Presbyterianism

In June 1646 the ordinance establishing presbyteries was ratified by both houses of parliament, and a few days afterwards it was ordered to be put into execution. But the system never took root.

Not only were there well-known adverse influences, but the soil seems to have been uncongenial. During the Commonwealth Inde pendency gained ground. Then with the Restoration came Episco pacy, and the persecution of all who were not Episcopalians ; and the dream and vision of a truly Reformed English Church prac tically passed away. From the beginning of the 18th century the greater number of the Presbyterian congregations became practi cally independent in polity and Unitarian in doctrine. Indigenous Presbyterianism became almost unknown. The Presbyterianism now visible in England is of Scottish origin and Scottish type, and beyond the fact of embracing a few congregations which date from, or before, the Act of Uniformity and the Five Mile Act, has little in common with the Presbyterianism which was for a brief period by law established. In 1876 the union of the Presbyterian Church in England with the English congregations of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland gathered all English Presbyte rians (with some exceptions) into one church, "The Presbyterian Church of England." Following the lead of the Independents, who set up Mansfield College at Oxford, the Presbyterian Church has founded Westminster College at Cambridge as a substitute for its Theological Hall in London. It was opened in 1899 with the view of securing a home-bred ministry more conversant with English academic life and thought.

Ireland.

Presbyterianism in Ireland, in modern times at least, dates from the plantation of Ulster in the reign of James I. The infusion of a considerable Scottish element into the popula tion necessitated the formation of a congenial church. The immi grants from England took with them, in like manner, their attachment to the Episcopal Church. But these two sections of Protestantism, in their common exile and in presence of the pre ponderating Roman Catholicism of the country, seemed at first inclined to draw closer together than had been thought possible in Great Britain. A confession of faith, drawn up by Archbishop Usher at the Convocation of 1615, implicitly admitted the validity of Presbyterian ordination, and denied the distinction between bishop and presbyter. Within the Episcopal Church and sup ported by its endowments, Robert Blair, John Livingstone and other ministers maintained a Scottish Presbyterian communion.

From 1625 to 1638 the history of Irish Presbyterians is one of bare existence. Their ministers, silenced by Wentworth, after an

ineffectual attempt to reach New England, fled to Scotland, and there took a leading part in the great movement of 1638. After the Irish rebellion of 1641 the Protestant interest for a time was ruined. A majority of the Ulster Protestants were Presbyterians, and in a great religious revival which took place the ministers of the Scottish regiments stationed in Ireland took a leading part. Kirk-sessions were formed in four regiments, and the first regular presbytery was held at Carrickfergus on the loth of June 1642, attended by five ministers and by ruling elders from the regimental sessions. This presbytery supplied ministers to as many con gregations as possible ; and for the remainder ministers were sent from Scotland. By the end of 1643 the Ulster Church was fairly established. Notwithstanding intervening reverses there were by 1647 nearly thirty ordained ministers in fixed charges in Ulster besides the chaplains of the Scottish regiments. After the Restoration the determination of the government to put down Presbyterianism was speedily felt in Ireland. In 1661 the lords justices forbade all unlawful assemblies, and in these they included meetings of presbytery as exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction not warranted by the law. Bishop Jeremy Taylor was forward in this work of persecution. The ministers refused to take the Oath of Supremacy without the qualifications suggested by Usher. Their parishes were declared vacant, and episcopal clergy appointed to them. The ejected ministers were forbidden to preach or ad minister the sacraments. Under Ormonde, in 1665, ministers were again permitted to revive Presbyterian worship and discipline, and for several years the Church prospered not only in Ulster but also in the south and west. In 1672 she received a yearly grant from Charles II. of L000 (regium donum), and under William III. the amount was considerably increased. Trouble arose again over the policy of James II., to which the Irish Presbyterians were opposed, though they had benefited by his Declaration of In dulgence, and they were the first to congratulate the Prince of Orange on his arrival in England. The defence of Londonderry owed much to them, as they were a majority of the population, and some of their ministers rendered conspicuous service. There were then in Ireland about a hundred congregations, seventy-five with settled ministers, under five presbyteries.