ministers; the licensing of probationers, directing the sentence of excommunication, the deciding upon references and appeals from the Church Sessions, resolving cases of conscience, explaining difficulties in doctrine or discipline, and censuring any heresy that has been propagated within the bounds of its jurisdiction.
From the judgment of the Presbytery, there lies an appeal to the Provincial Synod, which generally meets twice in the year, and exercises within its province, a jurisdiction similar to that which is vested in each presbytery over the Church Sessions. There are seventy-eight presbyteries, and fifteen synods, belonging to the Church of Scotland. The synods are composed of the members of the several presbyteries within the respective provinces.
The highest ecclesiastical court is the General Assembly, which consists of a certain number of ministers and ruling elders, delegated from each presbytery, and of commissioners chosen annually from the royal boroughs. The president of this assembly represents the Sovereign, under the character of Lord High Commissioner, who has a salary of fifteen hundred a-year, but has no voice in their deliberations. Appeals are brought from all the other ecclesiastical courts in Scotland to the General Assembly; and in questions purely religious, no appeal lies from its determinations.
The church of Scotland includes about nine hnudred parishes, and nearly as many benefices. The clergy are required to deliver a sermon with prayers twice every Lord's day, besides other
