The Sun.
London, England, 1823-10-21 00:00:00

office of Peincipal is no doubt iinportant, but ,the' laboor is
light.' 'A'multitude or duties. May 6e` triuittered up to tem,
and appal, but many of these have now gone by. The Pringle
:rot Might . as ayelt aminer every, day . iiejns atielent ruff. at:i
,d
fleleialitlelot dom. antiquated in practice. _ •frhe-ili4s,
ok-elite{ ;Aster of the High Choreli can he performed by Pe!
::Principal. The duties of! 3 AI WNW amendoube peat AO;
important, . for who ie sufficient for thee; things.. In seine, OY-
loges abroad they have a Profeeeor of Doctrinal 'Thectlegy, leete,
other ef 'Controvereial, and another of Practical Theolniry.-.
This is all taught by one man here, and yet no complaint 114
ever been nide. No Clergyman •in Glasgow discharged his
duties better than the late Principal Taylor. He then& ;hire
.was no evil in giving a man something to do for when he has
,pli:telse,?et,o, do . htheeledioliaubeletiotog
ofgetthiencod,olleiengt.e
4ilZiort.ps persona nios
toh7i'vott..
.strumblW over account books, and apprehensinna have lint) CX-
I 1341it-
!extricable embarraaenient. The Presbytery have nothing to do
;with this. ''Their pea is to act for themselves. The late Prin.
cipal newer doequettett these accounts, nor legs it been done by'
;a Minieeee of the High Church for 20(t yenta, and yet the Col-
1-efee has eentineedto flourish. The injury which the parish is
miShtinilig. required 'strong reasons for the present procedure.
He judged no man's conscience, but he vet gedthey did not
uti4w
consult utility more. We know what will,atelseue should
this ease.go to the General Assembly ; dialog 40" Years henever
had known the Presbytery of Weser w do tor unjust thing, end
hoped that die. Synod would order immediate steps to be taken
for inducting Dr, 111 Tarlane. '
Dr. Ileetxxxx observed that there was in human nature a
tendency, to. fault with the law as it is, and warned the
Court against long speeches and popular topics. The case was
:decided before in 1817 s ,ageinst lion-reithiente. They were a
'judicial court, not a legislative one.. The leer.. hector then read
an Act of Parliament against non-residence, but contended that
Dr. AleFarlene was nut affected !by, that Act since he came to
reside eiti,Glaggow. He would have liked lied the caeca been
divided, but as the law now stands they must proceed with Dr.
blerrolane. Thera should be an overture respecting this Col-
lege laid before the General Assembly. A Rev. Father had ob.
Feel on a tinnier ocession, that the Presbytery would commit
' felo de re by inducting ' Dr. M'Farlane, and thus depriving
thenntelinte pf ,a member, but an execution according to law is
otafelo deg ire, and the Presbytery proceeding according to law
do not . therefore commit felo de cc. It.has been said that the
induction of Dr. M‘Farlane would injure the parish of the High
Church, but more injury is done by .not, jeducting him. Ile
hoped that the Synod would see cause to reverse the sentence
of the Presbytery, and order them to induct Dr. APFarlane
with all due 'peed.
Mr. Lamm, with his usual eloquence, argued for the in- i
dueeion of Dr. lePFarlane.
Dr. Bottles entertained the opinions which he had formerly
expressed in the Presbytery.
Dr..lll‘Gter. expressed his sense of the propriety and gen- '
tlemsnly feeling displayed by the Learned Counsel at the
bar. .lie cordially agreed with a Reverend Brother (31r.
',epithet in the zeal and attachment which he had expressed
towards the Church and the State. He meintained that the
Church bad the power of judging of the qualifications of a
presentee, the right of Appeal by the patron being allowed ;
en confirmation of which he quoted different Acts of Parlia-
ment. - The question was, is a presentee, who is a Principal in
A University, a qualified person ? His talents and
,the sound-
ness of his doctrine are not the only necessary qualifications.—
in vain is for us to eulogise his great abilities if he is unable
to employ those abilities. lie may -possum an unblemished
ellaMetere and still be an unfit presentee. Dr. Hill says
in his Institution, that he would bold 13 unqualified a pex-
son. without! a voice. The Presbytery have the power of
judging of the qualifications of a presentee, end ought to
exercise it. It is in the 'exercise of this Power that we are
bouod to .enter on the question before us. It is said we have
acted ctuelly,, and yet it is admitted ourdispositione. are ge-
nerally kind ; surely an inference might have • been drawn
from . this that we enter !on the present business unwil-
lingly: The,office of a Minister is most important; no one
~can consider himself sufficient for its duties; these aec .. not
word; of Course; all our talents and our time are too little
for the performance of them. Surely then a parish is suffi-
cient for any one men, end no other office ought to be attached,
to it.: The .sione thing is taught us by the constitution of our
Church—by the different orders iu it—such us AI inisters, El-
‘ders, &c, to each of which orders, certain dude* are assumed;
: the division into parishes proves the same thing. Ho was sur-
prised .to hear the junction of parishes given as an instance of
.pluralities The small population of adjacent parishes gave
rise to their junction, end these united parishes Were even then
only equal to otber single ;Wishes. Augmentations, proceeded
on the principle, that the 31inister devote honeelfentirely to hie
parish, HOtliffered from the Learned Gentleman at the Bar
io his mode of interpreting the statutes—whatever violetes the
spirit 9f;aestattite violates, the Statute -itself, and is forbidden
as much as if it were forbidden by name. The Gentleman
at the. Bar gave an unfavourable representation of our Emcee-
tong Ile (die Rey. Dr.) venerated these ancestors for their
independence; avid the regard they peed to the duties of their
offices. The-Church of 7Seetland prohibited all, pluralities.
Here the 11ev. Dr. read several Acts of Parliament and ,of
Assembly, and quoted precedents in support of his proposition.
From the times of old we derive all that is most valuable in
the constitution' of. otir Church. Some - abuses have been
overlooked, but is it therefore to be inferred that we have lost
Our power. of c.orrecting these abuses. Many 'evils are over.
looked which are not sanctioned. It has ben said that there
!are...decisions which may be considered as precedents; before
,applying diem, however, we must be sure that the eases are
,sionlar. Here the Ilev. Dr. argued, that the cases of Pro.
femora Hill and Ferric were not in point, and could not in the
present instance he . considered as precedents: The Act of
Assembly in .1017 had been much dwelt on. The Rev. Dr.
gave a history of !dust Act. Dr. Hill's motion recognised the
power of the Church for which he (Dr. •11PG.) and his friends
contentled-e-it forbids, but gives no allowance. Who would
!think of uniting amity of the Professorships with a Ministerial
charge. Was there no diffeeence between the may and the
...Inuit ? .Were they to be deprived of their privileges and laid
at the feet of a lay patron. Having a right to judge, is the
unioneof offices under. consideration necessary or consistent
with a right of duty ? 'The Presbytery .knew that the parish
Vespopulous. • It wag impossible to discharge the duties in a
smalletenuish.—from time size of their parishes, the Glasgow
Ministers did not know their people, and this he believed to
be one cause of the existing depravity. lie had seen 17 years
a Minister and was never yet able to overtake all his
dunes.. With regard to the duties of the .Principal, they were
known and needed to - be piked tip front musty records.
Here the Reverend Doctor entered into a minute detail of
.the duties of, the Principal. Need be say that the cause of
literature and religion meat suffer, And many deserving
men prevented front obtaining situations by this engrossing
of offices. :Theatate of this city and people require us to con-
sider whether we ought to induct a person unqualified. The
callentlar of fa persons tried at our last circuit, IMO in jail in .
;one year, 17,00.0 police twee, of _which 15e000 are for actual
crime, are evidences of an awful existing depravity ; to attempt
to remedy this by the execution of 4 few wretched boys, is just
at futile as to attempt to check the rising title, by taking from
.it a few cups of water. The Ministers of religion must work
the reformation. 'Lake pity then on this city and on eociety,
and revive anew the zeal that is dying away. lie eoududed
with booing !that the synod would affirm the sentence of the
presbytery of Glasgow. •
Dr. CHALMEIIB.—There are sours who think that there, is
nothing for ittut to succumb under. the fancied omnipotence
of the law of Patronage. Cur Goverement letely took 0
right. turn, and shewed its libercJity iatti good-will to the
cause of, religion, ' by ordering . the erection of a number
of Churches an the Sister' Kingdom. This spirit was caught
by our cities, , And Churches befian .to spring up in the
midst of cur most neglceted reputation. "file General As-
sembly also allowed hentell to be floated on the current
.of public opiniop, and tended benignantly on theefelorioue
efforts of Christian philanthrepy. This -is a work which
could not be done in a day. liut there wag an arithmetical
certainty,that at the rate ut which it WAS. progeedinge ifivoteld
..be eccompliehed in the days of our children. This presenta-
don leys a cruel interdict upon all' theeledelightful antieipa-
delta. . It is 'a Royelfpreieniatiort," andso Muth the worse.. I
care not by how.senalie frettiou,the duties or elin Principal add
to the ditties of the Minister. Thepopulation are win throwli
adrift. It'iii7uoW"soine 'years Since the Preebytery of Glasgow
remonstrated with' the -Magistrates on' the stiblectuf Church
4001=01460e and they. have been answered i but the po-
.l)4litiun 1104 1.40 t. Mill a head. If we igree to this preterite-
thine how ``cart' we applY,for Mere assistance. Very little has
:been left foe cite' ttg.say about-the power whieh• thiCheitelt
.
.peeielsittes...tp -.rttject- a presentee. A presentation as apeed
signed by one, and eas it were cotintersigint dbY ;another. ' A
valid presentation requires the concurrence titihe' Presbye