PRE8BYTERIANISM 811 ment of the Calvinistic faith. No liturgy or public form of prayer is used in the church of Scotland, the minister's only guide being the "Directory for the Public Worship of God." The administration of the Lord's supper, as a general thing observed four times a year, is conducted with simple forms, but is accompa- nied, and sometimes preceded and followed, by extra religious services, consisting of prayers and exhortations. The metrical version of the Psalms by Francis Rous (died 1659) is used, and supplementary hymns have recently been introduced. The provision which has been made by the law of Scotland for the support of the clergy of the established church consists of a stipend, a small glebe of land, and a manse (parsonage house) and office houses. By an act of parliament passed in 1810, 10,000 per annum was granted for augmenting the small- er parish stipends in Scotland. By this act the lowest stipend assigned to a minister of the establishment is 150 sterling, with a small sum, generally 8 6s. 8d., for communion ele- ments. Patronage was abolished in Scotland in 1649 ; was revived at the restoration ; was partly abrogated at the revolution, and again revived in 1712. From the first it was strenu- ously resisted by a portion of the church, on the ground that it invaded the headship of Christ, robbed the people of their rights, and made them dependent upon the presentation of the patron. It has frequently resulted in scenes of violence, and to it the repeated se- cessions from the church have been due. The first who formally withdrew were the Cov- enanters or Cameronians, who objected to the interference of the state authorities in church affairs, and to the Erastian princi- ples involved in any establishment of religion, as inconsistent with the covenant to which the church had sworn. (See CAMERONIANS.) The first secession after the church was estab- lished originated in a discourse by Ebenezer Erskine before the synod of Perth in 1732. His severe remarks on patronage drew upon him the censure of the synod, and in 1733 he was excluded by the general assembly from the ministry of the church. Three other min- isters who sustained him shared his fate, and united with him to form the Associate presby- tery. Assured of much popular sympathy, this body rapidly increased. In 1747 its mem- bers were divided in sentiment as to the law- fulness of taking what was called the burgher oath, and the result was the separation of the body into the Burgher and Anti-Burgher syn- ods. Each continued to increase, and each had its adhering organization in America, but a reunion was effected in 1820. The next secession took place in connection with the deposition of the Rev. Thomas Gillespie by the general assembly of 1752, for refusing to assist in the installation of a minister presented by a patron against the will of the congrega- tion. This secession is known as the Relief. Receiving accessions and sympathy from Eng- lish dissenters, it manifested a more liberal spirit than the previous secession. Strength- ened by popular sympathy, it continued to prosper, and, after rejoicing in the reunion of the two branches of the Associate church in 1820, was prepared in 1847 to unite itself with them to constitute the body known as the United Presbyterian church of Scotland. This body now has nearly half as many ministers as the established church. The next secession, that of the Free church of Scotland in 1843, was more extensive and memorable than any that preceded it. For more than half a cen- tury the established church had been divided into two parties : the moderates, who are ridi- culed in Dr. Witherspoon's " Characteristics," and were decidedly in the ascendant, and the evangelicals, who were more in sympathy with missions and denominational cooperation, and strongly opposed to patronage. Resistance to patronage when enforced by the civil courts brought matters to a crisis, and under the lead of Drs. Welsh and Chalmers more than 400 min- isters withdrew in a body from the establish- ment, leaving manse, glebe, and church edifice behind them, and throwing themselves upon the voluntary support of their people. The pastors were sustained, new church edifices were built, and in less than a generation the Free church has doubled in numbers and strength. (See FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.) Recovering from the depression occasioned by the last secession, the established church has continued steadily though slowly to increase, until recently, by the action of the British parliament, it has secured a final release from the incubus of patronage that had so long rested upon it. The three principal Presbyte- rian bodies in Scotland have a relative strength, when judged by the number of their minis- ters, to which the churches nearly correspond, as follows: the established church about 1,300, the Free church 900, and the United Pres- byterians 600 ; to which may be added the Re- formed Presbyterians, dating from the period of persecution, 40 ministers, and the Origi- nal Seceders, 25 ministers. II. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND. Presbyterians settled in Ireland shortly after the reformation, and were at first admitted to the privileges and emolu- ments of the Episcopal church. They were not tenacious about matters of church polity, for some of the pastors received ordination at the hands of a bishop, and the people con- formed without scruple to some of the cere- monies of the established church. In the reign of Charles I., and during the administration of Laud, the interests of the Irish Presbyte- rians greatly suffered ; the statutes of the col- lege at Dublin, authorizing the admission of Presbyterians to its privileges and honors, were remodelled; their confession recognized in 1615 was set aside ; and their ministers were elected from their charges for nonconformity. During the protectorate of Cromwell were again raised to the status of ministers of
