The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland closed its
session en Monday. The reader is already acquainted. with the Assembly's decision on the point of law involved in the celebrated Auchterarder ease. The Glasgow Argus thinks that the proceedings will " contribute powerfully to emancipate the mind of Scotland from priestly thraldom." The able journalist thins expatiates-
" A corporate body, the Kirk of Scotland, has, by the vote of its highest entott, at the close of the debate on the Auchterarder question, placed itself in so attitude of rebellion. It has refused to obey the decision of the Supreme Pout of Justice. The Judges have decided that the Reverend Mr. Young is the rightful claimant of the benefice of Anchterarder. It is reported that Dr. Chalmers argued in favour of giving the temporalities to Mr. Young,' but stile same time that ' they.should refuse to ordain him to the charge of the parish.' This is a paltry CVII41011. The Doctor knows, and the majority that voted with him knows, that, in the words of Erskine—' Since the Revolution, .ajadicind act of admission by the Presbytery, proceeding either upon a pre- sentation, or upon a call dam the heritors and elders, or upon their own jus steudutum, completes the minister's right to the benefice.' Mr. Young's right to the benefice of Auchterardee is incomplete without ordination ; and yet the Church, while hypocritically professing willingness to .give him the temporali- ties, declares that it will not gave him that without welch he cannot obtain the temporalities. This poor and pitiful evasion will not be endured. "Nor does the Church rest contenteil with seeking to evade obedience to tie law bv a quibble. It avows that it only assumes es an interim position, until, Icy 14)06' -Nn to the Legislature, it can obtain n civil sanction to the Veto Art, or sm.:thing better.' Acknowledging the law to be against it, the Church condescendingly promises not to resist it actively ; it will merely op- pose passive resistance, till such time as the Legislature obeys its command to remodel the law according to its wishes.
"Nor can the Church longer pretend, as for a time it hypocritically pre- tended, thot this opposition to the law is offered out of regard to the liberties
if the people. Dr. Chalmers has thrown aside that mask. It was,' said he, 4 nusloubtedly the right of the people to have a voice in the appointment of a pastor, anet it was equally the right of the patron or landlord to make the ap- pointment ; and then it ivies the province of the Church to give elliwt to it.' And again—, It belonged to the C:lioreh to judge of (hi fitness of the presentee, awl acewyVoy to that judyntent either to mein: or rijeet him.' Vine resistance offered to flee law of the land—the:haughty claim preferred to have that law altered at the bidding of the Church—all this has for its object the assertion, not of the rights of the Patron, not of the rights of the People, but of the do- mination of the Church. In the Chureh—in the Church,' as implying a select body contradistinguished front ' tine People'—in the Clergy, in short, is to be vested the uncontrolled power of distributing the powers and the emolu- ments attaehinu to the clerical office.
"The attitude of resistance to the civil power assumed by the Church on this occasion has already driven more than one of her Conservative rutin,. elders to throw up their offices. The frank admission that the domination of' the clergy, not the freedom of tine laity in communion with the Church, is the Object contended tier, will open the eyes of the Liberals. There has lust been a more daring or arrogant blow for priestly domination struck since the days of Hildebrand,"
• The Earl of Dalhousie is one of the " ruling elders" alluded to by tine Glasgow Argus. According to the Edinburgh Observer, the session of these holy men tlosed in a tumult, on Monday night-
. "We may venture to affirm, after many years observation of the proceedings in that venerable court, we have rarely witnessed any thing more painful than coarse and indecorous occurrences of the night. Order was out of the question ; and nothing can he imagined more similar to the confusion than Cud occurred at the Radical meeting inn the Waterloo Rooms much about the same thee : and if our detailed report should prove unsatisfactory, our apology must be, that the scene was one of chaos, not one sentence of many speeches that were uttered being audible. A great deal of important business was huddled over, of which hereafter we may take notice. There was a division, too, on the question—whether or not the report on the Veto regulations should neproved; or, if the regulations should be transmitted with orders to carry
them into effect in all undisputed cases, but to suspend the Act where a ques- tion may arise ? The latter was carried, by 127 votes to 89; and when Dr. Cook entered his dissent, a storm arose which we verily thought would have blown up the roof of the Trout Kirk. It is difficult to describe a tempest— especially of nonsense—and we have no time to indulge in poetry. The thing is over—ow a tinie."
The Glasgow papers mention a sort of riot—though not differing materially from the fierce character of Scottish mirth on occasions of public festivity—which took place on tlie Queen's birthday-
" Thursday (week) having been appointed for tlw celebration of her Ma- jesty's birth, the soldiers in garrison here fired a feu de joie in honour of the occasion, and the shops were pretty generally closed during the afternoon along the principal streets, while flags and branches of trees decorated the windows of the extra loyal. There was a boat-race on the Clyde betwixt six and seven, which attracted a considerable crowd, and the evening was closed with greatly more therm an average display of squibs, crackers, and-blackguard- ism. Many of the citizens were struck and grossly abused in the vicinity of the Cross, the common method of annoyance being to tear their coats to pieces and destroy their hats. A great number of rioters were apprehended, some of whom, Oil being taken to the office were found to have their pockets filled with stones. About half-past ten o'clock, two hundred miscreants, armed with slobs, marched up from the Green with furious cries, for the purpose of crust:. leg, a disturbance. Seeing that real danger was now very probable, Captain Miller, with a strong force, rushed in and succeeded in capturing about two cart-loads of the weapons, amidst tine cheers of the more peacahly-disposcd portion of the crowd : we are sorry to state, however, that he received no severe wound near the eye with a stone during flee affair. The Magistrates, Dean of Guild, and some of the Commissioners of Police, were in attendance in the office during the evening, assisting with their advice. Many of the officers were severely struck and maletreated. Their conduct altogether is:described as having been most cool rind determined. A great number of the public lamps in Gallowgate and London Street have been broken."
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