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PEDAGOGICAL LIBRARY
OF THE

PEDAGOGICAL LIBRARY
OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
YALE SCHOOL OF RELIGION

The Presbyterian Churches

THE GUILD TEXT BOOKS

THE

Presbyterian Churches
THEIR PLACE AND POWER
IN MODERN CHRISTENDOM
By the Rev.
J. N. Ogilvie, M.A.
«> i
With a chapter on the Presbyterian Churches in the
United States of America, by the Rev.
Andrew C. Zenos, D.D.
Author of " Compendium of Church History!'
PEDAGOGICAL LIBRARY
OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
YALE SCHOOL OF RELIGION

PHILADELPHIA
THE WESTMINSTER PRESS

Copyright, 1897,
BY
Fleming H. Revbll Company

EDITORIAL NOTE
The Editors have much pleasure in adding Mr.
Ogilvie's book to the Series. They believe it to
be its own evidence that the author has been an
earnest and sympathetic student of Presbyterianism
in its varied development in many nations and
countries. The work is the result of much reading
and inquiry, and cannot fail to be helpful to many.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE
In the following pages the endeavour is made to
supply a concise historical sketch of the various
branches of the Presbyterian Church. So far as
the writer is aware, it has not hitherto been pos
sible for the ordinary reader to obtain a general
knowledge of the place and power of Presbytery,
save at the cost of reading many sectional his
tories, and diving deep into the valuable Reports
of the General Presbyterian Alliance. Of such a
study this little book is the outcome ; and should
it prove a means of deepening in the youth of the
Presbyterian Churches their appreciation and love
of that system which, under the guidance of Pro
vidence, has spread so widely and worked so well,
the writer will be satisfied. Every effort has been
made to ensure accuracy, the statistics (save when
otherwise stated) being taken from the last official
Report of the Presbyterian Alliance, and the chap
ters on the more important Churches having had
the benefit of suggestions from members of these

?Ill THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Churches. If, notwithstanding these precautions,
any inaccuracies should be discovered, intimation
of them will be gratefully accepted.
The writer acknowledges with thanks the valu
able suggestions received from Emeritus Professor
Mitchell (St Andrews), the Rev. Dr. Mathews
(London), the Rev. Dr. Robson (Aberdeen), the
Rev. Dr. M'Cheyne Edgar (Dublin), Principal
Grant (Canada), and others ; and he desires to
record his special indebtedness to the Rev. D .
M'Clymont for much help both in revision of the
proof-sheets and in the general preparation of th «
work.

CONTENTS
CHAP. rAGE
i. Restoration of Presbyterianism . . i
a. The Presbyterian Church in France . 18
g. „ „ „ in the Nether
lands . . 40
4. Minor Presbyterian Churches (Continental) 54
5. The Presbyterian Church in Scotland . 68
6. „ „ ,, in Ireland . 85
7. „ „ „ in England and
Wales . . 9s
8. „ „ „ m the United
States of
America . 100
9. „ n •» in Canada . 129
10. „ n »» in the Southern
Hemisphere . 143
11. Thb Catholic Presbyterian Church . 157

THE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
CHAPTER I
RESTORATION OF PRESBYTERIANISM  GENEVA
A S a feature in the life of the Church, Presbyterianism
¦**- reaches back to Apostolic times j as a distinguish
ing badge of certain great divisions of the Church Catholic,
it is strictly modern, dating from the Reformation of
the sixteenth century. The course it has run through
out the centuries has been that of a stream which starts
with fair promise, but becomes speedily engulfed, and
only after an underground passage of many weary miles
regains the surface, to enrich and fertilise the soil. The
Church of the first century had no features more distinctly
imprinted on her than those which are expressed by the
term Presbyterian, but ere the close of the second cen
tury these had disappeared, and did not again come into
prominence until the dawn of the Reformation. Then the
Presbyterian principles and practices which had been so
long suppressed or forgotten reasserted themselves, pro
ducing the many and powerful Presbyterian Churches of
modern Christendom.
i. Notes of Presbyterianism. — Presbyterianism,
as an ecclesiastical distinction, has to do solely with
questions of Church polity, and although the Presbyterian
Churches of modem times vary considerably in the

2 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
details of their organisation and in the power assigned
to certain office-bearers, there are three marks common
to all, which they cannot forfeit without at the same
time forfeiting their Presbyterianism. These are : — '
(a) The recognition of the priesthood of the Christian
people, by the institution of the Eldership. — Associated
with the Minister of every Presbyterian congregation, for
the purpose of ruling over the congregation,are theElders.
In their numbers, their mode of election, Iheir duration
of office, and also in their proper duties, these vary in
different churches; but as representatives of the people
in the rule of the Church, and yet exercising authority
over the people, they are found in every branch of Pres
byterianism. To no feature in her system does Presby
terianism owe more than to the office of the Eldership.
(b) The Parity of the Presbyters. — Presbyterian
Churches know no higher order of office-bearers than
the Presbyterate. In distinction from Episcopacy, which
maintains the existence of three orders in the Church
— Bishop, Presbyter, and Deacon — Presbyterianism, by
identifying the Bishop with the Presbyter, recognises
but two, Presbyter and Deacon, and insists strongly
on the essential equality of members of the former order.
Natural ability, spiritual gifts, or eminent position may
and often do give to some Presbyters a very real
superiority over others, but never the superiority which
springs from having been admitted to a higher order in
the Church. Since the Apostles passed away, Presby
terianism maintains, the Church has had no higher order
than that of the Presbyters, ordained to preach the Gospel
and administer the Sacraments.
(c) The Unity of the Church, represented by a Conciliar
System of Government. — In distinction from Congrega
tionalism, which asserts the independence of every
congregation, but in common with Episcopacy, Presby
terianism maintains the organic unity of the Church.
In carrying the principle into practice, however, the two
great systems show an important difference. The unity
which Episcopacy secures by its hierarchy of officers,

RESTORATION OP PRESBYTERIANISM 3
Presbyterianism obtains by a hierarchy of councils. The
various congregations are grouped together and placed
under ecclesiastical councils in an ascending scale, the
higher with authority over the lower ; while, true to the
principle of recognising the rights of the people, the
councils are composed of both lay and clerical representa
tives. 2. The Restorer of Presbyterianism. — The man
to whom belonged the honour of giving Presbyterianism
once more a place and a name in history was John
Calvin. Bora in 1509, his place is among the Re
formers of the second generation, but in the magnitude
and importance of his work he is unsurpassed by
any. His early years were spent in the sleepy and
orthodox town of Noyon in Picardy, where his father
occupied the influential position of fiscal-agent for the
lordship of Noyon and secretary to the Bishop of the
diocese — an ecclesiastical connection which proved of
advantage to his son. Through his father's influence
with the Bishop, Calvin was early beneficed with two
livings, which made his education easy of accomplish
ment. From the first he had been intended for the
Church, and with this in view he was sent to Paris, at
the age of thirteen, to study at the University. Paris
at that time was one of the foremost seats of learning.
No student whose mind was alive could fail to come
in contact with the new ideas then agitating Christendom,
and on an acute intellect such as Calvin's the effect
of the impact must have been great Apparently
it cooled his ardour for a clerical career, for on his
father suggesting that he should abandon the calling
and study law, he at once agreed, and, proceeding to
Orleans, entered on the new course. In law as in
theology he distanced all his fellow-students, and gained
a reputation for ability which was amply justified by
his future greatness.
Throughout this period of his career, though he was
noted for his austere and upright life, there was lsttle
sign of any definite sympathy with the Reforming

4 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
party. The only suggestive fact recorded is that he
studied with ardour the Greek New Testament But
in 1 53 1 the crisis came. Then his father died, and
Calvin was left free to choose his own course, which he
did in a very decided manner. The law was abandoned ;
his two benefices, the only means of support which he
possessed, were resigned ; and having thus burned his
boats, he returned to Paris, and openly connected him
self with the small band of Protestants then working in
that city. The addition of a man of Calvin's power had a
stimulating effect on the little company. The Reformers
waxed bold, and in consequence soon experienced the
trials of persecution, from which Calvin was forced to save
himself by a hurried flight. After various wanderings
he found a resting-place in Basel, where he was free to
devote himself to those literary labours which were his
chief delight through life, and in 1536 he produced his
famous work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion,
a book which more than any other has influenced the
development of Protestant Christianity.
3. The Scheme of a Presbyterian Church. —
The plan of the Institutes follows that of the Apostles'
Creed, of which they are avowedly an exposition. In
thus claiming the oldest creed of the historic Church as
a possession of the Church Reformed, Calvin emphas
ised the fact that no new organisation was being created
by the Reformers, nor was any divorce being made from
the Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ The
divorce was from the errors and superstitions which a
millennium of Roman supremacy had added to the
Church of early days. The Church of Christ as a
divine institution, charged with special duties and the
receiver of special blessings, was to Calvin a solemn
reality. When later in his life he was called to ad
minister the affairs of the Church in Geneva, one of the
most pressing of his cares was to be true to the obligations
of this solemn trust ; and even now, when first systematis-
ing the doctrine as to the Church, his great endeavour
was to present loyally the picture of what the Church

RBST0RA TI0N OF PRESBYTERIANISM 5
had been in her earliest and purest days. With this aim
he took the Hible as his sole guide, and after a careful
examination of the Scriptural teaching on the subject,
formulated a system of Church organisation which con
tinues to be the basis on which rest the Presbyterian
Churches of to-day. The main notes of the system
thus formulated were three : —
(1) The Visibility of the Church as an organised com
munity. — On this point Calvin advanced beyond the
teaching of Luther and Zwingli. These two earlier
Reformers had been so oppressed with a sense of the
many errors of the Roman Church — then the only
visible Church — that they were content for the most part
to emphasise the existence of the Church Invisible, and
to urge on men the necessity of being in its membership.
Calvin equally insisted on this need, but went further.
He found in the visible Church the temporal form and
divinely appointed shell of the Church Invisible and
Universal, and urged the necessity that all who would be
members of the latter should justify their claim by member
ship in the former. The Churchly note which marked
the Roman Church passed over to the Presbyterian.
" There is no other way of entrance into life," wrote
this Presbyterian High -Churchman, "unless we are
conceived by her (the Church), bora of her, nourished
at her breast, and continually preserved under her care
and government till we are divested of this mortal flesh
and ' become like the angels ' " (Inst. bk. iv. ch. i. 4).
(2) The Government of the Church. — The visibility
of the Church as an organised body, charged with
special duties, rendered necessary a definite system of
government Here again the Scriptures formed the
only guide. Calvin found that among the many duties
discharged by the Early Church, three continued per
manent, viz. Instruction, Government, and Care of the
Poor ; and in like manner, of the many office-bearers
serving the Early Church all but three were temporary,
these three being Pastors or Teachers, Elders, and
Deacons. There was thus a perfect correspondence

6 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
between the permanent duties and officers, and on this
scriptural basis Calvin planned his system. Resting
chiefly on I Tim. v. 17, where a distinction seemed to
him to be drawn between Presbyters who only rule
and Presbyters who both rule and teach, he apportioned
the work of instruction to the pastor; to him also, in
common with a body of Presbyters, "seniors selected
from the people," was entrusted the government of the
congregation ; and to the Deacons was assigned the care
of the poor. While claiming scriptural authority for the
Presbyterian system thus sketched, Calvin was, however,
far from asserting that Presbyterianism was an essential
note of the true Church. Other Church systems were
recognised as justifiable, though not equally supported by
Holy Writ nor so suitable for men.
(3) The Independence of the Church. — In her own
sphere the Church, according to Calvin's teaching, was
independent, subordinate to no earthly ruler, and
answerable to Christ alone. As this is a note which
has sounded loud in the history of Presbyterianism, so
was it struck clearly by the Reformer. Church and
State were declared to be two powers appointed by
God for the right government of men, the one in things
spiritual, the other in things temporal. Closely allied in
purpose, they were yet sharply divided in their fields of
action, and must in no wise interfere with each other in
their respective spheres. Yet as allies each was bound
to serve the other when called upon to do so. Should
Church censure fail to affect an offender, the State might
be asked to lend the power of the sword ; and in like
manner was the Church bound loyally to aid the State
in all good.
In support of his position, Calvin appealed to the
teachings of Scripture, early history, and sound practical
reason. Scripture gave him his organisation, early
history bore witness to its practice, and sound common
sense approved its wisdom.
4- Oalvin at Geneva. — If the scheme of Church
Government thus sketched was not to end as a devout

RESTORATION OF PRESBYTERIANISM 7
imagination, a place had to be found where it could
be tested by practical application to the life of men.
Geneva supplied the need. In this Swiss city of
20,000 inhabitants, the Reformed doctrines had been
preached for several years by Farel, a vigorous and
zealous Frenchman, and in 1535, mainly through
his endeavours, Protestantism had been adopted by a
vote of the citizens. The Roman Catholic clergy
were banished ; stringent laws were passed, regulating
the manners and morals of the citizens, and the Gospel
rule of life was solemnly acknowledged to be binding
upon all. There was special need in Geneva of this
insistence on the moral side of Christianity ; for the city
had become notorious for its evil living. But to his
sorrow Farel found his triumph to be but fleeting. The
enemy was only scotched, not killed. The Libertine
party, which had been silenced in the first hours of
popular enthusiasm, gradually recovered its ground, and
by perverting the doctrine of Christian liberty, was
fast regaining for the city its old ill fame. Farel was
dismayed, and was bewailing the destruction of his work,
when tidings reached him that John Calvin had arrived
in the city, and was intending to stay the night. To
the perplexed Reformer, the arrival of the famous
theologian was a sign from God. At once he hastened
to Calvin's lodging, and placing before him the circum
stances of the city, entreated him to stay and help God's
cause. Calvin heard the appeal most unwillingly, for
his mind was set on other things. He purposed to
hasten on to Strasburg and there devote himself to those
literary employments in which he had already proved
himself a master. To yield to Farel's appeal would
mean the sacrifice of his most cherished hopes, and so,
believing that he could serve the Reformed cause better
by his studies than in any other way, he declined the
call. But Farel would take no denial. " I tell you," he
said, "in answer to this pretence of your studies, in the
name of Almighty God, that if you will not devote your
self with us to this work of the Lord, the Lord will curse

8 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
you as one seeking not Christ so much as himself."
" By this imprecation," writes Calvin, ' ' I was so stricken
with terror that I desisted from the journey I had under
taken." It was a crisis in the Reformer's life. Hence
forward Calvin was a man of action quite as much as
of letters. 5. First Conflict with the Civil Power. —
Having taken his decision, Calvin set to work with a
will, and strove to stem the rising tide of wickedness.
At his instigation, the old laws of the city against
drunkenness, gambling, immodest dancing, and licentious
living were re-enacted. But it was no narrow spirit which
prompted this step. "I do not," he says, "condemn
amusements as such : dances and cards are not in
themselves evil ; but how easily these pleasures succeed
in making slaves of those who are addicted to them !
Whenever wrong-doing has become an old established
custom, we must avoid every risk of falling back into it."
At first no attempt was made at definite Church organisa
tion : purity and uprightness of life, as more important,
received the chief attention. But when, in pursuance of
this aim, Calvin proceeded to carry out his principle of
the Church's independence in her own sphere, and
applied ecclesiastical censure to evil-doers, without
consulting the civic authorities, there ensued trouble.
He declined to admit to the Lord's Table certain
notorious evil-livers. To the magistrates this seemed an
Invasion of their prerogative, and they ordered the
Reformers to withdraw the ban. But in vain : Calvin
and Farel refused to lower the standard of the Church.
It was a refusal which led to an open breach, and, to the
delight of the Libertine party, the Reformers were
banished from the city (1538). " Well," said Calvin on
hearing the sentence, " so be it ; if we had served man
this would be a bad return, but we serve a great Master
who will reward us."
6. Calvin in Exile (1538-1341). — For the next
three years Calvin lived in Strasburg, where he ministered
to a congregation of French Protestant refugees, and in

GENEVA

his spare moments increased his acquaintance with other
prominent leaders of the Reforming movement. Most
important was the close friendship he now formed with
Melancthon, who bridged the way between his system and
the Lutheran. With the followers of Zwingli also he came
to a better understanding, which was helpful for a time in
preserving the spiritual unity of Protestant Christendom.
But Geneva had not lost sight of him. In his absence
from that city the elements of disorder found opportunity
to develop, and lawless scenes came to be of frequent
occurrence. The citizens learned by unwelcome ex
perience how great a power for good had lain in that
thin slender figure with the pale face and keen dark
eyes. His indomitable will and lofty character were
regretfully remembered, and at last, when political
decline as well as moral degeneracy was imminent, they
conquered their pride and invited Calvin to return to
their midst But Calvin shrank from going back to the
old conflict "There is no place in the world," he
wrote, "which I so much dread as Geneva." And it
was not until to the earnest entreaties of friends there
were added the representations of a formal embassy from
the Genevan civic authorities, that he at last yielded.
But in so doing he took care to lay down certain con
ditions which in the coming days made his work easier
and more fruitful. "If you would have me in your
city," he wrote, " you must abolish the prevailing sins of
Geneva. ... I cannot live in the same place with a
Church whose discipline is in ruins, and where audacity
in evil-doing prevails unpunished." The conditions
were granted, and with permission to establish a Church
constitution according to his own mind, Calvin re
entered Geneva, amid shouts of welcome, in September
1541- 7. The Presbyterian Church of Geneva. — No
time was lost in taking advantage of circumstances so
favourable. On the day after his arrival, Calvin re
quested the Lesser Civic Council to appoint six of its
members to assist him and the other ministers of the city

10 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
in drawing up a definite order of Government for the
Church of Geneva. This was done, and the order thus
drawn up, after being submitted to the Lesser and Greater
Councils, and approved by both, was ratified by the
assembly of the people on 20th November 1 541. These
were the celebrated Ecclesiastical Ordinances of the Church
of Geneva. The day of their adoption may be regarded
as the birthday of the Modern Presbyterian Churches ;
and, inasmuch as they decided the constitution of the
first Presbyterian Church, they deserve careful attention.
From a constitutional point of view as well as a histori
cal, the most important provisions were those dealing
with the offices and courts of the Church : —
(a) The Offices of the Church. — Four classes of
office-bearers were recognised as requisite for the right
administration of the Church of Christ These were —
Pastors (also called Bishops, Presbyters, and Ministers),
Teachers, Elders, and Deacons. To each office were
assigned distinctive duties.
(I) The Pastors had as their special duty the preaching
of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments,
while in association with the Elders they had also to see
to the right exercise of ecclesiastical discipline. They
were to be nominated to their office by the pastors
already in the Church, and to be appointed by the State,
with the approval of the people.
(2) The Teachers were entrusted with the training el
the students in pure theology, and the general education
of the young of the community.
(3) The Elders, fourteen in number, were to be God
fearing men of unstained character, with the oversight
of the morals of the community as their special work.
In addition to their moral qualifications, they required
to be members of one or other of the civic councils, the
Lesser Civic Council nominating them with the approval
of the pastors, and the Greater Council confirming.
Practically they formed a " Civic Committee on Morals,"
appointed to act along with the pastors of the churches.
They were elected to their office at first for a year, at

GENEVA

the expiry of which the Lesser Council either discharged
them or confirmed them for life.
(4) The Deacons were likewise to be men of good
character and blameless reputation, and were chosen by
the civic authorities. Their work was that of caring for
the sick and destitute.
(«) The Courts of the Church. —While each
official had his own special duties assigned to him, all
were responsible to the Consistory, the supreme court or
council of the local church. This court was composed
of all the pastors with all the elders, and met weekly
under the presidency of one of the syndics or magistrates
of the city. To the Consistory, at its weekly meeting,
the pastors and elders from the different districts brought
reports of any offences which had been committed against
the moral law, and judgment was dealt accordingly.
Excommunication was the severest punishment in the
power of the court to inflict ; but notice of all such
sentences had to be sent to the civic authorities, who might,
if they saw fit, add civil penalties to the ecclesiastical.
A minor council which was established was the
Venerable Company. This body, composed of all the
pastors of the town, met monthly for the purpose of
mutual admonition, and for testing the qualifications of
aspirants to the pastorate.
8. Defects of the Ordinances.— In these Ordi
nances the hand of Calvin is very visible, but clearly
visible also is the influence of the State. The Institutes
had already shown what Calvin would have the Church
to be ; and in so far as the Ordinances differ from the
Institutes — the Church as realised from the Church as
devised — is to be seen the extent to which Calvin had
to bend to circumstances. The lofty ideal of a Church
independent in her own sphere, and co-equal with the
^tate, was too high for the cautious burghers of Geneva ;
and while granting much to their religious leader, they
yet took care to maintain a strong hold over the Church
they were establishing. Their caution is most noticeable
in the regulations as to the election of Elders, who were

Xi. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
in no respect to be the choice of the congregation, but
were to be selected from the Council and by the Council.
Only in so far as they were men of Christian character
were they representative of the Christian community.
And as if still further to maintain its supremacy, the
State insisted on the Consistory, the Court of the Church,
having as its president a syndic, an officer of the State.
These were serious defects ; yet, despite their presence,
the new Church organisation was a decided advance in the
direction of ecclesiastical independence over anything the
Reformed world had yet seen. In the Consistory, more
over, a court was established which was a real power for
good, working honestly for the improvement of the moral
life of men ; and if in its later career it was guilty of
excesses, as it certainly was, yet at first it was an
evidence to the world that the Reformed Church aimed
at a real reform in the life of her children — that
religion with her meant good living quite as much as
right thinking. To Calvin belongs the glory of em
phasising this note of the true Church — that she is a
power for righteousness.
9. The Church at Work. — Accepting the scheme
as a compromise, Calvin immediately proceeded to carry
it into effect. The weekly Consistory was established,
and showed that it was possessed of real power which
it meant to exercise. Vice was so energetically searched
out that the moral character of Geneva speedily im
proved ; but, unfortunately, in its desire for a thorough
reform the Consistory allowed its zeal to outrun its
discretion. Stringent laws were passed regulating the
minute details of ordinary life, and civil punishments
were attached to ecclesiastical and moral offences, out of
all proportion to their gravity. Novel -reading was
forbidden, as also all the usual accompaniments of the
lighter side of social life — singing, dancing, and the
drama. The unjustifiable stringency of the new rules
naturally irritated a large section of the people ; but so
great was the prosperity of the general community that
"ie large majority sided with the Reformer, and th«

GENEVA xs

Church grew and prospered. Several struggles there
were, severe and critical, but from all the Church emerged
victorious. Of these the most tedious in its course and
the most dangerous in its crisis was the renewal of the
old fight with the Council as to the right of the Church
to inflict the penalty of excommunication without con
sulting the civil powers. For seven years the matter
was debated more or less actively, the Council insisting
on an excommunicated member being restored to mem
bership, and Calvin in the name of the Consistory
refusing. Opinions on the subject were asked from the
leading teachers of Protestant Christendom, who, without
exception, supported Calvin; and finally, in 1557, the
struggle ended in his favour by the Greater Council
giving a decision which established the spiritual inde
pendence of the Genevan Church. The notice of
excommunication, which the Ordinances had directed
to be sent by the Consistory to the Lesser Council, was
recognised as in no respect conferring authority on the
Council to revise the Consistory's decision, but was
merely information for guidance, in the event of civil
penalties being deemed desirable.
10. Growth of the Church's Independence. —
The hard-won victory was carefully followed up. Now
that the independence of the Consistory in the exercise
of spiritual discipline had been acknowledged, Calvin
sought to have removed from the Church's procedure
whatever forms or customs implied subordination to
the civil power. Chief of these was the presence in
the Consistory, as official president, of one of the
syndics with his staff of office. From the first this
arrangement had been obnoxious to Calvin, but it was
one of the many things he bore with because of the
hardness of the time, and now when the times had im
proved his patience was rewarded. Recognising the
incongruity of the custom, the Greater Council in 1560
directed that in future a syndic be not, as such, presi
dent of the Consistory ; but that, in the event of one of
the two elders chosen from the Lesser Council being

i4 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES 
a syndic, he be the president — as an elder, however,
and not as a syndic It was again a compromise, but
this time the gain was on the side of the Church.
In like manner the other grievance of the mode of
Election of Elders was considerably redressed. The initial
choice remained as before with the Council, but there
was now added as a necessary accompaniment the
approval of the congregation. In this way, by a steady,
patient struggle lasting many years, was gained the
acknowledgment of the Church as an independent
organisation, closely allied with the State but ruled
over by officers approved of by herself. Step by step the
Ecclesiastical Ordinances were brought into correspond
ence with the plan first sketched in the Institutes, the
growing influence of the great Reformer making the
modification easier of accomplishment And with great
benefit to the city of Geneva was this influence exercised.
From being noted for profligacy it became renowned for
virtue. Its trade revived and its inhabitants largely
increased ; and in testimony of its moral condition the
evidence of John Knox, who lived here from 1555 to
1559, may well be quoted. " In my heart," he wrote
to a friend, " I could have wished, yea and cannot
cease to wish, that it might please God to guide and
conduct yourself to this place, where I neither fear nor
eshame to say is the most perfect school of Christ that
ever was in the earth since the days of the Apostles. In
other places I confess Christ to be truly preached ; but
manners and religion to be so sincerely reformed I have
not yet seen in any other place beside."
1 1. The Blot on the Genevan Church. — With so
much that is fair and praiseworthy in the Genevan
Church of Calvin, it is not to be wondered at that there
should be a reverse side to the picture. In this case the
reverse shows intolerance, with persecution as its result
The excessive censorship over the morals of the citizens,
and the infliction of civil punishments for breaches of
the very strict ecclesiastical code, were without doubt
blemishes on Calvin's rule ; and though it may be pleaded

GENEVA 15

m extenuation that they were faults resulting from an
excess of virtue, yet faults they must remain. But great
though these errors of intolerance were, they pale in
the general estimation before the intolerance which sent
Michael Servetus to the stake, for errors of belief,
in the year 1553. Of this action Calvin approved.
Servetus, in his book The Errors of the Trinity, had
lampooned the Christian doctrine of the Godhead, and
in a later publication had boldly advanced pantheistic
views of the universe. A spirit of bravado seems to
have brought him to Geneva, where, after a pro
tracted trial, in which he shocked his judges' ears
with blasphemies, he was condemned to be burned at
the stake. In the prosecution Calvin took an active
part, and though he tried to have the mode of death
altered to one less painful, yet to the sentence of death he
consented. Sorely has his memory had to atone for his
unchristian severity ; yet in passing condemnation on
the deed, it has to be borne in mind that not Calvin
only but the whole Protestant Church of his day, in
cluding men like Bullinger and the mild Melancthon,
approved of the action. Not yet had the day of liberty
of conscience fully dawned.
12. The Academy of Geneva. — Against Calvin's
zeal for the suppression of false teaching are to be
placed his efforts for the dissemination of the true. Of
these the founding of the famous Academy of Geneva was
the greatest and most fruitful. By his books, pamphlets,
and general correspondence he acted all his life as the
spiritual guide of the Reformed Churches, keeping in
touch with the leaders of the movement in every
European country. But m more permanent agency for
teaching the Reformed doctrine was seen to be required,
and accordingly in 1558 there was founded in Geneva
the famous Theological Academy, with Theodore Beat
as its first rector. Calvin acted as one of the lecturers
in addition to his many other duties, and with him
were associated other teachers of ability. The response
•f Protestantism was great and immediate. In the

16 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
first year of the Academy's existence 800 students of
different nationalities were enrolled. From France,
Holland, Germany, England, and Scotland they flocked
to Geneva, and drank in eagerly the teaching they
received. They became filled with admiration of the
Church System and Life which they saw, and on their
return to their own lands laboured by speech and action
to establish Genevan thought and ways amongst their
own peoples. Thus the Genevan Church became the
mother of many.
13. Calvin's Work.— On 27th May 1564, Calvin
died, full of honours though not of years. His life had
been comparatively a short one — only fifty-five years —
but in lasting results few lives can compare with his.
Alike as a teacher and an organiser, he holds a pro
minent place, possessing the peculiar merit of having
combined in himself excellence in both departments.
To this combination is mainly due the greatness and
enduring character of his work. The legacy which he
left to the world may be described as threefold, and
was the gift partly of the theologian, partly of the
organiser. It comprised —
(1) An Elevating Theology. — At the basis of his
teaching was the great doctrine of the Sovereignty of
God over all men and things. The direct responsibility
of every man to his Divine Sovereign was so emphasised
that men became impressed with a holy fear of God,
which cast out all other fear. The doctrine of Election,
which is the point in Calvin's theology most objected to,
is but the logical sequence of the Divine Sovereignty,
and in its application to life helped greatly to harden the
moral fibre of the men of the time. To men who felt
themselves to be called by God, and predestined to a
certain work, the first and last duty was to accomplish
the work and fulfil the destiny. Teaching such as this
ennobled all wao received it, lifted them out of the
temporal into relations with the eternal, and encouraged
them to work or suffer, live or die in the cause of their
Almighty King.

GENEVA 17

(2) A Church for the People — because of\ht people. —
The new dignity which had been conferred on men by
their direct relationship and responsibility to God found
expression in the new place accorded them in the
organisation of the Church. No longer were they to be
ruled over by priests, but, as themselves priests unto
God, they were to regulate and direct the God-appointed
institution. As the theology had called for a higher life
in the individual, so the doctrine concerning the Church
ensured a higher life in the community. The Church
was henceforth to be the care of all.
(3) A Centre from which Presbyterianism might
radiate. — This was the legacy of the man of action.
Other teachers had emphasised the Sovereignty of God
and the Priesthood of Believers, but Calvin did more.
He embodied these truths in actual form, and in the
small city of Geneva, by a life of ceaseless action, planted
firmly a living Church, where God's Sovereignty was
ranked above the sovereignty of man, and where the
popular voice was heard in the administration of the
Church. From Geneva the sound of the new move
ment went out into all the world, and from the Church
there established the greater part of Protestantism took
its shape. In this respect Calvin's work stands in striking
contrast to the subsequent history of the work of the
German Reformer Luther. Wide indeed was Luther's
influence as a Christian teacher, but as a Church
organiser it scarcely went beyond the frontiers of the
Fatherland. On the other hand, the scheme of Church
government re-discovered and re-established by Calvin
passed far beyond the walls of Geneva, was welcomed
by France, the Reformer's native land, then by Holland,
the Rhine Palatinate, Scotland, and Ireland, — and is
tow world-wide.

18 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER II
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN FRANCE
DEFORE ever Germany was roused by the voice of
-'-' Luther the Reformation had begun in France. So
early as 1509 the scholarly Lefevre had sounded the
first note of coming change in his thoroughly Protestant
and evangelical commentaries, and for a time the seed
thus sown was suffered to bring forth fruit freely. Earnest
ecclesiastics, like Briconnet, Bishop of Meaux, and evan
gelists like Farel, had their labours helped by the com
placent inaction of the Roman Church authorities as well
as by the royal favour of Francis I. But in 1 535 a
change came over both Church and King, and the new
views, from being despised or indulged, were proscribed
as heretical and disloyal. Heresy became a capital
crime, and for twenty years martyrdoms were common.
Yet despite the persecution the leaven spread, and in
the spreading of it no agency was so active as the ChuTch
of Calvin at Geneva. By countless letters and willing
messengers from the great exiled son of France, ihe
suffering Protestants were helped to endure, and though
no Church was as yet organised the Reformed Faith
made steady progress.
1. The First Congregation. — Passing strange was
the manner of the formation of the first congregation.
One September evening in 1555, when a small company
of Protestants in Paris gathered secretly, as was their
wont, for prayer, they found their host, La Ferriere, a
Frenchman of noble birth, in great trouble as to how
to arrange for the baptism of his infant child. Roman
rites he would not have, and Reformed rites he could
not obtain nearer thar Geneva. In the dilemma, and

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE ig
at the earnest entreaty of La Feniere, the company
decided on the novel and important step of forming
themselves into a congregation, and electing one of their
number to be their pastor. Thus was born the first
congregation of the Reformed Church of France. From
Geneva most of the company had derived their faith,
and the Genevan model of church order was accordingly
adopted. To the pastorate they called La Riviere, a
young French noble, who had been educated in Geneva ;
elders and deacons were likewise chosen, and a regular
Consistory formed. The effect of this unwonted step
upon the scattered Protestants of France was marvellous.
Everywhere they took it as the signal to organise, ana
so heartily did they respond that within three years there
were 2000 similar congregations dotted over the country.
2. The National Synod. — The rapid growth of the
Church, which was thus revealed, soon led to a develop
ment of the Presbyterian principle beyond the point which
had been reached by Calvin in Geneva. In that Swiss
town, with its four congregations and limited area, one
common consistorial court had been sufficient for the
Church's needs ; but in the wider area of France, with
congregations numbering 2000, something more was
required if the Church's unity and discipline were to be
maintained. A supreme authority over all the congrega
tions was felt to be a necessity, and accordingly the
Church in Paris took action. Invitations were forwarded
to the sister congregations throughout France asking
them to send delegates to a conference to consider the
needs of the Church, and in response there assembled in
Paris, on 26th May 1559, 150 delegates, to constitute
what was afterwards known as The First National
Synod. They met secretly, "in defiance of almost
certain death " ; yet with a calm trust in God and a firm
faith in the future of their cause, they there laid the
foundation of the Reformed Church of France.
3. The Work of the Synod.— The Synod's work
was to give 'z me Reformed congregations of France a
treed and a institution. In both departments Calvin

to THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
was the teacher followed. His was the theology as well
as the actual draft of the Confessio Gallica there framed,
and his too, so far as circumstances allowed, was the
tonstitution adopted. What differences there were, from
the constitution obtaining in Geneva, resulted either from
the necessary severance of Church from State in France
or from the greater size of the French Church.
Three classes of officers were recognised as having
authority over each congregation — the pastor, elders, and
deacons — who in common council formed the Consistory.
On the first formation of a congregation all office-bearers
were to be elected by the vote of the people, but later
vacancies were to be filled by the choice of the Con
sistory — an " aristocratic" principle to which the
French Church long strictly adhered. The next step of
the Assembly was to group the various congregations
together in graded Councils or Synods, similar to those
now existing in all Presbyterian Churches. These were,
— (l) Provincial Synods, one for each province, consisting
of all the pastors with one elder or deacon from every con
gregation, which were to meet twice a year, to decide
appeals from congregations, effect transfers of pastors
from one charge to another where desirable, and generally
supervise the churches of the province ; and (2) General
Synods, composed of delegates from each Consistory,
and possessed of supreme authority over the Church,
which were to be summoned in case of special need.
Manifest defects in the scheme thus adopted were
rectified by later Synods, which, by interposing a council
between the Consistory and the Provincial Synod, called
the Collogue (the "Presbytery" of the Scottish Church),
and by drawing the delegates to the General Synod from
the Provincial Synods instead of from the Consistories,
completed the conciliar system of Church government
There was thus given to the Church a compact unity
which was to prove most useful in the troubled period
of her history about to begin. Hitherto she had lived
apart from the world, and, alone with God, had increased
in faith : henceforth she was to be tried in the political

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE

are** .cd for the new experience Providence was pre
paring hei fcy strengthening her bonds of union.
4- The Reformed Church in Politics.— The
year 1559 was a momentous one for the Church. Not
only did she then adopt a settled constitution — a fact
which gained for her adherents the name Huguenot
lEid-genossen, or oath comrades) — but then for the first
time did she, through her success among the aristocracy
of France, become linked with one of the parties of the
State. The Huguenots by this time included in their
number the leaders of the Bourbons, one of the two
great political parties, Anthony, King of Navarre, his
brother Louis, Duke of Cond^, and Admiral Coligny.
It was unavoidable that the adherence of such men should
give to the Reformed Church a political character. Nor
were the Huguenots unwilling to accept the situation.
They saw troubles looming in the near future, and were
glad to have for their leaders men of mark and political
power. But the open identification with the Bourbons,
though increasing die Church's material strength, was
not an unmixed advantage, as it also added to the
animosity of the opposing Romanist faction of the
Guises. And unfortunately for the peace of the Church
the times were peculiarly favourable for faction fights,
since, after the death of King Henry II., in 1559, first
one boy king, Francis II., and then another, Charles IX.,
was called to occupy the throne. The minorities of
kings in past times were rarely peaceful times for their
countries, nor was it otherwise with France in the
sixteenth century.
5. Catherine de Medici. — Most prominent of all
the notabilities of the day was Catherine de Medici, the
Queen-mother, who was recognised as guardian of the
young King Charles on his accession, at ten years of
age, to the throne of France. Catherine's position was
extremely difficult She found herself confronted by two
powerful parties, each a danger to the throne, but,
fortunately for her, hostile to each other and separated
by the double gulf of politics and religion. Thus

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

circumstanced, she adopted and steadily maintained a
policy of unblushing opportunism, playing off one party
against the other, Huguenot and Bourbon against
Romanist and Guise, favouring each as occasion required,
but never allowing either to get complete victory. In
the earlier years of her regency, as the growing power
of the Guises seemed to her to require a check, the
Huguenots profited most by this policy. Toleration^ of
the Reformed Faith was proclaimed ; and at Poissy
(1 56 1) was held a famous conference, when, in the
presence of royalty, a discussion took place on the
theological points at issue between Romanist and
Huguenot, the Huguenots being represented by the
cultured and scholarly Beza. As was usual with such
debates, the conference ended with each side uncon
vinced ; yet it was not without some good results, as was
seen a year later, when the Edict of St. Germain (1562)
granted permission to the Huguenots to meet for worship
outside the towns, on condition of their giving up the
churches they had seized. Meagre enough the measure
seems, but by the leading Protestants it was welcomed.
" If we have our religion," said Coligny, " what more
do we want?" while to Calvin it seemed the beginning
of the end. " If the liberty promised in the edict last,"
he wrote, "the papacy will fall to the ground of itself."
6. The Drawing of the Sword. — The condition
attached to Calvin's prophecy was not fulfilled. Stinted
though the measure was it proved too liberal for the
Guises, who immediately set to work to render it fruit
less. Anthony of Navarre was won over to their side by
fair promises, though fortunately for the Huguenots his
noble Queen, Jeanne of Navarre, in whose hands lay the
training of their future leader, her son Henry, proved
more steadfast. " If I had my kingdom in one hand,
and my son in the other," she said, " I would cast both
into the sea, rather than go to mass." But the defection
of her husband was a sore blow to the cause she loved,
and so emboldened the Guisian party that at Vassy, on
a Sunday morning in March 1562, they drew the sword

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE 33
and massacred the Huguenots of the place as they were
at divine service. It was the beginning of evils. Soon
the fury spread to other towns. Thousands were slain,
the dead in Toulouse alone numbering 3000. In
self-defence the Huguenots were now forced to take
up arms, and for thirty years, with the exception of
brief periods of truce, France was one great battlefield.
From the beginning of the struggle, the details of which
must be sought in secular histories, the fortunes of war
went against the Huguenots, yet so stubbornly was the
contest waged, that the conquered party was able at
each truce to extort terms of toleration. Of these the
most favourable were the terms obtained at the close of
the third war, when, on the fatal field of Jarnac, Cond^
was slain and the Huguenots routed. To the Queen-
mother the complete triumph of the Guises seemed then
so imminent, that she insisted on peace being concluded,
which was accordingly done by the Treaty of St.
Germain (1,569). Liberty of worship was granted in all
towns save Paris, and as a security to the Huguenots
they were put in possession of four fortified towns, La
Rochelle, Montauban, Cognac, and La Charity. As a
guarantee of good faith the measure was satisfactory, but
it had the evil effect of marking off, more distinctly than
ever, Huguenot from Romanist. The Huguenots were
now a nation within a nation, possessing fortresses and
armies of their own.
7. St. Bartholomew's Day.— Following the pass
ing of the treaty came a brief period of Huguenot
prosperity. To end the wars the Queen -mother
arranged a marriage between her daughter Margaret and
the young Huguenot Prince, Henry of Navarre, and
invited the prominent leaders of the Huguenots to court,
to witness the espousals. Among others of note went
Admiral Coligny, when so great was the impression
made by the noble old man, that the young King
Charles could scarce bear to be separated from his side.
A strange friendship it was, and fraught with most evil
consequences. To the Queen -mother it seemed to

24 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
portend the loss of her influence over her son and the
triumph of the Huguenots, and accordingly, true to her
principles, she veered round to the side of the Guises.
They were jubilant ; and so sedulously fanned the flame
of her resentment, that in an evil hour a general massacre
of the Huguenots then gathered in Paris was resolved
upon. No time was lost in carrying the resolution into
effect, and shortly before the dawn of St. Bartholomew's
Day, 24th August 1572, the great bell of the Cathedral
of St. Germain tolled out the signal to the assassins.
Thoroughly they did their work, sparing neither age nor
sex. Distinguished by a white band on the arm and a
white cross on the hat — strange emblems for such a
work — the murderers scoured through the city, sacking
every Protestant house and slaying every Protestant they
found. Among the first to fall was the aged Coligny,
who, when the blows were raining upon him, cried out
to his attendants, with rare forgetfulness of self, " Save
yourselves, my friends ; I have long been ready to die."
For seven days the cruel work went on. Then the
other towns in France, catching the madness, repeated
the atrocities, and before the lust for blood had been
satisfied 70,000 Huguenots had perished.
8. Result of the Massacre. — Atrocious as a deed,
the massacre as a stroke of policy proved a failure.
Says the Abbe Crillon, a Roman Catholic historian of
the time, " The Court thought to drown Calvinism in
the blood of its defenders, but the hydra resumed new
vigour." And so it proved. The Guises had overshot
the mark. Their ambition and cruelty excited such
suspicion and aversion in the moderate Roman Catholics
that a split in the Roman Catholic party ensued. The
moderates, who were known as the Politicals, separated
from the extremists, and joined hands with the Huguenots,
in whose success, under their young leader Henry of
Navarre, they now saw the only hope of France's
political safety. Their accession, raising as it did the
force at Henry's back to 50,000 men, made the united
party so formidable that Catherine and the new king,

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE a$
Henry III., hastened to conclude peace on terms
most favourable to the Huguenots (1576). But
not yet was a lasting peace to be obtained.
Enraged at the failure of their scheme, the Guisian
party without delay devised fresh measures for extir
pating the Huguenots, and, entering into an alliance
with Spain, formed the Holy League, whose aim was
to root out heresy from France. The Pope gave his
blessing, and so overawed was Henry III. by the
magnitude and sanctity of the union, that he repented of
his tolerance and plunged France once more into civil
war. Fears and fightings make up the wretched story
of the next five years, the fears leading to assassinations
and the fightings resulting in varying success. At last
in 1589 came the beginning of the end, when, by the
assassination of Henry III., at the hands of a Dominican
monk, Henry of Navarre, the Huguenot leader, was left
heir to the throne of France. But between the heir
and his inheritance lay a fatal obstacle, in his religion.
The moderate Roman Catholics, who had sided with
him when he was fighting for political rights and
religious freedom, shrank from seeing a Huguenot upon
the throne. Paris closed its gates against a heretic
monarch, and the hopes of the Guises began to revive.
Henry was in a dilemma. On the one side was
recantation of his faith, which would bring peace to the
Huguenots and prosperity to France ; and on the other
side was steadfastness to the Huguenot cause, which
would entail a renewal of war and desolation. The
consequences to his country and co-religionists decided
him, and on 20th July 1593, King Henry IV. was
admitted into the Roman Catholic Church.
9. The Reformed Church during the Wars.—
It was high time that peace should come, for the
thirty years of war had sadly interfered with the growth
of the Church. Her congregations had been reduced
from 2150 to 763, and in spiritual life there had been
almost equally great declension. The absence of many
members in the field had told heavily on the finance)

26 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
of local congregations, and as a consequence poverty
pressed heavily on the pastors. The change of leaders,
too, from Coligny with his deep earnest faith to Henry
with his laxness in life and indifference in religion, was
not without its effect upon their followers. Fortunately
the framework of the Church, which had been con
tracted at the Secret Synod of Paris in I559> had
been in the interval sedulously attended to. Fifteen
National Synods had met during the course of the wars,
receiving reports from the various districts and learning
by experience the needs of the Church. Of these
Synods the most important was that which met at
La Rochelle (157 1), when for a brief space the royal
favour was extended. Summoned by letters patent
from the King, the Synod had as its moderator the
accomplished Beza, and was graced with the presence of
the Queen of Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret and her son,
the future Henry IV. The original constitution and
creed, agreed to at the first Synod in Paris, were now
revised and confirmed, and Presbyterianism again
formally adopted as the polity of the Church.
10. The Edict Of Nantes. — " I can never use them
ill, I must always love them," Henry had said of the
Huguenots at the time of his " conversion " to Romanism,
and in the Edict of Nantes (1598) he gave proof of his
sincerity. By this magna charta of French Protestant
ism religious liberty was secured to all. Public worship
after the Reformed manner was granted, with more or
less restrictions, in all places save Paris and a few other
strongly Romanist towns. No longer was the Reformed
religion to be a bar to civil privileges. And as securities
to the Huguenots they were left in possession of the
towns and fortresses which they possessed the year
before the promulgation of the Edict. With a free
course thus guaranteed, the Reformed Church settled
down to a period of quiet and steady work. At the
beginning she was greatly helped by an annual grant of
43,000 crowns from the State, with part of which she
established two Theological Colleges at Montauban and

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE 07
Saumur, devoting the remainder to a much needed
augmentation of the salaries of her poorer clergy. Yet as
years passed, through the growing wealth of the members
of the Church this need grew less. By the enlightened
policy of the King arts and manufactures were greatly
fostered, and to his endeavours no section of the com
munity responded so heartily as did the Huguenots.
11. Gathering Clouds. — A rude shock was given
to all hopes of continued prosperity by the assassination
of Henry IV. in the seventeenth year of his reign
(1 610), at the hands of a Roman Catholic. At once the
Huguenots scented danger. "We are going to fall
under the yoke of Spain and the Jesuits," remarked
Sully, Henry's Protestant Prime Minister, " the
Protestants will not enjoy tranquillity long." Nor did
they. To Henry IV. succeeded Louis XIII. with, as his
chief minister, the great statesman priest Cardinal
Richelieu. Richelieu's policy was one of concentration of
all authority in the crown. Any power or semblance of
power existing apart from the crown was noted with
jealous eyes, and accordingly the Protestant community,
with its fortresses and regular assemblies, became very
early an object of aversion. On the pretext of guarding
against conspiracy, the Synods of the Church were first
compelled to receive a Royal Commissioner (1623) and
then altogether suppressed. The Protestant province of
Beam, where the Protestant Church had been domi
nant for sixty years, was invaded, many of the in
habitants slain, and the Roman Catholic Church re
established. And when (1628) after a year's siege the
free city of La Rochelle, the citadel of French Pro
testantism, fell before the royal troops, the Church was
overawed and her political power was dead. Thereupon
Richelieu's plans for the uprooting of heresy underwent
a change, and, laying aside the sword, he adopted — and
with success — the more subtle weapons of bribery and
worldly advancement. " Do you believe in transub-
stantiation ? " said the King to the Duke de Lesdiguieres.
"Yes," replied the Duke. "Then," said the King,

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

"you are to be Constable of France — come, let us go to

12. The Bursting of the Cloud.— In 1643
Louis XIV. succeeded to the throne, when again a
statesman priest was the royal adviser, in the person of
Cardinal Mazarin. On the Huguenots Mazarin looked
with a not unkindly eye — a consequence of their wise
neutrality in the civil wars which troubled the early part
of the reign. " I have no complaint to make against
the little flocks," said the Cardinal — " if they browse on
bad herbage, they do not wander into bad paths."
Tolerance accordingly was shown towards them, and
under the mild rule the community gained rapidly in
wealth, their honesty and industry drawing to them the
greater part of France's foreign trade. Nor were their
ecclesiastical affairs less prosperous. By the permission
of Mazarin a Synod of the Church was held at Loudun
(1659), and the outlook was bright, when their indulgent
patron died (1661), and at once a change set in. The
King fell under the influence of advisers of a narrower
policy and more bigoted mind, by whom he was en
couraged in those repressive measures against the
Huguenots, which only the counsel of Mazarin had
previously prevented. Unworthy passion too played its
part. An infatuation for Madame de Maintenon, the
governess of his children, made the King her docile
slave, while she in turn was completely under the control
of a bitter enemy of Protestantism, Pire la Chaise.
Between them they incessantly fanned the King's hatred
of the Huguenots into flame, which burst out
periodically in the form of an obnoxious order. The
Courts of the Church were again and finally closed.
Protestants were declared ineligible for all higher call
ings and all offices of State. Conversion to Protestantism
was made a crime punishable with perpetual banishment,
while conversion to Romanism was a virtue to be re
warded. For a Protestant pastor to speak to one of his
flock who had lapsed meant death. Protestant children
were freely kidnapped by Roman Catholic priests, and

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE 39
the parents had no redress. In 1 681 still harsher
measures were adopted. Squadrons of dragoons were
sent into the Protestant districts, and there quartered on
Protestant families. Brutal and immoral as many of them
were, the suffering caused to the hapless families by their
presence may be imagined. Pillage, outrage, and murder
were of daily occurrence, the King's "booted missionaries,"
as he termed them, proving very apt in the art of forcible
conversion. So excessive was the persecution and so
hopeless the outlook, that a steady stream of emigration
set in. Thousands of Protestants, gathering together all
their property that they could lay hands on, hastened to
leave the country. To stop the stream, emigration
without the King's permission was made a penal offence,
but not before 50,000 Protestants had escaped. Finally,
on 22nd October 1685, the blow fell. The Edict of
Nantes, long broken in a hundred ways, was formally
revoked, and Protestantism again declared a proscribed
religion in France. By this enactment all Protestant
pastors were ordered to leave France within fifteen days ;
all Protestant temples (as the churches were termed)
were to be destroyed ; Protestant schools were to be
closed, and the children of Protestants, after being bap
tized by the Roman Catholic priests, were to be trained
in the Roman Catholic faith ; and should any Protestants
be caught trying to escape from France, they were to be
condemned, the men to the galleys, the women to prison
for the rest of their life. Seven months later the penalty
was altered to death. Truly at a terrible cost has the
Reformed Church of France earned the title " Church of
the Cross " ! Death or exile were the alternatives now
feeing the faithful. Whoever could choose exile did so,
but many to whom flight was impossible and " con
version " abhorrent died a martyr's death ; and many
more, in the endeavour to escape, were arrested and put
to death. But the frontier of France was too extensive
for efficient guarding, and by every possible route, in
ever? conceivable disguise, the Huguenots streamed out
of the country. Heartrending are the tales of the suffer

30 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
ings endured by the women and children in their efforts
to escape, but all suffering was counted cheap if only the
frontier could be passed. Over a quarter of a million
Protestants escaped and found a refuge in England,
Holland, Germany, Ireland, and America. It was a
deathblow to Protestantism in France, from which the
Protestant Church has never recovered ; but France did
not go unpunished for her cruelty, for the same blow
shattered her commercial greatness. The Huguenots
who fled were the most skilled artisans of the country,
and they took their art with them to bless the countries
which received them. Of the 40,000 silk- workers in
Tours only 4000 were left ; of the 12,000 in Lyons
there remained but 3000. The rest had fled, mostly to
England ; and in other manufacturing centres a. like
tale was told. It was indeed a double-edged weapon
which Louis wielded when he drove the Protestants into
exile ; and to the present hour his country feels the evil
consequences of his action.
Second Period — The Church in the Desert
13- After the Storm.— With the Revocation of
the Edict of Nantes the Reformed Church of France
entered on the saddest century of her existence. Exile
and death had reduced the once flourishing community
to a mere shadow — from four to five millions being a
moderate estimate of those who had from first to last been
driven from the country — but a remnant still existed. In
the mountain recesses of the Cevennes in Languedoc they
found a retreat, of comparative safety, from their foes, and
there the lamp of Protestantism was kept burning, when in
every other part of France it had been extinguished. In
caves and hollows of the mountains the fugitives met to
worship God, and under the open heavens by faithful
pastors the Lord's Supper was administered, though the
galleys or death was the penalty to all if surprised. So
the Church in the Desert was sustained and religious
life fostered. But ere long elements dangerous to spiritual

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE 31
health made their appearance. The constant risk of
death under which the refugees lived bred a fanaticism
and wild enthusiasm in their religious life — a course
which was all the easier because of the great want ot
regular pastors. In their absence their place was taken
by uneducated men and women, and even children, claim
ing to be directly inspired by God and called by Him
to minister to His people. Strange ecstatic " prophesy-
ings" supported their claims, and, as the contagion spread,
disorderly extravagances became the chief note of the
community. 14. The Wars of the Camisards. — To add to
the disorder came the armies of the persecutor. The
Abbe du Chaylu, a retired missionary from Siam, who
had been appointed arch-suppressor of heresy in the
district, had so goaded the Protestants by his cruelties
that in revenge a band of peasants had attacked and
burned his house and slain their tormentor. The result
of the outbreak was the despatch of royal troops to the
district, and the commencement of the Wars of the
Camisards. It was a marvellous struggle. The Camis
ards — so called from the camise or blouse which they
wore — were rude and ignorant peasants, with no military
training, and numbered only 10,000 men. Yet for
more than three years, partly by their desperate bravery
and partly through their acquaintance with the mountain
districts, they were able to keep at bay the best troops of
France. By their boy general Cavalier the Marechals of
France had to acknowledge themselves baffled. But
bravery and skill were helpless in the long run against
numbers, and when Villars, the commander of the royal
troops, offered honourableterms of peace, Cavalier accepted
them. Freedom of conscience and liberty of worship
were guaranteed. Unwillingness, however, on the part
of the King to ratify the terms, coupled with the reckless
enthusiasm of the Camisard "prophets," caused a re
newal of the war, which thus went on to the bitter end,
when in 17 15 the King issued a proclamation that heresy
had at last been completely extirpated.

33 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
15. Antoine Court.— Protestant "heresy" is hard
to kill, and within six months after Louis' proclamation
proof was given that the " heresy " still lived. There
then came to the front one of the greatest men the
Protestant Church of France has produced, Antoine
Court, the restorer of French Presbyterianism. Sprung
from a godly peasant race and mostly self-taught, he found
himself at eighteen years of age the pastor of the Hugue
nots who lurked in the town and neighbourhood of
Nimes. There the shattered condition of the Church
and the evils caused by the enthusiasts pressed so heavily
upon him, that he formed the definite resolution, with
God's help, to end the disorder and rebuild the Church
which had been overthrown. At his invitation, on
21st August 1715, there met, in an old Roman quarry
near Nimes, the few pastors who remained in the
Cevennes and several representative laymen, when Court
placed before them the state of the Church and explained
his remedy. Lack of discipline and order in the com
munity was the most pressing evil, and this could best
be combated by restoring in its fulness the Presbyterian
system of elders and pastors governing the Church in
council. As he advised, so the " Synod" resolved, and
the work began. At Nimes, as the centre, a regular
Consistory was formed, and throughout the district of
the Cevennes, wherever Protestants were to be found,
elders were appointed, and entrusted with the duty of
watching over the flock, repressing disorder, and arranging
safe places for meetings when the pastor of the division
should visit the neighbourhood. For pastors were few,
and had to wander over wide stretches of country to
minister to their many flocks. This was the beginning
of the work. When it was found that Protestantism still
lived, persecution revived but failed to arrest the growth.
Yearly Synods were held in secret, and the hand of the
Church was placed ever more firmly on the religious life
of the people. Extravagances were sternly repressed.
Districts where the influence of the " prophets " had pre
vented the nomination of elders were warned that, should

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE 33
they fail to carry out the instructions of the Church, no
notice would be given them of visits of pastors to their
neighbourhood. It was a virtual threat of excommuni
cation by a proscribed Church! "What a punishment
for a breach of Church order," exclaims Coquerel, the
historian of the Church of the Desert, " not to be in
formed of meetings which, if surprised, entailed on those
present a lifelong experience of the galleys ! "
The grim determination thus shown by the Church
WiiS rewarded by steady progress. In 1728 night assem
blies of 3000 people in different districts were common,
ind the Secret Synod had grown to 60 members, mostly
elders. Two years later Court had to flee, with a price
on his head ; but from across the border at Lausanne he
continued to help the cause he loved. Pastors were the
great want ; and in Lausanne, through Court's instru
mentality, there was now established a training institution
to take the place of the seminaries at Montauban and
Saumur which had been closed. In the meantime,
under Michael Viola and Paul Rabaut, pastor at Nimes,
the work in France went on with such success that it
was possible to hold, in 1744, a Synod in the Desert,
with some claim to the title "National." Not merely
the south-eastern corner of France was represented, as
had hitherto been the case, but from the whole of the
southern provinces, and a few of the western also, there
came deputies.
1 6. Growth of Tolerance. — The progress thus
shown brought a sharp renewal of persecution, but it
did not last long, for which the Church was mainly
indebted to the rise in France of the sceptical spirit
Under the teaching of Voltaire religious indifference
had become fashionable, and in many cases absolute
unbelief prevailed. The Jesuits, who a little later were
expelled from the country, were fast losing their influ
ence, and with its wane religious intolerance gradually
disappeared. To the Protestant Church came at last
the much-needed rest, and in 1787, after nearly a century
of proscription, civil rights were restored to his Protestant

34 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
subjects by the edict of Louis XVI. Their religious
rights were still withheld, but the hour was fast approach-
ing when they too were to be secured.
17. The Revolution. — The year 1789 was an
eventful year for France. Then it was that the political
storm, which had been so long brewing, came to a head,
and before the mob of Paris, rising in their might the
Bastille went itura. Said Louis XVI. when the news
reached him, *This is a revolt." "Sire," was the
reply, "it is a Revolution." It was the opening act in
?he revolutionary outburst which then passed over France,
and, from France, affected the whole of Europe. Every
civilised nation felt its influence, but in no country were
the excesses which accompanied the movement so great
as in the country of its birth. In 1685 France had
sown the wind, and now she reaped the whirlwind. The
expulsion of her Protestant children from her shores, a
century before, had not only deprived her of a strong
bulwark against superstition and infidelity, but had also
in a great measure left her destitute of the industrious
and independent middle class, on whose existence ex
perience has shown a nation's welfare so much depends.
The Roman Catholic Church, which, so long as Protest
antism was a tolerated religion, had purged herself of many
evils and produced many great and good men, sank back
into her former corruption when her rival was over
thrown. Superstition spread, and in its train came
its Nemesis, Infidelity. In the first flush of triumph
the Revolutionary party contented itself with confiscating
all the property of the Roman Catholic Church, re
arranging the dioceses, and generally bringing the
Church under the management of the State. At this
period the Protestant Church profited so far as to
have all laws against Protestantism repealed. But the
moderation thus manifested by the National Assembly
changed rapidly into intemperance. The anti-religious
spirit increased, and in 1793 the Reign of Terror began.
Christian worship was forbidden throughout France,
and for sixteen months eveiy church, Roman Catholic

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE 35
and Protestant alike, was closed. In the Cathedral of
Notre Dame worship was paid to a profligate woman, clad
in classical costume, representing the Goddess of Reason.
France gloried in infidelity and revelled in blood. With
the fall of Robespierre the awful epoch ended, and re
ligion regained its rightful place. In 1795 'he churches
were reopened, and to the Protestant Church at last was
granted freedom of worship, never, it may well be hoped,
to be again withdrawn.
Third Period — The Church of the Present
18. The Church under Napoleon Bonaparte.
— In the closing year of the eighteenth century Napoleon
Bonaparte was made First Consul of France, when his
advent to power was the occasion of the Protestant
Church being placed on a firm, though not entirely
satisfactory, basis. Napoleon was professedly a Repub
lican, but in his tendencies he was as much of an
absolutist as had been any of the Kings of France, and
in settling the Constitution of the Reformed Church this
was abundantly shown. Information regarding the
doctrine and constitution of the Church was procured
by his Government, with a view to framing a suitable
enactment, but when the enactment was issued, on 8th
April 1802, it proved to differ considerably from the old
Presbyterian system. The Congregational Consistories
were abolished, as also the National Synods. The
congregations of the Church were then grouped anew
into what were termed Consistorial Churches, each group
comprising 6000 souls, while the council controlling
the group was known as the Consistory. It was the
old name, but it carried new duties, which approxi
mated the duties of the old Colloque. In the mode of
electing the members of the Consistory, however, the
greatest departure from the old ways was seen. In
addition to the ministers of those churches which went
to form the Consistorial Church, the Consistory included
from six to twelve elders who were to be chosen from

36 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
those citizens (members) who paid the highest taxes to
the State. Wealth in place of piety had become the
qualification for office ! Five of these Consistorial
Churches formed a Synod Circle, which was governed by
a Synod, composed of one minister and one elder from each
congregation, but which could meet only by permission
of the State and in the presence of a State functionary.
So many were the restrictions placed on this higher
council that, as v. matter of fact, no Synod met during
the Napoleonic rule. The Consistories were the only
councils held, and over them was placed the State
Minister of Culture. Thus separated from each other,
with no legal means of inter- communication except
through the State ministry, the Consistorial Churches
were debarred from taking mutual counsel and prevented
from entering on any common work. It was a repetition
of the old policy, divide et impera, and it worked : the
Reformed Church gave no trouble to the State. There
can be no doubt, however, as to the retarding effect the
policy had on the Church's own life. She accepted indeed
with gratitude the imperfect constitution offered her, and
settled down uncomplainingly to work. Half a loaf was
better than no bread. After a hundred years of wor
shipping in the desert under penalty of death, it was a
great thing to have freedom to worship God after her
own manner, and to receive a recognised place among
the institutions of the nation. But as time went on the
evil effects of the isolation of the Consistories began to
appear. The unity of belief and purpose which had
marked the Church in the Desert was gradually lost
through lack of intercourse, and divergences which ulti
mately led to division unconsciously gained in strength.
19- The Church's Growth. — Yet, though the seed
of future evil had been sown, the Church as a whole
prospered, and within five years from the issuing of the
enactment there were in France 78 Consistorial Churches
and 222 ministers. From time to time proposals were
made to remedy the Constitution, but not till 1848 did
they lead to action. Then the unrest and remodelling

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE 37
prevailing in State affairs made the time seem propitious
for improvements in the Church, and an unofficial but
very representative Synod accordingly met in Paris. Out
of 92 Consistorial Churches, 89 had sent their deputies,
and by this representative gathering a complete system
of Church Government on the old Presbyterian lines
was adopted. The four Church Courts were again
provided, though under slightly altered names — Church
Consistory, General Consistory, Provincial Syntd, and
General Synod. The prospect of obtaining State sanction
seemed hopeful, but dissensions among those submitting
the proposals caused them to be set aside. It was but
a postponement, not an abandonment Naturally the
State could not legislate for a Church divided against
herself. A secession had first to come.
20. The Secession of 1848 — and after. — On the
first mooting of the proposal to hold a Synod, some of
the more far-seeing ministers of the Church had spoken •
against it on the ground of the unripeness of the time.
"The result of the Assembly," said Mader of Strass-
burg, " will be not the organisation but the dis
organisation of the Church." He spoke truly, but
the disorganisation was a necessary step to organisation.
The Synod, by drawing together representatives from
all the districts, brought into prominence the great
divergences in doctrine and method which had been
both fostered and concealed by the isolation of the
Consistorial Churches. Hitherto friction had been pre
vented by isolation, but the proposal for closer union
at once gave importance to the points on which the
members differed. The main difference was the now
familiar one between the Old and New Schools of
theological thought. The older theology, which had
its headquarters at the Faculty of Montauban, where the
able Adolph Monod had taught, was represented in the
Synod by the earnest and enthusiastic Frederic Monod ;
while the newer theology, whose chief seat was Paris,
had for its leader the able and acute Coquerel. The
Evangelical party, under F. Monod, demanded that a

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

definite creed be formulated for the reconstituted Church,
but to a large majority it seemed that it would be
impossible in the circumstances to frame a creed
which would be acceptable to all, and the motion was
accordingly rejected. The result justified Maker's
prophecy. Frederic Monod, accompanied by several
others, left the Synod, and being joined by their own
and other congregations, formally seceded from the
Reformed Church, to constitute The Union of Evan
gelical Churches. In separating from the Reformed
Church they also severed all connection with the State,
surrendered their endowments, and established them
selves on a purely Voluntary basis. Since its commence
ment the Union has steadily increased in numbers, and
has been zealous in Christian work, though it has
remained a small body as compared with the parent
Church. In its Constitution it is a mixture of the
Presbyterian and Congregational systems, each congre
gation being independent in its management and work,
but responsible to the Union for sound doctrine and
wholesome discipline. What the Reformed Church lost
by the secession she gained in homogeneity, and, as one
result, three years after the abortive Synod had been
held, the reforms then proposed were finally sanctioned.
The property qualification for the eldership was abolished,
and the old Church councils, with the single exception
of the National Synod, were restored. In 1872 this
last link in the Presbyterian chain was granted by
Mons. Thiers, and the 30th National Synod assembled.
At the instance of Mons. Guizot a. short Confession of
Faith was then adopted as the Creed of the Church,
but not without opposition. One-third of the members
were against the proposal, and so keen and bitter was
the controversy that the permission to hold General
Synods with authority over the Church was withdrawn
by the Government. In their place unofficial Synods
now meet every third year, which possess no legislative
power, but are useful in maintaining the unity of the
Church.

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE 39
21. Present Prospects. — Speaking at the Pan-
Presbyterian Council of 1888, Pastor Bersier, the
famous preacher of Paris, described his Church in
proud but well -merited words: "I represent a great
Presbyterian Church — I may say the greatest, when I
think of what she has suffered for the cause of Christ
and human liberty. And though we are small now,
we may say that our poverty has been the riches of
many nations." No one will say him nay. The un
paralleled sufferings of this Church of the Cross, and the
wide diffusion of her influence through her exiled sons,
give her a position in the roll of Presbyterian Churches
far higher than her present membership would warrant.
That membership is small indeed when compared with
its former greatness, but when we remember what the
Huguenot spirit has done in the past, a Huguenot
Church with 400,000 members and adherents is not to be
despised. The ragged independence, unswerving faith,
and patient endurance which made the Church the Martyr
Church of Presbyterianism still lives and works for the
good of France. So competent and impartial an observer
of the France of to-day as the late Miss Betham-Edwards
bears cordial testimony in her writings to the higher
type of Christian and citizen the Reformed Church
produces, as compared with the Roman Catholic, and
augurs therefrom a fair and fruitful future. "It is
my firm belief," she writes, "that there is a great
future for Protestantism in France, were only some
Wesley to arise capable of leading the movement. But
it must be a Wesley largely imbued with nineteenth-
century ideas — an appeal to the taste as well as to the
feelings." God speed the needed prophet I

40 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER III
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS
ON 1st July 1523, the martyrdom at Brussels of two
Augustinian monks, for holding Lutheran opinions,
announced to the Christian world that the Reformation
had reached the Netherlands. The situation of the
country, bordering as it did on Germany and France,
where Reformed views were current, favoured the
entrance of the new Faith ; and, once there, the nature
of the people made its rapid diffusion a certainty. Alike
in education, free privileges, and independence of char
acter, the Dutch were in advance of most of their con
temporaries, and eagerly welcomed the new teaching
which fitted so well with their national characteristics.
From the Lutheran side the movement first came,
entering the country from the north, but soon a similar
impulse from the south was felt, Calvinistic in its origin
and teaching, which ultimately proved the stronger of
the two. Gradually the leaven spread through the
whole of the provinces, giving to the Reformed Faith of
the Netherlands the Calvinistic colour which has ever
since characterised it. But before the Church could be
built the cross had to be borne.
I. Persecutions. — For their head at this critical
period the Netherlands had no less a person than Charles
V., King of Spain, and Emperor of Germany, who to
these high dignities added the lesser title of Count
of Holland and the Netherlands. In him the Re
forming movement found a persistent enemy. Foiled
in his attempt to crush Lutheranism in Germany, where
his power had many limitations, he resolved that no
such failure should mark his operations in the Nether-

THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS 41
lands. The burning at Brussels of Henry Voes and John
Esck, the protomartyrs of the Reformation, gave a proof
of his zeal and a sample of his methods. To heresy the
death-penalty was attached, and when in 1534 there took
place among the Anabaptists, who were at that period
numerous in the Netherlands, an outbreak, characterised
by gross excesses, advantage was taken of the opportunity
to increase the severity of the measures against all Pro
testants. The Inquisition with its barbarous methods
was introduced, and in 1 5 5° was promulgated one
of the most infamous edicts that has ever stained the
statute-book of a Christian country. For a layman to
possess a Protestant book, to read the Scriptures in
private, to converse concerning the Scriptures either
publicly or privately, to lodge or help in any way persons
suspected of such heresy, meant death, and a terrible
death too — "the men with the sword and the women
to be buried alive, if they do not persist in their errors ;
if they do persist in them they are to be executed with
fire ; all their property in both cases being confiscated
to the crown." These awful provisions were literally
carried out Thirty thousand men and women perished,
meeting death with a heroism unsurpassed. In 1555
Charles V. abdicated in favour of his son Philip II.,
but the change of rulers brought no relief to the
Protestants. 2. Presbyterian Beginnings. — In the meantime,
despite persecutions, the Reformed views made such head
way that a definite creed and constitution for the Church
were felt to be required. The Southern or Walloon
Provinces, where the movement was strongest, were
markedly Calvinistic in their sympathies, and these were
now reflected in the formal declaration of Creed and Con
stitution which they adopted. In 1559, Guido de Br'es,
a Walloon preacher, who had received his training partly
in England and partly in Geneva, drew up a Calvinistic
Confession of Faith, closely modelled on the French Con
fession of the same year, which, as revised by Francis
Junius under the title " Confessio Belgica," was subse

43 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
quently adopted as the Confession of the Dutch Church.
Four years later (1563) a thoroughly Presbyterian Con
stitution for the Church was adopted by a Synod held
in Antwerp, at which representatives were present from
most of the Protestant communities of the south. It was
a work of faith, which bore fruit in after years, but not,
strange to say, in the provinces where it originated.
Under the continued pressure of persecution these pro
vinces relapsed into Romanism, while the Creed and
Constitution they had framed found a permanent home
in the provinces of the north.
3. Protestantism becomes the National Cause.
— The continued progress of Protestantism led Philip to
try measures of repression, which had a very important
result on both Church and State. In addition to repro-
claiming the Edict of 1550, and mercilessly enforcing it
by the aid of the Inquisition, he increased the Roman
Catholic bishoprics from four to fourteen, maintained in
the country a large body of Spanish troops, and in many
ways interfered with the statutory liberties of the people.
The Dutch became alarmed. They saw their provinces
the prey of the foreigner, and felt their old freedom and
hereditary privileges fast slipping away. A national
impatience of the Spanish suzerainty rapidly developed,
when it was seen that civil liberties as well as religious
were in danger. Protestantism became identified with
patriotism, and the cause of the Protestant Church, from
being that of a party, was recognised as the interest of the
nation. To this fusion of the civil and religious interests
of the country may be ascribed the ultimate victory of
the Reformed Church in the Netherlands. The first
sign of resistance was the formation of a league by some
five hundred of the younger and more reckless of the
nobles and burghers. Binding themselves together by
an oath or compromise to resist the Spanish tyranny,
they approached the Regent, the Duchess of Parma, with
the request that the Inquisition should be abolished and
the Edicts recalled. The Regent was alarmed, and,
promising that the request would be considered, relaxed

THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS 43
the harsher measures until instructions could be received
from Spain. Then, as if by magic, the Protestant feeling
burst into flame. Crowded religious assemblies were
held throughout the provinces, under the open sky, when
sometimes as many as 20,000 men, women, and children
assembled to hear the Presbyterian preachers. At first the
meetings were held with due order and decorum, but soon
the enthusiasm bred a fanatical excitement, which passed
beyond the control of the ministers. A storm of icono-
clasm swept over the country, and in the sacking of four
hundred Roman Catholic churches, including the grand
Antwerp Cathedral, the Protestant mob gratified their
hatred of the system which had worked such cruelties in
their land. Ministers and nobles tried to stay the fury
but in vain. The passion was too deep ; and though
the work of destruction is to be sadly deplored, it is
scarcely to be wondered at What is wonderful is that,
in these days of excitement, blood was not claimed in
return for the blood of friends and kinsmen which had
been so freely shed.
4. War to the Knife. — Tidings of the outbreak
were swiftly carried to Philip, and in order to crush the
revolt he despatched to the scene the dreaded Duke of
Alva with 10,000 troops (1567). Alva's measures were
of the most ruthless and despotic nature. One merit
alone he had — absolute fidelity to his master, but this
Only served to increase the severity of his measures.
Suspending the ordinary courts of justice, he formed a
Council of Disturbances, which, by its gruesome sen
tences, soon earned for itself the name by which it is
best remembered, The Council of Blood. The most trivial
causes were enough to warrant a conviction, the mere
suspicion of Protestant leanings causing death. Within
three months 1800 Protestants were executed. The
Church organisation just forming was broken up, the
pastors slain or forced to flee, and the whole country
thrown into a panic of terror.
5. William, Prince of Orange. — At this juncture
there came to the front the man who was to be the saviour

44 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
of his country, William, Prince of Orange. One of the
leading nobles of the Netherlands, he had until now
been a Roman Catholic in religion, and in politics a
loyal supporter of the King, but the continued deceit and
cruelty shown by the Spanish power towards his country
now led him to alter both his faith and his allegiance
(1568). His espousal of the national cause marked the
beginning of the real struggle, as it made apparent to
Philip that he had now to contend with the whole of the
patriotism of the Netherlands. Freedom as well as faith
was at stake. There is no more deeply interesting epoch
in secular history than the desperate and protracted
straggle which then ensued. Against the mighty power
of Spain, then regarded as the first nation in Europe,
the brave and sturdy Dutchmen contended, with a courage
and resolution which no reverses could overcome. Often
defeated, they never despaired, and when, as frequently
happened, towns were captured and given over to the
Spanish troops for sack and outrage, the survivors set
themselves the more determinedly to cast out the oppres
sors. The Relief of Leyden (3rd October 1574), after
a five months' siege, during which the citizens endured
excessive privations, marked the turn of the tide. In
vain did Philip send leader after leader to stem the flow.
Alva's cruelty, Requescens's honourable warfare, Don
John of Austria's able diplomacy, and the Prince of
Parma's urbanity and tact, alike failed to overcome the
stem patriotism of the Dutch and the watchful prudence
of Orange. The southern provinces were indeed won
over to the Roman Church, and remain strongly Romanist
to this day, but the more rugged men of the north stood
firm. In 1579, by the Treaty of Utrecht, the seven
northern provinces formed the Union which was the
beginning of the Dutch Republic, and elected William,
Prince of Orange, to be their Stadtholder.
6. Settlement of the Church. — The victory of
the State meant also the triumph of the Protestant
Church, but her triumph revealed the existence of opposing
interests and diverse views, which, during the struggle,

THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS 45
had not been visible. So long as war was raging through
the land, organised Church life had been an impossibility.
The Church organisation, which had begun so promisingly
in the south, had been shattered by Alva's iron strokes.
Yet it was not destroyed. The pastors and'many of the
people, who sought safety in flight across the eastern
and northern border, maintained their Presbyterianism
in exile. They lived in the hope that better days would
come, when they might restore a Presbyterian Church to
their afflicted country ; and with this expectation a con
ference of refugees, at the transfrontier town of Emden,
had framed in 157 1 a series of articles emphasising afresh
the Calvinistic character of the Church. Amongst other
positions thus laid down was the favourite Calvinistic
one as to the relations of Church and State in a Protest
ant land — honourable allies, independent in their own
spheres, but lending each other a helping hand where
such help was needed. It was an easy matter for a
body of Calvinistic divines in exile to pass resolutions of
so churchly a tone, but whether a Protestant State would
accept them had yet to be seen. It was soon tested.
In 1572 Holland and Zealand, the two seaboard
provinces, had virtually proclaimed their independence
by declaring Orange to be their lawful Stadtholder, and
at once the banished Protestants began to return, and
Protestant worship to be observed. Two years later
(1574) the first Provincial Synod of the Dutch Church
met at Dortrecht to arrange the Constitution, and
adopted with some modifications the Emden Articles as
embodying the views of the Church. But on presenting
the resolutions to the Stadtholder and his Council, it
was found that the views of the State were different
The Church had made her first move, and had been
checked. 7. Church versus State. — The check brought to
the front the composite character of the Protestant
movement Calvinism had triumphed so far as the
majority of ministers were concerned, but not from
Calvinism alone had the provinces received their Pro-

46 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
testantism. Lutheranism and Zwinglianism had contri
buted no inconsiderable share, and now, in the settlement
of the Church, Lutheran and Zwinglian views of the
relations of Church and State came into prominence.
The independence of the Church from civil control, as
advocated by the Calvinists, did not commend itself to
the new Government. More consonant to its tastes was
the Zwinglian view, which, holding that the State was
itself a religious community, with the Church as its
organ, gave the State supreme control in Church affairs.
Of this mind too was Orange. Though in matters of
doctrine he was a thorough Calvinist, he dreaded the
effect of granting uncontrolled freedom to the Church,
even if only in things spiritual. " Toleration " was one
of the watchwords of his life, and this he thought could
best be secured by the State retaining the supremacy in
its own hands. In a proposed constitution which he
submitted for consideration (1576), in place of the
discarded proposals of the Church, he showed how he
thought his object might be best attained. Presbyterian
offices and constitution were provided as being admittedly
most in consonance with Scriptural precedent ; but in the
nominations to the offices and in the control of the
constitution the hand of the State was to be felt at
every point. The project was still-born. As the State
had refused the Church's plan, so now the Church would
have none of the State's. A like fate awaited a scheme
propounded by the second Synod at Dortrechl (1578),
the first National Synod of the Dutch Church, when the
churchly note was again too pronounced for the State's
acceptance. So also was it with a third proposal, from
the National Synod at Middelbttrg (1581). Neither
Church nor State would yield. Said the magistrates of
Leyden, where the feeling against the independence of
the Church was very strong, "If we accept everything
resolved on by the Synods, we shall in the end become
the Synods' vassals. We will not open to the Church
men our gates and doors for a new mastership over
magistrates and subjects, wife and child." The Union

THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS 47
of the seven provinces had raised great hopes of the
foundation of a really National Church, but against their
realisation worked these opposing views of the civil and
ecclesiastical authorities. The independence of each
province in religious affairs, which had been fixed by the
Treaty of Utrecht, also tended in the same direction —
the diversity of the religious elements in the various
provinces making an organic union impossible. In the
end the problem was solved by the establishment of a
Provincial Church in each province, all being Presby
terian and allied to each other by a common creed and
constitution, but no provision was made for a supreme
Church authority, or Assembly ruling over all. A Pro
vincial Synod formed the controlling court of each Church,
its membership consisting of representatives from the
various Classes (a combination of the Scottish Presbytery
and Kirk-Session) throughout the province. Over all
the civil power was dominant
8. The Universities. — The settlement of Church
affairs was followed by a marvellous outburst of in
tellectual and theological activity. The war with Spain
still went on — nor did it end till 1609 — but its lingering
course did not interfere with the Church's work. And
it was a pressing work which lay to its hand, none other
than the further systematising and developing of Pro
testant theology on the lines laid down by Calvin. For
this work the Dutch Church was better equipped than
any other of the Presbyterian Churches then existing,
for none were so richly endowed with seats of learning,
manned and controlled by Protestants. At Leyden, in
gratitude to God for the great deliverance, a University had
Deen established in 1 575. Franecker had followed suit in
1585, and before the first half of the seventeenth century
had passed, three other Universities destined to be famous
had sprung into existence* — Groningen, Utrecht, and
Harderwyk. The theological and intellectual ardour
to which the Universities owed their origin was greatly
increased through their influence. The Netherlands
became the chief theological school of the Reformed

48 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Churches, and formed the arena where two of the
hottest controversies were waged which have ever
agitated Protestantism, and which had the effect of fixing
the creed of the Presbyterian Churches for many
generations. 9. The Arminian Controversy. — First in time
and also in importance was the great Arminian Contro
versy, which in its essence was a revolt of the human
heart against the sterner aspects of the Calvinistic Creed.
Twelve centuries before, a similar revolt had been
raised by the Scottish monk Pelagius, when it was
crushed by the great Augustine ; and often since then
have like controversies agitated the Church. They
come of necessity whenever the high mysteries of the
Divine nature and methods, as declared in Scripture,
seem to run counter to the deep feelings of the human
heart. The theology of the heart then rebels against
the declared theology of the Written Word. Such was
the case in the Netherlands in the early years of the
seventeenth century. James Arminius, a professor in
the University of Leyden in 1603, started the con
troversy by denying the Calvinistic doctrine of Un
conditional Election, and asserting that election was
conditional on God's foreknowledge. Soon followed
similar modifications on other points. Against the high
Calvinist position that Christ died for the elect only,
Arminius urged that Christ died for all; and inasmuch
as the doctrine of the irresistibleness of the Spirit's in
fluence seemed to deny the freedom of the human will,
he denied the doctrine. Opposing Arminius was
Gomarus, a brother professor of strict Calvinistic views.
The conflict rapidly spread beyond the walls of Leyden,
and affected &e whole Church. In the streets and
market-places, in the cottar's house and the Stadt-
holder's palace, sides were taken and keen argument
held on the deep theological points at issue.
But the controversy was complicated by the existence
of other factors than the theological. On the question
. of Church Government the Calvinists declared strongly

THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS 49
for spiritual independence, while the Arminians ad
vocated the Zwinglian method of subordination to the
State. Political differences also largely influenced the
course of the controversy. Maurice the Stadtholder
was suspected at the time of aiming at a more complete
supremacy over the United Provinces, and when he found
the majority of the states of Holland which had republican
views joining the Arminians, he declared for the opposite
party. Thus fanned from three directions, the con
troversial fire soon assumed proportions dangerous to both
Church and State. Arminius died in 1609, but the
conflict ceased not In 16 10 his party presented a
Remonstrance to the Estates of Holland and East
Friesland, when they were supported in their prayer by
the eminent statesman Johan van Olden Barneveldt and
the great theologian Grotius. Disruptions in the Church
at Rotterdam and Amsterdam were additional omens of
the probable result of the conflict, unless steps were
immediately taken to end it. Accordingly the States-
General decided to call a General Synod of the Church
to determine the points at issue.
10. The Synod of Dort. — The Synod which met
at Dort (or Dortrecht) in 1618 was the first and only
instance of an CEcumenical Council of the Reformed
Churches. The Churches of the seven provinces were
of course most largely represented, but in addition there
were twenty-eight foreign deputies, many of whom were
from Germany, several from England (best known being
Davenant, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury), and one,
Walter Balcanquhal, from Scotland. At an early stage
of the proceedings, the Arminian party were ruled out of
the house in consequence of their refusing to agree to the
rules of debate, and after a session of 154 meetings, the
five cardinal points of the Arminian teaching were
condemned as heretical, and the Calvinistic Creed
adopted as the Creed of the Church. With an un
pardonable severity, which is explainable mainly on
political grounds, the Arminian ministers were sent into
exile, and their leaders, Grotius and Olden Barneveldt,

SO THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
seized and imprisoned. Through his wife's devotion
Grotius escaped, but the statesman, less fortunate, was
sent to the block.
On the death of Maurice the sentence of exile against
the Arminians was revoked, and the banished ministers
returned to their country, with liberty to preach and teach
as they pleased. From this resulted The Remonstrant
Church, whose history may perhaps be regarded as
partially justifying the action of the synod of Dort.
Learned scholars and able theologians this dissenting
church has had, amongst them being Episcopius, Lim-
borch, and Wettstein, and through their influence the
theological views for which the Church contended have
spread widely, and have affected the teaching of churches
avowedly Calvinistic. But the Remonstrant Church as
an organisation has not grown. To-day her members
number only 5000.
11. The Cocceian Controversy. — The Cocceian
Controversy of the middle of the seventeenth century
marked a step forward. Commencing as an endeavour
on the part of the more cautious Churchmen to prevent
the diffusion of the Cartesian philosophy in the Nether
lands, it proved in the end to be a formidable struggle
between conservative and progressive theology. Protest
antism was fast building up a traditional theology, and
the Church was in danger of falling into the grip of a
new scholasticism not unlike the old, when against this
tendency there protested John Cocceius, professor at
Franecker, an able theologian and an accomplished
Biblical critic His contention was for a Biblical The
ology as opposed to any traditional or scholastic methods.
" Interpret the Bible by the Bible," was his maxim,
and in following this method he found lying at the base
of God's dealings with men two Covenants or agreements
— one of Works, the other of Grace, made with Adam
and Christ respectively as the representative heads of the
human race. The Federal or Covenant system of the
ology thus formulated met with keen opposition rrom
the older school of the period, led by Gysbert Voetius.

THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS 51
But time was on its side ; already it was the recognised
system of the English Puritans and the Westminster
confession, and before the end of the century it had
practically become the recognised theology of all Presby
terian Churches.
12. Presbyterian Refugees. — While the Nether
lands were, through much controversy, evolving what was
to be the ruling theology of Presbyterianism, they also
by their hospitality did much to preserve a Presbyterian
Church for other lands, and notably for Scotland. For
the Scottish Presbyterians the seventeenth century was
one of intermittent persecution, and of those who were
forced to flee for their lives the majority sought and
found a safe refuge in the Netherlands. In the days of
the Covenant the Dutch Universities formed the training
school of the young Scots ministers, and among those so
trained were not a few whose names were afterwards
famous. In Middelburg, Leyden, Campvere, and Rotter
dam were flourishing Scots congregations, which were
recognised and generously helped by the States-General.
The consequence of this enforced residence in the
Netherlands of many of the Scots ministers at a time of
great theological activity have been far-reaching. The
Dutch theology then assimilated, passing over to Scotland,
has through the Scottish medium influenced the many
Presbyterian Churches which own the Church of Scotland
as their mother.
Nor was this the only way in which the Dutch
Church helped to extend Presbyterianism. It was the
century of Dutch Colonial expansion, and wherever the
Dutch flag went, the Dutch Church was planted. Of
this zeal Presbyterian Churches in Ceylon, South Africa,
and America are the present-day result.
13. Modifications in the Constitution.— The
Constitution of the Church, which had been the result of
the Treaty of Utrecht, continued with little modification
until the end of the eighteenth century. What modifica
tions there were aimed at securing more thorough minis
terial supervision. This problem, which has frequently

S» THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
exercised Presbyterian Churches, was solved in the
Dutch Church by each Classis deputing two or three
ministers to visit annually every congregation within
its bounds and report on the efficiency of the work.
Otherwise the Presbyterian system remained unchanged.
But with the end of the eighteenth century began the
epoch of State constitution-mongering, which tried the
Netherlands more than most European countries. From
I795> when the "Batavian Republic" entered on its
short life, to 1813, when the House of Orange was
restored to power, the Church shared in the prevailing
disorganisation. Order then returned, and in 1816
the Church Constitution, which in its main features
still continues, was adopted. It was Presbyterian with
a completeness never before attained, inasmuch as the
conciliar system was now completed by a National
Synod. The State supremacy, however, continued to
be maintained, by the reservation in the King's hands
of large powers in the nominations to the higher councils.
In 1827 the royal prerogative was again asserted, when
the system was adopted of appointing a Permanent
Commission of seven members of the National Synod.
The Synod named fourteen, from whom the King
chose the seven. Twenty-five years later (1852) came
another change, and, up to the present, the final one.
Influenced by the example of the neighbouring countries
of France, Belgium, and, to a certain extent, Germany,
the Government of the Netherlands then adopted the
principle of concurrent Endowment of all denominations,
and withdrew all claim to control over the National
Church. From that time, save for the endowments,
Church and State have lived apart.
14- Rationalism in the Netherlands. — Through
out the present century the Dutch Church has been
troubled more than most Presbyterian Churches with
the prevalence of Rationalism, a result of the greater
freedom in doctrinal matters which she has possessed
since the century began. In 181 6 the first sign of
coming laxness was given by the Synod sanctioning

THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS 53
a modified Creed subscription. " Adherence to the
standards of the Church was then required no longer
quia (because) but quatenus (as far as) they conformed
with Holy Writ" The door being thus opened, advanced
rationalistic views became common, until in 1834 a re
actionary movement set in, headed by Henry de Cock,
which culminated in 1837 in the secession of the more
orthodox pastors. Beginning with 30 congregations,
this Christian Reformed Church has now increased to
303, with 70,000 members. But the National Church
held on its course, and in 1853 the Synod declared that
from its ministers only an agreement with "the spirit and
essence " of the standards was required — the Confessio
Belgica, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of Dort.
From this time divergences in Dutch theology have
been very marked, especially since 1876, when, by the
removal of the Theological Faculties from the Univer
sities, the teaching of dogmatic and practical theology
fell into the Church's own hands. In consequence
mainly of these theological differences a second secession
of the more orthodox Calvinists took place in 1886,
who, after a few years, united with the Christian Re
formed Church. Upon the National Church these
secessions have had a decidedly weakening effect, the
number of aspirants to her ministry being so much
reduced that in recent years one-third of her charges
were reported vacant But there are now signs of a
change for the better, and in a large increase of
theological students as well as in the growth of more
orthodox views in the ministry, there is the promise of
a fairer future.

54 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER IV
MINOR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES (CONTINENTAL)
OF the Continental Presbyterian Churches the French
and Dutch have an acknowledged historical pre
eminence, derived not only from the stirring incidents
which have attended their progress, but also from the
important part they have played in the wider develop
ment of the Presbyterian system. But besides these
Churches there are others which are also Presbyterian
in their government and Calvinistic in their creed, and
whose past is likewise full of heroic faith and protracted
suffering. Political complications, however, in some
cases, geographical position and relentless persecution
in others, have resulted in their isolation from the full
stream of the Presbyterian life of Western Europe, and
only since the formation of the General Presbyterian
Alliance have they taken their place in the Catholic Pres
byterian Church. A convenient classification of these
less-known Churches is a threefold one — A. Approxi
mately Presbyterian Churches, as the National Evan
gelical Church of Germany ; B. Presbyterian Survivals,
as the Churches of Bohemia, Hungary, and French
Switzerland ; C. Nascent Presbyterianism, as represented
in Italy, Spain, Belgium, and elsewhere.
A. Churches approximately Presbyterian
The National Evangelical Church of Germany
The National Evangelical Church of Germany cannot
be reckoned as purely Presbyterian any more than
purely Lutheran, but so strong are certain Presbyterian

APPROXIMATELY PRESBYTERIAN 55
elements in her life and constitution that a brief reference
to them is necessary. They are a heritage of the decree
of the Diet of Augsburg (1555), which gave to every
German prince the liberty of introducing and enforcing
throughout his territory whatever form of Church he
pleased — " Cujus regio, ejus reUgio" — a decree tolerant
to the rulers but intolerant to the ruled, and the fruitful
cause of divisions in German Protestantism.
1. Introduction of Presbyterianism to the
Palatinate. — In 1559 Frederick III. succeeded to the
rule of the Palatinate, and as an enthusiastic Calvinist did
his utmost to induce his subjects to adopt his views. In
the Upper Palatinate he failed, but in the Lower or
Rhine Palatinate better fortune attended him, although
his methods were not such as can be commended. In
the University of Heidelberg Lutheran professors were
got rid of, and Calvinistic theologians were brought from
Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands to take their
place. Similar measures were adopted in many of the
more important charges, with the result that in a few
years the whole of the Palatinate was a Calvinistic pro
vince, and up to a certain point its Church was Presby
terian. That it was not wholly so was due to Frederick's
reluctance to allow the real direction of Church affairs
to pass out of his own hands — a reluctance which was
universal among continental princes. But so far as the
Church had power to move, she did so on Presbyterian
lines, an enduring evidence of this being The Heidelberg
Catechism, which was composed for local use in 1563
by two of Frederick's Calvinistic professors, Olevianus
and Ursinus, but was speedily recognised by all the
Presbyterian Churches of Europe as a masterly com
pendium of their beliefs. By its softening of the harsher
Calvinistic views on predestination and other points, and
by the general moderation of its tone, it won its way to
the place it still hold's as one of the historic creeds of
Presbyterianism. 2. Presbyterianism in the Duchies of the
Lower Rhine. — A very different cause led to the plant-

S6 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
ing of Presbyterianism in the duchies to the immediate
north of the Palatinate — not patronage but persecution.
In 1545 the cruel measures of Charles V. drove numbers
of his Walloon subjects to seek refuge in the town of
Wesel in the duchy of Cleves. Ten years later " Bloody "
Mary's deeds in England and the growing hostility to the
Huguenots in France forced many English and French
Protestants to flee to the same haven; and when, in
1567, Alva's reign of terror began in the Netherlands,
thousands of Dutchmen fled across the Rhine to the
hospitable duchies. With so many Presbyterian refugees
in the country the ecclesiastical aspect of affairs in Cleves
underwent a change. The Lutheran theology yielded
to the Calvinistic, and a modified Presbyterianism took
the place of the Consistorial Church government. Join
ing hands with the Presbyterians of the Palatinate, these
brethren of the persecuted churches now held Synods,
and sought to improve the opportunity. Of these the
most notable was the Synod of Emden, held in 1 57 1,
under the presidency of Caspar von der Heyden. It
was a representative gathering of exiles from churches of
many lands, and for the guidance of these churches it
framed the Emden Articles — a series of articles closely
following the French Confession of Faith, and embodying
a complete scheme of Presbyterian Church government.
3- Later Course of Presbyterianism. — The
Presbyterianism then introduced has continued ever since
to be the dominant feature of the ecclesiastical life of
Western Germany, though, owing to the persistence
with which the civil authorities have maintained their
supremacy, it has never attained its full development.
A new period was begun when, in 18 15, those
" Presbyterian " provinces where the " Reformed "
Church prevailed, as contrasted with the "Lutheran,"
fell to Prussia. The Tercentenary of the Reformation
(181 7) appeared to Frederick William II. a favourable
opportunity for uniting the two great Protestant Churches
in his dominions, and accordingly there arose The
National Evangelical Church of Prussia. It was the

PRESBYTERIAN SURVIVALS

outcome of a compromise, in which Prussia's lead was
followed by most of the German States. Each Church
was suffered to retain her own standards and walk after
her own ways. Elders, Presbyteries, and Synods con
tinued prominent in the Reformed branch, while Con
sistories prevailed in the Lutheran. Many modifications
have had to be made since then, and the stricter ad
herents on each side have found it necessary to secede.
In the United Church herself Lutheran theology and forms
of service have affected the Reformed section to such
an extent that a Reformirte Bund has sprung into
existence to check the tendency, but in the Constitu
tional developments the gain has been the other way.
The Presbyterian form of government has almost
entirely ousted the Consistorial, and, though still in an
" arrested " condition, — as the secular power remains
the supreme authority in the Church, — the full develop
ment is not doubtful, when in the coming days the
"arrest" shall have been removed.
B. Presbyterian Survivals
I. Bohemia
I. Origin. — In the land of Huss and Jerome Presby
terianism of a modified type had found a home half a
century before Calvin ruled in Geneva. So early as the
middle of the fifteenth century the jealousies and wars
of the two sections of the Hussites had led to the forma
tion of a third Reformed community, whose members
shrank in horror from the interaecine strife, took the
Bible as their only guide, and became noted for their
lives of simple piety. These were the Unitas Fratrum,
or Brethren in Unity, who formed the seed of future
Bohemian Protestantism. As befitted a movement which
was largely of the laity, the lay element, when growth
necessitated organisation, maintained its position ; and in
the constitution adopted in 1496 Elders and Deacons
were prominent Practically it was a Presbyterian

58 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Church, — but with one peculiarity. As its highest office
bearer in each synodal district it had * Bishop, elected
by the pastors, to which functionary, in conjunction with
two or three co-Bishops, was committed the oversight of
the Church. So rapidly did the brotherhood increase
that we read of a Synod in 1557 being attended by 200
pastors, besides many laity of the nobility and other
classes. It had become the true National Church of
Bohemia. With the uprising of the Reformation in
Western Europe this pre- Reformation Protestant Church
came more into prominence, and, recognising its close
affinity with the Genevan Church, sent warm salutations
to Calvin, by whom they were cordially reciprocated.
2. Persecutions. — In 16 19 Bohemia came under
the sway of the Emperor Ferdinand II., a keen
Romanist. Knowing what fate lay before them, the
nobility attempted to evade it by inviting to the throne
Frederick, the Elector-Palatine and son-in-law of the
English Protestant monarch, James I. Frederick
accepted the invitation and took the field, but the
cautious father-in-law sent no help, and on the White
Hill, near Prague, the insurrection was completely
crushed by the imperial troops. Opposition had sharp
ened the Emperor's desire to root out all heresy, and
with the Jesuits at his elbow to urge him on, he now
inaugurated a course of bitter and prolonged persecution,
whose brutalities were worthy of Alva. Into the silver
mines of Kuttenberg 4000 Protestants were thrown
headlong in a single year ; at Prague 25 of the
noblest in the land were executed ; and throughout
the country Protestant men, women, and children were
the sport of a lewd and brutal soldiery. In his aim
the Emperor was completely successful. Protestantism
to all outward appearance was extirpated. In other
lands a safe refuge and a ready welcome were accorded
to the refugees who were fortunate enough to escape.
John Amos Comenius, the famous educationist, who was
at the time the senior Bishop of the Church, found a
haven in the Netherlands ; and still better known to

PRESBYTERIAN SURVIVALS 59
fame, though nameless, is the company of fugitives who
took refuge at Hennesdorf, in Saxony, and later on at
Herrnhut, where they laid the foundation of the most
devoted Missionary Society the world possesses. But
in Bohemia the Church was not ; and for nigh two
centuries the iron hand of persecution prevented any
resurrection. 3. Toleration. — In the end of last century came the
first opportunity of renewed life. Joseph II., a humane
and enlightened monarch, became Emperor of Austria,
and in 178 1 issued an Edict of Toleration. For
political reasons the old National Church of the Brethren
was not permitted to reappear, but to Protestantism,
either of the Reformed or the Lutheran type, there was
granted toleration. The effect was a wonderful revela
tion of the extent to which a hidden Protestantism had
survived. Over seventy congregations in Bohemia and
Moravia sprang into existence ; Hungary supplied the
needed pastors, and the land of Huss had again a
Reformed Church. A period of rapid development
seemed to be opening, when the Emperor died and was
followed by a reactionary successor. The life which
had been granted to the Protestant Church became a
bare existence, with every opportunity of expansion
rigorously cut off. No intercourse was permitted with
the Protestant Churches of the outside world ; Protestant
books and Bibles were stopped at the frontier ; pro
fessedly National but really Romanist schools were
entrusted with the education of all children ; and a
Romanist occupied the chair in the Ecclesiastical State
Council which had the oversight of the Protestant
Church. From this cramping environment the Church
escaped in 1 86 1, when a more liberal constitution was
granted, which has resulted in greater prosperity. To
wards the support of the ministry the State gives a
small yearly grant of £1500, but refuses what would
be more valuable, a Presbyterian Constitution for the
government of the Church. Over synods and superin
tendents still rules the Ecclesiastical Council. The

6o THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Church to-day, together with the sister Church of
Moravia, numbers only 66,000 members, but her heroic
struggles in the past, and her resolute Educational
and Home Mission work in the present, give good
grounds for hoping that, when the growing liberal
tendencies of Austro- Hungary have advanced a little
further, the Church too will advance, and that most
rapidly. She is in touch with the national spirit.
II. Hungary
I. Origin. — Somewhat similar in its course, but
more fortunate in its issue, has been the history of
Presbyterianism in Hungary. As in Bohemia so here
Lutheranism was first in the field, but Calvinism proved
more enduring. At Erdbd in 1545 a synod of the
Protestants adopted the Augsburg Confession, thereby
declaring themselves Lutherans ; but five years later the
writings of the Genevan Reformers became known, and
so cordial was the reception given, that in 1567, at the
Synod of Debreczen, the Second Helvetic Confession and
the Heidelberg Catechism were accepted as the standards
of the Church. To these standards, through good
report and ill, the Reformed Church of Hungary has
ever since steadfastly adhered. Political changes which
so nullified the Reformation in Bohemia had the con
trary effect in Hungary. The middle of the sixteenth
century witnessed the partition of the ancient Hungarian
kingdom into two parts, Hungary proper and Transyl
vania, when the latter had the good fortune to fall
under the rule of Reformed, or at least tolerant, princes.
For the Protestant Church it was a crowning mercy, as
Debreczen became, under the mild rule, a fruitful centre
of religious life affecting the whole kingdom. A check
was given to the progress in 1602 by the invasion of
Rudolf, the King of Hungary, who subdued Transyl
vania and began to prosecute the Protestants ; but the
check was only temporary. His harsh measures pro
voked a revolt under the brave leader Stephen Bocskay, a

PRESBYTERIAN SURVIVALS 61
Protestant noble, which was completely successful ; and
in 1606, by the treaty of Vienna, the independence of
Transylvania was acknowledged. The victory gave
seventy more years of peace and prosperity to the
Reformed Church, allowing her to fix her roots deep in
the life of the people before the day of her greatest trial
should dawn.
2. Persecutions. — That day dawned in 1677, when
Leopold I. of Hungary commenced a determined
persecution of his Protestant subjects. The pastors
were commanded to embrace Romanism, and, on their
refusal, imprisonment, exile, the galleys, and in some
instances death, were the penalties meted out. In the
trials of the Hungarian Church the church of Transyl
vania shared, the principality having lost its independ
ence during Leopold's reign. Often without pastors,
deprived of many of their churches, and refused tolera
tion for their creed, the Protestants spent a century of
bitter humiliation, which was at last ended with the
issue of the Edict of Toleration of Joseph II. (1 78 1).
From that day of rejoicing the Hungarian Church re
sumed her onward march. Many difficulties and much
irritating opposition she has had to contend against, but
the independent position of Hungary in the Austro-
Hungarian Union has rendered her progress less hard
than would otherwise have been the case. Nor will any
help be undeserved which the Hungarians may bestow
upon the Church. As a sagacious and not ultra-Protestant
writer has recently said, " The Protestant Church was the
means of keeping alive their national aspirations, the
outcome of the traditions of the past, and leavening
these with dreams of moral and material progress and
spiritual liberty. The spirit of Protestantism is the
source of the magnetic power which is enabling Hungary
to realise her national dreams. For, at the present time,
hemmed in by Catholicism on all sides, the intellectual
backbone of the country, the small nobility, is Protest
ant, and that of a Calvinistic type " (Realm of the Haps-
burgs).

6b THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
3. Present Condition. — Until quite recently the
territorial divisions of former centuries were perpetuated
in the Church, its 2000 congregations and 200,000
members being divided amongst five provincial churches ;
but since 1 881, when a great National Synod met at
Debreczen, the walls of separation have been broken
down, and Hungarian Presbyterianism provided with a
unity it previously lacked. Through its long isolation
from other Presbyterian Churches, the Hungarian Church
was free to develop on lines of its own choosing, and in
one respect the development has been unique. Over
each Tractus (Church-county or Presbytery) is placed a
dual presidency, a Senior elected from the ministers
and a Coadjutor Curator chosen from the elders ; while
in like manner the oversight of each of the five provinces
is entrusted to a clerical Superintendent, along with a lay
Curator from the eldership. Presbyterian parity is thus
emphasised, while Episcopal superintendence is secured.
In its work the Hungarian Church has been noted above
all for its educational zeal. By the side of every parish
church was planted from the beginning a parish school,
to ensure the Protestant training of the children, an im
portant point in Roman Catholic lands. High schools
and colleges completed the system, and, save during the
time of the persecutions, these have been sedulously
maintained. Their support and prosperity continues to
be one of the main cares of the Church, more especially
since the establishment of " confessionless " but really
Romanist schools by the State has thrown the burden of
supporting the Reformed schools entirely on the shoulders
of the Church. A staff of 5000 teachers and an attend
ance of 300,000 pupils show how well the duty is
performed. In its care for the young lies the best
assurance of the future prosperity of Hungarian Presby
terianism. III. Switzerland
Among Presbyterian survivals, by a strange irony of
fate, have to be classified the Presbyterian Churches of

PRESBYTERIAN SURVIVALS 63
Switzerland The honour paid to the great prophet of
Geneva by the country of his adoption has been pitiably
small, as compared with that accorded him by the great
world outside. For this strange result the Cantonal
system of Switzerland is mainly to blame. Under that
system each canton had the choosing of its own ecclesias
tical policy, and when the choice was originally made
all but three of the Protestant cantons gave their
voice for the methods of Zwingli. The three faithful
were those of French Switzerland — Geneva, Vaud, and
Neuchatel. For a hundred and fifty years after the
first reforming outburst these three churches slumbered
peacefully, troubling not the outer world and by it
untroubled. In communicating the impulse to the
Reformed Churches of Europe, Switzerland seemed to
have exhausted her energies. But when, towards the
close of last century, the evangelical revival took place in
Britain, the French cantons awoke from their lethargy
and the old spirit reappeared in the Churches. In all
three the revival of life has been attended with ecclesias
tical divisions.
1. The Genevan Church. — With a peculiar fitness
the new impulse came to Geneva from Scotland — the
land which owed so much to Calvin. In 18 17 the
Scottish Evangelist, Robert Haldane, visited the city,
and by his apostolic earnestness roused a band of young
Churchmen from their lethargy. Cesar Malan, Merle
d'Aubigne, Gaussen, and others, catching his spirit, made
Geneva ring with an evangel long unheard. To the
Church as a whole the movement was unwelcome, dis
turbing as it did the peaceful quiet of a century, and
with the hope of arresting its progress she deposed
Malan from her ministry. But the result was not
according to her hopes. Congregations were formed
outside her pale, and the contagion rapidly spread. To
provide an Evangelical training for the young ministers,
such as could no longer be assured at the old Academy,
d'Aubigne and Gaussen established an Evangelical
School of Theology (1832), and when in consequence

64 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
they also were deposed, the cause of the dissidents
rapidly advanced. Still further to help the movement,
it happened that simultaneously with these oppressive
acts a civil movement was in progress for the purpose of
drawing the Church more completely under the control
of the State and approximating in other respects to
the Zwinglian methods. Since the days of Calvin the
management of the Church had been vested in the
Venerable Company of pastors and in the Consistory ;
but now that power was gradually being removed. In
1834 the Venerable Company lost the management of
the old Academy of Beza ; in 1847 it was shorn of its
ancient privilege of deciding on the qualifications of
aspirants to the ministry, and in the same year the
Council of State abolished the Confession of Faith.
This assumption of vital spiritual powers by the State
caused many of the Evangelical party to secede, and in
1849 the Free Evangelical Church of Geneva came into
existence. It is yet the day of small things with this
young Church, having but 3 parishes and 480 members,
but it seeks to walk steadily on the road marked
out long ago by Calvin. Relieved of many of the
"Evangelicals," the National Church succumbed more
easily to the attacks of the State, and since 1874 it has
lost its title to a place among Presbyterian Churches,
having become essentially Zwinglian. The last shred of
spiritual power has departed from the Venerable Company,
which is stated by one of its number, Professor Bouvier,
to be "no longer anything but a consulting body,
whose principal work seems now to be to gather and to
bring to light all the memorabilia of her past."
2. The Church in Vaud. — Somewhat different has
been the course of affairs in the canton of Vaud. Here
the leader in the new movement was the celebrated
Alexandre Vinet, ablest of modern Swiss theologians.
In his later life Lausanne was the scene of his activity ;
and there, in 1845, as the result of his advocacy of
separation of Church and State, on the State seeking
to use the Church as a political agent, one hundred

NASCENT PRESBYTERIANISM 65
ministers seceded to form the Free Evangelical Church
of Vaud. This Church now possesses 4000 communicants,
and is specially distinguished by her zeal for foreign
missions. Over the National Church, whose communi
cants number 15,000, the Government continues to assert
its supremacy, but usually only to the extent of reviewing
the Church's decisions so as to satisfy itself that no civil
right has been interfered with.
3. The Church in Neuchatel. — In the National
Church at Neuchatel, which honours Farel as its founder
and the veteran Godet as its chief living teacher, division
did not occur till 1873. Then the State attempted to
deprive the Church of its old independence by introduc
ing Zwinglian methods of government. The Church
was identified with the nation, absolute freedom in creed
was granted to ministers, and from the Synod all legis
lative power was removed. Against such crippling
enactments protests were made in vain, and accordingly,
in 1873, Godet and a large minority seceded, to found
the flourishing Evangelical Church of Neuchatel, which
to-day possesses 92 ministers and 8628 communicants.
C Nascent Presbyterianism
There are still countries in Christian Europe where
Protestantism is only in its infancy. In Italy, Spain,
Portugal, and Belgium the efforts of Rome to check
the reforming movement in the sixteenth century were
so entirely successful that Protestantism was crushed, and
all trace of the Presbyterian Churches which had been
forming disappeared. But with the growing political
liberalism of recent generations an opportunity has been
afforded for Protestantism to reappear, and, true to past
memories, the lines on which the Protestant beginnings
are being made are mostly those of Presbyterianism.
1. Presbyterianism in Italy. — The unification of
Italy under a constitutional government in 1 861 marked
the opportunity for the rise of Protestantism. Up to that
time the only Protestant Churches in Italy had been those
5

66 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
in connection with the foreign consulates, or established
for the benefit of foreign commercial residents. Presby
terianism had been in Italy but not of it ; but now that
religious freedom was secured it was possible for an
Italian Protestarf Church to be born. The foster-mother
was ready. On the southern slopes of the Cottian Alps,
in the Piedmont valleys, lingered the remnants of the
old Waldensian Church. The greater portion of the
Waldensian community had been swallowed up in the
course of years by the Reformed Churches of Switzerland,
but the southern or Italian branch had retained its indi
viduality ; and, perfecting its old semi-Presbyterian con
stitution, had survived through frequent persecution and
abiding penury. By it the opening of the gates of
Italy was recognised as a call from God to go in and
possess the land, and for the last fifty years this small
Waldensian Church has laboured incessantly in the
cause of Protestant truth. The Constitution granted to
Piedmont by the Sardinian king in 1849 was its first
opportunity. Churches which were established in
Turin, Genoa, and elsewhere grew rapidly, as much
through the arrival of Protestant refugees from the Papal
Dominion as from local additions. But with the full
political development of 1861 wider operations were
entered on. From Turin the centre was shifted to
Florence, where, through the help of Dr. Stewart, the
revered Free Church minister of the Scots Church at
Leghorn, the old Palazzo Salviati was secured as a
Training College for Waldensian evangelists. Inch by
inch in the early days the battle for toleration had to be
fought, but now a more open field is given to the work
of the evangelists, and as the result of their labours the
Waldensian Evangelical Church in Italy possesses to-day
18,000 communicants. Alongside of the Waldensian
Church is the Free Italian Church, or, as it is now
known, The Evangelical Church of Italy, which in its
origin was indebted to the impassioned oratory of Father
Gavazzi and the constructive ability of Dr. de Sanctis,
both converts from the Roman Catholic priesthood. The

NASCENT PRESBYTERIANISM 67
Constitution of this smaller Church is also Presbyterian,
though congregations are given greater independence
than is usual in most Presbyterian communities. Its
communicants number about 1500.
2. Presbyterianism in Spain. — Spanish Presby
terianism is yet more recent, its initiation being due to
certain Scottish friends who, in 1852, formed the Spanish
Evangelisation Society for the purpose of distributing the
Bible through this most ignorant of all European lands.
Persecutions in 1 860 drove the most prominent Protestants
into exile, and at Gibraltar the refugees, like the Dutch
exiles at Emden, adopted a Creed and Constitution for the
Reformed Church to be. The Creed was the Westminster
Confession of Faith, and the Constitution was Presbyterian.
By the Revolution of 1868 the door was opened for
the exiles to return, with freedom to worship God as they
pleased. The Presbytery of Andalusia, with its centre at
Seville, is the result. With this there united, in 1872, a
Presbyterian Church which had been formed in Madrid,
through the energy of Carrasco, a keen Protestant trained
in Lausanne. These two sections now form the Spanish
Christian Church, with 23 congregations and 300 com
municants. For its support and progress it has been
greatly indebted to the Irish Presbyterian Church and
the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
3. Presbyterianism in Belgium. — After the de
spotic measures of Alva, Protestantism became almost
extinct in the country now known as Belgium, but
lately there have been some signs of a revival. Two
small Protestant Churches are in existence, both organ
ised on Presbyterian lines. The Union of Evangelical
Churches in Belgium, with 16 congregations, receives a
small endowment from the strictly impartial State ;
while the other, the Missionary Christian Church of
Belgium, has some 60 congregations and 5000 com
municants. From all outward signs the latter is the more
active of the two, and has served herself heir to the Church
of the early days by adopting as her creed the Confetti*
BclgUa of the sixteenth century.

68 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER V
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN SCOTLAND
A. The Church of Scotland
"POR three centuries Scotland has been the centre
-*¦ of Presbyterianism. In no other country did
the system, inaugurated by Calvin at Geneva, find so
speedy and perfect an embodiment as here. By a happy
combination of circumstances, the civil checks which
prevented Continental Presbyterianism from developing
its full powers were not sufficiently strong in Scotland
to work similar harm, and as a consequence the Scottish
Church was planted on a foundation so firm and on
principles so free that it may be regarded as forming the
crown of European Presbyterianism. It also formed the
starting-point of the wider Presbyterianism established
in the lands across the seas — in the United States of
America, Canada, and Australasia. Into the story of
all these great churches its history enters : its heroes and
martyrs, its struggles and its victories, its virtues and its
defects — all are shared by them. The history of this
Mother Church of Presbyterianism has been told in
another volume of this series : here can be given only
a summary of the most notable events.
i. The Church of Knox.— The First General
Assembly of the Reformed Church of Scotland met in
1560, and announced to the world the end of the Scottish
struggle with Rome. Prudent guidance of the new
system and a careful watch against the schemes of
the old were required so long as Mary lived, but the real
struggle was ended. Fortunately for Scotland, the man
who had led the way to victory was well qualified for
the equally arduous task of maintaining the position

THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND 69
which had been won. In John Knox, whom Carlyle
terms "the one Scotchman to whom of all others his
country and the world owe a debt," the Reformed Church
possessed a leader of deep religious convictions, invincible
courage, wide knowledge of ecclesiastical affairs, and a
varied experience of men and manners. In England,
Frankfort, and Geneva, he had lived and learned.
Episcopacy, Lutheranism, and Presbyterianism had all
passed under his observation, and of his experience
Scotland now reaped the benefit To the Reformed
Church, in consultation with others, he supplied in quick
succession a Creed, a Constitution, and a Service, all of
which were marked by a breadth of view and a freedom
from extremes to which in later days the Church has
longingly looked back. (1) The Confession of Faith,
which represented the Creed, was on the usual Calvinistic
lines, but with a softening of the harsher positions ;
while, distinguishing it from all similar documents, is
the humility of its preface, where possible error is
acknowledged and amendment volunteered on Scriptural
refutation being forthcoming. (2) The Constitution of the.
Church, as set forth in the First Book of Discipline,
showed a like indebtedness in its main features to
Geneva, but had also its distinguishing peculiarities.
Ministers, Teachers, Elders, and Deacons were recognised
as the only office-bearers whose office had Scriptural
sanction, but to meet the needs of the hour Knox did
not hesitate to develop the spirit of the early code, even
though in so doing he might seem to transgress the letter.
There were but twelve Protestant ministers for the whole
of Scotland — a most inadequate staff. To the Scriptural
offices were therefore added those of Superintendent and
Reader, the former being entrusted with the oversight
and development of districts, while the latter, under his
orders, maintained the ordinances of worship in out
lying parts. Semi-Episcopal in their functions as the
Superintendents were, the principle of Presbyterian
parity was not transgressed. They remained Presbyters
in subjection to the General Assembly. In the institution

70 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
of this class of office-bearers may perhaps be seen one
effect of the Reformer's contact with Lutheranism. (3) By
the Book of Common Order, last creation of his busy
brain, Knox completed his provision for the Church's
literary needs and supplied a semi-liturgical order ot
service which gave voice to the devotions of Scotsmen
for eighty years. The firm establishment of the Church
thus equipped was the work of the Reformer's later years,
and in the face of much opposition he succeeded. He
could not indeed rescue the property of the Church
from the rapacity of the nobility, save in part, but in
thoroughly crushing the power of Rome in Scotland and
in securing the existence of the Reformed Church as a
spiritual power in the land, he was completely successful.
2. The Church of Melville.— The triumph of
Protestantism did not mean rest to Presbyterianism, for
no sooner had the contest with Rome ended than there
began a fierce and prolonged fight with Prelacy. The
Church of Knox was Presbyterian, but of a broad and
flexible type, and when it was proposed, for the purpose
of legally drawing the revenues attached to the former
bishoprics, that certain ministers should be entitled
"Bishops" for mere name's sake, no serious objection
was taken. No doubt the gilding of the pill deceived
some. But the natural result appeared when the existence
of Bishops for name's sake gave rise to a distinct
Episcopal party, which aimed at the introduction of
real Episcopal government in the Church. The danger
to Presbyterianism was great Episcopacy has never
been so near becoming the national Church system
in Scotland as it was in those early days, and in
all likelihood, had it not been for the appearance of
Andrew Melville on the scene, Episcopacy would have
triumphed. This "Scottish Hildebrand," as Dean
Stanley calls him, after a course of study at Paris and
Geneva, where he had sat at the feet of Beza and become
an ardent Presbyterian, returned to Scotland in 1574,
two years after Knox's death. His scholarship and
character at once gave him the leadership in the Church,

THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND 71
and made it an easy thing for him to impress upon her
his own strong Presbyterian views. From the Greek
New Testament he proved to the Assembly that the
offices of Bishop and Presbyter were identical, and that
of any other Bishop than the simple Presbyter Scripture
knew nothing. The Assembly resolved that the Scottish
Church should adhere to this position. Bishops and
Superintendents were deposed from office, and " pure "
Presbyterianism was established. The Second Book of
Discipline, which was approved by the Assembly in
1578, completed the Constitution of the Church, the
government being entrusted to an ascending series of
councils, as continues to be the case to the present day.
In thus insisting on the divine right of Presbytery and
the unlawfulness of Episcopacy, Melville went beyond
the position of Knox, and undoubtedly narrowed the
spirit of the Scottish Church. To-day we have returned
to Knox's standpoint, and, while maintaining that
Presbytery is best, do not deny that Episcopacy may
be good. But these views would not have saved
Presbyterianism for Scotland. For that, Melville's
dogmatism was a necessity. Against nobles who were
eager for the spoils which would come to them through
Episcopacy, and kings who by their "divine right"
would fain have imposed an ecclesiastical system more
consonant with despotic rule, only men who were equally
dogmatic in their Presbyterianism could have made head
way. The very narrowing of Presbyterianism proved its
salvation. 3. The Century of Struggle — Presbytery
versus Episcopacy (1584- 1688). — The century
following Melville was one of unceasing controversy with
Episcopacy, in the course of which Presbytery oftener
than once was overthrown. For this it had to thank
the Stuart kings. James VI. and I. while in Scotland
had lauded Presbyterianism to the skies and by the
Act of 1592 had given it full civil sanction, but when
called to the English throne he changed his mind and
became enamoured of Episcopacy. Henceforth nothing

72 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
would satisfy him but to assimilate the Scottish Church
to her southern sister ; and so long as he lived he worked
for this end. Melville, the arch-Presbyter, was driven
into banishment, and in 1610 his " unscriptural " Bishops
were imposed upon the Scottish Presbyters. But so
cautious in his measures was King James, that beyond
grumbling discontent little resentment was shown by the
Church. It was otherwise when his successor, Charles I.,
sought to carry matters with a high hand, and, urged on
by Laud, openly asserted the royal supremacy by imposing
Ecclesiastical Canons and a new Service-book upon the
Scottish Church. The uproar in St. Giles' Cathedral in
1637, when the first attempt to use the book was made,
followed by the signing of the National Covenant, when
nobles and citizens covenanted with God to defend their
religious rights, gave evidence that the spirit of Melville
still lived. At one blow an Assembly at Glasgow (1638)
cast down Episcopacy and restored to the Church her
old Presbyterian system, when, fortunately for the bold
Presbyters, the King's troubles with his English subjects
compelled him to stifle his resentment, and the Church
was left untouched. The brief period of Presbyterian
supremacy which followed was signalised by the strange
episode of the Solemn League and Covenant (1643), and
by the memorable Westminster Assembly (1643- 1648),
when the Standards which have ever since ruled in
the Church were framed by English Divines and Com
missioners from the Church of Scotland. With the
Restoration (1660) the troubles of Presbytery began
anew. The young king, Charles II., having adopted
the Episcopal cause as his own, a fresh consignment
of Bishops was sent down to Scotland, and Presbytery
was driven into the wilderness. To Scotland's shame
be it said that in the cruel persecution which fol
lowed, the King's chosen agents were men of Scottish
birth. For eight years Scottish Presbyterians had to
experience the trials which their continental brethren
knew so well. It was a crime to be a loyal Presbyterian,
and, by a system of dragonnades, marked by blood and

THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND 73
cruelty, the royal troops sought to convince men of the
divine authority of Episcopacy. It is not to be wondered
at that, under such discipline, the spirit of the Cove
nanters did not grow sweet and tolerant. Heroic they
were even unto death, but with man's hand so strong
against them their hearts grew narrow and bitter.
Austerity in life and narrowness in religion became the
tests of piety ; tolerance of Episcopacy, or attendance
at a curate's service, were held to be marks of low
religious life ; mutually suspicious sects sprang up, each
thinking the other was betraying the cause. Yet the
Church had need of all. Without the dour Covenanters,
the Presbyterian banner would surely have gone down in
those awful days ; and, on the other hand, but for the
presence of the more moderate party, it is very doubtful
if, when the day of deliverance came, that banner would
again have been placed over the National Church of
Scotland. The day came in 1688, when the last of the
Stuart kings fled before an enraged nation, and William
of Orange ascended the throne. Presbyterian though he
was, he would not force his Church upon the people ;
but when the Scottish Convention declared that " Prelacy
was contrary to the inclinations of the generality of the
people, and ought to be abolished," William acceded to
the request In 1690 the long warfare came to an end,
and Church Government by Kirk-Sessions, Presbyteries,
Provincial Synods, and General Assembly was declared
to be the only Government of the National Church.
This was finally ratified by the Act of Security, appended
to the Treaty of Union with England in 1707.
4. Divisions within the Church. — The year
1 7 12 supplies the key to the divisions of Scottish
Presbyterianism. It was then that the fatal Act was
passed by Queen Anne's Parliament which reimposed
lay patronage on the Church of Scotland, and thereby
sowed the seed of future controversy. According to the
Presbyterian ideal two and only two factors are essential
for the proper settlement of a minister in a charge, viz.
the Call by the congregation, and Collation, after inquiry,

74 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
by the Presbytery. The privileges of the Christian
people and the well-being of the Church are thus alike
conserved. By the Revolution Settlement a system had
been introduced which was an approach to this ideal.
Private patronage, which had been previously in foice,
was abolished, and the nomination of a minister entrusted
to the heritors and elders. Their nominee, if approved
by the congregation, was entitled to collation at the
hands of the Presbytery. It was a prudent compromise,
and worked reasonably well, but after being the law of
the Church for over twenty years it was arbitrarily
annulled by the Government, and private patronage
reimposed (1712). In vain did the Assembly protest
and plead that it was a breach of the Treaty of Union,
which had safeguarded the Scottish Church from parlia
mentary interference. For the first time, but not for
the last, English ignorance of Scottish ecclesiastical
affairs resulted in the British Parliament's inflicting a
serious blow on Scotland's Church.
The fruits of the action in due course appeared.
Thanks to the good feeling of many of the patrons, who,
as National Churchmen themselves, disapproved of the
Act, its provisions were for a time evaded. The patrons
failed to nominate to vacant charges — a contingency for
which the Assembly had to provide, and in doing so it
fell back on the old arrangement of 1690, giving the
right of nomination to the heritors and elders. To this
was due the first Secession. In the sight of Ebenezer
Erskine the rights of the congregation were ignored by
the Assembly's action. "What difference," he pro
tested, "does a piece of land make between man and
man in the affairs of Christ's kingdom ? By this act we
show respect to the man with the gold ring and gay
clothing, beyond the man with the vile raiment and poor
attire." From words it came to deeds. A rebuke at
the bar of the Assembly led Erskine to wilder accusa
tions, which resulted in his withdrawal from the ministry
of the National Church. Three other like-minded
ministers joined him, and together they formed at Gairney

THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND 75
Bridge the first Associate Presbytery (1733). It was
the first instance of the unhappy separatist spirit which
dominated the Scottish Church for the next hundred years.
The second Secession came twenty years later. Patrons
had grown more tenacious of their legal rights, and
unwelcome presentees were so frequently thrust upon
congregations, that, between 1740 and 1750, upwards of
fifty disputed settlements had to be referred to the
Assembly. Unfortunately for the Church, the Assemblies
ot the day were infected with a spirit of militarism.
The protests of congregations were treated as acts of
insubordination, and when (1752) the Presbytery ot
Dunfermline showed itself more sympathetic, by refusing
to ordain an unwelcome presentee, the Assembly crowned
its militarism by deposing from the ministry one of the
defaulting Presbyters, Thomas Gillespie. Gillespie was
a loyal churchman, but in spite of himself he was
forced to become the founder of the Relief Synod, whose
formation marked the second Secession from the Church.
5. Moderatism. — The Secessions, though primarily
due to the working of the Patronage Act, were largely
helped by a growing diversity of views within the Church.
In every country in Europe at the time a rebound was
felt from the intensity of religious life and narrowness of
thought which had marked the previous centuries ; and
in the Scottish Church the rebound took the form of
Moderatism. The extreme earnestness of the Cove
nanters had passed away, and in its place had sprung up
a spirit of religious tolerance, which in not a few cases
shaded off into easy-going indifference. Scholarship and
culture were encouraged among the clergy to an extent
unprecedented, so that fr°m a literary standpoint, the
title of the "Golden Age of the Scottish Church,"
which has been applied to this period, is well deserved.
But there is no doubt that by the growth of Moderatism
the cause of the Seceders was greatly aided, and the
Church correspondingly weakened. Their chapels
formed a congenial home for those in whom the cove
nanting spirit still burned, and the inadequate efforts of

76 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
the National Church to meet the needs of a growing
population helped still further to swell their numbers.
By the end of the century they were a power in the
land, possessing upwards of 200 congregations and
nearly as many ministers.
6. Revival in the Church. — The new century
brought new life, and revived within the Church the
love of the old Evangel. Awaking to a higher sense of
her calling as a national witness for Christ, the Church
realised that witnessing meant working. To the
brilliant coterie of litterateurs, which had brought name
and fame to Scotland in the eighteenth century, there
succeeded an equally brilliant band of Churchmen, of
whom the most notable were Dr. Andrew Thomson,
Principal Baird, Dr. Inglis, and Dr. Chalmers. Under
their inspiring leadership the Church embarked on a
series of schemes of Christian work, thoroughly catholic
in their nature and extent. The Education of Youth,
long neglected, regained the place in the Church's in
terest which it had held in the days of Knox. The
claims of the " Scot abroad " were recognised by the
inauguration of the Colonial Scheme, under which
ministers were sent out to the fast-growing colonies of
Canada and Australasia. In India a place was at last
secured on the ecclesiastical establishment for Scottish
chaplains, to minister to Scotland's sons — a step which
had the important consequence of opening the eyes of
the Church to her missionary duty. Dr. Bryce of
Calcutta, the first Indian chaplain, so pressed the needs
of the Hindu on the attention of the Church that in
1829 Alexander Duff, the first missionary of the Church
of Scotland, sailed for India. Of all the new develop
ments, however, the most important, in the light of
its consequences, was the Church Extension move
ment, which is identified with the name of Dr. Chalmers.
His eloquence and energy so roused the Church to the
urgent need of providing additional church accommoda
tion for the largely-increased population, that by 1834
there were 200 Chapels of Ease dotted over the country.

THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND 77
7. The " Disruption." — In the midst of this pros
perity the old Patronage trouble again appeared, to
work fresh harm. The revival of Church life had
quickened men's sense of the defects of a system which
gave no power to a congregation in the choice of its
spiritual guide. By the Assembly the injustice was felt
as keenly as by any, and in 1834 it passed by a majority
the Veto Act, which debarred Presbyteries from inducting
a presentee if his appointment were disapproved of by
a majority of the heads of families in the congregation.
This Act it was which plunged the Scottish Church into
a conflict whose heat has not even yet quite died out.
Disputed settlements soon occurred. At Auchterarder,
the first of these, the nominee of the patron was vetoed
by practically the whole of the congregation ; and on the
Presbytery refusing to proceed with his induction, he
applied to the Court of Session. His application was
successful, and, to the bewilderment of the Church,
the Veto Act was pronounced illegal. On appeal the
judgment was confirmed by the House of Lords, and
it was made evident to all that a serious battle between
Church and State had begun. That the Church had
a grievance, and a great one, all admitted — even the
State did not deny it — but in her method of redressing
it the highest tribunal decided that she had acted ultra
vires. A choice of two courses now lay before her.
Either she might bend before the law and seek by con
stitutional means to have the law amended, or resenting
the law as a grievance outweighing all the benefits of
Establishment, she might resign her position as the
Established Church and go out into the wilderness.
One -third of the minjgters and elders of the Church
chose the latter courSI and on l%th May 1843 the
decisive step was taken. Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Welsh,
Dr. Candlish, and many others of the best of the
Scottish clergy and laity, for conscience' sake — albeit
as we think, a conscience misdirected — severed their
connection with the National Church and proceeded
to form The Free Church of Scotland. It was thr

78 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
third, the greatest, and let us hope the last, of the
Secessions. 8. After '43. — The unflinching determination of
the Scottish people has never been displayed to better
advantage than in the conduct of the Church after the
shock of '43. A grievous shock it was beyond all
dispute. Out of 1203 ministers, 451 had forsaken her.
In the large towns her chief pulpits were empty ; of
her country parishes more than one-fourth were in like
condition ; of her Chapels of Ease, her latest joy and
pride, nigh two-thirds had deserted the mother that
bore them ; and her very claim to the fabrics of these
last, which were burdened with a debt of ^30,000,
had to be vindicated in the Civil Court. Abroad, the
outlook was equally discouraging. Her Indian chap
lains stood true ; but of all her missionaries, Indian
and Jewish, only one remained steadfast Taking their
converts and the good name of the Scottish Church
along with them, the others cast in their lot with the
Free Church. The task of filling up the gaps at home
and abroad, of remedying acknowledged defects, and
of prosecuting at the same time the schemes of Christian
work, whose previous success had been largely due to
the energy of men no longer in her ranks, was sufficient
to try the mettle of the Church to the utmost. How
well she stood the trial, let the progress of the last fifty
years bear witness.
9. Recent Progress. — The half century of hei
history, which has just concluded, has been marked
by several striking developments. (1) Constitutional
Reforms. After the Secession was an accomplished
fact, the Church's first care was to provide a legal
remedy for the evils which had wrought such harm.
And very speedily this was done. Lord Aberdeen's
Act of 1843 granted a "reasonable" veto to congrega
tions; Sir James Graham's Act of 1844, by giving
" chapel " ministers a seat in the church courts, removed
another grievance ; and thirty years later the last ground
of complaint disappeared in the abolition of private

THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND 79
patronage, and the introduction of the system of election
of ministers by the congregation. (2) Home Mission
work. Thanks to Dr. Chalmers, the truth that Home
Mission work is the first duty of a National Church had
been so fixed in the Church's mind, that not for a
moment did even a temporary abandonment of that
duty suggest itself. Into the place of Dr. Chalmers
stepped one of the greatest of the Church's sons, Dr.
fames Robertson, who, to Chalmers's ideal of supplying
churches sufficient for the population, added that of
providing endowments sufficient for the churches. So
vigorously have these twin schemes been prosecuted that
600 additional churches have been built, and 384
new parishes have been endowed, at a cost to the
Church of over .£3,000,000. (3) Foreign Mission
work. By the loss of her missionaries and their converts,
the Church had to commence her Foreign Mission
operations anew. The mission buildings at the various
stations remained in her possession, but they were
tenantless, and a few years had to pass before the strain
at home permitted of fresh missionaries being sent out
Then the work was resumed, and has continued to
receive an increasing support from the Church. From a
staff of one in 1843, her workers have increased to
83 Europeans and 420 natives, while her converts
number 6000. (4) Church Services. Accompany
ing these developments in the Church's work has
been a steady improvement in her conduct of public
worship. The severe and somewhat repellent type of
service which used to be popularly identified with
Presbyterianism, is fast passing away, and in its place
has come a service where devotional reverence, musical
sweetness, and outward seemliness combine to help the
worshipper in his approaches unto God.
10. Popularity of the Church. — The devotion
which the Church has shown to her national calling, and
her readiness to embody new convictions in new methods
of work for the good of the nation, have had their reward.
A continuous hicrease in her membership, far in excess of

80 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
the increase in population, speaks of a growing affection
on the part of the Scottish people. Her communicants
in 1895 numbered 620,000, exceeding by 80,000 the
combined membership of the other two great Pres
byterian Churches in Scotland, while her hold upon the
people is even greater than these figures would imply.
The movement for Disestablishment, so keenly pressed
by some, has but added to the Church's popularity.
Attack has led to inquiry into her merits and her claims,
with the result that the people are showing themselves
the more resolved that no harm shall be done to an insti
tution so ancient, so honourable, and so beneficial to the
nation. It is well for Scottish Presbyterianism, and well
for British Protestantism, that it should be so. These
are not the times when a national confession of Pro
testant Christianity should be lightly cast aside. Never
were the weighty words of Dean Stanley truer than now:
" Every Episcopalian ought to be thankful for the exist
ence of a living Christian Church, which shows that
outside the pale of prelacy Christian life and Christian
truth can flourish, even should it fail among the Epis
copal communions." B. The United Presbyterian Church
With the great Secession of '43 the divisive tendency
of Scottish Presbyterianism reached its climax. Since
then the forces which make for union have been in the
ascendant, and of their successful working the most con
spicuous evidence is The United Presbyterian Church.
1. Origin of the Church. — In the main the United
Presbyterian Church has resulted from the union of the
two Secession Churches of the eighteenth century. These
in their isolation had pushed the divisive principle to
an extreme which is humbling to Scottish Christianity.
Of the two the Secession Church of 1733 sinned the
most. In 1747 a trivial question as to the lawfulness
of an oath, which was imposed on burgesses, caused a
division into the Burghers and the Anti-Burghers. By

THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND 81
the rise of " Voluntary " views in the end of the century,
and the emergence of a difference of opinion on the bind
ing force of the Covenants, the process of fission was
repeated, and four separate communities came into
existence, the Old and the New Light Burghers, and
the Old and New Light Anti-Burghers. Then began
the reaction. In 1820 the two New Lights coalesced,
forming the United Secession Church, to which was
added in 1847 the old Relief Church of Gillespie. The
product of this final union is the flourishing United
Presbyterian Church of to-day, with a membership of
nearly 200,000, and ministers numbering over 600.
2. Special Features. — As with all the Scottish
Presbyterian Churches, the standards of the National
Church have been adhered to, but a century and a half
of separate existence has developed in the United Pres
byterian Church some distinctive features.
(1) Foremost of these is the Prominence given to
Voluntaryism. It was not always so. Neither Erskine
nor Gillespie was a voluntary ; but a lengthened trial of
enforced voluntaryism has led their descendants to elevate
this practice into a principle. The unjustifiableness of
an Established Church, though not an article in the
standards, is now a working principle of the majority of
the ministers of the denomination.
(2) A second noteworthy feature is the Status and
Distribution of her membership. Her members are
recruited most largely from the well-to-do middle
classes, and as a consequence her power is greatest
where these are most numerous. In the Highlands she
is scarcely represented, and as a rule in country districts
throughout Scotland she is weak, but in the towns and
cities of the lowlands her stately churches, vigorous min
istry, and influential membership are well in evidence.
(3) Most gratifying, from a Catholic standpoint, is
the third feature, her zeal for Foreign Missions — a
feature so pronounced as to warrant the Church being
called the Missionary Church of Scotland. Third in her
membership, she is first in the number of her missionaries,
6

8a THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
first in the number of converts, and easily first in the
proportionate contributions to the mission cause of her
individual members. C. The Free Church
This youngest and strongest of the offshoots from the
old Scottish Church enjoys the unique distinction of never
having known the day of small things. The Free Church
started in life full grown, possessing a numerous and able
clergy, a zealous staff of missionaries, and a large and
enthusiastic membership. The splendid testimony to the
living power of the conscience which had been given
by 470 ministers surrendering an annual income of
;£ 100,000, forsaking hearth and home, and going out
into the unknown, appealed to multitudes who knew little
or nothing of the cause of the sacrifice. The fact was
sufficiently eloquent. Everywhere throughout Protestant
Christendom the tale of the wondrous sacrifice was heard
with pride. Under the skilful guidance of Dr. Candlish
and Dr. Chalmers this widespread enthusiasm was at
once directed into a practical channel.
1. Perfecting her Equipment. — After the shock of
'43 the cry of the National Church had been for men to
fill the vacant places and carry on the work ; with the
Free Church the cry was of necessity for money. Men
she had in abundance, and congregations many waiting
to be ministered to, but churches, manses, colleges,
schools, and, in the foreign field, mission buildings,
had all to be provided. For this money was an
urgent necessity, and with marvellous rapidity con
tributions poured into the Church's treasury sufficient
for all her needs. Her first care was to provide for the
support of her ministers, and by the famous Sustentation
Fund this was successfully accomplished. Every member
of a congregation was requested to contribute, according
to his ability, to a central fund, from which each minister
should annually receive an equal dividend. Thus " each
congregation should do its part in sustaining the whole,

THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND 83
and the whole should sustain each congregation."
Suggested by Candlish and worked out by Chalmers,
the scheme was in readiness in 1842, and prior to '43
had been tentatively applied, so far as to make it
evident that the plan would work. Associations to the
number of 647, and money in hand to the amount of
£17,000, were a good augury for the future. In 1844
the fund reached £61,000, and since then, though slightly
altered in its mode of working, and showing occasional
variations, it has risen to an annual average of ^200,000.
The Building Fund for erecting churches and manses
met with an equally generous reception. At the first
Assembly £104,776 was reported to be ready for the
work, and within four years 700 churches were erected.
Theological Colleges and Country Schools followed in quick
succession, and when in 1872 the Scottish schools passed
from the control of the Churches into that of the State,
it was estimated that in thirty years the Free Church
had spent on education £600,000. On the Mission
Fund a hke rapid adjustment was seen. There the Free
Church was strikingly fortunate in securing the adhesion
of the whole mission force of the Scottish Church.
Fourteen Indian missionaries and six Jewish, accom
panied by their converts, went over to her side — a
heavy financial burden at the time no doubt, but a
most valuable accession to the Church. Nor did the
Church hesitate to accept it with acclamation. Voluntary
sacrifices on the part of the missionaries for the first few
years made the burden easier, and secured for the
Church what is now a large and efficient missionary
department, prosecuting its labours in India, Syria,
South Africa, and the South Sea Islands.
2. Notable Features. — Among the notable features
of the Free Church of to-day may be mentioned three.
(I) Her increasing Voluntaryism. — By her origin and
her standards the Church is pronouncedly anti-voluntary.
Chalmers, her great leader, was a strong defender of the
necessity of an Established Church, and in words that
are well known he declared the principles of the Church

84 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
he founded. " Though we quit the Establishment, we
go out on the Establishment principle. We quit a
vitiated Establishment, but would rejoice in returning to
a pure one." But times are changed and the Free
Church has changed with them. Like the earlier Seces
sion Churches she has become increasingly enamoured
of the voluntary principle, and correspondingly hostile to
an Established Church. At least her Assemblies have
become so, although there are good grounds for thinking
that a considerable number of her members do not share
in the aberration.
(2) Uniform Distribution of her Membership. —
In this she differs from the United Presbyterian Church.
The enthusiasm of 1843 was n°t confined to any one
locality or class. Town and country, north and south,
rich and poor contributed their share, and to the present
day a fair distribution of Free Church members over the
whole country still continues. With her 1035 churches
and 341,000 communicants, she wields a great power in
the land, although the comparative slowness of her growth
in recent years would seem to point to a somewhat waning
influence over the people. The fires of fifty years ago are
dying out with the removal of the causes of the contro
versy, and as a consequence the Church, which was born
in controversy, has lost one of the sources of her strength.
(3) Her Literary Activity. — This is of all others
the best- known mark of the Free Church of to-day,
and Scotsmen of all the churches rejoice to acknowledge
its existence. It is also noteworthy that though a few
years ago the most conservative of churches, she has
rapidly taken up a position among the more advanced.
The protesting voices of the older school which drove
from his chair the late Professor Robertson Smith, have
become fewer and less powerful. To the many younger
scholars and teachers who have since then come to the
front, a reassuring welcome has been given. In almost
every department of theological study the Free Church
now possesses men whose influence is recognised through
out the Protestant world.

THE CHURCH IN IRELAND 85

CHAPTER VI
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND
' I "HE Irish Presbyterian Church is the oldest daughter
¦*- of the Church of Scotland, and like many of the later
offshoots from the same stem, owes her origin to Scottish
colonisation. The collapse of the Irish rebellion in the
beginning of the seventeenth century, and the flight of
the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel, had placed at the
disposal of the crown an immense stretch of forfeited
territory in the North of Ireland. Through the wisdom
of King James the vacant land was granted on favour
able terms to British colonists, and so steady was the
stream from Scotland that in a short time the whole of
Ulster assumed a markedly Scottish complexion.
1. First Introduction of Presbyterianism. —
The rapid increase in the population, however satis
factory to the civil authorities, proved a cause of great
perplexity to the rulers of the Protestant Episcopal Church
of the country. Their new sheep, whose reputation was
often none of the best, were far too numerous for the
few established shepherds, and yet so unattractive was
the country that no offers of service from the more com
fortably-housed clergy in England were forthcoming.
Providentially for Ireland it happened that at this time
Episcopacy in Scotland was enjoying one of its brief
triumphs. Presbyterian ministers were being driven
from their charges, and to them in their distress the tidings
of Ulster's need was a veritable message from God.
Across the narrow channel they went and proffered their
services, where they met with a welcome from the Bishops,
whose heartiness and liberal-mindedness is a standing re
proof to later times. At the head of the Irish Church for

86 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
the greater part of this period was the catholic -spirited
Ussher, in his theology as keen a Calvinist as any Scot
His bishops shared in his catholicity, and in a short time
a dozen Presbyterian ministers were settled in parishes
throughout the North, serving in an Episcopal Church
yet suffered to retain their Presbyterian convictions. Of
these Edward Brice was the first in order. Driven
from the parish of Drymen in 1 613, he crossed over
and settled in Broadisland, under Bishop Echlin of
Down. Following him came a goodly band, amongst
whom were Robert Blair, professor in Glasgow Uni
versity and the ablest of them all ; James Hamilton,
the nephew of Lord Claneboy, founder of the Dufferin
family ; Josias Welsh, a grandson of John Knox,
whose sermons were so rousing as to gain for him the
name " cock o' the conscience " ; Robert Cunningham,
John Livingstone, and others. All were Presbyterians
who had suffered for conscience' sake, and soon the fruits
of their labours appeared. The questionable reputation
of the Ulster colonists passed away, and they became
famed for their God-fearing, orderly manner of life.
2. Ejection of the Presbyterians. — The success
of the Presbyterian ministers produced a change in the
mind of the Bishops. To their dismay they saw their
parishes fast being infected with Presbyterian ways, and,
with a unanimity shared by all save the good Arch
bishop, they turned on the Presbyters. Echlin led the
attack, and with complete success. Ussher tried his best
to stay the intolerance, but when the help of Laud, the
arch-persecutor of Presbytery, was invoked, the end was
not doubtful. The Presbyterian ministers were ejected
from their parishes and driven from the land. Brice died
of a broken heart The others, after an ineffectual at
tempt to reach America (1636), returned to Scotland,
where they did good service to the Mother Church. On
the now shepherdless Presbyterians of Ulster the vials of
Laud's and Wentworth's wrath were poured out freely,
until, by persecution, imprisonment, and fines, Presby
terianism was silenced and apparently dead.

THE CHURCH IN IRELAND 87
3. Return of Presbyterianism. — Five years after
it had been thrust out with contumely, Presbyterianism
returned to bless its persecutors. In 1641 there oc
curred the Irish Insurrection, whose awful excesses sent a
thrill of horror pulsing through Britain. Everywhere
the native Irish had risen and massacred the Protestants
with unspeakable tortures. On receipt of the tidings,
Presbyterian Scotland forgot the wrongs she had herself
received at the hands of those now suffering, and with
urgent haste despatched to their relief a force of ten
thousand men under Major-General Munro. Landing
at Carrickfergus, Munro speedily quelled the rebellion,
but to thoroughly quiet the country a more lengthened
stay was needful. To this was due the reintroduction
of Presbyterianism. With each regiment had been sent a chaplain ; and
on comparative quiet being secured the chaplains were
able to devote some time to the spiritual needs of the
country. Other clergy there were none. The Bishops
had fled and the Episcopal clergy were mostly massacred,
so to the growth of Presbytery there was now no let or
hindrance. Immediately the old Presbyterian leanings of
the colonists showed themselves anew, which so stimu
lated the chaplains that, on loth June 1642, a Presbytery
was formed at Carrickfergus. The materials were already
to hand in the Kirk -Session which existed in each
regiment, with the chaplain for moderator and officers
for elders. In combination these now formed the First
Presbytery of the Irish Church. It was a small seed,
which soon became a great tree. Applications for
ministers poured in from the parishes, and through the
Presbytery these appeals were forwarded to the Mother
Church in Scotland. She did what she could, and sent
for several years deputations of her leading ministers to
serve for three months at a time, besides despatching
occasional licentiates of her own to settle in the country.
In 1660 there were 80 congregations throughout Ulster,
70 ministers, 5 presbyteries, and 100,000 communicants
— a wonderful growth in twenty years !

88 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
4. A Century of Trial. — With the return of the
Stuart kings in 1660, an abrupt check was given to the
progress of the Church, and an era of persecution in
augurated which lasted for more than a century. This
was the unhappy result of the steady hostility of the
Episcopal party. In numbers the Episcopalians were
far inferior to the Presbyterians, but their social position
was higher : their bishops mustered strong in the Irish
House of Lords, and the power thus given them in the
making of laws they freely used for the advancement of
their Church. No sooner had Charles II. ascended the
throne than the loyalty of his Irish Presbyterian subjects
was all forgotten. Episcopacy was re-established, High
Church bishops were sent from England to occupy the
vacant sees, and a systematic anti - Presbyterian cam
paign began. A troop of dragoons having dispersed the
Synod at Ballymena, the alternative of conformity or
ejection was offered to all the Presbyterian ministers.
Of the seventy, sixty-one chose ejection and went out
from Church and home. With characteristic Scottish
fidelity the people followed their pastors, and conventicles
everywhere sprang up ; but only to be suppressed. A
fine of £100 was the penalty imposed on any Presby
terian minister found administering the communion, and
so grievous was the crime of being in Presbyterian
orders, that for six years four Presbyterian ministers
were confined in prison at Lifford, through the efforts of
Bishop Leslie of Raphoe. That the English Govern
ment lent its countenance to such injustice was partly
due to the misrepresentations of the Bishops, who
pictured the Presbyterians as rebellious and disloyal.
How false were such reports was shown at the heroic
defence of Derry, where, as Froude says, the Presby
terians " won immortal honour for themselves, and flung
over the wretched annals of their adopted country a
solitary gleam of true glory."
By the impartial William of Orange this was duly
noted, and so long as he lived the Presbyterian Church
was free from any " legal " persecution. A small grant

THE CHURCH IN IRELAND 89
to the ministers of £600, passed by Charles II. when in
a tolerant mood but irregularly paid, was now doubled
in amount, and thus was begun the Regium Donum,
which till 1869 continued to be an annual acknowledg
ment by the State of the semi -established position
of the Presbyterian Church. Under these more favour
able conditions Presbyterianism rapidly shot forward,
until in 1702, the year of King William's death, there
were 9 Presbyteries, 3 sub -Synods, and I General
Annual Synod.
5- The Test Act. — The death of William and the
accession of Queen Anne left the Episcopal party once
more free to work its will, and in 1 704 it succeeded in
carrying an Act most hurtful to Presbyterianism. This
was the Test Act, according to which every person
holding office under the Crown was obliged to partake
of tlie communion in an Episcopal church within three
months after entering on office. Failure so to do was
followed by deprivation of office. Under this infamous
enactment Presbyterians were declared unfit to serve the
State, save by disloyalty to their Church. How it told
on the cause throughout the North may be judged by
the cases of Derry and Belfast In Derry 10 out
of 12 aldermen and 14 out of 24 burgesses lost
their offices, while in Belfast 9 out of 13 shared
the same fate — and all for the crime of being loyal
Presbyterians. Similar expulsions taking place else
where, it was at last borne home to the minds of the
people that Ireland was no home for Presbytery. Across
the Atlantic America beckoned invitingly, and with
hearts longing for freedom to worship God, the great
Exodus of Ulster Presbyterians set in. Already many
had been driven there by earlier persecutions, and had
helped to lay the' foundation of American Presbyterian
ism, but from 1729 onwards a steady stream of emigrants
began to flow, amounting to 12,000 annually, and con
tinued with like fulness for many years. To America
they were a priceless gain, to Ireland an irreparable
loss. For the removal of the obnoxious Act the Pres-

90 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
byterians had to wait for eighty years, when the rise of
the Volunteer Movement in 1780 brought the Govern
ment to its senses, and extorted the cancelling of an
enactment which had declared Presbyterians, " the right
arm of Irish Protestantism, to be unfit to hold office,
civil or military, above the rank of a parish constable "
(Froude). By repeated increase of the Regium Donum,
tardy amends for past neglect were made, and at the
close of the century the Irish Presbyterian Church,
unprivileged but at last unhindered, had a free path
before her.
6. Doctrinal Troubles. — The century, so full of
external trials, was also marked by serious internal
doctrinal controversies, the result in a great measure of
the closeness of touch which subsisted between Scottish
and Irish Presbyterianism. Geographical proximity and
their near relationship has always made this inevitable, but
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the bond was
tightened by the prevalent practice of the Irish Presby
terian ministers receiving their training at Scottish
Universities, Glasgow being the favourite alma mater.
By their means ideas prevalent in Scotland passed over
to the sister isle, and naturally enough the Moderatism
of the eighteenth century was thus transmitted. To the
reception it met with in Ireland and the modifications it
there underwent were mainly due the two doctrinal
controversies of the Church.
(I) The New Light movement, which originated in
1719, was a revolt on the part of some of the ministers
against creed subscription. Led by the Rev. John
Abernethy of Antrim, they maintained that sincerity of
belief justified lack of orthodoxy, and denied the
Church's right to impose a creed upon her ministers.
The Church recognised the earnestness and worth of
several of the leaders of the movement, and with rare
patience sought to effect a compromise. Adopting a
policy of segregation, she isolated the " New Lights " in
a Presbytery by themselves, the Presbytery of Antrim.
But the leaven spread, and in 1726 the Synod of

THE CHURCH IN IRELAND 91
Dungannon found it necessary to completely separate
the Presbytery from the Church. Even this failed to
check the growing laxity of doctrine, and in 1 741 there
resulted a consequence very important to Irish Presby
terianism. This was the entrance into Ulster of
representatives of the Secession Church of Scotland. No
bias we may have for or against this Church's work in
Scotland can blind us to the great service it rendered to
Ireland. It saved Irish Presbyterianism from drift
ing into that Unitarianism which at the same period
annihilated the old Presbyterianism of England. The
Rev. Isaac Patton of Lylehill was the first Seceder
minister, and in 1750, nine years after his arrival, the
first Associate Presbytery was held at Arhilly, near
Newtonlimavady. From this date, though much opposed
by the Church of Ulster, and greatly injured by its own
folly in taking up the quarrels of the Scots Seceders and
splitting into Burgher and Anti- Burgher, the Seceder
Church progressed with amazing rapidity.
(2) The Arian Controversy, which marked the earlier
part of the present century, was another instance of the
responsiveness of Ulster to Scottish movements. The
rising Evangelicalism of the Mother Church infected
the daughter, and as the Evangelical spirit spread, zeal
for purity of doctrine returned. It was time. So in
different had the Synod grown as to the orthodoxy of
its ministers, that Arianism was common amongst them,
and in more than one instance had been openly professed
without rebuke. The majority, however, though in
different, were orthodox, as were also the people.
What was needed was a leader, strong, earnest, and
determined, and such a man was found in Henry Cooke,
minister of Killyleagh, one of the greatest leaders the
Irish Church has had. Perceiving the canker that was
eating the life out of the Church, he gave himself to the
work of destroying it. It was no easy task. The
apathy of the Church had to be overcome, and able
opponents had to be refuted. But in the end the
battle was won. At Lurgan, in 1829, after a struggle

92 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
of ten years, the Synod of Ulster declared it to be in
competent for any one holding Arian views to occupy
an office in the Church. Seventeen ministers resigned
their charges — a small number when one considers the
prolonged and excited controversy which had taken
place. 7- Union with the Secession Synod. — The vin
dication of the Church's orthodoxy was followed, in
1834, by an enforcement of unqualified subscription to
the Confession of Faith on all her office-bearers — a step
which brought the Synod of Ulster in all essentials into
perfect harmony with the Secession Synod. The natural
and seemly consequence was reached when, on 10th July
1840, the two Presbyterian Synods, after a separate
existence of one hundred years, united their forces and
formed the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
in Ireland. From the Secession side came 141 con
gregations, and from the Synod of Ulster 292. Seldom
has an ecclesiastical union been so heartily consum
mated, and never with happier results. The isolated
congregations in the South and East of Ireland, which
formed the Synod of Munster, in turn caught the con
tagion, and when in 1854 they too united with the
strong Church of the North, the Irish Presbyterian
Church had gained at last the recognised position, and
much of the power in the land, which but for oppression
should have been hers two centuries before.
8. Recent Progress. — From that date the record
of the Church has been one of rapid growth and steady
development, alike in membership, in wealth, and in all
good works. No sooner was the Union of 1840 accom
plished than Foreign Mission work was taken up, India
being the field first chosen. A mission to the Jews was
added later, and under the devoted leadership of the late
Dr. Fleming Stevenson the foreign work was steadily
developed. But it has been by her labours in the Home
country that the Irish Church has gained her brightest
laurels. No longer is it necessary for her students to
proceed to Scotland for their training. The Magee College

THE CHURCH IN IRELAND 93
at Londonderry, the product of a princely legacy from
the widow of a minister of the Church, and the Assembly's
College at Belfast, supply a training as excellent as
Scotland can bestow. The Orphan Society, one of the
many agencies originated and successfully worked by
the late Dr. Johnston, cares for 3000 orphan children,
at an annual cost of £10,000. The Connaught Irish
Schools, organised by the late Dr. Edgar, have educated
40,000 children of the poor, and the Irish Mission
of Dr. Hamilton Magee strives effectually to dissemi
nate Protestant truth throughout the land. To the
general progress a rude shock was given in 1869,
when, along with the disestablishment of the Irish
Episcopal Church, there took place the abolition of the
Presbyterian Regium Donum. But no serious injury
was done. The commutation of life interests resulted
in a capital fund of £587,735, which yields a yearly
interest of £25,000. The Regium Donum had
amounted yearly to £39,000, but the liberality of the
Church has more than compensated for its withdrawal,
the Sustentation Fund, voluntarily raised, bringing the
income of the Church, for the payment of sustentation, up
to £50,000. With this sum the Church maintains a
staff of 645 ministers, whose ministry reaches nearly
half a million souls. In her membership she almost
equals the Episcopal Church, but in Ulster, the Presby
terian stronghold, she far exceeds it, and has been the
main instrument in imparting to that northern province
the religious tone which specially characterises it.
9. Characteristic Features. — As contrasted with
the present-day Presbyterianism of Scotland, that of
Ireland is distinguished by its thorough -going con
servatism. The forward movements in Theology and
Church Services, which in the Mother Church are ac
complished facts, are in Ireland just beginning. In
strumental music in churches is being slowly introduced,
and it was not until 1895 'hat the Assembly gave per
mission to congregations to add a Hymnal to their
Psalm-book.

94 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Two causes have contributed to this peculiarity. One
has been the strong infusion of conservatism in theology
and practice which the Church received by uniting with
the Secession Synod in 1840. But almost equally
important has been the ceasing of the practice of educa
ting her ministers in Scotland. Contact with Scottish
ways and thought has been thereby avoided (save in the
case of the few students who still voluntarily cross the
channel), and the peculiarities of the Church preserved.
But though some sweetness and light may have thereby
been forfeited, the rugged strength which has been main
tained has been of far greater consequence. As a stand
ing protest against Romanism, and a bracing influence
on Irish 'Anglicanism, which through its contact with
Presbyterianism has hitherto refrained from joining in
the High Church Movement, the Irish Presbyterian
Church is a strong tower to the Protestant cause, and
as such merits and receives the admiration of every true
Presbyterian.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ENGLAND 95

CHAPTER VII
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ENGLAND AND WALES
A. The Presbyterian Church of England
"PNGLISH Presbyterianism in its present organised
*"¦* form is of recent origin. Little connection exists
between it and the Presbyterianism which in the seven
teenth century was so strongly represented in the Church
of England as to have a fair prospect of becoming
the ecclesiastical polity of the nation. The Act of
Uniformity, which in 1662 drove 2000 English clergy
from their livings, ended that hope, and under the
chilling influences of civil persecution, social ostracism,
and spiritual infidelity, Presbyterianism in the eighteenth
century drooped and all but died. Isolated congre
gations remained throughout the country which were
Presbyterian in name, but with a few bright exceptions
they had adopted the Unitarian creed and the Con
gregational mode of government.
1. Revival of Presbyterianism. — It was not till
the beginning of the present century that the dry bones
began again to live. Increased Scottish immigration
then resulted in the formation of not a few new Presby
terian congregations, while at the same period the general
spread of Evangelical principles in all the Churches
recalled some of the lapsed Presbyterian communities to
their earlier and purer faith, and revived the hearts of
those who had continued faithful. Presbyteries were
formed, and in 1836 these united to form The Presby
terian Synod of England, in connection with the Church of
Scotland. Unfortunately for the young Church, the great
Secession of '43 came on apace, and, deeming it their

96 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
duty to take sides, the English Presbyterians in 1844
severed their connection with the National Scottish
Church, and avowed hearty sympathy with the Free
Church. A minority remained loyal, and constitute to
day the Synod of the Scottish Church in England, which
numbers 14 ministers and 3600 communicants.
2. Union. — The severance from the Scottish Estab
lishment, regrettable though it was, opened the way to
a union with the numerous Presbyterian congregations
throughout England, in connection with the Scottish
United Presbyterian Church ; and at Liverpool in 1876,
by the consent of the U.P. Synod, this union was
accomplished. Ninety -eight English congregations of
the Synod joined the English Presbyterian Church and
formed the Presbyterian Church of England of to-day.
In the twenty years that have passed since then the
Church has slowly but steadily developed both in home
and foreign work. Her communicants have increased
from 51,013 to 68,997, and are dispersed among 295
congregations, while an annual income of £230,000 is
eloquent testimony to the excellence of organisation and
heartiness of spirit pervading the Church. But of all
the signs which point to increasing progress, none is
more hopeful than the attention which the Church is
bestowing on the training of her own ministry. It has
long been a complaint that Scottish ministers filled too
many of her pulpits, and thereby gave English Presby
terianism the name and character of an exotic ; but by
her Theological College, with its well-known staff —
soon apparently to be transferred from London to
Cambridge — she is doing her utmost to identify herself
thoroughly with England and the English people.
B. The Presbyterian Church of Wales
I. Origin. — Alone of all the Presbyterian Churches
of Britain, that of Wales owes nothing to Scotland.
Both in her origin and development she is peculiarly
Welsh. As an organised Church she is not yet a

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WALES 97
century old, but the movement of which she was the
outcome dates back to 1735, when the Church in Wales,
which fully shared in the deadness of the period, was
roused from her apathy by the voice of an earnest young
preacher, Howell Harris of Trevecca, in Brecknockshire.
Harris was a layman of the Church of England, and for
a layman to presume to preach was then a strange heresy.
To his friends he seemed beside himself, and a hasty
despatch to Oxford was devised as a. cure, but with no
success. Returning to Trevecca, he resumed his preach
ing, with the result that a widespread revival took place
over South Wales. Other like-minded apostles caught
the flame : Daniel Rowlands, curate of Llangeitho, in
the county of Cardigan ; and Howell Davies, curate of
Llysyfran, In Pembrokeshire. Whitefield, the great
preacher who was then rousing England with his
appeals, lent his aid to the movement, and, as one after
another of the evangelically -disposed clergy of Wales
avowed their sympathy, rapid headway was made. No
breach was made with the Church of England, nor was any
such desired. Like the Wesleyan movement in England,
so was this of Wales a revival within the Church, and led
by men devoted to the Church. The duty of receiving
communion at the hands of Episcopally-ordained clergy
men was distinctly enforced. Societies in the various
parishes were, indeed, formed by those who sympathised
with the movement, but they were spiritual, as contrasted
with ecclesiastical, in their aims — for the growth in
grace of the members, not for the forming of a new
organisation. Similar movements arising in the Church
to-day are welcomed as additional forces for good, but
on the English Church of the eighteenth century a fatal
blindness rested, and both in England and in Wales the
apostles of the new life were persistently opposed. Fines
and imprisonment were the penalties for frequenting
conventicles ; stoning and maltreating the conventiclers
was winked at by the authorities ; and thus slowly but
surely the links of attachment to the Church of England
were snapped asunder.

98 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
2. Formation of the Church. — In 1811 the de
cisive step was taken. An unusually rapid growth of
the " Societies " in the opening year of the century had
revealed the great need of evangelical clergy in the
Principality. The Bishops either would not or could
not help in supplying the need, and thus by the logic of
circumstances the leaders of the movement were forced
back to the Scriptural method of Ordination by Presbyters.
Under the guidance of the Rev. Thomas Charles of Bala,
who had been driven from the Establishment because of
his pronounced Evangelicalism, the decisive resolution
was adopted, and in 181 1 there were ordained, by the
laying on of the hands of the Presbyters, eight workers
at Bala and thirteen at Llandilo. The spiritual move
ment within the Church had become itself a Church.
The Rubicon once passed, the Calvinistic Methodist
Connection, as the new organisation was termed, settled
down to steady work. At first it was little more than a
union of evangelical Christians with no ecclesiastical
status, but when it proceeded to formulate a creed and
constitution it was found that they were distinctly Calvin
istic and Presbyterian. The " Societies " easily shaded
off into Presbyteries, the associations of societies into
two Synods, and in 1864 the final touch was given
by the formation of a General Assembly for all Wales.
The perfecting of the constitution has been accompanied
by a steady development of all the apparatus which
ministers to a Church's life and testifies to a Church's
activity. Two colleges for the training of the ministry
have been working for half a century in Bala and Tre
vecca, while Home Mission work and Foreign Missions
in Assam have been steadily maintained.
3- Present Position. — As contrasted with the
Established Church, the strength of the Welsh Presby-
terian Church has lain in her peculiarly national character.
Welsh in her origin, she has remained Welsh throughout
her history. Her ministers are Welshmen bora and
bred, sons of the people, speaking their tongue and
knowing their ways. It is little wonder that, with these

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WALES 90
strong claims on the national affection, the Presbyterian
Church of Wales has made such marvellous progress.
Her adherents, as reported to the General Assembly in
1895, number 306,669, while her total contributions of
£230,000 for the year point to a vigorous life and a
hopeful future. Hitherto she has lived in isolation from
the other Presbyterian Churches of Britain, but of late
years there have been signs of a longing for closer
fellowship with the Sister Church in England. The
holding of the Welsh General Assembly in London in
1895 may perhaps be taken as evidence that a federa
tion, if not a union, of the Churches is one of the possi
bilities of the future.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER VIII
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES IN THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA*
TO pass from the Presbyterianism of Europe to that
of America and the Colonies is to enter on the third
stage in the extension of the Presbyterian Church. A
changed atmosphere surrounds us. New circumstances
create new difficulties and result in new developments.
No longer do we meet with thrilling records of martyr
doms for the faith or bloody battles for religious freedom.
In their place we find accounts, less stirring but no less
important, of the slow building up of congregations in
the midst of poverty, and the gradual formation of a
Constitution, in the face of petty and harassing, but not
deadly, opposition. Poetry has given place to prose.
Corresponding with this change is the change in the na
ture of the victory. It is now the victory of a great
principle as contrasted with the triumphs of great leaders.
The merits of Presbyterianism, rather than the strong
personality of prominent Presbyters, win the day. Not
so was it on the Continent, neither was it so in Scotland.
In a very real sense Calvin, Knox, and Melville were
the makers of the Presbyterian churches there. But in
the trans-oceanic development, though great leaders have
not been wanting, their name and fame has been over
shadowed by the name and fame of the churches they
helped to establish.
A third notable feature in this last phase of Presby
terian expansion is a certain many-sidedness growing
out of its affiliations with almost every centre of Calvin
istic reform in Europe. Though the largest church
bearing the Presbyterian name is of Scottish origin,
* By Rev. Andrew C. Ztnos, D.D.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 101
and has followed Scottish ideas and patterns, Holland,
France, and Germany have contributed large contingents
both of numbers and formative influences. When the
time comes for the union of its different branches,
American Presbyterianism will incorporate the fruits
of the thought and feeling of many peoples and lands.
There are at present in the United States of America
thirteen organisations of the Presbyterian and Reformed
order holding to the Calvinistic system of doctrine. They
may be divided into three general classes : first, those
which sprang into existence independently on American
soil ; second, those that were planted as branches of the
Reformed Churches of the Continent, and continued for
some time in organic connection with these churches ;
and, third, those which were organised as branches of
the Scottish churches, and were long in affiliation with
their Scottish parent churches.
Of these the first to enter the continent in order of
time was the Dutch Reformed. Next came the Scotch
and Scotch-Irish Presbyterian population, which, com
bining with the Presbyterian element within English
Puritanism that had found its way into New England,
sprang into the strictly so-called Presbyterian Church in
the United States of America. Following, afte- an in
terval of half a century, came the German Reformed
Church, and contemporaneously with this the represen
tatives of the dissenting bodies of Scotland obtained a
foothold, and later amalgamated in the United Presby
terian Assembly. In the order of influence and strength,
the first place is conceded by all to that church which is
known as the Presbyterian Church in the United States
of America. With this, therefore, we shall begin our
more particular account of these bodies.
I. The Presbyterian Church in the United
States of America
i. Introduction of Presbyterianism into
America. — If we take the period between the years

102 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
1492 and 1600 to constitute the age of exploration in
America, and the period between 1600 and 1776 to con
stitute the age of colonisation, it will be clear that this
latter period begins with the introduction of English
Episcopacy into the continent. The Cavaliers were
Established Church men, and they settled the Virginia
colony as early as 1607. Next to Episcopacy came In
dependency, after an interval of about fifteen years
(1620). Yet both the Episcopalian Cavaliers and the
Independent Puritans brought over complete church
organisations from across the waters ; but to the Presby
terians of Holland belongs the honour of having first
organised a Christian church on American soil. This
memorable event took place in New Amsterdam in 1628,
under the leadership of Jonas Michaelius. But not even
this church was destined to remain independent of Euro
pean connections very long. It was put into organic
affiliation with the Synod of North Holland. To the
Scotch and Scotch-Irish was to come the credit of plant
ing and maintaining the Presbyterian Church of America.
And yet it must not be forgotten that a certain kind and
amount of preparation had been made for this work by
the English Puritans, who settled New England be
tween 1625 and 1650. There were many Presbyterians
among these, and though in the main they were won
over to Independency, they did not fail to leave their
mark on the Congregationalism of the succeeding period.
Some of them, too, successfully resisted the influence of
Independency and managed to establish churches in
Connecticut and Long Island upon a distinctively Pres
byterian basis. That they did not achieve the organisa
tion of a general Presbyterian Church, as distinguished
from mere Presbyterian congregations, was due to the
absence, on the one hand, of a large number of colonists
who decidedly preferred the Presbyterian form, and on
the other of an aggressive organising mind to bring to
gether and make the most of the materials at hand. It
was from Scotland and the north of Ireland that these
two requisites were introduced.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 103
2. Emigration from Scotland and Ireland.—
To these two Presbyterian centres the return of the
Stuarts, in 1660, had brought persecution, and large
numbers of their residents had to seek freedom to wor
ship God by crossing the Atlantic. In Scotland the
authorities were so glad to get rid of their stubborn sub
jects that they aided their departure, and from 1660 to
1688 a steady stream of emigration flowed westward ;
not in twos and threes, but in compact bands of hundreds
they went ; in some cases proprietors were accompanied
by their tenants, in others ministers with their flocks.
And yet this emigration did not reach a definite and
limited spot on the western side of the Atlantic. It was
not an insignificant emigration, indeed, either in the
number of emigrants it brought in, or in the strength
and vigour of its influence; but, unlike the Puritan,
Cavalier, and Quaker emigrations, which kept together,
the Scotch-Irish scattered and covered a vast area of
territory. It followed in the main a southwesterly direc
tion from Pennsylvania and Delaware into Maryland,
Western Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. In the
long run the total number of emigrants and their
descendants from Ulster far outnumbered their kinsmen
who stayed at home. With this stream, in the course of
time, the New England Presbyterian element naturally
united. Men like Francis Doughty and Richard Denton,
who, to maintain their Presbyterianism, had moved into
the more congenial atmosphere of the Dutch settlements
on Long Island and New Netherlands, naturally found
themselves ecclesiastically in their own element among
the Scotch and Scotch-Irish. There were also men like
Matthew Hill, an English Presbyterian, who took charge
of a congregation in Maryland about 1670. Thus, toward
the closing years of the seventeenth century the Presby
terian element grew strong enough to suggest the feasi
bility of organisation. In 1682 William Traill, and in
1683 Francis Makemie, came to minister to the congre
gations of Scotch-Irish origin scattered through Mary
land and Delaware.

104 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
3- Formation of the First Presbytery.— Francis
Makemie, who was destined to become the founder of
the great American Presbyterian Church, was a graduate
of Glasgow University, and a licentiate of the Presbytery
of Laggan. He was put by that Presbytery at the head
of a company of emigrants to America. On his arrival
he gave himself to the work of an evangelist, engaging
at the same time in such secular employments as brought
him an ample support and built him a comfortable estate.
His travels soon made him acquainted with the true ex
tent and spread of Presbyterianism. His keen insight
revealed to him the necessity of organisation, while the
intolerance of the Episcopalians, which he personally
experienced shortly after his arrival, — being fined and
imprisoned in New York for preaching the gospel, — only
helped to whet his sense of the need of combination of
forces on the part of Presbyterians. In 1699 he was
called to the pastorate of the church at Snow Hill, Md.
From this position he bent his energies to the work of
bringing together his brethren of the same faith ; and in
consequence of his energetic efforts these churches were
organised into a Presbytery in Philadelphia in 1705 or
1 706 (the exact date remains doubtful, owing to the loss
of the first page of the records). The effect of organi
sation soon became apparent ; progress was phenomenally
rapid. Presbyterians from Scotland and Ireland, as they
came into the New World, were met by a living church.
Instead of being scattered and absorbed by the Indepen
dents, or other Christian bodies, they joined the congre
gations of their own order. With some aid from the
Synod of Glasgow, and with the sympathy of Principal
Stirling of the University of Glasgow, the colonial church
made tremendous strides forward.
4- The Synod of Philadelphia.— The Presbytery
organised in 1705 or 1706 never calls itself by a local
name. It has been rightly suggested that it was a
General Presbytery, but whether general or local, it
blossomed in 1716 into four Presbyteries, and, carrying
out the Presbyterian idea, a higher court was established,

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 105
to unify these four, in the Synod of Philadelphia. At its
organisation the Synod was made up of all the ministers,
with one elder from each church. In 1 724 it was found
necessary to substitute the principle of delegation for this
arrangement. It was ordered that each Presbytery
should designate half its membership to represent it at
the session of the Synod for two successive years, while
the third year all should attend; but experience proved
this arrangement cumbersome and undesirable, and after
two years of trial the " full Synod " was restored.
5- The Adoption of the Westminster Stan
dards. — The next step forward in realising the idea of
Presbyterianism was the adoption, or elaboration, of an
organic law or constitution. The church had been
governed by the principles recognised in Scotland and
Ireland, but these principles had not as yet been formally
declared to be its organic law. It was simply a tacit
understanding that gave them authority. The occasion
for the crystallisation of this law was the entrance into
the ministry of men whose orthodoxy was not vouched
for, except by the fact of their being in the ministry in
the old country. The experience of the Scotch and Irish
churches was, no doubt, taken as a basis of action in this
particular. The Scotch church, in 1690, and the Irish
church, in 1698, enacted a requirement of subscription to
the Westminster Standards. In the Synod of Ulster
the enactment, which was at first made to apply only to
candidates for licensure, was repeated, and its applica
tion widened so as to include all ministers. It was
done mainly as a safeguard against certain tendencies
toward Arianism, Pelagianism, and Arminianism. In
the American church the Presbytery of Newcastle began
to require subscription as early as 1 724. The movement
to make the requirement of subscription universal was
initiated in this Presbytery. John Thompson, one of its
members, overtured the Synod of Philadelphia to take
this step in 1727. The Presbytery itself repeated the
overture the following year, and, after careful debate, it
was enacted, in 1729: "All ministers of this Synod, or

io6 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
that shall be hereafter admitted to this . Synod, shall
declare their agreement in, and their approbation of,
the Confession of Faith, with the Larger and Shorter
Catechisms, of the Assembly of Divines at Westmin
ster, as being in all essential and necessary articles good
forms of sound words and systems of doctrine, and do
also adopt the said Confession and Catechisms as the
confession of our faith. . . . And in case any minister
of this Synod, or any candidate for the ministry, shall
have scruples with respect to any article or articles of
said Confession or Catechisms, he shall at the time of
making such declaration declare his sentiments to the
Presbytery or the Synod, who shall, notwithstanding,
admit him to the exercise of the ministry within our
bounds, and to ministerial communion, if the Synod or
Presbytery shall judge his scruples or mistake to be
about articles not essential and necessary in doctrine,
worship, or government." This has been called the
Adopting Act of 1 729.
But though this Adopting Act incorporates the broad
principle of the recognition of scruples, providing that
such scruples, if not touching the essential and necessary
articles of faith, shall not stand in the way of the candi
date's admission, as a matter of fact all scruples enter
tained at the time referred to some clauses of Chapters
XX and XXIV of; the Confession, treating of the power
of civil magistrates in matters of religion. The discus
sions leading to the Adopting Act brought to the front
the great leader and theologian, Jonathan Dickinson,
and also the existence of a line of distinction between the
New England and the Scotch and Scotch-Irish elements
in the church. It pointed to the ultimate development,
under the cooperating influences just named, of a new
type of Presbyterianism, which, while retaining its his
toric connection with its original stock in Great Britain,
should be more flexible and adapted to the new country
and the new conditions of its environment.
6. The Synod, from 1729 to 1741-The Great
Awakening.— During the twelve years following the

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 107

Adopting Act, another great wave of growth flooded the
church. Besides accessions by immigration, this period
witnessed a great influx, due to a revival of religion that
has been called the " Great Awakening." This move
ment was simultaneous with the great Methodist revival,
led by Wesley and Whitefield, in England, and related
to it, but was not the outgrowth or sequel of it. It
originated independently, and antedated the Methodist
movement by a few years. It arose out of the ' ' awaken
ing" preaching of Jacob Frelinghuysen, pastor of the
Dutch Reformed Church at Raritan, N. J., and spread
through the whole country, finding many prominent
promoters, among them Jonathan Edwards in New
England, and George Whitefield, who visited the coun
try in 1739, and held vast audiences spellbound by the
magic of his oratory. Within the Presbyterian Church
the exponents of this movement were the Tennents,
of New Jersey. It is in connection with the ministry
of the Tennents that the revival introduced certain
new conditions into the church. First of all, the
evangelistic style of preaching came into favour, and
being somewhat different from that which hi^d hitherto
prevailed, produced some friction in the ministry. Those
who adopted it developed a tendency to look down upon
their brethren of the older style as inefficient, therefore
lacking the blessing of God and unconverted. They de
nounced them as such, refusing to recognise their minis
terial character, and invaded their parishes, holding
services in them. Expressing the views of the newer
and more aggressive men, Gilbert Tennent preached the
famous sermon at Nottingham, Pa., on "An Uncon
verted Ministry " (1740), which agitated the church to its
depths. Besides creating this line of division in the
ministry, the Awakening so far increased the numbers
of those needing spiritual ministration that the question
of removing or modifying the educational qualifications
for entrance into the pastoral office was brought forward.
William Tennent, father of Gilbert, had come from
Dublin in 1727, and established at Neshaminy, Pa., an

108 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
institution for the training of Presbyterian ministers,
which became famous as the " Log College." Hitherto
Presbyterians had required of all candidates for licensure
graduation at some British university or American col
lege, such as Harvard or Yale. It was now proposed to
admit others than those possessing this qualification,
especially pupils of the Log College.
7- The Disruption Of 1741.— Upon these issues
the division in sentiment daily increased until it reached
a crisis in 1741. At the meeting of Synod that year the
majority of the Synod agreed to a "protestation," in
which they accused the party represented by the Ten
nents, constituted mainly of the ministers of the New
Brunswick Presbytery, as subverting synodical discipline,
encouraging arrogance, entertaining and passing censori
ous judgments on their brethren, dividing congregations
against themselves, and alienating them from their estab
lished pastors. Upon the acceptance of this " protesta
tion " by the majority, the New Brunswick Presbytery
withdrew. Efforts were made, indeed, to heal the breach
before it grew more serious, but they proved unavailing.
The Presbytery of New Brunswick, joined by that of
New York, formed the Synod of New York in 1745.
Thus there were two separate churches, represented by
the Synod of Philadelphia, which was called the ' ' Old
Side," or " Old Lights," and the Synod of New York,
called the "New Side," or "New Lights." When
the New Side withdrew from the Synod of Philadel
phia, that Synod altered the terms of subscription to the
Standards, making such subscription unconditional, and
allowing no statement of " scruples " for Synod or Pres
bytery to pass upon, as was provided by the terms of the
Adopting Act of 1729.
8. The Reunion of 1758.— From 1741 to 1758 the
two Synods acted separately. The New Side was
the more aggressive of the two, and grew much more
rapidly. Its twenty-two ministers of 1745 became
seventy-two in 1758. The causes of this growth were
undoubtedly, first of all, its use of the evangelistic method,

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 109
and,. secondly, the foundation of a college, enabling it
to put a large number of ministers into the field. A
charter was secured for such an institution in 1 746, and
Jonathan Dickinson was put at the head of it, and in
order that he might not leave his pastorate the college
was located in his parish, Elizabethtown, N. J. Upon
his death, in 1747, it was removed to Newark, to be
under the direction of Aaron Burr. But in 1755, en
dowments having been secured, and a grant of real estate
from the borough of Princeton, N. J., the college as
well as its president were removed to that town.
It was during this period, also, that the church awoke
to the need of missionary work among the native Indians.
David Brainerd established himself at the Forks of the
Delaware, and in a brief ministry of less than four years
started activities which issued in the conversion of a
great number. His brother John succeeded him, and
though with less energy, faithfully continued his labours
until his death in 1781. Elihu Spencer also worked
among the Indians of the Oneida tribe from 1748 to
1750; and Samson Occam, a Connecticut Mohegan, was
ordained by the Presbytery of Suffolk to evangelise his
own people.
The division in Presbyterianism was not destined to
last long. Much of the feeling characterising the dis
cussion that led to it was soon spent, and overtures look
ing to a reunion were opened as early as 1749 by the
Synod of New York. The negotiations were, however,
slow and prolonged, and the complete understanding that
led to the reunion did not come until 1758. The terms 1
of the reunion were that subscription should be as the
Synod of Philadelphia had ordered — unconditional ; that
intrusion into the parishes of established pastors should
be forbidden ; and that candidates for the ministry should
be examined in experimental religion as well as in
learning and orthodoxy. The name adopted was the
Synod of New York and Philadelphia.
9- The Reunited Synod, 1758-75.— The seven
teen years following the reunion were marked only by

no THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
moderate progress. The work of the church was hin
dered by the political distractions and excitement of those
days. Public opinion was in a state of ferment. The
relation of the Colonies to the mother country was the
burning question. The Presbyterians were universally
in favour of a separation. The continued sovereignty of
England meant to them a source of power to Episcopacy
and a menace to their own freedom. Everywhere they
took the lead in the movement for independence. Many
of their ministers and elders were found active in the
provincial conventions or legislatures, and took promi
nent part in bringing matters to a crisis. The most
eminent of these was, without doubt, John Witherspoon,
a lineal descendant of John Knox, who came over to take
the presidency of Princeton College in 1768. Sent by
the Provincial Congress of New Jersey to the Continental
Convention, he became one of the signers of the Decla
ration of Independence, and was characterised by his
staunch loyalty to General Washington when others
seemed ready to desert, and even assail, this leader.
Nevertheless, both preceding and during the Revolu
tionary War the influences were adverse to church life in
all its departments. Regular church work was next to
impossible; the support of the ministry became very
difficult ; church buildings were seized and used as bar
racks or stables. For several years Princeton College
was closed. Presbyteries and Synods were thinly at
tended. The evil was aggravated by the introduction of
French thought, through the means of the French officers
that came to serve in the Revolutionary army. The deism
of Voltaire, with its frivolity, was acclimated in the
country, and proved detrimental to spiritual life. Yet
these conditions only tested the mettle of staunch men,
and developed the heroism which perpetuated the life of
the church until the war was over and the national period
began. 10. The Organisation of the General Assembly,
1789 —When the church had sufficiently recovered from
the effects of the Revolutionary War, it began to realise

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA nr
the necessity of entering on a new state of organisation
— the national. The movement in this direction first took ,
the form of an effort to consolidate on a large scale the I
Calvinistic, or Reformed, churches into a confederation. I
The Synod entered into correspondence with the Dutch
Reformed and the Associate Reformed Synods. A con
ference was held in 1785, but led to no permanent result.
In the Synod's session of 1 786 a plan was proposed in
volving the erection of a delegated General Assembly,
and the subdivision of the Synod into four Synods. This
was submitted to the Presbyteries, for information, with
instructions that they should " report their observations
in writing" to the session of 1787. The plan was
adopted by the Synod acting alone in 1788. At the
same time, by a new Adopting Act, the Westminster
Standards were declared to be the constitution of the
church, and subscription to them by office-bearers was
required unconditionally. In 1789 the first General As
sembly met and the church attained its national stage of
organisation. II. The Revival Of 1800.— Everything now pointed
to a vast growth. New regions were being daily opened
for immigration west of the Alleghanies, and population
was pouring into them. The disturbances of the war
being over, men's minds were naturally all the more sus
ceptible to the influences of religion. A natural reaction
from the low ebb of spiritual life led to a new revival in
1800, which resembled in many respects that of 1739,
and swept over the country, bringing large numbers into
the church. This rapid and large growth issued in two
directions : first, in reopening the question of an educated
ministry; and, second, in suggesting cooperation with
other Christian bodies.
The question of an educated ministry emerged in the
Southwest. The revival here was most profoundly felt.
The need for more ministers became apparent, and the
Presbytery of Transylvania and that of Cumberland
licensed several young men who had not had the educa
tion prescribed by the rules of the church, and who,

112 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
possibly on that account, could not give an unqualified
assent to the teachings of the Westminster Standards
with respect to the doctrines of election and persever
ance. The minority of the Cumberland Presbytery
protested against this action. The case went to the
Synod of Kentucky, and was by that body referred to a
commission for settlement. The commission suspended
the majority of the members of Presbytery, and dis
qualified all its licentiates. Instead of carrying the
matter to the General Assembly for final adjudication,
the Presbytery of Cumberland allowed it to go by default,
and later (1810) organised itself into an independent
church. 12. The Plan of Union.— But if the growth of
these years led to this disruption on the one hand, it was
the means of an effort at union on the other. It was felt
that forms of evangelicalism as nearly allied as Pres
byterianism and Congregationalism would be wasting
strength in entering the newly settled West as rivals, or
even independently. Their combined influence was
needed to save the new population to evangelical religion.
A Plan of Union was accordingly devised and adopted by
the Congregational Association of Connecticut, and by
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in
1801. This plan provided that churches of either de
nomination might call pastors from the other. The
pastors thus chosen were still generally amenable to the
jurisdiction of the courts of their original denomination ;
but in cases of dispute the appeal might be taken, accord
ing to the option of the parties, either to the Presbytery
to which the minister, if a Presbyterian, might belong,
to a council composed of equal numbers from each de
nomination, or to the Association to which the minister,
if a Congregationalist, might belong. This plan, though
put forth in the interests of both denominations con
cerned, was not satisfactory to either. As far as it
affected Presbyterianism it resulted in a vast increase in
membership, but in a relaxation both of doctrine and

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 113
discipline and polity. It was most felt on the latter
point. A large number of ministers were enrolled as
Presbyterians who had little knowledge and less sym
pathy with distinctively Presbyterian principles. The
principle of direct control of the home mission work by
the church was necessarily set aside for that of control
by agencies outside the jurisdiction of the church. In
the matter of doctrine, a form of Calvinism known as
Hopkinsianism was at the time prevalent in New Eng
land. Many of the ministers who were allowed by the
terms of the Plan of Union to take charge of Presbyterian
churches were supposed to be tainted with this form of
belief. Grave fears began to disturb the more conser
vative element in the church. On the other hand, a new
school of thought developed, favouring a comprehensive
and free interpretation of the Standards.
13- The Schism Of 1837-38.— Feeling ran high, and
ecclesiastical trials were instituted against Lyman Beecher
and Albert Barnes. The case of Mr. Barnas was pro
tracted from 1830 to 1836, passing from one form to
another, and though decided in favour of the New-School
side, led to further debates, and ultimately to the disrup- 1
tion of 1838. The Plan of Union was abrogated in that year, j
and on the assumption that this action was retroactive, the'
Synods and Presbyteries organised under the arrange
ment were exscinded. The boards of foreign missions,
of domestic missions, and of education were organised,
and the organisation of the Old-School church was
otherwise completed in detail. The New-School
church was organised in 1838, with every effort to con
form to the strict ecclesiastical law. Ten hundred and
ninety-three ministers, 1260 churches, and 106,000 com
municant members followed with this school ; while 1615
ministers, 1673 churches, and 126,000 communicants
remained in the Old-School church.
14- The Secession of the Southern Church.—
The disruption of 1838 lasted until 1870. During this
interval both Old- and New-School churches pressed on

114 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
with their work. New questions emerged in the sphere
of each, especially their attitude toward slavery. The
importance of this issue was seen by some even before
the rupture ; but it became the burning question in the
church only as it assumed the first place in the political
field. The New-School church was prompt to take radi
cal action on the matter, in consequence of which, in
1854, 6 Synods, 21 Presbyteries, and 15,000 communi-
¦ cants, living in the Southern States, seceded and formed
the United Synod of the Presbyterian Church. The Old-
School Assembly also, though more slowly, ultimately
came to condemn slavery. Partly in consequence of this
action, but more because of the anticipated division of
the nation into two, and because of adherence to the
principle that " each nation should contain a separate
and independent church," 1 the Presbyterian Church of
the Confederate States was organised in 1861. In 1864
the United Synod joined this body, to constitute the Pres
byterian Church in the United States, a title finally
adopted after the collapse of the Confederate States.
15- The Reunion of 1870.— Soon after the secession
of the Southern Presbyteries and Synods, the spirit of
reunion began to work in the North. As early as 1863,
a " friendly interchange of commissioners " between the
Old- and New-School Assemblies was entered into. The
movement thus inaugurated could not rest until, in 1869,
the two Assemblies met in Pittsburg, and declared the
union agreed to by the Presbyteries, and the General
Assembly of the reunited church was convened to meet
in Philadelphia in 1870. The reunion was effected upon
the broad basis of the "Standards pure and simple."
Neither party was called upon to retract any utterance or
sacrifice any principle it represented. The Synods and
Presbyteries were naturally reconstructed so as to avoid
duplication and waste of effort, and a fund of $7,607,-
l. Address by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of
the United States of America, to all the Churches of Jesus Christ
through the Earth, etc. , prepared by J. H. Thornwell, and unani
mously adopted at Augusta, Ga., December, 1861.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 113
491.91 was raised to commemorate the event, and the
reunited church resumed its work with new vigour. Yet
even during the schism the church had shown remark
able vitality and growth. In spite of the defection of the
Southern branch, it enrolled, when reconstructed, 35
Synods, 167 Presbyteries, 4238 ministers, 4526 churches,
and nearly 450,000 communicants.
16. Intellectual Life of the Church.— It was dur
ing the period of the division that the greatest intellectual
and missionary activity was developed. Until 1837
the Presbyterian Church had many good preachers,
but no scholars or theologians of towering promi
nence, with the exception of Jonathan Edwards. Since
that period she has given Christendom men like Ed
ward Robinson, whose " Biblical Researches in Pales
tine " mark an epoch in Biblical geography and explora
tion ; J. Addison Alexander, a scholar of the first rank
in everything he touched; Charles Hodge and Henry
B. Smith, peers in systematic theology, not to be com
pared with one another, because they represent the two
sides of their department, — the former the Biblical foun
dation and the latter the philosophical method, — but peer
less outside; Robert J. Breckinridge and J. H. Thornwell,
men of affairs and theological thinkers at the same time ;
besides Drs. Schaff and McCosh, who, though claiming
American Presbyterianism only as an adopted mother,
gave to it their most distinguished services. The educa
tional system of the church has also expanded during
these years ; besides Princeton, twelve other colleges had
been planted in the country before the schism, under Pres
byterian control. To these nineteen have been added
since. Of theological seminaries that at Princeton dates
from 1812; Auburn was established in 1819; Western
(Allegheny), in 1827; Lane, in 1829; McCormick, in 1830,
at Hanover, Ind. (removed to New Albany in 1840, and
to Chicago, its present home, in 1859) ; Danville, in 1853 ;
Union, N. Y., was established as an independent insti
tution in 1836; San Francisco was opened in 1871,
and Omaha in 1891. Two theological institutions

n6 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
have been founded for the training of German min
isters—one in Dubuque (1852), and one in Newark
(1869); and two for the education of ministers for the
freedmen— Biddle University (1868) and Lincoln Uni
versity (1871).
17. Missionary Activity.— During the first part
of the century the church adopted the system of boards,
through which it has since administered its benevolences ;
although as early as 1831 the Rev. J. H. Rice, of Vir
ginia, broached the idea that ' ' the church was a mis
sionary society, and every member of the church is a
member for life of the said society." The first board
organised was that of Home Missions, in 1816. During
its existence it has raised and expended about twenty
million dollars. Thus, as the great country west of the
Alleghanies, then west of the Mississippi, and, finally,
west of the Rockies, was opened up, this board stood
ready to plant Presbyterianism in it. The Board of
Foreign Missions is the offspring and successor of the
Western Home Missionary Society, organised by the
Synod of Pittsburg in October, 1831. At that date the
main work of foreign missions was still being carried on
by Presbyterians in conjunction with Congregationalists,
through the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions. When the Old- and New-School
churches separated, the New School continued to work
together with the Congregationalists ; but the Old School
adopted the Western Missionary Society, and converted
it into a board of the whole church. The first report
of the board, in 1838, showed 15 missionaries, 23 assis
tants, and $45,498 of receipts. With the strength added
to the cause by the reunion, the board has raised and
spent over $20,000,000, and its report for 1897 shows
708 missionaries, 1802 assistants, and $959,774.57raised.
In addition to these two great boards others have been
erected, such as the Board of Education, intended to aid
young men for the ministry, in 1819 ; that of Publication,
to distribute Christian literature and extend the Sabbath-
school system of the church into destitute regions ; that

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 117
of Church Erection, to aid congregations in securing
suitable places of worship ; that of Ministerial Relief, to
provide for the aged and infirm servants of the church,
and for their widows and orphans ; that of Freedmen,
for the support of the gospel among the destitute freedmen
of the South ; and that of Aid for Colleges and Academies,
to assist struggling institutions in the newer regions of
the land. The present strength of the church is repre
sented in the following statistics : Synods, 32 ; Presby
teries, 229; ministers, 7129; churches, 7631; communi
cants, 960,911.

II. Other Presbyterian Churches of American
Origin
1. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church.— It
was not the intention of those who organised the Cum
berland Presbytery, after its disciplinary dissolution by
the Synod of Kentucky, to found a new denomination.
They hoped to carry on Christian work independently,
as a Presbytery in the Presbyterian Church, and some
time in the future they thought they might be taken into
connection with the church again. They were zealous,
and their evangelistic methods proved effective. Within
three years after the reorganisation of the Cumberland
Presbytery, it was found necessary to form a Synod, and
fifteen years later a General Assembly. Though origi
nating in the movement to relax the qualification of educa
tion for entrance into the ministry, the denomination has
worked around to the old position of high ideals. It
has founded and maintains academies, colleges, and uni
versities, and a theological seminary at Lebanon, Tenn.
They adopted in 1814 a doctrinal platform explanatory of
the Westminster Standards, toning down, and, as some
think, eliminating Calvinism out of them, and in 1883
adopted a new Confession of Faith, carrying out the
sentiment of the explanatory statement of 1814.
Like all the other evangelical bodies it was agitated

n8 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
by the Civil War, and had to confront the question of the
treatment of freedmen. A desire having been expressed
among these for an independent church, such a church
was organised in 1869, and has in its connection 20
Presbyteries and 15,000 communicants. The Cumber
land Church itself numbers 126 Presbyteries, 1571 minis
ters, 2915 churches, and 175,642 communicants.
2. The Presbyterian Church in the United
States. — This is the name of the church which arose,
in 1861, out of the differences in the Old-School Presby
terian body as to slavery. The occasion of the separation
of this branch has already been stated to have been the
expectation on the part of its leaders that the Confederate
States would soon be an independent nation, and the
belief in the principle that each nation should have its
own national church. With this was always associated
in the minds of the leaders the radical difference between
their own views and those of their brethren of the North
ern States as to the scope and function of the church in
civil and secular affairs. They held that the body of
Christ is spiritual, and must not intermeddle in purely
secular matters, such as they regarded the slavery ques
tion to be. When the hope of a separate nation of Con
federate States was given up, the church planted itself
squarely upon this idea, and has persisted in regarding
the Northern branch as derelict to this fundamental con
ception of the body of Christ. The ante-bellum declara
tions on slavery it denounces as an interference in political
matters, therefore as sinful. During the thirty-six years
of its existence it has rigorously pushed its work in the ter
ritory naturally belonging to it. It carried with it two
theological seminaries at the time of the secession : Union
Seminary, at Hampden-Sidney, Va. (founded in 1824),
and Columbia Seminary, in Columbia, S. C. (founded
in 1828) ; to these it has added a third at Louisville, Ky.,
in 1891. Besides, it has fostered the policy of distinct
schools in connection with universities, of which it now
possesses one as a department of the Southwestern Pres
byterian University, in Clarksville, Tenn. (founded

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 119
in 1885), and one in connection with the University of
Texas, at Austin, — Austin School of Theology, — founded
in 1884 by the Rev. Dr. R. L. Dabney. This church
has further reverted to the principle of administering its
benevolences and missionary work through committees
rather than by corporate boards. Its strength is repre
sented by the following statistics : Synods, 13 ; Presby
teries, 75; ministers, 1393; churches, 2816; communi
cants, 211,694.
III. Churches of Continental Origin
1. The (Dutch) Reformed Church in America.—
(1) Origin. — This church was an offshoot from the Re
formed Church of Holland, and was introduced into the
western continent as a consequence of the explorations
of Hudson, under the auspices of the Dutch East India
Company. The country opened up by Hudson was an
inviting field for commercial enterprise, and the Company,
having bought the island of Manhattan from the Indians
for twenty-four dollars, renamed it New Amsterdam, and
settled it with traders. It was here that, in 1628, the
first strictly American church was organised, with Jonas
Michaelius as its pastor; and from that year until 1 664
other churches to the number of thirteen were planted
in quick succession, to supply the increasing membership
of the settlement. The Church of Holland very wisely,
as well as in the spirit of aggressiveness and Christian
liberality, encouraged the expansion of this work by
sending ministers and money to it.
(2) Struggle for Independence under English
Rule.— In 1664 the city and colony of New Amsterdam
were wrested from the East India Company by the Eng
lish government. The city was renamed New York, and
put under British control. The Reformed Church was
allowed to exist as a body of dissent, but its further ex
tension was made illegal. Immigrants from Holland no
longer found it congenial to settle here, and some that
had already made their homes in the colony removed to

120 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
the Carolinas. The position of the church was reduced
to a very anomalous one as an ecclesiastical organisation
in connection with Holland, whose membership and
ministry held allegiance to the British king. Its life now
depended on its ability to prevent the establishment of
the Episcopal Church in the colony. As its membership
constituted the great bulk of the population, this was not
a difficult undertaking, and yet, without legal action and
contrary to the facts, the governor at one time declared
that such establishment did exist. In 1673 the Dutch
reconquered New York, but were able to hold it only for
a. brief year. From 1674 to the closing years of that
century its efforts centred about the prevention of such
legislation in the colony as might make the claim of
establishment an effective act of tyranny. To put the
church beyond the power of Episcopacy, a charter was
sought for and secured, in 1696, for the First Church of
New York from William III., and thus independence
was firmly established.
(3) Separation from Holland.— The next step was
to cut loose from the Church of Holland. Even during
the period of its struggle with Episcopacy the Reformed
Church had grown. Her 13 churches of 1664 had be
come, at the end of the seventeenth century, 34, and, in
1737. 65- But her affiliation with the Church of Hol
land prevented the use of the most effective means for
further progress ; the quickest and most healthful advance
could only come by establishing an American ecclesias
tical court to administer authority on local matters. As
it was, there was no authority even to ordain ministers
on this side of the Atlantic ; and the journey across to
Holland was long, tedious, expensive, and dangerous.
Moreover, the bond between Holland and the colony was
growing weaker, owing to the passage of the latter under
English rule. These facts were forced before the atten
tion of the Reformed churches in America, and a petition
was sent to the Classis of Amsterdam, with which these
churches were in affiliation, for a meeting to consider the
establishment of a Coetus for the American churches.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 121
After some delay this was granted, and, all attempts to
unite the churches with the Presbyterian Church having
meantime failed of their aim, the Coetus was organised
in 1747.
(4) Fuller Organisation.— The Coetus was an as
sociation of the ministers, with little authority. It was
only in subordinate and unessential matters that a decisive
voice was given it. The arrangement was soon found
inadequate and unsatisfactory. The full organisation of
Classes and a Synod was, however, delayed, owing to
some dissentions in New York as to the foundation of a
college. Nevertheless, the Coetus assumed the functions
of a Classis in 1754. Meanwhile, toward the end of the
eighteenth century the English language began to dis
place the Dutch in services of worship, and the number
of churches grew to about one hundred. The time seemed
to have arrived for the formation of a Synod. The
original Classis was divided into five Classes (New
York, Albany, New Brunswick, Kingston, Hackensack),
under one Provisional Synod. This was changed, in
1794, to a General Synod, and this body again was di
vided into two Particular Synods (Albany and New
York), thus completing the organisation of the church
in 1 800. Two newer Particular Synods have been formed
since, those of Chicago (in 1856) and of New Brunswick
(in 1869), but no new principle of church life was in
volved in these additions.
(5) Education. — The Reformed Church claims the
earliest theological seminary in the country. Dr. J. H.
Livingston, who has had much to do in determining the
thought of the church, was appointed Professor of Theol
ogy in 1784; he taught in New York and at Flatbush,
Long Island. Other professors were appointed to teach
in other parts of the country ; but these were concen
trated, in 1810, in New Brunswick. Here Rutgers
College was planted at the same time, as a sequel to
efforts whose origin dates back to 1756- Union Col
lege, Schenectady, N. Y., was founded in 1795, and
Hope College, Holland, Mich., with the Western Theo-

122 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
logical Seminary, in 1866. The Reformed Church
numbers 4 Synods, 34 Classes, 605 churches, 636 minis
ters, and 102,631 communicants.
(6) The Christian Reformed Church.— Ever since
1822 there has been in the United States an organisation
allied and affiliated in general with the Reformed Church,
but not recognising its jurisdiction. The original nucleus
of this church consisted of five ministers, who seceded, in
1822, on account of Hopkinsian errors of doctrine and
looseness of discipline. The disruption which occurred
in the Church of Holland in 1837, and resulted in the
formation of the Christian Reformed Church (p. 53), led
to the transplanting of a branch of the seceding body
into Michigan. Another secession, on the ground of the
refusal of the General Synod to condemn Freemasonry,
took place in 1882. The three elements have existed,
since 1889, as the Christian Reformed Church, number
ing: 1 Synod, 7 Classes, 123 churches, 81 ministers, and
16,740 communicants.
2. The (German) Reformed Church in the
United States of North America.— The begin
nings of any movement that deserves the name of migra
tion of German-speaking people to America cannot be
traced further back than the last quarter of the seven
teenth century ; and even at this date the numbers of the
immigrants were rather meagre. Francis Daniel Pastorius
came over, at the invitation of William Penn, with a
colony, and founded Germantown. It was a quarter of
a century later that the tide set in strongly, and a host
numbering into the hundreds of thousands, mainly from
the Palatinate, or the Rhine provinces, left their home in
search of freedom on this side of the Atlantic. They
settled in eastern Pennsylvania, and organised congre
gations in Germantown, Philadelphia, and vicinity. Be
tween 1710 and 1727 a ministry was brought into service
to take charge of those churches, partly from the Old
World, and partly by the ordination of men by the Dutch
Reformed and Presbyterian Synods. But these efforts
were scattered, and might have continued indefinitely

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 123
without adequate results, had not the spirit of organisa
tion been infused into them by the arrival of Michael
Schlatter in 1 746. Schlatter was a remarkable man, and
takes his place as the pioneer and founder of the German
Reformed Church in America on the ground of his
prompt, energetic, and effective labours. He brought
together the ministers already on the ground, and estab
lished the first Coetus, or Synod, in 1 747. This Coetus
was put into affiliation with the Reformed Synod of
Amsterdam. Schlatter's indomitable zeal enabled him
to face dangers and endure severe hardships in the en
deavour to organise the scattered members of the German
Calvinistic bodies into congregations, to supply them with
ministers, and to secure funds from Holland, England,
and Scotland for the maintenance and extension of his
work. The period of his ministry appears to have been
a period of fraternal relations with other Christian bodies.
Ecclesiastical lines were frequently overlooked. Schlatter
and Henry Melchior Muhlenburg (founder of American
Lutheranism) were in brotherly fellowship and coopera
tion with one another. The German church was under
the jurisdiction of the Church of Holland. This inchoate
state of ecclesiastical law further found expression in the
career of one of the most prominent of the German
ministers of the period— P. W. Otterbein. Though a
native of Nassau, and a member for life of the Reformed
German Coetus and Synod of America, Otterbein was
full of the spirit of pietism found so richly in Zinzendorf
and Wesley, and held, with them, to a higher unity of
Christians of different denominations. His influence on
the German Reformed Church was not inconsiderable.
Yet he is best known as the founder of the Church of the
United Brethren in Christ.
But the anomalous relation of the German church,
acknowledging the authority of a superior court in Hol
land, could not abide permanently. It was given up in
1793, and the Coetus developed into the Synod of the
German Reformed Church. At this time the numerical
strength of this church was represented by 178 ministers

124 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
and 5000 families — the family being the unit of enroll
ment instead of the individual communicant. The next
step forward in the perfection of the organisation of the
church, after the separation from the Church of Holland,
was the establishment of the Classis. The Synod saw
the expediency of adopting this measure, and did so in
1819. It divided itself into eight Classes. These were
to exercise jurisdiction within given bounds, and their
delegates were to compose the Synod. Later the rite of
ordination was relegated to them. One of them — that
of Western Pennsylvania — blossomed, in 1824, into the
separate Synod of Ohio. In 1863 the original, or
mother Synod, and this Synod of Ohio united under
a General Synod, and the organisation of the church
was thus completed.
The chief weakness of the German Reformed Church
has been its inability to supply an adequate number of
well-equipped ministers to take charge of existing con
gregations, or form others out of the elements naturally
belonging to it. Its ministry has always been, propor
tionately to the number of churches, less numerous than
that of other denominations. It was not until 1825 that
a theological seminary was established at Carlisle. In
collegiate education, the first effort of this church was
put forth in conjunction with the Lutherans. The two
denominations combined in establishing Franklin Col
lege at Lancaster (1818). The Theological Seminary of
Carlisle was removed to York in 1829, and in 1837 to
Mercersburg. Here Marshall College was founded in
1835 ; but as this college was removed to Lancaster and
joined with Franklin College, the seminary also was
transferred there (1871). Other colleges have followed :
such as Heidelberg University (1850), Ursinus College,
Catawba College, Calvin College, and the German Mis
sion House in Sheboygan, Wis.
The progress of this church has been rapid. Of the
large stream of German immigration one third goes to
swell her membership. Like its sister of the Dutch
connection, it continued for a time to use the language

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 125
of the fatherland in its services of worship, but it has
permitted the English in congregations of the third and
fourth generations. Its life has been even and peaceful.
A slight ripple did appear on its generally smooth surface
in the Mercersburg controversy, in which Professors
Schaff and Nevin were called into question; but the
agitation was momentary and led to nothing serious.
The statistics for 1896 show that it has 8 Synods, 55
Classes, 1000 ministers, 1663 congregations, 229,100
communicants.

IV. Churches of Scottish Dissenting Origin
The Presbyterian Church of America had been in
existence for a generation, organised first under Pres
bytery and then under Synod, before the rift existing
between establishment and dissent in Scotland made
itself seen on the western side of the ocean. In 1740
Alexander Craighead was suspended from the ministry
by the Presbytery of Donegal, for making the Covenants
a term of communion in the church of Middle Octorara,
Pa. Three years later he and his followers renewed the
Covenants, and appealed to the Reformed Presbytery of
Scotland to send them helpers. This Presbytery sent
John Cuthbertson in 1751, but by that time Craighead
had joined the Synod of New York, or " New Side," in
the disruption of 1741-58. Cuthbertson was destined to
labour single-handed for the next twenty years.
From another quarter, and upon other grounds, the
Associate Presbytery in Scotland received a petition to
send a minister, or probationer, to preach to the scattered
members of the same faith in America ; but they could
not grant the request. The petition was repeated later,
and Alexander Gellatly and Andrew Arnot were sent, in
1753, by the Anti-Burgher Synod. On their arrival they
organised the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylvania.
In 1773 John Cuthbertson was reinforced by the arrival
of two new ministers of the Reformed Presbytery, and

126 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
the Reformed Presbytery of America was organised on
a distinct article of refusal to recognise allegiance to an
immoral government. Thus the two forms of Scottish
dissent were fully transplanted on the western hemi
sphere. The Associate Presbytery was of Anti-Burgher origin.
Between 1764 and 1768 several ministers of the Burgher
branch of the Scottish Associate Synod came over ; and
as the questions between Burghers and Anti-Burghers
were not relevant to American life, they joined the only
Associate Presbytery in the Colonies. In 1776 this
Presbytery was divided into two, each being directly re
lated to the Synod of Scotland. In 1782 the Reformed
Presbytery voted to unite with the Associate Presbyteries,
and thus the Associate Reformed Church of America was
founded. But, on the other hand, a minority of the Associate
Presbytery protested, and persisted in maintaining a
separate existence, reinforced from Scotland; and the
Reformed Presbytery of Scotland refused to recognise the
union, and reconstructed its American branch (1798).
Thus there were three separate bodies representing the
Scottish dissenting element. The Reformed Presbytery
continued quietly gaining ground until it had, in 1823, a
General Synod with two subordinate Synods. The As
sociate Presbytery also grew steadily by immigration from
Scotland, and was in affiliation with the Scottish body
until 1818. The Associate Reformed Church naturally
advanced more rapidly than either of the preceding. Ar
effort to unite it with the General Assembly, made under
the leadership of John M. Mason, in 1820, resulted in
the absorption of only a section by that body. These
three churches moved on, with slight disintegrating
tendencies, only counteracted by the deeper and more
widespread tendency toward union with each other,
and thus finally, in 1858-59, issued in the formation of
the United Presbyterian Church of North America. The
distinctive principles of the United Presbyterian Church
are the exclusive use of the Psalms in divine worship,

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 127
Opposition to secret societies, and close communion.
Until within a few years it also forbade the use of instru
mental music in its services ; but on this point option is
now given to each congregation either to use or not to
use musical instruments.
Every union has left fragments of the uniting bodies
refusing to enter it, and continuing the corporate life of
the original bodies. The union that led to the consolida.
tion of the Covenanters and Seceders was no exception.
But the great working body of Scottish dissent of the
eighteenth century is in connection with the General
Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church. This
Assembly has a constituency of 64 Presbyteries, 812
ministers, 891 churches, and 108,828 communicants.
Of the other churches, the Associate Reformed Synod
of the South holds 127 churches in 9 Presbyteries, minis
tered to by 93 ministers, and enrolls 10,277 communi
cants. Next comes the Reformed Presbyterian Church
in the United States (Synod), with 12 Presbyteries, 108
churches, 107 ministers, and 9400 communicants. Third
in size is the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North
America (General Synod), with 7 Presbyteries, 33
churches, 41 ministers, and 5000 communicants. And
last, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, with I minister,
1 church, and 37 communicants.
To complete the list of Presbyterian organisations of
British origin in America, we must name finally the
Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church, which is repre
sented by 6 Synods, 18 Presbyteries, 105 ministers, 185
churches, and 12,000 communicants ; and the Reformed
Presbyterian Church of the United States and.Canada,
whose 1 church is ministered to by 1 minister, and
numbers 600 communicants.
General Distribution of Presbyterianism.—
The distribution of the church is now wide as
the States, and in her extension she has been helped
rather than hindered by the existence of her numerous
sections. With so vast a field to work upon, the evils
of overlapping, which are so well known in Scotland, are

128 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
here comparatively unknown. Emulation between the
different Presbyterian churches there is, but not rivalry.
Of the six greater churches which had been mentioned,
and which include 97 per cent of the Presbyterian popu
lation, no two churches minister to the same section of
the people. Geographical or racial distinctions mark off
their various fields of labour, a fact which makes for peace
in the present time, and which, when the hour for closer
union approaches,, will make the final fusion more easy of
accomplishment. Alliance of the Reformed Churches
The great majority of the Presbyterian and Reformed
churches are united in an organisation known as the
" Alliance of the Reformed Churches throughout the
World, Holding the Presbyterian System." More than
ninety national and denominational churches, found upon
all five continents, are included in it. The business of
the Alliance is conducted by an executive commission,
composed of about one hundred and twenty ministers
and elders from the constituent churches. This commis
sion holds semi-annual meetings and is divided into two
sections : the Eastern, with headquarters at London, Eng
land, and the Western (American), with headquarters at
Philadelphia, Pa. The general secretary of the Alliance
is Rev. Dr. George D. Mathews, and the American sec
retary, the Rev. Dr. William Henry Roberts. The Al
liance has held six councils, viz., London, Edinburgh,
Philadelphia, Belfast, Toronto, and Glasgow. The
seventh council is appointed to meet at Washington,
D. C, in October, 1899.

THE CHURCH IN CANADA 129

CHAPTER IX
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN CANADA
/"'ANADA has peculiarly strong claims upon the affec-
* — tion of Presbyterians. Here, more successfully
than in any other British colony, has Presbyterianism
held its own in the teeth of opposition and discourage
ment ; and here more completely than in any other
section of the Presbyterian Church has the dream of
Presbyterian Union been realised. Time is marked in
the story of the Canadian Church by the unions of the
various branches.
1. Planting of Presbyterianism. — The first at
tempt to plant Presbyterianism on Canadian soil was made
at the close of the sixteenth century, when among the
many French colonists who then sought for fortune in the
" New France " across the Atlantic were not a few
Huguenots who went in search of freedom for their faith.
Under the favourable rule of Henry IV. such migration
was encouraged, and so long as the traditions of his reign
lasted the Huguenot colonists prospered. In their pros
perity their religion shared. Traders like Chauvin and
De Caen, governors like the De Monts and De la Tours,
used their influence zealously for the advance of Pro
testantism ; in some cases too zealously, as when De
Caen, the acting governor of Quebec, compelled the
Roman Catholic sailors to attend the Huguenot service.
But it was not to be through the Huguenots that
Canadian Presbyterianism was to be established. The
revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which in 1685 worked
such desolation in the home country, had a like effect
upon the colonies. The Huguenot colonists were driven
into exile, and Canada was handed over as a spiritual

l3o THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
monopoly to the Jesuits. More successful was the Second
Planting of Presbyterianism, which took place under
British auspices at the close of the eighteenth century.
The seed on this occasion came from Scotland, and through
all the later history of the Canadian Church the Scottish
characteristics have been well in evidence. As a conse
quence of the territorial divisions,, which until 1867 split
British North America into a number of distinct pro
vinces, each with its separate government and institutions,
he story of the Canadian Church is the story of many
lections until we arrive at quite recent years. But in
a general survey of the field these sectional Churches may
be grouped in two divisions : — the Eastern Division,
embracing the Churches of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,
Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton Island ; and the
Western Division, comprising the Churches of Upper and
Lower Canada, and all the country to the shores of the
Pacific. 2. Forming of the Church in the Eastern
Provinces. — In 17 13 the Treaty of Utrecht gave Nova
Scotia to Britain, and thereby opened a new field for
British colonisation. For a considerable period, how
ever, the response was disappointing, and it was not
until 1755, when the incessant plotting and disaffection
of the French colonists compelled the British Government
to deport some seven thousand of them to the southern
colonies, that colonists of British birth began to be
attracted. Then, to occupy the lands left vacant, colonists
from the older southern colonies, from Scotland, Eng
land, Ireland, and the European Continent, arrived in
shoals. The further cession, by the Treaty of Paris in
1763, of "Canada with all its dependencies" widened
the field and increased the stream of immigration. In
1764 no fewer than 10,000 settlers arrived from Britain,
and of these, Nova Scotia, the most easterly province,
absorbed the majority. Among the settlers were many
Presbyterians, the supply of whose spiritual wants became
a problem to themselves and to the Home Churches.
The local Government in 1758 had declared the English

THE CHURCH IN CANADA 131
Liturgy to be "the fixed form of worship for Nova
Scotia," and would do nothing for Presbyterians beyond
granting liberty of worship. Under these circumstances
outside help became a necessity for a time, and from the
older Presbyterian Churches some help arrived. The
Church in New Jersey sent the Rev. James Lyon in 1 764 ;
in Halifax, ten years later, the Rev. Mr. Fraser, a
Church of Scotland Army chaplain, laboured for a time ;
but the Churches which in those early days really grappled
with the difficulties, and sent substantial and steady aid,
were the Burgher and Anti-Burgher Secession Churches of
Scotland. From the Burgher Synod came the pioneers,
Daniel Cock, David Smith, and Hugh Graham, who in
1786 organised the Presbytery of Truro. From the
Anti-Burgher Synod came Dr. M'Gregor, Duncan Ross,
and John Brown, who in 1795 formed the second
Presbytery of Pictou. Then the Church of Scotland
added a few ministers to the number, and as in the New
World old quarrels died out of mind, all three sections
came together, uniting in 1817 to form the Synod of
Nova Scotia.
3- The Glasgow Colonial Society. — Hitherto the
Church of Scotland had helped only in a desultory way,
although the great majority of the Presbyterian colonists
were her own children, but in 1825 she awoke to a fuller
sense of her duty. The Glasgow Colonial Society, which
was then formed, with the patriotic Scot, Lord Dalhousie,
as its patron, and Dr. Burns of Paisley as its zealous
secretary, had for its object the "promoting the moral and
religious interests of the Scottish settlers in British North
America." Right well it did its work. With a limited
income, seldom exceeding ^500, it succeeded in sending
to the colonies forty ministers of the Church of Scotland
within the next ten years. In place of being as hitherto
a small minority, the Church of Scotland ministers of the
Eastern Provinces now found themselves a body of
respectable size, and proceeded to form an organisation of
their own. In 1833 the Synod of Nova Scotia, in con
nection with the Church of Scotland, accordingly came into

132 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

existence, with its three presbyteries of Halifax, Pictou,
and Prince Edward Island, and rapidly increased in
numbers and in power. Two years later the ministers
in New Brunswick followed suit, and formed The Synod
of New Brunswick, in connection with the Church of Scot
land. Between the older Synod, which had now lost
its Church of Scotland relationship, and these younger
growths the best of terms existed. Approaches towards
a union were even seriously made, when the troubles
of '43 came on, scattering all such hopes for many a year
to come.
4. Forming of the Church in the Western
Provinces. — Simultaneously with the rise of Presby
terianism in the Eastern Provinces, a like movement was
taking place in the Western, but here the proportional
share taken by the various Home Churches in the work
was considerably different. Ministers of the Church of
Scotland were first in the field, though perhaps their
priority is more truly to be ascribed to circumstances than
:o express intention on the Church's part The fall of
Quebec in 1759, and the subsequent close of the war, had
enabled the Rev. George Henry, a Scots chaplain, to add
to his military duties ; and in 1765, in a room in the Jesuit
College of the city whose capture he had witnessed, he
gathered round him the first Presbyterian congregation.
In 1786, at the close of the American Revolutionary War,
the Rev. John Belhune, chaplain to the 84th regiment, did
similar service at Montreal, where, with the permission of
the Recollet Fathers, a Franciscan order, regular Presby
terian services were held in a Roman Catholic church.
For this most unusual kindness the good Franciscans would
take no money payment, but it is recorded that they re
ceived from the "Society of Presbyterians" a box of
candles and two hogsheads of Spanish wine, and "were
quite thankful for the same." To Mr. Bethune in 1790
succeeded another Church of Scotland minister, the Rev.
John Young, under whos* ministry was built St. Gabriel
Street Church, the oldest Protestant church in the
Western Provinces. But for some time no systematic

THE CHURCH IN CANADA

*3S

effort was made by any branch of Presbyterianism to
supply the needs of the Protestants, whose numbers in
Upper Canada (or Ontario) were now rapidly increasing.
A few Presbyterian ministers who strayed north from the
Secession Church in the States and from the Dutch and
German Reformed Churches did good work, but it was
not until to these were added some additional ministers
from the Secession Churches in Scotland, that it was
thought time to form a Presbytery. This was done in
1818, when the Presbytery of the Canadas took shape,
to be reconstituted, in 1826, as the United Presbytery of
Upper Canada. By that time, however, the Glasgow
Colonial Society had been born, and the Western Pro
vinces now received a large share of its attention.
Additional ministers of the Church of Scotland arrived in
increasing numbers, so that in 1831 there was formed the
Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Canada (Church of
Scotland) with 4 presbyteries and 19 ministers. Nine
years later, in 1840, the two Presbyterian organisations
united, by which time the Church of Scotland Synod had
increased to 60 ministers, and the older but smaller body
to 17. "By thfa step," wrote the Moderator of the
Church of Scotland Synod to the Home Church, " we
have brought within our pale 17 ministers, exercising a
pastoral supervision over flocks that have been collectively
estimated at 10,000, all professing adherence to our
standards of faith and worship." It was a union partly
of love and partly of policy. Scottish Presbyterianism
was .jailed upon to maintain its rights, in the face of an
aggrandising English Episcopacy ; and for this a solid
front was most desirable.
5. Presbytery versus Episcopacy. — In almost
every British colony where representatives of the two
National Churches have met this battle has had to be
fought English Churchmen, whose only acquaintance
with Presbyterianism has as a rule been derived from
the Nonconforming Presbyterianism of England, have
been surprised when, in the British colonies, Scottish
Churchmen have asserted their position as members of

134 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
one of the National Churches of Britain, and claimed
equal rights with their English brethren. In the end the
justice of the Scottish claim has always had to be ad
mitted, and, at least partially, satisfied, but in the early
colonial days the fight for recognition was a hard one.
In the Western Canadian Provinces it was fought on two
issues. (I) The Clergy Reserves. By an Act of 1791,
the seventh part of the unceded lands in Upper and
Lower Canada was reserved "for the maintenance and
support of a Protestant clergy." Three millions of acres
were thus set aside, to which the English Churchmen
considered they had an exclusive claim. Scottish Church
men, who thought they were equally "Protestant clergy,"
failed to see the fairness of the English contention, and
in 1817 an agitation on the subject began, which raged
for over twenty years. The opinion of the home legal
authorities was given in favour of the Church of Scot
land's claim, but, through the unwillingness of English
Church officials, no steps were taken to give effect to the
decision. Public opinion, however, was strongly on the
Scottish side, and ultimately bore down the opposition.
In 1840, two months after the Presbyterians had all
ranged themselves under the banner of the Church of
Scotland, the exclusive claims of the English Church
were set aside, the Reserve Lands ordered to be sold,
and of the proceeds two-thirds to be allotted to the
Church of England, and one-third to the Synod in con
nection with the Church of Scotland. The division was
manifestly unfair, seeing that the Presbyterians outnum-
beied the Episcopalians, but the principle had been ad
mitted. (2) Queen's College, Kingston, which for many
years has held a prominent position in Canadian educa
tion, was the outcome of a similar contest The growth
of the Presbyterian Church had made it necessary to pro
vide for the education and training of ministers, and as
the readiest means of accomplishing this, an application
was made to Government, in 1832, to endow additional
chairs in connection with King's College, Toronto, a
Government institution. But here Episcopal opposition

THE CHURCH IN CANADA 135
was too strong, and King's College remained an English
Church monopoly. Nothing daunted, the Presbyterians
set themselves to supply the need without Government
assistance, and so great was the enthusiasm evoked, that
in 1 84 1 Queen's College, Kingston, was opened and em
powered by royal charter to confer degrees.
6. Effects of '43 on East and West.— For
British Presbyterianism, whether of the Home or
Colonial Churches, the Secession of 1843 was, without
doubt, the most momentous event that had happened
since 1690. Not in Scotland alone, but also, and to
quite as great an extent, in the colonies did it bring
grievous heartburnings, unchristian strife, and hurtful
division. The national tie which binds Scotsmen
together was never more touchingly shown — and be
it said, never more unfortunately — than when one
after another of the young Scottish Churches which
were springing up across the seas took up the home
quarrels, and making them their own, fought them out
to the bitter end. Private patronage they knew not,
no invidious line with them separated "chapel" from
" parish " ministers, but they were children of the Scottish
Church and had to vindicate their descent. In Canada
the wordy war was fought with a keenness equalling that
in Scotland, and, unfortunately for hopes of a peaceful
ending, deputies arrived from the seceding party at home
to encourage the division. The more moderate section
of the Canadian ministers, of whom Dr. Cook of Quebec
was the leader, would fain have observed a strict neu
trality regarding a Scottish quarrel which did not concern
them, but nothing would satisfy the party who sym
pathised with the Free Church save "to lift up a fall
and clear testimony for the truth." This meant an ex
plicit severing of all connection with the Church of
Scotland and an equally explicit alliance with the Scottish
Free Church. Between views so opposite no compro
mise was possible, and in 1844 the inevitable result cami
in the rending in twain of the three Church of Scotland
Synods of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Western

136 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Provinces (Canada). Out of 116 ministers, 68 remained
in connection with the Church of Scotland, 48 adopting
the cause of the Free Church ; but in the different Synods
the proportions varied much, as the following table
shows : — Church of Scotland. Free Church.
Synod of Nova Scotia ... 4 19
Synod of New Brunswick . 10 3
Synod of Presb. Church in Canada 54 £6
68 48
In Nova Scotia the Church of Scotland had been
practically wiped out, in New Brunswick left with little
damage, and in the Western Provinces weakened by one-
third. Disruption did not immediately add to the peace
of the Churches, as Dr. Norman Macleod found when in
1845 he visited Canada. Writing home he said, "The
angry spirit of Churchism, which has disturbed every fire
side in Scotland, thunders at the door of every shanty in
the backwoods." But the air was cleared by the storm,
and the divided Churches settled down to a period of
vigorous labour.
7. Drawing together. — In 1845, after the war was
over, there were seven leading divisions of Presbyterianism
in British North America — four in the Eastern Provinces
and three in the Western. These were : —
Eastern Provinces
The Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia (Old
Secession Church).
The Synod of Nova Scotia, adhering to Westminster Stand
ards (Free Church).
The Synod of New Brunswick, in connection with Church
of Scotland.
The Synod of New Brunswick, adhering to Westminster
Standards. Western Provinces
The Synod of Presbyterian Church of Canada, in connectioa
with Church of Scotland.

THE CHURCH IN CANADA 137
The Synod of Free Presbyterian Church of Canada.
The Missionary Synod of Canada, in connection with
Scottish Associate Synod.
For fifteen years the separate existence continued,
during which period great advances were made, notably
in the case of the Churches allied with the Scottish Free
Church, from which came generous assistance both in
men and money. Nor was the Church of Scotland back
ward, though in these days her own urgent need of
ministers prevented her helping so much as prior to '43.
But more gratifying even than the development of the
separate Synods was the softening of their feelings towards
one another. In their practice they were all at one :
where they differed was in theory, and that on a point
with which none was immediately concerned — the con
nection of Church and State. As the memories of '43
faded away, the hurtfulness of continued division was
more openly admitted, and in i860 there began in con
sequence the succession of Unions which has made the
Canadian Church unique amongst her Presbyterian sisters.
In that year the Free Church Synod of Nova Scotia (35
ministers) united with the old Secession Synod (42
ministers) and formed the Synod of the Presbyterian
Church of the Lower Provinces. In 1 86 1 the like
Churches in the Western Provinces followed the example,
when the United Presbyterian Church (59 ministers)
joined with the Free Presbyterian Church of Canada
( 1 29 ministers) to form the Canada Presbyterian Church.
In 1866 the Nova Scotia union was still further enlarged
by the addition of the (Free Church) Presbyterian Church
of New Brunswick. Two years later (1868) the Eastern
branches of the Church of Scotland caught the happy
infection, and the Synod of New Brunswick joining with
the Synod of Nova Scotia (which had been reborn in
1854), there resulted the (Church of Scotland) Synodofthe
Maritime Provinces. As the outcome of all these unions
there were now four compact Presbyterian Churches, two
in the East and two in the West, one in each division
being in connection with the Church of Scotland, while

138 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
the other represented the combined forces of the Free
and United Presbyterian Churches. Finally, in 1875,
the longed-for goal was reached, when, with the exception
of 21 ministers, 19 of whom belonged to the Church oi
Scotland, all four Churches united to form The Presby
terian Church in Canada. On the 15th June 1875 the
supreme courts of the four Churches met in the great
Victoria Hall in Montreal, and, after the Moderator of
each had signed the articles of union, the first General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada was con
stituted, with the venerable Dr. Cook of Quebec as
Moderator. 8. Respective Contributions. — The uniting
Churches did not come empty-handed. Each added
something to the common store, which materially helped
to increase the efficiency of the union. From the Church
of Scotland side came 150 ministers with their charges ;
Queen's College, Kingston, which had developed into a
flourishing university, with the four faculties of Arts,
Medicine, Law, and Theology, and was possessed of an
Endowment Fund of 87,000 dollars; Morrin College,
Quebec, which had been founded in i860 by Dr. Joseph
Morrin at a cost of 50,000 dollars, for the education in
Arts and Divinity of youths aspiring to the ministry of
the Church of Scotland ; and a Temporalities Fund of
463,000 dollars, yielding an annual revenue of 32,000
dollars for the support of the ministry. This last valuable
contribution was the result of the commutation in 1854
of the life interests of the Scottish clergy in the Clergy
Reserves. From the side of the Free and Secession
Churches came 473 ministers with their charges ; Knox
Theological College, Toronto, which had been founded in
1844 by the Free Church party to take the place of
Queen's College, and, after a remarkably successful
career, had been transferred in 1875 to the present stately
buildings at a cost of 120,000 dollars ; Montreal Theo
logical College, with its endowment fund of 25,000
dollars ; and, oldest of all, Halifax Theological College, of
which the beginnings had been made in 1820 by the

THE CHURCH IN CANADA 139
original Synod of Nova Scotia. Seldom, if ever, has a
Church of the size of the United Canadian Church been
better equipped for work, and never has an equipment
been better utilised. Rejoicing in having blotted out all
past differences, she took up with enthusiasm the various
schemes of her different sections, and welding them into
a unity, has for the past twenty years prosecuted them
with great success. All the customary activities of a
living Church are hers, her foreign mission work in the
South Seas, Formosa, Trinidad, China, and Central India
being notably successful ; but by geographical conditions
she has found herself called to two special and distinctive
works. These are her work among the French Canadian
Roman Catholics and her care for the settlers and the
Indian tribes in the great North- West.
9- Work among the French Roman Catholics.
— Out of the 5,000,000 inhabitants of Canada
2,200,000 are Roman Catholics. Of these the great
majority are massed in the province of Quebec, where
the Roman Catholic Church enjoys privileges such as are
granted under no other Protestant government. They
are the heritage of the Treaty of Paris, and of an Act of
the Imperial Parliament passed subsequently and known
as the Quebec Act These, by guaranteeing to the Roman
Church the continuance of the privileges and property she
then possessed, have given her the prestige and emoluments
of an Established Church. Tithes and ecclesiastical dues to
the amount of 10,000,000 dollars are annually levied and
employed in maintaining an ecclesiastical organisation of
23 bishops and 2352 priests. Under such circumstances
it is not to be wondered at that the Pope should have
described Quebec as "the metropolis of the Roman
Catholic religion in America." It is in truth the Rome
of the Western world. To the State the existence of so
large a constituency at the beck of the Roman see is a
continual anxiety, but to the Protestant Churches of the
country, which desire to maintain and advance the great
truths of Protestantism, it constitutes an abiding summons
to evangelise. The Presbyterian Church has not been

140 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
slow in responding. Prior to the union of 1875, evan
gelistic efforts were engaged in by the various branches
of Presbyterianism, and with considerable success, but
on the accomplishment of the union more systematic, and
also more successful, endeavours have been made. In
this field the chief labourer has been " Father " Chiniquy,
originally a devoted Roman Catholic priest, but since 1862
an earnest Protestant minister. Under his inspiration
and fearless advocacy, and in the face of bitter opposi
tion, the work of evangelisation has greatly extended :
Protestant schools for French Canadians have been
established, Protestant Churches built, and Protestant
congregations gathered together. As a rule no missions
are less productive at the present day than Protestant
Missions to Roman Catholics, but those of Canada present
an exception. A Canadian commissioner at the Pan-
Presbyterian Congress of 1892 reported: — "Fifty years
ago there was not a Protestant French Canadian known
on the banks of the St. Lawrence. Now in the province
of Quebec there are at least twelve thousand, and twenty
thousand have made their homes in the Republic to the
south." 10. Work in the North -West Territory.—
Until thirty years ago two-thirds of the great Canadian
Dominion were uninhabited and unknown, except to
wandering Indian tribes and the adventurous hunters
of the Hudson Bay Company. In 18 12, by the kind
help of the Earl of Selkirk, a colony of Sutherland-
shire Highlanders had been planted on the banks of the
Red River, south of Lake Winnipeg, and a " godly
elder," Mr. James Sutherland, sent to minister to them,
but that was the furthest outpost. Of the enormous
fertile belt of prairie land stretching from Winnipeg to
the Rocky Mountains, and containing 200,000,000
acres of fertile soil, the emigrant world was ignorant.
Now the ignorance has passed away, and with the
completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885
the whole of the Great Western Territory has been
laid at the feet of all who will. In response a steady

THE CHURCH IN CANADA 141
annual stream of twenty to thirty thousand immigrant,
has flowed westward, and is causing Canadian civilisation
to extend in an unusual manner. " Settlement has
not been, as in other countries, a gradual extension from
sea coast or river bank, or from a few great centres. It
has been simultaneous all over the country. Every one
of the 133 stations that mark the 2000 miles of
railway has been a distributing point." A new nation
has been born in a decade, and by its birth has presented
a peculiar problem to the Canadian Churches. Gradual
extension of their borders is insufficient for the wants of
the widely scattered people. What is required is an
equally simultaneous supply of Christian ordinances over
the whole field, and in endeavouring to supply the
need the Presbyterian Church, to which one-third of the
settlers belong, has done noble work. At Winnipeg, when
the rush began, she had already a literary college, and
by adding a theological department she at once arranged
for the training of the men required. At the head of
the whole North- West work was placed Dr. Robertson
of Winnipeg, who has striven manfully to make provi
sion keep pace with the growth of the settlement.
Help from the Eastern Provinces has come liberally, as
also from the older Churches of Scotland and Ireland,
and the result is seen in a rapidly growing Presby
terian Church in the great North- West Within eight
years the communicants have risen from 1153 to
14,000, "preaching points" from 116 to 667, ministers
from 28 to 141, and the Christian liberality of the
territory from 15,000 to 203,000 dollars. "For this
growth," says Dr. Robertson, " we thank God and take
courage." 11. Comparative Strength of Presbyterian
ism. — According to the census of 1891, the numbers ot
the three leading Protestant denominations were : —
Methodists ..... 839,815
Presbyterians . . . . . 754.^93
Episcopalians . . . • . 646,050

142 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
The Presbyterian Church thus stands numerically
second, but, as Dr. Robertson said to the Pan-Presby
terian Council at Toronto, " second in no other sense.
In public affairs, in trade, in commerce and manufactures,
in educational and professional life, her sons take first
rank, and what they have they hold with a tenacious
grasp and hunger for more." Presbyterianism has no
healthier representative than the Canadian Church, nor
any whose future is more hopeful — a happy condition of
which the chief contributing cause has been the Union
of 1875.

IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 143

CHAPTER X
the presbyterian church in the southern
hemisphere
Australia — New Zealand — South Africa
T N their wanderings over the world in search of fortune,
¦*¦ the children of the Presbyterian Churches have
travelled far south of the equator, and settled in three of the
southern lands — Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
To these abiding-places they have been followed by their
Church, which has taken root and grown with the growth
of the colonies. I. Australia
Australia, the great island -continent of the South,
which in size is only a little less than the whole of Europe,
is divided into six distinct colonies, each of which in
government and institutions is entirely independent of
the others. Upon the Australian Churches, Presbyterian
as well as others, this political separation has imposed
the necessity of a similar separation in ecclesiastical
affairs, and in consequence the Presbyterian Church in
Australia has no fewer than six sub-divisions. Of these,
however, two have an acknowledged pre-eminence, the
Churches of New South Wales and Victoria, inasmuch as
they possess between them four- fifths of the total number
of communicants. Their history, which extends over
half a century, falls naturally into three sections — (1)
their origin ; (2) their division after '43 ; and (3) their
reunion and subsequent progress.
A. The Presbyterian Church of New South Wales
1. Planting of the Church. — New South Wales
is the mother colony of Australia. It was here, at Botany

i44 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Bay, to the south of the modem city of Sydney, that the
first colonists landed in 1788. They were a shipload of
convicts, and for thirty years and more the colony con
tinued to be purely a penal settlement, receiving its
additions from the convict class. But with the arrival
of Sir Thomas Brisbane as governor in 182 1 a new era
began. Colonists of unstained reputation and industrious
habits were then induced to try their fortunes in the new
country, and soon so outnumbered the older type as to
entirely destroy the ill-fame which had attached to the
settlement of early days. Among the colonists were
many Scottish Presbyterians, but no Presbyterian minister
arrived to minister to their needs until 1823, when, in
response to the invitation of Sir Thomas Brisbane (himself
an elder of the Scottish Church), there came out from the
Presbytery of Irvine the Rev. John Dunmore Lang, the
founder of Australian Presbyterianism. Dr. Lang was a
born pioneer, a man of marvellously varied powers and in
domitable energy, of which he soon gave evidence. Two
years' residence and travel in the colony gave him a
thorough grasp of the situation. Teachers and ministers
were seen to be urgently needed, but the usual method
of appealing to the Home Church by letter was too tardy
for Dr. Lang. Proceeding home in person, he brought
out in 1826 a supply of teachers for the instruction of
the young, and, returning shortly afterwards, came back
with five ministers, with whose help he formed the
Presbytery of New South Wales. For these new arrivals
he then claimed the same endowments as the Government
was in the habit of giving to the ministers of the Church
of England, and on Government demurring, the aid of
the Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland was
invoked, with the desired result — Scottish Presbytery
and English Episcopacy being recognised as equal in
the eye of the State. A fourth visit toj Scotland by
this indefatigable pioneer, in 1836, resulted in nine
teen additional ministers being sent out But by this
time, unfortunately for the welfare of the Church, Dr.
Lang's success and somewhat masterful methods had

IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 145
aroused dissatisfaction in the minds of his co-presbyters.
To check what they considered a dangerous dictatorship,
they insisted on a strict adherence to the methods of
procedure of the Church of Scotland, a course which Dr.
Lang, with considerable reason, held to be cramping
the growth of the Church in a. young colony. Neither
party would make concessions, and in 1838, followed by
the majority of the newly-arrived ministers, this founder
of the Church severed his connection with the Presbytery,
to form the Synod of New South Wales. It was a most
regrettable division, but fortunately, through the growing
reasonableness of the Presbytery and the mediating offices
of the Church at home, it came to an end in 1840, when
the Synod of Australia resulted from the union. Upon
Dr. Lang, however, the trammels of regular procedure
again grew irksome, and having in the meantime become
dissatisfied with the prevalent system of concurrent en
dowment by the State of all denominations, regardless of
their several teaching, he sought freedom by separation,
and in 1842 relinquished his connection with both Church
and State.
2. Effects of '43. — At the meeting of the Synod in
1844, communications were received from the Church
of Scotland and the Free Church, each requesting the
support of the Synod of Australia, and the young
daughter Church, just struggling into life, found herself
called to consider her attitude towards the great Scottish
ecclesiastical schism. Practically she was independent
of both the Scottish Churches. Her own recent experi
ence of the evils of disunion made her keenly desirous
of avoiding any further division, and, in the resolu
tions adopted, neutrality regarding the quarrel of the
Home Churches was studiously maintained. The spiritual
Headship of Christ and the independence of the
Australian Presbyterian Church were emphasised, but
to both the contending Churches the hand of fellow--
ship was extended. A wise and temperate policy it was,
but passions were running too high at home for it to be
favourably received. To the Church of Scotland the

146 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
declaration of independence seemed a mark of disloyalty,
while in the Assembly of the Free Church the resolutions
were ridiculed by Dr. Candlish as being of the " milk and
water " order — a phrase which rankled in the Australian
mind for long. The dependence of the Australian
Church on the Home Churches for her ministers made
these Churches masters of the situation, and accordingly,
with great reluctance, she found herself compelled to take
sides. In 1846 the division came. Of 22 ministers,
16 remained in the Synod, while 6 went out : three to
form the Synod of East Australia (Free Church) ; one,
the Rev. James Forbes, to found the Free Presbyterian
Church of Australia Felix ; and another, the Rev. W.
Hamilton, to begin what ultimately became the Mortlake
Presbytery of the Victorian Church.
3. Reunion. — Those were evil days for the Presby
terian Church of New South Wales. Dr. Lang's
secession and subsequent zealous fostering of a voluntary
Church, followed by the sad division of 1846, had brought
into the field three small rival Churches, and when in
1 85 1 the colony of Victoria was separated from New
South Wales, the three Church fragments were still further
weakened by the disjunction of their Victoria members.
But their very weakness proved a gain : so forcibly did
it teach the need of union, that in 1865, after ten years
of negotiations, the three became one, and gave the
Presbyterian Church of New South Wales the strength
which comes from unity.
4. Recent Progress. — For a number of years after
the union the growth of the Church was by no means
proportionate to the increase in the colony's population.
Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining sufficient
ministers from home, and that at a time when the
development of the colony was causing a wide scattering
of the Presbyterian community. Fifty thousand Presby
terians were dispersed over an area five times the size
of Great Britain, and to meet the necessity thus created
for a large increase in the ministerial staff the Church
in sixteen years (1866-81) was only able to add thirteen

IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE T47
new charges. But since 1881 the tide has turned. A
vigorous Extension Movement then begun by the Rev.
J. M. Ross has doubled the strength of the Church,
which now possesses 141 charges, 116 ministers, and
10,000 communicants. Nor are the Scottish Churches
any longer the chief sources of her ministerial supply,
although she still gladly welcomes suitable ministers from
the old country ; but in the well-equipped St. Andrew's
Presbyterian College, which is affiliated with the University
of Sydney, she has made good provision for training her
own sons. It has been a hard fight for existence, but
in the fight the needs of others have not been forgotten,
as is shown by the earnest missionary efforts which the
Church carries on among the Chinese immigrants, the
Aborigines, and the South Sea Islanders.
B. The Presbyterian Church of Victoria
I. Origin. — The Church of Victoria, which is now
by far the most powerful of the Presbyterian Churches ot
Australia, originated as an outpost of the Church of New
South Wales. Settlers from the mother colony had
migrated south to Port Philip, the early Melbourne,
in 1834, and as their numbers increased, the Presby
terians amongst them bethought them of their lack of
religious ordinances, and applied to the Presbytery of
New South Wales to supply them with a minister. But
ere their request could be granted help came from
another source. The Rev. James Clow, a retired East
Indian chaplain of the Church of Scotland, hearing of
the attractions of Australia as a residence, came from
Bombay in 1837, and settling in the rising township of
Melbourne, began to hold services for the Presbyterians.
It was a work of love which was much appreciated by
his countrymen, and when, in the beginning of the
following year, the minister who had been applied for
came from New South Wales, he found a congregation
ready to his hand. The new arrival was the Rev. James
Forbes, a licentiate of the Presbytery of Garioch, in

148 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Aberdeenshire, and an earnest worker. Four others
soon followed, leading to the erection in 1842 of the
Presbytery of Melbourne, under the Synod of New South
Wales. 2. Effects of '43. — Of the ministers who cast in
their lot with the Free Church, at the meeting of the
Synod of New South Wales in 1846, Mr. Forbes was
one ; and accordingly, on his return to Melbourne, he
immediately vacated his pastorate of the Scots Church,
voluntarily surrendering his allowance from the State, and
set himself to organise the Free Presbyterian Church of
Australia Felix. Many of his congregation rallied round
him, building for him John Knox Church, and generously
supporting him till his death in 1851. In the Scots
Church his place was taken by the Rev. Irvine Hether-
ington, an able Churchman, who did much to influence
the later ecclesiastical developments. With the rapid
growth of the colony (from a population of 177 in 1836
to 77,000 in 1851), more ministers were required, and
through the good offices of the three Home Churches,
notably the Free Church and United Presbyterian, these
were supplied ; so that in 1851, when the colony began
an independent existence, there were three Presbyterian
organisations in existence.
3. Union. — The year 1 85 1 was an eventful one for
Victoria. Gold was discovered at Ballarat, and at once
the '| gold fever" began to rage. From the adjacent
colonies, from Britain, from America, and elsewhere
immigrants arrived in thousands, all thirsting for gold.
In three years the population had risen from 77,000 to
236,000, and still the stream flowed on. To the colony
the unprecedented growth brought prosperity; to the
Presbyterian Churches it brought wisdom. In the face
of such a vast population, the sin as well as the folly of
three Presbyterian Churches forming rival congregations
in a few towns, and thereby lessening the strength avail
able for the extending field, grew so evident that
negotiations for union were commenced. Weary these
negotiations were, seven years having to pass away before

IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 149
they were completed; but at last, in 1859, the Synods
surrendered their independent existence, and the First
General Assembly of the Victorian Church was constituted,
under the moderatorship of the venerable James Clow.
A few Free Church ministers held aloof for a time, as
did also some of the United Presbyterians, but the wise
counsels of the Free Church at home in the one case, and
the total abolition of state aid in 1870 in the other, did
away with all scruples, and permitted of complete unity
being attained. In her constitution the united Church
is modelled on the old Scottish lines, but with two
peculiarities. As befits a Church as yet but small, the
Assembly is not a representative body, but a gathering
of all the Presbyteries ; and Synods are wanting. " Let
there be no Synods," said Mr. Hetherington, " I am sick
of the name. I have witnessed six disruptions, and each
fragment, however diminutive, has called itself a Synod.
Now that we have happily got together in one compact
Church, let us assume the higher designation of the
General Assembly."
4. Recent Progress. — The union has been attended
with remarkable progress in almost every department of
the Church's life. The old wooden, barn-like buildings
formerly used for divine service have given place in all
the large towns to stately churches, the Scots Church in
Melbourne especially being a model of ecclesiastical archi
tecture. A great Presbyterian institution, the Ormond
College, named after the chief benefactor, whose gifts
amounted to ^85,000, has been established for the higher
education of the youth, and affiliated with the University
of Melbourne, while in one wing of the college is located
the Theological Hall, whose endowment amounts to
^32,000. Home Mission work and Missions to the
heathen Aborigines, Chinese immigrants, and South Sea
Islanders are receiving steady attention, and with good
results, most notable being the apostolic work of the
Church's veteran missionary, Dr. Paton. In numbers
the Presbyterian Church, with her 210 ministers and
22,402 communicants, ranks third of the churches of

ISO THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Victoria, as is the case in all the Australian colonies ; but
"in character, intelligence, and public influence," her
sons claim that she is surpassed by none.
C. The Federal Union of the Presbyterian Churches
of Australia and Tasmania
The remaining fifth of the Presbyterian Church
membership in Australia, which numbers 6854, is distri
buted among the young Churches of the four other
colonies — Queensland, West Australia, South Australia,
and Tasmania. With these Churches it is still the day
of small things and hard striving, though there can be
little doubt that a like prosperity awaits them when the
tide of immigration and success shall have overflowed
their respective colonies. In the meantime, that the
Church of Australia may fulfil her calling better in the
present, and be more thoroughly ready to respond to
any sudden demand in the time to come, all her branches
are drawing together. Of this the most apparent sign
was the formation in 1886 of a Federal Union, which
meets as an annual Federal Assembly. No authority is
possessed by the Union over the various Churches, but
by bringing all into line, and securing an increased
uniformity, it affords a clear omen of what is to be, and
has, in addition, done valuable service in emphasising
the opinion on important public questions of the 40,000
communicants whom it represents.
II. The Presbyterian Church in New Zealand
Partly through geographical conditions and partly
through circumstances connected with the arrival of the
early colonists, Presbyterianism in New Zealand is repre
sented by two distinct Churches — the Presbyterian Church
of New Zealand, extending over the North Island and
the northern half of the South Island ; and the Presbyterian
Church of Otago and Southland, confined to the southern
half of South Island.

IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 151
1. The Presbyterian Church of New Zealand,
the older, and territorially as well as ministerially the
larger, but numerically the smaller, owes its beginning
to the Church of Scotland. In 1840, when the colony
of New Zealand was established by royal charter,
2000 emigrants sailed for the New Britain, and landed
at Port Nicholson, the south point of North Island.
Amongst them were many Scots, with whom had
gone as spiritual leader the Rev. Mr. M'Farlane of
Martyrs' Church, Paisley. The majority settled at
Wellington, and there Mr. M'Farlane began his work,
making it a centre for diligent itineration among the
many smaller settlements up and down the coast, and
in this manner preparing the way for the ministers
who followed. Of these the majority were at first
from the Church of Scotland, which from that day
until the present has never withdrawn her helping hand
from this part of the field. Soon, however, the other
Scottish Churches and the Irish Church lent their assist
ance, so that in 1856 it was possible to form at Auckland
the first Presbytery of the Church. Within the next
six years other five were added, and now the number
has grown to eight To the Church's development the
chief hindrance from the very beginning lay in the very
scattered nature of her field. Presbyterians were not
massed together in a compact body, as was the case in
Otago, but were dispersed in a number of small groups
throughout the island, too small to support a permanent
minister, and often too little known to secure a visit
from an itinerating one. To grapple with the difficulty,
and if possible prevent her children from drifting away,
the Church in 1877 resolved upon a step then as novel
as it was desirable, and appointed a prominent minister
as Home Mission Agent, to visit the various districts,
organise congregations in the outlying localities, and
generally arrange for the welfare of the scattered Presby
terians. So thoroughly did the Home Churches of
Scotland and Ireland approve of the plan, that they each
gave an annual grant of £ 1 50 towards the Agent's salary.

152 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
and, fortunately for the scheme's success, an admirable
agent was found in the Rev. David Bruce of St. Andrews,
Auckland. Through his exertions the Home Mission
work, which is of all work the most important for a
young Colonial Church, went steadily forward, and
continues so to do. The Church now possesses 88
ministers, 156 congregations, and 8149 communicants.
2. The Presbyterian Church of Otago and
Southland, which is the more numerous as well as the
more prosperous of the two, supplies in her origin a
striking illustration of the combination of religion with
practical shrewdness, which is said to be characteristic of
the Scottish people. It happened that shortly after '43,
when the enthusiasm and rugged determination then
being shown by the Free Church laity was attracting
universal attention, the New Zealand Company was on
the outlook for a better type of colonists than it had
hitherto procured. To the directors of the Company
these Scottish Free Churchmen seemed just the stamp
of men they wanted. Proposals were accordingly laid
before some prominent Free Church laymen in Scotland,
which embodied great inducements to good settlers ; the
Free Church Assembly signified its approval, and soon
the scheme of establishing a model religious colony in
the Scotland of the far south was fairly floated. Otago
was secured as the scene of the experiment, and in
March 1848 there arrived at Dunedin (or New Edinburgh,
as they first named it) 236 Free Church emigrants,
with the Rev. T. Burns, a nephew of the poet, as their
minister. Within six months a humble church had beer
erected and the colony's progress fairly begun. Steady
increase in population and prosperity marked the succeed
ing years, and as the Free Church at home showed a
kindly care in sending out additional ministers, it became
possible in 1854 to form the first Presbytery of the
Church of Otago, with three ministers and two elders.
Up to 1 86 1 the even development of the colony, and the
markedly religious character of the colonists, was well
maintained, but in that year a change began. Gold was

IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 153
discovered at Tuapeka, sixty miles from Dunedin, and as
had happened in Australia, so now in Otago, » rush of
modern life, with all its energy and restlessness and sin,
invaded the colony. To the duties thrust upon her the
Church responded well. Appeals for additional ministers
were immediately sent home, and, until such time as help
could arrive, regular visitation of the goldfields was
undertaken in rotation by the colony's ministers. ' ' Canvas
churches" were set up, and everything possible done to
foster good living and true religion. Since these stirring
times, rapid growth in her membership, extension of her
field, and additions to her wealth and institutions have
been the Church's lot To the University of Dunedin
she has added three professorial chairs, besides providing
a Theological Hall for the training of her own ministry.
And though Otago is no longer the Presbyterian preserve
which once it was, the Presbyterian Church, with her 78
ministers, 150 congregations, and 11,000 communicants,
still easily holds the first place.
3. Attempts at Union. — The existence of these
two sister Churches side by side, holding the same
doctrines and ruled by the same Constitution, has
repeatedly suggested the advisability of union, and for
one brief year this was actually achieved. Through the
efforts of Mr. Bruce of Auckland and Dr. Stuart of
Dunedin, a conference of the ministers of both Churches
met in Dunedin in 1861, when so unanimous was the
feeling in favour of union, that Articles were framed and
a Convocation of the Churches summoned to meet at
Auckland in the following year. Duly the Convocation
met, ratified the Articles, and constituted the first General
Assembly of the New Zealand Church. But in ratifying
the Articles a slight change had been introduced, which
worked grievous harm. To the original Articles of the
Dunedin Conference, which adopted the old doctrinal
and historical standards of the Scottish Church, the
Auckland Convocation added the words, "only in so
far as they are applicable to the circumstances of this
Church." A judicious change it seemed, but to the

154 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Otago Church it appeared to open the door to innova
tions, and the fear was accentuated by the further action
of the Assembly in recommending the adoption of a
hymn - book, declaring instrumental music an open
question, and sanctioning the use of manuals of service.
The Church of the North became dangerous in the eyes
of the Church of the South, and despite the support of
men like Dr. Stuart, the leading minister of the Otago
Church, the union had to be dissolved. In 1865 a
" Union of Co-operation," which meant nothing, was
substituted for the union of incorporation. Twice since
then have renewed attempts been made, once in 1870
and again in 1881, but after four years of discussion the
project had again to be abandoned. Every possible
concession was made by the Church of the North, and,
as Mr. Ross, the historian of the Otago Church, admits,
"with rare magnanimity it agreed to every proposal
that was made, and to crown all consented to allow
Dunedin to be made the headquarters of the united
Church." But all was in vain, and though signs are not
wanting of a growing understanding, the two Churches
still continue apart III. South Africa
1. The Dutch Reformed Church of South
Africa owns a different genealogy, and boasts a greater
age, as well as a more numerous membership, than her
Australasian sisters, but it cannot be said of her that
in her age her honour lies. Her best days have come
last. Originating in 1652, when the earliest Dutch
colonists landed at Table Bay, her ecclesiastical history
for the first century and a half is almost a blank ; and
yet there was no lack of possibilities in that long period.
A large influx of fugitive French Huguenots, in the end
of the seventeenth century, brought a healthy strain into
the somewhat dull ecclesiastical life, and an ample field for
extension was offered by the steady immigration of Dutch
settlers, which by the year 1800 had raised the popula-

IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

*55

tion to over 20,000. But in spite of the French infusion
and increased population, there were then only 10 ministers
in the whole field, these being Government chaplains sent
out by the State.
2. Century of Progress. — In 1806 Cape Colony
came under British rule, and for the Reformed Church a
healthier epoch commenced. Two years prior to the
British occupation there had been signs of better days,
the Church being granted a Constitution which per
mitted an Assembly to be held, although, true to the
Dutch traditions, the sanction of Government was required
for the legality of the Assembly's decisions. But under
the British Government the Church received greater
benefits than these. Recognising the great need of
additional chaplains or ministers for the increasing popu
lation, the Government made application to the Church
of Scotland for supplies. Eleven ministers were accord
ingly sent out in 1822, and as the result of this new
blood there was formed in 1824 a Synod or General
Assembly, whose meetings were to be quinquennial. To
the new ministers, however, who had been trained in the
ways of the Church of Scotland, and were strong in their
adherence to the old Scottish principle of the spiritual
independence of the Church, the supervision of Govern
ment imposed by the Dutch law of 1804 proved irksome ;
and after agitating for some years, the obnoxious principle
in 1843 was repealed, the Church, though continuing to
be supported by the State, being declared to be free from
State control in spiritual things. The State support
continued until 1875, when it was abolished.
3. Boer Migration. — Prior to 1834 the white
population of South Africa was confined to Cape Colony,
but in that year a growing antagonism between the Boers
(or Dutch farmers) and the British rulers led to a great
"trek" or migration of 10,000 Boers, with all then-
belongings, out of the colony into the territory now
known as the Orange Free State. In 1837 a similar
"trek" took place into Natal, from which in 1842 yet
another Boer " trek " crossed the Vaal river and founded

156 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
the Transvaal Republic. By these Boer migrations the
Reformed Church has become divided into territorial
sections, the largest being the Church of Cape Colony,
which possesses 82,788 communicants and 109 ministers,
while the aggregate membership amounts to 130,000.
In their government and manner of life the various
sections are completely at one, while one Theological
Seminary — that at Stellenbosch — trains the ministers for
all. Dutch standards and Dutch liturgies supply the creed
and service of the Church, and thoroughly Dutch too
is the quiet even life of the congregations. " The feature
of Boer society," says the author of Our South African
Empire, "is a patriarchal conservatism, in accordance
with which the principles of Church and State are strictly
maintained. To be a Land-drost (magistrate) or a Church
elder are the objects of the Boer's earthly ambition."
4. Scottish Presbyterianism. — Existing in South
Africa, apart from the Dutch Church and to a great
extent from each other, are some twenty to thirty congre
gations of English-speaking Presbyterians. In their
membership they are mostly composed of Scottish settlers,
and for their ministers have Scottish Churchmen drawn
from the various Churches in Scotland. Help in men
and money has from time to time been given by the
mother Churches, though not perhaps so freely as the
case required, but the lack of any definite ecclesiastical
connection has hitherto prevented the development of
these isolated fragments. Now there are signs of better
days, as a movement towards a union amongst themselves
is fast approaching completion.

THE CATHOUC PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 157

CHAPTER XI
THE CATHOLIC PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
ON 3rd July 1877 a notable congregation assembled
in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh. Representa
tives from all the many branches of the Presbyterian
Church throughout the world had there gathered to take
part in the opening service of the First CEcumenical
Council of the Presbyterian Church. Quadrennially since
then have similar councils met, on each occasion at a
different centre of Protestantism — Philadelphia, Belfast,
London, and Toronto — and have done for Presbyterianism
in visible form what the preceding pages have sought to
do in written word. They have exhibited the place
which Presbyterianism occupies in Christendom ; have
emphasised the existence of a Catholic Presbyterian
Church, whose branches reach to the ends of the world ;
have comforted the hearts and strengthened the hands of
many weak and isolated churches, by the sight of the
great brotherhood to which they belong ; and by drawing
representatives, as they have done, from many branches,
each suggesting a different history and exhibiting different
graces, they have brought to view the various factors in the
past and in the present which make up the power of the
Presbyterian Church.
1. The Church's Catholicity of Range.— What
makes the Presbyterian Church of to-day unique among
Protestant Churches is the catholicity of her range. Of
the three great Churches of the Reformation — the
Lutheran, the Anglican, and the Presbyterian, — while all
have greatly grown and developed since their breach with
Rome, the two former have in their progress kept strictly
to national lines, their expansion having been conditioned

158 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
by the expansion of the German and English nations.
Presbyterianism, on the contrary, from the days of Calvin,
has refused to be limited by any national boundary line,
and, becoming the ecclesiastical polity of many nations,
has taken its place as a Church of Christendom, whose
Catholicity is only second to that of the Church of Rome.
"It is a simple historical fact of deep significance," says
Professor Heron of Belfast, " that wherever the Reforma
tion had free course, wherever it was permitted to shape
itself spontaneously after Scripture, and without external
interference, it assumed a Presbyterian form." Nor has
the tendency or its significance now ceased. Among the
young Protestant Churches of native growth to-day, which
are struggling into life amid the Romanism of Southern
Europe, the Mohammedanism of Western Asia, the
superstitions of Brazil, or the heathenism of Japan, the
same process is going on. As soon as the initial stage
of Congregationalism is outgrown there begins the group
ing into Presbyteries, which marks a further extension of
the Catholic Presbyterian Church.
2. The Church's Numerical Strength. — In the
foregoing survey of Presbyterianism all the leading Pres
byterian Churches have found a place, but in estimating
the total strength of the Church, account has to be taken
of the contributions from the many minor branches which
have had to be omitted from the general sketch, and
which, though individually small, bulk large in combina
tion. Of organised branches of the Presbyterian Church
there are in all 89, possessing an aggregate membership of
4,823,416. When to these are added the 10,000 Presby
terians who are found in isolated congregations through
out the world, the care chiefly of the Scottish Churches,
and the 55,000 communicants who have been won from
heathenism by the Church's army of 1000 missionaries,
the total membership of the Presbyterian Church stands
at 4,888,416. It is a moderate estimate, and one
founded on an accurate knowledge of Presbyterian ways,
which considers this large communicants' roll to repre
sent a total Presbyterian connection of 28,000,000 souls.

THE CATHOUC PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 159
The Presbyterian Church is thus most probably the
largest branch of Protestantism ; the Anglican Church
and the Methodist Church (if the two very distinct
Methodist Churches of England and America, Wesleyan
and Episcopal, may be counted as one) coming close
behind, each with 20,000,000 adherents.
3. The Church's Services in the Past. — Sine-
the days of the Reformation, the centre of Presbyterian
life has shifted from the Continent of Europe to the
countries peopled by the Anglo-Saxon race ; but the roll-
call of the great Council of the Church, including as it
does the names of the older Churches of Bohemia,
Hungary, Geneva, France, and Holland, acts as a timely
reminder of the services rendered to humanity in the
past by the Churches which then guarded the truths of
Calvinism. In the stirring times which followed the
outburst of the Reformation, the Presbyterian Churches,
when fighting for their own existence against secular
despotism and ecclesiastical tyranny, were fighting for
the rights of man. Their Calvinistic Creed, emphasising
as it did the equality of all men in the sight of God, and
the responsibility of each man to his Maker, was first
embodied in an ecclesiastical system, but soon of necessity
affected men's civil relationships. Wherever ecclesiastical
usages conflicted with these inborn rights, or secular power
repressed the freedom of the conscience, and no redress
could be obtained save by the sword, the hands most
vigorous in the wielding of it were those of Calvinistic
Presbyterians. In France, in Hungary, in Holland, in
Scotland, and, at a later stage, in America, the same
spectacle is to be seen. It is the Calvinists who are ever
foremost in the battle for freedom, whether of ChurCh or
State. Nor is England any real exception, for, though
Episcopacy be the Church system there now prevailing,
in the days when the battle for freedom had to be fought
Calvinism was the dominant creed. " Calvinists," says
Canon Perry, "were the main body of the Elizabethan
Bishops in doctrin':. and inclined to Presbyterianism
in principle." And Calvinists, too, as Fronde has
to a

i6o THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
abundantly shown in his last book, The English Seatnen of
the Sixteenth Century, were the gallant sailors of the South
who put to flight the great Armada of Spain. It has not
been left to Presbyterians to record the services to the
cause of human liberty which the kinsmen of their faith
have rendered. Witnesses of other Churches have vied
with each other in acknowledging their common debt
It is Froude, an Anglican, who says, " Whatever was the
cause, the Calvinists were the only fighting Protestants.
It was they whose faith gave them courage to stand up
for the Reformation, and but for them the Reformation
would have been crushed. " It is Mr. Morley, an agnostic,
who writes, " To omit Calvin from the forces of western
evolution is to read history with one eye shut " ; and who
quotes with thorough approval the weighty words of
Mark Pattison, again not a Presbyterian but an Anglican,
" The policy of Calvin was a vigorous effort to supply
what the revolutionary movement wanted — a positive
education of the individual soul. The power thus
generated was too expansive to be confined to Geneva.
It went forth into all countries. From every part of
Protestant Europe eager hearts flocked hither to catch
something of die inspiration. This and this alone
enabled the Reformation to make head against the terrible
repressive forces brought to bear by Spain, the Inquisi
tion and the Jesuits. Sparta against Persia was not such
odds as Geneva against Spain. Calvinism saved Europe. "
4. The Church's Fitness for the Present.— The
present century is witnessing the increasing triumph of
the principles for which Calvinism contended in the past ;
and accordingly, if the usefulness of a Church be in any
way dependent on her sympathy with the ruling ideas and
institutions of the time, the Presbyterian Church should
be peculiarly fitted for ministering to modern life. The
two principles which are most insisted on in modern politi
cal life — the equality of all men, and the right of self-
government — are two which in the Creed and Constitution
of the Church find clear expression. In her Courts, from
Kirk -Session to General Assembly, peer and peasan/

THE CATHOUC PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 161
meet upon a strict equality, and in the election of her
office-bearers the Christian people have their privilege of
self-government carefully preserved. She is a democratic
Church, and by her rapid extension in the younger lands
where the modern principles find their fullest develop
ment, she is proving herself fitted for a democratic age.
5. The Church's Prospects for the Future.—
With a historic past rich in heroic achievement, and a
present marked by world-wide extension, the future of
the Presbyterian Church is bright with hope. The many
unions during the last half-century, between branches of
the Church once sorely estranged, may be taken as the
presage of a coming time when, in every land where
Presbyterianism exists, there will be but one Presbyterian
Church. And if in the far future the day should come
for which many are longing, when the Churches of
Protestant Christendom will abandon their isolation from
each other and become one, it will be found that the
Presbyterian Church has not been the least active in further
ing the great end. Of this present service in the cause
of union two signs are very visible to-day, one without
the Church and the other within. Outside the Presby
terian Church, in the other great branches of Protestant
ism, the leaven of Presbyterianism is working not only
visibly but rapidly. It is only the repressing hand of the
State in Germany that to-day prevents the Lutheran
Church from adopting a Presbyterian constitution.
The universal adoption by the Anglican Church of
Synodal government in her Colonial branches, where in
her Synods layman and cleric meet together with the
Bishop as permanent Moderator ; the growing desire in
the already semi-Presbyterian Methodist Church for a
larger infusion of laymen in the clerical oligarchy which
forms that Church's highest council ; the marked tendency
of Congregationalism to gather its forces together in
General Councils — all are approximations on the part
of the sister Protestant Churches to methods which have
hitherto been peculiar to Presbyterianism. Nor are signs
wanting within the Presbyterian Church of a like tendency

i&2 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
on her part to break down the walls of division. The
free adoption of agencies and services formerly peculiar
to other Churches points in this direction, but most
significant of all is the catholicity of spirit by which she is
now pervaded. She refiises the name of Christian to
none " who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,"
and unchurches no ecclesiastical organisation " where the
Word of God is preached and the Sacraments duly ad
ministered." In this catholicity lies a sure token that,
when the day of the reunion approaches, the Catholic
Presbyterian Church will not be found wanting in any
sacrifice that will hasten the answer to the prayer " that
they all may be one."