immense building crowded to the roof, awaiting with eager. ness, yet with unshaken confidence, the arrival of the many hundreds of ministers, elders, and probationers who were expected to come in due time, and for whom room was reserved in the centre and other divisions of the hall, and as they streamed in at the doors in numbers which filled the hearts of friends with thankfulness and rebuked the worldly scepticism of enemies, there rang forth a series of as hearty cheers as ever greeted those who had fought a hard battle and won a great victory. As each well-known leader appeared there burst forth a fresh acclamation of welcome; and when, after the never-to-be-forgotten opening prayer of Dr. Welsh, the name of Dr. Chalmers was mentioned as his successor, the enthusiasm reached its climax, the whole vast assembly starting to their feet, and cheering with a heartfelt and boundless fervour, which even at this distant day it is thrilling to recall.

These memorable incidents have often been described, but hardly any language and certainly not ours—can convey an adequate impression of their picturesque as well as their moral grandeur. We have simply attempted to tell something tell something of what we were privileged to witness--and a privilege of no ordinary kind we have ever regarded it-and yet how much remains untold. One of the minor, but very significant, memorabilia of that eventful day was the quiet announcement of the order of business that to-morrow (Friday) such a deputation would be heard, and on Saturday the reports of such-and-such committees would be received-very much what would have taken place had the Assembly still been meeting in St. Andrew's Church instead of Cannonmills Hall. Why it seemed as if the tremendous shock which the Church had sustained had not, even for a single day, thrown her machinery out of order or disturbed its easy and effective play. Calmly, and as if nothing had happened, she set herself to the discharge of all her functions as a Christian Church, and, disentangled from much that had encumbered her movements, sustained and maintained by the grace which had been vouchsafed her in the hour of trial, she braced herself hopefully to her task, confident that He whose high prerogatives as King of Zion she had been honoured to contend for, would now grant her all needful help for the great task to which she felt herself called.

What a contrast between the two Assemblies-the Established and the Free! In the latter, all was animation and joy and love-thankfulness for what had been achieved, hope for the future, perfect harmony of sentiment and brotherliness

A Disorderly Scene.

67

of feeling, with nothing to disturb, but everything to confirm the concord and happiness. In the other, gloom and despondency-mingled in some with regret, in others with shame-reigned almost unrelieved. What a sight was presented to the few spectators in the gallery! Even the steady old Moderates looked haggard and anxious, and the others, sprinkling the benches which but the other day were filled with the Evangelical party, and on which there were wont to sit for years the men of greatest mark-intellectually and morally-in all Scotland, those strange occupants of such a position, "the Forty," and the few who joined them at the last hour, certainly presented a very sorry spectacle.

One disorderly scene may be here recorded, as illustrative of the popular feeling which at that time of excitement could not be always restrained within decent bounds. A few days after the Disruption, the question of reponing the Strathbogie ministers was discussed in the Established Assembly. The discussion was carried on till after the hour when the Free Assembly adjourned, and the galleries, usually so silent and deserted since the 18th, were once more well filled with spectators. The point at issue was whether the notorious Strathbogie ministers should be reponed by an express act of the Assembly, or simply be regarded as never having been deposed, inasmuch as the civil court had pronounced against the deposition. The thorough-going old Moderates took up the latter position, and moved accordingly. The opposite motion to repone was made by one of the "Forty," Mr. Story, of Rosneath. The debate went drearily on for a time, and then came loud calls for the vote. But the taking of the vote was the difficulty and the dread. The "Protest had not yet been considered; the names attached to it were still upon the roll of Assembly; was that roll to be called simply as it stood, or were the names of the protesters to be omitted? The matter was referred to the Moderator, and he decided that the roll must be called just as it stood, that not a single name could be legally omitted. But then there were those awful galleries, filled once more with an eager crowd of whose sentiments the Assembly were more than suspicious. Every effort was made, but made in vain, to induce Mr. Story to withdraw his motion and allow the other to pass without a vote. The "Moderates" would not, of course, withdraw their motion, confident that they had now a large majority. There was, therefore, no help for itto the vote they must go. One of the northern Synods stood that year first on the roll. The clerk read out the names in a clear sonorous voice-some answering and many silent-till he came to the name of an individual who sat as an elder for

a Highland Presbytery. The name of " Doctor David Welsh" rang over the house, and it met with a response which was perfectly astounding. A wild cheer burst from the gallery, hats and handkerchiefs waved, loud hurrahs, pealing round, and again and again renewed, greeted the loved name of the man who had so nobly performed his part on the day of the Disruption. The scene beneath was no less demonstrative. Some half-score of members might be seen violently gesticulating and shouting, naturally indignant at such an interruption; the stentorian voice of Dr. Robertson, of Ellon, being heard far above the rest; fists were fiercely shaken at the surging galleries, and the Moderator, on becoming audible, was understood to threaten "an application to the civil power for protection," an unlucky appeal, which had only the effect of eliciting another rude burst of derision. As the calling of the roll proceeded, other well-known names received a similar though somewhat less boisterous welcome, and it must have been something like a relief from torture to the Assembly when that usually simple and prosaic, but in this case most mortifying, operation came to an end.

We cannot dwell longer upon Disruption incidents. Only one thing more we should like to say. It was often remarked how happy and cheerful the "outed" ministers were, and what a contrast was presented by those who declined to come out," or to sacrifice their manses, glebes, and stipends. We have seen something of both classes, and can frankly testify that the happiest set of men whom we ever knew were the outed ministers at the time of the Disruption. Seldom has the promise of the "hundred-fold more in this life," which Christ has promised to those who for His sake have forsaken houses and lands, been more strikingly verified. The testimony of an approving conscience beamed in their very faces and brightened their new homes; while, in the work set before them there was much to enliven their hearts, and compensate for their privations.

The Free Church started upon her dis-established career amid the acclamations of an admiring people, sustained by the happy consciousness of having done her duty in very trying circumstances, and cheered, as she believed and felt, by the approving smile of her living Head. True, her ministers were stripped in one day of all their endowments, deprived at once of every farthing of the provision by which they had hitherto been supported, of the houses which had sheltered them, and of the edifices in which their congregations had worshipped. Yet we see the men who were thus suddenly impoverished at home resolving to carry on, with unimpaired, or rather with increased, efficiency, all the

Immediate Issues of the Disruption.

69

Church's enterprises abroad; to prosecute zealously the missions to Jews and Gentiles; to attend to the spiritual interests of Presbyterians throughout the vast colonial empire of Great Britain; to do more than ever for the evangelization of the lapsed masses in the large towns of Scotland, and, at the same time, to build up the Tabernacle anew, so that the ordinances of the Gospel might be supplied to all the members and adherents of the Free Church of Scotland, whether in populous cities or in thinly-peopled rural districts. It was a great work which lay before that emancipated Church, and right promptly did she address herself to the task; and now, after the lapse of twenty years, we may say that, after all necessary deductions are made for the occasional mistakes and shortcomings from which no human enterprise is free, right nobly has she performed it. She was cheered at the outset by ardent expressions of sympathy from other nonestablished Churches at home and abroad; she was fortified by the cordial recognition of her as the true Church of Scotland by the sister Presbyterian communities of England and Ireland; and she was, ere long, encouraged by the announced adhesion of every missionary to Gentile and Jewmost signal testimony to her principles. With all these and many other incitements, and in the strength of her great Head, well might she go energetically forward. Nothing languished. Every Christian enterprise was prosecuted with fresh life and vigour. The duty of the Church to propagate the Gospel among all nations was kept full in view, and full, practical effect was given to the principle. At home a vast amount of work had to be undertaken. Ministers retired

-a

from the excitement and applause of the metropolis to the pleasant homes which they were now to leave, and they did not retire to sit down in despondency, bemoaning their hard fate, and sinking into stupor and lethargy, but to prepare for the full and faithful administration of all religious ordinances to their people, and earnestly and hopefully to set themselves to the task of repairing the breaches in the walls of Zion. Doubtless, there were many sore hearts and many sad farewells. But nobly were these faithful men seconded and sustained. We speak not here of the grace which was given them from above, but of the encouragement and support which they received from their wives and children in abandoning, for Christ's sake, their earthly all. We have never forgotten, and never can forget, a letter from a country minister's wife to her husband in Edinburgh, at the time of the Disruption. The writer was, and had long been, in very delicate health, and if she and her family should be obliged to leave the manse and go she knew not whither, the

trial would be a very hard one; yet the only anxiety which that letter exhibited was that the ministers might be kept steadfast and faithful, and be made willing to suffer the loss of all things rather than betray their Master's cause. There breathed in that letter as true a martyr spirit as ever animated a sufferer at the stake. The husband smilingly read to us a sentence or two, not as if it was anything extraordinary, but as a specimen of the way in which the ministers' wives were acting, put the letter in his pocket, and without a moment's hesitation did what he and she saw to be the right thing! Many similar incidents might be recorded, and they would form a very precious record indeed. We would fain hope that some of them may yet be rescued from impending oblivion ere the friends in whose memories they yet linger shall have all passed away.

What a busy summer was that which followed the Disruption! The scene of "Leaving the Manse" was repeated all over Scotland, from the distant Shetland Isles to the Solway, and other houses had to be procured, if possible, for the ministers and their families. Hundreds of churches had to be built; the whole ecclesiastical machinery had to be reorganized; the Gospel had to be preached far more extensively than it had ever been before; in short, every willing worker, clerical and lay, found plenty to do; and it was refreshing to see how willing men were at that time, and how much they were enabled to accomplish.

When the Assembly met in Glasgow, in October, 1843, five short months after the Disruption, cheering reports were given in of wonderful progress made in the interval. There had been thirty additional ministers ordained; there were already 754 congregations and stations, and of these upwards of 600 were sanctioned charges (deducting colleagues and professors, the ministers of congregations in the Free Church, in May, 1843, numbered 449). The great work of preaching the Gospel had been prosecuted throughout the land with unprecedented zeal; vast multitudes had listened to the message of salvation; an unwonted solemnity, combined with unusual activity in all Christian objects, had been manifested; congregations had sprung up everywhere and had already been extensively organized; the business of church building had been diligently attended to, though, of course, very much still remained to be done in this department. The Report upon the last-mentioned subject declared, "Four hundred and seventy ministers (ie., including colleagues, &c.) left their churches on the 18th of May, and in the course of five months we find ourselves called upon to form seven hundred congregations and to erect seven hundred churches." It was