the university, they are examined by the presbyters of the bounds where they were born, and it is done in the following manner:

The candidate having considered a theses, or head in divinity, delivers in a critical explanation of it, and answers all the objections usually made against it. He then delivers in Latin a critical discourse on one of the Hebrew psalms; after which, on the next day, he delivers a discourse in English, in the form of a sermon, both critical and practical. These examinations take up several days, and on the last of these comes the grand questionary trial, in which every minister has a right to ask what questions he pleases; and if satisfactory answers are given, the young student receives a licence to preach in any church in Scotland to which he may be invited; but he is not to administer the sacraments till he is ordained, nor is he to be ordained till he obtains a parish living.

When a minister dies, or is removed from one church to another, the presbytery meet in the bounds where the church is in, and appoint one of themselves to go and preach once to the people, and he affixes a paper on the church door, declaring it vacant. If no person is presented by the patron in six months, then the right falls to the presbytery; but in such cases they always give up their right to the people. When one of these probationers is presented or elected, he must attend the next meeting of the presbytery, where he undergoes a second examination, and performs the same exercises as before. He must likewise bring a certificate of his moral conduct, and then one of the presbytery goes with him to the church door, and reads a paper which he fixes up, intimating, that if any person can, within forty-two days, mention any thing against him, they are to come and prove it, otherwise they will proceed to his ordination. If no objection is made, then the presbytery meet at the parish church where the probationer is to be ordained.

One of the ministers preaches à sermon on the nature and duty of the ministerial office, and another delivers a discourse on the necessity and regularity of ordination. The candidate then repeats his confession of faith, which consists of his notions concerning the chief heads in divinity. He then declares before them, that he will not deliver any thing that is contrary to the Westminster confession of faith; and subscribes it, as an oath, in a book kept for that purpose.

him, that he is ordained to the work of the ministry, after which they all give him the right-hand of fellowship, as a brother. This part of the ceremonyis followed by the congregation singing an hymn or psalm, after which the moderator or president goes up to the pulpit, and delivers a discourse to the new ordained minister, exhorting him to consider what a charge he has taken upon him; to be tender and affectionate to his people, not plaguing and perplexing them with new doctrines, but inculcating the solid truths of the gospel; and, by his own example, to teach them as much as by his doctrine. To be careful to instruct the youth; to visit the aged and infirm; to be careful of what company he keeps, lest he should bring a blemish upon his character. He is to consider himself as if he was married to his people, that, like an affectionate father, a tender husband, or a faithful shepherd, to behave, in all lawful things, to every one, that he may bring up his people in the fear and worship of God, so as to prepare them for everlasting happiness. He is to teach him further, that he is to live in peace and harmony with his brethren the clergy, and pay a proper obedience to all the ordinances of the church.

On the other hand, he is to exhort the people to consider their pastor as one placed over them by Divine Providence, according to the plan of the gospel, and that they are to attend to his ministry as if he had been one sent from God. And this is not a presumptuous expression; for whatever is done according to what is enjoined in the word of God, may justly be said to come from God.

Thus every minister under the New Testament, if regularly ordained, though perhaps in various forms, comes from God; and let his conduct afterwards be ever so bad, yet this does not affect the graces, that God will bestow in consequence of his ministry, to those persons who never imagined him to be an hypocrite. The people are to be told, that it is their duty to receive his instructions with cordiality, to be meek and humble, not to enter into any disputes with him; but to consider him not only as a man of the same passions with themselves, but likewise as one who is to give an account of his conduct at the judgement-seat of Christ.

The next thing to be considered in the church of Scotland is her worship: and we have already taken notice that it has varied little since the reformation till the revolution. Although there were many changes in the government of the church of Scotland from the reformation till the Westminster as

tion, all the members of the presbytery lay their hands upon his head, the moderator acquainting

worship till that time; for the mad attempt to establish the liturgy, was momentary in its own nature,

but

but dreadful in its consequences. We have already treated of the manner in which the people of Scotland worshipped God in public till the revolution, and since that time no changes of a material nature have taken place; for although they have not a litorgy, yet it may justly be said of them, that things are done decently and in order.

The service always begins with singing, and sometimes the minister reads the psalm before it is sung; but in some congregations it is read by the clerk, whom, according to the ancient form, they call the precentor.

The psalm being over, the minister desires the people to join with him in prayer and supplication. This prayer seldom exceeds ten minutes, which perhaps is as long as any prayer should be, unless pcople would tell God idle tales.

The prayer being over, the minister reads part of a chapter, and then makes several reflections on every verse. This they call the lecture, and it generally takes up half an hour. This is perhaps the best method that could have been contrived to instruct people in the Christian religion, and it is owing to this that the people of Scotland know more of religion than any others in the world. In Scotland, it is common for a young minister to begin either with a particular book in the sacred scriptures, and sometimes with the whole New Testament, which he goes over regularly. In general, he meddles no farther with criticism than is necessary to illustrate such passages, and explain such things as the people may be unacquainted with. But the practical reflections exceed every thing that can be imagined in the whole system of the civil establishments of religion; for by these, men are taught to know what use they should make of the scriptures, and by carrying home and repeating them to their children, they train them up as it were in the nursery of grace.

The lecture being over, two or three verses of a psalm are sung, after which the minister prays a few minutes, and then he begins the sermon, which seldom takes up more than half an hour. Their sermons consist of, first, an explication of the context, with the sense of the text itself; secondly, a doctrinal proposition, as drawn from the words themselves: thirdly, an illustration of the doctrine in a few leading general heads, and then he concludes with a few practical inferences. The sermon being over, the minister prays for the whole state of the world, and then a few verses of a psalm are sung, after which he dismisses the people with the common blessing. This is the service during the forenoon, but in the afternoon it is only one half as long, because there is then no lecture.

In some of the remote parts of the country, where the ministers are more zealous in the discharge of their duty than in great towns, they assemble the people a third time together, during the summer season, and recapitulate to them the heads of all that has been declared to them before, in the preceding part of the day. Then the people are enabled to remember almost every thing they have heard.

We come next to the administration of the sacrament of baptism, which is carried on in the same manner as mentioned in the directory. They have, however, varied a little from the rules of the compendium, in the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. We have already seen how it was to be in the directory, but the frequency of its administration, which, by the constitution of the church of Scotland, was to be only four times in the year, was considered by many of the more zealous of the clergy, after the revolution, as injurious to their order, by taking away some of the solemnity, which they looked upon as inseparably connected with the church order.

During the violent persecution that took place in Scotland, in the reign of Charles II. the Presbyterian ministers were mostly prescribed, and therefore met in mountains, or in woods, and their sermons consisted of violent invectives against the civil government and the bishops. They found that the best way to inflame the passions of the people, was to celebrate the communion as seldom as possible, and somewhat like the Romish processions, to keep the people as far as related to their consciences, in a state of slavery.

That ancient leaven of superstition, was retained by those ministers who composed the first general assembly of the church of Scotland after the revolution. They were men of little knowledge, sour tempers, and a sort of unfeeling apathy distinguished every part of their conduct. They therefore proposed, that the best means to keep the people in subjection, was to make their solemn occasions as they call them, as frequent as possible. Accordingly, they laid down a new plan for the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which, although never reduced to a law by any of the acts of their assemblies, yet grew into practice, and has been, with very little variations, adhered to ever since in Scotland. The method is this:

Two Sundays before the sacrament is to be administered, the minister gives notice to the people, and the elders of the congregation are to make a report to them concerning the morality of their conduct, that the sacred ordinances may not be profaned. On the Thursday before the celebration,

five or six ministers assemble at the church, and the day is kept as a fast. The inhabitants of many of the neighbouring parishes assemble, and there are sermons preached, not only in the church, but also in a tent in the church yard, or perhaps in a neighbouring field. It is amazing to think what numbers of people assemble on these occasions, and sometimes, like the procession to Loretto in Italy, they make parties of pleasure.

Friday being a sort of interval, those who live in the parish and near to it, return home to their own houses, but those who perhaps have come sixteen, or twenty, or thirty miles, procure lodgings either in farm houses or barns; and here, to use the words of Mr. Sandiman, they sometimes on these occasions increase the number of the human species; for religion will not make people idle.

On Saturday several sermons are preached, both in the church and in the church vard, where the tent is erected, and then they retire till Sunday morning. It is then that the great day begins. The minister of the parish goes to the church, and preaches what he calls the action sermon, after which he prepares the people for the communion, by debarring all those from partaking of it, who know of any immorality in their conduct, that they have not made satisfaction for to the church.

A table is covered in the middle isle of the church, and the minister having consecrated the elements, the elders carry them round to the people. Previous to the distribution of the elements, every person who is to communicate, delivers to one of the eklers a leaden ticket, which is a token from the minister that he has been examined, and is properly prepared for that holy ordinance. The person who has not got this ticket is rejected, and must immediately depart. As soon as those who have filled the first table, have partaken of the elements, a psalm is sung, and they retire to make room for others. And thus it frequently happens that there may be ten, or more, of these tables served at once. The communicants being all served, there is a sermon preached by the minister of the parish, and the congregation are dismissed from the church.

But this is not all: During the whole time this ceremony is carrying on in the church, sermons are preaching in the tent, in the church-yard, or per haps in an adjacent field. These sermons some. times used to continue till midnight, but at present they are much more regular. Monday concludes the ceremony, for on that day two sermons are preached in the church, and as many in the church yard, after which the people retire to their own No. 29.

habitations. It is certain, that this looks more like the Popish processions than any thing that bears the name of Christianity, and an attempt was made some years ago to set the practice aside; but it was all in vain, for popular prejudices ran so high in favour of it, that such of the clergy as countenanced the motion, were looked upon as lukewarm, timeserving wretches, who had no regard for the interests of religion, and who, in short, were destitute of real piety.

Education makes a part of religion in Scotland, for both in public and private, means are used to promote it. Thus, the first thing they learn is the shorter catechism, and this they repeat not only at home to their parents, but also at school, where the master prays with them mornings and evenings. On every Sunday morning before the service begins, two boys stand up in the gallery, and a third in the clerk's desk. Him in the desk asks the boy on the left hand the first question in the catechism, who having answered it, he turns to the other on the right, and desires him to prove the answer from scripture, who does it. They have printed catechisms with these proofs, and they are obliged to get them carefully by heart. In three Sundays they go over the catechism in this manner, and then three other boys take their places.

There is another part of their education that ought to be attended to by every one, who would form a just notion of the church of Scotland. And that is, that every man and woman servant, as well as the boys and girls, are obliged to repeat, when they come home, the text, upon which the minister preached, and such as begin to grow up, must, when they come home, repeat the points or heads upon which the minister preached, and as much more as they can remember.

Before the family sit down to supper, the master takes his place, and asks the questions in the catechism of his children and servants. That being over, every one is ordered to bring in his bible, when the master in a few words, prays for a blessing on what they are going about to perform. After this they sing a psalm, and one of the young persons reads a chapter in the bible; sometimes two or more are read, and the family worship ends by the master praying with his people, who all kneel down in a decent and reverend manner.

These devotions are performed every evening, but the catechism never is asked on these occasions, except on Sundays. In many parts of the country, family worship is performed in the mornings as well as in the evenings; and here let us calmly consider whether this does not exceed any thing that we read 8 K

of

WE

have already mentioned some of those mischiefs which took place in Scotland concerning the patronage act, but as the people of Engfand are but little acquainted with them, we shall here lay them before the reader. The nobility and gentry, who had the right of presentation, did not avail themselves of those emoluments or privileges arising from the act, till more than twenty years after it passed. The first who set them the example wast one from whom it was least expected. This person was the great John, duke of Argyle, a nobleman whose ancestors had been for a long series of years strongly attached to the Presbyterians, and for whose opposition to the measures carried on by Charles II. two of his ancestors were publicly be headed. That duke was, in 1732, ill enough advised to present one Mr. Rannie to the parish of Mukart, of which he was the patron. The presbytery refused to ordain him, upon which an appeal was brought before the general assembly, and a select body of their own members was sent to perform the ordination. This exasperated the people so much, that not above one family would go to the church. '

In the mean time, those members of the presbytery who had refused to ordain him, were called to a severe account. Four of them were summoned before the general assembly, and refusing to acknowledge that they had acted in a disobedient manner, they were deposed, and their churches deelared vacant. The year following, four more of them were deposed; and, in general, the country was in a state of discontent. Those people who adhered to their discarded ministers, formed themselves into societies, and, at last it was agreed, that they should set up a separate communion from the

established church. As they had no churches, nor meetings, they preached for some time in the fields ; and as their characters were popular, they soon procu ed a vast number of followers, especially among the lower ranks of the people,

It is certain that these men were not destitute of abilities, at least they were useful preachers, according to the Calvinistical system. Some of their printed discourses would do honour to clergymen, who had far greater opportunities of improving. themselves than ever they had; but in some things. they were weak, and in others they were proud and bigotted. They had assumed a sourness of temper inconsistent with the Christian religion, and something equally unfeeling with that of a stoic. They were either weak or vain enough to believe, that in consequence of that popularity they had acquired. among the people, they could bring about a revolution in the church and state, in the same manner as their ancestors of old had done, when they were assisted by the nobility, whom, in their infant years, they had trained up in principles of rebellion. But alas! the nobility had become their enemies, they saw into their duplicity, and therefore they left them to the whole vengeance of the civil