The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-23 00:00:00

CHANCERY.—(THIS DAY.)
(Before the LORDS JUSTICES.)
TORNEY- GENERAL V MURDOCH.— JUDGMENT.
This was an eppeA }'roan a decree of Vice-Chancellor
Wigram, removiee the 2,1 r. Murdoeh, a member of
the Free Church of Scotland, from the cffice of minister
of Low Chapel in Berevick-on-Tweed, and declaring
it to be a condition of the original trust deed that all
ministers of the said Low Chapel should be licentiates or
ordained ministers of the Church of Scotland. The ap-
peal was heurd at the cernmencement of last term,
and occupied several days in healing. The facts in
tail have appeared in our columns on several occasions.
The Court now gave judge:ult.
The Lord Justice KNIGHT BRUCE, after going through
the uffidevita at considerable length, said that after
careful and deliberate consideration of the evidence he
had COMC to the conclusion that Mr. Murdoch, having
ceased to be a member of, and to acknowledge any obe-
dience to, the Church of Scotland, had rendered himself
unqualified to continue the minister of the chapel in
question. In his view, the main point of the question
turned on the fact, whether `or fifty scars before the
floctiou of Mr. Murdoch, and sixty years before the
institution of the present suit, it had been a private law
of the congregation that every minister of the chapel
should be a licentiate or ordained minister of the Church
of Scotland. The eppellente contended that no such
law had been made, or could have been made,
except at the time of the original foundation ; but
he was of opinion that there was such a right in
the congregation to make such a regulation —he
would not say irrevocably—that it had been made
and acted upon for the period he had mentioned previous
to "he institution of the present suit. The defendant
therefore having erased to be a licentiate or ordained
minister of the Church cf Scotland, had, in his opinion,
vacated the office of minister of Low Chapel. Acting
upon this opinion, therefore, ho thought the best course
to pursue would he to confirm the decree of the Court
below altogether and in tufo, avoiding the necessity of any
further inquiry by reference to the Master, which would
involve new expenses, and give rise to additional heart-
burnings. He thought the appeal ought to be dis-
missed with costs, but that would depend on the view
taken by Lord Cranworth.
Lord CRANWOItTU said that he agreed with his
Learned Brother in confirming the decree of the Court
below with regard to the first part of it, declaring the
office of the mitiist( r of Low Chapel void, but he could
nut agree with him that it was any part of the founda-
tion that all the ministers of the chapel should be licen-
tiates or ordained ministers of the Church of Scotland.
The congregation in question was one of English Pres-
byterians, end though convenience or their proximity to
Scotland, or other circumstances, might have
led them to choose ministers of the Church of Scotland
for their pastors, he thought it extremely absurd
to suppose that they would have tied down themselves
and their successors. Granting the fact that all the minis-
ters (after the foundation' of the present trust up to the
time of the election) had been members of the Church of
Scotian( , from which country a better supply of Presby-
terian ministers could be had, he was by no means saris.
fled that the minister at the time of the execution of the
trust-deeds in question, Master John Turner, or those
immediately preceding him, were Scotch Presbyterians;
and it was quite certain that the cc ugregation was
founder: first by a minister of English ordination, who
had been vicar of the parish in the time of the Common-
wealth, but obliged to vacate by the Act of Conformity.
He was, therefore, of opinion that this part of the decree
was wrong. With regard, however, to the first part, he
was clearly of opinion that the defendant had
forfeited all right to continue minister of the Low
Chapel, inasmuch as he bad ceased to be an ordained
minister of the Church of Scotland, and was actually an
ordained minister of no Presbyterian. Had his Learned
Brother agreed to the other part, further directions on
that would have been necessary, but as it was the appeal
would now be oismissee wholly. He thought that the
api &lent ought certainly here to pay the costs.
Appeal dismissed with costs.
The appeal occupied two hours and a half in the
delivery.

COMMON PLEAS.-(THIS DAY.)