Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/834

 810 PRESBYTERIANISM "apostles and elders at Jerusalem," and the decrees of that synod were sent down to "all the churches" to be registered and obeyed. Presbyterians assert that the system of eccle- siastical government disclosed by the epistles of Ignatius and Clemens Romanus is thorough- ly presbyterian ; that this system prevailed for more than 100 years after the apostolic age; that the first inroads upon it were by the pastors of the large towns claiming special preeminence and power as peculiarly the suc- cessors of the apostles, and that this claim came gradually to be admitted, and was at last permanently established. They maintain, however, that the admission of this claim was never by any means universal ; that the Paulicians in the 7th century, and after them the Waldenses and Albigenses, earnestly protested against all encroachments on presby- terian simplicity ; and that when the reforma- tion came, there was a vast preponderance of opinion among the leaders in that movement in favor of the presbyterian system ; and the reformed churches in France, Germany, Hol- land (see REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH), Hun- gary, Geneva, and Scotland were substantial- ly presbyterian, modelled after the plan laid down by Calvin in his "Institutes," which he only partially succeeded in establishing at Geneva, when the " council " had succeeded to some of the prerogatives of the exiled bishops. (See CALVIN.) The different bodies into whioh the Presbyterian church is divided are as follows. I. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. The first general and public move- ment leading to the organization of the Pres- byterian church of Scotland was the drawing up of a common bond or covenant, known as " The First Covenant," and subscribed at Ed- inburgh, Dec. 3, 1557, by several of the most powerful of the Scotch nobility and a large number of lesser barons and influential country gentlemen, known subsequently (on account of their frequent use of the word congregation to designate those for whom they professed to act) as lords of the congregation. The sign- ing of the covenant was followed by a procla- mation from the queen regent forbidding any one to preach or administer the sacrament without the authority of the bishop. The re- sult was a collision of the royal power with popular feeling, and when the latter was at its height, in connection with the trial of of- fenders which the queen had falsely promised to defer, the lords of the congregation sum- moned John Knox from Geneva. He landed at Leith, May 2, 1559. The council, then en- gaged in the trial, was panic-struck, and dis- persed. Four weeks later the "Second Cove- nant " was subscribed, and on Dec. 20, 1560, the first general assembly of the church of Scot- land met in Edinburgh. The "First Book of Discipline " was soon after drawn up, but the task of perfecting the organization of the church, which Knox had begun, devolved upon Andrew Melville, who arrived from Geneva in 1574. In 15T8 the " Second Book of Disci- pline," thenceforth the authorized standard of the church of Scotland, was adopted. It was ratified by the parliament, but incessantly op- posed by James I., who in 1621 so far suc- ceeded in his attempt to introduce a modified episcopacy as to secure the adoption of what are known as the five Perth articles. In pros- ecuting the policy of securing a more perfect ecclesiastical conformity of Scotland to Eng- land, Charles I. was met by such a tide of pop- ular and enthusiastic opposition as defeated his projects and led England and Scotland to unite in the " Solemn League and Covenant" (1643), and in the convocation at the same time of the Westminster assembly of divines, by whom the confession and catechisms since recognized as the standards of the Presbyterian church were drawn up. On the restoration of Charles II. Episcopacy was reestablished in Scotland ; but the Presbyterians still resolutely adhered to their principles, and on the depo- sition of James II. they confidently anticipa- ted the triumph of their cause. Though Wil- liam III. was bent on preserving the same form of ecclesiastical government in England and Scotland, the bishops refused to trans- fer their allegiance to him, and by this means the way was opened for that establishment of presbytery which had been urged upon him by some of his most zealous adherents, and which was ratified by an act of parliament in 1690. Thus, Scotland and England having been sep- arate kingdoms at the time of the reformation, a difference of circumstances in the two coun- tries ultimately led to different religious es- tablishments; and when the treaty of union was formed in 1707, it was agreed by both kingdoms that Episcopacy should continue in England, and Presbyterianism should be the only religious system recognized by the state in Scotland. The only confession of faith le- gally established before the revolution of 1688 is that which is published in the " History of the Reformation in Scotland," attributed to John Knox. It consists of 25 articles, and was the confession as well of the Episcopal as of the Presbyterian church. The Covenanters, indeed, during the commonwealth, adopted the Westminster confession. At the revolution this confession was received as the standard of the national faith ; and it was ordained by. the same acts of parliament which settled Presbyterian church government in Scotland, "that no person be admitted or continued hereafter to be a minister or preacher within this church unless he subscribe the [that is, this] confession of faith, declaring the same to be the confession of his faith." By the act of union in 1707, the same is required of all pro- fessors, principals, regents, masters, and others bearing office. The Westminster confession of faith then, and what are called the larger and shorter catechisms, contain the publicly recog- nized doctrines of this church ; and it is well known that these formularies are an embodi-