Mr. Finlay moved the second reading of his declaratory Bill
asserting the ecclesiastical independence of the spiritual Courts of the Established Church of Scotland on Wednesday, urging on its behalf that it did not alter the law, but only made what he believed to be the law perfectly clear, and that it would in this way remove difficulties in the way of the reunion of the Presby- terian Churches of Scotland which.do not really differ in creed, discipline, or mode of Church government. A friend of his had asked the inhabitants of a Scotch parish what was the differ- ence between two of their Presbyterian churches which stood side by side, and the answer was,—" Six feet in length, but only a very few inches in breadth." The object of the Bill was so to assert and declare the existing law as to remove obstacles to reunion, supposing the Presbyterians of the three Churches to wish for reunion ; and Mr. Finlay quoted testimony that the passing of the Bill would remove the scruples of many good Scotch Churchmen on the subject. He hoped that the passing of the Bill would lead to a treaty of peace between the two Churches, i.e., the Free Church and the Established Church. For the United Presbyterians are so much devoted to Voluntaryism, that Mr. Finlay evidently was not sanguine of their wish for reunion.
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