Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/703

Rh SCOTLAND.] PRESBYTER IANISM 679 Brenz says, &quot; from among the citizens &quot; ; G^colampadius and Capito, partly from the Government, partly from the congregation ; Calvin theoretically leaves it unsettled, but in practice gives it only to the political bodies. As to period of office, Capito wishes for regular change ; the rest leave it in theory undetermined. Geneva retained per manence as the rule and change as the exception. (5) Synods have no place except with Lambert. .sky. In 1549 Lasky, who had established a flourishing church at Emden, was driven to London. There in 1550 he became superintendent of the foreign congregation, which was independent of the state church, but which was in tended by the king to serve as a model to be followed when England should be ripe for reform. This church was in two congregations, French and German. The French kept the Genevan system, the German a modification of it. In this latter the ministers, elders, and deacons were chosen by the written votes of the congregation, with revision and final decision by the officers already existing, though any objection on the part of the congregation must be duly considered. The strictest discipline was carried out. Not merely the congregation but the ministers also were subject to the elders. Every three months ministers and elders came together for mutual censure. Deacons were subordinate to the elders. The eldership was for life, the diaconate for a year. The essential difference be tween this and Calvin s system is that here the congre gation has a very real though a limited share in the choice of the officers ; the ground- work of Lasky s prin ciple is subdued Congregationalism. Lasky held also that the ministers should have a fixed president, selected from themselves. This office he regarded as a permanent one. Under the Marian persecution the London system found in a modified form a new home in Frankfort and on the lower Rhine. At Frankfort, in the French congregation, in choosing elders, the church council selected twice as many names as were wanted, and out of them the con gregation made its choice. 1 Stland. Scotland. The initial conditions of Scottish Presby- terianism are seen in the historical facts (1) that the Reformation was the form taken by the triumph of a violent and grasping aristocracy over the encroachments of the sovereign and an alien church ; and (2) that John Knox was its spiritual leader. Under his advice the Pro testant nobles in December 1557 formed themselves into a covenanted body called &quot;The Lords of the Congregation&quot;; in 1559 Perth declared itself Protestant, and Knox s sermon there on llth May was the manifesto of revolt. In 1560, being hard pressed, the lords concluded with England the Pacification of Berwick, and a few months later the treaty of Edinburgh, whereby the whole government was placed in their hands. Oanl- To the parliament which now assembled a petition was MM of addressed praying (1) that a &quot;true kirk of God&quot; and the &quot; sound doctrines of the Reformation might be established, &quot;(BJ Idiil . clrch. (2) that the true discipline of the ancient church might be restored, and (3) that the ecclesiastical revenues might be applied to the support of the ministry, schools, and the poor. Meanwhile the Reformers garrisoned, as it were, the country. Under Knox s agency Edinburgh, St Andrews, Aberdeen, Jedburgh, Perth, Dunfermline, and Leith had fixed ministers appointed, whilst wider districts were placed under superintendents or travelling ministers. To 1 On the pre-Calvin reformers and Lasky, see Lechler, Gcschichte der Presbyterial- und Synodal- Verfassung scit der Reformation ; Richter, Gesch. der evang. Kirchenrerfassung in Deutschland, and Evang. Kirchenordnungen, d-c. ; Herzog, Rml-Encyklopadie ; Allix, Hist, of the Waldenses ; and other works. For Calvin, see Institutes and Cor respondence ; Lechler, as above ; Henry, Life and Times ; Mosheiin, Ecdes. History ; Hagenbach, Works ; Cunningham, Hist. Theology ; Ranke, Franzosische Geschichte ; Richter, ut supra. meet the first prayer of the petition Knox and five other ministers drew up a scheme of doctrine and discipline. The Confession of Faith, produced within four days and ratified by the three estates on 17th July 1560, was natur ally aggressive and uncompromising. It expresses abhor rence especially of the blasphemy of them &quot;that affirm e that men who live according to equity and justice sail be saved what religioun soever they have professed,&quot; and of all the doctrines of the Anabaptists. The civil magistrate is appointed for the &quot; suppressing of idolatrie and supersti- tioun whatsoever.&quot; Above all, no mercy was to be shown to Catholicism : the celebration of mass was to be punished by death. To accomplish the second prayej 1 of the petition the Reformed ministers and the leading Protestant nobles met at Edinburgh on 20th December 1560. This was a purely church meeting ; parliament had in it no part what soever. Even in its birth the Scottish Church announced its independence. It will, however, be observed that there were in the forty-six members comprising it but six minis ters. At this assembly was drawn up the First Buik of Discipline, which, though not accepted by the privy council, was on 27th January 1561 signed by the great majority of the members, and by the chiefs of the great Protestant families, on the noteworthy condition that the deposed prelates were allowed to enjoy their benefices during life. This book, which was a grand effort to reconstruct society, and for which, its authors asserted, &quot; they took not their example from any kirk in the world, no, not from Geneva,&quot; was nevertheless on the Genevan principle. It deals solely with the congregation ; the idea only of synods may be traced. As regards the relations of church and state, the eldership, and the economy of the church generally, especially the supervision of life and manners, its views are those of Calvin. Doctors or teachers are not mentioned until the edition of 1621, published by Calder- wood in Holland. The order of deacons was of the utmost service in poor relief. It was abolished, of course, at the Restoration, and the want of it was shown by the fact that in 1688 one-fifth of the population were beggars. Upon the restoration of Presbyteriauism the evil was again grappled with, and in 1709 so great a change had taken place that the justices of the peace were instructed to leave the whole question of poor relief to the kirk sessions. 2 Besides the regular orders there were two others, called for by the exigencies of the situation, superintendents and readers. The latter of these was temporary, lasting only until 1581 ; it was required by the lack of highly-qualified men for the ministry. Readers were appointed to read the common prayers and the Scriptures ; in process of time they might become ministers. The superintendents travelled through their districts of which there were to be ten establishing churches, settling ministers, and generally putting the church in order. Moreover, com missions were given, lasting for a year only, for special needs. It has been asserted that this office of superin tendent was also intended to be temporary ; but it is not stated so, as in the case of the readers ; on the contrary, the whole language points to permanence. It is obvious that it is only by the most strained use of language that this institution can be used as an historical argument for Episcopacy in any modern sense. Not only was the super intendent in all respects subject to the same rule as his brethren, but in the last exhortation upon election he is strictly charged, &quot; Usurpe not dominion nor tyrannical authority over thy brethren.&quot; In June 1562, however, subjection of ministers to superintendents, as far at any rate as receiving admonition, was enacted ; and in December 1562 the superintendent received the power, with the con sent of the majority of the ministers in his district, to trans- 2 Hetherington, ii. 243.