The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-02-26

OF Scotland nad NJ tnlS Illnc 10 Cohteilu. : uc
Scottish Parliament met In 1890, declared Pre-
lacy great and insnpportable grievance 10
the nation, and contrary to the inclination OF
the generality Of the people ever since m the
)ished Presbyterlanism rs II existed or was
ratified by Parliament in 1892, when 1t was IN
n formative condition. This gave great Of
! Tense to many of the Scotch people, who de-
sired tho church TO be rc-cstablshed in con;
| formlty to the advancement which IL had
made i'm the period embraced between the
years lG3S and 1850.
In 1861 the new Parliament under Charles
i II, passed n sweeping act resembling Without
eXcepton, all the Parliament acts passed
since 1853. This abolished all the laws in ia
Vor OF PrcSby tcrianSm rs well as those
| In favor of civil liberty, a large num-
Der OF the Scotch people felt that this Reels
sorry Act should have boon repealed by the
Parliament OF 1861.
THREE CLASSES OF PREACHERS.
There were in the Church Of Scotland at the
| time of the Revolutionary settlement, three
classes of ministers:
i. The sixty old Presbyterian ministers who
had remained firm aud unhinchlng, amid all
| the trials and prosecutions of the past, in
the faith and practice OF the Presbyterian
! Church.
! . There was another class composed of
ministers who had accepted indulgencies and
entered the Prelatic church established by
! the civil authorities They were regarded as
men who loved lOavcs and fishes more than
! they did either the Confession Of Faith or the
solemn league and covenant.
/ 3. The remaining class was made OF indi-
convictions OF their minds, Prcatists. All
these, the prosecuted and prosecutors, all
went into the re-estabished Presbyterian
church. The only honest ministers In the
whole General Assembly were the sixty. old
men, who had been prohibited by the sharp
sword Of the civil power from preaching the
gospel.
There was in reality no real harmony OF
|
established church. How could there be any
harmony? There were sixty rigid Presby-
! terlans. OF the others some were rigid pre-.
latists, and the others were whatever was
necessary in order to retain their livings, or,
as we would say, TO retain their salaries.
But while all the Protestant ministers of
Scotland uttered into the Presbyterian church
as re-established after the Revolutionary set
| tlement, there were number of the people
who refused 10 affiliate with the new organl.
Zaton. These Selt.sacrifcing individuals and
their descendants, after lapse Of more than
half a century, organized the Reformed Pres.
! byteran Church-one of the ecclesiastical
bodies afterward entering Into the union
which formed the Associate Reformed
Church.
DATE OF TIE ORIGIN OF THE REFORMED
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH..
During the prosecuting period the Presbyte-
rianS of Scotland became divided into two
partics These were called RcSolutIoncrs and
! Prolrstors These parties had their origin in
Il difference Of opinion concerning an act OF
the Parliament which rescinded The Act OF
Glasses. This Act OF Glasses excluded certain
! individuals, brcause of offences, from holding
places OF either honor or trust The iesolu-
TONERS favored the Resolution 10 rcscind
while the Protcstors opposed It, The individ-
ualS excluded by the Act Of Glasses were call
cd Malgnants. They were generally Roman
Catholics and bitterly opposed to both the
| ltosolutioncrS and Professors. They were op-
posed to civil liberty and every form OF gov
/ or n1nD oh Xroc N nj Fri n
Of Rome. The Professors and Rcsolutioners
waxed warm in their opposition to eaclI 9TH
er, and after, or rather ut, the battle of Both
we'll Bridge, on thc'2nd Of June, lGIs, they
separated.
This may be regarded as the date of the ori-
gin of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.
! They have never been numerous, but they
have been mighty power In defence of civil
and religious liberty. Their motto is. "glvc
Inc liberty, or give me DEATH" In religion
| they were the firm and unwnvcring adhercnts
| to The Westminster Confession of Faith.
The first ministers of the Reformed Prcsby-
terians or "Hill Folk" as they were sncering:
ly called, were Donald CarSill and Richard
Cameron AT the time Of the Revolutionary
settlement all these ministers had obtained 4
martyrs crown. except three. Richard Came
ron fell Mt Ardsmoss. Donald Cargill was
hanged in EdinbuIg, and his head placed on
the Neither Bow. james Renwick, the last OF
| the Scotch martyrs, was put TO death short
time cfore james II abdicatcd the throne
Alexander Shields, Thomas Linning and vii.
inn Boyd, the three remaining ministers,
went into the rc.eStablishcd Presbyterian
church at the Revolutionary settlement.
"SoCIETY PEOPLE"
From lGSs to 1907 these people were without
n minister. They organized themselves into
societies. met at each others houses on the
Sabbath day, read the Scriptures, sung
Psalms, and catechiscd the young people
Because of this practice they were often call
| In To- they were Joined hy Rev. John Nc
MILAN, and in l!l2 by Rev. THOMAS Nairn.,
On tic 1st Of August, l7ia, Rcvs. John Me-
MILAN and Thomas Nairn organized tho
! Reformed Presbyterian Church.
! Those who organized The Associate PrcSby'
terry were thrust out OF the Church OF scot
! land for the Identical same reasons that the
| Reformed Prrsbyterians did not 90 into II a,
the time Of the Revolutionary settlement.
HETEROGENEOUS MASS.
As already stated. there was want of unity
I'm the Church OF Scotland as established by per-
. mission of William OF Orange. The mass ol
! the common people were thorough Presbyte
riuns. The ministers were DIVIDED III Sentl
incnt with regard to certain doctrines, and
also with regard to the form of Church Gov
crnment \ few were, rs respects church
government, PresbylerianS: some were eth
or Prrsbytcrians or Prelatlsts 10 suit their
circumstances. "They were everything by
turns and nothing long" The remainder
were Prelatists from conviction. In doctrine
there were In The PreSbytcri".. Church rigid
('alvinistS and loose Armanians, thorough
irrintariLms and rank AranS 1t could not
be otherwise than that this heterogeneous
mass would he productive of corruption.
The Scotch people were, soon after the Rey'
| olutiOnary settlement involved in trouble
From lt7r: the Crown Of England and that OF
scotland had been united. The two nations
! were distinct aud separate. Each had Is own
parliament and its own laws, but both had
the same Sovereign.
In 1907 the two nations were united. On
the 2Sh of April of that year, lhc Scotch Par
lament was dissolved, and the two King
domS united into one vii II the designation
Kingdom OF Great Britain. Whatever adj
vantagGs Scotland may have reaped from this
union, it was exceedingly humbllnS TO the
national pride OF the Scotch. For more IMAM
q Thousand years the two Kingdoms iad neef
at war. The Scotch could point with pride tC
Robert Bruce and Bannockburn. Some Of
the Scotch were in favor OF the union, ahe
others were opposed to it, Tho tendency, ar
ter the union, was To ln,rouuce mo tht
Many things hindcrcd the unifyinS OF tho
ministers OF the Church OF Scotland.
uEEETICAL DOCTRINES WE'RE PREACHED.
II was not long after the Revolutionary set
tIemcnt until II became manifest that doc
trines clearly contrary to the doctrines Of the
Westminster Confession OF Faith were
preached by some ministers from the pulpll
ami taught by professors In the Theological
Seminary. John :iimSun, professor Of Theol
ogy in the University Of Glasgow, taught doc
trines which were Subvcrsivc of the funda
mental principles of tile Christian religion
He denied the "tlr numerical oneness OF the
Three Persons Of tie Trinity in substance OF
essence and in substance taught that Tho
atonement made by Jesus Christ is not abso-
lutcIy necessary in order to salvation.
Notwithstanding these anu many Other
doctrines held and taught by Professor sim
son are plainly In conflict with the Bible and
the received doctrinal standards OF the
Church of Scotland, it was years before the
: highest court oi the Church prohibited him
crnin ski = inr nrn his Wild dNGlMNS