Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/189

Rh ordained him without waiting, as they were bound, for the adjudication of the General Assembly; and when its meeting of commission interposed, and arrested these proceedings, it was served by the civil court with a suspension and interdict. Another case was, if possible, still more flagrant. The minister of a parish had been convicted of four separate acts of theft. The cases were of such a contemptible kind of petty larceny, compared with the position of the culprit and the consequences they involved, that it may be charitably hoped they arose from that magpie monomania from which even lords and high-titled ladies are not always exempt, under which they will sometimes secrete a few inches of paltry lace, or pocket a silver spoon. But though the cause of such perversity might be suited for a consultation of doctors and a course of hellebore, the deeds themselves showed the unfitness of the actor to be a minister. Yet he too applied for and obtained an interdict against the sentence of deposition; so that he was enabled to purloin eggs, handkerchiefs, and pieces of earthenware for a few years longer. A third minister was accused of fraudulent dealings, and was about to be tried by his Presbytery; but here, also, the civil court was successfully invoked to the rescue, and an interdict was obtained to stop the trial. A fourth case was that of a presentee who, in consequence of repeated acts of drunkenness, was about to be deprived of his license; but this offender was likewise saved by an interdict. And still the State looked on, and would do nothing! The only alternative was for that party to act by whom such proceedings could be conscientiously endured no longer. They must dis-establish themselves by their own voluntary deed, whether they constituted the majority of the church or otherwise. But how many of their number were prepared to make the sacrifice? and in what manner was it to be made? This could only be ascertained by a convocation of the ministers from every part of Scotland; and the meeting accordingly was appointed to be held in Edinburgh on the 17th of November, 1842. It was an awful crisis, and as such Dr. Chalmers felt it; so that, having done all that man could do in the way of preparation, he threw himself wholly upon Divine strength and counsel. His solemn petitions on this occasion were: "Do thou guide, O Lord, the deliberations and measures of that convocation of ministers now on the eve of assembling; and save me, in particular, from all that is rash and unwarrantable when engaged with the counsels or propositions that come before it. Let me not, God, be an instrument in any way of disappointing or misleading my brethren. Let me not, in this crisis of our Church's history, urge a sacrifice upon others which I would not most cheerfully share with them." The convocation assembled, and 450 ministers were present on the occasion. The deliberations, which extended over several days, were conducted with a harmony and unanimity seldom to be found in church courts; one common principle, and that, too, of the highest and most sacred import, seemed to animate every member; while in each movement a voice was heard to which they were all ready to listen. The prayer of Dr. Chalmers was indeed answered! It was resolved, that no measure could be submitted to, unless it exempted them in all time to come from such a supremacy as the civil courts had lately exercised. Should this not be obtained and guaranteed, the next resolution was, that they should withdraw from a Church in which they could no longer conscientiously remain and act under such secular restrictions. It was probable, then, that they must withdraw, but what was to follow? Even to the wisest of their number it seemed inevitable that they must assume the character of mere individual missionaries, V.