THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND QUESTION : FALLA- CIOUS POPULARITY OF

THE VETO.

SOME esteemed correspondents have invited us to review our judg- ment on the position assumed by the Scottish Church in the matter of the Veto-law. We have in consequence again examined the pleadings of all parties and the standards of the Kirk, and en- deavoured to bring the rules of common sense and equity to bear upon both. In the language of the Court of Session, we adhere to our original interlocutor.

The Veto-law is not calculated to extend the rights of the laity in connexion with the Kirk ; nor was such extension the ob- ject which its authors had in view, That Dr. CHALMERS is an authority upon this point, will scarcely be denied. In a speech de- livered by that learned Professor in the General Assembly, on the 22d May 1839, the "substance" of which was published under his own inspection, he said- ', The truth is, I had all along felt that, up to that Bose, it had been too much the habit to regard the question of a right constitution for ministerial appointtnents as one that exclusively lay between the patron and the people; whereas, to me, its far most important aspect was to view it also as a question that lies between the patron and the Church. It is the undoubted part of the Milner to issue the presentation. But it should be as much the undoubted and uncontrolled part of the latter either to refuse or to give effect to it. And when these two parties do not harmonize, the question in its high and proper character is not so much that of a contest between power and power, as that

of a contest between power and principle. * • * If to Lim it belongs, as his proper department, to single out the individual on whom he shall bestow

the presentation, to us it equally belongs, as our proper department, to judge of the fitness of the presentee, and according to that judgment, either to receive or reject him."

And in a note appended to the published " substance" of the speech, he was still more explicit— "It is an entire misconception that the Church has given up her power to the People by the Veto-law. By the liw, the presentation may be said to be shared between two parties, the patron and the people—signed by the one and virtually countersigned by the other. The Presbytery still retains the same power of cheek and control over the presentation in this form, which we contend it ever had over the simple nomination of the patrols. We are not the registrars either of the patrols or the people. We are judges of the quali- fications and of the special fitness as much still as ever ; and, moderating in the call between the two parties as heretofore, we can lit- our interdict both on the unworthy client of the patron and on the unworthy favourite of the multitude. If this were thorougly understood, it would reconcile, I am persuaded, many to the Veto-law who are now opposed to it t. and a still greater approximation would take place betwixt us, it instead of acquiescing -in a simple veto, the Church were first to legislate against any unworthy rratlickings between the candidate and the people, even as it legislated against unworthy trafliekings be- tween the candidate and the patron when it passed the Simony Act. Further, if all abuses cannot be provided against by law, ought ion the defenders of the 1 cto Act to consent, that o bile the Non-Intrusion principle is in every case deferred to by the act 1.eing first put into operation, 'vet that even. it is liable to be set aside, it it can be made manifest that in any-instance the voice given by the majority has not heLn the honest expression of their mind and conscience, because not g rottmkil on religious considerations? While 1 have the utmost respect for the collective will of a simple, serious con- gregation, provided it has been genuinely given forth, and on the principles of the declaration required of them, vet I can imagine the scandalous scenes of a political election to have disgraced the parish during the vacancy : 1 can even imagine individuals to have given proof that they vetoed the nominee of the patron because they wished inn- another ; and so as to have falsified the declara- tion which the law might impose Islam them. In which cases, either the whole parish ought to be disfranchised tbr that time, or the vetoes of the indi- viduals so found against should be struck off front the reckoning."

This is the language of the author of the Veto-law. Patrons seek to retain the power of appointing clergymen ; parishioners seek to obtain the right of choosing clergymen ; the Doctor steps in and proposes a compromise. You," says he to the patrons, " shall retain the right of suggesting ; you," to the parishioners, " shall acquire the power of objecting ; we, the Church Courts, " shall exercise the power of aprointing.'"Phis is realizing the old fable of Justice swallowing the oyster and giving a shell to each of the litigants. The patron may present nominee after nominee; the people may reject nominee after nominee ; the Church Courts quietly wait till one is presented who suits their purpose, and him they appoint ; or they exercise their " interdict both on the unworthy client of the patron and the unworthy favourite of the multitude, until the patron grows tired of presenting, and then place a man of their own—for in no case does the right of presentation devolve upon the people. Even in its present shape this may be the work- itig of the Veto-law. The practice of vetoing by the parishioners, without assigning reasons, gives a wider scope to the Church Courts. When no reasons are assigned by the vetoers, it is more easy to overlook those which exist, and to ordain in the teeth of the veto. When no specific reasons arc assigned, the Church Courts are not restricted to any limited inquiry regarding a man they wish to reject. The latitude allowed them by the vagueness of the proceedings, is almost equivalent in its working to the power which I),. CHALMERS expressly claims for the Church Courts—the

power of instituting an inquisitorial investigation into the motives and conduct of the vetoists, of lodging informations against them, of sitting as jury on the question of fact, and of expounding as judges the lti* themselves had passed. But we are told that the popular constitution of the Scottish Church Courts affords a safeguard against clerical domination. At best it can only do so to members of the Church : but how far does it afford such a shield even to them ? The Church Courts are composed of ministers and elders. It may be doubted whe- ther elders can be regarded as laymen, in the strict acceptation of the word. " At first," says " there was a change in the eldership every year ; the duties of the office being considered too burdensome, and also of too serious and important a nature, to ad- mit of its beingheld for a longer period at once. But eldaris anis lawfully called to the office, and having gifts of God meet to ex- ercise the same, may not leive it again.'" This may be a minor grade of ordination to that which in the Scottish Kirk conveys the character of a teacher, but it is as much ordination as any thing known by that name in that Church. " In the First Book of Disci-

pline," saes 1)r. Bavca, in his Counter-appeal to the Dignitaries of the Anglican Church, " which although not acknowledged as a

standard of our Church, was drawn tip by Knox himself, and is still received as high authority by many, it is expressly declared in the matter of settling ministers, that other ceremonies than the

public approbation of the people and declaration of the chief minis- ter to serve the Church, we CANNOT APPROVE; fbr albeit the Apos- tle used imposition of hands, vet seeing the miracle is ceased, the using of the eeremonie we judge nut necessary. After a lapse of twenty-one years, and it is said at the earnest entreaty of King James, and iii order to gratify: his Majesty, the Reformed Church of Scotland consented to the ftrin of ordination now in use, as one, not neces- sary, as in your Church it is esteemed, but as proper and becom- ing. We are therefore bound to tell you in all honesty, that at no period of our Church's history has she looked upon ORDINATION as conveving through an apostolical channel a chain of un- broken succession, the indelible character, graces, and influences, of which you held it to be the divinely-appointed vehicle." Or- dination to the pastoral functions and ordination to the eldership differ, therefore, in the Established Church of Scotland, only on account of the differing duties of the offices. In both there is a setting apart ; in both the character impressed cannot be forfeited but in consequence of misconduct, and with the formalities ofa libel and trial. Both ministers and elders are liable to be, and are, biassed by that esprit du corps which lay representation, did it exist in the Scottish Church Courts, would be intended to neutralize. Those individuals cannot be the representatives of the laity, who cannot be removed when they counteract the wishes of the laity, and others appointed in their place. Nor are they at first appointed by the laity. " The election;' says " belongs to the Session, who look out for such- as they -teen the fittest to hold the office, anti deal with them in private, to ascertain their willingness to accept of it." What is the de facto constitution of the Session, which thus elects its own members ? The same authority says—" The num- ber of elders in a Session is regulated by the exigencies of the parish. In every Kirk-Session there must be at least two elders, as it requires a minister and two elders to lbrm a quorum of the Session. The attention of the General Assembly in 1825, having been called to the filet that in many parishes meetings of the Kirk- Session were not held, front the want (fa sufficient monk.). of elders, an injunction was issued by that Assembly, and by the three follow- ing Assemblies, to all the Presbyteries of the Church to use their best and most prudent endeavours to have all the parishes within their bounds supplied with elders." From the concluding notice re- specting this mailer by the Assembly in 1828, it appears that the injunction A

..as not been so .firr obsPrved as to attain the object of having an (fficient Kirk-Session ia every parish." Mr. elsewhere adds—" The management of a parish is not unusually left in a great measure to the minister. Ills various duties bring him much into contact with his people, aud enable hint to form a very intimate acquaintance with their circumstances and their character. lie is also not only the organ of the Kirk-Session, but in almost every instance its counsellor and the object of its confidence; while at the same time he has too much respect for its members, and too much value for their gratuitous services, to take any measures of which he is not satisfied they will approve." The plain English of these passages is, that in many parishes the minister dispenses with the services of elders, and that in the majority of others they are there more for ornament than use.

These, however, are lucre ministerial elders : the elders who have vote and voice in the superior legislative and ,judicial Church Courts are called ruling elders; and it is to these that we are re- ferred by the advocates of the Veto-law when they tell us the laity are represented in the Church Courts. "A Presbytery consists of the ministers of all the parishes within the bounds of that dist rid, of the Proftssors of Divinity, if they be ministers in any University that is situated within these bounds, and of representatives from the Kirk-Sessions in the district. Every Kirk-Session has the right of sending one elder ; so that unless there be a collegiate charge, or an University within /1w bounds rf the district, the number of minis- ters and elders in any meeting of Presbytery may be equal." There are severity-eight Presbyteries in the Church : the Synods are com- posed of their members. "A Provincial Synod is composed of three or more Presbyteries, as that matter happens to be regulated • 'flue Practice in the several:Judicatories of the Church of Scotland. By

Alexander Bill, Minister of Willy. Edinburgh, MO. 363 It appears, then, that if all the members of' Assembly were present, the majority would be ministers." And we may add, that in all probability a portion of the elders would be ministers " un- attached," to borrow a phrase from the Horse Guards.

From these extracts the English reader will be enabled to judge to what extent the voice of the lay members of the Kirk is influen- tial in its courts ; and our Scottish readers will be enabled to judge whether or not in calling the Veto-law a popular measure, he has been the dupe of words. The elders of the Kirk are as much liable to the bias of esprit du clips as the clergy ; they are not elected and they are not removable by the laity; in practice their services are dispensed with in many parishes; in the Presbyteries they are rarely if ever present in la tale ; in the Synods still more rarely, (and a Synod can at any time avail itself of their limited attendance, and order nu impromptu meeting of any Presbytery to be lield); and in the General Assembly they are by law in a mino- rity. The Courts of the Kirk of Scotland are self-elected bodies. Their members are of two classes—paid members, and amateurs. The latter (who have other business to attend to) cannot devote the same undivided attention to Church politics—cannot give the same regular attendance that the former (whose only business it is) do. And to make assurance doubly sure, care is always taken to keep them a minority. The organization of these Courts is most skilfully devised to impress the laity with an idea that they have a voice in the government of the Church, and at the saute time to leave the clergy free from lay interference. •

We respectfully sttiaeL to our numerous correspondents, and to our impugners of the press, that we have established our ease. The Veto-law is intended and calculated to slinfile the appoint- ment of parish-ministers into the hands of the Church Courts— that is, of the clergy. The Veto-law is not calculated to protect the rights of the lay members of the Kirk ; and it was never meant that it should protect them.

Hitherto we have argued the question as between the clergy and the lay members of the Church of Scotland alone : we have now to add, that one half of the population of Scotland belong to . other communions. The Clergy of the Established Church (already strong, and looking tbrward to be strengthened should the Veto-law receive the sanction of the Legislature) claim a right to interfere with the members of other churches. The Presbyte- ries claim a right of visiting all schools, private as well as public, within their bounds. Our readers may remember Mr. CoLounorN of Killermont's misrepresentation of certain Catholic schools in Glasgow. The Presbytery of Glasgow annually renew their claim to inspect these schools in their official capacity. Nay, time Dissenter's fireside is not sacred from their intrusion. During the course of last. month, a Mr. Bran, minister of some district in Glasgow, intimated to an elder in a Dissenting congregation that he intended to pay him a "ministerial visit." The gentleman, thus forewarned, took care to let the clergyman know that he de- clined receiving a "ministerial" visit. Here is an extinct from the rejoinder of the clergyman—"Although religious principle and common sense were both disregarded by you, yet selpialcresi and worldly policy might hare had same sway in batwing pm to receive my visit. When I call for several of my parishioners and my con- gregation, and ask fbr their children, I am infirmed they are at your davViter's schna. I not [irony anticipated a meeting with them in your house, so that I might address a few words of exhortation. Of this, however, I was dePrivcd; and shall awn:time not .fitil to tieqnriint their parents (Li the fact, which I know, in some cases, will astonish them not a little."

Ewen though the majority of the laity in connexion With the Church of Scotland were willing to increase the power of their pastors, we are of ophiii. thnt Catholics and Dissenters have a right to protest against any addition, either by Veto-laws or in- creased endowments, to time power of a body whirl' already carries matters with so high a hand. No clergyman of any other com- munion would dare to act and speak as the clergyman we have quoted above, (whose case is for from being an isolated one); it is the consciousness that they belong to 11w Establishment that encou- rages such insolence. The State, which thus pampers them, is, bound to protect the community when they " grow fat and lack. So long as the Government holds in its own IMIRIS It large amount of patronage, and avails itself of that patronage to secure the ap- by the General Assembly. There are fifteen Synods in the Church of Scotland, and most of them meet twice in the year." And again—" The members of every Presbytery within the bounds being supposed to be present at the Synod, it is competent for any of the Presbyteries to hold a special meeting, under the authority of the Synod, intimation being publicly given at some one of the diets of Synod." Lastly, in 1830, the General Assembly was thus con- stituted. " The General Assembly meets annually in the month of May, and continues its sittings for ten days, beginning them always on Thursday. It consists of representatives from the Pres- byteries, Royal Burghs, and Universities in Scotland, and front the churches in the East ladies that are connected with the Church of Scotland.

Seventy-eight Presbyteries send, ministers . .....

elders 200 89 —289 Sixty-seven Royal Burghs send, elders 67 Five Universities send, ministers or elders 5 Churches in India send, a minister and elder 2

pointment of clergymen who shall respect the feelings of Dis- senters, so long only will an Established Church been durable. The Whole lay community of Scotland have an interest in opposing the Veto-law: the Dissenters of Scotland have an interest in opposing any- change in the existing law regarding patronage, so long as exclu- sive privileges are continued to the Established Church. The sovereign power, which upholds an Established Church, does so believing it to be an instrument calculated to effect good in society ; that sovereign power is bound to retain a check upon this engine which it employs. Every elector in this country participates in the sovereign power ; and it is the duty of Dissenting electors to take care that the check which patronage in the hands of Govern- ment gives them over the Church receiving the wages of Govern- ment, be not played out of their hands.

We have reason to believe that both the lay members of the Scottish Establishment and the Scottish Dissenters are aware of these truths, and rentain unshaken when warned not to incur un- popularity by opposing the Veto-law. But even did we believe that law to be popular in Scotland, we should pursue the satire course we are pursuing. Our attachment to rational liberty is of

a kind which enables us to brave any transient obloquy that may attach to those who serve the public by showing it that it is in pursuit of a fidse Florimel. " These doctrines from the ,Vectalar, callir itself a friend of the people h" exclaims one of our corn- ntenteters. We never "call" ourselves that or any thing else.