REVIEW OF MILNE ON PRESBYTERY

AND EPISCOPACY.*

THERE are some controversies which are attended with such difficulties, and have been managed by persons of such established reputation, that it is incumbent, even upon him who has the truth on his side, to pause before he engages in them, and to inquire if he possesses the requisite ability and information, lest he should be foiled in the contest, and expose both himself and the cause which he has rashly undertaken to defend. There are other controversies of a very different complexion, but with respect to which also, a prudent person may reasonably hesitate before he embarks in them. The object of the contest may be frivolous, and the prize, though easily gained, may be unworthy and ignoble; or, although the armour of strong argument and extensive information may not be requisite, the combatant may need to be well practised in self-command, moderation, and patience, so as not to suffer himself to be provoked to contemptuous and improper language, by the ignorance, the petulance, or the abuse of his opponents. This must always be the case where prejudices are brought forward instead of arguments, and assertions substituted in the room of authorities; where a disputant makes a monopoly of all that is good to his own party, and loads the opposite with all

The Difference stated betwixt the Presbyterian Establishment, and the Episcopal Church of Scotland. By the Rev. James Milne, minister of St Andrew's Chapel, Banff. A new Edition, pp. 80. Aberdeen, 1811. [From the Christian Instructor, Vol. V., July 1812.]

that is evil; and where claims, which could scarcely be admitted in the case of persons of acknowledged superior excellence, are set up in behalf of those who, in the judgment of all the world besides themselves, are at the very best no better than their neighbours.

We confess that we hesitated as to the propriety of noticing the work now under review; for which of the reasons just mentioned, we shall leave our readers to judge, after making them a little acquainted with its contents and strain. All that have turned their attention particularly to the subject, will readily acknowledge, that it is not so easy a matter, as might at first be imagined, for a person to give a fair and impartial statement of the difference between two religious parties, to one of which he himself belongs, and is zealously attached. Even granting that he is perfectly well-informed as to the history and sentiments of both; granting, farther, that he conscientiously intends to tell nothing but the truth; still his partiality to one side will manifest itself, will insensibly give a colouring to his statements, and, if he is not habitually and strictly on his guard, will betray him into inaccuracy and occasional misrepresentation. We took up this pamphlet with the disposition of giving to its author the full allowance, to which this common infirmity of our nature entitled him from a candid critic, and liberal opponent. Knowing just so much of him as that he was a minister of "the Episcopal Church of Scotland," we did not expect from him an absolutely fair and accurate statement of the difference between that church and "the Presbyterian establishment." We would have been happy, however, to have received from him information as to the peculiar tenets of those with whom he is connected; we would have passed with a smile the exclusive appropriation of the term church to his party, and admired, if not the tenderness of his conscience, at least the tenacity of his memory, which preserved him from ever carelessly bestowing that epithet on the Presbyterian establishment, through his whole book. We might have found it difficult to suppress our surprise at some of the sentiments avowed,

and have judged it necessary to correct some of the misstatements into which he had fallen. All this would have been an employment very different from what has fallen to our lot.

But, before proceeding farther, we shall lay before the reader some specimens of the strain in which the work is written. The following is part of his account of the origin of the Presbyterian establishment, which he ascribes to the exertions of Andrew Melville. And we select this the rather, because it is evident that the author has laboured it with great care, and expected that it would have a powerful effect upon his reader.

Upon his return into Scotland in July 1574, he (Melville) began immediately, with the gloomy austerity of the puritanical religionist, the confident arrogance of the meddling demagogue, and the satirical ill-nature of the snarling cynic, to provoke discussions, and to create jealousies, with the intent of overturning Episcopacy, and establishing upon its ruins the ecclesiastical republicanism of Geneva. He had the address to raise a party of followers, who embraced his opinions, and entered into his views, with as much ardour as his most sanguine wishes could desire." **"The cause thus set on foot possessed little in itself, and derived less from its advocates, to recommend it to public favour. Among a people who knew and valued the words of truth and soberness, no esteem would have been conceived for such a cause no ear would have been given to such advocates. But, at this period, which may be called the reign of fanatical delusion, the Scots were blinded and misled, in no ordinary degree, by its influence. They were, it is true, completely emancipated from the enslaving ignorance of Popish superstition: still they had minds uninformed or unsettled with regard to several things, strongly disposed to insubordination, turbulence, innovation, and fanaticism; and therefore prepared, with precipitate inconsideration, to take moroseness for gravity, dogmatism for the conviction of truth, railing for the zeal of a fervent spirit, nonsensical cant for godly edification, rebellion for the spirited assertion of unquestionable rights, and obstinacy for undaunted perseverance in defence of truth and righteousness."—pp. 15-17.

The following is his account of the worship at present practised in the Presbyterian Church.

"The way of worship in the Presbyterian establishment, is conducted upon a principle which is indubitably fanatical, and encourages the ideas and feeds the hopes of the fanatically disposed mind; raises preaching to an eminence not its due, depresses prayer into the rank of a secondary and subordinate duty, and makes the holy communion

not, as it was designed to be, an act of devotion frequently performed, but, perhaps, with some few exceptions, a kind of spectacle annually resorted to; occasions an unjustifiable dependence on the officiating minister, and affords him, if he be in the interests of error, an opportunity of expressing, in public prayer, without any immediate check, notions, views, and feelings, prejudicial to true faith, sound morality, and rational devotion; keeps the prayers that are to be joined in unknown, until they are uttered; subjects devotion to unavoidable interruption, as often as they are not understood, or cannot be approved; and renders it always exceedingly difficult, sometimes wholly impossible, to recollect distinctly what has been asked of God; and, at the same time, is full of omissions, which, to a sober mind, conversant in the history of the primitive Church, must appear as unedifying as they are singular, and which are, in fact, palpable proofs of the frenzy of that fanaticism, to which they may be traced as their proper origin."-pp. 61, 62.

From these extracts, which afford a fair specimen of the work, the reader may form some idea of its strain and spirit. It is difficult to conceive any thing more remote from sober and dispassionate discussion, from the simple and fair statement of differences. Every thing is coloured, aggravated, or distorted. Its tendency is to provoke, not to convince; to inflame, not to inform. The object of the author seems to have been to extract the essence of all that had been said by his party in favour of their church, and to compress within the smallest possible bounds, whatever they had advanced against the Presbyterian establishment, and the conduct or principles of its promoters in former times. Add to this, that while he abstains from all reasoning, he has advanced, with the utmost dogmatism, propositions of the most disputable kind, or which have been refuted a thousand times, and has boldly asserted, as facts, a multitude of things discreditable and injurious to the Presbyterians, without deigning to take the ordinary course in such cases, of producing the authorities, or referring to authentic and credible vouchers. On this account we certainly are of opinion, that this pamphlet is, in itself, unworthy of any reply, or of a serious review. Yet knowing that there are many who are ready to be influenced by confident and strong assertions, provided they remain uncontradicted; presuming that the pamphlet has had a considerable

circulation, from the circumstance of its being a new edition of it which now lies before us; and not expecting, for the reasons already given, that any Presbyterian will think of undertaking a formal refutation, we judge it proper to make a few strictures upon it, which may be sufficient to show how little reason the author has for the arrogant tone which he has assumed.

This pamphlet, then, contains a Dedication to the Author's Congregation, an Introduction, five Chapters, and a Conclusion. The first chapter treats "Of the Origin of the Presbyterian Establishment, and of the Episcopal Church of Scotland;" the second, "Of the Doctrinal Standards of the Presbyterian Establishment, and of the Episcopal Church of Scotland;" the third, "Of the Doctrine of the Presbyterian Establishment, and of the Episcopal Church of Scotland; "the fourth, "Of the worship of the Presbyterian Establishment, and of the Episcopal Church of Scotland;" and the fifth, "Of the Government of the Presbyterian Establishment, and of the Episcopal Church of Scotland." The whole pamphlet consists of only 80 pages, printed in a large type, and style sufficiently modern.

In Chap. I., Mr Milne runs over the whole ecclesiastical history of Scotland, from the establishment of the Reformation in the year 1560, to the Revolution in 1688. How either the Presbyterian establishment, or the Episcopal Church, could be considered as originating during that long period of 128 years, may appear mysterious to some; but the object of the author, in the narrative, is very evident. He dare not plead that the Church of Scotland, between 1560 and 1575, or "the reforming party in Scotland" (for he will not give even them the name of Church), was the same with the Episcopal Church.

"But," says he, "ignorant as that party appears to have been of the nature and constitution of the Christian Church, and exceptionable as some of their tenets must be pronounced, it may, notwithstanding, be affirmed, that their principles do, upon the whole, favour the Episcopal Church, and are against the Presbyterian establishment, in the questions concerning Church government, and the mode of celebrating Christian worship. It may also be affirmed, that the