Scotland, the male 
 heads of families being communicants would ever again con- 
 sent to be regarded in connection with the election of their 
 parish ministers as a mere " irresponsible body of laymen." 
 
 Another significant circumstance was, that the convictions 
 current on the subject of popular election had been under- 
 going a suggestive change. At first, the belief that the people 
 ought to be consulted in the choice of their ministers was 
 with many thought of as simply a reasonable thing. Men, it 
 was argued, have a place of influence in political, and why not 
 also in ecclesiastical connections ? But as time went on, feel- 
 ings deepened. And at the date referred to, popular election 
 was regarded as of the nature of a right. To take part in 
 the choice of a minister was then thought of not simply as a 
 privilege — it was a duty. And to deprive communicants of 
 the qualification was to take away something which " apper- 
 tained " to them. Conscience, therefore, being involved in this 
 way, the question was not one to be settled l)y a Law Court. 
 
8 WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 
 
 Further, however, there was a third thing of importance. 
 The new powers which had been conceded to the people had 
 immensely quickened their interest in the Church and in its 
 work. Experience, in short, had come to give an emphatic 
 sanction to the Act. And it was clearly seen that to return 
 to the position which was formerly occupied would imply an 
 arrest, more or less, on tlie new enterprises which had been 
 entered on. 
 
 Here, then, already a deadlock had been reached. Even 
 on the point of the settlement of ministers the Church could 
 not conscientiously or safely go back. The Civil Courts 
 insisted that Presbyteries were bound, under pain of damages, 
 to take on trials whomsoever a patron chose to name, and if 
 they found his scholarship satisfactory, to induct him into a 
 parish no matter although all the people objected to him. In 
 other words. Intrusion was pronounced to be strictly legal, 
 ■ — and peace was made possible only under conditions which 
 involved the maintenance of a Moderatism from whose blight- 
 ing influence the Church was only beginning to recover, and 
 the encouragement of secessions by which the Establishment 
 was being fatally undermined. 
 
 Under the impulse of the new life which, as has been said, 
 was infused into it, the Church began missions to the 
 heathen and in the Colonies, it took steps toward commencing 
 work among the Jews, and it covered the whole land at home 
 with extension churches. In the belief, too, that it had a 
 free hand in spiritual matters, it addressed itself to the per- 
 fecting of its home machinery. As a first step, it had given 
 effect to the constitutional principle of making acceptability 
 to the people an indispensable condition in the formation 
 of the pastoral tie ; and further, assuming that it was within 
 its right to say who should sit in its own Courts, it in- 
 vited the ministers of the new congregations which had been 
 
WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 9 
 
 formed to constitute kirk sessions in conformity with the 
 Presbyterian system, and to sit in these, and in the Superior 
 Judicatories. 
 
 In proceeding, however, to take these steps, she w^as sud- 
 denly informed that she was exceeding her powers. The 
 Civil Courts imperiously intervened, and not only ordered the 
 induction of all otherwise qualified presentees, whatever might 
 be thought about them by the people among whom they were 
 to labour, but pronounced to be of no legal value or effect the 
 acts of all the Presbyteries into which ministers, other than 
 parochial, had been admitted. 
 
 The claims thus advanced startled the Church, but the 
 question which was now raised was not at all a new one, and 
 the crisis was met with perfect intelligence. The conclusion 
 had been definitely come to, that the intrusion of a minister 
 on a reclaiming congregation could neither be for the glory of 
 God nor for the interest of religion, and the demand made 
 that that should be assented to was refused. The Church 
 at the same time declined to recognise the right of the State 
 to interdict the carrying out, throughout all its bounds, of 
 the Presbyterian system, the attitude thus taken up being 
 assumed on the principle that Christ has conferred certain 
 powers of self - government on His Church, and that these 
 behove to be exercised with a conscientious regard to His 
 will. 
 
 The resistance thus offered to the decrees of the civil 
 judges was resented, and a violent conflict was the consequence. 
 Not only did the Courts of Law continue to maintain the 
 position they had taken up, but they proceeded to fresh acts 
 of aggression into what was regarded as the spiritual domain. 
 They drew a cordon round a particular district of country, and 
 forbade any but certain ministers to preach the gospel within 
 it. They interposed in processes of discipline, and directed 
 
lo WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 
 
 procedure in them to be stopped. They ordered Presbyteries, 
 under a threat of damages, to ordain and to refuse to ordain 
 men to the ministry. And they treated as null and void the 
 most solenm Acts of Assemblies. 
 
 Of course, no Scottish Civil Court would, in so many words 
 and in the abstract, claim an inherent right to do all these 
 things. The assaults made on the independence of the Church 
 were of the nature of reprisals. The Church, in the judgment 
 of the Court of Session, was intruding into the sphere of the 
 State, and that Court sought to vindicate the authority of the 
 State by carrying the war, as it were, into the enemy's country. 
 It was perilous policy to pursue, because it can never be good 
 in the long run for a litigant to take the law into his own 
 hands. But, besides, it was needless ; other methods of punish- 
 ing the offenders were open, apart from those resorted to. The 
 Church never denied tlie riglit of the State to take back its 
 endowments if it did not think they were being properly em- 
 ployed; and no objection, in principle, would have been offered 
 if, for example, to Mr. Edward of Marnoch or to Mr. Young of 
 Auchtcrarder had been assigned tlie stipends of their respective 
 parishes. But it was different when the Court of Session 
 ordered the I'resbytery of Strathbogie to proceed to the induc- 
 tion of Mr. Edward, and insisted on the clerical members of that 
 Presbytery being regarded as ministers of the Church of Scotland 
 after they had been deposed by the General Assembly. The 
 conclusion which seemed to l)e reached was that the Church 
 had no independence, but was l)ound to do whatever the Civil 
 Courts chose to direct. 
 
 This description of the situation, however, was not 
 accepted by all as strictly correct. What the civil authorities 
 said to the Church, it was argued, is this : " You liave a domain 
 if you will only keep to it, and wlien we resort to pressure in 
 tlie way we have done, it is sini])ly to prevent you from 
 
IVHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION li 
 
 Irausgressing the limits wliicli luave been set to you. Po 
 not exceed your powers, and you will be strenuously upheld 
 in the exercise of them." 
 
 But here a dilhculty presented itself — a crucial dilliculty. 
 "What are tlie limits referred to ? and when any question 
 arises as to their extent, who is to decide between the con- 
 tending parties ? 
 
 The answer was given in an exceedingly plain and eN])licit 
 way by Sir James (^iraham. This is what he said : — 
 
 " Whether a i)articular matter in dispute is so entirely 
 spiritual as to fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of the 
 Church Courts, may often be a difhcult question ; but it is a 
 ([uestion of law, and cpiestions of law are decided in Courts of 
 Taw, and questions of jurisdiction are also ended there — all 
 subject to an appeal to the House of Lords." 
 
 Nothing could be simpler. The Church and the State 
 have each a ])rovince, and witliin their respective spheres 
 each must rule. lUil, it is admitted, there may arise now 
 and again questions of jurisdiction. What are the limits of 
 the State's dominion ? When may it be said lo keep to its 
 ilomain, or unwarrantably to go beyond it ? That is a nuitter 
 easy of determination, we were told. Above both ('hurch and 
 State alike is a serene tribunal — the Court of Session, supple- 
 mented by the House of Lords — whose business it is to look 
 at all legal didiculties in a dispassionate spirit, and to its 
 deliverances instant submission must be rendered. 
 
 This theory commended itself as self-evidently just and 
 reasonable to the politicians of the day and to many of the 
 lawyers, l»ut it is dillicult to understand how it could have 
 given satisfaction to any intelligent Tresbyterian, and 
 especially how it could have been accepted — as it continues 
 to be — by the Established Church of Scotland. 
 
 One objection to it lies at the threshold. It is customary 
 
12 WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 
 
 to speak of the union between Church and State as being 
 based upon a contract. The term does not sound very 
 apposite when one thinks of the manner in which the Act of 
 Queen Anne imposing Patronage was passed. To that Act 
 the Church offered a unanimous opposition, and it was driven 
 through Parliament not with its concurrence, but in the face 
 of its strenuous dissent. Let us suppose, however, that there 
 was a contract. In that case it is surely not too much to 
 expect that the ordinary laws respecting contracts will be 
 observed by both parties. If, for instance, a difference of 
 opinion should arise as to its terms, it would not be reason- 
 able to compel one of the parties to submit the quarrel to the 
 arbitration of a Board composed entirely of representatives 
 from the other side. But that is precisely what the Church 
 is asked to do when it is required to submit the question 
 of its jurisdiction to the Courts of Law. It is notorious 
 that the qualifications of the men who sit in these Courts are 
 civil and not spiritual, and that they hold their appointments 
 from the State only. In determining points of jurisdiction, 
 religious as well as political considerations require to be 
 taken into account, and no provision has ever been made 
 that there shall be found on the Bench any capacity to 
 estimate these. If the subjects involved were of comparat- 
 ively little moment, or if there was little or no likelihood 
 of serious mistakes being made, the Church might, conceivably, 
 have acquiesced in the constitution of such a lopsided Court 
 of Appeal. But the case looks different when we remember 
 that the questions submitted for judgment may often con- 
 cern, in a vital way, the honour of the King, and also when 
 we call to mind the utterances which have once and again 
 come from the lips of the highest legal authorities. 
 
 One of these utterances it may be worth while to reproduce 
 here. It will help to show what the Church may lay its 
 
WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 13 
 
 account with bearing, if it assents to surrender to the State 
 that supreme right of review to which it lays claim. Here is 
 what was said by Lord President Hope : — 
 
 " That our Saviour is the Head of the Kirk of Scotland in 
 any temporal or legislative or judicial sense, is a position 
 which I can signify by no other name than absurdity. The 
 Parliament is the head of the Church, from whose Acts, and 
 from whose Acts alone, it exists as the National Church, and 
 from which alone it derives all its powers. Who," he added, 
 " gave the Church Courts any jurisdiction ? The law, and 
 that alone, gave it, and the law defines what it has so 
 given." 
 
 Any Church might well have trembled to commit the 
 keeping of its liberties to Courts in which such sentiments 
 were received with satisfaction. 
 
 But these and like utterances might conceivably be set 
 aside as exceptional and extraordinary. Few judges, it may 
 be said, will now talk in this style ; and what is valuable and 
 trustworthy in the Courts of Appeal is that they form, as has 
 been said, a serene tribunal, which rises superior to the 
 passions and prejudices of common life, and is able to look 
 at whatever is brought under its notice in a calm, candid, and 
 dispassionate spirit. 
 
 But, alas ! we can no longer maintain this beautiful ideal 
 conception of the Court of Session. One of the judges them- 
 selves has spoken. He has taken us behind the scenes, and the 
 representation he gives of their state of feeling has disen- 
 chanted us. All through the Conflict, Lord Cockburn was 
 writing down daily in his Journal his impressions of what 
 was taking place, and some of his entries are exceedingly 
 significant. 
 
 " The majority " [of the law lords], he says, " made it 
 apparent that their legal opinions were affected by their view 
 
14 WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 
 
 of the expediency of the Veto Act. They wished to 
 preserve patronage." 
 
 In other words, the members of the Court of Appeal 
 — the most of them — were privately persuaded that the 
 demand for popular election was improper, and they were 
 swayed accordingly. That is to say, they had their private 
 prejudices which warped their view of the situation, and so 
 far affected the value of their judgment. 
 
 Further, however, what Lord Cockburn has to say about 
 the spirit of his brethren is rather fitted to shake our 
 confidence in the serenity of the Court. 
 
 " On looking back on the matter," says he, " what I am 
 chiefly sorry for is the Court of Session. The mere purity of 
 the judges it would be ludicrous to doubt. They all delivered 
 what each, after due inquiry, honestly believed to be the law ; 
 but passion sometimes invades the Bench, and when it does, 
 it obstructs the discovery of truth as effectually as partiality 
 can. The majority of the Court may have been right at first 
 and to a certain extent, but they soon got rabid, in so much 
 that there seemed to be no feeling except that of pleasure at 
 windno- wild Churchmen." 
 
 " Passion sometimes invades the Bench." " They soon got 
 rabid." So writes one who was in the best possible position 
 for knowing the truth. It is a melancholy picture, but surely 
 there is another thing to be said about it. It is a sugricstivc 
 picture. The Court of Session, when acting within its own 
 sphere, is worthy of all honour. But when one thinks of the 
 light in which it regards the Church — as a body which has 
 no jurisdiction except that which the State may choose to give 
 to it, and when one recalls the treatment to which it subjected 
 the Evangelicals when they were fighting for what they 
 believed the crown rights of the Eedeemer (it had no feeling 
 save that of pleasure at winging wild Churchmen) — one may 
 
WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 15 
 
 well wonder that any earnest man should be willing to com- 
 mit to it the supreme authority to redd the marches between 
 the secular and the sacred. 
 
 That is the arrangement, however, to which the present 
 Established Church appears to have given its assent. The 
 State is saying to it: "You have undoubtedly a province 
 within which you will have all the countenance and all 
 the support which we can give you. But, of course, if any 
 question should ever arise as to the limits of that province, the 
 answer to it must be given by the Court of Session — subject 
 to an appeal to the House of Lords." Experience is a great 
 teacher. It is not likely that a serious collision will occur 
 soon. Both parties will do their best to avoid the awaken- 
 ing of a new controversy. But before 1843 no truce was 
 even proposed. The Conflict was acute. The Civil Courts 
 were requiring an immediate and a practical acceptance of 
 positions like these : that it is not within the competency of 
 the Church to regulate as it thinks right the formation of the 
 pastoral tie, or to say who should sit in its own Courts, or to 
 ordain and depose men without leave given ; and to secure 
 its liberty it saw no course open to it but that of surrender- 
 ing all the benefits of an Establishment and taking up an 
 independent position outside. 
 
 Of course this step was not one which was taken lightly. 
 The most earnest and persevering efforts were made to persuade 
 the Legislature to interfere by giving relief from the law as a 
 majority of the judges were interpreting it. But the Govern- 
 ment of the day turned a deaf ear to all the appeals that 
 were addressed to it. It unfortunately allowed itself to 
 believe that no serious crisis was being reached, and that all 
 the threatened troubles would be overcome by a display of 
 firmness. By and by the leading advocates of this policy 
 were brought to see their mistake ; and Lord Aberdeen 
 
1 6 WHAT LED TO THE DISRUPTION 
 
 and Sir James Graham were profuse in their expressions 
 of regret that they had had any hand in bringing about the 
 catastrophe. 
 
 But at the moment a spirit of infatuation prevailed, and 
 a great body of earnest ministers and people were compelled 
 to seek freedom for their Church by severing their connection 
 with the State altogether. 
 
CHAPTER ir 
 
 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 "lirHEN" the 18th of May 1843 was approaching, a question 
 of some interest and importance presented itself for 
 consideration, namely, that of how the contemplated separation 
 from the State could best be carried into effect. It was 
 believed that a majority of the members elected to the 
 General Assembly were on the Evangelical side, and it seemed 
 not unreasonable to propose that the act of disruption should 
 be decided upon by a vote of the representative House. 
 
 But, for reasons which were held to be sufficient at the 
 time, a less dramatic method was adopted. The past 
 Moderator, Dr. Welsh, preached the usual sermon ; but 
 instead of proceeding afterwards to the steps connected with 
 the constitution of a new Assembly, he read a Protest, setting 
 forth the grounds on which the Church could no longer submit 
 to the intrusion of the Civil Courts on its domain, and, having 
 laid this on the table, he moved toward the door. In doing 
 so he was at once followed by most of the men who had been 
 prominently interesting themselves in the revival of religious 
 life in Scotland, and the benches on one side of the House 
 became practically empty. 
 
 For what then happened due preparation had been made. 
 Tlie scene of the Disruption was St. Andrew's Church, 
 Edinburgh, and at the foot of the hill on which the church 
 stands, a great hall — that of Tanfield, Canonmills — had been 
 
1 8 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 taken, into which the protesters were received. This hall 
 was crowded to the ceiling in anticipation of the event, and 
 an immense sensation was produced when Dr. Welsh, Dr. 
 Chalmers, Dr. Candlish, Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Guthrie, and 
 other well-known men appeared, leading the band that was 
 now to form itself into the first General Assembly of the 
 Free Church of Scotland. 
 
 The impression produced by the event which had now 
 taken place was remarkable. The story has often been told 
 of the emotion displayed on the occasion by Lord Jeffrey. 
 But Mr. Gladstone also, in a letter to Dr. Eobert Buchanan, 
 mentions a case which was in its way at least equally striking. 
 
 " A friend of mine," he wrote, " a conscientious and earnest- 
 minded Eoman Catholic, well acquainted with our country 
 and language, told me that, amid his discouragements, in 
 witnessing the progress of unbelief in so many quarters, he 
 had found a singular comfort in the testimony borne by the 
 ministers and members of the Free Church of Scotland to the 
 authority of conscience and of positive religious belief." 
 
 As the example given in this case of fidelity to principle 
 was recognised in such a quarter to be so remarkable, it is 
 not surprising to learn that by many of less faith the Dis- 
 ruption was thought of as something that was little likely to 
 take place. The forecast, anyhow, as to the number who 
 would go out was, in certain quarters, exceedingly moderate. 
 A common estimate was that half a dozen of the leaders in 
 the agitation might be found to be foolish enough to sacrifice 
 their livings, but that the great mass of the ministers would 
 be content to protest and remain. 
 
 It was, therefore, startling news to hear that as many as 
 474 men were prepared to sign the Deed of Demission, and 
 that so great was the popular interest in the movement that 
 it was hailed everywhere with signs of general enthusiasm. 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 19 
 
 Lord Cockburn has left behind him in his Journal a graphic 
 account of what happened on this occasion. 
 
 " Those who had withdrawn," he says, " were joined by 
 about 97 theological students from the College of Edinburgh, 
 and by a majority of those in Aberdeen. But the most 
 extraordinary and symptomatic adherence was by about 200 
 probationers in Scotland. Erastianism and patronage being 
 odious to the people, the Free Church, which opposes these, 
 has more Whiggism in it than Toryism ; but, being founded 
 purely on religious and not at all on political principles, it 
 has plenty of both, — and it is distinguished from all past or 
 existing sects of Scotch Presbyterian Dissenters in this, that 
 its adherents are not almost entirely of the lower orders. 
 They have already peers, baronets, and knights, provosts 
 and sheriffs, and a long train of gentry. The Lord Provost 
 of Edinburgh walked with them from St. Andrew's Church to 
 Canonmills, where the Lord Provost of Glasgow and the 
 Sheriff of Mid-Lothian joined them. And that extraordinary 
 procession was dignified by about eight old Moderators, two 
 Principals of Universities, and four Theological Professors. It 
 has often been said that Presbytery is not a religion for a 
 gentleman ; and it is certainly true that hitherto such of 
 our gentlemen as have not been of our Church were nearly 
 sure to be found among the Episcopalians. This is the first 
 time that our gentry are not only not ashamed of Presbytery, 
 but not ashamed of it with the additional vulgarity of un- 
 endowed Dissent . . . .This is the most revolutionary event in 
 modern history. Protestantism was our first lieformation ; 
 Presbytery our second ; this erection of Presbytery freed 
 from the State is our third." 
 
 When the Assembly had been constituted, there was no 
 question as to who should be called to fill the chair. Above 
 all the great men of the time rose, pre-eminent, Dr. Thomas 
 
20 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 Chalmers, and although he had been Moderator before in 
 the undivided Church, he was by acclamation elected to 
 occupy the office again. 
 
 Chalmers occupies so great a place in the history of 
 Scotland and of the Free Church, that his name can never 
 be forgotten. From Anstruther, where he was born in 1780, 
 he was sent at twelve to the University of St. Andrews. 
 There he was at first a somewhat idle student, but in course 
 of time there was awakened in him a great love for 
 mathematics, and to this and kindred sciences he became so 
 devoted, that even after his settlement at Kilrnany in 1803 
 he gave more time to them than to his ministerial work. 
 But by and by a great change came over him. He was 
 converted ; and his fervid preaching not only at once told 
 on his own parish, but also gained for him a reputation 
 throughout the Church. In 1815 he was translated to 
 Glasgow, where first in the Tron parish, and afterwards in 
 St. John's, he did a great work through the pulpit and the 
 press and as a philanthropist. All through, however, he 
 retained his love for academic pursuits, and in 1823 he 
 accepted the Chair of Moral Philosophy in St. Andrews. 
 Here he remained till 1828, when he was transferred to 
 Edinburgh. There he held the position of Theological 
 Professor in the University till 1843, when he retired to 
 become Principal and Priraarius Divinity Professor in the 
 New College. He died in 1847. 
 
 " It is not often," wrote Thomas Carlyle to Dr. Hanna, 
 " that the world has seen men like Thomas Chalmers, nor 
 can the world afford to forget them ; or in its most careless 
 mood be willing to do it. Probably the time is coming when 
 it will be more apparent than it is now to everyone, that 
 here, intrinsically, was the chief Scottish man of his time, — a 
 man possessed of such a massive -geniality of intellect and 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 21 
 
 temper as belonged to no other man. What a grand 
 simplicity, broad humour, blent so kindly with enthusiastic 
 ardour and blazing thought — a man of such mild, noble 
 valour, strength, and piety — above all things, of such perfect 
 veracity, I have not met with in these times. Honour to 
 him, honour belongs to him, and to the essential work he 
 did, — an everlasting continuance among the possessions of 
 this world." 
 
 It was a matter of immense importance to the Free 
 Church that it had now as its leading counsellor " the chief 
 Scottish man of his time," and what he said on taking the 
 chair is entitled to be read with special attention. His 
 utterance on the occasion, in fact, although if he had lived 
 he might have in some ways expressed himself differently, 
 has always been regarded as of the nature of a manifesto. 
 
 Naturally, the first business attended to by the Assembly 
 was that of its own organisation, and the mover of tlie 
 motion to that end was Dr. Candlish, who was at once 
 recognised as the leader of the House. Born in 180G at 
 Edinburgh, Dr. Candlish was removed in his infancy to 
 Glasgow, and it was there that he received all his education, 
 and that he was licensed in 1828. His experience as a 
 probationer was not very happy. He was appointed assistant 
 first in St. Andrew's Church, Glasgow, and afterwards at 
 Bonhill ; but his prospects of a permanent settlement at home 
 did not seem bright, and the idea of his proceeding to Canada 
 began to be entertained. His expatriation, however, was 
 prevented Ijy his receiving an invitation to assist Mr. Martin 
 of St. George's, Edinburgh, and of that parish he became the 
 minister in 1834. His early reputation was not quite 
 satisfactory. Dr. Cunningham suspected that his sympathies 
 were with the Moderate party, and for five years after his 
 ordination he took no part in public affairs. But his true 
 
22 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 position became more and more defined ; and in the Assembly 
 of 1839, at the instigation of Dr. Eobert Buchanan, he was 
 moved to deliver his first speech. The speech settled his 
 place at once, and from that time onward he grew in influence, 
 until in 1843 his was accepted as, after that of Chalmers, 
 the guiding hand in the reconstruction of the Church. 
 
 What Dr. Candlish proposed was that all the ministers 
 in town who concurred in the Protest, with one representative 
 elder from every adhering kirk session, should be recognised 
 as members of the Assembly. This motion was seconded 
 by Dr. Macfarlane of Greenock, — a man to whom, besides his 
 personal qualities, which' were of the highest kind, belonged 
 the distinction of having resigned the richest living in the 
 Church, — and was carried unanimously. The arrangement 
 thus come to secured that the House was very much larger 
 than it would otherwise have been, and came to embody 
 more perfectly the mind of the whole denomination. 
 
 It has been said that Dr. Candlish was recognised as the 
 leader of the House, but there was another who might well 
 be spoken of as having shared that honour with him, namely, 
 Mr. Alexander Dunlop. Mr. Dunlop was a son of the Laird 
 of Keppoch, and was born at Greenock in 1798. Called to 
 the Bar in 1820, he was led early by circumstances to take 
 an interest in the Poor Laws, and in that connection was 
 conducted further to concern himself about the welfare of 
 the Church. Gradually he became involved in the move- 
 ments of the time, and when the Disruption arrived no 
 layman stood higher than he did in the esteem of the 
 Evangelicals, or was recognised as having done more to secure 
 their liberties. Lord Cockburn's references to him in his 
 Journal are of the most generous kind. " Dunlop," he says, 
 " is the purest of enthusiasts. The generous devotion with 
 which he has given himself to the cause [of the Church] has 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 23 
 
 retarded and will probably arrest the success of his very- 
 considerable talent and learning; l)ut a crust of bread and a 
 cup of cold water would satisfy all the worldly desires of 
 this most disinterested person. His luxury would be in his 
 obtaining justice for his favourite and oppressed Church, 
 which he espouses from no love of power or any other 
 ecclesiastical object, but solely from piety and love of the 
 people." It was true that his devotion to the Church 
 hindered his success at the Bar, and yet, in his case, this 
 was true also, that " virtue brought its own reward." At a 
 comparatively early period in his career he was offered a 
 Slieriffship, and declined it because he believed it would 
 stand in the way of his usefulness. Later on it was put 
 within his power to become a judge, or even the Lord Advocate, 
 but he refused both positions. The only honour he accepted 
 was that of being returned as Member of Parliament for his 
 native town ; and his closing years were spent in acting as 
 one of the most honoured and influential of our Scottish 
 representatives. To Mr. Dunlop belongs the distinction of 
 having drafted our great Church-State papers, the Claim of 
 I lights and the Protest. 
 
 That such a man should have taken a prominent part in 
 the first Assembly was to have been expected, and in point 
 of fact it was he who, on the opening day, proposed the taking 
 of the necessary steps toward the setting of the machinery of 
 the Church in motion. These steps indicated at once how 
 much of practical wisdom was at work even amid all the 
 enthusiasm of the occasion. 
 
 Six Committees were named: (1) to arrange the business of 
 the House ; (2) to report as to the best means of providing 
 ordinances where these were needed, to plant churches and 
 to arrange Presbyteries ; (3) to see to the education of 
 students for the ministry, and to establish schools ; (4) to 
 
24 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 attend to the secular affairs of the Church ; (5) to promote 
 friendly intercourse with other bodies of Christians ; and 
 (6) to prepare addresses to be sent to those who had adhered 
 to the Church throughout the country, and letters for trans- 
 mission to friendly Churches at home and abroad, 
 
 Chalmers, Candlish, Dunlop, — these were undoubtedly the 
 men of greatest mark in the Assembly, but around them 
 were gathered a larger body, probably, of abler men than had 
 ever before been associated together in the history of the 
 Scottish Church. Among these may be named Cunningham, 
 Buchanan, Guthrie, Gordon, Welsh, Macdonald, Macfarlane, 
 M'Cosh, ministers] and Spiers, Monteith, Makgill-Crichton, 
 and John Hamilton, elders. Under the guidance of such 
 counsellors the Church entered on its career, not impelled by 
 a blind enthusiasm, but directed by a far-seeing prudence, 
 the effects of which were soon seen all over the country. 
 
 In an Assembly meeting under the peculiar circumstances 
 of 1843, it might have been thought difficult to find business 
 enough to occupy it throughout the ordinary period of time. 
 The Committees appointed could not report at once, and no 
 surprise could have been felt if a prorogation had taken 
 place after the Deed of Demission had been signed. 
 
 But the proceedings were not so limited. Although it 
 was the opening of a new chapter in Scottish ecclesiastical 
 history, it was not the beginning of an entirely new book. 
 And for one thing, a report had to be given in of what had 
 been done by a Provisional Committee which, in anticipation 
 of a Disruption, had been appointed by the Convocation in 
 November. 
 
 This Committee had divided itself into three sections. 
 The first, at whose head was Mr. Dunlop, had concerned 
 itself about providing places of worship for the outgoing- 
 congregations. The second, whose Convener was Dr. Candlish, 
 
THE FIRST FREE CFIURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 25 
 
 had had in view tlie furnishing of ordinances in all places 
 where there was likely to be an adhering population. And 
 the third, which had been under the direction of Dr. 
 Chalmers, had been engaged in the raising of funds to meet 
 the expected emergency. 
 
 Mr. Dunlop reported that he had been in communication 
 with architects of reputation as to plans for inexpensive 
 churches, and he appealed to the richer congregations to 
 abstain from erecting ornamental places of worship for them- 
 selves until the poorer districts had been provided for. He 
 also indicated that already signs had appeared of a disposition 
 on the part of some landed proprietors to refuse sites, and 
 stated that remedies would be forthcoming in the shape of 
 tents and sailing ships, etc. 
 
 Dr. Candlish in his report told of the correspondence he 
 had had with all parts of the country in regard to the wants 
 which would require to be met, and added that since the 
 opening of the Assembly his Committee had been holding 
 conferences with representatives from the different Synods. 
 " Our object," he said, " in conferring with them, and taking 
 up Presbytery by Presbytery, was to receive statements 
 as to their wants, and as to how such and such a parish or 
 district was to be supplied, and whether they should be 
 supplied through the medium of a fixed charge or by mission- 
 ary expedients. There have been various interesting facts," 
 he added, " brought out in these communications — facts 
 that must go, so far as facts can go, to convince an un- 
 godly world of the reality and power of Christian principle. 
 I cannot but repeat what I have stated at other and smaller 
 meetings, that it is humbling to those whose sacrifices are 
 comparatively insignificant — humbling to witness men making 
 up their minds to leave the homes where they have lived in 
 love and peace for years, not merely to remove to some other 
 
26 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 town or street or cottage, but to be under the necessity of 
 sending their families sixty or seventy miles from them, 
 while they themselves must look out for some ' prophet's 
 chamber,' and occupy it in solitude, that they may still be 
 near and minister among their flocks. What more convincing 
 proof of the sacrifice can be given than this, that for the 
 purpose of visiting his people, we find a man making his 
 home in a yacht, in which a cabin has to be fitted up, living 
 apart from his family, sailing from island to island and from 
 bay to bay, having no home on the land, but compelled to 
 live on the bosom of the deep ? And yet these men make up 
 their minds to such a sacrifice for the sake of the truth ; and 
 the marvel is that they seem unaware of the sacrifice they 
 are making, and that they speak of these arrangements just 
 as they would speak of removing their houses from one 
 street to another, — they speak of them with the same coolness 
 and indifference with which you and I would speak of remov- 
 ing ourselves and our families to another part of the town. 
 This is a specimen of the high and holy principle with which 
 they are actuated, this calm determination to meet and over- 
 come every difficulty which is interposed in the path of 
 duty." 
 
 The report on Finance submitted by Dr. Chalmers was re- 
 ceived with astonishment. At the Convocation in November, 
 when he had set forth a scheme for the sustentation of the 
 ministry, from which he had promised something like £ 1 0,0 
 a year, he had been listened to with a smile of good-natured 
 incredulity. His forecast was then reckoned a mere " Vision 
 of Utopia." Now, what he had before presented to " the 
 eye of the understanding," he was able to place before " the 
 eye of the senses." Six hundred and eighty-seven associa- 
 tions had been at work in all parts of Scotland, and from 
 these had been received, or were in the way of being received, 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 27 
 
 £150,341 for building purposes, and £72,G87 for the Sus- 
 tentation Fund, making a total of £223,028. "That this 
 amount," said Dr. Chalmers, "will not only be upheld, but 
 greatly increased, we are warranted to hope " ; and he went on 
 to say : " At the hazard of being regarded as a Utopian this 
 second time, I will now make another confident avowal, — 
 that if we only make a proper use of the summer that is 
 before us in stirring up, I don't say the people of Scotland, 
 but that portion of them who are the friends of our Protesting 
 Church, — if we do what we might and what we ought, — we 
 will not only be able to repair the whole Disruption, but will 
 get landed in the great and glorious work of church extension. 
 . . . We shall not stop short, I trust, in our great and glorious 
 enterprise, till ' the light of the gospel be carried to every 
 cottage door within the limits of the Scottish territory.' . . . 
 There is an indefinite field of Christian usefulness before us, 
 and we must not let down our exertions till the optimism of 
 our condition as a Church be fully realised." 
 
 He closed his speech almost in a spirit of exultation. " It 
 will indeed," he said, "be a noble thing if, after having knocked 
 at tlie door of two successive Goverments, I found no response 
 whatever to our appeal for the means of extending religious 
 instruction to the poorer classes of society, it shall be found 
 that the collective will of the country itself — the combined 
 energies of the people — have enabled us to accomplish that for 
 the accomplishment of which we implored in vain the aid of 
 two successive Governments in this country. You have made 
 your appeal — you have knocked at the door of the population 
 for not so great a number of months as you did of years at 
 the door of the Government. From it you received no 
 response whatever. Something, indeed, was spoken of, — a 
 sort of cheapening, a sort of higgling was going on, — some 
 talk of £10,000 a year. It is not two months yet, and the 
 
28 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 effect of your appeal to the generosity and collective mind of 
 the country — from people of all ranks and classes — from 
 some instances of landed proprietors and grandees down to the 
 humblest of the population — the response is a gift of upwards 
 of £200,000 to the great cause of moral and religious 
 instruction in the country." 
 
 That place should have been found in the first Assembly 
 for reports like these can be easily understood. But in 
 ordinary times what largely occupies attention is the regular 
 work of the Church, and it might seem as if, at this stage, 
 there could be no occasion or opportunity to speak of that. 
 Such an assumption, however, would have implied that a new 
 body had come into existence and was now entering on a new 
 career. To act as if that were true would have been to ignore 
 the significance of the Disruption. The Church by separating 
 from the State had not lost its identity. It was the same 
 body which for ten years had been contending for its inde- 
 pendence ; and hence, in arranging for the business of the 
 House, space was given as usual for reports of the " Five 
 Schemes." 
 
 Dr. Keith, who had been Convener of the Jewish Com- 
 mittee in the Establishment, now submitted the report which 
 he would have given, in another place, if the Disruption had 
 not occurred. It was a lengthy report, and one of quite 
 unusual interest, the labours of our missionaries in Pesth 
 having been enjoying a very special blessing. 
 
 The Foreign Mission Committee was not so represented. 
 Dr. Brunton, the Convener, had not come out, and a new Con- 
 vener — Dr. Gordon — had to be appointed. But Dr. Candlish, 
 in answering for the scheme, announced tlie general expect- 
 ation that all the missionaries would join the Free Church ; and 
 added : " I trust that the Foreign Scheme of our Protesting 
 Church will be upheld and maintained with even increased 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 29 
 
 efficiency, notwithstanding the demand for funds for our home 
 operations, and that we will give proof to the Christian world, 
 and even to the ungodly world, of the soundness of that maxim 
 referred to by our Moderator a day or two ago, that home and 
 foreign missionary associations mutually act and react on one 
 another, and that the very increase of the sum received for our 
 home operations will be the pledge of a large increase in the 
 fund available for foreign missions." Dr. Candlish further inti- 
 mated that a new series of the Home and Foreign Missionary 
 liecord was in preparation, and that copies would probably be 
 forthcoming before the Assembly closed. 
 
 Dr. Welsh, in submitting the report of the Committee for 
 " Promoting the Eeligious Interests of Scottish I'resbyterians 
 in the British Colonies and in Foreign States," referred at 
 some length to the history of the enterprise which had first 
 taken shape under the direction of Dr. Burns of I'aisley, and 
 which had been gradually extending the sphere of its opera- 
 tions. Dr. Cunningham proposed that, as they had resolved 
 to carry on the Jewish and India Mission, so they should, by 
 God's blessing, carry on the Colonial Mission also. And the 
 proposal was accepted with great applause. 
 
 The Home Mission report was not so satisfactory. The 
 labours of the Committee had been much embarrassed by the 
 prevalent controversies. Now, however, joy was expressed 
 that the Church was free from the entanglements which had 
 beset it, and a new era, it was hoped, had begun. At the same 
 time, much of the work which had formerly been done by the 
 Committee was now undertaken by otlier agencies, and for the 
 present nothing was left for it to do but to encourage young 
 men aiming at the ministry. 
 
 If this scheme was lessened in importance by the Disrup- 
 tion, there was another whose importance was immensely 
 enhanced, — we refer to that whose object was Education. Dr. 
 
30 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 Welsh again appeared to represent this Committee, and his 
 report dealt naturally rather with the future than with the 
 past. Some things, he pointed out, required to be attended to 
 at once, such as the institution of a Theological College. 
 Other things were not quite so urgent, but could not for long 
 be overlooked. Among these were (1) universities for in- 
 struction in all the branches of knowledge, and (2) schools — 
 including grammar and elementary schools — and commen- 
 cing with a Normal school. For all this, he said, at least 
 £200,000 would be immediately needed. 
 
 And here one cannot help remarking upon the faith and 
 courage with which these various schemes were taken up. 
 It might have been thought that the Church would have seen 
 difficulty enough in facing even such work as was necessary 
 for its bare existence, and would have postponed for a time 
 the consideration of everything else. But nothing seemed to 
 daunt or discourage it. As opening after opening presented 
 itself, it entered in without a moment's hesitation, and burdens 
 were, with a light heart, undertaken by this one section of 
 the people of Scotland, from which, it is probable, the unbroken 
 Assembly would have shrunk. 
 
 But the whole time of the House was not spent in the ways 
 we have described. A considerable portion of it was given to 
 the reception of deputations from outside, who appeared to 
 tell of the interest which those whom they represented felt in 
 the events that had occurred. 
 
 The first of these delegations to be heard was that from 
 the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. It had been commis- 
 sioned to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 
 but that body they recognised as meeting in Canonmills. 
 " We are sent," said Mr. Denham of Derry, " to appear before 
 the Church of our fathers, and we feel bound to regard this 
 Assembly as the representative of that Church. We feel and 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 31 
 
 we act upon the conviction that you are not schismatics, that 
 you are the true Church of Scotland, and we have therefore 
 come and tabled our commission with you." 
 
 Dr. Cooke of Belfast, probably the greatest man that the 
 Irish Church ever produced, was not a member of the deputa- 
 tion, but as he was present in the Assembly he was invited 
 to speak, and he did so with great heartiness. 
 
 " I on one occasion," he said, " did regret the prospect of 
 looking forward to this day ; but now that the day has come, 
 a day which could not be avoided consistently with the 
 maintenance of principle, I feel not only satisfied, but thank- 
 ful. My regrets are all flung to the winds, and I feel grate- 
 ful to Almighty God that I lived to see yesterday — that I 
 have met you here to-day — and that I have heard my 
 brethren express their uncompromising approbation of the 
 step you have taken. You have been compelled by a sense 
 of duty to the highest authority in the Church, — to the Lord 
 Jesus and His word, — you have been compelled by a sense of 
 duty to your principles, to take the step which you have now 
 taken — a step the bearings of which we cannot accurately 
 know, and of the prospects that it opens up it is impossible to 
 tell. Though I do not stand in the shoes of a prophet, I think 
 I may assume that in these results there will be no disaster, 
 that it will bring a thousand blessings in its train, and that, 
 though in one sense it may have diminished the number of 
 your hands, it will not diminish your courage or your powers." 
 
 The Synod of the English Presbyterian Churcli had also sent 
 a number of deputies to the General Assembly of the Church 
 of Scotland, but their commission had been so worded that it 
 could not, like that from Ireland, be presented to the Free 
 Church. The deputies, however, were all heard as individuals, 
 and among these was one who had rendered an immense 
 service to the Church during the Conllict, by the publication 
 
32 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 of various charming tracts — like that of the Harii on the 
 WilloiDs — which were circulated by thousands, and whose 
 name will always be remembered among us as that of a man 
 at once of sanctified genius and of a wonderful personal 
 attractiveness, — Dr. James Hamilton, of Eegent Square. 
 Three elders also appeared from beyond the Border to convey 
 their salutations, whose memory is still fresh among the 
 Presbyterians of London, — Mr. Alexander Gillespie, Mr. 
 James Nisbet, and Mr. William Hamilton. 
 
 But perhaps no deputation was regarded with so much 
 interest as that which came to carry the greetings of the 
 Synod of United Original Seceders. Their presence gave a 
 special historical significance to the events which were then 
 occurring. A century before, theErskines had seceded, not, as 
 they themselves testified, from the Church of Scotland, but 
 only from what was then the prevailing party in that Church ; 
 and now the Free Churchmen of 1843 had the gratification of 
 hearing, from one of the ablest descendants of the Erskines, the 
 following remarkable tribute to the position which they had 
 been led in Providence to occupy. 
 
 " I recognise in you," said Mr. White of Haddington, 
 "not the prevailing party from which our fathers seceded, 
 but that free, faithful, and reforming General Assembly to 
 which they appealed." 
 
 The testimony was felt to be a peculiarly interesting one ; 
 and the speech of Dr. Guthrie, in proposing a vote of thanks 
 to the deputation, glistened with a genial and joyful wit from 
 beginning to end, and while it was followed throughout with 
 cheers and laughter, it closed — as the report tells us — amid 
 "tremendous applause." 
 
 Two other evenings were given to what may be called 
 Demonstrations. In the first, Dr. Piobert Buchanan proposed, 
 and Dr. Gordon seconded, a motion inviting the concurrence 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 33 
 
 of the elders, deacons, probationers, and students of divinity, 
 who had been requested to be present at the meeting, in 
 following out the separation from the Establishment. 
 
 On the occasion a memorial was presented by about two 
 hundred probationers, expressing their approbation of the step 
 which had been taken, and the information was added in a 
 more incidental way that ninety-three students of divinity 
 from the Edinburgh Hall had joined the Eree Church, and 
 that their example had been followed by majorities in Aberdeen 
 and St. Andrews, and by four - fifths of the students in 
 Glasgow. 
 
 No two more suitable men could have been chosen to set 
 forth the attitude of the Church at this time than Dr. 
 Buchanan and Dr. Gordon. Both spoke with characteristic 
 dignity, and with an utter absence of pique or bitterness ; but 
 they made perfectly plain the position which had been taken 
 up, and gave very frank expression to the confidence they felt 
 that in what they had done they had been guided rightly. 
 
 Dr. Buchanan's speech was mainly a criticism of the 
 Queen's letter, — that is, the letter of Sir James Graham, — 
 whose inadequacy to meet the situation was pointed out with 
 force and clearness. In ending, he referred to the great 
 principle involved in the Conflict, — that of the right and duty 
 of the Church to resist encroachments on its own domain ; and 
 said — 
 
 " It may appear to many to be an impalpable, a shadowy 
 and evanescent form in which this principle comes out in the 
 controversy which has been going on. The State is willing to 
 allow us exclusive jurisdiction in spiritual things, but in regard 
 to the question what things are spiritual and what things 
 are civil, they tell us they are to be the sole judges. We 
 know that there was a time when the independence of our 
 ancient kingdom of Scotland was at stake, and when its 
 3 
 
34 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 rishts and liberties were endeavoured to be wrested from it 
 by the power of England. Imagine, then, that after the 
 Baliols, who were prevailed on to surrender their country's 
 rights to England, had disappeared from the scene, and the heroic 
 spirit of Bruce had come up to the rescue of his country's 
 liberties, and infused the spirit of patriotism into the hearts 
 of his country's sons, — imagine that when Bruce had come to 
 Bannockburn and marshalled his host in front of the powers 
 of mighty England, prepared to restore that liberty and those 
 rights, or perish in the attempt to do so, — imagine that then, 
 while the two armies stood lowering at each other ready to 
 commence the deadly onset, England had sent her servants to 
 Bruce with this intimation : ' We do not dispute that there is 
 a kingdom in Scotland ; we will allow that Eobert Bruce is 
 Scotland's rightful king, and that within it Bruce shall have 
 exclusive jurisdiction ; but if a question should arise as to 
 the limits of the two kingdoms, England reserves to herself 
 the sole right to draw the line and to point out the boundary ; 
 that question must be determined by England alone, and that 
 spot to which the truncheon of Edward points must be the 
 limit of the Scottish kingdom.' Sir, what answer would 
 Bruce have returned to such an announcement ? " 
 
 " Sir," said Dr. Gordon, " it is a most miserable subter- 
 fuge I have heard pled, that we might have remained in 
 the Establishment and there retained intact our theoretical 
 opinion, — that we might there have risen solemnly to protest 
 as often as the Civil Courts actually interfered with ecclesi- 
 astical procedure, and that in this way our consciences might 
 have been satisfied. That subterfuge is one that I tremble to 
 think of a Christian allowing himself for a single moment to 
 entertain. ... I feel now that I am a free man. Nay, sir, I 
 am not only a free man, but I am entitled to say to my 
 adversaries, who have twitted me so often with dishonesty, 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 35 
 
 that I am an honest man. I have given what ought to 
 satisfy you at least that I am an honest man. I have 
 sacrificed my all except the promise of my Heavenly Father, 
 who will bring me support for myself and my children." 
 
 In connection with the Probationers' Memorial, Dr. Candlish 
 also delivered a strong speech, in which he indicated the 
 character of the work to which he believed the Church to be 
 called, and warned the Assembly against the danger of allow- 
 ing the Free Church to sink into a mere " Scottish protesting 
 and seceding sect." " We have been instrumental," he said 
 " throughout all the land in exciting a thirst for the preaching 
 of the gospel, and if we now shall slack our exertions and 
 fold our hands and grow weary, unquestionably we shall 
 incur the heavy responsibility of leaving the fields which are 
 now white to the harvest unreaped and ungathered." 
 
 The other evening on which there was a demonstration 
 was spent even more expressly in expositions of the principles 
 for which the Church had been contending. These were 
 given in connection with a motion formally declaring the 
 separation of the Assembly from the Establishment, and 
 protesting on the part of those assenting that " in doctrine, 
 polity, and discipline they truly represent the Church of 
 their fathers." 
 
 Dr. Patrick Macfarlane — " the fourth in a direct line of 
 ministers," as he told the House — proposed this motion, and 
 it was seconded by Dr. Brewster of Craig, a brother of the 
 more famous Principal of St. Andrews. The motion was also 
 supported by Dr. Beith of Stirling, and in a great speech by 
 Dr. Cunningham. Dr. Cunningham went more fully into the 
 grounds of the controversy than had yet been done, and used 
 stronger language than anyone else had yet done. But he 
 was listened to with extraordinary interest, and his exposition 
 left upon the minds of his hearers a sharper and deeper 
 
J 
 
 6 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 impression than had hitherto been produced. He described 
 Moderatism as "the great adversary of Christ's cause and 
 Christ's people in the land." He regarded what had occurred 
 as involving the re-establishment of Moderate Ascendancy, 
 but he held that its temporary restoration would certainly be 
 followed, in God's own way, with " a more overwhelming 
 destruction." 
 
 To two other subjects distinct attention was given in the 
 Assembly. The one was the commemoration of the Bicentenary 
 of the Westminster Assembly, the other the question of what 
 was to become of the quoad sacra churches. A Committee 
 had been appointed by the previous Assembly to consider 
 what it would be best to do in connection with the commemora- 
 tion, and it now submitted its report ; and with regard to the 
 quoad sacra churches, a very interesting conversation took 
 place, the chief parts in which were taken by Mr, Dunlop 
 and Sheriff Spiers. Mr. Dunlop, referring to the large sum 
 which had been raised in recent years for church extension — 
 amounting, he believed, to upwards of £300,000 — said: 
 " In point of equity and justice, I suppose there are not two 
 men in the kingdom who will entertain any opinion but one 
 as to the party to whom these churches belong. There can- 
 not be the least doubt that they owe their existence entirely, 
 or almost entirely, to those who are now separating from the 
 Establishment. If, then, we meet with justice, we ought to 
 get that property." In those circumstances he was prepared 
 to offer an advice to the congregations occupying such churches, 
 — not to surrender them at the mere call of any Presbytery, 
 but to retain possession until they were ejected by a civil 
 warrant. Sheriff Spiers concurred with Mr. Dunlop, and 
 added : " It would not become me to hazard any legal opinion ; 
 but law is one thing, and equity is another, and I am sure 
 there is not an individual within the walls of this Assembly 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 37 
 
 who does not agree in the statement that my learned friend 
 made, that if this case was to be decided according to the rule 
 of the highest equity, no Church can, in regard to the 
 property of these churches, compete with the Protesting Free 
 Presbyterian Church." 
 
 It is rather melancholy to read these utterances in the 
 light of subsequent events. The Civil Courts of the day 
 were by no means disposed to lean to the side of equity when 
 the claims of the Free Church were under consideration. The 
 constitution of the churches — so many of which owed their 
 erection to the zeal and eloquence of Chalmers — was declared 
 to be such as to make them the inalienable property of the 
 Establishment, and, as a rule, they were taken over remorse- 
 lessly. It is some consolation to believe that this act of 
 spoliation, as it has sometimes been called, would not be 
 countenanced now either by the Law Lords or by the 
 Established Church. 
 
 These were the chief incidents in the proceedings, but every 
 day something or other occurred to give a personal interest 
 to what was taking place. On the first day, Mr. Pitcairn and 
 Dr. Clason were unanimously appointed Joint Clerks of the 
 Assembly ; and a few days later, Mr. Dunlop was invited by 
 acclamation to take the post of Procurator or Legal Adviser. 
 Then the serious business of the House was hardly begun, 
 when a Lanarkshire laird, Mr. Dickson of Hartree, who had 
 just come in from " the other place," asked to be allowed to tell 
 his experiences. He had lingered behind in St. Andrew's Church 
 because he thought the step taken there had been premature. 
 He thought the Church ought to have waited to hear the 
 Queen's letter read. At anyrate, he had done so, and the 
 result was utter dissatisfaction. That letter contained, he 
 said, a vague promise with regard to the question of Non- 
 intrusion, but with regard to other matters it said in effect : 
 
38 THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 " If you, the Church, will allow the Civil Courts to put their 
 feet on your necks, then perhaps we will endeavour to alleviate 
 your sufferings." To this he had listened with deep displea- 
 sure, and now he felt he was in his true place in Canonmills. 
 Great enthusiasm, too, was excited from time to time by the 
 reading of letters from men who had had some difficulty in 
 making up their minds, but who, being constrained to come to 
 a conclusion, sent in their adhesion to the Protesting Church. 
 Among these were peculiarly hearty and intelligent letters 
 from the Marquess of Breadalbane, Mr. Hog of Newliston, Mr. 
 Campbell of Tulliechewan, and Mr. Ewing of Levenside. The 
 Marquess wrote on the 23rd of May from London: "After 
 having given my anxious consideration to the various topics of 
 the Queen's letter, and the spirit which pervades it, I am most 
 reluctantly obliged to give up that hope which I had till now 
 fondly cherished, that the Government were really in earnest 
 in their desire to bring in a measure consistent with the 
 rights and privileges of the Presbyterian Church, and securing 
 to the parishes of Scotland the appointment of ministers 
 acceptable to the people. My resolve is therefore now taken, 
 to vindicate my own principles as a Presbyterian, and to leave 
 the Established Church ; and I beg of you to command my 
 humble service in any way which can be most useful to the 
 cause of the Free Presbyterian Church." 
 
 Altogether, this was a remarkable Assembly — remarkable 
 because of the circumstances under which it met — remarkable 
 because of the many very able men of whom it was constituted 
 — remarkable for the practical wisdom which was displayed 
 in the conduct of its business — and remarkable for the 
 extraordinary enthusiasm which from first to last characterised 
 all its proceedings. 
 
 ' We have reason, too," said the Moderator in his closing 
 address, " to bless God for a harmony which has been quite 
 
THE FIRST FREE CHURCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 39 
 
 marvellous. Let us rejoice in it as a token for good ; and 
 may He who turneth the spirits of men whithersoever He 
 will, turn this common enthusiasm on behalf of great and 
 high objects into an instrument for the growth of charity and 
 cordial affection among all Christians, that they may at length 
 rally round one and the same standard, and go forth with one 
 heart and one hand on the mighty enterprise of spreading 
 the gospel everywhere, and achieving both at home and 
 abroad the further triumphs of our faith." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 
 
 ^TARTING under the circumstances described, the Free 
 '^ Church addressed itself with earnestness to the work 
 which seemed to be assigned to it. It did not for a moment 
 think of itself as a body of Seceders or Dissenters. The 
 crisis of the Disruption had not destroyed the consciousness 
 of its identity. It felt itself to be the same Church which 
 for ten years had been battling for the rights of the people 
 and for spiritual independence. The separation which had 
 taken place was from nothing but the State, and not regarding 
 " Establishment " or " Disestablishment " as anything more 
 than accidents, it had no hesitation in keeping to its old 
 name, that of the " Church of Scotland," qualifying the title 
 only by the epithet of "Free." What moved it the more 
 confidently to pursue this course was the indisputable fact 
 that it was maintaining the principles of the Reformers and 
 Covenanters. 
 
 Looking upon itself, then, as called upon still to discharge 
 national functions, it undertook, as a matter of course, to 
 carry on all the enterprises of the unbroken Church, and to 
 supply ordinances all over the country to whoever might 
 seek them. The restoring of the framework, however, in 
 room of what had been taken away, was an immense under- 
 taking, and in a time when faith was feebler it would have 
 been faced with very serious misgivings. 
 
 40 
 
RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 41 
 
 Happily, the summer was before the Church, and it turned 
 out to be a beautiful summer. It was simply impossible to 
 provide of a sudden places of worship for all the congregations 
 which came to be formed ; and where halls or other such 
 temporary refuges could not be found, the ministers needed 
 to meet with their people in the open air. One congregation, 
 for instance, assembled for eighteen months in an old grave- 
 yard ; another worshipped in a wood ; a third met " on a 
 green hillside " ; a fourth, in the playground of a school ; a 
 sixth, on the seashore. While the fine weather lasted no 
 great hardship was experienced in these circumstances. The 
 novel and unconventional character of the services gave them 
 even a special element of interest and attractiveness. But it 
 was different when the winter came, and congregations not a 
 few were still without any kind of shelter. These were 
 almost entirely to be found where sites for buildings were 
 refused. 
 
 It seems, at this time of day, almost incredible that any 
 proprietor should have imagined it to be possible that he 
 could arrest the advance of any great religious movement by 
 preventing his tenants from meeting on his land for public 
 worship. But this was unquestionably the idea which was 
 at this period entertained by a good many of the landholders 
 of Scotland. It pleased them to believe that the Disruption 
 was a hasty step which would be speedily repented of, and 
 that if only some firmness were displayed, the people would 
 liiul their way back again into the parish churches. They 
 were, moreover, profoundly persuaded that a religious Estab- 
 lishment is essential to the well-being of a country, and that 
 any drift away from it portends the approach of social and 
 political disorder. Under the influence of these persuasions 
 they took up an intolerant position, and doggedly assumed 
 the character of site-refusers. 
 
42 RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 
 
 The consequences of this policy were often so cruel, that 
 one is surprised to know that they were always borne so 
 quietly. It is needless to recall particularly the story of 
 those times. It is a story which illustrates in a striking 
 way the injury that may be done by the stupidity of well- 
 meaning men, and which makes one blush to think that 
 such things could have happened in the nineteenth century. 
 But we may allow ourselves to believe that some, at least, of 
 those who were guilty of the atrocities lived to be ashamed of 
 their conduct ; and it would be almost a pity to preserve the 
 records of it on the page of a history. 
 
 What the Church, however, had to face in this connection 
 in the reconstruction of its framework, ought not to be alto- 
 gether forgotten ; and one example may be given of how one 
 man, who had a reputation for kindliness of nature, set 
 himself to make it impossible for the Free Church to exist on 
 his estate. 
 
 All the land about Canonbie and Wanlockhead belongs 
 to the Duke of Buccleuch, and this, briefly, is what happened 
 in those places. 
 
 In the former parish a number of the people came out, 
 and a canvas tent was erected for their benefit, which was 
 pitched in the corner of a moss or moor. The spot, however, 
 belonged to the Duke, and the congregation was ejected from 
 it by means of an interdict. They then met, without any 
 shelter, on the public roadside, — which was not regarded as 
 a hardship as long as the summer lasted, but which was 
 looked forward to with serious apprehension when the winter 
 approached. A petition, therefore, was got up, signed by a 
 thousand persons, and was sent to his Grace, humbly praying 
 him to grant a site ; but the receipt of the petition was not 
 even acknowledged. There was nothing for it then but to 
 remain on the roadside, — and " a sad sight it was," says the 
 
RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 43 
 
 minister who preached to the people all through that time, 
 "to see old men and women and little children standing 
 exposed on the open road to the wind and rain in this 
 Christian land, listening to no political harangue, but simply 
 to the gospel of Christ ; and all because of their having been 
 driven from a barren moor, where the wandering gipsies are 
 made welcome to pitch their tents and dwell for weeks 
 together." 
 
 The case of Wanlockhead was even more discreditable. 
 The miners who inhabited the region were the Duke's work- 
 men, and tliey had invariably received such kindness at his 
 hands before, that they did not dream of the possibility of 
 their being treated intolerantly now ; but the first petition 
 addressed to his Grace — in July 1843 — was dealt with as 
 the Canonbie one had been. The receipt of it was not even 
 acknowledged. Six weeks later they sent another, couched in 
 more urgent terms ; and now the factor answered, but it was 
 to refuse curtly the request which had been made. Winter 
 came ; and amid the storms of January the outgoing minister 
 made a new appeal, — only, however, to be repulsed. The 
 Presbytery next took the matter up, and in July 1844 
 addressed a most pathetic remonstrance to the Duke, — but it 
 was in vain. Later on, his Grace was approached in person 
 by a deputation, — with the same result. And Dr. Chalmers, 
 who at last interfered, was equally unsuccessful, — his letter 
 being actually left unanswered. 
 
 An experiment was evidently being tried. It was expected 
 that here a Free Church congregation would be driven back 
 into the Establishment by sheer stress of weather ; and the 
 conditions for the accomplishment of that end were certainly 
 most favourable. 
 
 " Up among these wild hills," says Dr. Brown, in \iSs> Annals 
 of the Disruption, " fifteen hundred feet above the sea, the wind. 
 
44 RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 
 
 even in summer, blows chill and keen, while in winter, as one 
 of the witnesses states, it has occasionally been found impos- 
 sible for a human being to stand for an hour exposed in the 
 open air. The plan, therefore, was a simple one. Deny the 
 people ground on which to build ; let the minister get no 
 site for a manse : and that terrible climate will do the rest." 
 
 " But," adds Dr. Brown, " if men reasoned thus, they should 
 have known their countrymen better. . . . Mr. Hastings, the 
 minister, had broken up his home and sent his family to 
 Dumfries, a distance of thirty miles. For himself, he found 
 accommodation in a workman's thatched cottage, where the 
 widow of one of the miners gave him the use of a single 
 room, low in the roof, ten feet square ; and this was his 
 sitting-room, bedroom, and study, all in one. . . . The con- 
 ducting of Sabbath services was the great difficulty. Some- 
 times the congregation met on the bare hillside, sometimes 
 in one of the valleys, changing the locality so as to escape 
 as far as possible the fury of the blast, though no change 
 could free them from the cold numbing wind and the frequent 
 showers of rain and snow. . . . When winter came, with frost 
 and snow, the cold caused extreme suffering. The minister 
 has felt so benumbed, that, at the close of the service, he 
 could not get off the stone on which he had been standing, 
 till helped down. And this was not due to any unusual 
 cold. The congregation had often to encounter such weather." 
 
 On the approach of the third winter a tent was provided, 
 but it was soon levelled to the ground by the wind, and a 
 new plan was followed, — that of singling out six houses, and 
 having a service in each of them. This, however, entailed 
 upon the minister an extraordinary amount of labour ; and 
 when the sixth winter was approaching, without any prospect 
 of relief, a desperate effort was made to mend matters by Mr. 
 Irving of Falkirk. He wrote to the Duke asking permission 
 
RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 45 
 
 to erect a wooden shed, and receiving no reply, he assumed 
 that silence meant consent, and proceeded with the work 
 accordingly. By and by it did appear that Mr. Irving was 
 not taking too much for granted. It was suggested that a 
 new petition should be presented to his Grace, and tliis being 
 done, the wooden shed received his direct sanction. It is 
 even said that the Duke made some sort of apology for his 
 cruel obstinacy. 
 
 In any case, so ended a conflict in which the Free Church 
 was seen overcoming one of the most formidable obstacles 
 which lay in the way of the restoration of its framework. 
 
 The Duke of Buccleuch, however, was by no means the 
 only landlord whose intolerance was a just cause of com- 
 plaint. His evil example was followed by so many others 
 that the interference of Parliament had to be sought. 
 
 In the Assembly of 1845, a Committee was appointed to 
 attend to this one interest, and at its head was placed one of 
 the noblest men of the Disruption period. Sheriff Spiers is 
 forgotten by the new generation, but no one who ever saw 
 him will forget his appearance. What Lord Cock burn says 
 of him is worth repeating. 
 
 "No individual power," writes Cockburn, " could have reared 
 the Free Church. It is the result of a confluence of circum- 
 stances. But the men who have had the deepest share in 
 directing these circumstances and in moulding the results 
 have been Chalmers, Candlish, Alexander Dunlop, and 
 Graham Spiers. Neither of the clergymen could have 
 succeeded without the two laymen. Dunlop in everythinw 
 except expressive public exhibition is superior to them both, 
 . . . yet was he even surpassed by the apostolic Spiers, 
 whose calm wisdom and quiet resolution and high-minded 
 purity made his opinion conclusive with his friends and 
 dreaded by his opponents. He had no ambition to be the 
 
46 RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 
 
 flaming sword of his party, but in its darkest hour he was its 
 pillar of light. Amidst all the keenness and imputations 
 and extravagances of party, it never occurred to anyone to 
 impeach the motives or the objects or the sincerity of 
 Graham Spiers." 
 
 If anyone could have been expected to influence the 
 landowners of Scotland, this surely was the man. In birth 
 and social standing he was their equal (he was one of the 
 Spiers of Elderslie) — his manners were those of a stately 
 gentleman — and his character was above reproach. But 
 even he failed to bring the site - refusers to reason ; and 
 in 1847 the House of Commons was moved to appoint a 
 Committee of Inquiry. In that Committee, the complainants 
 were not permitted to have their own way. Among others, 
 Sir James Graham, who had not then been brought to the 
 wholesome state of mind in which Dr. Buchanan found him 
 in 1853, distinguished himself by his animus against the 
 Free Church. Determined efforts were made to show that 
 the position taken up by that Church was an untenable 
 one, and that its opposition to the Establishment had been so 
 virulent as to excuse, if not to justify, those who had refused 
 to allow its congregations to worship on their lands. One 
 of the witnesses examined on this occasion was Dr. Chalmers. 
 It was one of the very last services which he was permitted 
 to offer to his Church, and it was a great one. For an hour 
 he was subjected to all manner of questions from Sir James 
 Graham, — some of them (as his Journal testifies) being 
 regarded by him as impertinent. But he maintained through- 
 out " an erect demeanour and visage unabashed," and when 
 the conclusion was reached, it was not the witness but his 
 examiner who came in confusion out of the conflict. 
 
 Sir James, however, regained his equanimity in Parlia- 
 ment. The Committee, while condemning the violent language 
 
RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 47 
 
 which had been used on both sides, reported unanimously 
 that there was a grievance, and Mr. Bouverie brought in a 
 Bill with a view to its being redressed. The Bill was received 
 with favour, and was allowed to pass its second reading ; 
 but before it was read a third time, Sir James Graham 
 appeared as its opponent, aud througli his influence it was 
 thrown out. This might have issued in a fresh outbreak of 
 the evil. No thanks to Sir James Graham that it did not. 
 But the truth was that the exposure which had taken place 
 had sufficiently revealed the outrageous character of the 
 proceedings complained of, and site - refusing was quietly 
 discontinued. 
 
 Apart from the extraordinary difficulties we have been 
 describing, the Free Church had a serious enough difficulty 
 to face in replacing the edifices of which it had been 
 deprived by its disestablishment. At its own doors, churches, 
 manses, colleges, and schools had to be erected ; and in India 
 it had also to address itself to the building of new missionary 
 institutions. 
 
 The most pressing need was that of home churches, and 
 the zeal with which the business of providing them was 
 prosecuted may be guessed, when it is said that by the spring 
 of 1845 no fewer than 500 were already in occupation, and 
 that a sum of £320,000 had been subscribed for their 
 construction. During the years which followed, the same 
 rapid rate of progress was continued, and over 700 were 
 reported as finished at the Assembly of 1848. 
 
 The necessity for new schools was felt to be scarcely 
 less urgent ; and so early as October 1843, when the Assembly 
 was meeting at Glasgow, Mr. Macdonald of Blairgowrie 
 submitted a scheme, which in six months' time he carried 
 through to a triumphant termination, of raising £50,000 to 
 help in the erection of schools all over the country. 
 
48 RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 
 
 A college for the training of young men for the ministry 
 was of course also from the first regarded as a necessity, and 
 a house in George Street, Edinburgh, was bought, in which 
 the work was begun. But the rearing of a suitable building 
 for the classes was not lost sight of for a moment ; and at the 
 Assembly of 1845 it was reported that, besides a large sum 
 which Mr. Macdonald had promised to raise, £21,000 had 
 been subscribed for the purpose by twenty individuals, — one 
 of the twenty undertaking for £2000 instead of £1000. 
 
 But another work needed to be done. It is highly credit- 
 able to the ministers of the Disruption age, that they showed 
 themselves so willing to postpone the consideration of their 
 own wants to the more urgent public claims of the Church. 
 Many of them endured almost intolerable hardships when 
 driven out of their manses in 1843. In many cases no 
 suitable dwelling-houses could be found in the parishes where 
 they laboured, and it was the commonest thing possible for 
 men to send away their families to towns at a distance, while 
 they themselves found accommodation of the poorest kind in 
 the cottages of their neighbourhood. This state of matters 
 could not be suffered long to continue, and in the Assembly 
 of 1844 an outcry arose against it from among the laity. 
 A Committee was then appointed, and some subscriptions came 
 in. But the movement was then regarded as premature, and 
 no general effort was made till 1845, when, at the suggestion, 
 it is believed, of Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Guthrie was invited to 
 undertake the task of raising £100,000 for manse-building 
 alone. 
 
 No man then living was better fitted to undertake this 
 business. Born in 1803 at Brechin, and educated there and 
 (for a short time) at Dun, he was sent to the University of 
 Edinburgh when he was twelve years of age, and was licensed 
 to preach in 1825. His father had political influence 
 
RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 49 
 
 enough to secure for him very soon afterwards the present- 
 ation to an important charge, but one of the conditions on 
 which it was offered to him was that he should ally himself 
 to the Moderate party. That condition he refused to accept, 
 and he remained a probationer for five years. In 1830, 
 however, he was settled at Arbirlot, and there he remained 
 till 1837, when he was translated to Edinburgh to become 
 the colleague of Mr. Sym in the Old Greyfriars. Here his 
 home missionary predilections found scope so far, inasmuch as 
 he and his colleague held a service each every Sabbath in the 
 Cowgate ; but in coming to Edinburgh he had always con- 
 templated devoting himself to work a district on the territorial 
 plan, and when the new Church of St. John's was completed, 
 it was with great satisfaction that he undertook to become its 
 first minister. The church filled almost immediately, and 
 here and in the new Church of Free St. John's, which was built 
 for him after the Disruption, Dr. Guthrie maintained for 
 many years the position of the most popular preacher in the 
 city. Brought up an Evangelical, he fought, both at Arbirlot 
 and Edinburgh, in the Conflict for the Church and the people, 
 and when the crisis of 1843 arrived, he was one of the band 
 of distinguished men who, without hesitation, withdrew from 
 the Establishment. Alike in the pulpit and on the platform 
 he showed that he possessed the power of moving whatever 
 audience he addressed. Especially he had the gift of touching 
 men so that they broke into laughter or melted into tears. 
 And when it was known that he had undertaken to raise a 
 fund for the erection of manses, the general feeling was that 
 the work was virtually done. Nor were those who cherished 
 this hope doomed to be disappointed. 
 
 Dr. Guthrie set out on the great enterprise on the 9th of 
 July, and, six weeks later, he was able to tell the Assembly 
 at Inverness that he had raised £35,000 of the whole amount 
 4 
 
50 RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 
 
 in Glasgow and its neighbourhood alone. Not only so. 
 When the Assembly of 1846 came round, he had the 
 satisfaction of reporting that the whole and more had been 
 promised, — the entire sum subscribed (including £5000 
 from Lord Breadalbane) being £116,370. 
 
 The remark has often been made (and its justice will hardly 
 be disputed), that perhaps the most encouraging event which 
 took place in the early history of the Free Church was the 
 accession to its ranks of all the foreign missionaries, without 
 exception, who had been sent out before 1843 by the unbroken 
 Church of Scotland. An emphatic testimony was then given 
 to the evangelical character of the movement which the 
 Disruption represented. The missionary spirit was the out- 
 come of the same life which had appeared in the reforming 
 efforts which had been made at home, and all the world knew 
 that most of the means provided to carry on the work abroad 
 had been supplied by those who were now outside the 
 Establishment. 
 
 All this might have been remembered when questions 
 arose as to the disposal of the mission buildings in India. 
 " The buildings " [in Culcutta], says Dr. Brown, " were of Dr. 
 Duff's planning. He had toiled hard, by correspondence and 
 personal application among his friends, to raise the funds. The 
 erection of the Institution was as really his work as if with 
 his own hands he had built it. Sums of money given to him- 
 self for the use of his family he had at different times laid out 
 on it. The fair thing would have been to let him remain in 
 possession, the Committee of the Established Church receiving 
 compensation for such claims as they might have. If, on the 
 other hand, they felt bound to take possession, ought they not, 
 as honourable Christian men, to have made some return to Dr. 
 Duff and his friends for what they had done ? The Committee 
 in Edinburgh, however, had other views. Technically, they had 
 
RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 51 
 
 the law on their side, and, disregarding all claims of equity 
 between man and man, they decided that Dr. Duff and the 
 other missionaries must be expelled." This was accordingly 
 done. The same policy was pursued in Bombay. And thus 
 it came about that among the other burdens which the Church 
 had at once to face was that of reconstructing the missionary 
 framework in India. 
 
 How well and rapidly this was accomplished, appears from 
 a message which Dr. Duff sent home in January 1845. Ten 
 months before, he and all his co-workers and all his scholars 
 had been compelled to leave the premises which owed their 
 existence to him ; but he writes : " All things have prospered 
 with us. We have a more capacious edifice than ever. The 
 pecuniary resources have been adequate. The attendance of 
 pupils (1257) has been great beyond any former precedent. 
 And the organic workings of the system have been carried on 
 throughout all departments with new life and renovated 
 vigour. Our Institution, as a Free Church one, instead of 
 falling behind, has already started considerably in advance of 
 its former self." 
 
 It ought to be remembered that all the money required to 
 build new churches, manses, and schools was not contributed 
 by its own adherents. An extraordinary spirit of liberality, 
 indeed, was poured out upon them, and by far the largest 
 proportion of what was needed was given by them ; but one 
 of the notable features of the period was the interest felt 
 in the Disruption by Churches and individuals outside, and 
 the sympathy shown by them took often a very practical 
 shape. 
 
 Salutations came to the early Assemblies from England, 
 Ireland, and Scotland — from the Continent of Europe and 
 from America ; and in response to invitations freely coming 
 from many quarters, deputations were sent, with the result that 
 
52 RECONSTRUCTING THE FRAMEWORK 
 
 considerable sums reached the Church from friends interested 
 in its prosperity. 
 
 Thus, to the marvel of all, the broken walls were built up 
 again with wonderful rapidity ; and within a very few years 
 Scotland was covered from end to end with churches, manses, 
 and schools belonging to the Free Church, and so far the 
 framework was reconstructed. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 
 
 TT was not only the churches and manses that were 
 abandoned at the Disruption. The "livings" also were 
 left behind, and another thing requiring immediate attention 
 after that event was that of providing for the support of the 
 ministry. 
 
 If the men who led in the movement had been mere 
 enthusiastic dreamers, this matter would have been left to 
 arrange itself. Each congregation would have been expected 
 to sustain its own minister. But the result of that would 
 have been that only the centres of population would have been 
 occupied. The country districts would, after a time at least, 
 liave been forsaken, and the Free Church would have shrunk 
 into a paltry sect, providing only for such adherents as could 
 be brought together in considerable numbers. 
 
 To prevent an issue like that, comprehensive measures 
 needed to be taken, and were taken. And the time and circum- 
 stances were both favourable for the making of an experiment. 
 In 1G62 almost as many ministers were driven out of the 
 Establishment, but the people were not then left free to organise 
 themselves as they wished. In 1733 no restraints were put 
 upon the people, but the ministers were too few in number to 
 require any general movement to be made on their behalf. 
 In 1843, however, a tide of feeling swept over the whole 
 country. Congregations animated by one spirit were being 
 
 53 
 
54 REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 
 
 established everywhere. The ministers who came out were 
 many, and had their homes in all parts of the land. And as 
 there was a necessity for some general scheme of " sustenta- 
 tion," so there was a clear field for its execution. 
 
 The plan adopted was a very simple one. It proceeded 
 on two principles, — the first, that the Church is not a congeries 
 of independent elements, but a unit ; the second, that every- 
 thing may be expected from " the power of littles." 
 
 From the outset no congregation was allowed to think of 
 its own interests only, and no individual member of the Church 
 was permitted to regard himself as having a connection with 
 one congregation alone. A Central Fund was formed, to which 
 all were expected to contribute, and out of this fund every 
 minister was paid at the same rate, wherever he lived or 
 whatever his people had given. Under this arrangement, 
 lights were kept burning in many a Highland glen and in 
 many an outlying Lowland parish where otherwise they would 
 have been extinguished ; and at the same time suitable outlets 
 were furnished for the outflowing of the liberality at once of 
 the rich and of the poor. For every Free Churchman was 
 taught from the commencement that it was his individual 
 duty to contribute as he was able to the support of the whole 
 Church. His being in a wealthy congregation or in a poor 
 one was not to affect the measure of his liberality. He was 
 neither to withhold more than was meet because the provision 
 for his own minister could be easily furnished, nor to lower 
 his own givings to make them on a level with those of poorer 
 neighbours around him. The single consideration he had to 
 think of was : What proportion of his income did it behove 
 him to give for the support of ordinances throughout the 
 land? 
 
 " Compared," says Dr. Hanna, " with the system under 
 which each separate congregation sustains its own minister, 
 
REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 55 
 
 this scheme presented many a peculiar recommendation. By- 
 drawing on the abundance of the rich a fixed supply for the 
 necessities of the poor, it preserved a Christian ministry in 
 many districts where otherwise it must have expired. By 
 binding the strong and the weak together, it created a new 
 species of unity in the Cliurch, and breathed throughout it a 
 fresh and healthful spirit of brotherhood. By creating orderly 
 channels through which the overflowing liberality of the 
 wealthy congregations was spread equally within the whole 
 area of the Church, it established a security against the fitful 
 and capricious distributions of individual benevolence. By 
 inviting every member of the Church to unite not simply in 
 supporting that clergyman whose services he personally enjoyed, 
 but in sustaining and extending a gospel ministry throughout 
 the land wherever it was needed, it gave a new if not a purer 
 motive to his liberality, supplying it with a wider aim and a 
 nobler area." 
 
 The plan adopted was that which was proposed by 
 Chalmers in the Convocation of November 1842. His 
 calculation was that, if all the adherents of the Church in 
 Scotland would contribute one penny a week to the " Sustenta- 
 tion Fund," as he called it (thereby coining a word which 
 has since become current everywhere), a sum of at least 
 £100,000 a year would certainly be provided, and he 
 ventured to promise that amount to the outgoing Evangelicals 
 if proper steps were taken to raise it. The promise was 
 received with a smile of kindly incredulity. Those who 
 listened did not expect all the adherents of the Church to 
 go with them ; and even were such an improbable thing to 
 take place as a universal separation from the State, they 
 did not believe in any such amount being contributed in 
 such a way. But Chalmers was not leaving anything out 
 of si<fht in his estimate. He did not assume that all would 
 
56 REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 
 
 leave the Establishment. What he calculated on was that 
 very many would give a great deal more than a penny a 
 week, and that their larger contributions would make up for 
 deficiencies otherwise created. And he was not mistaken. 
 During the first ten years of the Free Church the average 
 income of the Fund was £85,000 a year; during the second 
 ten years it was £108,312 ; during the third decade it was 
 £128,000 ; and since then it has been over £170,000. 
 
 To begin with, the idea which it was intended to carry 
 out was that of an equal dividend, pure and simple. The 
 whole amount sent in was to be redistributed among the 
 ministers, share and share alike. This did not mean that 
 all were to have the same stipend. Individual congregations 
 were left to supplement the allowance from the centre by 
 special additions of their own. But so far as the Central 
 Fund was concerned, the arrangement was to give the same 
 sum out of it to each minister whatever his people might 
 contribute. 
 
 It soon became apparent, however, that this plan would 
 not work. When men profess religion and gather them- 
 selves into churches, they do not necessarily leave behind 
 them all their weaknesses and selfishnesses; and so many 
 congregations showed a want of conscientiousness in connec- 
 tion with their contributions to the general Sustentation 
 Fund, that Chalmers was astonished. They would take freely 
 the whole dividend due, while they seemed to feel them- 
 selves under no obligation to do their utmost for its main- 
 tenance. It was necessary that a check of some kind should 
 be applied, and a check was accordingly suggested. This 
 was what is called the One and a Half Scheme, under which 
 it was arranged that each congregation which gave £100 a 
 year or less to the Fund should draw out of it only what 
 it contributed and one-half more. 
 
REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 57 
 
 But a very few years revealed the imsatisfactoriness of 
 this scheme also. It was found to expose those interested 
 in it to a great temptation — the temptation, namely, to 
 borrow money to send up to headquarters, in the assurance 
 that they would get back what they transmitted with 50 
 per cent, in addition. In 1847, accordingly, the plan was 
 abandoned, and there came to be a return for a time to the 
 principle of the equal dividend. 
 
 That year (1847) saw a change of an important kind in 
 the management of the Fund. Dr. Chalmers had been the 
 first Convener of the Committee, but he resigned in 1845, 
 and was succeeded by Dr. Tweedie. He too retired two 
 years later, and gave place to Dr. Eobert Buchanan of 
 Glasgow, in whose liands the conduct of the enterprise 
 remained for many years. 
 
 His accession to the ofhce took place in a somewhat 
 inauspicious time. All the nations of Europe were in a 
 more or less troubled condition, Great Britain included, 
 and the Church was in a state of perplexity as to how her 
 finances would be effectively arranged. The cause, however, 
 was one which well deserved the best attention that could 
 be given to it, and Dr. Buchanan addressed himself to the 
 prosecution of it in the exercise of a simple faith. He did 
 not stop to consider what might be the wisest method of 
 its distribution. Leaving alone what Chalmers was accus- 
 tomed to speak of as the mechanics of the scheme, he placed 
 liis whole dependence on its dynamics, and, in company 
 with Mr. Hugh Handyside, he traversed the whole country, 
 addressing meetings and urging upon the consciences of his 
 hearers the duty of giving more liberally for the support of 
 the ministry. The journey was, so far, crowned with success. 
 In 1848 the new Convener was able to report that the 
 income of the Fund had reached the sum of £88,996, being 
 
58 REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 
 
 an increase on the preceding year of £5854. The dividend 
 paid in consequence was £128, which was the largest yet 
 given since the Disruption. 
 
 But the Church went on increasing. New congregations 
 were formed and recognised, and with an ever - enlarging 
 divisor the dividend grew always less. For six successive 
 years after 1848 the stipends of the clergy were lower than 
 they had been in that year ; and this state of matters was 
 taken very much to heart by a number of earnest men. 
 
 The conviction spread that there was something amiss in 
 the constitution or management of the scheme, and from 
 1852 to 1855 the Church Courts rang with the noise of 
 keener debates than had been heard since before 1843. On 
 the one hand, Mr. Dunlop, Dr. Hanna, and an influential 
 following, insisted on the application of self-acting checks ; 
 Dr. Begg, again, and others, strenuously objected to anything 
 beyond moral and spiritual suasion, and laid the blame of 
 a falling dividend on the undue multiplication of new charges ; 
 while Dr. Buchanan, the Convener of the Committee, moved 
 cautiously between the two extremes. He had unbounded 
 faith in the power of Christian principle, and, in his view, 
 much of the blame of the insufficient giving which was 
 lamented was due to the backwardness of ministers, in 
 refraining from speaking plainly to their people ; but, at 
 the same time, he did not believe that economical laws could 
 be broken with impunity, and his thoughts were constantly 
 directed toward the discovery of methods whereby all the 
 congregations might be constrained to do their duty, and 
 yet no unreasonable arrest be placed on the extension of the 
 Church. 
 
 As the result, various schemes came to be tried. There 
 was, to begin with, what was called " the Eating System." 
 It was an unfortunate title, suggesting legal rather than 
 
REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 59 
 
 evangelical ideas, but what was meant by it was this, that 
 before each congregation a specified sum was set as that 
 which it was taken bound to aim at. Following this was 
 a Supplementary Fund, out of which disbursements were 
 made under certain conditions. Next, a great effort was 
 put forth (which was wonderfully successful) to get the 
 whole Church to add one-fourth more to its givings. And 
 finally came, in 1867, the Surplus Scheme, which with 
 modifications has held the field during the remainder of the 
 half-century. The scheme provided that when the equal 
 dividend had reached the point of £150 a year, what was 
 over should be set aside and disbursed to such congregations 
 as contributed to the Central Fund at the rate of 10s. 
 and 7s. 6d. per niember. The needed impulse seemed now 
 to have been received. The Fund immediately rose. The 
 dividend aimed at was reached, and, after a time, raised to 
 the higher level of £160 ; and although considerable fluctua- 
 tions have occurred in the years during which it has been 
 in operation, this has been proved beyond question, that no 
 other plan has on the whole worked more successfully. 
 
 The scheme, however, is evidently not absolutely perfect. 
 Its tendency is rather to discourage the growth of congrega- 
 tions, for an addition of members may involve — and does 
 often involve — a diminution of income. Under it, too, an 
 undue development of Congregationalism is made possible, 
 with the result that some ministers have had given them 
 unwarrantably large supplements. But means may be found 
 for correcting these evils, and in the meantime this, in any 
 case, may be confidently said, that it has now been practically 
 demonstrated that a Church may be disestablished and dis 
 endowed, and yet be able to maintain ordinances in the 
 poorest possible congregation and in the most out-of-the- 
 way districts in any Christian country. 
 
6o REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 
 
 Dr. Buchanan continued to be Convener of the Committee 
 until his death at Eome in 1875. Drs, Eainy and Wilson 
 were then appointed Joint-Conveners, the latter at the same 
 time undertaking the duties of Secretary. When Dr. Wilson 
 died, Dr. Eainy remained for a time in office alone, but in 
 1889 he was succeeded by Dr. Eoss Taylor of Glasgow, the 
 Secretary's work being performed by Dr. Andrew Melville. 
 The names of two other Secretaries of the Fund ought never 
 to be forgotten, those of Mr. Hugh Handyside and Mr. George 
 Meldrum. 
 
 Besides providing a subsistence allowance for men actually 
 engaged in ministerial work, the Church very soon recognised 
 the necessity of doing something for those who were forced 
 to retire through old age or infirmity. To this matter 
 the attention of the Assembly was called in 1846, and a 
 Committee was appointed to prepare a scheme. Not much, 
 however, was immediately done, and year after year passed 
 before there seemed any call for submitting special reports. 
 But the thing grew until a sum was realised sufficient to 
 relieve the Church from real difficulties, and to enable 
 congregations to procure the services of younger men when 
 otherwise they would have been obliged to bear with the 
 inadequate labours of ministers who were compelled to 
 continue in harness longer than was at all desirable. 
 
 In 1894 the capital realised amounted to about £145,000, 
 yielding an income of more than £10,000 a year, and out of 
 this fund allowances were made — varying from £50 to £80 
 — to about a hundred men. These allowances, supplemented 
 by contributions from the congregations concerned, have 
 made it possible to place active colleagues and successors 
 where their services were most needed. 
 
 The importance of this scheme is being fully appreciated, 
 and the hope is cherished that the fund will by and by 
 
REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 6i 
 
 become large enough to permit of its undertaking the entire 
 support of its beneficiaries, thus rendering it unnecessary to 
 draw anything out of the Sustentation Fund for their benefit. 
 Another object engaged the interest of the Assembly even 
 earlier than that which has just been noticed. This was 
 the making of some provision for the widows of deceased 
 ministers. There had been a Widows' Fund in the Established 
 Church, and with this those of the outed ministers who had 
 joined it continued to be connected. But for the new men 
 a new arrangement had to be made, and this was effected at 
 once, and that with a thoroughness and wisdom for the 
 display of which the Church can never be too thankful. In 
 the first place, the scheme was constituted to include orphans 
 as well as widows ; again, the payment of the annual premium 
 was in every case made certain, by its being deducted from 
 the Sustentation Fund dividend ; and further, by means of 
 an Act of Parliament, the widow's pension was secured against 
 all possible debts. 
 
 The scheme has been managed from the first with admir- 
 able skill, and the accumulated funds now amount to over 
 £370,000. Out of this, annuities of £48 each were provided 
 in 1894 for 299 widows; while 157 children were each 
 receiving £27, and seventeen £40, 10s., — the latter having 
 lost both fathers and mothers. 
 
 One other subject immediately received attention in the 
 Church, namely, the institution of a Theological Seminary. 
 This was effected when, after occupying temporary premises for 
 some years, the professor and students moved into the New 
 College, which it had taken nearly £50,000 to erect. Some 
 years later another college building was raised in Aberdeen, at 
 a cost of over £2000 ; and yet another in Glasgow, costing 
 more than £14,000. These institutions have now all been 
 endowed to a greater or less extent, and are well provided 
 
62 REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 
 
 with libraries .and museums. The sums invested on their 
 behalf are reported in 1894 to have been as follows: — 
 
 New College . . . . £136,213 
 
 Glasgow .... 37,795 
 
 Aberdeen . . . . 58,617 
 
 In all ... . £232,625 
 
 It may be interesting, in closing, to give a few figures by 
 way of illustrating the liberality with which the loss caused 
 by the disestablishing of the Church has been made up. 
 
 For the Sustentation Fund, out of which dividends, vary- 
 incr in amount, have been paid annually to all ministers, the 
 sum raised in fifty years was £6,805,005. In 1843 the 
 contributions for this object were (leaving out the smaller 
 figures) £61,000; in 1850 they were £90,000; in 1860, 
 £114,000; in 1870, £138,000 ; in 1880, £178,000; in 
 1890, £184,000. Besides the dividends paid out of the 
 Central Fund, however, a sum of £2,352,876 has been given 
 to ministers in the shape of supplements, so that during the 
 half-century over £9,000,000 have been spent in providing 
 stipends alone. 
 
 Then nearly a million and a half has been expended in 
 the maintenance of colleges and schools which would not 
 have been required if there had been no Disruption, while to 
 build the various fabrics which the new situation demanded 
 there was needed to be raised the sum of £3,482,006. 
 
 Altogether, the total amount contributed during fifty years 
 by the Free Church has been £26,342,809 ; the annual income 
 ranging from £363,871 in 1843, to £704,675 in 1893. 
 
 It does not need to be said that the finances of the Church 
 have been managed with a skill which no business house has 
 
REPLACING THE ENDOWMENTS 63 
 
 ever surpassed. To begin with, they were under the oversight 
 of Mr. James Bridges, W.S., and the Rev. John Jaffray ; but 
 in 1849 a Finance Committee was appointed, with a Treasurer. 
 Of this Committee, Mr. Dunlop, Mr. George Meldrum, Mr. 
 Hawkins, Mr. William Wood, and Mr. M'Candlish have, in 
 succession, been the Conveners, while the Treasurership has 
 been most efficiently filled, first by Mr. John Macdonald, and 
 now by Mr. Ellison Eoss. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 
 
 X\R. RAINY, in his Life of Cunningham, quotes from " a 
 ^^ fugitive publication " the following description of the 
 state of feeling which animated the Free Church at the 
 outset of its career. 
 
 After speaking of " the peculiar glow, the moral elevation 
 and exhilaration of the years which succeeded the Disruption," 
 the writer quoted goes on to say : " In the case of many 
 sood men who had taken risk and suffered loss for a cause 
 which they deemed to be the cause of Christ, this was 
 nothing else than the Spirit of Glory and of God resting on 
 them. In the case of many who were not so spiritual, it 
 was the contagious enthusiasm which a worthy cause guided 
 by high-hearted leaders always propagates through the ranks 
 of its adherents. In the case of the Church generally, it 
 was the feeling of sympathy with a great movement, a move- 
 ment believed to be authenticated from on high, felt also to 
 be borne on below by whatever in the Church was manly, 
 generous, and self -forgetting. People who are themselves 
 no heroes, feel in being associated with such a movement 
 a touch of the heroic which elevates and expands them. 
 Mingling with all this there was much humility, prayer, 
 gratitude, dependence on God, expectation, and hope. In the 
 skirts of it there was no doubt a good deal of pride, vanity, 
 and assumption. We were, I fear, intolerant toward the 
 
 61 
 
EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 65 
 
 other Churches in those days, as a company lost in mutual 
 gratulation. Yet, with all our faults, the mode of feeling 
 which prevailed among us was not unworthy. No Free 
 Churchman who shared it will ever think so. It was an 
 experience never to be forgotten, always to be gratefully 
 looked back upon. It made men capable of larger thoughts 
 and greater deeds and more willing endurance. It will 
 abide with us till we die, as one of the things for the sake 
 of which a man is glad to have lived. And it was attended, 
 I say, with a singular glow of exhilaration. It wa,s a kind 
 of ' Mount ' from which we had no wish and no intention 
 to come down." 
 
 These sentences fairly represent how things were in 1843. 
 Ministers, it is certain, preached then with a new fervour, 
 and congregations listened with a new attention. And the 
 spiritual results were most notable. Not a few came to date 
 their conversion from that time, and the Disruption summer 
 saw a period of more general religious awakening than had 
 been known in Scotland for a century before. As illustrating 
 the change which was now experienced. Dr. Candlish quoted 
 the following in the Assembly as having been written to 
 him by a brother minister : — 
 
 " This year I have a congregation more attentive, more 
 devout, more serious, more earnest, than I ever have had for 
 years before. I have had the young men more open to 
 instruction, the careless more ready to be awakened, the 
 worldly more ready to be rebuked, the people of God 
 expecting larger advances in the divine life ; and I have 
 been from Sabbath to Sabbath addressing a congregation all 
 of whom laboured under the impression that something ought 
 to come out of this great work of God." 
 
 The same Assembly in which these words were read 
 witnessed one of the most remarkable conferences ever held 
 5 
 
66 EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 
 
 in the Church of Scotland. In response to overtures on the 
 subject, it was agreed to devote a whole day to a consideration 
 of the state of religion in the country, and of the responsi- 
 bilities of the Church in that relation. The services began 
 with a sermon preached by Dr. Charles Brown, — a man 
 distinguished at once for his spirituality and for his intellectual 
 strength, — who took for his text Hab. ii. 1 : " I will stand upon 
 my watch tower to see what He will say unto me, and what 
 I shall answer when I am reproved." The impression pro- 
 duced by this sermon was very deep — so deep that Dr. 
 Chalmers alone ventured to make any remark when it was 
 finished. An adjournment was felt to be necessary, and it 
 was only when the House met again in the evening that the 
 conference proceeded. Then a number of men spoke, — Dr. 
 Cunningham, Dr. Candlish, liabbi Duncan, and others, — but 
 the conclusion was come to, that if the impression was to 
 last, some practical steps behoved to be taken, and a 
 Committee was appointed to submit to a subsequent diet such 
 suggestions for work and service as might seem to them 
 suitable in the circumstances. 
 
 This report was in due time given in, and it is not too 
 much to say that the lines traced out in it have been 
 followed by the Church to the present hour. 
 
 What is specially memorable, however, is the conversation 
 to which it led, and which gave occasion to the following 
 significant remarks of Mr. Dunlop : — 
 
 " I must say," this is how he spoke, " that from the time 
 I entered a Church Court (ten years ago), with the exception 
 perhaps of the occasions when we were discussing our 
 missionary schemes, I do not remember to have heard the 
 only real business of a Church of Christ seriously and 
 deliberately brought under our notice until now. We have 
 been so much engaged in controversial warfare, especially the 
 
EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 67 
 
 minds of those who have taken an active part in the con- 
 troversy, and have been so fully occupied with it, that we have 
 lost sight altogether of the great and paramount duty of a 
 Church, and we have reconciled our consciences to this 
 neglect, feeling that our time had been fully occupied with 
 things about the Church, if not with things within the Church. 
 But I have felt it delightful on this day to sit and listen to 
 the remarks and self -abasing confessions which we have 
 heard during these conversations." 
 
 As an outcome of the conference. Presbyteries were 
 instructed to give earnest attention to the state of religion 
 within their bounds, and directions were given as to how 
 their inquiries might advantageously be prosecuted. It was 
 a new departure in the later history of the Church, and one 
 which indicated significantly the nature of the change which 
 had taken place. 
 
 At first the harmony of the Church was complete. Such 
 a thing as a division in the Assembly was hardly contemplated 
 as a possibility, and even a difference of opinion, when it 
 found outward expression, was viewed with disfavour, if not 
 with a certain measure of alarm. But things could not 
 possibly go on very long without the existence of tendencies 
 in the Church being revealed, and the first sign of possible 
 discord appeared in the proceedings of the Glasgow Assembly 
 of October 1843. 
 
 The origin of the cloud was a report on the election of 
 office-bearers, in which Presbyteries seemed to be empowered 
 to concede the right of voting to loomen. This was certainly 
 a novelty in Scotland, — the Veto Act giving the franchise 
 not even to all male members, but only to male heads of 
 families. It was admitted by all that females must be 
 regarded as, in the fullest sense, members of the Church, and 
 hence perhaps logically entitled to vote. But, on the other 
 
68 EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 
 
 hand, it was argued, the proposal was objectionable because it 
 was an innovation, and further, it was not to be thought of, 
 because it removed women from the sphere to which they 
 properly belonged. The first of these positions was taken up 
 by Mr. Garment of Rosskeen, one of the most admirable of 
 the Highland ministers. " I deprecate," said he, " anything 
 like innovation. So soon as we begin with new plans 
 unknown to our fathers, we are on the highway to bring on 
 another Disruption." For the second of the positions a strenuous 
 advocate was found in Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Gibson of Glasgow. 
 The view he took was this : " I must state fully and 
 emphatically, that it is not because I suppose the female 
 members of the Church inferior either in judgment or in 
 Christian privileges that I would oppose the practice of female 
 voting in the election of ministers, but on entirely different 
 and opposite grounds. It is because I wish the females of the 
 Church to be protected from the habits of public debate and 
 collision. In my view, there are certain great general 
 principles deducible from the word of God which make it 
 plain that this is not a right which females should exercise. 
 The apostle speaks of certain things which nature itself 
 teaches as not right or proper, and if I am not mistaken, it 
 is in connection with this very statement that the injunction 
 already referred to is given, that a woman is not to speak in 
 the church." In the end the matter did not go to a vote. 
 The question raised was sent down to Presbyteries for their 
 consideration, and the result came to be that, without any 
 very serious disturbance in the Church, the claims of the 
 women were conceded, no evil consequences having been 
 known to follow. 
 
 Another straw was thrown up in the Assembly of 1845, 
 when an overture was introduced by Mr. Cairns of Cupar 
 (afterwards Dr. Cairns of Melbourne) in I'avour of a revision 
 
EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 69 
 
 of the Paraphrases. Many of these, he hekl, were more fit 
 to be sung by a moralist or deist or a philosophic heathen 
 than by a true believer in Jesus Christ ; and, for himself, he 
 thought that worship should be restricted to the metrical 
 versions of the Psalms. At the same time, he knew that 
 there were men in the Church who felt the need of hymns 
 to celebrate in express words the praises of redemption, and 
 he admitted that they had something to say for themselves. 
 All he now asked for was a Committee to consider the subject, 
 and to report. His request was granted unanimously ; but it 
 is suggestive to find that all who spoke after him — with the 
 single exception of Eabbi Duncan, who referred gratefully to 
 the hymns of Luther, and to the benefits which had followed 
 from their use in Germany — expressed themselves strongly 
 in support of the contention that the Psalms alone had any 
 right to a place in the services of the sanctuary. 
 
 The first occasion, however, on which there was a regular 
 debate in the Church and a formal division in the Assembly 
 was on the 27th of May 1846. What led to these events 
 was the question which arose as to the relation which it 
 behoved the Church to maintain toward the Evangelical 
 Alliance. 
 
 For some time before, the attention of earnest men had 
 been turned with great intentness to the subject of Christian 
 Union. The rise of Eitualism in England and the progress 
 of Popery generally had given special importance to this sub- 
 ject, in the view, for example, of Mr. Henderson of Park, and 
 mainly through his influence a bond was suggested, having 
 for its object the uniting of all evangelical Christians in 
 opposition to prevalent errors. With this effort almost all the 
 leading men in the Free Church showed themselves to be 
 in full sympathy, and a number of them accordingly attended 
 meetings of the new " Alliance " at Liverpool and P>irmingham. 
 
70 EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 
 
 It SO happened, however, that among those who also 
 attended these meetings were prominent ministers of the 
 Established Church of Scotland, and as the soreness produced 
 by the Disruption still continued, serious objection was taken 
 to associating with them, it being held that by doing so the 
 principles of the Free Church were being compromised. 
 
 The matter came before the Assembly, and gave rise, as 
 has been said, to a keen debate. Dr. Candlish, seconded by 
 Dr. Begg, moved in vindication of those who had attended 
 the Alliance. Dr. Gibson proposed that they should be 
 condemned. The latter motion did not receive very much 
 support. It was defeated by a majority of 311 to 7, 
 but one can hardly wonder at such a result when one hears 
 of the positions which Dr. Gibson undertook to defend. 
 
 He held that no co-operation is possible except among 
 men who are agreed about everything. " I judge no man," 
 he wrote in a pamphlet. " To his own Master he standeth 
 or falleth. I will not say he is not a Christian because he 
 does not hold all that I hold ; but if you ask me to say what 
 are the principles on which I can hold him to be a Christian 
 and act with him, I must lay down the whole principles of 
 the word of God. I know none I can leave out, and will not 
 take upon me the responsibility of leaving out any one what- 
 ever. I cannot tamper with the truth of God. I may 
 co-operate with him, but if he asks me to state the principles 
 on which I will do so, I must say they are the whole truth 
 of God, and as a minister of the Free Church you will find 
 them in our Standards." 
 
 So early as 1845 the General Assembly was called upon 
 to deal with a case of heresy. Mr. Scott of St. Mark's, 
 Glasgow, was accused of teaching — first, that faith is an ex- 
 clusively intellectual act ; second, that man's natural inability 
 to believe is wholly moral ; and third, that there is no absolute 
 
EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 71 
 
 need of the subjective work of the Holy Spirit. The Presbytery 
 referred the whole case to the Assembly, and there Mr. Scott 
 answered for himself at great length and with undoubted 
 ability. On the other hand, Dr. Willis spoke for the Standards 
 of the Church, making, in doing so, what Dr. Cunningham 
 described as " one of the ablest and most eloquent statements 
 on a theological subject he had ever heard." The judgment 
 come to thereafter was adopted unanimously. The Presbytery 
 was instructed to proceed with the judicial investigation of 
 the case ; Mr. Scott was in the meantime suspended from 
 all his ministerial functions ; and in the end he was deposed. 
 The bulk of his people went with him, and by them a new 
 church was built, in which he ministered for some thirty 
 years. His principles led him to associate with the Morison- 
 ians, and popularly he was regarded as belonging to the 
 Evangelical Union denomination. But he never formally 
 attached himself to that communion, and when, in 1877, he 
 retired to Melrose, his native place, he preached freely in all 
 the churches, his deposition being regarded as no bar to his 
 employment. 
 
 It has been said that the Free Church, in setting about 
 the business of reconstructing its framework, received assist- 
 ance from outside. One of the places from which substantial 
 help came was America, in which Dr. Cunningham, among 
 others, made a tour immediately after his appointment to a 
 chair in New College. In the course of that tour he paid 
 a visit to the Southern States, where he was warmly received, 
 and in which contributions to a considerable amount were 
 offered toward the erection of new churches in Scotland. 
 What followed proved rather startling. Slavery was then 
 existing. The Presbyterian Church did not seem to be very 
 active in seeking its removal, and a great cry arose among 
 the Abolitionists that the Free Church was joining hands 
 
72 EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 
 
 with it against the interests of the negro. This cry reached 
 Scotland, and when Dr. Cunningham arrived in Edinburgh 
 with the results of his appeal, he was met with the vehement 
 demand that he should " send back the money." The 
 excitement lasted for some time, and was very intense while 
 it continued. Agitators came from England and America to 
 fan the flame, — among the rest, Mr. Lloyd Garrison and Mr. 
 Frederick Douglass, the former the leadinej Abolitionist of 
 New England, the latter a negro who had been a slave, but 
 who lived to be an Ambassador from the United States to 
 Hayti, — but all their eloquence failed to fanaticise the Scottish 
 people; and in the Assembly of 1846 a motion to withdraw 
 from the fellowship of a Church in which " slave having " 
 (as Dr. Cunningham put it) existed, did not find a seconder. 
 A pamphlet by Dr. Andrew Cameron, presenting the subject 
 in a quiet and rational way, greatly helped to allay the 
 feeling, and in 1847 it sunk entirely out of sight. While 
 the agitation lasted, however, it was undoubtedly disturbing. 
 The enemies of the Free Church took eager advantage of it 
 to seek its injury, and not a little relief was experienced when 
 it passed away. 
 
 Another subject which early agitated the Church was that 
 of the tests in universities. These had been imposed when 
 the country was practically one in its religious profession, and 
 when the belief prevailed that no one could be trusted to 
 teach anything whose views were not in harmony with the 
 Confession of Faith. Gradually, however, these principles 
 ceased to operate very influentially, and although the form of 
 subscription was maintained, it was treated as a form and 
 nothing more, and professorships came to be held by 
 Episcopalians and others, who never dreamt of conforming 
 to the Establishment. When the Disruption took place the 
 matter assumed a new aspect. Some of the chairs were 
 
EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 7^ 
 
 found to be occupied by Free Churchmen, One Free Church- 
 men (Sir David Brewster) was even in the position of being 
 Principal of a college. Now the question arose of whether 
 men who liad separated from the State could be allowed to 
 continue in the possession of their offices. It is possible that, 
 if the Established Church had let things alone, the law would, 
 for a number of years at least, have remained undisturbed. 
 But here again its counsellors were not wise in their genera- 
 tion. They grasped at everything, and one by one their 
 privileges have disappeared. Attempts to oust the existing 
 professors from their chairs signally failed ; and to frustrate 
 any attempts which might be made so to enforce the forms 
 of subscription as to make the universities in the future mere 
 sectarian preserves, an agitation sprang up, the aim of which 
 was the abolition of the tests altogether. With that end in 
 view, a Bill was introduced into Parliament by Mr. Fox 
 Maule in the spring of 1845. 
 
 With the proposal, however, to abolish the tests there 
 was by no means universal satisfaction. Not only was the 
 Established Church opposed to it, there were many in the 
 Free Church to whom it was equally distasteful ; and the 
 Assembly of 1845, while agreeing to support the Bill, did so 
 only in the hope that by means of it the " way might be pre- 
 pared for the universities being placed on a more satisfactory 
 basis, rendering them in every respect truly national." With 
 this concession, " the great principle was maintained, that 
 religious truth should ever be the regulating spirit of all 
 education, and that every practicable effort should be made 
 to secure that all instructors of youth be men holding in 
 sincerity and soundness the truth as it is in Jesus." 
 
 How the two ends could be attained was the question. 
 Some suggested subscription to the Confession of Faith pure 
 and simple. But against subjecting a candidate for the chair 
 
74 EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 
 
 of Surgery to such a test, there was presented the objection — 
 that the Free Church itself had invited Isaac Taylor to 
 become a Professor of Moral Philosophy in its own College, 
 without any idea of requiring him to sign the Confession. 
 Other plans were proposed with as little result, and year after 
 year passed away, amid much heat and many discussions, 
 without any satisfactory conclusion being reached. All the 
 while, however, public opinion was steadily moving onward ; 
 and a crisis was reached when, in 1852, the Town Council 
 of Edinburgh, in defiance of a law which they regarded as a 
 dead letter, appointed Mr. P. C. MacDougall, who was at the 
 time a professor in New College, the successor of Christopher 
 North in his chair in the University. The act produced a 
 tremendous sensation. The Established Church rose in arms 
 against the nomination. A special meeting of Commission 
 was called, and an attempt was made to set the heather on 
 fire. But it was too late. The mind of the country found 
 more real expression in a great public meeting which was 
 called to denounce the proposed intolerance ; and ere very long 
 afterwards the agitation was ended by the abolition in 
 Parliament of all the tests except those of the Theological 
 Professorships. 
 
 In the debates which took place in this connection, the 
 more liberal views were advocated specially by Dr. Cunning- 
 ham, while Dr. Gibson maintained with steady persistence 
 the conservative position which he had already taken up in 
 the Church. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 HOW THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 TTIOUR hundred and seventy congregations retired from the 
 -^ Establishment in 1843, and two years later it was 
 reported that to that number 163 new charges had been 
 added. At the same time, however, it was intimated that 
 238 preaching stations had been planted, and the calcula- 
 tion was made that within a shorter or longer time the 
 Church would expand so as to have at least eight hundred 
 congregations. 
 
 But the provision thus made was, of course, for those 
 throughout the country who sympathised with the evangelical 
 movement, and who desired to have ordinances furnished to 
 them by the Free Church. Even so far, indeed, the lengthen- 
 ing of the cords which had taken place was remarkable, 
 and said a great deal for the spirit of enterprise which 
 was abroad. If the Church, however, had been entirely 
 content with the kind of progress which it was making, it 
 would never have attained to the position which it has 
 reached. 
 
 We have seen what view was taken of its mission in 
 the first of its General Assemblies. " If," said Dr. Chalmers 
 then, — " if we do what we might and what we ought, we will 
 not only be able to repair the whole Disruption, but will get 
 landed in the great and glorious work of church extension. 
 . . . We shall not stop short, I trust, in our great and glorious 
 
 76 
 
76 HOW THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 enterprise till the light of the gospel be carried to every 
 cottage door within the limits of the Scottish territory. There 
 is an indefinite field of Christian usefulness before us, and 
 we must not let down our exertions till the optimism of our 
 condition as a Church be fully realised." 
 
 This was Chalmers' ideal — the formation of a Church 
 which would not look merely on its own things, which would 
 not concern itself only about the wants of those who were 
 already prepared to welcome its ministrations, but which 
 would go out into the highways and hedges, and bring into 
 the fold of Christ those who w^ere satisfied to live outside of 
 it. If, then, the Free Church was to grow in the highest 
 sense, — to achieve "the optimism of its condition,"- — it 
 behoved to become at once and above all things a Home 
 Missionary Church. 
 
 In the Assembly of 1845 -pointed reference was made to 
 this high function of the Church. Complaints were then 
 heard to the effect that means of grace were being abundantly 
 provided for her professed adherents, while little or nothing 
 was being done for the outfield population. 
 
 A like complaint was repeated in 1846, and the duty of 
 preaching the gospel to the masses was insisted on explicitly. 
 " We have not really been able," said Dr. Candlish, " to 
 devote our attention to the proper work of a Home Mission. 
 There are several districts even in the country to which the 
 Committee desire specially to call the attention of the 
 Church, namely, those districts in which iron works or other 
 extensive public works have within these few years been 
 erected. There are few of us not acquainted with districts 
 where the greatest changes have taken place on the face 
 of the country. After the absence of a few years we visit 
 the country, where we find the retired valley and the silent 
 hillside turned into a vast manufacturing town. The Com- 
 
HOW THE CHURCH GREIV 77 
 
 mittee trust that the Church will keep its eye upon these 
 districts." 
 
 The Assembly of 1847 came round, and still, it was con- 
 fessed, little or nothing had been done. " Let it be borne in 
 mind," said Dr. Tweedie, who had been appointed Convener 
 of the Committee, " that we have never yet entered on the 
 proper and peculiar duty of a Home Mission. By far the 
 greater part of our efforts have been confined to our own 
 adherents. Those who are living without God and without 
 hope, with none to care for their souls, have been very partially 
 attended to. More than eighty thousand in Glasgow, more 
 than sixty thousand in Edinburgh, and hundreds of thousands 
 all over Scotland, have not yet been sought out. And how 
 are we or any evangelical Church to overtake these masses, 
 and draw down upon us the blessing of those who are ready 
 to perish ? The truth as it is in Jesus must be sent to them, 
 and living agents must be employed to carry it." 
 
 The appeal thus made was not altogether in vain. One 
 decisive step was at once taken. Eighteen ministers of 
 known earnestness and ability were appointed to spend four 
 weeks each in evangelistic work, and during the summer and 
 autumn which followed innumerable meetings were held for 
 the preaching of the gospel in necessitous districts. Nor was 
 that all. Dr. Begg, who had been called to succeed Dr. 
 Tweedie in charge of the Committee, applied his practical 
 mind to a survey of the field and its wants, and was able to 
 submit to the Assembly of 1848 an amount of information 
 which proved of the greatest value. 
 
 It was not, however, till 1849 that the Church can be 
 said to have entered in earnest and in a systematic way on 
 the great home missionary enterprise which has done so niucli 
 for its extension. Then Mr. Sym, who was now Convcnei', 
 after anew lamenting that hitherto the Church had been 
 
78 I/O IV THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 caring only for its own adherents, " while thousands upon 
 thousands in the streets and lanes of our crowded cities 
 are being allowed to live strangers to the love of Christ," 
 referred to a movement which had begun in the Presbytery 
 of Edinburgh, with the object of inducing each congregation 
 to work a district on the territorial plan, and urged the 
 adoption of the like method through the length and breadth 
 of the Church. The proposal was adopted with the greatest 
 heartiness and unanimity — Dr. Buchanan remarking that 
 " it had been much to the prejudice of the cause that there 
 had been so much speaking upon it while almost nothing had 
 been done." 
 
 Almost nothing had been done by the Church, but it was 
 not true that nothing or little had been done by individuals. 
 
 It is a striking circumstance that the two men who are 
 most intimately associated with the finance of the Free 
 Church, are also the two whose lives have been most closely 
 identified with its home missionary efforts. Dr. Chalmers 
 and Dr. Buchanan were in succession Conveners of the 
 Sustentation Fund, and both of them thought, spoke, and 
 wrote much on the subject of " Economics," but the fact is 
 a memorable and suggestive one, that what gave them their 
 interest in schemes for the support of the ministry was their 
 concern for the end for which the ministry existed. 
 
 Here, indeed, we find the key to what was accomplished 
 in this connection in these days. Neither Chalmers nor 
 Buchanan was a mere political economist working out a social 
 or mechanical problem. Both were inspired with the desire 
 to achieve spiritual results, and the instrumentality was, in 
 their eyes, nothing except in so far as it was fitted to attain 
 the object at which they aimed. 
 
 What lay especially at the root of Chalmers' advocacy of 
 Non-Intrusion and spiritual independence was not so much 
 
HOW THE CHURCH GREW 79 
 
 his belief in a particular theory of the Church, as in an 
 intense compassion for the multitudes in his country who 
 were perishing for lack of knowledge. " His own personal 
 observations in Glasgow," says Dr. Hanna, " had convinced 
 him that here was the nearest, the greatest, the most grow- 
 ing, and the most alarming of all our national evils." And it 
 became the constant effort of his life " to stimulate into 
 vigorous operation that peculiar instrumentality which was 
 alone able, as he believed, to cope with this gigantic evil." 
 " Convinced that a Church in which unmitigated patronage 
 prevailed, and over which a direct spiritual control was 
 exercised by the State, could never be an effective instrument 
 in Scotland for evangelising the masses," he fought throughout 
 the Ten Years' Conflict not so much because the Church's 
 Claim of llight could be vindicated, but because, he said, in 
 the issues involved was the practical question of the religious 
 reformation of tlie people. 
 
 The Disruption, accordingly, had hardly taken place, when, 
 among his many eftbrts for the evangelisation of Scotland, he 
 addressed himself to the commencing of an enterprise which 
 he hoped to see imitated all over the country. In July 
 1844 he wrote to a friend in New York, that in order to 
 show how the waste places of the land might be reclaimed, 
 he had determined, as the concluding act of his life, to assume 
 as a field for work a poor district inhabited by two thousand 
 people, and to undertake the superintendence of the operations 
 himself. The district thus referred to was the West Port of 
 Edinburgh, the condition of which at the time was found to 
 be deplorable. Three-fourths of the inhabitants were living 
 outside all the Churches. Nearly the same proportion of the 
 children were growing up wholly untaught. And while one- 
 fourth of those living in the quarter were paupers on the poor 
 roll, one-fourth were street beggars, thieves, or prostitutes. 
 
8o HOW THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 It required no small measure of faith and courage to break 
 ground in such a field, but the work was faced. The district 
 was divided into twenty sections, to each of which a visitor 
 was appointed. A school was opened. Then came a mission- 
 ary — one peculiarly suited to the place, Mr. Tasker. And in 
 course of time a congregation was gathered together, for which 
 a church was built. 
 
 The enthusiasm with which Chalmers engaged in the 
 enterprise was exceedingly striking to those who witnessed 
 it, " Who cares about the Free Church ? " he vehemently 
 asked at a public meeting in 1845, — -"who cares about the 
 Free Church compared with the Christian good of the people 
 of Scotland ? Who cares about any Church but as an 
 instrument of Christian good, for be assured that the 
 moral and religious well-being of the population is of in- 
 finitely higher importance than the advancement of any sect." 
 At a later date, he wrote that he reckoned his connection 
 with his mission of far greater moment than the continuance 
 of his connection with any of the public Committees of the 
 Church. " These," he said, " I mean to give up, but our 
 present attempt to reclaim the population of the West Port 
 is what I never can abandon till forced to it by absolute 
 necessity." " It is yet but a day of small things," we after- 
 wards find him saying in his Diary, " and I in all likelihood 
 shall be taken off ere that much greater progress is made in 
 the advancement of the blessed gospel throughout our land. 
 But give me the foretaste and the confident foresight of this 
 great plan of moral triumph ere I die." 
 
 This affecting prayer of his was answered. Dr. Hanna 
 tells that he was present in the tan-loft on the day when 
 public worship was first begun in the district, and counted 
 there about a dozen adults, most of them being old women. 
 But in February 1847 a church was opened; and Dr. Chalmers, 
 
HOW THE CHURCH GREW 8i 
 
 in notifying the event to his friend Mr. Lennox, wrote : " I 
 wish to communicate what is to me the most joyful event of 
 my life. I have been intent for thirty years on the com- 
 pletion of a territorial experiment, and I have now to bless 
 God for the consummation of it. ... I presided myself on 
 Sabbath last over the first Sacrament. There were 132 
 communicants, and 100 of them from the West Port!" The 
 congregation thus formed has continued to flourish. It is 
 still called " Chalmers' Territorial Church," and it has in 
 connection with it a membership of over fourteen hundred. 
 
 Dr. Chalmers, in commencing this experiment, had, as we 
 have seen, more than the interests of the West Port in view. 
 He wished to set an example which he hoped to see followed 
 all over the country. Nor were his expectations doomed to 
 disappointment. In the Assembly of 1849, when Mr. Sym 
 announced the movement which had begun in the Presbytery 
 of Edinburgh, Dr. Begg supported the proposal for a general 
 effort, by urging that the Church "must take up the noble 
 legacy which their lamented father Dr. Chalmers had left 
 them," and, in point of fact, an earnest endeavour was now 
 made to follow in his footsteps. 
 
 The extension of the Church in Edinburgh became rapid. 
 It has sometimes been said that only an Established Church 
 can afford to plant congregations in poor districts, and that 
 all Churches dependent on voluntary support must seek out 
 localities in which the better classes live. How little of truth 
 there is in this reproach was now strikingly demonstrated. 
 The districts chosen for aggressive work were among the 
 poorest in the city, — Fountainbridge, the Cowgate, the Canon - 
 gate, and the Pleasance, — and the success achieved in each has 
 been such as to add to the evidence furnished by the West 
 Port, that no effort made in an earnest spirit for Christ will 
 anywhere prove vain. The experience in Fountainbridge has 
 
82 HOW THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 been specially remarkable. Dr. Hood Wilson has lived to 
 look back upon a ministry of forty years, and during that 
 period he has seen the mission with whose planting he had 
 so much to do develop from the humblest beginnings into 
 five important congregations. The original church has been 
 fdled thrice, and out of it have sprung the Barclay, View- 
 forth, Gorgie, and Warrender Park. On the south side of 
 the town nothing quite like this has taken place, but since 
 the work of extension began, at least seven new congregations 
 have been added to the number previously existing, and 
 territorial work continues to be prosecuted with unabated 
 vigour. 
 
 In the meantime, however, a great movement was pro- 
 ceeding in Glasgow. 
 
 So early as November 1843, the kirk session of the 
 Tron Church there had rented a schoolroom in " The Wynds," 
 in which Dr. Buchanan was in the habit of preaching every 
 second Sabbath evening. This arrangement continued till 
 March 1845, when Dr. Chalmers lectured on " Congregational 
 Local Missions," and the resolution was come to to concentrate 
 attention on a limited section of the parish and to work it 
 on the territorial principle. The resolution was carried into 
 effect, and that with a fair measure of success, a variety of 
 agents being employed in the undertaking. 
 
 But it was not till the beginning of 1850 that that 
 series of enterprises may be said to have fairly begun which 
 has made the Wynd movement so famous in our home 
 missionary history. The first effective step was taken when 
 Mr. James Hogg was engaged to labour in the district. His 
 efforts proved so successful, that, in October 1851, applica- 
 tion was made to the Presbytery for leave to dispense the 
 Lord's Supper to those who had been gathered in ; and before 
 the close of 1852 it became evident that a church would 
 
HOW THE CHURCH GREW 83 
 
 have to be built to meet the requirements of a growing 
 congregation. 
 
 But while all this was going on, the heart of Dr. 
 Buchanan was being deeply moved. He saw that the con- 
 dition of the Wynds was very much the same as that of many 
 other parts of Glasgow, and, contrasting these with the 
 localities inhabited by the rich, he became alarmed as he 
 thought of the gulfs which were being dug and widened 
 between the different classes of society. Looking at Blyths- 
 wood Hill and the Bridgegate, he saw that, although they are 
 not more than a mile apart, they are practically as far 
 asunder as the Antipodes ; and, in a public lecture delivered 
 under the presidency of the Lord Provost, he asked his fellow- 
 townsmen if it was not hazardous to leave unnoticed the fires 
 which were smouldering under their feet. In January 1851, 
 also, he brought the subject under the notice of his Presbytery, 
 delivering at the time a speech which was afterwards 
 published, and in which the social and religious condition of 
 Glasgow was painted in the darkest colours. 
 
 Since Chalmers' time, he said, the population of the city 
 had increased by 200,000 ; but what had been done to meet 
 its enlarged spiritual needs ? So little, was his answer, that 
 " all the ministers and churches that have been added during 
 the last thirty years would not have more than sufficed to 
 overtake the religious destitution which existed in the city 
 twenty years ago." " If," he added, " the same ratio of 
 increase holds on, we shall have in thirty years more a popu- 
 lation equal in numbers to that of Paris, and, most assuredly, 
 if the Christian Churches do not speedily arouse themselves, 
 it will be by that time like Paris in more respects than one." 
 
 Speaking then of a remedy for this state of things, he 
 said : " I know of nothing that will do but the scheme which 
 Knox devised at the Reformation, and which Chalmers 
 
84 HOW THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 laboured to restore in our own day. Churches and schools 
 upon the parochial or territorial system will, by God's bless- 
 ing, give us back a humanised and christianised population in 
 the outfields of our city, and nothing else will." 
 
 The appeals thus made proved effectual. The Presbytery 
 at once appointed a Committee to consider how best to carry 
 out Dr. Buchanan's suggestions. The General Assembly, 
 which was next addressed, gave its hearty and unanimous 
 approval of the movement. A collection for the Evangelisa- 
 tion of Glasgow was appointed to be made in all the churches. 
 And in the city itself, a new Building Society was instituted, 
 with a capital of £10,000. 
 
 With the Church now thoroughly aroused, the work went 
 on with a bound. In its very first report, dated January 
 1853, the Building Society could tell of ground broken in 
 three different places — in the Wynds, in Anderston, and in the 
 Gorbals. Two years later, it reported that three more 
 stations had been opened — in St. John's parish, in Finnieston, 
 and near St. George's ; and so on the tide flowed, until an 
 immense accession was made to the number of Free churches 
 in Glasgow. 
 
 It was in connection with the Wynds Mission, however, 
 that by far the greatest amount of extension took place. In 
 1853 the services in it were secured of Mr. Dugald MacColl. 
 He was only a divinity student at the time, but he showed 
 such extraordinary aptitude for the work, that his attendance 
 at the Hall for the full curriculum was dispensed with, and 
 he was licensed before his time to preach the gospel. Very 
 soon a further step was taken. The church which had been 
 for some time in course of erection was completed, and, in 
 August 1854, Mr. MacColl was ordained its first minister. 
 
 His field was a very hopeless-looking one. It contained 
 a sunken population of 12,000, 8000 of whom were Eoman 
 
I/O IV THE CHURCH GREW 85 
 
 Catholics. " For the first five or six Sabbaths," says Mr. 
 MacColl, " the church was crowded ; but after that we were 
 gradually left for years to ourselves, except that now and 
 then, at rare intervals, some one or two would visit us to see 
 the Wynd Church. . . . The people came in very very slowly. 
 Each one had to be asked before he came — some had to be 
 asked scores of times." But gradually the place began to fill. 
 Certificates that had been held for years by people who had 
 lapsed were remembered and brought forth. Evident conver- 
 sions occurred. Workers were raised up to help the minister 
 from the locality itself. And all sorts of plans were taken 
 to deepen and extend the interest. 
 
 But what gave the greatest impulse to the movement was 
 the remarkable revival whose existence became manifest to 
 all in July 1859, but preparations for which had been going 
 on for a long time previously. 
 
 The great American awakening of the period dates from 
 September 1857, when the Daily Prayer Meeting was com- 
 menced in New York; but it was not till 1858 that any 
 sensible stir took place in Europe. Toward the close of that 
 year, however, the throb of a new life began to be felt in 
 Ireland, and in the spring and summer of 1859 multitudes 
 crowded into the island to see the results for themselves. 
 Among those who were most deeply interested in those 
 experiences was Mr. MacColl. His preaching, like that of so 
 many other ministers at the time, became visibly affected by 
 what he was hearing, — prayer meetings were established to 
 seek for a blessing, — and immediately on his return from 
 Ireland, whither he had gone to see what was taking place 
 there, the revival began, and continued with more or less 
 intensity for several years. 
 
 Before 1858 closed, the Wynd Cliurch was full, and the 
 question was raised as to whether the Forward Movement was 
 
86 HOW THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 now to cease. Such an idea could not be entertained for a 
 moment. It was resolved to build a new church, and to 
 transfer to it as many of the congregation as were willing to 
 go. This was done. In July 1860 the Bridgegate Free 
 Church was opened, with Mr. MacColl for its minister. In 
 the November following, Mr. Howie was ordained to the 
 Wynd Church ; and, from a report published in October 1861, 
 we learn that then the two churches had 1100 communi- 
 cants between them, while 200 more were applying for 
 membership. 
 
 The Wynd Church was seated for 580; and when Mr. 
 Howie was settled in it, the number of its communicants 
 was 110. But within two years these grew to be over 500, 
 and the need for a fresh disjunction became apparent. A 
 site for a new church therefore was fixed upon, and in June 
 1864, Trinity Church was opened, with Mr. Howie for its 
 minister; 430 of the 720 Wynd members accompanying him 
 to form the nucleus of a fresh congregation. Here, in this 
 new field, the blessing continued. Trinity prospered as the 
 Wynds had done, and by and by it became necessary to 
 go forward again. When 1100 communicants had been 
 gathered in, the further development of the district in which 
 they lived was not to be looked for, and yet the needs of 
 Glasgow remained as urgent as ever. The new step taken 
 was as notable as any that had preceded it. At the request 
 of Mr. John Stephen, shipbuilder (who interested himself in 
 the spiritual welfare of the district in which his works were 
 located), and of a few others in that community, Mr. Howie 
 in 18 72 resigned the pastorate of Trinity Church, and 
 proceeded to Govan to organise a new congregation there. 
 St. Mary's Church, with commodious side buildings, was 
 erected on a central site, and a congregation was established, 
 which has now over 1100 communicants. 
 
HOW THE CHURCH GREW 87 
 
 Meanwhile the claims of the Wynds were not being 
 forgotten. Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Wells was called as the third 
 minister of the charge, and the former experiences were re- 
 peated. The church overflowed anew, and Dr. Wells was 
 removed to the Barony, where he was equally successful. 
 But he did not find his final resting-place there. A new 
 field demanded his services in Pollokshields, and in that 
 locality he has founded another church, which has become 
 one of the most important in Glasgow. 
 
 The successor of Dr. Wells in the Wynds was Mr. Pviddell. 
 What happened in his case was the same as that which had 
 occurred so often before. Once more the church grew to be 
 too strait for the congregation, and a fresh migration became 
 imperative. Mr. Eiddell left, and established Augustine Church, 
 and Mr. Campbell took his place. 
 
 But now the condition of the locality was undergoing 
 a material change. A railway ran through it. Business 
 premises began to be erected. The population decreased. 
 And the tide was not with the mission as before. After a 
 struggle, therefore, the buildings were sold, and the work 
 transferred to another spot. Still things did not prosper, and 
 Mr. Campbell was led to resign, and to accept the post of one 
 of the Church's evangelists. It now seemed as if this wonder- 
 ful movement were to collapse, and that its very name were 
 to disappear. But at this juncture Mr. Eiddell stepped into 
 the breach. He had left Augustine, and gathered a large 
 congregation into a new church in l*aisley Eoad. lUit he 
 expressed his willingness to begin at the base again. By his 
 advice a better site was chosen than that which Mr. Campbell 
 had selected, a new church was built, with a better equipment 
 of Home Mission agencies than elsewhere in the country, and 
 under the old name of the " Wynd Church " a fresh congregation 
 has been formed, with a membership of over seven hundred. 
 
88 HOW THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 It will thus be seen that out of the Wynd movement at 
 least nine congregations directly sprang — the ministers of 
 them all having begun work in that remarkable locality. 
 But a very inadequate idea will be formed of the power of 
 the impulse if we look at the direct results alone. We shall 
 not try to indicate all the churches which owe their existence 
 indirectly or otherwise to the work in the Wynds, but we 
 have it on good authority that they number at least twenty- 
 four, and this may certainly be said of them, that they are 
 among the strongest that the city contains. 
 
 We may only add, further, in illustration of the growth 
 of the Church, that while in 1853 there were 32 con- 
 gregations in Glasgow and its suburbs, these had increased 
 in 1893 to 84, and the history of some of them has been 
 almost as remarkable as that of the original Wynd Church. 
 Eose Street congregation, for example, has grown from almost 
 nothing to have a thousand communicants, and Cowcaddens is 
 a striking example of what may be accomplished by the 
 energy and devotion of one man. When Mr. Eoss became its 
 minister, he found a large building burdened with debt and 
 with hardly any worshippers to help him to face it. In the 
 face of these discouragements he threw himself into the work, 
 keeping the church open every night in the week, and now he 
 has not only a congregation with over 1100 communicants, 
 but he has established a great Home Mission organisation, 
 which is sustaining all sorts of agencies, and which is an over- 
 flowing well of life to the whole district round. 
 
 What was being done for the evangelisation of Glasgow 
 had a stimulating effect on the Church at large. Territorial 
 missions were commenced in all the provincial towns, and evan- 
 gelistic efforts were put forth in every direction. How much 
 was attempted in the latter connection may be inferred from 
 the fact that 87 in the summer of 1858, and in 1859 no fewer 
 
HOW THE CHURCH GREW 89 
 
 than 111 ministers, were appointed by the General Assembly to 
 hold open-air or other meetings for the preaching of the gospel. 
 
 Two things contributed to make this particular period a 
 memorable one in the history of our Home Missions. One 
 was the wave of revival which then swept over the English- 
 speaking world. The other was that the chair of the Com- 
 mittee was occupied by a man in many respects of the 
 Chalmers type. Dr. Eoxburgh, who was minister of St. 
 John's, Glasgow, held the office of Convener from 1857 to 
 1863. During his term of office the Home Mission night 
 was looked forward to with special interest in the Assembly, 
 because his addresses were not only fervidly eloquent, but 
 were distinguished by statesman-like qualities which made it 
 an education for the Church to listen to them. 
 
 In his hands the scheme was carried on with extra- 
 ordinary vigour — 67 stations, 6 territorial missions, and 
 6 extension charges receiving grants from its funds, while 
 over £500 were annually expended in sending out evan- 
 gelistic deputations. 
 
 Later on, other departments of work were undertaken — 
 such as students' missions and congregational missions ; while 
 in 1873, largely through the efforts of Mr. T. M. Mure of 
 Perceton, a special mission for miners was instituted, which 
 became the means of great benefit to the class whose good it 
 was sought to promote. To further the ends aimed at in this 
 last connection, a number of iron churches were constructed, 
 which were removed from place to place as occasion suggested, 
 and to meet the large expense incurred by the new departure 
 a fund was raised of nearly £30,000. 
 
 Still, however, the growing demands of the Church were 
 not adequately met. New buildings were required everywhere, 
 partly because fresh fields had been entered, partly because, 
 in many places, insufficient structures had been erected. In 
 
90 HOW THE CHURCH GREW 
 
 1876, therefore, it was resolved to raise £100,000 as a 
 Church Extension Building Fund, and this resolution was in 
 course of time virtually carried into effect. 
 
 It was not only in 1859-60 that the Home Mission 
 movement received an impulse from a quickening of the 
 religious life of the country, a similar experience was 
 undergone in 1874, when Mr. Moody paid his first visit to 
 Scotland. From his labours no Church benefited to the same 
 extent as the Free Church, and although the result may not 
 have been the formation of new congregations, there were many 
 congregations everywhere into which unusually large accessions 
 of members were received. 
 
 So important, indeed, had the work now become, that in 
 the Assembly of the year referred to a very definite step for- 
 ward was taken, in the appointment of a Secretary to the 
 Committee, whose whole time was to be devoted to a super- 
 intendence of its operations. The first to fill this post was 
 Dr. Adam, who had already distinguished himself as an able 
 speaker and business man, and who ought always to be 
 remembered as a devoted and loyal servant of the Church, and 
 one of its wisest and most trusted counsellors. He now 
 retired from an influential congregation in Glasgow to give all 
 his time and strength to this great interest. By and by he 
 was appointed Convener as well as Secretary, — holding the 
 former office first in conjunction with Dr. Wells, and after- 
 wards with Mr. Thomas Binnie, — and as he was called on 
 also to take a leading part in the direction of the Miners' 
 Mission and in disbursing the fund for Church Extension, 
 no man had more to do than he with the expansion of the 
 Church between 1877, when the superintendence of the entire 
 work came into his hands, till 1891, when he died. 
 
 Of late years the progress of the Church, owing to various 
 causes, has not been so marked. The country districts have 
 
HOW THE CHURCH GREW 91 
 
 been undergoing a process of depletion, other agencies have 
 been operating in the same field, and perhaps the spirit of 
 enterprise has somewhat diminished. But it is worth remem- 
 bering that the Church which was the outcome of the great 
 evangelical movement to whose success so much was contri- 
 buted by Chalmers, was not content with supplying ordinances 
 to those who asked for them, but struck out on the right hand 
 and on the left, and that it grew chiefly by means of home 
 missionary effort. The extent of its growth in Glasgow has 
 been referred to. In Edinburgh it was almost as great. 
 Some twenty new charges have been added there to those 
 which were formed at the Disruption — a number of them 
 being the result of distinctly territorial effort ; and, with re- 
 gard to the Church as a whole, it is something to be able to 
 say that since 1853, when the Assembly definitely faced the 
 duty of seeking to overtake the waste places of the land, over 
 two hundred additional congregations have been established, 
 and that the number of our charges in all has risen from 
 some 500 in 1843 to about 1100 in 1893. These are to 
 be found not in our great cities alone. There is not one 
 provincial town in which more or less successful territorial 
 work has not been done, and in some of the mining districts 
 especially the expansion of the Church has been quite remark- 
 able. In the Presbytery of Hamilton, for example, 18 new 
 congregations have been established since 1854. 
 
 The present state of the country is not such as to justify a 
 cessation of effort now. It would almost seem, indeed, as if 
 the Churches were fighting a losing battle, — as if the world 
 were getting the best of it, and encroaching upon the land 
 that had been reclaimed, — and an imperative call is thus 
 being addressed, may we say especially to the Free Church, 
 to buckle on its armour anew, and, if possible, to break the 
 record of its former achievements. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 rTlHEPtE were two things which the Free Church at the 
 outset set itself to prove — the one, that she could main- 
 tain ordinances in all parts of the country, even the poorest ; 
 the other, that she could provide a thoroughly educated ministry 
 for all the charges which she chose to establish. The former 
 object was accomplished by means of the Sustentation Fund ; 
 to achieve the latter she immediately set about the institu- 
 tion of a College. 
 
 With this undertaking Dr. David Welsh had much to do. 
 He was the last Moderator of the unbroken Church. Born 
 in 1793, near Moffat, he passed from his parish school to 
 the High School of Edinburgh and to the University there 
 — entering the latter in his fourteenth year. While yet a 
 student he gained the friendship of Dr. Brown, then Pro- 
 fessor of Moral Philosophy, and became in time bis biographer. 
 Though licensed in 1816, he was not ordained till 1821 — 
 his first charge being Crossmichael. From thence he was 
 transferred, in 1827, to St. David's, Glasgow, to which he con- 
 tinued to minister till October 1831, when he was appointed 
 to the chair of Church History in the University of Edin- 
 burgh. He was one of the few who early became convinced 
 that patronage ought to be abolished, and he spoke and voted 
 in that sense in 1833. But his health was never very good, 
 and he shrank from agitation outside the College. As the 
 
 92 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 93 
 
 conflict proceeded, however, he was drawn into it more and 
 more, and in the consultations of the time he contributed 
 much by his good sense and prudence to the wisdom of the 
 conclusions that were come to. Before 1843 he was Vice- 
 Convener of the Colonial Committee and Secretary to the 
 Bible Board of Scotland, and the business faculty which he 
 displayed in these connections pointed him out as one to 
 whom there behoved to be committed one of the important 
 schemes of the new era. 
 
 The scheme of which he was specially asked to take 
 charge was that of Education, and in the Disruption Assembly 
 he delivered in connection with it a remarkable speech. 
 
 Referring first to the subject of training students for the 
 ministry, he intimated that, in his own opinion and that 
 of his Committee, it would be necessary to institute three 
 Colleges, each having four professors at least, but he did not 
 propose that these should all be established immediately. In 
 the meantime he would be content with one. But he broadly 
 hinted that even more than three theological seminaries 
 might be required. If the Established Church insisted on 
 sectarianising the national Universities, the Church would 
 have to lay its account with educating its students entirely, 
 establishing for them curricula of Arts as well as of Divinity. 
 Confining himself, however, for the moment to the one College 
 which he asked for, he made a suggestion which, one is 
 surprised to think, has been carried out to so limited an 
 extent. " If," said he, " they found ministers ready to lecture 
 on interesting subjects, they could bring them up to the 
 University. In many cases these might be of great service 
 in stimulating the students, and might be of advantage to the 
 professors themselves. One might perhaps lecture on Pusey- 
 isni or Popery, and another might take up the subject of 
 Pulpit Eloquence. They might have a good lecture now and 
 
94 THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 then on Ecclesiastical Law or on other equally important 
 topics of that sort. But they should by no means limit these 
 appointments to ministers, but bring forward also such young 
 probationers as might have distinguished themselves in their 
 course of study." 
 
 It was not till November 1843, and in the Glasgow 
 Assembly which was then held, that the first professors 
 were appointed. They were Dr. Chalmers and Dr. 
 Welsh, who had retired from chairs in the University of 
 Edinburgh, and along with them Dr. Duncan and Dr. 
 Cunningham, who were now called to the work for the 
 first time. 
 
 Dr. Duncan was born in Aberdeen in 1796. His father 
 was an artisan, and he himself, to begin with, was compelled 
 to work with his hands. But, through his mother's inter- 
 cession, he was set free from this bondage and allowed to 
 give himself to study. At College he manifested an extra- 
 ordinary aptitude for the acquisition of languages, and wlien 
 he was proposed for the Hebrew Chair his learning was 
 recognised as remarkable. But in his early days there 
 seemed little likelihood of his becoming either a missionary 
 or a professor. For a time he lost all faith in God, and sank 
 even into the depths of blank materialism. From this, how- 
 ever, he was happily delivered, and, undergoing afterwards a 
 radical spiritual change, he became a student of Divinity, was 
 licensed to preach, and was ordained in 1831 minister of 
 Milton Church, Glasgow. Ten years later, he Was appointed a 
 missionary to the Jews in Hungary, and he was labouring in 
 that capacity when he was called home to teach Hebrew in 
 the New College. He did not as such prove a great success. 
 Dr. Moody Stuart well says of him : " He knew languages 
 better than he could use them." But although he did not 
 attend much to the drudgery of his class, he left upon many 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 95 
 
 the impress of his character, and earned a reputation which 
 few others have reached of extraordinary spiritual and 
 philosophic insight. 
 
 Dr. Cunningham was still better known. He was born in 
 1805 at Hamilton, but when a boy was moved to Duns, 
 and there he received his school education. At the age of 
 fifteen he entered the University of Edinburgh, and, after 
 going through the usual curriculum, he was licensed in 1828. 
 As a student he was known as an omnivorous reader, and also 
 as a vigorous thinker and effective speaker. To begin with, 
 he appears to have been a Moderate, but he lived in an 
 awakening time, and he was happily brought under influences 
 which led to a change in his views. Dr. Andrew Thomson 
 was then thundering through the pulpit and the Christian 
 Instructor, and Dr. Gordon was preaching those winning 
 sermons to which so many owed their souls. Dr. Cunning- 
 ham became an earnest Evangelical, and in this position he was 
 confirmed by Dr. Chalmers, whose first year in Edinburgh 
 was his last. 
 
 Soon after his license he was asked to assist Dr. Scott of 
 Greenock, and in 1830 he was ordained his colleague and 
 successor. In this capacity he did excellent service, not only 
 for his own congregation but (in connection, for example, with 
 the Eow Heresy) for the Church at large ; and his gifts were 
 publicly recognised when, in 1833, he was called to Trinity 
 College Church, Edinburgh, to which he was ministering at 
 the date of the Disruption. 
 
 Here, in the centre of things, he became known to the 
 whole country. Taking a leading part in all the controversies 
 of the time, — for the Sabbath, against Popery, in favour of 
 Church Establishments, and in support of social and ecclesi- 
 astical reforms, — his reputation steadily grew for learning, 
 force of mind, and power of speech ; and when the College 
 
96 THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 staff had to be completed, there never seems to have been 
 raised a question as to who should fill one of the vacant posts. 
 His first subject was Apologetics ; but, on the death of Dr. 
 Welsh, he was transferred to the chair of Church History, 
 and in that position he remained till he died in 1861. The 
 change which was made in his life by his appointment to a 
 professorship did not withdraw him from the general work 
 of the Church. His voice continued to be often heard in the 
 General Assembly, and once and again he delivered, on subjects 
 of public interest, great speeches which are quoted to this 
 day. His heart, however, was always in the College, and the 
 story of our academic institutions is intimately associated 
 with his life. 
 
 As has already been indicated, he was not asked to enter 
 on his duties at once, but was sent out on a mission to 
 America. At the same time. Dr. Black, who had retired 
 from a chair in the University of Aberdeen, was invited to 
 take charge of the students in that city, while temporary 
 arrangements were made elsewhere to meet the demands of 
 men who could not, during the first session, make it con- 
 venient to come to Edinburgh. Meanwhile premises were 
 secured to make a start with the one new College which it 
 was proposed to institute, and the session of 1843—44 began 
 with an attendance of 103, 76 of the number entering as 
 first year's students of Divinity. 
 
 In the Assembly of 1844 not much was said about 
 College matters, but in 1845 very important reports were 
 submitted. 
 
 Dr. Welsh had died, and Dr. Cunningham was now 
 named his successor, and to fill the vacancy caused by this 
 arrangement Dr. James Buchanan was invited to leave his 
 ministerial charge. Dr. Buchanan was one of the great 
 preachers of the Disruption period. Born in 1804 at Paisley, 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 97 
 
 he studied iu Glasgow, and, after his license, was settled for 
 a time in " a quiet country parish amid the classic scenes of 
 Eoslin and Hawthornden." In 1828 he was called to North 
 Leith, and there he speedily filled the large church to over- 
 flowing. The state of his health induced him to accept in 
 1840 an appointment to the High Church of Edinburgh, 
 where he had Dr. Gordon as his colleague, and it could be 
 truly said that " never was there a congregation more highly 
 privileged than that which enjoyed the ministry of two such 
 men." In 1843 both of them came out, but, although the con- 
 gregation was large, it was not judged wise to continue the 
 colleagueship. A new charge — that of Free St. Stephen's — 
 was founded, and of this Dr. Buchanan became the first 
 minister. The full and elaborate character of his preaching 
 had naturally pointed him out as one who might be 
 called to a chair. He had also published books, which 
 had had a great circulation, on Ajfliction and on The Holy 
 Spirit, and when the vacancy occurred in the ISTew College 
 all eyes were turned toward him. Apologetics, however, 
 did not lie so naturally to his hand as Systematic Divinity, 
 and to that chair he was transferred in 1847, on the death of 
 Dr. Chalmers. 
 
 But this appointment was not the only one associated 
 with the Assembly of 1845. The hint thrown out by Dr. 
 Welsh in 1843 had been so far acted on, and steps had been 
 taken toward establishing a University. In the previous 
 August Commission, Mr. P. C. MacDougall had been named 
 Professor of Moral Philosophy, and now it was intimated 
 that, in addition to the class opened by him, arrangements 
 had been made for tutorial instruction in classics, conducted 
 by the Eev. John Miller ; and in mathematics, conducted by 
 Mr. Wallace of Abbey St. Bathans. Dr. Black, also, who 
 had removed from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, was authorised 
 7 
 
98 THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 to lecture to such students as chose to attend him, on 
 the Exegesis of the New Testament. 
 
 Mr, Earle Monteith was able to add some gratifying 
 information in regard to the erection of a permanent build- 
 ing. A site had been purchased at the head of the Mound 
 in Edinburgh — a sum of £22,000 had been subscribed for 
 the work by twenty-one individuals — two or three thousand 
 pounds more had been raised by Dr. Robert Macdonald — a 
 plan had been fixed upon — and the prospect was held out 
 of the speedy erection of a College worthy of the Church 
 and of its history. 
 
 At the same time Mr. Hog of Newliston intimated the 
 formation of a Bursary Scheme, which by and by attained 
 to quite adequate dimensions. 
 
 It was now, also, that the shadow became visible of a 
 controversy which exercised a very disturbing influence on 
 the Church while it lasted. It arose out of the question 
 of what behoved to be done in the country for the education 
 of students for the ministry. The intolerance of the Estab- 
 lished Church in insisting on the enforcement of the 
 University tests was reconciling all to the inclusion of the 
 Arts in the curriculum of the New College, but all were not 
 of one mind as to whether there should be one theological 
 seminary or more. Dr. Welsh, in the Disruption Assembly, 
 had spoken of three, but it was in an off-hand way. Now, 
 however, when Dr. Patrick Macfarlane followed up the 
 suggestion by seriously proposing the institution of a College 
 at Aberdeen, Dr. Cunningham as seriously objected to the 
 entertainment of any such project. He was ready to assent 
 to such arrangements as might be thought desirable for the 
 oversight of students in the University seats, and he did not 
 oppose the appointment of Dr. Maclagan to fill Dr. Black's 
 place in Aberdeen, or of Dr. Hetherington to act as a qimd 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 99 
 
 professor in St. Andrews ; but he emphatically indicated 
 that he would never agree to the establishing in any part 
 of the country of institutions to rival the New College, or 
 to train students for the ministry independentl}^ of it. For 
 the moment the cloud passed on, and the Church proceeded 
 in the meantime merely to extend its scheme of Education. 
 
 An extraordinary Assembly was held at Inverness in 
 August 1845, and then Dr. John Fleming was ajDpointed 
 Professor of Natural Science in the New College. In 1846 
 the Assembly in Edinburgh took a further step. It instituted 
 the chair of Logic, and placed in it the Eev. A. C. Eraser, 
 who was at the time minister of the Free Church in 
 Cramond. 
 
 On this latter occasion the College Report was given by 
 Dr. Chalmers. It was, we believe, his very last Assembly 
 appearance, and his report, which was an elaborate one, cannot 
 now be read without a feeling of pathetic interest. He was 
 then much moved by the speculative currents which were 
 running with unusual violence through the country, and in 
 naming Mr. Eraser for the new professorship he gave expression 
 to the high hopes he entertained of his future usefulness. 
 
 " We confess," he said, " that in our eyes one of his prime 
 recommendations is that, in conjunction with his sound 
 theology and his power to estimate aright the metaphysics 
 of Germany, he must have the inclination as well as the 
 power to dissipate the glare which a strange nomenclature 
 is fitted to shed over the most unsubstantial if they only 
 bear the imposing aspect of lofty and adventurous specula- 
 tions ; for quackery, let it be observed, not always confined 
 to the vulgar and uneducated classes, occasionally breaks 
 forth in the higher regions of the literary commonwealth, 
 and never with a more dangerous fascination than when 
 passing from one country to another ; the distance between 
 
loo THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 them lends enchantment to the view ; and so the invaded, 
 whose very ignorance is the mother of their devotion, fall an 
 easy prey to the high-sounding pretensions of the invaders. 
 . . . We have thought it necessary to say this much for the 
 satisfaction of the Assembly of Christian divines whom we 
 now address. It was doubtless our conviction of the tran- 
 scendent abilities of Mr. Fraser that gave the first impulses 
 to our recommendation of him ; yet this recommendation 
 would not have been given were it not for our confidence 
 that such abilities, in conjunction with his principles, only 
 fit him the more to detect and expose all the visions and 
 vagaries of transcendentalism." 
 
 The necessity, it may now be said parenthetically, for 
 maintaining these extraordinary chairs proved to be temporary. 
 So much pressure was put upon Parliament, that the Uni- 
 versity tests were abolished, and Professor MacDougall and 
 Professor Fraser were transferred to the chairs of Moral 
 Philosophy and Logic in the University — thus becoming the 
 successors, the one of Christopher North (Professor Wilson), 
 the other of Sir William Hamilton. 
 
 On the 31st of May 1847, while the Assembly was in 
 session, Dr. Chalmers himself was suddenly called to enter 
 into his rest. It was a startling event, and one which pro- 
 duced in the Church a momentary feeling of something like 
 consternation. The Assembly, after paying a tribute to the 
 great man thus removed, adjourned over his funeral, and 
 then returned to business. Among other things requiring 
 immediate attention was the filling up of the vacancies 
 caused by the death; and to one man the Church seems, 
 in its bereavement, to have turned instinctively. The offices 
 of Principal and Professor of Divinity in the New College 
 were unanimously offered to Dr. Eobert Gordon. 
 
 Dr. Gordon was a native of Glencairn, in Dumfriesshire. 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES loi 
 
 After taking license, he became mathematical master in the 
 Perth Academy. There he was brought under the notice 
 of Lord (Jray, who presented him, in 1816, to the parish 
 of Kinfauns. From thence he was, in 1820, transferred to 
 Edinburgh, where first in Hope Park Chapel, then in the 
 New North, and afterwards in the High Church, he acquired 
 a reputation of the most enviable description. He was an 
 able and luminous preacher, but what availed still more to 
 gain for him the respect of all was the weight of his personal 
 character. In 1841 he was Moderator of the General 
 Assembly, and it is generally understood that it was largely 
 through his presence, along with the Presbytery of Dunkeld, 
 at the bar of the Court of Session, that that body was simply 
 rebuked instead of being sent to prison for the crime of 
 ordaining Mr. Kessen to the pastoral charge of Lethendy. 
 The compliment now paid was the highest that could possibly 
 be offered to him. But he himself received it with some- 
 thing like astonishment. He did not believe that he was 
 fit for the post proposed ; and with hardly any hesitation 
 he wrote respectfully declining the appointment. Upon this 
 the Assembly resolved in the meantime to proceed no further ; 
 but the Commission in August was empowered to make such 
 arrangements as might then seem to be wise. 
 
 When the Commission met, it was ready with suggestions 
 which were adopted at once. Dr. Cunningham was raised 
 to the Presidency of the College, and Dr. Candlish was 
 appointed the junior Professor of Theology. 
 
 The fitness of Dr. Candlish for this sphere was universally 
 acknowledged. It was well understood that he was no mere 
 ecclesiastic. In 1840 the proposal was made to establish 
 a chair of Biblical Criticism in the University of Edinburgh, 
 and Dr. Candlish was named as most fitted to be its first 
 occupant. But by that time he had been mingling in the 
 
I02 THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 fray at Strathbogie, breaking interdicts and doing other like 
 irregular things ; and this having been brought under the 
 notice of the Government, they resiled from the purpose 
 which had been formed, and the appointment went elsewhere. 
 
 But although this incident serves to show that the nomina- 
 tion of Dr. Candlish to a professorship was not a mere tribute 
 to his skill as an ecclesiastic, an event shortly occurred which 
 seemed to show that this was not the sphere which Provid- 
 ence intended him to fill. The congregation of St. George's 
 called as his successor Mr. Stewart of Cromarty, but before 
 the translation could be effected, Mr. Stewart died, and Dr. 
 Candlish became so sensible of the doubtfulness of the step 
 he was taking, that in the Assembly of 1848 he resigned 
 the chair, and, to the great joy of his people, returned to 
 the exercise of the pastorate among them. 
 
 The filling up of the vacancy which had again arisen 
 caused some heart-burning in the Church. A strong desire 
 was felt for the return of Dr. Duff, and if he had been willing 
 to come home, his appointment would have been carried 
 with acclamation. But that liope having set, the College 
 Committee recommended to the August Commission the 
 name of Mr. Bannerman of Ormiston. The Commission was 
 authorised to proceed to an election ; but another name was 
 then brought forward, that of Professor Maclagan of Aberdeen, 
 and a division being thus inevitable, it was agreed to postpone 
 the settlement of the business till the Assembly. In May 
 1849, accordingly, the matter was raised afresh, and the 
 appointment of Mr. Bannerman was carried over that of Dr. 
 Maclagan by a majority of 108 to 81. 
 
 One thing which moved some to refrain from voting for 
 Professor Maclagan was the fear lest his removal from 
 Aberdeen might affect injuriously the cause they had at heart 
 — that of the establishment of a fully-equipped theological 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 103 
 
 seminary in that city. The question of College Extension had 
 taken a distinct step forward when in 1845 a professor had 
 been appointed to Aberdeen, with a Hebrew tutor. But to 
 the policy thus exemplified certain of the most prominent men 
 in the Church had always manifested a decided aversion, 
 and in 1848 there fairly broke out that bitter controversy of 
 which, as has been said, the shadow appeared three years 
 earlier. 
 
 For the first time Dr. Candlish and Dr. Cunningham 
 came then to be openly opposed to one another in debate, and 
 as, unfortunately, the latter took the matter so much to heart 
 as to make the difference a personal one, a breach took place 
 in their friendship which was not healed for some years. 
 
 The point in dispute seems one that might have been 
 discussed without keen feeling. Much could be said on both 
 sides. On the one hand. Dr. Cunningham contended that to 
 provide a higher education than had been furnished hitherto, 
 a peculiarly well-equipped College needed to be established ; 
 that one such institution was all that the Free Church could 
 be expected to be able to maintain ; and further, that so far 
 as an adequate supply of students was concerned, no more 
 than one College was required. These views were supported 
 with great earnestness by men like Mr. Dunlop and Sheriff 
 Monteith. On the other hand, it was argued that if there 
 was but a single Hall in Edinburgh, it would draw candidates 
 from only a limited area, and that in course of time the supply 
 would be incomplete. It was also held to be a groundless 
 assumption that the maintenance of three Colleges would be 
 beyond the power of the Church. 
 
 Through the year the agitation went on, and became, in 
 fact, so bitter as to recall to the recollection of some the 
 exciting times before the Disruption. An attempt was 
 made at reconciliation in the Assembly of 1850, when a 
 
I04 THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 motion was proposed by Dr. Candlisb, and seconded by Dr. 
 Cunningham, expressing on the part of the Church its 
 willingness to receive endowments for Glasgow and Aberdeen, 
 but discountenancing in the meantime such attempts as were 
 being made in these towns to promote the training of students 
 independently of Edinburgh. This motion was opposed by 
 Dr. Begg, who contended for the immediate recognition of 
 Aberdeen College, and who suggested the instant removal 
 thither of one of the professors at the centre. Dr. Candlish's 
 motion was carried by a large majority, but Dr. Begg's 
 supporters were so many and so influential that a conclusive 
 settlement was seen to be as far off as ever, and accordingly 
 the question was raised again in the Assembly of 1851. 
 Then a new debate took place, which was not followed by 
 a division, simply because, on the suggestion of Dr. Eobert 
 Buchanan, the matter was referred to a Committee, which 
 found a temporary modus vivendi. As Professor Miller 
 reminded the House, however, it was true of the Aberdeen 
 men what Napoleon said of Blucher : they never knew when 
 they were beaten. They erected College buildings, and offered 
 them to the Church with an endowment of £2000, and the 
 gift was accepted for what it was worth. It was not said 
 that this was done with the view of advancing their cause ; 
 but as a matter of fact it did forward their purposes, and the 
 end of the controversy began to be more and more clearly seen. 
 We may say that the crash came in 1853. It was 
 precipitated by Dr. Cunningham himself. Previously to the 
 Assembly of that year, Professor Maclagan died, — a great 
 misfortune, it may be said, for the Church, because the Lectures 
 published after his death show him to have been one of the 
 clearest thinkers and most effective teachers that Scotland 
 has ever produced, — and the Principal of the New College 
 saw in the providence the opportunity he had been seeking 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 105 
 
 for, to secure for the institution over which he presided the 
 position to which he believed it to be entitled. In a 
 powerful speech, in the course of which he assailed without 
 mercy all who differed from him, he proposed that the whole 
 question of the expediency of a Hall in Aberdeen be remitted 
 for consideration to the Presbyteries of the Church — giving it 
 at the same time as his own very decided conviction that 
 such a thing behoved to be unhesitatingly condemned. The 
 mover of the opposite motion was Dr. Candlish. That motion 
 was distinctly for progress, and this without any delay. He 
 proposed the instant filling up of Dr. Maclagan's place, and, 
 more than that, the appointment of an assistant to him. The 
 debate was an extraordinarily keen one, and it lasted through 
 one whole day to one or two o'clock of the succeeding morn- 
 ing; and, on the vote being taken, it was found that Dr. 
 Candlish had the support of 222 members, and Dr. Cunning- 
 ham of 147. Mr. Fairbairn of Salton was then appointed 
 unanimously to the vacant chair in Aberdeen, and the 
 Commission in August was authorised to name someone as 
 his assistant. 
 
 Naturally, so decided a victory put fresh heart into the 
 men of the North, and when the Assembly of 1854 came 
 round, they appeared with a new proposal. An additional sum 
 of £4000 had been raised, and they now asked that with the 
 amount of £6000 that was in hand a second chair should be 
 endowed, and a second professor appointed to fill it. To this 
 Dr. Cunningham objected, unless into the form of acceptance 
 a clause was introduced to the effect that the arrangement did 
 not commit the Church to having an independent College 
 in Aberdeen. The insertion of such a clause, however, was 
 felt to be ungracious, and although Dr. Cunningham's appeal 
 was supported in a strong speech by the Earl of Dalhousie, 
 the House decided against him by a large majority. At 
 
io6 THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 a subsequent diet, therefore, Mr. Smeaton of Auchterarcler 
 was elected to the newly-instituted chair, and the Aberdeen 
 students were required to spend only one year, instead of two, 
 in Edinburgh. 
 
 The decision thus come to did not lessen Dr. Cunninoham's 
 
 O 
 
 dislike to the cause of College Extension. His opposition, 
 indeed, to it became more determined, if possible, than before, 
 and as he was always perfectly outspoken, the Church was 
 not left to pursue the mistaken policy (as he considered it) 
 with which it had become enamoured without due warning 
 and protest. He insisted that in every well - organised 
 theological seminary it was absolutely necessary to have at 
 least five professors, and he asked how the Free Church was 
 to be able to maintain more than one so equipped. 
 
 Besides, he argued, " the result [of the establishment of a 
 plurality of Colleges] would be that they could not be so 
 carefully and jealously watched, and the concentrated attention 
 of the Church would be withdrawn from them in a great 
 measure, so that there would be more danger of heresy in the 
 one case than in the other. Heresy was mainly introduced 
 from the Divinity Hall of Glasgow by Professor Simson in 
 the early part of last century. I do not say that Glasgow is 
 a more dangerous place than any other, but this proves that 
 the more Halls you have you increase the danger." 
 
 His remonstrances, however, were all in vain. Nothing 
 he could say had any effect on the mind of the Church at 
 large. In 1855 an overwhelming majority of the Presbyteries 
 declared themselves in favour of an independent Hall at 
 Aberdeen, and Mr. Sachs, who had been acting as Hebrew 
 tutor, was raised to the position of a full professor. This 
 was done in the face of the earnest opposition of Mr. Dunlop. 
 He pointed out that, while every other public body in the 
 empire — the Civil Service, the Army, and the Indian Service 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 107 
 
 — was striving to raise the standard of education, the Free 
 Church was pursuing a course the necessary tendency of 
 which was to lower its standard of qualifications for the 
 ministry. In proof of the charge which he thus made, he 
 referred to the resolution which had been adopted, to have 
 at least five professors in New College, while only three 
 were available for Aberdeen. Dr. Candlish, however, replied 
 to this by saying, that with so many fewer students in the 
 North, the training given might be equally effective with a 
 smaller staff. In any case, it was now plain that the Church 
 had finally made up its mind ; and Dr. Cunningham retired 
 from the contest in despair. 
 
 But the limit of College Extension was not yet complete. 
 In the same Assembly which had seen the triumph of 
 Aberdeen, a deputation appeared from Glasgow making the 
 offer of a munificent endowment for a College in that city. 
 Mr. Ewing of Levenside had already bequeathed £5000 for 
 that end ; but now Dr. William Clark of Wester Moffat came 
 forward v/itli the proposal to add, under certain conditions, 
 £40,000 to that sum. Such a gift could not very well be 
 rejected. Sheriff Monteith delivered a long and deprecatory 
 speech, in which he recapitulated the grounds on which he 
 and his friends had hitherto opposed the multiplication of 
 Colleges, and warmly vindicated Dr. Cunningham for having 
 fought as he had done for the central institution. But he 
 confessed that the tide which he had seen rising from year 
 to year had now overwhelmed him, and he gave way to the 
 inevitable. The offered endowments, therefore, were accepted 
 unanimously, and arrangements were made to carry the 
 purposes of them into effect. 
 
 Next year, in the Assembly of 1856, three chairs were 
 filled up in the Glasgow Hall : one by Professor Fairbairn, 
 who was translated from Aberdeen ; a second by the Bev. 
 
io8 THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 James Gibson, who had for years been taking a prominent 
 part in the Church Court debates ; and the third by Dr. 
 M'Cosh, who was then a professor in Belfast, but who became 
 subsequently President of Princeton. 
 
 The appointment of Dr. M'Cosh came about in rather a 
 singular way. Dr. Pairbairn's trauslation was objected to 
 by no one, but it seemed to be understood that only two 
 professors were to be elected at this time, and Dr. Hanna, 
 moved by the desire to secure Dr. M'Cosh for one of the 
 posts, proposed that the chair to be filled up should be that 
 of Apologetics instead of that of Church History. He was 
 defeated in the vote, and Mr. Gibson secured the place ; but 
 so general a wish was shown to have Dr. M'Cosh also, that 
 the Assembly forthwith departed from its original intention 
 and elected him to a third professorship by acclamation. 
 
 By the August Commission, Mr. Lumsden, who was then 
 minister of Barry, was appointed to the chair in Aberdeen 
 rendered vacant by the removal of Dr. Pairbairn, and in the 
 Assembly which followed (that of 1857), the staff of the 
 College in Glasgow was completed. Dr. M'Cosh had declined 
 the appointment which had been tendered to him, and Dr. 
 Hetherington was elected Professor of Apologetics in his room ; 
 while Dr. George Douglas, then of Bridge of Weir, was chosen 
 to fill the chair of Hebrew and Old Testament Exegesis. 
 
 Hasty as this narrative has necessarily been, it would be 
 unpardonable to conclude it without particular reference to 
 one of the later professors who have been referred to, namely, 
 Dr. Pairbairn. He was born in 1805 at Greenlaw, in 
 Berwickshire, and was licensed to preach in 1826 by the 
 Presbytery of Dunse. A year later he went to Orkney as a 
 tutor, and in 1830 he was presented to the parish of North 
 Eonaldshay. Here his ministry was most successful, but 
 the claims upon his time were not such as to prevent his 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 109 
 
 giving himself to study. He became an excellent Greek and 
 Hebrew scholar, and attained besides such a knowledge of 
 German as to be able to translate two books in that language 
 for the Biblical Cabinet Series of the Messrs. Clark. 
 
 After six years' work in the islands, he was translated to 
 Glasgow, where he laboured for some time as minister of 
 Bridgeton, and finally he was transferred to Salton, of 
 which parish he had the charge when the Disruption took 
 place. 
 
 It was not till 1845 that the book appeared which made 
 his reputation. The book was on The Typology of Scripture, 
 and its success was immediate. Five editions were called for 
 within a comparatively short time ; and when it was resolved 
 to appoint an assistant to Dr. Maclagan at Aberdeen, Dr. 
 Fairbairn was at once fixed upon as the best fitted for the 
 post. And the Church showed that the selection was regarded 
 by it as wise. When Dr. Maclagan died. Dr. Fairbairn was 
 appointed his successor. When the College in Glasgow was 
 instituted in 1856, he was by acclamation elected to occupy 
 one of the chairs ; and in the year following he was elevated 
 to the position of Principal. 
 
 His literary activity continued to be very great. He 
 published books on Ezekiel, on Prophecy, and on the Pastoral 
 Epistles ; he translated Hengstenberg on John ; he edited for 
 the Messrs. Blackie the Imperial Bihle Dictionary ; and 
 after his death another work of his was issued on Pastoral 
 Theology. 
 
 Principal Fairbairn was Moderator of the General Assembly 
 in 1864 ; he was chosen as one of the Old Testament Eevisers ; 
 and with such mingled wisdom and dignity and kindliness did 
 he discharge the duties of his office in Glasgow, that while he 
 earned the respect and confidence of the whole Church, he so 
 won upon the affections of his students that they asked to be 
 
no THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 allowed to place a portrait of him — where it now hangs — in 
 the College library. 
 
 The history of the College has thus been traced with 
 some minuteness, because a certain amount of interest attaches 
 to the development of that system of theological education 
 which has done so much for the Free Church, but it is not 
 necessary to follow the story particularly further. 
 
 Two things, however, may be referred to for a moment 
 in conclusion. One is, that the controversy, the course of 
 which has been described, led to an event which recalled the 
 Moderatorship incident in the life of Chalmers. This was a 
 breach in the friendship of Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Candlish. 
 These two men had fought together through the Ten Years' 
 Conflict, and they had laboured together to reconstruct the 
 fabric of the Church after the Disruption ; but now, over 
 this business of College Extension, they differed so totally, that 
 for some years — from 1855 to 1858 — they became entirely 
 estranged. Happily, the cloud cleared away in the latter 
 year. Dr. Cunningham was then nominated Moderator of 
 the Assembly ; a very tangible expression of the Church's 
 confidence in him was given in the shape of a present of 
 £7000 ; the morbid feeling which had disturbed his mind 
 disappeared, and the two leaders were seen standing shoulder 
 to shoulder again, working harmoniously for the same ends. 
 The reconciliation took place in the presence of several friends, 
 among whom was Dr. Beith, and he has left on record a 
 touching description of it. 
 
 " For us," he says, " who looked on with very peculiar 
 emotion, it was a moment of great interest, not on private or 
 partial grounds, but as affecting the interests of the Church 
 and the country at large. That two such men, who were 
 indeed ' pillars ' among us, should have been under even a 
 temporary alienation, was felt by all lovers of the truth to be 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES iii 
 
 a great calamity. It was all past now. These two good and 
 great men were never afterwards for a day alienated the one 
 from the other. Cunningham's course thereafter was short. 
 Occasion of most lively joy it was, that reconciliation had 
 taken place ere death came to remove either of them, and 
 that, during the remaining years of the noble - minded 
 Principal of the New College, they lived together in harmony 
 of sentiment and action in advocating the living principles 
 and advancing the great interests of Immanuel's kingdom." 
 
 The other point of interest connected with this con- 
 troversy is the question of the light which has been thrown 
 upon it by the experience of the Cliurch. The extraordinary 
 earnestness with which the subject of College Extension was 
 discussed showed very emphatically how much importance was 
 attached to the business of providing a thoroughly educated 
 ministry. It was his concern for this which led Dr. Cunning- 
 ham to make the stand he did for one College. It was the 
 same motive which constrained so many to contend for Colleges 
 in Aberdeen and Glasgow. But now, what shall we say ? 
 
 It seems clear that the Principal underestimated at once 
 the needs and the resources of his Cliurch. If there had 
 continued to be only one theological seminary in Edinburgh, 
 the supply of students would certainly have become inadequate; 
 and — what he deemed to be impossible — there has been provided 
 in each of the new institutions an amount of machinery equal 
 to the highest of what he held to be essential for the central 
 institution alone. The Edinburgh College has six professors ; 
 Glasgow has five ; Aberdeen has four, with a lecturer ; attached 
 to the three is an extra professor, who divides his services 
 among them all ; and the average yearly attendance of 
 students is 250. 
 
 Besides, a result has followed from the multiplication of 
 Colleges which was, no doubt, in the minds of many who 
 
112 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGES 
 
 contended for that end. That " learned leisure " which has 
 done so much for the Church of England has never been 
 enjoyed to any great extent in the Presbyterian Churches, 
 and hence their contributions to the literature of their country 
 has not been so great as might have been expected. But it 
 is no presumption to say that the Free Church has at this 
 moment an unusually high reputation for scholarship, and that 
 reputation is certainly in some part due to the opportunities 
 offered by the considerable number of its professors' chairs. 
 
 The following list will be read with interest. It gives 
 the names of the men who have occupied, or are still occupy- 
 ing, positions in the different Colleges, with the dates of their 
 appointment : — 
 
 I. New College^ Ediriburgli. 
 
 1843. Ur. Chalmers, 
 
 Dr. Welsh, 
 
 Dr. Cunningham, 
 
 Dr. Duncan. 
 1845. Dr. James Buchanan, 
 
 Dr. John Fleming. 
 1847. Dr. Candlish. 
 1849. Dr. Bannerman. 
 1857. Dr. Smeaton. 
 
 1861. Dr. Rainy. 
 
 1863. Dr. A. B. Davidson. 
 
 1864. Dr. Duns. 
 
 1867. Dr. Duff. 
 
 1868. Dr. Macgregor, 
 
 Dr. Garden Blaikie. 
 
 1880. Dr. Thomas Smith. 
 
 1881. Dr. Laidlaw. 
 1889. Dr. Marcus Dods. 
 
 1846. Dr. Maclagan. 
 
 1853. Dr. Fairbairn. 
 
 1854. Dr. Smeaton. 
 
 1855. Mr. Sachs. 
 1854. Dr. Lumsden. 
 1857. Dr. David Brown. 
 
 II. Aberdeen College. 
 
 1870. Dr. Eobertson Smith, 
 
 1875. Dr. William Binnie. 
 
 1876. Dr. Salmond. 
 1882. Dr. George Cameron. 
 1887. Dr. Iverach, 
 
 Dr. James Robertson. 
 
 1856. Dr. Fairbairn, 
 Dr. Gibson. 
 
 1857. Dr. Hetherington, 
 Dr. Douglas. 
 
 1846. Dr. Islav Burns. 
 
 III. Glasgow College. 
 
 1872. Dr. T. M. Lindsay, 
 
 Dr. James Candlish. 
 1875. Dr. A. B. Bruce. 
 1883. Mr. Henry Drummond. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SCHOOLS AND SCIIOOLMASTEES 
 
 TN the elaborate Report on Education submitted by Dr. 
 -*- Welsh to the Assembly of 1843, the need for opening 
 schools in connection with the Free Church was made 
 abundantly plain. " Schools," he said, " must be opened to 
 afford a suitable sphere of operation for parochial, and still 
 more for private, teachers who are threatened with depriva- 
 tion of their present offices on account of their opinions on 
 the Church Question." 
 
 All the parish schoolmasters and others holding positions 
 similar to theirs were at once dismissed when they declared 
 themselves to be Free Churchmen, and of course their claims 
 to public recognition and support were acknowledged without 
 hesitation. But there were others who were in no better 
 case. A system of petty tyranny was put in force all over 
 the country, and private teachers were driven from their 
 posts by the withdrawal of local support in different ways. 
 They, too, had to be cared for, and thus, at the very outset, a 
 scheme of very considerable magnitude would have had to 
 be undertaken under any circumstances. 
 
 But in these days higher views than prevail now were 
 held as to the functions of a Church in relation to education. 
 Dr. Welsh went on to say that no Church, aspiring to the 
 character of National, could be fulfilling its mission if it was 
 not " providing for the religious training of the young from 
 8 
 
114 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 
 
 the lowest elementary school to the first institutions of 
 science and learning." 
 
 To establish such a scheme in connection with his own 
 communion, there would be required, he said, a sum of 
 £200,000, and, to secure it, he intimated that, among other 
 means. Dr. Chalmers was willing to give lectures on Humanity 
 and General Education in some of the principal towns of 
 Scotland. 
 
 Dr. Welsh's views of the situation were heartily approved 
 and accepted by the Assembly, and the Education Scheme 
 was formally launched on the 25th of May 1843. 
 
 Six months later — at the Glasgow Assembly — conclusive 
 proof was given that the enterprise was to be one of consider- 
 able dimensions. It was intimated that no fewer than 
 360 teachers had joined the Free Church. 
 
 For those who required it, some provision in the way of 
 salary had been made, but little had been done to provide 
 accommodation for work in the shape of buildings, and to 
 supply what was needful in that connection was recognised 
 as a very formidable undertaking indeed. At this point, 
 however, a happy interposition took place. Mr. (afterwards 
 Dr.) Macdonald of Blairgowrie had been revolving the matter 
 in his mind, and had come to the conclusion to step into the 
 breach. He offered himself to the Assembly as an advocate 
 of the scheme, and undertook, if he was set free for some 
 months from the burden of his charge, to raise for school 
 buildings the sum of £50,000. This offer was gladly ac- 
 cepted; and when the next Assembly met — in May 1844 — 
 Dr. Macdonald was able to report that he had been more 
 than successful, for he had received subscriptions to the 
 amount of £52,000. At the same time it was announced 
 that the Education Scheme was now in full operation, all the 
 outed teachers having been provided for, and as many as 120 
 
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 115 
 
 schools opened. The chief difficulty encountered had been to 
 secure places in which to teach. Some permanent school- 
 rooms had already been made over to the Church, and Lords 
 Breadalbane and Zetland are particularly named as having 
 been among her benefactors ; but temporary expedients had 
 been largely had recourse to, such as " the new church," a 
 farmer's barn or a peasant's cottage, and the pressure for 
 buildings became more and more urgent. How greatly the 
 enterprise was needed was made evident by the rapid growth 
 of the undertaking — the number of schools reported in 1845 
 being more than double those of the previous year. 
 
 But with the enlargement of the scheme came a demand 
 for increased support being given to it. Dr. Macdonald was 
 able, in 1845, to say that his fund had risen to £60,000, but 
 no part of that money went toward the payment of the 
 teachers, and what was reeiuired imperatively was a larger 
 annual income. 
 
 This necessity was looked in the face, and the enthusiasm 
 of the Assembly was heartily called forth by a speech of 
 Dr. Candlish. 
 
 " If this scheme grows," he said, " as it should grow, and 
 if the salaries of our teachers are raised as they ought to be 
 raised, and must be raised, and sliall he raised " (great applause), 
 — "if this scheme prospers in its increase of numbers, if the 
 number of our schools goes on increasing, and if the salaries 
 are to be made in some degree adequate to the highly 
 responsible character of the office, then, sir, we shall require 
 not less than £20,000 or £25,000 yearly to meet the demands 
 made upon us in this department of our labours. The more 
 we look around us and notice the current of events, the more 
 must we be impressed with this conviction, that if not for 
 the sake of the Free Church itself, at least for the sake of 
 religion and Christianity, it becomes the bounden duty of the 
 
ii6 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 
 
 Church to establish, not on a sectarian basis, but on broad 
 Christian principles, a system of adequate instruction for the 
 whole youth of Scotland who will accept it at our hands." 
 
 A grand theory was thus indicated, and as events 
 developed it seemed as if the expectation on which it was 
 based might come in a great measure to be realised. The 
 number of schools in connection with the Church was con- 
 stantly and rapidly increasing, and in the Assembly which 
 was held at Inverness in August 1845, Dr. Cunningham, 
 who was then Convener of the Committee, was moved to 
 make a remarkable proposal. It was that the teachers should 
 be placed on the same footing as the ministers, and should 
 receive their salaries out of a common Sustentation Fund. 
 To this plan Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Buchanan both gave in 
 their adhesion, and the former wrote about it in the 
 following way : — 
 
 " I observe — and I rejoice at it — the opinion making 
 progress, that the salaries of schoolmasters, as well as the 
 stipends of ministers, should come out of the Sustentation 
 Fund. Such is my opinion of the indefinite capabilities of 
 our associational mechanics, that the additional impulse 
 which would then be given to it would more than compensate 
 for the additional outlay." 
 
 So serious a change in the constitution of the Church 
 could not be made off-hand by the Assembly. The proposal 
 was sent down for the consideration of Presbyteries ; and 
 next year, Dr. Buchanan, in a long and important speech, 
 which marks the beginning of a new era in the Church's 
 educational history, reported, as the result of the appeal, that 
 two alternative plans for raising funds had been suggested and 
 approved — one, to have a collection once a month in every 
 congregation ; the other, to have in the Sustentation Fund 
 collecting-books a column for the support of the schools. 
 
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 117 
 
 In the meantime the enterprise had continued to expand. 
 It was reported in 1846 that five hundred teachers were 
 receiving more or less of support ; and Mr. Gibson, the Govern- 
 ment Inspector of Schools, was induced to resign his position 
 as such, and to accept a similar post in connection with the 
 Free Church. 
 
 The year 1847 came, and the magnitude and import- 
 ance of the scheme were set forth with fresh emphasis 
 and fulness by Dr. Candlish, who had succeeded Dr. 
 Cunningham in the chair of the Committee. The number of 
 schools, he reported, which were receiving direct support 
 was now 513; but, he added, there were many others to 
 which as yet no grant had been made, and if these were 
 taken account of, the Church might be accredited with having 
 650 schools. Attending the 595 schools from which returns 
 had been received, there were upwards of 44,000 scholars 
 — as many, it was calculated, as were to be found in all the 
 parochial schools of the country. The income for the year 
 had been close upon £10,000 — a long way off from the figure 
 formerly named, but still enough to manifest the public 
 interest taken in the work. Dr. Candlish further dwelt in 
 his speech on the necessity which existed of establishing in 
 large country parishes and in the waste places of great cities 
 as many missionary schools as possible, and in doing this he 
 again gave expression to his conception of what the relation 
 of the Church to education should be. " We are in the 
 land," he said, " a missionary Church. We have a great Home 
 Mission to see to in Scotland. We have doors open over all 
 the land, and we are called upon to go forth and possess the 
 territory ; and as this is the character of our Church ecclesi- 
 astically viewed, so we desire that it should be the character 
 of our Church viewed scholastically and educationally." 
 
 But in this same year the Church was called upon to con- 
 
ii8 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 
 
 sider a subject of more than internal interest. The Govern- 
 ment of the day had had its attention called to the educa- 
 tional wants of the country, and had issued, somewhat suddenly, 
 a plan for meeting these. It offered to give grants in aid to 
 all schools with whose efficiency it was satisfied, leaving the 
 active conduct of them in the hands of the parties by whom 
 they had been instituted. As, however, support was not 
 meant to be given to mere secular education, it was made a 
 condition that in every case evidence should be supplied that 
 religion also was taught. What was to be said about this 
 scheme ? The Free Church was carrying on an enterprise of 
 its own, and believed itself to be strong enough to sustain it 
 single-handed, — was it to enter into a new alliance with the 
 State, and accept its help to do any part of its work ? 
 
 The matter was serious enough to require very anxious 
 consideration, and a long debate about it took place in the 
 General Assembly — the prominent speakers being Drs. 
 Candlish and Cunningham, Sheriffs Spiers and Monteith, and 
 Mr. (afterwards Lord) Moncreiff. 
 
 It was then a new subject, and it is interesting to notice 
 the different points of view from which it was regarded. On 
 the one hand, a motion was moved by Mr. Duncan of St. 
 Boswells, seconded by Mr. Sorley of Selkirk, which concluded 
 as follows : — 
 
 " The General Assembly feel themselves called upon to 
 avoid and disclaim the responsibility of giving effect to a 
 scheme professedly providing for the instruction of the 
 people, in which truth and error are regarded with equal 
 favour, and being satisfied that they cannot in hoc statu receive 
 the aid of the Government for educational purposes, and at 
 the same time honestly testify against the unsound and 
 dangerous principles involved in the measures under which it 
 is extended to them, they hereby instruct and enjoin all the 
 
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 119 
 
 congregations of this Church, and all the membership thereof, 
 from applying for such aid, and by all means to beware of 
 bartering for pecuniary advantages the crown rights of the 
 Redeemer." 
 
 The extreme character of this motion was happily recog- 
 nised, and in the end only five voted for it. But it was held 
 to be a mistake in the Government to require instruction in 
 " religion " without defining the term, and a change in the 
 scheme so far was demanded unanimously. 
 
 " I have no objection," said Dr. Cunningham, "that Papists 
 and Socinians should be aided in receiving education out of 
 the resources of the empire. I think they ought to receive 
 that aid. I think it is the duty of the Government of Great 
 Britain to provide, if possible, that the Popish children of the 
 community should be educated. Of course neither I, nor any 
 other member of this House, could ever become a consenting 
 party to the funds of the nation being employed in teaching 
 Popery or Socinianism ; " but, he went on to say, he gave a 
 hearty support - to the resolution proposed by Dr. Candlish, 
 which suggested that the Government might be able to give 
 secular education without undertaking any responsibility as 
 to religion, and which recommended the managers of Free 
 Church schools to accept grants in aid if they saw their way 
 to apply for them. 
 
 The help thus afforded gave a. fresh impulse to the 
 Education Scheme, and year after year showed it to be con- 
 stantly progressing. In 1850, for example, Dr. Candlish 
 reported the establishment of G57 subsidised schools, with an 
 attendance on them of close upon 60,000 pupils. There 
 were, however, a number of other Free Church schools which 
 derived no support from the Committee, and when these were 
 taken account of, the calculation was that about 74,000 children 
 were receiving education at the hands of the Free Church. 
 
I20 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 
 
 But the very success of the scheme was giving new 
 interest to questions which some had never lost sight of, and 
 which they were now encouraged to press on the attention 
 of the country. "Why, for example, they asked, should the 
 Church go on to maintain an enterprise whose dimensions were 
 always growing, and the support of which must become ever 
 more and more burdensome, when no attempt was being made 
 to open up and improve the parochial system ? Professor 
 Fleming, in 1848, had complained that at the very outset he 
 had urged the consideration of that matter on the Church, 
 and had met with no encouragement or sympathy ; but in 
 the Assembly of 1850 Dr. Begg went farther, and made a 
 motion the first paragraph of which was as follows : — 
 
 " That the national education of Scotland is in a most 
 unsatisfactory state, both in respect of its amount and quality, 
 and because of the exclusive connection with the Established 
 Church now embracing only a minority of the population, 
 and that unless immediate means are adopted for securing 
 a comprehensive and effective system, the evil, instead of 
 abating, will increase as the population advances." 
 
 In speaking to this motion. Dr. Begg said : 
 
 " The state of the matter historically I take to be this. 
 I was most anxious, for one, that the general Church Question 
 which ended in the Disruption should not be held to settle 
 the question of national education ; in other words, that 
 when we left the parish churches, we should not have held 
 ourselves to have left the parish schools. The people certainly 
 did not. The battle of the Church was complete at the 
 Disruption ; the battle of the schools I have from the Dis- 
 ruption believed to be still unfought, and it must be fought 
 now." 
 
 Dr. Begg's powerful speech was very ably seconded by 
 one whose racy pen has made a School History of Scotland 
 
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 121 
 
 as readable as a romance (Mr. Mackenzie of Dunfermline), 
 and it was supported by Mr. Makgill Crichton, but it received 
 in the end only sixteen votes. The currents, however, had 
 begun to run too strongly to be successfully resisted, and the 
 cry for a national system more suited to the times grew ever 
 louder and louder. How this had come about was a question. 
 Mr. Mackenzie, in referring to the agitation which had 
 commenced, had characteristically likened it to the kindling 
 of the furze in the days of Bruce ; and Dr. Candlish, using the 
 similitude, had replied : " I shall take upon myself to say 
 that, if a beacon has been lighted to illuminate the darkness 
 of Scotland in respect of educational destitution, and herald 
 in the attempts for meeting that gigantic evil, the blame, 
 or credit, or accident if you will, must lie at the door not of 
 the recent manifesto, but of our own Education Scheme of 
 some years' standing. I doubt exceedingly whether, if such 
 a beacon light had not been kindled in Scotland, — if 700 
 schools had not been established amidst many difficulties 
 and discouragements, — I doubt much whether we would have 
 seen the furze kindled by recent events." 
 
 Dr. Candlish was no doubt right. Here was another 
 of the incidental results of the Disruption. Already the 
 University test had gone, and to what was done by the Free 
 Church in covering Scotland with schools we owe our present 
 education system. 
 
 That end, however, did not come immediately. The 
 Government was anxious enouoh to do what it could for 
 Scotland, and all parties gradually came round to the belief 
 that it is the function of the State to provide at least secular 
 education for the people. But the difficulty was to find a 
 scheme under which some security could be given for the 
 teaching of religion, and a new and somewhat bitter con- 
 troversy arose in connection with that subject. 
 
122 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 
 
 The difficulties in the way of a satisfactory consummation 
 were clearly foreseen by Dr. Candlish. Thus, in 1851, we. 
 find him saying that " they could not anticipate the future ; 
 they could not tell what agitations might take place within 
 the ensuing year or two ; but he would express it as hi& 
 deliberate conviction, that if the Church should for a moment 
 act upon the idea that a national system of education, for 
 the sake of which she could surrender her own, was within 
 reach, or likely to be within reach — if she were to act upon 
 that supposition for a moment, she would betray her trust, 
 fall into a most grievous blunder, and be found guilty in the 
 sight of God of not knowing the time of her visitation." 
 
 He was right. A settlement was not then near. And, 
 in fact, twenty years were to elapse before the Act now in 
 force could make its way through Parliament. In the 
 debates which took place during this interval, Hugh Miller, 
 Dr. Guthrie, and Dr. Cunningham were among the earliest 
 disputants, and Dr. Begg and Sir Henry Moncreiff among 
 the latest, — Dr. Candlish, of course, being specially conspicuous 
 all through ; and Mr. James Moncreiff (afterwards Lord 
 Moncreiff) seeking to mediate between parties in the House 
 of Commons. 
 
 The end, when it came, was not reached ipcr saltum. 
 Again and again efforts were made to improve the situation. 
 In 1852, for instance, Dr. Candlish brought under the notice 
 of the Assembly the fact that the time was approaching 
 for a revisal of the salaries paid to parochial teachers, and 
 suggested that advantage should be taken of the opportunity 
 to propose the opening up of the schools to men, otherwise 
 suitable, who were willing to own the Bible and the Shorter 
 Catechism. The suggestion was acted upon. Parliament 
 was petitioned in terms of it. And a deputation, consisting of 
 Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Mackellar, and Dr. Buchanan, went up 
 
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 123 
 
 to London and interviewed the Government authorities on the 
 .subject. The result was that in 1854 a Bill was introduced 
 into the House of Commons by Lord Advocate Moncreiff, 
 providing for the end specified. But it was thrown out by a 
 majority of one. 
 
 In 185 5 and 185G similar measures were proposed, but 
 although these were carried in the Commons, they were lost 
 in the Lords. In 1859, wlien Lord Derby was Prime 
 Minister, Mr. Baxter and Mr, Moncreiff submitted a measure 
 for the abolition of all the tests in schools, but this met with 
 the same fate as the others ; and it was not till 1861-62 that 
 the Act at last passed which loosened the tie connecting the 
 parochial schools with the Church, and transferred several 
 of the functions hitherto discharged by the latter to the 
 Universities and the State. 
 
 So far the change was for the better. It was no longer 
 imperative that the teachers should be members of the 
 Established Church. But the improvement was more apparent 
 than real. " Tlie parish minister," to quote Sir Henry Craik, 
 " still retained in practice a very important part in the 
 appointment of tlie teacher ; his power of nominating him to 
 certain parochial offices, often conjoined by custom with that 
 of teacher, gave him a tolerably complete control, and the 
 Presbyteries still retained the power of examining and super- 
 intending the schools." The consequences were eminently 
 unsatisfactory. An appointment to a parish school came to 
 be, for Free Church teachers, simply a temptation to leave 
 their own communion, and the arrangement, it was seen, 
 could not possibly be accepted as final. 
 
 A settlement, however, which had been brought about 
 after a great deal of agitation, could not be disturbed at once. 
 Besides, between 1866 and 1868, the Conservatives were in 
 power, and it was not consistent with their policy to seek to 
 
124 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 
 
 diminish in any way the influence of the Establishment. 
 But, in the latter year, a party gained the ascendancy which 
 had more of the advanced Liberal element in it than any 
 that had yet been seen in this country, and a fresh agitation 
 commenced. Mr. Moncreiff, whose services in this connection 
 can never be forgotten, was now on the Bench. But his post 
 of Lord Advocate was occupied by Mr. (afterwards Lord) 
 Young, who was quite prepared to follow the lead of his 
 predecessor, and in his hands a Bill was carried through the 
 Commons, and uhimately passed by the House of Lords. 
 This was in 1872, and it was then that the great national 
 education system was established, which, with modifications, 
 has been maintained since. 
 
 It was not without difficulty that this consummation 
 was assented to. In 1863, Dr. Candlish had retired from 
 the Convenership, and had been succeeded by Dr. Nixon. 
 Dr. Nixon threw himself with characteristic energy into the 
 work entrusted to him, and under his direction the scheme 
 received for a time a new impulse. But he was going against 
 the tide, and it was vain to hope that he could permanently 
 withstand it. But his interest in the high aims of his own 
 enterprise disposed him to look critically on the schemes 
 proposed by others, and he strenuously objected to the 
 Conscience Clause which was inserted in the Bill of the 
 Government. He held that the schoolmaster should be left 
 free to teach according to his discretion, and to mingle 
 religious with secular instruction at any moment of the 
 day. In this view he was supported by Dr. Begg, who had 
 formerly advocated the leaving of the business of religious 
 teaching under the control of the parents, but who (as his 
 biographer admits) departed from that position in his later 
 years, and insisted on the State issuing its own commands on 
 the subject. Sir Henry Moncreiff, on the other hand, argued 
 
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 125 
 
 that some consideration behoved to be shown to those in the 
 country who were not Presbyterians, and that the State in 
 authorising the School Boards (representing the parentage 
 of Scotland) to teach not only the Bible, but (under the 
 protection of a Conscience Clause) the Shorter Catechism 
 also, it had conceded all that could reasonably be asked 
 of it. 
 
 When the Act was passed, there were 548 schools with 
 584 teachers receiving grants from the Education Fund. 
 What happened to all of these it would be difficult to say. 
 But in 1874, Dr. Main, who had succeeded Dr. Nixon in 
 the cliair of the Committee, reported to the Assembly that 
 139 Free Church schools had been transferred to School 
 Boards; that 282 had been discontinued — most of the 
 teachers having been employed elsewhere, and the buildings 
 retained for congregational purposes ; and that 119 congrega- 
 tions had intimated their intention to carry on their schools, 
 at least for a time, as before. 
 
 The Free Church Scheme thus so far came to an end, 
 but it had by no means existed in vain. During its main- 
 tenance the religious instruction of the young was carried 
 on with a faithfulness and an earnestness which cannot be 
 said to characterise in the same degree the present system. 
 In many schools the Shorter Catechism continues to be 
 taught with regularity and conscientiousness, but in others 
 it has not the place it once enjoyed, and that may be 
 considered a great misfortune. But, besides, it is unquestion- 
 ably true what Dr. Candlish said, that if it had not been 
 for the part taken by the Free Church in the education of 
 the country, the existing Act would not have been passed 
 so soon. As it is, things are now in a condition with which 
 we have cause to feel satisfied. The country is covered with 
 schools which are many of them handsome, and are all 
 
126 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 
 
 furnished with the best appliances. Teachers, effectively 
 trained, are being provided in adequate number. And with 
 the compulsory system in operation, every child in the land 
 is being taught. Scotland has regained its former place 
 among the nations, and may now hold up its head as one 
 of the best educated countries in the world. 
 
 Perhaps it may not be out of place here to say that a 
 serious oversight took place at the Jubilee of the Free Church, 
 when no notice was taken of the sacrifices made in 1843 by 
 the teachers, or of the services rendered to the Church by the 
 profession as a whole. This, we know, has been felt some- 
 what keenly by representative men among them, and we 
 are sure that none can more regret this extraordinary act 
 of forgetfulness than those who had the charge of the 
 celebration. 
 
 Hitherto, in what has been said, we have been speaking 
 only of what the Church did in the way of providing schools 
 for the country. But the view we are taking of this subject 
 would be very incomplete if we did not refer to its work 
 in the training of schoolmasters. 
 
 It is to Mr. David Stow, a Glasgow cotton-spinner, that 
 Scotland is indebted for its Normal Schools. He was one 
 of the many who came under the spell of Chalmers, and it 
 was while he was working in a Sabbath school that he was 
 led to see the need of teachers undergoing some kind of 
 preparation. With that in view, he opened in 1817 the 
 Infants' Model School, out of which grew, in 1836, the 
 founding of the first Normal College in Great Britain. When 
 this building was completed, in Mr. Stow's own city of 
 Glasgow, it was found that a debt remained upon it of 
 £11,000. For relief from this burden the help of the 
 Government was sought, and it was given (to the extent 
 of £5000), on a condition the full significance of which was 
 
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 127 
 
 not at the time realised. The condition was that the 
 institution should be made over to the Established Church. 
 At the time it belonged to the Glasgow Educational Society, 
 through whose instrumentality it had been erected, and all 
 the directors of that Society except one joined the Eree 
 Church. But the law was plain and remorseless. And 
 when, in 1844, it was ascertained that all the masters, 
 without exception, had gone out, they were required to 
 remove, with all their scholars, to new premises hastily 
 provided. 
 
 The Free Church, of course, could do nothing but face 
 the responsibility thus thrown upon her. Mainly through 
 the efforts of Dr. llobert Buchanan, money was raised for a 
 new building, and the present College, which cost £10,000, 
 was opened free of debt on the 12 th of August 1845. 
 Since then additions costing £5000 have been made to the 
 institution, and otherwise it has, in all respects, been so 
 thoroughly equipped, that it can stand comparison with any 
 similar establishment in the kingdom. 
 
 In 1836, Mr. John M'Crie, a son of the biographer of 
 Knox, was appointed Eector of the College, and was succeeded 
 first by the Eev. Eobert Cunningham, afterwards of Blair 
 Lodge ; next by Mr. Hislop, a brother of the Eev. Stephen 
 Hislop of Nagpore ; and then, in 1851, by Dr. Morrison, who 
 still holds the post. Since the institution of the College, 
 1716 males and 2227 females have been trained in it as 
 teachers, and many of these are now filling important 
 positions at home and abroad. At present (November 1894) 
 there is an attendance of 183 students, with a practising 
 school of between 600 and 700 children. 
 
 In Edinburgh the movement toward a Normal School 
 was begun somewhat later than in Glasgow. About 1835 
 a commencement was made, in a humble way, in the Sessional 
 
128 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 
 
 School of the Tron Parish, but it was not till 1841-42 that 
 a building was erected, with Government help, to carry on 
 the work in a systematic manner. At the date of the 
 Disruption the rectorship of the College was held by Mr. 
 Thomas Oliphant, a man whose name will always be 
 associated with the educational and religious history of 
 Edinburgh. He came out with, we believe, all his staff and 
 scholars, and temporary premises were found for them in 
 Eose Street. In 1847, Moray House, in the Canongate, was 
 secured for the institution, and there the great business has 
 been carried on ever since, of training a fair proportion of 
 the teachers of Scotland. The Education Act, while virtually 
 putting an end to the Free Church Scheme so far as its 
 schools were concerned, did not touch the Xormal Colleges, 
 and every year about 160 students are in attendance at the 
 Eree Church institution in Edinburgh. Such a pressure, 
 indeed, exists into the profession, that the Government has 
 found it necessary to restrict its grants in aid, and the Eree 
 Church and Established Church are permitted to train yearly 
 only 400 students each. Since 1863 the number trained 
 in Moray House has been 2530. After Mr. Oliphant's 
 resignation of the rectorship, the office was filled first by 
 Mr. Eulton, and then by Mr. Sime, and it is now occupied 
 with distinction by Dr. Maurice Paterson. There is, of 
 course, a large practising school connected with the College, 
 and all the departments are in a state of high efficiency. 
 
 The Aberdeen Normal School was not established until 
 the beginning of 1875 — the idea of it originating with 
 Principal Lumsden. It began in a very modest way as a 
 sort of appendage to the South Parish Eree Church School, 
 whose master, Mr. Eamage, was persuaded to undertake its 
 oversight. For some years it was carried on in the session- 
 house of the church, but in 1879 a building was erected. 
 
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 129 
 
 which (although the practising school is in an unsatisfactory 
 state) suits the purpose well. At first only females were 
 received, but a male side was added in 1887, and now 
 the College is allowed by Government to train yearly 12 
 men and 56 women. Mr. Eamage died in 1889, and was 
 succeeded in 1890 by the present rector, Mr. Adams. 
 Since its establishment the school has sent out 565 as 
 teachers. 
 
 It has been often said that the schoolmaster makes the 
 school, and it is a matter of some importance that the 
 teachers of Scotland are to so large an extent trained in 
 institutions — like those of the Free and Established Churches 
 — where, in the preparations, religion is made to take a very 
 prominent place. 
 
 The first Education Convener was Dr. Welsh. He was 
 succeeded by Dr. Cunningham, who held the office for two 
 years. After him came Dr. Candlish, who directed the 
 scheme with extraordinary energy from 1846 to 1863. For 
 ten years more, Dr. Nixon occupied the chair ; and when he 
 resigned, in 1873, Dr. Thomas Main was called to the post. 
 He again, in 1881, gave place to Dr. Alexander Mackenzie, 
 since whose death the. duties of Convener have been dis- 
 charged by Dr. John M'Ewan. The Secretaries have been 
 Mr. James Crawford, W.S., Mr. Samuel Ealeigh, C.A., Mr. 
 John Clibson, Rev. Robert Cunningham, Dr. Alexander Reid, 
 Mr. "William Gray, Mr. Alexander Thomson, and Mr. James 
 Watt. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 TjIOE the circumstance that the drift of feeling and opinion 
 -'- in the Highlands was in 1843 strongly in favour of 
 the Free Church, various explanations can be given. One 
 is that from the Eeformation powerful influences prevailed 
 there in support of evangelical religion. When, for example, 
 in 1560, the Scottish Parliament overthrew the Papal 
 Establishment and ratified the Confession of Faith, all the 
 Commissioners from beyond the Grampians — including the 
 Earl of Sutherland of the day, Grant of Grant, and the chief 
 of the Munroes — voted for the Protestant position, and what 
 they did produced, we are assured, a great effect upon the 
 people. It is also worth remembering that the famous 
 Eobert Bruce of Kinnaird was banished twice to Inverness, 
 and that during the five years of his residence in that city 
 he preached to immense numbers of the inhabitants, who 
 crowded to hear him from all the northern counties. One 
 of his converts was a son of the Laird of Kitwell, who was 
 afterwards ordained minister of Durness, in which he was 
 much blessed, and where he died in 1653. Other men 
 have left behind them fragrant memories in these regions — 
 such as the two Mackays, father and son, who laboured in 
 Lairg ; Hogg of Kiltearn, and others. During the Covenanting 
 era, when the faithful ministers were driven out of their 
 
 180 
 
THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 131 
 
 parishes, their people, it is said, kept the tire burniug by- 
 holding prayer meetings among themselves. 
 
 Later on, revivals of greater or less extent took place in 
 different parts of the country, and in connection with the 
 preaching of men of spiritual power. Dr. Macdonald of 
 Ferintosh was specially owned in these connections ; a con- 
 siderable awakening, for instance, which affected the whole 
 of Easter and Wester lloss, having begun under a sermon of 
 his in the summer of 1840. These revivals gave the people, 
 one may say, a taste for the gospel, and this taste they 
 sought to gratify by flocking at communion seasons to the 
 parishes of those ministers who were believed to preach it. 
 And in the Lowlands the tendency was in favour of the 
 increase of ministers of this order, and the number of out- 
 standing men who were emphatically evangelical had be- 
 come considerable before the Disruption. Among these, in 
 addition to Dr. Macdonald, who has been justly called " The 
 Apostle of the North," were M'Intosh of Tain, Stewart of 
 Cromarty, Fraser of Kirkhill, Eoderick M'Leod of Snizort, 
 and many more. 
 
 All this would not have told so inliuentially in the 
 direction of preparing the Highlands for the Disruption, if 
 it had not been for two other things — one, the disposition 
 which has always been manifested there to move in masses ; 
 the other, the peculiar affection borne in these regions to 
 the Church of Scotland. It is a curious circumstance that 
 Dissent never met with any encouragement even in the 
 parishes where the people were most dissatisfied with their 
 ministers. Various attempts were made to induce agreement 
 with proposals to form Secession congregations, but the pro- 
 posals met with little or no encouragement. If a Dissenting 
 visitor preached the gospel, he would be listened to ; but a 
 deaf ear was turned to hin) when he suggested withdrawal 
 
132 THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 from the Church. If a confirmed Moderate occupied the 
 pulpit, his parishioners refused to wait on his ministry ; but 
 they did their best to preserve the life of religion among 
 themselves by private meetings, in which they were led by 
 " the Men," or by the employment of catechists. Such a 
 thing as the setting up of an altar in opposition to the 
 National Church was not entertained, and it was all the more 
 striking to find them, in 1843, recognising the Church of 
 Chalmers and Macdonald as that to which they and their 
 fathers had always belonged. 
 
 The other feature referred to is no less notable — the 
 tendency to move in masses. Whether the Celtic nature 
 is more sympathetic, or the habit of following leaders is a 
 remnant of the old feeling of loyalty to the chiefs, certain it 
 is that individuality is less common in the Highlands than 
 in the Lowlands, and that in the former the disposition is 
 stronger to move in companies. In any case, the wave swept 
 over them as it did in no other part of the country, and the 
 movement which issued in the formation of the Free 
 Church was, one might say, tidal in its volume. 
 
 It was not unusual, Dr. Kennedy tells us, to charge the 
 people of the North with a lack of intelligence on this 
 account, and he quotes a saying of Dr. Macdonald in their 
 vindication. " The Highlanders," says the great preacher, 
 " are charged with having acted ignorantly at the time of the 
 Disruption. They blindly, it is said, followed a few ministers 
 and laymen who were popular among them. Even if it were 
 so, it is to them no reproach. ' The fairest among women ' 
 herself was once at a loss what to do and whom to follow, 
 and the direction given to her by her beloved was ' to go 
 forth by the footsteps of the flock,' and to ' feed her kids 
 beside the shepherds' tents.' " 
 
 How largely the Highlands sympathised with the evan- 
 
THE HIGHLANDS ^ 133 
 
 gelical revival which began witli the century, is illustrated in 
 the formation in 1800 of " The Northern Missionary Society."^ 
 It was established by the ministers of Easter lioss ; it gathered 
 into its ranks all the men who had at heart the conversion 
 of the world ; during its continuance it contributed to the 
 various societies in which it had confidence over £7000 ; and 
 it ceased to exist only when the Free Church undertook to 
 provide an adequate outlet for all the zeal that could be 
 awakened. 
 
 When the Disruption took place, there were 206 ministers 
 who were in the habit of using the Gaelic language more or 
 less in the pulpit ; and of these 101 came out. In most cases 
 their congregations left the Establishment also, but it was 
 not for their wants alone that provision required to be made. 
 All over the Highlands and Islands people joined the Free 
 Church, who left their ministers behind them, and one of the 
 greatest difficulties which had to be overcome was the supply 
 of ordinances to such adherents. What made the situation 
 more perplexing was, that in a number of districts direct 
 church superintendence was impossible. While in some 
 instances whole Synods came out, in others whole Presbyteries 
 stayed in. The wants of outlying adherents in the Lowlands 
 were met with comparative ease. They were not over- 
 powering in number, they were all within reach of ordained 
 ministers, and the supply of probationers was fairly adequate. 
 But in the Highlands the case was very different. The 
 adherents for whom provision required to be made were there, 
 according to Dr. Mackay, in the proportion of ten to one 
 farther South ; and liow formidable were the responsibilities 
 which the Church was at once required to face, may be 
 gathered from the fact that in the Glasgow Assembly of 
 
 ' A most interesting account of this Society is given by Dr. Kcnnetli 
 MacdonaM in The Indian Evangelical Eevicw for January 1894. 
 
134 THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 1843 it was reported that there were 151 congregations and 
 stations waiting to be occupied, and that only 31 preachers 
 were available to be sent to them. 
 
 The crisis, however, was met with characteristic courage 
 and earnestness. Catechists were employed when no other 
 arrangements could be made ; young men were encouraged 
 to study for the ministry and helped to bear the cost of the 
 preparation ; ministers were set free from their congregations 
 for months at a time, to preach in such places as were without 
 regular ordinances ; and a yacht {Tli& Breadalhanc) was built to 
 carry the Church's messengers from island to island in the 
 Hebrides. At first the scheme was managed by a branch of 
 the Home Mission Committee, but those who were most 
 interested in it began to feel that justice was not being done 
 to the undertaking by its being made to occupy, as it seemed, 
 a subordinate place, and, on the motion of Dr. Mackintosh 
 Mackay, the Assembly of 1849 gave to the Committee on 
 the Highlands the position of a standing Committee. Some 
 doubts were expressed as to the wisdom of dividing the 
 interest of the Church in this way, but it was seen to be the 
 wish of the Highlanders themselves, and the proposal was 
 agreed to heartily and unanimously. 
 
 The cause received undoubtedly a distinct impulse from 
 this arrangement. It came to bulk more fully in the public 
 eye. A larger measure of material support was given to 
 it. And, under the superintendence of the first Convener, 
 Dr. Mackay — after him, of Dr. Thomas Maclauchlan, 
 who occupied the chair of the Committee for nearly thirty 
 years, from 1855 to 1882; and still later, of Principal 
 Eainy — churches were built, endowments were secured, and 
 agents of various sorts were multiplied, which have brought 
 ordinances within the reach of almost all who desired to 
 enjoy them. 
 
THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 135 
 
 In no part of the country has the Disruption been a 
 greater blessing than in the Highlands. Before 1843, the 
 parishes in which there were Moderate ministers were 
 " preserved," in the worst sense of the word. Men like Dr. 
 Macdonald were forbidden to enter them, and the gospel 
 was kept outside. When the crisis came, the barriers were 
 broken down, and the Word had free course throughout the 
 length and breadth of the land. Then the advantage was 
 seen of the Free Church being unhampered by civil entangle- 
 ments. An Establishment — as Chalmers was made to feel in 
 his Church Extension movement — cannot proceed to lengthen 
 its cords without checks and hindrances. Nothing, however, 
 now stood in the way of the expansion of the Free Church 
 but its own inherent inability to effect it. Hence parochial 
 boundaries were disregarded, stations were established wher- 
 ever they seemed called for, and the wants of multitudes 
 were supplied who had formerly been left out in the cold. 
 The consequence is, that the people of the North and West 
 are better supplied with ordinances than they were before the 
 Disruption — in the 135 Highland parishes there being no 
 fewer than 183 Free Church charges. But, to realise what 
 the Committee had to face in 1843, and how much they have 
 succeeded in accomplishing since, it is necessary to examine a 
 table like the following, one column of which shows how 
 things stood at the Glasgow Assembly, the other what was 
 the condition of matters in 1893. 
 
 In Oct. 1843. In 1893. 
 
 7 charges 
 G 
 13 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 Al)erneUiy 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 Nairn . 
 
 
 
 G 
 
 Inverness 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 Chanonry 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Dingwall 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 Tain . 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Dornoch 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 Tongue 
 
 
 
 4 
 
136 
 
 
 THE 
 
 ' HIGHLANDS 
 
 
 
 
 In Oct. 1843. 
 
 In 1893. 
 
 Caitlmess 
 
 ■ • • • 
 
 18 charges 
 
 Loclicarron . 
 
 
 4 
 
 12 , 
 
 
 Abertarff 
 
 
 ... 
 
 9 , 
 
 
 Skye . . 
 
 Uist 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 8 , 
 
 7 , 
 
 
 Lewis . 
 
 
 4 
 
 11 , 
 
 
 Kilityre 
 
 Islay 
 
 Lorn 
 
 
 5 
 2 
 3 
 
 12 , 
 
 8 , 
 
 
 Mull . 
 
 
 3 
 
 11 , 
 
 
 Breadalbane . 
 
 
 4 
 
 10 , 
 
 
 74 
 
 183 
 
 "In the three Synods of Sutherland and Caithness, Eoss 
 and Glenelg, where there were 80 parish ministers," says 
 the Eeport submitted to the Jubilee Assembly, " there are 
 113 Free Church ministers, showing that the needs of the 
 people have been more effectively attended to, to the extent 
 of giving them thirty-three new parishes. In Lewis, with its 
 large population, there were four parish churches and two 
 quoad sacra, and after the Disruption there were four charges 
 and two stations ; but matters have improved so that now 
 there are eleven full charges. In Skye, where, after the 
 Disruption, the Eev. Eoderick M'Leod of Snizort was alone, 
 there are now eight full charges and two stations. In Uist, 
 where the Eev. Norman Macleod of Innisferry was also 
 alone, there are now seven full charges and two stations, at 
 one of which there is an ordained missionary." 
 
 Nor is it only in respect of the number of charges that 
 the Free Church has kept pace with the Establishment. Its 
 congregations are so much larger that no visitor can fail to 
 notice that it is emphatically the Church of the people. 
 
 Eeference has been made to some of the difficulties which 
 had to be encountered in seeking to supply ordinances in the 
 Highlands, but those named have been very much hitherto of 
 
THE HIGHLANDS 137 
 
 an ordinary kind, arising chiefly from the largeness of the 
 field and the inadequacy of the means of supply. Other 
 difficulties, however, by and by arose, which hampered the 
 Church's movements, and which have given a peculiar 
 character to the history of religion in the region during the 
 last fifty years. 
 
 Nothing further needs to be said about what has been 
 called " the infatuated intolerance that would hardly allow 
 congregations standing room on their native rocks." It was 
 sufficiently trying at the time, and one reads now with a feeling 
 at once of astonishment and shame of the hardships which men 
 had to endure in Sutherlandshire and elsewhere, and of the 
 floating church which had to be established at Strontian. 
 But this state of things did not last very long, and its effects 
 have not been permanent. 
 
 A more serious matter — because one more deep-cutting 
 in its tendency and influence — was " the gradual disuse of 
 the Gaelic language in the classes of society from which 
 ministers had been chiefly drawn." Formerly the land had 
 been occupied by tacksmen — natives of the country — who 
 cultivated farms of moderate dimensions, and who were able 
 to give some of their sons a University education. These 
 sons were accustomed to speak the Gaelic in their own 
 homes, and when they gave themselves to the Church were 
 able to preach in the language of the people. But new views 
 came to prevail. The land was turned into deer forests or 
 let in vast reaches for pasture, and the tacksmen gave way 
 to incomers from the South, who spoke English only, and 
 who used no other than that tongue among their children. 
 The consequence was one which was fitted to cause no small 
 amount of anxiety, because it would not have been possible 
 or desirable to supply the lack of ministers from among the 
 crofters by a mere system of gifts or bursaries. 
 
138 THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 Happily, however, the difficulty was met in a very 
 remarkable way. The famine of 1846 took place, and the 
 whole Free Church was stirred by the news published of the 
 lamentable condition into which it had brought the Highlands. 
 A contribution of £10,000, afterwards largely supplemented, 
 was immediately made for their relief, and among other things 
 the yacht Breadalhane was sent among the Western islands 
 to carry provisions to those who might otherwise have 
 perished. The effort thus made did not end with itself. 
 In distributing the relief funds, " appalling discoveries were 
 made regarding the spiritual as well as the temporal destitu- 
 tion of large numbers of our Celtic countrymen," and these 
 discoveries led to the formation of the Ladies' Associations in 
 Edinburgh and Glasgow for the Religious Improvement of the 
 Eemote Highlands and Islands. And it is not too much to 
 say that we owe to this Association the saving of the Church 
 in that region. 
 
 " One of its objects," says Dr. Eainy, " was to teach the 
 people English, without which it was impossible to carry out 
 many of the benevolent schemes started for the relief of 
 the people, by emigration or by giving them employment in 
 the Lowlands. But its chief aims were to help forward 
 promising candidates for the ministry, and to diffuse Bible 
 knowledge as widely as possible. The plan was to pick out 
 the more pious and talented Highland youths, and by employ- 
 ing them as teachers during seven months of the year to help 
 them through the expenses of their winter sessions in College." 
 
 What was accomplished by this means may be inferred 
 from the fact, that in the course of thirty years more than a 
 hundred stations in the most inaccessible corners of the land 
 were occupied for longer or shorter periods, and that upwards 
 of three hundred student-teachers had been employed, of 
 whom more than one-fourth were afterwards ordained to 
 
THE HIGHLANDS 139 
 
 ministerial charges. It is a striking testimony to the 
 Ladies' Schools, that some of the ablest ministers we now have 
 owe their position to the help they received in them. But for 
 the openings they offered, it would have been impossible for 
 them to liave faced the preliminary training for the Church. 
 
 It must also be added that the efforts of the Ladies' 
 Association have been powerfully reinforced by what Dr. 
 M'Phail of Pilrig has done in connection with his Grammar 
 School Bursary Scheme. The object of that Scheme has not 
 been specially to train men for the ministry. Those who sought 
 its help were permitted to follow any profession they chose. 
 But indirectly it has proved of great service to the Church, and 
 Dr. M'Phail can point to a number of prominent ministers 
 who would not be occupying the places they now fill if they 
 had not, at the outset of their lives, received encouragement 
 from his enterprise. We may say, also, that it is largely 
 owing to the perseverance of Dr. M'Phail that the Society 
 for Promoting Christian Knowledge has been enlarged in its 
 scope, and is now spending its very considerable income in 
 furthering the general good of the Highlands. 
 
 This chapter would be incomplete if no reference was 
 made in it to some circumstances which have seemed to 
 separate the Church of the Highlands at times from the 
 Church in the Lowlands. 
 
 In these regions, for instance, the keenest opposition was 
 offered to any union with the United Presbyterians, and 
 no movement of any sort, away from the position taken up 
 in 1843, could be proposed without calling forth strenuous 
 objections. The agitations produced were not confined to 
 ministers and office-bearers and Church Courts. They dis- 
 turbed the whole people. Congregations were addressed on 
 all disputed questions, and petitions were laid upon the table 
 of the General Assembly suggesting courses of action to it 
 
I40 THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 which were signed by thousands of persons in the remotest 
 parts of the land. This restlessness may be said to have 
 reached its climax when, in 1892, a Declaratory Act was 
 passed, the object of which was to relieve the consciences of 
 those who thought the Confession of Faith capable of being 
 interpreted in some respects otherwise than the Church 
 believed. That Act was immediately submitted to the 
 people at large, and was expounded in ways which has 
 resulted in a secession, led by two ministers, sustained by 
 several students, and supported all over the Highlands and 
 Islands by the sympathies of sections of individual members 
 in most of the congregations. 
 
 When the preparation of an Act such as has been 
 passed was proposed, it was declared by the General 
 Assembly that the Free Church could "contemplate the 
 adoption of no change which should not be consistent with 
 a cordial and steadfast adherence to the great doctrines of 
 the Confession," and this position was constantly kept in view 
 by the Committee which was subsequently appointed. It was 
 conceded, however, that the wording of the Confession might 
 conceivably prove a stumbling-block to some, and it was 
 agreed to endeavour so to indicate the mind of the Church 
 on certain points as to guard against unwarrantable 
 inferences. 
 
 Thus, in the first place, the Confession had been re- 
 presented as setting forth the sovereignty of God so as to 
 leave out of sight His love to a lost world, and it was thought 
 right to vindicate it and the Church from that charge. 
 Hence the Act opened with the following clause : — 
 
 " That, in holding and teaching according to the Con- 
 fession, the Divine purpose of grace towards those who are 
 
THE HIGHLANDS 141 
 
 saved, and the execution of that purpose in time, this Cliurch 
 most earnestly proclaims, as standing in the forefront of the 
 revelation of grace, the love of God, Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, to sinners of mankind, manifested especially in the 
 Father's gift of the Son to offer Himself a propitiation for 
 sin, and in the striving of the Holy Spirit with men to bring 
 them to repentance." 
 
 Another misinterpretation of the Confession lay in 
 accusing it of teaching a doctrine of election which implied 
 the foreordination of men to eternal death irrespective of 
 their own guilt. The mischief done by this misconception 
 was known to be great, and, to correct it, this second clause 
 was introduced into the Act : — 
 
 ir. 
 
 " That this Church also holds that all who hear the 
 gospel are warranted and required to believe to the saving of 
 their souls ; and that in the case of such as do not believe, 
 but perish in their sins, the issue is due to their own 
 rejection of the gospel call. That this Church does not 
 teach, and does not regard the Confession as teaching, the 
 foreordination of men to death irrespective of their own sin." 
 
 Yet again it has been a common thing to charge 
 Calvinism with shutting its disciples up to believing in the 
 damnation of many infants, and in the impossibility of any 
 being saved outside the visible Church. Those who have an 
 intelligent acquaintance with the system do not so under- 
 stand it. They do not profess to know God's mind in regard 
 to things He has not revealed, but for that very reason they 
 object to be driven to conclusions for which, to say the least 
 of it, they have no specific warrant. Accordingly, the 
 General Assembly added a cautious and temperate clause 
 to the Act — a clause which is in absolute harmony with the 
 
142 THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 Confession, as is indicated in these words : " Elect infants 
 dying in infancy are regenerated and saved by Christ through 
 the Spirit, who worketh when and where and how He pleaseth. 
 So also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being 
 outwardly called by the ministry of the Word." The 
 Confession recognises election as indispensable in every case, 
 but it does not limit the Holy Ghost, or confine His operations 
 to the ordinary ministry of the Word — no salvation, however, 
 taking place except through the merits of Christ and by 
 regeneration. 
 
 III. 
 
 " That it is the duty of those who believe, and one end of 
 their calling by God, to make known the gospel to all men 
 everywhere for the obedience of faith. And that, while the 
 gospel is the ordinary means of salvation for those to whom 
 it is made known, yet it does not follow, nor is the Confession 
 to be held as teaching, that any who die in infancy are lost, 
 or that God may not extend His mercy, for Christ's sake, and 
 by His Holy Spirit, to those who are beyond the reach of 
 these means, as it may seem good to Him, according to the 
 riches of His grace." 
 
 A fourth point which seemed to require notice was the 
 
 place of the natural virtues. The doctrine of human 
 
 depravity had been sometimes so preached as to contradict 
 
 the common experience of the world and relieve men of 
 
 personal responsibility. It was necessary to say that in 
 
 accepting the Confession no one was required to deny the 
 
 existence of honour and honesty as between man and man, or 
 
 to hold that the Fall had rendered us incapable of recognising 
 
 the claims of morality and the gospel. To meet this demand 
 
 it was declared — 
 
 IV. 
 
 " That in holding and teaching, according to the Confession 
 
THE HIGHLANDS 143 
 
 of Faith, the corruptiou of man's whole nature as fallen, 
 this Church also maintains that there remain tokens of his 
 greatness as created in the image of God ; that he possesses 
 a knowledge of God and of duty ; that he is responsible for 
 compliance with the moral law and with the gospel ; and 
 that, although unable without the aid of the Holy Spirit to 
 return to God, ho is yet capable of affections and actions 
 which in themselves are virtuous and praiseworthy." 
 
 It does not need to be said that the Confession of Faith 
 was drawn up at a time when the principles of toleration 
 were not understood as they are now, and one of its chapters 
 has been excluded or explained by every Presbyterian Church 
 in the world. In the fifth clause of the Act a declaration 
 is made which might almost now seem superfluous, for what 
 it says is really something of a truism. But, taking up an 
 attitude in relation to doubtful points, it was regarded as 
 proper to be explicit on this ; and so it was declared — 
 
 V. 
 
 " That this Church disclaims intolerant or persecuting 
 principles, and does not consider her office-bearers, in sub- 
 scribing the Confession, committed to any principles incon- 
 sistent with liberty of conscience and the right of private 
 judgment." 
 
 Finally, the Assembly dealt with a matter which perhaps 
 more urgently needed attention than any of the other 
 questions. It has always been admitted that there are 
 points in the Confession about which a difference of opinion 
 exists, and in connection with which toleration is allowed. 
 For example, it is certain that the Fathers believed 
 in the creation of the world in six literal days, and that 
 they may be said to have imposed that belief on all who 
 sign our Standards. Now, however, many good Presbyterians 
 have adopted quite another view, and yet nobody proposes to 
 
144 THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 prosecute them as heretics. So with the opinion that the 
 Pope is Antichrist. That may be true, but there are orthodox 
 men who think otherwise, and it is not thought to be worth 
 the while of the Church to call them to account. In short, 
 the principle is recognised that in connection with subjects 
 of no moment some liberty must be permitted, and relief 
 was now proposed to be given to those whose beliefs on all 
 important points were expressed by the Confession, but who 
 were troubled by finding that in some trifling matters they 
 were not at one with it. They were not to think of them- 
 selves any longer as guilty of heresy. At the same time, no 
 man was to fancy that an unlimited license was given to 
 him. He was not to take up any doctrine he chose and 
 say of it that it was one about which he was free to think 
 as he liked. The Church alone claimed the right to decide 
 in connection with what points liberty was to be conceded. 
 The position, in fact, was one which had always been main- 
 tained, and which must always be maintained. Prosecutions 
 for heresy will never be carried through except when the 
 Church, for the time being, thinks that the views advocated 
 are important enough to call for public condemnation. All 
 that was now done was the putting into words of an 
 invariable custom, and the only advantage following was the 
 relief of some sensitive consciences. The clause itself was as 
 follows : — 
 
 VI. 
 
 " That, while diversity of opinion is recognised in this 
 Church on such points in the Confession as do not enter 
 into the substance of the Eeformed Faith therein set forth, 
 the Church retains full authority to determine in any case 
 which may arise, what points fall within this description, 
 and thus to guard against any abuse of this liberty to the 
 detriment of sound doctrine, or to the injury of their unity 
 and peace." 
 
THE HIGHLANDS 145 
 
 The Act, in short, was one of the most innocent that the 
 Church was ever called upon to adopt. Very many felt no 
 need for it whatever, looking upon the Confession as already 
 conceding plainly enough all that was now declared. But 
 a very different account of it was given in the Highlands, 
 and the result has been the most outstanding secession from 
 the Free Church whicli has taken place since the Disruption. 
 
 It goes without saying that circumstances must have 
 told very seriously against a right apprehension of the 
 measure to explain what has occurred, and one of these is 
 to be found in the view given of it by men in whom the 
 Highlanders trusted. For the following representation, for 
 example, of its separate clauses, we are indebted to one 
 whose voice has been once and again heard in the General 
 Assembly, and who claims to be a leader of opinion in the 
 North. 
 
 " The Declaratory Act," he writes, " makes it lawful for 
 the Free Church Assembly to allow a minister to hold and 
 to teach — 
 
 "(I) That salvation is universal. 
 
 " (2) That the root of salvation is not the Divine, 
 sovereign, electing love, but the Divine benevolence to all 
 and single of the human race. 
 
 " (3) That the heathen may be saved who have never 
 heard of the name of Christ. 
 
 " (4) That man is not so fallen as the Confession of 
 Faith and the Bible represent him to be. 
 
 " (5) That nations and their rulers are not bound to serve 
 the Lord Jesus Christ in their official acts, and should protect 
 the Church of Christ. 
 
 " And (6) That the Act, in the opinion of the foremost 
 
 lawyers, plainly teaches that an office-bearer in the Free 
 
 Church may object to hold and teach any one of the saving 
 10 
 
146 THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 doctrines of the gospel if he chooses to plead that to do so 
 would be intolerance and persecution." 
 
 That such a gross perversion of the Act should come 
 from an educated man and a leader of the people, sufficiently 
 explains the prevalence of illusions in the minds of many of 
 the ordinary members of the Church. That something of 
 the nature of an argument might be nsed in reference to the 
 third and fourth clauses may be admitted. But what can 
 possibly be said in favour of an exposition which sees in the Act 
 the teaching of Universalism, the denial of the duty of rulers 
 to serve Christ in their official acts, and the conceding of 
 liberty to ministers to object to the saving doctrines of the 
 gospel ? These points are not in the remotest way dealt 
 with in the offending Declaration, and yet here we have an 
 idea given us of what the Highlanders have been told. It is 
 exceedingly unlikely that any number of them had the 
 words of the Act really in their hands. What it was held 
 to require was reported to them by word of mouth ; and in 
 view of the interpretation quoted above, which was no doubt 
 accepted in all simplicity, it is not to be wondered at that so 
 many of them lost faith in the Free Church. But it is very 
 evident that the Highlands have been imposed upon and de- 
 ceived, and we may hope that, when the truth is known, they 
 will return, in their entirety, to their allegiance. 
 
 Some explanation is suggested of the disturbances which 
 have from time to time taken place in the North by the 
 unwise use which has been made of the pulpit. In the 
 South the invariable custom, one may say, is to avoid 
 debateable subjects when congregations are gathered together 
 for the purposes of worship. The preaching of the gospel, 
 the exposition of the Word, the promotion of good works, 
 these are the only things which are then thought of. Any 
 attempt to produce party spirit by their discussing questions 
 
THE HIGHLANDS 147 
 
 of ecclesiastical polity would be frowned upon as emphatic- 
 ally objectionable. But in the Highlands this prudent rule 
 lias been disregarded ; and specially at communion seasons, 
 when crowds have gathered nominally to commemorate the 
 dying of the Lord, it has been the custom to take up the 
 points which were occupying the attention of the Church 
 Courts at the moment, and speak of them with a freedom 
 which did not always treat with respect the character of 
 individual men. The consequences were inevitable. 
 Ministers with the best intentions necessarily became 
 partisans. Exaggerated impressions were received of move- 
 ments in the Church. And the way was prepared for the 
 outburst of fanaticism which has taken place. 
 
 With all that, no one can visit the Highlands without 
 being impressed by the religious earnestness of the people. 
 No language, it is said, is more suitable than Gaelic for use in 
 the pulpit, and great preachers have from time to time been 
 raised up in the country. Among those of recent times no 
 men have been more distinguished than Dr. Macdonald of 
 Ferintosh and Dr. Kennedy of Dingwall. The former was a 
 Disruption minister, the latter was licensed immediately 
 after the crisis. Dr. Macdonald is remembered as " The 
 Apostle of the North," and the popularity and influence of 
 Dr. Kennedy were almost as great as those of his illustrious 
 precursor. These men have not as yet had any successor. 
 There is now no preacher in the Highlands who can sway the 
 multitudes as they did. But there are not a few whose 
 powers of attraction are large, and on them is laid the burden 
 of a grave responsibility, that of guiding the people aright 
 through a critical time. 
 
 Education is being widely diffused. Railways are 
 opening up the country. The inhabitants are being brought 
 into contact with the thoughts and the habits (good and bad) 
 
148 THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 of the South, It is vain to hope that any of the existing 
 institutions will remain unaffected by all this. And he is 
 the wise man who will show himself able to read the times 
 aright, and, while clinging with tenacity to the fundamentals, 
 will seek to adjust himself as far as is right to the new 
 conditions. 
 
 A region in which prayer is so much a custom, that within 
 one congregation a hundred men may be got who can take 
 part in a religious meeting, is one which it is impossible to 
 think of without interest and respect, but such a region is in 
 especial danger during a transition period, and nowhere else 
 in Scotland than in the Highlands is there more need of 
 prudence and judgment, of breadth of view and largeness of 
 heart. 
 
 The early Conveners of the Highland Committee were 
 Dr. Candlish and Dr. Mackintosh Mackay; but in 1855, Dr. 
 Thomas Maclauchlan was called to the post, and he filled it 
 till 1882. Since then the chair has been occupied by 
 Principal Eainy. The Eev. D. Fraser was the first Secretary ; 
 but after 1855 the work was done by clerks until the 
 appointment of the Rev. Alexander Lee, who, after having 
 rendered valuable service to the Church as Vice-Convener and 
 Joint-Convener of the Committee, was elected its Secretary 
 and Mission Superintendent by the Assembly of 1894. 
 
CHAPTEK X 
 
 MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 ^17"HEN Dr. Candlish was called upon in the Disruption 
 Assembly to give in the Eeport on Foreign Missions, 
 he had nothing to say beyond announcing that a Missio7iary 
 Record would at once be issued under Free Church auspices, 
 and proposing the appointment of Dr. Gordon as Convener of 
 the Committee in room of Dr. Brunton. 
 
 No telegraph then connected India with this country, 
 and there was no Suez Canal to shorten the distance between 
 them. 
 
 Weeks, therefore, and even months passed before it was 
 certainly known how the men in the field were to act. 
 
 At last, however, the long-looked-for news arrived. It 
 was made known that all the missionaries in India without 
 exception had cast in their lot with the Church which had 
 separated from the State ; and a new and very grave 
 responsibility had to be faced. 
 
 The situation which now demanded attention was the 
 following : — 
 
 In 1824 the General Assembly of the Church of 
 Scotland reversed the decision it had come to in 1796, and 
 resolved to concern itself about the conversion of the heathen. 
 It proceeded about this business, however, in a very leisurely 
 way, and it was not till 1829 that its first missionary 
 actually set out for the field which he was commissioned to 
 
 149 
 
ISO MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 occupy. The missionary whom they had appointed was Dr. 
 Alexander Duff. 
 
 He was born in 1806 at Moulin, and, after receiving his 
 school education there, at Kirkmichael, and at Perth, he was 
 sent in his fifteenth year to the University of St. Andrews. 
 Here he came into contact with Chalmers, who was then 
 filling the chair of Moral Philosophy, and was carried away 
 by his fervid eloquence and devotion. In response to the 
 appeals which were being made for a man to represent the 
 Church in India, he was induced to offer himself, and the 
 offer was gladly accepted. After a long voyage, in which he 
 encountered a shipwreck, he arrived at Calcutta in May 
 1830, and soon laid there the foundation of a work which 
 has made his name a household word in all missionary 
 circles. 
 
 Largely as the result of his enthusiasm, the Church at 
 home rose to a fuller appreciation of its functions, and before 
 1843 arrived four other agents had been sent out to assist 
 him in the work. These were Dr. Mackay, Dr. Ewart, 
 Dr. Thomas Smith, and the Eev. John Macdonald ; and with 
 such success did they labour, that a number of conversions 
 were made (some of them of a very striking character), a 
 great institution was established, with an attendance upon it 
 of nearly a thousand scholars, and several branch stations 
 were opened at a greater or less distance from the centre. 
 
 But ground had also been broken in Bombay. In this 
 city, however, the Church was not the first to commence 
 work. The Scottish Missionary Society had sent out a man 
 to Western India so early as 1823, and Mr. James Mitchell, 
 Mr. Eobert Nesbit, and Dr. John Wilson were all in the 
 country as the agents of this Society before Dr. Duff. In 
 1835 the mission was transferred to the Church, and when 
 the Disruption took place, all the three missionaries named. 
 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 151 
 
 along with Dr. Murray Mitchell (who had gone out in 1838), 
 followed the example set in Calcutta. 
 
 There was a like experience in Madras. The mission 
 there was founded in 1837 by Mr. John Anderson, with 
 whom Mr. Eobert Johnston came to be associated in 1839, 
 and Mr. John Braidwood in 1841. They, too, intimated 
 their withdrawal from the Establishment. 
 
 Thus it happened that the disestablished Church had no 
 option but to be missionary. It was not left to itself to 
 decide whether or not it would seek to evangelise the heathen. 
 By means of the twelve men who now announced their 
 adhesion to it, the light had been spreading hopefully in all 
 the three Presidencies, and with such a band of agents placed 
 at its disposal it could not but resolve to go forward. And, 
 indeed, it had no' difficulty in coming to that conclusion. It 
 was already burning with zeal for the conversion of the 
 world, and it assumed the new responsibility with 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 A remarkable proof of the earnestness which possessed it 
 was given immediately. In 1842, a lady on her deathbed 
 had expressed a wish that a sum of money might be devoted 
 to the establishment of a mission in Central India. Before 
 her desire could be carried into effect, she died, but her 
 husband — Captain Hill — resolved to do as she had purposed, 
 and with that end in view he communicated with Dr. Wilson 
 of Bombay. Nothing conclusive, however, had been done 
 when the Disruption occurred, and Captain Hill had to 
 decide to which Church he should make his ofi'er. He 
 determined to address himself to the Free Church, and 
 before 1843 had ended, that Church was required to say 
 whether, with all it had to face at home and abroad, it could 
 undertake the burden of a new mission. It is true that an 
 inducement to agree to this was presented in the shape of 
 
152 MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 a gift of £2500 in the Three Per Cents, but the interest on 
 that sum could not possibly meet the cost of an additional 
 station. But, as there is often occasion to say, it was a time 
 of great faith and wonderful enterprise, and the issue was 
 the beginning of the work in Nagpore under Mr, Hislop. 
 
 So far the eyes of the Church had been fixed on India. 
 But the memorable year of 1843 was not to be allowed 
 to close without its attention being turned in another 
 direction. 
 
 So early as 1796 an undenominational Society had been 
 formed in Glasgow, which some time after the beginning of the 
 new century singled out South Africa as a field in which to 
 work. There it met with very considerable success, founding 
 stations some of which have become famous, and effecting 
 noteworthy improvements in the condition of the Kaffirs. 
 In 1837 the character of this mission became somewhat 
 changed. The agents, who had belonged to different 
 Churches in Scotland, agreed amicably to separate from one 
 another ; and while some elected to be in connection with 
 the voluntary communions in their native country, others, 
 and especially Messrs. Bennie, Eoss, and Laing, chose to 
 continue in fellowship with the Establishment. Consequently, 
 when the Disruption came, there was an Established Church 
 Missionary Presbytery of South Africa ; and when the news 
 of what had taken place here arrived, it was seen to be 
 necessary to determine with which of the parties it was to 
 side. And there seems to have been no difficulty felt in 
 coming to a conclusion. A meeting was held at Lovedale in 
 August 1843, and the Presbytery agreed unanimously to 
 join the Free Church. 
 
 For some time afterwards the Glasgow Society continued 
 to support this mission, but toward the close of 1844 
 negotiations began with a view to its superintendence being 
 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 153 
 
 undertaken by the Free Church Committee, and soon after 
 that date the amalgamation was completed. 
 
 And yet another step forward was taken in the 
 Inverness Assembly of 1845. Then it was resolved to open 
 a new station at the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 But even with all this, the desire to conquer the world 
 for Christ was not satisfied. A wistful eye was cast upon 
 China ; and Dr. Candlish, in expressing his delight that the 
 English Presbyterian Church was to enter that field, said : 
 " 1 think it is a token for good that God has put it into the 
 hearts of our brethren in England to think of China, as 
 while it, in one view, supersedes the necessity of this Church 
 undertaking missionary work there, so, on the other hand, it 
 lays us under the duty of expressing our delight at their 
 movement, together with a resolution to encourage them in 
 the work they have undertaken.'' And here we may say 
 that the wish thus expressed was not allowed to fall to the 
 ground. The superintendence of the China Mission has 
 been in the hands of the English Presbyterian Church, but 
 the Eree Church has annually furnished a considerable 
 portion of the funds required, and most of the missionaries — 
 including William Burns, Carstairs Douglas, and David 
 Sandeman — have been of that communion. 
 
 For the maintenance of the various organisations which 
 were now under the Church's control a very considerable 
 income was necessary, and at first the means provided in 
 the ordinary way proved adequate to meet all demands. But 
 as time went on and expenses increased, the outlay was 
 not met, and the missionary account came to be overdrawn 
 to a great extent. Various expedients were resorted to to 
 meet the emergency, but those tried iirst afforded only a 
 temporary relief, and it was actually proposed to discontinue 
 one of the missions. That proposal was in effect carried out 
 
154 MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 so far as to transfer the last established station at the Cape 
 to the Colonial Committee. But retrenchment in the 
 heathen field proper could not be entertained, and happily 
 a solution of the difficulty was found when Dr. Duff 
 returned home in 1850, and suggested the formation of 
 congregational associations. Previously the income was 
 received from collections taken at the church door. The 
 new method proved to be immensely more fruitful, and the 
 sum placed at the disposal of the Committee rose from 
 £4373 in 1843 to £9518 in 1854. The enlarged and 
 growing income, combined with the quickened missionary 
 enthusiasm which was appearing in all the churches, 
 naturally led to a fresh expansion of the enterprise, and 
 again and again new responsibilities were undertaken. 
 
 At first the expansion in India took the shape simply of 
 establishing branch stations in connection with the centres in 
 the Presidency cities, and here a great work was done ; but 
 by and by a distinctly new departure took place when 
 attempts were made to reach the aboriginal tribes. This 
 work was begun on a comparatively small scale in 1867 
 among the Gonds at Chindwara, near Nagpore, and about the 
 same time among the Waralis, who were reached from 
 Bombay. But a distinctly new mission was established 
 among the Santals when, in 1871, Dr. Templeton took up 
 his abode in Pachamba, and so large a measure of success 
 has attended it as fully to justify the increasingly earnest 
 efforts which have been made since to reach the non-caste 
 inhabitants of the country. 
 
 It is well known that when Dr. Duff reached Calcutta he 
 adopted a new missionary method, that of trying to reach the 
 natives of India by offering them educational advantages 
 This method was found to suit the demands of the country 
 in a very remarkable way, and institutions or schools have 
 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 155 
 
 been set up at all our principal stations. But the need 
 for more immediately evangelistic means was always re- 
 cognised, and among the various directions in which the 
 expansion of the work was sought this came to be one. 
 At Jalna and elsewhere, for example, in the Poonah district, 
 a rural mission was established which proved a great success, 
 the chief credit of which was due to Dr. Narayan Sheshadri. 
 The importance of two other methods became also more and 
 more clearly realised, namely, the employment of medical 
 missionaries and of women to reach the females of India. 
 And to these agencies a large measure of attention was given. 
 
 So much for India ; but from Africa also came calls for 
 the extension of the Church's operations. In 1868, the Rev. 
 James Allison, who, though at one time a Wesleyan, had been 
 conducting a successful mission on his own responsibility at 
 Pietermaritzburg in Natal, proposed the transference of it 
 along with himself to the Free Church. His offer was 
 accepted, and a farm of nearly six thousand acres having been 
 purchased at Impolweni, a place seventeen miles away, he 
 was moved thither to found a settlement for the Christian 
 and industrial training of young men. 
 
 This movement in Natal was shortly afterwards followed 
 by another of a very interesting kind. The Hon. James 
 Gordon, a son of the Earl of Aberdeen, had conceived the idea 
 of settling in South Africa and devoting himself to the ele- 
 vation of the native population there, but he was suddenly 
 cut down while a student at Cambridge. His family, how- 
 ever, were touched by the thought of so gracious a purpose as 
 his being frustrated, and they offered to the Free Church 
 £6600 if it would agree to establisli in the country in 
 wliich his interest was so great a memorial mission. The 
 proposal was agreed to, and a new station was formed by Dr. 
 James Dalzell on the borders of Zululand in 1874. 
 
156 MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 About the same time — a little earlier — a new departure 
 was made in the Kaffrarian work. The river Kei, lying to 
 the north, was crossed, and the important station of Cunning- 
 ham was established. The foundation of a new Lovedale was 
 laid at Blythswood, in the Fingo country. Very encouraging 
 results followed, other stations being opened in various direc- 
 tions in the territory. 
 
 It might have been thought that with all those new 
 movements in prospect the Church would have hesitated to 
 face any fresh enterprise. But in 1871 we find it turning 
 its attention to Syria. For some time an undenominational 
 Society had existed in Scotland which maintained schools in 
 the Lebanon. It was thought desirable that these should be 
 under the superintendence of some Church, and the Free 
 Church was asked to undertake their oversight. It agreed 
 to do so, and in 1872 the Eev. John Eae became the first 
 missionary on the mountains. Mr. Eae was compelled to 
 return home in 1879, but before he left. Dr. W. Carslaw 
 was on the spot as his associate, and the mission became 
 established on a solid basis, with Schweir, a populous village 
 twenty miles from Beyrout, as its centre. 
 
 In the meantime the needs of Central Africa were being 
 proclaimed in the ears of the world, and stirring the hearts of 
 all the Churches. So early as 1861, Dr. Stewart of Love- 
 dale, who had travelled with Dr. Livingstone in the heart of 
 the continent, had suggested the founding of a mission in the 
 regions they explored. But the Church was not then prepared 
 to give effect to it. After Livingstone's death, however, and 
 the reception of the news that the great traveller himself had 
 expressed a hope that the Free Church would occupy the 
 heights above Lake Nyassa, the call could no longer be dis- 
 regarded, and in the Assembly of 1874 the forward move- 
 ment was agreed to. 
 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 157 
 
 The expedition organised, however, did not set out till a 
 year later. It was a very interesting expedition, for this 
 among other reasons, that now for the first time all the 
 Scottish Presbyterian Churches united in one foreign enter- 
 prise. The lieformed Presbyterian Church — then in an 
 independent condition — asked to be formally received as a 
 partner ; the United Presbyterian Church offered an agent 
 (Dr. Laws), and provided his salary ; while the Established 
 Church sent out along with it a pioneer missionary to seek 
 for a site on which itself could begin work. The party 
 sailed in May 1875, under the command of Lieutenant 
 Young of the Ptoyal Navy. On the 23rd of July following 
 it reached the mouth of the Zambesi, and in the steamer 
 Ilala, which had been taken out with them, they entered 
 Lake Nyassa on the morning of the 12th of October. 
 
 Cape Maclear, the site first selected, though possessing an 
 excellent harbour, was afterwards found to be unhealthy, and 
 the headquarters were removed to Bandawe, half-way up on 
 the left side of the lake. There and at the several branch 
 stations the work has proceeded, not without interruption, 
 but with a success which has been most signal. 
 
 In 1876 the Reformed Presbyterian Church ceased to exist 
 as a separate body, and was united with the Free Church. 
 When negotiations with a view to the amalgamation were 
 going on, the question was naturally raised as to what was to 
 become of the mission in the South Seas which had been 
 conducted for a number of years by the first-named denomina- 
 tion. And to that question there could be but one answer. 
 The Free Church behoved to undertake all the responsibilities 
 that had been lying on the Church which it was incorporating ; 
 and hence the same year which saw ground broken in Central 
 Africa saw also a new field, of a very different sort, entered 
 on in Melanesia. Dr. Inglis had been established since 1852 
 
158 MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 in the island of Aneityum, and there, and in Fatuna, the 
 Free Church has ever since been labouring. 
 
 But the work of extension was not yet complete. On 
 the 14th of September 1885 there took place a remarkable 
 Conference in Edinburgh. The Conference was on the one 
 hand between the Free Church Foreign Mission Committee, 
 and on the other between the Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer, 
 a son of the Earl of Kintore. Mr. Falconer was a graduate 
 of Cambridge and Professor of Arabic in that University. 
 His interest as a scholar in the East had led to his becoming 
 acquainted with Arabia, and especially with Aden and the 
 country lying back from it. Being an earnest Christian man, 
 and deeply concerned as such about the evangelisation of the 
 world, it struck him that in this region there were remarkable 
 openings for work among the Mohammedans, and he conceived 
 the idea of giving himself personally to it. Not caring, 
 however, to start on a purely independent basis, he sought 
 recognition from the Church of which his father had been an 
 elder, and to which he himself belonged, and it was with a 
 view to that that he had the meeting with the Foreign 
 Missions Committee in Edinburgh. His proposals were 
 welcomed with great cordiality ; and when, a month later, he 
 set out for Aden, he went to establish what has become a 
 new Free Church mission. " My notion," he wrote, " is to 
 start an industrial refuge, a day school, and surgery. There 
 are two principal doors to Arabia — the children who can be 
 trained up in the faith of Christ, and the medical aid. Arabs 
 often come from a long distance to Aden to be treated, and 
 these would stop short at our mission house, and there are 
 plenty of orphans and castaways whom one could get. . . . 
 If I build and get a plot of ground (which is an easy matter at 
 Shaikh Othman), I shall hand them over to the Free Church 
 of Scotland. They have recognised me as representing them." 
 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 159 
 
 It was a sight to be wondered at, that of a young man of 
 noble birth, one of the most accomi^lished Arabic scholars of 
 the day, and a Cambridge professor, beginning a missionary 
 undertaking at his own expense and giving himself to it. 
 But, alas ! lie was not permitted to remain personally lono- 
 in the field. Some of his plans were carried into effect. 
 He procured the ground he wanted at Shaikh Otliman, he 
 built a hospital upon it, he saw the work being carried on 
 by suitable agents; but in the spring of 1887 he himself was 
 seized with fever, and on the 10th of May he entered into 
 his rest. 
 
 His death did not put an end to the mission. With the 
 substantial help which was continued to be afforded by Mrs. 
 Keith-Falconer and the Kintore family, the Free Church has 
 in the face of discouragements held the ground, and the hope 
 is cherished that the sacrifices made on its account may not 
 be endured in vain. 
 
 This rapid survey of the progress of Free Church missions 
 is a striking one. They began at so high a level that only 
 to maintain them as received seemed a great enough strain 
 upon our resources. lUit the business of expansion com- 
 menced at once. The year of the Disruption had not ended 
 before fresh ground was broken at Nagpore, and ever since 
 the work has gone on extending, so that our agencies are to 
 be found in all parts of India, and have been multiplied six- 
 fold. In Africa, too, from a few stations in Kaffraria, our 
 missions have spread into Natal, and across the Kei, and into 
 far Nyassaland. While altogether new fields have been opened 
 on the Lebanon, in the New Hebrides, and in Arabia. The 
 races thus reached are many. We are preaching the gospel 
 to the Brahmins and aborigines of India, to the Mohammedans 
 of Yemen, to the Druses of Syria, to the Papuans of the 
 South Seas, and to the Kaffirs and Zulus of South and Central 
 
i6o MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 Africa. It may be doubted whether, if the crisis of 1843 
 had not occurred, all these results would have followed. 
 
 To uphold an organisation so great, large means require 
 to be provided, and it is gratifying to have to record that the 
 expenditure has seldom, if ever, gone beyond the income. 
 When Dr. Duff wrote to the Home Committee in 1833, 
 suggesting that £10,000 a year should be regarded as the 
 minimum sum to be raised for missions, it was held that the 
 Indian sun had turned his head. The Committee aimed at 
 £1200 a year. Now, great anxiety would be felt if our 
 mission revenue from Scotland alone did not amount to more 
 than £50,000 per annum. 
 
 This sketch would be incomplete without some reference 
 to certain features in our missionary enterprise which make 
 its history specially remarkable. 
 
 One of these features is the work which has been carried 
 on among the women of heathendom. That work was not 
 entirely overlooked by the two Societies which were formed 
 in the east and west of Scotland before the Church as such 
 began to move. But it was in 1837 that the Association 
 of Ladies was established, which has continued to this day. 
 Its originator may be said to have been Captain Jameson, 
 an Indian officer, and a brother of the Sheriff of the same 
 name, who was in his day Convener of the Continental Com- 
 mittee. Captain Jameson organised a meeting which was 
 held in Edinburgh in the March of the year referred to. 
 It was addressed by Dr. Candlish, and it seems to have 
 immediately set itself to collect funds for service, because 
 in the year following, a lady missionary — a Miss Keid — was 
 sent out by it to Bombay. Miss Eeid, and also another 
 agent, who went out in 1841, died before the Disruption. 
 But in 1843 the Society was represented in Calcutta by 
 two ladies — Miss Laing, who began work in 1840, and Miss 
 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN i6l 
 
 Savile, whose departure from home was much nearer the 
 date of the crisis, and who, before leaving, was taken bound 
 to adhere to the Establishment whatever might happen. 
 Miss Laing had collected around her a number of orphans, 
 but when she joined the Free Church these were taken from 
 her, along with the minutes of the mission and its other 
 property, and she had to commence afresh. But she soon 
 made a new start, and in Calcutta and elsewhere the work 
 of the Society went on with a quickened pace. 
 
 This may be said with all the more emphasis, that the 
 operations of the Society were not limited to what was done 
 by agents sent out directly from Scotland. The wives of 
 the missionaries were found to be everywhere more than 
 ready to help, and the marvellous work which has been 
 accomplished in Madras is due to the founding, in 1843, 
 by Mrs. Braidwood, of the original " Day School " for caste 
 girls, which has been the means of doing so great an amount 
 of good. " The school," says Miss Eainy, who visited the 
 place in 1881, "grew until in 1847 five of its pupils 
 embraced Christianity, and the boarding-school commenced 
 with them when they were thrown on the care of the 
 mission. It was a great pleasure to me to see two of the 
 five. Still greater was the pleasure of going from school 
 to school, and seeing hundreds of little girls receiving a very 
 thorough Christian education. In connection with our Free 
 Church Madras Mission alone, there were close upon 2000 
 girls under instruction in day schools. . . . The girls are 
 particularly fond of the Sabbath school, and this is an 
 institution generally associated with our day schools through- 
 out India." 
 
 After the Disruption the Society of course divided, 
 and the Free Church section of it was carried on for many 
 years by two Committees, one having its seat in Glasgow, 
 II 
 
1 62 MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 the other in Edinburgh. But these have now been united, 
 and the combined Society maintains a paid secretary, and 
 had an income in 1893-94 of more than £10,000 a year — 
 a larger sum than was raised fifty years ago in support of 
 the entire missionary operations of the Church. 
 
 What the ladies aim at in the fields which they occupy 
 is explained by Miss Eainy in the volume issued by her after 
 her return from India. 
 
 First, there is the establishment of boarding-schools for 
 Christian girls. 
 
 Next, the opening of day schools for all who care to 
 attend them. 
 
 Third, the providing of ladies to visit the zenanas.^ 
 
 Fourth, the training and support of medical women to 
 deal with the suffering females of India, 
 
 Fifth, the employment of Biblewomen. 
 
 And, lastly, the sending missionaries into the rural districts 
 to evangelise the village women. 
 
 This is a magnificent programme, and there is great cause 
 for satisfaction in knowing that it has been carried out to 
 so large an extent. The ladies employ in India 40 European 
 and Eurasian and 206 native (Christian) agents, and in 
 Africa 19 Europeans and 87 natives. In India, again, there 
 were in 1893—94, 5718, and in Africa 2951, receiving 
 instruction in their schools. Several lady missionaries, too, 
 are qualified medical practitioners, and quite a number are 
 engaged continually in visiting the zenanas. Nor are the 
 other missions of the Church altogether forgotten. One 
 lady has actually gone to help in the work on Lake Nyassa, 
 
 ^ Tlie plan of zenana education, now so generally adopted, was first pro- 
 posed in 1840 by the Rev. Thomas Smith, and first started in Calcutta in 
 1855, under the auspices of the Rev. John Fordyce, who, with Mrs. Fordyce, 
 was then in charge of the Free Church Girls' Boarding-School or Orphanage 
 there. 
 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 163 
 
 and assistance of an incidental kind has been given in the 
 New Hebrides and Arabia. 
 
 Another notable feature in the missions of the Free 
 Church has been the establishment of institutions for educa- 
 tional and industrial purposes. Several of these are to be 
 found alike in India and Africa. But the most famous of 
 them all are the Christian College at Madras, and that of 
 Lovedale in Kaffraria. 
 
 The Christian College is so far undenominational as to 
 be governed by a Council in which all the evangelical 
 Churches of this country are represented — the Established 
 Churches of England and Scotland, the United Presbyterian 
 Church, the Wesleyans, and the Congregationalists ; while 
 on the teaching staff are men of quite as many ecclesiastical 
 connections. The Church Missionary Society and the 
 Wesleyans actually contribute £300 a year each to the 
 support of the institution, and the position occupied by it 
 is necessarily a very commanding one. Its great success 
 is due in a very large degree to its Principal, Dr. Miller, 
 the ultimate control of all its affairs being in the hands of 
 the Free Church Foreign Missions Committee. Practically 
 the College is the last and highest outcome of the system 
 inaugurated by Dr. Duff, and as such the reputation it has 
 achieved is phenomenal. 
 
 Professor Lindsay, who visited India as a Deputy in 
 1888-89, and who on his return home submitted to the 
 Assembly one of the ablest missionary reports ever written, 
 gives the following account of what he saw in Madras : — 
 
 " College and School," says he, " occupy a magnificent 
 range of buildings forming three sides of a square. On the 
 fourth side, separated by a street, is the boarding-house for 
 Christian students, and behind it, also separated by a street, 
 is the boarding-house for Brahmin students. The huge pile 
 
1 64 MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 of buildings is occupied from floor to ceiling with classrooms 
 which, large as they are, seem overcrowded, so great is the 
 throng of students and scholars. The size of the place is 
 impressive ; the swarming of intellectual life is a sight that 
 once seen cannot easily be forgotten ; the affectionate regard 
 which the students have for their professors is very manifest ; 
 the intimate personal acquaintance that the Principal seems 
 to have of every student in the College and every pupil in 
 the Upper School is marvellous ; but what distinguishes the 
 Christian College at Madras from other educational institutions 
 of a similar kind visited was the atmosphere of spiritual life 
 which seemed to pervade it. That was the striking, unmis- 
 takable thing which left the deepest impression upon us." 
 
 The institution includes a School and a College teaching 
 up to the B.A. standard. When Dr. Lindsay visited it, he 
 found the School divided into 21 classes with 34 teachers, 
 while connected with the College were 1 European professors, 
 9 native assistants, and 18 pundits. In the higher depart- 
 ment there were over 600 students, undergraduates of the 
 University ; and in the lower the number of scholars was close 
 upon 1500. 
 
 What a change from the spectacle of July 13, 1830, 
 when Dr. Duff met for the first time five Brahmin youths, 
 all that had been persuaded to come to him for instruction in 
 Calcutta. 
 
 The institution of Lovedale in South Africa is of a different 
 sort. It was founded in 1841 by a remarkable man, the 
 Eev. William Govan, who continued to superintend it till 
 1870, when Dr. James Stewart was placed at its head. 
 Planted in the midst of a people who had no ambition for 
 the " higher education," it has not aimed at producing such 
 results as have been achieved in Madras. Teachers and 
 preachers were needed, and provision was made for their 
 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 165 
 
 training, and trades were taught to as many as wished to 
 learn them. 
 
 What kind of work has been done by this agency 
 may be gathered from the report which was submitted in 
 1883 to the Government of the Cape by its Inspector- 
 General. 
 
 " Lovedale," he says, " works on a grand scale. The great 
 organising power of Dr. Stewart appears on every side. The 
 staff is large and able, and the civilising effects of the whole 
 institution is remarkably felt. It may have its defects, but 
 the scheme at present is the most complete, the largest, and 
 the most successful of its kind in the country, and the 
 institution as a whole is probably the greatest educational 
 establishment in South Africa. . . . Trades are successfully 
 taught in a fair range of buildings; upwards of 300 pupils 
 from all parts of South Africa receive the best education at 
 present available ; the boarding arrangements are on a large 
 scale, and economically carried on ; a number of young men 
 in the upper department are under training for the work of 
 teaching or the native ministry ; and girls receive the most 
 suitable kind of instruction that those of their class and race 
 can receive." 
 
 But one other feature in our missionary enterprise 
 remains to be referred to, namely, the extent to which 
 medical agencies have been utilised. 
 
 The first appointment of a medical missionary was made 
 in December 1855, when Dr. David H. Paterson, a son of the 
 missionary of Kilmany, went out to Madras. He there repre- 
 sented not only the Free Church, but the Edinburgh Medical 
 Missionary Society, which for some time paid half his salary. 
 This department of the work there was entered upon in a very 
 modest way, and its expansion at first was not very rapid. 
 But as its value came to be more and more realised, agent 
 
1 66 MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 
 
 after agent was sent out to different parts of the field ; and 
 now it has come about that the Free Church has probably 
 more medical missionaries working among the heathen than 
 any other society in Britain. In India it has 16, of 
 whom 3 are females and 4 are natives ; in Africa it has 8 ; 
 while in Arabia, Syria, and the New Hebrides it has 3 — 
 one in each. The ladies, especially, who have gone out 
 to India holding medical diplomas from Colleges in Europe, 
 have been of very peculiar blessing to their sex, the women 
 of that country being often forced to endure unspeakable 
 suffering through their objection to be attended by male 
 practitioners. 
 
 This sketch has necessarily been very superficial, but in 
 any case enough has been said to show the wisdom and 
 energy with which the scheme has been conducted. Its 
 first Convener, as has been seen, was Dr. Gordon. He was 
 succeeded by Dr. James Buchanan, with whom Dr. Hender- 
 son was for some time associated. Then came Dr. Tweedie 
 and (for a brief period) Dr. Hanna. In 1863, Dr. Duff was 
 called to the chair, which he filled for two years along with Dr. 
 Candlisb, but which he afterwards occupied alone till 1878. 
 From 1878 to 1881 Dr. Main was Convener. On his death. 
 Colonel Young was invited to undertake the oversight of the 
 work, and he was followed in 1886 by Professor Lindsay. 
 
 The changes in the secretaryship have been much less 
 frequent. Mr. Henry Tod filled the oftice for the long period 
 of nine-and-twenty years — from 1843 to 1872. For one 
 year thereafter Mr. John Logan, W.S., undertook its duties. 
 He was succeeded by Dr. Murray Mitchell, and he again, in 
 1879, by Dr. George Smith, the biographer of Duff and 
 Carey. It should not, however, be forgotten that the 
 assistant secretaryship was held for many years by Mr. 
 Eobert Young, whose acquaintance with the history of our 
 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN 167 
 
 own and other missions has been abundantly shown in his 
 useful works. 
 
 The Free Church may well look back with some satisfac- 
 tion and thankfulness on an enterprise which was undertaken 
 under very interesting and remarkable circumstances, and 
 which has been carried on with an enthusiasm which cannot 
 be said to have expended itself when so many of her students 
 are offering themselves to go wherever they may be sent. 
 
CHAPTEE XI 
 
 THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 
 
 A S was to have been expected, the revived interest in 
 ■^■*- religion which followed the passing of the Veto Act 
 led to the awakening in the Church of a new concern for the 
 conversion of Israel, and as doubts were felt as to where 
 work for that end could be best begun, it was resolved, in 
 1839, to send forth a mission of inquiry. 
 
 The men selected for this expedition were possessed of 
 singular qualifications for the task. Two of them were 
 elderly — Dr. Black, a theological professor in Aberdeen ; and 
 Dr. Keith, minister of St. Cyrus, who had already achieved 
 for himself some reputation as the author of a work on the 
 Prophecies. The younger men were — Eobert Murray M'Cheyne, 
 who did not live to see the Disruption, but some of whose 
 last days were given to preparation for it, and Dr. Andrew 
 Bonar. 
 
 Dr. Bonar became the historiographer of the mission, and 
 his Narrative continues to be one of the most delightful 
 books of travels ever published. 
 
 During all the journey the condition of the Jews was 
 investigated by the Deputation wherever any number of them 
 were to be found, but the thoughts of everyone in this 
 country were directed toward Palestine, and the hope was 
 constantly cherished that a spot might be discovered in which 
 ground might be broken there. A very singular providence, 
 
 168 
 
THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 169 
 
 however, led to the establishment of the Church's first 
 mission in another part of the world altogether. 
 
 An accident — a fall from his camel — compelled Dr. 
 Black to hasten homeward across the European continent, 
 and it was thought desirable that he should be accompanied 
 so far by Dr. Keith. But, at Besth in Hungary, Dr. Keith 
 himself became ill, and for some weeks he lay in a hotel there 
 without anyone but strangers to care for him. The incident 
 seemed an untoward one, but out of it came a series of most 
 unexpected issues. It so happened that at the moment there 
 was living in the city a Protestant princess, the Archduchess 
 Dorothea, an earnest woman, who had been longing and 
 praying for fresh light to be brought into the land she lived 
 in. Hearing of the sick Scottish traveller, she visited him, 
 and the upshot of that interview and of others which 
 followed was that the Church of Scotland was induced to 
 commence missionary operations for the Jews, not, as had been 
 proposed, in the Holy Land, but in the east of Europe. 
 
 The first to leave Scotland in the interest of the conversion 
 of Israel was Mr. Daniel Edward. In company with Mr. 
 Hermann Philip, he set out from London on the 1st of May 
 1841, and, to begin with, settled in Jassy. Soon afterwards 
 a larger band followed, consisting of Dr. Duncan, Dr. Eobert 
 Smith, and Mr. Allan. Their destination was Pesth, and 
 " from one of the Danube steamers they came within sight of 
 the hills of Hungary on the 21st of August." 
 
 A noteworthy blessing very soon attended the labours of 
 the missionaries in Pesth. Among the English residents and 
 among the Jews there was awakened a spirit of inquiry. 
 Several striking conversions took place (it was now, for 
 example, that the Saphir family was brought to Christ), and 
 Dr. Smith mentions it as an interesting circumstance that 
 in the Disruption Assembly the first business transacted after 
 
I70 THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 
 
 the signing of the Deed of Demission was the reception of 
 the Jewish Eeport, in which there was a record of this good 
 news. " With this special movement of the Spirit," he says/ 
 " the year 1843 was ushered in." 
 
 Wlien the Disruption came, all the missionaries without 
 exception joined the Free Church. These were now six in 
 number, with three assistants. Three were in Pesth, Dr. 
 Duncan, Dr. Smith, and Mr. Wingate, having associated with 
 them two Jewish converts, Mr. A. S. T. Saphir and Mr. F. D. 
 Neuhaus. One, Mr. Edward, was in Jassy, assisted by Mr. 
 Philip. And two more, Mr. C. Schwartz and Mr. Allan, were 
 under appointment, the one to Constantinople, the other to 
 Beyrout. 
 
 It may also be added that at the same time a very large 
 proportion of those who had been specially interesting them- 
 selves in Israel withdrew from the Establishment, and a 
 division of the money in the mission exchequer might have 
 seemed not inequitable. But the rule then obtained of 
 keeping all that the law, when strictly interpreted, allowed, 
 and so the one party got all the money, while the other got 
 all the men. It so happened that the amount lying at the 
 Committee's disposal — £3.500 — was exactly what was required 
 to meet the year's expenditure, not one penny of which was 
 made over to those for whose benefit it was laised. But the 
 first collection taken in the Free Church was for the 
 conversion of Israel, and it happily yielded £3400. 
 
 The intelligence supplied to the Missionary Record of the 
 Free Church shows that the Disruption produced little effect 
 on the work which was being carried on. In Pesth the 
 interest continued, and the mission was prosecuted with an 
 extraordinary amount of encouragement. Some changes, 
 however, were made in the disposition of the staff. Dr. 
 
 ^ Early Day a of the Mission to the Jews in Pesth. By Robert Smith, D.D. 
 
THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 171 
 
 Duncan was summoned home to take the Hebrew Chair in 
 the New College, and Mr. Wingate was ordained. Dr. Wilson 
 of Bombay, who visited the station on his way home, brought 
 to Scotland with him two of tlie converts, Mr. (afterwards 
 Dr.) Edersheim, whose writings are now so well known, and 
 Mr. Tomory, whose name will always be associated with 
 Constantinople. Mr. Edward had been engaged in a mission 
 of inquiry, but toward the end of 1843 he returned to Jassy 
 and resumed work there. Mr. Schwartz, on the other hand, 
 had been helping to lay the foundations of what has become 
 a great institution in Constantinople, and Mr. Allan had 
 joined Dr. Graham, of the Irish Presbyterian Church, in 
 breaking ground at Damascus. 
 
 It is probable that the desire still lingered to do some- 
 thing for the Jews in Palestine, but if so, it was in the 
 meantime extinguished by the report of Dr. Wilson. He 
 had travelled through the Holy Land when returning from 
 India, and was now prepared to assure the Church that there 
 was no spot in it which could be recommended as suitable for 
 a station. He added — and the fact is curious in view of what 
 has taken place since — that it would be peculiarly unwise to 
 attempt to begin work in Tiberias or Safed. Besides the 
 recognised stations, it may be mentioned, help was at this 
 time being also given, mainly through the Ladies' Association, 
 toward the maintenance of schools among the Beni-Israel of 
 Bombay and Corfu. 
 
 For several years the mission at Pesth was allowed to 
 go on without interruption from without ; and in Assembly 
 after Assembly reports were submitted telling of the blessing 
 which continued to rest upon it. But it was located in a 
 land in which the principles of civil and religious liberty 
 have not always been understood, and during these revolu- 
 tionary years, when all Europe was disturbed, the position of 
 
172 THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 
 
 the missionaries became more and more precarious. At the 
 beginning of 1849 a crisis came, and Messrs. Smith and 
 Wingate were obliged to leave the city and seek refuge else- 
 where. Before the year ended, indeed, the sky cleared, and 
 they were allowed to return. But less than two years later 
 the clouds gathered again. In January 1852 the Austrian 
 Government issued a decree banishing the missionaries, and, 
 so far as they were concerned, the work for a time ceased. 
 
 Strange to say, however, the schools which had been 
 established were not meddled with, nor the resident converts, 
 and through their means the light was kept burning in a 
 very remarkable way. Under the superintendence of the 
 elder Saphir, whose son Adolph became a distinguished 
 minister of the English Presbyterian Church, the schools 
 flourished, and when, in 1862, they were moved into better 
 premises than they had been occupying, they were reported 
 to be attended by 337 children, 153 of them being of Jewish 
 parentage. 
 
 Some time previous to that date the repressive policy 
 of the Austrians had been relaxed, and a missionary was sent 
 — Mr. Van Andel — who preached to a German congregation, 
 and established on a limited scale a system of colportage. 
 It was not, however, till the Assembly of 1863 that the 
 Convener of the Committee — Dr. Moody Stuart— was able 
 to announce that the station would again be fully occupied, 
 and that Mr. Kcenig was at once to proceed to Pesth from 
 Constantinople. In 1864 the further report was made that 
 Mr. Kcenig was on the spot, that he had been joined by 
 the Rev. Andrew Moody, who was conducting an English 
 service, and that the school was now attended by 238 Jewish 
 children. 
 
 Ever since, the work has continued to prosper. Mr. 
 Kcenig, after labouring for a number of years, was compelled 
 
THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 173 
 
 by the state of his health to retire, but his pLace has been 
 admirably lilled by Mr. Moody, who, with the help of a body 
 of teachers, some of whom have spent the better part of their 
 lives in the service of the mission, has carried on, with "reat 
 vigour and success, a very varied system of operations. 
 
 In the meantime, Mr. Edward, who has already been 
 spoken of as our very first missionary, had also been 
 experiencing some of the vicissitudes arising out of the 
 unsettled state of Europe. The revolutions of 1848 resulted 
 for a time in the repression of religious liberty in various 
 countries, and he was compelled to leave Jassy as Dr. Smith 
 and Mr. Wingate had been obliged to leave Pesth. At first 
 he sought refuge in Lemberg, but from that town he was also 
 driven in 1851. Finally, however, he settled in Breslau, 
 and with that place his name will now always be connected. 
 Here he established a congregation by which much good 
 has been done, but his work among the Jews will be specially 
 remembered in relation to particular conversions. One was 
 that of Isaac Pick, a remarkable man, one of whose family 
 is at the head of the mission female school in Constantinople ; 
 and another was that of Hermann Warszawiack, who has 
 been doing a great work in the city of New York. Mr. 
 Edward has been spared to tell of a half-century spent in 
 the service of Christ for Israel, 
 
 Another important station, early occupied by the Church, 
 was Constantinople. Incidental circumstances led to its 
 being entered. Mr. Allan, when on his way to Syria, visited 
 the city, and found that certain work which had been hope- 
 fully begun there by Mr. Schwartz would have to be 
 abandoned if he did not take it up. Mr. Schwartz was an 
 agent of the London Society, and had been ordered to proceed 
 to Hebron. If he acted on that direction, a school which 
 had been opened with promising prospects would require to 
 
174 THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 
 
 be shut up ; and, at the earnest request of the American 
 missionaries on the spot, Mr. Allan was persuaded to remain, 
 until at least the home authorities could be consulted about 
 the situation. The upshot was that Mr. Schwartz severed 
 his connection with the London Society, and consented to 
 carry on the work he had commenced, under the supervision 
 of the Church of Scotland. 
 
 The mission thus established has been vigorously main- 
 tained, and has proved most fruitful. Mr. Schwartz was 
 succeeded by Mr. Koenig, Dr. Thomson (who accepted the 
 post of Secretary to the Bible Society), and Mr. Tomory. A 
 great school has for many years been carried on at Galata, 
 under male and female teachers of ability. And, besides 
 other agencies, a medical department has been supported, first 
 under Dr. Eosenberg and later under Dr. Hanington, which 
 has proved of the greatest value and advantage. 
 
 When the new and extensive mission premises were 
 opened in 1873, in the presence of the British Ambassador, 
 it was stated that seventy Jews, most of them young men, 
 had been baptized since the work began. But since then 
 the number received into the Church has been very much 
 greater. 
 
 The Ladies' Associations — especially those of Glasgow 
 and Edinburgh — have been peculiarly helpful in con- 
 nection with Constantinople. The female teachers in the 
 institution have been appointed by them, and they have been 
 unusually fortunate in securing the services of such com- 
 petent women as Miss Potter, Miss Zoller, and Miss Pick. 
 
 Preference has been made more than once to Mr. Schwartz. 
 On his reception by the Free Church he was ordained and 
 sent, in 1844, to Berlin, which was said to contain 8000 
 Jews accessible to Christian influences. His success there 
 was considerable, and the station might have become per- 
 
THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 175 
 
 manent, if it had not been for the troubles of 1848. These 
 interrupted the work, and before it could be resumed a new 
 door opened which it was thought better to enter. The field 
 which was thought more hopeful was Amsterdam. It con- 
 tained far more resident Jews than Berlin, but they were 
 found to be of a much less peaceable class, and very soon 
 events occurred which drew all eyes to Holland. The 
 opposition offered to Mr. Schwartz was decided from the 
 first, but he persevered, and for ten years, with the help of 
 Dr. Eobert Smith and others, a system of aggressive work 
 was carried on through the press and by the pulpit, which 
 awakened a widespread interest throughout the whole country. 
 The enmity of the Jews was not lessened on this account. 
 On the contrary, it grew ever more bitter, until one day the 
 assassination of Mr. Schwartz was attempted, and he was 
 carried out of the pulpit bleeding from a dagger wound. 
 
 Notwithstanding this opposition — and perhaps partly on 
 account of it — the cause called forth the sympathy of many 
 friends. One lady made over to the mission a large building 
 along with £2000 to be used in its interest. Men of mark, 
 like Da Costa and Capadose, lent it their active assistance. 
 And numerous associations were formed to aid it in pro- 
 moting the objects it aimed at. But unfortunately the men 
 who had done most for the enterprise were obliged or saw 
 it their duty to retire from the field. Dr. Smith's health 
 gave way, and he was compelled to return home ; and Mr. 
 Schwartz was induced to accept a call to a church in 
 London. 
 
 The work was not then altogether abandoned. First Mr. 
 Theodore Meyer was sent to continue it, then Mr. Van 
 Andel, and finally, after an interval, Dr. Fiirst. But the tide 
 had ceased to fiow as it had done before the burden of 
 seeking for the conversion of Israel was undertaken with 
 
176 THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 
 
 greater earnestness by the Christian residents, and although 
 the building presented by Madame Zeelt still remains in 
 possession of the Free Church, and continues to be used for 
 religious purposes, the station at Amsterdam is no longer 
 occupied as one of the outposts of the Jewish Committee. 
 
 Two other stations in Europe have yet to be named — those, 
 that ie, of Strasburg and Prague. In the latter town, the 
 capital of Bohemia, there are very many Jews, but they are 
 peculiarly inaccessible, and it has not been found possible to 
 do much for their evangelisation. A mission was begun 
 there in 1864 by the Eev. Andrew Moody, who was suc- 
 ceeded in 1878 by the Eev. James Pirie. But the en- 
 couragement to continue the work was never very great, 
 and a few years ago it was resolved to discontinue it. At 
 the same time the incidental benefits conferred by the 
 mission have been very considerable. Kindly relations have 
 been established with the Protestants of the country, many 
 of the pastors have been enabled to spend some time in 
 Scotland as students, and their interest in the Jews has 
 been quickened by what they have seen and heard here. 
 Mr. Pirie has remained in Pesth, though not as a missionary, 
 and he continues to maintain in connection with the Con- 
 tinental Committee the English service, of which he has for 
 a long time had the charge. Through him communications 
 have been kept up with the native Churches, and the hope 
 is cherished that a door of access may yet be opened through 
 which the many children of Abraham resident in Bohemia 
 may be reached with the gospel. 
 
 In Strasburg the experience of the Church has been still 
 more disappointing. Dr. Flirst was appointed to the station 
 in 1878, and in the conduct of an English service he was 
 decidedly successful; but little result followed the efforts 
 made to reach the Jews either of the city or of the province 
 
THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 177 
 
 of Alsace, and the mission was given up just ten years 
 after it had been established. 
 
 The want of success in these fields did not lessen the 
 interest of the Church in the work of the conversion of 
 Israel. A constant outlook was kept up in the hope that 
 some new locality would be discovered in which the gospel 
 might be preached to the Jews more hopefully, and by and 
 by a forward movement was undertaken in an unexpected 
 direction. 
 
 When Dr. Hood Wilson, who was at the time Convener 
 of the Jewish Committee, visited Palestine in 1883, he 
 became possessed with an earnest desire to see realised the 
 dream of 1839 in the establishment of a mission to the 
 Jews in their own land. His idea was at once and 
 enthusiastically taken up by the Church at home. A new 
 deputation, headed by Dr. Wells of Glasgow, was sent out 
 to ascertain where ground might be broken most hopefully, 
 and, on its recommendation, it was resolved to establish a 
 station on the Sea of Galilee at Tiberias. The population 
 of that town was ascertained to be large, and to include at 
 least 3000 Jews. No other Protestant agency of any sort 
 existed on the Lake, and the need for a European doctor 
 was manifest. The locality, besides, was said to be not 
 unhealthy, although the heat in the heart of summer might 
 compel the missionaries to seek relief for a time at a higher 
 altitude. 
 
 The mission accordingly became a reality ; Dr. D. W. 
 
 Torrance was appointed the first missionary in June 1884, 
 
 and he reached his destination in January 1885. After 
 
 spending some time in Nazareth studying Arabic, and 
 
 benefiting otherwise by the experience of Dr. Vartan, he 
 
 settled down in his own hired house at Tiberias, and began 
 
 his beneficent labours. For a time he had to encounter the 
 12 
 
178 THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 
 
 more or less open hostility of the Turkish authorities \ but 
 that was overcome, and such palpable relief has been brought 
 to many in town and country that the respect has been 
 gained of all classes in the community. 
 
 Later on, Dr. Torrance was joined by Miss Fenton, who 
 opened a school in Tiberias which has been encouragingly 
 attended, and by the Eev. W. Ewing, who came out from 
 home as an ordained missionary. Both Mr. Ewing and Miss 
 Fenton have since returned home, but their places have 
 been filled — the former by the Eev. John Soutar, whose 
 salary is generously provided by the United Presbyterian 
 Church, the latter by Mrs. Thomson. Houses have been 
 built for the missionaries, and a hospital provided, several 
 beds in which have been endowed, and which has proved 
 an unspeakable blessing to many who might otherwise have 
 been but indifferently cared for. 
 
 Soon after the occupation of Tiberias a branch station was 
 opened at Safed, which has been under the superintendence 
 of Mr. Christie, and here, too, a medical department has been 
 maintained. The station is an important one on various 
 accounts. Here there are many more Jews than on the 
 shores of the Lake, and its elevated position makes it 
 valuable as a health resort. But the field is also held by the 
 London Society, and it is important so to adjust the work 
 of each that the two Christian agencies shall conspire 
 instead of conflicting. 
 
 The history of the Jewish Mission, then, is one of which 
 the Church has no cause to be ashamed. In its earliest 
 station — that of Pesth — a great work is proceeding, 
 especially among the young, an additional storey having just 
 been placed on the institution to provide the needful 
 accommodation for the multitude of scholars who throng to 
 it. Very much the same thing may be said of Con- 
 
THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 179 
 
 stantinople. The venerable Mr. Edward still holds hope- 
 fully the fort in Breslau, and although it has been judged 
 desirable to withdraw in the meantime from Berlin and 
 Amsterdam, Strasburg and Prague, we are receiving 
 assurances that a signal blessing is resting on the newer 
 stations of Safed and Tiberias. It is a fact which has been 
 realised in the past : " They shall prosper that love thee." 
 
 The first Convener of the Jewish Committee was Dr. Keith, 
 who, except for one twelvemonth, when the chair was filled by 
 Dr. Duncan, held the office for four years. In 1847, Dr. 
 Keith was succeeded by Dr. Moody Stuart, who held the post 
 (with two interregnums, from 1854 to 1857, when Principal 
 Brown was Convener, and from 1858 to 1860, when the 
 scheme was under the charge of Professor Smeaton) up to 
 1889. More than with anyone else the enterprise is 
 associated with him. His yearly addresses at the Assembly 
 were looked forward to with extraordinary interest, and were 
 always listened to with marked attention. During the last 
 five years of the period indicated, the state of his health did 
 not allow of his bearing all the burdens of the office, and his 
 responsibilities were shared by Dr. Hood Wilson, who from 
 1889 to 1891 was called to preside over the mission alone. 
 In 1890, Dr. Wilson retired, and was succeeded by Dr. Wells 
 of Glasgow. The Secretaries have been — Mr. J. G. Wood, 
 W.S., between 1843 and 18G0 ; Eev. Walter Wood of Elie up 
 to 1866; Mr. Brown Douglas, advocate, to 1883; the Ptcv, 
 William Affleck of Auchtermuchty to 1892 ; and the Picv. Dr. 
 Milne Ilae, who holds the office at present. 
 
 This scheme, like that for Foreign Missions, has been 
 greatly helped by Associations of Ladies. The Edinburgh 
 branch was established in 1840, and that for Glasgow 
 probably quite as early. In several of the provincial towns, 
 also, Committees were formed. Different fields have engaged 
 
i8o THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL 
 
 the special attention of different societies, — Glasgow, for 
 instance, caring for Palestine ; Edinburgh giving its support to 
 Constantinople ; and Paisley, to Buda-Pest. It is possible that 
 in time all the associations may be amalgamated. One lady, 
 it may be allowed to say here, has in a manner given her life 
 to this cause. For nearly forty years Mrs. Brown Douglas 
 has acted as the Treasurer of the Edinburgh Ladies, and 
 has laboured for the good of Israel incessantly. 
 
CHAPTEE XII 
 
 IN THE COLONIES 
 
 " fTlHE great national duty of extending our anxious care to 
 -^ the vast multitudes who, from necessity or choice, 
 yearly go forth from our shores, is not only founded upon 
 the general principles of our holy faith contained in the New 
 Testament, but is confirmed and illustrated by a national 
 example [that of the Jews] which seems to have obtained the 
 stamp of Divine approbation." 
 
 Such were some of the words used in the Eeport on 
 Colonial Churches which was submitted to the first General 
 Assembly of the Free Church ; and Dr. Welsh, who gave in 
 the report, proceeded to tell of what had been done in the 
 past for those who had left Scotland to find new homes in 
 other parts of the world. The wants of these emigrants had 
 not been altogether overlooked. The Church in earlier days 
 had followed its children into Ulster and Holland, and had 
 taken its share in the unhappy expedition to the Isthmus of 
 Darien. But from the time of the Union till 1825 the duty 
 of caring for the spiritual necessities of the Colonies had been 
 very much lost sight of, and if their condition came to be 
 thought of at last, it was owing to the same religious revival 
 which was stirring the country and issuing in missions to the 
 Jews and to the heathen. 
 
 The first to move in the matter, as has been already 
 indicated, was Dr. liurns of Paisley. He brought the subject 
 
 181 
 
i82 IN THE COLONIES 
 
 under the notice of his own Synod, that of Glasgow, and the 
 commercial relations sustained by that city to the Colonies 
 probably helped to secure for his proposals a readier acceptance 
 than they might have met with elsewhere. In any case, an 
 Association was formed of which he became the Secretary, and 
 by its means much good work was done before the Church, as 
 such, undertook any responsibility connected with it. 
 
 ,In 1832 a more decided step was taken. The General 
 Assembly gave its formal sanction to the formation into 
 Presbyteries and Synod in connection with the Home 
 Church of such congregations abroad as were prepared to 
 accept the Presbyterian system. Later on — in 1836 — the 
 Church went further. An express " Colonial Committee " 
 was appointed by the Assembly, and the care of the Colonies 
 was adopted as one of the recognised " schemes " of the 
 Church. At first the sphere of this Committee was limited 
 to the oversight of the Colonies pure and simple, but after- 
 wards it was enlarged so as to include all who had gone 
 abroad wherever they might have happened to settle, and 
 this arrangement continued till 1868, when the interests of 
 the European Continent came to be so large and pressing as 
 to require the institution of a separate Committee. 
 
 Before 1843 the interest shown in our expatriated fellow- 
 countrymen was considerable. The greatest amount of work 
 was done by the Church in Canada, in which (at Kingston) 
 even a University was established, with Dr. Liddell of Lady 
 Glenorchy's as Principal ; but from all parts of the world 
 came appeals for help in the institution of Presbyterian 
 congregations, and between 1837 and 1842 so many as 49 
 ministers and missionaries and 6 teachers had been sent 
 out to different stations in the British Colonies. Australia, 
 New Zealand, Ceylon, Madeira, Jamaica, and other places, 
 had all had more or less attention given to them, while 
 
IN THE COLONIES 183 
 
 appeals had been received from Dr. Stewart (afterwards of 
 Leghorn), Dr. Julius Wood, and Mr. (afterwards Sherif!) 
 Jameson, on behalf of Malta, Gibraltar, Constantinople, and 
 quite a number of towns on the Continent of Europe. 
 
 An enterprise, therefore, of some magnitude had to be 
 faced when the Disruption took place, and its importance 
 was recognised by the appointment in the first Free Church 
 General Assembly of an unusually large and influential 
 Committee, with Dr. Welsh at its head. 
 
 One of the very first pieces of business submitted to this 
 Committee was that of the appointment of a minister and 
 teacher to take part in the expedition which it was proposed 
 to undertake with a view to the founding of a colony in 
 New Zealand. The leaders in the expedition were Free 
 Churchmen, and their plan was to carry the principles of 
 their Church along with them. For that purpose they 
 announced to the Committee, on the Gth of June 1843, that 
 they had set apart £25,000 to be a fund for the erection of 
 places of worship and the maintenance of ordinances. As it 
 turned out, it was not found possible to carry into effect the 
 ideas of these remarkable emigrants at once, but Mr. Burns, 
 then of Monkton, was immediately nominated to the charge, 
 and two years later he was actually transferred to Otago, 
 where, as Dr. Burns, he afterwards established the powerful 
 congregation of Dunedin. 
 
 For a time the chief attention of the Church continued 
 to be given to Canada. In July 1844 things came to a 
 crisis there. So many Presbyterian congregations had been 
 formed in the country that they had been organised into a 
 Synod, and the question became pressing of whether this 
 Synod was to remain, or not, in connection with the Established 
 Church. The point was formally discussed at the annual 
 meeting in that year, with the result that 39 ministers voted 
 
1 84 IN THE COLONIES 
 
 for retaining things as they were, while 21 were in favour 
 of connecting themselves with the Free Church. In the 
 Lower Provinces the division was different. Two-thirds of 
 the ministers there decided to relinquish their connection 
 with the Establishment and to form themselves into an 
 independent body, holding fellowship with the Free Church 
 and with all similar Churches holding its principles. 
 
 These events necessarily quickened the home interest in 
 Canada, and as there was good reason to believe that the 
 people to a larger extent than their pastors sympathised with 
 the evangelical movement in Scotland, it was resolved to 
 send out from time to time such of the leading men from 
 the Church as could be induced to face the journey. Dr. 
 Candlish and Dr. Buchanan were asked to go, but they did 
 not see their way to accept the invitation ; but during the 
 next two or three years Canada was visited, at the Committee's 
 request, by Dr. Burns and Mr. M'Naughton of Paisley, by Dr. 
 Soraerville and Mr. Arnot of Glasgow, by Dr. Bonar of 
 Larbert, and by Dr. Begg. The results were very satisfactory. 
 A great impulse was given to the cause of religion in all the 
 Provinces, and while important congregations were formed in 
 Montreal, Quebec, and elsewhere, two theological Colleges 
 were founded, in Halifax and Toronto, to the latter of which 
 Dr. Burns of Paisley allowed himself to be appointed. 
 
 In the Assembly of 1846, Dr. Begg gave a long and 
 interesting account of his tour, and in concluding said that he 
 had found everywhere a yearning affection among the colonists 
 toward their native land, and especially toward the Free 
 Church. " They do not regard the Establishment of Scotland," 
 he said, " as the Church of their fathers, and, with the 
 exception of a handful of people in some of the principal 
 towns, the Establishment may be said to have little footing 
 on the other side of the Atlantic." That the ministers, in so 
 
IN THE COLONIES 185 
 
 large a proportion, elected to remain in connection with the 
 Established Church, was explained by the fact that in the 
 earlier days of the mission it was found exceedingly difficult 
 to get the best men to go to the Colonies, and that a number 
 were sent out who had failed to find places at home. 
 
 For a considerable time after the Disruption no special 
 news came from Australia. What had happened in Scotland 
 was known there in 1843, but no immediate step was taken 
 in consequence. In 1844, however, a resolution was adopted 
 by the Synod expressing a general approval of the principles 
 of the Free Church, but agreeing to remain in communion 
 with both Churches. This was not satisfactory to all, and 
 experience did not reconcile those who objected to it to the 
 arrangement. A new departure, therefore, took place in 1846. 
 On the 10th of October in that year, three ministers — Messrs. 
 M'Intyre, Tait, and Stuart — retired, after protest, from the 
 Court of which they had been members, and formed them- 
 selves, along with two elders, into " The Synod of Eastern 
 Australia." These men were subsequently joined by others, 
 and from this small beginning sprang the important Church 
 which was afterwards established in the Colony. 
 
 The interest excited at home by these events was necessarily 
 great, and earnest efforts were made to do for Australia what 
 had been done with such good results in Canada. Mr. 
 M'Naughton of Paisley was invited to visit the Colony, and 
 he agreed to do so. But the arrangement for some reason 
 or another fell through. Other capable men, however, were 
 found ready to proceed to the Antipodes ; and in the Assembly 
 of 1851 the Convener of the Committee was able to submit 
 this report : " In 1844 there were only five adhering ministers 
 in the whole of the vast continent of Australia. This year 
 there are six in New South Wales, five in Victoria, two in 
 Australia Felix, and two in Van Diemen's Land, with three 
 
i86 IN THE COLONIES 
 
 students and one licentiate of the Presbytery of Sydney. 
 Others are on their way to join them, and there is some 
 reason to hope that a little body of six superior and devoted 
 young men may, ere this year closes, go together to that 
 distant and destitute land. In 18-45 there were no Presby- 
 terian churches in New Zealand. There is now one in 
 Otago, one in Nelson, and one in Auckland." 
 
 But Canada and Australia were not the only regions 
 to which the Free Church was able at the same time to 
 send help. It had stations also at Bermuda, Trinidad, and 
 Antigua in the West Indies ; at Calcutta, Agra, and Bombay 
 in India ; and at Malta and Gibraltar, Penang and Natal. 
 
 This chapter does not profess to give a history of the 
 Colonial Churches. Its object is simply to show what part 
 the Free Church took in the founding of them, and most 
 truly may it be said that in no connection so much as in 
 this was the benefit of the Disruption seen. Previously to 
 1843 a comparatively languid interest was taken in the 
 various provinces of Greater Britain, and no man could 
 be persuaded to go to any of them who could find a living 
 at home. The upheaval which then took place — the setting 
 of men loose from the restraints of an Establishment — dis- 
 posed not a few to look abroad, and by and by it came to 
 be no uncommon thing for ministers of recognised standing 
 and ability to accept calls from the Colonies. Among these, 
 for example, were Dr. Burns and Dr. Topp, who went to 
 Canada ; Dr. M'Leod, who went to the Lower Provinces ; 
 and Dr. Cairns of Cupar, Dr. Andrew Cameron, and Dr. 
 Campbell of Melrose, who went to Victoria. 
 
 In course of time, too, a great change came over the 
 Colonies themselves. The overcrowding at home moved an 
 increasing number of persons to seek homes in other lands, 
 and the discovery of gold drew multitudes especially to 
 
IN THE COLONIES 187 
 
 Australia. With the growth of the population the churches 
 there expanded, becoming to a large extent self-supporting, 
 so far as money was concerned, and by means of Colleges 
 of their own providing ministers for themselves. It came 
 to be seen, also, that it was needless to perpetuate the 
 divisions which still existed in Scotland, and unions were 
 consummated which have had the happiest results. And 
 now in all our greater Colonies are large and influential 
 bodies, each with a General Assembly of its own. 
 
 Toward the accomplishment of all this, no Presbyterian 
 Church has done so much as the Free Church. The man 
 who presided over its counsels during what we may call 
 the critical period of Colonial history was Dr. John Bonar, 
 and the minute submitted to the Assembly on the occasion 
 of his death was a very significant one. " The period," it 
 said [the period of his Convenership, extending from 1846 
 to 1863], "has been signalised by a spirit of emigration 
 unparalleled in the country's history, excited partly by the 
 crowding of the population at home, and partly by the dis- 
 covery of numerous goldfields. The Colonies, therefore, have 
 rapidly acquired a present importance, and a future prospect 
 of no ordinary magnitude. During that time there have been 
 upwards of three hundred carefully selected missionaries 
 sent by the Free Church to Colonial stations. ... It may 
 be confidently asserted that no other Presbyterian Church 
 has made exertions that can at all be compared with these 
 for meeting the spiritual exigencies of the nations of our 
 Colonial empire." 
 
 Hitherto reference has been made chiefly to Canada and 
 Australia, but of more recent years the attention of the 
 Church has been turned also in a marked way toward Africa. 
 In Cape Town it has been long represented, and also in 
 several other towns on the Coast. But it has not confined 
 
1 88 IN THE COLONIES 
 
 itself to these more settled regions. It has followed the 
 streams of emigration into the interior, and has provided 
 ordinances in the Diamond Fields and elsewhere. Belize 
 in Central America is likewise a station which it has 
 fostered, and strong positions are maintained by it in 
 Malta and Gibraltar. 
 
 It has been said that the first Convener of the Committee 
 was Dr. Welsh. He was, however, soon joined by the Eev. 
 John Sym of the New Grey friars, on whom the burden of 
 the work almost immediately fell. Mr. Sym was succeeded 
 in 1845 by Dr. James Buchanan, but in a year afterwards 
 he gave way to Dr. John Bonar, who filled the office for 
 about eighteen years. In 1864, Mr. Lewis Irving of Falkirk 
 and Principal Lumsden were appointed Joint-Conveners, and 
 they continued to act till 1868, when they gave way to 
 Dr. Adam. Dr. Adam, again, retired in favour of the Ptev. 
 P. G. Balfour, who occupied the chair for eight years. On 
 his resignation, in 1882, Dr. Burns of Kirkliston succeeded 
 to the office, and he has been followed since by Dr. Boog 
 Watson and Dr. P. S. Duff. In connection with the carry- 
 ing on of the work, the duties of the Secretary have been 
 important, and his post has been filled by a succession of 
 very competent men. The Church is under special obliga- 
 tions to Mr. James Balfour, W.S., who was the very first 
 Secretary of the Committee, from 1843 to 1849, and who, after 
 the office had been filled for four years by the Pev. John 
 Jaffray, resumed his place at that table in 1853, and con- 
 tinued to serve till 1863. Then occurred an interregnum 
 for a year, which was ended by the appointment of the Pev. 
 George Divorty. After him, in 1870, came the Pev. Peter 
 Hope. He was succeeded in 1879 by the Pev. J. Grant 
 Mackintosh, and he again, in 1892, by the Pev. G. Milne 
 Eae, D.D. 
 
IN THE COLONIES 189 
 
 The important services rendered by this scheme to the 
 Church have not, perhaps, been sufficiently appreciated. 
 Under the guidance of able directors, it has done an amount 
 of work for which it ought to get a great deal more credit 
 than it has received. It has often been justly said that no 
 Presbyterian Church is better known on the Continent of 
 Europe than the Free Church. It may be said with equal 
 confidence that no other Church of that order has had the 
 same measure of influence in moulding the great commun- 
 ities which now flourish in Canada and Australasia. We 
 have in no connection greater cause to look back with 
 satisfaction on our fifty years' history than on the records 
 of our Colonial enterprise.^ 
 
 The next Chalmers Lecturer is to be tlie Rev. R. G. Balfour, B.D. He is 
 to take up "The Colonies" as his special subject. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 ON THE CONTINENT 
 
 TT was in 1840 that a Sub-Committee of the Colonial 
 -*- Committee was appointed to care especially for the 
 Continent of Europe. This appears to have been the result 
 of a visit paid to the Mediterranean by a minister of the 
 Church, and who reported the presence of Presbyterians in 
 considerable numbers in several accessible localities. The 
 stations to which attention was first given were those of 
 Malta, Gibraltar, and Leghorn, and when the Disruption 
 came, the congregations in all these three places joined the 
 Free Church. 
 
 Leghorn enjoys a peculiar distinction, in that there 
 ground was first broken on the Continent proper. The work 
 may be said to have been begun by Dr. John (Piabbi) Duncan, 
 who, in the winter of 1842, was compelled by the state of 
 his health to leave Pesth and seek shelter in a warmer 
 climate. He then came to Italy, and under his eye a con- 
 gregation grew up in Leghorn, which ultimately called as 
 its minister Dr. Robert Stewart of Erskine. Dr. Stewart 
 was settled in 1845, a church built through his exertions 
 was opened in 1849, and there was then established in the 
 country an agency whose influence became incalculable in 
 the interest of evangelical religion. 
 
 Dr. Stewart did not think of himself as called to minister 
 merely to a few Presbyterians in a foreign country. He 
 
 190 
 
ON THE CONTINENT 191 
 
 assumed from the first the position of a missionary to Italy. 
 At the outset he could do little more than promote quietly 
 the circulation of the Scriptures, but as the cause of liberty 
 progressed, his scheme of operations extended, and he grew to 
 be known as the most influential friend of the Waldenses. 
 Through them the gospel has been carried into every consider- 
 able town in the country, and what they have been enabled 
 to do has been largely by the help of Dr. Stewart. By him, 
 for example, were raised the funds — £G000 in one case, and 
 £14,000 in the other — by means of which a theological 
 College was established in Florence, and a church in Rome. 
 He has also left a permanent memorial of himself in the 
 shape of a Commentary on the Gospels in Italian. 
 
 " I have no parchment to show to you," said Signor 
 Prochet in addressing the Free Church Assembly of 1874, 
 " with the name of Dr. Stewart on it as a citizen of the 
 Waldensian Alps. But if you ever come to these valleys, I 
 will show you twenty thousand living hearts upon which his 
 name is written in characters that can never be blotted out." 
 
 Experience had deeply impressed Dr. Stewart with a 
 sense of the importance of occupying in Italy other posts 
 besides Leghorn, and in 1848 he wrote earnestly pressing 
 for the settlement of a minister in Florence. This desire 
 was happily complied with, and on the 2Gth of September 
 1849 the station was formally opened by the Eev. B. M. 
 Hanna. Mr. Hanna died in 1856, and was succeeded in 
 1857 by Dr. John 11. M'Dougall, who was enabled to do for 
 the country of his adoption a service similar to that rendered 
 to it by Dr. Stewart. For the evangelisation of Italy a 
 number of agencies were brought into existence, and among 
 others that of the Chiesa Libera, the leading spirit in which 
 was the famous ex-Monk Gavazzi. This body Dr. M'Dougall 
 took by the hand, and it is the simple truth to say that but 
 
192 ON THE CONTINENT 
 
 for him it would never have attained to the dimensions it 
 has reached. 
 
 The Free Church in Florence has always held an 
 important position. It occupies a palace — an old historic 
 building in which, among others, Sir Walter Scott and 
 Napoleon once lived. It was bought in 1860 for less than 
 £3000, and is now worth double that sum. But for an 
 increase in the taxation, the income from the rents received 
 would make the congregation self-supporting. As Florence 
 stands, in a manner, at the gate of Italy, there is a constant 
 stream of travellers passing through it, and the minister is 
 apt to become discouraged when he sees no fruit of his 
 labours, until, says Dr. M'Dougall (and the remark applies 
 more or less to all our stations), " he makes the discovery 
 that he is not so much the minister of a Florence church, as 
 he is like the man who, leaning over the Carrais Bridge, 
 scatters seeds. The river carries them out to the sea, and 
 the ocean casts them up on every shore, so that, wherever 
 he travels or has correspondence, he finds that some of them 
 have taken root." 
 
 Although these were the two first of our Italian stations, 
 there was another place to which the eyes of the home 
 Church were directed earlier than at least to the occupation 
 of Florence. This was Rome. In 1846, Dr. Clason was 
 sent thither to see if there was an opening in the city for 
 evangelical work, and he reported so favourably that a 
 resolution was come to to send a minister in the succeeding 
 winter. For some reason, however, that resolution was not 
 carried into effect, and it was not till 1861—62 that the new 
 field was really entered. During several seasons thereafter 
 services were conducted by relays of ministers, but in 1864, 
 Dr. James Lewis, formerly of Leith, undertook the whole 
 work, and for eight successive winters, until 1872, when he 
 
ON THE CONTINENT 193 
 
 died, he continued to fill the charge with peculiar accept- 
 ability. After his death the old system was revived of send- 
 ing a succession of men from home, and while it lasted, 
 ministers of the Established and U.P. Churches were 
 associated with those of the Free Church in the conduct 
 of the services. But, in 1881, Dr. Gordon Gray was trans- 
 lated from Naples, and the station at Eome came to be placed 
 again under one settled pastor. 
 
 In the time of Dr. Lewis a church had been built outside 
 the gate, but when the establishment of a kingdom of Italy 
 brought greater freedom, a new structure, containing church 
 and manse, etc., was raised in a more convenient situation,, 
 at the cost of £13,500. 
 
 Here, too, it may be said, the minister of the Free Church 
 does not confine his attentions to the foreign visitors. He 
 acts as agent for the National Bible Society of Scotland, and 
 under his care is a high-class school for girls, in which the 
 young people of the better class of Eoman families receive a 
 thoroughly Christian education. 
 
 The station at Genoa was commenced in 1853, when the 
 Eev. David Kay began to minister to a congregation largely 
 composed of Scotch engineers and their families. He was 
 succeeded in 1862 by Mr. Collie, and he again in 1867 by 
 Mr. A. Van Millingen. Mr. Van Millingen remained for but 
 one year, and in 1869 the charge was undertaken by the 
 Eev. Donald Miller, whose services as a Continental minister 
 came to be notable in many ways. By his exertions a 
 handsome building was erected, containing a church and 
 manse ; but his strength was expended not so much in that 
 direction as in the maintenance of a Mission to Sailors, large 
 numbers of whom were continually resorting to the port. 
 First, an old hulk was purchased and converted into a 
 " Bethel," a missionary and colporteur being engaged to visit 
 13 
 
194 ON THE CONTINENT 
 
 the ships. Next, when the hulk was condemned as unsafe, 
 a new floating institute was erected, with rooms for the agents, 
 and a chapel capable of holding one hundred men ; a steam 
 launch being at the same time provided to bring the congrega- 
 tion on board. Finally, this last Bethel gave way to a 
 Sailors' Kest on shore, which has been fitted out in the most 
 perfect way for the ends which it is intended to serve. The 
 attendance on the services held in this connection has averaged 
 10,000 a year. 
 
 Mr. Miller's interest, it must be added, has not been 
 confined to Genoa. He has given effective help to the 
 Waldenses, and as Clerk of the Presbytery of Italy, his 
 services, in organisation, have been most valuable. 
 
 It was largely owing to the appeals of Dr. Stewart that 
 Florence and Eome were occupied. His hand was still more 
 directly concerned in the occupation of Naples. One of his 
 assistants at Leghorn had been the Rev. A. F. Buscarlet. Mr. 
 Buscarlet, though educated in Edinburgh at the New College, 
 was a Swiss by birth, and well acquainted with French and 
 Italian. Him Dr. Stewart sent, in 1861, to see what open- 
 ing for work there was at Naples. His reception, to begin 
 with, was not encouraging ; but he persevered, and by and by 
 he was enabled to gather a congregation, to build (at the cost 
 of £10,000) church, manse, and mission premises, and to 
 establish schools (among others the Mackean Bentinck 
 Institute, which Mr. Buscarlet himself speaks of as " the 
 finest institution of the kind in Italy ") which have been of 
 the greatest benefit to the rising generation of the country. 
 In connection with this station, also, there has been carried 
 on a good work among the sailors. The floating Bethel 
 which could not be used in Genoa was brought to Naples, 
 and there it is the centre of active missionary operations. 
 
 After Italy, the country which has received most attention 
 
ON THE CONTINENT 195 
 
 from the Free Church has been Switzerland. The first place 
 to be occupied there was Montreux. This was due to the 
 residence in the neighbourhood of three excellent ladies, the 
 Misses Harley from Glasgow. For three years — from 1864 
 to 1867 — a weekly Bible reading meeting was held in their 
 house, and a circle of good people was thus gathered around 
 them. Some of these came to wish for ordinances of a fuller 
 kind; and as about the same time (1867) Dr. Thomson of 
 Paisley had conceived the idea of seeking to send more men 
 to preach on the Continent, an arrangement was reached 
 whereby Mr. Thomson of Salton was commissioned to spend 
 a winter in Montreux. The services thus commenced were 
 continued from year to year, different men in succession 
 undertaking the work. In 1872 a church, costing about 
 £2500, was opened by Dr. Horatius Bonar ; and in 1891 
 the Eev. William Milne, late of Calcutta, was settled as the 
 regular pastor. 
 
 In 1866 ground was broken in Lausanne, when an attempt 
 was made to collect a congregation by means of occasional 
 supply. But the experiment did not prove successful, and, 
 after two years, the services were discontinued. They were 
 resumed, however, in 1874 by Mr. Buscarlet of Naples, who 
 was persuaded to move into this new field. IJesults have 
 shown that it was a wise step wliich was then taken. 
 Lausanne is full of schools, to which a large number of young 
 people from this country are sent. To these Mr. Buscarlet 
 gave devoted attention, and after a number of years he was 
 able to report the completion of a beautiful church (costing 
 £3400), the gathering into it of an excellent congregation, 
 the formation of a Bible class with an attendance of nearly 
 one hundred, and the admission to the Lord's Table of no 
 fewer than 130 young people. 
 
 The summer stations of Lucerne and Interlaken owe 
 
196 ON THE CONTINENT 
 
 their institution to Principal Brown of Aberdeen. He spent 
 some time in Switzerland in 1867, and while there he 
 was impressed by the importance of providing evangelical 
 ordinances for the numerous travellers passing through the 
 country. With the help of a local canon, he persuaded the 
 municipal authorities of Lucerne to grant the use of a 
 Eoman Catholic church, the Maria Hilf, for Presbyterian 
 services, and, aided by Sir William Mackinnon, he was 
 equally successful in securing in Interlaken, for the same 
 ends, the Sacristy of the Schloss. The grant of the Maria 
 Hilf was, after a great many years, withdrawn, and our 
 services have since been conducted in a school ; but both at 
 Lucerne and Interlaken the stations have flourished, and year 
 after year fresh men are encouraged by the large audiences 
 which gather to hear the gospel in them. 
 
 Other two stations were commenced in 1881, at the 
 suggestion of Mr. Lennox Kennedy of New York, who gave 
 £1000 for the purpose of opening up new fields. They are 
 at Pontresina and St. Moritz in the Upper Engadine, and their 
 establishment has been followed by very satisfactory results. 
 In general they have been supplied by Dr. Gordon Gray, who 
 has gone thither at the conclusion of the Eoman season. 
 
 It has been the aim of the Church to occupy as many 
 places as possible, and tentative services have, in consequence, 
 been held in quite a number of localities. In some of these 
 the encouragement offered has not been such as to warrant 
 the establishment of regular stations ; in others, the experi- 
 ment may be said to be still going on. The places thus 
 entered in Switzerland have been Geneva, Grindelwald, 
 Zermatt, and Chamounix. 
 
 The interest taken in France has not been less than that 
 which has been manifested in Italy and Switzerland. Paris 
 was not touched because of the understanding come to that 
 
ON THE CONTINENT 197 
 
 the Scottish Churches were to respect each other's operations. 
 The Established Church had entered Paris, and tlierefore the 
 Free Church passed it by — which seems almost a pity, for 
 in so large a city there was little risk of collision, and the 
 one cause might have helped the other. 
 
 The station of Pau, in the Pyrenees, was begun by the 
 Ptev. James Johnston, formerly of China, and the Kev. George 
 Brown, both of whom had made the place a health resort in 
 1856. Mr. Brown was ordained to the charge in 1858, 
 and under his care it has prospered — a new and handsome 
 church being built at the cost of £1300 in 1860. Mr. 
 Brown at a still earlier period — in the winter of 1854-55 — 
 may be said also to have been at the beginning of our work 
 in Cannes. At that time he held, at the request of some of 
 the visitors, services in a private house, and thus suggested 
 the idea which was carried out later. Happily for this part 
 of the Iliviera, it had attracted to it several Free Church 
 people of eminence, — among others. Lord Dalhousie, Lord 
 Kintore, and Lady Emma M'Neill, — and through their influ- 
 ence a regular supply of ministers was secured from Scotland. 
 This arrangement continued till 1885, when Mr. Minto was 
 settled as the permanent minister ; and now, with a manse 
 and church of its own, the station is established on a basis 
 which promises to make it a lasting means of blessing. With 
 yet another station Mr. Brown has been intimately identified 
 — that of Biarritz, on the Bay of Biscay. It is a winter 
 resort, and with a year's intermission it has been supplied by 
 men from home since 1881. 
 
 Nice was sanctioned as a charge in 1856, when the 
 Ptev. James Smith, formerly of Greenock, became its minister. 
 He was succeeded by the liev. A. liurn Murdoch, to whom 
 more than to any other the Church is indebted for giving 
 stability to the work. Through his exertions a church and 
 
198 ON THE CONTINENT 
 
 manse were provided, which are still in occupation by the 
 minister in charge. After the death of Mr. Burn Murdoch, 
 the station at Nice was for a number of years under the care 
 of the well-known Indian missionary, Dr. Murray MitcheW. 
 
 Another of the Kiviera charges is Mentone, in which 
 services have been held since 1868. At first these were of 
 the occasional kind; but, after the earthquake in 1887, the 
 Rev. J. E. Somerville was sent in successive seasons to the 
 place, and such a measure of success followed his labours 
 that he was urged to remain in permanence. That he agreed 
 to do ; and under his care the station has prospered greatly. 
 Mentone, as is well known, was a favourite resort of Mr. 
 Spurgeon. He and Mr. Somerville became warm friends, 
 and it was with his hearty approbation that steps were taken 
 for the building of a church. That enterprise has been 
 completed. A beautiful building has been erected, at the cost 
 of over £3000. It was opened, free of debt, by Mr. Spurgeon 
 on 29th January 1891. 
 
 The only other locality in France where the Free Church 
 is represented is Aix-les- Bains, a health resort much 
 frequented in summer by people afflicted with rheumatism. 
 Here there is a Protestant Home for Invalids, attached to 
 which is a small church capable of holding a hundred people. 
 To the desirableness of occupying this field the attention of 
 the Church was called some sixteen years ago, and of late 
 services have been conducted in it during May and June, 
 chiefly by Mr. Minto of Cannes. The congregation, we are 
 told, and can well believe, is always an interesting one. 
 
 Although it is principally in Italy, Switzerland, and 
 France that the Free Church is to be met with, yet there 
 are several other Continental countries in which her influence 
 has been felt. Among these are Spain, Portugal, Austria, 
 and Turkey. In Spain, one of her oldest stations is that of 
 
ON THE CONTINENT 199 
 
 CTibraltar. So early as 1841 the Church of Scotland sent 
 out a minister to care for the soldiers that might be of her 
 communion there ; and in 1843 the Presbyterian congrega- 
 tion which had been formed on the liock, along with its 
 minister, joined the Free Church. It was only in 1849, 
 however, that it was recognised formally as one of our 
 stations. After that date it was visited by a succession of 
 men until 185 5, when a settled minister — tlie Eev. A. 
 Sutherland of Dunfermline — was appointed to the charge. 
 He was succeeded in 18G8 by the liev. T. Coventry; and 
 he again in 1885 by the present minister, the Eev. Thomas 
 Murray. A new church, costing with site £5000, was opened 
 in 1854. 
 
 Other two Spanish stations have generally been supplied 
 by Free Church ministers, — those of Huelva and Eio Tinto, 
 — but they have been supported by the English company 
 working the mines in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Lisbon is the only place in Portugal where the Free 
 Church is represented. The needs of the British colony 
 there led to the Pev. Pobert Stewart being sent out in 1866. 
 Through his exertions, the Convent and Church of the 
 Mariannos were purchased for the mission, and accommoda- 
 tion provided in them not only for Presbyterian services, etc., 
 but also for the residence of the minister. After twelve 
 years' service, Mr. Stewart was obliged to retire on account 
 of the state of his health. He was succeeded by the Eev. 
 A. D. Paterson, who filled the post for five years. And he 
 again has been followed by the Eev. E. M. Lithgow. In 
 connection with the congregation are a mission to the 
 Portuguese and a day school for boys and girls. The old 
 convent property is very extensive, and a portion of it being 
 let as an English pension, helps to endow the church. 
 
 In Austria there are three Free Church stations. One of 
 
200 ON THE CONTINENT 
 
 these is at Vienna, to which a large number of medical 
 students resort both from this country and America. For 
 their benefit and that of the English-speaking residents and 
 governesses, services were begun in 1884, and the encourage- 
 ment given was so decided that it was almost immediately 
 resolved to establish in the city a regular station. This was 
 done in 1886, when the Eev. Frank Gordon undertook the 
 charge. During the months of June, July, and August, 
 Vienna is deserted by as many as can find means to leave it, 
 and the accessible health resorts become crowded. One of 
 these is Carlsbad, and there Mr. Gordon has for some years 
 set up a regular summer station, which has been much 
 appreciated. 
 
 The third Austrian town in which services have been 
 commenced is Prague in Bohemia. Here a Jewish mission 
 was for some time maintained, but it was found too un- 
 promising to be continued. Our missionary, however, the 
 Eev. James Pirie, preferred to remain in the place where he 
 had laboured so long, and the Continental Committee gladly 
 accepted his offer to conduct, during the season, a regular 
 English service. The station so instituted has been well 
 supported, and has been the means of doing much good. 
 
 The congregation at Constantinople has not been formally 
 under the control of the Free Church. It has been a Union 
 Church, in which the Americans have had an interest. But 
 it has been for many years supplied from this country, and it 
 is a Free Church minister, Mr. Anderson, who is now in 
 charge of the station. 
 
 One other place must be noticed before we close this 
 review. It is the island of Malta. As has already been 
 indicated, the home Church interested itself in it at a very 
 early period, and that interest has been maintained ever since. 
 It has become one of our most important and influential 
 
ON THE CONTINENT 201 
 
 stations, the ministers in charge having for long occupied the 
 position of chaplains to the Presbyterian soldiers. With one 
 name in particular the work has been associated for many 
 years, Dr. Wisely having been appointed to the island 
 in 1854. 
 
 The conduct of this branch of the Church's work was, 
 to begin with, in the hands of the Colonial Committee. A 
 special Committee of Assembly was indeed appointed in 
 1845, with Dr. Lorimer as its Convener, to maintain cor- 
 respondence with the Continental Churches, and much 
 interesting work was done by it — deputies like Dr. Merle 
 dAubigne and the Monods being received with extraordinary 
 •enthusiasm. But the forming of stations was reckoned 
 Colonial business, and it was not till 18G8 that a separate 
 Continental Committee was constituted, and entrusted with 
 the oversight of all matters connected with the Continent in 
 any way. 
 
 Of this Committee the Eev. Dr. E. W. Stewart was the 
 first Chairman and Secretary. He, however, continued for 
 only one year. In 1869 he was succeeded by Sheriff 
 Cleghorn, and he again by Mr. David Maclagan, who 
 occupied the chair, first by himself from 1875 to 1878, then 
 in conjunction with Colonel Young between 1879 and 1882, 
 and again by himself till 1883. In 1878-79, Mr. James 
 Stevenson was Convener, but he resigned after a year's 
 experience; and in 1883, Mr. Brown Douglas, advocate, took 
 his place and guided the enterprise till 1886. Mr. James 
 Balfour, W.S., in that year was appointed to the office of 
 Convener, and retained it till 1893, when he was succeeded 
 by Mr. F. A. Brown Douglas, junior, advocate. 
 
 The office of Secretary has been filled by the Eev. George 
 Divorty, the Bev. Peter Hope, the Eev. J. Grant Mackintosh, 
 and the Eev. G. ^Milne Eae, D.D. 
 
202 ON THE CONTINENT 
 
 No scheme of the Church has been carried on with more 
 vigour and wisdom and success, A succession of circum- 
 stances — among others the visits paid by distinguished 
 foreigners to the General Assembly after the Disruption — led 
 to the early awakening of a warm interest in the Continent, 
 and, despite the burdens which it was called on to bear at 
 home, the Free Church responded with extraordinary readi- 
 ness to the appeals which came to it from abroad. What 
 helped, also, to forward its work of extension was the raising 
 up of so many who were found singularly qualified for the 
 carrying on of Continental work — men such as Dr. Stewart, 
 Dr. M'Dougall, Mr. Miller, and Mr. Buscarlet. By their 
 means and that of others, quite a number of stations have 
 been established on an enduring basis, and property created 
 amounting in value to over £80,000. It may be added that the 
 Committee has been highly favoured with Conveners. They 
 have been all laymen, but they have been among the best men 
 in the Church, and under their superintendence a position has 
 been gained for the Free Church on the Continent which has 
 made it better known there than any other Presbyterian 
 communion in the world. 
 
CHAPTEIi XIV 
 
 SABT5ATII SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 
 
 I. Scibbatli Schools 
 
 rpHE completeness of the survey which Dr. Welsh took at 
 -*- tlie Disruption of the educational wants of Scotland 
 has already been illustrated in various connections. But 
 here is another example of his far sight. " A very general 
 feeling," he said in the Assembly of 1843, "seems to prevail, 
 that under the new arrangements the Sabbath school should 
 be recognised as one of the stated congregational means of 
 grace in connection with the Church." 
 
 Up to this time the importance of the position of the 
 Sabbath school had been by no means realised, and even 
 so late as 1850 we find a minister of some prominence 
 expressing his dislike to the forming within the Free Church 
 of any distinct organisation having the support of these schools 
 as its aim. 
 
 But the necessity of giving religious instruction to the 
 youth of the country was too constantly present to the men 
 who left the Establishment to allow of any slackness in the 
 prosecution of the enterprise, and few things are more notable 
 in our history than the rapidity with which the scheme grew 
 and prospered. What helped to that end was, no doubt, the 
 fact that so many of those who had begun to teach before the 
 Disruption joined the Free Church. Dr. Welsh reported, on 
 the authority of one likely to know, that all the Sabbath- 
 
 203 
 
204 SABBATH SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 
 
 school teachers in Edinburgh had done so ; and although, he 
 admitted, the statement might have to be received with 
 deductions, yet it was notorious that a very large proportion of 
 those who had been engaged in Christian work had come 
 under the influence of the evangelical movement, and hence 
 were likely to be found in the Free Church. 
 
 At first the Sabbath School Scheme was placed under a 
 Sub-Committee of the Education Committee, and excellent 
 work was done by it. In 1845 a report was submitted, in 
 which it was said that 916 schools had been established, with 
 4248 teachers and 50,472 scholars. It was also intimated 
 that a Children's Missionary Becorcl had been commenced. 
 And ministers were recommended to preach now and then to 
 the young, and to look after the founding of mission schools. 
 
 In 1850 the Convener of the Sub-Committee was Sheriff 
 Maitland Heriot of liamornie. It is right that his services 
 as such should be gratefully remembered, for the reports 
 given in by him in these and subsequent years are exceedingly 
 thoughtful and suggestive. He was able to speak of decided 
 progress. The number of schools was now 1180, with 6714 
 teachers and 75,290 scholars. His Committee had been 
 taking steps for promoting the efficiency of the teachers — 
 several men (among others, Mr. Arnot, Mr. Tasker, and Mr. 
 Campbell of Melrose) having given lectures with that view 
 in various places ; arrangements had been made also for the 
 supply of Bibles to schools ; and the Assembly was asked 
 to appoint representatives of the Committee in the different 
 Presbyteries of the Church. A number of suggestions were 
 added, and among these the adoption of measures to prevent 
 lapsing among the young people leaving the Sabbath school. 
 
 The report for 1851 was still more remarkable. It 
 supplied a list of all schools in the Church, with the number 
 of their teachers and scholars. It told of what was being 
 
SABBATH SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 205 
 
 done by those Presbyteries which were specially concerning 
 themselves about the work. And it offered a number of 
 recommendations, whose value has not been lessened by the 
 lapse of time, for example, it was asked that ministers 
 should have a careful census taken up of each parish, and 
 adopt means for bringing the neglected and careless into their 
 Sabbath schools ; that no Sabbath scholar should be permitted 
 simply to drop off" a roll and disappear ; that each scholar 
 should be passed, on reaching a certain age, to a Bible class ; 
 and that each Presbytery should require periodical reports 
 as to the attendance, etc., of the schools within its bounds. 
 It was also asked whether, in large towns, there might not be 
 an experiment tried of a church for neglected children, and 
 whether nothing could be done for reaching the children of 
 the upper classes. Finally, the Committee expressed their 
 satisfaction that some ministers addressed their young people 
 every Sabbath Day, and suggested that divinity students 
 should be pressed " not merely personally to teach a class in 
 a Sabbath school, but to acquire the habit of addressing 
 children in numbers, and of conducting their devotions shortly 
 and simply." As a significant evidence of the increased 
 interest which was being taken in the enterprise, it was 
 mentioned that the circulation of tlie Cldldren's Record had 
 increased, during the year, by 10,000. 
 
 During this and the following years the published statistics 
 show steady progress. In 1851 there were 8506 teachers 
 and 99,090 scholars, while in 1852 the numbers had risen 
 to 9122 and 103,945 respectively. 
 
 For some time after this the subject does not seem to have 
 been brought so prominently before the Church at large. At 
 least, we do not find it reported upon in the General Assembly. 
 In 1855, however, the interest is revived, when, with Mr. 
 William Dickson as Convener of the Sub-Committee, Dr. 
 
2o6 SABBATH SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 
 
 Candlish is requested to ask the Hovise for help towards the 
 removal of a small debt which had been incurred. The 
 appeal then made, as we learn from the report of 1856, was 
 not responded to very generously, and for a succession of years 
 we read of complaints being submitted of extraordinary 
 indifference to the business of sending replies to schedules. 
 But Mr. Dickson was not daunted by this evidence of what 
 appeared to be want of heart in the enterprise. He persevered 
 in his endeavours to quicken the enthusiasm of the Church, 
 and he succeeded so far as to make his annual statements 
 increasingly interesting and instructive. It was only in 
 1863, however, that he was able to place before the Church 
 a fairly full table of statistics, and the results shown were 
 as follows: — Sabbath schools, 1903; senior classes, 943; 
 teachers, 12,563; scholars, 141,717. 
 
 Ten years later another great step was taken. In 1873 
 the Church practically recognised the Sabbath school as an 
 integral part of her ecclesiastical system, by taking a more 
 direct and official oversight of the whole work, and the scholars 
 had by that time increased to 151,848, the teachers to 
 13,815. 
 
 In 1883 the progress made by the Scheme was shown to 
 be still more marked. The number of young people under 
 instruction had now risen to 201,345, and the number of 
 teachers to 17,890, while more than 80,000 of the Clnldrens 
 Record were reported to be in circulation monthly, and £5009 
 to have been collected during the year for missionary objects. 
 
 During the next decade the advance achieved was not 
 quite so notable. The field had at last been fairly well 
 occupied by the Free and other Churches. But in 1893 
 there were no signs of backgoing. Then, it was reported, 
 there were 222,035 in our schools and classes; that these 
 were under the care of 18,946 teachers; and that the 
 
SABBATH SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 207 
 
 missionary contributions for the year bad amounted to 
 £6275. 
 
 For tbirty-one years — from 1855 to 188G — the Sabbath 
 school enterprise was directed by Mr. William Dickson, and 
 it was largely to him that its remarkable success was due. 
 His annual statements came to be looked forward to in the 
 Assemblies with ever-increasing expectation, and it grew to 
 be a matter of constant wonder that he was able to present 
 his subjects in aspects so various that a sense of freshness 
 was given to each. But the explanation was not far to seek. 
 He was not content with merely gathering statistics. He 
 was always the vigilant and wide-awake superintendent of 
 the work, on the outlook for new ideas and new methods, and 
 in his annual reports he showed himself ever up to date, 
 informing the Church as to what had been attempted and 
 achieved, and making suggestions as to the future. 
 
 These reports, indeed, can never be overlooked, either by 
 those who want to know the history of Sabbath schools, or by 
 those who desire hints for practical purposes. At an early 
 period Mr. Dickson was able to make an arrangement for 
 their free circulation among all the teachers of the Church in 
 Scotland, and the arrangement has happily been continued 
 till now, every year one friend or another of the cause 
 voluntarily undertaking to bear the expense. Perhaps the 
 expectation that they would be diffused so widely has had 
 its effect in leading to their being prepared with particular 
 care. 
 
 Mr. Dickson was succeeded in the Convenership by Mr. J. 
 S. Ferrier, and the report which he laid before the Assembly 
 of 189.3 was one of the most elaborate and interesting of 
 the kind which has yet been published. That year, however, 
 Mr. Ferrier's term of office came to an end, and Mr. J. C. 
 Eobertson of Glasgow was appointed in his room. 
 
2o8 SABBATH SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 
 
 II. Welfare, of Youth 
 
 From the beginning of the Sabbath school enterprise 
 the desire was once and again expressed that something 
 special could be done for the young people of older growth 
 in the Church, but it was not till 1872 that any definite 
 step was taken in that direction. Then a Committee of 
 Assembly was appointed, with Dr. Charles Brown and Mr. 
 David Maclagan as Joint-Conveners, to consider the subject, 
 and that Committee in 1873 submitted a report, in which 
 an indication was given of the ends which it was thought 
 ought to be kept in view. 
 
 Among these ends were the promotion of denominational 
 loyalty among our young men, and the quickening of their 
 intelligence by means of lectures, literary associations, and 
 advanced classes. 
 
 And the Committee was not slack in carrying out its 
 own suggestions. Arrangements were made for a more 
 careful oversight of the young people, and courses of lectures 
 on the evidences, etc., were given in several of our chief 
 towns. But it was not till 1878 that the scheme attained 
 to the position which it has ever since maintained. 
 
 In 1875, Dr. Alexander Whyte was appointed Joint- 
 Convener of the Committee in room of Dr. Charles Brown, 
 and it is to him beyond all others that the credit is due of 
 having secured for the enterprise the outstanding place which 
 it has now occupied for so many years. The plans finally 
 adopted were not matured all at once. The Committee in 
 1876, in referring with satisfaction to the Bible Handbooks 
 which Messrs. T. & T. Clark were about to publish, gave some 
 hint of the line they proposed to take, but two more years 
 were allowed to pass before they were able to submit their 
 completed plan. Then, in 1878, Dr. Whyte laid before the 
 
SABBATH SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 209 
 
 Church the scheme with which it is now familiar, and in the 
 construction of which he was effectively assisted by Mr. 
 Simeon MacPhail, who was now appointed to succeed Mr. 
 Maclagan in the Joint-Convenership. 
 
 The scheme consisted in prescribing to the youth of the 
 Church certain subjects for study with text-books attached 
 — in setting at the end of the season common examination 
 papers to all competitors — and in offering, as rewards, prizes 
 in money or books and certificates of different value — the 
 names of the prize-takers being read out in the General 
 Assembly. 
 
 An enterprise like this could not be carried on except at 
 considerable expense. For a number of years the needed 
 funds were collected mainly by Mr. Ferguson of Kinmundy ; 
 but in 1893 its standing as a distinct Church agency was 
 recognised in a formal way, by its being declared entitled to 
 share in a general — the Education — collection. 
 
 A remarkable amount of interest has been manifested 
 in this effort. In the very first year of its existence, as 
 many as 18,000 young people were known to be study- 
 ing one or other of the subjects prescribed, and of these 
 1400 came forward to compete for the prizes. Since 
 its institution various modifications have been made on the 
 scheme or its manner of working, but its main features 
 continue to be practically unchanged ; and that the interest in 
 it is main/;ained, is proved by the circumstance that in 1893 
 the number of competitors had considerably more than 
 doubled. Simultaneous examinations take place every year 
 in between three and four hundred centres. 
 
 What the effects have been of this endeavour to promote 
 
 the intelligence of the Church it would be difficult to say, 
 
 but no one who has ever been present in the Assembly when 
 
 Dr. Whyte was giving in his report, and seen the galleries 
 
 14 
 
2IO SABBATH SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 
 
 crowded with young people eager to hear the result of the 
 examinations, can have any doubt about the amount of 
 interest which has been awakened in the scheme, or question 
 the certainty of its telling materially on the rising 
 generation. 
 
 Dr. Whyte has now retired from the convenership of the 
 Committee, his place being taken by Professor Salniond. To 
 both in this connection the Church has been greatly indebted, 
 but to neither of them, perhaps, does the scheme owe more 
 than to Mr. James and Mr. Eobert Simson (especially the 
 former), who have devoted themselves unsparingly to promote 
 its success. 
 
 A new departure was taken in 1885, when the Assembly 
 approved of a proposal which had been made the year before, 
 and which had in the interval been carefully considered by 
 a Committee, to establish a " Free Church of Scotland Guild." 
 Its objects were stated to be — 
 
 (1) To combine and develop existing agencies in connec- 
 tion with the youth of the Church. 
 
 (2) To promote the formation of new agencies. 
 
 (3) By organisation to give opportunity for concerted 
 action. 
 
 (4) Generally to further the religious, intellectual, and 
 social well-being of the youth of the Church. 
 
 The scheme has been prosecuted with great energy, and 
 has achieved in various ways very satisfactory results. In 
 1893 it was reported that affiliated with it were 361 
 societies. These are represented, year by year, at a meeting 
 held now in one town, now in another, and in which addresses 
 are given by men of influence in the Church. A monthly 
 journal also has been established — " Youth " — which has 
 been largely helpful in furthering the ends aimed at in the 
 institution. By its means the youth of the Church have 
 
SABBATH SCHOOLS AND THE YOUNG 211 
 
 been induced to contribute essays, tales, and poems, and 
 even works of art ; and every month, as we are assured, " the 
 foremost of our young men and women in every quarter of 
 the country, even to its remotest districts, have sent in papers 
 showing wide reading, careful reflection, due appreciation of 
 facts, and frequently imaginative and literary powers of great 
 promise." In addition to all these works, the Guild issues 
 yearly a scheme of " Daily Bible Eeadings," which have been 
 largely circulated, and has undertaken to support one or two 
 missionaries in some of the villages of India. 
 
 The compulsory system of education which now prevails 
 in Scotland has, without any question, contributed largely to 
 the spread of intelligence throughout the country, but the 
 very pressure put upon teachers by the School Board in 
 connection with secular education has necessarily tended to 
 diminish the amount of the everyday religious training of 
 the young, and thus imposes a more urgent obligation on the 
 Churches to do all they can to supply the lack. There 
 seems more need than ever, therefore, to make much of the 
 Sabbath school, and also of those higher agencies which seek 
 the welfare of young men and young women. It is satis- 
 factory to know that especially in the latter connection the 
 Free Church has been receiving of recent years very decided 
 encouragement to go forward ; for, apart from the special 
 means which have been referred to above, there has perhaps 
 been no period in its history when so much attention has 
 been given to the conduct of Bible classes, or so much success 
 has followed the endeavour to make them useful. 
 
CHAPTEE XV 
 
 THE CAEDKOSS CASE AND SPIKITUAL INDEPENDENCE 
 
 QiEVENTEEN years after the Disruption, the question came 
 ^ to he raised, in an unexpected way, of whether the Eree 
 Church had not, after all, made its many sacrifices in vain. 
 Mr. MacMillan, minister at Cardross, was accused of several 
 offences, certain of which were found proven by all the Courts 
 of the Church. But in connection with one particular charge 
 there was not the like unanimity, and the procedure followed 
 with reference to it seemed to many to be peculiar if not 
 questionable. His Presbytery acquitted him of the charge, 
 and its sentence was not appealed against ; but when the case 
 went to the Synod, it was argued that it was within the 
 competency of that Court to look at the whole case, the count 
 not appealed against included ; and this position was sustained 
 by the General Assembly. The result was that in the Court 
 of final appeal the entire case, as it was originally submitted 
 to the Presbytery, was gone into — the whole evidence was 
 laid before the judges — and the guilt of the accused party 
 having, as was thought, been established, he was suspended 
 from the office of the ministry. 
 
 Here, it may be admitted, was a question about which a 
 difference of opinion might very well exist. The decision 
 come to did not practically affect Mr. MacMillan very much, 
 because there was matter enous-h in the other counts to 
 ensure his condemnation. But he had undoubtedly some 
 
 212 
 
CARDROSS CASE AND SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE 213 
 
 conceivable warrant for believing that wrong was done to 
 him, when a charge of which he was acquitted in the Court 
 below was revived against him in the Courts above. This was, 
 in fact, the view which he took up ; and, smarting under a 
 sense of what he regarded as injustice, he hastily took a step 
 which brought him no comfort in the end, but which made 
 him. for a time the hero of a movement which the enemies of 
 the Free Church and of spiritual independence viewed with 
 open delight. He applied to the Court of Session for an 
 interdict. 
 
 The step was heard of in the Assembly with indignation. 
 The Lord Ordinary for the day (Lord Kinloch) was, indeed, 
 too prudent to fall into the snare. He refused to grant the 
 interdict craved. But the offence committed was the same. 
 In a Church whose fundamental principle it was that it 
 behoved to be left free from external authority to exercise 
 discipline upon its own members, a minister had been found 
 prepared to throw the principle to the winds when he had a 
 private end of liis own to serve ; and the act of rebellion 
 could not be winked at. Mr. MacMillan was forthwith 
 summoned to the bar of the Assembly, and upon his admitting 
 that he had really appealed to Ciesar on what was regarded 
 as a spiritual matter, he was dealt with as one who had been 
 taken red-handed, and deposed on the spot. 
 
 Different opinions have been held as to the wisdom of 
 this summary method of administering justice ; but whatever 
 may be thought about it, one result followed which might 
 have been anticipated. It did not improve the temper of 
 the delinquent, or incline him to resile from the position he 
 had taken up. He was now, in a manner, outlawed, and the 
 next thing heard about him was that he had raised in the 
 Civil Courts an action against the General Assembly, naming 
 certain persons as specially representing it, and concluding 
 
214 THE CARD ROSS CASE AND 
 
 for the reduction of the spiritual sentences and for damages 
 to a large amount. 
 
 The case was one in which the interest felt was for a 
 time consuming. Many had always been of opinion that 
 those who had joined the Free Church had become schismatics 
 by mistake — that there was no such thing possible as the 
 liberty for which they had left the Establishment ; and they 
 now expected that this would be demonstrated. On the other 
 hand, it was admitted that the question might have come 
 up in a form more favourable for the Free Church. The 
 regularity of the procedure, to begin with, was undoubtedly 
 debateable, and the summary deposition of a man for what 
 would, of course, be regarded by them as a very venial offence 
 — that of appealing to themselves for protection — was not 
 likely to induce the judges to take a very friendly view of 
 the situation. 
 
 Mr. MacMillan's first demand had been for an interdict 
 to prevent the Presbytery of Dumbarton from preaching his 
 church vacant, and this was refused by Lord Kinloch as 
 incompetent. After his deposition, his second action was 
 directed not only against the General Assembly, its Moderator 
 and Clerks, but also against Drs. Candlish and Bannermau, who 
 had moved and seconded the sentence of deposition that had 
 been passed upon him. This second appeal met, to begin with, 
 the same fate as the first — the Lord Ordinary (Lord Benholm) 
 declaring that it did not fall within the province of the Civil 
 Courts to review ecclesiastical judgments. Against these con- 
 clusions, however, an appeal was taken to the Inner House, the 
 First Division of the Court, and there a preliminary decision 
 was given which at first startled the Church and produced an 
 immense sensation throughout the country. Mr. MacMillan 
 asked that the defendants should be ordered to bring with 
 them, and produce, the sentence, resolution, or proceedings, 
 
SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE 215 
 
 and whole ground or warrants upon which the same proceeded. 
 This, in the jargon of the Courts, was called " satisfying 
 production," and at the first blush of it, when the demand was 
 complied with, the expression was viewed with the greatest 
 suspicion. The idea suggested was that it implied on the 
 part of the Law Lords an assertion of their old right to re- 
 view judicially all ecclesiastical proceedings, and the cry was 
 instantly raised that the demand must be resisted at all 
 hazards. But soberer and more sensible counsels soon 
 prevailed. It was explained that, in the decree, no invasion 
 was contemplated on the liberties of the Church. All that 
 was sought was reliable information on the subject submitted. 
 That, as was soon seen, the authorities had quite a right to 
 ask, and the Church had no interest in refusing. 
 
 " Production " accordingly was " satisfied." The Court 
 was put in full possession of all that it wanted to know. 
 And the case went to trial. 
 
 The importance attached to the questions now raised was 
 illustrated in the character and position of the counsel engaged 
 on either side. Of the seven men chosen to speak for the 
 two parties, six lived to ascend the Bench — the Free Church 
 advocates being Lord Moncreiff, Lord Young, and Lord 
 Hutherfurd Clark. How Mr. MacMillan was able to fight 
 such a battle is well understood. He was regarded as 
 representing a cause, and was privately supported in 
 maintaining that cause by those who sympathised with its 
 aims. 
 
 It is not necessary to describe particularly the history of 
 the case as it dragged its slow course along. It is sufficient 
 to say that what the Church pled was its own right, as such, 
 to exercise discipline upon all its members, and that, while it 
 did not claim infallibility for its General Assembly, it held 
 that it was not within the province of the Court of Session 
 
2i6 THE CARD ROSS CASE AND 
 
 to review and control its proceedings in dealing with ecclesi- 
 astical offences. 
 
 These pleas were repelled by a majority of the judges, 
 and the ridit of the Court of Session was asserted to set 
 aside the sentence passed upon Mr. MacMillan in so far as 
 that stood in the way of damages being awarded, if they 
 should subsequently be found to be due. It was, indeed, 
 carefully explained that this did not mean that the Presbytery 
 of Dumbarton might be ordered to repone the former minister 
 of Cardross. To any authority to do that the Court laid 
 no claim (a considerable concession, it will be observed, to 
 a disestablished Church). All that it insisted on was its 
 competency to suspend the sentence quoad, lioc, or with refer- 
 ence to the pecuniary element connected with it. And, to 
 reconcile parties to this idea, Lord Deas was at pains to 
 teach that a Church, until it receives jurisdiction from a 
 State, is nothing more than a voluntary association, like a 
 club or a shipping company. 
 
 As may be supposed, these conclusions were not acqui- 
 esced in by the Free Church, On the contrary, they were 
 vehemently protested against, and an appeal was taken to 
 the House of Lords — Sir Eoundell Palmer, afterwards Lord 
 Selborne, being retained as leading counsel in the case. 
 
 In the meantime the action lingered on in the Court 
 of Session. What the law was had been declared. It had 
 been authoritatively proclaimed that, if a man is entitled 
 to damages, he may ask to have the sentence of any ecclesi- 
 astical Court set aside if it stands in the way of his receiving 
 them. But the principle needed now to be applied. On 
 what ground was Mr. MacMillan to receive his damages, and 
 in what specific form was he to state his demand for them ? 
 While onlookers were waiting to hear his answers to these 
 questions, the Lord President suddenly spoke. A mere side 
 
SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE 217 
 
 issue was before him at the moment, Lut he seemed to have 
 been regarding the progress of the process in the Court with 
 impatience, and, without being asked, he gave an opinion on 
 the merits. He announced that he did not think it would 
 be worth the while of the prosecutor to continue on the line 
 which he had been pursuing. The General Assembly which 
 had deposed him had ceased to exist, and no money was to 
 be expected from that quarter. If he really wished for 
 damages, he ought to bring a charge of malice against specified 
 individuals. 
 
 Mr. MacMillan took the hint. He dropped his original 
 charges, and brought an action such as had been 
 recommended. 
 
 But a general feeling of weariness had now come over 
 those who had been interesting themselves in the cause. 
 It was beginning to be seen that no great gain to Erastianism 
 was to be got by pursuing the case further. The help which 
 Mr. MacMillan is believed to have been receiving was not 
 forthcoming as before ; and he himself, in despair, sent a 
 flag of truce to the Church whose discipline he had been 
 defying, proposing conditions of peace. The overture thus 
 made by him was addressed, through Mr. Stark of Greenock, 
 to Dr. Eobert Buchanan. In it he said : " It has been 
 suggested to me that it were better to terminate the Cardross 
 Case by my withdrawing my action from the Court of 
 Session and casting myself on the mercy of the Church, 
 than by embarking again on a sea of litigation. I have at 
 last brought myself to look upon matters in that light, 
 expecting some provision to be made for me by the liberality 
 of the members of the Church. ... In these circumstances I 
 am anxious, before committing myself to a definite course, 
 to ascertain, if possible, whether my petition, or casting myself 
 upon the mercy of the Church, would be favourably received, 
 
2i8 THE CARD ROSS CASE AND 
 
 and whether leading men would countenance a subscription 
 being got up for me, and thus terminate ' the Cardross 
 Case.' " 
 
 How such a proposal would have been regarded if it 
 had ever been formally made to the Church, may be gathered 
 from the reply which Dr. Buchanan gave to Mr. Stark's 
 letter. 
 
 " In reference," said he, " to the extraordinary application 
 which Mr. MacMillan's letter contains, I have simply and 
 emphatically to express my entire concurrence in your state- 
 ment, ' that his proposals would not be listened to for a 
 moment by any party in the Church.' I cannot refrain 
 from adding that the effrontery of the proposal is in perfect 
 keeping with all Mr. MacMillan's previous proceedings in 
 the Cardross Case." 
 
 As a matter of fact, the application was never made, and 
 Mr. MacMillan meeting with no encouragement to carry the 
 battle further, dropped the action, and retired into obscurity 
 a confessedly beaten man. 
 
 So far, then, the outcome of the case was not very satis- 
 factory to those who undertook it. Not much practically 
 was made of the assault on the liberties of the Church. It 
 had been declared that an Assembly after it had been dis- 
 solved could not be sued for damages, and that such an 
 action as Mr. MacMillan had raised could be treated as 
 relevant only when the men complained of were charged 
 with malice. 
 
 At the same time, it was undeniable that the " pleas of 
 privilege " advanced by the Tree Church had been repelled, 
 and- that the Court of Session had asserted its right to reduce 
 spiritual sentences if these lay in the way of meeting a 
 complainant's just claims. These judgments, moreover, had 
 been accompanied by utterances from the Bench which 
 
SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE 219 
 
 implied that, apart from Establishment, a Church has no 
 more title to expect protection in the exercise of its disci- 
 pline than has any other ordinary society to be protected 
 in the conduct of its proceedings. 
 
 Against these conclusions the Church, as has been said, 
 strenuously protested, and if Mr. MacMillan's case had not 
 ended in a fiasco, they would have been submitted for review 
 to the House of Lords. But, after the prosecution collapsed, 
 it became a question whether it was worth while to go 
 further. The objectionable utterances were of an abstract 
 kind. No attempt had been made to apply them. It was 
 quite a possible thing, also, that they would be approved by 
 the House of Lords. And very wisely, as anyone may see, 
 it was decided to let the thing take end. 
 
 But not the less has the attitude of the Court of Session 
 given satisfaction to those who fail to appreciate the nature 
 of our contendings, and what has been said on their behalf 
 may be referred to now as helping to illustrate the real 
 character of our position. 
 
 " The Free Church," says the biographer of Dr. Norman 
 Macleod, " has failed to solve the difficulty she herself raised 
 as to the relationship of Church and State. In the Cardross 
 Case her claim to spiritual independence within her own 
 denomination was judicially denied. May it not therefore 
 be questioned whether, after little more than thirty years' 
 existence, she really does not find herself without a logical 
 position between Voluntaryism or Establishment ? " 
 
 With the sincerest desire to understand Dr. Macleod's 
 reasoning, we confess to being quite unable to follow his 
 argument. 
 
 It is true that our claim to spiritual independence has 
 been judicially denied. But there is for us no novelty in 
 that circumstance. The deliverance of Lord President Hope, 
 
220 THE CARDROSS CASE AND 
 
 already quoted, shows that to his mind any such claim, by 
 whatever Church made — whether it be Established or other- 
 wise — is absurd. A Church as such has, in his judgment, 
 no special standing in the world. It may talk of its 
 " Courts," but no institutions of the kind exist in reality. 
 It has no "jurisdiction" which it can properly call its own. 
 To speak of Christ as its " Head " seemed to him to be 
 absurd. And as for what it calls discipline, that is simply 
 the action of an ordinary association in dealing with an 
 offending member. It is true that when a Church is 
 established, a change takes place in its condition. It does 
 then come to have a "jurisdiction" and an authority in the 
 exercise of which it is upheld. But these distinctions do 
 not follow from the recognition by the State of its inherent 
 rights and functions. The government which it is then 
 permitted to exercise is simply bestowed upon it by the 
 Civil Courts. 
 
 That has always been the view in favour with the Court 
 of Session ; and accordingly we were not in the least sur- 
 prised when we heard it re-echoed from the Bench when 
 the Cardross Case was proceeding. Indeed, the utterances of 
 Lord Deas at the later date have such a striking resemblance 
 to those of a former generation, that they sound like a simple 
 rehearsal of them. 
 
 " If anything be clear in this case," said his Lordship, " it is 
 that the defenders [the Free Church] are invested with no 
 jurisdiction whatever, either ecclesiastical or civil. The 
 jurisdiction flows from the supreme power of the State. The 
 sanction of the same authority which enacted the laws is 
 necessary to the erection of Courts and the appointment of 
 judges and magistrates to administer the law. The Established 
 Church had and has this sanction. The statute laws of the 
 land conferred upon it ecclesiastical jurisdiction, to be exercised 
 
SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE 221 
 
 by Kirk-Sessions, Presbyteries, Provincial Synods, and General 
 Assemblies, But there is no such statute law applicable to 
 the association called the Free Church. When the defenders 
 separated from the Establishment, they left all jurisdiction 
 behind them. No voluntary association of any agreement 
 among its members can assume a jurisdiction v^rhich flows 
 only from the legislative power and regal prerogative." 
 
 These words, uttered authoritatively from the Bench, make 
 it quite clear that our claim to spiritual independence was 
 "judicially denied." But more was contained in them than 
 that. They proclaimed with equal emphasis that any Courts 
 existing in the Established Church, and any jurisdiction 
 exercised by them, owe their origin, not to its inherent rights 
 as a Church, but simply and solely to the grace and good- 
 will of the State which has chosen to institute or confer 
 them. 
 
 Dr. Macleod accepts that position. He seems to see 
 nothing in it contrary to the doctrine of our common Con- 
 fession, that "the Lord Jesus Christ, as King and Head of 
 His Church, has therein appointed a government in the hands 
 of Church officers distinct from the civil magistrate " ; nor does 
 it strike him as odd that a judge in Presbyterian Scotland 
 should utter such unmitigated Erastianism, in forgetfulness of 
 the fact that the Confession of Faith is, so to speak, a part of 
 the law of the land. All that strikes him is that we have 
 not solved our pre-Disruption difficulties, and have failed to 
 find a logical position for ourselves. There now remain for 
 us, he argues, just two alternatives — one, to go back into the 
 Establishment ; the other, to go forward to Voluntaryism ! 
 
 This reasoning perplexes us. "With every disposition to 
 consider it respectfully, we have entirely failed, we must repeat 
 again, to appreciate its significance. 
 
 On the one hand, it is suggested that, if we have any 
 
222 THE CARD ROSS CASE AND 
 
 regard for losic, we ouo-ht to return to the Establishment. 
 But would not that be a most irrational thing for us to do ? 
 We profess to believe devoutly that a Church is more than a 
 voluntary association. We hold that its government and 
 laws were not framed by the votes of its members, but by a 
 Divine authority. And in its discipline we see more than the 
 action of a club — we see a spiritual process pursued for moral 
 ends. It is true that these claims have been "judicially 
 denied." But what then ? Are we to sacrifice our conscien- 
 tious convictions because that is so ? We do not suppose that 
 one intelligent Free Churchman was in the least affected by 
 the deliverance of Lord Deas. And to go back into the 
 Establishment, when that deliverance has been accepted, 
 would be an act of ecclesiastical suicide. 
 
 There is, however, the other alternative. If we turn our 
 back on the Establishment, says Dr. Macleod, we must go 
 on to Voluntaryism — that is to say, we must proceed 
 dogmatically to declare that there ought never to be any con- 
 nection between Church and State. 
 
 But one wonders why such a necessity exists. If, indeed, 
 as Dr. Macleod seems to imply, such a thing as a free Church 
 in a free State is an impossibility — if no Church can ever 
 ally itself to the State and maintain its independence — then 
 Voluntaryism will certainly have to be accepted as alone 
 possible to Presbyterians, and the discij^les of that faith will 
 be grateful for the concession which he makes. 
 
 But what good would it do us practically to become 
 Voluntaries ? The Civil Courts, if they have a mind to 
 persecute, will not stay their hand because we have adopted 
 the Voluntary principle. They can follow a Voluntary 
 Church into the wilderness just as effectually as one which 
 believes in Establishments. They have the power of the 
 sword, and there is no limit to the extent to which that 
 
SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE 223 
 
 power may be used, if the possessors believe themselves 
 entitled to employ it. 
 
 What, then, after all, is our position ? It is a very simple 
 one, and a perfectly logical one. It is substantially that of 
 the man whose conscience constrains him to assume a certain 
 attitude, and who keeps to it let the consequences be what 
 they may. AVe believe it to be no mere figure of speech that 
 Christ is the Head of His Church — that He has appointed in 
 it a government distinct from that of the civil magistrate — 
 and that for the regulation of His kingdom He has laid down 
 specific laws. Having these convictions, we are not affected 
 by such judicial deliverances as have been quoted. They 
 imply just such assumptions on the part of the State 
 as the Church of Scotland has been long familiar with ; 
 and, so far from being moved by them to commit the 
 liberties of the Church to their keeping, we are constrained 
 all the more anxiously to preserve them from their 
 interference. 
 
 It is quite true that the Court of Session has the power 
 to enforce its judgments. It may not merely say that the 
 Free Church is simply a " voluntary association," but it may 
 deal with it as such. Quite conceivably it might review and 
 reverse its sentences. It might interfere with its administra- 
 tion of the most sacred ordinances. It might order ministers 
 to be deposed or reponed. It might, in short, mock at all 
 its pretensions to have "jurisdiction." But, under such 
 circumstances, what is our remedy ? Not, certainly, to go 
 against our consciences, and return to a position which we 
 have already proved to be untenable, nor yet to go on to a 
 new position in which we would be equally unsafe, but to 
 take our stand where we believe Providence has placed us, 
 and maintain it as we can. 
 
 Lord Deas did not propose to replace ]\fr. MacMillan as 
 
224 THE CARDROSS CASE AND 
 
 minister of Cardross, but, on his principles, he might quite 
 consistently have done so. The Court of Session claimed and 
 exercised such a power of coercion in Strathbogie. And if the 
 Presbytery of Dumbarton had refused to obey the commands 
 of the Court, it might have been threatened vt'ith imprisonment. 
 That same thing was done long ago at Dunkeld. But nobody 
 imagines for a moment that the Presbytery would have com- 
 plied with the edict. What, then, would have been the 
 result ? Simply the outbreaking of a new conflict, in which, 
 it is certain, the Court of Session would in the long-run 
 have had the worst of it. History tells us that the civil 
 power (unless it is sufficiently strong, as it was in Hungary, 
 to stamp out its opposers altogether) has not been accustomed 
 to get the best of it when it has attempted to suppress 
 liberties in the maintenance of which conscience is engaged. 
 Churches may always be trusted to fight a successful battle 
 for themselves, if they have a reasonable case in hand. 
 And in regard to our own contendings, we may be excused 
 for thinking now and then of Lord Cockburn's significant 
 lament : " On looking back on the matter, what I am chiefly 
 sorry for is the Court of Session." 
 
 How the case now stands, therefore, may be summarily 
 stated thus. The Established Church, for the sake of the 
 endowments and of having " jurisdiction " conferred upon it — 
 of having its Presbyteries recognised as " Courts " — and of 
 having its sentences countersigned by the Courts of Law — has 
 consented to be held as having no " government " apart from 
 its Establishment, to give up to the Civil Courts the right to 
 define its province, and to submit to have some of its most 
 strictly internal affairs, such as the formation of the pastoral 
 tie and the constitution of its Courts, regulated in the 
 minutest way by Acts of Parliament. While the Free 
 Church has elected, at a considerable sacrifice, to withdraw 
 
SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE 225 
 
 from an entangling alliance, under which she regarded herself 
 as bound to a disloyal subserviency to the State and to 
 establish herself on an independent basis outside, she does 
 not forget that by a majority of the Law Lords her " pleas 
 of privilege " have been repelled. She knows that in their 
 view a Church, as such, is not an institution sui generis, to be 
 dealt with differently from a club or a voluntary association. 
 But she also knows that that is not the opinion of the 
 Scottish people ; so that practically there is no great risk 
 of the principle being in the long-run employed oppressively. 
 But whether or no, she considers it safest, in the circumstances,. 
 to have her liberties in her own keeping, and to hold to her 
 own right to determine what is sacred. 
 
 Nor, in taking up this position, is she influenced by mere 
 wilfulness or presumption. In claiming to have a jurisdiction 
 of her own, with the power to deliver "judicial" sentences,. 
 she seeks to be guided not by any private speculation as to 
 what a Church should be, but by the teaching of Scripture 
 as interpreted by her Confession. 
 
 This claim has been branded as Ultramontanism. But 
 no one who understands it will imagine for a moment that 
 any disposition exists to control the State. Its supremacy 
 within its own sphere — the limits of which must, of course, 
 be determined by itself — is fully and freely conceded. The 
 independence of the Church, however, is a point which is 
 contended for not for the Church's sake only, but out of 
 deference to a far higher consideration. It is the custom in 
 some quarters to scoff at the affirmation that in this connec- 
 tion " the crown rights of the liedeemer " are at stake, but 
 it would be difficult to find words which indicate the situation 
 more exactly. We seek the Church's freedom because we 
 believe the Church to be His kingdom, and that His will 
 must be supreme in it. 
 IS 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 EFFORTS FOE THE REUNION OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 
 
 " ' rriHERE is that scattereth and yet increaseth.' So there 
 
 -^ is that divideth and it tendeth to unity. So it was 
 with the Disruption. Blamed by many as a schismatic act, 
 a great prompter to and promoter of division, no public 
 incident of our times has done more to bring together into 
 €ne the scattered Churches of the Eeformation." 
 
 So writes Dr. Hanna in his Life of Chalmers ; and never 
 was made a truer or a more suggestive remark. 
 
 In the first Assembly of the Free Church there was no 
 time for any special manifestation of feeling on the part of 
 other communities. Deputies, indeed, were present at the 
 moment in Edinburgh from the Presbyterian Churches of 
 England and Ireland, but these had brought commissions 
 to " the Church of Scotland," and it was only because they 
 recognised that body as meeting in Canonmills that they 
 appeared there with their felicitations. There were also 
 special reasons why the Original Secession Synod should 
 have been so early on the spot. But what would actually 
 happen was of course unknown, and it was natural that 
 formal congratulations should have been postponed till after 
 the event of the Disruption. 
 
 These came, however, in gratifying number in course 
 of time ; and wlien the Assembly again met, at Glasgow, 
 in October 1843, Dr. Chalmers was able to lav on the 
 
 226 
 
THE REUNION OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 227 
 
 table twenty addresses from religious bodies in England, 
 Wales, Scotland, and America, and to introduce deputations 
 from the Church of Geneva, the lieformed Presbyterian, 
 United Secession, and Original Secession Synods of Scotland, 
 and from the (Jeneral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 ■of Ireland. 
 
 The deputation from the United Secession Church em- 
 braced its most distinguished men, — Drs. Brown, Heugh, 
 King, and Harper, — and nothing could exceed the cordiality 
 with which they spoke. And indeed the whole evening was 
 ii memorable one, in which were heard fraternal greetings 
 being exchanged beween men who had once been engaged 
 in keenest controversy with one another. 
 
 Dr. Chalmers looked on at this remarkable display of 
 brotherly love with extraordinary satisfaction. " I think 
 every man," he said, " whose heart is in its right place, will 
 be delighted with such movements. They are movements 
 <|uite in my own favourite direction, because one and all of 
 them are movements of convergency, or, in other words, 
 movements which point in the first instance to union, and, 
 as soon as possible and prudent, I trust the landing-place 
 will be incorporation." 
 
 Dr. Candlish went even further, and became more 
 ■explicit. Seeing himself surrounded by the representatives 
 of Nonconforming bodies who had finally broken with the 
 State, he said — 
 
 " My friends will bear me witness that I am the very 
 last person who would stand on the rigid assertion of the 
 mere theory of Establishments for the purpose of keeping up 
 division or schism in the Church. So far from that, it 
 appears to me that the distinct refusal of the States and 
 Kingdoms of this world to recognise the only principle on 
 which we can consent to have the Church established, leaves 
 
228 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 to us a very great degree of practical liberty, and a large 
 measure of practical discretion as to the terms on which 
 we should stand with other Churches. 
 
 " Is the division and schism of the Christian Church to be 
 kept up by a question as to the duty of another party over 
 whom we have no control ? " 
 
 It is rather striking to find sentiments like these ex- 
 pressed in the very year of the Disruption — and with, we do 
 not for a moment doubt, the hearty approval of the man 
 whose announcement of the fact, " We are not Voluntaries," 
 has been so constantly used to discourage more recent union 
 negotiations. Perhaps if a " convergent " movement had 
 been earlier proposed, it might have met with greater support 
 than we imagine. But it was not proposed, and these 
 efforts for the reconstruction of our national Presbyterians 
 have had to be faced in detail, and not always with the 
 most encouraging results. 
 
 I. The, Original Seceders 
 
 The first movement toward a reconstruction of the Church 
 came from the body which claimed to represent most perfectly 
 the position of the Erskines. 
 
 When, a century before, the first Seceders left the Establish- 
 ment, they did not propose to break permanently with the 
 Church. What they complained of was the tyranny of the 
 majority, which prevented them from doing what they believed 
 to be their duty. Their hope was that this state of things 
 would change, and they appealed to the first free and reform- 
 ing Assembly that might come to be convened. In a word, they 
 started with being simply Seceders for a temporary purpose, and 
 had no idea of becoming on principle permanent Dissenters. 
 
 But it is easier to enter a current than to control its 
 course. The Secession was not able to keep on the lines 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 229 
 
 which it oiginally laid out for itself. First, it split into two 
 parts on the question of the lawfulness of taking an oath, and 
 there came to be two communions, the Burghers and the 
 Anti-Burghers. Then each of these sections divided into 
 New Lights and Old Lights, the former moving in the 
 ■direction of Voluntaryism, the latter cleaving to the principle 
 of an Establishment. The New Lights flourished most, and 
 have since developed into the United Presbyterian Church ; 
 but the Old Lights, though reduced in number, had in them 
 an inextinguishable vitality, and they fought steadfastly on, 
 emitting from time to time their " testimonies," whether men 
 would bear or whether they would forbear. 
 
 At last the Church of Scotland began to awaken out of its 
 long sleep of Moderatism, and after a time that reforming 
 majority came into power which the Erskines had looked for 
 and anticipated. The Old Light Burghers then saw, as they 
 thought, their opportunity, and hastened to take advantage 
 of it. They appealed to the Assembly, in which the Evan- 
 gelicals were now in the ascendant, and were gladly received 
 into the fellowship of the Church of Scotland before the 
 Disruption. 
 
 The Old Light Anti-Burghers, however, — of whom Dr. 
 M'Crie, the author of the Life of Knox, was the most illustri- 
 ous representative, — still remained outside, and it was not 
 till the crisis of 1843 was over that they came to the con- 
 clusion that the rai&on d'etre for the Secession had at last 
 ceased to exist. Reference has already been made to the 
 <leputation which they sent to the first Eree Church 
 Assembly, and to the remarkable speech made on that 
 occasion by Mr. White of Haddington. The desire for a 
 reunion of the Churches, which was then expressed, gave the 
 greatest satisfaction, and " tremendous applause " followed, 
 when Dr. Guthrie hinted that when the banner of the Free 
 
230 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 Church was fully unfurled, it would have emblazoned upon it 
 both the Covenant and the Crown. 
 
 Everything, then, seemed to point to a speedy amalgama- 
 tion of the Churches, and when in 1844 Committees were 
 appointed by both to consult as to its terms, the universal 
 belief was that a consummation would be reached easily and 
 soon. But unexpected difficulties arose. The Original 
 Seceders held the descending obligation of the Covenants, and 
 complained that the Free Church was content to start from 
 the low level of the Eevolution Settlement, instead of going- 
 back to the Second Eeformation. With this complaint many 
 in the Free Church itself heartily sympathised ; and Dr. 
 Candlish, in particular, was quite prepared to take the highest 
 possible ground. But in the minds of not a few there arose 
 a strong aversion to the attempt which seemed to be contem- 
 plated, to impose a purely man-made bond on the consciences 
 of a new generation, and a copestone was put to the opposi- 
 tion when, in the Assembly of 1847, Dr. Keith startled his 
 hearers by declaring that the Scottish nation had no right tO' 
 enter into a covenant with God — that the only covenant which 
 had Divine sanction was that made with Abraham — and 
 that in the Solemn League there were things which, if they 
 were approved of by the Free Church, would compel him tO' 
 leave it. 
 
 The result was a suspension of the negotiations. The 
 Committees were dissolved, and although the idea of an 
 amalgamation was not altogether lost sight of, the subject 
 was given over to a general Committee on Christian Union. 
 It is highly creditable to the Original Seceders that, in spite 
 of the discouragements met with, they continued to cherish 
 confidence in the Free Church, — one evidence being a proposal 
 to contribute to its foreign missions, — and we are not sur- 
 prised to hear that the movement toward union was resumed. 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 231 
 
 when, in 1851, the General Assembly adopted an Act and 
 Declaration, the design of which was to show the identity 
 of the Free Church with the historic Church of Scotland 
 during the Keformation period. This was reckoned in many 
 quarters a sufficient concession to Original Secession principles, 
 and the Synod of that body was overtured to approach the 
 Free Church anew. The suggestion, however, did not meet 
 with universal approval. On the contrary, a violent con- 
 troversy broke out, in which oceans of ink were shed — Mr. 
 White of Haddington, the editor of the denominational 
 magazine, taking the lead on one side, and Drs. Manson and 
 Murray replying with vigour on the other. By and by the 
 Synod met, and there the debate was resumed. Dr. Scott, in. 
 his History,^ reports that debate at length, but it is scarcely 
 worth while to describe it here. " The chief obstacle," Dr. 
 Scott says, " to the contemplated alliance was whether or not 
 the continued obligation of the National Covenants on pos- 
 terity should be insisted on by Seceders as a fundamental 
 article of union." Around this point the battle raged for 
 the better part of two days ; and when at last the vote was 
 taken, it was found that 32 (18 ministers and 14 elders) 
 were for union, and 31 (13 ministers and 18 elders) 
 against it. The majority was not large — only one ; but 
 reckoning in the Moderator, who went with it, and four 
 or five others who were absent, but who acquiesced, the 
 number of ministers in favour of joining the Free Church 
 was 22 or 23, as against 13 who were opposed to it, while a 
 large proportion of the people concurred. 
 
 The after-proceedings were simple. A deputation was- 
 appointed to wait on the Free Church Assembly of 1852, 
 and was received there with effusion. Their appearance was 
 
 ' Annals and Statistics of tlic Original Secession Church. By Rev. David 
 Scott, D.D. EJiiibuigh : Andrew Elliot. 
 
032 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 regarded as a most significant incident. It was, in fact, " the 
 end of the Secession " ; and all parties, from Dr. Candlish and 
 Mr. Dunlop to Dr. Gibson and Dr. Begg, expressed themselves 
 as highly gratified by the event. The consummation took 
 place on the 1st of June ; and Mr. White was heartily cheered 
 when he said : " I believe that Ebenezer Erskine and William 
 Wilson, if they had been living, would this evening have 
 ceased to be Seceders by joining the Free Church of Scotland." 
 
 II. The United Prcshjterian Church 
 For some years longer no further effort was made to heal 
 the existing breaches, but as 1863 approached, a strong desire 
 sprang up for a reunion of the Free Church with the New 
 Light Presbyterians of Scotland. It was well enough known 
 that they had as a body come to hold views about the 
 relations of Church and State that would have rendered in- 
 corporation with an Establishment impossible, but it seemed 
 so exceedingly unlikely that the Free Church should within 
 any measureable distance of time be again tempted to become 
 itself Established, that the idea of keeping permanently aloof 
 from an otherwise satisfactory communion on account of what 
 was practically an abstract theory, appeared to many to be 
 quite unreasonable. So universally, in fact, did this feeling 
 prevail, to begin with, that when it was proposed in the 
 Assembly of 1863 to appoint a Committee to negotiate with 
 the United Presbyterian Church with a view to union, the 
 motion was carried unanimously— although in the speeches 
 delivered on the occasion there was no attempt whatever 
 made to conceal the fact that the United Presbyterians were 
 Voluntaries. Indeed, it is a striking circumstance that the 
 ten years' negotiations and discussions which followed did 
 not make this radical point of difference one whit clearer 
 than it was seen to be at the commencement of them. 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 233 
 
 " So far as I know and believe," said Dr. Buchanan, who 
 proposed the motion for a Committee, " there is but one point 
 on which they and we differ, namely, this — not as to the 
 Headship of Christ over the nations, not as to the obligation 
 binding on civil rulers to own His authority, and to regulate 
 their official as well as their personal acts by His revealed 
 \vill, but solely as to the lawfulness of setting up a Church 
 Establishment and endowing it out of the public funds. . . . 
 Now, Moderator, if this be ally and if, at the same time, it be 
 no part of their Church's public profession, though I differ 
 from them on this point, I cannot see in it any insuperable 
 obstacle to the union of their Church and ours." 
 
 These views were received when they were expressed 
 with loud applause ; and, without a dissentient voice, the 
 Churches were started on what seemed to be a most hopeful 
 •enterprise — an enterprise, too, the full significance of which 
 was perfectly understood. 
 
 The Committee appointed was a very influential one, its 
 Chairman beins^ Dr. Buchanan of Glasgow. Dr. Buchanan 
 had for a long time been occupying a prominent place in the 
 C'hurch as one of its wisest counsellors. Born in 1809 at 
 St. Ninian's, educated in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and 
 licensed by the Presbytery of Dunblane, he was settled first, 
 in 1827, at Gargunnock. From thence, in three years, he 
 was translated to Salton ; and later on, in 1833, he was 
 transferred to the Tron Church, Glasgow, of which he con- 
 tinued to be the minister till the College Church was built, 
 mainly for him, in 1857. Before the Disruption he had been 
 the cliosen representative of the Evangelical party in their 
 •endeavours to influence the statesmen of the time. " One 
 oould not look at him," it was said, after his death, " without 
 thinking what a fine ambassador he would have made in some 
 Oerman capital, with his stately appearance, his splendid 
 
234 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 courtesy, his perfect reticence, and his shrewd insight into 
 men and things." These qualities commended him to the 
 Church as one fitted to act for it in its negotiations with the 
 State. But he was far from being a mere courtly politician. 
 He was selected to lead in the great debate of 1838, when 
 the flag was formally unfurled of spiritual independence, and 
 he was put in that place because he had already distinguished 
 himself in the cause which lay nearest the heart of Chalmers- 
 — that of Church Extension. In the Assembly of 1843 it 
 was he who was called to move the first resolution, when a 
 whole night was given to an exposition of the principles- 
 which had led to the Disruption. He too became the 
 historian of the Ten Years' Conflict. To him was due the 
 origination of the Wynd Movement, which is one of the 
 glories of the Free Church. And for many years he filled, 
 with quite unapproachable ability, the position of Convener 
 of the Sustentation Fund Committee. It may seem an odd 
 way of expressing the thought, but it always seems to us 
 that Dr. Buchanan is the most " picturesque " figure which 
 appears in the history of the Free Church. In any case, the 
 proposal was received with acclamation that he should be the 
 Convener of the Union Committee, and it is the simple truth 
 that, as year after year the Committee submitted its reports to 
 the Assembly, papers were read by its Convener which for 
 weight of thought and elegance of diction are unsurpassed by 
 anything of the kind that the Church has ever been called ta 
 consider. " He was, moreover, qualified to lead," it has been 
 said, " because he went forward, with the times." 
 
 When the Joint Committees met, they received intimations 
 from the Reformed Presbyterian and English Presbyterian 
 Churches that they too wished to join in the negotiations. 
 But nothing meanwhile came of conferences with these bodies,, 
 and it is not necessary now to take account of them. What 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 235 
 
 follows in this history has reference in the first place to the 
 efforts nicade to unite the Free and U.P. Churches. 
 
 The first thing done was the arrangement of a programme 
 specifying the points into which inquiry behoved to be made, 
 and the points singled out were the following : The relation of 
 the Civil ]\Iagistrate to the Church — ^Doctrine — Training for 
 the Ministry — Organisation — Worship — Education — Finance 
 — Admission to Sealing Ordinances — Eelation to Churches 
 outside Scotland. 
 
 Necessarily the business of the first year was to ascertain 
 
 how far the Churches were at one about the civil magistrate, 
 
 and when the Assembly of 1864 came round, what seemed a 
 
 wonderfully satisfactory report was submitted. The meetings 
 
 of the Joint-Committee had been most pleasant ; the principles 
 
 held by the two Churches in common were found to be 
 
 many and fundamental ; and in one connection only was 
 
 there a difiference of opinion, namely, as to the lawfulness of 
 
 employing State aid in support of church ordinances. The 
 
 views which were said to be held by the United Presbyterian 
 
 Church in reference to that point were not in that Church's 
 
 creed. Their adoption was not insisted on as a term of 
 
 communion. But there was no attempt made to conceal the 
 
 fact that Voluntaryism, so far, was a prevalent article in the 
 
 Church's belief. At the same time, the position was accepted 
 
 with most entire acquiescence, that it is the duty of the civil 
 
 magistrate to embrace and profess the Christian religion, and 
 
 to promote it in all ways consistent with his own character 
 
 and that of the Churches concerned in its maintenance. 
 
 The report was received on the whole with enthusiasm. 
 Dr. Buchanan, indeed, did not ask the Assembly to express 
 any formal approval of it, but it was well understood that 
 the subject of the first year's negotiations was completed — 
 that nothing; more in the meantime was to be said in the 
 
236 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 Committee about the civil magistrate — and that now the next 
 point in the programme was to be taken up. And, in the 
 circumstances, it seems clear now that Dr. Julius Wood was 
 the most consistent member of the party which afterwards 
 obstructed the Union ; for, having already made up his mind 
 that endowments are of the essence of the Establishment 
 principle, he now proposed virtually that the negotiations 
 should cease. " It would be impossible for me," said Dr. 
 Wood, " to hold that it is unscriptural and a sin in every 
 case to use the national pecuniary resources to aid and support 
 the ordinances of religion. And / cannot consent to hold it 
 as an open question. I shall grieve as I have scarcely ever 
 grieved before if the Free Church of Scotland shall consent 
 to hold this as an open question. . . . The view I take of it 
 is, that you will not get the United Presbyterian Committee 
 to give up their principle, nor will you get our Committee to 
 give up their principle. How, then, are you to get them 
 reconciled ? " 
 
 There was unquestionably a great deal in this contention. 
 The time came when a strong party was formed who took up 
 Dr. Wood's position, and held that the views of the two 
 Churches were irreconcilable. But what a pity it was that 
 they did not say so at once ! How many heart-burnings 
 might thus have been avoided ! For what a mockery it was 
 to go on to talk about doctrine if the very first stumbling- 
 block was held to be insuperable. The consistent stand made 
 by Dr. Wood was, however, not much appreciated. Dr. Begg, 
 Dr. Gibson, Dr. Forbes, all urged the continuance of the 
 negotiations, and the Committee was reappointed. 
 
 In the Assembly of 1865 the report on the second head 
 of the programme — that which treated of doctrine— was given 
 in. It intimated that there had been found entire agreement 
 between the representatives of the two Churches on all the 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 237 
 
 leading points in theology ; but this agreement was expressed 
 in the language of the Confession of Faith, and while that 
 gave peculiar satisfaction to Dr. Gibson, the very reverse was 
 the case so far as Dr. Wood and Dr. Forbes were concerned. 
 They were persuaded that seriously erroneous views regarding 
 the atonement prevailed in the United Presbyterian Church, 
 and a motion was made and seconded by them, instructing 
 the Committee to obtain a declaration setting forth in inde- 
 pendent terms what was really held in that Church on the 
 subject. The motion was lost, — 184 votes against it, 
 and only 16 in its favour. But another rift was made in 
 the lute, and the prospects began to darken of an entirely 
 harmonious union. 
 
 This discouraging state of things was still further inten- 
 sified by Dr. Forbes, who, having failed to persuade the 
 Assembly to direct the Committee to reopen the subject of 
 the civil magistrate, intimated that he could no longer 
 continue to take any part in the negotiations. 
 
 The year 1866 came, and Dr. Buchanan was able 
 to report that all the heads of the programme had been 
 gone over, and that satisfactory results had been reached 
 regarding every one of them. But he now proposed only 
 that the whole should be sent down to Presbyteries to give 
 them an opportunity of offering any suggestion that might 
 occur to them for the further conduct of the negotiations. 
 The proposal was adopted with virtual unanimity, an amend- 
 ment for the dismissal of the Committee receiving only seven, 
 votes, but in the course of the debate it became evident that 
 new elements of disturbance were being introduced, and the 
 chances of smooth sailing in the future to be exceedingly 
 doubtful. On the one hand, for instance. Dr. Begg, the 
 ablest and most effective speaker who had yet appeared on 
 that side, now announced his agreement with Dr. Wood about 
 
238 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 the lawfulness of endowments. He refused to accept that as 
 an open question, and was willing to continue the Committee 
 only in the hope that the Free Church members might by- 
 argument be able to convince the United Presbyterians that 
 they were in the wrong. On the other hand, a new move- 
 ment had commenced, fostered by the beginnings of an 
 agitation for the abolition of patronage, the aim of which was 
 to include the Established Church in the contemplated scheme 
 of union. The idea was scouted by Mr. Dunlop, Dr. Candlish, 
 and others, as illusory ; but it caught hold, and from this 
 time onward the existence of the Establishment affected to 
 an appreciable extent the drift of the controversy which 
 ensued. During the year succeeding, discussions which 
 had hitherto been confined very much to the Assembly 
 agitated the whole Church, and when May 1867 came round, 
 the result was seen in the formation of a distinct Anti-Union 
 party. 
 
 Of this party the acknowledged head was Dr. Begg, who 
 had for nearly forty years played a great part in the social 
 and ecclesiastical history of Scotland. He was born in the 
 manse of New Monkland in 1808. At the age of twelve or 
 thirteen he was sent to the University of Glasgow, where he 
 went through the customary course in Arts and Divinity ; 
 and, after spending a year in Edinburgh under Dr. Chalmers, 
 he was licensed to preach, in 1829, by the Presbytery of 
 Hamilton. His popular gifts were immediately recognised. 
 Eor six months he acted with great acceptance as Dr. 
 Buchanan's assistant in North Leith, and at the end of that 
 time he was called to a chapel in Maxwelton, where he was 
 ordained in May 1830. Before the year closed, however, he 
 was transferred to Edinburgh, to become the colleague of Dr. 
 Jones in Lady Glenorchy's ; and in November 1831 he was 
 again translated to the Middle Church, Paisley. "While here, 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 239 
 
 in 1832, he made his first speech in the General Assembly 
 in favour of the proposal to consider how " the call " might be 
 given effect to, and from that time he became so well known 
 in the Church, that, when the important parish of Liberton 
 was made vacant, he was invited unanimously to become its 
 minister. This was in June 1835. When the Disruption 
 took place he was minister of Liberton, but a quoad sacra 
 parish having been formed out of it at Gilmerton, whose 
 incumbent also came out, he -was persuaded to move into 
 Edinburgh, and to form practically a new congregation at 
 Newington. In the church which was built there, and which 
 was opened in November 1843, he continued to labour till 
 his death. He was elected to the Moderator's chair in 1865. 
 
 Dr. Begg did not work always in harmony with the 
 majority of his brethren. He took lines of his own in the 
 Convocation, on the subject of the Sustentation Fund, and in 
 connection with National Education and the Union. It could 
 be proved also that he was not always consistent with himself, 
 and that he had at times given some occasion to the world to 
 suspect him of disloyalty to his own Church. But that he 
 did splendid work in his day in defence of evangelical 
 principles and for the uplifting of the people, could be 
 questioned by no one, and all were ready to acknowledge and 
 admire his power of popular address and his wonderful 
 skill as an ecclesiastical leader. One of the closing events of 
 his life was the undertaking of a long journey to Australia, 
 New Zealand, Ceylon, and India. 
 
 The energy now developed by Dr. Begg proved a most 
 formidable obstacle to the carrying through of the scheme 
 which had now for some years been before the Church. There 
 can be no doubt at all that to begin with he was in favour 
 of the Union, and saw none of the difficulties which by and 
 by came to bulk so largely in his view. Circumstances, 
 
240 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 however, or deeper thought, led him to a change of attitude, 
 and to prevent the consummation of an amalgamation with 
 the United Presbyterians except on the basis of their 
 accepting the Free Church opinion of Establishments, became 
 the passion of his life. 
 
 The Presbyteries had responded to the appeal made to 
 them, and had- sent in any number of suggestions — which, 
 of course, it became the duty of the Committee to consider. 
 But it was felt that the time had arrived when the Church 
 behoved to say whether it was worth while to prosecute the 
 inquiry any further, and a motion was made asking the 
 Assembly to declare that as regarded the first head of the 
 programme (that relating to the civil magistrate) there did 
 not appear to be any insuperable bar to union. This motion 
 was met by two amendments — the one, by Dr. Begg, simply 
 requiring the Committee to continue their work so as to 
 report on the whole subject at a future date ; the other, by 
 Dr. Nixon, on the same lines, but expressing satisfaction with 
 what had been done, and a hope that the Union might yet 
 be accomplished. 
 
 After a debate of two days, Dr. Begg withdrew his 
 amendment in favour of Dr. Nixon's, and a division took 
 place, with the result that 346 voted for the motion, and 
 120 against it. It was the largest minority vote which had 
 yet been registered, and the outlook was made still more 
 threatening when Dr. Begg tendered not a dissent, but a 
 protest. 
 
 A controversy now began in the country, which grew 
 increasingly bitter as time went on. The two parties started 
 each an organ, — the Anti-Unionists being represented by the 
 Watchivord, the Unionists by the Preshyterian, — and methods of 
 agitation were resorted to by the former (especially in the 
 Highlands), which were regarded by those on the other side 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 241 
 
 as open to serious objection. In the pamphlets published 
 and the speeches delivered, the changes were rung on all the 
 heads of the programme. The United Presbyterians were 
 charged with being unsound in doctrine, corrupt in worship, 
 and unsafe in finance. But there was always a return to the 
 first note, which was struck with a strength and a perseverance 
 which compelled universal attention to it. The point could 
 not be got over that the Church with which it was proposed to 
 form a union held, not indeed as an article in its creed, but 
 as a prevalent opinion, that the civil magistrate ought not to 
 use the pecuniary resources of a nation in the maintenance 
 of religion. 
 
 It is not wonderful that difficulties were felt in this 
 connection by men who had been ministers in an Established 
 Church, and who regarded themselves as having a " Claim of 
 Eight " to the position which they had sacrificed. It is a 
 significant circumstance, however, that the men of highest 
 mark in the Tree Church all showed themselves disposed to 
 consider favourably the new situation. 
 
 Chalmers did not live to see the opening of the Union 
 negotiations, nor did Cunningham ; but we know with what 
 delight the former saw the signs of a drawing together of the 
 Nonconformists of Scotland ; and this is how the latter spoke 
 so early as 1844, on his return from America. "I found," 
 he said, " a very general admission of the great scriptural 
 loriTiciple for which alone we contend^ that in virtue of the 
 principles embodied in God's word, the obligation is laid 
 upon nations and rulers to have regard to the moral govern- 
 ment of God as supreme, and to the welfare of the Church of 
 Christ. Tlie general admission of this doctrine is all we care 
 about." 
 
 But although these great men had gone, there remained 
 Dr. Candlish, the recognised leader of the Church after 
 16 
 
242 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 Chalmers ; Mr. Dunlop, the writer of the Protest and Claim 
 of Eight; Dr. Buchanan, the historian of the Ten Years' 
 Conflict ; Dr. Charles Brown, the recognised representative of 
 the most spiritual section of the Church ; and Dr. Guthrie, 
 the most popular preacher of the day. These all went 
 strongly for the onward movement, looking upon the views 
 held by the United Presbyterian Church as of no present 
 practical significance. And how do we find them speaking ? 
 First of all. Dr. Candlish is reported to have said in the 
 Assembly of 1863: "I trust that those who represent the 
 Free Church of Scotland will not be too anxious about 
 explicit declarations as to the application of the great 
 principles which we hold in common. If we come to a clear 
 understanding upon a scriptural principle, let us not be 
 trying too minutely to test one another as to this or that 
 particular application of it, but let us leave such questions to 
 he settled as exigencies may actually occur in the providence of 
 God." 
 
 Mr. Dunlop, on the same occasion, added : " I might be 
 supposed to stand more rigidly upon the specific documents 
 setting forth the distinctive principles of our Church than 
 others, seeing I had the honour of preparing the draft of the 
 Church's Claim of Plight and Protest. I feel satisfied, 
 however, that we and our friends [of the United Presbyterian 
 Church] are substantially agreed." 
 
 As to Dr. Charles Brown, he delivered in 1863 a speech 
 which Dr. Nixon described as one which " it was worth a 
 man's while to live to have made " ; and in this he said : " Does 
 the difference respecting the lawfulness of the endowment of 
 the Church by the State form a sufficient ground for the 
 Churches remaining in a state of separation ? I answer 
 without hesitation. No. (Loud applause.) For, first, there is 
 nothing about endowments in our Confession of Faith, or in 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 243 
 
 onr Formula, even as there is nothing against endowments in the 
 Formula of our brethren. Second, we do not hold State endow- 
 ments to be anything more than simply lawful, and in certain 
 circumstances not inexpedient. As to the spiritual freedom of 
 the Church, on the other hand, and her independence of the 
 State, we, along with our esteemed brethren, hold that to be 
 a sacred principle never to be abandoned or compromised. 
 Endowments are not a principle (it is perhaps a pity we ever 
 used to speak of the Establishment pri7icip)le) ; they are but 
 one particular application of a principle. But then, thirdly, 
 we have now no State endowments. We do not expect any. 
 We don't desire any. (Hear, Hear ! and renewed cheers.) I know 
 that men given to deal in theories and bare logic will insist on 
 putting the case, that our Claim of Eight were by and by to 
 commend itself to the approval of the British Legislature, and 
 our endowments to be offered back to us on terms of perfect 
 spiritual freedom. And they will insist on our declaring, 
 yea or nay, whether in that event we should not be, in 
 conscience, shut up to accept them, and become again the 
 Established Church of the country. I might perhaps decline 
 to trouble myself and you with a question referring to a case 
 80 purely hypothetical, and in the last degree, as I think, they 
 themselves must admit, unlikely to be realised. But I am 
 quite ready to meet it. I do not think our principles shut 
 us up, even in the supposed case, to accept those offers. It 
 would remain for the Church in her now greatly altered 
 condition — prosperous and flourishing without the aid of the 
 State, her lot cast in a commercial age and in a country of 
 great wealth, circumstanced so differently every way from the 
 Scotland of John Knox's day — to consider and determine 
 whether, on the whole, it were not better and safer for her, 
 and so more in accordance with the will of her Divine Head, 
 to remain on simply friendly terms with so wonderfully pious 
 
244 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 a Legislature as our questioners insist on imagining, but 
 prefer withal not to accept the offered gifts. , . . Suppose, how- 
 ever, the emphatically unlikely case, both that those offers 
 were made to us, and that, the two Churches having been 
 united in holding the lawfulness of State endowments, should 
 see it our duty to accept them, and carried the acceptance by 
 a majority. Well, Moderator, for my part, I see nothing 
 very fearful — even supposing such an event and if things 
 come to the worst — about our Anti-State Church brethren 
 and us, if still unable to see together on this vexed question, 
 just voluntarily separating again as we voluntarily united." 
 
 These words were spoken in 1863, and in all the discussions 
 which afterwards took place, nothing very much was ever 
 added to them. Speeches of great length were delivered, and 
 additional questions were from time to time brought forward 
 for consideration — questions, for example, affecting doctrine, 
 administration, and finance. But the battle always returned 
 to the subject of Establishments, and in connection with that 
 the argument was never better stated than it was put now by 
 Dr. Charles Brown, 
 
 The division of 1867 marked a crisis in the Union 
 movement. A step in advance was then taken which was 
 held by the minority to commit the Church to a conclusion 
 prematurely ; a number of members of Committee forth- 
 with resigned ; and when the Assembly of 1868 met, the 
 number of overtures and petitions laid upon its table showed 
 that not only were all the old questions as much alive as 
 ever, but that party spirit was even more rampant than before. 
 Dr. Julius "Wood again led the opposition. He moved in a 
 hesitating way the reappointment of the Committee, but 
 asked, among other things, what was virtually a repeal of the 
 decision of last year. Such a proposal, it was felt, could not 
 be entertained. It was vetoed by a majority of 427 to 105, 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 245 
 
 but the debate was long and keen, and now, for the tirst time, 
 plain hints were given of what might be the civil conse- 
 quences if the Church allowed itself to be incorporated with 
 a body which was professedly Voluntary in its beliefs. 
 
 In 1 86 9 a year's pause was proposed, on the motion of 
 Dr. Fairbairn, when the report of the Committee could be 
 published for the information of the people, and an invitation 
 given to them to unite in prayer for the Divine guidance. 
 This was opposed by Dr. Nixon, who, in a speech of three 
 hours' duration, contended that the negotiations ought now to 
 be stopped and the Committee finally dismissed. Dr. Fair- 
 bairn's motion, however, was carried by a majority of 429 
 to 89. 
 
 From the votes taken in successive Assemblies it was 
 seen that the Union cause was progressing, but the agitation 
 against it did not grow less violent. By this time the move- 
 ment in the Established Church for the abolition of patronage 
 was taking distinct shape, and was exercising in various ways 
 a disturbing influence on the situation. The zeal for the 
 maintenance of " the Establishment Principle " in the Free 
 Church was regarded in political and other circles as holding 
 out prospects of ecclesiastical reconstruction on a greater scale, 
 and the possibility of such a thing made some less inclined 
 than they might otherwise have been to enter into a union 
 which would render that consummation more difficult. 
 Extraordinary exertions, therefore, were put forth to arrest 
 the movement. Public meetings were held. The private 
 canvassing of congregations was resorted to. Literature of a 
 keenly controversial kind was widely circulated. And when 
 the Assembly of 1870 came round, the determined attitude 
 now taken up by the Anti - Unionists was unmistakably 
 indicated by their refusing even to debate the subject without 
 first tabling a protest against their being bound by any con- 
 
246 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 elusions that might be come to. It was well understood that 
 this protest pointed to an appeal to the Civil Courts, but its 
 presentation had effects rather the reverse of what it was 
 expected to produce. It did not terrify the more advanced 
 men, who went forward without regard to it, but it did more 
 — it suppressed a middle party, which had come up with the 
 hope of bringing about peace by means of a compromise. 
 At first no fewer than five motions were tabled, but in the 
 end these were reduced to two — one by Dr. Candlish, proposing 
 to ask the Presbyteries to say whether they saw any objection 
 to the two Churches uniting on the basis of the Confession 
 of Faith ; the other by Dr. Moody Stuart, proposing the 
 suspension of the Union negotiations, and the appointment of 
 a Committee to endeavour to restore peace in the Church. 
 For the first motion 379 voted, and 144 for the second. The 
 minority had increased from what it was in 1867, but so 
 had the majority, and the difference between them clearly 
 showed that the tide was still flowing 
 
 The returns from Presbyteries, given in to the Assembly 
 of 1871, were encouraging. 49 replied affirmatively, 
 approving of union on the basis of the Confession; 14 
 replied negatively, objecting to such a union ; while 1 2 
 answered in a dubious or hesitating way, so that they could 
 hardly be classified on either side. Another step forward, 
 therefore, might warrantably have been taken, but such an 
 excited feeling had come to exist in the country as to raise 
 the question of whether it would be wise to bend, at least 
 for a time, before the storm, and in the end a motion was 
 made, whose moderation, it was hoped, would commend itself 
 to the minority. Sir Henry Moncreiff proposed, and Dr. 
 Candlish seconded, that in deference to the difficulties felt by 
 brethren, the onward movement should be arrested, and the 
 Committee directed to promote co-operation with the existing 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 247 
 
 Churches and a spirit of unity among ourselves. But 
 nothing would satisfy the brethren on the other side but an 
 absolute capitulation, and they insisted in their counter motion 
 that the Union movement should cease and the Committee 
 be discharged. This amendment was supported in a strong 
 speech by Dr. Nixon, who accused the opposite party of 
 using discreditable means to gain their ends, and announced 
 that great as the agitation in the Church had been hitherto, it 
 was nothing to what would follow if his demands were not con- 
 ceded. In the debate which succeeded, and which extended 
 over two days, many notable speeches were delivered — one 
 especially by Dr. Eainy, who now came conspicuously to the 
 front as among the leading men of the Church. In the 
 division, 435 went with Sir Henry Moncreiff, and 165 with 
 Dr. Nixon. 
 
 When the Assembly of 1872 met, it seemed to be made 
 manifest that Dr. Nixon's threat had been serious. A 
 memorial was laid on the table which professed to be signed 
 by 60,000 persons, protesting against any further talk about 
 union, and urging a return to the state of things before 1863, 
 in the interests of peace. The Union Committee, however, 
 proceeded to submit its report, and on its basis a motion was 
 proposed by Dr. Adam. During the year consideration had 
 been given to the subject of bringing the negotiating Churches 
 into closer practical relations with one another, and the 
 suggestion was now made that a system of Mutual Eligibility 
 might be adopted, under which the ministers of the different 
 bodies might be called to congregations connected with 
 Churches otlier than their own, and settled over them on their 
 signing the formuLe which these Churches imposed. The 
 motion to that efl'ect was opposed with unabated vehemence, 
 Dr. Samuel Miller of Glasgow leading the assault. But the 
 fight on this occasion was not quite a square one. On the 
 
248 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 one hand, Mr. George Macaulay objected to any side measure, 
 and urged the straightforward prosecution of the Union ; 
 while, on the other, Dr. Couper of Burntisland pled for the 
 continuance of the negotiations in the direction of co-operation, 
 but condemned the particular kind of co-operation which 
 had been agreed upon. Mr. Macaulay in the end withdrew 
 his motion, and Dr. Couper's received only 51 votes. In 
 the main division, 369 supported Dr. Adam, and 172 Dr. 
 Miller. 
 
 In terms of the motion now carried, the question of 
 Mutual Eligibility was submitted to Presbyteries, and another 
 year was given to controversy all over the Church. The 
 issue seemed a very narrow one. All idea of an incorporating 
 union was in the meantime abandoned, and the only question 
 remaining was whether the United Presbyterian Church might 
 not be placed in the same position as the English Presbyterian 
 and Colonial Churches. But to this proposal the most 
 determined resistance was offered, and as May 1873 
 approached, it became known that a new disruption was con- 
 templated by those who could not see their way to accept of 
 it. So far had things gone, indeed, that a Hall was secured 
 in Edinburgh to receive the protesters, who, it was expected, 
 would be compelled to retire from the Assembly. 
 
 That this state of things was viewed by the majority with 
 distress, it is needless to say. But the limits of reasonable 
 concession appeared to them now to have been reached, and 
 the resolution was come to, to abide by the decisions of the 
 Presbyteries and to take the consequences. It is painful to 
 think now of what these consequences might have been. 
 Some will recall a conference of leading men on the Union 
 side which was held in the New College Senate Hall on the 
 eve of the Assembly, with the Earl of Dalhousie in the chair. 
 At that time peace seemed to be impossible, and on its being 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 249 
 
 made plain that a fund would be required to meet the 
 expected agitation, one and another of those present rose 
 and intimated what each would be prepared to give for the 
 object. And it is no exaggeration to say that within ten 
 minutes thousands of pounds were placed at the disposal of 
 the Church to carry out the conclusion to which it had come. 
 It was one of the saddest meetings those present ever attended ; 
 the predominant feeling being not one of bitterness or 
 exultation, but one of quiet and earnest determination to 
 resist the tyranny of a minority, and to carry out an enterprise 
 which was believed to be in conformity with the spirit of 
 God. 
 
 When the Assembly met, there was no talk of compromise. 
 The Mutual Eligibility overture had been approved by a large 
 majority of Presbyteries, and it was well understood that its 
 acceptance would be insisted upon. To make it, however, as 
 little unacceptable as possible to the Anti-Unionists, the motion 
 approving it suggested certain safeguards which made it seem 
 impossible that any quite unsuitable minister should ever be 
 settled over a Free Church congregation. But the motion 
 was rejected ; and Dr. Nixon, in speaking to a counter motion, 
 went again over all the old and often traversed ground. At 
 the same time, it was seen that although his speech was as 
 warlike as ever, his proposals were less so. He did not object 
 absolutely to the calling of United Presbyterian ministers if 
 proper care was taken to see that they held Free Church 
 principles, and he submitted an elaborate scheme whereby, 
 through a preliminary examination, their real position might 
 be ascertained. The concession thus implied made a 
 reconciliation appear not impossible. A conference took 
 place. Dr. Candlish, the mover of the Union resolution, 
 accepted an alteration in his motion which he thought un- 
 important, but which, as it made the gate of entry a little 
 
250 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 straiter, was held to be of value by the other party, and the 
 clouds vanished. The resolutions of the majority were allowed 
 to pass without a vote, — the minority being permitted to enter 
 their dissent, — and the Church was saved from the scandal, 
 within thirty years of its separate existence, of a second 
 disruption. 
 
 The failure of the Union negotiations was a grievous 
 disappointment to men like Candlish and Buchanan, both of 
 whom had set their hearts on the object which they contem- 
 plated. Dr. Candlish, in his opening speech, said somewhat 
 bitterly : " We take the attitude of beaten men. We surrender. 
 We surrender to a minority. They have got the victory. 
 They have compelled us to desist from prosecuting the 
 movement toward incorporating union." But he went on to 
 say : " The Lord's hand is in the arrest — the hand of an 
 offended God, a God to whom we have given umbrage, against 
 whom, in short, we have sinned. ... I do trust there will 
 be much humiliation, much acknowledgment of sin, and 
 much prayer. I hope our prayer will be for the speedy 
 revival of the Union movement. I do not expect to see it. I 
 do not expect my beloved brother, Dr. Buchanan, to see it. I 
 am no prophet, but I do venture to predict that you will 
 not all be in your graves before that day comes, and that 
 there will be a goodly remnant of you when that day 
 comes. Sir, we cannot stem the tide of Christian opinion 
 and Christian feeling." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan spoke with equal keenness and equal con- 
 fidenee. In a letter written to Dr. Cairns after the Assembly 
 of 1873, he says: " Wlien the time comes for resuming 
 Union negotiations — and I am not without hope that it will 
 come sooner than many suppose — men will be able to under- 
 stand how utterly indefensible was the conduct of those by 
 whose intemperate and groundless opposition the present delay 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 251 
 
 lias been brought about. My belief is that the basis of 
 ultimate union is now firmly laid. The common principles 
 are broad and solid enough not only to sustain mutual 
 eligibility but actual incorporation." 
 
 The conclusion remains, however, that in consequence of 
 a determined opposition, the chief credit or the reverse of 
 which is due to Dr. Begg, the movement for union which 
 began so hopefully in 18G3 was arrested, and has not again 
 in a formal way been resumed. 
 
 It would be inexcusable to close this account without 
 giving expression to the feeling of admiration with which the 
 conduct of the United Presbyterian Church during the 
 negotiations was regarded. It was a trying ordeal through 
 which it was required to pass, its principles being often mis- 
 represented, and its character and conduct disparaged. All 
 the assaults made upon it it bore with patience, and none of 
 the provocations to which it was subjected moved it to 
 depart from the sober and settled position which it took up 
 at the first. This equanimity it was enabled to maintain 
 largely through the infiuence of its leading men — of Dr. 
 Harper, for one, who was the Chairman of its Committee, but 
 chiefly of Dr. John Cairns, a man who was held in the 
 highest esteem in all the Churches, and whose piety, learning, 
 force of character, and wisdom, gained for him the confidence 
 and respect of all with whom he was brought into contact. 
 
 III. The Cameronians 
 
 When the llevolution Settlement took place in 1G89, it 
 was not found possible to gather again into one communion 
 all the fragments of the persecuted Church of Scotland. 
 Oppression had done its work in the way of driving into an 
 extreme position some who otherwise would have remained 
 loyal to the last. The earlier martyrs in dying had protested 
 
252 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 that they not only feared God, but honoured the King ; but in 
 1680, first in the Queensferry Paper, which was drawn up, it 
 is supposed, by Donald Cargill, and afterwards in the Sanquhar 
 Declaration, which was affixed to the Burgh Cross of that 
 village by Pdchard Cameron, the authority of Charles 11. was 
 disowned, and war was declared against him as a tyrant and a 
 usurper. The proclamation was an act of rebellion, but it 
 will be remembered it was based on the same ground precisely 
 as that which was taken up by William when he ascended 
 the throne. But the circumstances of the two parties were 
 very different. William's proceedings had the sanction of 
 success. Cargill, Cameron, and Eenwick were all made to 
 expiate their audacity on the scaffold. 
 
 Anyhow, by this bold stroke for liberty, the foundations 
 were laid of an independent Church in Scotland. The 
 Eevolution Settlement was by no means a satisfactory one, 
 viewing it in its relations to the Church alone, but among a 
 number of the more earnest Covenanters as much dissatis- 
 faction prevailed with reference to the constitution under it 
 of the State. To use the words of Mr. Hutchison, in his 
 admirable History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church : ^ 
 " The idea of a Covenanted nation under a Presbyterian 
 Covenanted king had taken firm possession of their minds, 
 and it produced a revulsion of feeling when, at the Eevolution, 
 no effort was made to bring back the vanished glory and re- 
 instate the Covenant in its former supremacy. Instead of 
 this, they found the newly constituted order was flagrantly 
 at variance with the former and better, they could not 
 acknowledge and submit to the one without rejecting the 
 other; and so they resolved to maintain the same attitude 
 toward the government of William as they had held toward 
 
 1 The Reformed Presbyterian CJmrch of Scotland. Its Origin and History. 
 1680-1876. By Rev. M. Hutchison. (Paisley : J. & R. Parlane.) 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 253 
 
 that of the two precedmg rulers. They would not own him 
 as king, nor recognise his courts, nor pay the taxes imposed." 
 
 That men holding such views should keep aloof from the 
 Revolution Church was to have been expected. The King 
 took far too much to do with its organisation to allow of 
 their adhering to it. Hence, when Presbyterianism was re- 
 established, there remained outside a body of professing 
 Christians who never seceded from this later national 
 Church, because they never became members of it. 
 
 The early history of this remarkable communion is very 
 curious and interesting. For many years it had no ministry ; 
 yet it maintained a vigorous life by means of local " Societies " 
 and a " General Meeting." By and by an Established Church 
 minister — Mr. M'Millan of Balmaghie — ^joined them ; but for 
 more than a generation he was left to superintend the work 
 alone. At last another accession took place in the person 
 of Mr, Nairn of Abbotshall. And then a Presbytery having 
 been formed, a regular Church was constituted, and took 
 the name of the Eeformed Church of Scotland. 
 
 To begin with, it was probably stronger than it became 
 after being organised — as seems evidenced by its members 
 raising for the campaign in which Claverhouse fell a famous 
 regiment, which is still maintained under the name of "The 
 Cameronians," but its early views complexioned its whole 
 after-position, and up till 1863 it was regarded in it as 
 an excommunicable offence to take the oath of allegiance 
 or to exercise the elective franchise. In that year, however, 
 more liberal principles prevailed, and by a majority of four 
 to one the Synod agreed to enact that " while recommending 
 the members of the Church to abstain from the use of the 
 franchise and from taking the oath of allegiance, discipline 
 to the effect of suspension and expulsion from the Church 
 shall cease." 
 
254 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 In the May following — that of 1864 — an invitation came 
 to the Synod from the Joint Union Committee of the Free 
 and U.P. Churches, inviting it to take part in the negotia- 
 tions which were then proceeding. This invitation was 
 cordially accepted, A delegation, with Dr. Goold at its head, 
 was appointed to confer with the other Churches, and in the 
 meetings which were subsequently held, the Eeformed 
 Presbyterians took a part which earned for them the 
 profound respect of all their brethren. 
 
 One point was made clear to the satisfaction of the Free 
 Church Anti-Unionists, namely, that the Pieformed Presby- 
 terians were not Voluntaries. " It is competent," they said, 
 " to the civil magistrate, and is his duty, when circumstances 
 render it necessary or expedient, to employ the national 
 resources in aid of the Church, and it is competent to the 
 Church to accept such aid." But they added : " It is not 
 lawful for the magistrate to grant aid to the Church from 
 the national resources merely from motives of political 
 expediency ; nor may these resources be employed for the 
 support of truth and error indiscriminately." 
 
 Their distinctive principle was stated in the following 
 terms : " When the civil magistrate sets himself in habitual 
 opposition to abuse his power for the overturning of religion 
 and the national liberties, he thereby forfeits his right to 
 conscientious allegiance, especially in countries where religion 
 and liberty have been placed under the protection of a 
 righteous constitution." This principle, which seemed to be 
 very much the same as an assertion of the natural right of 
 rebellion against tyranny, was associated with high views of 
 the mediatorial sovereignty of Christ. But they awakened 
 no enmity or opposition in any quarter ; and when, after the 
 collapse of the negotiations with the United Presbyterians, 
 the proposal was made in the Assembly of 1874 to reopen 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 255 
 
 conferences with the Reformed Presbyterians, it was assented 
 to in the Free Church with universal satisfaction. 
 
 The adjusting of the terms of incorporation did not turn 
 out to be difficult. All parties concerned were found to be 
 very much of one mind in regard to the Second Eeformation, 
 the Eevolution Settlement, and the Headship of Christ ; and 
 on the 25th of May 1876 the union was consummated. 
 " It was," says Mr. Hutchison, " a day not soon to be forgotten 
 by any who were privileged to witness or take part in its 
 proceedings. The Scottish Church has been more dis- 
 tinguished by disruptions than by unions ; all the more 
 interesting was the union of the oldest and the youngest of 
 its non-Established branches — a union carried through with 
 such harmony and cordiality on both sides as to give good 
 augury for the future. The spirit disclosed in all the 
 speeches is just such as must ere long lead to union on a 
 larger scale and to the removing of one great blot on our 
 honoured Scottish Presbyterianism." Only one minister in 
 the Eeformed Presbyterian clergy refused to go along with 
 his brethren, so that the amalgamation was about as complete 
 as it was possible to be. 
 
 IV. The Established Church 
 
 In 1878, on the last day of its session, the Free Church 
 Assembly received a communication from the Assembly of 
 the Established Church. It came in the form of a minute 
 which had been adopted in connection with the report of a 
 Committee on Union. The minute expressed the deep sense 
 entertained of the evils that were resulting from the pre- 
 valent divisions, and empowered the Committee " to approach 
 other Churches with an assurance that, while the General 
 Assembly maintain inviolate the principle of the national 
 recognition of the Christian religion as contained in the Con- 
 
256 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 fession of Faith, and the sacredness of the ancient reh'gious 
 endowments, and steadfastly adhere to the doctrine of the 
 Confession of Faith and the Presbyterian system of church 
 government and worship, they earnestly wish to consider 
 what other Churches may state, in frank and friendly con- 
 ference, as to the terms which at present prevent the other 
 Churches from showing the trust now reposed in this Church 
 alone." 
 
 This invitation to confer on the possibilities of reunion 
 reached the Free Church Assembly at too late a stage to be 
 formally discussed at the moment, and it was remitted to the 
 Assembly Arrangements Committee for consideration ; but Dr. 
 Eainy, in proposing that it should be disposed of in that way, 
 spoke of the respect with which it had been received ; and Dr. 
 Begg, in seconding the motion, indicated that he viewed not un- 
 hopefully the prospect of something satisfactory issuing out 
 of the overtures. 
 
 In course of time the Assembly Arrangements Committee 
 met, and, as directed, sent a reply to the communication 
 which had been received. 
 
 The reply, which was evidently prepared with great care, 
 was written by Sir Henry W. Moncreiff, one of the men 
 whose memory the Free Church ought to cherish. He was a 
 son of Lord Moncreiff, the Court of Session judge who, in 
 1833, proposed the Veto Act. At the Disruption he was 
 minister of East Kilbride ; but, soon after it, he was trans- 
 lated to Edinburgh, and settled over the Free Church which 
 had been established in the parish (St. Cuthbert's) of 
 which, in his day, his grandfather had been the incumbent. 
 Sir Henry inherited the legal tastes of his family, and if he 
 had gone to the Bar, he would no doubt have reached the 
 Bench, which his father and brother have in succession 
 adorned. But his gifts were not altogether lost in the 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 257 
 
 Churcli. He became associated with Dr. William Wilson 
 as one of the principal Clerks of Assembly. In that 
 capacity he was called to give advice upon all perplexing 
 questions, he took a leading part in the debates of the 
 period, and a manual was prepared by him which is the 
 Church's most authoritative guide on all matters of procedure. 
 His public engagements, however, were never allowed by him 
 to interfere with his pastoral work. No minister ever 
 visited his people more faithfully, and no one ever showed a 
 heartier interest in the spiritual prosperity of the kingdom of 
 Christ. Sir Henry was a steadfast advocate of the union 
 which was proposed with the United Presbyterians, and he 
 did much to further the adoption of a national system of 
 education. But in some connections he was conservative in 
 his tendencies, and he always hesitated to vote frankly in 
 favour of Disestablishment. On that account, his reply to 
 the invitation of the Established Church is all the more 
 interesting and sicfnificant. 
 
 The reply began by intimating that the Committee 
 cordially welcomed the communication, and expressed its 
 sense of " the courteous and considerate manner " in which the 
 Established Church, " after such a long estrangement," had 
 approached the Free Church Assembly. It added that the 
 Free Church was at one with the Established Church in 
 lamenting the divided state of Presbyterianism in Scotland, in 
 desiring reunion, and in its anxiety to maintain inviolate the 
 principle of a national recognition of the Christian religion. 
 
 But, it went on to say, " the Committee feel it to be their 
 duty frankly to call the attention of their brethren of the 
 Established Church to the Claim of Pdght adopted in 1842, 
 and to the Protest laid upon the table of the General 
 Assembly in 1 843." " It is obvious," they said, " that the terms 
 of these documents prevent the Free Church from supporting 
 17 
 
258 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 the maintenance of the existing Establishment as at present con- 
 stituted." The Assembly addressed was then respectfully 
 asked to consider whether it is not in that Claim and that 
 Protest that the principles are set forth on which alone the 
 divided sections of Presbyterianism can ever hope to be 
 reunited. And as to the final appropriation of the endow- 
 ments, that was a matter (it was argued) which would require 
 to be reserved, if a conference was to be agreed upon, because 
 some in the Free Church had doubts about their " sacredness," 
 and already did not believe in the wisdom of retaining them 
 in a united body. 
 
 This answer did not seem to have been read with 
 great satisfaction, because some five or six years passed 
 without any notice being taken of it. This apparent dis- 
 courtesy was afterwards explained and apologised for. In 
 1886, the Clerk of the Established Church Assembly 
 wrote saying that the non-acknowledgment of Sir Henry 
 Moncreiff's communication was due to " an inexplicable mis- 
 take." But, in any case, the subject of union was not 
 again revived until that year, when the Free Church 
 Assembly was approached afresh. 
 
 "Why the question was reopened was explained in the 
 message itself. A Bill had been brought into Parliament for 
 the disestablishment of the Church, and the Church had 
 been moved to put forth extraordinary efforts to oppose its 
 adoption. For one thing, the people were asked to sign 
 petitions in favour of things as they are, and to these no 
 fewer than 680,000 had appended their names. This fact, 
 along with the proceedings of " enthusiastic public meetings," 
 was held to be full of significance. It was held to be proved that 
 there existed "a national attachment to the Church of Scotland," 
 and the occasion was recognised as imposing on that Church 
 an obligation to make a new endeavour to bring the outlying 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES :lic) 
 
 religious communities within its pale. Accordingly, the 
 Assembly agreed again to express its sense of the evils of 
 division, and to assure the country of its readiness " to promote 
 union on the basis of Establishment," and it sent to, among 
 others, tlie Free Church, an intimation to the effect that, 
 while it continued to maintain inviolate " the principle of 
 the national recognition of religion as contained in the Con- 
 fession of Faith, and the sacredness of the ancient religious 
 endowments," it was " heartily willing and desirous to take all 
 possible steps, consistent with the maintenance of an Estab- 
 lishment of religion, to promote the reunion of Churches 
 having a common origin, adhering to the same Confession 
 and the same system of government and worship." 
 
 Three days before this communication was submitted 
 for consideration to the Free Church Assembly, a division 
 had taken place on what had become a constantly re- 
 curring question, that of the relation of the Church to 
 the State, and by a majority of 450 to 99, it had 
 been agreed to maintain the declarations already again and 
 again come to as to the propriety and necessity of Dis- 
 establishment and Disendowment in Scotland. This put the 
 Church in an attitude which seemed to indicate that to the 
 message from the Established Church only one reply was 
 possible ; and Dr. Eainy, in suggesting the form of reply to 
 be sent, stated plainly the difficulty which presented itself. 
 Any conference which might be entered into, was, it appeared, 
 to be hampered by a preliminary condition. Reunion was 
 proposed only on " the basis of Establishment," and the 
 endowments were to be regarded as " sacred." There was no 
 use, he held, in meeting to discuss conceivable plans of union 
 if the whole field was thus not to be left open. Reunion 
 under Disestablishment was at least a debatable theory, and 
 there was no propriety in excluding it from consideration. 
 
26o EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 It was not easy to dispute the force of this reasoning, and 
 Dr. John M'Ewan admitted as much even when he pro- 
 ceeded to make a counter motion. But there was something 
 in his contention. He argued that, in resolving as wa& 
 proposed, the Church would be turning its back upon itself. 
 Sir Henry Moncreiff had written in 1878, commending the 
 Claim of Right to the Established Church as containing the 
 only hopeful basis of union, and now a new difficulty of an 
 entirely different order was being brought forward. For the 
 present, however, Dr. M'Ewan gave way. He and others- 
 entered their dissent from the conclusion proposed, and Dr. 
 Eainy's motion was agreed to without a division. 
 
 At a later stage, when the Established Assembly wrote 
 apologising for its neglect six years before, and transmitting 
 the deliverance which had then been come to, it was inferred 
 that a desire existed for further correspondence, and the 
 Assembly Arrangements Committee was empowered to repre- 
 sent the Free Church if anything more required to be said. 
 
 When the Assembly of 1887 came round, the Arrange- 
 ments Committee had an interesting report to submit. The 
 Established Church Assembly had appointed a Church 
 Interests Committee, with Lord Balfour of Burleigh as 
 Convener. The main purpose of this Committee was the 
 defence of the Establishment — the maintenance of the Church 
 and State connection. But its Convener, whose father took a 
 leading part on the Evangelical side before the Disruption, and 
 whose mother lived and died a Free Churchwoman, and whO' 
 himself has always shown that he has at heart the welfare, in 
 the highest sense, of his country, was honestly persuaded that 
 by the reconstruction of the Church of Scotland in his way,, 
 the cause of Christ in the land could be best promoted, and 
 in furthering the reunion negotiations, therefore, he believed 
 that he was caring in the surest way for the true " interests " 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 261 
 
 of his own communion. Animated by this feeling, in November 
 1886, his Committee sent a more urgent and, if possible, a 
 more kindly communication than before. It intimated that 
 the offer made to the Free Church and other Churches, " to 
 give effect to the recent remarkable manifestations of the 
 desire of the people of Scotland to bring about the reunion of 
 Scottish Presbyterians on the basis of Establishment," was still 
 open, and it expressed its unwillingness " to construe the reply 
 of the Free Church as actually closing the door of reconcilia- 
 tion." With regard to the proposal that in any conferences 
 which might be held, the question of Disestablishment should 
 be treated as open, the Committee did not think it necessary 
 to enter into argument. " Such a discussion would have no 
 common ground on which to proceed. If the Free Church 
 would consider the present state of Scotland in the light of 
 the Standards common to both Churches, of the Claim of 
 Eight, and of the recent abolition of patronage, a conference 
 might be profitable, and union the possible result ; but no good 
 could come from acceptance of what the Free Church actually 
 suggests. The Church of Scotland would be false to her 
 trust if she accepted a proposal which would even seem to 
 imperil the religious advantages secured to the people of Scot- 
 land by the Kevolution Settlement and the Treaty of Union." 
 To this appeal the Arrangements Committee reported to 
 the Assembly that they had replied. They had expressed satis- 
 faction at the reference made to tlie Claim of Right, although 
 they did not know how far that reference was to be held as 
 implying acquiescence in its terms. As to the other points, 
 however, the question of what was the present duty of the 
 Free Church had been again and again discussed in the light 
 of the state of Scotland, the Standards common to the 
 Churches, and the Act abolishing patronage, and the conclusion 
 come to was that no solution was possible but Disestablish- 
 
262 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 ment for existing difficulties. Eegret, therefore, was expressed 
 that the communication from the Established Church could 
 be viewed as nothing less than a direct negative, although all 
 that the Free Church had asked was simply that the con- 
 ference should be " on the whole case." With the reply thus- 
 given, all the members of Committee had not been satisfied, 
 and three ministers and two elders entered their dissent from 
 it, holding that sufficient importance was not being given to 
 the place now assigned to the Claim of Eight, and that toa 
 much stress was laid upon the circumstance that a majority 
 in the Assembly had voted for Disestablishment. 
 
 After the report had been submitted, an interesting debate 
 took place. Principal Brown moved that " any proposal to 
 engage in negotiations regarding the Scottish Church question,, 
 excluding from consideration the solution repeatedly declared 
 by the Church to be necessary, must be regarded as an un- 
 fortunate way of dealing with a great question, and as wholly 
 unfitted to promote a worthy, intelligent, and harmoniouS' 
 settlement of it." This was seconded by Bailie Dickson. 
 
 On the other hand. Sheriff Jameson, in a long and able 
 speech, argued that a new element had been introduced intO' 
 the negotiations by the offer which had been made to look 
 at the situation in the light of the Claim of Eight, and pro- 
 posed that the conference should be agreed to on the con- 
 ditions suggested by the Established Church. This motion 
 was seconded by Dr. William Balfour. 
 
 It was undeniable that a great deal could be said for this 
 last position. Sir Henry Moncreiff, in his first answer to the 
 overtures received, had commended the Claim of Eight to his 
 correspondents as containing the only possible basis of union, 
 and the Free Church was bound to recognise the concession 
 which had been made to it. But, on the other hand, as Dr. 
 Laughton pointed out. Sheriff Jameson and his friends were 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 265 
 
 putting quite an unwarrantable interpretation on the con- 
 cession. It was assumed that the Established Church was 
 now prepared to meet the Free Church and discuss the Claim 
 of Eight with it. He saw no indication to that effect. The 
 only proposal was to consider the question of admitting the 
 Free Church to a share of the endowments in the light of the 
 Claim of Kight. But there were other things in the Claim 
 of Plight that would require to be alluded to ; and, added Dr. 
 Laughton, " If the Established Church comes forward and 
 offers to meet us in conference on the whole subject of the 
 Claim of Eight — what is our standing under it and what is 
 theirs — tlie Free Church will not decline the offer." 
 
 After all, however, the question practically was a very 
 simple one. What would have been done immediately after 
 the Disruption it is now impossible to guess. A recon- 
 structed Establishment would then probably have been 
 generally welcomed. But breaches, as one has often occasion 
 to remark, are much more easily made than healed. A 
 separation of over forty years had led men in the Free 
 Church to new thoughts and new experiences, and a reunion 
 to the State had no longer its former attractions for them. 
 It was not that a theoretic Voluntaryism had come to pre- 
 vail. The great mass of the ministers and members of 
 the Free Church were just as much persuaded as ever thai 
 there are conditions on which nations may give material 
 support to the Church. But such support has come to be 
 seen to be less indispensable than was once believed, — its 
 acceptance has been found often to involve secular control, — 
 and with so many Presbyterians in the country who have 
 conscientious objections to Establishments, and who would be 
 left outside in the event of the Free Church consenting on the 
 terms to reconciliation proposed, it has come to be a very 
 prevalent conviction that Disestablishment is now the only 
 
264 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 possible road to union. To this conclusion the Assembly 
 on the present occasion came, because Dr. Brown's motion 
 was carried by a majority of 322 to 66. 
 
 Since 1887 no authorised attempts have been made to 
 brine about a union of the Free and Established Churches. 
 But more or less private efforts have been put forth with 
 that end in view. A Laymen's League, for example, has 
 been formed, to which a considerable amount of support 
 appears to be given, and Bills have been prepared for 
 Parliament with the object of removing Free Church diffi- 
 culties to re-establishment. It is an open secret, also, that 
 a conference of men representing the three principal Scottish 
 Churches have been in session, with Disestablishment as so 
 far an open question ; but the result is, at the present date, 
 quite uncertain. There exists, however, a very earnest and 
 widespread desire to see the divisions of Presbyterianism 
 brought to an end, and the hope is cherished that, sooner 
 or later, that desire may be fulfilled. 
 
 Hitherto we have spoken of negotiations for union — of 
 efforts made by the Churches directly and professedly in 
 favour of reconciliation. But the overtures referred to do 
 not represent the only or the earliest endeavours made by the 
 Established Church to undo the mischief of 1843. 
 
 Allusion has already been made to the circumstance that 
 the appearance of a strong anti-Union party in the Free 
 Church had brought to light the fact that there were not 
 a few in that Church who held decided views in favour of 
 Establishments. This fact seems to have suggested the idea 
 that something might be done to bring such persons back 
 to the national pale. At first the baits were simple enough. 
 All that was attempted was the passing of an Act allowing 
 parish churches to call Free or United Presbyterian ministers, 
 and employing the unexhausted teinds in the support of any 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 265 
 
 new men who might be brought into the fold. But after- 
 wards wider schemes came to be entertained. The " Veto 
 with reasons " was not working satisfactorily in the country. 
 New privileges were being conferred upon the people of the 
 land politically. And the leading men of the Establishment 
 grew to be convinced that if the Church was ever again to 
 be what it once was, patronage must be abolished. 
 
 It was a remarkable conclusion which was thus come 
 to, but the movement which now began was, so far, a per- 
 fectly natural one, and no one would have blamed the parties 
 who promoted it, if they had proceeded to work in a wise 
 and generous way. But the manner in which the agitation 
 for the object was prosecuted was, to say the least of it, 
 ■exceedingly unfortunate, and consequences have followed 
 which we may say were certainly not anticipated. 
 
 In the first place, the other Churches in Scotland were 
 in no way recognised as having any interest in the arrange- 
 ment of a fresh concordat with the State. The question of 
 patronage was intimately connected with the previous history 
 of all of them. It was, in fact, largely due to the pressure 
 of that evil that they were then in a position of separation. 
 And yet, here was one section of the Church in Scotland — 
 whose own relation to patronage had been, to say the least of 
 it, peculiar — proposing a radical change in the situation 
 solely in its own interest. It is vain to say, in excuse for 
 this, that the Established Church assumed that the other 
 Churches would refuse to confer with it on the subject. 
 Ten years later and more, it did not think of such a difficulty 
 when it made overtures to the Free Church to join with it 
 in trying to reconstruct the Establishment. The fact cannot 
 be blinked that the movement was a purely selfish one, 
 iind, as such, one from which satisfactory results could not 
 reasonably have been expected. 
 
266 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 That this was the light in which the agitation was viewed 
 by spectators outside, was shown by the pointed questions 
 and remarks with which the deputation from the Church was 
 received by the Prime Minister of the day. That Minister 
 was Mr. Gladstone, regarding whom this must be said, even 
 by his enemies, that he knew something about Scotland and 
 its ecclesiastical history. He asked the deputation if the 
 other Churches had been communicated with, and on his being 
 answered in the negative, he said : " Speaking of the Scottish 
 Church, I think it would be said of those who went through 
 this struggle twenty - six years ago, that the ecclesiastical 
 property should be made over to those who bore earlier 
 testimony to the principle of anti- patronage, namely, the 
 Free Church in 1843, and the various seceding bodies now 
 forming the United Presbyterian Church." 
 
 This was a view of the case which does not seem to have 
 occurred to the parties concerned, and yet it was one which 
 the common sense of the time might have suggested. In 
 any case, it was the view which prevailed to a large extent 
 in the Free Church. 
 
 "If the Established Church was right in 1843," wrote 
 Lord Ardmillan to his friend Mr. David Maclagan, " there 
 is no need for this measure [that of abolishing patronage]. 
 If it was wrong in 1843, which it has never yet acknow- 
 ledged, then observe its position. Dwelling in the manses 
 quitted, and enjoying the stipends surrendered by the Free 
 Church, a confession of error and wrong may be made 
 cheaply, as they retain all which the errors and the wrong 
 procured. See the king's speech in " Hamlet " — 
 
 " ' But oh ! what form of prayer 
 Can serve my turn ? Forgive me tlie foul murder. 
 But I have still the effects for -which I did the murder: 
 My crown, my own ambition, and my queen. 
 Can one be pardoned who retains the offence ? ' " 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 267 
 
 It is needless now to speculate on what might conceivably 
 have happened if the Established Church, recognising the 
 existence of a crisis in the ecclesiastical history of Scotland, 
 had proposed a conference of all the Presbyterian bodies ; but 
 this is demonstrable, that it was a fatal mistake to ignore, in 
 the circumstances, the existence of these bodies, and to pro- 
 ceed as if its own individual interests were alone concerned. 
 
 But this is not the only feature in the movement which 
 one remembers with wonder. Another curious element in it 
 was the manner in which it was prosecuted. When the 
 deputation waited in 1870 on Mr. Gladstone to urge the 
 abolition of patronage. Dr. Norman Macleod, who headed it, 
 asked for the boon on the, (jrouncl that the Scottish people had 
 always been opposed to its continuance, and that so eager were 
 those he represented to promote the unity of the Church, 
 there was nothing they were not prepared to do in order to 
 accomplish it. Dr. Macleod further said, that in 1843 
 " there was no sacrifice he and his brethren would not have 
 made, and no legislative Act they would not have accepted, 
 rather than have had the Secession." 
 
 This last declaration was read by those who had themselves 
 passed through the conflict, with the utmost astonishment. 
 They remembered how a pathetic appeal had been made by 
 Dr. Candlish in the Assembly of 1842, asking the Moderate 
 party to allow the Veto Act to remain undisturbed for the 
 sake of peace, and how that appeal evoked from those 
 addressed no answer whatever. There was evidently now 
 a late repentance. Things were so changed that Dr. Macleod 
 and his friends were willing to go a great deal farther, and 
 make a sacrifice even of patronage itself. But it was too 
 much for them now to be claiming that they had been of 
 the same mind always. 
 
 Even a more extraordinary thing, however, happened on 
 
268 EFFORTS FOR THE REUNION 
 
 this occasion. It was that the abolition of patronage was 
 pled for on grounds which confounded those who read of 
 them. To these Dr. Eobert Buchanan called attention, in 
 an article which he contributed at the time to The, 
 Presbyterian. 
 
 " Have those," he asked, " who strained at the gnat of 
 Non - Intrusion, made up their minds to swallow popular 
 election ? Nothing, surely, but some unusual stress of 
 weather could have brought together such contraries. . . . 
 ' The claim' say they, 'for the abolition of jpatronage has 
 become historical or hereditary in the Church — the Church has 
 ever on principle maintained the right of the people to have a 
 vote in the appointment of her ministers ' I " No wonder the 
 Scotsman felt its breath taken away by this astounding 
 statement coming from such a quarter. " What do you 
 say ? " it exclaimed, — " the Church has ahuays opposed patron- 
 age ! What Church ? Certainly the Free Church, the 
 Secession Churches, the Covenanting Church, but never 
 (until last year) the Church that is now speaking — the 
 Church of the Hills and Cooks and Eobertsons and Mearns 
 and Bryces and Macfarlanes ! From the middle of last 
 century down to 1869, the policy of the Moderates has been 
 identified with patronage. And of the disingenuousness of 
 the statement it is unnecessary to say more." 
 
 It is certain that if Mr. Gladstone had remained in power, 
 the appeal made to the Government on behalf of the 
 Established Church would not have been complied with 
 without a preliminary inquiry being instituted into the 
 ecclesiastical condition of Scotland. Probably a Eoyal 
 Commission would have been appointed to take evidence 
 from all quarters, and lasting good might have been the 
 result. As it was, a turn of the wheel brought in the 
 Conservatives, and then all was plain sailing for the Church. 
 
OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 269 
 
 A Bill was rushed through the House of Commons, and 
 quietly accepted by the House of Lords, transferring patron- 
 age from those possessing it to a new set of constituents — 
 not acknowledging that " it appertains to the people ta 
 choose their own ministers," but conferring, as if it were a 
 civil franchise, the right to vote in elections, upon adherents 
 of congregations as well as communicants. 
 
 The Bill was passed, there can be no doubt, in the interest 
 of union. That it would contribute to a restoration of the 
 unity of the Church was one of the pleas used by Dr. 
 Norman Macleod in his interview with the Prime Minister. 
 But the union which was hoped for was not to be the result 
 of negotiation. What was expected was the absorption of 
 the Free Church. By presenting what Dr. Kennedy called 
 " a colourable imitation of our banner," it was assumed that 
 members in greater or smaller numbers w^ould be attracted 
 to the Establishment, and that by this process of depletion 
 its strength would gradually decay. It was even thought 
 that by the change the Church would be made so strong as 
 to tend to dissolve even the Voluntary communions. 
 
 The results have not been all that was looked for. A new 
 spirit of activity has been awakened in the Church itself, and 
 it is in various ways stronger than it was in 1874. But the 
 Churches outside have not been affected, while it is from that 
 year that the commencement may be dated of the Disestab- 
 lishment agitation which, previously, can hardly be said to 
 have taken shape. The Established Church was now regarded, 
 in fact, as having challenged those who had separated from it, 
 to approve anew of its constitution, and the fresh examina- 
 tion thus forced upon them of its claims lias only tended to 
 deepen and confirm the doubts before existing as to its right 
 in equity to its position. 
 
 It is now generally conceded that, sooner or later, Dis- 
 
270 THE REUNION OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES 
 
 establishment must come. And when that time arrives, a re- 
 union of all the Scottish Presbyterian Churches will be no more 
 difficult here than it has been in the Colonies. Some talk as 
 if then Episcopacy will be strengthened, and several ministers 
 have even intimated that, rather than join the Nonconform- 
 ing Churches, they will attach themselves to the Church of 
 England. But the loss of such men will not be irreparable, 
 and Presbyterianism has too strong a hold on the people of 
 Scotland to be finally abandoned by them. 
 
CHAriER XVII 
 
 THE KISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 TN 1869 a vacancy was caused in the Hebrew Chair at 
 ■*~ Aberdeen by the death of Professor Sachs, and no fewer 
 than ten men were named as candidates for the post. Of 
 the ten, however, only six were proposed in the Assembly of 
 1870, and the final vote was taken between Mr. Eobertson 
 Smith and Mr. (now Professor) Salmond. Ultimately, Mr. 
 Smith was carried, by a majority of 139. The conclusion was 
 rather a remarkable one, because Mr. Salmond was nominated 
 by Dr. William Wilson and seconded by the Earl of Dalhousie, 
 while Mr. Smith's claims were represented by two men whose 
 position in the Church was very much less conspicuous. 
 Dr. James Walker of Carnwath and Captain Shepherd. But 
 already Mr. Smith's reputation was extraordinarily high. 
 Though quite a young man, his career at college had been 
 peculiarly brilliant, and Dr. Walker made the most of the 
 distinctions he had gained in his eulogistic speech. The 
 result, in any case, was what has been indicated. Mr. Smitli 
 led from the first in all the divisions, and in the end he was 
 elected professor with, it may be said, a large measure of 
 satisfaction and even of enthusiasm. 
 
 Nor, to begin with, was any cause for question given as 
 to the wisdom of the appointment. Professor Smith not only 
 conducted his class well, but made himself known outside as 
 a very competent scholar, and those in the Church who took 
 
 271 
 
272 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 an interest in the Colleges felt greatly gratified when it became 
 known that he had been invited to write the Biblical Articles 
 in the Encyclopcedia Britannica. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, Mr. Smith, as he was bound to do, 
 had been keeping himself abreast of the critical literature of 
 the day, and the very first paper which he contributed to the 
 Encyclopccdia showed that the advanced views which had 
 become current in Germany and Holland were affecting his 
 own opinions as to the history and character of the Bible. 
 That paper discussed the subject of " Angels," and in its 
 account of the development of the scriptural idea of their 
 origin, a question was suggested to some minds as to whether 
 their personal existence was believed in by the writer. It 
 was also commented on as suspicious that in such an article 
 no notice was taken of the angels who fell. Little stress,. 
 however, was laid upon these points, and they would probably 
 never have been heard of, if there had not come by and by 
 the issue of a much more famous contribution — that on the 
 " Bible " itself. 
 
 This article, when its contents came to be vmderstood, 
 produced throughout the Church a widespread feeling of 
 alarm. To appreciate the condition of thing -;, it is necessary 
 to remember that at this time the Free Church had the 
 reputation of being perhaps the most orthodox communion 
 in Christendom. Other Churches had their Broad schools, 
 but in it there was hardly one man who had shown a 
 disposition to leave the old paths ; and although here and 
 there were scholars who knew that a storm was coming, they 
 had not tried to disturb the prevailing peace, or had not 
 succeeded to any extent in breaking in upon it. It need 
 cause no surprise, then, that a violent commotion was pro- 
 duced when a professor wrote an article in which no reference 
 was made to the supernatural origin of the Bible, and in 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 273 
 
 which the composition of several books was dealt with in the 
 very freest manner, as if they had been put together by the 
 wit of man alone. "With criticism of this sort the Church 
 was entirely unacquainted. If the plan had been followed 
 of opening the door more gradually, the alarm would have 
 been less. But as it was, the blow fell without warning 
 and until the dust which was raised had somewhat settled, 
 it was impossible that the true issue which was raised could 
 be clearly seen. 
 
 Among the positions thus flung, as we may describe it, 
 into the heart of the Church, and put forward, not in a 
 fugitive journal, but in a work intended to record conclusions 
 which had been definitely reached, were the following : — That 
 the current traditions as to the authorship of the Pentateuch, 
 etc., are quite unreliable ; that " the history, as we have it, 
 is not one narrative carried on from age to age by successive 
 additions, but a fusion of several narrations which partly 
 cover the same ground, and were combined into unity by an 
 editor " ; that " beyond doubt the Book of Deuteronomy is a 
 prophetic legislative programme, and if the author put his 
 work in the mouth of Moses instead of giving it, with 
 Ezekiel, a directly prophetic form, he did so not in pious 
 fraud, but simply because his object was, not to give a new 
 law, but to expand and develop Mosaic principles in relation 
 to new needs " ; that the poetical books, like the historical, 
 are anonymous, and copyists have taken great liberties with 
 them ; that of the Psalms, only two or three can with any 
 confidence be ascribed to David ; that far too much has been 
 made of the predictive element in the Prophets (they were, 
 in fact, preachers speaking to their own times) ; and that the 
 synoptical Gospels were not written by the men whose names 
 they bear, but were " non- apostolic digests of spoken and 
 written apostolic tradition." 
 18 
 
274 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 These are specific points, but by the whole strain of the 
 article the idea was strongly suggested that the Bible is a 
 patchwork of a remarkable kind, — " a stratification, and not 
 an organism," — and that hardly any part of it can be accepted 
 as being what it now seems to be. 
 
 Such a statement of the situation, coming from the quarter 
 it did, could scarcely pass unchallenged. The teaching in 
 the article was brought under the notice of the College 
 Committee, and a special report upon it was submitted to 
 the Assembly of 1877. The report intimated that the 
 Committee " had not found in the article any ground sufficient 
 to support a process for heresy against Professor Smith," but 
 it specified various points in it which had been viewed with 
 dissatisfaction. Among these was the fact " that the article 
 does not adequately indicate that the Professor holds the 
 doctrine of the Divine inspiration of the books whose history 
 he investigates and describes." The Committee also said that 
 they regarded " with grave concern " his account of the origin 
 of Deuteronomy ; " the hypothesis of inspired personation 
 applied to the contents of such a book appearing to them 
 highly questionable in itself and in its consequences." And 
 they concluded by adding that they could not " withhold the 
 expression of their opinion, that the article, in opposition tO' 
 Professor Smith's avowed intention, is of a dangerous and 
 unsettling tendency." 
 
 This report, although it was first brought under the notice 
 of the Assembly only in 1877, was published six months 
 before, and transmitted by the Commission, in March, to Mr. 
 Smith's own Presbytery of Aberdeen. That Presbytery was 
 asked to examine the article " Bible," and any other writings- 
 issued by the Professor, and so help the Church to a con- 
 clusion as to the character of the teaching for which be 
 was becoming responsible. Professor Smith was accordingly 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 275 
 
 invited by the Presbytery to explain his position, and in 
 connection with some questions which certain members 
 proposed to put to him, but which were disallowed, an appeal 
 was taken from the Presbytery to the General Assembly. . 
 
 In this way — at once by the College Committee and the 
 Aberdeen Presbytery — the subject of Mr. Smith's teaching 
 came formally for the first time, in 1877, under the review 
 of the Supreme Court of the Church. 
 
 There a debate ensued, in the course of which the position 
 of the two parties in the case came to be very clearly defined. 
 Dr. William Wilson moved that, pending the carrying through 
 of the inquiry at Aberdeen, Mr. Smith be suspended ; while 
 Dr. James Candlish proposed that in the meantime the 
 Presbytery be left unhindered to complete its investigations. 
 The first motion was carried by a majority of 378 out of a 
 total of 491, only 113 voting for the second. But in the dis- 
 cussion the speaking was not confined to the point of order. 
 It was allowed to deal with the merits, and there was thus 
 revealed at the very outset the different points of view from 
 which the situation was regarded. 
 
 On the one hand, it was held that on the subject of 
 Biblical Introduction the last word had by no means been 
 spoken. It was also contended that a working Church like 
 ours was not likely to furnish many scholars competent to 
 throw any independent light upon the matter. When, there- 
 fore, one appeared to be raised up among us whose knowledge 
 and abilities were equally remarkable, what it became us to 
 do was to look upon the gift with interest and thankfulness. 
 This was the position which was taken up in the strongest 
 way by Dr. Whyte, who, in the College Committee, insisted 
 that " the traditions and prepossessions of those who cannot 
 be familiar with critical and scientific questions " ought not 
 to be " allowed to trammel the hand and brand the names of 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 men who are doing some of the Church's selectest and most 
 delicate work." No doubt, in the course of their inquiries, 
 such men might make what to the popular mind would be 
 unpleasant discoveries ; but, after all, it is the truth that is 
 wanted, and that must be submitted to at whatever cost. 
 
 Clear expression was also given to these views by one 
 whose interest in evangelical religion could not be questioned 
 — Mr. Ferguson of Kinmundy. He said, in seconding Dr. 
 Candlish's motion : " Since the article ' Bible ' appeared, the 
 world has opened its eyes with astonishment to find that 
 there was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland capable 
 of going into such an investigation. The position of this 
 Church had been heightened in the literary world and in 
 the world of theological inquiry by the noble efforts made, 
 he did not say by Professor Smith alone, but by him and 
 others, in the direction he had indicated. But while they 
 must vindicate free thought, free investigation, free expression 
 of opinion, to his mind there was another very serious thing 
 they had to look to, and that was that there was a necessary 
 education required to receive the results of free investigation 
 aright ; and that there were very few indeed, even in their 
 own Church, that were in that position — who were capable 
 of calmly and candidly examining these positions. Even 
 our Lord Himself, when teaching His disciples, felt it neces- 
 sary to say to them, ' I have many things to say to you, but 
 ye cannot bear them now.' They were all old enough to 
 remember there were questions, now settled, both in science 
 and theology, which were once held in gravest doubt. He 
 made these remarks on the general question ; he did not 
 enter into the merits on this occasion. He wished to say, 
 for the clearance of his own position, that he did not accept 
 all the results which Professor Smith had indicated in his 
 article ' Bible ' and in other articles. But then he had to 
 
rJIE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 277 
 
 add that he had not seen the process by which he had come 
 to these results." 
 
 Such was the position of those who were prepared to 
 stand by Professor Smith. They did not all accept his teach- 
 ing, or think that he had chosen the fittest channel through 
 which to give it forth, and many of them were more or less 
 annoyed by the want of consideration which he had shown 
 for the prejudices of his brethren. But they were proud of 
 his gifts. They thought he was at liberty, and indeed bound, 
 to exercise these as he had done. And they argued that if 
 he had gone astray, the proper course to follow was not to 
 threaten him with ecclesiastical censures, but to answer him 
 in an ordinary way. 
 
 On the other hand, there were many who persuaded them- 
 selves that the authority of the Bible as a Divine revelation 
 was in peril. They regarded it as a serious defect in an 
 article which professed to describe the construction of 
 Scripture, that it gave no hint of its chief peculiarity that 
 it was inspired, and that it handled its books with a freedom 
 which could not have been greater if its authorship had been 
 entirely human. They did not call in question Professor 
 Smith's own faith. The assurances which he gave that his 
 peculiar views had not affected his own belief in the Divine 
 origin of the Bible were freely accepted. But the condition 
 of the minds of ordinary people had, it was thought, to be 
 considered, and the conviction grew that some of the theories 
 set forth in the Encydopcedia could not, in their case, 
 coexist with a sincere belief in biblical inspiration. This 
 conclusion was come to in view of what was taught about 
 the Pentateuch generally, namely, that Mosaism is not the 
 starting-point, but the goal of Old Testament history. But 
 the special stumbling-block was found in the account given 
 of Deuteronomy. That book, it was said, is not at all what 
 
278 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 it seems to be — a genuine report by Moses himself of what 
 he said on the edge of the wilderness, but a very much later 
 work, composed by a prophet or company of prophets in 
 league with certain priests, and issued, as with the authority 
 of Moses, in order to promote the interests of the central 
 sanctuary. It was admitted that thus the people were 
 imposed upon, and the natural conclusion was suggested that 
 for generations the Jews must have been the victims of a 
 fraud. But this conclusion was disputed. It was argued 
 that " on the face of it the Pentateuch [and more particularly 
 Deuteronomy] is a case of literary construction on principles 
 which are extremely foreign to our habits of thought " ; and 
 it could not be doubted there were believing critics who 
 honestly accepted the theory that a book with such a history 
 was God-inspired. This position, however, many could not 
 bring their minds to assent to. They admitted that the 
 critics might be right about the origin of the book. Perhaps 
 it was written in Josiah's time by astute men, who put it 
 into the mouth of Moses for effect ; but if that was the case, 
 they could not believe that it had any title to a place in the 
 Bible, and as they were not able to agree to its exclusion 
 without a pang, they stood in doubt about a kind of teaching 
 which put them in this dilemma. 
 
 What to do, however, with a professor whose teaching 
 was so revolutionary, was now the question which pressed 
 for a settlement. Dr. Eainy, so early, saw the only possible 
 solution of the case. The College Committee had intimated 
 its belief that Mr. Smith could not be proved a heretic — that 
 is, it could not be shown that he had expressly contradicted 
 the Confession of Faith. But it seemed to him out of the 
 question that a Church by some other course could not 
 protect itself against any serious evil, and he supported the 
 proposal of Dr. Wilson as " an act of policy and administra- 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 279 
 
 tion." To this aspect of the case Dr. Candlish and his 
 friends refused to give any heed. They insisted that if Mr. 
 Smith's mouth was to be closed as a Free Church professor, 
 it ought to be as the result of a judicial process, and they 
 <3issented from the motion carried — specifically on that 
 ground. They failed for the moment to secure assent to 
 their point. The Assembly resolved, in the exercise of what 
 was afterwards called its " reserve of power," that whatever 
 happened, Mr. Smith should not be allowed to teach until 
 his position had been fully ascertained. But this display of 
 sovereignty was immediately followed by what appeared to 
 be a universal acquiescence in the theory of the minority — • 
 that to justify the removal of Mr. Smith from his chair, he 
 behoved to have established against him a charge of heresy. 
 Before the debate began, the Professor had intimated that he 
 meant to demand a libel, and in course of time the demand 
 was actually conceded and a libel prepared. 
 
 The history of the process thus begun was not a very 
 happy one. The Westminster divines had not anticipated 
 the raising of such questions as the critics were now sending 
 abroad, or they probably would, in one way or another, have 
 endeavoured to provide for them. For the same or other 
 reasons, they had not defined specifically what they understood 
 by inspiration. And it was well, perhaps, that it was so 
 arranged. It could not possibly have been a wise thing for 
 any Church to make a term of communion of such points as 
 the age or authorship of the books of the Bible. Nobody 
 can foresee what may come to be discovered in these 
 connections, and it would have been an awkward thing for 
 a community to find itself stranded in a position which, by 
 the simple advance of scholarship, had been proved to all to be 
 untenable. This was not seen so clearly as it might perhaps 
 have been when the prosecution of Professor Smith began. 
 
28o THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 and the consequence was the framing of a libel so cumbrous 
 and elaborate that it read rather like a treatise than an 
 indictment. 
 
 As originally drawn, the libel contained three general and 
 eight particular charges. The former were as follows : — (1) 
 The publishing and promulgating of opinions which contradict, 
 or are opposed to, doctrines set forth in the Scriptures and 
 the Confession of Faith ; (2) The publishing and promulgating 
 of opinions which are in themselves of a dangerous and 
 unsettling tendency in their bearing on doctrines set forth 
 in Scripture and the Confession ; and (.">) The publishing 
 writings concerning the books of Scripture which by their 
 neutrality of attitude in relation to doctrines set forth in 
 the Scriptures and the Confession, and by their rashness of 
 statement in regard to the critical construction of the 
 Scriptures, tend to disparage the Divine authority and inspired 
 character of these books. The particular charges referred to 
 — the institution of the Aaronic priesthood ; the date of 
 Deuteronomy ; the historical reliableness of Chronicles ; the 
 view taken of Job, Jonah, and Esther ; the interpretation put 
 upon Canticles ; the denial of the Davidic authorship of almost 
 all the Psalms ; the free criticism to which the Psalms were 
 subjected ; the disparagement of the predictive element in the 
 proj)hecies ; and the account given of the origin of the angels. 
 
 If those who undertook the prosecution of Professor 
 Smith had been wise enough to follow the simple plan 
 adopted at Montreal in connection with the charge which 
 was brought there against Dr. Campbell, the issue might 
 have been different from what it was, There were just two 
 counts in his indictment, one of which was this : " You hold 
 and teach a view of the Holy Scriptures which impugns and 
 discredits them as the supreme and infallible source of 
 religious truth." That charge would have been relevant. 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 281 
 
 and might have been proved. But, as it was, an immense 
 amount of time and talent and temper was wasted, in the 
 various Courts of the Church, on the question of the 
 relevancy of the indictment, and it was only in 1879 that 
 the libel, after underling various amendments, was at last 
 adopted by the General Assembly, and ordered to be served 
 on Mr. Smith, with a view to proof, by the Presbytery of 
 Aberdeen. The libel, however, was now reduced to one charge, 
 — the second particular, under the first general count, — and 
 amounted to this, that Professor Smith was accused of pro- 
 mulgating " the opinion that the book of inspired Scripture 
 called Deuteronomy, which is professedly an historical record, 
 does not possess that character, but was made to assume it by 
 a writer of a much later age, who therein, in the name of God, 
 presented, in dramatic form, instructions and laws as proceed- 
 ing from the mouth of Moses, though these never were, and 
 never could have been, uttered by him." 
 
 The motion to proceed with this indictment — made by Dr. 
 Andrew Bonar and seconded by Dr. Bannerman of Perth — was 
 only carried by a majority of one. That might seem in the 
 circumstances rather an unexpected conclusion. But it did not 
 indicate that the Church was making up its mind to abandon 
 the prosecution. The counter motion, which failed, did not 
 propose to drop the libel altogether. It simply asked that 
 in view of the novelty and perplexity of the case, the 
 Assembly — before proceeding further with the libel — should 
 appoint a representative Committee to consider what course 
 it would be best to follow, and to report. The majority, 
 though a small one, said, in effect, that it was opposed to any 
 delay. 
 
 What happened in the year which followed, however, 
 secured so far the end aimed at in the minority motion. 
 No progress was then made toward the conviction of Mr, 
 
 ^ 
 
*v 
 
 282 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 Smith of heresy. When the Presbytery met, he appeared 
 with certain pleas in law, on the strength of which he 
 contended that the Court was not entitled to proceed to 
 probation. He held that the Assembly had framed what 
 was virtually a new libel, and yet had failed to follow its 
 own rules by furnishing him with a copy and summoning 
 him afresh to say what he thought about it. The I'resbytery 
 first, and afterwards the Synod, admitted by majorities that 
 there did seem something in the pleas, and as they did not 
 consider themselves competent to pronounce judicially upon 
 them, they decided to sist procedure and refer the matter to 
 the Assembly. Against this judgment a minority protested 
 and appealed ; and when the Supreme Court met in 1880, 
 this was the question which came first to be debated : Had 
 such a change been made upon the libel as to raise anew 
 the point of its relevancy ? On a division taking place, the 
 negative was carried by 383 to 164, and the Assembly 
 afresh pronounced the libel to be ripe for probation. But 
 it had become very plain that to remit the case again to the 
 Presbytery would simply involve another year of worry. 
 The Church was growing weary of the agitation, and Sir 
 Henry Moncreiff proposed that the Assembly itself should 
 now consider seriously how best to bring the case to a con- 
 clusion. 
 
 Accordingly, at a subsequent stage in its proceedings, the 
 matter was taken up again, and a whole day was devoted 
 to a discussion of the question of what it was now wise to 
 do. Pour motions were made in this connection, — one by Sir 
 Henry Moncreiff, that as Professor Smith " no longer retains 
 that measure of confidence on the part of the Church which 
 is necessary to the edifying , and useful performance of his 
 professorial work," he be relieved of his office ; a second 
 by Dr. Laidlaw, declaring the views promulgated by Professor 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 283 
 
 Smith to be not those of the Free Church, but inasmuch as 
 they do not directly contradict the doctrine of the Confession, 
 replacing him in his chair with an admonition ; a third by 
 Dr. Begg, to the effect that the Assembly proceed to probation ; 
 and a fourth, which, as it was that which carried, we give 
 entire : — ■ 
 
 " The General Assembly, considering that the course of 
 the case has confirmed the report of the College Committee, 
 that they had not found any ground sufficient to justify 
 a, process for heresy against Professor liobertson Smith, 
 inasmuch as seven of the eight counts in the original libel 
 have been found irrelevant, while with regard to the remaining 
 count the explanation offered by Professor Smith at various 
 stages, and in particular his answer to the amended libel, 
 afford satisfactory evidence that, in this aspect of the case 
 xilso, there is no sufficient ground to support a process for 
 heresy, do resolve to withdiaw the libel against him. 
 Further, the Assembly, finding that Professor Smith is 
 blameworthy for the unguarded and incomplete statements 
 of his articles, which have occasioned much anxiety in the 
 Church and given offence to many brethren, zealous for 
 the honour of the word of God, instruct the Moderator to 
 admonish Professor Smith with due solemnity as to the past, 
 in the confident expectation that the defects referred to will 
 be guarded against and avoided in time to come. And finally, 
 the Assembly declares that, in declining to decide on these 
 ■critical views by way of discipline, the Church expresses no 
 opinion in favour of their truth or probability, but leaves 
 the ultimate decision to future inquiry, in tlie spirit of 
 patience, humility, and brotherly charity, admonishing 
 j>rofessors to remember that they are not set for the 
 propagating of their own opinions, but for the maintenance 
 of the doctrine and truth committed to the Church." 
 
284 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 After several divisions had been taken, it was found that 
 this last motion had carried over that of Sir Henry Moncreiff 
 by a majority of 9 — the whole number voting being 593. 
 In the minority were Dr. Eainy, Dr. Adam, Sheriff Campbell, 
 the law adviser of the Church, and others ; while Dr. Begg, 
 Dr. Kennedy, and a number of their follov/ers did not vote 
 at all. The whole membership of the House was 747. The 
 conclusion reached was unexpected, and the exultation of 
 Professor Smith's friends was unbounded. I'or a time the 
 conduct of the business was absolutely arrested, and nothing 
 was heard but cheers, accompanied by the waving of hats and 
 handkerchiefs. But by and by things settled down, because 
 there was a part of the motion which required at once to be 
 carried into effect. That was the solemn admonition from 
 the chair. To receive this, Mr. Smith was called in, and was 
 saluted with great applause, the multitude rising to express- 
 their satisfaction with the apparently happy ending of a 
 painful case. It was a trying position for a Moderator to be 
 placed in — to be required to admonish " with due solemnity " 
 one who was at the moment the object of an ovation ; but 
 Dr. Main, who presided, said a few suitable words, and Mr. 
 Smith replied, thanking God for the issue of the evening, but 
 confessing that he was greatly to blame for " statements- 
 which had proved so incomplete that, at the end of three 
 years, the opinion of the House had been so divided upon 
 them." 
 
 There can be no doubt that, throughout the Church, what 
 seemed the ending of the strife o-ave o-eneral satisfaction. 
 Many would have been better pleased with another issue, but 
 they were prepared cheerfully to acquiesce in the conclusion 
 come to, and looked forward with hope to a new and quieter 
 career for the brilliant scholar, who had, unfortunately, been 
 so provocative in his earlier teaching. 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 285 
 
 It was, then, with not a little astonishment that in the 
 very next part of the Encydopcedia Britannica, which was 
 published after the Assembly, there appeared an article on 
 the " Hebrew Language and Literature," containing matter 
 more fitted to offend the conservative section of his Church 
 than anything he had previously written. 
 
 How the existence of such a paper was forgotten by its 
 author when he made his touching speech at the close of the 
 Assembly, it is impossible to guess. It looked as if he had 
 counted on another conclusion, and had made up his mind to 
 go forward as he had begun. But, in any case, this seems 
 certain, that if he had even now expressed regret for the new 
 provocation, the aversion of the Church to reopen the prose- 
 cution was great enough to have moved it to overlook the 
 offence. He was in no mood to do this, however. ' First of 
 all, there came a long silence, as if he hoped that the cry 
 which had arisen might die down of itself ; and then a letter 
 was received from him by the Presbytery of Aberdeen, which 
 virtually intimated that, with him, the era of concession was 
 past. He declared that, in his view, the General Assembly 
 had condoned all his teaching, and was prepared to support 
 him in writins^ as he had done. 
 
 " Since I wrote the article on ' Hebrew Language and 
 Literature,' " said he, " the Assembly has given a final deci- 
 sion on the question whether the critical views for which I was 
 libelled are inconsistent with office in the Free Church. . . . 
 The Church declines to make those views matters of disci- 
 pline, and leaves the ultimate decision as to what truth they 
 contain, to future inquiry, in the spirit of patience, humility, 
 and brotherly charity. This decision enabled myself and 
 those who held my views to remain at our posts with a clear 
 conscience, and to return to our work in the Church with 
 fresh vigour." 
 
286 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 The assumption here made startled his brethren, and 
 among others, Dr. Laidlaw. He was still for peace ; but in 
 the motion he now made in that interest, he contended " that 
 the views of Professor Smith are not acquiesced in by the 
 Church, and are not tolerated in any other sense than that 
 she declines to make the past promulgation of them by 
 Professor Smith the ground for any judicial action." 
 
 The Professor, however, indignantly refused to accept any 
 such qualification. " Not only not acquiesced in, but not 
 tolerated in any sense than this ! " he exclaimed, — " that is, 
 Dr. Laidlaw affirms that the decision of the Assembly may 
 be read as meaning that if I were to repeat the promulgation 
 of my views, they would be dealt with by discipline. Now 
 that, I say, is not true, because the Church has distinctly 
 said that she leaves the ultimate decision of those views to 
 future inqviiry, in the spirit of patience, humility, and 
 brotherly charity. ... I accepted the whole of the decision 
 loyally, and loyally accepting it, I made arrangements, as I 
 have already said, in my letter, not in the meantime to raise 
 these critical questions in any public form ; but I did so, not 
 because the Church has bound me or any other member." 
 
 It was impossible to misinterpret this attitude. Professor 
 Smith looked at the vote of the Assembly as a complete 
 rehabilitation of himself, and if he did not at once use the 
 liberty which he thought was secured to him, it was only 
 " in the meantime." That, in virtue of the right which he 
 now possessed, he purposed to speak out at some future time, 
 was in the plainest manner proclaimed, and the discontent 
 which had been only temporarily suppressed in the Church 
 broke out afresh. 
 
 When the Commission met in August, its attention was 
 called to the new situation, and two resolutions were adopted. 
 One was, to appoint a Committee to examine the article which 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 287 
 
 had revived the agitation ; the other, to hold a special meeting 
 in October to hear the Committee's report and decide what it 
 would be best then to do. 
 
 October came, and brought together a larger number of 
 members than had ever before convened on a similar occasion 
 in the history of the Scottish Church. The report submitted 
 took a very serious view of the work examined. It declared 
 that " the statements made by [the author] in many particu- 
 lars are such as are fitted and can hardly fail to produce 
 upon the minds of readers the impression that Scripture does 
 not present a reliable statement of truth, and that God is not 
 the Author of it." It then proceeded to indicate what the 
 particulars referred to were. Passages of Scripture, it was said, 
 are spoken of — (1) in an irreverent manner; (2) in such a 
 way as to render it very difficult for readers to regard God 
 as the Author of them ; (3) so as naturally to suggest that 
 Scripture does not give an authentic narrative of facts or 
 actual occurrences ; (4) as discrediting prophecy in its pre- 
 dictive aspects. In conclusion, the Committee reported that^ 
 in their view, " the whole tendency of the writings examined 
 is fitted to throw the Old Testament history into confusion, 
 and to weaken, if not to destroy, the very foundation on 
 which New Testament doctrine is built. Moreover, the 
 general method on which [the author] proceeds, conveys the 
 impression that the Bible may be accounted for by the same 
 laws which have determined the growth of any other litera- 
 ture, inasmuch as there is no adequate recognition of the 
 Divine element in the production of the book." 
 
 It was thereupon proposed to approve generally of the 
 report, and to instruct Professor Smith to refrain from con- 
 ducting his class during the coming session. In opposition 
 to this, Mr. Smith himself was heard at great length. His 
 speech was exceedingly able and ingenious, but it failed to 
 
288 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 satisfy those who listened to him, and the motion was carried 
 by a very large majority. 
 
 The action of the Commission at this time was vehemently 
 condemned in many quarters. It was described as the institut- 
 ing of a new process which was held to be beyond its powers, 
 and its suspension of the Professor in the circumstances — 
 after his acquittal by the Assembly— was pronounced especially 
 lawless. On the other hand, it was argued that one of the 
 great purposes of the Commission is to take notice of any- 
 thing emerging between the Assemblies which seemed to 
 •concern the Church as a whole, and that the " instruction " 
 given to Professor Smith to refrain from teaching was not, 
 strictly speaking, an act of suspension, but a precautionary 
 order given under peculiar conditions, which might have 
 been by himself legally disregarded. 
 
 As a matter of fact, it was not disregarded. Mr. Smith 
 did refrain from teaching, and the Assembly of 1881 by and 
 by came round. Then a preliminary debate took place with 
 regard to the conduct of the Commission. So strongly had 
 many of the lay office-bearers in Glasgow felt on the subject, 
 that a memorial, signed by 299 of them, was allowed to be 
 spoken to by one of their number from the bar. The 
 motion condemning it, however, was unexpectedly mild. It 
 was described as unnecessary, unwise, contrary to the spirit of 
 the instructions given, and dangerous as a precedent ; but, 
 except in some of the speeches delivered in support of it, it 
 was not held to be unconstitutional, and the division which 
 followed its conduct was approved by 439 as against 218. 
 
 But the great discussion was raised later on. On that 
 occasion Dr. Eainy moved as follows : — 
 
 ' ' The General Assembly having had their attention called by the Commission 
 in October, and by overtures from Presbyteries, to certain writings of Professor 
 Smith, and in particular to an article, " Hebrew Language and Literature," in the 
 JEncyclopxdia Britannica ; 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 289 
 
 "And considering that said article was prepared for publication by Professor 
 Smith after he had accepted service of lilicl on account of previous statements 
 made by liini on cognate matters ; 
 
 "And considering that said article was not before last Assembly when they 
 pronounced judgment on said libel, because it did not appear until after the 
 Asscml)ly had risen, and the Professor, in accepting admonition as to the un- 
 guarded and incomiilete character of previous utterances, gave no indication of 
 its being in existence ; 
 
 " And, having in view also a letter from Professor Smith to the Free Presby- 
 tery of Aberdeen, in which he explains and defends his conduct in relation to 
 that article — Find : 
 
 " 1. That the construction of last Assembly's judgment in Professor Smith's 
 case, on which, in his letter, he claims that the right was conceded to him to 
 promulgate his views, is unwarrantable ; the Assembly therefore repudiate 
 that construction, and adopt the statement on this subject contained in the 
 report submitted to the Commission in October : 
 
 "2. That the article 'Hebrew Language and Literature' is fitted to give 
 at least as great offence, and cause as serious anxiety, as that for which he was 
 formerly dealt with : 
 
 "3. That it contains statements whicli are fitted to throw grave doubt on 
 the historical truth and Divine inspiration of several books of Scripture : 
 
 "4. That both the tone of the article in itself, and the fact that such an 
 article was prepared and published in the circumstances, and after all the 
 previous proceedings in his case, evince on the part of Professor Smith a singular 
 insensibility to his responsibilities as a theological professor, and a singular and 
 culpable lack of sympathy with tlie reasonable anxieties of the Church as to the 
 bearing of critical speculations on the integrity and authority of Scripture : 
 
 " 5. That all this has deepened the conviction already entertained by a large 
 section of the Church, that Professor Smith, whatever his gifts and attainments, 
 which the Assembly have no disposition to undervalue, ought no longer to l)e 
 entrusted with the training of students for the ministry : 
 
 " Therefore the General Asscmlily, having the responsible duty to discharge 
 of overseeing the teaching in the Divinity Halls, wliile they arc sensible of the 
 importance of guarding the due liberty of professors, and encouraging learned 
 and candid research, feel themselves constrained to declare that they no longer 
 consider it safe, or advantageous for the Church that Professor Smith should 
 continue to teach in one of her Colleges." 
 
 To this Dr. Whyte proposed a counter motion to the 
 following effect : " That the General Assembly, having regard 
 to the overtures on its table anent the case of Professor W. 
 Eobertson Smith, and the volume recently published by him 
 in explanation of his opinions, find that, inasmuch as it is the 
 right of every member and office - bearer of this Church, 
 against whom grave charges are brought, to be dealt with 
 19 
 
290 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 constitutionally, after full investigation, it can adopt no course 
 of procedure which prejudices that right. But in view of 
 the acknowledged gravity of the issues involved, and the 
 importance of jealously maintaining the doctrine of the 
 Church as to the authority and inspiration of the word of 
 God, resolves to appoint a Committee to consider maturely 
 the writings of Professor W. E. Smith, published since last 
 Assembly, with power, if they see cause, to prosecute him by 
 libel before the Presbytery of Aberdeen, and in any case to 
 report to next Assembly." 
 
 On a vote being taken, it was found that Dr. Eainy's 
 motion was carried by a majority of 423 to 245. 
 
 The proposal, however, so far was simply declaratory. 
 The Assembly had said that it considered it no longer ad- 
 vantageous or safe to continue Mr. Smith in his chair, but it 
 had not taken the step of actually displacing him. That 
 step was taken two days later, when, by a majority of 394 to 
 231, it was agreed to declare the Professorship of Hebrew in 
 Aberdeen vacant, the full salary of its present occupant being 
 continued to him as before. 
 
 In looking back on the history of this case, one can see 
 that, in various respects, the prosecution was unwisely con- 
 ducted. It is not in the least surprising that, to begin with, 
 the belief should have been so general that a charge of 
 heresy might be brought home to Professor Smith. The 
 suddenness of his attack upon our traditions, and the con- 
 dition of the Church at the time, made it extremely natural 
 that a very strong position should have been taken up. And, 
 as has been said, if an indictment had been drawn up with only 
 a single count in it, such as this, " You hold and teach a view 
 of the Holy Scriptures which impugns and discredits them as 
 the supreme and infallible source of religious truth," it might 
 have been accepted as relevant, and might possibly have been 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 291 
 
 proved. But the framing of so cumbrous a libel as was 
 actually drawn up was a great mistake, because it multiplied 
 the points at which it could be attacked, and led not only 
 to its ultimately falling to pieces, l)ut to its doing so in a 
 manner which was most damaging to those interested in its 
 success. For, first of all, some of the counts were pronounced 
 authoritatively to be irrelevant ; others were fallen from in a 
 way to suggest to the accused that he had been acquitted on 
 them ; and, finally, the libel itself was abandoned. 
 
 Perhaps all that happened was for the best. But for the 
 discussions which occurred in connection with the case, the 
 issues involved in it would not have been brought out so 
 clearly. The proper relation of the Church to critical inquiry 
 would not have been so distinctly defined, nor would the 
 position and responsibilities of professors have come to be so 
 well understood. 
 
 Dr. Eainy appears to have seen the significance of the 
 agitation from the outset. In one of his earliest speeches (as 
 has already been pointed out) he indicated his belief that 
 the questions raised ought to be dealt with, not in the way 
 of discipline, but in the exercise of the Church's powers of 
 administration. It was to this point that the Assembly was 
 brought at the last, and but that it would have been difficult 
 to bring the truth home to the Church except in connection 
 with the painful experiences through which it had to pass, 
 it might have been a happy circumstance if it had realised 
 the fact earlier. 
 
 The Church, we may say, is now convinced that tlie 
 advance of criticism is not to be arrested by means of libels. 
 If a man affirms that he believes in the inspiration of a book 
 of Scripture, it will be difficult to prove that he contradicts 
 the Confession of Faith by giving a novel account of its 
 authorship or its composition. Besides, we have had evidence 
 
292 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 enough of recent years to show that the last word has not 
 been spoken on the subject, and that new light may be 
 thrown from various quarters on the history of the Bible. 
 Under these circumstances, then, we must guard against 
 making a term of communion of what may come to be 
 exploded. Most of us, therefore, are now ready to believe 
 that the College Committee was probably right when they 
 said that they " had not found in the article ' Bible ' any 
 ground sufficient to support a process for heresy." 
 
 But was the Church then helpless in view of the teaching 
 of Professor Smith — teaching which no one professed to be 
 able absolutely to accept, and which was regarded, very 
 generally, as affecting in the most serious way the authority 
 of Scripture? So it was argued. The Assembly of 1881 
 was told, in so many words, that there was nothing for it 
 but to " bear " an unsatisfactory professor, just as a congrega- 
 tion has to " bear " an inedicient minister. Prove him to be 
 a heretic, was the demand, and you may dismiss Professor 
 Smith when you will ; but as long as he can show that he 
 is not contradicting the Confession of Faith, he is entitled 
 to continue in his chair at Aberdeen. He holds his office 
 ad vitam aut culpam, and the culpa must be established 
 by a judicial process. This was the cry which came from 
 many quarters, — from legal quarters especially, — and threats 
 were uttered of carrying the question into the Civil 
 Courts if the Church refused to recognise the Professor's 
 rights. 
 
 'O' 
 
 Now two questions were raised in this connection. One 
 was this: (1) Is there nothing to make a man unfit for a 
 theological chair except his being proved a heretic ? the other, 
 (2) Has the Church no other way of dispensing with the 
 services of an unsuitable teacher but that of satisfying a 
 judicial Court that he is unsound ? 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 293 
 
 There will be no difficulty in answering the first of these 
 questions. Of course, heresy is not the only incapacity which 
 may distinguish a professor. He may turn out after his 
 appointment to be a foul ; he may prove quite unable to 
 manage a class ; or, without teaching heresy, he may instruct 
 his students in a manner to make them disloyal to their 
 Church and unfit to occupy any of its pulpits. Professor 
 Smith had none of these disqualifications. Ikit in a report 
 adopted by the General Assembly it was declared that " the 
 whole tendency of his writings was fitted to throw the Old 
 Testament into confusion, and to weaken, if not to destroy, 
 the very foundation on which New Testament doctrine is 
 built." He was also charged in the motion carried in 1881 
 with " evincing a singular insensibility to his responsibilities 
 as a theological professor, and a singular and culpable lack 
 of sympathy with the reasonable anxieties of the Church." 
 
 Of course not a few regarded these conclusions as un- 
 warranted, but the fact remains that they expressed the 
 prevalent convictions of the Church ; and it was not un- 
 natural that a resolution was adopted to the effect that it 
 was not safe to continue him in his chair. 
 
 But was it beyond its power to remove him ? It seems 
 preposterous to say so. A professorship in a Free Church 
 College is not a Crown appointment, implying the conferring 
 of a civil right ; it is an appointment by a private corporation 
 to do a certain kind of work. That work, moreover, is in 
 its nature of paramount importance. \i a mistake is made 
 in connection with it, it is not merely one congregation which 
 will suffer, but a whole community, and the mischief done 
 may affect an entire generation. And when no one will 
 deny that it is within the right of the Church to suppress 
 the College itself, if it sees fit, or any individual chair in it, 
 it is absurd to say that it cannot dispense with the services 
 
294 THE RISE OE THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 of anyone who has ceased to do the work which he undertook 
 to perform. 
 
 If it is argued that the Church could not, without a 
 judicial process, even dissolve the pastoral tie between a 
 minister and his people, we answer that we do not know that 
 that is the case. It could not delete his ordination, indeed — 
 that is a different matter. But to remove a man from his 
 charge for sufficient reasons is certainly within the com- 
 petency of the Church, although he may, at the same time, 
 have a just claim for pecuniary compensation. 
 
 The cases, however, are by no means parallel. The injury 
 done to a congregation is trifling as compared with that done 
 by a mistaken appointment to a chair. As a rule, the people 
 can find a remedy by going elsewhere ; and besides, they had 
 themselves directly to blame for calling an inefficient minister. 
 A College, on the other hand, which has in it a professor who 
 has lost the confidence of his Church, has it in its power to 
 affect injuriously that Church's whole future ; and it is folly 
 to suppose that it is without a remedy unless it can establish 
 against him a charge of heresy. 
 
 But it is argued, if the General Assembly has the power 
 to dismiss a professor when he is believed to be injuring the 
 Church, then an alteration should be made in the terms of 
 his appointment. It should be intimated to him that he 
 will hold his office at the pleasure of the Assembly. But 
 we should be sorry to see any such regulation adopted. It 
 would diminish our chances of getting the best men to 
 become candidates, it would keep alive an uncomfortable 
 feeling in the hearts of conscientious occupants of chairs, 
 and it would open a door for restless individuals to make 
 attacks by motions on unpopular professors. It is certainly 
 best as it is that men should understand, in regard to their 
 appointments, that they are undoubtedly for life — unless 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 295 
 
 they either become heretics, or proceed in such a way as to 
 give intense and widespread dissatisfaction to the Church. 
 Then an extraordinary occasion will demand an extraordinary 
 remedy ; and that " reserve of power " which the Church 
 must possess, if it has not divested itself of an inherited 
 right, will, if necessary, be put forth to save itself from 
 self-inllicted injuries. Such occasions must be extremely 
 rare, so rare that a vote like that of 1881 is likely to take 
 place not oftener than once or twice in a century ; but no 
 dispassionate reader of the history will deny that it had 
 at least some justification. For five years the Church had 
 been kept in a constant state of agitation in connection with 
 Professor Smith's case. After he had been reponed, with 
 an admonition, it was made plain that he was unchanged 
 alike in opinion and spirit. And it came to be made mani- 
 fest that the Free Church was too narrow a sphere for his 
 speculations. 
 
 But what have been the consequences which have 
 followed from the conclusions come to ? It was predicted 
 that these would be of the most seriovis description. In 
 point of fact, however, no such results succeeded as many 
 feared. 
 
 In the first place, Professor Smith himself did not suffer 
 either in position or in reputation. That he did suffer other- 
 wise is indeed certain. He loved the Church in which his 
 father had been a minister, and in which lie had himself 
 been brought up, and it was a sore trial to him to be 
 separated from it. We may also allow ourselves to doubt 
 whether it was altogether for his good that he was removed 
 from the restraints which would have been upon him as a 
 Free Church professor. But, so far as the world was con- 
 cerned, he was required to make no sacrifice. He was 
 immediately appointed to a chair in the University of 
 
296 THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 
 
 Cambridge, and there, and in connection with the 
 Encyclopedia Britannica, he achieved for himself such a 
 place in the estimation of the educated classes, that if he 
 had become a candidate he would probably have been elected 
 Lord Eector in his own University of Aberdeen. Far more than 
 that, however — another gain followed to him from the action 
 of the General Assembly. As long as he remained in a 
 College of the Free Church, he was hampered and burdened 
 and embarrassed. He was the new wine seeking to be 
 received into the old bottles. In the effort to reconcile the 
 two there was a constant risk of explosions. While outside 
 he had liberty and elbow-room, which for an investigator 
 like himself was in a manner his very life. The truth, in 
 fact, is that, if he was to prosecute to a conclusion the 
 inquiries he had entered on, it was absolutely necessary 
 that he should have a perfectly free hand. 
 
 On the other hand, the consequences of his removal to 
 the Church were not less satisfactory. ISTo arrest was put 
 by it upon legitimate inquiry, for that has been prosecuted 
 since without let or hindrance. But, as the result, a period 
 of peace and harmony immediately succeeded. If Dr. 
 Whyte's motion had been carried, it is absolutely certain 
 that indefinite agitation would have been the result. The 
 old battle would have been renewed in Presbytery and 
 Synod and in the press, and what would have been the 
 end no one could have predicted. Some think controversies 
 good for the Church, and we may admit that they have 
 their uses. But no one who considers the needs of the 
 world will argue that it is wholesome for a Church to be 
 perpetually disturbed by internal dissensions, and it was 
 certainly something to be thankful for when the calm came 
 in 1881. 
 
 More important, however, was this other consequence, 
 
THE RISE OF THE CRITICAL MOVEMENT 297 
 
 that the connection was at once broken between the Free 
 Church of Scotland and the Biblical Articles in the Encyclo- 
 pa-dia Britannica. As long as Dr. Smith continued one of 
 our professors, a quite factitious interest was given to these 
 communications. No sooner did any of them appear than 
 they were read in the light of the peculiar position of 
 their author. The world felt itself entitled to say that the 
 opinions expressed in them were at least tolerated by the 
 orthodox communion he was supposed to represent. And 
 the situation was regarded by not a few to be intolerable. 
 After the Assembly of 1881, however, the special interest 
 that had attached to the articles suddenly ceased. The 
 Church had no further responsibility in reference to them ; 
 and while the editor now regarded himself as free to 
 employ so very advanced a critic as Wellhausen, the pro- 
 ceeding was looked upon with perfect equanimity, because 
 then the views set forth were judged on their essential 
 merits, not in their relation to the attitude of the Church. 
 
 "We have spoken of the rise of the Critical School as if it 
 were synchronous with the appearance of Professor Smith. 
 And that was true in this sense, that the movement was 
 then made visible. But there were other men who had to 
 do with its inception — Professor A. B. Davidson, for ex- 
 ample, to whom Smith looked up as his master, and whose 
 reputation is the highest possible as an Old Testament 
 scholar ; and Dr. Marcus Dods, whose authority is as great in 
 connection with New Testament Introduction. By none of 
 our critics has the supernatural authorship of the Bible 
 been for a moment called in question, but those just named 
 have advanced in some ways beyond the traditional positions, 
 and have been followed, at greater or less distances, by I'ro- 
 fessors Bruce, Salmond, and Candlish, and by G. A. Smith, 
 Stalker, Denney, Skinner, and Hastings. 
 
CHAPTf:R XVIII 
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATUEE 
 
 A WELL-KNOWN firm of Edinburgh publishers/ in issuing, 
 ■^-^ before the Assembly of 1893, a list of books written 
 by ministers of the Free Church, quoted The Methodist Times 
 as saying that " the Eree Church is the most theological 
 and literary Church in the world." 
 
 It would be presumptuous in the Free Church to accept 
 so generous a testimony as literally true, but we may at least 
 claim for it that its intellectual activity has never been 
 inconsiderable, and that it has no great cause to be ashamed 
 of its contributions to literature. 
 
 In proposing to deal with this subject, our first idea was 
 simply to give a list of books known to have been published 
 by Free Churchmen, but it was easy to see that such a 
 catalogue could never be made interesting reading, and we 
 have accordingly come to the conclusion to try a plan of 
 classification. 
 
 A plan like this, however, has its own difficulties. It is 
 not always clear where books should be placed, and it is more 
 than probable that some will be found under headings to 
 which they do not properly belong. 
 
 It is also more than likely that publications will be over- 
 looked which ought to have been mentioned. Care has been 
 taken to prevent this mistake ; but, in case of any misunder- 
 
 1 Messrs. T. & T. Clark. 
 298 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 299 
 
 standing, we must at the outset explain that no endeavour 
 has been made to give the titles of the innumerable sermons 
 and pamphlets which from time to time have been issued to 
 the world, and that we do not undertake to give the names of 
 all the works of the different authors. 
 
 There is another preliminary explanation which is 
 necessary. In the following lists it has seemed to be 
 impossible to confine the writers to those who are at this 
 moment, or who continued all their days, to be members of 
 the Free Church. Such an arrangement would convey an 
 imperfect idea of what that Church has done toward impart- 
 ing an impulse to the intellectual life of the age. Hence 
 the names are given of some who, although they became 
 attached to other communions, were born or brought up in 
 the Free Church, and received from it more or less of their 
 bent and training. Among these may be mentioned, for 
 example, the late President M'Cosh of Princeton, and Principal 
 Dykes of the English Presbyterian College. 
 
 It must also be added, that although the contributions 
 of the laity are noted to a certain extent, it is not pretended, 
 for a moment, that all authors are named who have been or 
 are connected with the Free Church as private members. 
 
 I. Exposition 
 
 One of the first and most important duties of a Church 
 is, of course, to endeavour to make plain the meaning of its 
 great Text Book ; and it is reasonable to ask, to begin with, 
 what the Free Church has done for the exposition of the Bible. 
 In this department she has certainly not been idle. There 
 are not many books of Holy Scripture which have not been 
 commented upon, with greater or less fulness, by one or 
 other of its ministers. 
 
300 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 (1) On the Old Testament, the following authors have 
 written : — 
 
 Genesis : E. S. Candlish, D.D., and Marcus Dods, D.I). 
 
 Exodus: Dr. James Macgreo;or. 
 
 Leviticus : Dr. Andrew Bonar. 
 
 Deuteronomy : Dr. Andrew Harper. 
 
 Joshua : Professor Blaikie, Principal Douglas, Dr. S. Black. 
 
 Judges: Dr. Dods, Principal Douglas, J. Sutherland 
 
 Black, LL.D. 
 1st and 2nd Samuel: Professor Blaikie, D.D., LL.D. 
 Esther : A. Davidson, D.D. (Aberdeen). 
 Joh : Professor A. B. Davidson, D.D., LL.D. 
 The Psalms: Professor Binnie, D.D., Dr. Andrew Bonar. 
 Proverbs: Eev. William Arnot. 
 Ecelesiastes : Dr. Eobert Buchanan, and Dr. James 
 
 Hamilton. 
 The Song of Solomon : Dr. Alexander Moody Stuart. 
 Isaiah : Professor George Adam Smith, D.D. 
 Ezehicl: Principal P. Fairbairn, Professor Davidson, and 
 
 Professor Skinner. 
 Daniel : Eev. W. White of Haddington. 
 The Minor Prophets : Professor G. A. Smith. 
 Ohadiah to Ze2Jhaniah: Principal Douglas. 
 Haggai to Malachi: Dr. Marcus Dods. 
 Jonah: Principal Pairbairn, Professor Blaikie, Hugh 
 
 Martin, D.D. 
 Hahahkuk : by Eev. Peter Barclay. 
 
 Besides the Commentaries which the men named have 
 written on particular books in the Old Testament, there are 
 other works dealing with subjects selected from it or bearing 
 on its exposition generally. 
 
 Principal Douglas has published a Sliort Analysis of the 
 Old Testament ; Dr. Eobert Gordon, a series of Lectures on 
 Christ as made known in the Ancient Church ; Mr. Macdonald 
 of Edinkillie, a work on The Creation and Fall ; and 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 301 
 
 Mr. Buchanan Blake, several volumes on IIoio to Read the 
 Prophets. 
 
 The following also have appeared: — 
 
 Heroes of Israel : hy Dr. Blaikie. 
 
 David : by Professor Blaikie, and Mr. P. Thomson. 
 
 Abraham : by Principal Dykes. 
 
 Isaac, Jacob, and Josepli : Ijy Professor Marcus Dods. 
 
 Jacob: by Eev. A. Gregory. 
 
 Moses : by Dr. James Hamilton. 
 
 Samson : by Dr. John Bruce. 
 
 Gideon: by Dr. John Bruce, Mr. Wallace Duncan, and 
 
 Principal Miller. 
 Samuel : by li. Steel, D.D. 
 Saul : by Rev. P. liichardson. 
 
 Elijah : by David Crichton, D.D., and Ilev. A. Ewing. 
 The Malchuj of Israel ; from Joseph to Joshua : by Eev. C. 
 
 Anderson Scott. 
 From the Exile to the Advent : by Eev. W. Fairweather. 
 Psalms: The 23rd, by Eev. E. Gilchrist; The 51st, by IJev. 
 
 Thomas Alexander ; The 67th, by Eev. P. Barclay. 
 
 (2) The New Testament has received as much attention. 
 
 All the Four Gospels have been expounded by Principal 
 Brown, D.D., and Dr. Stewart of Leghorn likewise has pub- 
 lished a Commentary on them in Italian. 
 
 The individual Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John have been 
 commented on, the first by Professor Lindsay, the second by 
 Dr. Lindsay and Dr. Poote, and the third by Dr. lieith and 
 Dr. Dods. 
 
 This does not seem a great deal to have done for so 
 important a part of Scripture, but the books named form a 
 very small portion of what has been written with a view to 
 an exposition of the Gospels. 
 
 Several Liccs of Christ, for example, have been published, 
 the authors being Dr. Hanna, Dr. liobertson Nicoll, Dr. 
 
302 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Stalker, Professor Salmond, and Dr. Edersheim. Glimpses into 
 the Inner Life of Christ have also been published by Dr. Blaikie, 
 and Lessons from the Life of Christ by Eev. W. Scrymgeour. 
 
 Then The Sermon on the 3foiint has been made the subject 
 of elaborate comment by Dr. Mackintosh Mackay and 
 Principal Dykes; while The Lord's Prayer has been expounded 
 by Dr. Marcus Dods, Dr. Saphir, and Dr. Hood Wilson, and 
 His Intercessorj/ Prayer by the Eev. T. Alexander. 
 
 Xor have the Parables been overlooked. Books on them 
 have been published by Dr. Dods, Mr. Arnot, Professor 
 Salmond, Dr. Guthrie, and Dr. Wells, and, in his Parabolic 
 Teaching of Christ, by Dr. Bruce. Dr. James Hamilton has 
 also given us an exposition of the Prodigal Son. 
 
 The Miracles have been less noticed, one work only — 
 by Professor Laidlaw — having been devoted to them. 
 
 In addition to these, a number of selected subjects have 
 been dealt with : The Training of the Twelve and The Galilean 
 Gospel, by Professor Bruce ; the Foiir Evangelists, by Eev. 
 Edward Thomson ; portions of St. Johns Gospel, by Dr. Beith 
 and Mr. Peyton ; Christ at Sychar, by Dr. Norman Walker ; 
 and Nicodemus, by Dr. Grierson of Errol. 
 
 Principal Brown and Professor Lindsay have each 
 published Commentaries on the Acts of the Apostles; and Mr. 
 Arnot has made the same book the basis of his Church in the 
 House. Principal Dykes, too, has commented on the first 
 eight chapters in his From Jerusalem to Antioeh. 
 
 But here, as in other connections, we have supplementary 
 works. To Dr. Stalker we owe a Life of St. Paul ; to Professor 
 Iverach, an account of St. Paul's Life and Times ; and to Dr. 
 Morrison of Glasgow, a History of the Acts and Epistles read 
 in one continuous narrative. Professor Salmond also has 
 published a Life of the Apostle Peter. 
 
 On almost all the Epistles books have been written. 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 303 
 
 The Romans has been expounded by Dr. Chalmers and 
 Dr. David Brown, and (the eight first chapters) by Dr. Dykes. 
 Dr. Brown has commented on l.s^ and 2nd Corinthians, Dr. 
 Dods on the first Epistle, and Dr. Denney on the second. 
 To Dr. James Macgregor we are indebted for an exposition 
 of Galatians. Dr. E. S. Candlish, Ilev. John MacPherson, and 
 Professor Blaikie have books on the Uphesians, Principal 
 Eainy on the Philippians, and Dr. Denney and Dr. Dods on Is^ 
 and 2nd Thessalonians. Commentaries on the Pastoral Epistles 
 have been published by Principal Fairbairn and Dr. A. S. 
 Paterson ; while Titus alone has been taken up by Dr. Dykes. 
 There are four works on the Hchreius — by Dr. A. S. Paterson, Dr. 
 Saphir, Professor Davidson, and Dr. Bruce. And with regard 
 to the remaining Epistles, we have works on James, by Dr. A. 
 S. Paterson and Dr. Adam ; on 1st and 2nd Peter, by Professor 
 Salmond ; on Is^ John, by Dr. E. S. Candlish, Dr. A. S. 
 Paterson, and Dr. Charles Watson ; and on Jude, by Dr. 
 M'Gilvray of Aberdeen. 
 
 On the Book of Revelation different men have written 
 with greater or less minuteness, among them being the Iiev. 
 Ebenezer Miller and Eev. J. A. Wallace of Hawick, on the 
 Letters to the Seven Chtirehes ; Dr. Wylie, Dr. Horatius Bonar, 
 Eev. Alexander Gregory, on the book generally ; and Prin- 
 cipal Brown, on The Structure of the Apocalypse. 
 
 In addition to the list now given, two works of a general 
 kind remain to be named, the Synoptical Lectures of Donald 
 Eraser, and Light and Truth by Dr. Horatius Bonar. The 
 latter embraces five volumes — the first on the Old Testament, 
 the second on the Gospels, tlie third on the Acts and Larger 
 Epistles, the fourth on the Lesser Epistles, and the last on 
 the Eevelation of St. John. Professor Skinner has also 
 discussed The Historical Connection hetiucen the Old and New 
 Testaments. 
 
304 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 II. Theology 
 
 Considering the theological reputation which the Free 
 Church has, less has been published in that connection than 
 might have been expected. At least, the books on theology, 
 strictly so called, have been fewer than might have been ex- 
 pected, and these — a good many of them — owe their existence 
 to the older men who left the Establishment at the Disrup- 
 tion. For almost all the later works which have appeared we 
 are indebted to the Cunningham Lectureship foundation, and 
 to the series of Handbooks edited by Drs. Whyte and Dods, 
 
 Among the earlier theologians are the following : — 
 
 Thomas Chalmers, D.R, D.C.L. : " Institutes of Theology." 
 William Cunningham, D.D. : " Historical Theology," " Ee- 
 
 formers and the Theology of the Eeformation," 
 
 " Theological Lectures." 
 Principal Lumsden, D.D. : " Baptism." 
 Roll. S. Gandlish, D.D. : " The Atonement," " The Fatherhood 
 
 of God," " Life in a Kisen Saviour," " The Holy Spirit." 
 Professor Binnic, D.D.: " The Church." 
 Professor Smeaton, D.D.: "The Holy Spirit," " The Atone- 
 ment." 
 Professor Maelagan, D.D. : " Theological Lectures." 
 Professor James Buchanan, D.D.: "The Holy Spirit," 
 
 " Justification by Faith." 
 Princijml Fairhairn, D.D. : " Pastoral Theology," " Eevela- 
 
 tion of Law in Scripture," " Hermeneutical Manual." 
 Professor Banncrman, D.D. : " Inspiration : the Infallible 
 
 Truth and Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures," 
 
 " The Church of Christ." 
 Rev. J. Grant, Ayr : " Baptism," and " The Lord's Supper." 
 Professor Gibson, D.D. : " Present Day Truths in Theology," 
 
 " Man's Inability : Natural and Moral." 
 Hugh Martin, D.D. : " The Atonement," " Christ's Presence 
 
 in the Gospel History." 
 J. Murray Mitchell, LL.D. : " Elements of Christian Truth." 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO UTERATURE 305 
 
 Robert Shaw, D.I).: "Exposition of Confession of Faith." 
 William White of Haddington : " The Nature and Extent 
 
 of the Atonement." 
 James Bcfjg, D.D. : " Handbook of Popery." 
 Thomas M'Crie, D.D. (The Younger) : " Christian Baptism." 
 Rev. J. W. WylicLL.D.: " The Papacy." 
 Among the younger men may be named : — 
 James Maerprgor, D.D. : " Christian Doctrine." 
 Professor Bntee, D.D. : " The Kingdom of God," " The Humiha- 
 
 tion of Clirist," " St. Paul's Conception of Christianity." 
 Alex. Whijte, D.D.: "Exposition of the Shorter Catechism." 
 Rrofessor James Candlish, D.D. : " The Kingdom of God," 
 
 "The Doctrine of Sin," "The Christian Doctrine of 
 
 God," " The Christian Sacraments." 
 Rev. John MaePherson, M.A. : " The Confession of Faith," 
 
 " The Sum of Saving Knowledge," " Presbyterianism." 
 Professor Laidlaio, D.D. : " The Bible Doctrine of Man." 
 James Walker, D.D. : " The Theology and the Theologians 
 
 of Scotland." 
 Professor Salmond, D.D.: "Exposition of the Shorter 
 
 Catechism," "The Christian Doctrine of Immortality," 
 
 " The Sabbath." 
 D. Douglas Bannerman, D.D. : " The Scripture Doctrine of 
 
 the Church," " Grounds and Methods of Admission to 
 
 Sealhig Ordinances," " Presbyterianism and the lleformed 
 
 Church Catholic." 
 Rev. J. P. Lilley, M.A. : " The Lord's Supper," " The Sabbath." 
 Rev. George Macaiday: "Puritan Theology." 
 Dr. Michael Willis : " Speech in the Case of William Scott," 
 
 "National Establishment of Christianity," "Proposed 
 
 Concessions to Eoman Catholics." 
 Prineipal Rainy, D.D.: "Delivery and Development of 
 
 Christian Doctrine." 
 James Dcnney, D.D. : " Studies in Theology." 
 Robert G. Balfour, D.D : " Central Truths and Side Issues." 
 Rev. D. a. A. Agnciv: "The Tlieology of Consolation." 
 Rev. C. A. Salmond, M.A.: "Our Christian Passover." 
 20 
 
3o6 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 This, perhaps, is the place to refer to two great under- 
 takings which were carried through under the superintendence 
 of Free Church ministers. The first was the publication of 
 Owen's Works, the editorship of which was placed in the 
 hands of Dr. Goold, who wrote elaborate prefaces to the 
 different treatises ; the second was the reissue of the works 
 of a number of the other Puritan divines (Goodwin, etc.), 
 which were edited by Dr. Thomas Smith. Dr. Goold also 
 edited the works of M'Laurm. 
 
 III. Criticism and Apologetics 
 
 Circumstances have led to more attention being given 
 to these subjects than might otherwise have been the case. 
 A very large amount of thought has found expression in the 
 shape of articles and pamphlets, but of these it is impossible 
 to take note. The number of books alone is considerable. 
 
 Hctherington (Prof., LL.D) : " Apologetics of the Christian 
 Paith." 
 
 MCoslh (President of Princeton): "The Method of the 
 Divine Government," " The Keligious Aspect of Evolu- 
 tion," " Christianity and Positivism," " Ptealistic Philo- 
 sophy," " The Defence of Fundamental Truth," "Whither, 
 Whither ? " 
 
 Buchanan (Prof. James, D.D.) : " Faith in God and Modern 
 Atheism," "On the Tracts for the Times," "Analogy a 
 Guide to Truth." 
 
 Chalmers (Thomas, D.D., LL.D.): " Evidences of Christianity," 
 " Natural Theology," " Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of 
 God " (Bridge water Treatise). 
 
 Cunningham (Principal, D.D.) : " Notes on Stillingfleet on 
 Popery," " Prelections on Butler, Paley, and Hill." 
 
 MacdoiuM (Eev. D., Edinkillie) : "Introduction to the 
 Pentateuch." 
 
 Murray Mitchell (J., LL.D.) : " Evidences of the Christian 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 307 
 
 iJfligioii," rrosent iJuy TrucLs ("Zend Avesta," etc.), 
 
 " Hinduism, Past and I'resent." 
 Macgrajor (James, D.D.) : " The Apology of the Christian 
 
 Eehgion," " The Revelation and the liecord," " Studies in 
 
 the History of Christian Apologetics." 
 Robertson Smith (Prof., D.D.) : " The Prophets of Israel," 
 
 "Old Testament in the Jewish Church," "Eeligion of 
 
 the Semites," " Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia." 
 Bruce (Prof., D.D.): "Apologetics of Christianity defensively 
 
 stated," "The Chief End of Revelation," "Miraculous 
 
 Element in the Gospels," Present Day Tracts (" Ferdinand 
 
 Christian Baur "). 
 llainy (Principal, D.D.) : " The Bible and Criticism," " The 
 
 Supernatural in Christianity" (The place and end of 
 
 miracles). 
 Dods (Prof. Marcus, D.D.) : " Introduction to the New 
 
 Testament," " The Supernatural in Christianity," " The 
 
 Trustworthiness of the Gospels," " Mohammed, Buddha, 
 
 and Christ." 
 Drummond (Prof. Henry) : " Natural Law in the Spiritual 
 
 World," " The Ascent of Man." 
 Wilso7i (Alex. S., M.A., B.Sc.) : " The Survival of the Fittest 
 
 and the Salvation of the Few." 
 Moodi/ Stuart (Rev. A., D.D): " Tlie Bible True to Itself," 
 
 " Israel's Lawgiver." 
 Candlish (Rev. R. S., D.D.) : " Reason and Revelation," 
 
 " Examination of Maurice's Theological Essays." 
 licv. J. Wilson : " Enigma Vita_'." 
 Ulaikie (Prof. W. G., D.D., LL.D.): Present Day Tracts 
 
 (" Christianity, or, the Life that now is," " Secularism 
 
 and Christianity compared," "Adaptation of Bible 
 
 Religion to Man," etc.). 
 Binnic (Prof., D.D.): "Proposed Reconstruction ol' old 
 
 Testaiiicnt History." 
 Sime (James) : " Deuteronomy .• the People's Book," " Tiie 
 
 Kingdom of All Israel," "The Mosaic Record in Harmony 
 
 with Geology," " Bible Manual." 
 
3o8 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Crichton {AwdxQw): " Christianity and Eecent Speculations" 
 (in conjunction with Professors Kainy and Blaikie). 
 
 Iverach (Prof., D.D.) : " Evohition and Christianity," " Is 
 God Knowable ? " Present Day Tracts (" Ethics of Evolu- 
 tion : Herbert Spencer "), " The Truth of Christianity." 
 
 Smiih (Robert, D.D.): "Inspiration : its Nature and Proofs." 
 
 Thomson (W. D.) : " The Christian Miracles and Science," 
 " Eevelation and the Bible." 
 
 Nicolson (W. M., Ph.D.): "The Classical Revision of the 
 Greek New Testament." 
 
 Kennedy (Rev. H. A. A., D.Sc.) : "The Sources of New 
 Testament Greek." 
 
 Scott (James, D.D.) : " Christianity and Secularism," " Prin- 
 ciples of New Testament Quotation," " The Correla- 
 tion of the Old and New Covenants," "Analysis of 
 Rabbinical Judaism." 
 
 Elmslie (Prof., D.D.) : Present Day Tracts (" Ernest 
 Renan"). 
 
 Douglas (Principal, D.D.): "Why I believe Moses wrote 
 Deuteronomy." 
 
 Davidson (Prof. A. B., D.D.) : " Hebrew Syntax," " Hebrew 
 Grammar." 
 
 Carlylc (liev. Gavin, M.A.): "The Battle of Unbelief," 
 " Moses and the Prophets." 
 
 Cameron (Alex., LL.D.) : " Reliquiffi Critical," " Texts, Papers, 
 and Studies in Gaelic Literature and Philology." 
 
 Sir David Brewster : " More Worlds than One the Belief of 
 the Philosopher and the Hope of the Christian." 
 
 Hugh Miller : " The Footprints of the Creator " (in reply 
 to the " Vestiges "), " The Testimony of the Rocks." 
 
 Professor Dims, D.D. : " Science and Christian Thought," 
 " Creation according to the Book of Genesis and the 
 Confession of Faith," " Biblical and Natural Science." 
 
 Mev. James Kennedy, B.D.: "Introduction to Biblical Hebrew." 
 
 Douglas (Principal, D.D.) : " One Isaiah : One Book." 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 309 
 
 IV. History 
 
 Elements of Church History, vol. i. : Dr. Welsh. 
 
 The First Three Centuries : Dr. Islay Burns. 
 
 History of the Jewish Nation : Dr. Alfred Edersheim. 
 
 History of Fivtestantism : Dr. A¥ylie. 
 
 History of the Reformation : Professor Lindsay. 
 
 The Scottish Reformation : Professor Lorimer. 
 
 Ladies of the Reformation : Eev. J^mes Anderson. 
 
 Wars of the Huguenots ; Wycliffc and the Httguenots : Dr. 
 
 Hanna. 
 Rise and. Frogress of Jesuitism : Dr. Wylie. 
 Protestant Exiles in France, Huguenot Rifiigccs : Eev. David 
 
 Agnew. 
 Historical Sketch of the Frotcstant Church of France : Rev. 
 
 J. G. Lorimer. 
 The Syrian Church in India : Dr. G. Milne Eae. 
 History of the Scottish Nation : Dr. Wylie. 
 History of Scotland in Gaelic : Eev. A. Mackenzie. 
 A School History of Scotland : Eev. James Mackenzie. 
 History of the Church of Scotland : Dr. Hetherington. 
 The Story of the Scottish Church : Dr. Thomas M'Crie. 
 Scottish Church History : Dr. Norman Walker. 
 Scottish Church History from the Secession to the disruption : 
 
 Eev. James Dodds. 
 A History of the Scottish Fcople : Eev. Thomas Thomson. 
 History of the Church of Scotland during the Commonwccdth : 
 
 Eev. J. Beattie. 
 The Freachers of Scotland : Dr. Blaikie. 
 Lectures on the Church of Scotland, in answer to Bean Stanley : 
 
 Dr. Eainy. 
 Scottish Fresbyterian Worship : Dr. Charles M'Crie. 
 Scottish Metrical Fscdtcr of IG.'*"), with Historical Disserta- 
 tions: Dr. N. Livingston. 
 Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Fife : Dr. J. W. Taylor. 
 The Religious House of Fluscardyn : Eev. Simoon IMacPhail. 
 Memorable Lad ics of the Furitan Times: Eev. James Anderson. 
 
;io CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Scotland's Part and Place in the Revolution 0/ 1688 ; Dr. C. 
 
 M'Crie. 
 The Early History of the Church of Scotland : Dr. T. Mac- 
 
 lauclilan. 
 History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church: Eev. M. 
 
 Hutchison. 
 Annals and Statistics of the Original Secession Church : Dr. 
 
 Scott. 
 Some Chajyters in Scottish Church History : Eev. D. A. Mac- 
 
 kinnon. 
 History and Principles of the Scottish Church : Eev. Allan 
 
 Cameron. 
 Annals of the Disru'ption : Dr. Thomas Brown. 
 The Ten Years' Conflict : Dr. Buchanan. 
 Law of Creeds in Scotland : A. Taylor Innes. 
 The Free Church of Scotland ; her Origin, Founders, and 
 
 Testimony : Dr. Peter Bayne. 
 Creeds and Churches in Scotland ; The Free Church Princi])lc ; 
 
 A Vindication of the Free Church Claim of Rigid : Sir 
 
 Henry Moncreiff, D.D. 
 The Church and the Churchless : Eev. E. Howie. 
 Whv are we Free Churchmen ? J. M. M'Candlish. 
 Religious Life in Scotland diiring the last Half Century; 
 
 Our Church Heritage : Dr. Norman Walker. 
 Church and State in Scotland : Dr. Thomas Brown. 
 Church and State : A. Taylor Innes. 
 
 The Story of the Covenant and the Covenantei's : Dr. Wylie. 
 Ladies of the Covenant: Eev. James Anderson. 
 The Martyr Graves of Scotland : Eev. J. H. Thomson, 
 Tlic Covenanters in Moray and Ross : Professor M. Mac- 
 
 donald. 
 Pastoral Work in Covenant Times : Eev. W. Eoss, LL.D. 
 The Covenanters of the Mcrse : Eev. J. Wood Brown. 
 The Martyrs of Angus and Mearns : Eev. J. Moffat Scott. 
 Martyrs of the Bass Roch : Eev. James Anderson. 
 A Little Scottish World as revccdcd in the Annals of an 
 
 Ancient Ayrshire Parish : Eev. Kirk wood Hewat. 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO IITERATURE 311 
 
 Studies in Scottish Church History: A. Taylor Innes. 
 
 Early Travellers in Scotland : P. Hume Brown. 
 
 Days of the Fathers in Ross-shire : Dr. John Kennedy. 
 
 Memorahilia Domesticct : Eev. A. Sage. 
 
 After Fifty Years : Dr. Blaikic. 
 
 History of St. Georges, Fdinhuryh : D. Maolagan. 
 
 Memories of the Disruption : Dr. Beith. 
 
 History of the Westminster Assembly : Dr. Hetherington. 
 
 Porturjal and its Feojde : W. A. Salisbury (Eev. W. Agnew). 
 
 America ; The Nineteenth Century : Eobert Mackenzie. 
 
 Annals of Ewjlish Presbytery : Dr. T. M'Crie. 
 
 Fifty Years of the Church of Victoria : Dr. A. Cauipbell. 
 
 Minister and Men in the Far North : Eev. A. Auld. 
 
 History of the Burgh of Dumfries, with notices of Nitlisdalc, 
 
 etc. ; Memorials of St. Michael's Church Yard, Dumfries : 
 
 William M'Dowall, F.S.A. 
 Revivals of the Eighteenth Centttry : Dr. Macfarlan. 
 History of the East Neuk of Fife : Eev. Walter Wood. 
 Erasmus, and other Essays: Dr. Marcus Dods. 
 Revivals in the Highlands : Eev. Angus M'Gilvray. 
 History of Tain : Eev. W. Taylor. 
 History of Burgh of Paisley : Dr. Burns of Toronto. 
 Glimjjses of Bohemia, Past and Present : James Macdonald, 
 
 W.S. 
 Ulfdas : C. Anderson Scott, M.A. 
 Chapters from the History of the Free Church of Scotland: 
 
 Dr. Norman Walker. 
 
 V. Biography 
 
 Chalmers: by Dr. Hanna, Dr. Donald Eraser, and Dr. 
 
 Norman AValker. 
 Candlish : Dr. W. Wilson. 
 
 Cunningham : Dr. Eainy, and Eev. James Mackenzie. 
 Guthrie: his sons, Eev. D. K. Cluthrie, and C. J. Guthrie, 
 
 advocate. 
 Pegg : \)v. Thomas Smith. 
 DuJl': Dr. George Smith, and Dr. T. Smith. 
 
312 CONTRIBUTIONS TO IITERATURE 
 
 Buchanan : Dr. Norman Walker. 
 
 Macdonald of Fcrintosh (" The Apostle of the North ") : Dr. 
 
 John Kennedy. 
 Wilson of Bonibay : Dr. Gr. Smith. 
 Duncan {RaUbi) : Principal Brown, Dr. Moody Stuart, and 
 
 Professor Knight. 
 Sir David Brewster : his daughter. 
 James Hamilton : William Arnot. 
 Andrew Bonar : his daughter. 
 Dr. Stewart of Leghorn : Eev. J. Wood Brown. 
 Dr. Kennedy: Eev. A. Auld. 
 Makgill Crichton : Dr. J. W. Taylor. 
 Burns of China : Dr. Islay Burns. 
 Sir James Simpson : Professor Duns. 
 Dr. A. N. Somcrvillc : Dr. Gr. Smith. 
 Burns of Kilsyth : Dr. Islay Burns. 
 Duchess of Gordon : Dr. Moody Stuart. 
 David Stovj : Eev. W. Fraser. 
 A. S. Paterson : Dr. G. Philip. 
 Rolert Nesbit : Dr. Murray Mitchell. 
 W. H. Hctvitson: Eev. J. Baillie. 
 Sir Andrev) Agnew : Dr. T. M'Crie, jun. 
 James Halley : Eev. William Arnot. 
 Stephen ffislo]) : Dr. G. Smith. 
 Brovmlmo North : Eev. Kenneth M. Stuart. 
 J. Anderson and B. Johnston : Eev. J. Braidwood. 
 David Livingstone : Dr. Blaikie. 
 David Sandcman: Dr. Andrew Bonar. 
 Henry Martyn : Dr. G. Smith. 
 Dr. iWCrie (author of Life of Knox); Dr. T. M'Crie, 
 
 junior. 
 William Carey: Dr. G. Smith. 
 Duncan Matheson : Eev. J. M'Pherson. 
 Andrew Crichton: Dr. Blaikie. 
 William Denny : Professor Bruce. 
 
 Baroness Nairnc{The Scottish Songstress) : Mrs. A. E. Simpson. 
 G. T. Dodds of Paris : Dr. Horatius Bonar. 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 j'j 
 
 Dr. Donald Frascr : an Autobiography. 
 
 Alexander Anderson (Life in the Spirit): Dr. Norman 
 
 Walker. 
 Adulj^h Sajihir : Eev. Gavin Carlyle. 
 Margaret Wilson : Dr. John Wilson. 
 Thomas Cler/horn : David Maelagan. 
 David Maelagan, : Dr. N. Walker. 
 Dr. C. C. Mackintosh : Eev. W. Taylor. 
 Rohert Paul : Dr. Benjamin Bell. 
 
 Rev. A. Leitch (An Earnest Pastorate) : Dr. Norman Walker. 
 Professor Elmslie : Dr. Eobertson Nicoll. 
 Eliza Fletcher : Eev. C. Salmond. 
 Sheriff Nicholson : Dr. Walter Smitli. 
 Renwick: Eev. W. Carslaw. 
 Savfhuel Martin : Professor Duns. 
 Professor Taylor of Perth : Dr. J. W. Taylor. 
 Judson : Dr. Horatius Bonar. 
 Lord Haddo : Dr. Duff. 
 John Macdonald of Caleutta : Dr. Tweedie. 
 Maekay of Uganda : his sister. 
 Principal Lumsdcn : Eev. John Eae. 
 James MacDonell : Dr. Eobertson Nicoll. 
 Thomson of Duddingston : William liaird. 
 Professor T. Brown: Dr. Welsh. 
 Tliomas Gardiner: Eev. A. Inelis. 
 Laing (African Missionary) : Eev. W. Govan. 
 John Eliot : Dr. John Wilson. 
 Po^trie of Calcutta : Dr. G. Smith. 
 Dr. Alex. Wood : Dr. T. Brown. 
 Hugh Miller, M.D. : Eev. W. Peyton. 
 Lady Colquhoun of Luss : Dr. James Hamilton. 
 Thomson of St. Fergus : Eev. G. Steven. 
 Dr. W. J. Elmslie: by his widow. 
 A. Maekay Ruthqnist : Mrs. Harrison. 
 Mrs. Stewart Sandemrtn : Mrs. Barljour. 
 Manx Recollections (Eleanor Elliott) : Kathoriuc P^orrest. 
 Chrysostom: Dr. M'Gilvray. 
 
314 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 R. M. MChcijne: Dr. Andrew Bonar, Kev. A. Moffat 
 
 Scott. 
 Patrick Hamilton : Professor Lorimer. 
 George Buchanan : P. Hume Brown. 
 John Knox : P. Hume Brown. 
 I) I'. Duncan of Ruthwell: Ptev. C. J. C. Duncan. 
 Mary Lundic Duncan : Mrs. Duncan. 
 Dr. Burns of Toronto : Kev. E. F. Burns. 
 Disruption Worthies. 
 Rev. John Milne : Dr. H. Bonar. 
 
 lAcutenant-Gencral Colin Mackenzie, C.B. : Mrs. Mackenzie. 
 Mary Jane Kinnaircl : Dr. Donald Fraser. 
 Alexander Balfour : Dr. E. H. Lundie. 
 Martin Liithcr : Dr. Peter Bayne. 
 
 To this list of Biographies there ought perhaps to be 
 added some at least of the memorial volumes of notable men 
 which have from time to time been published. These 
 volumes have generally contained collections of sermons 
 preceded by sketches, more or less full, of the lives of the 
 men who preached them. Among the ministers whose 
 memories it has thus been sought to preserve were Dr. Brown 
 of Glasgow and Dr. Henry Grey of Edinburgh, two of the 
 earliest Free Church Moderators, Mr. Andrew Gray of 
 Perth, whose Catcchisrti on the Principles of the Church had 
 a very wide circulation, Dr. Eoxburgh, Dr. John Bruce, Mr. 
 Grant of Ayr, Mr. Edward Thomson of Edinburgh, Dr. Islay 
 Burns, Mr. Forbes of Woodside (whose Forms of Procedure in 
 the Free Church still holds its place with many, in spite of 
 the official recognition now given to the Manual of Sir Henry 
 Moncreiff"), and Dr. Thomas Main. 
 
 It may not be out of place to say here, also, that a large 
 number of the Lives of Notable Men in Scotland which have 
 appeared in the Dictionary of National Biography were 
 written by Professor Garden Blaikie. 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 315 
 
 VI. Missions 
 
 [The Lives of Missionaries written by Free Churdiuion have 
 been noticed elsewhere.] 
 
 India and India Missions : by Alexander Duff, D.D. 
 
 Evanrjdization of India : by John Wilson, D.D. 
 
 Histori/ of the Missions of the Free Church: by Eobert Hunter, 
 
 LL.D. 
 Brief History of Missions : by George Smith, LL.D. 
 The Conversion of India: by George Smith, LL.D. 
 Missions the Chief End of the Christian Church : by Alexander 
 
 Duff, D.D. 
 Our Indian Mission Field : by Miss Eainy. 
 Letters to Indian Youth : by J. Murray Mitchell, LL.D. 
 The Religion of the Farsis : by J. Murray Mitchell, LL.D. 
 Modeo-n Missions : by liobert Young, F.E.S.G.E, 
 Liijht in Lands of Darkness : by Eobert Young, F.E.S.G.E. 
 In India : by Mrs. Murray Mitchell. 
 In Southern India : by Mrs. Murray Mitchell. 
 A Missionary's Wife among the Wild Tribes of South Bengal : 
 
 by Mrs. Murray Mitchell. 
 The Vedic Fieligion : by Kenneth S. Macdonald, D.D. 
 Suwarta, and other Sketches of Indian Life ; Light and Shctdc 
 
 in Zenana Life : by Miss Small. 
 Bejwrt of Deputies to India, submitted to the Assembly of 
 
 1890 : by Professor Lindsay, D.D. 
 Lovcdale, Past and Present : by James Stewart, D.D. 
 Lovedale and South Africa : by James Stewart, D.D. 
 So7Uh Africa and its Mission Fields : by J. E. Carlyle, M.A. 
 Trophies from African Heathenism : by Eobert Young, 
 
 F.E.S.G.E. 
 Light in Africa : by Eev. James Macdonald. 
 Beligion and Myth : by Eev. James Macdonald. 
 In the New Hebrides : by G. Inglis, D.D. 
 Bible Illustrations from the Neiv Hebrides: by G. Inglis, 
 
 D.D. 
 
3i6 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 The Martyr Tsla7ids{New Hebrides) : by E. Young, F.E.S.G.E. 
 The NewHchrichs and Christian Missions : by E. Steel, D.D. 
 Memorials of the Hon. Ion Keith Falconer: hj Eev. E. 
 
 Sinker, B.D. 
 China and the Missions of Amoy : by CI. F. Barbour. 
 Mcdimval Missions: by Thomas Smith, D.I). 
 Foreign Missions of the Protestant Churches : by J. Murray 
 
 Mitchell, LL.D. 
 Success of Christian Missions : by Eobert Young, F.E.S.G.E. 
 Recollections of Dr. Duff: by Eev. Lai Behari Day. 
 Lidian Caste : by John Wilson, D.D. 
 Sttppression of Infanticide : by John Wilson, D.D. 
 The Parsi Religion : by John Wilson, D.D. 
 India Three Thousand Years Ago : by John Wilson, D.D. 
 The Indian Rehellion : by Alexander Duff, D.D. 
 The Fetichism of Western Africa : by J. E. Carlyle, M.A. 
 Aboriginal Tribes of the Central Provinces : by Eev. S. Hislop. 
 Santali Folk-lore : by Eev. Andrew Campbell. 
 Three Months in CamjJ : by J. M. MacPhail, M.B., CM. 
 Four Months— a Tour: by J. M. MacPhail, M.B., CM. 
 Thirty-Fight Years' Mission life in Jamaica : by Eev. Gavin 
 
 Carlyle. 
 SahbathMorningswiththe Bombay Mission : hjFtev.H.^tothQYt. 
 A lady's letters from Centred Africa : by Mrs. J. F. Moir. 
 A Century of Protestant Missions: by Eev. James Johnston. 
 Woman's Work in Heathen lands (A Series of Penny 
 
 Books, written chiefly by Missionaries, and issued in 
 
 three volumes). 
 lectures to Educated Hindus : by Principal Miller. 
 Indian Missions, and How to Vieio them : by Principal Miller. 
 Manners and Customs of the Parsis ; The Parsi Religion : 
 
 by Eev. Dhanjibhai Nauroji. 
 J%c Dawn in the Fast; Caste in its relation to the Church: 
 
 by Eev. P. Eajahgopaul. 
 life in the Mission, the Camjj, and the Zenana : by Mrs. Colin 
 
 Mackenzie. 
 Daybreak in Spain : by Eev. Dr. Wylie. 
 
CONTRIlWriONS TO LITERATURE 317 
 
 VIT. General llelvjious Books 
 
 Br. James Biiclianan : " Comfort iiivAffliction," " Improve- 
 ment of AfHictioii." 
 
 Dr. Ji. K Candlish : " Scripture Characteristics," " Life 
 ill a Ifiseii Saviour," "The Two Great Command- 
 ments," " Discourses Ijearing on the Sonship of 
 Believers." 
 
 Br. Hwjh MacMUlan : " Bible Teachings in Nature," " The 
 True Vine," " The Three llisings from the Dead," " Tlie 
 Garden of the City," " The Sabbath of the Eield," " Two 
 Worlds are One," "My Comfort in Sorrow," "The 
 Mystery of Grace," " llie Ministry of Nature," " The 
 Marriage in Cana of Galilee." 
 
 Dr. Stalker: "Imago Christi," "The Treacher and his 
 Models," " The Youv Men," " The Trial and Death of 
 Christ." 
 
 Dr. Moody Stuart : " The Three Marys," " Eecent Awaken- 
 ings and Higher Holiness," "The Path of the 
 Eedeemed," " Capernaum." 
 
 Dr. Horatius IJonar : " God's Way of Holiness," " Man, his 
 Religion and his World," " The Old tlospel nut Another 
 Gospel," " God's Way of Peace." 
 
 Dr. Charles Brown: " The Divine Glory of Christ," " CJodli- 
 ness and the Christian Ministry." 
 
 />/■. Julius Wood : " God's own Testimony to I'rayer." 
 
 Dr. James Hamilton: "The Mount of Olives," "Life in 
 Earnest," " Emblems from Eden," " Mornings beside the 
 Sea of Galilee," " Our Christian Classics." 
 
 Dr. Guthrie : " The Gospel in Ezekiel," " Christ the Inherit- 
 ance of the Saints," " The Way of Life." 
 
 Dr. Chalmers : " Astronomical Discourses," " Commercial 
 Discourses," " Congregational Sermons," " Sermons on 
 Public Occasions," " Daily Scripture lieadings," "Sabbath 
 Scripture Peadings." 
 
 Dr. IL Maedonald: " From Day tu Day." 
 
J 
 
 1 8 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Br. W. Wilson : " The Kingdom of God," " Setting his face 
 
 toward Jerusalem," " Free Church Principles." 
 Dr. Hanna : " The Church and its Living Head," " The 
 
 Eesurrection of the Dead." 
 Dr. John Kennedy: " Man's Eelation to God," and " Sermons" 
 
 (2 vols.). 
 Dr. Elder : " The Eedeemer's Cry," and other Sermons. 
 Rev. A. Stewart of Cromarty : " The Tree of Promise," " The 
 
 Mosaic Sacrifices." 
 Dr. Walter Smith : " Thouglits and Fancies for Sunday 
 
 Eeading." 
 Dr. Adolph Saj^hir : " The Divine Unity of the Scrip- 
 ture," "Christ Crucified," "Christ and the Church," 
 
 " The Hidden Life." 
 Dr. Beith : " Narrative of Successive Bereavements." 
 Dr. J. W. Taylor : " The Eeligion of Scotland that of the 
 
 Bible," " In a Country Manse." 
 liev. William Arnot : " The Eace for Eiches," " The Anchor 
 
 of the Soul," " The Present World," " Eoots and Fruits 
 
 of the Christian Life." 
 Dr. Alexander Whyte : " Bunyan Characters," " Samuel 
 
 Eutherford and some of his Contemporaries." 
 Rev. J. Kerr Bain : " The People of the Pilgrimage," " For 
 
 Heart and Life." 
 Dr. Moir Fortcous : " The Government of the Kingdom of 
 
 Christ," " The Brethren." 
 Rev. D. M. Ross : " Christ and the Home." 
 Rev. W. A. Gray : " The Shadow of the Hand." 
 Professor R. Macldntosh : " Christ and the Jewish Law." 
 Rev. Alexander Ktuing : "Not Cunningly Devised Fables," 
 
 " Elijah and Ahab." 
 Dr. George Philip: "The King's Table," "Life's Golden 
 
 Morn," " The Trials and Triumphs of Faith." 
 Dr. Robertson Nieoll : " The Lamb of God," " Ten Minute 
 
 Sermons," " Songs of Eest." 
 Rev. John PhilijJ (Fordoun) : "Lights and Shadows of 
 
 Human Life," " Earthly Cares and their Cure." 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 3.9 
 
 Rev. G. E. Trou2^: "Words to Young Christians." 
 Rev. James Gall: "The Synagogue the Model of Llie 
 Christian Church," "Congregational Evangelism the 
 Hope of the World," " Antliropology of the Bible." 
 Dr. Donald Fraser : " Metaphors in the Gospels," " Speeches 
 
 of the Apostles." 
 Rev. James A. Paton : " Honouring God." 
 Dr. Charles Moinct : " The Good Cheer of Jesus Christ." 
 Rev. John F. Fwing : " The, Unsearchable Eiches of Christ." 
 William Burns: "Notes of Addresses," edited by Mrs. 
 
 Barbour. 
 Professor Drummond: "The (Jreatest Thing in tlie World." 
 Dr. Easton : " Unitarianism." 
 Rev. G. Sahnond : " I'rincetoniana." 
 Rev. D. MacColl : " Disciple Life." 
 Dr. Henry Grey: " The Kingdom of C^xl." 
 Rev. IV. Trail : " Unseen Realities," " Literary Character- 
 istics of the Bible," " The Decalogue not buried when 
 Christ died." 
 Rev. W. Milroy (Penpont) : " A Scottish Communion." 
 Dr. A. N. Somcrvillc : " The Evangelization of the World." 
 Dr, Peter Bayne: "The Christian Life," "Testimony of 
 
 Christ to Christianity." 
 Dr. A. Andrcvj : " This Present World." 
 Rev. Jonathan Anderson: "Sermons on Sacramental 
 
 Occasions," "A Voice from the Wilderness." 
 Dr. R. Burns {Toronto) : " Uilice and ])uties of the Elder- 
 ship," "Hints on Ecclesiastical Reform," " Gairloch 
 Heresy Trial." 
 
 Dr. T. Morrison: "The Sabbath School Teacher's Hand- 
 book." 
 
 Dr. R. S. Duff: " Pleasant Places." 
 
 W. Broum : " The Tabernacle." 
 
 Dr. A. L. R. Foote: "Views of Faitli," "Licidents in the 
 Life of Our Lord." 
 
 Mrs. A. R. ^im2)son : " Building for God," " Wells of Water," 
 " Steps Through the Stream," " Visions." 
 
;2o CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Rev. Jokii M'Ncill : " Collected Sennoiis " (3 vols.). 
 
 Dr. Robert Steel : " Doing Good ; or, The Christian Walks 
 
 of Usefulness," " Lives made Sublime by Faith and 
 
 Works." 
 Dr. IV. K. Tivccdie: "Earnest Men: their Life and 
 
 Work." 
 Rev. J. A. Wallace {Haivick) : " Pastoral Eecollections." 
 Dr. Andrev) Bonar : " Nettleton and his Labours." 
 Rev. R. Philip : " The Comforter." 
 
 VIII. Prophcey 
 
 Dr. Wijlic: "The Modern Judea compared with Ancient 
 Prophecy," " The Eegion of Fulfilled Prophecy," " The 
 Seventh Vial," " The Impending Crisis of the Church 
 and the World," " The Great Exodus." 
 
 Dr. Huratius Bonar : " The Schools of the Prophets," " Pro- 
 phetic Landmarks," " The Coming of the Lord Jesus," 
 " Quarterly Journal of Prophecy " (edited). 
 
 Dr. Andreiv A. Bonar : " Kedemption drawing Nigh." 
 
 Mr. W. Wingate : " Close of the Times of the Gentiles." 
 
 Principcd Fairhairn : " Prophecy : its Nature, Function, 
 and Interpretation." 
 
 Principal Brown : " Christ's Second Coming, will it be 
 Pre-Millennial ? " " The Ptcstoration of the Jews," " The 
 Apocalypse : its Structure and its Primary Predictions." 
 
 Rev. Wcdter Wood : " Will the Second Coming be Pre- 
 Millennial ? " " The Last Things." 
 
 Rev. Dr. Edersheim : " Prophecy and History in relation 
 to the Messiah." 
 
 Dr. Keith : " Evidence from Prophecy," " Signs of the 
 Times," " Harmony of Prophecy," " Destiny of the 
 World and the Church," " Examination of Elliott's First 
 Six Seals." 
 
 Rev. James Gall : " Wherein Millenarians are Wrong." 
 
 Rev. Maleolm White : " The Symbolical Numbers of Scrip- 
 tvire." 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 321 
 
 IX. Social and Hume Missionary 
 
 Dr. W. G. Blaikie: "Better Days for Working People," 
 
 " Heads and Hands in the World of Labour," " Counsel 
 
 and Cheer for the Battle of Life." 
 Dr. Guthrie: "The City's Sins and Sorrows," "Plea for 
 
 Eagged Schools," "Seedtime and Harvest of Eagged 
 
 Schools," "A Plea for Drunkards and against 
 
 Drinking." 
 Professor Miller : " Alcohol : its Place and Power," " Abstin- 
 ence : its Place and Power." 
 Dr. Duncan of Tadhwell: "Parish Savings Banks," "The 
 
 Cottage Fireside." 
 Rev. J. Tasker : " The Story of the West Port." 
 Dr. Chalmers : " Lectures on Political Economy," " Social 
 
 Economics." 
 William Mitchell {Glasgow): "Eescue the Children." 
 Dr. Wells : " Eescued and the Eescuers." 
 Alexander M. Dunlop, MP.: "Poor Law of Scotland," 
 
 " Parochial Law." 
 Pev. Charles Marshall : " Lays and Lectures for Working 
 
 Men and Women," " The Watchman's Pound." 
 Pcv. D. MacColl: "Among the Masses," "Work in the 
 
 Wynds." 
 Dr. Becjcj : " Happy Homes for Working People." 
 Pev. Thomas Cochrane : " Home Mission Work." 
 Alexander Thomson of Banchory: "Social Evils: their 
 
 Cause and Cure," " Punishment and Prevention." 
 Miss Brewster : " Work : Plenty to do, and how to 
 
 do it." 
 
 X. For the Younrf 
 
 Dr. Thcvin Davidson: "Talks with Young Men," "Fore- 
 warned, Forearmed," "The City Youth," "Sure to 
 Succeed," " A Good Start," " Thoroughness." 
 
 Dr. James Wells: " Bible Echoes," " Bible Children," " Bible 
 Images," Bible 01)ject Lessons," " The Parables of Jesus," 
 " My First Communion," " Christ and the Heroes of 
 21 
 
322 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Heathendom," " The Jubilee Story of the Free Church," 
 
 " Scotland's Patron Saint," " The Lad." 
 Br. Hugh MacMillan : " The Gate Beautiful," " The Daisies 
 
 of Nazareth." 
 Bev. J. R. Howatt : " The Children's Pulpit," " The Children's 
 
 Angel," " The Churchette." 
 Br. Hood Wilson : " The King's Message," " The Gospel 
 
 and its Fruits," " Our Father in Heaven." 
 Mrs. Barlour : " The Way Home, and How the Little 
 
 Children reached it by a Eailway Accident," " The Irish 
 
 Orphan in a Scottish Home," " The Child of the 
 
 Kino;dom." 
 Br. James Stalker : " The New Song, and other Sermons for 
 
 the Children's Hour." 
 Br. W. K. Tivcedie: "Youthful Diligence and Future 
 
 Greatness," " Seed Time and Harvest ; or. Sow Well 
 
 and Pteap Well." 
 Br. A. B. MacJcay : "Apples of Gold on Salvers of Silver." 
 Br. Robert Steel : " The Achievements of Youth." 
 Br. Alexander Andreiv : " Bible Memories," " Taken from 
 
 the Plough," etc. 
 Rev. Charles Salmond : " Thy Saviour," " God and You : 
 
 Sermonettes for the Young." 
 Br. A. A. Bo7iar: " Palestine for the Young." 
 Mrs. Biddell : " A Bright Sunset," " Last Days of a Football 
 
 Player." 
 Miss Brewster : " Little Nelly and her Four Places." 
 3frs. Bavidson : " Christian Osborne's Friends." 
 
 In this connection the stories of " Cousin Kate," Miss 
 Louisa Gray, Mrs. Meldrum, and Mrs. Cupples may be 
 referred to as all written with a purpose, and as all fitted to 
 interest and instruct the young. Mrs. Hugh Miller in her 
 Bassages in the Life of an English Heiress, Mrs. Milne Eae in 
 her Biiiaidtrie, and Mrs, Simpson of Turriff in her Marjory's 
 Story, have interwoven with their tales the principal in- 
 cidents of the Disruption. 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 323 
 
 XI, Serial Publications 
 
 Long before the Disruption the periodical press had 
 been made considerable use of by the Evangelical party in 
 the Church of Scotland. The Chrisiiati Instnictor was begun 
 early in the century, and in the hands of Dr. Andrew 
 Thomson became a great power in the country. That was, 
 in course of time, succeeded by the Preshjtcrian Review, 
 which continued to exist for some time after 1843, and 
 which was edited by, among others, Mr. Alexander Dunlop 
 and Dr. Omond of Monzie. How it came to an end is 
 not clear. Probably amid the engrossments of the period 
 sufficient attention could not be spared for it. One thing, 
 however, was clear. It was not because the men who had 
 left the Established Church had ceased to have confidence in 
 this particular method of influencing public opinion. 
 
 The truth is that the faith of the Free Church in the 
 press was manifested in a striking way at the very com- 
 mencement of its career. As has been seen, the publication 
 of a Missionary Record was announced two or three days after 
 the Disruption. But this was not the only periodical with 
 which it started. It also issued a Monthly Statement, in 
 which accounts were given of what was being done for the 
 support and extension of the Church ; and in the Assembly 
 of 1844 a Cheap Publication Scheme was instituted, which 
 for some years flooded the country with books of a more or 
 less popular description, and with Catechisms and Tracts fitted 
 to instruct the people in Evangelical principles. Among the 
 books so issued were some of the works of Knox, Henderson, 
 and Trail ; while among others, the Catechisms of Mr. Gray 
 of Perth were circulated by thousands. 
 
 At first the Home and Foreign Missionary Record was 
 exactly what its name indicated, a " record " of work done ; 
 
324 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 and the editing of it was a very simple business. India was 
 very much a new country ; the missionaries could not write 
 at too great length, and their letters were, in general, printed 
 as they were received. But as things went on, readjustments 
 were seen to be desirable ; and in the Assembly of 1850 the 
 report of a Committee was adopted which recommended the 
 amalgamation of the Record, the Monthly Statement, and the 
 Monthly Tract, and the appointment of Mr. Andrew Cameron 
 as Editor of the new journal. As Mr. Cameron was not able, 
 however, at the moment to say whether he could accept the 
 post, the conduct of the magazine was committed in the 
 meantime to Messrs. Nixon of Montrose, Lumsden of Barry, 
 and Wilson of Dundee. The price was fixed at 2d. a number, 
 and the publication was undertaken by an Edinburgh publisher, 
 Mr. Nichol. 
 
 In 1851 no change was made. Mr. Cameron had not 
 seen his way to accept the editorship, and the conduct of the 
 Record was still left in commission. It was intimated that 
 the circulation had been from 30,000 to 34,000 a month. 
 1852 came, and the lock continued. But at the November 
 Commission of that year Dr. Wylie was appointed interim 
 Editor, and the appointment was confirmed at the Assembly 
 which followed. 
 
 Eor some reason or other, however, there had been a 
 tendency to decline in the circulation of the journal (it 
 had gone down, indeed, to between 20,000 and 21,000), 
 and in 1855 the question was raised of whether that decline 
 could not be arrested by a reduction in the price. This 
 suggestion was actually carried into effect in 1856, when, 
 by a new arrangement with the publisher, the charge for 
 each number was made lid. At the same time it was agreed 
 to allow the introduction of other than " news " matter, in 
 the hope that thereby the interest of readers might be in- 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 325 
 
 creased. This was recognised as specially necessary, because 
 the decline in the circulation had continued during the year, 
 and was now 18,200. 
 
 The change was so far satisfactory ; and Dr. Eainy, who 
 had now become the Convener of the Publication Committee, 
 was able, in 1857, to report an increase of 2300 in the 
 circulation ; and this might possibly have been greater, if in 
 the meantime a Monthly Communication, meant to be A 
 Collectors Tract, had not been instituted, with the reading 
 of which many were content. 
 
 It was very disappointing, however, to find that, in 1858, 
 neither periodical had been able to keep its ground. The 
 circulation of the Record had sunk to 19,530 ; while that of 
 the Communication, horn, being 52,000, was now only 39,400. 
 
 A somewhat disheartening struggle then took place, which 
 continued for some years; and when, in 1862, things were 
 found to be worse than ever, no more than between 17,000 
 and 18,000 of the journal being taken, it was felt that a 
 radical change behoved to be made in the conduct of the 
 undertaking altogether. Mr. Tliomas Nelson was then con- 
 sulted, and with difficulty was persuaded to meet the crisis. It 
 had been suggested that the publication might be issued weekly 
 instead of monthly, and he was prepared to agree to that, but 
 his help was promised only on one condition, that he should 
 be allowed to name his own editor. This was assented to. 
 Dr. Wylie was induced to retire, and the liev. James Mac- 
 kenzie of Dunfermline was (in 1863) installed as his successor. 
 
 The change was so far beneficial. The circulation rose 
 again ; but it was soon discovered that a weekly issue was a 
 mistake. It was therefore very quickly discontinued, and the 
 periodical started on a new career, at the reduced price of 
 one penny. 
 
 With all the energy and enterprise of the publishers, how- 
 
326 
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 ever, and all the well-known skill and ability of the editor, 
 the success which followed was not signal. The old figure of 
 30,000 a month was reached, but it seemed impossible to 
 get much beyond that, and in 1869 the circulation appeared 
 actually to tend to droop again. But then the crisis was 
 reached, and from 1870 the progress of the journal was so 
 remarkable as to be worth recording. Here is an abbreviated 
 table showing the stages which were successively reached : — 
 
 In 1870 the circulation was 33,500. 
 
 36,000. 
 40,000. 
 46,000. 
 63,000. 
 70,000. 
 78,000. 
 81,000. 
 82,000. 
 
 The steady rise dates from the appointment (on Mr. Mac- 
 kenzie's death) of Dr. Norman Walker to the editorship, 
 but it is not pretended that the advance was due only or 
 chiefly to him. Among the causes which contributed to the 
 result were the wisdom of the publishers, who twice over 
 enlarged the journal and gave it an outwardly attractive 
 appearance, the arrangement whereby blank covers have been 
 provided enabling congregations to print local news, and, 
 above all things, the growth of the Church's interest in mis- 
 sionary work. It is by no means certain that the Free 
 Church of Scotland Monthly makes its way into every one of 
 our families, but its circulation has probably now reached the 
 highest possible point it could reasonably be expected to attain, 
 and the Church may well feel satisfied that it has a journal 
 whose issue is greater than that of most journals of its kind. 
 
 „ 1873 
 
 „ 1876 
 
 „ 1880 
 
 „ 1882 
 
 „ 1884 
 
 „ 1887 
 
 „ 1890 
 
 „ 1892 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 327 
 
 Soon after the Disruption, a Children's Missionary Bccord 
 was established, under the conduct of Mr. William Dickson, 
 who was for so many years Convener of the Sabbath School 
 Committee. Its circulation never fluctuated so much as that 
 of the other Record, and may be said to have been always 
 good. In the Assembly of 1894 it was reported to be 
 75,000 a month. On Mr. Dickson retiring from the post on 
 account of ill health, Mr. Thomson of Hightae was appointed 
 Editor, and he held the position for some years. He has now 
 been succeeded by the Rev. William Agnew of Gallatown. 
 
 Although those were, in the early days of its history, the 
 only organs expressly recognised as such by the Free Church, 
 there were not a few periodicals in which its interest was 
 very direct. Quite a number of newspapers, for example, 
 openly sided with it, and fought its battles. Among these 
 were The Witness, so splendidly edited by Hugh Miller, in 
 Edinburgh, The Scottish Guardian in Glasgow, The Northern 
 Warder in Dundee, The Banner (edited in those days by 
 Professor Masson) in Aberdeen, The Standard in Dumfries, 
 The Border Watch in Galashiels, and others. Besides, in 
 1844 a Free Church Magazine was established, with Dr. 
 Hetherington as its conductor. This magazine was made over 
 in 1847 to the care of Dr. Andrew Cameron, who again gave 
 place to Dr. Blaikie, in whose hands it remained till 1853, 
 when it was discontinued to make way for two publications, 
 The British and Foreign Evangeliccd Review, and The News 
 of the Churches. Of the former, Dr. Cameron was the first 
 Editor, and was succeeded by Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Smeaton, 
 Dr. M'Crie, Dr. Dykes, Dr. J. S. Candlish, and Dr. Sinclair 
 Paterson. The latter, which was carried on for some years 
 with great vigour, was taken charge of by Drs. Blaikie and 
 Cameron conjointly. 
 
 More ambitious than any of these undertakings was that 
 
328 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 of the founding of Tlu North British Bevieiu. That pub- 
 lication has had a curious history. It was established in 
 1844 by Mr. E. F. Maitland (afterward Lord Barcaple), Dr. 
 Welsh, Dr. Chalmers, and other prominent Free Churchmen, 
 with the object of discussing important subjects from a Chris- 
 tian standpoint. Dr. Welsh edited the first three numbers, 
 and was succeeded by Lord Barcaple, Dr. Hanna, Professor 
 Campbell Fraser, Dr. Duns, and Dr. Blaikie. Afterwards it 
 fell into the hands of Mr. D. Douglas, the publisher, who sold 
 it to Sir John (Lord) Acton for the Eoman Catholics. By 
 that time, however, it was moribund, and the change failed to 
 keep it alive. After the issue of a few numbers it disap- 
 peared, having run as chequered a career as, probably, any 
 Eeview of recent years. 
 
 There was another venture of a like kind made at an 
 early period whose success was never very great. This was 
 the publication of what was intended to be a Christian maga- 
 zine of the highest order. Lowe's Magazine, as it was called, 
 aimed at serving monthly and in a lighter way the same ends 
 as the North British Ecvieiv. But it never caught the popular 
 breeze, and, in consequence, the course it ran was comparatively 
 short. 
 
 At a much later date there have been instituted two 
 journals which have a considerable circulation — Youth, edited 
 by Dr. W. Patrick, and The Helpmeet, dealing with mission 
 work among women, edited by Miss Eainy. 
 
 When, however, we have enumerated the Serials with 
 which the Free Church has been directly connected, we have 
 by no means indicated all that Free Churchmen have done in 
 relation to the periodical press. It may confidently be said 
 that the Church has been peculiarly fortunate in the 
 number of " able editors " it has produced. One of the most 
 remarkable of these was Dr. Andrew Cameron. His health, 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO IJTERATURE 329 
 
 to begin with, did not allow him to accept a charge, and he 
 devoted himself iu consequence to letters. Besides the 
 journals already referred to as having been under his care, 
 there were three others which he founded, and which he con- 
 ducted with great success — the Christian Treasury, the Family 
 Treasury, and (in Australia, where he spent the closing years 
 of his life) The Southern Cross. 
 
 Dr. Blaikie has also done a great deal of work in this 
 connection. Besides the Free Clcurch Magazine, the Neivs of 
 the Churches, and the North British Bcvieiv, to which allusion 
 has been made above, he conducted for two years The Sunday 
 Magazine, which was established under the editorship of 
 Dr. Guthrie, and took charge while it continued of The 
 Catholic Presbyterian. 
 
 In later times, younger men have risen whose gifts as 
 editors have been not less conspicuous — Dr. Eobertson Nicoll, 
 who succeeded Dr. Cox in the conduct of The Fxjwsitor, and 
 whose British Wceldy has received such wide acceptance ; the 
 Eev. James Hastings of Kinneff, who in his Fxpository Times 
 has done so much to give a more general interest to biblical 
 criticism ; and Professor Salmond, who has gathered around 
 him all the scholars in the kingdom as contributors to his 
 Critical Beview. 
 
 We may fairly claim, also, some interest in the great 
 ■ Encyclopcedias of the period, — the Britannica and that of 
 Chambers, — for both have been edited by Free Churchmen, 
 the former by Dr. Eobertson Smith and Dr. Sutherland Black, 
 the latter by Dr. David Patrick ; while among their con- 
 tributors are to be found the names of many who have in 
 various ways made their mark in the world. Without naming 
 any who have been or may yet be referred to in connection 
 with independent works of their own, we may mention the 
 following as having written important articles in one or 
 
330 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 other of the JEncyclopcedias : the Hon. Ion Keith Falconer, 
 Professor Macalister, Mr. A. Wood Eenton, Dr. J. G. Fraser, 
 Professor James Dixon, W. Peddie, D.Sc., T. Pialeigh, and Dr. 
 David Patrick. The list, considering the variety of subjects 
 discussed by them, is remarkable enough. 
 
 It may also be added that Free Churchmen have had a 
 large interest in the preparation of Dictionaries of a high 
 class. Principal Fairbairn edited for the Messrs. Blackie 
 The Im])crial Bible Dictionary ; Dr. Eobert Hunter has had 
 the main if not the exclusive burden of preparing The 
 Encyclopcvdic Dictionary for the Messrs. Cassell ; and the very 
 popular Illustrated Bible Dictionary issued by Messrs, Nelson 
 was the work of the late Dr. Easton. It is well known, also, 
 that great preparations are now being made for the issue by 
 the Messrs. Clark of a new Dictionary of the Bible, whose 
 editing has been undertaken by Mr. Hastings of the Expository 
 Times. 
 
 A blank would be left in this account if we failed to 
 notice what has been done in connection with the periodical 
 press by Free Churchmen abroad. In 1844 the Calcutta, 
 Beview was established by Sir John Kaye, who himself edited 
 the first few numbers; but in 1845 he resigned the post in 
 favour of Dr. Duff, and for ten years afterwards its conduct 
 was in the hands of a succession of Free Church repre- 
 sentatives — Dr. W. S. Mackay, Dr. Thomas Smith, and Dr. 
 George Smith, all of whom contributed largely to its pages. 
 The two last also occupied the chair at later periods. A still 
 earlier journal was The Frie^id of India (a weekly), which was 
 instituted in 1835 by John Clark Marshman, and which was 
 edited for some years by Mr. Townsend, now of The Spectator. 
 From 1859 to 1874 this paper was in the hands of Dr. 
 George Smith, who acted at the same time as Correspondent 
 of the Times, and who was brought home in the latter year 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 331 
 
 to take charge of a newspaper in Edinburgli. To a monthly 
 magazine, The Calcutta Christian Observer, Duff, Smith, and 
 Mackay contributed many articles ; but none of them, so far 
 as we know, became its editor. But soon after its decease 
 another journal was published (a quarterly), The Indian 
 Evangelical Beview, and this is conducted by Dr. Kenneth 
 Macdonald, one of the Calcutta Free Church missionaries. 
 
 In Madras, the Christian College Magazine was established 
 in 1883 by Principal Miller, to supply pure literature of a 
 high order to educated natives. It has been edited by Mr. 
 Michie Smith (a brother of Dr. Eobertson Smith) and Mr. 
 MacPhail, and is most successful. The Indian Standard of 
 Bombay was also edited for some time by two Free Church 
 missionaries, Mr. Alexander and Mr. Scott. And Mr. Camp- 
 bell of Santalia prints and publishes a Santali magazine. 
 
 Of what has been done in Africa we know less, but there 
 is one periodical there which has been vigorously conducted 
 for a long time, The Christian Ex2^ress, at Lovedale, which has 
 now almost reached its three hundredth number. It is edited 
 by Dr. Stewart, and in his absence by Mr. Moir. 
 
 XII. General Literature 
 
 1. Teavel and Geogkaphy 
 
 " A Clerical Furlougli " : hy Dr. R. Buchanan. 
 
 " The Tent and the Khan " : hj B. W. Stcu-arf, D.D. 
 
 " Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to tlie Jews " : bg 
 
 Andrevj A. Bonar, D.D. 
 " A Pilgrimage from the Alps to the Tiber " : bg J. A. 
 
 Wylie, LL.D. 
 " A Visit to Palestine": bg J. W. Wglic, LL.D. 
 " The Desert of Sinai " : by Iloratius Bonar, D.D. 
 " Impressions of America and its Church " : by Rcr. G. Lewis. 
 " The Lands of the Bible " : by John Wilson, D.D. 
 
332 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 " Tropical Africa " : hi/ Professor Drummond. 
 
 " Christianity, East and West " : hy Rev. T. G. Clark. 
 
 " Summer Suns in the Far West " : hy Professor W. G. 
 
 Blaikic, D.D. 
 " The Cradle of Christianity " : hy Rev. D. M. Ross. 
 " Wanderings in the Land of Israel " : hy Rev. John Anderson. 
 " Holidays in High Lands " : hy Dr. Hugh MacMillan. 
 " Eoman Mosaics " : hy Dr. Hugh MacMillan. 
 " The Kiviera " : hy Dr. Hugh MacMillan. 
 • " Our Australian Cousins " : hy Hon. James Inglis. 
 " Our New Zealand Cousins " : hy Hon. James Inglis. 
 " Tent Life in Tiger Land " : hy Hon. James Inglis. 
 " Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier " : hy Hon. James 
 
 Inglis. 
 " The Churches of Asia : Extracts from Home Letters 
 
 written in the Kegion of the Seven Churches " : hy Dr. 
 
 A. N. Somerville. 
 " Exploration of Australia from Carpentaria to Melbourne " : 
 
 hy William Landsborough. 
 " The Student's Geography of British India " : hy George 
 
 Smith, LL.D. 
 " Palestine (Handbook) " : hy Archibald Henderson, D.D. 
 " Historical Geography of Palestine " : hy George A. 
 
 Smith, D.D. 
 " The Least of All Lands ; or, The Topography of Palestine " : 
 
 hy PrinciiJal Miller, D.D. 
 " The Land of Israel " : hy Alexander Keith, D,D. 
 " A Manual of Modern Geography " : hy Rev. Alexander 
 
 Maehay, LI.D. 
 "Elements of Modern Geography": hy Rev. Alexander 
 
 Mackay, LL.D. 
 "The Intermediate Geography": hy Rev. Alexander 
 
 Mackay, LL.D. 
 " Water Highways of Interior Africa " : hy James Stevenson. 
 " The Country between Kilwa and Tanganyika " : hy James 
 
 Stevenson. 
 " Life in India " : hy Colonel Davidson. 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 333 
 
 " Descriptive Atlas of the World and General Geography " : 
 
 ly W. G. Blackic, LL.D. 
 " The Imperial Gazetteer " : hy W. G. Blaclic, LL.D. 
 " Aberdour and Inchcolme" : hy Rev. IV. Jioss, LL.D. 
 
 2. Miscellaneous 
 " Poetics " : by K S. Dallas. 
 
 " The Humour of the Scot " : hy Hon. James Inglis. 
 " Oor Ain Folk " : hy Hon. James Inglis. 
 " History and Toetry of the Scottish Border " : hy Professor 
 
 Veitch. 
 " The Manse Garden " : hy Dr. KatJianid Patcrson. 
 " Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland," " My 
 
 Schools and Schoolmasters," " First Impressions of 
 
 England and its People " : hy Huyh Miller. 
 " The Cruise of the Betsy " : hy Hugh Miller. 
 . " The Ptuined Castles of Midlothian " : hy Rev. T. Dickson. 
 " Philosophy of the Seasons " : hy Dr. Duncan of Ruthicell. 
 "Edinburgh, Past and Present": by J. B. Gillies. 
 " The Feeling for Nature in Scottish Poetry" : l)y Professor 
 
 'Veitch. 
 
 3. Belles-Letters 
 
 It would be vain to attempt to give here the names of 
 all who have contributed to the lighter literature of the 
 country. The number of those among us who have written 
 in this connection — in prose and verse (and that in many 
 cases with much ability) — has been very great. We can 
 here mention only a few who have made themselves more or 
 less conspicuous. 
 
 One of our earliest poets was Dr. Hetherington, who 
 published a number of pieces more than forty years ago, and 
 to whose versatile pen we also owe a story which was very 
 popular in its day, The Minister's Family. Mrs. Stuart 
 Menteath, too, made herself famous long ago by her Lays 
 of the Kirk and Covenant. Later came the Pev. J. I). Burns, 
 
334 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Mr. Small of Bervie, Dr. Peter Bayne, and Mr. M'Dowall of 
 Dumfries ; and later still, a cluster of better-known writers — 
 Walter C. Smith (with his Olricj Grange, etc.) ; Mrs. Miller 
 Morison (with her Purpose of the Ages, etc.) ; B. M. (Barbara 
 Miller) (with her exquisite poem of Ezckicl, etc.) ; Professor 
 Veitch (with his Mcrton and Hillside Rhymes) ; Mrs. 
 Cousin (with her Immanuel's Land), and Miss Clephane 
 (with her Ninety and Nine) ; Horatius Bonar (with his 
 many Hymns) ; and Mr. Crockett (with his Dulee Cor and 
 his Valete Fraires). Among others who have shown their 
 possession of the poetic gift may be named Mr. Brownlee 
 of Portpatrick and the Eev. John Buchan — the former in 
 his Hymns of the Pilgrimage, the latter in his Tioeedside 
 Echoes. Another true poetess must not be forgotten, 
 although she has always written anonymously, — Miss Borth- 
 wick, the " H. L. L." of Hymns from the Lands of Luther. Mr. 
 Barbour was also known among his friends as a poet, although 
 he published little, the only book of his given to the public 
 being Jerohoam's Wife, and other Poems. 
 
 In the department of fiction the Free Church has, of late, 
 been specially conspicuous. Mr. J. M. Barrie, author of Auld 
 Licht Ldylls, was born and brought up a free Churchman. 
 Mr. S. E. Crockett, author of The Raiders, and Mr. Watson 
 (" Ian Maclaren "), who wrote Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush, 
 were both ministers of the Free Church. So is " Fergus 
 Mackenzie " (Mr. Anderson of Dyce), whose Cruisie Sketches 
 have made him so well known in the north and elsewhere. 
 To Dr. Alexander of Aberdeen we owe the popular Aberdeen- 
 shire story of Johnny Gibb ; and to Mr. D. S. Meldrum, a 
 Free Churchman from Kirkcaldy, we are indebted for The 
 Story of MargrMcl, which first ran through Blackwood, and 
 which has been so much appreciated since it appeared in a 
 •separate form. We can claim an interest, too, in Mr. Andrew 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 335 
 
 Stewart, tlie editor of The People's Friend, and in Mr. Latto, 
 the editor of The Pcojde's Journal, who have Loth gained a 
 reputation — the former by his tale of A Fair Norwegian, the 
 latter as the author of those clever sketches which have been 
 publislied as written by " Tammas Bodkin." 
 
 Apart from these, we can only mention the names of George 
 Cupples (The Green Hand, etc.) ; Mrs. Milne IJae {Morag, etc.) ; 
 Mrs. Meldrum {Tlic Wish and -the Way, etc.); Louisa Gray 
 (Nellie's Teachers, etc.) ; " Cousin Kate " (Miss Bell) ( The Huguenot 
 Family, etc.) ; Dr. Kennedy Moore (Craigrowan, etc.) ; j\Irs. 
 George Cupples (The Little Captain) ; with James Dodds, Jessie 
 P. Findlay, James Kay, Neish, Smeaton, Mrs. Mackay, Hannah 
 B. Mackenzie, and many others. 
 
 4. Philosophy and Science 
 
 Among our earliest philosophical writers were President 
 M'Cosh of Princeton, Professor Macdougall, and Professor Fraser. 
 Dr. M'Cosh wrote largely — his most famous works being on 
 Psychology, The Emotions, and The Intuitions of the Human Mind 
 inductively investigated. An article on Leibnitz, which appeared 
 in 1846, led to the appointment of Dr. Campbell Fraser to a 
 chair in New College, and he has since issued Essays in 
 Philosophy, and Rational Philosophy, besides publishing the Life 
 and Letters of Bishop) Berkeley. He has also been one of the 
 Gifford Lecturers. Professor Macdougall was not spared to do 
 so much as was expected of him. His only book is one con- 
 sisting of Pcqjcrs on Literary and Philosophical Subjects. 
 
 Professor Knight has gained a reputation as Editor of the 
 Philosophical Classics, and as the author of Aspects of Theism. 
 
 I'rofessor Veitch is specially known as a favourite disciple 
 of Sir "William Hamilton, and as his Biographer. He has 
 written on SiKculative PhilosojjJiy, and Descartes. 
 
 Among the more distinguished writers of a later date 
 
336 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Professor Sorley and Professor Seth may be named — the 
 former the author of The Ethics of Naturalism ; the latter, of 
 Scottish Philosophy, and Hcgclianism and Personality. 
 
 Dr. Abercrombie may also be named in this connection, 
 although he was most famous as a physician. He published 
 books on The Intellectual Povxrs, and The Philosophy of the 
 3Ioral Feelings. 
 
 Not a few others might be referred to as having shown 
 their possession of the philosophic spirit of the nation — such 
 as Mr. John Henry Muirhead, who has written The Elements 
 of Ethics, and edited The Library of Philosophy ; Mr. James 
 Bonar, who has contributed to that Library a volume on 
 Philosophy and Political Economy in some of their Historical 
 Relations ; and the Eev. T. B. Kilpatrick, who, in his Handbook 
 on Bishop Butlers Sermons, has exhibited the acuteness and 
 knowledge of a capable student. 
 
 The contributions made to science have been more 
 numerous. At the Disruption there were three men who 
 were prominently associated with that event, and who at the 
 same time were specially well known in the scientific world. 
 One was Hugh Miller, whose great work was the popularising 
 of geology in the pages of the Witness, and who, among a 
 number of books, wrote in his Footpirints of the Creator a reply 
 to the Vestiges of the Natural History of the Creation. A second 
 was Dr. John Fleming, the greatest Scottish zoologist of his 
 day. In 1843 he was Professor of Natural History in 
 Aberdeen, but two years later he was translated to a similar 
 post in New College. The work by which he was most 
 distinguished is The Philosophy of Zoology, the plates for which 
 were taken from drawings by his wife. The third is Sir 
 David Brewster, who was in succession Principal of the 
 Universities of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and whose 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 357 
 
 discoveries in Optics have made him famous all over the 
 world. The total number of his contributions to learned 
 Societies between 1806 and 1868 are stated to have been 
 no fewer than 415. He was Editor of the Edinburgh 
 Encyclopcedia, and among his more important works are 
 treatises on New Fhilosophical Instruments, and on Magnetism. 
 
 Another man belonging to the same era is well entitled to 
 be associated with those just named — Dr. David Landsborough. 
 He was a Disruption minister, whose location by the seashore 
 led to his becoming interested in what was to be seen there. 
 His sons inherited his tastes, and he and his family have 
 added nearly seventy new species to the plants and animals 
 of Scotland. Dr. Landsborough has written Histories of 
 British Seaweed and Zoophites, but the book by which he is 
 best known is Excursions to Arrayi, Ailsa Craig, and the Tu'o 
 Cumhraes, with special reference to the Natural History of these 
 Islands. 
 
 Dr. Hugh Mitchell of Craig, another minister of the Free 
 Church, has not left behind him many publications, but it is 
 something to say of him that his collection of fossils is now 
 in the Natural History department of the British Museum, 
 and that the names of his specimens occupy nearly seven 
 pages of the catalogue. 
 
 Sir James Y. Simpson was chiefly eminent as a physician, 
 l)ut he was also an authority on " Archaic Sculpturings," and 
 his wide culture was recognised by his being made a D.C.L. 
 of Oxford. 
 
 Another medical man who has distinguished himself as a 
 scientist is Dr. J. G. M'Kendrick, Professor of the Institutes 
 of Medicine in the University of Glasgow. He is known 
 specially as a physiologist, his most important work being 
 Text-Book of Physiology, published in 1888-89. 
 
 Dr. David Ferrier may also be named here. Tlie chair 
 22 
 
338 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 of Neuro-Pathology, which he now fills iu King's College, 
 London, was founded for him. His specialty has been the 
 brain. He is the editor of a journal devoted to its study, 
 and has done a great deal to increase our knowledge of 
 cerebral diseases. His best -known book is that on The 
 Functions of the Brain. 
 
 Professor Dickson was unfortunately cut down in his 
 prime. He filled the chair of Botany in the University of 
 Edinburgh with distinction, and he wrote many papers, which 
 have appeared in the Transactions of Societies, but he published 
 no books. He was an authority on all subjects connected 
 with the development and morphology of plants. 
 
 The highest living authority on the Architecture and 
 Antiquities of India is now Dr. James Burgess, C.S.E. While 
 in the East he took a leading part in Government Archaso- 
 logical Surveys, and edited a monthly journal entitled The 
 Indian Antiquary. Since his return home he has edited two 
 large quarto volumes, Epigraphia Inclica. 
 
 Dr. Duns, Professor of Natural Science in the New 
 College, has made himself known as a scientific apologist. 
 In the North British Review, which he edited for four years, 
 and in many other journals, he has defended the biblical 
 records against the assaults of unbelief. Besides many 
 papers read before learned Societies, he has published books 
 on Biblical and Natural Science, and on Science and Christian 
 Thought. 
 
 The Professor of Natural Science in Glasgow, Mr. Henry 
 Drummond, has been one of our most popular writers, and in 
 his various books he has shown himself to be possessed of a 
 great amount of special knowledge ; but he cannot be said 
 to have taught science for its own sake, and the value of his 
 speculations is yet a matter of discussion. Many striking 
 observations are to be found in his Tropical Africa. 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 339 
 
 A very well-known man in the scientific world is Dr. 
 William Carruthers, Keeper of the Botanical Department in 
 the British Museum. He has written numerous papers for 
 the lioyal Societies of which he is a Fellow, and has published, 
 among other things, on Fosail Bodes and their Testimony. 
 
 Another Scottish Free Churchman who has made himself 
 heard of beyond the Border is Professor J. A. Ewing, who 
 fills the chair of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics in 
 the University of Cambridge. He has published works on 
 Magnetic Induction in Iron and other Metals, and on The 
 Steam Engine and other Heat Engines. 
 
 Ee turning to Scotland, other names deserve mention : 
 Mr. Thomson of Banchory, who was an antiquarian authority, 
 and who founded the " Thomson Science Lectureship " in 
 Aberdeen ; Dr. James Macdonald, a distinguished arclueologist 
 in the West of Scotland ; Mr. James Keddie, who was for a 
 long time Lecturer on Natural Science in the Glasgow Free 
 Church College ; Mr. Eobert Kidston, who has made a special 
 study of the carboniferous flora, and is one of our best authorities 
 on paLneobotany ; and Dr. liobert Boog Watson, who was 
 described, when presented to the L^niversity of Edinburgh to 
 receive the degree of LL.D., as one of the highest living 
 authorities on conchology. Dr. Watson's special gifts have 
 been exhibited to the world in two large volumes, represent- 
 ing some of the fruits and results of the Challenger Expedition. 
 The others named have found channels for the publication of 
 their thoughts and discoveries chiefly through the Transactions 
 of the learned Societies. How much treasure is buried there 
 can be known only to those who give themselves the trouble 
 to search for it. 
 
 The list which follows must contain only the names of 
 some of the men who have distinguished themselves, with an 
 example of the writings which have made them known : — 
 
340 CONTRIBUTIONS TO IITERATURE 
 
 Dr. Hugh MacMillan : First Forms of Vegetation; The 
 
 Archceology of Scripture. 
 Professor E. 0. Cunningham of Queen's College, Belfast : 
 
 Notes on the Natural History of the Straits of Magellan. 
 G. E. M. Murray, F.E.S.E., British Museum: Catalogue of 
 
 the Mctrine Alga:: of the West Indian Region. 
 Dr. Joseph Anderson : Areha:ology. 
 Professor Cargill Knott : Electricity. 
 A. T. Omond : Clouds, Hail, etc. 
 Alexander Buchan, LL.D. : Introductory Text Book of 
 
 Meteorology. 
 Dr. Ferguson : Electricity. 
 
 Not a few of the ministers of the Free Church besides 
 those referred to have shown that they possess gifts in this 
 connection which might have brought them fame if they had 
 felt fully free to exercise them. It will not be forgotten that 
 Chalmers was a candidate for the chair of Natural Philosophy 
 in the University of Edinburgh. Dr. Laughton, again, says 
 of Dr. Thomas Brown, the author of the Annals of the Dis- 
 ruption, that " the natural bent of his mind might have 
 inclined him to devote his life to scientific pursuits." While, 
 among the works actually published by Dr. Thomas Smith 
 and Dr. John Forbes, are one on Plane Geometry, and another 
 on The Differential Calculus. 
 
 We have spoken of several medical men who have done 
 scientific work, we may also notice some who have distin- 
 guished themselves by their contributions to the literature of 
 their own profession. 
 
 Perhaps the most famous Scottish physician of his day 
 was Dr. Abercrombie. His place as such was recognised 
 when he was elected Lord Eector of the University of 
 Aberdeen. The subject which most interested him, and on 
 which he wrote most, was the Brain. 
 
 Scarcely less distinguished in his time was Sir James 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 341 
 
 Simpson, who was for so many years the centre of medical 
 life in Edinburgh. He is specially remembered in connection 
 with his efforts to diminish suffering by the nse of chloroform, 
 etc. Among his numerous works two are specially character- 
 istic, one on Anccsthesia, and another on Acupressure. 
 
 ]\rany still cherish the memory of the two Begbies, father 
 and son. The works of the latter. Dr. Warburton Begbie, 
 received the almost unique distinction of having been pub- 
 lished by the Sydenham Society — that Society having confined 
 itself almost exclusively to the translation of foreign books. 
 
 One of the most prominent members of the early Free 
 Church Assemblies was Professor Miller. His works on the 
 Principles and Practice of Surgery were in their day highly 
 esteemed. 
 
 Professor Spence was less known to the lay public, but, 
 while he lived, he was the great authority on tracheotomy, 
 and the Text Book which he published from his lectures was 
 recognised as of undoubted value. 
 
 Coming to men still living, mention may be made of 
 Sir Thomas Grainger Stewart, to whom we owe distinctly 
 original contributions toward the cure of Bright's Disease ; 
 Dr. Patrick Heron Watson, who has found time, amid the 
 engrossments of a great active practice, to write several 
 suggestive, practical papers ; Dr. Joseph Bell, who has for 
 a long time edited the BcUnhurrjh Medical Journal, and whose 
 Manual of Operative Surgery has gone through many editions ; 
 Dr. .Vtlleck, who has written for the Eneyclopccdia Britannica 
 articles on Bronchitis, Diphtheria, Pleurisy, and Pneumonia ; 
 Drs. Barbour and T>erry Hart, whose work in the department 
 of medicine with whicli they are specially connected is reckoned 
 of authority ; and Dr. James Carmichael, who has written on 
 the Diseases of Children. 
 
 There are others who ought, no doubt, to be included in 
 
342 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 this list, but those are among the men who stand out very 
 prominently in the metropolis, and may be taken as illustrat- 
 ing the fact that that intellectual activity which has appeared 
 in so many connections within the Free Church is not less 
 marked in the department of medicine. 
 
 XIII. Translation Work 
 
 It is only reasonable that some reference should be 
 made here to the part taken by representatives of the Free 
 Church in the way either of rendering into English works 
 written in other tongues, or of speaking to foreigners in 
 their own languages. 
 
 (1) Something has been done by their means to increase 
 acquaintance with the early Greek and Latin Christian 
 Fathers. The works of St. Augustine have been published 
 under the editorship of Dr. Marcus Dods ; and one of the 
 conductors of the Ante-Mcene Library was Professor Eoberts, 
 who, to begin with, was minister of the Free Church of 
 Stonehaven. Among those who translated the books for 
 these two series were Professor Gibb, Dr. Eeith, Dr. Salmond, 
 Dr. Thomas Smith, Dr. Dods, Dr. J. G. Cunningham, and 
 Messrs. Pilchard Stothert, Wilson of Musselburgh, W. Findlay, 
 Wilson of Glenluce, and Innes of Panbride. 
 
 (2) A large number of men have taken part in translating 
 books from the German. Among these have been — Principal 
 Fairbairn (Steiger on Is^ Peter, and Lisco on The Parables) ; 
 Dr. Easton (Delitzsch's Proverbs, vol. ii., and Keil's 
 Daniel) ; Principal Douglas (Keil's Introduction, and Delitzsch's 
 Isaiah); Eev. James Kennedy, B.D. (Keil's Jeremiah, Delitzsch's 
 Isaiah, Ewald's Hebrew Si/7itax, Oosterzee's Moses) ; Ptcv. 
 Lewis Muirhead (Pthiem's 3Icssianic Prophecy) ; Ptev. Neil 
 Buchanan (Beyschlag's Ne7v Testament Theology and 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 343 
 
 Harnack's History of Dogmas) ; liev. John Wilson (Wendt'a 
 2'cachwf/ of Jesus); Eev. John MacPherson (Buhl's Canon 
 and Text of the Old Testament, Schttrer's Jewish People^ 
 Ebrard's Apologetics, liiibriger's Encyclopaedia) ; Eev. Alexander 
 Cusin (Steinmeyer's Passion History, Delitzsch's Isris, Keil's 
 Archeology); Eev. William Findlay (Harless's Christian Ethics); 
 Eev. E. T. Cunningham (Dorner's Ethics) ; Eev. A. J. Campbell 
 (Konig's History of Israel); Eev. David Eaton (Weiss's Neio 
 Testament Theology) ; Eev. Thomas Crerar (Steinmeyer's 
 Passion History) ; Eev. Dr. Bannerman (Meyer's Commentary 
 on \st Corinthians) ; Eev. James Duguid (Weiss's Neio Testa- 
 ment Theology) ; Professor Harper (Keil's Chronicles) ; Eev. 
 Theodore Meyer (Hengstenberg's Theology, Baumgarten's 
 Apostolic History) ; Eev. William Affleck, B.D. (Martensen's 
 Individual Ethics) ; Eev. Thomas Smith, D.D. {Miducd Rela- 
 tions of Missions and Culture; Outline of the History of 
 Protestant Missions, by Warneck) ; Dr. Bannerman (The 
 Will 0' the Wisp ; or, St. Johns Eve in the Forest) ; Eev. W. 
 Stevenson (Back's Outline of Christian Doctrine) ; Norman 
 Walker, M.D., F.E.C.P. {Leprosy, by Dr. Hansen, Govern- 
 ment Inspector-General, Norway). 
 
 (3) The number of translations from the French have 
 been much fewer. Two important works, however, have 
 been rendered into English by the Eev. William Affleck, 
 namely, Janet's Final Causes, and Godet's Introduction to 
 the New Testament. The Eev. Alexander Cusin has also 
 translated Godet's Commentaries on Luke, John, Eomans, 
 and Corinthians. And by Dr. Thomas Smith there is a 
 translation of Vinet's Etudes sur Pascal. 
 
 (4) The literary work done by our missionaries has been 
 considerable. So far as a large part of India was concerned, 
 the business of Bible translation had been accomplished 
 before the Church of Scotland had entered the field ; but 
 
344 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Dr. Wilson of Bombay was constantly in the habit of 
 pnblishing writings of his own in the native languages, 
 For example, he issued a Refutation of Mohamrnedanism in 
 Persian, and an Exposure of Hinduism in Marathi. At a 
 later period, however, missions were established among the 
 aboriginal tribes, and the necessity arose then of providing for 
 the instruction of the people. Mr. Dawson of Chindwara 
 accordingly translated two Gospels for the Gonds, and Mr. 
 Andrew Campbell has printed quite a number of books, 
 religious and otherwise, for the use of the Santals. 
 
 In the New Hebrides, again, the whole Bible, the 
 Pilgrim's Progress, and the Shorter Catechism were translated 
 into Aneityumese by Dr. John Inglis. The Gospels, and 
 at least one book of the Old Testament (Exodus), have been 
 rendered into Fatunese by Mr. Copeland and Dr. Gunn ; 
 while Mr. Milne has translated the Gospels into Nguna. 
 
 But nowhere have the missionaries of the Free Church 
 been so laborious in this connection as in Africa. The Kafir 
 Bible was not translated by Dr. Bryce Ptoss, but he was 
 one of the most important members of the Committee which 
 lately revised it. In the Livingstonia region there was a 
 freer field. There the languages had never been reduced 
 to writing, and everything had to be done to meet the wants 
 of the people, who gathered in great numbers to the schools. 
 In the business of translating books for them. Dr. Laws has 
 taken the chief part, but he has been ably assisted by others, 
 including his wife. " High praise," says the British Com- 
 missioner, in his Eeport to the Government, " must be given 
 to the missionaries of British Central Africa for the extent 
 and value of their linguistic studies. In a way, the Living- 
 stonia Mission stands first as regards the value of its 
 contributions to our knowledge of African languages. Dr. 
 Laws has published, at different times, vocabularies of the 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 345 
 
 Chinyanja, Chikunda, and Chitonga tongues. Dr. Elinslie 
 has written some really valuable works on the Tumbuka 
 language, and on the dialect of Zulu spoken by the Angoni, 
 besides numerous other contributions to African philology. 
 The late Dr. Henry, of the same mission, has published the 
 best grammar extant of Chinyanja ; and the late Mr. Bain 
 commenced a vocabulary of the language spoken at the north 
 end of Lake Nyassa." 
 
 Among the works done by the men named may be 
 mentioned : — (1) By Br. Laws : Translation of the New Testa- 
 ment into ISTyanja, and of Mark into Tonga, and also of 
 many Primers and lieaders for the use of the schools. (2) By 
 Mr. Bain : Translation of Mark, Jonah, and the Parables and 
 Miracles of Christ into Wanda, and of Mark and Hymns 
 into Nkonde. (3) By Br. Elmslic : Translation of Mark, 
 Sermon on the Mount, Parables, Decalogue, Hymns, etc., 
 into Ngoni. (4) By Br. Henry : Translation of the Book 
 of Genesis and the Pilgrim's Progress into Chinyanja. 
 
 (5) One other branch of this subject may have a moment's 
 attention. To what extent the writings of Free Churchmen 
 have been rendered into other languages it would be impos- 
 sible to tell. But several things are known which are of 
 some interest. 
 
 Perhaps no book produced among us has had such a 
 circulation as Harry's Catechism, by Miss Painy. It has been 
 found peculiarly suitable for use in missionary work, and 
 hence it has been rendered into Tamil, Tclugu, Santali, and 
 Hindustani, in India ; into Futunese in the New Hebrides"; 
 and into Kafir, Zulu, Nyanja, and Ngoni in Africa. It has also 
 been issued in French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, and Gaelic. 
 
 The next author who has been most distinguished in 
 this way is Dr. Stalker. His Life of Christ has appeared 
 in German, Bulgarian, Japanese, and Chinese; his Life of St. 
 
346 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 
 
 Paul, in Spanish and Bulgarian ; his Imago Christi, in German, 
 Norwegian, Swedish, Bulgarian, and Japanese; and his 
 Preacher and his Models, in Norwegian. Other translations 
 have no doubt taken place of which no report has reached 
 us, but of these copies are inaccessible. 
 
 Dr. Hugh MacMillan has had a number of his books 
 reproduced in other languages. His Bible Teachings in 
 Nature, for example, has been translated into Danish, 
 Swedish, Eussian, Italian, and Spanish ; his Ministry 
 of Nature, into Norwegian and Swedish ; and his Two 
 Worlds are Ours, into German. But these do not represent 
 all that has been done with his works. It is known 
 that other translations have been made without being 
 reported. 
 
 Several of Professor W. G. Blaikie's works have been 
 similarly honoured. His Life of Livingstone has been trans- 
 lated both into German and Trench ; his Inner Life of Our 
 Lord, into German and Dutch ; and his Public Ministry and 
 Better Pays for Working Peoide, into German. Dr. Candlish's 
 Handbook on the Sacraments, and Principal Douglas's on 
 Joshua, have 'also been rendered into Welsh. 
 
 Almost all the works of Professor Drummond, especially 
 those of a practical kind, have also been reissued in not a 
 few foreign lands ; and Dr. Wells' Heroes of Heathendom have 
 appeared in Welsh and Bohemian. 
 
 One more circumstance of interest must be mentioned, 
 namely, that Principal Brown's Commentaries on the Gospels 
 and Acts have been rendered into Servian, and that exposi- 
 tions of the same portions of Scripture have been given in 
 Italian by the late Dr. Stewart of Leghorn. 
 
 This is but a sample of what has taken place. We have 
 no means of making sure of what has altogether been doing 
 in this way, and many other books doubtless have appeared 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE 347 
 
 abroad than those named. It is certain, for example, that 
 the Life, of M'Chcync exists in other languages besides English 
 and the Gaelic. 
 
 One other curious circumstance may be referred to. It 
 is this, that while all German books of criticism and 
 theology of importance are reproduced here in English, 
 the Germans do not take the trouble of publishing ours on 
 such subjects in their own language. 
 
 Note. — We regret that we have not been able to make 
 out a list of the Law Books written by Free Churchmen. 
 One singly firm in Edinburgh announces the publication of 
 Mr. Iicnton on " Summary Criminal Trials " ; Mr. Coldstream 
 on " Frocedure in the Court of Session " ; Sheriff Guthrie 
 Smith on " The Law of Damages " , Lord Eraser on " Ifushaud 
 and Wife " ; Mr. Howden on " Trusts " ; ]\Ir. ]\Ionteith Smith 
 on " Uxjyenses in Supreme and Sheriff Courts " ; and Mr. Watt 
 on " An Outline of Lcrjal Philosophy." 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 "AFTER FIFTY YEARS" 
 
 A EEPETITION took place in 1893 of what had occurred 
 ^ lifLy years before. Around the Moderator's chair 
 there gathered the representatives of many Churches at home 
 and abroad, who came to offer their congratulations to the 
 Free Church on its reaching its jubilee. Presbyterian deputies 
 appeared from Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, Australasia, 
 Africa, the United States, Canada, and the West Indies. 
 The Congregational and Baptist Unions, on both sides of the 
 Border, also sent their salutations. The Wesleyan Methodists 
 did the same. Visitors came with messages of goodwill 
 from Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, Bohemia, and Switzer- 
 land. And among the individuals from whom complimentary 
 communications were received were Professor Godet of 
 ISTeuchatel and Mr. Gladstone. The amount of interest dis- 
 played on the occasion by so many sister Churches was 
 naturally felt to be exceedingly gratifying, as bearing testi- 
 mony to the fact that the Disruption had not been in vain, 
 and that what had been accomplished by those who took 
 part in it was not unworthy of general recognition. 
 
 Up till this time the chair of the Assembly had been 
 filled by ministers who were ordained before 1843, with but 
 one notable exception. In 1887 it was felt that the pre- 
 eminent claims of Dr. Eainy could not be postponed, and he 
 was then elected to the Moderatorship by acclamation. 
 
 348 
 
"AFTER FIFTY YEARS" 349 
 
 Dr. Eainy was born at Glasgow in 182G, his father being 
 a medical professor in the University there. After receiving 
 his school and undergraduate education in his native city, he 
 entered New College as one of Dr. Cunningham's earliest 
 students. His first charge was Huntly, to which he was 
 inducted in 1850, but four years later he was called to 
 Edinburgh to succeed Dr. Gordon in the High Church. There 
 he remained till 1862, when -he was appointed Professor of 
 Church History — becoming also Principal of New College in 
 1874. His predecessors in the two offices were Dr. Cunning- 
 ham and Dr. Candlish. 
 
 The business of the General Assembly has come to be 
 conducted very much after the Parliamentary model. At 
 first its harmony was so complete that no " sides " were 
 apparent in it. But as time wore on, tendencies revealed 
 themselves, and a Eight and a Left were formed — the Eight 
 being the more progressive of the two. As this represented 
 the majority in the Church, the leading man in it was natur- 
 ally called to preside as Convener of the Business Committee,, 
 and from his occupying that post it became the custom to 
 think of liim as the " Leader of the House." It is interesting 
 to know that this function has been exercised since the 
 Disruption by only three men, and certainly no Church was 
 ever better served than the Pree Church has been by them. 
 Dr. Candlish was succeeded by Dr. Eobert Buchanan, and he 
 again by Dr. Eainy. Dr. Candlish was a brilliant speaker as 
 well as an able administrator. Dr. Buchanan's diction waS' 
 perfect, and he never spoke but with weight and power, but he 
 had not the brightness of his friend, and was less distinguished 
 as a debater. Dr. Eainy combines in a measure the peculi- 
 arities of both ; along with much of the calm and dignified 
 wisdom of Jjuchanan, he displays, when occasion calls for it,. 
 his possession of oratorical qualities which make him trench- 
 
350 ''AFTER FIFTY YEARS" 
 
 ant in discussion. The unselfishness of the three men, their 
 sincjle-hearted devotion to the interests of their Church and 
 of the cause which it represented to them, has been most 
 conspicuous. And tliey have been rewarded with a loyalty 
 which could hardly be surpassed. It is, in any case, an out- 
 standing illustration of the esteem in which Dr. Eainy has 
 been held, that his name appears alone as Moderator in the 
 long list of Pre-Disruption ministers. 
 
 With the beginning of a new era a new order was intro- 
 duced, and the chair of the Jubilee Assembly was occupied 
 by Dr. Walter Smith, who was ordained in 1850. He had 
 made himself famous alike as a poet and as a preacher, and 
 to him belongs the unique distinction of having received 
 honorary degrees from three of our Universities. 
 
 In this closing chapter two or three questions suggest 
 themselves, to which it may be desirable to attempt to give 
 some answers. 
 
 For example, it may be asked : Has the Free Church 
 fulfilled the expectations which were entertained about it at 
 the Disruption ? 
 
 To give a satisfactory answer to that question, it would be 
 necessary to know what these expectations were, and that is 
 a point about which there is great uncertainty. Of one thing 
 we are sure, that in 1843 there was a grand demonstration of 
 the supremacy of conscience. Chalmers may have had his 
 beliefs as to the sustaining power of Christian liberality, but 
 it is certain that his pictures and predictions of what might 
 be, were regarded by most of his brethren as purely Utopian, 
 and it was true in a very real sense that many retired from 
 the Establishment not knowing what was to become of them. 
 Ministers of the highest reputation could be named who had 
 no other thought than that they would be obliged to emigrate. 
 All that they could say was that it was impossible for them 
 
"AFTER FIFTY YEARS'- 351 
 
 to do otherwise than they did. In the case of such men, 
 there can be no doubt that what took place afterwards went 
 quite beyond their most sanguine imaginings. 
 
 On the other hand, however, this must be added, that tlie 
 experiences of the period began very soon to put a new 
 aspect on tilings. The extraordinary enthusiasm which the 
 event called forth, the notable religious awakening which 
 followed, the encouragement which came from abroad in the 
 shape, for example, of the accession of all the missionaries, 
 and the unprecedented freedom with which means were fur- 
 pished to do all that was required, had, one might say, some- 
 thing of an intoxicating effect, and the idea came to be enter- 
 tained that the Church might ignore the Establishment, and 
 adequately and alone perform all the functions of a National 
 Institution. That the dream has not been realised, is evident. 
 Its own enlargement has, indeed, been remarkable, and works 
 have been accomplished by it both, at home and abroad such 
 as it never thought of. But the Established Church has 
 rallied in a way it did not calculate upon, and now the relat- 
 ive positions of the two Churches are very different from 
 what they were at first. 
 
 But other things have happened which were not at all 
 anticipated either. It was not expected, for instance, that the 
 party which insisted on Disruption for the sake of patronage 
 would come to be willing to sacrifice the very boon for which 
 they paid so dear a price., nor that they should grow to be 
 so anxious to bring back those they had driven forth as to be 
 ready to reconstruct the Establishment in their interest ; and 
 Chalmers and liis friends would doubtless have been sur- 
 prised if the prophecy had been uttered in their hearing, that 
 the time would come when their Church would hesitate to 
 form a new alliance with the State on any terms whatever. 
 
 In view of all tliis, it will be seen how dillicult it is to 
 
352 "AFTER FIFTY YEARS" 
 
 answer the question we have asked — so many considerations 
 require to be taken account of. But of one thing we are quite 
 certain, that when the men who came out in 1843 signed 
 the Deed by which they surrendered their livings, they did 
 so without the remotest expectation that a Church would 
 arise out of the act, with 1100 ministers, and an income of 
 £700,000 a year. What they did was at the bidding of 
 conscience, and they left the issue in the hands of God. 
 
 But there is another question of more practical interest 
 which may be asked : What have been the results of the 
 Disruption and of the formation of the Free Church ? 
 
 Some of the lessons taught in this connection have been 
 very plain and outstanding. The letter quoted by Mr. 
 Gladstone in an earlier page speaks of one. He tells of a 
 friend of his, " a conscientious and earnest-minded Eoman 
 Catholic," who had told him that " amidst his discourage- 
 ments in witnessing the progress of unbelief, he had found 
 a singular comfort in the testimony borne by the ministers 
 and members of the Free Church of Scotland to the authority 
 of conscience and of positive religious belief." Dr. Walter 
 Smith, in his opening address in the Jubilee Assembly, re- 
 ferred to the same thing, and spoke of what might have been 
 the consequence if an unworthy compromise had been come 
 to in 1843. Had those who were seeking it succeeded, he 
 said, " we should not have witnessed that greatest act of 
 faith which our age has seen, and men would probably have 
 lapsed into utter disbelief in the existence of any spiritual 
 powers willing in these days to endure martyr sufferings for 
 conscience sake." " The revival of belief," he added, " in the 
 commanding power of spiritual things was in itself worth all 
 that the Church had then to endure." 
 
 A second thing which the Disruption did was to strike 
 a new note in Christian liberality. A higher style of giving 
 
"AFTER FIFTY YEARS" 353 
 
 was then inaugurated, — and not only so. Giving was organ- 
 ised. A new word came to pass current in all the Churches. 
 How the adequate " sustentation " of the ministry could be 
 accomplished, especially in communions not supported by 
 States, was a question for the solution of which the Free 
 Church was looked to. And that Church has been able to 
 demonstrate, in a way which has deprived Disestablishment of 
 its terrors, how a whole country, even in its remotest recesses, 
 can be provided with an educated clergy independently of all 
 endowments. 
 
 Other results have followed, of which it is less easy to 
 speak. Sir Alexander Grant, for example, refers to some of 
 them, when, in his Story of the University of Edinburgh, he 
 says : " The ecclesiastical conflicts of the present century 
 produced an effect on the University such as the tragic and 
 bloody strifes of the seventeenth century had never done. 
 There can be no doubt that to the Disruption of 1843 the 
 University owes (1) the emancipation of its lay professors, 
 (2) a free spirit in the country which greatly tended to the 
 reform of the Universities, and (3) many important features 
 of the Universities Act of 1858." 
 
 The " free spirit " of which Sir Alexander speaks displayed 
 itself in other ways besides those he mentions. Whether 
 we may think the issue good or bad in itself, there can be no 
 doubt that the mistake of the Conservative Government in 
 1843 made Scotland the politically Liberal country which 
 it has always been since. To the Disruption also may be 
 ascribed in a large measure the quickening of the national 
 life in many directions. And if the Free Church had never 
 existed, it is highly improbable that we should have had a 
 national system of education, or many of the reforms which 
 have contributed to our intellectual and material activity. 
 
 Just one more consequence of the Disniption may be 
 23 
 
354 "AFTER FIFTY YEARS'' 
 
 spoken of, namely, that by it the doctrine of the spirituality 
 of the Church and of its essential independence has been 
 proclaimed with an emphasis which has affected the attitude 
 of more States and Churches than our own. Our Scottish 
 judges — some of them, at least — still remain where they 
 were. A Church is to them no more than " a voluntary 
 association." But such outrages as were committed before 
 1843, when men were forbidden to preach the gospel within 
 a certain area, and Presbyteries were ordered, under pain of 
 damages, to proceed to ordination, and spiritual sentences 
 were treated with contempt, could not now conceivably take 
 place ; and the Established Church of Scotland has come to 
 view things from so different a standpoint, that, instead of 
 scoffing at spiritual independence, it is eager to show that it 
 possesses it. In plain terms, by its great act of self-denial 
 fifty years ago, the Free Church has done much to secure 
 not only its own liberties, but the liberties of other Churches 
 as well, while politicians also have been led to consider anew 
 what ought to be the relations of States to religion. 
 
 It will be asked, however : Has the Free Church itself 
 undergone no material alteration ? Is it the same — in 
 doctrine, ritual, and spirit — as it was in 1843 ? 
 
 We may freely confess that changes have taken place, and 
 that the Church can no longer pretend to be " anchored over 
 the Disruption." It has gone forward with the age, for 
 example, so far as to have sanctioned the use of hymns, and 
 declared that it sees nothing unscriptural in the use of instru- 
 mental music in churches. It has also ceased to think that 
 the only way in which a State can maintain national religion 
 is by establishing a Church. Perhaps we may go farther, and 
 admit that it is no longer possessed by the passion and 
 earnestness which distinguished it fifty years ago, and that 
 its theological attitude is not, in some respects, quite the 
 
''AFTER FIFTY YEARS'' 355 
 
 same as it was. It is, indeed, quite unwarrantable to say that 
 the Free Church has now accepted as proved the teachings of 
 Professor Eobertson Smith. So far is that from being the 
 case, that the relation of its ministry as a body to the Bible 
 is practically unchanged, and that there is a marked tendency 
 to a reaction in reference even to some critical questions that 
 were once accepted. But it is undeniable that new views 
 of, for example, inspiration have been taken in some quarters, 
 and that the preaching which is heard at times is to a 
 certain extent different from what it used to be. 
 
 What change has taken place in the preaching it would 
 be difficult to explain. Those who think they know the 
 " newer school," say that it has not at all ceased to be 
 Calvinistic or Evangelical. But they contend that its 
 preaching is more " ethical " than that of the fathers was, 
 and that doctrines are now presented in juster proportion. 
 Of one thing we are assured, that among the highest class of 
 our rising men there is no disposition to forsake the old evangel. 
 Dr. Denney's recently published Studies in Theology intro- 
 duces us to one who holds very advanced opinions about 
 inspiration, but who tells us what is the gospel which he 
 believes must be proclaimed to men. That is nothing 
 else than the old gospel, — redemption through the atoning 
 sacrifice of Christ, — and his views are enforced with an 
 earnestness which is plainly the outcome of profound con- 
 viction. The Free Church was the issue of an evangelical 
 revival. Throughout all its history it has been its glory to 
 preach the doctrines of grace ; if it were to cease to do this, 
 its cliief raison d'etre would be destroyed. And we are thank- 
 ful to know that, although all may not be clear as to how 
 God speaks to us in Holy Scripture, and our methods of pre- 
 senting the truth may have come in some ways to vary, yet 
 our attitude doctrinally remains the same, and tliat ministers 
 
356 "AFTER FIFTY YEARS" 
 
 continue to preach no other gospel than that which we have 
 received. 
 
 How far all the changes referred to have been satisfactory, 
 is a question which, of course, people will answer according 
 to their light. But this has to be remembered, that we are 
 in a transition time, and that we are not, as yet, in a condition 
 to pronounce finally upon them. The last word, for one 
 thing, has not yet, by any means, been spoken about criti- 
 cism and inspiration, and for the present we can only con- 
 gratulate ourselves that the Free Church has hitherto come 
 through the strain put upon it with its evangelism unaffected. 
 The ecstasy, as it has been called, of the Disruption has gone, 
 but not " the spirit of service " which was one of its most 
 marked characteristics. Of bhat a striking proof was recently 
 given. It seems that there are now at work in different 
 parts of the world 202 medical missionaries holding diplomas 
 from British Colleges. One hundred and one of these were 
 trained in Scotland, and of the 101 a very large number 
 was furnished by the Free Church. That is one illustration 
 out of many which might be given, that although the peculiar 
 fervour of the Disruption era has gone, there is no subsid- 
 ence in the spirit of devotion by which the Church was then 
 distinguished. 
 
 But has the Free Church now any special " mission " ? 
 Is there any work which it lies more immediately to its hand 
 to do ? 
 
 We may answer that, for one thing, the ends of its Protest 
 have not yet been completely accomplished. What took 
 place in 1874, when the Government is said to have "abolished 
 patronage," was not the concession to the Church of its 
 essential liberties. It was simply the transference of an ecclesi- 
 astico-civil qualification from one set of persons to another, 
 the manner in which the new franchise can be legally exer- 
 
''AFTER FIFTY YEARS" 357 
 
 cised being expressly defined by Act of Parliament. This is 
 not recognised as implying a satisfactory relation of the State 
 to the Church, and we must continue to protest until the 
 Legislature admits that it belongs of right to the Church alone 
 to determine the manner in which the pastoral tie is to be 
 formed. 
 
 For the same reason an obligation is laid upon us to 
 continue to object to the existing Establishment, because it 
 allows the civil authorities to say who should sit in its 
 Courts, and, chielly, because it virtually submits to the 
 English dictum that the Queen is supreme in all causes, civil 
 and ecclesiastical. Of course it disputes the last contention, 
 but the fact remains that its history, as illustrated by the 
 proceedings of its first separate Assembly in 1843, has no 
 meaning unless it is conceded that the right of the State to 
 the last word in connection with all questions of doubtful 
 jurisdiction was then deliberately acknowledged. 
 
 Apart, however, from all this, there are other functions 
 to the exercise of which the Free Church seems specially 
 called, and among these are two : one, to recover the waste 
 places which are now, alas ! to be found everywhere — in town 
 and country ; another, to endeavour to bring about a union 
 of all the Scottish Presbyterian Churches in the interest 
 of the national religion. The breaches which have taken 
 place in the country can all be shown to have had justi- 
 fication. Tliere is not one of them but has a history of 
 which nobody need be ashamed. But our present divided 
 condition is a scandal and a misfortune. Three congre- 
 gations are often maintained in parishes where one would 
 suflice, while many neglected localities are crying out for 
 more attention being given to them. And, all the while, 
 the Church continues broken up into fragments which have 
 almost everything in common, and which have always come 
 
358 "AFTER FIFTY YEARS" 
 
 together where the pressure of outward circumstances has 
 been withdrawn. In this connection the Free Church may 
 be said to occupy a central position. On the one hand, it is 
 so far in touch with the Church which is in union with the 
 State, by holding theoretically the Establishment principle ; 
 on the other, it has proved its substantial identity with the 
 United Presbyterian Church by years of actual negotiation. 
 These attributes may not qualify her altogether for acting 
 as mediator in the undertaking, but they at least impose 
 upon her an obligation to try to bring about a consummation 
 which so many consider to be so desirable. 
 
APPENDIX I 
 
 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 
 
 Moderators behveen 1843 and 1895. 
 
 1843 (May). ^Thomas Clialniers, D.D., 
 1848 
 
 E<liiil)urgli. 
 Brown, D.D. 
 
 LL.D., D.C.L. 
 (Oct). Thomas 
 
 Glasgow. 
 1844. HenrvGrev, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 1845 (May and Aug.). Patrick M'Farhin, 
 
 D.D., Greenock. 
 
 1846. Robert James Brown, D.D., 
 
 Aberdeen. 
 
 1847. James Sieveright, D.D., Markinch. 
 
 1848. Patrick t'hison, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 1849. Mack. Mackay, LL.D., Dunoon. 
 18.50. Natli. Paterson, D.D., Glasgow. 
 
 1851. Alexander Duff, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 Calcutta. 
 
 1852. Angus Blakellar, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 1853. John Smyth, D.D., Glasgow. 
 18.54. James Grierson, D.D., Errol. 
 1855. James Henderson, D.D., Glasgow. 
 18.56. Thomas M'Crie, D.I)., LL.D. 
 1857. James J. Wood, D.D., Dumfries. 
 18.58. Alexander Beith, D.D., Stirling. 
 1859. William Cunningam, D.D., Edin- 
 burgh. 
 
 18G0. Robert Buchanan, D.D., Glasgow. 
 
 1861. Robert S. Candlish, D.D., Edin- 
 
 burgh. 
 
 1862. Thomas Guthrie, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 1863. Roderick .M'Leod, Suizort. 
 
 1864. Patrick Fairbairn, D.D., Glasgow. 
 
 1865. James Begg, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 1866. William Wilson, D.D., Dundee. 
 
 1867. John Roxburgh, D.D., Glasgow. 
 
 1868. William Nixon, D.D., Montrose. 
 
 1869. Sir H. W. Moncreiff, Bart., D.D. 
 
 1870. John Wilson, D.D., Bombay. 
 
 1871. Robert Elder, D.D., Rothesay. 
 
 1872. Charles J. Brown, D.D., "Edin- 
 
 burgh. 
 
 1873. Alexander Duff, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 1874. R. W. Stewart, D.D., Leghorn. 
 
 1875. Alexander Moody -Stuart, D.D., 
 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 1876. Thomas M'Lauchlan, LL.D., Edin- 
 
 burgh. 
 
 1877. William Henry Goold, D.D., Edin- 
 
 burgh. 
 
 1878. Andrew A. Bonar, D.D., Glasgow. 
 
 1879. James C. Burns, D.D., Kirkliston. 
 
 1880. Thomas Main, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 1881. WilliamLaughton,D.D.,(!reenock. 
 
 1882. Robert Macdonald, D.D., North 
 
 Leith. 
 
 1883. Horatius Bonar, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 1884. Walter Ross Taylor, D.D., Thurso. 
 188.5. David Brown, D.D., Aberdeen. 
 
 1886. A. N. Somerville, D.D., Glasgow. 
 
 1887. Robert Rainy, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 1888. Gustavus Aird, D.D., Creich. 
 
 1889. John Laird, D.D., Cupar-Fife. 
 
 1890. Thomas Brown, D.D., E.linburgh. 
 
 1891. Thomas Smith, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 1892. W. G. Blaikie, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 1893. Walter C. Smith, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 1894. George C. M. Douglas, D.D., 
 
 Glasgow. 
 
 1895. J. Hood Wilson, D.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 Rev. Thomas Pitcairn. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Cla-son. 
 
 Rev. William Wilson, D.D. 
 
 Clerks since 1843. 
 
 Sir H. W. Moncreiff, D.D. 
 Rev. Andrew Melville, D.D. 
 Rev. A. Henderson, D.D. 
 
 Depute Clerks. 
 
 James Crawford, W.S. George Meldrum, C.A. 
 
 R. R. Simpson, W.S. 
 
 Legal Advisers or Procurators. 
 Alexander M. Dunlop, A<lvocate, M.P. 
 An<lrew .Jameson, Advocate, SherilVof Aberdeenshire. 
 Thomas Cleghoru, Advocate, Sherilf of Argyleshire. 
 N. C. Camjil)!']], Ailvocate, Sheriff of Ayrshire. 
 Charles J. Guthrie, Advocate. 
 
 La\o Agents. 
 
 James Crawford, W.S. Patrick Dalmahoy, W.S. 
 
 John Cowan, W.S. 
 
 359 
 
36o 
 
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INDEX 
 
 Adam (Dr. John), 90, 247, 303. 
 Aged and Infirm Ministers, 60. 
 Ardmillan (Lord), 266. 
 Assembly, General, 17, 27, 38, 67, 
 
 70, 81. 
 Auchterarder Case, 5. 
 
 B 
 
 Bannerman (Prof.), 102. 
 Begg(Dr.), 104, 120, 238-39, 283, 
 Beith (Dr.), 35. 
 
 Bonar (Dr. Andrew), 168, 281, 330. 
 Bonar (Dr. John), 187. 
 Breadalbaue (Marquess of), 38, 50, 
 
 11.5. 
 Brown (Dr. Charles), 66, 240. 
 Buccleuch (Duke of), 45. 
 Buchanan (Dr. James), 96. 
 Buchanan (Dr. Robert), 33, 57, 78, 
 
 82, 116, 127, 233, 250, 348. 
 Buildings, 36, 47, 50, 51, 84. 
 
 Cairns (Dr., of Cupar), 68, 186. 
 Cairns (Dr. John), 250-51. 
 Cameron (Dr. Andrew), 323, 328. 
 Can.llish, 21, 25, 101, 115, 117, 153, 
 
 227, 250, 304, 348. 
 Canonbie, 42. 
 Cardross Case, 212-19. 
 Chalmers, 20, 24, 26, 46, 76, 78-81, 
 
 99, 100, 226, 241. 
 Clark (Dr. W., of AVester Moffat), 
 
 107. 
 Cockburn (Lord), 19, 22, 45. 
 Colleges, 30, 48, 61, 93, 97, 99, 102, 
 
 104, 107-9, 111, 112, 163. 
 Cooke, Dr., of Belfast, 31. 
 Court of Session, 5, 9, 11, 13, 14, 
 
 214, 223-24. 
 Cunningham (Principal), 35, 71, 94- 
 
 96, 102, 103, 106-7, 119, 241, 304. 
 
 D 
 
 Dalhousie (Earl of), 73, 105, 271. 
 Davidson (Prof. A. B.), 297. 
 Declaratory Act, 140-46. 
 Deputies, 30-32. 
 Dickson (William), 205-7, 326. 
 Disruption, 8, 10, 17-19, 64-65. 
 Duff (Dr. Alex.), 50, 102, 150, 314. 
 Duncan (Rabbi), 69, 94, 169, 190. 
 Dunlop, 22, 24, 37, 66, 103, 142. 
 
 E 
 
 Edinburgh, 81, 91. 
 
 Education, 29, 113-14, 119, 121, 
 
 125, 126-29. 
 Edward (Rev. Daniel), 169, 173. 
 Established Church, 37, 123, 128, 
 
 133, 135, 136, 149, 161, 193, 219, 
 
 224, 255-70, 353, 356. 
 Establishment Principle, 243, 245. 
 
 Fairbairn (Principal), 105, 107, 
 
 108-9. 
 Falconer (Hon. Ion Keith), 158-59. 
 Finance, 26, 47, 54-60, 62. 
 First Heresy Trial, 70. 
 Fleming (Dr. John), 99, 120, 336. 
 Eraser (Prof. Campbell), 99, 100. 
 
 G 
 
 Gibson (Prof.), 68, 70. 
 Glasgow, 83, 88. 
 Gordon (Dr.), 33, 34, 100. 
 Guthrie (Dr.), 32, 48, 242. 
 
 H 
 
 Hanna (Dr.), 80, 108, 226. 
 Heriot (Sheriff Maitland\ 204. 
 Highlands, 131-39, 146-48. 
 Howie (Rev. R.), 86. 
 
 363 
 
364 
 
 INDEX 
 
 K 
 
 Keith (Dr.), 28, 169, 230. 
 Kennedy (Dr. John), 132, 147, 269, 
 317. 
 
 Lindsay (Prof.), 163. 
 
 Literature of the Church, 298-346. 
 
 Lovedale, 164-65. 
 
 Lumsden (Principal), 108, 323. 
 
 M 
 
 Macdonald (Dr., of Blairgowrie), 47 
 114. 
 
 MacDougall (Prof.), 97. 
 
 Macfarlau (Dr. Patrick), 35. 
 
 Maclagan (Prof.), 98, 102, 104. 
 
 Macleod (Dr. Norman), on tlie Car- 
 dross Case, 219-23. 
 
 MacPhail (Dr. Calder), 139, 
 
 M'Coll(Rev. D.), 84. 
 
 M'Cosh (President), 108, 299, 
 
 Manses, 48-50. 
 
 Missions (Home), 29, 76-78, 81-82, 
 88-91, 
 
 (Foreign), 28, 150-59, 165, 
 
 167. 
 
 (Jewish), 28, 169, 170-78. 
 (Colonial), 29, 183-88. 
 (Continental), 191-201. 
 
 Moncreiff (Lord), 124, 215, 
 Moncreiff (Sir Henry), 124, 246, 256. 
 Monteith (Earle), 103. 
 Monthly (Free Church), 323-26. 
 Mure (of Perceton), 89. 
 Mutual Eligibility, 247-49. 
 
 N 
 
 New Era, 1, 7, 245, 263, 268. 
 Nixon (Dr.), 124, 245, 247, 249, 320. 
 Normal schools, 126-29. 
 
 
 
 Oliphant (Thomas), 128, 
 
 Patronage, 3, 5, 13, 265, 268. 
 
 R 
 
 Rainy (Principal), 64, 138, 247, 252, 
 278, 284, 288, 291, 305, 347-49. 
 
 Reformed Presbyterian Church, 157, 
 251-55. 
 
 S 
 
 Sabbath schools, 203-7. 
 Site refusers, 41-47. 
 Smith (Dr. Robertson) — 
 
 His appointment, 271. 
 
 Article "Bible," 272, 
 
 Libel, 280. 
 
 Acquittal, 284. 
 
 New charge, 285. 
 
 Conclusion of case, 290, 
 
 Results, 295, 
 Spiers (Graham), 45, 
 Spiritual independence, 33, 224-25. 
 Stewart (Dr., of Leghorn), 190-91, 
 
 201, 
 Stow (David), 126, 
 Students, 19. 
 
 U 
 
 Union (Efforts at) — 
 
 With Original Seceders, 228. 
 
 With United Presbyterians, 232. 
 
 With Reformed Presbyterians, 251, 
 
 With the Established Church, 255. 
 University tests, 72-74, 
 
 W 
 
 Wanlockhead, 43. 
 Welfare of Youth, 208-11. 
 Wells (Dr. James), 87, 179, 321. 
 Welsh (Dr. David), 17, 29, 92, 113, 
 
 129, 181, 183, 203. 
 West Port, 79-81. 
 White (of Haddington), 32, 231-32. 
 Whyte (Dr. Alex. ), 208, 275, 289, 317. 
 Widows and Orphans Fund, 61. 
 Willis (Dr. M.), 71. 
 Wilson (Dr. Hood), 82, 177, 179, 321. 
 Wilson (Dr. AVilliam), 271, 275, 323. 
 Women of Heathendom, 160-62. 
 Wood (Dr. Julius), 236, 244. 
 Wynds of Glasgow, 82-88. 
 
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