Church of Scotland

Development Since 1843.—The Disruption left the Church of Scotland in a sadly maimed condition. Of 1203 ministers 451 left her, and among these were many of her foremost men. A third of her membership is computed to have gone with them. In Edinburgh many of her churches were nearly empty. The Gaelic speaking population of the northern counties completely deserted her. All her missionaries left her but one. She had no gale of popular enthusiasm to carry her forward, representing as she did not a newly arisen principle but opposition to a principle which she maintained to be dangerous and exaggerated. For many years she had much obloquy to endure. But she at once set herself to the task of filling up vacancies and recruiting the missionary staff. A lay association was formed, which raised large sums of money for the missionary schemes, so that their income was not allowed seriously to decline. The good works of the church, indeed, were in a few years not only continued but extended. All hope being lost that parliament would endow the new churches built by the church extension scheme of Dr. Chalmers, it was felt that this also must be the work of voluntary liberality.

Agitation on the subject of patronage went on in the Assembly from 1857 to 1869, when by a large majority patronage as re stored by the Act of Queen Anne was condemned, and a petition sent to parliament for its removal. The request was granted, and the right of electing parish ministers was conferred by the Patron age Act 1874 on the congregation; thus a grievance of old standing, from which all the ecclesiastical troubles of a century and a half had sprung, was removed and the church placed on a thoroughly democratic basis. This act, combined with various efforts made within the church for her improvement, secured for the Scottish Establishment a large measure of popular favour, and in the last half of the 19th century she grew rapidly both in numbers and in influence. This revival was largely due on the one hand to the improvement of her worship which began with the efforts of Dr. Robert Lee (1804-1868), minister of Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh, and professor of Biblical criticism in Edinburgh university. By introducing into his church a printed book of prayers and also an organ, Dr. Lee stirred up vehement controversies in the church courts, which resulted in the recognition of the liberty of congre gations to improve their worship. The Church Service Society, having for its object the study of ancient and modern liturgies, with a view to the preparation of forms of prayer for public worship, was founded in 1865 ; it has published eight editions of its "Book of Common Order," which, though at first regarded with suspicion, has been largely used by the clergy. Church music has been cultivated and improved in a marked degree ; and hymns have been introduced to supplement the psalms and paraphrases; in 1898 a committee appointed by the Church of Scotland, the Free Church, the United Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland issued The Church Hymnary, which was author ized for use in all these churches alike. 3o years afterward, a new

hymnary was compiled.

The "Committee on Christian Life and

Work," was appointed in 1869 with the aim of exercising some supervision of the work of the church throughout the country, stimulating evangelistic efforts and organizing the labours of lay agents. This committee pub lishes a magazine of "Life and Work," which has a circulation of over ioo,o0o, and has organized young men's gilds in connection with congregations and revived the ancient order of deaconesses. It was to reinforce this element of the church's activity, as well as to strengthen her generally, that James Baird (1802-1876) in 1873 made the munificent gift of Lsoo,000. This fund is admin istered by a trust which is not under the control of the church, and the revenue is used mainly in aid of church building and en dowment throughout the country.

Subscription and Re-union.--The

church has greatly in creased of late years in width of view and liberality of sentiment, and shelters various tendencies of thought ; and for this and other reasons the question of subscription has been more or less before the church for many years. The formula adopted by the assembly of '7'1 had still to be signed by ministers, and was felt to be much too strict. After debates extending over many years, the assembly of 1889 fell back on the words of the act of parliament 1693, passed to enable the Episcopalian clergy to join the establishment, in which the candidate declared the Confession of Faith to be the confession of his faith, owned the doctrine therein contained to be the true doctrine and promised faithfully to adhere to it. This was accompanied by a Declaratory Act in which the church expressed its desire to enlarge rather than curtail the liberty hitherto enjoyed. Ten years later the assembly was again debating the question of subscription. A committee appointed in 1899 to inquire into the powers of the church in the matter reported that the power of the church was merely administrative—it was in her power as cases arose to prosecute or to refrain from prosecuting, but that she had no power to modify the confession in any way. Here the matter might have remained, but that the approach to parliament of the United and the Free Churches after the decision of the House of Lords in 1904 (see FREE CHURCH and UNITED FREE CHURCH) offered an opportunity for asking parliament to remove a grievance the church herself had no power to deal with. The Scottish Churches Bill of 1905 left it to the Church of Scotland to frame a new formula for her ministers and professors, an undertaking to which she is seriously addressing herself.