The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-04 00:00:00

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

THURSDAY-MAY 28.

Mr. W. C. Burns of London, and Mr. Bar-
ber, elder from Manchester, who appeared with
some other members of the Presbyterian Synod in
England, as a deputation from that body, were heard at
the bar of the Assembly. They expressed generally
their pleasure in being allowed to stand before the
venerable Assembly, and thanked them for tho deputa-
tion they had sent to their meeting in England last year,
and gave a gratifying account of the progress of the
Presbyterian cause is England.
STRATIIBOGIE CASE.

Parties having been cited in this cause, Mr. P. Ro-
bertson appeared for the seven suspended Ministers, and
Mr. James Moncreiff sisted himself for the parishioners
of Marnoch.
Mr. ROBERTSON stated that he did not mean to go
over again the general argument which he addressed to
the house on Tuesday, and as he was not aware of any
particular point to which the house wished him to ad-
dress himself, he begged to say that he had no further
argument to urge.
It was afterwards agreed that Mr. Robertson's state-
ment should be put in writing, and entered on the re.
cords of the Court.
Parties were then removed.
Mr. DUNLOP, after a tedious speech, in which he
recommended severe measures towards the Strathbogie
ministers, moved the following resolution—" That the
General Assembly, in respect of the proceedings of
these parties, in violating the orders of the Commission
and the General Assembly by proceeding to the settle-
ment of Mr. Edwards, find that they are censurable ;
and in regard to the other matters which have been
brought up, find that they are liable to be proceeded
against by the laws of the Church : but before deter-
mining farther upon that subject, they appoint a Com-
mittee of the House to deal with these men, and to re-
port to a subsequent diet of the Assembly."
Dr. COOK said it was with difficulty he had been able
to restrain the feelings of indignation with which-he had
repeatedly been filled since the commencement of this
Assembly at the attempt of identifying those who sat
on his side of the house at the present moment with all
the proceedings that took place on the part of the men
who sat on the same side in the ages that were gone by.
—(Hoar, hear.) After some other remarks, he pro-
posed the following motio i :—" The General Assembly
having considered the case of the seven ministers of the
Presbytery of Strathbogie, suspended from the office
of the ministry by the Commission in December
last, which sentence was to remain in force, under
the circumstances in which it was pronounced,
till it was removed by the General Assembly,
are of opinion that as the seid sentence was pronounced
solely because the seven ministers conscientiously yielded
obedience to the instructions of the Supreme Civil
Courts in a case which was stated by those Courts to
be a civil matter, the Assembly, under the peculiar cir-
cumstances and yet unresolved difficulties of that case,
do not consider the parties on that account answerable;
and the Assembly do, therefore, remove the suspension,
and restore the said ministers to the full exercise of all
their ministerial functions."
The roll being called, there appeared for—
Mr. Dunlop's motion
Dr. Cook's
Majority --82
EVENING SEDERUNT.
The Assembly met at a quarter to seven o'clock, and
resumed the debate on the general question of the po-
sittors of the Church—its spiritual independence, and
the non-intrusion principle. The motion of Dr. Chal-
mere and Dr. Cook's amene.meet having been read—
The Lon') PROVOST of Edinburgh said he had no
desire to intrude himself on the house, but he d:d feel
it incumbent en him to state his views on the all-impor-
tant subject which occupied their attention. The Bill
pretended to place patronage on the same footing as it
►vas under the Revolution settlement ; but, if it did so,
it would restore the patronage to the heritors and kirk
ses.eoes of the parishes. His Lordship went on to re-
mark that that admirable state of matters was set aside
by the Tory Ministry of the day.—(Great laughter on
the Moderate side of the house.) He would add that
Lord Aberdeen's Bill itself was the very essence of To-
ryism.—(Continued laughter.) After some other re-
irks with respect to the constitution of the English
Church, which were imperfectly heard, but which
seemed to afford infinite diversion to the Moderates,
and was received with bursts of laughter, his Lordship
concluded.
Mr. BIS6ET, of Bourtrie. proceeded to answer the
remarks made by the Lord Provost. As to non-intru-
sion, he would ask—Did the intelligence of Scot-
land declare for non-intrusion ? He said, No.—
(Cries of "Oh ! oh !" from the non-intrusion, and
" Hear, hear," from the moderate side of the house.)
He rested his assertion on the fact that its five univer-
sities returned members whose sentiments were de-
cidedly hostile to non-intrusion.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
Four-fifths of the students in the universities were
hostile to non intrusion, and in favour of Lord Aber-
deen's bill...._.(Uproar.) He asserted, therefore, that
the universities, representing the intelligent classes of
Scotland•—four-fifils of the intelligence of Scotland—
held the.e opinions. He was just going to say that
the lion. Gentleman was a very good representative of
the constituency of which he was the head in regard to
municipal matters, but public opinion was most unequi•
vocally declared against him in regard to non-intrusion,
Mr. EARL MONTEITII—•That is not to the point at
all. I rise to order.
Dr. BRYCE—Mr. Bisset is perfectly in order.
Mr. BENNIE—He is perkctly in order, and ought to
')e allowed to state his views distinctly.
Mr. BISSET—The Right Hon. Gentleman appears
here from what I may justly call the Old Sarum of
Scotland—(Great laughter)—the representative of two
members of our Church.—(Continued laughter.)
The LORD PROVOST—If the Reverend Gentleman
goes on in this way, it involves the necessity of a reply.
(Continued laughter.)
Mr. BISSET then shortly concluded by reasserting
his statement, that the intelligence of Scotland was in
favour of Lord Aberdeen's Bill, and opposed to non-
intrusion, because the corporations of large con-
stituencies had invariably returned moderates to the
Assembly.

Dr. PATRICK NIACTARLANE was perfectly re dy,
when the time should arrive, to resist, to the loss of all
those emoluments and benefits derived from the State,
rather than abandon what was not merely a privilege of
the Church, but an article of the faith.—(Great applause
from the non-intrusionists.)
Dr. HILL approved of the Bill.
Mr. MONTLITII, ia a lengthened speech, opposed
the Bill.

Dr. COOK being called, said he did not intend to ad-
dress the house, at that late hour, at any length. He
had an earnest deLire that the Church should be extri-
cated from the situation in which she was placed.
Several attempts bad been made, but hitherto without
success. He tremble,d for the Church if this present
state of things eanti.r.med.
Dr. CIIALYIERa replied.
On a division, o'l voted for Dr. Chalmers's resolu-
tion, and 1`,3-1 for the motion of Dr. Cook ; majority, 87.
Adjout aed at a quarter from two o'clock.

FRIDAY—MAY 22.
Dr, Cook gave in the foilowing reasons of dissent
against the decisio❑ of the Assembly in the case of the
suspen( led ministers, which have been signed by almost
the whole of the minority.
" 11; e the undersigned, Ministers and Elders, Mem-
bers of the General Assembly of the Church of Scot-
land, I ►issent from the proceedings and judgment of the
Asserni ,Iy in relation to seven Ministers of the Presby-
tery of Strathbogie for the following reasons :
" 1.. Because we are convinced that the Commission
of the• Assembly in suspending these ministers from
their pa atoral and judicial functions, at its meeting in
Dece m ber last, and in authcrising the mission of depu-
tatior is to officiate in their parishes, thus, as might
have been foreseen, in some degree alienating the re-
spect and affections of their parishioners, exceeded its
powe rs, and assumed a power which neither by the law
of the 1 Thurch nor the law of the State, belongs to it.
We, t bf .refore, consider the suspension as null and void,
and th, si it was not competent to the General Assembly
to decl:tr ait otherwise, or to give to it the force of a

ogal and constitutional judgment.
' 2. E ,ecause we hold that the act of Assembly
finding th at these seven Ministers were censurable—men
of exe:asp lary life—sound in 'doctrine—attached
to the
polity I)f our Church, and useful and acceptable la-
bourer s i a the vineyard of our blessed Master—would,
under tv ay circumstances, have been inconsistent with
the pr via.ence and the charity of an Ecclesiastical Court,
and t sndt; directly to counteract the great purposes
which L tht.• institution of a Gospel ministry was designed
to pr mote-
" 3 '• Because we are thoroughly persuaded, that the
comb.; et of these seven Ministers, in yielding obedience
to the a ,v en Supreme Civil Judicatories of the realm,
/ 1
in what these judicatories, after the most anxious in-
vestils'a.:if ai, and after hearing all parties, under a volun-
I tarY appeal to them by the Church, had declared to
laffect sit it rights, is conformable to the clearest prin-
eiples of reason, and the express injunctions of reve-
! lation—a nd that had they acted otherwise, they would
have viol Ited their duty as good citizens and-faithful
subject;- -subverting, as far as in them lay, the great
and fu; id amental maxims, upon the uniform and steady
applice ti, NI of which the existence of the Social Union
and the 4 ' umbel-less blessings which result from it, must
depend •
"4 13ce, .use in our estimation, it is highly unbecom-
inr,onomiaLlZ
":t ut that such a judgment, p
ing
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d id" )' 13';oef these seven ministers hay
should have proceeded from any of
in c?r! yoqu, 3
the '''' Wof t-ii,‘66 land,
far less from the supreme judicatory
the judicat grits,
„. , cted and endowed by the State,
of 71 Chu rcli :,..• "• • of that legislative authority
through th , interpo.7't.l"
which ti-'scented from disregards or sets at
..e judgment
no-
.LgEft.
convinced that it is our
upon which the
"5. Be cause, while wt. arc.
sacred gut y
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to adhere to the
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re-olved in the
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