The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-05-23 00:00:00

THE DISRUPTION

The general assembly of the Church of Scotland met at
Edinburgh on Thursday. From the all-engrossing interest
felt in the proceedings in which it was to be engaged, the
number of strangers who repaired to Edinburgh on the oc-
casion was unprecedentedly great.
The Most Noble the Marquis of Bute, whom her Majesty
the Queen had appointed to represent her royal person and
authority in the assembly, arrived in Edinburgh on Satur-
day afternoon, and attended Divine service in the High
Church on Sunday. On Wednesday afternoon the Lord
Provost and magistrates, according to ancient custom, waited
on his Grace the Lord High Commissioner, to present to
him the keys of the city. They subsequently had the
honour of dining with his grace.
On Thursday morning, his Grace the Lord High Com-
missioner held his first levee in the Throne-room at Holy-
rood. It was unusually thronged, being attended by nearly
seven hundred persons.
After the levee his grace went in procession along the
Regent-road, Waterloo-place, the North-bridge, and the
High-street, to the High Church, which he reached about
one o'clock. The moderator of the last general assembly,
Dr. Welsh, preached from the Epistle of St. Paul to the
Romans, chap. xiv., verse sth, " Let every man be fully
persuaded in his own mind."
The streets through which the procession passed were
densely crowded, and were lined by the 6th Dragoon
Guards and the 66th Foot. The multitude in Hanover-street

and George-street was very great. Such was the eagerness
of some, especially the female part of the community, to be
in time to witness the catastrophe, that ladies were seen
winding their way with baskets of provisions towards St.
Andrew's Church, so early as five o clock in the morning.
By seven many had taken their seats, and by nine the stran-
gers' gallery was nearly filled, a considerable number being
adherents or friends of the Secession party.

Divine service having been concluded at half-past two
o'clock, his Grace proceeded in his state carriage up the
High-street, down the Mound, to St. Andrew's Church, to
open the Assembly. The members of Assembly began to
take their seats soon after twelve o'clock, by which time the
gallery was completely crowded. Dr. Candlish, on entering
the house, was recei red with loud applause from the gallery,
and similar demonstrations were made on the entrance of
Mr. Campbell, of Monzie, Mr. Maitland Makgill Crichton,
Mr. Dunlop, Sheriff Monteith, Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Chal-
mers, and Dr. Gordon.
At a quarter to three the Moderator, Dr. Welsh, took the
chair. His Grace the Commissioner arrived about two mi-
nutes after, and ascended the throne.
The first step in the procedure of the venerable body is to
make up the roll of its members; but before this task could
be entered upon, Dr. Welsh, the Moderator of the last As-
sembly, rose and gave in a protest, signed by about 120 mi-
nisters and 70 elders, commissioners to the Assembly, de-
claring that the present was not a free and lawful Assembly
of the Church of Scotland, and that the subscribers could
not, after the recent decisions of the civil courts, and the
sanction of these decisions by the Sovereign and the parlia-
ment, conscientiously continue to be members of that church
as by law established. This protest having been read, the
subscribers withdrew from the Assembly. The effect of
their movement on the audience was striking r a loud cheer
burst from the gallery, which, however, was suddenly hushed,
and the whole audience stood gazing intently on the scene
below, very many of them in tears. When Dr. Welsh, Dr.
Chalmers, and Dr. Gordon made their appearance outside,
they were received with a tremendous burst of applause from
the masses assembled in George-street, which was continued
and reiterated with the most extraordinary enthusiasm as
they went along. All the windows and staircases were filled
with ladies • nay, every available space, the very housetops,
were covered with groups of spectators ; and the universal
waving of hats and handkerchiefs from all quarters, mingled
with the shouts below, had a very imposing effect. The
whole body formed into a line of procession, four abreast,
and proceeded, by North Hanover-street, Dundas-street,
Pitt-street, &c., to the Hall at Tanfield, Canonmills, pre-
ceded, accompanied, and:followed by immense multitudes of
people ; a large number of windows along the line being, as
in George-street, filled with ladies waving their handker-
chiefs. When they reached Tanfield, they were greeted with
a loud and continued burst of cheering from the multitudes
which had assembled to receive them ; and, on entering the
Hall, the part of it assigned to the public was found filled to
overflowing with a large and most respectable company.
Those parts of the Hall devoted to ministers and elders were
soon also filled ; and, when the business commenced, the
sight of the immense mass of people congregated (upwards
of 3,000 persons) had a most magnificent effect.
A chairman, pro tempore, was then elected, and the roll of
the Assembly having been made up, the Very Rev. Principal
Macfarlan was, on the motion of Dr. Cook, seconded by the
Earl of Selkirk, elected Moderator. Her Majesty's com-
mission, nominating the Marquis of Bute to represent her
Royal person and authority in the Assembly, was then read,
and his Lordship presented the Queen's letter. This docu-
ment expressed her Majesty's sense of her solemn engage-
ment to maintain inviolate the Presbyterian Church of Scot-
land in all its rights and privileges ; it exhorted the members
to unity and obedience ; reminded them that the veto act
had not been rescinded, though it had been pronounced by
the courts of law to be illegal; declared her Majesty's readi-
ness to give her assent to any measure which the legislature
pass, securing to the people, in the settlement of
ministers, the fall privilege of objection, and to the church
judicatories the exclusive right of judgment ; expressed her
Majesty's persuasion that the decision of the civil courts re-
garding the ministers of yuoad sacra parishes would be
implicitly obeyed by the Assembly, until it should be consi-
dered by the legislature ; and, finally, commended the mem-
bers to the guidance of Divine Providence, and implored the
blessing of God on their deliberations.
On the motion of Lord Belhaven it was agreed to delay
the appointment of a committee to answer her Majesty's
letter until the next day. The Procurator for the Church
then moved that the objections which had been lodged to the
commissions of members should be remitted to a special
committee; and this motion having been agreed to, after one
or two members had expressed their sentiments as to the
position of the churcl., the house adjourned until Friday.
FRIDAY.

The Assembly met at twelve o'clock, but excepting the
appointment of several committees, the sederunt was occu-
pied in devotional exercises.

THE CONVOCATIONISTS' MEETING.
The subscribers of the protest against the freedom and le-
gality of the Assembly, on leaving the court, repaired as we
have said to a large hall at Cannonmills. On the motion of
Dr. Welsh, Dr. Chalmers was chosen Moderator.
Dr. Chalmers, on taking the chair, gave out for singing the
43d psalm from the 3d verse; after which he engaged in
prayer.

The Moderator said—Rev. Fathers and Brethren, it has
been proposed that the business of this Assembly should
commence with an address, which I shall make as brief as
possible, from him whom you have invested with the impor-
tant station I now hold. The time of controversy is now to
be followed up by a busy season of doing more than of saying.
Ist. It is clear that anterior to our connexion with the state,
the church had a government of her own right, and within
her proper sphere had certain inherent liberties which, save
by persecution, could not be violated. 2d. When the church
entered into connexion with the state, she gave up no part of
her liberty. (Cries of " Hear.") That was her inalienable
birthright, which, save by an act of treachery to her great
Head in heaven, she could not part with. She gave her ser-
vices, but not her liberties—cheers)—they were not hers to
give, it being not only her privilege but her bounden duty to
hold them fast. 3d. Our ancestors in the church were true
to that principle ; they did not give up their christian liber-
ties when they entered into connection with the state. For
their maintenance they endured the controversies and perse-
cutions of a whole century, handing them down entire from
one generation to another, and so kept them alive, even in
the worst of times, till they were finally secured, so far as
could be done by human conventions and the faith of treaties,
at the Revolution Settlement, when what the church deemed
her rights were ratified by the state as her constitutional li-
berties. 4th. The free and separate government in things
ecclesiastical, which was guaranteed to the church, sub-
sisted without violation on the part of the civil courts
for another century and a half, nor did the church suf-
fer any inroad or molestation at their hands, and no one
ever dreamed of the invasions which have been recently
witnessed, as being in the smallest degree likely, or even
possible. sth. The first breach effected in the ratified
jurisdiction of the church, was founded on an interpre-
tation of an Act of Queen Anne, passed in 1712, anent
the restoration of patronage, but which interposition the dis-
covery was elicited for the first time, to all the parties in this
controversy, that there existed a compatibility between this
statute of Queen Anne and a prior enactment, at the time of
the Revolution Settlement ; and which, although never re-
ferred to by any of the law lords in the House of Peers,
during the Auchterarder case, had been appealed to in the
Bill of Rights, forming the charter of the constitutional
liberties of the Church of Scotland. 6th. In these circum-
stances, the church appealed to parliament on the ground of
her hitherto unviclated constitutional law, and pointed out
the discrepancy now evolved, for the first time, between an
act of the legislature and that settlement which was guaranteed
at the revolution, and still further guaranteed at the union.
7th, and lastly. That application having been rejected by the
legislature having declined to remedy the evil, the church is
constrained to make a higher appeal—from her constitution,
now disregarded and ins aded, to her conscience, which tells
' her that, as an ecclesiastical body, she ought not to be sub-
ject to the civil power in things spiritual; and we have,
therefore, been compelled, though with the greatest re-
luctance and sorrow, to quit the advantages of a British
establishment, in the hope in God that we shall be allowed
to prosecute our labours in peace on the grounds of a British
toleration. (Cheers.) These are the principles which have
led to the movement of this day, and have brought us to-
gether on this occasion. Rather than compromise the
authority of Christ over his own church, you have forfeited
the countenance of men in power—men who have this world's
authority on their side ;—beware of compromising another of
your doctrines and articles of faith, even the authority of
Christ over the nations and governments of the earth, and
the tenth that it is the duty of these governments to uphold
his religion in the worid. (Loud cries of " Hear, hear.")
This may be called a less principle than the other, and in it-
self of inferior consequences to the well being of Christ's
Church on earth, but let us not forget what is said in Scrip-
; Lure of those who shall break even the least of these
commandments. The men opposed to us on this second, or
as some might be disposed to call it, secondary principle,
may be men with whom we differ, and with whom we may
agree to differ—they may be fit coadjutors with us in evange-
lizing the land ; brethren with whom we may hold sweet and
profitable counsel on the weighty matters of the law, having
one faith, one Lord, and one baptism. But we should not,
even for their friendship, violate the entireness of our prin
ciples, or make compromise of the very least of them. To
render myself more plain, let me be more particular. The vo-
luntaries mistake us if they claim us as voluntaries. (Cries
of hear, hear.) We hold it the duty of a government to give
' the maintenance of a gospel ministry, and that they are
bound to acquit themselves as the proprietors of the Church,
and not as its corruptors and tyrants. (Cheers.) We pray
that the day may arise when the Church kings will be nursing
fathers and queen's nursing mothers. Though we quit the
establishment, we go out on the establishment principle--
we quit a vitiated establishment, but could rejoice in return-
ing to a pure one. (Loud cheers.) To express it precisely,
we are the advocates of a national recognition and support of
religion, and we are not voluntaries. (Hear, hear.) Again,
if we thus openly proclaim our differences with the men who,
not wanting in honesty under the guise of principle, refuse to
acknowledge this doctrine, still more resolutely must we
disclaim all fellowship with the men who lift a menacing
front against the powers that be, who desire the overthrow of
all government, and all the restraints of social order. Dr.
Chalmers dwelt on this point at some length, concluding this
part of his address saying—" If we are willing to inscribe on
the flag of our Church We are no voluntaries,' then on the
other side we shall inscribe, in letters still more legible to be
seen and read of ~.11 men, 'We are no anarchists.' " He then
alluded in a few words to their position as regarded the es-
tablishment, counselling temper, and mildness, and prayers
that they might be forgiven, for they knew not what they did.
A clerk having been elected, Dr. Candlish moved that all
who had signed the protest should be ipso facto members of
the new Assembly, and that they should associate with them,
both in voting and consulting, all ministers of tlie church who
should declare their adherence to the protest, and one adher-
ing elder from each Kirk Session. On the motion of Dr.
M'Farlan, of Greenock, a committee was appointed to con-
sider the proper course for effecting a separation from the
establishment ; and another committee, on the motion of
Dr. M'Kellare, was nominated to prepare en address to her
Majesty. setting forth the grounds on which they had sepa-
rated. &vetsl other committees baying btsti nottinotsdi
thy mulled Aitittlid Intil Itl yi

MISCELLANEOUS.

The contest for the city chamberlainship has cost Sir Jobs
Pirie, Bart., not far short of £3,000.

SIGNIFICANT.—The troops in Cork are now supplied with
the war complement of ammunition, 60 rounds per man.

Far the first time since the Reformation, mass was publicly
celebrated in the town of Aylesbury on Sunday week.
Charles Mackey, the murderer of his wife, was executed
a Glasgow, on Thursday. He left a letter acknowledging
his guilt.

J. L. Ellis, Esq., senior clerk to Col. Wyndeham, was
drowned whilst bathing in the Thames, near Petworth, on
the Bth. instant. He was only 22 years of age.
Small flitches of dry dairy-fed bacon were sold last week
at Marlborough at 4id. per lb., and retailed at sd. This is
but little more than half the price that was charged a few
years ago.

Herr Friebe, a celebrated blind cute-player, of Berlin, has
just arrived in this country, l‘ring:ug with him several letters
of introduction from Spohr to the members of the musical
profession in London.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON.—At the recent distri-
bution of prizes for the winter term, 1842-3, the gold medal
and first certificate in the class of anatomy and physiology,
were awarded to Mr. Robert Dawson Harting, of Chester.
The May registry session for the city of Dublin closed on
Saturday. The numbers registered were conservaties, 159 ;
radicals, 19 ; majority, 140. The registry may now be con-
sidered as abandoned by the repeaters and radicals.

By a treasury order of the 28th ult. the island of Ascen•
sion is to be treated as a British possession, for all purposes
of trade and revenue.

We are informed that a requisition to government for a
military force on 11th June has been forwarded by some per-
sons in Mallow.—Cork Examiner.

In consequence of the low price of malt and hops, the inn-
keepers of Trowbridge have lowered the price of strong beer
2d. per quart ; it is now selling at -Id.
South Down mutton is now selling at Winchester, at sd.
per lb, and the primest parts are selling by the first-rate
butchers at sd. ready money, and Gd. credit price.
There were no fewer than 300 pieces of English woollen
cloth smuggled into Oporto last week, and the contrabandists
both there and at Lisbon engage to smuggle in any quantity.

THE MURDER AT BURY.—A verdict of " wilful murder"
has been returned against James Howarth, and other persons
at present unknown, for the murder at Bury, and the former
person has been committed to take his trial at the next Li-
verpool assizes.

The ceremony of churching the Queen took place at twelve
o'clock on Friday, in the Chapel Royal, Buckingham Palace.
The Archbishop of Canterbury officiated, assisted by the
Bishop of London, dean of the chapel.

Onn THINGS.—The newspapers at times have odd things
in them ; amongst the advertisements in a late London paper,
we read that " Two sisters want washing ;" and that " a
spinster, particularly fond of children, wishes for two or
three, having none of her own, or any other employment."

FIRST FRUITS OY THE GOVERNMENT RESOLVE.-Mr.
Hanlon, ordnance clerk of works at Enniskillen, has been
dismissed for attending a repeal meeting at Kells. Mr.
Hanlon is replaced here by Mr. Kilby, from Derry.—Fer-
managh Reporter.
The decision of the stewards of the Jockey Club on the
Leicester cup race was forwarded, per post, the same night
to the clerk of the course, and the amount of stake paid into
the Leicester Bunk forthwith. On the following day it
stopped payment.

Another paltry attack upon the Earl of Cardigan is going
the round of the papers, having originated in the Dublin
Mercantile Advertiser. There is not a syllable of truth in
it, and we are glad to see that Colonel Chatterton has very
manfully grappled with the calumny.
M A SON K.—The London Sun of Thursday, announces that
his Royal Highness Prince Albert, and his Royal Highness
Prince George of Cambridge would be initiated into Free-
masonry on Saturday last, in the Royal Alpha Lodge, Ken-
sington Palace.

PROVISIONS IN TRlti PRINCIPALITY.—Fresh eggs are now
selling at seven for 2d. or 42 for ls. ; salmon trout, nine for
6d. ; best fresh butter retail, 10d. per lb. ; potatoes, 61b. for
Id. ; a quarter of veal costs only 2s. 6d. Rent is at the same
low rate as living, and clothes of the native 'manufacture
cost next to nothing.— Welchman.

TRAMPLING ON THE PRAYKR BOOK.—Mr. Bew, the
chairman of the meeting at Bilston, at which " Bishop
Hornier" trampled on the Prayer Book, has written a letter
to the editor of the Staffordshire Advertiser, confirming the
accounts given o► that transaction, at the same time ex-
pressing his disapprobation of it.

The projected Artesian well at the Brighton Chain Pier,
after approaching to what appeared a successful completion,
has been again abandoned. Water was procured in abundance;
but it was brackish, and, from the fact that it arose and fell
with the tide, was supposed to communicate with the sea. It
is doubtful whether the attempt will be 'renewed.

IIION LIGHTER FOR THE THAMES.—An iron lighter is
building at Hull, calculated to carry fifty tons of goods, but
so buoyant, that with forty to fifty passengers with their ►ug.
gage on board, she will not draw more than eighteen inches.
She is intended, we understand, for the gratuitous use of
passengers by the Hull and London steamers using Custom-
house-quay.

BIRMINGHAM LYING-IN HOSPITAL.—It appears that
within eight months of the establishment of this charity, not
less tha❑ two hundred and ❑inety-five cases have received
assistance from the institution ; although we understand that
this number scarcely comprises one-tenth of the applications
the usefulness of the charity being necessarily circumscribed
by its very limited fund.

APPROACHING MARRIAGES AT THE COLLEGIATE
CHURCH.—We understand, that the number of banns or
" askings" published during divine service on Sunday morn-
ing last, was larger than was ever before known, amounting to
no fewer than two hundred and forty couples, or four hun-
dred and eighty candidates for Hymen's rites and bonds !
This would seem to indicate the approach of better times
amongst us.—Manehester Guardian.

If we are not mistaken, Mr. Sheridan Knowles has written
no fewer than 16 dramas, beginning with Viryinius and end-
ng with the Secretary. The last met with a very untoward
ate owing to the cirtucnstances under which it was brought
iut, at a time when it could not be consecutively represented,
(rising from the death of his Royal Highness the Duke of
Sussex. It has been said that the author gained no more
than £l5O by it, but we believe that that sum is £5O beyond
what he actually received.—Morning Chronicle.
Loss OF LIFE.—ISLAND OF ISLAY, MAY 6, 1843.
Yesterday morning, as one of the fishing boats belonging to
this place was returning home from the fishing station—the
morning being exceedingly stormy—when approaching a
dangerous place called " Bogha-ant-Saoir," where two cur':
rents meet, the swell broke in upon them, and the boat im.
mediately sunk. The crew, consisting of four young men,
were all drowned. To-day all the boats on both sides of the
Loch were sweeping for the remains of the unfortunate meri,
but without success.—Correspondent of Glasyou: Saturday
Post.

AWFUL EFFECTS OF PASSION,—On Monday week a ma
named M'CleTents, a farmer, living in the townland of
Ballycross, parish of Magherallo, on going into one of his
fields, observed, some poultry in his oats. Having discovered
to whom the fowls belonged, he became so enraged, that; on
entering his hones, he fell (lora, in a fit, Intl Scion after "4
rititl,-,4ofhal PQM