Scotch Presbyterians

A hundred years ago there was a Presbyterian clergyman in Scotland who could make lectures on mathematics so stirring that the authorities at St. Andrews, fearful of the excitement thus roused in the students, discontinued them. He was Dr. Thomas Chalmers, kindling and original personality, whose principal claim to fame is that he led a secession which split the established Church of Scotland, and presided over the founding of what is now known as the United Free Church of Scotland.

For nearly a century the two great divisions of the Scotch Presbyterian Church have struggled side by side. Last week the assembly of each voted, independently, approval of a plan for reunion which, it was hoped, would be consummated next year.

The Ten Years' Conflict. Not on strictly doctrinal or theological differences did the disruption of 1843 under the leadership of Dr. Chalmers depend. In this regard the divided Presbyterian Church of Scotland presents a curious contrast to the Church of England, which is not divided physically, although there are vexatious differences between its two factions ("high" church or "catholic," and "low" church or "broad") on points of liturgy and doctrine.

The Scotch Presbyterians broke on the question of how far to tolerate interference in pastoral matters, and patronage, by the secular authority.

Beginning in 1833 intrusions by the secular authority caused bitterness. In accordance with the original constitutions of the church, the General Assembly in 1834 passed the famed Veto Act, providing that no pastor need be accepted by a congregation contrary to the wishes of a majority of its members.

But the right of the presbytery so to reject a pastor was denied by decisions in the courts. The matter was taken to the House of Lords, the Queen, the House of Commons. All sustained the court decisions.

At the General Assembly in 1843, therefore, the non-intrusion party presented its protest and withdrew, to organize as the Free Church of Scotland. Dr. Chalmers was chosen first moderator of the new Assembly, protestant within protestantism.

Peace Efforts. By signing the Act of Separation, 474 clergymen and professors surrendered the benefices they held under the Establishment. To provide for them and to build churches was the enormous task Dr. Chalmers and his colleagues undertook. At the end of four years more than 700 churches had been provided. The Free Church, vigorous, evangelical, prospered. In 1900 it combined with the United Presbyterian Church.

From time to time tentative attempts toward reconciliation with the Establishment were made. Abuses by the secular authority having virtually ceased, and the leaders of the United Free Church having grown somewhat less stiff and proud, negotiations were resumed in earnest in 1909.

Significance. Reunion of the two organizations, which it is hoped will be effected next year, would unite practically the entire Presbyterian body in Scotland, comprising roughly two-thirds of the Christian membership of the country. The Church of Scotland had an enrollment of 761,946 at the beginning of 1927; the United Free Church, 536,409.

As there is no political dependency, the union of the Scotch Presbyterians would serve only as example to their brethren in the U. S. Here a total membership of 2,561,986 (1927) is divided between three larger and some seven smaller groups. The Southern Church (Presbyterian Church in the U. S.) was organized at the beginning of the Civil War; it is characteristically conservative. The Northern Church (Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A.) which combined with the Cumberland Church in 1906, is vigorous in missionary work and notable for disputes between liberals and fundamentalists.

* The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has 606,650 communicants; the Episcopal, 60,495. Small Presbyterian bodies,, Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Unitarians have scattered congregations.