We now revert to the RELIEF CICURCEI, whose history and fortunes we shall briefly narrate. After the expulsion of Erskine and his friends from the church of Scotland, the assemblies (packed with "court of sessions elders") became more determinedly "moderate" than ever. The split that occurred among the seceders in 1747 convinced them that they had now little to fear from the aggressive zeal of their opponents, who had taken to quarreling among themselves; and, desiring to stand well with government for various reasons, they boldly resolved to deprive the people of all right to elect, or in. any way to interfere with the election of ministers. Never were forced settlements more shameless than about this period; but it has been well remarked, " there is a. point at which oppression becomes intolerable; and to a religious people, no oppression is half so galling as that which is spiritual." Relief was felt to be a necessity, and relief came in the person of the rev. Thomas Gillespie, minister of the parish of Carnoek, near Dunfermline. The circumstances which brought him into collision with the general assembly were these: In 1749, the rev. Andrew Richardson was presented to the parish of Inverkeithing by the patron, capt. Philip Anstruther; but the presentation proved so extremely unpopular that the presbytery of Dunfermline refused to proceed with it. In 1750, the case came before that high-handed body, the "commission of the assem bly," who ordered the presbyterY to proceed at once to induct Mr. Richardson. This mandate they firmly refused to obey; and when, after much discussion, the affair again came before the commission in March, 1752, it was resolved to transfer the onus of the unpopular settlement from the shoulders of the presbytery of Dunfermline to those of the synod of Fife. This compromise did not satisfy the out-and-out moderates in the church of Scotland. It was, therefore, resolved to make an example of the presbytery of Dunfermline at the ensuing assembly. On May 18, the "Inverkeithing case" came on, and after a brief hut animated debate, the conduct of the "commission" was condemned by the assembly without coming to a vote; the presbytery of Dunfermline was ordered to induct Mr. Richardson on Thursday the 21st, and on the day following to appear at the bar of the assembly. The presbytery did not meet on Thursday—at least a quorum, did not—and Mr. Richardson was consequently not inducted. On
Friday, six ministers of the presbytery—Robert Stark, David Hunter, Thomas Gillespie, Alexander Daling, Thomas Fernie, and John Spence—handed in a "representation," explaining why they could not obey the commands of the supreme court. They were warned the moderator of the danger in which they stood, and were finally informed that if they remained obdurate, one of them should be deposed. Next day, they were called in singly. Stark, Fernie, and Hunter all wavered and shifted their ground a little; Dalin; and Spence said nothing; but Gillespie was ready with a second "representa tion." This was enough. Gillespie was fixed on as the most suitable sacrifice, and almost without trial, without a libel or any formal process whatever, he was arraigned, cast, condemned, and deposed. The majority of the general assembly, corrupt as its compo sition undoubtedly was, seems to have shrunk from active participation in the deed. Out of 158 members present, only 56 ventured to vote, and these, it must be remarked, were mainly lawyers! The Relief Church, it will be seen, was founded simply on an assertion of the right of congregations to elect their own ministers. In 1758, Mr. Thomas Boston, jr., minister of Jedburgh, and son of the great Boston, threw in his lot with Gillespie; in 1761, the congregation of Colinsburgh, in Fife, did the same. The relief had now got a footing; and steadily increased. " Societies" (as in the case of the seceders) sprung up every where, which were gradually formed into congregations, and obtained ministers from the Establishment, the Secession, the Reformed Presbytery, and the English Presby terians; nevertheless, they had long to sustain a severe fire of attack from the Seceders and Reformed Presbyterians, on account of their firm adherence to the latitudinarian principle of "free communion," i.e., of holding Christian fellowship at the Lord's table with other denominations. It is unnecessary to prosecute the history of the Relief further than to state that at the union in 1847 it numbered 113 congregations, while the Secession numbered 384 congregations; so that the UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CEITIRCH commenced with 497 churches, and a membership estimated at more than 140,000.