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POSSESSING ALL THE PROPERTIES OF THE FINEST ARROWROOT, BROWN & POLSON'S CORN FLOUR IS A HOUSEHOLD REQUISITE OF CONSTANT UTILITY FOR THE NURSERY, THE FAMILY TABLE, NOTE.-Purchasers should insist on being supplied with BROWN & POLSON'S CORN FLOUR. Inferior kinds, asserting fictitious claims, are being offered for the sake of extra profit. Makers to the Queen THE SWORD AND THE TROWEL. FEBRUARY, 1885. S The Disruption. BY C. H. SPURGEON. URELY we shall not greatly err if we take it for granted that every Scotch body knows all about the DISRUPTION which produced the Free Church. But we are afraid that our half-enlightened countrymen south of the Tweed have, as a rule, a very dim and hazy idea of that great transaction: they know that certain ministers came out of one Presbyterian Church, and set up another; but what it was all about they do not pretend to understand. Indeed, we fear that the whole story of the various kirks is woefully unknown in England; and we even fear that there is a general notion abroad that the different Presbyterian Churches are as like as peas in the same pod, and would all become one if it were not for the hair-splitting tendencies of the Scottish mind. A few of us know better; but this only makes us the more aware of the want of information among our brethren. Truth to tell, there was never a braver deed in history than the secession of a number of godly ministers from the Established Church of Scotland on May 18th, 1843. Remember that these men left their churches and their manses, and renounced therewith their incomes, and had nothing to look forward to but what providence and the voluntary principle should afford them. To many of them it meant the loss of all things, and to all a time of trial and struggle to which they had not been accustomed. We need not mention the immediate cause of their secession, for a great principle lay at the back of all, and this was the real ground of quarrel. Should the State rule the Church, or should Christ's Church be under the sole Headship of her Lord? We think that if the State gives a Church its pecuniary support, and lends it prestige, it may well claim governing power in return; and hence we repudiate altogether the purse of the State because we cannot endure the idea of its interference in spiritual things. Our worthy brethren in Scotland were well content to take Government grants, but they were not willing to yield to Government decrees: nay, they were so determined not to let Cæsar intrude into the kingdom of Christ that, when they were pushed to a decision, they threw back Cæsar's penny rather than let him put his iron heel upon the liberties of Christ's people. They had not learned so much as the Nonconformists of England had long spelled out; but whereunto they had attained they were faithful,-so faithful as to deserve honour from all lovers of self-denying integrity. In our own country it would seem that the very idea of freedom has died out of the servants of the State Church; but in Scotland it was never so, there were always protesters against all State interference even among those who pleaded for State endowment. At different times there had been secessions upon this matter; but that of 1843 was more wide-spread and notable than any which had gone before, hence it is called the Disruption; for no other movement had so affected the old kirk, or produced such permanent results. The Moderates, or dead-and-alive men in the Church, did not believe in the sincerity of their evangelical brethren in uttering threats of separation they declared with a smile that it was a mere tiff, a gale which would soon subside. That great prophet, Dr. John Cumming, with his usual skill in prognostication said, "I venture to assert that less than one hundred will cover the whole secession. But I am not satisfied that any will secede." He measured the corn of other men with his own bushel: his courtly soul knew how to behave in the presence of the powers that be. Another equally sagacious person wrote oracularly, "Mark my words; not forty of them will go out." Little did the Moderates know the power of divine grace, and the loyalty of the true servants of King Jesus, or perhaps they would not have pushed matters so far. At last, matters came to a dead-lock; the State would not yield, and the godly Church could not, and something must happen. The day arrived, the Assembly met, Dr. Welsh, the retiring Moderator, or chairman, offered prayer, and then rose, and with great firmness and dignity addressed the house. The Queen's Commissioner occupied the throne, and great must have been his surprise at what he saw and heard. Dr. Welsh spoke as follows:-"Fathers and Brethren, according to the usual form of procedure, this is the time for making up the roll, but in consequence of certain proceedings affecting our rights and privileges-proceedings which have been sanctioned by Her Majesty's Government, and by the Legislature of the country; and more especially in respect that there has been an infringement on the liberties of our Constitution, so that we could not now constitute this Court without a violation of the terms of the Union between Church and State in this land, as now authoritatively declared-I must protest against our proceeding further. The reasons that have led me to come to this conclusion are fully set forth in the document which I hold in my hand, and which, with permission of the House, I shall now proceed to read." Then followed the memorable Protest, in which, after briefly stating the sacred principles for which the Church had contended, the encroachments by which her spiritual powers had been overthrown, and the impossibility of constituting the Assembly under such Erastian conditions, it was declared: "We protest that, in the circumstances in which we are placed, it is and shall be lawful for us, and such other Commissioners chosen to the Assembly, appointed to have been this day holden, as may concur with us, to withdraw to a separate place of meeting, for the purpose of taking steps, along with all who adhere to us-maintaining with us the Confession of Faith and Standards of the Church of Scotland as heretofore understood-for separating in an orderly way from the Establishment, and thereupon adopting such measures as may be competent to us, in humble dependence on God's grace and the aid of the Holy Spirit, for the advancement of his glory, the extension of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour, and the administration of the affairs of Christ's house according to his Holy Word; and we now withdraw accordingly, humbly and solemnly acknowledging the hand of the Lord in the things which have come upon us because of our manifold sins, and the sins of this Church and nation; but, at the same time, with an assured conviction that we are not responsible for any consequences that may follow from this, our enforced separation from an Establishment which we loved and prized, through interference with conscience, the dishonour done to Christ's crown, and the rejection of his sole and supreme authority as King in his Church." "With these closing words, the Moderator laid the Protest on the table-lifted his hat-turned to the Commissioner, who had risen-and bowed respectfully to the representative of Royalty, an act which seemed to many as if the true old Church of Scotland were then and there bidding farewell to the State which had turned a deaf ear to her appeals. Leaving the chair, Dr. Welsh moved toward the door, and Dr. Chalmers, who all the time had been close to his side, was seen eagerly following, along with Dr. Gordon, Dr. M'Farlan, Dr. Macdonald, and the other occupants of the bench in front. "At the sight of the movement, a loud cheer-but only for a momentburst from the gallery. At once it was hushed, for the solemnity and sympathy were too deep for such a mode of expression, and silence again fell over the house, as all were eagerly gazing at the seats to the left of the chair. It was a sight never to be forgotten, as man after man rose, without hurry or confusion, and bench after bench was left empty, and the vacant space grew wider as ministers and elders poured out in long procession. "Outside in the street, the great mass of spectators had long been waiting in anxious anticipation, and when at last the cry rose, They come ! they come and when Dr. Welsh, Dr. Chalmers, and Dr. Gordon appeared in sight, the sensation, as they came forth, went like an electrie shock through the vast multitude, and the long, deep shout which rang along the street told that the deed had been done. No arrangement had been made for a procession, for the strong wish of the ministers was to |