The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-05 00:00:00

COMMISSION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
(Abridged from the Caledonian Mercury.)
This reverend and venerable body met on Wednesdays
at Edinburgh, in the Old Church (or Kirk Aisle), pursuant
to a circular letter sent by the Moderator, calling them
together to consider the terms of the instructions issued by
Government to the Church Commission, and to deliberate
onthe steps necessary to be taken by the Church in regard
to it. When the instructions to the Commissioners became
known, the greatest excitement prevailed among the mem-
bers of the Assembly; and meetings of various Presbyteries
were immediately called, when there was a general declara-
tion of opinion that the instructions given to the Parliamens.
tary Commissioners were infringemonts on the rights of the
Scottish Church, and ought to be resisted, but no formal re-
solutions to this effect were passed, so that the members of
the Assembly might not be embarrassed in any discussion
which might ensue. In this state of things the Presbytery
of Edinburgh met last week, when an opinion was expressed
contrary to what had been come to by the other Presby-
teries—namely, that the issuing of the Commission was a
proper proceeding on the part of Parliament, and that there -
was nothing contained in the instructions to the Commis-
sioners hostile to -the Church, or exceeding those rights
which the King had the power to exercise. This expres-
sion of opinion by the Edinburgh Presbytery mated much
discussion, and fixed attention more strongly on the extra-
ordinary meeting of the Commission of the Assembly
called by the Moderator. The Commisaion of the Assembly
includes all the members, but at such meetings it is not
necessary that the King's Commissioner should be present.
The meeting was very numerously attended, and there
was a considerable influx of members from distant parts of
the country. At twelve o'clock, the hour appointed for
the commencement of the proceedings, the building, which
has been espeaeially erected for the meetings of the Assem-
bly, but which is exceedingly ill adapted for such purposes,
Was well filled, and shortly after the Moderator (the Rev.
Dr. William Thompson) took his seat, and opened the
business of the -day with a prayer suited' to the occasion.
After some preliminary business had been gone through,
The Moderator stated that lie had called the present
special meeting of the Commission of the Assembly in
consequence of requisitions he had received from Aberdeen,
Cupar, Kincardine, &c., and from Dr. Cook, and several
other clergymen of the Established Church.
The Rev.. Dr. MTARLANE entertained great doubt of
the propriety of calling the meeting.
The Rev. Dr. LEE was altogetar opposed to the meet-
ing, and thought it ought not to have been summoned.
Professor Bitowar and several other members here inter-
posed with a motion of adjournment to some more suitable
place, as they declared that little of what was passing could
be heard beyond the bounds of the chair, which was, how-
ever, ultimately overruled, and the business proceeded, after
the members were with some difficulty accommodated with
seats.
Dr. Coos: then rose and said, that Dr. Chalmers, who
had been one of the deputation to London, had something
to communicate relative to the application to Government
for aid, and which had resulted in the appointment of the
Commission, end be (Dr. C.) would therefore propose that
the Rev. Dr. Chalmers should be called in, and requested
to make such statement to the meeting.
The Rev. Dr. LEE, the principal clerk, have read certain
resolutions, agreed to by the Assembly at the last meet-
ing, in August, relative to the Commission, in which the
Assembly conveyed to the Government their protest against
the appointment of certain individuals as Commissioners,
on account of their holding opinions hostile to the Esta-
blishment ; further, that, for other reasons stated, the
profesSed object of the Commission could not be
into effect.
The MODERATOR stated, that he had forwarded copies
of these resolutions to. Lord John Russell and to Lord
Melbourne ; aud.that from the former he had received a
simple acknowledgment of the communication, but that
from Lord Melbourne no answer bad been returned.—
(Laughter.)
Dr. CHALMERS addressed the Assembly at great length,
explaining the circumstances connected with the proceed-
ings of the deputation from the Assembly, and the confe-
rences they had with the Government in London. 'We
give the leadingfeatures of the Rev. Gentleman's communica-
tion. He said that the points they gained with the Government
were, that the inquiry should not be confined to the amount of
church room, but should extend also to the pastoral superin-
tendence of the pools., and the amount of attendance on
the ordinances of religiost, which last point, if prosecuted in
a right spirit, he was sure would show a real and extensive
ecclesiastical destitution, and prone how impossible it was to
relieve it in any other way than by a territorial and endowed
establishment. They had also obtained the sanction of the
Government to the publication of interim reports on the
part of the deputation, without which he- feared all relief to
the Church would have been postponed to an indefinite
period. There were certain points, notwithstanding, of an
obnoxious or questionable character, for Which the depiita-
tion were not responsible. They never gave their consent
to the inquiry into ecclesiastical funds which might be avail-
able, and they were not consulted as to the appointment of
the Commissioners, or ti:? terms of their instructions,notwith-
standing their well-known anxiety for both. They gave in a
paper, containing what in their opinion ought to be these
instructions ; but of this no notice was taken. I`,lr. Simpson
and myself remained a fortnight in London after the depar-
ture of the Commission, that we might render every proles-
sional assistance to the Government in our power. For this
our continuance in London we received itrong encouragement
from a Cabinet Minister, who expressed his gratitude for our
resolution. From Lord Melbourne and Lord John Russell
they received the strongest assurances that the Commission
should be a fair and impartial one ; and against these No-
blemen we had no imputation. But 'when we dese:nded
from the heads of the Government into the hands of the
suborninate members, then every obstruction was thrown
in our way, and a dark veil was spread between us and
what was doing by the agents. One gentleman, a Mem-
ber of Parliament, in high favour with the Cabinet, who
had great favour for the Churchawas selected by us as the
medium of communication with the Government. We
suggested to him the names of several Edinburgh gentle
men, friends of the church, and friends of the existing Ad-
ministration.; and besides these we recommended the ap-
pointment of Mr. Colqulioun, of Killermont, as connected
with the west of Scotland ; Mr. Cambell, of Islay. on ac-
count of his patrimonial interest in the West Highlands ;
and Mr. Loch for his interest in the north. We are not
told that these would be appointed ; but we are told that
those to be appointed would be equally satisfactory. He
would not say what he felt a few days afterwards, when
the Gazette, with its catalogue of names, for the most
part before unknown and unheard of, or known only
for their hostility to the Church, was spread before
him. lie would now proceed to state the use which
might be made of the present state of matters for forward-
ing the extension of the Church, and not to allow the
season of diSappointment to become also the season of des-
pair. It was not thus the ancient fathers of the Church
acted when she was spoiled of her endowments by the
Crown and a rapacious nobility. It was true the popula-
tion of Scotland was only a million in those days, but
whole tracts of the country were rifled by the hand of vio-
lence, and no means were left to prevent the country from
sinking again into barbarism, but for the efforts of those
pntriots, as courageous and enlightened as the world ever
saw, the fathers and founders of the kirk of Scotland.
These men went forward to plant their parishes over the
whole country ; and without any visible means of suste-
nance or support, they struggled on in their labours till
God overthrew the councils of the ungodly, and forced the
sacrilegious spoiler to resign to those men a hard-earned
subsistence, whom now it was so much the fashion to stig-
matise, but who proved themselves, as their descendants
were now proving themselves, the only real friends of the
labouring man and the poor. The very same task lay be-
fore them now which then lay before their forefathers. It
was trine that they were not suffering from the plunder of
the Church, though
in of that they might read the pre-
monitory symptoms
n
the threateed measure which had
been held out to the Protestant Church of Ireland.—
(Hear, hear, hear.) The arms of their enterprise were the