pulpit. When the Assembly met in May, 1732, it was found that eighteen presbyteries had made no return: twelve were in favour of the act, with some amendments; six were absolutely favourable; and thirty-one were decidedly opposed to it. At the same time, two remonstrances were presented against the overture. These the Assembly refused to receive, and, notwithstanding that the returns from the presbyteries were unfavourable, enacted the above as a standing law. In this state of general dissatisfaction and excitement, the synod of Perth and Stirling met at Stirling, in October, 1732, and Mr Ebenezer Erskine, minister of that town, was appointed to preach. In his sermon, he inveighed against the defections of the times; and, in particular, animadverted severely on the late act of Assembly, and on the violent settlements of ministers. For these freedoms, the synod adjudged him to be rebuked, from which sentence Mr Erskine protested and appealed to the General Assembly. Twelve of the ministers of this synod adhered to Mr Erskine's protest. The Assembly which met in 1733 approved of the sentence of the synod, and ordered the rebuke and admonition to be pronounced. Against this Mr Erskine again protested, asserting his liberty to preach the same truths, and to testify against the same or the like defections, upon all proper occasions. Three of his brethren, Messrs Moncrief, minister of Abernethy, Wilson of Perth, and Fisher of Kinclaven, united with him in his refusal of submitting to be rebuked, as an undue restraint on ministerial freedom. These presented a protest to the Assembly, but which that court refused to receive. The brethren then laid it on the table, and retired, where it lay unobserved for some time. A minister accidentally took up the paper, read it, and called the attention of the court to its It was declared to be an insult to the court, and the offenders were cited to appear at the bar the following day. On their attendance at the bar, a committee was appointed to communicate with them. The committee reported: that the four brethren continued fully resolved to adhere to their paper and protest. When placed at the bar, the Assembly passed the following sentence, without permitting the brethren to speak : contents. "The General Assembly ordains, that the four brethren, aforesaid, appear before the commission in August next, and there show their sorrow for their conduct and misbehaviour in offering to protest, and in giving in to this Assembly the paper by them subscribed; and that they then retract the same. And in case they do not appear before the said commission in August, and there show their sorrow, and retract, as said is: the commission is hereby empowered and appointed to suspend the said brethren, or such of them as shall not obey, from the exercise of their ministry. And further, in case the said brethren shall be suspended by the said commission, and that they shall act contrary to the said sentence of suspension, the commission is hereby empowered and appointed, at their meeting in November, or any subsequent meeting, to proceed to a higher censure against the said four brethren, or such of them as shall continue to offend by transgressing this act. And the General Assembly do appoint the several presbyteries of which the said brethren are members, to report to the commission in August, and subsequent meetings of it, their conduct and behaviour with respect to this act." Against this sentence, the four brethren requested leave to read the following complaint and declaration, but which the Assembly peremptorily refusing, they laid it on the table, and left the bar. "In regard the venerable Assembly have come to a positive sentence, without hearing our defences; and have appointed the commission to execute their sentence in August, in case we do not retract what we have done: we cannot but complain of this uncommon procedure; and declare that we are not at liberty to take this affair to an avisandum.”* No change having taken place in the resolution of the four brethren, the commission suspended them in August. Representations from several presbyteries, kirk sessions, and town councils, were offered to the commission, praying them to delay sentence. The commission would not suffer any of these representations to be read. The moderator read the sentence, not in the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ, but in that of the Assembly: that the commission did suspend the four protesting brethren from the exercise of the ministerial function, and all the parts thereof. Against this sentence, the brethren protested by a written document, as follows :-" We hereby adhere to the protestations taken by us before this court, for ourselves; and in name of all the ministers, elders, and members of the Church of Scotland, and of all and every one of our respective congregations, adhering to us: Bearing that this sentence is in itself null and void; and that it shall be lawful and warrantable for us to exercise our ministry as hitherto we have done, and as if no such censure had been inflicted and that if, in consequence of this sentence, any minister or probationer shall exercise any part of our pastoral work, the same shall be held and reputed as a violent intrusion upon our ministerial labours." When the commission met again, in November, 1773, the four brethren appeared at the bar, and protested that they still adhered to their former declarations. A committee appointed to interrogate them reported, that the brethren "had exercised all the parts of their ministerial office, as if they had been under no such censure," and that "they had declared their resolution to continue of the same mind as formerly." At this period : * Under consideration. the four brethren were joined by Mr Ralph Erskine. The commission determined to proceed to the higher censure. This was only carried by the casting vote of Mr Gowdie, the moderator. Many synods, presbyteries, kirk sessions, and magistrates, petitioned for delay, at least till the following March, as authorized by the Assembly, but without effect. The commission pronounced the following sentence: that they "did and hereby do loose the relation of Mr Ebenezer Erskine, minister at Stirling, Mr William Wilson, of Perth, Mr Alexander Moncrief, of Abernethy, and Mr James Fisher, at Kinclaven, to their respective charges; and do declare them no longer ministers of this church: and do hereby prohibit all ministers of this church to employ them, or any of them, in any ministerial function. And the commission do declare their churches vacant from and after this sentence." "As the judicatories," says Willison, "at this time seemed to act with much heat and severity, in order to support and screw up their authority; so we must own, that the four brethren seemed to show no little humour and stiffness in opposing their authority and despising their sentences: for they would give no ear to their friends, who dealt with them to show some subjection to the judicatories, as to their fathers and superiors; and although they were just now abusing their church power, and unwarrantably provoking their children, yet some regard is to be shown to their authority, even when so doing, as we do to our natural parents, though correcting us in an arbitrary way. As to Mr Erskine, though he was contending for the truth, many of his friends wished that he had not used such asperity and tartness of expression about the ministers and judicatories of the church as he did; and many of the leading men in the judicatories said, this was the only thing they quarrelled in his sermon; but Mr Erskine would make no acknowledgment or submission of any sort, though even Mr Wilson and Mr Moncrief said, in their reasons of dissent, that they did not pretend to justify his modes of expression in that sermon. We do not see that it would have been any loss to the truth the four brethren appeared for, that they had all showed more respect to the supreme authority of the church in their conduct than they did; particularly, though they had forborn to protest, as they did in express words, against the sentence of the Assembly as UNJUST, and against any censure they should inflict on them as null and void in itself: and if, upon their being suspended, any minister or probationer should preach in their parishes, the same should be held as an intrusion upon their charges. And as they protested, so they submitted not to the sentence for one day." On the sentence being pronounced, the associated brethren, who were * Willison's Testimony, pp. 78, 79. : now by new adhesions increased to seven, protested that, notwithstanding this sentence, their pastoral relation should be held and reputed firm and valid: and "that, notwithstanding our being cast out from ministerial communion with the established church of Scotland, we still hold communion with all and every one who desire, with us, to adhere to the principles of the true presbyterian covenanted Church of Scotland, in her doctrine, worship, government, and discipline and particularly with every one who are groaning under the evils, and who are affected with the grievances we have been complaining of; who are, in their several spheres, wrestling against the same. But in regard that the prevailing party in this established church, who have now cast us out from ministerial communion with them, are now carrying on a course of defection from our reformed and covenanted principles; and, particularly, are suppressing ministerial freedom and faithfulness, in testifying against the present backslidings of the church, and inflicting censures on ministers for witnessing, by protestations and otherwise, against the same: Therefore we do, for these and many other weighty reasons, to be laid open in due time, protest that we are obliged to make a SECESSION from them; and that we can have no ministerial communion with them, till they see their sins and mistakes, and amend them. And in like manner we do protest, that it shall be lawful and warrantable for us to exercise the keys of doctrine, discipline, and government, according to the Word of God, and Confession of Faith, and the principles and constitutions of the covenanted Church of Scotland; as if no such censure had been passed upon us; upon all which we take instruments.* And we hereby appeal unto the first free, faithful, and reforming General Assembly of the Church of Scotland." Signed by the four brethren. The conduct of the commission of Assembly seems to have been sufficiently arbitrary. The whole establishment appeared at this time to sympathise with the four brethren. The presbyteries generally sent up representatives to the Assembly of 1734, sufficiently willing to censure the party and despotic proceedings of their commission, and to restore the four brethren to their charges; but this was rendered impossible. On the 6th of December, 1733, the seven associated brethren met at a place called Gairney-bridge, near Kinross, and constituted themselves into a separate presbytery. They spent the preceding day in fasting and prayer. They assumed the name of the ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERY. Among other reasons, they assigned the following for this important step:-"That they might be in a condition and capacity to exercise all the parts of their pas * Instrument is a technical term, signifying the payment of a fee (say one shilling) tc the clerk of Assembly, for receiving a process and recording it, or any paper, protest, or dissent, with which it is accompanied, toral office; that they might have a more special claim to the promise of the divine presence among them; that they might maintain proper order among themselves, distinguishing themselves from those of the sectarian and independent way; that they might be in a better capacity for affording help and relief to the oppressed heritage of God through the land; and that they might endeavour to lift up a judicial as well as a doctrinal testimony for Scotland's covenanted Reformation; and against the present declinings and backslidings from the same." In March, 1734, the associated brethren published a testimony, with a review of a narrative of the proceedings against them, published by the commission of Assembly. In reviewing this document, they say: "Our ordination vows and engagements oblige us to the several steps we have taken. We are indeed bound at our ordination, to subject ourselves unto the judicatories of the church; but it is not an absolute subjection that we engage unto; it is not a blind and implicit obedience that we bind ourselves unto, but a subjection in the Lord; a subjection qualified and limited by the word of God, and the received and known principles of this church. The obligation of our ordination vows, to maintain communion with the established church, is subordinate to their obligation, by these vows, for maintaining the Reformation principles; so that the same vows, which did formerly bind us to communion with the established church, do now bind us to secession from her. Our submission to judicatories is according to the Word of God; and our received and approved standards of doctrine, worship, government, and discipline: these are the only terms of ministerial communion amongst us; and we refuse that we have broken through any of them. We have continued in ministerial communion with what is reckoned the established church, till the prevailing party have declared that they will not allow us any longer ministerial communion with them. The prevailing party have now declared, that they will allow none to continue in ministerial communion with them, who shall testify, either doctrinally from the pulpit, or by protestation in the supreme judicatory, against their sinful and unwarrantable proceedings. We have made a secession from the prevailing party, who are carrying on the course of defection. Our secession is not from the Church of Scotland: we own her doctrine, contained in her Confession of Faith; we observe the received and approved uniformity of worship; we adhere unto her presbyterian government and discipline, according unto the word of God, and our solemn covenant engagements; and we have not been convicted of anything in doctrine or practice to the contrary." The establishment now became alarmed at the effects of the General Assembly's arbitrary proceedings. The schism was evidently widening, and presented a very threatening aspect. The presbyteries therefore sent |