PRESBYTERIANS (rpecn3Srepos, an elder) are professors of the Christian religion who believe that there is no order in the Church, as established by Christ and his Apostles, superior to that of Presbyters ; that all ministers, being ambassadors of Christ, are equal by com mission; that Presbyter or Elder, and Bishop, are only different names for the same person; and that Deacons are laymen whose office is chiefly to take care of the poor. A Presbytery (prpecriEluriplav) they regard as a society of clerical and lay Presbyters, or, as they usually call them, Ministers and lay Elders. In support of these opinims they allege several passages of the New Testament. They affirm that the primitive form of church government wan universally Presbyterian, and that this form, having, after the time of the Apostles, been sup planted by Episcopacy, was restored in some parts of Europe after the Reformation had begun.
The most noted Presbyterian Church of the present day is that of Scotland, called the Kirk. Preshytcrianism was introduced into Scot land about 1560. Under Calvin's direction this discipline bad already been put into operation at Geneva, whence it was brought by John Knox into his native land. King James I., who had been a Presby terian in Scotland, and who embraced Episcopacy upon coming to the English throne, made Episcopacy, nominally at least, the religion of Scotland. In the reign of Charles I., Presbyterianism regained the ascendancy, but Episcopacy was once more declared the established religion at the restoration of Charles II. At the Revolution in 1688, Presbyterianism was re-established in Scotland by authority of Parlia ment, and thus it has continued to the present time.
no constitution of Presbyterianism in the established Church of Scotland is as follows :—The Kirk Session, consisting of the minister and lay or ruling elders of a parish or congregation, is the lowest court of judicature, the minister being, ex officio, the moderator or chairman. The Presbytery is next in authority, and consists of all the ministers of a certain district, and ono ruling elder from each parish, who is chosen half-yearly. At the meeting of a Presbytery, a moderator is chosen out of the ministers. There are 84 Presbyteries, each con sisting of parishes varying in number from 3 to 32. The Provincial Synods, of which there are 16, meet twico in the year, and are com posed of the Presbyteries within the provinces which give name to the Synods. The highest authority is the General Assembly, which meets annually. [agNERAL AaaEMBt,Y OF TIIE CIIIIIICIt OF SCOTLAND.] Persons are appointed ministers by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery. The maintenance of the clergy is regulated by the state, and they are nominated to livings by patrons. The Kirk has no
Liturgy, no altar, and no instrumental music,. Its doctrine is Cal vinistic. At the Revolution the Westminster Confession was appointed the standard of the national faith, and it was enacted that no person should be admitted or continued a minister or preacher in this church, without subscribing to this Confession of Faith as his faith. By the Act of Union in 1707, the same subscription was required of all professors, principal', regents, masters, and others bearing office in any of the four universities of Scotland ; but this has been repealed.
There are however ninny Presbyterians in Scotland who do not belong to the national establishment, although they maintain the mum articles of faith an the members of the Kirk. [Disaverlins.] The most important is the Free Church, which separated from the esta blishment in 1843, on a question of church patronage. [Pm: CHURL:II or SCOTLAND.] The other sects (United Presbyterians, Reformed Prombyterians, Original Seceders, kc.) also preserve similar forme, and the differences between them chiefly relate to the question of national religious covenanting. ICA:di:nest, Humane, in Thou. Div.; UNITED PRESBYTERIAN Cnuncrid The first Prembyterian congregation in England was formed at Wandsworth, near London, in 1572. In the reign of Charles I., 1645, it wan proposed, in the treaty of Uxbridge, to make the Established Church of England Presbyterian, and the proposition was carried into effect by way of trial in 1646. In 1649 the Presbyterian dia. cipline was sanctioned by parliament, and the Established church was Presbyterian till Episcopacy was restored with the restoration of Charles II. in 1660. [NoNeo,Nronmay.] The successors of the old Presbyterian congregations in England have in general become either UNITARIANS or INDEPENDENTS : the congregations which are at the present day adherents of the Presbyterian form of church government belong to, or maintain friendly relations with, the Presbyterian churches of Scotland. The Synod of English Presbyterians, a separate organisation holding the principles of the Free Church of Scotland, is compmed of about 100 congregations, forming 7 presbyteries; there are about 70 United Presbyterian congregations in England ; and there are 3 presbyteries, =Trifling 17 congregations, which profess the principles of the Established Church of Scotland. In the north of Ireland, Prembyterianlam Is the prevailing faith, and there it is regularly constituted, though Episcopacy Is the form of the Estahlialied Church. In the British Ccolomes there are numerous congregations of Presby. Wiens. The Presbyterians of the United States of America number about 6000 congregations.