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BX 9053 .B5 1843
Bicentenary of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster
o r ■ " \ • / f e si" wi 1 yi s + e '\
BICENTENARY
ASSEMBLY OF DIVINES AT WESTMINSTER,
HELD AT EDINBURGH, JULY 12th AND 1 3th, 1843
CONTAINING A
FULL AND AUTHENTIC REPORT OF
THE ADDRESSES AND CONVERSATIONS.
WITH INTRODUCTORY SERMON .
Bt rev, DR SYMINGTON.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION OF THE ASSEMBLY.
EDINBURGH : W. p. KENNEDY, 15 SOUTH ST ANDREW STREET.
GLASGOW : D. BRYCK AND W. BLACKWOOD. AYR : D. GUTHRIE. DUNDEE
W, MIDDLRTON. PERTH : J. DEWAR. ABERDEEN : C. PANTON.
BELFAST: W. m'cOMB. LONDON: J. NISB^. AND CO.;
AND HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.
1843.
BALFOUK ASU JACK, i-RlNTEIlS.
CONTEN
Rev. Dr Symington's Sermon, Preface,
PHIITGETOIT fiEC. FEB 188
H^OLOGIGAL
FORENOON SEDERUNT.— JULY 12.
Preliminary Business — Appointment of Chaii'men, and Comnaittce for Business — Open- ing Address of Chairman (Rev. Mr Elliot, United Secession), Addresses. — On the Leaduig Incidents and Characters of the Assembly. By Rev. Thomas M'Crie, (Original Secession), The Real Character and Bearing of the Westminster Assembly, and Refu- tation of Calumnies. By Rev. W. M. Hetherington, Conversation. — Professor Symington, (Reformed Presbyterian), Rev. Mr Gorrie, (Relief),
•JO
48 50
EVENING SEDERUNT.— JULY 12.
Addresses. — The Opposition of the Westminster Assembly to Popery, I'relacy, and
Erastianism. By Rev. Dr Cunningham, ... 52 The Influence and Advantages of Presbyterianism, especially in reference to the Education of Youth, and the Extension of the Kingdom of
Christ. By Rev. Dr King, (United Secession), . . 63
Conversation. — Robert Paul, Esq., ....... 69
Rev. John Eadie, (United Secession), . . . . 70
Rev. J. W. Massie, (Independent), . . . .74
Rev. Mr Tweedie, ...... 75
Rev. Dr Candlish, ....... ib.
Rev. Mr White, (Original Secession), .... 76
FORENOON SEDERUNT.— JULY 1.3.
Introductory Addi'css by Chaii*man (Rev. Dr Chalmers), . . . .79
Deputations. — Rev. Mr Murdoch, (Scottish Presbyterian Church in England), 80
Rev. Mr Watson, (Ditto, Ditto), . . 82
Rev. Mr Sawers, (Ditto, Ditto), . . 83
Rev. William Thorburn, (Secession Presbytery of Lancashire), . 84
Rev. Dr Crichton, (Ditto, Ditto), 85
Rev. Professor Balmer, (United Secession), . . .86
Addi'ess in reply by Chairman (Rev. Dr Chalmers), . . 89 Rev. Dr Ritcliie, (United Secession), ...... 93
Address. — The Uses and Value of Subordinate Standards. By Rev. Professor Harper,
(United Secession), ...... ib.
Conversation. — The Chairman, . . . . . . .101
Rev. Mr M'Manus, (Irish Presbyterian Church), . . 1 02
Rev. Dr Brown, (United Secession), . , . .103
EVENING SEDERUNT.— JULY 13.
Address. — The Leading Features and Excellencies of the Westminster Standards.
By Rev. Charles J. Brown . . . . . 107
Conversation. — Rev. Robert Shaw, (Original Secession), . . . .116
Rev. P. Macindoe, (RefoiTued Pi-esbytcrian), . . . 117
Alexander Dunlop, Esq., . . . . .122
Rev. Mr Reutou, (United Secession), .... 123
Address. — The Importance of Adhering to sound Scriptural Standards, and aiming at
Union on that Basis. By Rev. Dr Candlish, . .124
PHIITGJ3T0N fiEC. FEB 1881
LOVE ONE ANOTHErV. ^^^^OGIGAL
A SERMON,
HELIVEUED IN THE FREE ASSEMBLY HALL, EDIMJUROII, JULY II, !8W, AT THE OrENlNO 01' TJIE COMMEMORATION OF THE BICENTENARY OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY.
By WILLIAM SYMINGTON, D.D., Glasgow. ' A new commandment I give unto jou, that ye love one another.' — John xiil. 34.
We are now assembled in very peculiar circumstances, — circumstances at once solemnizing and delightful. We are met to do honour to the character and the deeds of men of other years. The disposition to commemorate past events, whether of public or private interest, springs from an original law of our nature, a law which certainly admits of being, and has actually been grossly abused, but which is, nevertheless, good in itself, and capable of being turned to valuable account. Subjects of great and permanent utility are thus held forth to view, and hindered from passing into oblivion. The very act of reminiscence calls into operation, and consequently improves by exercising, some of the higher moral sentiments of the heart. And, even if there were no other advantage, we might well feel prompted to such an undertaking, when we reflect that it tends so forcibly to remind us of the lapse of time, — of the steady progression of those quickly-revolving cycles which are hastening on the secrets of futurity to their complete and final development ; and, by bringing us to contemplate what has been happily styled ' the funeral procession of centuries,' to lead us to re- flect at once on ' the handbreadth of our own earthly concerns,' and on ' the vast gulf of duration beyond.' Strongly, therefore, do we feel that, in respond- ing to the present call in providence, instead of lending countenance to the per- nicious principle that ' the church hath power to decree rites and ceremonies,' we are only following the approved example of him who said, ' I remember the days of old, the years of ancient times; I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High ;' nay, we are acting under authority of the divine com- mand, ' Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations ; ask thy father and he will show thee, thy elders and they will tell thee.' '
Not the least interesting, and I would say too, not the least appropriate, fea- ture of the present meeting is, that it is composed of persons of different deno- minations. Under the constraining power of a common sympathy we have agreed, I do not say to strike our respective banners, but, instead of lifting them -in hostile opposition to one another, to range them all in peaceful display around one glorious standard, to Avliich we all feel under lasting obligations, and towards which we all profess to cherish one lofty sentiment of moral admiration. Under these circumstances, when, at your own request, proceeding to address you in the name of our common Lord, I know not that I could select words more befit- ting the occasion, or more in accordance with the will of our Divine Master, than those which I have just read in your hearing, and which were first spoken by
' Ps. cxhii. 5; Ixxvii, 10, 11. Deut. xxxii. 7,
2 DR SYMINGTON S SERMON.
his own lips to his disciples on earth: — * A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.'
It is, perhaps, not unworthy of remark, that these words were spoken by Jesus to the eleven disciples, after Judas, impelled by Satan, had left their company, and gone out with a view to fulfil his treacherous engagement with the chief priests. The Saviour, placing the fullest confidence in those who remained, and laying aside all reserve, proceeded to give them his last instructions in that most interesting, beautiful, comforting discourse, contained in this and some following chapters. The advice we have chosen as our text, stands near the outset of the address, and, from its position as well as other circumstances, seems obviously to refer to something that is peculiarly weighty and important.
It sounds rather strange, indeed, that what is here enjoined should be called a 7ie7v commandment, the love of our neighbour being elsewhere spoken of as constituting a summary of one grand division of the moral law, and the moral law having been of course, in its essence at least, coeval with the existence of the species. From the beginning it must have been the duty of men to love one another; after four thousand years the duty in question could be no novel- ty; and yet is it here inculcated in a commandment which is said to be nerv. There have been different attempts made to explain this difficulty. Some of these are too frivolous to merit notice in this place; but others deserve attention. Some view the commandment before us as refemng to the love of good men as such, which they suppose was never, previously to this period, formally enjoined. This explanation, although supported by a name which stands high in theologi- cal science, appears to us to be exceedingly forced and unnatural; nor can we for a moment bring ourselves to think that the duty just spoken of was not fully and clearly comprehended in the ancient precept, • Thou shalt love thy neigh- bour as thyself.' This being the case, of course it must have been inculcated hundreds of times by the prophets; and doubtless must have been reduced to practice every day by the saints of the former dispensation. Brotherly love, even in this peculiar and restricted sense, could not therefore have been exem- plified for the first time by the disciples of our Lord in the days of his flesh. • Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning.' There must be some other explanation. And, perhaps, when we consider that the duty in question was too much a novelty at that period, as it is still, in the practice of men, — when we reflect that it had no place among the lessons taught by either the divines or the moralists of that age, — and when we add, that it was now enforced by new motives, and recommend- ed and illustrated by a new example, we shall probably feel satisfied that abun- dant reason existed why it should be characterized as a new commandment. It is, indeed, both new and not new; not new in substance, but new in the cir- cumstances which attend its promulgation.
Conceiving the subject to be not unsuitable to our present purpose, I shall, in the sequel, endeavour to explain and enforce the duty here inculcated.
I. In explanation, it may be remarked in general, that ' love' is a term of comprehensive import. Divines speak of a love of benevolence, and a love of gratitude, and a love of complacency. The love of benevolence is due to the whole human family at large. It is indeed the great principle of the second table of the moral law, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;' the term neighbour, in the scripture sense of it, comprehending all mankind without ex- ception,— all those whom God hath made of one blood to dwell on all the face of the earth. It admits not of being restricted by the circumstance of party, of relationship, of locality, or by any other distinction whatsoever. It is due to the worst as well as to the best; to the deceitful as well as to the sincere; to stran-
DR SYMINGTON S SERMON. 3
gers whom we have never seen, nay, even to enemies who hate, revile, despite- tully use and persecute us, as much as to those who are our personal friends and nearest relatives.'
But as the text was addressed to the disciples of our Lord in particular, and not to men promiscuously, it may be presumed to refer to some duty that is peculiar. The love here enjoined is, in short, that which we owe to men, viewed not merely as creatures, but as new creatures — not as fellow men, but fellow saints, fellow heirs, and of the household of faith — not merely as capable of existence and of happiness, but as possessed of certain moral and religious qualities — not, in one word, as brethren by nature, but as brethren in Christ. To such, love in all its modifications, in its fullest extent, is due. It must in- clude benevolence, or wishing them all the good, temporal and spiritual, of which their nature admits ; gratitude, in return for all the benefits we derive from their society, example, prayers, and acts of beneficence ; and, above all, complacency, or moral satisfaction in their excellent properties as believers in Christ Jesus, consisting in a high esteem of the holiness, and goodness, and spirituality, and heavenliness, which compose their character — a character so truly worthy, amiable, desirable. The feeling in this latter form is what was exemplified by David when he spoke of the saints on earth as ' the excellent, in whom was all his delight.'- Here we have the very thing of which we are speaking — delight in moral excellence. The character of the saints aifords room for the exercise of this noble sentiment. The qualities which are its proper object do not certainly belong to them by nature ; in themselves they are, through the influence of depravity, ' black and ugly,' in a moral point of view ; but in respect of their new nature, as born of the Spirit, and sanctified in heart and in life, they are ' all fair' in the estimation of such as are qualified to discern and appreciate real excellence, true genuine moral worth. Now, as to the saints belongs that which is fitted to awaken and exercise the principle of moral esteem, it may be inferred to be the duty of every Christian to exhibit the working of this principle. Indeed, the duty is explicitly inculcated by the Saviour in the text ; but to the exemplification of it aright it is requisite that its nature be distinctly understood.
The love enjoined in the new commandment, be it observed, then, is a divine or preternatural love. It is not a mere natural afiection. There is a sort of brotherly love which is a part of man's original moral constitution, which has not been quite obliterated by the fall, and which still serves an important pur- pose, as a bond by which families are united and held together. But that which binds together the members of the family of Christ, is supernatural, spiritual, divine. It is possessed only by such as have undergone a spiritual renovation, and by all such ; as saints only can be its objects, only saints can be its subjects ; it takes its rise from the new nature imparted in regeneration ; without this it can have no existence ; it is, in short, a grace of the Holy Spirit. ' As touching brotherly love,' says Paul, ' ye need not that I write unto you ; for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.' ' Seeing,' says Peter, ' ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto the unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.' To the same purpose are the words of John, ' Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God.'-' There is, indeed, a natural warmth of heart possessed by some, which is apt to be mistaken, even by themselves, for the principle of which we are speaking, and with reference to which it is not uncommon to hear men who have no pre-
' Sec Lev. xix. Hi, 3.% .'54; Luke x. -25—37; Matt. v. 1.3, 44.
' Tsalra xvi, 3. ' 1 These, iv. f> ; 1 Pet. i. 22 ; 1 Joliii iv. 7.
DK SYMINGTON S SERMON.
tensions to piety, talk of the love they bear to all good people. But on a close analysis it will be found to be a mere natural affection after all. There being no capacity for discerning that which is spiritual, the qualities which awaken it are nothing more than certain natural good dispositions which the objects hap- pen to possess ; it can have no respect to what constitutes the distinctive features of a renewed character, for these one who is not renewed can never appreciate ; they cannot once come into calculation ; he wants the very faculty for perceiving their existence, not to speak of estimating their worth. Let us, then, beware of deceiving ourselves in this matter. Unless we are taught of God, purified by the Spirit, born from above, we never can exemplify the duty enjoined by the Saviour — we are morally disqualified for yielding obedience to the new com- mandment. It is strongly corroborative of this remark, that love to man is necessarily and intimately connected with love to God — so much so, that the former cannot even exist without the latter. It will be readily enough admitted, that there cannot be true love to God without producing love to man. But the converse holds equally good ; there cannot be true love to man except where there previously exists love to God. As there cannot be religion without mora- lity, so neither can there be morality without religion. Love to God would want one of its proper evidences were there no love to man ; but love to man would want its proper principle were there no love to God. It irrefragably follows that love, even to fellow-men, and much more of course to fellow-saints, can be properly exercised only by such as are born again ; it is a preternatural principle, the product of the Spirit of all grace. ' The fruit of the Spirit is love.' But more than this. The love here commanded is of an evangelical kind. It is not a mere moral duty ; not a branch of heathenish ethics, to be spoken of as obligatory because it is fit, or proper, or becoming, or amiable. It is based on the gospel of the Son of God. Like other duties, doubtless, it admits of being enforced by hope and by fear ; but, in addition to these, there are higher and more powerful recommendatory considerations — considerations arising out of the authority, the example, and the glory of Christ. The authority of Christ is brought forward in the text: — ' a new commandment I give unto you;' and afterwards in the same discourse he says with emphasis, ' This is my command- ment that ye love one another ;' and again, ' These things I command you that ye love one another.' ' It thus appears that the duty was enjoined by the Re- deemer again and again. It is not left resting on common ground with other moral duties ; it is lifted to a higher elevation, and invested with a more hal- lowed character. It is not a thing to be done because it is right and proper in itself, or because it will prove profitable to the person performing it, or because the neglect of it would be dangerous, or even because it is commanded by God, absolutely considered, but it is to be done because required by the Saviour — out of respect to his high and mild authority — in obedience to his gracious com- mand. And O, my hearers, what power there is in such a motive — in the authority of one so exalted, so good, so kind, so beneficent. A stranger to every thing like Christian feeling must be that heart which is not alive to the weight of a consideration such as this. Then again, the love in question was exempli- fied by our Lord himself. To the text it is added, ' As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.' The same consideration is adverted to elsewhere : — ' This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you.* jNIark these words, ' As 1 have loved you.' They are full of meaning ; they serve to give a p.irticular emphasis and character to what is required. Christ himself set an example, a perfect example, of love to the brethren ; his love was perfect in the principle from which it flowed, perfect in the measure of its exercise, and
' John xiii. 31 ; xv. 12, 17.
PR SYMINGTON S SERMON. 5
perfect in the fruits of which it was productive. No angry look ever marred the beauty of his countenance ; no harsh imputation ever disturbed the music of his tones ; no selfish emotion ever obstructed the flow of his generosity ; no unkind suspicion ever chilled the ardour of his aftection. This is the pattern after which we are to copy. Our love to the brethren is to be formed on the model of his — the same in kind, and, as far as the necessary limitation of our nature \yill admit, the same also in degree : — ' That ye love one another as I have loved you.' Moreover, in paying this respect to our brethren, we must have regard to the glory of Christ as well as to his authority and example. They are his — his children, his disciples, his subjects, his brethren. They are closely and delightfully connected with himself; they bear his name, breathe his Spirit, and reflect his image. It must, therefore, be honouring to Him to love them ; to treat theyn with disrespect, or even with neglect, cannot but be held dis- honouring to Him. So much are they identified, that what is done to them is regarded as done to Him. ' Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my children, ye have done it unto me : Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not unto me.' In loving them that are begot- ten, respect must be had to the glory of Him that begat. Thus evangelical is the duty before us — evangelical in its origin, the authority of Christ — evangeli- cal in its rule, the example of Christ — and evangelical in its end, the glory of Christ.
It is scarcely necessary, after this, to remark, that the love inculcated by the new commandment is sincere and disinterested love. By one inspired writer it is described as ' unfeigned love of the brethren ;' by another, as ' love with- out dissimulation.'' How common for persons to practise all the outward forms of good-breeding, to observe the rules of politeness, to employ the language of friendship, and even to lavish on one another terms of adulation, when there is no genuine attachment in the heart. The love of many consists only in empty compliment, hollow profession, meaningless ceremony; it is nothing other than a well-sustained course of hypocrisy and deception. Unlike this, the love which subsists among the disciples of Christ is ' unfeigned,' and ' without dissimu- lation;' that is to say, unhypocritical, unmasked, unveiled; needing no cloak of dexterous simulation to conceal its pretensions ; every thing about it may be laid open and bare ; the words of the lips and actions of the life being just an exact transcript of the inward feelings of the soul. * The law of kindness' is in the heart, as well as ' on the lips.' Nor has it any contaminating intermixture of selfishness, as is too often the case among the men of the world. ' Love seeketh not its own things.' It is not dictated by motives of worldly advantage. It is not an article of sordid traffic, — a mere matter of profit or aggrandisement. It is altogether a different thing from the professed love of those Avho, when their own personal interests are to be promoted, can be ever so accommodating and complaisant, nay, even sycophantish, — ' having men's persons in admiration because of advantage;' but when difficulties require to be encountered, and sacri- fices require to be made, in carrying out their professions of attachment, their affection instantly evaporates, leaving the poor victim of a misplaced confidence, in the bitterness of disappointment, to exclaim, ' IMy brethren have dealt de- ceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away."* Unlike this, the love before us is a generous and disinterested affection, dictated by the purest motives, and flowing from a source not liable to be affected by the vicis- situdes of fortune. Its objects are immortal beings, and itself wears the stan)p of immortality. ' Charity never faileth.'
In describing brotherly love, due regard must be had to wliat is said rcspcct-
' 1 Pet. i. '2'2; Rom. xii. 0; — (fO.x^iXifiav ivwrox^irio, — avurixQiTSf, ' Job vL 15.
6 DR Symington's sermon.
inw it by the apostle Peter : — ' See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.'' Purity and fervour are indispensable qualities of Christian affection. It is pure ; it proceeds from ' a pure heart ;' it issues from a sanctified foun- tain. Murderers, drunkards, and sensualists may have some bond of attachment which leads them to associate with a view to destroy the lives of their fellow- men, to celebrate their obscene orgies, or to indulge those brutal propensities of which they ought to be ashamed. But their love — if love it may be called — is not pure ; the principle of their alliance is unholy ; like Simeon and Levi, they are ' companions in iniquity,' in course of preparation for being companions in tribulation when they shall be gathered together into the place of unending woe. The love of Christ's disciples, on the contrary, flows from a holy principle, is di- rected to holy objects, and tends to provoke not only to love but to ' good works.' Nor is it less distinguished by its fervency. It possesses a keen sensi- bility, opposed alike to fluctuation and to indifference. It burns with a strong and a steady flame ; many waters cannot quench it, neither can the floods drown it. Worldly afflictions, reverses of fortune, sicknesses, calumnies, injuries, have no tendency to quench this holy fire. Amid the greatest ills that can befal its objects, it glows with undiminished intensity, stirring up to constant acts of kind- ness, and consuming whatever obstacles may stand in the way of its exercise. There is a love which can live only in the sunshine of prosperity, but this dis- plays its brightest beam in the dark night of adversity. If we would obey the Saviour's command, we must ' have fervent charity among ourselves,' and count nothing strange to us which can possibly affect the reputation, the happi- ness, or the well-being of brethren in Christ. ' A friend loveth at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.'
This leads us to observe, that the love enjoined is an active principle. ' My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.' We love in truth only when we love in deed. The love of the brethren is not a sickly feeling of sentimentalism, but a sturdy principle of patient endur- ance and active performance. It will show itself, in leading those who are un- der its influence, to abstain from injuring such as are its objects, and to avoid giving them unnecessary offence; to abstain alike from doing injury to their per- sons, property, character, and even feelings. It will dispose us even to forgive injuries that may happen to be committed against ourselves. Offences must needs come. Misunderstandings are sure to fall out in the best regulated com- munities on earth. They are the unavoidable result of the intercourse of imper- fect and fallen creatures. But where love exists, the evil results of such occur- rences are in a great measure neutralized. Where there is love, there will be forbearance and forgiveness; resentment can have no place ; every feeling of re- venge must necessarily be suppressed. ' With all lowliness and meekness, with lonf'- suffering, forbearing one another in love.' ' Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering : forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any one have a quarrel against any : even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.'^ Love is the proper element of peace. Strife and contention are incompatible with its existence. Where it reigns, the sun will not be permitted to go down upon our wrath. It also manifests its influence in prompting to cultivate one another's society. Love leads to a free, familiar, unsuspecting utterance of the heart ; it banishes cold reserve ; it puts an end to chilling suspicion. Out of the abun- dance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The parties who are knit heart to heart in the sympathies of affection, will necessarily be drawn to join hand in hand in
' 1 ret. i. 22. '•' F.pli. iv. 2; Col. iii. 12-11.
DR SYMINGTON S SERMON. 7
the intercourse of friendship. ' Come, hear, all ye that fear God, and I \vill de- clare what he hath done for my soul.' ' Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.'' When the heart is full of love, ' the law of kindness is on the lips.' It prompts to sympathise with one another's joys and sorrows. Its direct tendency is to produce a community of feeling and of interest, leading those Avho feel it to make the case of those toward whom it is felt their own, and thus teaching them to weep with them that weep, and rejoice with them that do rejoice. It disposes, further, to promote and to delight in one another's good. It teaches, instead of hindering, to advance in every possible way the true in- terests of others. The morbid sensibility which can weep over a tale of ima- ginary distress, and yet turn away with disgust from a case of real suffering, — which can say to a brother or a sister, Be warmed and filled, but gives not those things which are needful for the body, — has no foundation in love. Nor will it ad- mit of the indulgence of envy, its tendency being to repress every such ungene- rous emotion, and to stir up to rejoice in good always. But there is no end to an enumeration of the activities of brotherly love ; nor is there any sacrifice, however great, which it will not enable its possessor to make. ' We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.'
It remains to observe, that the principle of which we are speaking is most comprehensive, is, in short, universal as regards its objects. It admits of no re- striction within the commonwealth of Christianity. It is to be cherished toward all who bear the image of the Saviour, without regard to family, church, or na- tion. Differences of sentiment there may be, and important differences too ; differences of ecclesiastical profession there may be, and resting too on well- grounded distinctions. Yet must not these be suffered to obstruct the flow of mutual good- will and esteem. The greater principle must not be overborne by the less. Too long have persons of different denominations regarded one another with unfriendly jealousy ; too long have they indulged in the language of bitter invective ; too long have they stood aloof in the attitude of dark suspicion, or supercilious disdain. These things ought not so to be. Not that we would be understood as meaning that all communities and professions are alike worthy of countenance and support, — that there is really no distinction worthy of regard among them. Far otherwise. We candidly avow, that we have no taste what- ever for the sentimental cant of the day, which would go to reduce all differences of religious profession to some vague levelling scheme of indiscriminate com- munion. The maintenance of truth, the support of discipline, the preservation of ecclesiastical order, we humbly deem matters of moment ; and, in order to secure these, we regard a different line of procedure to be necessary. Neverthe- less, we see nothing in all this that should prevent the fullest reciprocation of kindly feeling ; nor have we any hesitation in affirming it as our opinion, that the man has good reason to question his Christianity altogether who would hesitate to say ' the grace of God be with all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity.' We may surely wish one another well, without lending our countenance to error; we may surely seek one another's good, without making a compromise of truth ; we may surely love a brother in our heart, and yet be careful not to suffer sin upon a brother. Let us see that we exemplify this, my dear brethren. By kindness, by candour, by forbearance, by prayer, and by cheerful co-operation in common efforts for the support and extension of religion, let us show that Ave can combine firm adherence to principle with warmth of love to the brethren. I would not say that men should never talk of their differences ; such advice were alike irrational, unmanly, and subversive of ultimate unity ; but when they do, let them talk of them with meekness, and with minds open to conviction. And
' Fs. Ixvi. 16; Mai. iii. 16.
8 i>K Symington's sermon.
this we certainly will say, that if men were to talk more about the things in re- gard to which they are agreed, and to pray more about those in respect to which they differ, it would tend powerfully to promote, not only brotherly love in par- ticular, but the interests of religion at large.
II. Having thus explained the nature of the feeling spoken of in the text, it remains that we attempt to enforce the practice of it by some few consi- derations.
There is a moral fitness in the love of Christian brethren for one another. Their nature, their relations, and their mutual dependence, are such, that reci^ procal affection commends itself at once to the approbation of every virtuous bosom, while the want of it, and still more its opposite, is calculated to shock all our ideas of propriety. Strangers may without impropriety cherish indiffer- ence, and enemies may manifest hostility ; but that brethren, those who are members of the same family, who are descended from the same parents, who have been reared under the same roof, nursed at the same breast, and fed at the same table, should indulge in strife, animosity, and contention, has something in it which appears to all to be disgraceful, unbecoming, and positively shocking. In like manner the disciples of the Redeemer, being children of the same Father, brethren of the same family, related to the same Spirit, soldiers under the same Captain, travellers in the same journey, members of the same body^ and fellow- heirs of the same heavenly inheritance, are bound by every consideration of pro- priety to cherish ardent and devoted affection for one another. ' Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.' ' The whole body fitly framed together maketh increase to the edifying of itself in love.' ' Nor is it possible to imagine a sight more unseemly, a spectacle more incongruous, a moral contradiction more glaring and monstrous, than that of professing Christians regarding one another with malignant jealousy, attacking one another with the tongue of slander and detraction, or practising towards one another any sort of mutual recrimination whatsoever. ' If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.' '^
Think, too, of the very emphatic manner in which the duty is enjoined. Even the common law of benevolence is only second to the first and great command- ment which inculcates love to God. ' The second is like unto it.' If this may be affirmed of the love due to the species, how much more emphatically does it apply to the feeling of Christian affection. Love to God's children bears a striking resemblance to love to God himself. It is ' like unto it,' in its origin, the authority and Spirit of the Most High ; in its nature, admiration of moral excellence ; in its tendency to assimilate and make happy ; and in the place which it holds in the moral code, being the spring and summary of a whole class of duties. Even the epithet new in the text, as in the case of the ' new creature,' and that of the ' new song,' has been understood by some to mark out that to which it is applied as of rare excellence and transcendent importance. James also speaks of the commandment, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self,' as a royal law ;^ — language expressive of the highest consequence and dignity. Nor are we at liberty here to overlook, in estimating the emphasis with which it is recommended, the time when the new commandment was given. And when was it spoken ? At that memorable period when divine love and infernal malice had each its perfect manifestation ; when Jesus, having finished the paschal supper, and instituted the New Testament rite, was betrayed into the hands of sinners ; when, all preparatory steps having been taken, he was
' Ps. cxxxiii. 1. Eph. iv. 16. ^ Gal. v. 15. ' .James ii. 8. — v^fiov Baa-zX/xuv.
DR Symington's sermon. 9
about to retire to the garden where he should undergo those awi'ul and mysteri- ous agonies by which he made atonement for sin ; — then, when we should have concluded that he would be absorbed in himself, and sink into thoughtful silence, then it was that, for the good of his disciples in all future ages, he put forth the solemn declaration, ' A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.' Oh ! surely, my hearers, every thing connected with that awful hour must be deemed of immense moment. The connexion could not fail, we presume, to make a deep impression on the minds of the eleven ; and sure we are that the consideration only requires to be seriously pondered, even still to carry home the precept of the Saviour with undiminished emphasis to every pious heart.
Besides, is not the love of the brethren the principle of all other relative duties ? Many are the relations in which Christians are brought to stand toward one another. These give rise to an endless diversity and succession of duties, not one of which can be discharged as it ought to be without love. Love is, in- deed, the fulfilling of the law. Christian husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, brothers and sisters, neighbours and friends, are all under peculiar obligations, to the due performance of which the love enjoined by the Saviour is indispensable. Where this is awanting, it matters little what may be done : where this is present, there is little danger of any duty being ne- glected. And it only requires that this principle be universally diifused, and constantly acted upon, to secure the banishment from the earth of murder, im- purity, theft, lying, covetousness, and every evil work, and the cherishing and practising of all the opposite social virtues. ' For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' '
Nor is the duty in question less calculated to exert a beneficial influence on the persons themselves who perform it. Love to others tends to promote our own happiness. It provides a certain solace amid all the calamities that may befal us here. As a bond of union, it lays a foundation for the most extensive schemes of philanthropy by which the benevolent desires of the soul may be gra- tified. It supplies indubitable evidence, whether to ourselves or to others, of the existence of genuine piety. Next to being pious, it is desirable to know that we are so, and to exhibit the marks of it to others. Now, as far as we ourselves are concerned, there can be no better sign of a regenerated nature than love to Christian brethren. ' He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now : he that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. TVe know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.'^ Not less valid is the evidence it affords to others. The curse of selfishness has, like a wide spreading leprosy, so deeply infected the family of man, that wherever the holy, self-denying, dis- interested affection of which we are speaking is found, the person may safely be concluded to have been separated from the world lying in wickedness. Hence to the announcement under consideration, our Lord subjoins this statement, — ' By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.' It even tends to increase love to the Saviour himself, as the head of that noble family, the members of which are the immediate objects of the affec- tion itself. From them it is natural to be led on to Him, not only on the prin- ciple of suggestion, but inasmuch as they are his accredited representatives in the world. In every one of those towards whom the heart of the saint beats with brotherly affection, is beheld the vivid likeness of that bright Original on whom the love of all is concentrated.
And what, brethren, shall I say more for the purpose of recommending the
' Gal. V. 14. M John ii. 9, 10; iii. 14.
B
10 DR Symington's sermon.
practice of brotherly aflPection? I can only further remind you^ that the feeling we are endeavouring to enforce forms a prominent feature in the character of the redeemed above, and a chief element in the happiness of heaven. Hei'e, in this fallen world of ours, hatred, variance, strife, and animosity in every form prevail. " Hateful and hating one another," is too often an accurate though melancholy description of the society of earth. There, however, in that happy world above, love — high, universal, uninterrupted love, brightens every countenance, and swells every bosom. All the inhabitants of that region of bliss are possessed of moral excellence — complete moral excellence. Every one is able to perceive, disposed to esteem, and ready to acknowledge it in every other; and in this way foundation is laid for the mutual interchange of the warmest affections, and for ceaseless acts of holy beneficence. Oh ! then, how refreshing to look up from this earth, blighted and withered with tlie curse of human selfishness and strife, to that heavenly country where love, — pure, fervent, disinterested, and universal love, hallows and enlivens all ! Surely the glorious prospect should operate as no mean inducement to breathe the spirit and cultivate the exercise of the same blessed affection now, and thus enforce upon us the new commandment of the Saviour, that we love one another.
Let us, in conclusion, dear Christian brethren, lament the want that prevails of that sacred and heavenly feeling on which we have been descanting. O ! how little of true love is to be found in the world; nay, even amongst those who bear the Christian name. How much division, variance, anarchy, every where abound. Who, observing the state of things that obtains in the Church, would ever be led to conclude that these are the disciples of Him who said, ' A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.'
But, instead of bewailing the want of it in others, let us inquire whether in any adequate degree it be found in ourselves. Are we yielding obedience to the commandment of the Saviour ? We acknowledge its importance, we admit its obligation; but do we feel it ? We have some kind of affection, it may be, for our fellow-men, and for those who are reckoned to be saints; but is it a natural or a spiritual affection ? Let us test its character by its properties. Is it evange- lical— having respect to the authority, example, and glory of Christ ? Is it disinterested and sincere? Is it holy in its nature and tendency? and does it glow with intense and inextinguishable ardour ? Does it stir us up to those activities without which we have every reason to doubt the genuineness of our affection ? Does it, in one word, possess a character of Christian catholicity, folding in its ample embrace all who give evidence of being born of the Spirit ? By such marks as tliese let us try ourselves, and in applying them for the purpose of ascertain- ing how, in this matter, it stands with us, let us proceed with all candour and fidelity, as in the sight of Him who judges the heart.
And let all be affectionately exhorted to the diligent cultivation of this truly Christian grace. Love as brethren. Let brotherly love continue. Let love be without dissimulation. Beware of whatever would either restrain the ardour or restrict the circle of your affections. See that you exhibit its genuine fruits. Let every one, in his own person, do something to hasten on the bright and happy day when the whole family of Christ, seeing eye to eye in the principles of truth, shall feel heart to heart in the sympathies of love. And let us all look stedfastly forward to that glorious state which is to succeed, when love to God and love to man, purified from all earthly dregs, liberated from all grosser thraldoms, shall pervade every bosom, and unite in one hallowed bond of brotherhood the univer- sal family of the redeemed.
Connecting the subject we have been considering with the object for which we are convened, you will permit me to add, that the cherishing of the sentiment of
DR Symington's sermon. 1 1
the text is essential to the attainment of one at least of the purposes of the West- minster Divines. They contemplated, besides a religious uniformity in the three kingdoms, a great Protestant union among the nations of Christendom. Thuir hearts were large, and the measures they conceived were catholic, generous, and free. No sectarian prejudice, no weak partiality of kindred or of country, was permitted to freeze or confine the current of holy feeling that flowed in their bo- soms. Their sympathies were universal as man, and their conceptions partook of the same lofty and munificent character. Their eye penetrated beyond the limits of their own ' sea-girt isle,' and ranged over the nations of men that dwelt on the face of the whole earth. Their hearts, deriving inspiration from the cross, throbbed full with not only glory to God in the highest, but with good-will toward men. They opened correspondence with foreign churches, and in the largeness and warmth of their affection, formed schemes of co-operation and in- tercourse, which in Providence they were not permitted to see realized. The symbols they framed were so constructed as to exhibit a generous and catholic bearing, being equally adapted to the Church in Britain, on the continent of Europe, in the Republican States of America, in the islands of the Southern Pacific, the plains of Hindostan, the deserts of Africa, the AVest Indies, and New Zealand, Well they knew that the Christian commonwealth knows no geo- graphical boundaries, and consequently the prospect before their minds was that of laying the foundation of no such anomalous contradiction as a J?o/««w- Catho- lic or an Aiiglo-Catholic church, but of A Catholic Church.
Such were the bright conceptions and noble aspirations of men of whom it has been too much the fashion to speak as narrow-minded bigots — aspirations and conceptions which we do not the less admire, that they were clearly in advance of the age in which they were formed. The far-reaching perspicacity and large philanthropy of the men, fairly anticipated what centuries were to elapse before being realized. And are these glowing conceptions to be lost? Admitting them to have been premature, may they not yet be carried out ? Who can tell but that the period of their realization has arrived ? Who can tell but that the seed sown two hundred years ago, yet instinct with life, is about to burst forth into full maturity, and to yield an ample and a glorious harvest? Minds of kindred mould have at length arisen — times remarkably coincident have arrived — many seem now determined to remember the Lord's wonders of old ; and, therefore, we regard it as something better than a baseless vision of imagination which leads us to trust, that the period is not distant, when the mighty principles of the Westminster Standards shall be more extensively recognized than they have ever yet been, and shall put forth an energy of influence on society hitherto un- known.
Let us mark, then, the indications — let us follow the leadings of providence — let us, like the sons of Issachar, be men of understanding, to know the times, and what Israel ought to do. Rising above the little jealousies of sectarian rivalry, laying aside all personal asperities, let us show a willingness to meet, on tlie arena of frank and friendly consultation, brethren of other churches, and to discuss with them our points of difference in a spirit of Christian candour and charity. The friends of the Redeemer are not always to be separated and divided. The reign of disunion is not to be for ever. ' There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one Cod and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all. There is one body and one Spirit.' And, believing that these statements of sacred writ are destined to receive a lusible as well as an invisible fulfilment, we must hold Christians bound to use all lawful means for bringing this about. Surely it is more to be desired that the Churches of the Reformation, acting like rational and moral creatures, should fake steps to unite on a basis of truth, by the scriptural use of consultation, explanation, ad-
12 DR Symington's sERiMON.
vice, discussion, aud prayer, than that, like insensate masses, they should wait to be melted by the fire, and welded together by the hammer of Divine judg- ments. May the present Commemorative services be blessed of God for leading to movements that shall issue in putting an end to existing dissensions and divi- sions ! and may each one of us feel himself under obligation, in order to this, to crucify and repress the spirit of party strife ; to feed the flame of that sacred af- fection which many waters cannot quench; to take to his heart in fraternal em- brace all who love the Lord Jesus; to converse closely and oft with those pre- dictions which foretel coming days of unity and peace; and to drink deeply into the spirit of the prayer, ' That they all may be one as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us!' May the Lord the Spirit give to the scattered Churches of the Reformation one heart and one way, that they may fear him for ever, for the good of them and of their children after them. Then, and not till then, shall the great, the bright, the glorious conception of the "Westminster divines be realized. When ' the people are gathered together,' then shall ' the kingdoms serve the Lord.*
And now, O thou Spirit of love ! Bless the word that has been spoken. De- scend on this Assembly. Preside in all our future meetings. Repress every un- brotherly emotion. Implant, quicken, and call forth into full manifestation, all the family affections of Christianity. Cause the precious ointment poured on cm- Divine Head, to go down to the skirts of his garments. Let the watchmen see eye to eye, that with the voice together they may sing. And let even more than a pentecostal energy, holiness, unity, and peace, reign in the midst of us, that the multitude of them that believe may be of one heart and of one soul ! Amen, and amen !
PKEFACE.
The circumstances in which we are at present placed make the re- mark important — that for centuries past in this land, certain great cycles have marked the history of the Church of Christ, during which, seasons of spiritual activity, then of decay, and again of revival, have succeeded each other well nigh with the regularity of system. Each of these cycles embraces a period of about a hundred years. It was in the year 1544, for example, that George Wishart returned from banishment to his native land, and became the teacher of Knox. From that period, onward, a spirit of intense activity pervaded all ranks of men in the kingdom, and for a season, religion mightily grew and pre- vailed. In consequence, however, of persecution and oppression, spiri- tual religion was at length depressed and overborne — its friends were martyred or driven into exile — and could the gates of hell have pre- vailed against the Church, the time had arrived, under the Charleses and their creatures, for accomplishing that object. But as a period of depression had thus followed one of activity, that in its turn was follow- ed by one of revival. From 1544, a cycle of about a century brings us down to 1638, when, after many keen contendings and much suffering for the truth, the second Reformation was accomplished, in spite both of policy and power, so that the Church of Christ among our fathers again shone out, the brighter for the eclipse to which it had been ex- posed. And passing downward over another century, we reach the period of the first Secession — about the year 1735 — when a number of godly men, who refused to submit to spiritual bondage, or connive at heresy, were driven from the Church by the corruptions which had gra- dually crept in, and had then taken that place of prominence which was formerly occupied by the truth. From that period, religion gradually pined away in the Establishment, and there are multitudes still alive who can well remember with what hostility the friends of gospel truth, whether among Seceders or elsewhere, were treated in many corners of the land. At length, however, religion, so long depressed, began to react, and once more to claim, in some degree, the place that was due to it, so that the lapse of another cycle brings us down to a period of manifest revival and spiritual activity. The remark may, perhaps, be hazarded, that during the ten years that elapsed between 1830 and 1840, religion had acquired an influence and a prominence among all classes in the land, which it had not enjoyed for more than a century
14 PREFACE.
before. Amid abounding iniquity there were many tokens of reviving godliness and spiritual activity in the British, as well as the Continental and American Churches.
While scriptural truth was thus making progress amongst us, it oc- curred to some that its rightful ascendancy might be farther promoted by a proper commemoration of the Assembly which had been convened at Westminster in July 1643. The Presbyterian Churches have ever regarded the Confession of Faith, and the two Catechisms compiled and issued by that Assembly, as embodying a " form of sound words" un- surpassed by the standards of any portion of the Church. National character has been formed, and pure scriptural knowledge largely im- parted, by the blessing of God on the use of them. It therefore occur- red to some of the friends of pure religion in America, as well as Bri- tain, that it were well to celebrate, in a becoming manner, the doings l of that Assembly, which was honoured of God to accomplish so much for his cause. Not that those friends of religion meant to regard the proceedings of the godly men who composed the Westminster Assem- bly, with any feelings of creature adulation, or were blind to the im- perfections that mingled with their doings. But recognising the good hand of God as guiding and overruling their labours, rejoicing in the truth which they had been the instruments of promoting — hailing the occasion as one providentially afforded for uniting brethren in Chris- tian harmony, and so fulfilling the prayer of the Redeemer, that his disciples " might be one — that the world might helieve that God had sent Aim," it was resolved to celebrate the Bicentenary of the Westminster Assembly, in such a spirit, and with such exercises as might at once indicate gratitude to the Giver of all good, and deepen more and more the benefits which the Assembly had bestowed. The signs of the times, moreover, seemed to call loudly for such an union among those that agree in the great essentials of the faith. We have reached the com- mencement of another grand cycle; the measures now adopted regard- ing religion may largely tend either to its corruption or advancement for a century to come — while there is much that is portentous appear- ing in more than one portion of the visible Church. Ancient errors are rising in new vigour to coiTupt it as of old. Popery is regaining its former ascendancy. Prelacy is obtruding its old intolerant pretensions. Erastianism is putting man in the Redeemer'^s place as ruler in his Church — his office as our Prophet is denied by one class — as our Priest by another — as our King by a third — and all these require a banner to be lifted up for the truth — such a banner as God has in his provi- dence supplied in the Standards issued by the Westminster Assembly. To promote these purposes, then, a general co-operation among Chris-
I'KEFACE. 15
tians of the Presbyterian order was aimed at, with the principles of the Westminster Confession as a common basis. The first General As- sembly of the Free Church of Scotland, in one of its Sessions, appointed a committee to take measures for the duo commemoration of the Bicen- tenary. The Synod of the United Secession Church did the same. The Synod of English Presbyterians followed the example. Members of the Relief Church, of the Original Secession Church, and of the Eeformed Presbyterian Church, united in the design. Some influential office-bearers of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, intimated the pur- pose to celebrate the Bicentenary there; and from the general zeal dis- played in promoting the object, the hope was cherished that the com- memoration would be blessed as the occasion of uniting brethren more closely together, and so advancing the cause of truth, by presenting a firmly compacted phalanx of its friends prepared by their union, as they were warned by danger, to resist the common enemy.
A meeting of those favourable to this design was accordingly held on the 9th of June 1848, and arrangements were commenced for the cele- bration. Edinburgh, as the capital of Presbyterianism in these islands, was selected as the place of meeting; and it was at the same time unani- mously adopted as the opinion of the ministers and elders convened, that while they would rejoice in the concurrence of evangelical Chris- tians of all denominations, and looked forward to a celebration of the Assembly's proceedings on a wider basis, at an early period, they yet thought it preferable, in the first instance, that the commemoration should be Presbyterian in its character.
At subsequent meetings the following Programme of business was adjusted for the guidance of those who should assemble: —
Wednesday, 12th July.
Forenoon. — 1 . Devotional Exercises. 2. Appointment of Chairmen and Clerks — a Chair- man for each Diet. 3. Historical Sketch of the leading Incidents and Characters of the Assembly. — Rev. Thomas M'Crie, Edinburgh. 4. The real Character and Bearing of the Assembly — Refutation of Calumnies. — Rev. W. M. Hetherington, Torphichen. 5. Conver- sation on these topics.
Evening. — 1. Devotional Exercises. 2. Opposition of the Westminster Assembly to Popery, Prelacy, and Erastianism. — Rev. Dr Cunningham, Edinbui-gh. 3. The Influence and Ad- vantages of Presbyterianism, especially in reference to the Education of Youth, and the Ex- tension of the Kingdom of Christ. — Rev. Dr King, Glasgow. 4. Conversation,
Thursday, 13th July.
Forenoon. — 1. Devotional Exercises. 2. Addresses by Deputations, and Membci-s of dif- ferent Churches, regarding the state and progress of Religion among them. 3. Address, in return to the above. — Rev. Dr Chalmers, Edinburgh. 4. The Value and Uses of Subordi- nate Standards. — Rev. Dr Harper, Leith. 5. Conversation.
Evening. — 1. Devotional Exercises. 2. The leading Features and Excellencies of the Westminster Standards. — Rev. C. J. Brown, Edinburgh. 3. Conversation. 4. Concluding Address, on the importance of adhering to sound Scriptural Standards, and aiming at Union on that basis. — Rev. Dr Candlish, Edinburgh.
The Rev. Professor Symington (Paisley), Dr Welsh, Dr John Brown, and several others, are expected to take a part in the Conversations.
16 PREFACE.
It is not the design of this Prefatory Notice to advert to the nature or proceedings of the Commemorative Assembly, which met in Canon- mills Hall, in terms of these arrangements. These are abundantly exhibited in the pages that follow. Neither can we anticipate results, and to only one particular would we here refer. It was foreseen that objections might be taken to the plan of confining the commemo- ration to Presbyterian office-bearers. The question might be asked, Why render such an event sectarian even in appearance ? It was be- lieved, however, that those who were best acquainted with the history and proceedings of the original Assembly, would most readily perceive how difficult it would be for Presbyterians and Congregationalists to celebrate these proceedings, in the first instance, together. It was, therefore, committed to God in hisp rovidence to open a way at some future period, for such a catholic union as all desired, though difficulties stand, at present, in the way — and in the spirit of brotherly kindness this was intimated to some of the leading ministers of the Congrega- tional Churches. The following letter, in answer to an official com- munication on the subject, may suffice to exhibit the spirit in which that resolution was received: —
"16 Rankeillor Street, 4th July 1843. " Rev. and Dear Sir,
" On my return from the country in the end of last week I was favoured with your letter of the 29th ult., containing an explanation of the reasons which have induced the ministers interested in the intended commemoration of the meeting of the Westminster Assembly, to give their assembly, in the first instance, an exclusively Pi-esbyterian character. For the courtesy of that communication I beg to express my best thanks, and at the same time to say, that I think the course you have determined to pursue, by much the wiser and better. Since ever the commemoration was first proposed, there have appeared to me insuperable difiBculties in the way of the Presbyterians and the Independents uniting in it at one and the same time, and by means of one and the same manifestation of feeling and opinion. It is exti-emely likely that had the attempt been made, the commemoration would have become too Uke the original to have served the cause of increased unity, or the purposes of Chris- tian edification,
" Wishing that you may enjoy much of the Divine presence in your assembling, and that your deliberations may result in good, I am, Rev. and Dear Sir, very faithfully yours,
« W. LINDSAY ALEXANDER." " The Rev. Wm. K. Tweedie.
We have only farther to add, that the Addresses read to the Assem- bly have been revised by their authors. Pains have been taken to render the reports as accurate and full as possible. The whole proceedings are published by appointment, and have therefore the stamp of perfect authenticity. Half the profits of this volume will be put at the dis- posal of the Committee appointed by the Assembly at the closing sederunt.
PROCEEDINGS AT THE COMMEMORATION.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, ]843.
Forenoon Sederunt.
Rev. Mr M'Gilchrist of Edinburgh (Secession) rose to move, and he was sure the proposition would meet with the approbation of all present, that till the meeting can make its own arrangements for business, the Rev. Dr Syming- ton of Glasgow should take the chair.
Rev. Dr Symington accordingly took the chair, and opened the meeting with a solemn and impressive prayer. He then addressed the meeting, and said, it had been thought proper by the committee that arranged the business, that Chair- men to preside at the different sederunts, should be elected at this their first meet- ing; and he would therefore call upon the Rev. Dr Thomson of Coldstream to submit a motion to that effect.
Rev. Dr Thomson (Secession) said, " I rise to perform a duty which is in every way agreeable to my own feelings. I have the honour and the high satisfac- tion of proposing that the following reverend and respected gentlemen should succeed you in occupying that chair, — The Rev. Dr Chalmers, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, and the Rev. Andrew Elliot of Ford, Moderator of the United Secession Church. There are Moderators of other three bodies whom I would have named, had they been present, but their places I have no doubt will be well supplied by the following gentlemen, — Rev. Dr Symington of Paisley, Professor of Divinity of the Reformed Pres- byterian Church; Rev. Mr Muir of Leith, minister of the Relief Synod, and the Rev. Mr Shaw of Whitburn, minister of the Associate Synod of the Original Secession. The very mention of these names, together with a consideration of the high place they occupy in the respective evangelical bodies with which they are connected, will, I am sure, be regarded as a sufl&cient guarantee to this large and respectable meeting, of the propriety of their appointment. (Applause.) It would at any time and under any circumstances be unbecoming in me to say one word in praise of any or all of these gentlemen, and still more in present circumstances, it would be obviously and utterly absurd ; and I have, therefore, only to propose, that the ministers now named should occupy the chair at the respective meetings which are subsequently to be held."
Mr Knight, late teacher, seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.
The Chairman said, " I should, according to this rule, call upon the first named gentleman, but as he is not present, I call upon the Rev. Mr Elliot to occupy the chair.
Rev. Mr Elliot accordingly took the chair, and said, " It is becoming in us to acknowledge God in all our ways, and therefore we shall begin the proceed- ings of the day by engaging in exercises of devotion."
He then gave out some verses of the 22d Psalm from the 27th verse, which were sung; the 17th chapter of John's Gospel was then read, after which the Rev. Dr Brown of Broughton Place (Secession) engaged in prayer.
18 PRELIMINARY.
Rev.MrGooLD, jun., (Reformed Presbyterian) moved that the Rev.MrPitcairn of Cockpen, Rev. Sir Smart of Leitli, and Rev. Mr Crawford of Portobello, should act as clerks to the meeting. They were all of tried capacity in the same de- partment in the respective churches to v^hich they belong, the Free Church, the United Secession, and the Relief.
Dr Macaulay seconded the motion, which Avas agreed to.
Rev. DrCANDLisH moved that the following gentlemen should be appointed a Committee for Business. There would not probably be a great deal for them to do, but still it was important that such a committee should be formed. lie then read the following names, which were unanimously agreed to.
COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS.
Rev. Mr Graham, Wishatown, Rev. Mr Robertson, Edinburgh,
Rev. Mr Jarvie, Kelso, James Peddie, jun., Esq., W.S., Edinburgh,
Rev. Mr Sanderson, Arbroath, Robert Paul, Esq., Commercial Bank.
Rev. John Jaffray, Convener.
The Chairman then addressed the meeting. He said, " Christian brethren, you are all acquainted with the purpose for which we are met to-day, and know, from the programme in your hands, the interesting topics to which your attention is to be directed at this sederunt. It is altogether unnecessary, therefore, for me to enter into any lengthened explanations; and to detain you with a speech at this stage of the proceedings, would, I feel, be improper and out of place. I may, however, be permitted to advert for a moment to the subject, and notice the importance of the event which has called us together, and which we are gratefully to commemorate — the sitting of the Westminster Assembly two hun- dred years ago.
The propriety of commemorating such a Christian Assembly, can scarcely, I think, be doubted by any one. If it be a duty, and a duty assuredly it is, — aye, and a privilege too, — to look back and remember all the way by which the Lord our God has led us — if churches as well as individuals be required to call to remembrance the former days — if all lie under a solemn obligation to consider and to keep in mind the works of the Lord, and to regard the opera- tion of his hand — then, I imagine, we must all feel that it cannot be wrong or improper for us, who hold the form of sound words, and the order of govern- ment embodied in the Westminster standards, to unite together as we now do to bring to our renewed recollection, and to place more fully before our own minds and the attention of the public, an event which was highly important in itself, which exerted, and still exerts a potent influence on the existence, and preservation, and increase of evangelical religion, not in our native land only, but beyond the Atlantic, and which especially has had so powerful a bearing on all Presbyterian churches, and stands so intimately and beneficially connected with their history and character.
Look at the Assembly itself, and the divines of whom it was composed. They were truly, and in the best and highest sense, great and distinguished, as well as good men — venerable for their piety and Christian excellence, and emi- nent for their theological learning and acquirements, for their accurate and ex- tensive knowledge and erudition, and for the soundness and ripeness of their views. I am aware that it has been the cant of later years, and the habit of flippant modern sciolists, to speak of them disparagingly, and to represent them as a company of ignorant, unenlightened, and weak narrow minded bigots. But their works abundantly praise them, and furnish their best and most tri- umphant vindication; and if we are to judge of them by the productions, which
PRELIMINARY. 19
still continue, which they bequeathed to us, and by which, though dead, they yet speak — if we are to estimate their intellectual and spiritual characters by their precious remains, and also by the known facts and decided testimony of history, they were among the first men of their age, and few ages have ever pro- duced greater or better — giants compared with their dwarfish detractors. Con- sider also the results of their labours and consultations — the excellent and every way admirable standards which they produced, the Confession of Faith which they compiled, the Catechisms which they drew up, &c. Of these I need not speak — they are far above any encomium that I could pass upon them; but I am prepared to say, that if they had done nothing else, and had given us nothing more than the Shorter Catechism — that little work that has been honoured and blessed so long in forming the minds of our youth — that brief manual of instruc- tion, of few pages, which occupies so important and essential a place in every religious family and every well regulated school, and which has been so emi- nently the means of raising Scotland to an eminence in scriptural and theologi- cal knowledge which no other nation has attained — far as we are still from what we ought to be — I say, had they left us no other legacy than the Shorter Catechism, in my estimation the most complete and perfect summary of divine truth which the world has ever seen, they would have well deserved our grati- tude, and, even in this case, there would have been a manifest propriety in our meeting together to bear them in thankful remembrance.
I have already alluded to the influence which their labours have had in form- ing our theological opinions, and in moulding the form and constitution of our churches, during the two centuries which have elapsed since they sat and deli- berated at AVestminster. I believe, however, that their influence would have been much greater, and been more widely and beneficially felt, had not Presby- terians been so unhappily, and I shall add strangely divided among themselves, and alienated and estranged from each other, on account of matters of minor and very inferior importance, while they were all holding the head, and fully at one, not only as to the grand and essential doctrines of salvation, but even as to church order, and discipline, and worship. I trust better days are about to dawn, and that great and beneficial as have been the results that .have emanat- ed from the Westminter Assembly and Westminster Standards, greater results by far are yet to be realised. I trust that a more generous and catholic spirit is about to descend upon our churches, and that while we equally acknowledge these Standards, they will bind us together in a real and abiding amity, and make it appear, as it really is, that we have one faith, one Lord, and one baptism. Here is a central rallying point, around which we may all peaceably congregate. Here we are furnished with common ground sufficiently broad, on which all evange- lical Presbyterians, and even all evangelical Christians, though retaining their conscientious convictions on points of smaller importance, and even carrying out their convictions, may and ought to arrange themselves, — it may be as difterent divisions, but still associated and combined as one army of the cross, united in effbrt and in object, and zealously co-operating in furthering the cause and ad- vancing the kingdom of our Lord and blaster.
The propriety of observing this Commemoration in Scotland will readily ap- pear. Here the Westminster Standards have been more generally acknowledged, and have produced their legitimate effect more fully and perfectly than any where else. In this country they have been adopted and followed by almost all the churches, and certainly by all the churches that have sent representatives to this meeting. And where was it so meet to celebrate the Bicentenary of a Pres- byterian Assembly, as in the very seat, the head-quarters of Prcsbyterianism ? Besides, Scotland bore her part in the discussions of that memorable Assembly, and bore it nobly. She sent thither six commissioners; and they, in that coiui-
20 THE LEADING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS
cil of great and good men, were not among the least distinguished for pietj', and talents, and sanctified learning. Our northern division of the kingdom, though Weak and barren, has ever been, and still is, fertile in illustrious men ; and among the most illustrious of her sons, Henderson, and Gillespie, and Rutherfurd, and Baillie, her representatives on that great occasion, hold a lofty and conspicu- ous place. Few men have been more honoured than the intrepid and devoted Henderson; to few men has his country been laid under deeper obligations; and fcAv men have ever impressed the image of their mind and character more deeply on the age in which they lived. In Scottish hearts, as in Scottish history, he occupies a niche as elevated, or nearly so, as those of Knox and Melville. Gillespie died young, but not before he had greatly served his generation according to the will of God, and achieved much honour to himself; and at critical junctures, in several cases of difficulty, and when the Assembly required all its wisdom and decision, he was enabled to act and speak as a master in Israel, and nobly to maintain the honour of the Scottish name. I need not mention the holy and heavenly-minded Rutherfurd, or the lively and somewhat garrulous Baillie, "whose writings delight and instruct us, and whose names are still savoury among us. Even the lay commissioners were men of eminence. One of them, indeed, proved a Judas and a traitor — Maitland, who afterwards, and in altered and evil times, became the execrable and execrated Lauderdale ; but the other was one of whom his country may well be proud, remaining firm to the last, and resisting even unto blood. But enough of this. While we look back with pleasure and thankfulness to the event that has called us together, and think of the men who accomplished such great things for us, let us look above and be- yond the mere instruments, and let our highest and warmest gratitude ascend to God, who has often interposed in behalf of his church, and freed her from difficulty and danger ; and while we feel and acknowledge the benefits which have resulted from the Westminster Assembly, let us give the Father of mercies all the praise.
Finally, I trust that this great gathering — this friendly meeting of Christian ministers and brethren, Avill be productive of happy and lasting results. I con- fidently hope that it will be the means of drawing public attention more in- tensely, more studiously, and more thoroughly to the admirable Standards and symbolical books bequeathed to us by the AVestminster Divines ; and above all, that when so many of us, belonging to diffijrent sections of the Church, and who, perhaps, never saw each other face to face before, are assembled together around one common centre of attraction, and find ourselves united and identified in so many great and important points, the issue will be greater concord, and more effective co-operation among the Evangelical Churches in our own and other lands, — that we shall feel more powerfully, and respond more readily and heartily to the import of our Saviour's words, so ably and beautifully illustrated last night, — that we shall resolve anew, and with sincere purpose of heart, to obey the new commandment to love one another, and yield our whole souls to the requirements of our divine Master.
I shall detain you no longer. I now hog to call upon the Rev. Mr M'Crie, who comes before us loaded with ancestral honours, greater far than those of many in the land who boast the highest name, and are the most proud of their ancestors."
The Rev. Mr M'Crie (Original Secession) then read the following Address on
THE LEADING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS OF THE ASSEMBLY.
" The Protestant Church, besides the regular meeting of her judicatories for the management of her ordinary business, had had her Grand Councils called
OF THE WESTMINSTEH ASSEMBLY. 21
together on several pressing emergencies, to consult on matters affecting the general interests of religion. Three of these are especially notable for their cha- racter and results — the diet of Augsburg, followed by the solemn alliance at Smalcald in the year 1530, when the Augsburg Confession was agreed to, and the banner of Protestantism was unfurled, — the Synod of Dort, Avhich was convened in 1618, to oppose the progress of Arminianism, — and the Assembly which met at Westminster, London, on the 1st of July 1643. Each of these convocations met in troublous times, and stamped its image more or less forcibly on the age in which it occurred. All of them were summoned with the view of settling, if possible, the great controversies of the day — of quieting the commo- tions of society, stirred to its depths, and lashed into tempest, by a long course of religious agitation — and of furnishing a basis of union, by meeting upon which the friends of truth might at once combine against the common enemy, and re- fute the calumny that Protestantism was another name for schism, heresy, and contention. The plan adopted for accomplishing these objects, by assembling the most eminent divines and illustrious laymen of various countries and differ- ent denominations, to "consider of it, take advice, and speak their mind," seems agreeable to reason and to Scripture. But not to speak of this, we may mark in the very attempt, the intrepid spirit of truth. Error is timorous; it dreads the result of investigation — recoils from the collision of independent minds. Protestantism, strong in the consciousness of truth, has, on various occasions, collected its lights and concentrated its energies; and, in the hour of peril, the life-blood gathering to the heart, the result has been, that it has been sent with increased energy to the further extremities of the system. These remarks apply with singular truth to the Assembly of Divines, the meeting of which we are assembled to celebrate. And truly, whether we consider the circumstances under which it was convened — the object of its convocation — the character of its members — the work which it accomplished — or its bearings and tendencies — if any assembly is worthy of our commemoration, it is that of the Divines who met at Westminster.
In this hurried sketch of the incidents and characters connected with that famous Assembly, it would be unreasonable to dwell on details of an introduc- tory kind ; yet it seems impossible to convey an adequate idea of the need and the value of this Assembly, without a brief glance at the previous history. Before such an audience, composed of various shades of opinion, I must crave indulgence if, unwittingly, I shall, in my manner of stating facts, trespass on the feelings of any; and claim the privilege, which honest Thomas Fuller assigns to impartial historians, of " trumpeters and messengers, who are permitted, even in the height and heat of civil war, to have fair and free passage on both sides." i
Let us suppose ourselves, then, carried back two centruies, and set down at the date of November 1640, when the Long Parliament commenced. The in- sane attempt of Archbishop Laud to impose an Anglo-Popish Liturgy on the Scots nation in 1637 has failed, and only succeeded in eliciting the ancient Presbyterian spirit of our fathers, — the old National Covenant of Scotland, or Confession of Faith, has been re-sworn in the Greyfriars churchyard, witli a special clause appended, abjuring Prelacy and the five articles of Perth, — the Glasgow Assembly of 1638 has been held, and Henderson has pronounced the bishop's doom, " We have cast down the walls of Jericho; let him who rebuild- eth them beware of the curse of Iliel the Bethelite !" The Bisliops' War has been fought ; Dunse-Law and the Border have witnessed the trium])h of the ancient banner, — For Christ's Crown and Covenant; and Charles, indignant at his defeat, has sped to England to denounce the Scots as rebels, and to demand from parliament assistance to crush the rebellion.
' The Church History of Britain, by Thomas Fuller, D.I)., iii. 4 Jl.
22 THE LEABING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS
Twelve years had now elapsed, during which England had been governed without a parliament. And during this period, the fates of the three nations may be said to have been in the hands of two men, Strafford and Laud. It is not our province to unfold the system of misrule and oppression which issued in rousing the English to assert their civil and religious liberties. Enough to say, the war had now commenced between privilege and prerogative, — between Charles and his Parliament, — which for many years involved England in tur- moil, and deluged it with the blood of her own sons. One thing is clear: the element of religion entered largely into the cause of these unseemly quarrels. Laud may not have been a Papist at heart. This we may concede to his own solemn disclaimers and those of his friends. But with public men, who assume such power as Laud, it is not with their secret intentions we have to do, but with the language of their conduct, and the tendencies of their policy. If Laud was indeed a Protestant, he deceived the Pope as well as the Puritans ; for there seems no reason to doubt that he received, once at least, the offer of a Cardinal's hat; and Fuller solemnly re-asserts the truth of his story of the lady, "who, turning Papist, and being demanded of the Archbishop the cause of her chang- ing her religion, tartly returned, ' My Lord, it was because I ever hated a crowd.' And being desired to explain her meaning herein, ' I perceived,' said she, ' that your Lordship and many others are making for Rome as fast ye can, and therefore, to prevent a press, I went before you!' "i
Yet, fond as Laud was of his book of sports, his surplices and hoods, his bowings to altars, and other fooleries and ceremonies which looked towards Rome, and tyrannically bent as he was on enforcing conformity to them, by every mode of compulsion short of death, — from the slicing of men's noses and digging out of their ears, to the imprisonment of their persons and confiscation of their goods, — it is abundantly evident, from cotemporaneous evidence, that it was not from mere love of forms that he persecuted, but from genuine hatred to godliness and evangelical doctrine. Well did he know that it was only " the godly party," or the Puritans, as they then began to be termed in derision, the men of piety, and faith, and prayer, that would make any conscientious resist- ance to his Popish usages. And thus, while the charge was laid in the Star Chamber, or High Commission, on the score of their nonconformity to the ceremonies which he had got enacted, he succeeded in his main object, which was to discover and extirpate the Puritans. The latent source of all this per- secution, and which led to all the confusion that followed, was the introduc- tion, chiefly by Laud and his followers, of Arminianism, in its grossest form, — understanding by that term not anti-Calvinism, but anti-Evangelism, — a doc- trine at utter variance with the gospel of Christ. When the Puritans are mentioned, some are apt to understand a sect of dissenters as meant; but, in fact, the Puritans were just the evangelical clergy of the Church of England. Before the time of Laud, the great body of her ministry was strictly Calvinistic, and even at the time when the Westminster Assembly sat down, after all that had been done to pollute the clergy, and drive the best of them as non-con- formists out of the church and country, they formed a large and influential party.
But, to return to the history, setting ourselves down at the date formerly mentioned, when the Long Parliament commenced, we find the scene entirely changed ; and as we are carried down the stream, it assumes new aspects at every turn. In 1641, we see Laud and Strafford committed, on the charge of high treason, to the Tower, from which they were soon after dragged forth to execution. The year following, we see the stately and pompous fabric of Epis- copacy, with all its titles and jurisdictions, levelled to the ground by act of Par-
' Fuller's Church Hist. iii. 173.
OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 23
Hament. And on the 1 2tli of June ] 643, there comes forth an ordinance for convening of an Assembly of Divines at Westminster, to deliberate on the go- vernment which was to be substituted in its place. This important document is entitled, " An Ordinance of the Lords and Commons in Parliament, for the call- ing of an Assembly of learned and godly divines and others, to be consulted with by the Parliament, for the settling of tlie government and liturgy of the Church of England, and for vindicating and clearing of the doctrine of the said Church from false aspersions and interpretations." The list of names in this Ordinance amounts to 151 in all, namely, 10 Lords and 20 Commoners, as lay-assessors, and 121 Divines. It may serve to show the wish of the Parliament to act with fairness and impartiality, to state that they named men of all shades of opinion in matters of church-government. Four bishops were named, while several others of the English Divines were known to be favourable to a moderate Episcopacy, others to Presbytery, and others to Independency. There were re- presentatives present from England, Scotland, and even Ireland ; so that, to use the language of Fuller, " as Livy calleth the general meeting of Jitolia, Pan Mtolium, this Assembly endeavoured to put on the face of Paw Brilatmicum ; that the walls of the palace wherein they met, might in some sort be like the waves of the sea, within the compass whereof they lived, as surrounding one island and two nations."^
Loudly, however, did the high-church party protest against an Assembly, which, in the very ordinance which called it, was told to regard the abolition of the hierarchy as a settled question; and many were their objections against it. " The king," they said, " has condemned it by his proclamation ;" — but they were significantly reminded, that " there were now two sovereign contending powers in the nation," and that to deny the power of Parliament in this mat- ter was to take for granted a question on which the nation had yet to adjudi- cate. " But the members of this Assembly," they objected, " were not chosen, as they should be, by the clergy, but by the parliament." True, it was answer- ed ; but the Assembly was not a synod or a convocation ; they were merely a council or committee of divines and others, called for the purpose of giving their advice to Parliament in this singular emergency.^ Aye, but these di- vines were " mostly of a puritanical stamp, and enemies to the hierarchy." " The divines," it was replied, ('* except the Scots, who had no vote) are all in Episco- pal orders, educated in our own universities, and most of them graduates."' To this we may add the testimony of Dr Calamy. " This is certain, they were almost all of them conformable ministers, the laws and bishops having cast out the non-conformists long enough before. They who made up the As- sembly at Westminster, and Avho through the land were the honour of the Parlia- ment's party, were almost all such as had till then conformed, and took those things to be lawful in case of necessity, but longed to have that necessity re- moved."'*
Very different were the feelings with which the tidings of the Westminster Assembly Avere received in Scotland. A year before this, the Church of Scot- land had been assured by communications from a large body of the English clergy, that " the desire of the most godly and considerable part among us is, that the Presbyterian government, which hath just and evident foundation both in the Word of God, and religious reason, may be established among us, and that (according to your intimation) we may agree in one Confession of
' Fuller's Qiurch Hist. iii. 448.
* " They thought it not safe to entrust the clergy with their own choice, of whose general cori'uption they constantly complained; and thei'eforc adjudged it uniit that the distempei-ed patients should be, or choose, their own pliysicians." — Fuller's Church Hist. iii. 4J(i.
* Neal's Puritans, iii. 55. Toulmiu's Ed. ' Life of Baxter, i. p. 49.
24 TilE LEADING INCIBENTS AND CHARACTEBS
Faith, one Directory of Worship, one Public Catechism and Form of Govern- ment." ^ When, therefore, they were invited to send up some of their number as commissioners to assist in the deliberations of the Assembly, they cheerfully consented ; and the persons commissioned for this purpose, were Messrs Alex- ander Henderson, Samuel Rutherfurd, Robert Baillie, and George Gillespie, ministers ; with the Earl of Cassilis, Lord IVIaitland, and Sir Archibald John- ston of Warristoun, ruling elders. But at this time, another incident oc- curred, which forms a singular and sacred feature in the whole of the reforma- tion which followed, — I refer to the introduction of the Solemn League. Sir Henry Vane, younger, accompanied with two ministers, Messrs Marshall and Nye, and other commissioners from the Parliament, having come to Scot- land to solicit the co-operation of Scotland, proposed a civil league for this purpose ; the Scots, however, sensible how much religion was involved in the quarrel, and persuaded of the necessity of some agreement in this to secure a permanent peace between the two nations, insisted on its being made a reli- gious bond. A draught was submitted by Henderson which embraced both objects ; and this deed, which was afterwards known as the Solemn League AND Covenant, having been formally adopted with great satisfaction, by the Scottish Convention of Estates and the General Assembly, was transmitted to the Parliament of England for their approbation. In this solemn deed, the Co- venanters pledged themselves and their posterity to the extirpation, that is the radical, or " root and branch" removal of Prelatical Government, — to the re- formation of the English Church, — to the preservation of the reformed religion in Scotland, — and to an endeavour to bring the Churches in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in religion, Confession of Faith, Form of Church Government, Directory for Worship and Catechising — " that we and our posterity, may as brethren live in faith and love, and the Lord may delight to dwell in the midst of us." Such were the objects of the Solemn League ; — and when we consider the state of the nation and the church at that time, convulsed by intestine strife, and threatened by a common enemy, what, we may well ask, could be more natural and reasonable, than thus to unite in defence of civil and religious liberty, and in the prosecution of reformation, and to consolidate the union by the most solemn ties of religion ?
It only remains to be noticed, that the Covenant was received with equal approbation in England, and having passed both Houses with singular unani- mity, was solemnly sworn and subscribed by them and by the Assembly of Divines on the 25th of September 1643. A new complexion was thus given to the deliberations of the Westminster Assembly, which, instead of occupying itself, as it had at first, in correcting the Thirty-nine Articles, now began seri- ously to carry out the purposes of the Solemn League by promoting uniformity in religion. Such was the effort of our fathers 200 years ago; and we have the re- sult of their labours in those Standards which they have left as a rallying point, we trust, to the three kingdoms, and the Christian world.
Let us then follow to London our Scottish commissioners, who were con- veyed thither " in a strong ship," in high hopes, though with some fears ; for, says Baillie, "the weather is uncertain, the Avay dangerous, pirates and shoals not scant ; yet trusting in God, we must not stand on any hazard to serve God and our country." They arrived, however, safely in London, and the same writer, finding how matters stood, urges his friends in Scotland by every argument, to " put their hand to that huge and honourable work" of reformation, " You must not look to expences," he says, " when presently w'e are either to win the horse or tyne the saddle." At last, they are introduced to the Assembly, and
' Hetherington's Hist, of Westminster Assembly, p. 88.
OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 25
take their seats, not as members, but as commissioners from the Church of Scotland. " Without an order in writing from the Houses, no mortal man," says Baillie, " may enter to see, or hear, let be to sit ; and Avhen we were brought in, Dr Twisse had ane long harangue for our welcome, after so long and hazardous a voyage, by sea and land, in so unseasonable tyme of the year. When he ended, we satt down in those places which since we have keeped."
Let me now request you to accompany me to the interior of the Assembly. And, first, let us hear the description given of it by Robert Baillie, in his own simple and graphic manner. " The like of that Assembly I did never see, and as we hear say, the like was never in England, nor any where is shortly like to be. They did sit in Henry the Seventh's Chapel, in the place of the Convo- cation ; but since the weather grew cold, they did go to Jerusalem Chamber, a fair room in the Abbey of Westminster, about the bounds of the College fore- hall (in Glasgow) but wider. At one end of the door, and along both sides, are stages of seats, as in the New Assembly House at Edinburgh, but not so high; for there will be room but for five or six score. At the uppermost end there is a chair set on a frame, a foot from the earth, for the Mr Prolocutor, Dr Twisse. Before it, on the ground, stand the two chairs for the two Mr Assessors, Dr Burgess and Mr White. Before these two chairs, through the length of the room, stands a table, at which sit the two scribes, Mr Byfield and Mr Roborough. The house is all well hung (with tapestry) and has a good fire, which is some dainties at London. Opposite the table, upon the Prolocutor's right hand, there are three or four ranks of benches. On the lowest we five do sit. Upon the other, at our backs, the members of Parliament deputed to the Assembly, On the benches opposite to us, on the Prolocutor's left hand, going from the upper end of the house to the chimney, and at the other end of the house, and back of the table, till it come about to our seats, are four or five stages of benches, upon which their divines sit as they please: from the chimney to the door there are no seats, but a void place for passage. The Lords of the Parliament use to sit in chairs in that void, about the fire."^
Neal informs us that the members came to the Assembly, "not in their canonical habits, but chiefly in black coats and bands, in imitation of the foreign Protest- ants." Dr Walker, an Episcopal writer, complains that they " Avere in coats and cloaks;" " and, therefore," says Dr Calamy, "in as scriptural a garb as any they could have worn ; and I cannot see how this could detract either from their learning or real worth." '^ The spectacle of such an Assembly of grave and learned men, thus arrayed in their cloaks and bands, with the venerable peak- beards or tufted mustachios, then almost universally displayed by the clergy, and the broad double ruff worn in the Elizabethan style round the neck, must have been singularly imposing.
But let us consider them a little more closely. And, first, our attention is naturally directed to the Prolocutor, Dr AVilliam Twisse. AVe see before us a venerable man verging on seventy years of age, with a long pale countenance, an imposing beard, lofty brow, and meditative eye, the whole contour indicating a life spent in severe and painful study. Such was the rector of Newbury, one of the most learned and laborious divines of his day. Educated at Oxford, where he spent sixteen years in the closest application to study, and acquired an extensive knowledge of logic, philosophy, and divinity, — holy in his converse, quiet and unassuming in his manners, he gained the admiration of all his co- temporaries, and friends and foes speak of him with the profoundcst respect.
' Baillie's Letters and Journals, vol. ii. 107. Bannatpie edition, 4to. 2 Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, vol. iii. p. 55. Toulmin's edition. Calamy 's Church and the Dissenters Compared as to Persecution, p. .34.
D
26 THE LEADING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS
Dr Owen, though he wrote against him, never mentions his name without an epithet of admiration. " This veteran leader, so well trained in the scholastic field, — this great man, — the very learned and illustrious Twisse." ^ It is very apparent, however, that, with all his learning, the plodding and subtle contro- versialist is not the man exactly cut out for the situation in which he has been placed. He has no turn for public speaking, — no talent for extempo- raneous effusions, — no great tact for guiding the deliberations of a mixed As- sembly. " The man," says Baillie, " as the world knows, is very learned in the questions he has studied, and very good, beloved by all, and highly esteemed ; but merely bookish, and not much, as it seems, acquaint with conceived prayer, and among the unfittest of all the company for any action ; so after the prayer he sits mute." 2 "Good with the trowel," says Fuller, "but better with the sword, more happy in polemical divinity than edifying doctrine."^ During the warm, and occasionally rather stormy debates of the Assembly, the good man sits uneasy, obviously longing for his quiet study at Newbury. At length, after about a year's trial, exhausted and distressed by employment so uncongenial to his habits, he requests permission to retire home. There he meets with trials of another kind. The civil war has commenced ; he is driven by the Cavaliers from his quiet rectory, and some of the Assembly, deputed to visit him, report that he was " very sick, and in great straits." At last the good old man, heart-broken with the distractions of the times, welcomes death as an end to all strife, and expires in July 1646, with these last words, " Now at length I shall have leisure to follow my studies to all eternity 1^" His remains were followed by the whole Assembly of Divines, to what was designed as their final resting place in "Westminster; but even there he was not suffered to rest, his bones having been dug up after the Restoration, by the Government of Charles II., and cast into a hole in a common church-yard,^ — an honour which his dust shared with that of several other patriots and holy men, and among the rest with that of
" The bold assertoi* of Britannia's fame, Unconquerable Blake."
Immediately before the chair of the Prolocutor are seated his two assessors, Dr Cornelius Burgess, and Mr John White of Dorchester, both of whom deserve our attention.
Dr Burgess, vicar of Watford, and one of the preachers in St Paul's, London, is a character exactly the reverse of the quiet and scholastic Twisse. " He is a very active and sharp man," says Baillie. Possessed of the spirited and manly character which eminently distinguished our reforming ancestors, he was early engaged in the strife, and suffered considerably from the bishops, for his freedom in denouncing the corruptions of the Church. Preaching before Archbishop Laud, he condemned him to his face, and fairly frightened that little tyrant, by protesting that " he would stand to what he had said in that sermon against ail opposers, even to the death." AVe are not surprised to find one of such in- trepidity taking an active share in the cause of the Parliament, and reaping his full share in the abuse poured by Prelatical writers on all who did so, in proportion to the zeal they displayed, and the influence they possessed. It would be too much to expect us to believe Anthony Wood, when he tells us of his heading the London mob Avho besieged the Parliament, roaring out for justice against the bishops, " whenever Burgess did but hold up his finger to his myrmidons;"
' Reid's Memoirs of the Westminster Divines, vol. i. p. 55.
■' Letters, ii. 108. ' Fuller's Ch. Hist. iii. 467.
■* Middleton's Biogr. Evang. vol. iii. p. 1G4.
* Brooks' Hist, of Puritans, vol. iii. IG.
OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 2/
and of his turning back, and looking on the rabble^ and saying, " These are my ban-dogs ; I can set them on, and I can take them off!" and of his riding at the head of the London militia, with his case of pistols, under the designation of Colonel Burgess, urging them on to plunder and rapine.' These calumnies are but the exaggerated caricature of the man. But we see what occasioned them, and gave them some semblance of probability, in the boldness with which (we shall not say with what degree of propriety) he denounced deans and chap- ters, in several speeches delivered in the House of Commons in the year 1G4J, and the zeal with which he used his influence in the pulpit, as one of the most popular preachers of his day, as well as devoted his substance to the advance- ment of political and religious liberty. Undaunted and independent, he stood out for some time alone against the imposition of the Covenant, though ulti- mately he yielded to light, and became a zealous Presbyterian.^ And yet, Avith all his zeal for liberty, Dr Burgess Avas no republican. Regardless of conse- quences, at a time when it was most dangerous to vent his opinions, when the power of Cromwell and the army was at its height, he inveighed with the greatest freedom against the design of executing the King, and drew up a paper, subscribed by fifty-seven Presbyterian ministers in London and the vicinity, with his own name at the head of them, condemning and remonstrat- ing against that step, as alike " inconsistent with the Word of God, the prin- ciples of the Protestant religion, the constitution of the country, the oath of allegiance, and the Solemn League and Covenantj from all or any of which engagements (said they) we know not any power on. earth able to absolve us or others."^
The venerable-looking old man, of portly and dignified presence, seated next to Dr Burgess, as his fellow-assessor, is his brother-in-law, Mr John "White of Dorchester, generally known at the time by the honourable title of the Patriarch of Dorchester. " A grave man," says Fuller, " but without morose- ness, who would willingly contribute his shot of facetiousness on any just occasion."' The personification of piety, wisdom, and benevolence, an elo- quent speaker, a man of hospitals and plans for the relief of pauperism, he had in his own sphere effected such a reform on the morals of the people, and done so much for enriching the industrious and relieving the poor, as well as pro- viding an asylum for the persecuted in New England, that we are not surprised to learn " he had great influence with his party both at home and abroad, who bore him more respect than they did to their diocesan."^
It would be improper to pass without some notice Mr Charles Herle, who succeeded Dr Twisse as Prolocutor of the Assembly, — " one," says Fuller, " so much Christian, scholar, aud gentleman, that he can unite in affection with those who are disjoined in judgment from hira,"^ — a sentence which, at one stroke, describes the man. He was accounted a moderate Presbyterian. He wrote a book against Independency, and yet he says in his preface, " The difference between us is not so great; at most it does but ruflle a little the fringe, not any way rend the garment of Christ; it is so far from being funda- mental, that it is scarcely a material difference." The presence of such a man in the chair is sufficient to redeem the Assembly from the charge of illiberality or vulgar fanaticism.
1 Wood's Athcnsc, Oxon. By Bliss, vol. iii. 682, 683.
» Calamy says, ho " refused taking the covenant till he was suspended." Account of Ejected Miuistci-s, ii. 536. This however does not agree with Baillie's account. " Only Dr Burgess did doubt /or one night." Let. ii. 93.
' Calamy's Continuation of Account, ii. 736 — 743.
* Fuller's Worthies of England, fol. 1662.
* Athena-, iii. 237. « Ch. Hist. iii. 167.
28 THE LEADING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS
But who is this person of delicate appearance, " small stature, and child- like look,"^ who occupies the place of assessor to Mr Herle in the absence of the Patriarch of Dorchester? That man is one of the greatest ornaments of the Assembly, Mr Herbert Palmer, vicar of Ashwell, and afterwards one of the Masters of Queen's College, Cambridge, where he had received his education. He was a gentleman of property; but, early impressed with the preciousness of the Saviour and with love to souls, he devoted himself to the ministry with uncommon ardour and success. With him the work of the ministry was, in the truest sense, the cure of souls, — a work in which he was willing literally " to spend and to be spent;" for not only was his fortune expended in works of charity, but his delicate frame was wasted by his abundant labours in preach- ing; and to the remonstrances of his friends he would reply, " that his strength would spend of itself, though he did nothing, and it could not be better spent than in God's service."^ Granger styles him, " a man of uncommon learn- ing, generosity, and politeness."^ He was an accomplished scholar and ora- tor: yet, in the simplicity of his preaching, he condescended to the meanest hearer. At first he had his scruples about Presbytery, and particularly the divine right of ruling elders; but at length, satisfied by the arguments adduced, "gracious and learned little Palmer," as Baillie affectionately calls him, be- came a thorough Presbyterian.
In casting our eyes around the Assembly, we find the greater part of them, as we formerly hinted, more or less Presbyterian in their judgment. Among these, however, there were some who distinguished themselves by their superior zeal and ability in the cause of Presbytery. There, for example, is a knot of divines who joined together in the composition of that famous defence of Presby- terial government in reply to Bishop Hall, entitled Sinectymnuus, — ''a start- ling word," as Calamy styles it, made up of the initial letters of their names Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Young, Matthew Newcomen, and WiUiam Spurstow.'* This work, we may notice by the way, which was published in 1G41, gave the first deadly blow to Prelacy. It was drawn up in a style of composition superior to that of the Puritans in general, and was, by the confession of the learned Bishop Wilkins, " a capital work against Episcopacy."^
The first in this group of divines, Mr Stephen Marshall, who was now lecturer at St Margaret's Westminster, was certainly one of the most notorious, if not illustrious, characters of his day. From the commencement of the civil war down to the Restoration, he took the most active share in the political as well as ecclesiastical movements of the day, — was ever in the fore-front of the battle, — and only laid down his armour with his life. In 1640, we find him, along with Dr Burgess, urging Parliament, by animated speeches on the floor of Parliament, as well as by rousing sermons from the pulpit, to take up arms for securing the constitution, and to proceed with all dispatch in the work of reforming the Church. On one occasion, when a day of solemn fasting was observed by the House of Commons, these two divines conducted the public services of the day, when it is said they prayed and preached at least seven
' Clark's Lives, Reid,ii. 102. = Middleton's Biog. Ev. iii. 192.
^ Granger's Biogr. Hist. iL 182. He adds, that Palmer " spoke the French language •with as much facility as his mother tongue." He used to preach to the French congregation in Canterbury. Reid, ii. 102.
•• Calamy's Account, ii. 471.
* Kippis' Biogr. Brit, art Calamy, Edmund. Dr Kippis says, " this piece is certainly writ- ten with great fierceness of spirit and asperity of language," and quotes in evidence some strong things said against the " practices of the prelates." But Neal, who has given a long account of the work, states, that if the rest of the clergy had been of the same spirit and temper with Bishop Hall, the controversy between him and the Smectymuean Divines might have been compromised. Hist, of Puritans, vol. ii. ch. viii.
OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 29
hours. This extreme longitude, however, as it would now be deemed, was thought little of in these days, or rather it was much thought of, if we may judge from the fact that the House not only voted thanks to both the preachers, desiring them to print their sermons, but presented each of them with a hand- some piece of plate. To the most powerful popular talents as a speaker — (Baillie calls him "the best of preachers in England") — Marshall added those active business habits which qualified him for taking the lead in these bois- terous times. Fuller tells us he was a great favourite in the Assembly, — " their trumpet, by whom they sounded their solemn fasts, — in their sickness their confessor, — in the Assembly their counsellor, — in their treaties their chaplain, — in their disputations their champion." We have no reason to suppose that he ever abandoned his Presbyterian principles ; but there is ground to suspect that he allowed himself to be carried away by the stream, into something like re- publicanism. We do not find Marshall's name among the ministers who re- monstrated against taking away the life of the king. Without giving credit to a tithe of the charges brought against him by his enemies, or even of what Den- zil Holies, his Presbyterian opponent in politics, has advanced against him, ^ we fear that he exposed himself to some of them by his keenness as a political par- tizan. Certain it is, that never did man suffer more in his character from the abettors of tyranny than Stephen Marshall. They reviled him during life, — they insulted him on his sick-bed, — they dug up his bones after the Restoration, — and they heaped every possible abuse upon his memory. One writer calls him the " Geneva bull, a factious and rebellious divine." Another styles him " a notorious Independent, and the arch-flaraen of the rebellious rout."'-^ The fact is, however, that he never was an Independent, but lived and died an avowed Presbyterian. And JMr Baxter, who knew him well, declares that he was a " sober and Avorthy man," and used to observe, on account of his great modera- tion, " that if all the bishops had been of the same spirit as Archbishop Usher, the Independents like Jeremiah Burroughs, and the Presbyterians like ]\Ir Ste- phen Marshall, the divisions of the Church would soon have been healed."^
The next in this group is Mr Edmund Calamy of Aldermanbury, London, the grandfather of the still more celebrated Dr Edmund Calamy, of London, the author of many well-known works. None was more highly respected as a man, or admired as a preacher. Learned in controversy, he was the first man openly to avow and defend the Presbyterian government before a Committee of Parlia- ment ; and though tempted afterwards with a bishopric, he continued stanch to his principles to his dying day. In Edmund Calamy, we have a fine speci- men of the open, manly, and straightforward Englishman, — a high-minded dis- dain of every thing mean, and the noble love of liberty. This is the man who could speak the Word of God to kings, and not be ashamed, — who could tell Cromwell to his face, that if he attempted to assume the kingly power, " he would have nine in ten of the nation against him;" and who, preaching before General Monk, after the Restoration, — and having occasion to speak of filthy lucre, could say, "Why is it called filthy, but because it makes men do base and filthy things V and, tossing the handkerchief which he usually held in his hand to- wards the General's pew, added, " Some men will betray three kingdoms for filthy lucre's sake \"^
The other three divines wq have mentioned as having had a share in Smec- tymnuus, viz. Mr Thomas Young, Mr Matthew Newcomen, and Dr William Spurstow, were all equally distinguished for their piety, learning, and worth.
But it is time to take a glance at the other Presbyterian members of this As-
' Mem. of DenzU Lord Holies, pp. 88, 107, 123. * Athenae, by Bliss, Hi. 715.
^ Brook's Puritans, iii. 251. * Calamy's Account, ii. 6.
80 THE LEADING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS
sembly. Among so many godly and learned divines, it is extremely difficult to make a selection. Among those, however, most distinguished for their learning it would be unpardonable to pass without notice Dr Edward Reynolds, who, Wood tells us, was " the pride and glory of the Presbyterian party." And good reason had they to be proud of one who excelled so much as a scholar, orator, and theologian.^ King Charles, on his restoration, endeavoured to bring over to Prelacy, some of the most eminent divines among the Dissenters. He failed with them all, except Dr Reynolds, who accepted of the bishopric of Norwich. For this conformity he' is taunted by those same writers, who teem with re- proaches against the nonconformity of his more consistent brethren. We cer- tainly shall not vindicate his conduct in this matter ; though it is well known that, even after his elevation to the mitre, he continued, in heart and judgment, a Presbyterian. Those who are anxious for an explanation of this anomaly, may find it perhaps in a cause to which we may ascribe the falls and ficklenesses of greater men than Reynolds, and which is hinted at by Wood as follows : — " It was verily thought by his cotemporaries that he would have never been given to change, had it not been to please a covetous and politic consort, who put him upon those things he did."- Mild and timorous to excess, especially in the presence of great men, he was altogether unfit to contend with them ; but one who knew him well has declared, that " Bishop Reynolds carried the wounds of the Church in his heart and bowels to the grave with him."^
Dr Arrowsmith and Dr Tuckney may be classed together, as alike celebrated for their learning, as having both been appointed to Masterships and Professor- ships of divinity in the University of Cambridge, and as having both, it is said, had a principal share in the composition of the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. Dr Arrowsmith is described by Baillie, curiously enough, " as a man with a glass eye, in place of that which was put out by an arrow," but a " learned di- vine" notwithstanding, of which we may judge from his Tactica Sacra and Chain of Principles. The plain but pleasant-looking old man who gazes at us in his portrait with a calm eye and studious brow, surmounted with its modest black cap, is Dr Anthony Tuckney, who is also known to the theological world by his writings. " How often," says one of his grateful students, " have I heard him instigating and inflaming the minds of the youth in their studies, as much by his example as his exhortations I How often seen him relieving the poor with boun- tiful hand, assigning to them a great part of his income!"'* We are credibly in- formed that " the answers in the Larger Catechism, and particularly the exqui- site exposition of the commandments, were his, and VFere continued for the most part in the very words he brought in."^
With these men we might associate as fellow Masters at Cambridge, Dr La- zarus Seaman, who is described as " a person of a most deep, piercing, and eagle- eyed judgment in all points of controversial divinity, in which he had few equals, if any superiors," — " an invincible disputant," and whom even Anthony Wood is constrained to acknowledge as a learned man; and there is Mr Richard Vines, of whom Fuller says he was " the champion of the party in the Assembly, and therefore called their Luther:"*^ and there is Dr Edmund Staunton, son of Sir Francis Staunton ; and Dr Hoyle, Professor of Divinity in Trinity College, Dublin, the only Irish Divine in the Assembly, ' and one who Avas held in high esteem, a master of the Greek and Latin Fathers, and who, Calamy says, "reigned both in the chair and in the pulpit."** Under the management of
' Middlcton's Biogr. Ev. iii. 426. Granger's Biogr. Hist. iii. 240.
- Athenco, by Bliss, iii. 1086. ^ Calamy's Life of Baxter, i. 174, 176.
* Prielect. Tlieol. per A. Tuckney. Prccf. * Calamy's Continuation, vol. i. p. 114.
• Dyer's Hist, of Cambridge, ii. 106. Fuller's Worthies.
' Reid's Hist, of Trcsb. Church in Ireland, vol. i. 404. ' Continuation, ii. 472.
OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 31
tliese conscientious and talented masters, the universities, rectified from the abuses by which they had been disgraced, became what they were intended to be — the nurseries of learning, piety, and virtue.
And then, still looking round on the Presbyterians in the Assembly, we find a Thomas Gataker, whose writings give ample attestation to the character he received during life of a perfect hclluo Ubrorum, — a devourer of books; who showed a learning as multifarious as it was profound ; and who could write as learnedly on the subject of Lots as on Transubstantiation, and the Tetragram- maton. While among those more distinguished for ministerial gifts, " workmen that need not to be ashamed," we find such names as those of Dr William Gouge of Blackfriars, London, one of the annotators on the Bible, and President of Zion College; and Mr Simeon Ashe of St Austin's, " good old Mr Simeon Ashe," as Calamy describes him, "a Christian of the primitive simplicity, and a Non- conformist of the old stamp. He was eminent for a holy life, a cheerful mind, and a fluent elegancy in prayer. He had a good estate, and was much inclined to entertainments and liberality. His house was much frequented, and he was universally beloved."' We think from this description we should know good old Mr Simeon Ashe. Time, however, would fail us to speak of Oliver Bowles, Thomas Case, Anthony Burgess, Francis Cheynel, Jeremiah Whittaker, Joseph Caryl, Obadiah Sedgwick, and others, whose names are associated with works that have contributed to form the religious character of our nation, and that impart to this day instruction and consolation to many thousands.
It is not meant to be asserted that the men whom we have now described were faultless. So far from this, their characters were, in some instances, disfigured, and their good exposed to be evil spoken of, by no small blemishes, rendered the more observable from the neighbourhood of very praiseworthy qualities in the same individuals. In some cases, as already hinted, they were driven by the violence of the times, to plunge more deeply into the political agitations of the day, than became the ministers of peace. Nor can even the very great provocations and persecutions they had sufi^ered, or the dangers with which they were encompassed, altogether excuse the ungracious violence with which, in their sermons before Parliament, some of the warmer spirits among them urged the " execution of judgment upon delinquents," — meaning those who had been guilty of public crimes. Of their want of liberality to those who differed from them in matters of religion, we may afterwards speak. But among their minor failings, which, though leaning to virtue's side, have exposed them more than any other to the shafts of ridicule, we may notice the extreme length to which they protracted their religious services, — the fault certainly of the age. AVhat, for example, would be thought now-a-days, of such a fast as that in which the Assembly engaged, at the request of my Lord Essex, thus given by Baillie ? " After Dr Twisse had begun with a brief prayer, Mr Marshall prayed large two hours, most divinely, confessing the sins of the members of Assembly, in a Avon- derfully pathetic and prudent way. After, Dr Arrowsmith preached one hour; then a psalm; thereafter Mr Vines prayed two hours, and Mr Palmer preached one hour, and Mr Seaman prayed near two hours ; then a psalm. After, Mr Henderson brought them to a short sweet conference of the heart-confessed and other seen faults to be remedied. Dr Twisse closed with a short prayer and blessing." " And yet," says Baillie, " this day was the siveclest that I have seen in England.""^ This reminds me of an anecdote told of Dr Chadderton, one of the translators of the Bible in James I.'s time, who, after having preached on one occasion full two hours, paused and said, " I Avill no longer trespass upon
' Account ii. p. 1. ' Letters ii. 104.
32 THE LEADING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS
your patience." Upon which, all the congregation cried out, " For God's sake, go OHt go on;" when he proceeded much longer in his discourse, to their great contentment and admiration.' Perhaps to these failings, or rather excesses, I might be expected to add a certain unnatural tone of austere sanctity which is supposed to have characterised this age. But there is no reason to think that this was justly chargeable on the early Puritans or Presbyterians as a body; it belonged rather to the Sectaries in the later days of the Commonwealth, whose enthusiasm, degenerating into the gloom of fanaticism, became at last the very caricature of religion, and prepared the way for the opposite extreme of profli- gacy into which the nation sunk at the Restoration. The religion of Puritan- ism was not necessarily nor in fact identified with melancholy, though Butler, in his Hudibras, has ingeniously contrived to associate it, in doggrel verse, with the grotesque exhibitions of Sectarianism.^ Addison tells us an amusing story in the Spectator, of a youth who was nearly frightened out of his wits on being introduced to be examined by Dr Goodwin, the Independent, then head of a college in Oxford, in a dark gallery hung with black, and enlightened by a single taper, when the Doctor, who appeared " with half-a-dozen night-caps on his head, and religious horror in his countenance," asked him the fearful question, '' "Whether he was prepared for death !"^ The moral is good, but the illustration does not apply to the Presbyterian Puritans of that time, who were far from being morose or inimical to innocent mirth.
But let us not overlook the other members of the Assembly who were op- posed to the Presbyterians. Of these one party was formed by the Erastians, who dissented from the grand proposition of the Assembly, — That the Lord Jesus, as King and Head of His Church, hath therein appointed a government, in the hand of Church officers, distinct from the Civil Magistrate; and whose lead- ing principle was, that all Church government ought to be in the hand of the civil rulers. There were only two Erastian divines in the Assembly, namely, Dr Lightfoot and Mr Coleman, who was a learned and pious, but somewhat vio- lent-tempered divine, and whom Baillie describes, perhaps in too strong colours, as " a man reasonably learned, but stupid and inconsiderate, half a pleasant [half a buffoon], and of small estimation." But as Coleman died during the very heat of debate on the proposition already mentioned, Lightfoot was left to enter his solitary dissent against it. Insignificant as this party was in point of numbers, it derived importance from the character for learning enjoyed by the persons composing it, and still more so from the powerful support they received from the House of Commons' Parliament, the most of whom, according to Baillie, were " downright Erastians." " The Pope and the King," says this lively chronicler, " were never more earnest for the headship of the Church than the plurality of this Parliament." The learning of Lightfoot is beyond all question, and he certainly made abundant use of it in the Assembly, and, if we may judge from his own Diary of the proceedings, with no small eclat. In these disputations he was ably backed by another man of prodigious erudition, the celebrated John Selden, who had a seat in the Assembly as one of the lay- assessors, deputed by the House of Commons. The grand point maintained by these men was, that the Jewish Church and State were all one, — that in the Jewish commonwealth there was no Church government distinct from the civil Government, — and that therefore there should be no such distinc-
' Brook's Puritans, ii. 448. " « Where had they all their gifted phrases.
But from our Calamys and Cases V &c. — Hudibras, by Grey, part iii. ^ Spectator, No. 494.
OK THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 33
tion in Christian states. "This man," says Baillie, speaking ofSolden, *'is the head of the Erastians; his glory is most in the Jewish learning; he avows every where that the Jewish State and Church were all one, and that so in England it must he, — that the Parliament is the Church." i The Presbyterians, on the contrary, maintained that such a distinction did exist under the Old Testament, — that the two kinds of government are, in their very nature, dis- tinct from, and independent of, each other, — and that God never did confound them, nor intend that they should be ever confounded together. Without entering into this controversy, which was maintained at great length, and Avith much learning and ingenuity, on both sides, it may be remarked, as in some degree accounting for the line of thought and argument adopted by the three Erastians in this Assembly, that all of them were distinguished by a particu- lar fondness for Oriental and Rabbinical learning. Coleman Avas so complete a master of the Hebrew, that he was commonly called Rabbi Coleman.^ And it is well known that the fame of Selden and Lightfoot rests chiefly on the same foundation. Superior as they may have been, it will not be considered a breach of charity to suppose that a consciousness of this tempted them to make a somewhat needless display of it in the Assembly. Certain it is, that though since highly applauded by some, it made l)ut a small impression on the members, who were learned enough to appreciate, but too shrewd to be misled by the in- genuity of their objections. There is much force in the remark of honest Fuller, when speaking of Selden, — " This great scholar, not overloving of any (and least of these) clergymen, delighted himself in raising of scruples for the vexing of others; and some stick not to say, that those who will not feed on the flesh of God's word cast most bones to others, to break their teeth there- with."^ We confess that we do not admire the vain-glorious tone in which he would say to the members, when they cited a text to prove their assertion, " Perhaps in your little pocket Bibles with gilt leaves, (which they would pull out and read) the translation may be thus, but the Greek or Hebrew signi- fies thus and thus."'* And we cannot help recalHng, in beautiful contrast to this, his own dying declaration, that. " out of the numberless volumes he had read, nothing stuck so close to his heart, or gave him such solid satisfaction, as that single passage in Paul's writings, beginning with, " The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men," &c.^
But who are these divines who sit apart from all the rest in solemn and anxious consultation, evidently displeased with the whole proceedings of the Assembly, and ever and anon disturbing the good harmony that otherwise prevailed? These are the Independents. There might be about ten or eleven divines in the Assembly who advocated, more or less, the Congregational mode of Church government; but five of these, more zealous than the rest, formally dissented from the decisions of the Assembly; and, afraid that toleration would not be extended to them, appealed to Parliament, as " the most sacred refuge and asylum for mistaken and misjudged innocence."' This appeal was styled, " An Apologetical Narrative to the Parliament," and was signed by Thomas Goodwin, Philip Nye, Sidrach Simpson, Jeremiah Burroughs, and Wilh'am Bridge. These were afterwards joined by William Greenhill, and William Carter, who with them signed reasons of dissent against the Assembly, on the conclusion of the " Grand Debate," as it was called, between the Presbyterians and Independents, and were hence called " The Dissenting Brethren." JMost of these divines had been compelled, by the persecution of the prelates, to retire to
' Lettei-s, ii. 268. •' Reid's Hist West. Div. i. 236. ' Fuller's CIi. Hist. iii. 46fl.
* Brook's Puritans, iii. 9. '- Granger's Biog. Hist. ii. 228. Titus ii. 1 1 — II.
E
34 THE LEADING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS
Holland, where they became acquainted and enamoured with the Congregational scheme of government. The most celebrated among them were the two first mentioned, Dr Thomas Goodwin, and Mr Philip Nye, whom Wood styles " the atlasses and patriarchs of Independency." Both of these were eminent for piety and ability. Dr Goodwin, in particular, is well known by his works. He was the favourite minister of Cromwell, through whose influence he was ap- pointed president of Magdalene College in Oxford. Thomas Goodwin we must be careful to distinguish from another of the name, whom Toplady, with his usual freedom, characterises as " that low and virulent Arminian, John Goodwin, the Fifth-monarchy man," and of whom Calamy observes, "he was a man by himself; was against every man, and had every man almost against him." Dr Goodwin was a very different character, orthodox in doctrine, eloquent in preaching, and exemplary in life. His piety was of the most ardent and en- thusiastic cast, tinctured, however, with that shade of gloom and austerity which, as we have seen, was the prevailing vice of the latter days of the Commonwealth. Mr Philip Nye of Kimbolton was in many respects a different character from his friend Goodwin. A keen, sharp-witted man, " of uncommon depth, and seldom if ever out-reached." Active from the commencement in urging the Covenant, and getting up the Assembly, in the selection of which he is said to have had a principal share, there was none more pertinacious in opposing their progress. He kept them upwards of three weeks debating on one point of the Directory alone, where the communicants were recommended to come up to partake of the Supper at a table, — insisting on the superior propriety of hav- ing the elements handed to them in their own seats. Though one of the commis- sioners sent by Parliament to sr)licit the assistance of the Scots, he seems to have taken up a strong prejudice against the government and order of the Church of Scotland; and certainly there was no love lost between him and our Scots commissioners. On one occasion, this mutual dislike broke out into a storm, which threatened to disturb the wonted order and tranquillity of the pro- ceedings. Baillie's account of it is amusing: — "Mr Nye was like to spoil all our play. When it came to his turn to oppugn Presbytery, he had, from the 18th of Matthew, drawn, in a crooked and informal way, which he could never get in a syllogism, the inconsistency of Presbytery with a civil State. In this he was cried down as impertinent. The day following, when he saw the Assembly full of the prime nobles and chief members of both houses, he did fall on that argument again, and very boldly oftered to demonstrate, that our way of drawing a whole kingdom under one national Assembly was formidable, nay pernicious, and thrice over pernicious, to civil states and kingdoms." This was too much for the Scottish blood of our commissioners. To have the old taunt of James VI. thrown in their teeth by an Independent minister, — to hear the government of their beloved Church held up to odium as rebellious before the nobles and rulers of England, at the very moment when they were expecting to see it established as the government of the English Church — was sufficiently provoking. " We were all highly offended with him," says Baillie. Even the calm imperturbable Henderson compared this mode of speaking against the go- vernment of all the Reformed Churches, to " Lucian and the pagans, who were wont to stir up princes and estates against the Christian religion." My Lord Maitland (who afterwards, as Duke of Lauderdale, showed such aifection, to be sure, for his mother church) got quite into a rage when he heard of it. A rupture seemed inevitable. Nye would not retract; the Scots would not sit with Nye, and the Independents would not sit without him. " At last," says Baillie, *' we were entreated by our friends to shuffle it over the best way might be, and to go on in our business. God, that brings good out of evil, made that miscarriage
OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 35
of Nye a mean to do him some good; for, ever since, we find him in all things the most accommodating man in the company." i
Long and tough were the debates in the Assembly on the various points of Presbyterial order and government. The Independents contested manfully, though most annoyingly, every inch of ground; " they truly spake much," says Baillie, "and exceedinglie weel." Doctors, — ruling elders, — ordination, — many congregjitions under one Presbytery; in short, government, worship, and disci- pline, all were fairly canvassed. Of these debates it is impossible, in the present sketch, to present even an abstract. I must refer those who are anxious for a full yet condensed view of the whole proceedings, to the able and impartial History of the Westminster Assembly, by Mr Ilctherington, of which I may say, that he has reaped the field so much to purpose, as to leave very little for his friends to glean after him, and that he has done his task in the best spirit of our fathers in the Westminster Assembly, without a drop of the bitterness or the bigotry which marked the age in which they lived. The discussions were conducted mostly in the syllogistic form, which admitted abundance of logical fencing. And yet, after all, the sentiments of the two parties approximated each other much more nearly than thoy have done since that day; and we are not surprised to learn that repeated attempts were made by the Presbyterians to effect what was called an " accommodation" with their brethren. These at- tempts, however, were all defeated by the unhappy disputes which arose respecting Toleration. It is extremely difficult to express, without doing injus- tice to one side or the other, the precise sentiments then held on this subject. Both parties certainly went to extremes; the Presbyterians, in their horror of heresies, as destructive to the souls of men, regarding them in the light of civil crimes, which ought to be punished, and not sanctioned by law, and refusing to grant liberty to the Independents to set up separate churches, on the ground that this would be in direct violation of the uniformity which they had mutually sworn to endeavour after in the Solemn League; and the Independents, on the other hand, ultimately driven to plead for, not only an unlimited toleration of all sects, but a legislative sanction to all heresies, on the ground that Christ has " purchased a liberty for all men to maintain all kinds of opinion in matter of re- ligion." It will be generally agreed now, that if the former showed more respect to the interests of truth and unity than to the rights of conscience, the latter failed in putting these rights on their proper foundation. But the question, which at first was merely theoretical, soon became involved in practical confu- sion by the sectaries which sprung up in Cromwell's army, — innumerable and strange in shape as the reptiles left in the mud by the inundation of the Nile. This was what our fathers foresaw and dreaded from the commencement, and what made them so anxious to get their discipline fully established. In this, the darling object of their heart, it pleased Heaven that they should be disappointed, and the failure of Presbytery in England may be traced to two causes, — the refusal of Parliament to erect this discipline with due spiritual powers, and reserving to themselves the right of appeal, even in regard to admission to the Lord's table; — and the determination of the Presbyterians not to set up their spiritual courts unless such powers were granted them. The English Presbyterians " held out plainly," says Baillie, " the Church's divine right to keep off from the sacrament all who were scandalous; and if tiiey cannot obtain the free exercise of that power which Christ has given them, thoy will lay down their charges, and will rather choose all afflictions, than to sin by pro- faning the holy table."
During these debates, none took a busier share than our Scottish commission-
' Littei's, ii. 14(>.
36 THE LEADING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS
ers, — the last group in the Assembly to which I invite your attention. Seated on the lowest form, at the right hand of the prolocutor, they may be easily dis- tinguished from the rest of the divines by their care-vrorn countenances, and the feverishly intense interest which they show in the proceedings of the Assembly. With them it was no common cause. Not the credit of their own discipline only is at stake, — the salvation of their beloved Church and country is involved. They have come out of a fearful struggle with lordly bishops. Popish ceremonies, royal mandates and battles, — they have cast down the walls of Jericho; but well do they know that the liberties of their country still hang trembling in the scale, and that nothing will save them but a successful issue to their present mission. Which of all the members of this Assembly wrote home such letters to his friends as those of Baillie? What breathless anxiety, what anxious prayers, about "these poor distressed Churches I" How lifted up at one time, — " O, if it please God to perfyte this work, it will be the sweetest and most happy business that ever in this isle was enterprysed ! All our com- panie, thanks to God, feels the fruit of Scotland's prayers!" How cast down at another time about the opposition of the Independents ! " these, however very good, yet very dangerous and unhappy men, who have been the great and mighty instruments to keep all things here loose both in Church and State !" and these still more unhappy Erastian lawyers in the parliament, " who make it their work to spoil our Presbytery, not so much upon conscience as upon fears that the Presbytery spoil their market, and take up most of the country pleas without law!" How annoyed at the "infamous slowness" of the Assembly, considering the fearful rapidity of the growth of hydra-headed Sectarianism! " The humour of this people is very various, and inclinable to singularities. No people had so much need of a Presbytery!" How much heart, as well as quaint simplicity, in the prayer, that, as an offset to the influence of Cromwell and his army, " it please God to advance our armie, which we expect will much assist our argume?its .'" And yet how hopeful, amidst all their difficulties, that they would " restle through, by the help of the prayers of God's people!"^
Of the four Scottish divines in the Assembly, Alexander Henderson, Samuel Rutherfurd, Robert Baillie, and George Gillespie, it appears that only^ two, namely, Rutherfurd and Gillespie, took a regular part in the debates, for which they were admirably qualified b}' their metaphysical ingenuity and their controversial learning. Henderson, though at first he made some admirable appearances, seldom interfered in the discussions, till towards the close, when, Avith his wonted gravity, courtesy, and tact, he would attempt to settle the differences by proposing some neutral ground on which the parties might meet. For the last two years he seldom spoke at all. Honest Baillie informs us, that, as for himself, he had been " ever silent in all their debates." He seems to have sat among them, with characteristic cautiousness, taking notes ; and the apology he makes for this is equally like the man : " No man there is desired to speak," says he ; " four parts of five does not speak at all ; and among these are many most able men, and known by their wrytes and sermons to be much abler than sundry of the speakers; and of these few that use to speak, sundry are so tedious, and thrusts themselves in with such misregard of others, that it were better for them to be silent. Also, there are some eight or nine so able, and ready at all times, that hardly a man can say any thing, but what others, without his labour, are sure to say alse weel or better."- He is alvvaj'S
' Letters, vol. ii. pitssim.
^ We are not to suppose, however, that Baillie was an idle member of the Assembly ; he " never had too little ado any day ; his time was much occupied in preparing for the press such works as his "Dissuasive from the Eri-ors of the Time;" and "so much were his con- duct and labours approved of by the English Parliament, that when he took leave of the
OF THE ^YESTMIXSTER ASSEMBLY. 37
ready, however, to give his meed of commendation to liis brethren. " Had not God sent Mr Henderson, Mr Rutherfurd, and Mr Gillespie among them, I see not that ever they could have agreed to any settled government." As for Hen- derson, he seems to he at a loss for terras in which to express his admiration — a man, as he said of him after his death, before the General Assembly, who, " having spent his strength, and worn out his days in the service of God and of this church, in his inmost sense he esteemed ought to be accounted by us and posterity the fairest ornament, after John Knox, of incomparable memory, that ever the Church of Scotland did enjoy." To the services of Mr Gillespie, who was then in the prime of life, he likewise bears repeated testimony : — " None in all the Assembly did reason more pertinently than Mr Gillespie ; he is an excellent youth ; my heart blesses God in his behalf." It is recorded that on one occasion when the learned Selden had made a long discourse in favour of Erastianism, and none seemed ready to answer, Gillespie, urged by his brethren, rose, and, though blushing with diflSdence at the commence- ment, without any preparation, or even notes to refresh his memory, re- peated the substance of Selden's discourse, and refuted it to the admiration of all present. Selden himself is said to have observed at the close, " That young man, by his single speech, has swept away the labours of ten years of my life !" '
We must not suppose, however, that the whole time of the Assembly was occupied with debates. The greater part of it was spent in the quiet, serious, painful, and prayerful composition and correction of those Formularies of Faith and Discipline which they have handed down to us as the fruits of their labours. The task of preparation was committed at first to a Committee of the most learned and able divines, who divided their labours, and submitted the results, as they advanced, to the judgment of the whole Assembly; when every sentence was duly weighed, and compared with the passages of Scripture adduced. In this way Avere the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms compiled. In this labour, though necessarily tedious, and protracted much by the dissension be- tween the Assembly and the Parliament, the utmost harmony and unanimity prevailed among the members. There was no dissenting voice raised against the doctrines propounded in these formularies. All parties in the Assembly, Presbyterians, Erastians, and Independents, being agreed in the great leading doctrines of faith. The Confession of Faith was submitted to Parliament in December 164G, under the title of "The Humble Advice of the Assembly of Divines now by authority of Parliament sitting at AVestminster, concerning a Confession of Faith." In the same form were the two Catechisms presented — the Shorter in November 1647, and the Larger in April 1648. These Standards were approved and passed by Parliament, with the exception of those chapters referring to the magistrate, which were too stringent for the Erastians. The Directory for Public AVorship, and the Form of Church Government, laid down in a number of propositions, had already been presented to Parliament, and ap- proved ; and although the Parliament still refused to grant a full sanction to the Presbyterian discipline, it may be said that Presbyterianism became, for the time, the established religion of the three kingdoms.
Curiosity has been often excited to ascertain the particular authors of these
Assembly, he received from them a public testimonial of their favour. Tiiis appeal's to have been a silver cup, bearing a suitable iuscriptiou, which remained in the possession of liis descendants till a recent period, if it be not still preserved." (Memoir of the Life of Robert Baillie, by D. Laing, Esq., prefixed to the Ban. Ed. of the Letters.) Nor does he setni to have so literally " sat mute" during all the debates, as his language would intimate, if we may suppose him to be " one of the Assembly named Baily," mentioned in the Preface to Lightfoot's Remains, p. xii.
' Wodi'ow's Analecta. — Scriptural View of the Present War. By Dr M'Leod of New York, p. 79.
38 THE LEADING INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS, &C.
compilations, and especially of the highly prized Shorter Catechism. I have al- ready noticed Dr Tuckney as having had a principal hand in the composition of the Larger, and consequently of the Shorter Catechism ; to these some have added Dr Arrowsmith and Mr Palmer. But the truth is, that the " framing of the Catechism appears to have been the work of the committee, and not of any one individual ; and it was brought to its present admirable degree of nearness to perfection by the united deliberations of the whole Assembly. ' "
Here it may also be noticed, that the version of the Psalms in metre, now in use among us, the author of which was Mr Francis Rous, a member of the House of Commons, and a lay-assessor in the Assembly of Divines, was pre- pared at the same time, and having been finally revised in 1646, was approved both by the Assembly and the Parliament, and authorised to be sung in churches. It is substantially this version, corrected and improved by a com- mittee of the General Assembly, which is still in use among us.
Having now completed the chief matters for which the Assembly had been summoned, the Scottish commissioners, after a farewell address from Mr Herle, highly complimentary to them, and thanking them for their assistance, returned home, and gave an account of their success to the General Assembly which met in 1647. "The commissioners," says Neal, "went home under a very heavy concern for the storm that was gathering over England ; and having obtained the establishment of the Directory, the Confession of Faith, and Catechisms, the Presbyterian Discipline, and Rous's Psalms in metre, for the service oiF their Kirk, they appointed a general fast, to lament their own defection from the Solemn League and Covenant, and the distressed condition of their brethren in England, who were zealous for carrying on the work of God, but were now oppressed, under pretence of liberty, when no less was aimed at than tyranny and arbitrary power." To this I may add, in the language of Mr Hetherington, that " as the main object of the Westminster Assembly was to frame such a system of chui-ch government and public worship as might unite the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland in religious uniformity, the nest point was to lay the result of their labours before the Church of Scotland, that its consent might be obtained. This was in perfect harmony with the whole procedure of Scotland in this great and sacred enterprise. The Church of Scotland had neither the power nor the wish to force its system upon England ; as little would it have submitted to English dictation in a matter so important ; and although the English Parliament had not ratified all the propositions of the Westminster Assembly, yet, since these were completed, the delay of England was no sufficient reason why the Church and kingdom of Scotland should also delay, if satisfied with the system which the Assembly of Divines had prepared."*^ The Church of Scotland, accordingly, adopted the Westminster Standards, not only as her Confession, but as parts of her " covenanted uniformity."
The Assembly having finished its proper business, may now be viewed as vir- tually concluded, though the members continued to sit for some time as a com- mittee for examining candidates for ordination, till the dissolution of the Long Parliament, 22d February 1649, when the Assembly was finally dissolved, hav- ing sat altogether five years, six months, and twenty-two days, in which time they had held one thousand one hundred and sixty-three sessions.
In concluding this hasty, and yet, I fear, tedious sketch, I cannot help giving expression to the pride and pleasure which I feel in its having fallen to my lot to record, on such an auspicious occasion, and before such an audience, the cha- racters and doings of so truly noble an Assembly. With all their faults and imperfections, which, with such an amount of excellence, it were no use to dis- guise, and no harm to admit, it is questionable whether such an Assembly, so
' Hetherington's Hist, of West. Assembly, p. 323. => Ibid. p. 327.
CHARACTER AND BEAUING OF THE ASSEMBLY, SiC. 39
rich in men of deep-toned piety, sterling worth, and erudition, was ever con- vened in Britain before or since. And looking to the works they produced, and the influence they have exerted, directly or more remotely, on the religious character of our own nation in particular, I trust I may be permitted, in no spirit of sectarianism, to apply to the Presbyterian church in our land, speaking and acting through the Westminster Standards of her doctrine and discipline, the character of the " virtuous woman" in the Proverbs, — " Strength and honour are her clothing ; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom ; and in her tongue is the laAV of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed ; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Give her of the fruit of her hands ; and let her own works praise her in the gates."'
The Chairman said, "I am sure that the whole meeting will go along with me in saying, that we are under the deepest obligations to Mr M'Crie. (Great applause.) The labour which he has undergone, and the able and vivid manner in which he has exhibited the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, making them to pass before us, and causing us to feel as if we were in the midst of them, looking upon their faces and seeing them engaged in their important labours — this requires from us the expression of the warmest gratitude to ]\Ir M'Crie. (Applause.) I shall only add, and I am sure my feelings are consonant with those of the audience, that Mr M'Crie should be requested to allow these docu- ments to remain by him, because I am sure a single hearing will not be suffi- cient for us."
The 67th Psalm was then sung ; after which
The Chairman introduced Mr Hetherington, the historian of the Westminster Assembly, whose well-timed work most of them had read, and which well deserved the eulogium that had been pronounced upon it by Sir M'Crie. (Hear, hear.)
The Rev. Mr Hetherington of Torphichen then rose, and delivered the fol- lowing address on
THE REAL CHARACTER AND BEARING OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY, AND REFUTATION OF CALUMNIES.
"The su1)ject on which I am called to address you is both far too extensive and too important for me to do it anything like justice, within the limits to which I must confine myself; for it is absolutely impossible to obtain a clear view of the real character and bearing of the AV'estminster Assem- bly, without directing our attention to the circumstances which rendered it necessary that such an Assembly should be held, — the state of the nation at the time when it met, — the precise object for which it was called, — the subjects to which its deliberations were chiefly directed, — and the effects which these were calculated to produce on the British kingdoms and on Christendom. To at- tempt anything more than the briefest possible outline of so many and such im- portant topics, is, of course, impossible in a single address ; and it shall be my endeavour not to transgress the limits which prudence ^vould assign. Besides, so much of what I might have thought it necessary to say, has already been so fully and graphically stated and placed before you, by my friend ]\Ir IM'Crie, that on these points I have nothing to add, and can with perfect propriety con- fine myself within comparatively narrow limits.
' Proverbs xxxi. 25—31.
40 CHARACTER AND BEARING OF THE ASSEMBLY,
It is well known that the Reformation in England was from its very outset biassed and controlled by the despotic principles and the fierce temper of Henry VIII. That haughty tyrant was quite willing to break the yoke of Rome, so far as it bound himself, or checked the exercise of his arbitrary swav over any or all of his subjects ; but he was by no means disposed to allow to them that exercise of the right of private judgment in religious matters which is the very essence of religious liberty. For that reason he assumed, as a prero- gative of the crown, complete supremacy in all causes civil and ecclesiastical. From this it inevitably followed, that the Church of England could not reform itself in any direction, or to any extent, beyond what the arbitrary will of the sovereign might please to permit. The effect was, what could alone be expect- ed,— an early arrest laid upon the reformation of the Church, — the retention within it of everything which the caprice or the pride of the reigning monarch chose to retain, — and the various and sudden changes which took their cause and form from the opinions or prejudices of successive sovereigns, — reforming progress under the mild and gracious Edward, — return to Popery under the reign of her whose cruel and tyrannical conduct procured for her the fearful ap- pellation of " the bloody Mary," — reformation resumed under Elizabeth, but moulded by the personal tastes and the arbitrary temper of that great queen.
But Christianity is not, in its essence, so mutable and capricious as kings and and governments could wish. It has its own eternal laws, which enter into the soul, and exercise their steady influence there, too mighty for human power to conquer, or even greatly to control. Consequently, there arose, almost in the infancy of the Reformation in England, a sincere and earnest reforming spirit, which sought in the Word of God for those principles and laws by which to guide its course. The true and godly divines who were filled with that spirit sought faithfully to promote reformation, far beyond what kings and statesmen and courtly divines thought necessary. Their efforts were checked, their de- sires were disappointed, their principles were misunderstood and misrepresented, their motives were calumniated, and as the contest deepened, they were not only repelled from every attempted reformation, but they were themselves ex- posed to almost every species of persecution short of death. Still they held on their course; because, taking Scripture for their sole authoritative guide in matters of religion, they could not but endeavour to act according to its divine com- mands. In this manner arose that noble band of heavenly-minded men, known by the name of English Puritans, whose lives were exposed to so much unde- served persecution, and whose memories ever since have been assailed by so much black and malicious calumny.
After the death of Elizabeth, her successor James pursued a similar course, resting his hostility to the Puritans on the same ground, — that of the royal su- premacy in all causes civil and ecclesiastical. But though his principles were sufiiciently arbitrary, his temper was too feeble and vacillating, and his charac- ter too timid, to admit of his proceeding to any desperate extremities. He was willing enough to grasp at despotism of the most absolute kind; but when his conduct provoked resistance he started fearfully back, " scared by the sound him- self had made." He succeeded, however, in so far corrupting the national prin- ciples by his Book of Sports, — in imposing his beloved Prelacy on the Church of Scotland, — and in causing the friends of civil and religious liberty in England to feel, that unless some strong and determined opposition were speedily made to such despotic principles and measures, all that they most valued on earth would ere long be laid prostrate beneath an absolute tyranny.
In the mean time a new principle had almost imperceptibly begun to guide and characterize the conflict. So early as the year 1588, Bancroft, at that time chaplain to Archbishop Whitgift, promulgated the opinion, " that bishops were
AND UEFUTATION OF CALUMNIES. 41
a distinct order from presbyters, and had authority over them jure div'nio, an<l directly from God." None of the English Reformers had ever entertained such an opinion; but merely held, that prelacy was of human institution, and ap- pointed for the sake of order in the government of the Church. The consequen- ces of this theory were not immediately perceived by either its supporters or its opponents, till after the lapse of nearly two generations, when it got possession of the narrow mind of the restless and bigoted Laud, and impelled him to that fatal course which plunged the nation into the horrors of civil war, and brought himself and his ill-fated sovereign to the block. .
Charles the First, the son and successor of James, not only followed the despotic course of his father, but, partly instigated by Laud and Wentworth, partly urged on by his own inflexible and arbitrary character, advanced to the adoption and enforcement of measures, the direct operation of which would speedily have reduced the kingdom to a state of abject slavery. Not contented with having the Church of Scotland brought under the thraldom of bishops, which had been accomplished by the '• king-craft" of his wily father, he deter- mined to change its form of worship entirely, and to compel the ministers and people to adopt all the rites and ceremonies of Prelacy, or rather Popery, to which the Book of Canons and the Liturgy destined for Scotland very closely approached. But Scotland awoke in all her cities, through all her glens, and on all her mountains. Prelacy was banished from the land, and the heart of the entire nation rejoiced in the precious blessing of its recovered freedom, civil and religious. In vain did the haughty king attempt to subjugate his free Scottish people by the help of an English army. The people of Scotland were prepared to die, but not to surrender what had been so nobly won; and England could too well understand and value freedom, to put forth her strength for its destruc- tion. The baffled monarch recoiled from the too perilous encounter, leavinn- Scotland a brief breathing time, till he should have subverted English liberty, intending then to return and complete his fearful triumph in the overthrow of Scotland, and the subjugation of the three kingdoms to an absolute despotism, civil and religious. Of this there can be no doubt in the mind of any one who has carefully and impartially studied the private, or even the public records of that period.
The struggle in England had in the mean time somewhat shifted its ground. The English Parliament had repeatedly attempted to interpose in behalf of the oppressed and persecuted Puritans ; many of the members being well acquainted with those pious men, and pitying their undeserved sufterings. These interposi- tions were renewed generally by means of petitions ; and to put a stop to such troublesome interference, the king (James) in 1004, obtained an opinion from the twelve Judges, " That the King, having the supreme ecclesiastical power, could, without Parliament, make orders and constitutions for Church govern- ment ; that the High Commission might enforce them ex officio, without libel ; and that subjects might not frame petitions for redress, without being guilty of an offence fineable at discretion, and very near to treason and felony." We cannot help remarking, how little safety there would be for liberty, if its preser- vation depended upon the opinions of mere lawyers and judges. It was easily perceived that this struck directly at the essence of all liberty, civil and religious alike, and the free spirit of England began to be aroused. But as James did not immediately employ the despotic principle thus declared, the spirit aroused was rather that of jealous vigilance than direct opposition. When, however, Charles not only refused redress of grievances, but attempted to rule without Parliaments, imposing taxes without the consent of the representatives and guar- dians of the people; and when the bishops proceeded to assess themselves and the church, for the purpose of enabling Charles to levy and support an army,
p
42 CHARACTER AND BEARING OF THE ASSEMBLY,
without the support or concurrence of Parliament, the English patriots perceived clearly that the time for decided resistance was come, unless they were prepared to yield up every vestige of their ancient liberties. Nor could they help per- ceiving, that the combined sycophancy and tyranny of the prelatic form of Church government had been the means by which the nation had been brought to such a degree of extreme peril ; and that, in reality, the Puritans were the true defenders of both civil and religious freedom.
It may well be supposed that the state of matters in Scotland had exercised no slight influence on the English mind. They had seen the Presbyterian Church putting forth its great powers in defence of religious liberty, and securing civil liberty at the same time ; while they had experienced painfully that almost the entire force of their own prelatic Church had been exerted so directly and stren- uously against religious liberty, that civil liberty was almost destroyed in the ill-omened and formidable struggle. At the same time the Puritans had al- most instinctively assumed the Presbyterian form of Church government, so far as their circumstances would permit, so that the natural progress of events in- evitably suggested the idea, that if civil liberty was to be secured, it must be by first securing religious liberty ; and that religious liberty would be best secured by abolishing their own form of Church government, reducing it to a more sim- ple and scriptural aspect, and giving it the essential characteristics of a Presby- terian Church.
At length the crisis came. The bishops attempted to arrest the proceedings of the Legislature itself, by withdrawing, and declaring that all acts passed in their absence should be null and void ; and the king attempted to seize the lead- ing patriots even in the House of Commons. Resistance to such violent mea- sures was felt to be a sacred duty. The standard of civil war was raised ; first, however, by the king himself. The English Parliament passed an ordinance abolishing the prelatic form of Church government throughout its entire hier- archy,— entered into negociations with Scotland, — and passed an ordinance sum- moning an Assembly of Divines to meet at Westminster, for the purpose of " consulting and advising, that such a government should be settled in the Church as might be most agreeable to God's Ploly Word, and most apt to pro- cure and preserve the peace of the Church at home, and nearer agreement with the Church of Scotland and other reformed Churches abroad."
Such was the state of matters Avhich led to the calling of the Assembly, and such the object for which it was called to meet and deliberate ; and it was un- questionably a very remarkable state of matters. On the one hand we contem- plate a nation professing Christianity, entertaining very decidedly the idea of a National Church, but having abolished that form of Church government which prevailed, because it had proved subversive of both civil and religious liberty. On the other hand, we behold a Christian Church existing without a regular form or principles of government, necessary for giving it unity of aspect, and harmony of operation, — those of the ministers who were Puritans, never having obtained complete union and organization, and those who had been Episcopa- lians having lost their hierarchy and been disorganised.
In such a state of matters, it is evident that there could be but two lines of pro- cedure adopted by the nation and the Church. Either a great self-formed con- vention of the ministers should themselves meet, and determine upon the form of Church government which, guided by the authority of the sacred Scriptures, and the example of other reformed Churches, they would adopt, — the discipline which they would harmoniously exercise, — the form of worship which they would use, — and the Confession of Faith which they would subscribe : or, the nation itself, acting by its Legislature, should call together an Assembly of the most eminent divines, for the purpose of determining the very same points,
AND REFUTATION OF CALUMNIES. 43
with the view of giving civil sanction to whatever should he so determined, and adopting a Church so constituted, as the Established Church of the kingdom. The former method would probably have been most consistent with the proper character and duty of a Christian Church, and would have led to the most satis- factory and beneficial results ; but the latter was that which the English Parlia- ment thought proper to follow.
We are thus brought to see what was the real character of the Westminster Assembly. It was an Assembly of the most eminent Divines, called together by the Legislative representatives of the nation, in a time of great political and religious commotion and danger, for the purpose of deliberating, on the autho- rity of Scripture, and by the aid of the example and the opinions of the best Re- formed churches, respecting Avhat, in their solemn judgment, appeared to l>e the mind of Christ with regard to the government, discipline, and faith of the Christian Church. Such an Assembly might have met entirely on its own authority, as did the first, the apostolic council of Jerusalem ; and its decisions and decrees might have been binding upon all its members and all who adhered to them, without the sanction of the civil magistrate. But it could not have constituted itself an Establishment, in the full and proper sense of that term. It might have been a national Church in the same sense as the Presbyterian Church was the national Church of Scotland from 1560 to 1567, before a single act of parliament was formed for the purpose of making it the Establishment ; or as the Free Church may become the Church of this nation, though disestab- lished. But although, abstractly viewed, there might be a nation professing Christianity without an Established Church, or a Church comprising the body of a nation without being established, yet no such idea was entertained by either the Church or the nation at that period. Therefore, the framing of a Church to comprise the body of the nation, and the establishing of that Church, were with them identical ideas. The formation of a National Church, on a purely scriptural basis, and as nearly as possible agreeing with the Church of Scotland, and other reformed Churches abroad, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, was the very object for which the Westminster Assembly was called together by the English Parliament, and towards the accomplishment of which its whole deliberations were directed.
While I admit, that if the Assembly had met on its own sole authority, it might have more readily arrived at a sound conclusion on all points of delibera- tion; yet I wish it to be remembered, that when it met, it was not in the posi- tion to assume and exercise spiritual jurisdiction, for it was not actually a church court. And were I to follow out this view, it might be possible to vin- dicate the conduct of the Assembly from the charge of even seeming to submit to an Erastian interference on the part of the Parliament, for it could neither yield nor exercise a jurisdiction, which in reality it was not in a condition to possess, — which also the Parliament could neither give nor take away, in a spi- ritual sense, but the exercise of which it could and did too successfully prevent.
The necessity for such an event has been already briefly traced, and as I pre- sume to think, proved. But it may be expedient to remark, in passing, that such an Assembly might have been called and held, without the dread compul- sion and accompaniment of a civil war. Had Charles been a truly enlightened and reforming king, instead of being narrow-minded, full of the strongest and most illiberal prejudices, and of a dark and despotic temper, he might, with the advice of his parliament, have called together a similar Assembly of Divines, and requested their deliberate and solemn counsel respecting the best method of effecting a complete and thorough reformation of the Church, with the view of having it then established in purity and on a truly scriptural basis. That this might have been the case, cannot, I think, be disputed; and this consideration
44 CHARACTER AND BEARING OF THE ASSEMBLY,
alone may show, that the civil war was in reality rather an accidental and most unpropitious accompaniment of the Westminster Assembly, than in any degree essential to it, or necessary to its being held.
When the Westminster Assembly was thus called by the legislative representa- tives of the kingdom, it Avas very properly constituted of men holding the various leading opinions at that time entertained by the Christian Churches. In the original ordinance summoning the members, four bishops were named, one of whom attended on the first day of its meeting, and another sent an excuse, on the ground of necessary duty. Of the others originally summoned Jive became bishops afterwards ; and about twentij-five declined attending, partly because it was not a regular convocation called by the king, and partly because the Solemn League and Covenant was expressly condemned by his majesty ; and in this num- ber were four of those who afterwards became bishops. At first there were no more than five Independents, avowedly such, in the Assembly; who afterwards increased to seven, and ultimately numbered eleven or twelve. All the rest may properly be termed Presbyterians ; because the old Puritans had gradually as- sumed that form of worship and government, and even discipline, as far as cir- cumstances would permit. And although the six Scottish commissioners sat regularly in the Assembly, and often took a very prominent part in its discus- sions, yet, as they never voted in any division, they cannot be regarded as exer- cising any other influence in it than the very legitimate influence which eminent piety, learning, and ability will always exercise in an Assembly of rational and conscientious men.
The main topics that fell necessarily imder the consideration of the Westmin- ster Assembly were, of course, those which are essential to the regular constitu- tion and harmonious operations of an organized Church. In particular, the following subjects engaged their attention: — 1. What are the office-bearers in a properly constituted Christian Church? The discussion of this topic might have involved the Episcopalian controversy, had it not been that the hierarchy had been already condemned and abolished by the legislative voice of the nation. As it Avas, the chief question bore on the office of elder; and its decision deter- mined the point, that the character of the Westminster Assembly was decidedly Presbyterian. 2. The next point related to the subject of ordination; and that in- volved the question respecting its necessity, and whether it ought to be episcopal, presbyterial, or congregational. In this, too, the episcopal theory was readily set aside, the chief struggle being between those who regarded ordination as properly the deed of a presbytery, and those who held that any separate congre- gation might ordain its own office-bearers, even without the co-operation of other ordained pastors, though that could have been obtained. 3. The third main topic was that of discipline, whether it were solely within the control of church courts, and resting on divine authority, or whether it were sul>ject to civil control. The discussions on this topic necessarily involved the Erastian controversy, in which the Assembly had to encounter the decided opposition of the Parliament, and especially of the lawyers, who seem in all ages to be particu- larly desirous to possess the sole and supreme right of deciding not only in cases of person and property, but of conscience too. 4. The fourth chief subject to which their attention was directed was that of church government. In this also the ]<]piscopalian form was already abolished ; but the question whether it ought to be Presbyterian or Congregational was long and strenuously debated. Even in this the debates were in a great measure what might be termed one- sided; for while the Independent divines strove to prevent the adoption of the Presbyterian form, they not only did not propose their own, but even refused to specify such a form of church government as would meet their approbation, or to which they could give their assent. But the main obstacle to be encountered
AND REFUTATION OF CALUMNIES. 45
on this subject was the opposition of the Erastians, who maintained that all church government depended upon, or emanated from, and ought to be under the control of, the civil power. To this truly despotic theory the Westminster Divines gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; and for their strenuous, determined, and unyielding conduct on this vital point, they deserve, and they will obtain from all high-minded and right hearted Christian men, the well- earned reward of perpetual gratitude, and honour, and renown. 5. Confession of Faith and Catechism. On these there were no disagreements of opinion, with the single exception of what related to discipline, in which the Independents did not entirely concur, and which the Erastians vehemently opposed.
Let it be observed, that although their incessant and protracted debates pro- longed the sitting of the Assembly to an extreme, and as it proved, a pernicious extent, they were nevertheless productive of good. For the keen discussions that took place on every topic, had the effect of leading to the most minute in- vestigation, and producing the most matured and perfected result. As for in- stance, in the case of the Erastian argument, the Assembly felt it necessary to frame and propound the great principle of the distinctness of church govern- ment from the civil magistracy; but having thus destroyed the basis of Erastian- ism, they were both the more at liberty, and felt it the more their duty, to give a very clear and strong statement of the duties, rights, and powers of the civil magistrate about religion, as what he himself owes to God, whose ordi- nance for good he is in all matters within his own proper province. And as ano- ther instance of the extreme attention which was thus produced, we may re- mark, that in the Confession of Faith will be found, by every careful and intel- ligent reader, the deliverance of the Assembly on all the chief controversies which had previously agitated the Christian Church, though without their being expressly named. Indeed, many propositions in the Confession cannot be ade- quately understood without considerable acquaintance with these controversies.
Let it be further observed, that in all these topics the vital and essential ele- ment was, whether all such matters could be, or ought to be, established j?<?'e divino, — on Divine authority. On this question men are accustomed to utter very idle and very weak absurdities. Surely, since the Lord Jesus Christ has instituted a Church, for the purpose of gathering together his redeemed people, it must be a matter of infinite moment to ascertain whether he have given any principles and rules for its construction and its guidance in the discharge of its divine commission; and this being admitted, surely it must be infinitely more desirable to have his unerring authority in all such matters, than to be left to the folly and the caprice of weak, ignorant, and sinful man. But man, weak, ig- norant, and sinful as he is, being in a state of "enmity against God," wishes to escape, as far as possible, from everything that claims the supreme sanction of God's authority. Hence the desperate hostility which has always been shown to the_/?/re divino claim.
There was, however, another cause also operating in the minds of the En- glish Parliament, leading them to oppose the claim of divine right put forth by the Assembly in matters of government and discipline. It was not till after it claimed to be of divine authority that Episcopacy became the irreconcileable enemy of civil and religious liberty. It might easily be shown, that for church- men to assume a divine right to rule in civil matters is despotism, because it implies an irresponsible power, and ends in popish tyranny. And for a state or a monarch to assume a divine right to rule in spiritual matters, is equally des- potism; because it subjects conscience to physical power. The disjunction of these great co-ordinate jurisdictions, is in truth the very essence of true civil and religious liberty. "Where Popery joins them liberty cannot exist, and when Prelacy joined them — and either placed the fearful combination in the hands of
46 CHARACTER AND BEARING OF THE ASSEMBLY,
the monarch or strove to retain possession of it, on the assumption of divine authority, every form of liberty was endangered. Previously the monarch might control the bishops, and the Parliament might so far control the monarch, to the extent of bearing back absolute despotism. But when the theory of Bancroft was raised into living and energetic action by Laud, — when the High Commis- sion inflicted civil pains and penalties, without the king's authority, — when the bishop's courts drew into their jurisdiction a large proportion of the chancery cases, — when the convocation sat after the dissolution of Parliament, and voted supplies of money to support an army destined for the subversion of liberty, — and when the bishops assumed the power of nullifying the decrees of Parliament by their absence, — when such things were done on the theory of their inherent divine authority, it was not strange that every patriot became alarmed, and started back when the Westminster Divines also asserted the Jure divino claim. Yet had they examined the matter a little more dispassionately, they might have perceived that the actual predominance of elders in the Presbyterian Church must for ever render what is termed clerical domination impossible by such a Church, unless the elders neglect their own duty, which also is founded on the same principle, divine authority.
The immediate object for which the Westminster Assembly was called, was, as I have attempted to show, the re-construction, on a scriptural basis, of the shattered and disorganised English Church. But that object, vastly important as it was, did not terminate its aim and bearing. The enlightened and great- minded men, by whose influence the chief movements of both church and state were guided, contemplated ^an object immeasurably more vast and grand. They looked abroad over Christendom, and marked the character and the bear- ing of the times. They perceived clearly that a period of reaction had begun, — that Popery was fast recovering its strength, — and that true Protestantism had not merely ceased to advance, but was beginning to recoil, and to exhibit symp- toms of torpor in some places, and of mutually counter-balancing and paralyzing division and strife in others. In France the commanding genius of Cardinal Richelieu had repressed the Protestants, and knit that kingdom into united strength; and though he was recently dead, yet his schemes were ably followed out by Cardinal Mazarin, and by the youthful energy of Louis XIV. Spain, guided by Olivarez, was also apparently recovering its shattered power. Ger- many was still reeling under the dreadful struggle of the Thirty Years' War; and the Protestant hero, the great Gustavus of Sweden, was no more. The king of England was married to Henrietta of France; and while Popish in- triguers thronged the English court, there was too much reason to believe that Charles himself was not disposed to discountenance their intrigues, provided that these should promote his aim at securing the possession of absolute monar- chy. In Ireland a terrible insurrection of the Popish population had caused the massacre of, at the very lowest computation, above 40,000 of the Protestant inhabitants. Scotland had but scarcely succeeded in throwing ofi" the yoke of a Prelacy which was but little remote from Popery in nearly all its essential cha- racteristics. And England was engaged in a desperate endeavour to rescue its civil and religious liberties from the grasp of a despotic monarch, and the thin- ly disguised Popery of Laud and his associates, — Laud, to whom the pope himself had recently ofiered the popish title and dignity of a cardinal. In such a formidable conjuncture of events and circumstances, our distinguished coun- tryman Alexander Henderson, and some other large-minded and far- foreseeing men, conceived the idea of a great Protestant union, for the purpose of combin- ing into one firm and well-compacted phalanx all that held the essentials of re- formed and scriptural Christianity, that thus they might the more eftectually stem and bear back the returning tide of Popish error, superstition, and cruelty
AND REFUTATION OF CALUMNIES. 47
This great idea was so far communicated to the churches in Holland. It was by them made known to the celebrated Oxenstiern, chancellor of Sweden, who saw at once its grandeur and importance, and was prepared to give it his ready and influential concurrence and support. Let it not be thought strange that this great idea originated in the mind of a plain Scottish Presbyterian minister. That mind is necessarily great which is filled with the truth of God ; — that eye has necessarily a wide and comprehensive range, which views all things in the light of eternity. Nor was it the first time that the Scottish mountains had been the world's rallying ground. From Caledonia the iron legions of pagan Rome rolled back baffled and dismayed. Over Scotland the despotism of papal Rome never gained an undisputed sway. In the Scottish capital the tyrannical rod of the half-popish Laudean system was broken by a woman's hand; and from the Scottish border the marshalled strength of the '-Episcopalian War" recoiled, when confronted by a fearless, because God-fearing band of covenanted pea- sants. Nay, it may be that again Scotland and the Free Scottish Chui'ch may become the rallying point of evangelical and protesting Christendom, and on our mountains may again be reared, in these latter days of peril and of testi- mony-bearing, that standard which shall lead on the faithful hosts of the living God, under the Captain of salvation, to new, and holy, and everlasting con- quests.
And has there not now arrived a time when a great evangelical union is not only necessary, but also more practicable than in any former age or period? That the necessity is very great, will not be disputed by any one who heedfully ob- serves the aspect of the present time. Popery everywhere reviving, — the old Laudean Prelacy, under a new name, rapidly advancing to power, — infidelity spreading its dark venom through the neglected and oppressed masses of the population, — and the Scottish Church again overthrown, — no, not overthrown, — " persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed," — driven to the wilderness, but God and God's people speaking to her heart comfortable things. And has there not been promulgated, in brief but most emphatic terms, an idea which at once avoids the error that proved so fatal to our ancestors, and afibrds a common principle sufficiently comprehensive to construct a world-wide evan- gelical union — " Co-operation without Incorporation?" For such a con- summation as this our ancestors studied, and toiled, and prayed, and hoped, and died. For this it is our duty and our desire to study, to toil, to pray, to hope, and, if necessary, to die. For this we are now met, — this we here aloud proclaim J and when we separate, we shall carry this great idea with us, through- out our own country and the world, till it l)e finally realised.
I should have now proceeded to offer some remarks in refutation of the ca- lumnies which have been so often, so long, and so perseveringly directed against the AVestminster Assembly. But I have already occupied too much time; and I apprehend that the mere statement of the truth will in general be found to be the best refutation of falsehood and calumn}'.
It has been termed a " rebellious Assembly." Against whom or what did the Parliament of England, by which the Assembly was called, rebel? Against a lawless attempt to invade and destroy the imperscriptable and God-given rights of the nation, both civil and religious. Must a free-born man become a slave at the bidding of a royal or a prelatic despot? Can it ever be right for a free- man of the Lord to surrender the right of private judgment, while he cannot escape from its responsibility? When these great natural and religious rights and privileges are violently assailed, there does arise what philosophical states- men have been bold enough to term " the sacred right of insurrection." That such was the state of the nation has already, I trust, been proved; and let it be well observed, that all that ever appeared rebellious was done by the nation and
48 CIIAUACTER AND BEAUING OF THE ASSEJIBLV,
its representatives; the divines confined their deliberations to their own pro- vince; and the very nature of the ordinance which summoned them, secured that this should be the case. Let any man who applauds the British Constitu- tion, weigh well its import before he ventures to accuse a Parliament, which, bj resisting regal despotism, laid the foundation of that noble fabric.
It has been accused of iiitolerance and bigotry, aiid a desire to usurp a supre- macy not less oppressive than that of Popery itself. Certainly it is not for Pre- latists to produce such accusations. How long and heavily had the Puritan Presbyterians been oppressed? — yet they did not retaliate. When did they place in the pillory, and brand, and mutilate, and cast into loathsome dungeons, to perish in unheeded misery? And with regard to the Independents, the Assembly displayed, what I will venture to term astonishing patience and tole- ration, in listening to all their arguments, spending no less than thirty days on one disputed proposition, and in permitting them the undisturbed exercise of their own principle of "gathering churches," though that was directly subversive of the Presbyterian system. What they did refuse to tolerate, was the promul- gation of wild, and blasphemous, and licentious heresies, — these the Parliament suppressed,— these even Cromwell and his ecclesiastical advisers also refused to tolerate, and did not hesitate to suppress. If their conduct did display on some occasions what we would term intolerance, and which I do not mean to extenuate, far less to approve, let it be remembered that they lived in what may be termed an intolerant age; and let us avoid the intolerance of censuring harshly the con- duct of men who were placed in circumstances so trying, and in many respects so diflPerent from those in which it has been our happiness hitherto to live. And the mere allusion to their great idea of a Protestant union should be of itself enough to refute the calumnious accusation of bigotry. Bigotry ! it is not in the heart of a bigot that a love able to embrace Christendom could be cherished : it is not in the head of a bigot that an idea of such moral sublimity could be conceived. Place the mean accusation of bigotry beside the vast and glorious idea of Christian union on Scripture principles, and it will immediately disap- pear, as the phantom-fiends of night vanish away before the rising sun. Nor, as I have already remarked, is a popish, that is, a clerical, supremacy even possible, if the Presbyterian system be properly constituted and in right operation. But I need not prosecute this course of vindication. I feel assured, — I see, that enough has been already said, in the mere statement of the truth, for the refutation of all the groundless calumnies which have been so generally urged against the character and conduct of that Assembly of learned and pious divineSj whose labours in the cause of our common Christianity we have this day met to commemorate."
The Chairman said, " I can only repeat in reference to Mr Hetherington, what I said regarding Mr M'Crie, that Ave are under deep and lasting obliga- tions to him. (Hear.) I for my part feel that any fear I might have had of this meeting proving a miscarriage, to be now completely and for ever dissipa- ted. (Applause.) Even if we gain nothing more than this, that thes^ two able and eloquent papers shall have been given to the world, we have met for great purposes. (Great applause.) The research they display, and the abilities and eloquence they manifest, prove that they are any thing but ephemeral; and I hope and trust they will not be lost to the public, but that others who are not present may have an opportunity of reading them, and deriving from them the same im- portant instruction that we have done." (Applause.)
Professor Symington said, — After the instructive and valuable addresses which we have just heard, conveyed with so much energy and eloquence, I should
CONVERSATION. 49
perhaps better consult my own reputation by following the course of the mutes in the Westminster Assembly. (Hear, and laughter.) Certainly, even should I now come forward both in matter and in manner far superior to what I ever could command, I cannot hope to gain your attention. I have to ex- press my gratitude to the committee for arranging the business, that they have afforded me an opportunity of joining in the expression of the obligation under which Ave have been placed to the gentlemen who have favoured us with their interesting addresses. The one has proved himself worthy of being the son of the revered Dr M'Crie, the biographer of Knox and of Melville, and the castigator of him who dared to traduce the piety of those who fought the battles of our freedom. (Applause.) Long may he live to follow the course of his sainted sire! The admirable essay of the other is Avorthy too of the author of the History of the Church of Scotland and of the AV^estmiuster Assembly. He has breathed this day such a high tone of Christian liberty as makes me feel in this Assembly ready to sympathize with the sentiments of a venerable father who said a few weeks ago, in this very hall, that he felt as if breathing a ncAv atmo- sphere. (Applause.) I shall not occupy your time by many observations. I shall only remark that in the allusions of Mr M'Crie to the history of the times, I felt myself instructed and led back to a most interesting era in the history of this country, when an invasion was attempted upon our Christian liberties ; and in looking back I was led to praise God, who raised up men and means to break the snare, and made us to escape as a bird out of the hand of the fowler. The facts are interesting in themselves, and they furnish many suggestions of a practical kind. I felt, when the first speaker was describing so graphically the leading men and incidents of the Westminster Assembly, as if I had been con- ducted into a large picture gallery, and to a grand historical painting, and an in- telligent guide with me to tell me every thing of interest that was connected with the constellation of portraits. I felt indeed deeply interested, and I have no doubt that this Assembly all feel as I felt. (Applause.) We have been told of the opposition that was shown to Reformation on the part of the Government, and in connexion with that we have reason to bless God who restrains the re- mainder of man's wrath. It is dreadful to think of the enmity that could go to the grave and dig up men's bones; but oh! Iioav feeble is the power of man. Could the persecutors who went to the grave of that morning star of the Re- formation, Wickliffe, and cast his ashes into the Avaters of LuttcrAvorth — could they extinguish the light of the Ncav Testament which he translated, or put an end to the doctrines Avhich he taught? No, these still live, Avhile his enemies are forgotten, or are remembered only to be scorned. (Applause.) Let us therefore look back to these eminent men; let us feel our obligations to God for them, and Avhile Ave applaud the success of the artist Avith his pencil and can- vass, let us look to God Avho made the originals, and let us look up to him Avith whom is the residue of the Spirit, that men of similar mould may bo raised up in our oAvn times. Yes, Hendersons and Gillespies AAcre required to be raised up; and let us lift up our voices in prayer that similar men may be raised and strengthentd to continue the Lord's Avork amongst us.
Before sitting down, I beg to say that there are tAVO things connected with this meeting which have struck me not a little. The one is, that this Bicentenary should have occurred so near the time when an exhibition was made in our times to Scotland, to Britain, and to the Avorld of a noble and magnanimous and independent party turning their backs upon an Eras- tian throne, Avhile attempting to invade their liberties — and leaving it in calm peace and conscious dignity to come doAvn to this hall Avhere avc are noAv met, and there to proceed Avith their Avork. (Applause.) I never witnessed a more interesting spectacle than on that occasion. Now, that this should have
50 CONVERSATION.
occurred so near to the time of commemorating an Assembly that opposed itself to Erastianism, and contended manfully for the independence of the redeemed and free Church of the glorious Saviour, appears to me to be a synchronism M'orthy of notice, and to be a token for good. The Lord has indeed honoured this land and the Church within it; but let us feel humble — let us feel that we are unworthy of his favours, and let us look to the Lord to give us grace to do those duties which He requires at our hands. The other consideration to which I alluded is connected with the fact of our meeting. I am not here either to obtrude ray own sentiments upon others or to compromise them; but this present meeting is to me a more interesting meeting than the former, because I here see a meeting of Christian ministers, elders, and people, sound in the leading doctrines of the Gospel, and in order and discipline, though differing in other matters; and on that account I cannot help thinking that this hall where we are now convened is an honoured place. I have had the pleasure of being in Henry VIL's Chapel, where the Westminster Assembly was held ; and though it has a more elegant roof than our present hall — (Laughter) — and is adorned with the banners of the peers, there is more light here — light direct from the sun, and the light which comes direct from the Sun of Righteousness, not reflected from other surfaces, or contaminated by other means, is the light in which we ought to walk. When we speak of a Protestant union, let us remem- ber that there must be a centre ; a centre more glorious than the natural sun ; even He who is Head over all things. We are assured that his name shall en- dure for ever; that His name shall last as long as the sun; that men shall be blessed in Him, and that all nations shall call Him blessed." (Applause.)
Rev. Mr Gorrie of Kettle (Relief) said, — " I feel reluctant and averse to claim the attention of this large audience even for a few minutes. Judging from my own feelings, I am sure that your attention must be already nearly ex- hausted from the efforts which you have been called upon to make in fol- lowing the eloquent and splendid addresses which we have just listened to. Allow me to say, that after the rapid, but not meagre — the minute but masterly sketch of the leading characters and incidents of the Westminster Assembly, given by the worthy son of a worthy sire, the historian of the renowned prede- cessor of the Westminster Divines, and the admirable condensation of the character and bearings of that Assembly, given by one whom I shall take the liberty of calling the successor of the venerable M'Crie — (cheers) — who has entered the field which he cultivated with so much honour — who is now reaping that field, and has gathered fresh laurels therefrom. On him the mantle of Elijah seems to have fallen: he has taken it up, and has divided the waters with it. If any Assembly ever deserved to be commemorated by Presbyterians, certainly it is the Assembly of Divines at Westminster. Though two centuries have elapsed since that meeting, each of them crowded with memorable events — yet its lustre is not dimmed — its glory is not eclipsed — its effects are not exhausted, and its full fruit is yet far from being gathered. Perhaps no uninspired writings have exercised a wider influence, or have more powerfully moulded the population of any land, than the admirable productions of this Assembly. Do they not form the materials by which parents instil the elements of divine knowledge into the hearts of their children — do they not form the school-books by which masters impart the elements of Christian and saving knowledge to their pupils? Is not the well-thumbed catechism taken down by the venerable sire in his retirement on the evening of the Lord's day, when he would refresh the memories of his children with the precious records of valuable truth contained therein? How often has it been conned by the ingle nook, or by the shade of some spreading tree, throughout the length and breadth of Scot-
CONVERSATION. 51
land, and may we not trace the religious character of our population to the influ- ence it has produced? In estimating the value of the, labours of this Assembly, and in endeavouring to gather up lessons of encouragement from these labours, it appears to me that there is a principle which ought not to be overlooked. The principle is this, that we ought to distinguish between what we may regard as the accessories of the Assembly, and those permanent and perennial principles and truths which are embodied by the Assembly in their Confession and Catechism. What I would speak of as accessories include all the circumstances that were peculiar to that period, such as the calling of the Assembly by Parliament — its inhibition by the authority of the king — its submitting the result of its labours in the form of advice to Parliament, and requiring its sanction. All these things I look upon as resulting from the peculiarities of the period. Every period, to a certain degree, gives its form and pressure to the opinions of the men of that period. If, therefore, we would set a proper value upon the opinions of these men, we must take care to separate these opinions from the influences which come from without, over which they have no control, but which mould and fashion their opinions to a certain degree. Farther, I think that, from the sketches given us by the gentlemen who have addressed us, we may come to this conclusion, that sad and deplorable results must follow from the blending together of civil and sacred things. What was it that occasioned the manifold evils which have been so admirably depicted in these addresses? It was the fact of the civil magistrate being invested with supremacy in ecclesiastical matters. WTiether it was Henry or Elizabeth, or James or Charles, that exercised that supremacy, we find the same evils flowing from that source. We are therefore brouglit to this important conclusion, that if we would preserve our civil and spiritual liberties, we must maintain the se- parate jurisdictions of the two powers, according to the sentiments so admirably expressed by Mr Hetherington, and to which this Assembly so cordially and so harmoniously responded.
Among other lessons to be learned from the Westminster Assembly was the danger of attempting too much. That Assembly, though it had done much, did not accomplish so much as it might have done if it had attempted less. They attempted uniformity, and therefore they did not succeed. Had they been satisfied with union they might have succeeded; but they attempted uniformity in place of union, and therefore their labours were frustrated. Let us in the present day take a lesson iirom these mistakes; and instead of attending to forms let us look to the spirit, let us implant among ourselves the spirit of union, and that spirit will give itself form; and thus, though we may not have uniformity — though there may be a little of variety, it was no matter; let us but have the spirit of union, and the great end would be accomplished. If the Westminster Divines found it beneficial for the friends of religion to have a closer union — if they found it needful to stand shoulder to shoulder, let me ask, is it safe for us in these days to stand aloof from each other, and to pursue our separate and party views at the expense of the general interests of the community of Chris- tians? (Hear, hear.) Are we so safe, so free from danger, that we can aflbrd to direct the greater part of our aims and eff"orts to the advancement of the few and narrow points on which we difi'er, while we neglect the many and the great points on which we are agreed? (Cheers.) Is not the Church one — is it not a flock fed by one Shepherd — the kingdom of one King — the family of one Father ? Is there not one faith, one Lord, one hope, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and I trust in us all? If then tlie Westmin- ster Assembly were destined through this meeting to promote an increase of harmony and communion — for the Westminster Assembly advocated Christian communion, not party or sectarian communion, but the communion of saints —
62 OPPOSITION OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY
the communion of all who call upon the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity — if the result of this meeting should he to promote harmony, and co-operation, and communion, as a preparation for union, so that the Assembly might thus entwine a fresh laurel, and plant a new gem in the crown of the Redeemer, we shall not have met in vain — a step will have been taken to fulfil that prayer of our Lord which is yet unfulfilled — that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (Cheers.)
The Chairman then pronounced the benediction, after which the meeting adjourned till the evening.
Evening Sederunt. — July 12,
The Rev. Dr A. Symington occupied the chair, and opened the meeting in the usual manner.
The Rev. Dr Cunningham first addressed the meeting, and was received with great applause. After apologizing for his unpreparedness to address them, owing to his having been engaged in England for some time, only having got home on Friday night, and having been since then also much occupied, and from fatigue and exhaustion very much indisposed to study, having been quite unable to write out what he had to say, and being obliged to address them from notes without having a single finished sentence to lay before them, the reverend Doctor then proceeded to say, that the subject on which he had been called to address them was,
THE OPPOSITION OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY TO POPERY, PRELACY, AND ERASTIANISM.
" These are very grave and weighty topics, every one of them entitled to occupy the whole time to which I can lay claim in addressing you on them all. I need not tell you that Popery is represented in the sacred Scriptures, and ought to be ever regarded, as the grand enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the Christian Church, and of Christ's cause upon earth, — and this being the case, it is plain, as all history, since the rise of Popery, shows, that in order to be enabled to do anything material for the reformation of the Church of Christ, and for the promotion of its welfare, we must come into colli- sion with Popery. This must undoubtedly be the case till Popery be destroyed; and the friends of Christ ought always to be looking after that system, fathom- ing its schemes, and doing their best to defeat its machinations; for the Church of Christ must be involved in grievous error if at any time it be brought to be- lieve that it ought to pay no regard to the schemes and machinations of the Pa- pacy, and to think that no danger is to be apprehended from the Man of Sin. Scripture assures us that Popery will not change, but that it must be destroyed. All other Churches may be reformed, but Ave know that the Church of Rome, — and this is one of its grand distinctive peculiarities, — is not to be reformed, but to be destroyed by the brightness of Jehovah's coming. Popery may, in fact, be regarded as the corruption of every thing about Christianity in doc- trine, government, discipline, and worship. Indeed, almost all other errors and heresies are just parts or branches of Popery, except in some cases where men have run into the opposite extremes, as, for example, Socinianism and Erastian- ism, although even in these curious resemblances and important analogies are to be found to the Popish system. The Westminster Assembly did not come very
TO POPERY, PRELACY, AND ERASTIANISM. 53
fully or formally into collision with Popery ; that was not the controversy which at that time occupied the attention of the Church and the world. Accordingly, on examining the Standards which they drew up, we find less there in which Popery is expressly adverted to, and condemned hy name, than is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, and the first Confession of the|Church of Scotland; although, at the same time, they contain, as every great system of divine truth must contain, many statements directed against the errors of the Church of Rome, and the full hearing of which can only be understood by those who have a knowledge of the errors of that Church. A very familiar instance of this is found, for example, in the answer to this question in the Shorter Catechism as to the Lord's Supper, — " The Lord's Supper is a sacrament wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, his death is showed forth, and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers," &c. Of course no one can fully understand the meaning of this statement without being acquainted with the Popish doctrine of transubstantiation. At the period of the AVestminster Assem- bly, or in the period immediately preceding it, a modified form of Popery ap- peared in England under the patronage of Archbishop Laud, a disease to which the Church of England, from the radical unsoundness of her constitution, seems to be periodically subject; for we have it appearing in exactly the same form, and with the same features, in our own day, under the name of Puseyism. I may briefly illustrate by a quotation from Baillie, the close resemblance which obtains between Laudism and Puseyism. Most, I believe, will be scarce pre- pared for the striking resemblance, even in details, which exists between them. The following extracts are taken from the Contents of a Treatise of Baillie's, enti- tled, " Laudensium Autocatacrisis, or, the Canterburian's Self-conviction, or an evident demonstration of the Arminianism, Popery, and tyranny of that faction."
I shall just read you a few of the heads of chapters: —
" The Canterburians professed affection towards the Pope and Poperie in grosse. — Once they were suspected of Lutheranisme, but at last Poperie was found their marke : To make way for their designes, they cry down the Popes Antichristianisme : They are content to have the Popes, authoritie set up againe in England: Their mind to the Cardinalat: They aflFect much to be joined with the Church of Rome as shee stands.
" The Canterburians joine with Rome in her grossest idolatries. In the middes of their denyalls, yet they avow their giving of religious adoration to the very stock or stone of the altar: As much adoration of the elements they grant as the Papists require: In the matter of images their full agre^ent with Rome. About relics they agree with Papists: They come neere to the invoca- tion of saints.
•' The Canterburians avow their embracing of the Popish heresies and gross- est errors. — They joine with Rome in setting up traditions in prejudice of Scripture : In the doctrine of faith, justification, fulfilling of the law, merit, they are fully Popish : In the doctrine of the Sacraments, behold their Poperie : They are for the re-erection of monasteries, and placeing of monks and nunnes therein as of old : How neere they approach to purgatorie and prayer for the dead.
" Anent their Superstitions. — Few of all Romes superstitions are against their stomack : They embrace the grossest, not only of their private, but also of their public superstitions.
" The Canterburians embrace the Messe it self. — They cry downe so farre as they can, all preaching : They approve the masse both for word and matter : The Scotish Liturgie is much worse than the English : Many alterations into the Scotish, specially about the offertorie, the consecration, the sacrifice, the communion."
54 orrosiTioN of the Westminster assembly
And here I cannot resist the temptation, though it is not very directly connected with the matter in hand, of reading the concluding sentences of Robert Baillie's preface to this book, in which he expresses his surprise at the apathy of the evangelical portion of the Church of England, and calls on them to rise and maintain a decided testimony against Laudism, — an exhortation which may, with equal force, be addressed now to the evangeUcal clergy in the same Church, calling on them to throw ofiF their apathy and rise and maintain a decided testimony against Puseyism. The sentences to which I refer are these : —
" It is one of the wonders of the world, how many of the English divines can at this time be so dumbe, who could well, if they pleased, paint out before your eyes with a sun-beam all the crimes I speak of in that head and members. It is strange that the pilloring of some few, that the slitting of Bastwickes and Burtowns nose, the burning of Prinnes cheeke, the cutting of Lightouns eares, the scourging of Lylburne through the citie, the close keeping of Lincolne, and the murthering of others by famine, cold, vermine, stinke, and other miseries in the caves and vaults of the bishopes houses of inquisition, should bind up the mouths of all the rest of the learned. England wont not in the dayes of hottest persecution, in the very Marian times, to be so scant of faithfull witnesses to the trueth of Christ. We can not now conjecture what is become of that zeal to the true religion, which we are perswaded lyes in the heart of many thousands in that gracious Kirk ; we trust, indeed, that this long lurking, and too too long silence of the saints there, shall break out at once in some hundredths of trumpets and lampes, shining and shouting, to the joy of all the Reformed Churches, against the camp of those enemies to God, and to the King ; that quickly it may be so, behold I heere first upon all hazards do break my pitcher, do hold out my lampe, and blowe my trumpet before the Commissionars of the whole Kingdome, offering to convince that prevalent faction by their own mouth, of Arminianism, Poperie, and tyrannic."
How singularly suitable and seasonable this extract is to the circumstances in which the Church of England is now placed ! It is indeed, remarkable, — the coincidence between that time and this, especially in these two particulars, — that as then Laudism in England, and tyranny and coercion in regard to our own country were combined, so now we have Puseyism combined with deliberate and authoritative interference with the religious convictions of a large portion of the people of Scotland. What the result of the singular combination then was, you all know. God only knows what the result of a similar combination will be in these days of ours; only let it be the earnest study and the fervent prayer of all the friends of Christ, and aU the evangelical Churches, that the benefits which then re- sulted to religion may again be reaped now, without the disadvantages with which they were accompanied then, — and that by greater moderation, charity, and for- bearance on the part of all, and more cordial co-operation between the evangelical Churches for the promotion of evangelical truth, more may be done in our day for the cause of truth and godliness than was done then, and that the benefits which may thus accrue to religion may be unaccompanied by the drawbacks which then neutralised, to a large extent, the good which was actually effected. (Great applause.) If the Westminster Assembly, then, was not called to con- tend very directly with Popery, neither was it called to contend very directly with semi-Popery, or Laudism, because even that controversy was virtually over before the Assembly met. The call which Baillie had addressed to the evan- gelical clergy of the Church of England had been answered. Before the meet- ing of the Assembly, the old establishment had been overturned ; Prelacy had been abolished, and was substantially in the condition of a fallen foe, with whom it was not at all necessary to come into collision. In the course of a very few years, the Presbyterian Church government, — a government based, as we
TO POPERY, TRELACV, AND EKASTIANISiM. 55
helieve, on the word of God, and sanctioned by almost all the Reformers and Reformed Churches, — gained the ascendancy in England, and prostrated the hierarchy before it. Some members of the Westminster Assembly, indeed, would not, I believe, have objected to what was called a modified Episcopacy; but the discussion of that subject did not form part of the business of the As- sembly. What they approved of, however, was not Episcopacy or Prelacy pro- perly so called, but the lawfulness of a Presbytery investing one of their number with a certain measure of superior authority, without however his being raised to a higher order, or being exempted from their control. But this is not the proper idea of Prelacy; tlie proper idea of Prelacy is to this eftect, — that it is the mind and will of Christ that there should exist permanently in his Church, a dis- tinct class of office-bearers higher than ordinary pastors, who possess jurisdiction over them, and are capable of performing certain functions necessary in admin- istering the ordinary affairs of Christ's Church, which pastors cannot validly, or at least regularly and lawfully, perform without them. This is the proper idea of Pre- lacy; and in this sense it is quite destitute of any warrant either in Scripture or primitive antiquity ; and few things are more remarkable in church history than that Prelacy, in that sense, should have been held by so many men, not only of ta- lent and learning, but of undoubted piety. It is one of those facts, and there are many such, which should teach us to put a charitable construction on the motives of those who differ from us. No doubt it also shows how much men's opinions are influenced by the circumstances in which they are placed. Little, very little, can be said for Prelacy ; yet it is held by many whose general motives are above suspicion. Few causes indeed possessed of so little merit have received so large a measure of respectable support. But the controversy with Prelacy was, as I have said, over before the Westminster Assembly met. It had been first worsted in argument, and then it had been put down by authority. It was re-established, however, at the Restoration, to the grievous injury of the inte- rests of religion, and has continued ever since; and now, roused, by the infu- sion of a new spirit, from the torpid secularity in which so long it had been in- volved, it has again come into collision with evangelical truth. Of course, in the long run, it will suffer frpm the shock. May we not hope that the present doings of High Church Prelacy, though they may for a time increase its influ- ence, and even gain for it a temporary ascendancy, will yet be the means of lead- ing to its final overthrow, and that once overthrown, it may not again regain its ascendancy in these lands. (Great applause.)
The other topic on which I have been appointed to address you, viz. Eras- tianism, is one with which the Westminster Assembl}' came into collision; and the full consideration of this point would lead to the discussion of some delicate and difficult topics, on which it is probable we would not all be agreed. I will, however, endeavour, in what I shall say, to avoid giving offence to any one. Erastianism is a term used in theological writings to denote the improper inter- ference of the civil power in or about religion, and the affairs of the Church of Christ. But as there is no very definite recognised standard on the subject, many who condemn Erastianism in the gross, do not agree as to the various po- sitions and practices which they consider as Erastian. Some think all interfer- ence of the civil magistrate regarding religion, or directed to the promotion of its welfare, necessarily involves at once an Erastian control over those whom he fiivours, and persecution, or something like it, of those whom he does not favour. The Westminster Divines did not entertain this opinion; and a large proportion of those who approve of the Westminster Standards, have not seen reason to adopt it, but think Erastianism sufficiently guarded against when the civil magistrate is excluded from all jurisdiction or right of authoritative control by enactment or decision, in religious matters or over the affairs of the Church.
oG OPPOSITION OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY
By jurisdiction, or authoritative control, we mean a right of deciding or deter- mining, either by general enactment or specific decision, so as to impose a valid obligation to obey, and to punish by civil pains and penalties, simply because, or on account, of disobedience. Some of the Westminster Divines certainly held views as to the extent of the civil magistrate's right to punish, with which most of us could not concur; but they certainly did not intend to ascribe to the civil magistrate any jurisdiction or right of authoritative control in religious matters, or over the Church of Christ, as if the true religion and the Church of Christ were not only the object of the magistrate's care, — for this they certain- ly held, — but also the subject of his direct operation, or that it lay within the sphere where he is entitled to rule. Some of the ablest men in the Long Par- liament were Erastians, and one of them (Selden) has written learnedly in de- fence of Erastianism in his book De Synedriis. Baillie complains frequently of the Erastian lawyers, — " unhappy members," as he calls them^ " of this Parlia- ment." They gave the Assembly, it would seem, a great deal of annoyance, though the statement which has been recently made, that the Erastians suc- ceeded in actually affecting the compilation of the Standards, is wholly unwar- ranted and inconsistent with well known historical facts, and especially with the fact that the Parliament, under their influence, refused its sanction to the 30th and 31st chapters of the Confession, simply because of their clear opposition to everything like Erastianism. It is true, however, that in consequence of the Westminster Divines having come into such keen controversy with Erastians, and their being then generally charged with denying the proper power of the civil magistrate, they were led not unnaturally to use the strongest language which principle would admit of in describing the power which they believed scripture did concede to the civil magistrate — bringing that out with great force of language, and with such an amplitude of statement and fulness of detail as is apt to star- tle those who knew that the Westminster Assembly were, and intended to be, thoroughly anti-Erastian. This circumstance has led to another allegation, to the effect, that while the Westminster Standards do contain statements which are and were intended to be opposed to all Erastianism — for this is a position that cannot be disputed, there are also statements incorporated, with these which do sanction something like Erastian jurisdiction. The discussion of this point would lead us much more into matters of detail than at present we would have time for; and I am myself the less inclined to do so, because I have lately laid before the public a sketch of the grounds on which I think it can be successfully maintained, that there is really nothing at all Erastian in the AVestminster Confession — that there is nothing in the 23d chapter inconsistent with what is to be found in the 30th and 31 st. My own opinion upon this point I would express in the words of Dr M'Crie, or rather in the words of the Public Testimony of that Church of which he was long a distinguished ornament, — "That the doctrine respecting civil rul- ers contained in the Confessions of the Reformed Churches, and particularly in the Westminster Confession, can be defended on the principles of Scripture and reason above stated. Whatever sense may be imposed on some expressions in it, taken by themselves, yet, upon a fair and candid interpretation of the whole doctrine which it lays down upon the subject, the Westminster Confession will not be found justly chargeable with countenancing persecution for conscience sake, with subjecting matters purely religious to the cognizance of the civil magis- trate, or with allowing him a supremacy over the Church, or any power in it." P. 65. " AVe shall only further add, that, to assert that the Church has not an intrinsic right to call her own Assemblies, — that the civil magistrate has a right to do this in ordinary cases, or that he has a right to do it in any case, by virtue of a pretended supremacy over the Church, and in matters ecclesiastical, — that his presence is necesary to give validity to their proceedings, — that he sits as a
TO rOPERY, PRELACY, AND KBASTIANISM. i>7
preses or director of the deliberations and votes,— that he has a right to pre- scribe or dictate to them what their decisions shall be, — or that, after they have deliberated and decided, he may receive appeals from their judgment, and re- view, alter, or reverse their sentences,' — to assert any or all of these things, is to assert what is not only without countenance from the words of the Confession, but contrary to its express declarations, and utterly inconsistent with the com- mon principles of Presbyterians, and, in particular, with the well-known prin- ciples and contendings of the Church of Scotland, and the expUcit declarations which she made in her act approving of the Westminster Confession." Pp. 69, 70. I much rather, however, now direct my few remaining observations to consider- ing the leading positions of the Westminster Standards, which were intended to be exclusive of all jurisdiction on the part of the civil magistrate in ecclesiasti- cal matters, and in the true meaning and leading applications of which we can all cordially and harmoniously unite. The first position is, that the Lord Jesus Christ, as King and Head of his Church, has therein appointed a governmerit in the hands of church-officers, distinct from the civil magistrate. This is the fundamental proposition with regard to this great controversy, — a position which is in itself, and was intended by the Assembly to be, and was felt and acknowledged by its opponents to be, conclusive against any Erastian jurisdic- tion. On this point I shall take the liberty of reading some observations which I published some years ago.
" The plain and obvious import of this proposition is, that as there is in a state or commonwealth, government, or a power of direction and control, vest- ing authority in the magistrate, and imposing an obligation to obey upon the subjects, so there is also in the Church, which had previously been defined on good scriptural grounds, (Conf. c. xxv. s. 2.) to 'consist of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, together with their children/ a government, or power of regulation and control, distinct from civil government, flowing from Christ as mediator, subject wholly to his control, and vested by him not in ma- gistrates or civil functionaries, but in church-officers, i. e., in ministers and el- ders. This assertion of a government established by Christ in the Church, in the hand of church-officers, distinct from the civil magistrate, was openly con- troverted in the Westminster Assembly ; and the opposite doctrine, that he had not appointed a distinct government, was openly maintained. There seem, in- deed, to have been only two ministers so thoroughly Erastian, as to deny that Christ had appointed in his Church a government distinct from the civil, and only one who openly argued against it; but as Baillie, who was one of the commissioners of the Church of Scotland in that Assembly, tells us, in his Let- ters, (vol. ii. p. 195) ' the lawyers in the Parliament did blow up the poor man with much vanity, so that he is become their champion to bring out, in the best way he can, Erastian arguments against the proposition, for the contentment of the Parliament.' The Erastian lawyers of that period, being men greatly su- perior in point of talent and learning to those who have undertaken the defence of the same bad cause in our own day, saw clearly that the whole Erastian con- troversy turned upon the question, whether or not Christ had appointed in his Church a government distinct from the civil ; and having failed in their attempts to persuade the Assembly to reject this proposition, they ejfcrted their influence in Parliament to prevent its receiving a civil sanction; and, accordingly, through this Erastian influence, and upon this Erastian ground, the English Parliament refused to give the civil sanction to the thirtieth chapter of the Westminster Confession.
" Some of the Erastian lawyers of our own day have subscribed the Confession as elders; and none of them can dispute, that the proposition which we are considering, being contained in the Confession, has received the explicit sanction
H
58 Ol'POSITlON OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY
of civil statute in Scotland, and ought therefore to he received as law in the Parliament House, as well as in the General Assemhly. But being precluded from meeting this proposition, as the old Erastians did, with a direct negative, they have made some feeble and awkward' attempts to explain away the mean- ing of the statement. They have been particularly anxious to li7nit the applica- tion of this general position, as they could not but feel, that if Christ has ap- pointed a distinct government in his Church in the hand of his own officers, then, in regard to every thing fairly comprehended in the administration of this government, the interference of any foreign or civil authority is by this appoint- ment, from the very nature of the case, necessarily excluded. It has recently been alleged, that the distinct government which Christ is here said to have ap- pointed in his Church, refers only to the power of inflicting and remitting church censures. But this position is utterly destitute of any foundation in the words used, which naturally and obviously include something more wide and compre- hensive, and is inconsistent with the general tenor of the whole statements on the subject in the Confession. It is certain that this proposition was intended by the Westminster Assembly to contain a general deliverance on the whole Erastian controversy. This is proved by the express testimony of Baillie, who makes the following statement regarding it: 'Coming upon the article of the Church, and the church notes, to oppose the Erastian heresy, which in this land is very strong, especially among the lawyers, unhappy members of this parlia- ment, we find it 7iecessary to say,' — and then he introduces the position we are at present considering, (vol. ii. p. 195.)
"This is plain also, from the following account of the matter, given in Neal's History of the Puritans, (vol. iii. p. 278) : ' The first committee was appointed to determine, whether any particular church government was jure divino, and to bring their proofs from Scripture. But here they stumbled at the very threshold, for the Erastians divided them and entered their dissent; and when the question was put, they withdrew from the Assembly, and left the high Presbyterians to themselves, who agreed, with only one dissenting voice, that Jesus Christ, as King of the Church, hath himself appointed a church govern- ment distinct from the civil magistrate.'
"The Erastian lawyers of our day seem to think, that by confining the decla- ration, that Christ has appointed a government in his Church, distinct from the civil, in the hands of ecclesiastical office-bearers, to the subject of church cen- sures, they leave the other departments of church government, such as the exa- mination, admission, and ordination of ministers, free to be controlled by the superintending authority of the civil power, whereas, if they were acquainted with the history of the Erastian controversy, they would know, that while the Erastians usually denied altogether that Christ had appointed a government in the Church distinct from the civil, they directed their arguments and their oflTorts mainly against the right of the ecclesiastical office-bearers to inflict church cen- sures, a fact which at once accounts for the connection in the Confession be- tween the great general truth about a distinct government and the subject of church censures, which is only one of the applications of this truth, and also shows, that the inference which has been deduced from the connection is erroneous. In fact, the Erastians of those days did not venture to deny, that the ordination of ministers belonged by divine authority to the Church; and when Coleman, the minister referred to in the extract formerly given from Baillie, maintained that Christ had not appointed a distinct government in the Church, and did so chiefly for the purpose of overthrowing the right of church officers to inflict censures, Gillespie, who took the leading part in conducting this controver y, pressed him with tliis objection, that this general proposition would exclude not only suspension from the sacrament, and excommunication,
TO POPERY, PRELACY, AND ERASTIANISM. 59
but also the ordination and deposition of ministers, except under the control of the civil magistrate ; the ordination and deposition of office-bearers being manifestly included in church government, as well as the suspension and excommunication of ordinary members. " And Coleman, in reply, instead of venturing to maintain, that ordination and deposition are subject to the control of the civil magistrate, alleged that ordination did not fall under the head of church government, but under the ' commission of teaching,' and so belonged jure divino to the Church, even though the doctrine, that Christ had appointed a distinct government in the Church, ■were denied. (Gillespie's Male Audis, pp. 8, 9.) This reply of Coleman was evidently a mere evasion ; but, as on the one hand, Gillespie's oI)jcction shows how universally and decidedly it was then held by orthodox divines, that the distinct government which Christ had appointed, comprehended every thing connected with the ordination of office-bearers as w^ell as the infliction of church censures, so, on the other, Coleman's answer shows very strikingly how impos- sible the Erastians of. those days felt it to be, to give the civil magistrate any control over ordination, even while they subjected to his authority the whole matter of church censures.
"From these facts it is manifest, that the attempt of modern Erastians to con- fine the great truth embodied in the Confession, and in the statute law of Scot- land, that Christ has appointed in his Church a government distinct from the civil, in the hands of ecclesiastical office-bearers, to the subject of church cen- sures, is inconsistent with the known principles and objects of those who pre- pared it ; and also, that in order to defend their Erastian views, precluded as they are from denying this great fundamental truth, they are obliged to have recourse to absurdities and extravagancies, of which the more able and learned Erastians of former days would have been ashamed.
" The Erastians of former days denied to church officers only, or chiefly', the power of inflicting church censures, independently of the control of the civil magistrate, and left them the other powers usuall^-^ comprehended under the head of church government, while the more ignorant Erastians of our own day would leave to them only the power of inflicting church censures independent- ly, and would suhjecl their other powers of jurisdiction to the superintendence and control of the civil authority. The old Erastians thought that the power of inflicting censures, i. e. of suspending and excluding from ordinances, Avas al- most the only part of the authority usually claimed by ecclesiastical office- bearers, which they could plausibly or successfully assail ; and had they been precluded, as our modern Erastians are, by the express terras of the Confession, from denying the general principle, that Christ has appointed a distinct govern- ment in his Church, and the application of this general principle to the subject of church censures, they would at once have acknowledged that a fortiori, the power of admitting and ordaining ministers belonged exclusively to the Church itself by scriptural authority.
" Not only, however, is it certain, that this doctrine of the Confession was in- tended to be a deliverance on the Erastian controversy in general, and not mere- ly on the subject of church censures ; but the statement itself, as it stands in the Confession and in the Statute Book, plainly does decide, in its fair import and application, all our disputes with Erastians, and lay a firm and sure founda- tion for all for which the Church of Scotland is at present contending. If Christ, as King and Head of his Church, has appointed therein a government in the hand of church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate, it plainly follows, that none without the Church can have any share in this government, or any control over its exercise ; that none can administer it but the church officers, into whose hands Christ has put it ; that in the exeercise of it they are subject and account-
60 orjPosiTioN oi- i'he westIIiinster assemhly
able only to him, and that any attempt by other parties than Church-oiBcers to assume the administration of this government, or to interfere in regulating its exercise, is an unwarrantable usurpation, a depriving of Church office-bearers of the power and authority which Christ has conferred upon them, an assumption of his supremacy, a perversion of his arrangements. AV^hen, then, the Seceders introduced into tlieir formula the position, that this government ' is not subor- dinate to the civil,' they were merely explaining and expanding the statement of the Confession, that it is " distinct" from the civil ; for if Christ has appoint- ed a Church government distinct from the civil, it is self-evident that the civil magistrate, as such, or in virtue of his office and of the power and authority be- longing to it, has no right to interfere in its administration ; and that if he does claim any such right, he must found it not upon the power or authority which he is entitled to exercise as civil magistrate, but upon some special and express warrant of Christ himself.
" Christ has put the administration of this distinct government into the hand of Church-officers, and of them alone ; and no others, therefore, unless they can produce an express divine warrant, are entitled to take it into their own hand, or to direct or control his office-bearers in the administration of it."*^
Another important position is, that "the civil magistrate may not assume to himself the power of the keys," and this, when distinguished as it is in the Con- fession from the preaching of the word and the administration of sacraments, just means the right of judicially or forensically deciding all questions which may arise as to the admission of men to, or the exclusion of men from, office or ordinances in the Church of Christ, — a power which Erastians deny to belong to Church-officers, except as under the Civil Magistrate. The English Articles, in describing the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Crown, exclude him from the preaching of the word, and the administration of sacraments, but not as our Confession does from the power of the keys, apparently from a notion that if he were also excluded from the power of the keys, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to say wherein the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Crown consisted. Erastians always admitted that the office-bearers of the Church should have dis- tinct functions, but denied them a distinct government. They always admitted that there were some things about the Church of Christ which could not be done without ecclesiastical office-bearers, but they did not admit a distinct go- vernment; their fundamental position was, that whenever any question occurred which required to be forensically or judicially decided, for instance, as to whe- ther or no an individual should be ordained, or admitted to the Lord's table, though the ministers and Church Courts should generally and in ordinary cir- cumstances be allowed to decide it, yet that the appeal should ultimately lie to the civil authority. On the contrary, the Westminster Divines held, and in their Standards expressed, the great position, that the " Lord Jesus Christ, as King and Head of his Church, hath therein appointed a government in the hands of Church-officers, distinct from the Civil Magistrate," which implies, that in regard to all matters which occur in the course of the administration of the affiiirs of the Church, and in the settlement of all questions which arise in regard to them, the proper tribunal for forensically deciding them is not the Civil Magistrate, or any person holding a commission from him, but only Church- officers, " who have received gifts for government, and a commission to execute the same." This great truth may be regarded as embodied in these two funda- mental positions, in which we all cordially concur, viz., first. That the word of God is the only rule by which the Church of Christ, or any one branch of it, ought to be regulated ; and, secondly. That ecclesiastical office-bearers, and not
* Lecture on the Objects, Nature, and Standard of Ecclesiastical Authority. Pp. 4 —0.
To rOTEUV, PRELACY, AND EKASTIANISM. 61
civil functionaries, are the parties by whom the determination and application of Christ's laws to the administration of the necessary and ordinary business of the Christian Church ought to be made. In this we by no means, or in any degree, ascribe infallibility to the Church, or hold that Church-officers have the exclusive right to judge in these matters. On the contrary, we hold that every man, in virtue of the indefeasible right of liberty of conscience and private judgment, is entitled to judge for himself as to the meaning of the Word of God for the discharge of his own duties, — for the execution of his own functions, — and the regulation of his own conduct upon his own responsibility to God. (Cheers.) But we hold that they are the only parties who are entitled to administer the ne- cessary business of Christ's Church, and who are possessed of any power in the management of these aftairs. These are the fundamental positions which I hold to be embodied in these great and important truths; and these are principles by which the Church of Christ ought to be continually guided in the administration of all its affiiirs. The first of these propositions to which I have just referred, viz.. That the word of God is the supreme and only rule by which the affairs of Christ's Church, or any branch of it, ought to be regulated, is not very formally and ex- plicitly asserted in the Westminster Standards, although it is plainly implied and assumed in many of their declarations. It was not so explicitly asserted as a distinct proposition, just because theErastians of those days had not the boldness to deny it. (Hear, hear.) They admitted that the only rule as to the manage- ment of Christ's Church was God's Word, and in reference to the power which they ascribed to the Civil Magistrate, they professed to tie him down to the Word of God. Some of the Erastians of our own day, however, without formally denying the proposition — as he must be a bold man who would formally deny it — have been in the habit of speaking and acting as if they held the law of the land, or mere human statutes, to be the proper rule and standard for regulating the affairs of the Church of Christ. Now this great fundamental principle, that Jesus Christ is the only King and Head of his Church, and that he has established for the ad- ministration of the affairs of his Church ecclesiastical office-bearers, distinct from the Civil Magistrate, — this fundamental truth, if rightly understood, plainly ex- cludes all Erastian interference, authority, or jurisdiction in regard to religious matters in the affairs of Christ's Church, — and this great truth, you will concur with me in declaring, to be the common property of the Church of Christ in every age, and in whatever circumstances she may be placed — (Hear, hear) — and that this is a principle which every Church of Christ is bound by the most solemn obligations to maintain, and which no Church of Christ is ever warrant- ed, because of any interference of human authority, civil or ecclesiastical, or in order to gain any secular advantages, to deny or compromise. (Cheers.) In mentioning the fundamental proposition, that ecclesiastical office-bearers have an exclusive authority to administer theordinary businessof the Church, I might have put the proposition, in a somewhat more comprehensive form, so as to include not merely Presbyterians, but also an important class of defenders of evangeli- cal truth who are not Presbyterians, but who concur with us in the funda- mental principles to which we are now met to do honour. I might put the pro- position in this form, that the Church of Christ is in itself possessed of suffi- cient power and authority for the transaction of its own business, and the ma- nagement of its own affairs, and that no foreign or extrinsic authority — no civil power, is entitled to interfere with the regulation of its business.
I might have alluded at some length to one or two practical points, as to which the Assembly came into collision with the Parliament; b;:t I shall merely mention them. One of these was, that Parliament insisted, that in determining the question of admission of men to, or their exclusion from ordinances, an ultimate appeal should lie to the Parliament. The As- sembly would not consent to this. They could not, of course, prevent Parlia-
62 OPPOSITION OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY
meiit from passing an act to this effect, or from entertaining an appeal when it came before them ; but they carefully avoided doing any thing which could pos- sibly be held as involving approbation of this principle, or that they in any way consented to it, and that on the ground that, if they gave an ultimate power of appeal to Parliament, this would plainly be allowing them the right of exercis- ing the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which they never would agree to. Another point of collision with Parliament was, that they declined to give a full and particular enumeration of offences on account of which they thought it right and lawful to exclude a man from ordinances, and to pledge themselves to exclude no man from ordinances, except on one or other of the grounds there specified. They were willing to give a list of offences deserving of excommunication ; but they would never pledge themselves not to excommuni- cate a man for any offence but one or other of these therein named, just because in the multifarious transactions which might come before them, cases might arise of men acting in complete contrariety to the mind and will of Christ, as revealed in his word, and who therefore ought to be excluded from sealing ordi- nances, though the precise crime might not be mentioned in the specified list. On this subject I shall read you a short extract from the preface to the work en- titled Jus Divimim Regimi/iis Ecclesiastici, in answer to an aspersion brought against the Assembly by the Independents :
'* The pretended ground of this aspersion is false and frivolous. The Pres- byters of the Assembly of Divines and others, (Diotrephes-like affecting pre- heminence) have desired an unlimited power according to their own pru- dence and judgment, in keeping men from the ordinances in cases of scandall not enumerated. Answ. J. The Presbyters of the Assembly, and others, are so far from the domineering humour of Diotrephes, that they could gladly and heartily have quitted all intermeddling in church government, if Jesus Christ had not by office engaged them thereto ; only to have dispensed the word and sacraments, would have purchased them less hatred and more ease. 2. They desired liberty to keep from the ordinances, not only persons guilty of the scan- dals enumerated, but of all such like scandals, and to judge which are those scandals, not according to their minds unlimitedly, but according to the mind of Christ in his word, more sure than all ordinances or acts of Parliament in the world. And was this so heinous a desire? This liberty was desired, not for themselves, but for well- constituted eldei'ships. A perfect enumeration and description of scandals can be made in no book but in the Scriptures, and when all is done must we not refer thither ? All scandals are punishable as well as any ; to inflict penalties on some, and not on others as bad or worse, is inexcu- sable partiality. Why should not Presbyteries duly constituted, especially the greater, be accounted at least as faithful, intelligent, prudent, and every way as competent judges of what is scandal, what not, according to Scriptures, and that without arbitrariness and tyrannicalness, as any civil court, committees or com- missioners whatsoever? Uuling Church Assemblies are entrusted with the whole government in the Church, consequently with this, and every part."
I have only to say in conclusion, that the truths to which our attention has now been called, so far as concerns the fundamental principles bearing upon them, and in which I believe we are all agreed, as contrasted with the opposite errors to which I have adverted, surely afford materials for a very important and valuable basis of union and co-operation among all the evangelical Churches of Christendom. I presume we may say with perfect confidence, that we are all anti-Popish, anti-Prelatic, anti-Erastian ; that we can all cordially unite in opposing such errors and heresies as these ; and when these errors are now plainly rising in strength and influence around us, surely all evangelical Churches are called on to contend against them in their various forms — to con- sider and consult how they miglit most cflectually contend against them — how
TO rOPERY, PRELACY, AND ERASTIANISM. (i',i
tliey raiglit best co-operate with and assist each other in contending — for they may rest assured that they will be obliged to contend with them whether they will or no. We are all united in opposition to these errors, and we all hold the fundamental truths opposed to them ; and when we see these errors rising around us in strength and influence, as they are doing, and to ?r large extent combined with each other, surely it becomes us to consider how we may best co-operate Avith each other in maintaining our opposition to them, and defending- the common cause of our common salvation. (Loud applause.) We are now called on to regard these as the great enemies with which in present circum- stances we are called by God's providence to contend. AVe must soon be called to contend with them, and if we do so, I believe our hands will be full. I trust therefore, that God will so overrule events, as that when we are united in main- taining the great truths of the gospel, we may not, instead of contending against Popery, Prelacy, and Erastianism, be guilty of the egregious folly of contending with one another. I trust we have seen enough of the evils of con- troversy among ourselves, and the evils which it brings on Christianity, not to be easily led into controversy on any points: and for my own part I will say, that I shall not be easily led again into any controversy, unless it be against Popery, against Prelacy, or against Erastianism. (Loud applause.) The circumstances in which we are placed, are well fitted to remind us of the neces- sity of union and combination in opposing these great errors. Of course, in speaking of Prelacy, I refer chiefly to Prelacy in the High Church sense of it; for I can easily conceive of a modified Episcopacy, which, if not combined with other errors, or unchurching other denominations, and without having civil power to crush others, might form no greater obstacle in the way of kindly feel- ing and co-operation than any other difi^erence regarding Church government. And surely we may cherish the hope and expectation, that all the Churches of Christ who hold the Head, and are the members of Christ's body, may dwell together in love and unity, — may entertain and encourage kindly feelings towards each other ; always remembering that, as Churches of Christ and members of His body, they have in view a common object, and are called to concert eflbrts against a common enemy, — so that by God's grace they may be enabled largely to promote the cause of Christ, and may contribute to the bringing in of the glory of the latter day." (Dr C. resumed his seat amid great applause.)
The Chairman having complimented Dr Cunningham on his Address, then called on
The Rev. Dr King of Glasgow, who read an Address on
THE INFLUENCE AND ADVANTAGES OF PRESBYTERIANISM, ESPECIALLY IN REFERENCE TO THE EDUCATION OF YOUTH, AND THE EXTENSION OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST.
" At the close of the last week I was rt quested to take part in the proceedings of this evening ; and since that time I have been much occupied with other en- gagements. "These facts will both explain and excuse the inadequacy of my preparations, and remove, I trust, any impression which might thence have re- sulted, of deficient respect for the services I have to perform, or the Assembly I have to address. The subject assigned me is — Presbytery. But, though most of us here convened may belong to Presbyterian denominations, it does not follow that we look with an evil eye on other Christian societies. Did these meetings wear an unfriendly aspect to any section of Christ's followers, were the effect of them to be a measure of alienation from Christians with whom we have hitherto acted in confiding and loving fellowship, I avow that I would lose all pleasure
64 INFLUENCES AND ADVANTAGKS OF PRESBYTERIANISiM.
in our discussions, and look with misgivings even on the good which they may do when purchased at such expense. The season and the circumstances call for generous sympathies and charitable construction. We are not in all points agreed among ourselves. Some of us go much farther than others in approving of the principles, and constitution, and enactments of the Westminster Assembly; and while one class recognises in that venerable council, a model all but perfect of ecclesiastical rule, another class admires it indeed, but with serious reserva- tions, and laments an admixture of evil sadly qualifying the good, and too suffici- ently explaining its subsequent reverses. I am not now to discuss these points, 01 more specifically to characterize them ; and I have adverted to them only to enforce the moral, that as we find room for the exercise of charity among our- selves, we are the more admonished to bear with diffiirences in others, and to manifest not only esteem, but affection for all such as love the Lord Jesus in sincerity.
My subject, as expressed in the programme is, " The Influence and Advantages of Presbytery, especially in reference to the Education of Youth, and the Ex- tension of the Kingdom of Christ." Some appear to disrelish the very word presbytery, and to think it allied or identical with all that is stern and unami- able in government. There may have been abuses which furnish pretexts for such impressions, but they are not warranted by the system itself. According to Presbyterian polity, churches are governed by sessions, presbyteries, synods, and assemblies. To begin with the first of these, as being the most fundamental, we think it sanctioned alike by Scripture and reason: "Let them that rule well," says an apostle, (1 Tim. v. 17) "be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in word and doctrine." This passage appears with sufficient plain- ness to suggest, that in the primitive Churches some ruled well who had no other functions ; while others were entitled to double honour, because, besides ruling well, they also laboured in word and doctrine, — that is, they had elders and minis- ters as we have, — ordinary elders who simply ruled, and ministerial elders who, besides ruling, taught. Strenuous efforts have been made to evade this conclu- sion, but the evasions are far from being satisfactory. Not to speak of Presby- terians, some of the most distinguished Independents and Episcopalians have allowed it to point out a Sessional order. Dr Owen, a justly celebrated writer of the Independent denomination, says " a rational man who is unprejudiced, who never heard of the controversy about ruling elders, can hardly avoid an ap- prehension that there are two sorts of elders, some who labour in word and doc- trine, and some who do not so. The truth is," he adds, " it was interest and pre- judice which first caused some learned men to strain their wits to find out evasions from the evidence of this testimony." Dr Whitby, an eminent Episco- palian, defends, in a note upon the passage, a similar interpretation. He tells us that " elders among the Jews were of two sorts, — such as governed in the synagogue, and secondly such as ministered in reading and expounding their Scriptures and traditions, &c." This classification he supposes to have been adopted in the Christian Church, and to be remarked on in the passage un- der consideration. Such transference of synagogue worship or government I am disposed to dispute. There is no evidence that the synagogue sys- tem was itself divinely appointed ; for although the period of its introduction be controverted, it seems to have been later than the completion of the inspired canon of the Old Testament ; and I cannot regard it as honouring to inspira- tion to reo-ard it as borrowing from uninspired inventions. It is certain in the case of the election of deacons, that part of the New Testament administration was not a mere transcript of synagogue usage, but emanated from a recorded ex- igency. Instead therefore of supposing that the apostles meant to do just as was done before, it is more credible that, as divinely directed, they instituted
INFLUENCES AND ADVANTAGES OF PRESBTTERIANISM. (55
means most adapted to the ends, Avithout reference to prior practice. But be that as it may, we liave the admission of Dr Whitby that a distinction of the sort we are contending for obtained among the office-bearers in the synagogue, and that the apostle points to a similar distinction in the Christian Church, of elders ruling well, and elders labouring in word and doctrine. What can be more ^ reasonable than such organisation? The talent and attainments requisite for the guidance of ecclesiastical affairs belong to many who have had none of the requisite training for public speaking; and why should not churches have the benefit of the one as well as of the other? the wise counsellor as well as the ac- complished speaker? and why should not those functionaries associate and co- operate in perfecting the body of Christ? The intimations of history accord with those of Scripture and common sense. Clemens, Polycarp, Ignatius, and several others of the early Christian Fathers give such notices of the eldership, as to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that they had a place in the primitive Chris- tian Churches. Ambrose, indeed, in the fourth century, speaks of them as dis- appearing, but he laments this change as a defection; and the very idea of falling into disuse implies not only previous existence but decided antiquity. The order however was not wholly extinguished. The Waldenses and Albigenses, these celebrated custodiers of the truth of Christ during the dark ages, had their elders analogous to ours ; and Calvin explicitly acknowledges, that from them he learned the idea and obligation of the appointment. Alas I they have no such Presbyterian polity now, — no more that scriptural religion of which it Avas the frame work. The Alps maintain their sublime altitude in the heavens; the clouds in successive grades circle around their summits; the cataract falls in tumultuous thunder over their precipitous cliffs; and the glassy lakes securely slumber in the subjacent valleys. These beauties of nature remain as they wercj; but the beauties of holiness are tarnished or effaced. Piety has been exchanged for pageantry, and the simplicity that is in Christ for papal superstition. Let us rejoice, however, that the ancient mountaineers displayed such valour in defence of the gospel — that so many of them surrendered their cause only in surrendering their life, and that they were spared to the church till the stone cut without hands was hurled by them down their steeps, with an impulsive energj' destined to bear it through many lands ; and which will secure it acceleration and accession till it become mightier than the Alps from which it descended — a mountain of adequate dimensions to fill the whole earth !
Thus far I have spoken of single churches and defended the government of them by an eldership. It would be an encroachment on your time to carry out the discussion through its ulterior stages; and I deem this unnecessary. The po- sition already indicated, though not comprising the whole of Presbytery, is very im- portant in itself, and closely allied with all the system. If Sessions wore wrong- Presbyteries could not be right; and those who are brought to acknowledge that single congregations may be superintended by Sessions will find less difficulty in conceding that several congregations may be superintended Presbyterially.
In fact Presbytery may be considered that form of direction which important af- fairs in competent hands naturally assume. If many are convened on one business, they soon experience the necessity of appointing some committee to give effect to their views, and of entrusting that committee with large discretionary powers. If a similar meeting take place in another city, the same step is adopted. W these isolated movements are to be collected and centralized, the committees send representatives to an aggregate committee, and a selected few act responsi- bly for all. I do not say that this is the only mode of directing great interests, or if it were, that it is in all points identical with Presbytery; but the differences are circumstantial; and we have here that essential system of guidance by which things civil and things sacred are usually brought to a prosperous issue. If it be so,
I .
66 INFLUENCES AND ADVANTAGES OF PRESBYTERIANISM.
nothing can more evince the innate excellence of a plan, than seeing honest and enlightened purpose spontaneously and almost instinctively adopting it in the prosecution of its measures, i
In all these observations, I suppose the rulers of the Church to be chosen by its members. Ministers are called pastors; but a continental writer has well observed that Scriptural metaphors have their limits, and that the pastoral ima- gery is carried too far when the shepherd is appointed without consulting the flock. A free choice of office-bearers, while it is alone respectful to the Chris- tian community, is alone consistent with Scriptural sanction. When the apos- tles did not appoint to vacant offices by inspiration, they committed the election to the whole body of the faithful. Now that inspiration has ceased, it only re- mains that we imitate what is still imitable, and allow to church members a full and confiding franchise, which the apostles themselves dared not to usurp. There must be no mincing of the right ; every qualification of it is patronage. Scripture proves that it belongs to all Church members, or it has no proof upon the subject; and how can they who cite its authority restrain the exercise of it, and say you shall have a vote, and you shall have none, when the parties addressed are equally members of Christ's mystical body ? Fetter freedom of election, and Presbytery becomes tyranny ; maintain freedom of choice, with its constitutional accompaniments, and Church Courts are the safe-guards of privilege, — protecting from anarchy on the one hand, and despotism on the other, and blending the two often dissevered blessings of liberty and rule.
Having thus far spoken of the influences and advantages of Presbytery in general, let me now speak of them especially in reference to the education of youth and the extension of the kingdom of Christ. If we compare the measure of information which prevails in England, with that which is found in Scotland, and allow it to have been at all influenced by their ecclesiastical systems, then, beyond all doubt, in respect of Education, the Presbyterial form of church govern- ment is most recommended by its working. I think that a survey of other coun- tries would lead us to the same conclusion. But irrespective of Education gen- erally, there are special advantages which attach to Presbytery, in training young men for the ministerial office. Where a large denomination is superin- tended by church judicatories, a standard of literary attainment can be adopted and embraced for the ministry, and no exception allowed but in extraordinary cases separately judged of; while Congregational bodies may have excellent Colleges and Academies, as they undoubtedly have, but must experience imper- fectly the benefit of them, while any man may preach who thinks himself qua- lified, and any church may choose him for a pastor which acquiesces in his good opinion of himself.
It may be said that Episcopacy is equally organized as Presbytery, and equally efficacious in exacting high qualifications for the pastoral office, as the English universities attest. But a hierarchy tends to introduce like inequality into its education as into its own constitution; and to exalt esteem for certain rare species of learning, rather than for solid acquirements of practical and general utility. As a matter of fact, such is the condition of the English Church ; and I think it is not arrogating too much for Presbytery, to assert, that if some Churches have a larger number of profound scholars or mathematicians, there are none which excel Presbyterian Churches in the average proficiency of their religious instructors. By these observations I would not be understood as af- firming, that in the province of education, Presbyterians have already attained, or are already perfect. There has been no small advance of late years both in
' It may be alleged that temporal rule proceeds from the people, while ecclesiastical power emanates from Christ. This distinction is important in itself, but I speak of the form of government simply, and not of its sources.
I
INFI.UENCES AND ADVANTAGES OF rUESBYTERIANlSM. 67
the training of students, and in the multiplication and improvement of schools. But the amount of good done, instead of exhausting the duty, rather indicates the course which remains to be prosecuted. One or two enthusiastic benefac- tors have achieved much for tuition, — what might not the denominations we are connected with accomplish, if they were generally imbued with a kindred spirit? It is time to discard a mechanical routine of teaching — to enlarge and elevate our educational institutions — to breathe a spirit of enthusiasm into these measures of amelioration, and never to rest in our efforts till every bishop be apt to teach, and our people themselves be enlightened as a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
Tlie Programme speaks of the influence and advantages of Presbytery, in re- ference not only to education, but also to " the Extension of the Kingdom of Christ." Here it might be argued that the extension of Christ's kingdom can be effected only by co-o})eration among his followers, and that the Presby- terial system affords very special facilities for combined, and therefore effective exertions. I must content myself, however, with a single illustration; and I will be excused for drawing it from the denomination to which I belong. A few years ago the United Secession Synod authorised single congregations to sup- port each its own foreign missionary, subject, however, to Synodical control. The missionary spirit was thus stimulated by the interest which churches felt in their own special agents, while comprehension of plan was provided for, in the superintendence exercised by a general and competent tribunal. The effect of this arrangement was greatly to augment — in some cases to double or more than double — the missionary contributions of the congregations by which it was adopted; and though the general funds of the Synod have declined in these days of suffering, lam not aware that the missionary resources of particular congregations giving effect to this plan, have been in any instance seriously impaired. The system may at first sight appear somewhat complex, but during the period of its probation its history has been a record of harmonious opera- tions. It is plain that Episcopacy is unfavourable to this admixture of popular and oificial administration ; and I have had it repeatedly said to me by distin- guished Independent ministers, that whatever evils might belong to Presbyteri- anisra, it had the advantage of giving coherence to such congregational missions, which, under the Congregational polity itself, could not be held together. I re- gard it then as a high recommendation of Presbytery, that it admits of such adjustments, when times and circumstances render them desirable. It will not be understood that I mean in these remarks to disparage the missionary exer- tions of other bodies : much rather would I narrate and extol them. They are such in many cases as to command our most ardent approbation ; and we have ever deemed it an honour and happiness to work with those who were so effectively working together with Christ. Yet in these operations we think we see an ajiproximation generally to the Presbyterian system. They are mostly conducted by committees in which prelates have no voice, if they choose to be present, above other directors, and where Congregationalists, waving a simple unauthoritative advice, judge and vote as the representatives of constituents.
As I wish not to under-estimate the evangelizing efforts of other Christian societies, neither am I disposed to speak vauntingly of our own. That our princi- ples are good only requires of us to confess with the deeper shame and sorrow our deficiencies in practice. Not to speak of fulfilling the duty of extending Christ's kingdom, that duty is only beginning as yet to be adequately understood by us. Before the obligations of beneficence are exemplified in their grandeur, various re- formations require to be effected. A more liberal aid must be extended to missions by ministers themselves, for precept without pattern is comparatively unavailing ; and recent events show that when a case of duty is clearly made out, a Presbyterian
68 INFLUENCES AND ADVANTAGES OF PRESBYTERIANISM.
ministry can display the most signal disinterestedness. The subject of missions too must not be reserved for intimations at the close of worship, couched perhaps in the language of apology, but must occupy a central and essential place in our dis- courses. Our church courts also must be conducted with more of sacred propriety and a devotional spirit, and occupy more of their time than they have done in devising and impelling measures of active beneficence. Controversies and scandals require their own measure of attention, of which I aim not to deprive them; but I hope the time is coming when Presbytery business will be mostly Missionary business, and when scriptural functionaries will assemble to give eflPect to the scriptural requirement, — " Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitation; spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and cause the desolate cities to be inherited." It must also be felt more than heretofore, that the missionary spirit is a benevo- lent spirit^ and that we must evince such benevolence towards each other, if we would approve it genuine in relation to the heathen. If we do not love Chris- tians on whom the image of Christ is also already impressed, we have cause to do more than suspect our love for idolaters. The mutual kindness confessedly incumbent on individuals, must be owned and acted on as incumbent on sects. There must be no arrogance of pretension — no presuming on numbers or wealth — no self-complacent forgetfulness of all beneficence but our own. In the view of the work to be accomplished, the remedies to be employed, the ad- versaries to be discomfited, we must sink every shibboleth not sustained by truth, and deem ourselves too weak wheu armed, too few when united, for the magnificent enterprise in which God invites us to engage. In these remarks I do not speak of Presbyterians alone. I have been led only by the subject as- signed me, to treat of them distinctively. Where Independent and Presby- terian Churches are both faithfully superintended, I believe the superinten- dence comes to be much more the same in eifect, than a war about systems would lead us to anticipate. Highly esteeming as I do that denomination, and wishing that the occasion had admitted of their presence here, I am inclined to consider where we agree with them, rather than where we differ from them, and to discuss differences themselves with a view to agreement. Facts abundantly attest that Congregationalists and Presbyterians can unite in ad- vancing the common salvation. Let that union be maintained and ce- mented, and let the world see that with our several peculiarities, we are all Christ's disciples, since we love one another. It is due to Christ, due to his Church, due to a perishing world, that we keep our disagreements within their own bounds, and that in so far as we are agreed, we walk by the same rule, and mind the same thing. All here assembled have heard of the Crusades. There was much that was foolish, but there was also not a little that was grand in these extravagances of chivalry. All Europe was one flame of excitement on behalf of a cause esteemed most sacred. Nation vied with nation in contribut- ing men and money to the magnificent conflict, and prince and peasant seemed to forget their difterences, in opposing their united energies to the aggressions of the infidel. Noblemen left their estates, and princes their thrones to encounter privations and perils in remote and inimical regions, and reckoned themselves happy in sacrificing life itself in the battles of the cross. One campaign failed after another, or attained temporary successes, soon to be obliterated by subse- quent disasters ; but all was inadequate to extinguish zeal, which rather found fuel for its fire in successive disappointments, and after every repulse rushed afresh to the onset with renewed and redoubled vigour. These were guilty wars though designated holy ; but is there no good fight of faith ? Is the like fervour never to be displayed for pure and undetiled religion? Are the energies
CONVERSATIOX.
69
SO exerted in slaying, never to be engaged in saving ; and where they deemed the mightiest sacrifice small to rescue a holy sepulchre, are we to account the smallest tenders extravagant to extend the salvation and exalt the honour of a risen Saviour ! Let us exhibit to the world other and nobler Crusades. Where carnal Aveapons failed, let us show what Aveapons not carnal can accomplish. Opposing ourselves to enmity, let us meet it in the strength of love, and let a growing concord be the precursor and pledge of our enlarging conquests. Such fellowship in duty will yield a satisfaction inferior only to the united enjoy- ment of its recompense, when time shall be over, and its distinctions shall have perished with it, and all who have loved Christ shall be found with him where he is, beholding his glory. (The reading of this address was interrupted by frequent cheers, and was concluded amid much applause.)
The Chairaian, after a few general remarks on the interesting character of the present meeting, the high satisfaction with which he had listened to the lucid and powerful address which had just been delivered, and the importance of evangelical Christians uniting in opposition to the three great errors which formed the subject of Dv Cunningham's address, concluded by calling upon the meeting to join in singing the three last verses of the 74th Psalm.
The Chairman. — "I suppose that now is the time, according to theplan agreed upon, for any member who is inclined, to make a few remarks by way of con- versation, bearing upon the great object for which the meeting was convened."
Robert Paul, Esq. rose and said, — " I do not very well know how to enter upon a conversation in such a meeting as this; but I would take the opportu- nity of expressing the great value which I have always attached to the labours of the Westminster Divines, in commemoration of which we are now assembled, and particularly with reference to the subject of education, in which I feel a peculiar interest.
With the liveliest gratitude to God we ought to look back on what was ac- complished by the Westminster Assembly in providing those books by which, in part, the youth in this land have been trained in Scriptural knowledge, and by the use of which, in our ordinary schools, we have sought to incorporate Christianity with all our elementary education.
For my own part, I would consider it enough, — in as far as the orthodoxy of opinions is concerned, that a man really understood, and with his heart and hand subscribed, to all that is contained in the Shorter Catechism, to qualify him, in this respect, for being an instructor of the young, and would consider this as a sufficient religious test for his being admitted to such an office.
I have mentioned the Shorter Catechism. — What a remarkable book it is ! Even as a composition, what an union of copiousness with conciseness ! Nothing awanting that pertains either to doctrine or duty, — yet, not a redundant or supeifluous word!
An anecdote has been handed down as to the preparation of one most impor- tant answer in this Catechism, the mention of which may perhaps be interesting. It has been related that the Committee of Divines who were engaged in framing it came to a pause, when it had to be decided which of them should prepare the answer to that most solemn question, " What is God." All stood aback from the task, — each one feeling himself to be incompetent for the duty. At length it was agreed, that it should be performed by the youngest man among them, who- ever he should turn out to be ! Why the youngest should have been fixed upon for undertaking that from which the most aged and experienced had shrunk, it is not very easy to see, but so it was. And when the individual had been thus se-
70 CONVERSATION.
lected, it was found that he ^toukl consent to engage in the duty assigned to him only upon one condition, that while he was so employed, the Avhole of his brethren should separately betake themselves to silent and earnest prayer, that he might be specially guided by the Divine Spirit in the fulfilment of his work. To this they consented, and within a brief space of time he produced that memorable answer, " God is a Spirit, infinite, unchangeable, and eternal, in his being, wis- dom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth," — a sentence this, contain- ing a definition or statement of the primary truth of religion, which for ful- ness and concentration has never been surpassed, and which, under the cir- cumstances that have been mentioned, may be looked upon as having been almost the dictate of inspiration.
Allow me only farther to remark, that one of the most gratifying features of this meeting, is the appearance of union which it presents, among the mem- bers of difierent denominations. May it indeed be, not an appearance merely, but a reality! And though the present be in some respects a season of outward difficulty, and still greater trials may be at hand, yet I would hail our present harmony as an omen of better and more thriving times to the Christian Church. Sure I am, that if we were all more constantly and devoutly employed in the contemplation of our common Lord, we should be found more and more approxi- mating to each other in sentiment and afi^ection. If it be true that we insensibly become like to that which we look upon, — if intercourse and fellowship with God produce assimilation to him, — if beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into his image, then, as we thus come more and more to resem- ble him, we shall be found also more and more to resemble one another. If God be the great object to which we are all tending, then will the difi^erences and distances existing between us gradually become less: like the radii of a cir- cle, the nearer they approach the centre, the nearer do they come to each other.
May this happy approximation be greatly promoted by our present meeting! And though on some points we may hold different opinions, yet may we imi- tate the spirit of concord and Christian affection which reigned among the good men of the Westminster Assembly, — of one of whom, an eminent Divine of our own country, I mean Samuel Rutherfurd, this has been recorded, that " he could and did write vigorously against the Independent system, and at the same time love and esteem the men who held it." "
Mr Paul then read a passage from Mr Rutherfurd's sermon on " Christ in the storm," preached during the sittings of the Assembly, at the Abbey Church of Westminster, before the House of Lords, 25th June 1645, and some extracts from other sermons preached by some of the divines on similar occasions.
The Rev. John Eadie of Glasgow, Professor of Biblical Criticism in the Di- vinity Hall of the United Associate Synod, was then called upon to address the meeting. Thehour being late, however, he merely indicated tlie topics on which he had intended to speak, but the learned Professor has been kind enough, in complying with our request, to furnish us with the extended notes of what he in- tended to have said, had the time of the meeting allowed. — " I cheerfully take part. Sir, in that "Conversation" to which my name has been affixed in the programme, but on such a subject as that Avhich has summoned this Assembly, it is difficult to select a topic which one may discuss with any fulness in the few minutes during which he may occupy your time. The remarks which I intend to make will be both few and desultory. I need not say that I have listened with great pleasure to the statements already made. I can set my seal to the declara- tion " that the AVestminster Assembly was enabled by the grace of God to manifest more of heavenly truth and love, to consolidate a purer system of Christian faith and charity, and to leave a richer legacy of practical instruction
CONVEKSATION. 'J I
to the Church of Christ than almost any Council that has met before or since." The modesty of those who wrote the programme has inserted the word " almost," I have no hesitation in making the assertion broadly and without exception. From the first Apostolic Council downward through the progress of eighteen centuries, it will be difiicult, if not impossible, to find any ecclesiastical Assem- bly of such a character, as that which met at Westminster. Piety sanctified their learning, truth was shrined in genius, and intellectual refinement was rob- ed in the beauties of holiness. Their's was not merely a system of orthodoxy, but also of experimental Christianity. Not only have they composed a Confession of Faith, but they have also written " the sum of saving knowledge," with its practi- cal uses. Theirs was not merely a collection of tenets to be believed, but also of earnest injunction to be practised by both Churches and households, as is seen in their acknowledgment of sins, and Directory for family worship. They stooped to compile catechisms, in order that in this simple conversational form the rising generation might be early and fully initiated into the truths of evan- gelical religion. They did not forget to commend with energy and pathos the duty of public worship, the holy, humble, believing spirit in which it is to be observed, that dignity and earnestness, that plainness, fidelity, and affection with which the truths of God's word are to be pressed upon the consciences of sinners, as well as that sincere and prayerful disposition in which the sacraments are to be dispensed and received. And finally they have maintained the order of Christ's house both against anarchy and despotism, vindicating that form of dis- cipline and worship which " commands the cordial assent and concurrence of the great body of sound Presbyterians." They warmly insisted on the preach- ing of Christ and him crucified, feeling that such preaching alone moves the heart and leads to true morality. They felt the inseparable connection of faith and holiness, and that belief in the doctrines of the cross aftorded alone the means and motives of a holy life. They had also correct views of the nature and ends of a gospel ministry. They were far from exalting it into a media- torial function, into an ordinance of divine and mysterious potency, assuming to itself prerogatives that belong only to the Redeemer. The present day de- mands clear statements on this important topic. The Christian ministry is not a priesthood. Our ofiice is not to atone, but to preach the atonement; the altar has been superseded by the pulpit, and the oifering of sacrifice by Christian instruction and devotion. In short, it was the aim of the Westminster Assem- bly to present the truths of the word of God in such form and compass, as that they might, by God's blessing, be clearly understood in their bearing and re- lations, fully believed, and successfully preached in their solace and power, and faithfully practised in their searching influence, in their universal obli- gation.
Now there are many features peculiar to the Westminster Divines, and their compositions. The best of the ancient councils had been summoned to defend what are usually termed the doctrines of grace. These precious doctrines have been often attacked, and in many forms. Sometimes they have been impugned in themselves, and not unfrequently their overthrow has been designed in the promulgation of low and erroneous opinions of the person or work of Christ. These are doctrines against which heretical malignity is most specially directed. Let the constitution of the Mediatorial Person be misunderstood, or his agony and death degraded to the pangs of injured innocence or ordinary martyrdom, and the pardon and holiness of the gospel cease to be offered as gratuitous bless- ing to the guilty and dying. These conspiracies of hell do not trifle in ordi- nary or inferior struggles, but by one master stroke, they would blot the sun from the centre, and then planets and satellites would roll in lawless tracks, or crash in wild and inextricable confusion. It was a perversion of the doctrine of grace
72 CONVERSATION.
that led to the first council recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. It was the effect of the self-righteous spirit of Judaism, which troubled the early converts, "subverting their souls, and saying, ye must needs be circumcised and keep the law," that brought the apostles and elders to consider of this matter, and to tes- tify that through the grace of God Jews and Gentiles equally are saved.
Incorrect views of the person of Christ were the means of assembling the Council of Nice. The supreme divinity of Jesus is indeed the corner stone of our faith. However, or to what extent it is impugned, dangerous error results. The re- cords of the Council of Nice condemning the opinions of Arius have not been care- fully preserved. Its creed on the disputed subject, however, has been transmitted to our times, and though it was framed for a special purpose and against a prevail- ing heresy, yet it appears to us decidedly inferior to the corresponding article in the General Confession of Westminster. " We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things, both visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, that is to say, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, be- gotten not made, of the same substance with the Father, by whom all things were made both in heaven and in earth, who for us men, and for our salvation, came down, and was incarnate, being made man." Now the illustrations used in this document are by no means very lucid. They have no distant alliance with the Platonic Triad, and bear a close resemblance to the Gnostic phraseo- logy. How superior is the following article of the Westminster Confession in fulness, clearness, and comprehensiveness. It almost exhausts the subject. " The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, when the fulness of time was" come, take upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties and com- mon infirmities thereof, yet without sin; being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance; so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inse- parably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or con- fusion. Which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only Me- diator between God and man." Special councils were called and articles enacted in various assemblies against the Gnostics, against Appollinaris, Nesto- rius, and Eutyches. But the article we have read contains the substance of them all. It contains a refutation of the Apollinarian system more pointed than that of the Council of Constantinople, for it affirms that he took upon him man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, so that he has two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, not only a human body, but also a human spirit. The same article condemns Nestorius as decidedly as did the Council of Ephesus, for it affirms that divinity and humanity are insepa- rably joined together i?i one person, and not merely in will and affection. And the heresy of Eutyches, which is in the opposite extreme, is not less precisely and definitely denied than it was at Chalcedon, for it is affirmed that the hypo- slatical union is without conversion, composition, or confusion, which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ. Thus this portion of the Westmin- ster Creed, brief but comprehensive, sums up in a clear and masterly manner Avhat the first four famous Councils laboured at various periods to enact. It has certainly consolidated a firmer system of Christian faith than any or all of them.
I might now, Sir, have referred to the article on justification, and compared it with the correspondent sections of the decisions of the Synod of Dort, or of the Confession of Augsburg. I might have shown how its clear and scriptu- ral statements excel these symbols, and avoid the metaphysical disputes which prevailed to such an extent at the period of the Reformation. Or I might com-
CONVEKSATION. 7-^
pare the Shorter Catechism with former works of a similar nature, even with those of the great Reformers of Geneva and Germany.
It is true that the language and imagery of almost all symbolical books are shaped and moulded by the reigning systems of mental philosophy, that in their creed the doctrines of Scripture are presented in a form more or less in accordance with the prevailing metaphysics. Thus the river of life seems to have acquired a peculiar hue and colour from the soils it may have traversed, and the rocks and minerals it may have washed. But perhaps less of this pe- culiarity may be found in the Westminster symbols than in any other, though perhaps attention to this general fact may throw light on various portions of their phraseology.
But the ancient Councils dealt too much in abstract speculations, and occa- sionally forgot that religion is a living principle. Nice distinctions took the room of earnest hope or pious aspiration. Soundness of creed seemed some- times to compensate for holiness of life. If a man would but discard the iota, and say ofxonva-ios instead of oixowvcnos, such a pronunciation covered a multi- tude of sins. And if, at a future period, a man repeating his creed on the Holy Spirit, added the word Jilioqiic, his orthodoxy threw a cloak over many failings and imperfections. But the Westminster Divines knew that men might have a " form of godliness and deny the power thereof," that they might have " a name to live, while they are dead." Against a dead orthodoxy, they issued their warmest and most affectionate remonstrances. While they strove to give men clear and intellectual views of divine truth, they laboured at the same time to im- press them with the conviction, that " with the heart man believeth unto riglit- eousness." So they felt it to be vain to defend Christ's divinity, unless the soul could say in faith, " my Lord and my God;" to maintain or illustrate his atone- ment, unless the heart had an interest in his peace-speaking blood; or to argue the soleness and universality of his Headship over all things to the church, un- less the spirit bowed to his sceptre, and yielded him homage and service. This attention to personal and domestic religion, to the revival of it in our hearts and homes, is one of the peculiar refreshing features of the Westminster symbols, by which too they are nobly distinguished from other works of a similar nature. So that, in the words of the programme, '• the Westminster Assembly has left a richer legacy of practical instruction to the Church of Christ, than almost any Council that has met before or since."
Nobody, Sir, will suppose that I am eulogizing the AVestminster Standards as perfect productions. I have also spoken of them only as subordinate stan- dards. That they have faults I readily admit. I except the politico-ecclesias- tical chapters and many of the proof texts from the encomium I have pro- nounced upon them. Yet, viewed as a human compilation, they surpass all other attempts of a similar kind in modern times, — nay, even those of ancient times need scarce be excepted, such as the Nicene Creed, or that of Athanasius, or those fragments found in Origen, Tertullian, and Cyprian, or the more sym- metrical embodiments of doctrine to which are attached the names of the churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Caesarea. Much more might be said on this fertile topic, but, Sir, I forbear.
Sir, I rejoice in the Assembly now before me. By heartily agreeing in the things in Avhich we are at one, we may soon see eye to eye in things in which we diflFer. " Nevertheless whereunto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same things." Let there be a stream of living sym- pathy. Let there be a constant desire to accommodate. Let prejudice be charmed away by calm and dignified appeal. Let nothing be done through strife and vain glory, so that the " boar of the forest" may not enter into the
K
74 COXVKUSATION=
vineyard of the Lord, to trample under liis foul feet its bursting tendrils and swelling clusters.
I hope, Sir, that this meeting will be the prelude of nobler days for Scotland. Christians and Christian communities feeling and acting in the spirit of their Master, are like the radii of a circle, the nearer they come to the centre, the nearer they come to one another.
The Rev. J. W. Massie, formerly of Perth, now settled in Manchester, then rose in the body of the meeting and said, — " May an English minister be allowed to say a word? (A pause.) I am an Independent minister, and as such appear here. (A voice ' Go on.') If I be considered not in order, I shall not trespass. Mr Chairman, have I your consent and permission to address the assembly? (The Chairman requested Mr M. to proceed.) I have listened with extreme delight to the discussions which have been conducted during the day, since I had the pleasure of entering this hall. I have, however, looked with peculiar anxiety throughout the hall to see if I could observe or distin- guish any of my Scottish brethren of the denomination to which I belong; and I regret that either my organs of vision are so defective, or that, if they have been present they have been in such very obscure corners, that I have not been able to discover one of them in the company. (A laugh.) I did not, from all I had seen of the programme and the advertisement of this meeting, which reached me in England, perceive that any thing sectarian was intended by the meetings held and to be held in this hall. (Cheers.) I have listened atten- tively to the discussions which have taken place on subjects somewhat, though perhaps appropriately sectarian in their character, and which have been con- ducted by gentlemen who have candidly and ingenuously given expression to their own peculiar sentiments, and I have as yet perceived no indication of any want of Christian catholicity, the manifestation of any spirit with which not only did my mind desire to sympathize, but with which I think every Christian would sympathize. (Loud cheers.) I had hoped that on such an occasion as this, not only would I have seen Scottish Independent ministers here, but other ministers from England of the same denomination ; and in truth I left home rather precipitately after the duties of last Lord's Day, that I might have the pleasure of being one in this Assembly. Looking at the movement which has recently taken place amongst my countrymen, — for though an English mi- nister I am a Scottish man, — looking I say at the movement which has recently taken place amongst my brethren of the Presbyterian Church order, — amongst whom I was baptized, although I am now a Congregationalist, — I have not ceased to feel a deep interest in the progress of what I believe to be right prin- ciples, and the extension of that " liberty wherewith Christ has made his people free," in this my native country; and I had hoped that our brethren of the Scottish Free Church would have had an opportunity of witnessing the sym- pathy cherished towards them, and that other Christians would have recipro- cated in the indulgence of kindly feelings and generous emotions with them. Looking at this movement, and the sympathy which it had called forth, I had anticipated that a union on the broad platform, not of one class or form of church government nor of another, but on the basis of Scripture Christianity, might have been recognized, and upon which all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, might have come forward, and joined heart and hand in a bold and resistless confederacy with Dr Cunningham in his assaults against Popery, Prelacy, and all Erastianism. You are perhaps aware, that in England, not a few of the ministers of the denomination to which I belong have made a movement in reference to Christian union ; —
CONVEHSATIOX. 15
that one of our fathers, a distinguished servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, has had his name honoured, and whose name will continue to be honoured as long as the name of James is known, — (Cheers) — by inviting Christians of every denomination to recognise Christian catholicity, in the formation and exhibition in practice of an evangelical and catholic union in England. In the meetings which have been convened for this purpose, ministers of the Pres- byterian Church have taken a prominent part, as well as Baptists, AVesIeyans, and others ; and the result has been, that much of practical and devotional union has been realized, and there is the promise of more. (Hear, hear.) I should hope therefore, that in what may remain of your discussions, there will be kept in view, not merely the recognition of union between Presbyterians in Scotland ; but I should sincerely desire to see a union among them and Inde- pendents, and Baptists, and others of like spirit, and like evangelical principles, whether in England or Scotland. (Cheers.) I have given every credit in my own mind to Dr King for his exposition on the subject of the eldership ; but I hope he will not take offence when I say, that I am of the same opinion still. Although I hold to my own opinions on such a subject, however, I hope Dr King and I can recognise each other as brethren in Christ Jesus, and thus we can unite in the missionary work as we have done before." (Applause.)
Rev. Mr Ttveedie stated in explanation, that while the arrangements for the Commemoration were in progress, he had written to some of the most influen- tial ministers of the Congregational body, explaining why the celebration of the Bicentenary was in the first instance to be Presbyterian in its character ; and the reasons for that would readily occur to those who know the history of the As- sembly. In reply to that communication, he had received a reply from a re- spected minister in this city, the Rev. Mr Alexander, entirely approving of the course which the committee for making arrangements had thus adopted. That gentleman stated his conviction that that course was " the wiser and the better," and expressed his fear lest harmony should not be promoted by such measures as the gentleman who had just spoken had mentioned.
The Rev. Dr Candlish then rose and said — " I do not wish to intrude upon the meeting to-night ; but I am very unwilling that the address with which we have just been favoured 1)y our brother of another denomination in England should pass without some suitable acknowledgment on the part of this large As- sembly. (Hear, hear.) Although for various reasons it seemed best to us to make this Commemoration of the Westminster Assembly strictly in the first instance a commemoration of what the Westminster Assembly had been en- abled to accomplish ; and therefore a commemoration on a Presbyterian foot- ing ; yet most cordially do I respond to the sentiments of our brother from England, that nothing could be further from our mind or intention than to promote sectarian objects. (Hear, hear.) Most cordially do I concur also in his ex- pression of a desire after a Christian catholic union, and echoing his own words, I would sincerely hope that the issue of this Commemoration would not be li- mited to the celebration of what the Westminster Assembly was enabled to ac- complish in the cause of Presbyterianism, but may be the forerunner of a co- operation with other brethren, who do not as yet " see eye to eye," in the pro- motion of the missionary cause, and in opposing the errors of Popery, and all Erastianism. (Cheers.) We cannot at such a meeting as this, nor docs our brother from England expect, that wc should disguise that we meet thanking God for what the Westminster Assembly did for the promotion of Presbyte- rianism. We rejoice in the practical benefits which it has conferred upon our land, and which in this season of reviving purity and reviving love, it seems
76 CONVERSATION.
destined to confer still more. We rejoice in its conformity to what we believe to be Scriptural standards. And we rejoice in the prospect — chimerical as our brother will think it to be — of seeing all who hold the Head ultimately united in support of the same Presbyterianism which our fathers had held before us. (Loud cheers.) Far be it from me to expect that our brother should be converted by a a single speech. (Laughter.) I cannot expect that this Commemoration will have such an immediate effect on him, or upon others who think with him ; but I do trust and believe, — because I hold Presbyterianism to be Scriptural — that the light of increasing knowledge, and our increasing brotherly communion with our brethren of the Congregational denomination, — which in the progress of events is doing great things now, — I say, I hope that all these things toge- ther may lead to the issue of all who are opposed to antichrist being enabled to " see eye to eye" in reference not only to Christian doctrine, but also in refe- rence to the constitution of the Church of Christ. Meantime all I shall say is, that I trust our brother will believe, that though this was meant substantially as a Presbyterian Commemoration of a Presbyterian Assembly, it is in no way inconsistent or incompatible with a meeting on a broader basis such as that which he has referred to, and in the success of which I should heartily rejoice ; but on the contrary, that this meeting in support of our common Presbyterianism is entirely consistent with the most ardent desire that whereto we have already at- tained, we may unite p,nd co-operate more and more with all who hold the Head which is Christ, in all things. (Great applause.)
The Rev. Mr White of Haddington then rose. He said, — "For their opposi- tion to Popery, Prelacy, and Erastianism, the Westminster Assembly deserved well of mankind, and I consider these three to be the greatest enemies of the Church during the present dispensation. In the Scriptures we clearly perceive that anti- christ was to be the great, public, stated enemy of Christ and his people, from the days of the apostles down to the millennium. It is clearly intimated that the rise of that system would be the special danger of the primitive Church; that its reign would be the danger of the Church in the middle ages; and that its last convulsive struggles to regain ascendancy would be the special danger of the last times. I have no doubt whatever that the Church of Rome is the antichrist; but it is just as evident that the name of antichrist is given to the Church as the head and throne of a system; and I have no doubt whatever that Prelacy and Erastianism are members of that system. For what is Popery in perfection? — Is it not just a compound formed by the union of Prelatic and Erastian powers? The pope, considered as an ecclesiastic, is just the natural apex of the hierarchic scale; he is just the primate of the world; and if we may have a primate for all England, I know of no reason why we may not also have a primate for the whole earth. If uninspired men may pretend that they are the successors of the apostles, there is no reason I know of why the pope should be denied his right to pretend that the apostles had a prince of whom he is the successor. And if we look to the temporal power of the pope, it is just Erastianism in perfection — for he bears the sword to compel obedience to himself as an ecclesiastic; he uses his temporal power to destroy all liberty of thought and conscience. And in those days when he claimed, as God's vicegerent, to be above all kings, the Erastianism was just the more fully developed; for though an ecclesiastical power claimed dominion over the civil powers, yet these ci^^l powers were exer- cised to compel obedience to the holy Roman see, to forbid that any, small or great, should be permitted to buy or sell, who had not the mark of the beast in his forehead or his hand. Popery in perfection has thus two grand elemental prin- ciples; it is formed by the union of the presumptuous powers of hierarchic Prelacy with the arbitrary powers of a persecuting prince. If Erastianism and Prelacy,
CONVERSATION. 77
when combined in one system, and carried to their full extent, constitute anti- christ, then when existing separately, they must still be essentially antichristian in their nature; they must still be considered as component parts of the antichris- tian system; though not united with the Popish Church, they must still be con- sidered as fighting the same battle under a different banner. And, accordingly, we find a striking family likeness between the Papist, the Prelatist, and the Erastian ; and even when they differ, as blood relatives often do, they all show the instinctive recoil of hereditary antipathy against civil and religious freedom. All of them tend to magnify man and his laws above God and His laws. Po- pery deifies the pope, and Erastianism deifies the king, and Prelacy deifies apos- tolical succession. All of them come in beween the conscience and its Lord; between the Creator and his creature; between the Saviour and the sinner; and thus tending to render less immediate man's intercourse with heaven, they all of them tend to stifle the noblest sentiments of humanity. Erastianism sits en- throned Upon the wealth of Europe; and Popery exhibits such a profundity and perfection of adaptation, as approaches nearer to a work of God than anything I know of that is not divine; and Prelacy boasts of her apostolic ichor as some- thing invaluable to mankind; but, so far as I know, notwithstanding all the wealth of Erastianism, and all the sagacity of Popery, and all the celestial pre- tensions of Laudean Prelacy, never one of them originated an institution which was not essentially opposed to the free operation of the Christian system, and the full expansion of the human mind. All the institutions originating in either of these sources have been evidently calculated for man, as if he were a slave, and as evidently designed to keep him in bondage. For eighteen centu- ries they have been the main enemies of the human race, — they have Iain like an incubus, alike upon religion and liberty — they have blasted many a noble plan, and marred many a noble undertaking, — they have opposed with equal bitterness the patriot and the confessor, manifesting against both a relentless and murderous antipathy, that was satiated with less than blood, only when they had it not in their power to shed it. At the time of the Westminster Assembly, Popery, by means of Prelacy and Erastianism, was seeking to regain her lost ascendancy; the civil and religious liberties of the country were en- dangered, and there can be no doubt that the Presbyterians of that period were the saviours of their country; that but for them we would have had the battle still to fight for freedom. By their efforts against Popery, Prelacy, and Erastian- ism they have laid the country under a deep debt of gratitude; and it would have been an incalculable blessing to posterity if the testimony they raised had been fully maintained. I believe it is a universal truth, that nations privileg- ed with the gospel arc never overthrown except for defection from gospel attain- ments; and I am inclined to believe that all the divisions and distractions of this land, both in church and state, and all the dangers by which it is threat- ened, have arisen from our want of faithfulness in maintaining the testimony raised by our fathers against Popery, Prelacy, and Erastianism. This is the more likely, when we reflect that at this moment Popery, Prelacy, and Erastian- ism are the real causes of our danger ; and they are causes more to be dreaded than either chartism, infidelity, or socialism. Look at our dangers and sec how they are clustered around these three. The overthrow of the Scottish Establish- ment is one cause of our danger. And to Avhat do we owe this, but to the Erastian power which the Westminster Assembly repudiated, and the Presby- terians of that period covenanted to destroy? The cry for the repeal of the union in Ireland is alarming our Government, and threatening to dismember the empire; but to what is this owing but to I'opcry and Prelacy? It is all owing to the Irish establishment; — that scandal of legislation — that bane of Pro- testantism, and bulwark of Popery. But 1 consider that the greatest of all
78 CONVERSATION.
the dangerous symptoms of the present time is the English Church Establish- ment. I am afraid of more danger from it to Britain than from all other causes together. It bids fair to turn out a platform for the re-introduction of Popery ; and if Popery be introduced, Britain must be destroyed ; and in this way it might turn out that the salvation of Prelacy will be the ruin of the empire. In these circumstances there is a loud call to union among all Presbyte- rians who adhere to the Westminster Standards. When the old battle for civil and religious liberty is evidently again to be fought, — Avhen the forces of the enemy are evidently concentrating, — when Prelacy and Erastianism are visibly gliding into Popery, it is certainly the interest as well as the duty of all evangelical Presbyterians to aim at union. And what could be a better rally- ing point than the Westminster Standards? time-hallowed and time-tested Stan- dards; Standards which in the estimation of many among us are consecrated to all posterity by the nation's vows; Standards for adhering to which our fathers suffered even to the death, amid signal ownings from on high ; and towards which many of the best and holiest men have looked forward as a rallying point for the scattered friends of Scotland's reformation — as the banner around which the hosts of Immanuel would gather for the last great battle with the powers of darkness.
The body with which I am connected adhere to these Standards in the same sense and with the same view as their compilers, viz. as a bond of union among the friends of the Redeemer, and we are pledged to unite with any other body on this ground. We consider ourselves bound to do this because we believe these Standards to be true; and also, because we consider we are still bound to this by our National Covenants. These Covenants were long charged with rebellion, and many now look on them as a cause of discord and division. I may be per- mitted to say, for myself, that I consider them not as an obstruction to union between us and others who adhere to the Westminster Standards, but as laying us under an additional obligation to seek union. Others are bound to seek union on this ground, because it is the truth ; but I believe we are bound also to do so by the oath of the Covenant, which we admit to be binding, and which lays us under an obligation to do all in our power to bring the friends of Christ to the nearest possible uniformity in matters of religion. And to make covenant obligation a cause of separation where there is no other, would be clearly and unequivocally to convert the obligation to perform a duty into a reason for ne- glecting it — to make the obligation to endeavour to unite the Church a reason for keeping up her dissensions.
And now, when by the overthrow of the Scottish Establishment, the great bone of contention among evangelical Presbyterians has been removed, I do most earnestly hope that in a short time, by united prayer, and united desire, and united effort, we may be all brought to rally round these venerable Stan- dards. And, in the mean time, as they have a Protestant peace in Ireland, I think we may now have a Presbyterian peace in Scotland; and I hope that from the admirable spirit which this day has engendered, we will be enabled to keep it in view, that the honour and the interest of each other is the honour and the interest of us all, — for now the battle is not to be with churchmen and dissen- ters, with old lights and new lights; but with Presbytery against Prelacy, and Protestantism against Popery.
By our most energetic efforts we may not be able to accomplish what was proposed by the AVestminster Divines. The scheme which they proposed was too enlarged for the then state of the Church and world; it was a plan more catholic and comprehensive than any which has since been proposed — than any that will be realised until a larger heart is bestowed upon our race. We look on it as a large step to something nobler that is to come. In looking through
DEPUTATIONS. 7^*
the history of the Church, we often find a partial delivery first, as the means of a greater triumph. When the Ijord turned again the captivity of Zion, the return was only partial — a great multitude remained among the heathen nations — because God intended to enlarge the boundaries of the Church beyond the land of Judah, and the remnant left among the Gentiles was designed to be the basis of his operations. The ark was carried captive by the Philistines; it came back of its own accord ; but it came back only to Kirjathjearim and not to Shiloh — because the Lord intended to take it from Shiloh unto Zion, from the tabernacle to the temple — and till the set time came he kept the ark in a pri- vate house. I consider the plan proposed by our ancestors as most enlarged and noble. For the present there has been a great revival of the spirit of these ancient worthies. We see men among us who, like them, are mighty in word and deed, but we expect not to see the scheme of our ancestors realised at present; we look for something still more expansive; we look on it as a step to something still more noble; we expect not that the ark will come to Shiloh, be- cause we expect it will be taken to Zion ; we expect not that it will be taken to the tabernacle which our fathers erected for it in the wilderness, because we expect that it will be taken to the temple of millennial glory — and then the scheme of our covenanting fathers will be more than realised^ ' for then there shall be one Lord, and his name one in all the earth.' " The meeting was then closed with the benediction.
THURSDAY, JULY 13. Forenoon Sederunt.
At the Sederunt this forenoon Dr Chalmers took the chair, and opened the meeting by giving out for singing the first four verses of the 125th Psalm, after which he read the 4th chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, and then called upon the Rev. Mr Gorrie of Kettle to engage in prayer.
A letter was read from Mr Macfie of Liverpool, calling their attention to the propriety of addressing a catholic letter to all Churches throughout the world, on the subject of missions.
Dr Chalmers — "This letter has been submitted to a committee of our friends ; and perhaps some gentleman may now be prepared with a suggestion as to its disposal. It gives me pleasure to know that one thing has not been neglected, the appointment of a Committee or Committees in various towns; perhaps it would be better to appoint a central Committee here with a view to organise efficient Committees in other towns, for the purpose of making a vigor- ous home mission within the spheres of their respective operations." (Hear, hear.)
Rev. Mr Elliot of Ford — " I would humbly submit that the proposition con- tained in this letter, be remitted to the Committee on business. I could add that a suggestion has been made, that Committees should be appointed in Edin- burgh and Glasgow, but I think the matter should be remitted to the Committee on business to report in the evening." (Agreed.)
The Chairman — " Will the meeting allow me to interpose a sentence or two before I call upon the representatives of the different Churches. AVhile the ob- ject of this meeting is more immediately to commemorate the past, I hope it will not be unproductive of events which will bear auspiciously on the future, that in virtue of this meeting and our many conferences, \\c shall be enabled to avail
80 DEPUTATIONS — SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ENGLAND.
ourselves of the recollections and experiences of the past, and to turn them to good account in the way of guiding and directing the future movements of the Church. (Cheers.) The business of yesterday may be said to have had immediate reference and to have done ample justice to the first of these objects — the com- memoration of the past. We had most interesting addresses upon the subjects of the leading points in the history of the Westminster Assembly, followed up by a refutation of the calumnies charged against them, after which the platform of the Presbyterian Government as agreed to by the AVestmiuster Assembly was laid down, and the lines of demarcation were drawn distinctly and vigor- ously between the position which the Presbyterians occupy, and certain other extreme practices and sentiments which it is needless to specify; and this again was followed up by an interesting description of the constitution of the Presby- terian Church and the important agency which such a Church summons into operation in the form of elders and deacons. If we could get this agency to be brought to bear upon manageable districts throughout the land, I would look upon it, as far as machinery and means are concerned, as a most effectual or- ganization to bring home the lessons of the gospel to the meanest of society, and to embrace one and all of the population. I consider this point to be of the utmost importance, and I rejoice that an opportunity will be afforded of consider- ing it at the present meeting, by the addresses of deputations and members of Churches regarding what may be considered as the terminus ad quern — the ter- minating point in the progress of every Church — the state and progress of reli- gion among them. These are points on which all are agreed, and if we find that we are united in the cardinal truths of Revelation as the most effectual means of bringing men from a state of nature into a state of grace — from the darkness of sin to the light and love of the gospel, that swelling thought will demonstrate that in the greatest of all matters we are one. (Cheers.) I look forward with an interest in which I am sure the meeting will join, to the addresses that are to be delivered by the deputations of Churches on the state and progress of religion among them. I beg to call in the first instance upon the deputation represent- ing the Scottish Presbyterian Church in England, Mr Murdoch of Berwick, Mr Watson of Belford, and Mr Sawers of Newcastle. (Cheers.)
Rev. Mr Murdoch of Berwick was first heard. He apologised for the unavoid- able absence of the convener of the deputation, Mr Campbell of Manchester, and stated that he would have regretted if any of the churches in the land had shown any backwardness on such an occasion to testify their adherence to those great and valuable Standards of the Westminster Assembly, which had brought the meet- ing together. For himself, as a humble member of the Presbyterian Church in England, he would not refuse to lift up his voice in testimony of his cordial and strong attachment to those venerable symbols of faith, and the great principles of doctrine, discipline, worship, and government which they embodied, and to add his desire and expectation that these symbols of faith should also become the symbols of affection and love among all the brethren who hold the Head, even the Lord Jesus Christ. (Hear.) Regarding the state and progress of religion in the Church with which he was connected, he was not prepared to give full and accurate details ; but he would state a few general circumstances which ■were interesting in themselves, and with which he thought the meeting would be interested. A few years ago the Church of which he was a humble member had scarcely any organized existence at all. It was scattered and scorned — frowned upon by a high and lordly Prelacy — unjustly molested by the evange- lical portion of the Established Church, because it had become tainted w ith the foul and fatal leprosy of Socinianism — and because in ceasing to hold by the Head, it left all just claim to its connexion with the members — all just claim
DEPUTATIONS — SCOTTISH PRESBYTKRIAN CHURCH IN ENGLANP. 81
to sympathy, and fellow-feeling, and co-operation from them. But it was to be recorded as a matter of thankfulness to Divine Providence — as a mark of Divine grace to that Church, that this leprosy had in great measure been healed, and that the remainder was gradually disappearing from the form and face of the Church — that the great standards of Christianity, and those cognate truths on which the salvation of souls depended, had been erected in the midst of them; and that they could say now with gratitude to God, "Thou hast dis- played for us a banner because of thy truth ; and all will turn again to judgment who are right-hearted men." In consequence of this improved state of things, they had been formed into a Synod, with seven different Presbyteries ; and if he might be permitted to allude to the locality where he was placed, when he first went there, there was not the vestige of Presbytery ; and the congrega- tions, though they were not lapsed into the foul and dangerous errors of Socinianism, had become mere disjected members of a body which were not re- cognized. Though the cardinal doctrines of the gospel had not been subverted, yet the discipline of the Word of God was suspended and set aside ; and a mi- nister of the gospel was deposed, not by a Presbytery nor by a Presbytery's appointment, nor even by the voice of the Church, but by the decision of a body of secular trustees. There is now in the locality a regularly organized Presby- tery, founded on the Westminster Standards, and its affairs are administered according to the discipline of these Standards. The Presbytery consisted of eight different congregations. It was by falling from the Westminster Standards that the errors he alluded to had crept in. The process was this : — first all Presby- terian superintendence was slackened — discipline was relaxed — individual minis- ters felt that they were without control, and individual trustees felt that they had a right — in fact, every man felt himself at liberty — to act as every man did in Israel •when there was no king — every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Hence arose the errors of Socinianism. Had the standards of the Church been in sufficient operation, it is clear that this heresy would have been checked at the outset ; and in retracing their steps, they found that the only right way was to raise their standards anew, and gather round them the hearts and sympathies of their congregations. This was sufficient proof of the importance and value of the standards ; but perhaps they would permit him, in a sentence or two, to show their value in another light. Those in England adhering formerly to tlie Established Church of Scotland had been misunderstood and grievously mis- represented ; and therefore they had claimed connexion with the Presbyterian Church established in this land, in order that they might be recognised in England as holding Jesus Christ the Head. But they claimed connexion with them as a co-ordinate Church, holding spiritual connexion with them alone; and he stated this to show that they were misunderstood and misrepresented when, in consequence of the disruption that had lately occurred, they were represented as entirely changing the character of their Church, and that they stood forth in a new attitude and new relations, to which the same respect and veneration was not due. But they had not changed their adherence to the Westminster Standards — that foundation they still maintained ; and they were ready with heart and hand to hold fellowship with those and those alone who held Christ as the Head, and the Church as the members of His mystical body. (Hear, hear.) But the progress of religion in their Church must not be regarded as a separate progress. They could not overlook, nor did they overlook, that there were Presbyterians in England besides themselves, who held the same standards, and exercised the same discipline, and exhibited the same cardinal doctrines for enlightening and edifying the population of England. And he took notice of this the more, because the Westminster Assembly formed a broad basis, on which they could stand together more closely and cordially than they had ever
L.
82 DEPUTATIONS SCOTTISH rRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ENGLAND.
yet done. (Cheers.) He trusted that they would be enabled to form a break- water against the tide of error, and bigotry, and priestly delusion, which was so rapidly rolling over the southern part of the island. He might farther be per- mitted to state, with regard to a point which was mentioned last night, to show how naturally adapted Presbyterianism was to the condition of society, that they had a most profitable and edifying meeting at their last Synod with the repre- sentatives of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists — the Presbyterians of Wales, whose standards of faith, worship, and discipline, resembled very much the Westminster Standards, and were in fact substantially the same. This, by the way, was another note of the state and progress of religion among them. The two bodies had been drawn together; and it was worthy of observation that at one and the same time overtures from two perfectly distinct Presbyteries came up to the Synod to open up a correspondence with the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists ; and how struck they were to find that that body was quite prepared to reciprocate the feeling. Well, the representatives met ; and they had most profitable and pleasing Christian fellowship with them ; but what lie was about to remark was, the Christian simplicity with which they stated how naturally they were led to adopt the Presbyterian form. The meeting would be aware that the rise and origin of this body was from an individual preaching the grace of Christ, to woo and win souls to the Saviour. God blessed his labours ; and, as the body increased, they were naturally led to fellowship meetings for prayer, for consultation, and for ordering the affairs of the church. These meetings be- came too numerous, and so they were led to appoint committees of their num- ber, to whom was entrusted the management of their affairs. It was in this way that the Presbyterian form of government rose among them, taking its rise in the love and confidence of the brethren ; and he was reminded by it of the words of the apostle, for he thought if love be the fulfilling of the law, here was a new and original argument for the right and reasonableness of Presbyterianism. (Cheers.) And this led him to state briefly what had happened among their neighbours the Independents, who had been led to something of the same de- scription. They had found practically that the holding of monthly meetings for advice and consultation was a desirable thing for the good of their respective churches. Well, they had no authority over the churches ; but they possessed a moral and a Christian influence, which was truly the influence of Presby- terianism ; for Presbyteries had no legally constituted authority over the con- gregations of the Church — the bond of their authority was Christ; and his authority was the law of love. He concluded by urging union among all Churches on the basis of the Westminster Standards.
Rev. Mr Watson of Belford next addressed the meeting. He rejoiced at the present assemblage ; he had the pleasure of meeting many early friends of his boyhood, now representatives of other Churches, but especially with the minis- sters of what he used to regard as his mother Church, and he still so regarded it, for circumstances neither made nor unmade a Church. He rejoiced to see there members of Churches whom he never expected to see met together. The sons of Presbytery were now laying aside selfishness and self-seeking, and Avere uniting together to promote the cause of Christ. The argument had been some- times used that Presbyterianism would not flourish in England. That argument would not be admitted in that meeting, where they believed that Presbytery was founded jure divino; and he believed that the chief cause of the backward- ness of Presbyterianism in England, was want of co-operation among her sons. lie would, with the permission of the meeting, relate an anecdote to show the spirit of certain parties towards them, though he knew, at the same time, that many members of the Established Church disavowed these feelings. A minis-
DEI'UTATIONS SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN CIIURCU IN ENGLAND. 03
ter, not in his locality, but immediately adjoining, visited a female whom he (Mr W.) had the happiness of seeing, when she was on her sick bed. He ask- ed her if she was a member of the Church of Scotland. She said she was. lie asked her if she had always been so. She said yes; she had been born and baptised in that Church. Then, he said, you must go to hell. (Hear.) The meeting would be glad to hear that the woman was not greatly agitated by this expression of the minister; but she was a woman of great strength of mind. The minister further said, that there was but one Church till the time of that schismatic King Henry YIII. Yes, the woman replied, there was but one Church, but that Church was the Roman Catholic. Surely, then, Presbyterians were called upon to do something even for the sake of these men themselve.s, and for the defence of their common Presbyterianism, which was endangered by them. Let them not only co-operate, but if it were possible, let them be one in sentiment. I^et them look to their Saviour's prayer, and expect to see its fulfilment; for him the Father heareth alway. Let them expect great things, and providence would bless their exertions. (Applause.)
Rev. Mr Sawrrs of Newcastle then addressed the meeting as to certain facts or statistics of religion in the locality with which he was more imme- diately connected. Lot him say first of all that he loved England — dear, generous, noble England — but he loved Scotland more. But, at the same time, had England embraced the nol)le principles which she had embodied as Standards for herself by the Assembly which they were met to commemorate, then he would have been constrained to love England more than even his na- tive Scotland. (Applause.) He wished exceedingly that the principles embo- bodied as the standards of these Churches, were received into the hearts, and embodied in the institutions of that country, as he thought that in that case, the greatest advantages, moral and religious, would have accrued to England. He could not forget that she was in the truest sense, the mistress of the world. He could not forget that from her went forth missionaries, but many were missionaries of mischief. Many of her sons went forth into other lands; but in place of being fair representatives of England or of Scotland, they often carried into the distant quarters of the globe the vices and the crimes over which good men lamented and grieved at home. He might men- tion that it had been stated by the Church Pastoral Aid Society, and by the re- ports of home missionary societies, that there were five millions of the popula- tion who attended no place of worship, nor were in the habit of receiving any religious instruction whatever. Five millions of souls ! Were Scotland altoge- ther destitute of religious ordinances and of Christian pastors, that would be scarcely more than half of the immortal souls who were altogether destitute of religious ordinances in England. He hoped this would make an impres- sion upon the minds and memories of those who were present, that a num- ber of persons equal to twice the population of Scotland, were absolutely perishing for lack of knowledge. The town in which he resided, Gateshead and Newcastle, contained in the last census a population of 110,000, and of that number only about 15,000 were in the habit of attending any place of worship, reckoning all denominations — thus leaving, by the consent of all par- ties, above 90,000 persons, who habitually neglected the ordinances of reli- gion. In London, according to the report of the Home Missionary Society, he perceived that there were about 600,000 sittings in all denominations of religion. But there were two millions of souls in the capital; and supposing that double the number really went to church, add that as many had a right and lawful excuse for staying at home, that would make 120,000 souls who attended church, while the remaining 800,000 souls were living in a state
84 DEPUTATIONS SECESSION PRESBYTERY OF LANCASHIRE.
of absolute heathenism — and this in London, which might be called the capital of Christendom. On the other hand he would not say that there were sufficient appliances or means for overtaking a destitution so great. Yet some efforts were making. In Newcastle they were seeking to unite ministers and Christian members of all denominations into a union, in order to co-operate in the spread of religious instruction; and twenty-five ministers had already united for this pur- pose. But he must say that he did not see that in England and Wales included, there was any body of such commanding influence as to present a rallying-point for all Christian denominations ; and therefore they were looking with hope, and prayer, and expectation to the Free Protesting Church of Scotland, as a rallying point round which they might gather, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Would they allow him before sitting down, to revert to a noble body of men in Wales — the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. He had had the pleasure of meet- ing them in their Assembly; and he knew no purer pleasure he had tasted on earth than to meet with these devoted men, to witness their deep devotion, and to see them united, much as the congregations in Scotland were, to commemo- rate the death of the Lord. (Here Mr S. read extracts from letters received from leading members of this body, expressing sympathy and great admiration for the sacrifices of the Free Church of Scotland. He continued, ) This body of Christians consists of 800 congregations, who in some things are more Pres- byterian than even the Free Protesting Church. (Hear, hear.) One thing that he must mention connected with the body was, that they had a most efficient eldership. He could not forget how astonished he was in attending one of their Sabbath schools. The grey-headed men and those with tottering step, stood there side by side Avith children; the wife and the husband met there, each with their Bibles, anxious to search the scriptures. There was no danger of these people receiving error — they were prepared to become the teachers of others; and he believed that this was the great secret of their strength — their Sabbath-school instruction In Wales it was generally agreed that not one in twenty attends the Established Church; and that most of the 19-20ths were in connexion with the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. He concluded by expres- sing his hope that the principles of the Westminster Standards would once more become triumphant in England.
The Chairman then announced that the next deputation was from the Secession Presbytery of Lancashire.
The Rev. AVilliam R. Thorburn, A.M., of Hall Fold, near Rochdale, Lancashire, spoke nearly as follows: — " Mr Chairman, and Christian friends. After the lengthened statements respecting Presbyterianism in the north of England, to which we have listened, I shall best consult my own feelings, and the feelings of this great Assembly, if I attempt nothing in the way of a speech that may obstruct the progress of the important business now before us.
I cannot, however, but express the earnest sympathy which I feel, in common with all present, in the spirit and design of this meeting, whether I regard it as a demonstration in favour of great doclnnes, or of the outline of Preshijte- rian polity. And though I appear before you in an individual and not in a delegated capacity, I am sure that my brethren in Lancashire participate strongly in the feeling which animates us all on this occasion,
I represent at this meeting the Dissenting Presbyterian Churches in Lan- cashire, in connection with the United Associate Synod of Scotland, and usually denominated by us Evangelical Prcsbijlcrian. We have few churches altogether in that populous county, though at one time the stronghold of Pres- byterianism ; but though few we are not altogether undistinguished or uniufiu-
DEPUTATIONS SECESSION PKESBYTEKiT OF LANCASUIKK. ha
ential in our own sphere; nor yet without valuable auxiliaries in other evan- gelical Churches.
As to " the state and prospects of religion in our own churches," — (the as- signed subject, as I understand, of the statements now expected) — my remarks must be few and general.
Our churches are distinguished, I think, by fervent love to " the truth as it is in Jesus," — by liberal and honest attachment to the doctrines of the West- minster Assembly of Divines. The sad declension of many of the old Presby- terian congregations in England, into the errors of Socinianism, may well act as a salutary warning against doctrinal errors, and as a powerful stimulant to soundness in the faith. And not less surely the daring and dangerous assump- tions of Puseyism or semi-I'opery in the hierarchy of England, on the one hand ; and the various forms of error, among the uninstructed and ungodly population, on the other. In these circumstances, how necessary it is " to hold fast the form of sound words," and " earnestly to contend for the faith which Avas once delivered to the saints;" — and how happy if we have risen, in some measure, to the exigencies of the case I
Again, without the remotest wish to disparage the practice of other Churches, we feel our obligation ever increasing to guard, by every possible means, the purity of the Church with which we are connected. For, after all, the great, the only glory of the Christian Church is her moral purity, — the likeness of her members to her risen and glorified Head. If this characteristic be wanting, •whatever else be enjoyed, the glory is departed.
Farther, it will be admitted by those who know us, that we have some share oi catholicity of spirit, and practice, — more, perhaps, than is usual with Presby- terians in the north. Much has been said of late respecting co-operation, with- out incorporation. Whatever may be our tendency to incorporation, I am sure we have co-operali07i, in a liberal form, with all evangelical Churches who will co-operate with us, and earnestly long for the time when we shall enjoy incor- poration on Christian principles, — when the prayer of the Saviour shall be realised, " That they all (who believe) may be one, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
Our churches, though Presbyterian, and falsely, (I do not say intenliotially), supposed by some to have little sympathy with the popular rights, are not desti- tute of public spirit. In proof of this fact, I may state, and I do it with much pleasure, that the members of our Presbytery in Lancashire were among Ihcjirst to denounce the foul invasion on the rights of conscience, lately made upon Dissenters in Sir James Graham's Factory and Education Bill, and along with others, to repel the insolent attack.
I shall only add, that another interesting feature of our churches, consists in the Sabbath school system of education which they pursue. All our churches have Saljbath schools connected with them and under their superintendence, — some of them very numerous and supported at considerable annual expense, and attended chiefly by the children of those who neglect the things that belong to their peace. Our churches are thus, emphatically, home missionary establish- ments.
With these imperfect remarks, and with earnest prayers that this commemo- ration may conduce to the interests of truth, righteousness, and brotherly love, I beg leave to give place to others who are to address us."
Dr CuiCHTON of Liverpool had not a single word to add to wliat had been so well said, respecting the state of the churches in Lancashire. He belonged to the United Secession Church, but he was a member of the Glasgow I'resbyterv ;
86 BErUTATIONS — SECESSION CHURCH, BERWICK.
but all the Churches were of one principle, and one brotherhood. In Liverpool there were two congregations connected with the United Secession Church : the one of which he was minister contained 600 communicants, and about 600 adherents ; and he was happy to say that they were able to maintain their place among the other churches in Liverpool. He had one thing to remark, that if they wished Presbyterianisra to be diffused through England, they ought as speedily as possible to unite all the Presbyterians in England in one body. (Great applause.) As speedily as possible he said. There was nothing to separate them now. They were all one in principle — the greater part of those who were connected with the Church of Scotland being now adhering to the Free Church, so that there Avas nothing to keep them asunder. Many congregations were beginning to feel the importance and necessity of union ; and he was happy to say that in the intercourse he had held, even with the Baptists and Independents of Liver- pool, they also were willing to co-operate with them. They had acted on the principle of having united monthly prayer-meetings for many years. They were already willing to co-operate, and they looked forward with joy to incorpo- ration. (Applause.) He believed that, were Presbyterianism to be fostered by the Presbyterians in Scotland, they had the means of doing a great deal of good in England. As they were at present constituted, neither the Scottish Kirk nor the Secession could hope to make much progress, or great inroad upon the body of the English people. All their ministers were from Scotland, and their whole system so decidedly Scottish in its character, that it was generally considered by the English as intended only for the Scotch : just as Welsh Methodism was regarded as a system only for the Welsh. Now, if they were all banded together into one body, with their church courts, and theological institutions, they might reasonably hope to be much more successful. They had already a good number of English families connected with their congregations, and these, when they be- come acquainted with, and attached to the system, are generally found to be more distinguished for their strictness in their attendance on ordinances, their piety, their zeal, and liberality, than even the Scotch themselves. (Hear, hear.) He had in his congregation some young English students, who he trusted would soon occupy a place in tlie Church, and by such supplies he trusted a great inroad would be made upon the English population ; for till the ministers were more English in their habits, they could not effect much, ex- cept upon the Scotch population. The number of Scotchmen who came to England was very great; many of them had been well brought up; and yet in many instances they forgot all : they became slack in their attendance at the house of God ; then they began to wander, till at last the ordinances were totally • abandoned. Every minister in England knew this ; and he believed it was still more remarkable in the metropolis than in Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) He concluded by again expressing a hope for union in England, by means of which they would bulk more in the eye of Scottish Presbyterians than they had hitherto done. (Great applause.)
The Chairman then called upon
The Rev. Professor Balmer of Berwick, (Secession) who said, — " Mr Chair- man, if the Committee have got my name in the programme, it has been with- out my knowledge or consent. I have nothing to say upon the state of religion in our neighbourhood, in addition to what has been already stated by ray neighbour and brother Mr Murdoch, but as I have been called upon to say a few words, I cannot refrain from expressing shortly the pleasure I have ex- perienced in attending this meeting, — to which I must be alloAved to say, I did not come with very high anticipations. I have rarely seen any meeting of this
DEPUTATIONS SECESSION CIIUUCII, BEUWICK. 87
kind, or read of any meeting for commemoratinjj: the services either of the living or the dead, in which there was not uttered much indiscriminate and extrava- gant eulogy ; and I was not without my apprehensions, that this meeting would be one of the same kind. I was afraid that if the Divines of Westminster could have witnessed our proceedings, they would have said, "Worship God, not us : remember the Church is built not upon us but upon the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." I think it right to state now, that my fears have been completely disappointed. (Applause.) 1 have heard indeed, a great deal of panegyric on the Westminster Divines ; but it has been so discriminating, so judicious, accompanied with so many proper cjualifi- cations and cautions, that I think I could assent to almost every word of eulogium I have heard. (Applause.) I must say, in the language of an indi- vidual who lived at the time of the Westminster Assembly, who was not a member of that body, but was perhaps a greater man than any member of it, — I mean the celebrated Richard Baxter, that though the AVestminster Assembly had done nothing more than produced the Shorter Catechism, they would be entitled to the everlasting gratitude of the Christian Church. That Catechism I regard, with Baxter, as probably the best book in the world next to the Bible, and as having been honoured to do more good than any other uninspired pro- duction. I beg leave to say further, that I concur most cordially in all the sentiments of respect expressed for those ministers and denominations who differ from us in subordinate matters — for the Puritans of the seventeenth century who were not Presbyterians, and I concur also in all the sentiments of respect that were uttered last night for the Independent ministers and churches of the present day. If they belong to Christ I would cherish for them sentiments of Christian love ; and I trust that all our proceedings will be conducted as they have been hitherto conducted, so that we may say, Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in siuceiity. I may be per- mitted to add, that the unity of the Cliurch is an object which I have long had sincerely at heart, and I contemplate the proceedings of this meeting with interest and satisfaction, because I consider it as likely to be overruled for the promotion of that important object. When we look into the New Testament we find it stated, as an attribute which ought ever to characterize the Church of Christ, that all who belong to it ought to be visibly as well as virtually one ; that there must be no rending of the Saviour's seamless coat ; no schism in his mystical body ; and that every division among its constituent parts is a spectacle as monstrous and unsightly as would be a division among the members of the human frame. When we think of the schisms that have arisen, the question occurs, what is the cause ? Does the New Testament not afford us a sufficient directory for our conduct ? If it does not it cannot be regarded as a perfect rule. The fault, however, is in ourselves; in our not studying the rule, or else in not applying it to our case. The Bible alone is the religion of Protestants, and it is a sufiicient directory for us, both in our individual and corporate capacity. The principles of catholic union are distinctly recognised in the Westminster Confession of Faith, — the communion of saints is there directed to be extended, as opportunity offers, to all saints ; and really it is lamentable to think how we in Scotland, with all our superior knowledge, have failed so grievously to ex- emplify these principles. I hope, however, that this meeting will contribute to produce a spirit of love, and if it do that, I have little doubt but that it will tend to diminish and obliterate our divisions. I would say of love as the Puritan Divines used to say of prayer, — Prayer, said they, will either compel a man to give up sinning, or sinning will compel him to give up prayer. Thus, too, if we have love one towards another as we ought to have, it will either compel us to put an end to our divisions, or our divisions will compel us to relinquish our
88 BKPUTATIONS — SECESSION CHUKCH, BERWICK.
love. (Hear, hear.) It is a remark made by some writers on moral philosopliy, in particular by Madame de Stael and Dugald Stewart, that our instinctive princi- ples and affections often keep us right, both in sentiment and conduct, when our speculative reasonings would lead us astray. And so also, if we are imbued with Christian affection, if we obey the impulse of what may be called the instincts of the new creature, we should be led in the right way in spite of our speculative errors. I do not wish, any more than a distinguished individual who addressed us yesterday, either to obtrude or to compromise my own pecu- liar opinions ; but I must say that the principles of the New Testament are abundantly plain, that the directory for that department of conduct referred to is laid clearly down in the Epistle to the Philippians, — let us never push our practical reparations beyond the boundary of our doctrinal differences ; let us walk together in the things in which we are agreed ; and if we do so, God is faithful, he will fulfil his promise, and reveal to us the things in which we are of different minds. A similar sentiment has been expressed lately, in which I fully concur — co-operation without incorporation. TVe are not yet rijje for incor- poration : but if we were to co-operate in the things in which we are agreed, our incorporation would be ripened, and would come in due time. I am glad to see that in England and in Scotland, Christians of almost all denominations are approximating in their views of church polity and doctrine. But I must say, that even if they were completely united in their views, I would deprecate one General Assembly as far too unwieldy an instrument to do business, and as hostile to the progress of improvement ; but to act together on things on which we are agreed would do immense good : and considering the circumstances of the times, there is great need for union and co-operation, and a loud call for them, and abundant encouragement to aim at them. If five years ago, an individual had said, you will soon see all evangelical Presbyterians or their representatives, united harmoniously under one roof, we should have been apt to reply, — Behold now, if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, how shall this thing be ? But God has made windows in heaven : he has showered down the influences of his Holy Spirit, and we see that the thing is, and I trust that the Lord will keep open the windows of heaven, and pour us out a blessing till there be not room to receive it. We meet partly in consequence of the most important event that has occurred in the history of the Church for many years. We meet on common but on elevated and on holy ground ; and I would now take the liberty of making two suggestions of a practical kind. I have derived so much instruction and delight from this meeting, and judging of the feelings of others by my own, I could wish we did not part without fixing upon a time for meeting again. (Loud applause.) I have another practical suggestion to make, and it is this. I doubt how far our several missionary schemes could be better managed by a joint committee, than they are now by their respective Churches ; but I could wish that a committee representing all the different denominations of ministers here present could meet, and, if possible, frame cer- tain regulations to guide them in their conduct towards one another. Looking back upon the history of the Churches of this country for the last fifty years, what do Ave see? We see variance, selfishness, and the factious jealous spirit of the world. One denomination has attempted to supplant another, — and they have planted congregations where they knew they could not succeed without the annihilation of congregations previously planted by some other sect. Would it not be possible, and is it not most desirable if it were possible, for all evan- gelical Presbyterians, or rather all evangelical Protestants to agree on certain friendly principles on which they would act towards each other? SVhile readily listening to the applications of people wherever there was a reasonable prospect of a congregation, might not they say, We have so much respect for one an-
DEPUTATIONS CONCLUDING ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN. (.i9
other, that we will not form a congregation, if, in consequence of it we are to annihilate another congregation. The Church, the Secession, the Relief, the Independents, — in fact all parties in turn have shown an envious and jealous spirit ; acting like hostile communities, not like Christian societies. Let us put an end to this temper and conduct. Let us recollect that Christianity is a reli- gion of love, and that it is worse than vain for us to profess love with our tongues, if we do not cherish it in our hearts, and exemplify it in our conduct. (Great applause.)
The Chairman said, " If Dr Balraer was not heforehand apprised to speak, I am sorry for the mistake ; but really after listening to what he has said, and feeling, as I do in common with the whole of this Assembly, the exceeding value of his suggestions, and the remarks he lias addressed to us, I cannot feci it in my heart to tender him an apology." (Laughter and applause.)
Dr Chalmers then addressed the meeting as follows : — " I can recognise no difference of sentiment, no difference of staple, in the addresses which we have now heard from the representatives of various Christian denominations. There may be a complexional, but most assuredly no substantial difference between them, — a difference it may be, in the style or mode of putting, but no more af- fecting the essence or subject matter of what has now been delivered, than the difference between one and another in the tone of their voices. The same per- vading gospel truth has been sounded forth, — and that most manifestly and un- equivocally,— by one and all of them. And the question which, in the name of charity and of our common faith, I have to put in the hearing of this Assembly is, Whether such a unity of spirit, along with such a unity of substantial doc- trine, should not suffice for a bond of peace ? (Cheers.)
For myself, I can see no obstacle in the way of our being fellow-workers, and that to a great extent, for the objects of our common Christianity. And I re- joice to observe the growing prevalence and popularity of this sentiment, — a sentiment which I can perceive has formed itself into a sort of watchword, brief and memorable, and having in it a certain cadence or alliteration, which recommends it all the more to the ear of the public, and is fitted to give it a larger currency and reception throughout the Churches of our land ; — I advert to the well-known and oft-repeated aphorism of " co-operation without incor- poration." I am aware that by many this goodly and well-sounding aphorism has been fathered upon myself — (Loud cheers) — and yet it is not just the motto that I would inscribe upon an escutcheon wherewith to signalize my family. I have no quarrel with the co-operation ; and whenever aught that is good is ex- pedited thereby, the more of it the better. But I except to the negative, as be- ing by far too absolute, that is laid by this maxim on the incorporation. The truth is, that whenever incorporation can be effected with advantage, and with- out violence to the consciences of the parties, it is in itself a most desirable ob- ject ; and therefore, without saying, roundly and universally, " co-operation without incorporation," I would, though at the hazard of marring somewhat the euphony of the saying, and of laying an arrest on its way towards the rank and celebrity of a proverb, — I would substitute for these Avoids, " co-operation now, and this with the view, as soon as may be, to incorporation afterwards." (Loud and continued cheering.)
As I am in earnest for the adoption of something practical, and that the fruit of this great meeting shall come forth in deeds as well as professions, let me be indulged with one or two instances, which may at the same time serve as illus- trations of my meaning. The Presbyterians of the General Assembly of Ulster are scarcely if at all distinguishable from the Presbyterians of the Free Church of Scotland. Instead of a similarity, it might be almost, or very nearly, called
M
i)() DEPUTATIONS — CONCLUDING ADDBESS BY CHAIRMAN.
an identity which subsists between us ; and in all those cases where we can work together, there seems not a single obstacle in the way of our most cordial and entire co-operation. And yet the very distance of the two countries from each other presents, in my opinion, a barrier in the way of our incorporation, — if by this be meant, that we shall so merge in each other, as to have one and the same General Assembly as a common court of ultimate appeal, and pre- siding in the form of a central authority over all the inferior jurisdictions of both. Because there is the ide7n genere between them, there ought on that ac- count to be a perfect co-operation ; but it follows not that there should be the idem numero, — the impediment to the latter being not a difference of principle, but a mere difference of position, and therefore not infringing in the very least on that unity which consists not only in oneness of doctrine, but in oneness even of worship, and government, and forms.
But for our second example, there are some Episcopalians in Scotland who are also evangelical, and so are all the Independents in Scotland — (Cheers) — at least as far as I know of them. Betvi^een them and us, therefore, there is not the difference of a straw in point of theology ; and this surely forms a good and solid basis for co-operation, — though for some time I fear we shall not, — and just because of the difference in our respective governments, — find our way to the incorporation. But I would have you remark here, that this is owing to a distinct cause from that which obtained in the former instance. It is not be- cause of any difference in our local position, as with the Presbyterians of Ire- land, for here we are intermingled the one with the other in the same country. There is no difference of local position then ; but there is, unfortunately I do think, what may be called a difference of principle, that is, in as far as those of the one denomination feel very strong on the side of their Episcopacy, and those of the other feel very strong on the side of their Independency. I regret that either should lay so great stress on the mere point of government, when, on the point of doctrine, the great capitajidei, — the terms of salvation, — there should be such a cordial and entire agreement ; insomuch, that with the fullest sym- pathy we could associate together under the same roof as fellow- worshippers at the same family-altar, and recognise each other as fellow-travellers to the same eternal home. Doubtless they are just as much entitled to express the same re- gret at the stress that we lay on our Presbyterianism, — (laughter and cheers,) — and most assuredly this is not the place or the occasion for attempting a settle- ment of the question, by entering on the merits of these several church-govern- ments. Both parties, I am afraid, that is, our Episcopalian friends on the one hand, and our Congregational friends on the other, would think that we were arrogating too much if we claimed any advantage over them in respect of prin- ciple. But I do hope that neither of them will be offended, if we do felicitate ourselves on the advantage we have over them in respect of position. I do not mean now in respect of local or geographical position, for here we are all living side by side in the same neighbourhood. I mean something different from this, — the midway position of our tenets or views on the subject in question, and in virtue of which, I think, we stand at a far better rallying point for at length a great and extensive re- union among these three denominations, — far better, I do think, than if we stood at either of the extremes. (Cheers.) The Congre- gationalists amongst us can tell whether they are very sanguine of ever bringing down even the best and holiest men of the Episcopacy to the level of their own platform ; and the Episcopalians can, in like manner, tell Avhether they ever cherish the fond imagination that, in opposition to a bias strong as that of gravitation itself, they will be able to draw up Congregationalism to their towering heights of Episcopacy. (Great laughter.) We on the other hand are sanguine enough to believe it not impossible that we should both bring down the one and draw up
DEl'UTATIONS — CONCLUDING ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN. 01
the other, to the intermediate phice which ourselves occupy. (Great cheering.) And we can descry something like a stepping-stone, constructed by each of these parties, and which though not designed by either for an approximation to us, may we hope eventually lead to it. We can see, on the one hand, amongst the Episcopalians, a demand for their ancient Convocation, and for assessors to their bishops, and for a subordinate government in the rural deaneries. On the other hand, there is nothing more frequent among Independents now than Congrega- tional Unions and associated bodies. Let us hope that this might ultimately carry them forward, both from the right and the left, to a coalescence with our- selves ; and meanwhile, let us rejoice in the oneness of our theology, which, like the rod of Aaron, I trust will at length swallow up all our differences ; and meanwhile, whereunto we have attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same things.
This prepares the way for our next instance, where the various denominations come nearest of all to each other, and who, though somewhat split and receded into different parties, can yet, as the common descendants of one and the same ancestry, trace up their pedigree to the divines, or at least to the deeds of that great Assembly whose sittings now of two hundred years back, we have met to commemorate. Between the Free Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Dissenters of this country there is no difference of government, and no difference of theology which I am aware of; or, in other words, no insupera- ble bar, I will not say in the way of an immediate, but in the way of an even- tual, and, I do hope, of a speedy incorporation. At all events, the maxim of co-operation without incorporation would admit, in their case, of being greatly modified. Without, it may be for a time; but when both identity of principle and identity of position are on its side, I should be loth to say, ?vilhout , hopeless- ly and for ever. There are certain facilities which can only be indicated very generally in a speech, but which can be understood executively, and in de- tail, by repeated conversations, and which, if adopted, would serve, in my opi- nion, to hasten forward this great consummation. Let me notice one of these as a specimen to which I will confine myself, for I feel that I am making too great an encroachment on the time of this Assembly. However, it delights me to observe from the programme of this day, that {the very topic on which I meant to enter a certain way, but which I shall only start now, forms part and parcel of the prescribed subject for the conversation which is immediately to follow. For surely when your assigned theme is co-operation in missionary en- terprises, you do not mean to exclude home missions ; and what I should have insisted on is just co-operation in these, as the likeliest step to a coming incor- poration. (Loud and prolonged cheering.) We cannot enter far on this as our common work, without the practical necessity of a common understanding, and that for the object of a joint or common regulation. We could not, for example, take up Edinburgh as the field of such an undertaking, without some such me- thod of distribution in the allocation of the respective districts to the respective labourers, as might save all confusion or interference in the prosecution of this great work. Let us hope that the vast worth of the territorial principle might, while engaged in the furtherance of this design, become more obvious to the understandings, and that by the recommendation of itself to the experience both of Christian men and of Christian ministers. It is a principle which has been mainly lost sight of in our large towns, even by the Established clergy; yet a principle, I trust, on which the Free Church of Scotland will never relinquish its hold, although it is quite plain, when we look to the plenteousness of the harvest, and the fewness of the labourers, it is not a principle which our Free Church can work out, or carry forward to its ultimate effect and accomplish- ment alone. Let us hope that the necessary co-operation might bring together
92 DEPUTATIONS CONCLUDING ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN.
men who have been long standing at a distance, and frowning on each other from their respective orbits, — might chase away our thousand misunderstand- ings, and prove a stepping-stone by which co-operation now might lead to incor- poration afterwards. (Great applause.)
Before I am done, I feel desirous of bringing above boards Avhat I think will operate as a bar in the way of a cordial and good understanding, so long as it remains the object of a sensitive and fearful reticence. I do not sympathise with the exceeding care and caution of those people who look so prudent and so wary, and tell us that nothing must be said about Voluntaryism. (Loud laughter, and cries of Hear, hear.) I confess, on the other hand, my anxiety to say something about it, and that because of the conviction under which I la- bour, that Avhile suffered to abide within the cell of one's own thoughts, where, from the very irksomeness of its confinement, it might rankle in the form of an unexplained grudge, it will operate most injuriously as a preventive to that full union between soul and soul, so indispensable to the comfort and the effi- cacy of co-operation between those who have now met together, and that with the avowed purpose of seeing eye to eye. (Loud cries of Hear, hear.) Why, on the contrary, I would have it proclaimed openly and without reserve, that there is a difference of opinion upon this question; and this, not with the design of creating a breach or casting up a barrier between the parties, but with the very opposite design, of pointing out the egregious folly, if I may so term it, of sufiering any such difference to stand in the way of their mutual helpfulness and encouragement, in every practicable walk of well-doing, for the good of our common Christianity. I am desirous of tabling the subject in the sight and hearing of all, that it may both be recognised as the topic of a real and honest difference, and, at the same time, be utterly disarmed and scotched as a topic of mischievous dissension. (Great cheering.) For how does the matter stand? Here are two parties, each honestly bent on the adoption of such measures as might best conduce to the moral and religious well-being of their fellow-men ; but the one happening to think that the State should lend itself to the same ob- ject, by the method of an endowment, and the other happening to think the op- posite of this. I ask, in the name of common sense, if two parties are to sus- pend their duty, common to both; and if that duty be co-operation for a great and general good, on which the hearts of each are alike set, are they to suspend this, because they choose to differ in opinion respecting the duty of a third par- ty that has no connection with either of them? (Loud cries of Hear, hear, hear.) We assuredly stand as hopelessly dissevered from the party in question, and have as little hope of being restored to a connection with them, as if there had sprung up betwixt us an immoveable wall of brass, a thousand cubits high. (Loud laughter.) AVe, on the one hand, can enter into no terms with a Go- vernment, who, because they endow a Church, think they have a claim to go- vern it ; and they, on the other hand, keep as resolute a hold of this Erastian imagination, as if they would never let it go till the kingdoms of this world be- come the kingdoms of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So that the question now resolves itself into this, Will there, or will there not, be religious establish- ments in the days of the millennium! (Laughter.) To me, at least, it seems the clear path both of wisdom and duty, just to leave that question for the mil- lennium itself to settle, when the millennium comes; and, meanwhile, do all we can to speed onward those millennial days, when the din of controversy shall be no longer heard, and the charity of the gospel shall have shed its dewy influ- ences over the whole earth, now turned into a happy, and a harmonised, and withal, universal Christendom. (Enthusiastic applause.)
I confess at the same time, a keener scientific interest in this question than ever, now that Voluntaryism, brought to the test of experience, is fully put upon
THE USES AND VALUE OF SUBORDINATE STANDARDS. 03
its trial. I for one will make it my strenuous endeavour to do it all justice, l>y drawing on its resources and capabilities to the uttermost. (Laughter and ap- plause.) The most direct way surely of giving it a fair trial is just to try how much it will yield, after that a full and fair appliance has been brought to bear upon it. It is but justice to add, that we are now in the very thick of the ex- periment. Some years ago we tried what Government would do in the way of an endowment for the religious instruction of the people, and after many a weary and fruitless negociation^ got nothing for our pains. We have now made our appeal to the Christian public, and in as few months as we spent of years with the Government, we have obtained at the hands of the people the promise of towards three hundred thousand pounds. (Long and continued cheering.) We are are not going to be at all scholastic on the subject^ or to speak of the distinc- tion between Voluntaryism ab extra, and Voluntaryism ab intra — (laughter) — however confident we are that^ on the strength of this distinction, we could make out a full vindication of our whole argument. We call upon Voluntaryism to open all its fountain-heads, even though it should land us in the predicament of the well-digger, who succeeded so amply in his attempts to oljtain water, that he made a narrow escape from drowning in the abundance of those nishing streams whicli he himself had evoked from their hiding-places. (Loud laugh- ter.) Now, though my own theory should incur by it tlie semblance, nay, even if so he, the reality of a defeat and refutation, I for one should most heartily re- joice, if Voluntaryism, playing upon us in every direction, shall make such de- monstrations of its exuberance and its power, as well nigh to submerge myself, and utterly to overwhelm my argument. (Great cheering.)
However it may turn out, the result will be a most instructive one. Should it so happen that, after Voluntaryism has made its utmost efforts, it shall fall short of a full provision for the Christian instruction of the people, so as to leave thousands and thousands more unreached and unreclaimed, and should an enlightened Government, for the sake of these, hold forth an endowment, which shall leave us as unfettered as their regmm donum leaves the Presbyterians of Ireland, I am not prepared to say that it would be wrong, either in the one par- ty to make such an offer, or in the other party to accept of it. But, as I have al- ready stated, there is no hope whatever of any such overture being made, or of there ever being any practical call for the entertainment of such a question. Mean- while, let us endeavour so to speed on the achievements of Voluntaryism, as to anticipate and supersede the necessity of this question; and they who, intent on great designs, keep by great principles, will at length make full acquittal of theirs as being the only true consistency, — let hostile or unintelligent observers make what use they may of their party distinctions and party names." (Dr Chalmers concluded amid loud and protracted cheering.
Rev. Dr Ritchie, (Secession.) — "Mr Chairman, I have one word to say, if the meeting will allow me. (Hear, hear.) I have been in Christian fellowship for more than forty years with ministers who have uttered far more pro-Establish- ment and anti- Voluntary sentiments than those which oui- Chairman has uttered to-day; and if I have remained in fellowship with them, it is impossible that I should keep from joining in fellowship with any body else who is of the same mind." (Hear.)
The Rev. Professor Harper, Leith, (United Secession) was then called upon, when he read the following Essay on
THE USES AND VALUE OF SUBORDINATE STANDARDS. " Although in the history of our country the proceedings of the Westminster
94 THE USES AND VALUE OF SUBORDINATE STANDARDS.
Assembly have not heretofore occupied the place which their importance claims, it is no small compensation to be able to say of that learned and reverend body, " by their fruits ye may knovp them." These fruits consist in the Sum- maries of Christian Doctrine which they gave to the Church and to the world. Regarding the AVestminster Standards, as a "form of sound words," embodying " the doctrine which is according to godliness," we accept with all thankful- ness this result of the Assembly's labours.
Finding the Christian Church divided on points of faith, as well as on mat- ters of government and order, the Assembly did, what every body of men must in some mode or other do, if they would know one another's minds, and found their visible unity on real agreement, — they took counsel together, they com- pared opinions, they discussed and explained points of doubtful disputation; and ascertaining that they were "joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment," with respect to what constitutes the essence and form of Chris- tianity, they submitted to writing the conclusions at which they had arrived, and gave them to the world in the precise and tangible shape of digested sum- maries. The exhibition of truth thus emitted by the Assembly was the Confes- sion of their Faith, — their avowal to one another, to the Churches, to the world, of the things which they believed concerning God, together with the Scriptural grounds on which their faith rested. No summary of theirs was designed by its framers, or accepted by the Churches, as a guide that was in any sense to super- sede the use of sacred Scripture — the only rule of faith and practice. Their for- mularies were nothing more than an attempt to set forth in systematic order, and in words which all understood alike, and which all consented to, those principles which they unitedly professed as " the truth of the gospel."
In framing and adopting a summary of belief, the utility of such documents is seen. The compilers and accepters of the document know one another's senti- ments on matters the most momentous that can engage the thoughts of a re- sponsible being; those of the same mind are made acquainted with one another as brethren in faith, and stand prepared, on the basis of a common creed, to as- sociate in acts of fellowship ; while those who entertain different sentiments, or who have still their creed to choose, are furnished with the means of discovering without difficulty and without ambiguity, the principles of any church by which such doctrinal summary is received and adopted.
Whatever gives definiteness to a statement of principles must conduce to a good understanding among those who concur in it. If ingenuous in the pro- fession which they make, there can be little doubt as to the sentiments which they really hold ; and if any one having subscribed the doctrinal compact after- wards recede from it, by espousing and propagating views at variance with his federal profession, the exact and methodized form of a written summary, will serve as an available test by which to discover the extent and tendency of doc- trinal disagreement.
On these grounds are we not justified in regarding the adoption of creeds and confessions as favourable to unity in the faith and to integrity in maintaining it? In the degree in which the principles of a Church are clearly and well understood, will mistakes be avoided; and thus evils guarded against which must be a fruitful source of division and dissension. For the same reason a written Confession appears to be favourable to good faith among the members of a Church. It will not, indeed, prove a sure defence against unprincipled in- truders; it will neither keep out knaves who think no vows sacred, nor put out knaves when they have found admission. But let men be honest in the adop- tion of a Creed, and then the written, as compared with the unwritten form, being well defined and understood distinctly, will, by lessening doubts about the meaning of articles, lessen temptations to tamper with them.
THE USES AND VALUE OF SUBORDINATE STANDARDS. \)5
These are the general principles on which creeds are constructed ; and it in no degree impeaches the truth of the remarks which I have offered, to say, that if we have a supreme rule, an unerring standard, an infallible test, in the sacred Scriptures, what need for any form of words of human composition? The answer is plainly this, that many of those who acknowledge the authority of Scripture differ in their views of its meaning ; and hence the mere declaration, " I receive the word of God as the rule of my faith," would leave you in a state of uncertainty with respect to the individual's opinions. Though there is one rule of faith, there are diversities of interpretation ; and whatever creates such diversity creates a necessity for creeds and confessions. To use the words of an elegant writei', ' " Criticism hath been applied to the word of God — not sober and candid criticism, by which many of its obscurities have been cleared, and its doctrines set in a just and natural light, — but criticism lawless and daring, invested, if I may speak so, with a transubstantiating power, which commands away the substance, and leaves the accidents. Christ is still God ; but this sig- nifies only that he is a gloriBed man. His death was a propitiation and a sacri- fice, but it did not expiate our guilt ! He is a priest, the great high priest of our profession, and yet he is no more a priest than any ordinary Christian who offers up prayers to the Father. We are justified by faith, that is, we are jus- tified by wofks. What purpose would it serve to accept from a Socinian an assent to these inspired declarations, when we know that he holds the very doctrines w hich they expressly condemn ? What purpose would it serve but to deceive ourselves with our eyes open, and to ruin the church while we are fully apprised of the danger? It is evident, therefore, that to preserve the purity of the truth, a subscription of the Bible will not suffice."
If, in the words of the author quoted, and on the grounds so well expressed, subscription to the Bible will not suffice^, I grant at once that this must arise out of an imperfect and even sophisticated state of things. It ought to be entirely otherwise. Given to instruct us w'hat to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man, the inspired volume, as the supreme standard, ought to su- persede all subordinate standards. One of the duties which God requires of man is to tremble at his Avord ; to do it homage, by receiving and obeying it without challenge, without reserve, without exception or qualification. Studied in this spirit of devout submission, would it not be found sufficient as well as supreme? — sufficient to guide man into the right way, and to union with one another in the discovery and pursuit of it. Who shall doubt this, who believes that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit ? What is there wanting to the authority of holy writ, its perspicuity, its fulness, its " profitable- ness for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, for thoroughly furnishing the man of God unto all good works?" Imperfection is not in the rule, but in them who apply it. It is here the evil is to be sought and found. There is light from heaven, but man kindles his own taper, and so misses the way.
We grant, then^ that creeds and confessions arise out of a defective and dege- nerate state of the visible church, not as a natural consequence, but as a needful and salutary corrective.
Let us suppose — what in times of old, might have happened : — a presbyter from the banks of the Nile making his appearance in some sequestered hamlet of Palestine or Syria, whither controversies — though they had long been raging elsewhere — had not yet found their way to disturb the faith of the village flock, and where no creeds existed, because none were called for. The stranger comes into intercourse with the native pastor, as primitive in his character, and as incor-
' Dr Dick.
90 THE USES AND VALUE OF SUBORDINATE STANDAUDS.
rupt in doctrine as he is obscure in his lot. They confess to each other tliat Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, and forthwith embrace as brethren, parta- kers of a common hope, and followers of the only Lord God, and our Lord Je- sus Christ. Yet a little while, and the Egyptian brother makes it known that a CO presbyter and familiar of his, Arius by name, had recently favoured the Alexandrian church with highly rational views of the doctrine of Scripture re- specting the person of Christ — that he is the first and greatest of created beings. "Brother, what thinkest thou?" The provincial stands aghast at the question. " "What, Jesus the Saviour whom I have hitherto adored and confided in as my Lord and my God, in the rank of created beings!'' These truly are strange and fearful things that are brought to his ears. Alas ! not to his ears only. The new views of Alexandria spread like a swarm of locusts over the face of the land. Speculation and debate blight the fruits of piety, as hot winds make the vines to languish on the sunny slopes of Lebanon. Does the Palestine presbyter now take to his bosom and to his fellowship, every man who calls Je- sus Lord? No. Wherefore? Is he turning bigot in his old age? Does his love wax cold? Is he narrowing instead of extending his embrace of the bro- therhood? Talks he now of a Creed? What, is the good man losing sight of Scripture? Does he lightly esteem the many summaries of doctrine that are ex- pressed in Bible words ? Ah no. He prizes them, if possible, more than ever; and it is because he does so, that now when any one comes to him with a pro- fession of the faith, he is careful to ascertain by due inquiry, that the stranger not only uses inspired sounds, but that he uses them in their inspired sense. In a word, he frames a confession; not to lord it over other men's faith, but to protect his own. If the Confession that for a time might be oral, be farther sup- posed to have been afterwards reduced to a written form ; what then ? Does it change the nature of a creed to extend its use ?
A Confession, then, viewed in relation to the Church that adopts it, is a mu- tual declaration of the sense in which its members understand the Scriptures; and the bond of their fellowship, as it is the symbol of their doctrinal concord. Without articles of union no society can cohere. The statement, instead of requiring proof, is well nigh a truism. Is it not because there is something ■which they hold in common, that members of an associated body come together; and were the affinities which unite them neutralised — were the views in which they agree departed from, would they not break up and disperse ? Is it not im- plied in the very nature of association, that common principles are held; that in order to its permanence common principles shall be adhered to ; that the members of the society know to what they are pledged ; that when the pledge can no longer be kept, renouncement of the terms of union shall be duly signi- fied; and that, ceasing to agree in spirit, they should not agree in pretence. Is all this implied in the fact of association, in the very principle of religious fel- lowship ? Then, if common principles be held, understood, expressed, acted on — so understood that they can be pleaded for and taught — so understood that departure from them is regarded as a forfeiture of fellowship — what more is wanting to the existence of a Confession? It is here in design, in fact, in opera- tion; and, though imperfectly, in its ends and uses. And that so good a thing may not be lost, we put it upon paper; we reduce it to form; we epitomise its principles; we methodise its parts — and really cannot see what harm should be in this : on the contrary we find it to be good to the use of edifying, and agreeable to the spirit and purposes of an institution, which is "as a city compact together."
Again, in relation to those who are without, a Church's Creed is her testi- mony in behalf of what she holds to be the truth of God, and her condemna- tion of errors, " contrary thereto." A charge is given her to reclaim and evange- lise the world. What she has freely received she must freely give, holding
THE USi:S AND VALUE OF SI JJORDIXATE STANDARDS. 07
forth the word of hfo in licr onlinancos and ministrations, and thus coniniuiii- cating to the ignorant and unbelieving the knowledge with which she is blessed. As the depositary of the word she must be the distributor of the word; — preach- ing it that men may hear^ dispersing it that men may read. Engaged in this labour of love, the Church discovers that enemies as Avell as friends are busy. Many along with the word circulate their ensnaring glosses from the pulpit and tbe press. Would the Cburch be faithful to her trust did she not witlistand them? They corrupt the word; and their sophistries must be exj)0sed. They make it speak a language diverse from the mind of the Spirit; and the voice of the deceiver, charm he never so wisely, must be gainsaid and counteracted. What does this imply but that the Church shall give forth, as circumstances call for it, an exhibition of the mind of Christ, deduced from his word, to guard the souls of men against attempts to mislead them from the purity and simpli- city of the gospel? To meet such arts and errors, what is it but to give forth a Confession? It is the Church causing her voice to be heard when it were trai- torous to hold her peace.
Once more, a Creed, in relation to those who seek admission to the Church, exhibits the terms of her fellowship. When the times arrive in which such symbols shall be no longer necessary, Ave shall hail them with pleasure; but such times are not yet. Ask any man you meet with, in what sense he understands this and the other parts of the Scripture testimony, and the possibility is, that out of ten men whom you should thus casually catechize, you might not find two exactly agreeing; and some might even prove to be diametrically opposed on points which you would with one consent pronounce fundamental. What remains to be done? Shall we open the door of fellowship wide enough to admit all, however multifarious and conflicting their theoretical opinions? Aware of diversity and contradiction, shall we wink hard at the incongruity, and welcome all — no questions asked? Yes, indeed; if disorder be the law of Christ's house, — if faith mean nothing but that a man say he has it, — if sentiments the most opposite in nature and in tendency be " spiritually discerned," when viewed with an equal eye. We have not so learned Christ; and if only those who are agreed can walk together, should we not inquire whether agreement exists; and if inquiry take place at all, should it not be made with precision, that it may be made to purpose.
As the uses of public Confessions have reference to members as well as to office-bearers of the Church, it is manifest that one mode of extending their utility is to confine them within moderate limits. So far as concerns the ma- jority of the people, a Creed that is voluminous defeats itself. Superficially con- sidered, if it be so much as read, it must be in a very loose and unsatisfactory sense a confession of Iheir faith, however sound and comprehensive in itself it may be. Summaries, then, ought to be as brief as is compatible with a state- ment of truth essential to salvation, and to an exhibition of the distinctive prin- ciples of the body from which the Confession proceeds. To be compendious, perspicuous, precise, simple, are properties of a public Creed indispensable to its general utility, that " all may learn and all may be comforted" — all honest in taking the Creed, and all honest in adhering to it.
W^ith this object in view, the A\'estminister compilers framed one of the most useful of their compends — the Shorter Catechism — which, taken as a whole, and in comparison with other summaries of the kind, may safely be pronounced of rare, nay, of almost pre-eminent merit. Its arrangement, though not faultless, is lucid; its explanations for the most part admirable for brevity and force; while the whole runs so much in the form of a chain of principles, that tbe youthful mind has its earliest efforts turned to the perception of divine truth in its order and harmony. Lot the thousands who have imbibed its doctrines,
N
98 THE USES AND VALUE OF SUBORDINATE STANDAKDS.
Avhile learners around the native hearth, and many of whose earliest and most hallowed recollections are associated with this manual of parental instruction, arise and tell how deeply they are debtors in this same thing.
The uses and advantages of w ell-conccived and well-executed summaries are to my mind so obvious, that I confess myself more afraid of abuses of them by friends than of objections to them by opponents. Of these, one of the most dangerous is, the employment of them as an authoritative test of truth, and standard of religious opinion. "What is this but old Popery or young Puseyism creeping into a church, under the disguise of a Protestant, perhaps a Presbyterian name? The existence of this evil may be detected among the holders of a Creed, when they believe its articles rather because they find them in the Confession than because they have found them in the word of God. Is not this to make their faith stand in the wisdom of men? When in the prosecution of religious inquiry we make the question. What saith the Confession? to precede the ques- tion. What saith the Scripture? we indulge the same ignoble and slavish spirit.' What, indeed, is it but to elevate into a rule of faith a composition which, with all its merits, is the work of man, designed not to be applied as a rule, but to declare how, in the judgment of the compilers, the rule of Scripture, when rightly applied, determines the point in question. To one, who for information, investigates any matter of faith, the use of a Confession is important as that of a help to inquiry. On this subject nothing can be more explicit than the testi- mony of the Westminster Confession itself, — " All synods and councils since the apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err and may have erred ; therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith or practice, but to be used as an help in both."i
Farther, it is not a use but an abuse of Confessions, — an example, not of their value, but of their perversion, — when men, in adopting a public creed, adhere to it in its general scope, or subscribe its propositions as articles of peace ; which they may hold in whole or in part without challenge, if they do it without pub- lic offence, — that is, if they do not disturb the Church by matters of private opinion, or of unsanctioned novelty. This undoubtedly is an evil to which written Confessions are liable, but it is by no means peculiarly incident to them. If I mistake not, we have already seen reason to believe that it is an evil more likely to attach to the use of an unwritten Creed or oral Confession. If, how- ever, there be men, — and the experience of all ages shows there are such, — who will subscribe articles of faith without believing, or but half believing them, then certainly with regard to these men Confessions are no longer pledges of good faith and symbols of unity, but are turned into a cloak of hypocrisy, under shelter of which the deceiver may deal perfidiously with conscience and with God. Sooner than that this doctrine concerning articles of peace, should ever come to be understood in our churches as a legitimate use of Confessions, let de- crees of councils, and creeds, and standards, from Nice to Westminster, of every age and however venerable, be torn to shreds, and scattered by the winds of heaven.
Would it not tend to obviate this evil, or at least to detect it when it occurs, were Churches on special occasions, when Providence appears in favour of the attempt, to exercise their Christian liberty in reviewing their subordinate stan- dards? Would not this be a salutary as well as a legitimate and safe example of the liberty which the Churches of Christ have in Him — a liberty to manage their spiritual matters without extrinsic control — a liberty which Christ's free- men prize as their celestial birthright — a liberty for which, as a host of witnesses have in these days arisen to testify, it is worth sacrificing all the bounties which
' Confession, chap. xxxi. § 4.
THE USES AND VALUE OF SUBOUDINATE STANDAUDS. 09
state favour can give. In this the Churches of Christ would leave not a sha- dow of foundation for the charge, that Creeds become consecrated by use and time, and are placed too much on a level with canonical writ as the Church's di- rectory of faith and worship. The allegation \vould not have even the colour of plausibility, were Churches, in circumstances auspicious to the undertaking, to review with calm and solemnized minds their judgment of the Standards — not in the spirit of men given to change, but of men who know, and are forward to acknowledge, that no work of human prudence, learning, or piety is perfect so as to be unimprovable — such that nothing can without injury be added, nothing without sacrilege taken away, nothing in method arranged more simply, nothing in statement expressed more cleai'ly, nothing in the application of truth brought to bear more directly on the aspect, and spirit, and state of the times. If un- known and unsuspected differences existed, such revisal would bring them to the surface, and show them in the light. Where conscientious scruples were entertained, they would be considered in circumstances the most conducive to a satisfactory removal of them. Errors would be detected, and caught and thrown over the wall, before like a root of bitterness they had time to strike deep and to entrench themselves — not to be dislodged but by effort and disruption.
It may be fitting on such an occasion to glance at objections to Creeds and Confessions which some advance, who not only deny their utility, but charge them with injurious consequences. The task of reply does not seem to be difficult. — With what justice can Creeds be represented as opposed to the rights of private judgment and of free inquiry, seeing that we call on men to embrace a Confession as a declaration of the truth of God contained in the Scripture ? Does not this imply, that instead of implicit faith, what we ask is enlightened acquiescence; such consent as supposes enquiry and deliberation; a comparison of human forms with the word of God, and an adoption of them as agreeable thereto. Such is the acquiescence we ask, which, unless thus enlightened, is not worth hav- ing, and which, when it ceases to be sincere and free, we shall be the first to re- ject. It was not for the framers of the Westminster Standards to advance pre- tensions inimical to the views now expressed. AVhatever imperfection there might be in their ideas of the liberty of religious profession, they asserted in plain and forcible terms the exemption of conscience from human authority, with the right of every man, and his consequent obligation, to use this liberty in the fear of God. It was a principle which the bitter lessons, of experience were fit- ted to impress upon the men of that eventful age. Disabused of the impostures of an infallible church, clean escaped from her degrading bondage, spurning the nonsense of Popish tradition, high in contest still with Rome's prelatical sister, who at the point of the sword, and on pain of damnation, strove to fix her yoke of canons and frippery and ghostly grimace on the necks and consciences of a self- emancipated people, — ohi surely these were not the men to be ignorant of the prin- ciple (however in some points they might fail to apply it) that the Bible is the religion of Protestants, — that God is the Lord of conscience, — that the Bible is not free when the conscience is enslaved, — that the rights of the one are identi- fied with the rights of the other, — that the Bible as a rule is made null and void if men have not liberty to use it, — that if men have not liberty to use it, each for himself, they cannot know and feel their obligations to obey it, — and thus that to rob the conscience is to defraud its Lord. Such was the doctrine of the Westminster Divines : — "God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in any thing con- trary to his word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship ; so that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commandments, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience ; and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an abso-
100 THE USES AND VALUE OF SUBORDINATE STARDARDS.
lute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason also." " Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether these things were so."i
Again, with what colour of reason can the use of Confessions be regarded as opposed to the authority of Scripture, or as in any respect derogating from its fulness and sufficiency, seeing that the truth contained in them we prize solely as the truth of Scripture ; — the authority we ascribe to them rests wholly on the ground that they truly represent the mind of Scripture ; — the use we make of them, we seek to justify by appeals to Scripture ; — in whatever sense we " try the spirits " by the Confession, it is because we have already tried the Confession by the criterion of Scripture ; — and what we say to others, is not, Give up the Scripture and take the Confession, but, Abide by the Scripture, the very Scripture, all Scripture, nothing but the Scripture ; and that we may be mutually satisfied that we are abiding by the Scripture, let us confess to one another that thus and thus we truly understand it. Thus we do not hold Confes- sions to be a divine testimony, but the " Church's response to that testimony." They are not an oracle of Heaven, but an echo of the Spirit's voice as we hear it in the word. It is with a solemn testimony to the sufficiency, and to the su- preme and exclusive authority of Scripture, that the Westminster Assembly opens its scheme of Christian doctrine : — " The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself, and therefore when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture, which is not manifold but one, it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly. The supreme judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all de- crees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and pri- vate spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures."-
As a proof how well this is understood and with what unanimity received as the mind of the Confession, it may be mentioned here, that all the Presbyterian bodies represented on this platform, in the first of the formulary questions pro- posed at ordination, unite in an emphatic recognition of the supreme authority of Scripture, to the exclusion of every thing else, as the law of faith and con- science:— " Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the word of God and the only rule of faith and manners?"
Why should objection be taken to the phrase our "^'subordinate Standards?" The sound may perhaps strike some ears as ambiguous and presuming. But are we not careful to show that we give them but a "subordinate" place? And sub- ordinate as it is, not an hour longer should they be permitted to retain it, had we not good reason to believe them to be a digest of " sound doctrine," and of " wholesome words." We call nothing a Standard which has not itself been tried by the unerring Standard, and, as we judge, found not wanting. We call nothing a Standard but what we believe displays the faithful saying as an ensign to the people. What as a Standard do our Creeds and Confessions try? The word of God? Another man's conscience? No ! But by means of them we try one an- other, and those who come to join us how far we are agreed in our views of Scripture. As a Standard, what do our Creeds uphold? The doctrines which in our consciences we believe to be the doctrines of Scripture ; and these they up- hold by exhibiting them in statement, and supporting them with proof. Whom
' Conf. chap. xx. § 2, with proofs. * Conf. chap. i. § 9, 1 0.
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as a Standard do our formularies bring togetlier? They assemble and associate those who are of one mind, and by showing them a common cause, tend to unite mind, and heart, and soul, and strength, in its support and extension.
The question we have been considering having led me to advert so particular- ly to the differences of sentiment which extensively divide the Christian world, I feel it to be a relief, before coming to a conclusion, to be able to remind you of the substantial agreement on fundamental principles which distinguishes those numerous sections of the Church usually denominated evangelical. And how large a body do these include? The formation of separate communions, and the controversies arising among them upon denominational points indicate differen- ces; but these, though important in their own place, do not concern the things that are of necessity to salvation. The Church has thus a much greater appear- ance of disunion than exists in reality. The effect is the greater, that as contro- versy is occupied with peculiarities of party, attention is thus diverted from the more momentous matters that are held in common, to the less important points in which we differ. Controversy too, though I do not call it a bad thing, is cer- tainly noisy; it cries aloud, and lifts up its voice in the streets; and thus the differences which divide the Christian body are frequently the only things that draw the attention of mankind. Hitherto this evil has been aggravated by oversight of the principle of co-operation which my friend Dr Balmer has intro- duced, and which has been with such inmitable force recommended from the chair. (Hear, hear.) Christians instead of walking together so far as they have attained, have commonly separated on all points when they differed on any. Now, the true principle, as old as the epistle to the Philippians, is to go along with one another so long as we are of one mind, and not to refuse co-operation because we see a turn in our road at which for a time we must take separate ways. We should thus have not a little of the spirit, the practice, the happi- ness, and the fruits of union, even when in form and external condition the Church is divided. Such union is perfectly compatible with giving due promi- nence to denominational differences, and with showing a proper zeal in defend- ing them. But it would happily ameliorate the spirit of controversy, combining the love of the brethren with love of the truth. (Cheers.) Hitherto the principle of co-operation has been placed at much disadvantage, from the fact that we have been used to make more noise about things in which we differ, than things in which we agree. (Hear, hear.) Our mutual conduct has accordingly been regulated in reference to the former, rather than, as should have been, in reference to the latter. Let us change our way. Instead of keeping all our din for controversial differences, let us try the effect of a little din about our points of agreement. (Loud cheers.) Let us prosecute this kind of happy and har- monious agitation, — following out the sentiments which have fallen from the chair; of which, may I be allowed to say, injustice to the feelings that are now swelling in my bosom, that I listened to them with entranced delight. (Applause.) Let this spirit be diffused; let its proper fruits appear; and soon shall the Church present a new phase to the world, and, somewhat perhaps to her own surprise, a new phase to herself." (The Rev. Doctor resumed his seat amid great applause.)
The Chairman : — " I have listened with a delight which I am sure must have beon shared by you all, to the argument now propounded in your hearing, and 1 l)eg you not to forget the most beautiful illustration which the speaker gave, and which conducts us at once to the whole principle, and origin, and practice of Confessions in Christian Churches, — I mean the illustration of the Egyptian presbyter visiting a sequestered village in Palestine with the heresy of Arius. There was no practical need of a Confession until the visitor appeared
102 CONVERSATIONS.
among the people of that village, Avhen a different understanding arose amongst them upon the important subject of the person of Christ. It is perfectly plain that this difference of understanding cannot have been removed by a reiteration of passages of Scripture; because the heretic professes to acquiesce in the state- ment of Scripture. It is perfectly plain that the only plan of getting at the he- retical understanding of these passages is, by some philosophic method to meet the terms in which the heresy is propounded; — in short, it is necessary that the passages of Scripture should be translated into philosophical language. None lamented the necessity of this more than the fathers of the Church — none lamented this more than Athanasius and Calvin; but there is no other way of putting down misunderstandings and heresies. (Hear, hear.) You will there- fore see that the introduction of Confessions and human standards did not originate with the Church itself; but was forced upon it by those heretics who wandered from sound doctrine. I think the illustration is beautifully brought out, and completely embodies this sentiment. (Cheers.) It is not perhaps my duty to make a motion ; but I am sure that I have only to make the suggestion to ensure its being unanimously adopted, that the thanks of this meeting should be tendered to Dr Harper for the views he has propounded. (Applause.) For myself, I can say, that I have seen nothing which makes more palpable the real origin of Confessions — which shows that Confessions would not be necessary if there were more moral honesty among men on religious questions — than the essay which we have just heard read. (Hear, hear.) I do hope, therefore, that Dr Harper will be induced to present his essay to the world in a more enduring form. (Loud cheers.)
Rev. Mr M'Manus, a missionary in connection with the Irish Presbyterian Church, was then requested to address the meeting, on the duty of the Christian Church on the subject of missions. He said : — '• It is now too late for me to say much on this interesting subject; and indeed, were it not so I could not say much, for I have really nothing to say. At the same time, however, as we beyond the Channel get the credit of saying much on little, I must hazard a few remarks. There is just one thought alone which I would press upon the audience, that in the matter of union of various kinds, almost the whole difliculty consists in bring- ing the parties together. I believe that on this side of the Channel you stand more on points of ceremony than we do, so that it has often struck me of some of the good people here, that the way to their favour was very nearly as long as an avenue of a certain great house near my district in Ireland. Now, how long is that avenue, think you? I mean from the gate to the dwelling-house. Why, just a trifle of twenty-seven miles. (Laughter.) I hope, however, that the avenue to your favour will get " small by degrees, and beautifully less;" and I am sure that the first exhibition of it on this side of the Channel will be gladly responded to by us beyond. (Hear, hear.) But I was wandering from my thought. The best cement for union is to bring the parties to meet a common foe ; and I will give you a proof of this. I went last year to the south of Ireland — to the county of Kerry, very near to Derrynane. You have heard of that place I dare say. (Hear, hear.) I found myself a " rara avis in terra." Every person wondered at me. The people had never seen a Presbyterian minister before ; and some of the Methodists and Episcopalians did not half like me. I went, however, into the houses of the Roman Catholic inhabitants, and as I spoke Irish, I consequently got a hearty reception. At length some of them went so far as to say that they believed I had the truth after all, and in the name of God they would join me. This roused the jealousy of the Roman Catholic priests; and they denounced me. There were stones thrown at me; but Irishmen don't much mind that sort of thing. (Laughter.) I got several
CONVERSATION. 103
blows in the way, but when they Mere done throwing stones I only smiled and talked Irish ; and the consequence was that the people could not help laughing too. There was one Sunday in particular that a large party came running alter me with fury in their eyes, and I believe stones behind their back. " God save you all," said I to them in Irish, and they all burst out a-Iaughing. This seemed to please the people ; and I am happy to say that some of those who were then my enemies are among my best friends now. But I have not got at my thought yet. (A laugh.) It seems very hard to get at. As soon as the Methodists, and Episcopalians, and other Protestants, saw how I was ill-used, what did they do ? Did they keep twenty-seven miles away from me ? Quite the contrary. They came forward to protect me ; they forgot all their differen- ces with me ; and now there is not an Episcopalian or Methodist in all the dis- trict who would not welcome me. (Cheers.) Many of those Episcopalians, when they saw me attacked, placed their own lives in danger in my defence. There is an exhibition of Christian unity for you ; and no doubt it will be the same with you. In God's name then go on in the good cause of Christian unity. We have heard something to-day of a little well becoming a little stream. Go on and I'll engage that the little stream will soon become as large as the Shannon — aye, so large as that the Irish Channel will not equal it. (Applause.) I must correct myself. The Irish Channel did I say? Why, Ireland is already getting so close to Scotland that there will soon be no Channel at all." (Cheers and laughter.)
Rev. Dr Brown (Secession) begged leave to call the attention of the meeting to " a voice from the other side of the Atlantic," on the interesting question now before them, and read an extract from a small work, which he had lately received from an esteemed friend in the United States, one of the most influen- tial members of the Presbyterian body in that country, — an extract as appro- priate as if it had been intentionally addressed to this meeting: —
"There can be no question, in any rational mind, that Christianity, in name and form at least, must assuredly and perhaps rapidly extend over the whole world. Indeed it is extremely remarkable that it has not done it long ago. For perhaps every system of religion now existing, with a single exception, is, in its present form, of later origin than Christianity; and that only exception, the religion of the Jews, by the universal dispersion of those professing it and by their clear and enduring testimony to some of the fundamental truths of all true religion, would have appeared fit rather to have prepared the way of Christianity, than to have permanently obstructed its progress. But when the present posture of the various religious professions amongst men is considered, it is obvious that every element of power and stability, as well as all means of enlargement, are wholly with Christianity and against all other systems. Whatever of liberty, commerce, knowledge, civilization, or national wealth, power, or glory exists amongst men, belongs out of all proportion, it might also be said exclusively, to those nations that profess the Christian religion; and to them also belongs, nearly alone, the spirit of intense and eager proselytism. It is not only well nigh inconceivable that any other result except the universal spread of Christianity, in name at least, should result from the present position and action of human society; but if the mode of conversion common in all ages before the Reformation were now resorted to with vigour and perseverance for a few generations, there is nothing in the condition of the world to prevent its early and entire success.
" The grand divisions of nominal Christianity, when stated as they were forages contemplated, would give to the churches of the west about one hundred and sixty millions; and to the Oriental churches, principally to what is called the
104 CONVRRSATION.
Greek Church, about seventy millions. Dividing the churches of the west again into Papal and Protestant, givirg to the latter about fifty millions and to the former about one hundi'ed and ton millions (of whom however many millions are geographically amongst the Oriental rather than the western churches;) and we have the three general grand divisions of Christendom. Although the pa- pal element is still numerically the largest separate element of three, yet it is to he remembered that three centuries ago the combined anti-papal portion of Christendom, instead of being, as it now is, decidedly the strongest both numeri- cally and otherwise, was in fact protected against the pope either liy its obscurity or by the shield of antichristian powers. To this let it be added that several of the principal anti-papal powers of the earth, as Russia, Prussia, Holland, and these United States, have been created since the Reformation; that England, perhaps the leading nation of the world, has quadrupled her power within the same pe- riod; that no papal power in the old world has increased its relative strength, and very few their positive, and that some, as Spain, have rapidly and decidedly sunk, in the same time; and a clear idea is obtained of the progress and po- sition of the parties. The probability is that, all things considered, the actual force of the three great divisions of Christianity is not very unequal at the present moment; and that the Protestant and Oriental elements have at least as much aifinity for each other, as either has for Popery. It is to be conceded however, that as most of the Oriental churches are prelatical, and God has never yet blessed the world with the sight of a pure prelatical Church; if the issue ever seriously comes, the Oriental churches, following the spirit now so painfully manifest in Anglican and Anglo-American Episcopacy, may prefer a relapse into Popery before a thorough reformation.
" With these facts before us, it becomes a question of overpowering interest and importance — in what form shall Christianity be the religion of the world? Shall it be Popery with its dark tyranny, its ferocious spirit, its besotted igno- rance its open idolatry, its shameless immorality? Shall it be the cold, dead, childish, stagnant, formal superstition that has so long reigned in most of the Oriental churches? Shall it be glorious Protestantism, with her open Bible, her universal education, her regulated liberty, her wise and vigorous spirit, her noble institutions, her benign influences?
" It is as vain as it is unworthy to shut our eyes to an issue so stupendous and so inevitable. The Protestant and the Oriental churches might indeed exist toge- ther permanently on the earth, so far as the original spirit and inherent principles of both, in their best estate, are concerned. Not so with Popery. With it, there is no other question but death or Papism. It offers to manlvind but this alter- native, to embrace it or to extirpate it. And there is too much reason to apprehend — whether we examine the character of this great apostacy, or reflect on the course of God's providence, or ponder his divine revelation — that this terrible arbitrament is hastening apace, and that it will be submitted at last to the edge of the sword. The Avorld's destiny must be decided on the field of Armageddon, when 'great Babylon shall come in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.'
" All that is worth contending for on earth is involved in this contest. It must be vehement; it may be protracted. The power of Antichrist is immense and thoroughly consolidated. More than a hundred millions of the human family wait on his nod. A stupendous ecclesiastical organization, extending from his throne to the remotest corners of the earth, and controlling with absolute autho- rity the minds, bodies, and goods of all who have received his mark, are obedi- ent to his will. Many kings and potentates, many principalities and powers, wear his yoke as an ornament of gold; and prostrate nations adore him as the vicar of God abiding in the midst of his invincible hosts. All the corrupt
< ONVKIJSATIOX. 10.")
propensities of our fallen nature cry, day and nifrlit, for the advance of his stan- dards; and the dregs of our generation, impregnated uith the very genius of dis- order and excess, work without ceasing for the overthrow of every harrier against his progress. He proposes as the rewards of success, in this world, signal ven- geance, uncontrolled indulgence, unlimited power, absolute supremacy; in the world to come, endless glory. AVhat a mixture of power, enthusiasm, passion, and superstition! What a force — what a prize! But his spirit is adverse to the better spirit of the age; his system revolting to the common sense of man- kind; his despotism odious to every good impulse of our nature. Every enlight- ened motive that stops on this side the grave, impels every good man amongst his own followers to forsake him; and every one that penetrates that dread future beyond the tomb, eagerly requires every being not subdued to his deba- sing sway, to strive for the liberation of the world. With us are freedom, light, the whole force of movement, the power of knowledge, and the consolations of eternal hope. God and the right are ours. And though we wait long, and suffer much, we look with unshaken /rtz//^, ' for the glorious appearing of the great God, our Saviour Christ,' to raze this synagogue of Satan — to destroy the mother of harlots who has ruled in it so long — to bring to nothing the kings of the earth drunk with the wine of her fornications — to lead forth to victory and to glory his saints whose blood has been ever found in her, and amid the rejoicings of heaven and earth, of all blessed and of all redemed things, to establish a throne upon which he will reign King below, as now he reigneth King in the highest!
" When we reflect how absolute has been the wreck of all human organizations, how invincible is the destructive force of time and chance, how certain is that fiat, that every thing which can even be shaken, must be one day removed ; it is not the dictate of modesty, wisdom, or grace, to rely with certainty on the per- manent endurance of the best works of our hands. Where Paul planted, and Apollos watered, and God himself gave the rich increase, the glorious Master and the faithful servants have been alike forgotten. Alas! what are we, and what the objects of our care and love, to deserve a different destiny? But though outward ordinances perish, and visible organizations pass utterly to nought, the spirit which forsakes their lifeless remains neither perishes nor passes away. Let this be the object of our incessant cultivation — the spirit of our cal- ling and of our work. If any thing can eternize the institutions we so much love, it will be to baptize them into the spirit out of which they grew; and if nothing can, the transmission of that spirit in undiminished vigour and untar- nished purity, is a better and holier end, than all the boastful nothingness of an empty and vapid existence, spun out in ignominy to the end of time. Wherever God's people are, there is God's church; which indeed 'may exist without any visible form' — as Calvin truly saith, but which cannot exist at all, without the power of his indwelling Spirit. A holy zeal for God's ordinances, an unquench- able love for his truth, a consuming earnestness in his service, an intense eager- ness to save men's souls; this is the spirit that we need; a spirit without which we shall do nothing worthy of our name, our era, our calling, or our hopes.
" Such a spirit is the farthest possible from bigotry and intolerance. It is in- deed the only spirit in which we can establish on true and permanent founda- tions, the intimate fellowship of the true followers of the Lamb; since truth is the basis on which we must unite, love the power that binds us to each other, and faith the living and moving principle of the whole spiritual bond.
" Nothing is more unjust and absurd than the common outcry against the Reformed Churches, on account of their alleged diversity of faith. It is unhap- pily too true that many who pass under the Protestant name, like the bulk of the members of the Latin and Greek churches, are Christians only in profes- sion ; and that some whose views of divine truth are more scriptural, are
()
106
CONVEHSATIoN.
governed too much by the temper of that apostacy from tlie midst of which God, in tender mercy, called their fathers. But the undeniable truth is, that the great body of Reformed Christians are and have always been essentially agreed in their faith; and that the largest branch of this great family has been so truly one spiri- tual body, as to have used the same confession, or interchangeably the confessions of each other. What is now insisted on is, that this oneness of spirit and faith, and as far as possible of order and practice, is a matter of exceeding great importance and A^alue; that where it exists it should be carefully cultivated; and where it may have been broken or allowed to sink into forgetfulness, all favourable occa- sions should be eagerly seized to restore it. And it is believed that the peculiar dispensation upon, which we have fallen, and into which we are still further hastening, imperatively calls upon all the Protestant communions that sincerely love the Lord Jesus, to draw closer and closer the bonds that unite them to each other.
" How far the bonds of Christian union can be extended, it is not possible to decide, until the experiment has been made in humble and earnest dependence on God. But the wonder is that it has not been more thoroughly cemented be- tween those great families of Christians, who not only agree entirely in every important part of religious faith and duty, but actually use and have long used the very same formularies of doctrine, discipline, and order. The Presbyterian body throughout the world forms by far the largest portion of Protestant Christen- dom; and that portion of it scattered over Great I3ritain and her dependencies, and the United States, is by much its most numerous and powerful part. And these without exception, so far as they adopt the Presbyterian name, also adopt the Standards arranged by the Westminster Assembly, to express their views of Christian doctrine and practice. They are really, and should be visibly as far as possible, one body.
" We are drawing very near to the second centennial period of that illustrious Assembly. The first day of July 1843, will complete the two hundredth anniver- sary of its meeting. That the occasion is capable of being so used as greatly to promote, under God's blessing, the highest interests of truth, the mutual love of God's people, and the general strength of his kingdom, seems not to be questioned." 1
On finishing the reading of this passage, the speaker remarked, that " the occasion" of commemorating the bicentenary of the Westminster Assembly, " is capable of being so used as greatly to promote under God's blessing, the highest interests of truth, the mutual love of God's people, and the general strength of his kingdom" camwt now " be questioned." The events of these two days have delightfully placed this proposition beyond the limits of doubt. More has been done by this means during that brief period, to produce in the Christian bodies of this country, united in the belief and profession of truth, that glow of Chris- tian affection so necessary to that united exertion in the cause of their common Lord and King, which the declarations of his word and the circumstances of the times so imperiously demand of them, than had been done during a long term of preceding years. He concluded with expressing his deep sense of the obligations of the Christian community to those who had convoked this meeting, and especially to the venerated and beloved individual who now occupied the chair, and who he trusted would be long preserved by providence to act as " THK APOSTLE OF EVANGELICAL UNION," and Carry forward that holy cause of which he had to-day been so powerful and successful an advocate.
The ]\[eeting then adjourned till the evening.
' The calling of the Chnrch of Christ, and the rule of her faith, two discourses by Robert J. Breckinridge, D.D. Philadelphia, 1^42.
THE LEADING FEATUKES AND EXCELLENCIES, &'C. lOJ
Evening Sederunt. — July 13.
The Meeting again asseniMed at half- past six o'clock, — the Rev. Mr Muir of Leith in the Chair. After the usual devotional exercises,
The Rev. Charles J. Brown read the following address on
THE LEADING FEATURES AND EXCELLENCIES OF THE WESTMINSTER
STANDARDS.
" The subject on which I am called to address you this evening, — and I shall enter upon it at once Avithout any preface, — is, "The Leading Features and Excel- lencies of the Westminster Standards." It will tend to our obtaining a more dis- tinct and satisfactory view of this subject, if we regard these Standards under the following leading aspects of them: — first, as they arc designed to display and exhibit the revealed truth of God to the world, in opposition, especially, to the main errors and heresies that have in different periods arisen ; secondly, as they are designed to aid in forming, under God, and maintaining the right cha- racter of the Church ; and, thirdly, as they are intended to secure a sound, or- derly, and effective government of the Church, and administration of her ordi- nances and affairs, for all the ends of her institution.
I. It is chiefly with the Confession of Faith and the two Catechisms that we have to do, under the first of these aspects, — the display and exhibition of the revealed truth of God to the world. Let me observe here, that it would be diffi- cult to over-estimate the importance of this end of a Confession of the Church's faith. It is a distinct object, of course, and one very much more comprehensive than that of a simple test of orthodoxy. When men, professing to adhere to the Scriptures, have published to the world, under the guise of Scripture, the most soul-destroying errors and heresies, the Church cannot fulfil her office as God's witness for the truth, by merely, in these circumstances, falling back on Scripture, and declaring her unchanged adherence to the word of God; for they also are ready to make this profession. She must be prepared to give forth her interpretation of that word to the world, in some form sufficiently tangible, and clear, and unequivocal, to form a rallying point for the friends of truth, — to pre- sent a banner round which they may gather, and have their minds confirmed and assured, when error is coming in like a flood, — and to make known, at the same time, to all the world, in opposition to whatsoever calumnies and misre- presentations of her faith may be spread abroad, what that faith really is, — what the real difference is between her and the adversaries of truth, professing equally to take the Scriptures for their rule. I would nearly go the length of affirming the necessity, in this view, — not the high expediency simply, in order to the full discharge of the Church's duty as the Lord's witness for the truth, — of her pub- lishing to the world a full profession of her faith, embracing all the leading par- ticulars of the revealed " counsel of God," so far as she may have been enabled to attain to them.
Now, in this view of the Standards prepared by the Westminster Assembly, I would ask you, first, to observe for a few moments, their admirably complete and comprehensive character. They present an exhibition of divine truth, singularly comprehensive and complete. Glancing at the main features, we are met at the very outset with much precious, scriptural, and Protestant truth, in the simple fact, that the first chapter of the Confession is " on the Holy Scrip- tures." It opens, before proceeding at all to unfold the subject-matter of (he Church's faith, by declaring the one divine and infallible Standard of it. It
108 THE LEADING FEATURES AND EXCELLENCIES
opens, in marked contrast to the Romish catechisms and formularies — in con- trast, to a large extent, to the structure even of many of the more imperfect Protestant formularies, — with the Scriptures as the only rule of faith; while, in correspondence with the Confession here, the two Catechisms of the Assembly, after an introductory question designed to prepare the mind of the learner, at once present the Old aud New Testaments before him, as " the only rule which God has given us to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him." Of course, the Confession, in accordance with its character and design, opens up this more at large, especially in opposition to the errors, on this head, of the Church of Rome. Nor can I help remarking that, in comparison even with the various earlier Confessions of the Protestant Churches of Europe, while one rejoices in the general harmony of doctrine that pervades the whole, there is a peculiar ac- curacy to be observed, — a singulai'ly unencumbered clearness, as well as fulness of statement, in the Westminster Confession, owing, in part no doubt, to its authors having enjoyed the benefit of all the others when they were called in Providence to prepare it. Then, as the Westminster Divines would not speak even of things on which nature casts some light, without first presenting the word of God as the only infallible and perfect rule in all things, so this reposi- tory of truth being as it were opened, they proceed to bear witness of what, in religion, is necessarily first, and last also, the Alpha and Omega, unchanged from everlasting to everlasting, independent of all the varying conditions of the creature, whether as fallen, for instance, or unfallen: "Of God and the Holy Trinity," — and this strictly, you will observe, not as mixed up, by anticipation, in many of the other Confessions, with things belonging to the remedial scheme of grace, — " Of God and the Holy Trinity," is the second leading subject of these Standards. Let me remark here (and the observation applies to after parts of the Confession, on the constitution of the Mediator's person), that while there is a marked catholicity about the doctrine of them, the substance of the chief early creeds, and of the language of the first orthodox councils, being re- tained, there is a very happy absence of that painful minuteness of detail which is characteristic of these, particularly of the Athanasian Creed. The spirituality of tone also that marks these Standards throughout, meets us here at the very outset, in these words, for instance, — " God hath all life, glory, goodness, bless- edness, in and of himself, and is alone in and unto himself all-sufiicient, not standing in need of any creature which he hath made, not deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them," and so on. We have all been struck (unless, perhaps, our familiarity with it from earliest childhood may have made us overlook it) with the massive fulness of that answer in this department, — "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and un- changeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." Passing the subject of the Divine decrees, which I shall have occasion to refer to in a different connection, we are led on, through the execution of these, in creation, in providence, generally and more particularly in the fall of man, and the various fearful effects of it, — we are brought, at this point, to what I would mark as one of the most distinctive features of these Standards, namely, the fulness with which they exhibit the doctrine of the divine covenants, — of the covenant of works, first of all, " wherein," in the words of the Confession of Faith, "life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience ;" and next of the covenant of grace, "made," in the w^ords of the Larger Catechism, " with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect, as his seed," " wherein," to use again the words of tbe Confession, " the Lord freely offered unto sinners life and salvation by Je- sus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved; and pro- mising to give unto all those that arc ordained unto life, his Holy Spirit, to
OF THE WESTMINSTER STANDARDS.
109
make them willing and able to believe." It is, of course, out of the question to enlarge on tliis subjoct here, under any aspect of it. But I would just take leave to express it as an opinion I have long entertained, that the doctrine of these covenants, as thus declared in our Standards, however it may have become fashionable of late years to decry it as stiff and antiquated, lies very near the foundation of a sound and solid theology, and has not received a more promi- nent place from the Westminster Divines, than its grounds in Scripture, and its vital bearings on the entire scheme of grace, deserve and demand for it.
The covenant of grace having introduced the whole method and plan of re- demption, the Confession and Catechisms, with some varieties of form, well worthy of being studied, arising out of the character and design of the se- veral documents, proceed to treat of the constitution of the Mediator's person, the Mediator of the covenant, — of his glorious work of obedience unto death, — of the fulness of salvation as purchased and laid up in Ilim, — of his prophetical, and priestly, and kingly offices in general ; and then, after an intermediate con- necting head in the Confession, " of free-will," bringing out the condition of the sinner, his entire moral impotency, when the salvation is brought near to him, — they proceed to treat of his effectual calling, — of the outgoing of the whole redemption from Christ to individual souls, — of its effectual application to them by the office and work of the Holy Ghost, — with all its cardinal bene- fits, which are severally opened up, of justification, adoption, sanctification, through faith, treated of in the 14th chapter of the Confession, — with repent- ance unto life, the subject of the 15th, — assurance of God's grace, the subject of the 18th, — perseverance in it to the end, the subject of the 17th, — and in a word, here, good works, the fruits and evidences of faith and regeneration, treated of in the 16th chapter; while the Divine law is laid open, in its nature, uses, and eternal obligations, in the 19th, — ^just as the two Catechisms, after un- folding the whole doctrine of grace, of salvation by Christ alone, — proceed thereafter to expound the Decalogue, — the moral law in its details, as the rule of the Christian's obedience, received by him now from the Mediator's hand without a curse, but with only additional obligations on that very account to keep and to delight in it for ever.
The next twelve chapters of the Confession, with the exception of one " on Marriage and Divorce," and the two, so well known, " on Liberty of Consci- ence," and " on the Civil Magistrate," are occupied with the subject of Divine worship, and the various ordinances of it, and the Church, with some leading matters and principles connected with its administration. There is one very- marked distinctive feature of the Westminster Standards in this department, to which I should deem it unpardonable, especially in present circumstances, not to advert, however briefly. I refer to the fulness and clearness of their testi- mony in regard to the Salibath, — to the moral and perpetual obligation of the fourth commandment of the Decalogue, — of the Lord's day as the Christian Sabbath. I need give no quotations bore, — the subject is so familiar to all. But I cannot help saying, that the ripeness of what unquestionably was the Augus- tan age of theology, nowhere, perhaps, comes out to greater advantage than here. In the earlier symbols of the Protestant Churches of Europe, — admirable as in many respects they M'cre, this vital matter is either omitted, or the testi- mony in reference to it is exceedingly scanty and feeble. IIow marked the contrast in this respect, of the Westminster formularies ! What invaluable bene- fits do we not owe to them, under God, from their teaching on this subject alone I I have simply to add here, that the matter of these twelve chapters of the Catechism, is chiefly embraced in their closing department, opening with the question, " What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redcniption ?" The Confession, on the other hand, closes with
110 THE LEADING FEATURES AND EXCELLENCIES
the state of men after death, the resurrection of the dead, and the last judg- ment,— subjects which had come in at previous parts of the Catechisms, especi- ally under the head of the benefits which believers receive from Christ at death and at the resurrection.
I alluded just now to the spirituality of tone that marks this exhibition of Divine truth. I would desire, in the present sketch, to avoid everything like mere vague, indiscriminate praise of these Standards. But it were doing injus- tice to the subject committed to me, if, acknowledging very freely the defects in them incident to everything human, and some of which I may have occasion humbly to notice, I did not mark one or two prominent excellencies of them, still viewed as a display of Scripture truth, distinct from the comprehensive completeness of their matter. The exalted spirituality of their tone must have struck every man competent to form a judgment on the subject. What an unc- tion, for example, in these well-known words: — "The souls of believers are, at their death, made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory ; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrec- tion." Take another example from the Larger Catechism : — " The conclusion of the Lords prayer, (which is, For Ihine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.) teacheth us to enforce our petitions with arguments, which are to be taken, not from any worthiness in ourselves, or in any other creature, but from God ; and with our prayers to join praises, ascribing to God alone eternal sovereignty, omnipotency, and glorious excellency ; in regard Avhereof, as he is able and walling to help us, so we by faith are emboldened to plead with him that he would, and quietly to rely upon him that he will, fulfil our requests. And, to testify this our desire and assurance, we say, Amen." Then, another marked feature is, a certain weighty, commanding character in the statements, bearing evident marks of their having come from men not only of very powerful mind, but profoundly and experimentally versed in the high themes which they were called to handle. One is amazed, in fact, on reading these works, to find every where in them a masculine strength of conception, — a grasp of thought without any apparent efibrt, — a lucid clear- ness and logical accuracy combined with elevation and majesty of style, that really seem to make the writers and theologians of these later days, in comparison, very small men. Take an example, nearly at random, from the chapter of the Confession " on Christ the Mediator;" " The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, when the fulness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereotl, yet without sin; being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is very God and very man, yet only Christ, the only Mediator between God and man." You will bear willingly, I believe, with another example from the Lar- ger Catechism: " Wherein do justification and sanctification ditifer? Although sanctification be inseparably joined with justification, yet they difi'er, in that God in justification imputeth the righteousness of Christ; in sanctification his Spirit infuseth grace, and enableth to the exercise thereof; in the former, sin is par- doned; in the other, it is subdued; the one doth equally free all believers from the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall into condemnation; the other is neither equal in all, nor in this life perfect in any, but growing up to perfection."
This last quotation may equally form an example of a further excellency, which 1 would mention, — namely, the evangelical character of the Westminster theo-
OF Tin: ■vvi:sTMiNSTt:K stanuakds. J 11
logy. AVhat are the hinges on which evangelical truth, as such, necessarily turns? On the lost state of man l>y nature; on the doctrine of the atonement, as a true and very substitution of Christ in the sinner's room; on his justification by Christ's righteousness imputed to him through faith alone, without the deeds of the law ; on his regeneration by the Holy Ghost, as a thing distinct and different from every outward oi-dinance whatever; and on the free and unlimited offer of Christ to sinners in the gospel. I am just disposed to say here, that while the first four of these are so manifestly and largely characteristic of the AVestminster Confession and Catechism, as to render examples of them quite superfluous, I humbly apprehend that there is a certain bareness in regard to the last, of the free and unlimited ofi'er of Christ, — negative, indeed, and comparative, rather than positive and absolute, for we have this also with much plainness, once and again, as in the words already quoted, in part, for a different purpose, — " I\Ian by his fall having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Loid was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace, wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ." And again, in the answer of the Shorter Catechism about effectual calling, " He doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel." Still, considering the vast importance of this matter, and its prominence in the Scrip- tures, I should be disposed very humbly to say, that there was a certain want of fulness with reference to it in the Westminster Standards. There is one other very prominent aspect, however, of this body of doctrine, kindred to the evan- gelical, to that which expresses " good will to men," — I mean that of " glory to God in the highest,'' — the aspect of holy divine sovereignty, — the one pointed to in words like these, " it became Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things,'' to do this and that, — " Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." The chapter of the Confession " on God's eternal de- cree," and the corresponding parts of the Catechisms, are of course chiefly im- portant here. Says the former, " God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever conies to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established." The truth is, however, that this as- pect runs through the whole of these Standards together. Scarce a section on mere vital matters but it some way appears in. It could not fail, from its very nature, to do so. Divine sovereignty, once thoroughly admitted, is necessarily an all-pervading principle. It is another expression, in fact, for that highest of all the lessons of religion, of the word of God, — " Of him, and through him, and to him are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen." It is evident that many other ways might have been taken of presenting the leading features of this body of truth, as, for instance, marking the different principal errors against which it testifies, — the Popish, the Arian, and Socinian in all their forms, the Pelagian, Arminian, Antimonian, and so on. It were difficult to say against which of them the testimony of the Westminster Confession is fullest and clear- est. Or, again, one might have entered into a comparison of these formularies with those of the different Protestant Churches of Europe, not only with the view of bringing out the general harmony that pervades them, but to show how the Westminster Divines, from the ripeness to which Protestant theology had in their day attained, together with the catholic character of the ends and objects they had in view, were in specially favourable circumstances, and were in reality blessed of God, for producing an exhibition of tnith eminently free of mere lo- cal peculiarities, and well fitted to form a basis of union among Christians all over the world. Let it never be forgotten in this view, that upon doctrine, more strictly so called, all parties in the Assembly, — Presbyterian, Independent, and
112 THE LEADING FEATURES AND EXCELLENCIES
even Erastian, — English Commissioners and Scotch, — clerical and lay, were thoroughly at one, adopting section after section of the Confession and Cate- chisms, with conference occasionally, and changes of expression, but in the end without a dissentient voice.
II. But I must hasten on to notice, much more briefly, the second leading aspect under which it was proposed to view the Westminster Standards, — as de- signed, namely, to aid in forming and maintaining the right character of the Church. Need I remind you here what provision is made in the two Cate- chisms, especially the Shorter, for the training up of youth in the fear of God, for imbuing their minds thoroughly with the principles of religion, — giving them no slight and superficial, but a solid, scriptural, enlarged acquaintance with these from the very first ? How invaluable these Catechisms, for the forming of charac- ter, in the family, in the school, in the ministerial class, in pastoral visitation, as the experience of the evangelical Church, of all denominations, over the world, has long and gratefully borne witness? I find, by the way, a curious passage in an exhortation for catechising, published by the London Presbytery in Au- gust 1655: — "This testimony we may freely give to the Lesser Catechism, that it hath this considerable excellency, above all those we have seen, that every answer is an entire proposition, without relation to the question preceding," — in other words, every answer is a perfect proposition, without the question. I have often observed the fact stated here, but never saw any particular excel- lence connected with it, till, on reading this passage, the idea suggested itself, obvious enough when one's attention is drawn to it, that upon the ordinary plan of catechisms, where the answer is involved with the question, so as only to make an entire proposition when taken along with it, the pupil, to have any use of his catechism, must have his teacher beside him ; whereas, in the Assembly's catechisms, over and above the benefit of the catechetical mode when the teacher is present, the pupil has, in each answer committed by him to memory, a distinct and entire proposition, which he can employ for himself without any foreign aid at all. Then mark, in this connection, the thoroughly practical character of these Standards, — the fulness and minuteness of detail, with which they open up the whole subject of man's duty. It is a notion widely prevalent among the ignorant, and a charge industriously preferred by the malignant adversaries of Calvinism, that it deals much more in loud and clamorous controversy about doctrine, than in the quiet and faithful practice of Christian duty. Strange, in this case (although it is of course the lives of sincere Calvinists that alone can thoroughly meet such a charge, yet strange if there were the least ground for it,) that two-thirds nearly of each of the Westminster Catechisms are taken up with the very subject about which Calvinists are alleged to be comparatively in- different! The Larger and Shorter Catechisms are divided, it is well known, into the two departments, of " what man is to believe concerning God, and the duty which God requireth of man." Of 107 questions in the Shorter, the first 38 only are devoted to the former head of faith. Ninety out of 196, in the Larger Catechism, are given to it. In each, also, the second and much larger division is occupied with a detailed exposition of the Decalogue. In other words, these Standards are not satisfied with bearing pointed witness against Antinomianism in every form, — testifying to the holy character, design, and tendency of the doctrines of grace, — unfolding doctrinally the uses and eternal obligations of the moral law; but they furnish to all the members, and the youth especially of the Church, minute expositions of it, precept by precept, of which I shall simply say this, that were these same adversaries but a little better acquainted with them, I suspect their charges would speedily take the shape rather of alleged Puritanism, and over-strictness of morality, than of any indif- ference whatever to duty and practice. Let the following suffice as a specimen
OF TIIK WKSTMINSTKH STANDARDS. 113
of the carefulness uith which the whole suliject of duty is examined and opened up. *'• What rules are to be observed for the ri^ht understanding of (he ten commandments? For the ripfht understanding of the ten commandments, these rules are to be ol)served : — 1. That the law is perfect, and bindeth every one to full conformity in the whole man unto the righteousness thereof, and unto entire obedience for ever; so as to require the utmost perfection of every duty, and to forbid the least degree of every sin. 2. That it is spiritual, and so reacheth the understanding, will, affections, and all other powers of the soul, as well as words, works, and gestures. 3. That one and the same thing, in divers respects, is required or forbidden in several commandments. 4. That as, where a duty is commanded, the contrary sin is forbidden; and, where a sin is for!)idden, the contrary duty is commanded; so, where a promise is annexed, the contrary threatening is included; and, where a threatening is annexed, the contrary pro- mise is included. 5. That what God forbids is at no time to be done; what he commands is always our duty; and yet every particular duty is not to be done at all times. 6. That under one sin or duty, all of the same kind are forbidden or commanded; together with all the causes, means, occasions, and appearances thereof, and provocations thereunto. 7> That what is forbidden Of commanded to ourselves, we are bound, according to our places, to endeavour that it may be be avoided or performed by others, according to the duty of their places. 8. That in what is commanded to others, we are bound, according to our places and callings, to be helpful to them; and to take heed of partaking with others in what is forbidden them."
I shall only further observe on this aspect of the Standards, that, as the cha- racter of the Christian Church depends on nothing more than on the sancti6ca- tion of the Lord's day, and the public services of the sanctuary, so the West- minster Standards have a very important bearing on both these matters. The fulness of their testimony regarding the Sabbath I have ah-eady had occasion to notice. And the power of it, I may now only observe, is greatly heightened by that rejection of all festival days of human device, which, by leaving the Sabbath alone, without any rival or competitor, as it alone is of Divine institution, so evidently tends to secure for it, and concentrate upon it, the religious regards of the Church. Then, as to the public services of the sanctuary, 1 believe it is a common notion in some quarters, that Presbyterianism, prescribing only what these are to consist of, but leaving its ministers very much to their own caprice, without any authorised guide in the conducting of them, thus leaves the people at the mercy of each man's unaided discretion. There cannot, in reality, be a greater mistake. It is quite true, that Presbyterianism does not treat its minis- ters as children, — does not put them in the leading-strings of any set form of expression in public prayer, never to be varied from one year, and even age, to another. It does not treat them as men unfit for their office, and so discharge their work for them, leaving them but the mechanical function of readers. But it will be seen, by any one who examines, with the care it so well merits, the Westminster Directory for Public Worship, thq,t, tracing the services of the sanctuary from their commencement to their close, and this both on ordinary occasions and on extraordinary, such as days of solemn humiliation and thanks- giving, together with the communion and baptismal services, — it provides, for each several part, the richest and most valuable materials and directions, as to leave no competent and faithful minister at any possible loss, while room is given for the stirring up, by each, of the graces and gifts the Lord may have be- stowed upon him, — " our meaning," to use the words of the preface, — "our meaning being only, that the general heads, the sense and scope of the prayers, and other parts of public worship, being known to all, there may be a consent of all the churches in those things that contain the substance of the service and wor-
114 THE LF.ADINC. FEATUKES AND EXCELLENCIES
ship of God ; and the ministers may be hereby directed, in their administrations, to keep like soundness in doctrine and prayer, and may, if need be, have some help and furniture, and yet so as they become not hereby slothful and negligent in stirring up the gifts of Christ in them; but that each one, by meditation, by taking heed to himself, and the flock of God committed to him, and by wise observing the ways of Divine Providence, may be careful to furnish his heart and tongue with further or other materials of prayer, and exhortation, as shall be needful upon all occasions." I may just add here, that the title of '' the Directory for Public Wor- ship," conveys but imperfectly the character of this important part of the Stan- dards. It is, in fact, a comprehensive body of pastoral theology, including, for example, the most precious rules and materials for the ministerial visiting of the sick, — standing out in marked and happy contrast, in the wisdom with which tliey instruct ministers how to suit themselves to the circumstances of each particular case, with the stiffness and formality of a mere liturgical office. I scarce feel warranted to speak of the Metre Psalms as a part of the formularies of the Assembly. They were all but a part of them, however. They may be said to have emanated from it, — to have been one of the direct and proper re- sults of it. And assuredly there can be no hesitation in pronouncing them a mighty engine, under God, for the forming and maintaining of the right charac- ter of the Church. If any man prefer the paraphrases, or any hymns whatever, I am sorry for it, — I cannot agree with him. The divine simplicity, the very roughness of these Psalms, has, to my mind, an unspeakable charm. It brings out all the better the words of the Holy Ghost, in which the true poetry, that goes to the heart, lies. No psalmody like that, —
" Lord, thee my God, I'll early seek;
My soul doth thirst for thee; My flesh longs in a dry parched land,
Wherein no waters be," &c.
It appears that the paraphrase of the Psalms in metre by Mr Francis Rous, was examined, corrected, and approved by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster and by them recommended to the English Parliament, which ordered that ver- sion to be sung in all the churches of England, Wales, and Berwick-upon- Tweed. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, before agreeing to the use of Rous's version, ordered it to be reviewed, and compared with other versions. And our present version, though substantially that of Rous, and in many instances identical with it, is the result of numerous corrections and im- provements made on it by a Committee of the General Assembly, which was employed some years in this work. Hence the title, " The Psalms of David in Metre, newly translated, and diligently compared with the original text and for- mer translations : more plain, smooth, and agreeable to the text than any here- tofore."
III! The third and only other aspect under which I propose to view the Westminster Standards, — as designed to secure a sound, orderly, and effective government of the church, and administration of the ordinances and affairs, for all the ends of her institution, — has been substantially embraced in a previous part of this commemoration ; and I shall only glance at it in the briefest man- ner. It is evident, that whatever scheme or directory of government a Christian Church may adopt, it is above all things necessary that no rule be sanctioned, running counter to any of the grand principles of Scripture, — and more particu- larly to that vital one specially apt to be contravened here, that there is one only Lawgiver, Ijord and King of the Church, — that all government of it, even in the hands of office-bearers of his authorising, must be ministerial, not lordly, in its character, — that Church rulers have authority only to declare and carry out
OF THE WKSTMINSTER STANDARDS. 115
the will of Cliiist, not to impose their own mind and will upon the conscience of the Church. Tins pnncij)le is very fully recognised in the following words, for example, of the Westminster Confession: — '' God alone is Lord of the con- science, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to His Word, or beside it, in matters of faith and worship ; so that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commandments, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience." And again, — '* There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ." One simple fact, in regard to the Westminster Directory for government, speaks a volume on this subject. It is, that, from beginning to end of it, there is nothing placed on the footing of expediency, — of man's will. In every single particular, whether con- cerning the Church, or its office-bearers, or its assemblies of government, or their several functions, duties, and powers, the Word of God is appealed to as the only authority which the Church is either bound or entitled to recognise. The following brief sentence from the Directory for Worship, embodies a princi- ple of the last importance, and which, in the religious struggles now to all ap- pearance near at hand, promises to have bearings at least as vital and practical as in the days of the first and second Charles : — " There is no day commanded in Scripture to be kept holy under the gospel but the Lord's day, which is the Christian Sabbath. Festival-days, vulgarly called holy-days, having no warrant in the Word of God, are not to be continued." While such, however, is the se- curity provided for a government sound and Scriptural, the orderly and ef- fective character of it is not less eared for. Let any one j)eruse with attention the brief, but luminous, comprehensive, and everyway masterly " Form of Prcs- byterial Church government," embracing the difierent kinds of office-bearers, — their respective powers and duties, — the various judicatories, congregational, classical (or presbyterial), and synodical, — together with the ordination of mi- nisters (though here there was one point in regard to the voice of the people, which the Scottish General Assembly expressly reserved power to itself to re- consider and supplement,) — and he will have, in this simple perusal, one of the best illustrations of the orderly and energetic character of this system, — of its fitness under God, to secure a due administration of all the Church's ordinances and afi'airs. He will have a pleasing example of that general principle, that whatever is Scriptural and sound will be found in the end to be also the most politic and expedient. A fine instance of the combination of the Scriptural with the orderly, — of the principle of Christ's sole lordly authority, with the ministerial authority of the government in the Church instituted by him, — of the freedom of the Church's conscience from the doctrines and commandments of men, with her obligation to yield submission to the government in the hands of men which He has really authorised, — is found in the following words of the Confession, in the chapters on Synods and Councils : — " It belongeth to Synods and Councils ministerially to determine controversies of faith, and cases of con- science ; to set down rules and directions for the better ordering of the public worship of God, and government of His Church ; to receive complaints in cases of mal- administration, and authoritatively to determine the same; which de- crees and determinations, if consonant to the W^ord of God, are to be received with reverence and submission, not only for their agreement with the Word, but also for the power, whereby they are made as being an ordinance of God, appointed thereunto in His Word."
In conclusion, I fear I have scarce succeeded in avoiding, to the extent to which I was desirous to avoid, the strain of general eulogy. If I have erred in this, — if I have at all spoken of these works in a manner not befitting the com- positions of men, — it has been my own fault alone ; I liad no warrant for it in the compositions themselves, which declare, that " all Synods or Councils since
116 CONVERSATION.
the Apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred; therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith or practice, but to be used as an help in both:" and again, that " the Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of Councils, opi- nions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speak- ing in the Scripture." Let us, " remembering the years of the right hand of the Most High," give him humble and hearty thanks for his great grace vouchsafed to these his servants, whereby, in the midst even of much turmoil, and confusion, and strife of human passions and interests, they were enabled to produce a "form of sound words," so excellent every way, and so many ways fitted under God, to advance the cause of truth and of vital godliness in the world."
The Rev. Robert Shaw, (Original Secession), Whitburn, spoke as follows: — " After the interesting, instructive, and eloquent address which we have heard re- specting the excellencies of the Westminster Standards, I shall not occupy your time with any lengthened observations. Much as we admire the men who com- posed the Westminster Assembly, we do not claim for them infallibility. They were uninspired, and therefore fallible men. They themselves disavowed all pre- tensions to perfection, either individually or collectively; for, as we have already heard, they expressly declared, that "all Synods or Councils, since the Apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred." Highly as we prize the formularies which that Assembly compiled, we do not elevate them to a level with the word of God. To do so would be to proclaim that we had not imbibed their spirit, for they distinctly avow that grand doctrine of Protestant- ism, " that the Scriptures, contained in the Old and New Testaments, are the word of God, and the only rule of faith and practice." We accordingly recog- nise the Westminster Formularies, not as supreme, but only as subordinate and explanatory standards. But whatever infirmities may have adhered to the men, we may safely pronounce the Westminster Assembly the most learned, judicious, and godly, that has met since the apostolic ages; and the formularies framed by that Assembly have been deservedly esteemed by all Presbyterian Churches, as containing a faithful exhibition of the truths revealed in the un- erring oracles of God. I regard it as a prominent feature and distinguishing excellency of the Westminster Standards, that they embraced all that was valu- able in the Confessions of all the Reformed Churches at the period when they were compiled. As the Reformation on the continent of Europe preceded the Reformation in this country, so the AVestminster Standards were framed poste- rior to the Confessions of the other Reformed Churches; and as the Westmin- ster Divines contemplated the bringing of the Churches in Britain and Ireland, not only to the nearest possible conformity to one another, but also to the Re- formed Churches abroad, so, having this object in view, in all their statements respecting doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, they deviated as little as possible from the formularies of these Churches. This being the case, the Westminster Standards comprise all that is valuable in the formularies of the Reformed Churches both at home and abroad. The Confession of Faith contains an admirable summary of scriptural truth. The leading and fundamental doc- trines of revealed religion are laid down with uncommon precision and accuracy, and in the manner best calculated to guard against the opposite errors. These doc- trines, and also the duties inculcated by our holy religion, are admirably condensed in the Catechisms, which form an important part of the Westminster Standards. The Shorter Catechism has been often eulogized as an incomparable system of di- vine truth. The conciseness and accuracy of its statements, — the natural order in
CONVERSATION. 117
which the different articles of the Christian religion are arranged, the perspicuity with which both its doctrines and duties are dolineatedj — impress upon this sum- mary a character of pre-eminent excellence; and who can doubt that its general use in schools and families for the last two centuries has been the means of instill- ing into the minds of the young an accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the first principles of religion, and contributed greatly to raise our population above that of other countries in the scale of religious knowledge. It is a peculiar ex- cellence of the Westminster Standards, that they give to Christ the things that are Christ's, and to Caesar the things that are Cajsar's. I know that 1 touch upon debateable ground ; but I may be allowed to state my own conviction, that while the Westminster Confession ascribes to the magistrate certain authority about the Church, it does not allow him an Erastian power in and over the Church. As we have just been told, it expressly asserts that " there is no other Head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ," — that lie, " as King and Head of His Church, hath therein appointed a government in the hands of church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate," — and that " to these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed." It thus excludes the civil magistrate from all interference with the internal government of the Church, and it explicitly asserts that he "may not assume to himself the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven." If there be any statements which have been thouglit capable of bearing a different construction, they, so far as I can see, ought to be explained in harmony with these grand principles to which I have referred, and which occupy so prominent a place in the Confession. There is another feature of the AVestminster Standards to which I would beg leave shortly to allude. They were intended as a basis of tinioii on a most extensive scale. They were framed in prosecution of the leading object of the Solemn League, and were designed to bring the three kingdoms into the nearest possible conjunction with one another, and other foreign Churches. This was their avowed object. They were expressly received by the Church of Scotland as " parts of the covenanted uniformity in religion betwixt the Churches of Christ in the kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland," That object has never yet been fully realized. But the Westminster Standards are still recognised, as explanatory standards, by all the Presbyterian Churches ; and they will probably yet become a rallying point, around which all the scattered sections of the Church in these lands will meet, when times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, — and never was there a louder call to union among Pres- byterians. AVhen Popery, Laudean Prelacy, and Erastianism, are mustering their forces, and threatening to crush both the civil and religious liberties of men, how desirable and necessary that Presbyterians should be united in one noble phalanx, and prepared with concentrated energy to meet their common foes. This auspicious and delightful meeting will, I doubt nut, hasten the arrival of that happy day when all the Presbyterian bodies, if not all evangelical Christians, shall be united in fellowship, and go forth like one glorious army, marshalled under one banner, " to the lielp of the Lord, to the help of the Loid against the mighty." "
The Rev. P. Macindoe, (Reformed Presbyterian Church) Kilmarnock, being called on by the Chairman, spoke to the following effect: — "History informs us that it was an approved practice of the ancient Romans to pay the greatest respect to the memory of their more illustrious forefathers. Whe- ther these had distinguished themselves by their eloquence in the senate, by their valour in the field, or by their proficiency in the fine arts, their re- spective merits were always held in gratel'ul remembrance, and were often sung in joyful strains. Not only were tributes paid to their memory by those classic
118 CONVERSATION.
writers who knew so well how to combine the beauties of language and the flowers of poetry with the narratives of events, and the feelings of patriotism; but monuments were raised to transmit their names to posterity, and statues were set up to commemorate those deeds by which they had secured to them- selves the highest renown, and to their country the greatest honour.
Surely we owe still greater respect to the memory of those great men whose doings^ two centuries ago, we are met on this occasion to celebrate. Never per- haps did any Assembly of Divines contain so many men of enlarged minds, of ge- nerous hearts, of profound learning, of elevated piety, and sanctified zeal. Never perhaps were enquiries more persevering, or deliberations more grave, than those which issued in the construction of those symbolical books which bave done so much to immortalize their names, and which have proved so invaluable a boon to very many of the purest of the Churches. Their's was the triumph of truth over error, — of piety over fanaticism, — of Scriptural order over human devices, — and of enlightened Catholicism over narrow-minded bigotry. Who that loves the Sa- viour, whom they honoured, and whose cause they endeavoured to advance, is not desirous of giving the freest and fullest expression of respect for their memories? Let others who choose celebrate the victories that have been achieved by British valour, and that have shed the brightest lustre over British arms. We grudge not the tribute of honour which is due to those who have conquered in a righte- ous cause ; neither would we be so ungenerous as tear from their brows the laurels which have been placed there by the hands of grateful and admiring countrymen. But we feel that we are treading holier ground, and breathing a purer atmosphere, and surveying a more glorious spectacle, when we turn our eyes to that noble band of judicious, learned, and godly divines, who, with no other weapons than the sword of the Spirit, — the power of argument, — and the voice of prayer, achieved the noblest of all victories, and won the brightest of all triumphs, in Westminster Abbey. (Cheers.) I am not aware, indeed, that any public monument has ever been raised to commemorate their services, and per- petuate their names ; but sure I am, that all here present will agree with me when I say, that public monuments of the usual description, are, in the present case, entirely unnecessary. (Hear, hear.) We have only to look at the admir- able symbols which they were enabled to draw up with so much care, and which have been embraced by so many of our Churches with so much gratitude. These, Sir, are their monuments — monuments not erected in our church-yards, but owned and honoured in the churches themselves — monuments not confined to a few favoured spots in our own land, but beheld and admired wherever Pres- byterianism has unfurled its banner and dispensed its blessings, — monuments containing so much of imperishable truth, as to warrant the well-grounded hope that they will survive as the objects of sincere veneration, when the sculptured marble, and the storied urn, and the towering monument shall have sunk in the dust. (Great applause.)
But we have not met merely for the purpose of eulogizing the memory of those good and illustrious men. It is not our chief object to render the tri- bute of veneration which all feel to be due to them on account of their eminent worth and their invaluable services. We would rather adore and thank that good and gracious Being who made them what they were, and who accomplished by their instrumentality what they did. We would rather re- cognize and extol that grace which qualified them in so high a degree for the important duties to which they were called, and for the difficult times in which they lived. In their high qualifications, — their quick discernment, — their singular judiciousness, — their profound learning, — their unwearied study of the Holy Scriptures, — their unceasing reliance on the Holy Spirit for that light which the young Gillespie so earnestly implored during the memo-
CONVERSATION. 119
Viible debate, in which he foiled the learned Selden, — in their high and varied qualifications, we would see a motive to devout thankfulness to II im who was pleased to confer them. In their valuable labours, — labours which have prov- ed a boon of the greatest importance to many Churches abroad as well as at home, and which will never cease to be appreciated while a regard for evan- gelical truth and Scriptural government continues, — in their varied, arduous, persevering, and successful labours, we would behold the gracious presence of that " princely ]\Iaster," whose honour ought to be dearer to the hearts of his servants than either the applause of their co-temporaries, or the encomi- ums of their successors. Posthumous fame becomes a great evil if it intercepts the homage that ought ever to ascend to the reigning Redeemer. (Hear, hear.)
I very cordially concur in the just and seasonable remark that was made a little ago, by an esteemed friend now present, (Dr Balmer), about the impro- priety and danger of indiscriminnie praise. I think there is hardly an evil against we should be more scrupulously on our guard than this, on an occasion like the present. It is no reflection on their memory, and no disparagement of their efibrts, to say, that the work which they were honoured in bringing about has its defects. They themselves have said, "All Synods and Councils, since the Apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred." (Confession, c. xxxi. § 4.) And yet there is a way of speaking about the reformation which they were enabled to effect, that is not so discrimina- ting as it should be. AVe are so laudably disposed to admire the great prin- ciples which were so fully developed during that period, to venerate the character of the good men who had the honour of exhibiting them in a form so correct, so comprehensive, and so harmonious, and to applaud the untiring exertions by which, during five years, they drew up the symbols that have come down to us, that we are easily betrayed into an extravagance of lan- guage, an excess of eulogy, from which many are ready to infer that we look upon what they did as a perfect model of finished excellence. Now, we are not guilty of such a weakness as to look on what they did as a model at all. We know of no model but that which has been delineated on the page of revelation by the finger of the Holy Spirit. (Hear, hear.) We know of no infallible standard but that Book which has been given to us by divine inspiration, and which alone contains the perfect rule by which we are to judge of all doctrines, and laws, and institutions, and rights, and privileges. We re- gard the system that was drawn up at the memorable era in question, as no- thing more than an approximation to the scriptural standard — an approximation which has no doubt a variety of excellencies that we cannot too highl}' appreci- ate, or too zealously maintain; but an approximation in which, at the same time, the eye of enlightened friends and judicious admirers will discern defects which candour will acknowledge, and which, I trust, the third reformation will supply. (Cheers.) For, instead of standing still we ought to go forward; instead of be- ing satisfied with an indolent acquiescence in the importance of the attainments they achieved, we ought to be considering \vhat further reforms are demanded by that God to whose authority we all bow, and in whose light we all rejoice. While on the one hand we hold fast our profession without wavering, on the other we ought to be going forward to perfection.
In the course of the very interesting proceedings that have taken place dur- ing these two days, there are three things to which, I am persuaded, a new and powerful impulse has been communicated — I mean religious liberty, civil liberty, and Christian union.
It is impossible. Sir, for any one to have listened to the instructive addresses that have been read, and the brief but eloquent speeches that have been deliver- ed, without feeling, more than ever, what an invaluable blessing is ecclesiastical
120 CONVERSATION.
freedom. How elevated the ground to which those Churches have advanced, that have secured to themselves complete emancipation from civil control in all their spiritual matters! (Loud cheers.) What a purer atmosphere they breathe, and Avhat a wider range they can take in diffusing the glad tidings of great joy among perishing sinners I Indeed, no Church can either occupy the honourable position which her Lord has assigned her, nor accomplish the great ends for which she has been instituted, unless she is allowed the full measure of that li- berty which He has been pleased to afford her. It matters not what be the number and the respectability of her members, — what the learning and elo- quence of her ministers, — what the religious priveliges she enjoys within her walls, or what the civil benefits she derives from a connexion with the state; unless she is free to obey the will of her glorious Head in all things, she is shorn of her brightest glories, — she is crippled in her best exertions, — she is denied her most sacred rights, — she is degraded in the estimation of her most enlight- ened sons, and nothing awaits her but a course of tame subserviency to the pleasure of an earthly master, whose highest ambition is to make her a mere in- strument— a miserable tool in the accomplishment of his worldly ends. Who would not pity any Church brought into such bondage? What Church, worthy of the name, would not spurn away such letters, even though they were made of the finest gold, and imposed by the fairest hands? (Loud applause.)
But our attention has not been restricted to that spiritual freedom which is essential to the purity, the efficiency, and the prosperity of all our Churches. Our thoughts have again and again been turned to that political liberty, without which our country could not have reached that height of civilization, social order, and commercial greatness which makes her the admiration and the envy of surrounding nations. I w^as particularly delighted with the remarks that Avere made yesterday, on the close communion that always subsists between religious liberty on the one hand, and civil liberty on the other — remarks the more entitled to our respect, seeing they fell from one so competent to pronounce an opinion on this subject as the reverend gentleman behind me — the historian of the Church of Scotland. (Loud cheers.) For what lesson does the history of that Church, in her purest periods, teach in more impressive terms than this, that civil freedom is the necessary accompaniment of spiritual liberty — that wherever the latter was destroyed, the former was endangered — that the most intrepid defenders of the nation's civil rights in all ages have been those who were most valiant for the spiritual rights of the Church, and the royal preroga- tives of the Redeemer. Yes, Sir, what is the histor}'- of the ancient reformers, while the storms of persecution were raging around their heads, but a series of struggles for the recovery of their political liberties, as well as the main- tenance of their ecclesiastical privileges? Let us hope, then, that the efiFect of the present commemoration will be the mutual advancement of these two principles in our land — the virtuous reunion of these two lovely sisters of celestial birth and benignant mien, who have no higher object than the pro- motion of true religion and of human happiness. Nor let any imagine that ci- vil freedom is beneath the notice of such an Assembly as this. Without freedom what were man ? It is freedom that awakens the powers of intel- lect, and kindles the fire of genius. It is freedom that nourishes the bene- volent affections, and the generous feelings of the heart. It is freedom that pa- tronises education and literature, the sciences and the arts. It is freedom that gives security to subjects and dignity to rulers — that secures to the poor the fruits of their industry, and to the rich the disposal of their wealth. In short, no banner waves more proudly over our land than the banner of freedom — no shouts are echoed more joyfully from its rocks and its mountains, than the shouts of liberty. (Loud applause.)
CONVF.RSATION. 121
But passing from this, I would say, no feature in the character of that system which our fatliers constructed, has greater charms to my mind, than the great object they proposed to themselves — the union of the churches throughout the three kingdoms, on the basis of divine truth. This was an ohject so impor- tant in their estimation, that it awakened their most earnest desires, and engag- ed their most strenuous endeavours. Never, during the course of their anxious deliberations, and their controversial discussions, was this suffered to pass out of sight. It was present to their minds in ever}' debate. It was uppermost in their hearts in every prayer. Amid the dark clouds which hung upon the poli- tical firmament, and from which the muttering thunder portended the storm that so soon broke over England, they looked forward with fervent desire and anxious hope to the union of the friends of the Redeemer, on that common but high and holy ground which the sound interpretation of the Scriptures sup- plies— a union which would have filled their hearts with holy joy, and their mouths with loud thanksgivings. (Hear, hear.)
And on this subject, I venture to say, they evinced a comprehensiveness of view, and an expansion of Christian charity, which have never been surpassed, perhaps never equalled. Some have, no doubt, been disposed to regard them as men of extremely narrow views and illiberal feelings — a sort of sectarians whose minds were shrunk and shrivelled into littleness by the narrow circles in which they are supposed to have moved, and whose hearts were cold and con- tracted by the limited education and meagre acquirements they are presumed to have received. Never was estimate more unjust. Look to the enlarged conceptions they have unfolded, and to the noble aspirations they have breathed in their writings; and you will discover that the comprehensiveness of their views was equal to the grasp of their understandings, and the catholicity of their spirit not less than the extent of their learning. What clearer proof of this can we have than the sublime resolution they adopted at the commencement of their deliberations, and hallowed in a solemn vow, that they would " endea- vour to bring the Churches of God in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in religion, worship, government and discipline, that the Lord may be one, and his name one in the three kingdoms." (Hear, hear.)
Such is the delightful consummation which we are encouraged to expect, and which the present meetings seem well calculated to hasten. Nothing is more evident than that the divisions into which the Church is still rent, are but of temporary duration. A time is coming when they shall all cease. By the dif- fusion of correct views, — by the cultivation of kind affections, — by the inter- change of good offices, — and, above all, by the revival of vital godliness, which never fails to bring the happiest effects in its train, the scattered followers of Jesus will be taught to sacrifice those sinful prejudices and those selfish feelings that now stand in the way of Christian union. What, too, if a sense of com- mon danger should make us forget the petty quarrels to which we have some- times given way, and cause us unite in the defence of those common interests that are of far higher importance? Should Providence again permit the flames of persecution to be kindled against us on account of our assertion of the sacred rights of conscience, and the inalienable prerogatives of the Redeemer's crown ; should either an infidel magistracy or a popish ascendancy once more rear its hated head in these covenanted lands, — it is not difficult to foresee with what ala- crity we should forsake some of those frivolous questions on which we now con- sume an undue portion of our ardour, and hasten, by uniting our counsels, our sympathies, and our prayers, to devise the best measures for our nmtual defence. But why should this be delayed till then? Does not ordinary prudence suggest
Q
122
CONVERSATION.
that ere the storm l)ursts, we should have sought the best place of refuge? Does not good policy require, that ere the enemy has reached the gates of the citadel, we should have laid aside our intestine feuds, and entered into a sacred com- pact, not to desert, or oppose, or betray each other in the service of our common Master, nor to forsake that banner under which our fathers fought so many bloodless battles in troublous times, and which will continue to wave over these lands till it has spread its ample folds over the halls of legislation, and the palaces of princes? (Hear, hear.)
A few verses of the 78th Psalm were then sung.
The meeting having called for the Report of the Committee on business, the same was given in by Mr Jaffray, the convener, and read.
Mr DuNLOP then rose and was received with great applause. — " It is not my intention," he said, " to detain this meeting with any lengthened remarks, or, I may say, with any remarks at all, in support of the resolution which the Com- mittee have done me the honour to place in my hands. I have been most an- xious,— as they have also been, that the feelings and principles which have per- vaded this meeting, should not be allowed to pass like a tale that is told, or as the morning dew which passeth away ; but that we should not disperse without coming to a resolution which may lead to some practical result — (Hear, hear) — and the object of the resolution which I have to submit, is to lay the foundation for carrying these into effective and zealous operation, so as to bring the feelings with which we are all actuated, to tell on the advancement of Christ's kingdom, — the extension of Christian education, — and the promotion of every object whereby Christian intercourse, brotherly love, affection, kindness, and charity, may be spread and perpetuated amongst us. (Cheers.) One object we have in view is unity in promoting the objects referred to in the letter from Mr JM'Fie of Liverpool, to Dr Chalmers ; another is, the subdividing large towns and the country generally, into limited districts, within which, it shall be the duty of one or other of the different evangelical bodies of Christians to endeavour to ex- cavate such of the inhabitants as attend no place of public worship, and who are without God, and without hope in the world ; another object is the cause of education, and the establishment of a general seminary, in which teachers of all denominations may receive instruction in the art of teaching. I would specify two or three other points which we have in view ; but I shall not detain the meeting, but simply submit the resolution, which I feel persuaded requires no support from anything which I or any one else can say. The resolution is as follows : — " That this Assembly, rejoicing with thankfulness at the cordiality, harmony, and Christian affection which have prevailed in their meetings on this occasion, are desirous that, in addition to the brotherly kindness and cha- rity, and the more frequent intercourse which they trust will spring from these, there should be brought forth abundantly the farther fruits of greater and more zealous activity and increased co-operation in advancing the kingdom of their common Lord ; regard the present as but the commencement of a series of meetings to take place, on a still more extensive scale, for the promotion of those ends, and resolve to appoint a Committee to take into consideration the various suggestions that have been made in the course of their discussions, and to issue such exhortations, and adopt such measures regarding these, as they may with common consent agree upon — in the confident hope, that through unity of the faith in the Lord Jesus, this Committee may be led by God's blessing, and the influence of the Holy Spirit, to recommend such a course of mutual carriage
CONVEKSATION. ] 23
nnil arrangement as may tend to prevent causes of offence, to i'ostcr kindness and brotherhood among all who hold the Headship, and to promote co-operation in opposing error, extending education, and spreading the Gospel of salvation at home and abroad." "
Rev. H. Renton, (United Secession) Kelso, said, — "I consider it a very great honour to be called upon to second the resolution which has just been submitted to this meeting. I see no ditficulty — without the slightest compro- mise of the principles, held conscientiously by the ministers and members of dif- ferent denominations — in an honourable, and Christian, and cordial co-operation. (Hear, hear.) I knew a town twelve years ago in which there were not many inhabitants, but which at that time contained six Presbyterian ministers. There was one belonging to the Established Church and his assistant; there was one belonging to the Reformed Presbyterian body, one connected with the Original Seceders, one with the Relief, and lastly one connected with the Secession. These ministers differed decidedly and conscientiously upon various points, es- pecially on the Establishment principle, and about the obligations of the govern- ment and the interference of the civil magistrate; but in one thing they were all agreed, and that was a cordial and unreserved consent to the doctrines of salva- tion as set forth in the Westminster Standards. They knew that in that town there were men who cared not for their salvation; and what did they do? They met together and divided the town into three large sections. To each section they appointed two ministers, and these ministers visited the whole town. They took a moral census, as it were, of the whole population. They put down the names of those who attended any place of worship, and who did not — what number of children were at school, and what number were not. They made arrangements for delivering during the week, after the ordinary hours of labour, practical discourses addressed to those who were not in the habit of at- tending any places of public worship — while they employed agents to deliver tracts, to read with them, and pray with them, and to bring from their respec- tive districts the names of individuals whose ignorance of spiritual concerns, or •whose state of health rendered a pastoral visit necessary. In this w'ay, without attempting to proselytize any man, or trench on any man's labours, much good was done in providing pastoral superintendence over the moral indigence of every individual in that place. Although afterwards a controversy arose, which broke up this union, I am not aware what is to hinder this kind of co-operation going on in every town and parish of our native land. When I think of the principles which have been diffused in all their blighting and poisonous influence over the minds of many of the working classes since that time, I feel that if there was a call then for such exertion, that call is rendered tenfold more urgent now. (Hear, hear.) And if there is one circumstance resulting from this Assembly, on •which my mind rests with more satisfaction than another, it is the prospect, that •without attempt to compromise the conscientious convictions of any one, that frankly, and with a perfect understanding of each other's views, we shall hence- forth go forward with one heart and hand to the help of the Lord. (Cheers.) It is delightful to see such an Assembly as this met together on the present oc- casion; but we cannot think of the lact, that there are a greater number of Christians who adhere to the Westminster Standards, than there do to any other symbols in tiie ranks of the Protestant Church, without a heartfelt desire for a confederacy of Presbyterians, or, if you will, of all the Calvinistic and evangelical Churches throughout Europe and America, on some befitting sea- son before the period lapse, for properly commemorating the meniorable sederunt of the AVestminster Assembly." (Great applause.)
124 IMPORTANCE OF ADHERING TO SOUND SCRIPTURAL STANDARDS,
The resolution was then put and carried unanimously, after which the follow- ing Committee was named, to carry out the objects proposed.
Free Church of Scotland. — Rev. Dr Chalmers, Rev. Dr Candlish, Rev. Dr Gordon, Rev.
Dr Welsh, Rev. Mr Jaffray, Rev. Mr Tweedie, Edinburgh; Rev. Dr Buchanan,
Glasgow; Rev. Mr Macfarlane, Collessie; Rev. Mr Pitcairn, Lasswade; Robert Paul,
Esq., Alexander Dunlop, Esq., James Bridges, Esq. United Secession. — Rev. Dr Brown, Rev. Mr Robertson, Edinburgh; Rev. Dr King, Rev,
Dr Heugh, Glasgow; Rev. Mr Elliot, Ford; James Gx-eig, Esq., James Peddle
junior, Esq. Relief. — Rev. Mr Muir, Leith; Rev. Dr Struthers, Glasgow; Rev. Professor Macmichael,
Dunfermline; Rev. Mr Gon-ie, Kettle; Rev. Mr French, Edinburgh. Original Secession. — Rev. Professor M'Crie, Edinburgh; Rev. Mr White, Haddington;
Richard Whytock, Esq., Edinburgh. Reformed Prf.sbytery. — Rev. Professor Symington, Paisley; Rev. Dr Bates, Glasgow; Rev.
Mr Goold, jun., Edinburgh.
Rev. Dr Chalmers, Convener. Rev. Mr Jaffray, Secretary.
With power to add to their numbers.
Rev. Dr Candlish then came forward to address the meeting, and was received with great applause. " It is with no ordinary anxiety, that, accus- tomed as I have been to address large assemblies, I on this occasion have con- sented to address you. I have to crave your indulgence on many accounts, but chiefly when I plead an incessant pressure of business, as having prevented me from making that preparation which was due not only to the subject, but to the meeting. And before entering on the particular subject on which I have been requested to make a few observations, I cannot omit this opportunity of express- ing my very great satisfaction with the resolution which has just been passed by this meeting, — the resolution, I mean, pointing to further procedure in connec- tion with this commemoration of the Westminster Assembly. We have, I trust, in not an unsuitable spirit, commemorated the commencement of that As- sembly's sittings; but that Assembly sat for several years; and if we have com- memorated its first sittings in the spirit of heartfelt thankfulness to Almighty God that such an Assembly was convened, I think the times suggest that we should look forward to the commemorating of that great Assembly in quite an- other manner, — I mean by practically taking up the work which they began and left unfinished. For we have served ourselves heirs, as it were, to the memor- able men who met on that occasion; and it happens remarkably and ominously enough, that in the course of God's providence, and in the cycle of events, we are brought back again, as it were, to the very same position of affairs in which they conducted their deliberations ; and it seems as if on us, and others who may yet be associated with us, the Lord were about to devolve the task of com- pleting their interrupted work. (Applause.) A parenthesis, as it were, of two centuries being over, we find ourselves again at a crisis of the Church and the world's affairs, remarkably similar to what then existed, if not identical with it : and assuredly, without attempting to interpret too minutely the signs of God's providence, we cannot but feel that now the whole body of Presbyterians are called upon to stand forth in the very same attitude in which they then stood, that they may stem the torrent of Popery, infidelity, and tyranny. I re- joice, therefore, my friends, in the prospect of this meeting being but the com- mencement of our commemoration of the Westminster Assembly. (Cheers.) Why should we think of commemorating adequately in two short days the doings of an Assembly which sat for five years? Why should we think of commemo- rating in this brief space the doings of an Assembly which has stamped its char- acter on succeeding ages, — a character which seems destined yet to be more legi- bly read? AVhy should we not resolve that the next five years shall be one con-
AND AIMING AT UNION ON THAT BASIS. 125
tinued commemoration of the Westminster Assembly? (Hear, hear.) Why should we not resolve that with heart and soul united we shall endeavour to cast ourselves into the management and conducting of the same great work in which they vvei'e engaged, trusting and hoping that, by the blessing of God, a more glorious issue even than what attended their labours, may yet be awaiting the labours of the Church of Christ? I rejoice, then, in the appointment of this committee, and especially in reference to the schemes for the promotion of co- operation in opposing error, and in pursuing missionary efforts. I rejoice also in the appointment of the committee with reference to the cause of education, and to the prospect held out of our cordially uniting in upholding a more thorough system of education than ever educated Scotland has yet seen. (Loud cheers.) I rejoice in the appointment of the committee, as holding out the prospect of other meetings similar to the present, composed of many various denominations ; yet if you will allow me to say it, of a more business character, and more devo- ted to the transaction of affairs, and the accomplishment of actual results. (Hear, hear.) I hope it is understood that the power given to the committee to add to their number, indicates an intention that there should be included in the com- mittee individuals of other denominations not represented here. (Cheers.) I hope it is distinctly understood, as most essential, that the committee are expect- ed to add to their number, for the accomplishment of the objects with which they are intrusted, some members of the Congregational denomination. (Renew- ed applause.) It is right that, both in Scotland and England, it should be clearly understood, that while we resolve that the Scottish celebration of the Westmin- ster Assembly should be a commemoration on Presbyterian principles, we con- templated that as only a first step in a great movement. I trust it will be tho- roughly understood, that while it did seem suitable to avail ourselves of this occasion to gather together the scattered fragments of Prcsbyterianism, — that while we desired to consolidate Prcsbyterianism into a compact mass, — we assur- edly regarded this object as but a preliminary step to a friendly conference •with our Congregational brethren, — that in gathering up the scattered limbs and fragments of Prcsbyterianism, we by no means wished to limit the commemo- ration to Presbyterians, but to extend it to all who hold the Head, which is Christ, that it might be a harbinger of the swelling tide, which, through the out- pouring of the Spirit, is destined yet to obliterate, as it rises, all the landmarks which divide us, in one universal ocean of charity and love. (Great applause.)
I must detain you a little longer while I make a few remarks on the particu- lar subject upon which I have been requested to address you, viz.,
THE IMPORTANCE OF ADHERING TO SOUND SCRIPTURAL STANDARDS, AND AIMING AT UNION ON THAT BASIS;
and if the few remarks I mean to make seem to trench on what may have fal- len from preceding speakers, I have simply to crave your indulgence. (Cheers.) The purposes for which subordinate Standards ought to be maintained, are to be gathered from the very names of the three different kinds of composition which this expression — subordinate standards — may be regarded as including, viz., creeds, confessions, and catechisms. To certify one another, by mutual as- surance, of the soundness of one another's faith, — to hold forth and profess that faith unequivocally to the world, — and to provide for its adoption by others, and its transmission to future generations, — these are the ends for which a Christian conmiunity, or society of Christian men upon earth, may be .su[)posed to frame and adopt such documents, and these eiuls it would seem essential foi such a society to aim at. Nor can they well l)e aimed at except by some such means. Even if the Church be viewed merely as a voluntary ;issociation of brethren dwelling together in unity, having certain privileges to enjoy, and cer-
120 IMPORTANCE OF ADHERING TO SOUND SCRIPTURAL STANDARDS,
tain duties to discharge, in common, it would seem that such an association is both entitled and bound to take measures for securing: 1. That the sentiments of its members shall be known to one another; 2. That they shall be palpably manifested to all men; and, 3. That they shall be carefully and effectively taught to all candidates for admission into the body. In truth, it is hard to see how the private right and responsibility attaching to every separate individual, in reference to his treatment of the truth, can be rightly understood or defend- ed, without involving a similar right and responsibility as attaching to every Church. For assuming the reality of objective truth, — or of a doctrine re- vealed from heaven, — what is the duty of the individual man regarding it? How am I called upon to deal with it? Evidently, in the first place, I must believe it, acquiesce in it, and assent to it, which I can only do by a creed or credo, — ' I believe;" and as it is an intelligent and not a blind faith that is required, so my creed, or " I believe," must specify what it is that I believe, which it can only do, not by echoing the words used by God in revealing the truth to me, but by using words of my own, — whether spoken or not is not material. Then, again, in the second place, as I am bound to profess before men, not only the truth of God, but my faith, so I ijiust explicitly and articulately tell, not only what God has said, but what I believe, and that not merely what I believe, or think, or understand God to have said, but what is my personal belief or faith, — not merely what is God's truth, but what is my truth, — mine as a believer. Then, thirdly, if I wish any one to join with me, or another wishes to join him- self to me, on the ground and basis not merely of what God has said, but of what he and I jointly believe, then I am entitled and bound — nay, of necessity forced — to question and catechise him — to cross-question and examine him — in regard to what is my creed or personal credo — " I believe" — that I may as- certain if he understands mine, and if his agrees with mine.
Now, in all this there is no disparaging of holy Scripture, — no impeachment or reflection on the absolute perfection, the infinite fulness and sufficiency, of the word of God. That word is all-sufficient for its own purpose, that is, for telling what God says, but it is not intended to tell what I believe, — that I must tell myself, and in language of my own. And as the same language, used am- biguously by one party, may be adopted and used ambiguously and in another sense by another, it is altogether reasonable and consistent with the word of God being alone able to tell what is God's mind, that I should state what I be- lieve in words of my own, since it is not what is His mind, but what is mine, that I am to tell. Nay, this may be far more respectful treatment towards Him and His word, than it would be formally and presumptuously to employ the terms in which He declares His mind as terms for declaring mine, as if they were as infallible in my mouth as they are in His, and as sure and sufficient an expression of my belief as they are of His truth. (Cheers.)
Now, what is competent to an individual believer can scarcely be considered otherwise than competent to a society of believers; for if men associate them- selves, or are associated, as believers at all, it must be, whether in form or not, on the basis, not of God's truth merely, but of their own belief; and that belief being the act, not of God's mind, but of their own, must be expressed in their own words. Nay, even in so far as Scriptural language is employed in defining and expressing their creed, or what they believe, it is employed not as God's, but as their own; so that even if the principle be carried out, of men framing their Confession exclusively in the phraseology of the Bible, that phraseology, so used, would be used to express their mind, and not the mind of God ; and would truly be theirs, and not His. But the phraseology, which is sufficient, as used by God, to declare his mind unequivocally, may be insufficient, as used by men, to declare theirs. The word, as inspired by the Holy Ghost, and applied
AND AIMING AT UNION ON THAT BASIS. 127
by the Holy Ghost, must infallibly convey the mind' of the Holy Ghost, but it by no means follows that the same word, adopted by fallible man to be the for- mula of his faith, will truly convey his mind. Now, it is the mind of the Church that is to be ascertained. It is the real faith of associated believers that is to be got at; and if their association be on the basis of their faith, this would seem necessarily to infer the propriety of human language and human words being employed to frame creeds, confessions, and catechisms. (Cheers.)
The scruples which many conscientious Christians have entertained on this point, would seem to indicate a misunderstanding as to the place which the Bible holds, and the uses to be made of it, as well as in regard to the principles of union in a Christian society.
In the first place, those to Avhom I refer would justly take offence at being identified with others who treat the word of God disrespectfully, by associating it with human tradition, — who deny the exclusive authority of the word of God to determine matters of faith, — and who yet affect great reverence for the Bible, and treat it with a feeling somewhat approaching to idolatry. In the main these parties are radically, and distinctly, and utterly opposed to each other; and yet this feeling of there being something like irreverence in framing a creed in any other than the language of the Bible, — the feeling of its being an unwar- rantable liberty to translate into human language the truths which have been revealed by God in words of his own, — has, in my mind, some resemblance to the way in which the other parties above referred to treat the word of God. — They affect great respect and reverence for the word of God, they attach great importance to reading the Bible, — they make a merit of reading it; and 1 find in some of their organs, Avhich bring out the sentiments of the Tractarian party of the Church of England, that they in an ingenious manner retort upon Protestants the charge that they disregard and undervalue the Bible. They say that they, the Tractarians, cannot be justly accused of this offence, because their Church is scrupulously careful to read through the Bible every year, so that the people hear the Bible read continuously; and they trust to the simple reading of the Bible, with all the formality and official sacredness of public worship, as in itself able to convey to the mind and heart of the hearer, by the incessant reiteration and solemn influence of the holy accents, all the knowledge he requires; and they retort upon Protestants, as if they were afraid to read the Bible itself, because of their anxiety to expound and interpret it in their addresses to their congregations. Now, this is really exalting the Bible into some sort of idol, — it is to reverence it as a thing apart, or as some sort of charm or spell, which, by its mere falling upon the ear, is expected to work a magical effect ; but it seems inconsistent with the Protestant liberty of freely using the Bible for all Christian purposes for which a Christian ever can have occasion to use it. Now, in exact accordance with this Protestant principle, we maintain the law- fulness, not only of using the very words of the Bible, but of using the sense, and of turning it in every way to account, and putting its doctrines into such a form as may most clearly bring out the mind of the Church, and give forth a clear testimony to an unbelieving world. (Cheers.)
Then, in the second place, the scruples of the individuals to whom I have re- ferred, seem to imply a misapprehension as to the Christian principle of union. For what is the principle of union in a Christian Church? According to Pro- testant doctrine, the principle of union in a Christian Church is the mutual and common faith of those who are associated together. This is the grand distinc- tion between the Protestant idea of the Church, and every other idea of Church union which men may form. Thus the Popish or semi- Popish theory disowns the intelligent or personal faith in revealed truth, of those who are associated to- gether, as the sole bond of their union, and substitutes in its place mere blind
I2ii IMPOUTAKCE OF ADUEniNG TO SOUND SCRIPTURAL STANDARDS,
obedience to external authority. Popery, accordingly, can, better and more consistently than all other Churches, dispense with creeds, and confessions, and standards ; and accordingly, it is not a little remarkable that, as to many, perhaps the greater part, of her peculiar features and characteristics. Popery had no exact and authoritative creed till Protestantism forced her to take up this posi- tion. The creed of Pope Pius, and the Articles of the Council of Trent, were posterior to the Augsburg Confession. Popery, making the bond of union among the members of her Cliurch to consist in submission to some mere external rite or authority, can dispense with any means whatsoever of ascertaining or giving forth the personal and intelligent faith of her members. But the essence of as- sociation on Protestant principles is the inward mind, and conviction, and faith, of the members of the Church — their joint faith or belief; and hence it seems of indispensable importance, that not the truth of God merely, but their faith, should be fully, accurately, and unequivocally expressed in words of their own. (Cheers.)
Even on the principles of natural reason, and the common rights of mankind, it would seem that the Church, viewed merely in the light of a voluntary asso- ciation of individuals, constituted by certain laws, and having a certain relation to each other, must necessarily he entitled to ascertain the mind and belief of its members, to make a public profession of tliat belief, and to take steps that none shall be admitted Avho have not been catechised in that belief.
But the Church, — as I need not remind those who hear me,— is not a vo- luntary association, but a Divine institution, — a visible society in the world, form- ed by God's appointment, and subject to God's law. It has, in this view, com- mitted to it the oracles of God, to be freely used and applied to all the purposes of the spiritual life. As entrusted with the word, the Church is set up in the world as the defender of the faith, the pillar and ground of the truth, a living witness for God, and a cementer of union among the people of God ; and in this view, it is not only the right of the Church, but the Church is bound, to see that its members are really one in the faith,— that they hold forth the profession of that faith to an unbelieving world, — and that they train up the young in the faith which the Church herself professes before God and man.
On such grounds as these, without entering farther into the abstract argument, the Church is clearly bound to maintain her Standards, for all the purposes of ascertaining the faith of her own members, making an unequivocal profession of that faith to the world, and securing that candidates shall be catechised, so that none shall be admitted who concur not in that belief.
Hence the Church is not only generally justified in limiting the benefits of her communion to those who may adhere to her Standards, but she is also especi- ally called upon to make her Standards and her Confession of Faith full and par- ticular, precise and pointed. In this way, Confessions must become more parti- cular and precise in proportion to the variety of the errors which are multiplied in the world. The Creed of the Church must necessarily become more compli- cated in proportion to the devices of Satan and the multiplicity of his delusions; for all those errors of which Satan is the source — mimicries of the truth of God, — are expressed in scriptural language, or in the language of earlier ortho- dox creeds, and throw such doubt upon that language, as an index or exposi- tion of belief tiofv, as to compel the Church to adopt new creeds in new phrase- ology. This, indeed, is the reason for adopting at first any human words or for- viuloe in creeds at all ; and there is the same reason for rendering them more and more minute and complicated, as truth and error get more and more entan- gled in controversy. It is upon this principle also, that the Church is called upon to adapt her public professions to the circumstances of the times and to the pro- mulgation of heresies and misunderstandings; and this adaptation seems virtually to be justified by Scripture example. Thus, the simple formula of belief.
AND AIMING AT UNION ON THAT BASIS. 129
which is furnished in tlie book of Acts, and which was a sufficient warrant for baptism at first — "I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God" — we find in a more complicated form in the first Epistle of John — " Every spirit that con- fesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God." So also the simple state- ment of a belief in the resurrection necessarily becomes a more complicated state- ment in consequence of that doctrine which Paul refutes in the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, — the doctrine that the resurrection was spiritual, and that it was past already. Again, the mistakes and misrepresentations which had gone abroad in reference to Paul's doctrine of justification by faith, gave room for additional explanation and cautions being given by another apostle. And Paul himself found it necessary, in consequence of similar misunderstandings, to qua- lify his own prediction respecting the second coming of Christ. All these in- stances seem to warrant the principle of the Church, even after apostolic days, drawing out what was contained in God's word, and making it bear on parti- cular errors, as successively, and one after another, they may arise. Thus, and only thus, the Church can protect her members from contagion, making her Confessions, however they may be modified in expression, still always true and always the same, and maintaining from age to age the identical truth of God.
In this view we are warranted to say, that the confession adopted by any Church is not to be regarded as essentially fixed and stereotyped in all ages. On the contrary, these confessions ought to be regarded as expressions of the mind of the Church at the time, — as the very subsisting mind of the society de- clared from time to time, and brought to bear with special emphasis on the pre- vailing errors of successive ages. (Cheers). In this point of view we are called upon to maintain that confessions, adopted by a fallible Church, are capable of enlargement and correction, — that additions may unquestionably be made to them, and alterations made upon them, not for the purpose of changing the truth of God, or the Church's faith, but for the purpose, it may be, of bringing out that faith more explicitly, and in more pointed contradiction to errors pre- valent at the time. (Applause.)
And here it occurs to me to remark, that as the Church is not a voluntary as- sociation, but a divine institute, subject to God, and having no authority over conscience, — having no right to do as she pleases, but only to carry out the will of God, — the Church is not entitled to take her stand simply upon her confes- sion, as if that were the ultimate judge in any controversy that may arise. If the Church were a mere voluntary association, or mere society of individuals, associated spontaneously for certain purposes, on certain terms, then the Church, might be entitled to take up peremptory ground and say, " You will not conseiit to our. terms, and therefore, we will not admit you into our society." But if the Church be a divine institute, appointed and ordained by God, then she is bound to act on the principle that all have a right of admission to the Church, unless she can show cause to the contrary from the word of God. Hence, be- yond all doubt, if an allegation be made by any individual to any Church, that certain points in their articles and standards are contrary to the Word ot God, she is bound to listen to the allegation, she is bound to look into the matter, and she is also bound, if she is satisfied that the articles arc erroneous, to make the required change. She is not at liberty merely to take her stand upon the undoubted privilege of a voluntary association, and say, " We arc entitled to as- sociate ourselves on any conditions we choose, and if you do not like our con- ditions, you need not join our society." No; the Church, as a Divine institute, as the Church of the living God, is bound to open her doors to all believers. The Church is bound always to act as if she were the sole Church of all Chris- tendom ; and if any man alleges that there are errors in her Standards, it is not enough for her to say, " These are the conditions of our fellowship, and if you
n
130 IMPORTANCE OF ADHEUING TO SOUND SCRIPTURAL STANDARDS,
disapprove of our conditions^ disown our fellowship." No ; he has a right to our fellowship, unless we can show that the conditions which exclude him are law- ful and scriptural. (Applause.) It is right to make these explanations, be- cause the friends of creeds and confessions have often been charged with putting them in place of the word of God ; and especially in judging of heresies that arise in their OAvn body, they are generally so charged by the heretics them- selves, because they rest their condemnation of the heretics upon the Standards of the Chm-ch, and refuse their appeal to the word of God. Now, beyond all question, there is clearly a distinction to be made between a member of the Church who comes forward in the attitude of one who has discovered an error in the Standards, and the man who, when the Church lays hold of him for heresy, without his having ever previously mooted the question of a disa- greement between the Standards and the word of God, seeks refuge from the charge, in a vague appeal to Scripture. The Church is undoubtedly entitled, in the first instance, to try her members by her own Standards, if those members have not previously, by their own challenge, put the Church herself on her trial for these Standards; though even in this case, it would be unrea- sonable to say that the Church is putting her Standards in the place of the word of Godj when she makes the appeal in the first place to her Standards, always avowing her readiness, if she is convinced those Standards are contrary to Scrip- ture, to entertain the question of their amendment.
But now let us pass on to a few practical observations in reference to the im- portance of aiming at union on the basis of an adherence to sound scriptural standards. The usual objection made to the use of human standards, creeds, and confessions, in connection with the unity of the Church, is, that creeds and confessions embrace so wide a field, and contain so many minute statements of doctrine, that it is impossible to expect a hearty and unanimous concurrence in these various points on the part of all true believers. Now, suffice it to say, in the first place, in answer to these objections, that as these standards are intend- ed to shut out error, so it must be borne in mind that, in proportion to the con- sistency and harmony of the truth of God, is the all-pervading subtlety of the errors of Satan. The truth of God is perfectly harmonious, and is one com- plete whole. All the parts of it fit into one another, and are mutually depend- ent upon each other; and as this edifice, so reared by God, is complete and compact in all its parts, so the subtle influence of Satan is often applied to the undermining of one part of the building, in the knowledge that if he should suc- ceed, he can scarcely fail to effect the destruction of all the rest. We might illustrate this by showing how error, in what at first sight may appear an unim- portant point, ruins the whole system, and essentially alfec-ts the whole doctrines of the gospel. It may seem, for instance, that the dispute regarding the precise nature of saving faith is a comparatively unimportant point, and one on which Christian men may afford to differ; and yet an error on this point might easily be shown to affect the doctrines of God's sovereignty, of human depravity, the extent and nature of the atonement, and justification by faith alone. We might show, for example, that those who make justification by faith to consist in the belief of the fact that they are pardoned, — who maintain that a man must believe that Christ died personally for him as an individual, — are compelled necessarily to adopt a mode of statement in regard to the bearing of Christ's death upon all men indiscriminately, and particularly upon the lost, which strikes at the root of the doctrine of personal substitution alto- gether, and makes it difficult, if not impossible, to believs that Christ actually suffered in the very room and stead of guilty sinners themselves. (Hear, hear,) According to the admirable definition of faith in the Shorter Catechism, in which it is described as an act by which we receive and rest upon Jesus Christ
AND AIMING AT UNION ON THAT BASIS. 131
alone for salvation, it is unnecessary to define the precise relation which the death of Christ has to mankind universally, and its precise bearing on the con- dition of the finally impenitent and the lost ; for that the death of Christ has a certain reference to all men universally, — that it has a certain bearing even upon the lost, — we must hold and maintain; because we maintain that it lays the foundation for the offer of the gospel to all men universally, and lays the foundation for that offer being perfectly honest and free on the part of God. This could not be without some sort of relation existing between the death of Christ, and every impenitent and unbelieving man who is called to re- ceive the gospel. What may be the nature of that relation, — what may be the precise bearing of Christ's death on every individual of the lost, we presume not to define; and we say that it is unnecessary to de6ne it, for we do not ask the sinner to believe in the precise definition of that relation respecting himself. We say that even if the sinner could put into articulate language his theory of the precise bearing of the death of Christ on himself, and his belief in it, he would still be an unreconciled sinner, unless he closed with the off^er of the gift of God. This relieves and exempts us from the necessity of prying too curiously into the relation between Christ's death and impenitent and unbelieving sinners, to whom he has made a free, and unconditional, and honest offer of the bless- ings of reconciliation. (Hear, hear, hear.) According to the view of faith as laid down in the Shorter Catechism, — which makes faith virtually to consist in closing with God's gift, — we are exempted from the necessity of stating in the form of a proposition, what is the precise relation between the death of Christ and all mankind ; and so we are left free to maintain, that while, in a certain sense, unknown to us, but the effect of which is well known to us, namely, that it constitutes the foundation for a free offer of the gospel, — while, in a certain sense, Christ's death has a bearing on the condition of the lost and impenitent, yet, in a strict sense. He was really, truly, and personally, a substitute in the room of the elect, and in the room of the elect only. (Hear, hear.) On the other hand, holding the doctrine that faith is the belief of a certain fact concern- ing Christ's death, and my interest in it, — holding the doctrine that it is mere be- lief in a certain definite proposition, such as that Christ died for myself, — this compels me to make out a proposition concerning Christ's death, which shall hold true equally of believers and unbelievers, the reprobate and the saved, — which proposition I am to believe, simply as a matter of fact, necessarily true, whether I believe it or not. But how is this to be done? I am to believe that Christ died for me, and I must believe this in a sense which shall be true independently of my belief, — which shall be equally true of me whether I am saved or lost. Does not this compel me to make Christ's dying for me, though one of the chosen, amount really to nothing more than what is implied in his dying for the finally reprobate? Accordingly, it is to be ob- served, that those who take this view of saving faith carefully avoid the use of any language respecting the atonement, which would involve the notion of per- sonal substitution. They do not like to speak of Christ being put actually in the room of sinners, considered as personally liable to wrath. They use a va- riety of abstract and impersonal phrases, — such as, Christ's dying for sin, — His death being a scheme for removing obstacles to pardon, — manifesting God's character, — and other expressions, all studiously general and indefinite, and evading the distinct and articulate statement of Christ's death as a substitute in the very room and stead of guilty sinners themselves. Many who are now pre- sent will recognize the subject to which these remarks particularly relate ; and we may still farther extend our illustrations, and show how the scheme of the sovereign mercy of God, — the entire, total, helpless corruption of man, — the utter impotency of man's will, — the perfection of God's righteousness, — the free-
132 IMPORTANCE OF ADHERING TO SOUND SCRIPTURAL STANDARDS,
ness of God's grace, — the simplicity and child-like nature of faith, — how all these are intimately associated together, so that unsoundness in one runs through all; and indeed, we may say of every error, that, if traced to its ultimate source, it will be found to take its rise in a denial of the doctrine which is a leading characteristic of the Westminster Standards, — the doctrine of the absolute sove- reignty of God.
There is another remark which it occurs to me to make on this point, and it is one peculiarly referring to the composition of the Westminster Standards. It is this, that we may be reconciled to the minute and systematic form of the Westminster Confession, if we observe the marked distinction that exists be- tween the composition of the Protestant Standards and those articles of faith that were framed before the Reformation. I especially regret that our friend who last night made a passing reference to this subject (Professor Eadie,) did not feel himself at liberty to enter fully into its discussion, as I am of opinion that it will bear the most thorough and searching investigation, and lead to im- portant results, — bringing into contrast the spirit in which the creeds of the Fa- thers and creeds of the Protestants were framed. One mark of distinction may be mentioned in a single phrase, that the creeds before the Reformation were framed when the Church was on her way to the cell of the monk, and that the creeds since the Reformation were framed when the Church was on her way out of the monk's cell. (Hear.) The creeds and confessions of the Church before the Reformation were, as you are all aware, framed in the spirit of a Church which was making rapid progress towards this as the highest possible attain- ment— the asceticism of the monkish state — a morbid, laborious, and painful state of self-righteousness; whereas, on the other hand, the glory of the Refor- mation, and the leading excellence of the creeds of the Reformation, was, that all were framed in the spirit of a Church taking a start, as it were, from the dark cell of that deep spiritual distress and sore conflict of soul, through which the disenthralled spirit of Luther was enabled to escape from the trammels of self-righteousness, and to lay hold of the righteousness of God. This distinction might be illustrated by examples of the creeds preceding the Reformation. In the creeds before the Reformation, such as the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian creeds, we find the Church drawn to frame articles respecting abstruse, difficult, and sacred mysteries, and the incomprehensible doctrine of the Di- vine nature, at a time when she was losing hold of the practical doctrine of the sinner being accepted as righteous before God, through no work of his own, but only through his faith in the work of God; and we might say in reference to this, as our Lord said to Nicodemus, " If you understand not earthly things, how can you be expected adequately to understand the things of heaven !" They pried into the secrets of heaven; they attempted to penetrate into the mysterious being of the unsearchable God in heaven, at the very time when they were setting their hearts upon a righteousness of their own, in open defiance of the righteousness of God, in the matter of their own personal justification, which might and should have been within the cognizance of their personal ex- perience on earth. This will probably explain the abstract, mystical, cold, and unimpressive character of the creeds that were drawn up before the Reformation. On the other hand, Luther, making his escape from the deep experience of a soul convinced of its own utter impotency before God, — Luther making his es- cape from his experience of legal convictions of sin, — Luther rejoicing in the light of God's reconciled countenance, — Luther rejoicing in the righteousness of God his Saviour, — carried this spirit of life, and love, and liberty, into all the confessions that were subsecjuently framed ; and all these confessions, accordingly, however minute and detailed, will be found to be no technical and scholastic ex- ercise in abstract and abstruse theories of theology, but the consistent unfolding of
AND AIMING AT UNION ON THAT BASIS. 133
the one practical and experimental scheme of the sinner's acceptance, by sovereign grace, in perfect righteousness, through a simple and saving faith. (Applause.)
These remarks may be regarded as suggesting a reason for, and reconciling us to, the minuteness and complication of character of the confessions of Protestant Churches, and especially of the Westminster Standards. But we have one answer to make of a practical character, and it is to this effect, — that amidst all the varieties of mind and opinion of the Westminster Assembly, there was an entire unanimity as to the system of doctrine; thus affording the strongest of all proofs that it is quite possible for Christian men, by prayer and consultation together, to come to an agreement, not only on the broad general principles, but even on the details of the Christian system, so that they may be of one mind and heart, not only on certain general propositions, but on the whole tenor of their confessions before God and man. (Loud cheers.)
The Assembly which met at Westminster was an Assembly having for its primary object the promotion of unity in the church. This object it sought to promote by several different means. And, first of all, the Assembly sought to promote Protestant unity, by entering into a covenant against Popish idolatry. A second expedient by which the Assembly sought to promote this end w^as a full and lengthened communion and conversation together. And, thirdly, they would have sought it by engaging in the actual work of promoting God's glory and the interests of his Church. But various circumstances conspired to render the Assembly's attempt to promote union to a considerable degree abortive. Thus, in reference to covenanting against prevailing errors, for instance, their design was frustrated by the interference of political men and political affairs. I enter not now into the question of national covenanting, but I cannot help ad- verting to the advantages which would be given to the Protestant Churches in these lands, if they should now seek to accomplish this object of union, as their fathers did, by the expedient of covenanting. God, in his providence, seems shutting us out, at least for the present, from the very thought of national cove- nanting. He is more and more throwing the Church aloof and away from the nation; He is more and more leading all the branches of the Church into the wilderness, to seek unity among themselves in a condition of separation from the states of the world. I enter not into the question, whether this is for our advantage, or the reverse. But I speak of it in this view : if ever we should think, as a Church, or as Churches, of entering into a league against Antichrist, we have this advantage over our forefathers, that we are free to enter into it without being involved in any such political or civil difficulties as harassed and distracted them. The question, for instance, as to the nation's right or duty of covenanting, need not divide us. Both as individuals and as Churches we are at liberty to enter into a league against all the errors of Popery and Prelacy, and the ascribing of power in spiritual matters to any other than Christ's Church, by mutual, voluntary agreement among ourselves, whatever statesmen may think, or the state may do. But, as I have said, the Assembly also attempted to pro- mote union by full and deliberate conversations; and in this they were likewise thwarted by influence from without. No one can read the proceedings of that Assembly without seeing that the blessing of God was evidently resting on the attempt of men of different minds to come to a mutual understanding. No man who is familiar with these proceedings but must have been struck with the closer approximation which parties differing on religious giounds seemed to be making, as the discussion went on daily, towards a complete agreement. How nearly, for instance, did tlie Presbyterians and Congregationalists, widely as they differed afterwards, — how nearly did they come to a practical understand- ing, and to the adoption of common measures! But their harmony was broken. — their progress was interrupted, — by manifest influences from without, — from
134 IMPORTANCE OF ADHERING TO SOUND SCRIPTURAL STANDARDS^
the growing power of the army, and the violence of extreme opinions, chiefly among the statesmen, and restless or ambitious politicians of the day. But had that Assembly been left free from extraneous influence, — had they been left to the influence of mutual consultation and prayer, and the outpouring of the Spirit of God, — may we not entertain the idea that it was possible, by God's blessing, that the manifest approximation of these parties might have ended in complete union, or in such schemes of co-operation as might have preserved their harmo- ny unbroken? Now, here again, if we sought this object of Christian union by this expedient, we are in more favourable circumstances than they were. We are not likely, should w^e meet as ministers and members of diff"ereut Churches, year after year, for full and lengthened deliberation and conversation, — we are not likely to be interrupted by extraneous influences either from the army or the state. (Hear, hear.) We might hope that, at least, they would let us alone. And if, by any arrangement, the deliberations and consultations of the West- minster Assembly could be resumed at that stage at which the mutual coalescence, or the tendency to coalescence, of the difi'erent parties was most manifestly in- terrupted by foreign interference, — if these friendly consultations and delibera- tions— between Presbyterians and Congregationalists, shall I say? — could be re- sumed at that precise stage at which they were interrupted, who can say but that in the course of years, and before the end of this commemoration we might see eye to eye, if not on all points of abstract doctrine, at least on some practical mea- sure of mutual forbearance? (Loud cheers.) Once more, we have another ad van- age over our fathers in that Assembly, inasmuch as we have, more manifestly than they, before us, opportunities of co-operating in works of Christian useful- ness. That is a special advantage we have over them. They met and sat for years in their still, secluded chapel, discussing points of speculative doctrine. They had no practical work on hand ; at least, not such work as we would put our hand to if we were to meet our Christian brethren in such a holy convoca- tion. We have before us the Christianising of the nation, and, by means of mis- sionary exertions, the conversion of the world. We should meet not merely to compare our several opinions and adjust our several creeds ; but we should meet to co-operate in works of love, — to promote schemes for the conversion of souls to God, — to devise large and liberal measures for the extension of Christianity over the world.
With these remarks upon the advantages which we enjoy over that Assem- bly, if we should think of resuming the attempt which that Assembly made, I leave the subject to your meditations. I would only say, that the resuming of this aim, — the aim of coming to one mind and to a common understanding in reference to the affairs of the Christian Church, — were a worthy object to seek at this time. Why might we not leave the question of national obligation un- touched, and unite together as Churches, or as members of different Churches, in a holy covenant before God, resting on our testimony against prevailing errors at the present time ? Who can look abroad on the present aspect of affairs, without feeling that God is solemnly calling upon his Church, — and by His Church I mean all who hold the truth as it is in Jesus, and the Head, which is Christ, — to come forward to the rescue and salvation of the world, and for the deliverance of those who are now at their wits' end. The devices of human statesmanship are at present assuredly at fault. The strongest of all human Governments is evidently taken aback. (Hear, hear.) The new tide of affairs is plainly too great for the management of statesmen whose highest principle is political expediency. (Great applause.) Statesmen of all opinions in politics, and of all shades of opinion, are all practically confessing, that the government of this empire is too vast a thing for them, — that matters have taken a turn which they cannot comprehend, and they are all stiiggering like drunken men.
AND AIMING AT UNION ON THAT BASIS. 135
(Hear, hear.) Who that looks on these things but must feel that in this reel- ing state of the world God is calling upon His Church to give forth no uncer- tain sound. The elements of power that are at work in our day being of a spi- ritual nature, — the power of God's truth on the one side, and the power of error and Satan's delusions on the other, — the principles that are now swaying in the minds of men being wholly of a spiritual nature, — whether they are the princi- ples of spiritual ^vickedness in high places, or the principles of spiritual truth and attachment to Christ, — these, alike the evil and the good, are beyond the comprehension of worldly statesmen. And hence, there being forces at work in this our day, which they are unable to comprehend and unable to manage, they stagger and are at fault. Surely in these circumstances God is calling upon His Church to take a step in advance; and why should we not consider whether the time is not come for us to see with the eye of alarm the advance of Popish error in all its forms, and to resume as individuals and as Churches our solemn covenant for protesting against all Popery and all corruptions of the Man of Sin. "We have at least before us the practical measure of resuming the consultations in which the Westminster Divines were engaged. Why have the evangelical Churches been standing aloof, and frowning as from a distance at each other ? Why should they not come together in an amicable conference, if by any means they can do so, and perhaps, they will find that they agree more fully at bottom than they imagined. Looking at such a Confession of Faith put forth by the Congregationalists, as I hold in my hand, — if it can be called a Confession of Faith, being a summary of doctrine held by them generally as congregations, thoroughly in accordance with our own theology, — and looking to the practical Avorking of their system, according to which they are associated together, — why should we not anticipate good from a full and friendly conference and discussion of our dififerences, as well as of our agreements, with prayer for the guidance of God's Holy Spirit? I should most heartily rejoice if, in consequence of this commemoration, there should take place periodical or yearly meetings of the se- veral evangelical Churches, uniting in a protest against prevailing errors, for mutual consultation, for the revision of their several codes of opinion, and for endeavouring to come to a common understanding. But, above all, we have now got hold of a principle of which the Westminster Divines did not seem to be aware, — at least the practical application of it was not before their minds, — I mean that of Christian Churches coming ever nearer to one another in point of doctrine and discipline, yet still deeming it right to keep up their different forms of church government, and their separate modes of transacting business, and yet co-operate in extensive works of usefulness, without compromising any of their differences, or sinking even minor points, but considering what they can do together for the glory of God and the good of a fallen world. Let us contemplate such expedients for promoting Protestant union, — let us remember that now, if ever, we ought to look for an answer to the Saviour's prayer, for surely the time draweth near when He shall accomplish His own work. Mean- while, let our prayer be, that, by the outpouring of his Spirit, we may be one at last, that the world may believe that He is sent of God." (The Rev. Doctor resumed his seat amid loud and prolonged applause.)
The Chairman then gave out the four last verses of the 122d Psalm, which having been sung, the Rev. Charles J. BroAvn concluded the proceedings with prayer.
ABSTRACT ACCOUNT of Receipts and Expenditure, in connection with Ike Bicentenary Commemoration of the Westminster Assembly.
I. CHARGE.
Produce from Sale of Tickets .... L.88 1
Collection at Hall on Tuesday 10th July . . . 6 12
Amount of Charge, L.94 14 2
II. DISCHARGE.
Advertising ......
Printing ......
Doorkeepers, Policemen, &c. ....
Postages and Miscellaneous Expenses
Balance in Secretary's hands ....
Amount of Discharge, L.94 14 2
Edinburgh, 24th July 1843. — We have examined the preceding Account, and compared the same with the vouchei's thereof, and find the same to be accurately stated, summed, and vouched, and that there remains a balance m the hands of Mr Jaffray, of L..30, 1 3s. sterling.
(Signed) James Bridges.
Ja. Peddie, Jun.
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BMIOIK AND JACK, I'UINTKUS.
Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries
1 1012 01236 0824
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