ste of pastoral superintendence and spiritual discipline in any parish, Wout the sanction of a civil court.

All which jurisdiction and power on the part of the said Civil Courts severally above specified, whatever proceeding may have given occasion to its exercise, is, in our opinion, in itself inconsistent with Christian liberty, and with the authority which the Head of the Church hath conferred on the Church alone."

It then narrated the interdicts which prevented, in the view of the protesters, a free Assembly from being constituted, and protested, that the conditions now to be held as the conditions of the Establishment, while they were subversive of the Revolution settlement guaranteed by the Treaty of Union, were also "at variance with God's word, in opposition to the doctrines and fundamental principles of the Church of Scotland, inconsistent with the freedom essential to the right constitution of a Church of Christ, and incompatible with the government which He, as the Head of his Church, hath therein appointed, distinct from the civil magistrate." And it concluded thus," We protest that, in the circumstances in which we are placed, it is and shall be lawful for us, and such other commissioners chosen to the Assembly appointed to have been this day holden, as may concur with us, to withdraw to a separate place of meeting, for the purpose of taking steps for ourselves and all who adhere to us-maintaining with us the Confession of Faith and Standards of the Church of Scotland, as heretofore understood—for separating in an orderly way from the Establishment, and thereupon adopting such measures as may be competent to us, in humble dependence on God's grace, and the aid of the Holy Spirit, for the advancement of His glory, the extension of the gospel of our Lord and Saviour, and the administration of the affairs of Christ's house, according to his holy word; and we do now, for the purpose aforesaid, withdraw accordingly, humbly and solemnly acknowledging the hand of the Lord in the things which have come upon us, because of our manifold sins, and the sins of this Church and nation; but, at the same time, with an assured conviction that we are not responsible for any consequences that may follow from this our enforced separation from an Establishment which we loved and prized, through interference with conscience, the dishonour done to Christ's crown, and the rejection of his sole and supreme authority as King in his Church."

A copy of the protest being then delivered to the clerk, the protesters left the church, and with their adherents, proceeded to Tanfield, Canonmills, where they constituted themselves as "The General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland," and chose Thomas Chalmers, D.D., Moderator.

This Assembly, after assuming as members all ministers of the Church who declared their adherence to the protest, and an elder from each session, adopted the following resolutions, "That this Assembly, following out the Claim, Declaration, and Protest, adopted by the General Assembly which met in Edinburgh in May 1842, and the Protest made on Thursday last at the meeting of the Commissioners chosen to the Assembly appointed to have been that day holden, and upon the grounds therein set forth, do now, for themselves and all who adhere to them, separate from the Establish

VOL. XVI. NO. IV.

2 N

ment; protesting that, in doctrine, polity, and discipline, they truly represent the Church of their fathers, whose testimony in behalf of the Crown rights of the Redeemer as King in Zion, and Prince of the kings of the earth, they firmly purpose at all hazards, and at whatever sacrifice, still to maintain; and protesting that henceforward they are not, and shall not be subject in any respect to the ecclesiastical judicatories presently established by law in Scotland, but that they are and shall be free to perform their functions as Pastors and Elders towards their respective congregations, or such portions thereof as shall adhere to them, and to exercise government and discipline in their several judicatories separate from the Establishment, according to the word of God, and agreeably to the true and original principles of the Church of Scotland, and to the standards thereof as heretofore understood." In accordance with this resolution an "Act of Separation and Demission" was subscribed by ministers adhering to the Protest. The total number of ministers who so adhered was 475.

INDEX TO VOL. XVI.

Divine Warning to the Church, by Rev. Hetherington on Westminister Assem

Gray, Rev. Andrew, Duty and Liberty of Memoir of Ebenezer Birrell, 275.

M'Cheyne, Rev. Mr, on Seven Churches, Romanism and Anglo-Catholicism, 422. Russell, Rev. Dr, on Old and New Covenants, 272.