Naismith History of the RP Church VII.
James Dodson
CHAPTER VII.
DIVISION AND UNION—1863–76.
Discussion in regard to taking oaths to Government—Secession of Protesters in 1863—Negotiations for union with three other Churches, 1863–73—Statement of Principles—‘Principles which the four Churches held in common’—Other matters discussed—Suspension of union negotiations—Mutual Eligibility of Ministers—Negotiations between Free and Reformed Presbyterian Churches—Overture adopted by Reformed Presbyterian Church—Last separate meeting of Reformed Presbyterian Synod—Formal union of Free and Reformed Presbyterian Churches.
FOR several years, the more intelligent members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church had become increasingly convinced that they were unnecessarily restricted in regard to the exercise of their political rights. They believed that their principles, if rightly understood, did not forbid them to exercise the elective franchise. The most of the members in the Church had long been under the misapprehension that the oath of allegiance taken by members of the House of Commons, on taking their seats in Parliament, bound them to maintain, unaltered and unalterable, such things as the Sovereign’s headship over the Established Church of England and Ireland; the perpetual establishment of Episcopacy in these parts of the United Kingdom; the establishment of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland; and the support of Popery in Maynooth, Malta, and Lower Canada; and not only so, but implicitly bound their constituents to maintain the same things. Had such really been the meaning of this oath, no Dissenter could consistently take it himself, or by his representative in Parliament. The majority of the
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Synod consulted some of the most eminent legal counsel in England and Scotland, as to the real meaning of this oath, and were assured that it meant nothing more than allegiance to the reigning Sovereign—necessarily a Protestant; and that those who conscientiously objected to what they believed to be wrong in the Constitution, might, constitutionally, seek the removal of such evils. In short, that the laws of Britain were not, like those of the Medes and Persians, unalterable, but might be altered and improved by those who made them. Acting on this legal opinion, and being convinced that the British Government had very much improved in character, in the course of more than a century and a half, the Synod of 1863 resolved to leave this question, regarding the elective franchise, an open question—that is, that members of the Church might, if they chose, vote for members of Parliament, become members of a rifle corps, or accept of the office of town councillor or magistrate. The majority who carried this reasonable resolution included about nine-tenths of the members of Synod. They believed that they did not thus, essentially, change their principles, but that they merely cleared away a misapprehension, which had proved a stumbling-block to many—nay, had lost to the communion several highly respectable and intelligent members. They, moreover, considered themselves justified, by both the principles and the practice of their covenanting ancestors. These reformers had avowedly aimed at the reformation of the State, as well as of the Church—a free Parliament as well as a free Church. Those who claimed to be politically, as well as religiously, their successors, could not properly follow their steps, unless they had access to the most powerful department of the civil government—the House of Commons—through representatives, in whose election they had a share. To exercise this freedom would be a privilege, too important to be forfeited for frivolous reasons—in many cases a duty, to which, as reformers, they were called. The minority of this Synod, consisting of three ministers, soon after-
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wards joined by a fourth, and several lay elders, protested, and left the Synod. They insisted, that not only in their own, but also in the congregations of those who differed from them, the use of the elective franchise, or officially taking the oath of allegiance, should in every case be made a matter of discipline, and, if persisted in, of expulsion from the membership of the Church. A similar question in regard to the lawfulness of taking the burgess oath had, in 1747, divided the Secession Church into Burghers and Antiburghers.
The secession of several ministers and congregations from the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, at this time, was matter of sorrow to the remaining members. Yet they could not justly blame themselves for not using every legitimate means to prevent such an evil. It is evident, however, that this secession facilitated the subsequent union. Had the protesting seceders remained, they would likely have proved anti-unionists. The Reformed Presbyterian Church was not only the oldest, or parent Presbyterian Church in Scotland, but she more than once, and during the course of more than a century and a half, endeavoured to re-unite with herself, those who might, historically, be called her children or grandchildren. As already noticed, she aimed at this in 1690, and desired it in 1732.
In 1821, her Synod appointed a committee to prosecute union. This committee submitted its report, with proposals that all the Presbyteries of the different Churches should be requested to send delegates to a joint meeting, for the purpose of endeavouring to effect a general union in Scotland. These proposals were not successful. About twenty years later a committee was appointed by the Synod to negotiate with a committee appointed by the Church, then deemed the nearest to them in principles—the Original Seceders. This negotiation failed. In the month of July 1843 the following overture was submitted to the Synod:—
‘Whereas it is dutiful and desirable, that there should be a union and co-operation among the professed friends of the
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Reformation, as far as that is practicable, without prejudice to truth, or compromising any portion of the Church’s testimony: And whereas the circumstances and prospects of the Church, at the present time, seem specially to require that all competent and lawful means should be adopted, with a view to that object. We, the undersigned, respectfully overture the Reformed Presbyterian Synod to appoint a committee of correspondence with other similar committees, that may happen to be appointed by friendly bodies of Presbyterians.’ The Synod unanimously approved of the object of this overture. This endeavouring after union was to be expected from those, who claimed to hold the principles of the Covenanters, who, in the very first article of the Solemn League and Covenant, say, ‘And shall endeavour to bring the Churches of God in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in religion, confession of faith, form of Church government, directory for worship, and catechising; that we, and our posterity after us, may as brethren, live in faith, and love, and the Lord may delight to dwell in the midst of us.’
The Presbyterian Churches in Scotland were, in 1863, much nearer the desired ‘conjunction and uniformity’ than the Churches—Presbyterian, Congregational, and Episcopal—in the three kingdoms, were in 1643. We need not feel surprise, then, that when, in 1863, invited to negotiate for union with other two Presbyterian Churches in Scotland and one in England, differing very slightly from her in principle, the Reformed Presbyterian Church should have favourably entertained such proposals. She had the same form of Church government; in common with them, believed the Bible to be the only infallible rule of faith and practice; and the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, as founded on Scripture, and agreeable thereto. She had hitherto, for the longest period, and with the greatest prominence, testified not only for the complete spiritual independence of the Church, under Christ, her only Head, but also for
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the Mediatorial dominion of Christ over the nations as well as over the Church; in short, held the principles testified and exemplified by the Covenanters, during the best period of the Second Reformation. Were these principles and covenant engagements substantially recognised by the other three Churches, she was willing to unite with them. The invitation to negotiate for union was given by the United Presbyterian Church to the Free and Reformed Presbyterian Churches, and also to the English Presbyterian Church, in 1863. At the first meeting of Synod held after receiving this invitation, the Reformed Presbyterian Church appointed a comparatively large Committee on Union. After friendly negotiations and explanations between the committees of the four Churches, extending over the following year, the Union Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church submitted a statement of its principles to the General, or Joint Union Committee in February 1865. After referring to the ‘Confession of Faith, as adopted by the Church of Scotland in 1647, and the other Westminster standards, with the qualifying explanations contained in the testimony, as the subordinate standards of the Church; and to the Informatory Vindication, Testimony, doctrinal and historical; Terms of Communion, with explanation and defence; and Book of Discipline, with the Formulas of Ordination for ministers and elders, as the documents of authority, showing the position and views of the Church, this statement declared, respecting the relation of nations and their rulers to religion and the Church’—
I. ‘That civil government is the ordinance of God, for His own glory and the good of human society, and has its foundation in nature, not in grace. But this divine ordinance, having, in common with the other primitive institutions of human life, been depraved by the apostasy of man from God, and greatly perverted from the ends for which it was ordained, can be brought into perfect harmony with its original design, only in connec-
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tion with the Mediatorial economy. It has accordingly been placed, by the Father, in subjection to Christ, as Mediator, to whom all power in heaven and earth has been given, so that not only are all things subject to His omnipotence as God, and made subservient by His Providence to the interests of true religion, but a moral obligation rests upon nations and their rulers, wherever the light of the Gospel is enjoyed, to acknowledge Him as their Lord, and to be guided in their public and official procedure by His law. It enters, therefore, into the design of Christ, in the progress of His Mediatorial work, to bring nations and their rulers into willing subjection to Himself, as the King of kings and Lord of lords; and thus, by bringing civil government under the regulation of Christian principle, to make it fully accomplish the ends for which it was originally appointed.
II. ‘That the Church and State, while each acknowledging, in its own province, the authority of the divine law, ought to exist in friendly alliance; co-operating for the advancement of the glory of God, the interest of the kingdom of Christ, and the happiness of mankind; and may so exist, without any improper blending of civil and ecclesiastical authority. But, while the friendly alliance, held forth in Scripture, ought always to be kept in view as the normal relation of the Church and the State, the question whether, or to what extent, the realisation of it, in any given case, ought to be attempted, cannot lawfully or safely be determined, without taking into account the circumstances, character, and attainments of both, particularly the degree of unity which the Church has attained, and the extent to which the State has become Christian. A variable element is thus introduced, which leaves room for mutual forbearance among those who hold the Head, in regard to the expediency of alliances between Churches and States, in the present condition of the world.
III. ‘That the civil magistrate, having no authority in spiritual things, ought not to prescribe to the Church a
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Confession of Faith, or form of worship, and ought not to interfere with the establishment or direction of her internal government and discipline, nor to attempt the enforcement or propagation of religion by civil penalties. It is his duty, nevertheless, to embrace and profess the Christian faith; to recognise the creed and jurisdiction of the Church when in accordance with the Word of God; to remove external impediments to the progress of Christianity; to protect the subject in the worship of God; to promote Christian education; and generally to further the interests of the Christian religion, in every way consistent with its spirit and enactments. The Church, on her part, as a public witness for the truth and claims of Christ, is bound to unfold the principles of the Bible respecting legislation, national duty, and magisterial responsibility; to uphold civil government founded on right principles and directed to its appropriate ends; as also to testify against whatever is immoral in the civil constitution, or iniquitous in civil policy. That when the civil magistrate sets himself in habitual opposition to, and abuses his power for the overturning of, religion and the national liberties, he thereby forfeits his right to conscientious allegiance, especially in countries where religion and liberty have been placed under the protection of a righteous constitution.
IV. ‘That it is the express ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ that the members of the Church shall, with their free-will offerings, make temporal provision for the maintenance and extension of His kingdom; but it is competent to the civil magistrate, and is his duty, when circumstances render it necessary or expedient, to employ the national resources in aid of the Church, and it is competent to the Church to accept such aid; provided always, that the terms, on which aid is given, be such as shall not involve the Church in approbation of what may be evil in the constitution of the State, and be consistent with the preservation of her spiritual independence. But it is not lawful for the magistrate to
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grant aid to the Church, from the national resources, merely from motives of political expediency; nor may those resources be employed for the support of truth and error indiscriminately.
V. ‘That the conditions of a legitimate alliance between the Church and the State, not having been secured at the Revolution settlement, and that settlement having involved a departure, in several important particulars, from attainments reached during the Second Reformation, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, while not requiring of her members an approval of every step taken by their fathers, yet holds that they had valid reasons for declining to acquiesce in that settlement, and that subsequent events—particularly the secession of 1732, and the Disruption of 1843—have gone far to justify their convictions as to the evils of the Revolution settlement, as well as the position they assumed in regard to it. Accordingly, not merely from the character of the Government, as illustrated in its assumption of supremacy over the Church, and its patronage of other ecclesiastical systems by which dangerous errors are taught and propagated, but from the express terms of the settlement by which the Scottish Church was established, the Reformed Presbyterian Church is united in regarding as still valid the grounds on which it has hitherto continued in a state of separation, from the present Church Establishment in Scotland.’
This statement of principle was approved of by the Union Committee of the other three negotiating Churches. The joint committee met several times every year. In March 1867, they revised and finally agreed to the following articles, in regard to what was almost the only question on which they had any difference of opinion—the province of the civil magistrate in relation to religion and the Christian Church:—
ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.
I. ‘That civil government is an ordinance of God, for
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His own glory and the public good; that to the Lord Jesus Christ is given all power in heaven and on earth, and that all men, in their several places and relations, and therefore civil magistrates in theirs, are under obligation to submit themselves to Christ, and to regulate their conduct by His Word.
II. ‘That the civil magistrate ought himself to embrace and profess the religion of Christ; and, though his office is civil and not spiritual, yet, like other Christians in their places and relations, he ought, acting in his public capacity as a magistrate, to further the interests of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ among his subjects, in every way consistent with its spirit and enactments; and that he ought to be ruled by it in the making of laws, the administration of justice, the swearing of oaths, and other matters of civil jurisdiction.
III. ‘That while the civil magistrate, in legislating as to matters within his own province, may, and ought, for his own guidance, to judge what is agreeable to the Word of God; yet, inasmuch as he has no authority in spiritual things, and as, in these, the employment of force is opposed to the spirit and precepts of Christianity, which disclaim and prohibit all persecution, it is not within his province authoritatively to prescribe to his subjects, or to impose upon them, a creed or form of worship, or to interfere with that government which the Lord Jesus Christ has appointed, in His Church, in the hands of church-officers, or to invade any of the rights and liberties which Christ has conferred on His Church, and which all powers on earth ought to hold sacred, it being the exclusive prerogative of the Lord Jesus to rule in matters of faith and worship.
IV. ‘That marriage, the Sabbath, and the appointment of days of national humiliation and thanksgiving are practical instances to which these principles apply. (1.) In regard to marriage, the civil magistrate may and ought to frame his marriage-laws according to the rule of the Divine Word. (2.) In regard to the Sabbath, the civil
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magistrate—recognising its perpetual obligation, according to the rule of the Divine Word, especially as contained in the original institution of the Sabbath in the Fourth Commandment, and in the teaching and example of our Lord and His apostles, and its inestimable value, in many ways to human society—may, and ought, in his administration, to respect its sacred character, to legislate in the matter of its outward observance, and to protect the people in the enjoyment of the privilege of resting from their week-day occupations, and devoting the day to the public and private exercises of divine worship. (3.) The civil magistrate may, and on suitable occasions ought to, appoint days on which his subjects shall be invited to engage in acts of humiliation or thanksgiving, but without authoritatively prescribing or enforcing any special form of religious service, or otherwise interposing his authority, beyond securing to them the opportunity of exercising their free discretion for these purposes.
V. ‘That the Church and the State, being ordinances of God, distinct from each other, they are capable of existing without either of them intruding into the proper province of the other, and ought not so to intrude. Erastian supremacy of the State over the Church, and anti-Christian domination of the Church over the State, ought to be condemned; and all schemes of connection, involving or tending to either, are, therefore, to be avoided. The Church has a spiritual authority over such of the subjects and rulers of earthly kingdoms as are in her communion; and the civil powers have the same secular authority over the members and office-bearers of the Church, as over the rest of their subjects. The Church has no power over earthly kingdoms, in their collective and civil capacity; nor have they any power over her as a Church. But though thus distinct, the Church and the State owe mutual duties to each other, and, acting within their respective spheres, may be signally subservient to each other’s welfare.
VI. ‘That the Church cannot lawfully surrender or compromise her spiritual independence for any worldly
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consideration or advantage whatsoever. And, further, the Church must ever maintain the essential and perpetual obligation which Christ has laid on all His people, to support and extend His Church by free-will offerings.’
The above statement by their own committee, and articles of agreement by the Joint Union Committee, were approved of, by the Synod, hardly a tenth part of the members objecting.
The above articles of agreement were revised and republished in 1869 under the altered title—‘Principles which the negotiating Churches hold in common.’
These principles were classed under what was called the First Head. There were discussed under the
Second Head.—Any other matter of doctrine about which explanations on either side may seem to be called for.
Third Head.—Theological curriculum, and the training and licensing of students, and arranging regarding probationers.
Fourth Head.—Election of office-bearers, constitution of Church courts, and the relation of these courts to one another, and forms of procedure.
Fifth Head.—Law and practice of the Churches as to public worship.
Sixth Head.—Extent of difference of the Churches as to education, with special reference to Government grants.
Seventh Head.—Finance and Church property; including such matters as the Free Church Sustentation Fund, titles, administration of secular affairs by managers or by deacons’ courts.
Eighth Head.—Principles on which admission to sealing ordinances is regulated in the Churches.
Ninth Head.—Relation of the Churches, if united, to ministers and congregations beyond the limits of Scotland.
Tenth Head.—The bearing of the contemplated union
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upon the working of the Foreign Missions of the various Churches.
Eleventh Head.—The relation of the United Church, in its component parts to the past ecclesiastical history of this country, particularly with reference to the duty and desirableness of effecting the union on a basis that would identify it with the Reformed Church of Scotland.
After six years of very friendly conference on these several heads, the joint-committee arrived at a substantial agreement on all of them. The Reformed Presbyterian Synod, year after year, almost unanimously, approved of the annual report of its Union Committee, and of the general agreement of the joint-committee, on the above heads.
During the whole ten years of the negotiations for union, among the four Churches, this Synod was nearly unanimous for it; the minority opposing it consisted almost invariably of two ministers, with two or three lay elders; with this small exception, this Synod again and again declared that it saw no insuperable bar to the union proposed. Each of the other three Churches expressed a readiness to unite with this Church, and even claimed to hold the same principles. Had the mathematical axiom—Things which are equal to the same are equal to one another—been strictly applied in the union negotiations, and consented to by all the parties, the union might have been simply and speedily accomplished. A persistent minority in the largest of the Churches, however, objected to the Voluntaryism, real or supposed, in the principles of the second largest. The majority, in that largest Church, for the sake of internal peace and union, yielded to the minority in this matter, and so its union committee was dissolved—a result deplored by the other Churches. Meanwhile, however, an important advance towards union had been gained. All the four Churches agreed to the mutual eligibility of their ministers to ministerial charges. This eligibility was acted on in several instances, and with happy results.
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Another union—though on a smaller scale—has been happily effected between the Free Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church—the largest and smallest of the four. The movement for this union commenced in the Free Church. The Free Presbytery of Greenock, and several others, sent up to the Assembly overtures in favour of such a union. The General Assembly received these overtures favourably; and, on the 30th of May 1874, declared ‘the cordial satisfaction with which they would contemplate a scriptural union with the Reformed Presbyterian Church,’ and authorised their commission to receive favourably any such proposal for union that might be made by that Church. The Reformed Presbyterian Church had never dismissed its Union Committee—this committee having been reappointed, with special instructions to negotiate with such committee as the Free Church might appoint, with a view to this union. A communication was made by this committee to the commission of the Free Church on 18th November 1874. In response to this communication, and in fulfilment of instructions given by the last Assembly, the commission appointed a Committee on Union, to negotiate with the Union Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.
The Union Committees appointed by the two Churches held several meetings during the following year and a half. Their conferences were harmonious and happy. During the previous ten years’ negotiation for a more extensive union, they had come to understand each others’ principles thoroughly. Two-thirds of the larger, and nine-tenths of the smaller Church had long ere this declared that there was no insuperable bar to a union, which would have included these two. All the members of the Assembly were agreeable to the two-fold union; only two ministers and four lay elders in the Synod were opposed to it. Ultimately one of these ministers adhered to the majority, and left only one opposing. Seldom has any ecclesiastical union been brought about with such unanimity. Nor was it to be wondered at. The two
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Churches had long regarded each other as next neighbours, with a very thin partition between their houses. Both Churches had long agreed in holding ‘that all men in their several places and relations, and therefore civil magistrates in theirs, are under obligation to submit themselves to Christ, and to regulate their conduct by His Word.’ Distrust, in a minority of one of the four negotiating Churches, in regard to the sense in which another Church held this doctrine, proved the main obstacle to the four-fold union. There was no distrust in, or in regard to, either of the parties in the twofold union. The matter was therefore easy.
The two chief, if not the only, differences in principle between these two Churches, were in regard to the continued obligation of the Covenants, and the defects in the Revolution settlement. In regard to the first of these points, both Churches held that the Covenants were right in themselves. In regard to their continued obligation, this had long been a term of communion in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, but it had recently, to a considerable extent, fallen into disuse. On the other hand, many members of the Free Church also held the stricter view in regard to Covenant obligation. In the union, therefore, this question was properly left open. In regard to the other question, on which the Reformed Presbyterian Church had also held the stronger opinion, the Free Church committee approximated to this opinion in declaring, in the language of the Act passed by the Free Assembly in 1851, ‘that that settlement was very generally considered by our fathers at the time to be defective and unsatisfactory. It involved elements of danger, which, even before the end of the seventeenth century, became on several occasions exceedingly threatening. Under it, the conditions of the Establishment were ultimately determined, by the courts of law, to be of such a kind, that it became necessary for the Free Church to abandon its connection with the State; and no obligation to entertain a favourable opinion with respect to it is imposed by the
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Free Church upon its members.’ The formula of the two Churches were found to be substantially the same. Though the Free Church claim of right was not so extensive, in its treatment of doctrine, as the Reformed Presbyterian testimony, yet the difference between these documents was contained, almost wholly, in the Westminster standards, held by both Churches. Some members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church were loath to lose their distinctive name. Few persisted in opposing the union on this ground, however—an objection which would have been as unreasonable as if made by a bride about to be married.
The Reformed Presbyterian Synod, at its meeting in May 1875, almost unanimously adopted the following overture:
‘Whereas, through means of inquiries prosecuted, and conferences held during past years, the Synod is satisfied as to the agreement in respect of doctrine, government, discipline, and worship between the Free and Reformed Presbyterian Churches; whereas, in consequence, it feels and acknowledges itself committed by various resolutions to a union which included the Free Church, more especially by a resolution of 1870, approving of such union on the basis of the Westminster standards, as accepted by the Churches respectively, which last resolution, on transmission to Presbyteries, was adopted and approved of by them all; whereas, thirdly, as the result of more recent conferences, there is the hope that the Free Church may be prepared for union with this Church, as such, on terms which would leave its members free to retain and abide by the views and principles embodied in the statement submitted and considered at a conference with the committee of the Free Church on the 20th January last, to which, without committing the Church they represented, they have satisfactorily responded; and whereas, finally, we are by many solemn obligations, pledged, as Christians, to promote Christian unity; as Presbyterians, to unite in common organisation, wherever practicable, with all holding the Head, and accepting the same stan-
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dards; and as Reformed Presbyterians, “to endeavour” after the “nearest conjunction and uniformity”—this Synod now feels called upon, in the providence of God, to agree to union with the Free Church, in the event of its next General Assembly arriving at a similar conclusion; transmits this resolution, accordingly, to the Presbyteries and sessions under its care, and reappoints its Committee on Union to receive their answers by the 1st of March 1876, and to take such steps, by negotiations with the Free Church and otherwise, as may be needful to accomplish the object of the overture, with all convenient speed, and with due regard to the regulations of the Church, and all its interests, spiritual and temporal.
‘Moreover, in view of the solemn crisis in its history at which the Church has now arrived, Synod earnestly counsels the congregations and people under its oversight to engage in special exercise of devotion, giving thanks to Almighty God for the abounding mercy with which He has borne with its shortcomings, and sustained and blessed it, during the two centuries of its separate existence, and beseeching Him to vouchsafe guidance and prosperity in the movement on which it has now entered with a view to union with another esteemed and honoured branch of the Church of Christ in Scotland.’
This overture was sent down to the various Presbyteries and sessions connected with the Church.
The Synod met again in Glasgow on 13th March 1876. When the Committee on Union’s report was given in it was found that all the Presbyteries approved of the above overture—one by a majority of two-thirds—all the rest unanimously.
Of the 35 sessions reporting—21 approved unanimously, 12 by majority, and 2 disapproved. Another session afterwards approved unanimously.
The overture thus became the resolution or law of the Church.
The Free Assembly at its meeting in May 1875, sent down to its Presbyteries a similar overture in favour of
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union with the Reformed Presbyterian Church. This overture was approved by all its Presbyteries reporting.
The Joint Committee on Union held a meeting on 2d December 1875, and agreed to matters of detail, in regard to the theological students, the support of the ministry, the mission schemes of the two Churches, the tenure of Church property, &c. These matters were all amicably arranged.
At a subsequent meeting of the Committee on Union, arrangements were made for the formal realising of the Union at the annual meetings of the Free Assembly, and the Reformed Presbyterian Synod in Edinburgh, in May 1876.
The Reformed Presbyterian Synod assembled for its last separate meeting, in the usual place, in Edinburgh Martyrs’ Church, on Monday, 22d May 1876. 37 ministers and 34 elders were present; 3 ministers were absent on account of ill health or distance. Dr Goold, who had so long and ably acted as convener of the Committee on Union, was chosen moderator. After arranging some matters of detail, the Act of Union between the two Churches was read and approved of. Business connected with various Synod Committees, and the winding up or transference of the various schemes of the Church to the united Church, occupied the attention of the court during the Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday the 25th, the Synod met in the same place at half-past 11 A.M. for devotional exercises. Shortly after the hour of noon it was announced that the Rev. Sir Henry Wellwood Moncreiff, Baronet, and the Rev. Dr Wilson, chief clerks of the Free Church Assembly, were in waiting to invite the Synod to meet with the Assembly, for the formal consummation of the union. These respected gentlemen being admitted, gave this invitation and then retired. This deputation was sent by the Free Assembly immediately after it had by acclamation passed its overture on union into a standing law. Martyrs’ Church, built within a stonecast of the Greyfriars’ Churchyard, famous for Covenant signing and Covenanter imprisonment, was now filled with members of the congregation and others, feeling
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a deep interest in this farewell-scene. Among the ministers, in the body of the court, were several respected ministers from different parts of Scotland and England, formerly members of court, and now ministers of the Free and English Presbyterian Churches. The members of court now left the Church, and—generally forming two and two—walked in procession towards the Free Assembly Hall. Along the three short streets through which they passed deeply interested crowds beheld the procession, cheering it in its progress. From the high towers of the New College, in immediate front of the Free Assembly Hall, there had floated, from early dawn, the Blue Banner of the Covenant, in company with the Union Jack. Every available seat and passage of the Assembly Hall, said to contain about two thousand persons, was crowded long before the hour of meeting; the tickets of admission for the union-day having been bought up weeks before. Seats for the accommodation of the members of the Synod had been preserved in the best part of the hall, immediately in front of the platform. During the absence of the chief clerks, the meeting was engaged in singing appropriate psalms. In a short time the officers of court appeared, marshalling the new members. These wended their way along the crowded passages to the comfortable seats appropriated to them. The vast assembly, stood up on their entry, and remained perfectly silent until the new members had all taken their seats, although the feelings of some of the spectators were so overcome with the solemn scene that they could not help shedding tears of joy. All being again seated, Sir Henry Wellwood Moncreiff moved the adoption, by the uniting Churches, of the
ACT OF UNION.
‘At Edinburgh, the twenty-fifth day of May
‘Eighteen hundred and seventy-six years.
‘Whereas the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, on the 30th May 1874, upon overtures from Presbyteries, declared the cordial satisfaction with
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which they would contemplate a scriptural union with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and authorised their commission, at any stated diet, to entertain any communication from the Reformed Presbyterian Church to that effect; and the commission, on the 18th of November, received a communication from a Committee on Union appointed by the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, requesting the appointment of a committee on the part of the Free Church, for conference with respect to union; and such a committee was appointed accordingly by the said commission; and in the months of January and February of the year 1875, statements on the part of the committees were exchanged, setting forth the principles and historical position of both Churches, and the terms on which union was contemplated on either side, and especially on the part of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, with reference to the Second Reformation and Revolution settlement; and, whereas, upon the report of its Committee, the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, at its meeting in May 1875, resolved to transmit to Presbyteries and sessions, an overture, wherein, inter alia, the Synod, considering, “as the result of more recent conferences, there is the hope that the Free Church may be prepared for union with this Church, as such, on terms which would leave its members free to retain and abide by the views and principles embodied in the statement” by its committee above referred to, agreed to union with the Free Church, and appointed a committee to take such steps as might be needful to accomplish the object of the overture, with due regard to the regulations of the Church and to all its interests, spiritual and temporal; and the General Assembly of the Free Church, at its meeting in May 1875, on the report of their committee, adopted and transmitted to Presbyteries, in terms of the Barrier Act, an overture, wherein, after reciting previous steps, and declaring that the report of the committee was satisfactory on the question of the views expressed by the Committee of the Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian
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Church, so far as the question of union with the Free Church is concerned; and also that it appeared that the Reformed Presbyterian Synod were willing to accept without reserve the existing formula of the Free Church of Scotland, on the understanding that the Act of Assembly, August 27, 1647, and the preamble to the Act 12, Assembly 1846 are held to be in force, as interpreting the said formula, and also to allow the name of the united Church to be the Free Church of Scotland, so as to involve no change in that Church in that respect: Therefore the General Assembly, with consent of a majority of Presbyteries, hereby enact and ordain that an incorporative union may now be effected by the Assembly upon the terms above indicated, it being understood that the united Church may be declared to consist of the Free Church of Scotland, as existing previously to the union, and of the Reformed Presbyterian Church as existing previously to the union, under the common designation of the Free Church of Scotland simply; and that other secondary details may be adjusted in such a manner as to the Assembly may seem meet, provided the adjustment be consistent with the terms specified in the previous parts of this Act; and, whereas, the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, at its meeting in March 1876, having found that the overture sent down by them had received the approval of all the Presbyteries and of all sessions reporting, with the exception of two, declared that the said overture had become the resolution of the Church, in accordance with its law and practice, and empowered its committee to take steps with a view to the adjustment of all remaining details; and the General Assembly of the Free Church, at its present meeting, having found the overture before mentioned to have been unanimously approved by the Presbyteries of the Church, reporting, passed the same into a standing law; and the General Assembly of the Free Church and the Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, having severally passed the Acts necessary, in order to prepare for the consummation of the designed union, in the terms agreed
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upon, have severally resolved to meet together for that purpose, and are now met accordingly:
‘Now, therefore, the said General Assembly and Synod thus met, first of all desire to express their devout thankfulness to the Great Head of the Church for the spirit of love and concord which has prevailed during these negotiations for union; humbly acknowledge their entire dependence on the mercy of God for all the happy results which they hope for in connection with it; and entreat the Divine blessing on the step now to be taken, and on all the congregations and people under their charge. And the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland and the Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, empowered as aforesaid, do hereby, in terms and in pursuance of the deliverances of their respective Church courts, enact and declare, that the two Churches do, and shall henceforth, constitute one united Church in all matters spiritual and ecclesiastical; that the said Church shall include and consist of the Free Church of Scotland, as existing previously to the union, and of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, as existing previously to the union; that the name of the united Church shall be “The Free Church of Scotland,” and that its Supreme Court shall be designated, “The General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland:” But reserving to the said Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland its separate name and existence, in so far as regards the civil rights and property now belonging, or which may hereafter accrue or belong to it, or to any of its congregations, with full powers to the ministers and elders of its congregations, and to the successors of such ministers and elders, for the time being, to meet hereafter, as the courts of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, with the necessary officers as heretofore, but only in order to deal with the said civil rights and property now belonging or which may hereafter accrue or belong to that Church as aforesaid, and with power to make all arrangements, and do and perform all acts and deeds proper and necessary to preserve and protect said civil rights and property.
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The Rev. Dr Goold, the moderator of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, on rising to second this motion, was received with loud and prolonged applause.
The Act of Union having been thus duly moved, seconded, and unanimously agreed to, was signed by the principal office-bearers of the united Assembly as follows:
‘WM. H. GOOLD, Moderator of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
‘J. KAY, Clerk to Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
‘THOS. M‘LAUCHLAN, Moderator of General Assembly of Free Church.
‘H. WELLWOOD MONCREIFF, Principal Clerk of General Assembly of Free Church.
‘WILLIAM WILSON, Principal Clerk of General Assembly of Free Church.
‘G. MELDRUM, Depute Clerk of General Assembly of Free Church.
The Act of Union having been signed, Sheriff Campbell rose and proposed that the moderator and clerks be re-elected by the united Assembly. This was done unanimously, after which the Assembly engaged in devotional exercise.
The moderator now gave a long and eloquent address. Dr Goold, the other moderator, followed with another long address, which, for fervid eloquence and a clear exposition of the principles of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, has seldom been equalled in any Assembly. His address was received with immense applause.
Dr Wilson then read the minutes of the Free Church Assembly adopted that day in relation to the union—after which,
Mr Kay, clerk of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, read the minute of that Synod relating to the union on that day.
After some other matters of form necessary in the new circumstances, the moderator addressed the late moderator and members of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, and congratulated the united Assembly upon the union now happily accomplished. To this address Dr Goold made a suitable reply.
After the reading and approving of the joint minutes
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in regard to union, the Assembly congratulated the members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church on having so generously and promptly subscribed the sum (£3750) necessary for their ministers being put on an equal footing with those of the Free Church in regard to the Widow and Orphans’ Fund. The various congregations of the Reformed Presbyterian Church were then allocated to the local Presbyteries of the Free Church.
These interesting proceedings at the day meeting were followed by an evening meeting at which the vast hall was uncomfortably crowded, while hundreds outside could not obtain admission. Eloquent and appropriate addresses were given by Principal Rainy, the Rev. John M‘Dermid, senior minister of the late Reformed Presbyterian Church; Dr Begg, Professor Calderwood, Rev. John Rankine, moderator of the United Presbyterian Synod, and Professor Cairns of the same Synod—these three latter being a deputation from the United Presbyterian Synod—who were afterwards thanked by the moderator.
At this stage the Rev. Dr Goold was invited to take the moderator’s chair, and in doing so was saluted with great applause. The meeting was afterwards eloquently addressed by Dr Dykes of London, as representative from the English Presbyterian Church; Mr Thomas Binnie, treasurer of the Reformed Presbyterian Church; Rev. John Kay, clerk of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the venerable Dr Duff, the veteran missionary.
This closed a truly memorable day, not only in the history of the two Churches thus united, but also of Edinburgh and of Scotland.
During the course of the next two months the various ministers of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, with their congregations (one minister with his congregation, and a part of another congregation in the south, excepted, who declined to enter the united Church) were cordially associated with the local Presbyteries of the Free Church of Scotland. All expressed the hope that this will prove only the beginning of a more comprehensive union.