tors have over the ruling elders, are the power of ordination by imposition of hands, which is lodged in this ecclesiastical court, and the privilege of having the moderator chosen from their body.

The number of Presbyteries in Scotland is 78; and those of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, and two or three more, meet every month; but in country districts, they seldom meet above four or five times a-year, unless when some business occurs which requires them to meet oftener.

From the judgment of the Presbytery there lies an appeal to the Provincial Synod, which ordinarily meets twice in the year, and exercises over the Presbyteries within the province, a jurisdiction similar to that which is vested in each Presbytery over the several kirk sessions within its bounds. Of these Synods there are in the Church of Scotland fifteen, which are composed of the members of the several Presbyteries within the respective provinces which give names to the Synods.*

The highest ecclesiastical court is The General Assembly, which consists of a certain number of ministers and ruling elders, delegated from each Presbytery, and of commissioners from the royal boroughs. By act 5th of the Assembly, 1694, "A Presbytery in which there are fewer than 12 parishes, sends to the General Assembly two mi

*The Confession of Faith admits that the civil magistrate may call Synods, be present at them, and provide that whatsoever is transacted in them be according to the mind of God.-Dr. Hill's Theol. Instit. p. 152.

nisters and one ruling elder;—if it contain between 12 and 18 ministers, it sends three of these, and one ruling elder ;-if it contain between 18 and 24 ministers, it sends four ministers, and two ruling elders;—and of 24 ministers, when it contains so many, it sends five, with two ruling elders. Every royal borough sends one ruling elder, (and Edinburgh two) whose election must be attested by the kirk sessions of their respective boroughs; and every University sends one commissioner from its own body.

According to this proportion of representation, the General Assembly, in the present state of the church, consists of the following members, viz. 200 Ministers representing Presbyteries. 89 Elders representing Presbyteries. 67 Elders representing royal boroughs.

5 Ministers or elders representing Universities.*

361

The commissioners are chosen annually, about six weeks before the meeting of the Assembly, which always takes place in May ;† and the ruling elders are seldom the lay elders of the different parishes, but often gentlemen of the law in Edinburgh, and men of eminence in the kingdom, for rank and talents. Yet some of them, it is feared,

* Each of the two Colleges in the university of Aberdeen sends one Commissioner.

If a minister fails in his attendance at the respective meetings of the Presbytery and of the Synod, or when elected in his turn to the General Assembly, he is liable to censure; and he attends all these courts at his own charges.

are not so deeply impressed with a sense of religion, as to be interested in the proceedings of an ecclesiastical court, where temporalities are not concerned; and much less to be duly qualified for deliberating and deciding on religious subjects.

This Assembly is honoured with a representative of the sovereign, in the person of the Lord High Commissioner, who is always a nobleman, and presides, and has a salary of 1500l. per annum ; but he has no voice in their deliberations.

The order of their proceedings is regular, and in general much decorum is observed; but sometimes opposition runs high between the two parties, who often take this opportunity of trying their strength, and a confusion arises from the number of members, the collision of ministers and laymen, &c., which the Moderator, who is annually chosen from among the former to be, as it were, the speaker of the house, has not sufficient authority to prevent.

The Assembly continues to sit for ten days, at the end of which time, it is dissolved, first by the Moderator, who appoints another Assembly to be held upon a certain day of the month of May, in the following year; and then by the Lord High Commissioner, who, in his Majesty's name, appoints another Assembly to be held upon the day which had been mentioned by the Moderator.*

* In this Church, the clergy individually are styled Reverend; a Synod is Very Reverend; and the General As sembly is Venerable.

Appeals are brought from all the other ecclesiastical courts in Scotland, to the General Assembly; and in questions purely religious, no appeal lies from its determinations.-To the laws already made, no new one can be added, till it has been proposed in one General Assembly, and by them transmitted to every Presbytery for their consent. If this, or at least the consent of the majority, is obtained, the Assembly next year may pass it into an act, which henceforth must be regarded as a constitutional law of the Kirk.

In the subordination of these assemblies and courts of review, parochial, presbyterial, provincial, and national, the less unto the greater, consists the external order, strength, and stedfastness of the Church of Scotland,

See Mr. Bonar's sermon, entitled, "The Nature and Tendency of the Ecclesiastical Constitution in Scotland," in the 1st vol. of the Scotch Preacher.

By our constitution," says Mr. B., (p. 23,) “a power is acknowledged, but a power limited to its proper object. A subordination takes place, but the higher you ascend, the determination lies in the greater number; so that if the censure, when inflicted, falls with additional weight, yet hereby the greater security is given that it shall not be inflicted unjustly."

See A Letter from a Parochial Bishop to a Prelatical Gentleman, with an Apology for the Church of Scotland, both witten by Mr. Willison, sometime minister in Dundee, and both evincing con

siderable learning and great ingenuity. See also the Encyclopædia Britannica, Art. Presbyterians, and Dr. Hill's Theological Institutes, in which the constitution of this Church is ably treated, and at full length.-"We feel no disposition," says the Doctor, (p. 186,) " to take the Solemn League and Covenant; yet, at the same time, we stand firm in the opinion which every minister of the Church of Scotland declares at his ordination, that the Presbyterian government and discipline of this Church are not only lawful, but founded in the word of God, and conformable to the model exhibited in the primitive times of Christianity.

BOUNDS, NUMBERS, DUTIES, AND INCOME OF THE CLERGY, EMINENT MEN, &c.-The connexion of what was called the Scots Kirk at Campvere, in Holland, with the establishment in this country, has lately been dissolved by the Batavian Republic; so that this Church is now confined to Scotland and the islands of Scotland, and it contains within its bounds nearly 900 parishes.

The number of ministers belonging to it who enjoy benefices, and possess ecclesiastical authority, is 936. Of this number 77 are placed in collegiate charges, mostly in the proportion of two ministers for each of these charges; and the remaining 859 ministers are settled in single charges, each of them having the superintendence of a whole parish. In very populous parishes, Chapels of Ease are erected with consent of the Kirk, and are supported by voluntary subscriptions; but the ministers who officiate in them are not included