Imatges de pàgina
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said expressions are not only highly exceptionable and indecorous, but most injurious and disrespectful to the last General Assembly; and this Assembly think it their duty to express their marked disapprobation of language so improperly applied to the decisions of the Supreme Judicatory of the Church. But the General Assembly having duly considered, and deliberated on the matter set forth in the overture, and having thus solemnly declared their high disapprobation of the above passages in the said publication, do not find it expedient to make this overture the ground of any further procedure, and therefore dismiss the same."

This motion was seconded by Dr Lockhart.

Dr Cook, Mr Gibson, and Mr Moncrieff, seconded the motion of Mr Brown; Mr Wightman, Mr Macfarlane, and Principal Taylor, that of Dr Nicoll.

Mr Thomson said, he remembered instances of viva voce calumnies against. the Assembly as reprehensible as this one, which were passed by without any notice. He remembered, on a certain occasion, in the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, when a reverend doctor (we understood him to mean Dr Inglis) had spoken of an Act of the Assembly, the Act of 1814, respecting pluralities, in language every whit as calumniating. He would use the term, as it seemed to be the order of the day, (a laugh,) and yet no regard was paid to it-it came from so respectable a quarter. (Laughter.) The reverend doctor had said, that the Act of Assembly was inconsistent with common sense, and contained a violation of truth. (Laughter.) But then this was said by a person, who, it would now seem, could do no wrong. (A laugh.) In that very House, the Lord President had, in speaking of some act which the preceding Assem

bly had passed, called it the most confused, inconsistent, and absurd thing he had ever seen in his life, a rudis indigestaque moles; but nobody ever thought of calling him to account for such expressions. And why all this indulgence to Dr Inglis and the Lord President? why, he believed, because it never was deemed consistent with the duty or the dignity of the Assembly to issue declarations on such occasions. But now he could see another reason for it. These gentlemen were not" Christian Instructors." (.4 laugh.) There were manuscript instances. One of these had been al luded to by his learned friend, (Mr Moncrieff;) he begged leave to al lude to it still more particularly. It came in the form of an overture from the Presbytery of Dumbarton, of which Dr Macfarlane, who had spoken so keenly on this occasion, was a member. (A laugh.) And what did it say of the decision of the preceding As sembly? Why, it said these things"And whereas, in 1814, the General Assembly of that year passed an act respecting union of benefices without any regard to this rule, whereby, in the judgment of this Presbytery, the barrier act was infringed, the constitution of the Church grossly violated, and their rights and privileges trampled on in the most contemptuous and arbitrary manner." (Cheering and laughter.) Here was calumny with a vengeance uttered by one of our Presbyteries-deliberately laid upon their table-and what did they do? Did they call the Presbytery to the bar and rebuke them for this outrage? No, no. And why? Just, it seemed, because the overture from the Presby tery of Dumbarton was not the Christian Instructor. (Loud laughter.) And now he (Mr Thomson) would give them instances of printed calumnies, for he would still use that precious

word. He had read the other day a number of a periodical work, called, or, according to Dr Bryce's jocular phraseology, miscalled the Christian Repository, a statement bearing, in express terms, "that want of principle had long characterised our administration of ecclesiastical affairs." Here

was food for the gentlemen on the other side, if they were so anxious to hunt out grounds of accusation and alarm. But no; they would not touch this work, just because it was not the Instructor-(A laugh.) In another part of the same number of the Repository, he had found a review of a pamphlet, by Dr Irvine of Dunkeld; and there the conductors of the work, after accusing the reverend author of much bad grammar-(A laugh)—and of as much Billingsgate-(A laugh)of neither of which things, they were all well aware, the doctor was at all capable-(A laugh)—poured out a great deal of severe animadversion on the Church of Scotland; and he was sorry to observe, that the reverend doctor had given them some grounds for such remarks; for he had admitted in his pamphlet, that not a few of his Highland brethren were "idle dogs" and" slow bellies"-(Excessive laughter)—and yet it did not appear that the brethren thus calumniated had entered any complaint to the Assembly. Nay, the reverend doctor himself, who had furnished the calumny, and given the Repository a handle against the Church, came forward this day, and manfully seconded the motion of the reverend Principal, for a severe censure on the Christian Instructor. (Cheering and laughter.) He could give them a hundred instances of the same kind, which they might read for themselves. For all in this Assembly were given to reading, he presumed, more or less. (A laugh.) But he would refer only to one more. It appears the reve

VOL. XIII. PART II.

rend doctor, who introduced this unhappy and ill-fated overture, had not consulted a single individual about it; but this was the very thing he (Mr Thomson) complained of; because, if he had consulted any one upon it, they would have said to him, assuredly, "Oh, by no means, do not bring it in." (A laugh.) From what had been said by every gentleman who had spoken on the other side, every one of them would have given him the same advice; though, by the way, he could not help observing, it was rather a strange and unaccountable thing, that these very gentlemen, with all their declared aversion to the measure, had gone to the Committee of Overtures, and most strenuously supported and voted for the motion to transmit it. (Laughter.) Particularly, if he had applied to a certain learned doctor, he would have said to him very earnestly, "Take care, do not bring it in on any account, otherwise we shall bring an old house on our head, for I myself some time ago wrote something of the same kind; and I know there are some very shrewd fellows in the Assembly-(Loud laughter)-who would not be long of noticing it." A pamphlet, published a while ago, speaking of the decision of the Assembly in Mr Leslie's case, has these words-"But when a certain party in the state has influence to determine the decision of an Assembly vote, men of the moderate interest do not deem it dishonourable to be found in the minority." (Cheering.) And yet this was not an anonymous publication, but written by John Inglis, Doctor of Divinity, and one of the ministers of Edinburgh! He would put it to the candour, honour, and consistency of the House, whether they could act with such partiality. It seems many had not read this publication which they condemned. He wished they had read it, for they

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would have learned a good deal of instruction from it. (A laugh.) Something had been said about personal feelings. On this subject he would only say, that there had been a sacrifice of personal feeling, which he, for his part, would not have made, no, not for all the wealth of India. Mr Thomson concluded nearly in these words:" And now, sir, before I sit down, allow me for a moment to advert to the time and the circumstances in which this business is submitted to us. It is, sir, when we are met to part, never all again to meet in this world-it is when we are met to take a respectful leave of the noble representative of our gracious Sovereign, in the hope that he will report favourably of our proceedings to his Majesty it is when we are met to receive from you, sir, those wise and paternal admonitions which you are so well qualified to give, before we return to our families and our flocksit is when we are met to exchange our tokens of mutual kindness, and of mutual forgiveness, for any asperities which, from the weakness of human nature, may have mingled in our discussions and debates-it is when we are met for these purposes, under the peaceful and harmonising influence of that Sabbath of the Lord which has intervened between our present and our former meetings-it is at this time, and in these circumstances, that we are called on to discuss an overture, which I must not say was intended, but which I will say was calculated, to rouse our angry passions, and to render that which should have been the scene, and nothing but the scene of brotherly love, a scene of discord and strife. Oh sir, must not every generous feeling revolt at this intrusion on the holiness and the charity of our, farewell meeting? Do not all the sentiments of good will, which, in spite of our different parties and our differ

ent opinions, still glow within our breasts, rise up in arms against such an unlooked-for, and such an unprecedented violation of our sanctuary? And must we not retire to our houses under a painful impression, that, when we are just about to give the parting salutation, there was forced on us a subject of complaint, which, it is distressing to contemplate, can scarcely be discussed without occasioning keen contention, which had escaped the notice, or only excited the interest of those among whom it circulated, and which is forced upon us by the zeal of him whom it least of all concernsthe Presbyterian minister from the banks of the Ganges?"

The vote being now called for, there appeared for Dr Nicoll's motion, 83; for Mr Brown's, 82. The former, therefore, was carried by a majority only of

one.

The ecclesiastical organization of the different religious denominations in Russia, are as under :

The Catholics of Lithuania, of White Russia, and Western Russia, have their archbishops, bishops, religious orders of both sexes, with colleges of Jesuits, &c.

The Protestants, both Lutheran and Reformed, have their superior consistories in each government. In Finland, these consistories have at their head a bishop, and in the other provinces, a superintendant-general.

The Armenians, whether united or not, have their archbishops and bishops, and the latter class have a patriarch.

The Moravian brethren of Sarepta have their separate ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

The Mahometans, whose number amounts to near three millions, have two muftis.

The sectaries of Lama have their lamas or priests.

A letter from a Catholic missionary at Macao, dated April 1, 1819, affords some details relative to the persecution of the Christians in China. Every European priest that is discovered is instantly seized and put to death; Chinese Christian priests undergo the same fate. Christians of the laity, unless they will apostatize, are first dreadfully tortured, and then banished into Tartary. This year, 1819, in the prisons of one province alone, Sutcuen, two hundred Christians were expecting the orders for their exile. A Chinese priest had just been strangled, and two others were also under sentence of death. Throughout the

whole empire, there are but ten missionaries, five of whom, at Pekin, have no communication with the inhabitants unless it be secret. The Emperor has moreover declared, that he will no longer tolerate either painters or watchmakers, or even mathematicians. The Bishop of Pekin has in vain attempted to introduce himself, under this title, into his diocese. The only way left to the missionaries to penetrate into the country, is by gaining the messengers or couriers that pass from Mocao to Pekin, but if discovered, both the missionary and the courier suffer death on the spot.

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

PLAN OF ROYAL SOCIETY OF

LITERATURE,

For the Encouragement of Indigent Merit, and the Promotion of General Literature. To consist of Honorary Members, Subscribing Members, and Associates.

THE Class of Honorary Members is intended to comprise some of the most eminent literary men in the three kingdoms, and the most distinguished female writers of the present day.

An annual subscription of two guineas will constitute a subscribing member. Subscribers of ten guineas, and upwards, will be entitled to privileges hereafter mentioned, according to the date of their subscription.

The Class of Associates is to consist of twenty men of distinguished learning, authors of some creditable work of literature, and men of good

moral character; ten under the patronage of the King, and ten under the patronage of the Society.

His Majesty has been pleased to express, in the most favourable terms, his approbation of the proposed Society, and to honour it with his munificent patronage, by assigning an annual sum of one hundred guineas each, to ten of the Associates, payable out of the privy purse; and also an annual premium of one hundred guineas for the best Dissertation on some interesting subject, to be chosen by a council belonging to the Society.

Ten Associates will be placed under the patronage of the Society, as soon as the subscriptions (a large portion of which will be annually funded for the purpose) shall be sufficient, and in proportion as they become so. An annual subscriber of ten guineas, continued for five years, or a life subscription of one hundred guineas, will

entitle such subscribers to nominate an Associate under the Society's patronage, according to the date of their subscription.

The Associates, under the patronage of the King, will be elected by respected and competent judges. The Associates nominated by Subscribers must have the same qualifications of learning, moral character, and public principle, as those who are elected, and must be approved by the same judges.

Every Associate, at his admission, will choose some subject, or subjects, of literature, for discussion, and will engage to devote such discussions to the Society's Memoirs of Literature, of which a volume will be published by the Society, from time to time; in which Memoirs will likewise be inserted the successive Prize Dissertations.

From the months of February to July, it is purposed that a weekly meeting of the Society shall be held; and a monthly meeting during the other six months of the year.

INSTITUTIONS IN WALES,

For the Promotion of Ancient Litera

ture, Poetry, and Music.

The recent transactions in the principality were of a nature to afford gratification to all who feel an interest in the preservation of ancient relics, and the revival of ancient literature, as well as the fostering of living merit. Several of the nobility, clergy, and gentry, came forward in a very spirited manner, to support the designs of the Bardic and Literary Institution, first formed at Carmarthen, in South Wales, under the patronage of Bishop Burgess and Lord Dynevor, and now in North Wales, under the sanction of the pa

triotic Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, and his brother Charles W. Wynne, Esq. A Society, under the name of "The Metropolitan Cambrian Institution," was also formed in London, to which his Majesty condescended to extend the royal patronage. Even in the present infant state of these designs, a pleasing spirit of emulation was excited among the natives of Cambria.

At the Eistedhood, or Bardic session, held at Carmarthen, July 5, 1819, Bishop Burgess presided with great ability and zeal. The principal poems were, 1. A Welsh Ode on the Death of her late Majesty Queen Charlotte, by Mr Williams, of Lanedgai, Carnarvonshire.-2. A Poem on the Death of that brave Cambrian Sir T. Picton, by the Rev. Walter Davies; and an English Imitation of it by the Rev. Mr Lloyd, which had been set to music by Mr Parry, of London. premium for the best prose essay in English, on "The Language and Learning of Britain during the Roman period," was awarded to the Rev. John Jones, of Lanvair, near Bangor. The Rev. Walter Davies filled the Bardic chair, and Mr Blaney, of Montgomeryshire, after a contest with his neighbour, Mr Humphreys, gained the honour of the silver harp, and a premium of thirty guineas.

The

The anniversary of the Cymmrodonian, or Cambrian Society, for the district of Powys, including the counties of Montgomery, Denbigh, and Flint, was held at Wrexham on the 13th and 14th of September, when Sir W. W. Wynne, supported by his brother, Charles W. Wynne, Esq. and Sir Edward Lloyd, presided in a very spirited and able manner.

The principal prize-poem had for its subject, "The Death of his late Majesty King George the Third." The premium of fifteen guineas was awarded to a bard well known in the principality, Mr Robert Davies, of

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