SCOTLAND, CHURCH OF. The constitution of this church is considered under the heads of GENERAL ASSEMBLY; PRESBYTERIANS ; and SESSION, KIRK. Au important portion of its recent history is narrated under the head FREE Cuuncn. It remains only (throne logically to mention the chief oveuta in the history of the church.
The main struggles of the Reformation in Scotland date at the middle of the 16th century. On August 1st, 1560, a convention parliament abolished the Romish hierarchy, and on 20th December of the same year, the first general assembly was held in Edinbtffigh. The tercen tenary of this event was celebrated throughout Scotland and by Presbyterians iu England on December 20, 1860. In 1561 the First Book of Discipline,' still an Important part of the ecclesiastical code of the established church and the various sects into which the Presby terians of Scotland are now divided, was compiled. The fundamental principle, of the reformed church were passed into an act of parliament 15o7 (Act 1567, c. 3), with the title, ' The Confession of the Faith and Doctrine believed and possessed by the Protestants of Scotland, exhibited to the Estates of the same Parliament, and be their publick Yetis authorised, as a Doctrine grounded on the infallible Word of God.' This constitution however had more reference to doctrine than to church polity. It condemned some of the more prominent features of the system of the abjured hierarchy, but did not contain any announcement of the new system of church government. The early constitution of the church as approved of by Knox and his friends, admitted of a difference of grades, certain clergymen being called `Superintendents' of Provinces, which actually or nearly corresponded with the bounds of the old bishoprics. The Presbyterian polity was at length established by the act of 1592 (c. 114), called Ratification of the Libertio of the trews Kirk : of Generall and Synodall Assemblies : of Presbyteries : of Discipline.' In the mean time, those who had been the zealous clerical supporters of the reformation expected that the temporalities of the Roman Catholic church, or at least a con siderable portion of them, would be applied to ecclesiastical purposes under the new system. They found however that the powerful laymen who assisted in the demolition of the old system had very different views. They spoke of this notion as "a devout imagination," and kept by far the larger portion of the spoil to themselves. After some hard struggles, in which the national feeling in favour of Pres byterianism was driven very nearly to an outbreak, Episcopacy was re-established by the parliament of 1612. In 1637, the Liturgy, concocted by Laud an d West, on principles more nearly approaching to the Roman Catholic forms than those of the English Liturgy, created the convulsions which ended in the civil war and the re-establishment of Presbytery. On this occasion, great part of the
assistance which the Covenanters received from the landed gentry was owing to their dread of a plan for restoring church lands to the hierarchy. On the restoration of Charles II., all the acts of the pre vious reign subsequent to the year 1623 were rescinded' or repealed, and consequently the Episcopal form of church government was restored. The persecutions that arose out of the attempt to enforce this system on a people who abhorred it the more, the more stringently it was enforced on them by penal laws, is well known in history. These laws were relaxed, but not in a manner to satisfy the Presby terians, by the indulgences of James to all who differed from the established Episcopal church. At the Revolution the Presbyterian form was re-established. The followers of this system, who through the times of the hottest persecution did not ask to be tolerated but to be made an exclusive establishment, now thought that the hour was come for the " extermination " of their opponents ; but they were told by King' William that that was a word not in his vocabulary. In 1699 lay patronage was abolished by an act of the Scottish parliament. It was re-established by au act of the British parliament in 1710. This act created many disputes in the church ; it occasioned the secession of 1736, elsewhere mentioned [ERSELNE, EBENEZER, in Bioo.
and it was the cause of the great severance in 1843 [FREE Cuuncii]. In the same year with that severance an act was passed for modifying the right of patronage, called 'Lord Act' (6 & Viet. e. (11, passed 17th August, 1843): a measure said to have been passed for the purpose of satisfying the scruples of sonic clergymen who would not remain in the church as it was, but would be content with a less comprehensive measure than the Veto Act. The difference between these two systems was, in the first place, that the Veto Act was passed by authority of the church, its supporters denying that they required the interposition of any lay legislation. By that measure, the simple objection of a certain number of the male communicants without any reason given, was a cause of disqualification to a pre sentee. By Lord Aberdeen's Act, any members of the congregation may object to the presentee, stating their objections : and the church courts, if they think them good, whether in their general tenor, or with respect to the particular circumstances of the charge, may give effect to them by rejecting the presentee.