Mr. Knight, of Dundee,—the persecuted of the Free Church,— has
applied to be admitted into the Established Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and his congregation has heartily supported him in this course. This scores one for Establishments, which undoubtedly favour and protect theological and intellectual freedom. But even in the Established Church of Scotland, which derives no such advantages from express interferences of the State as the Established Church of England has derived from that source, Mr. Knight will hardly find his freedom as large as he desires it. The next step may perhaps be to the Established Church of England, where he will be as much freer than he can be in the Presbyterian Establishment, as he will be freer in the Presbyterian Establishment than he was in the " Free " Church. The grammarians of the future will note the excessive irregularity in the degrees of comparison of the word " free " in its applica- tion to Churches. They will probably state them thus : —Positive, "free ;" comparative, Established ; superlative, Erastian.
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