culdee church of ireland

7/27/2019 Culdee Church of Ireland

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SL . S>- ^

Stem tê î^vati^ offrofecBot TJ?iffiatn (gtiffer (pcMrton, .., J

^recenfeb 6l? (gtre. (|)arfonto fê fet6rari? of

(princefon ^^êofogicaf êmtMrgBR 784 .M6 1868Moore, T. V. 1818-1871.The Culdee Church


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THE

CULDEE CHURCHOR,

THE HISTORICAL CONNECTION" OF MODERNPRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES WITH THOSEOF APOSTOLIC TIMES, THROUGHTHE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

'* Akdens, sed vieens."nec tamex consumebatcr."

BYRev. T. Y. MOOKE, D. D.

RICHMONDPRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION.


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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, byCHARLES GEXNET,

in ti-ust, asTkeasuser of Publication of the General Assembly of the Presby-terian Church in the United States,In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Tirginla.


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u

. Introdnctory Note.It is proper to say, that the following pages were

originally published in the Central Fresbyterian ; and adesire being expressed for their issue in a more perma-nent form, they are republished almost exactly as theyappeared in the newspaper. This will account for somefeatures of the work, which would have been altered,had the author been able to command the time needfulfor re-writing the articles. These features being of minorimportance, are allowed to stand.


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CONTENTS.CHAPTER I.

lONA.Its Literary and Historical Interest.

CHAPTER II.APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION.

No Successors to the ApostlesMacaulay's Refutation of thHigh Church TheoryThe only possible and true Apostolical Suecession. --__. . -----12

CHAPTER III.THE PLANTING OF CHRISTIANITY IN SCOTLAND.

Introduced near to, or during the Apostolic ap:e, by Greek, notRoman MissionariesTestimonials to the Oriental orisjin ofScottiah ChristianityAppendix on the Greek element in Scot-land. -.._ - -13

CHAPTER IV.CULDEE PRESBYTERIANISM.

Scottish Church older than EnslishStru?a:le with Roman Mission-aries for foothold in En^'andAnglican Testimony to these factsDoctrines and Polity of the Culdee Church substantially identi-cal with those of Modern Presbyterian ChurchesTestimony ofHistorians. ....--..-.33


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lONA. Peace to their shades ! the pure CuMees,Where Albyn's earliest priests of God,

Ere yet an island of her seas,By foot of Saxon monk was trod,

Long ere her churchmen by bigotryWere barred from wedlock's holy tie.

'Twas then that Aodh, famed afar,In lona preached the word with power,

And Reullura, beauty's star,Was the partner of his bower."*

Scottj in his Lord of the Isles ; Sliakspeare, inMacbeth ; and other great writers, have also referredin striking terms to this Mecca of Scotland.The main interest that attaches to this island, of

course, centres on the sainted Columba, and theschool of the prophets which he planted there, fromwhich there went forth such wonderous influencesfor good during the darkest ages of the Church'shistory. But it has other associations, even olderthan that, which invest it with deep interest. Itseems to have been one of the sacred seats of theancient religion of the Druids, who had, we havereason to believe, a Druidic college here, as theyhad at Anglesey, in "Wales. This form of heathen-ism was one of peculiar interest ; for it was the old-est and purest form in which the primitive Pagan-ism existed ; taking its origin far back on the plainsof Shinar, and carried by the Celtic tribes in their* Poeras, p . 253


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10 THE CULDEE CHURCH.westward migration througli the forests of G ermanyto the islands of Britain, where its gigantic crom-lechs, mystic circles and consecrated cairns stillremain to testify the rude and terrible strength of areligion, which, in spite of its dark cruelties, wasthe purest form of the old Pagan religion found onearth, when Christ came in the flesh. Stonehengeand'Iona are thus strangely linked with the Towerof Babel and the scattered tribes that were sentforth from that place, whose clanship and Druidismare the perverted remains of the patriarchal systemsof government and religion that had their origin inthe family of Noah. As one of the sacred seats ofDruidic learning and religion, lona has a deepinterest.

But to us the main interest which invests this hal-lowed isle, is its connection with the Christian his-tory of Scotland, as the seat of the old CuldeeChurch, and the College of Columba. This factmade it a favourite burying place for noble androyal families, not only of Scotland, but of the"Western isles and of Ireland, unnumbered membersof which were brought to sleep in what was regardedas the sacred soil of lona. Kenneth, the first Kingof Scotland, properly so called, was buried here,and many others followed him, ending with Macbeth,whose tragic story has been immortalized by Shaks-peare. This custom of royal interment in lona,


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12 THE CULDEE CHURCH.

CHAPTER II.APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION.

No Saocessors to the ApostlesMacaulay's Refutation of theHigh Church TheoryThe only possible and true Apostolical Suc-

Before stating the facts that bear on our connec-tion with thcj Primitive Church, through the CuldeeChurch, it may be proper to premise the exact valuewhich we place on such connection, and the onlysense in which it can exist as a historical fact.The phrase " apostolical succession" is one thathas been so much used in religious controversy, thatit is well to define its precise meaning. There aresome who contend for a transmission of the apos-tolic office to prelates of all later ages, and whoaffirm that such prelates now are the successors ofthe Apostles in their apostolate. It is a question wehave never seen answered, why these men whosay they hold the apostolic office never call them-selves Apostles 1 If they have the office, a fortiori^they have the name. Why then do they not takeit ? When Paul claimed the office, he claimed thename also. Why do they not do the same ? Havethey any right to reject the name that Christ Him-self attached to the office ? May we not venture to


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APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 13suggest, that this shrinking from the assumption ofthe name n:ay be connected with a secret misgivingthat after all they have no more right to the officethan the name ; and that there is a deep significancejn the fact that John saw on the foundation of theNew Jerusalem the names of only twelve Apostlesof the Lamb 1 The truth is that so plainly does itappear that the office of apostle was an extraordinaryand temporary one, demanding that the occupant ofit should have seen Jesus after His resurrection,that he might be a witness of this fundamental fact;should have the power of working miracles; andshould exercise a jurisdiction over the wholeChurch, and not a diocese or province ; that theinstinct of the Christian consciousness has alwaysrecoiled from an uninspired man assuming the nameapostle, a very significant indication that the thingexpressed by that name was never transmittedbeyond the first possessors of the office, and hence,that, in that sense, apostolical succession is an impos-sibility.

But others, who may not claim this, do claim thatthe only lawful ministry is that which has comedown in an unbroken succession of regularly or-dained men from the time of the Apostles, and thatall other ministerial orders are invalid. This is theRomish and Anglican High-Church position. Per-haps the best disposition of it will be to quote a


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APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 17Jesus and the Apostles have told us to do, and weare satisfied with their authority.Hence if it were impossible to trace the historical

connection of the Presbyterian Church further backthan the Eeformation, it would have precisely thesame connection with the primitive Church that allother Protestant Churches have, and not a whit lessof any authority that comes from that connection.And as, after all, the only authority which anyChurch possesses must come from Christ, we aresatisfied when we reach that authority, withouttroubling ourselves with what Paul rightly called"fables and endless genealogies, which ministerquestions, rather than godly edifying, which is infaith."

But as some may lay stress on this connection,we propose to show that the Presbyterian Church,through the Church of Scotland, has through thisancient Church of the Culdees, a more unbroken his-torical connection with the primitive Church, thaneven the Anglican Church, and that if there is anyvalue in this kind of succession at all, we have it.This we will attempt to do by maintaining a seriesof historical propositions leading to this conclusion.


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CHRISTIANITY IN SCOTLAND. 19which had been smothered, but not extinguished,during this occupancy of Popery ; and that it is thuslinked authentically by an unbroken, historic con-nection of faithful men with the very days of theApostles. If these points can be fairly made out,it will be seen that we connect back with apostolictimes, not through the Church of Rome, but inde-pendent of it ; and that like the river Alphoeus,which was said to take its rise far up in the moun-tains of Greece, to enter the Italian sea, passingunder it and reappearing in the beautiful fountainof Arethusa, so this stream that gushed out amongthe hills of Scotland can be traced back, under thetroubled waves of Italian supremacy, to purer foun-tains far away among the primitive seats of theGospel in the earlier Churches of the East. Ourhistorical connection then will be not with LatinChristianity, but with the older and purer forms ofit, found nearer its original seat in Jerusalem. Ofcourse we can only give brief hints of evidence onthese points, as a statement of the whole would fillvolumes.The first proposition is, that Christianity wasintroduced into Scotland very tiear to, if not during

the lives of the Apostles.It must be remembered, that when Christianity

was first preached, Britain was a Roman province,and so continued for 400 years. But the seat of3


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CHISTIANITY IN SCOTLAND. 21impulses, will show, that the Celts of Galatia andother portions of the East, were not likely to pos-sess the religion of Christ long, without communi-cating it to their Celtic brethren of the West. Thiswas an easy thing by the ordinary channels of com-mercial intercourse, which were open through allparts of the Roman empire. Hence, we find theorigin of that Celtic Christianity, which is as dis-tinct a type of the Church, as the Greek, Latin, orTeutonic Christianity, the marked differences ofwhich are familiar to every Christian scholar. Itis a curious fact, illustrating the general object wehave in view, that race makes itself known in reli-gion as much as in civil affairs. Latin Christianityhas always prevailed, and still does so among theraces speaking the Latin tongues ; whilst amongTeutonic races and partly among Celtic, the He-formation supplanted it, as if it never could take adeep root in these races. But the main fact weinsist on is, that the blood relationship of the Celtictribes, would naturally lead to missionary effortsfrom the Celtic or Galatian Christians of the Eastamong their brethren in the West, and that theseefforts would be likely to extend to the Celtic tribesof Britain, L*eland and Scotland.

These facts will prepare us for the evidence bear-ing on the first introduction of Christianity into theBritish isles. There is much dispute about some of


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22 THE CULDEE CHURCH.the authorities cited, but there is one about whichthere is no doubt. Tertullian, the Christian Cicero,who was born about sixty years after the death ofJohn, the last of the Apostles, asserts that "thoseparts of Britain that were inaccessible to the Ro-mans," (i. e. Scotland,) "had become subject toChrist."* Here then we find within less than a cen-tury of the death of John, that Scotland had so farreceived Christianity as to warrant Tertullian tosay, that it was subject to Christ. It must haverequired a considerable time for such a result to bereached, among the hostile tribes of Caledonia,whose native religion was that ancient and powerfulform of Paganism, the religion of the Druids. Itmust have required a great deal of labour to banishthis old and terrible superstition so as to warrant thelanguage of Tertullian. This general considerationwould throw the earliest professors and teachers ofChristianity back very near to the death of theApostle John, if not before it.

This early date is favoured by the probabilitiesof a very early introduction of Christianity intoBritain. Baronius, the great Romish historian ofthe Church, asserts on the authority of some manu-script, in the Vatican, that Christianity was car-ried to Britain A. D., 35. If so, this was severalyears previous to its being preached in Rome, and

* Adv. Jud. c. 7.


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CHRISTIANITY IN SCOTLAND. 23tlie missionaries must have come from Palestinedirect, or Asia Minor. When it was once intro-duced into Britain, the wonderful missionary zealof the Apostolical Church would soon lead men tocarry it into Scotland, for there was no obstacle inthe one case much more formidable than was foundin the other. Hence, we may infer a very early dateto the first introduction of Christianity into Scot-land, one running back very near, and possibly muchbeyond, that of the death of John.

This is confirmed by the fact that the type ofChristianity introduced was not that of Rome, butthat of the Eastern Churches. Neander says,that "the peculiarity of the later British Churchis evidence against its origin from Rome ; forin many ritual matters it departed from the usageof the Romish Church, and agreed much morenearly with the Churches of Asia Minor. It with-stood, for a long time, the authority of the Romishpapacy. This circumstance would seem to indicatethat the Britons had received their Christianityeither immediately, or through Gaul, from AsiaMinor, a thing quite possible and easy, by means ofthe commercial intercourse." * Dean Milman refersto the same fact in stating the struggle that after-wards occurred between the Scottish and Romishmissionaries in England, (which we will recur to* Ch. His., 1, 85.


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CHRISTIANITY IN SCOTLAND. 25faith and its customs from the Eastern Church."*A recent writer in the British and Foreign Evan-gelical Review^ on the Church History of the Celtsas a race, takes the same position, and says,'' How hard it is to account for the fact thatthe peculiar Easter usages of the Churches ofAsia Minor, were reproduced in the churches ofWales and Ireland and Scotland. But if, now, webring into view the ascertained fact that the Chris-tianized Celts of Galatia adhered to these usages,that no early missionaries could be so well qualifiedto diffuse the Gospel among the Celts of the West,as the converted Celts of the East, we become sen-sible of a highly augmented probability attachingto the ancient tradition of the British Churches,that the Gospel came to them in the first instance,not from Gaul, or from Rome, but from Asia Minor,after the Churches planted by St. Paul* that therehad fallen under the apostolical rule of St. John.""]"

These authorities, when we remember the Churchrelations of most of the authors, will probably besufficient to establish several points, to every unpre-judiced mind. First, that Christianity was intro-duced into Scotland very near to, if not during thelives of the later Apostles, partly by direct mis-sionary effort, and partly by the stress of persecu-tion, driving the j)rimitive disciples to the moun-

* p. 26. INo. Ivii., p. 534.


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CHRISTIANITY IN SCOTLAND. 2V)ing of their own, adopted the letters of the Greekalphabet, and used them in writing their own lan-guage. Of course all of them who had any inter-course with these Greek traders, learned in time, asmattering of that language.

Another thing tended to bring Gaul and Greekin contact. Many years before our era, a nationof Gauls had marched, plundering through theworld, until they had finally settled in Galatia,in Asia Minor. There they were mingled with theGreeks. And they kept up intercourse with theother Celts of Europe through Marseilles, and alsooverland.

It was to these Celts of Asia, that Paul wrotehis Epistle to the Galatians. It was the fitst writ-ten of all his Epistles, and I doubt not was usedby them in spreading a knowledge of the Gospelamong other Celtic tribes. Paul, led by the HolySpirit, preached to this outlying post of the Cel-tic race, and from them came forth the mission-arie^i who spread the knowledge wherever the Cel-tic tongue was spoken.

I think it more than probable that Christianity,having Greek, or Greek speaking Celts, as mission-aries, entered Gaul through Marseilles, and Britainthrough Cornwall. About Marseilles, in SouthernFrance, we find long after the much persecutedAlbigenses, the remains of the old Gaulish churches.


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30 THE CULDEE CHURCH.And in the mountain valleys, at the sources of theRhone, yet remain the Churches of the Waldenses.I have no doubt that these Churches derived theirorigin through Marseilles, from the preaching ofCeltic Greeks from Asia.From Cornwall may have emanated, by similar

means, those Christian Churches of "Wales andEngland, as well as those planted across the sea inIreland, where the persecuted went as to a placeof refuge. The early Disciples obeyed the com-mand, " If they persecute you in one city, flee yeto another, and as ye go preach."

All the preachers of that early day, if they werenot Grreek, at least spoke and taught in that lan-guage. Indeed the Old Testament had been trans-lated into Greek, while the Gospels and Epistleswere all written in that language, even the Epistleto the Galatians, the only one not addressed to aGreek community. The Church of early times wasin language a Greek Church.How then did these names become so common in

Scotland 1 By Greek missionaries preaching amongthe people. To name a child after a pastor is com-mon in all religious communities. And the veryfact therefore that we find these Greek names com-mon in Scotland, when there could have been noother point of connexion than that of religion, leadsto the conclusion that Greek Christians had penetra-


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CULDEE PRESii^TEKIANISM. 33

CHAPTER IV.CULDEE PRESBYTERIANISM.

Scottish Church older than EnglishStruajgle with Roman Mission-aries lor foothold in Eng'andAns?licau Testimony to these facts-Doctrines and Polity of the Culdee Church substantially identi-^ cal with those of Modern Presbyterian ChurchesTestimony ofHistorians.Having shown in a previous chapter that Chris-

tianity was introduced into Scotland very near to,if not during the lives of the Apostles, we nowpropose to show, that this primitive form of ChriS'tianity, as we find it in the Culdee Church, wassubstantially identical with that of the ReformedChurch of Scotland.We do not, f course mean to affirm a minuteidentity in the faith and forms of the CuldeeChurch and the present Presbyterian Church, orthat every feature of that early Church was wiseand scriptural ; for this would be impossible, inchurches whose outward surroundings were soentirely different. Even now, there are features inthe Church system in a heathen country, differentfrom those in a Christian ; in a time of war, from atime of peace ; and it ought to be so in that reli-gion which became " all things to all men, that byall means it might save some." What we do affirm^


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3b THE CULDEE CHURCH.was fni.strated at that time, he carried it out whenhe ascended the pontifical throne. This little inci-dent was the occasion of linking England to Rome,rather than to Scotland in its ecclesiastical rela-tions, as we shall see, and thus changing the wholecurrent of Church history as fur as it is affected bythe Anglican Church,

During this reign of Saxon Paganism, Christian-ity continued to exist and grow in Scotland andIreland, and so closely were these countries con-nected ecclesiastically, that they are both called byancient writers Scotia, and their inhabitants Scots.This probably had its origin in the fact that it wasthe Celtic tribes in both that were Christianized,and they were regarded as one people, althoughKving in separate islands, and constituted substan-tially one Church. And it is a curiojds fact thatthe patron saint of Ireland was a Scotsman, whilethe patron saint of Scotland was an Irishman. St.Patrick or Patricius, the son of a Scottish deaconof Roman blood, indeed a patrician, as his nameindicates, was a very successful missionary in Ire-land, but not the introducer of Christianity there.It had been in existence several centuries before,and produced some eminent men in the history ofthe Church long before St. Patrick was born.Columba, the man who has given lona so much ofits lustre, was an Irishman, of noble, indeed royal


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CULDEE PRESBYTERIANISM. 37lineage, being of the family of tlie Kings o^ Uls-ter, and related to a royal family in Scotland.The probabilities seem to be, that at that timeChristianity had a stronger foothold among theScots than it had among the Picts, and that Col-umba desired to convert the Pictish tribes toChristianity, and for this purpose determined tomake a lodgement on some place that would beaccessible to both countries. For this purpose heselected the sacred isle of lona, then the seatof a Druidic College; and A. D., 5C4, landedthere with twelve companions to found a ChristianCollege, which should send forth missionaries toall parts of the heathen world. He was bitterlyopposed by the Druids, but succeeded in gettingpossession of the Island by a grant from its royalowner, a Pictish king. Here then he founded thatmemorable College, which for centuries was a sourceof light to Northern Europe, by sending forth mis-sionaries properly trained for their work. When thisCollege is called a monastery, the name is cal-culated to mislead, unless the difference betweenit and other institutions called by that name isremembered. The monasteries connected withlona were as different from the monastic institu-tions of Benedict, Francis or Dominic, as the celi-bate fellowships of an English university are froman Italian or Spanish monastery. Indeed they


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42 THE CULDEE CHURCH.although he should stand alone, he would dissent"from subjecting the free Church of his fathersto any other power than that of the Lord, untowhom immediately she was subject ; and if itwere needful to die in this cause, declaring hisreadiness to lay down his neck unto the sword." *The tone of this manly speech reminds one oflater times, and shows that the spirit of the fear-less Murray was exactly the same with his spirit-ual descendants Knox, Henderson, and Chalmers,and that theii* metal has the same true ring. Thefact then is one that cannot be doubted, that theChurch of Scotland and the Church of Romestruggled for the occupancy of England, andhence that the Anglican Church, which was theresult of that struggle, is a younger Church thanthat of Scotland.A striking testimony of this is given by a learnedclergyman o^ the Church of England of the 17thcentury, Mr. T. Jones, naval chaplain to the Dukeof York, (afterwards Janfes II.,) in a curious vol-ume published by him to show "the historicaltitle of the British Church, and by what ministrythe Gospel was first planted in England." Havingbeen written before the rise of the modern HighChurch spirit, it gives the testimony of a veryearnest Episcopalian, who distinctly affirms thatAlexander's lona, p. 107.


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CULDEE PRESBYTERIANISM. . 43Presbyterians are " schismatics," but does notdeny them a Church existence. We quote a fewsentences from his learned work. lie says :"And first it is to be remembered and repeat-ed that the Grospel from its first planting bythe Apostles was never extinguished or eradicatedfrom among the Brittains, (i. e. the Celts or abo-riginal inhabitants of the British islands,) as itsoon fared with our Augustine's adventures uponthe English, but that they persevered to praiseGod to this day, in the same Religion and Lan-guage with their forefathers, the 1600 years andupwards, as they trust to continue till Christ's sec-ond coming; being the same religion that wasalike preserved among the Cornish * * * andover all Scotland and Ireland, * * * where itis clear against all the arts and inventions, * * *that the first planting of the faith among the peo-ple was by the Brittish (Celtic), and not by Rom-ish Ministry."* He then mentions the same factthat we have elsewhere noted, that these BritishChurches, of which the Scotch was one, receivedthe Gospel from Asia Minor, and not from Wes-tern Europe, and traced their maternity not toRome, but to the mother Church of Jerusalem.He also states the facts above recited as tothe Scottish missions to Saxon England, a&*P. 231. tp. 233.


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44 THE CULDEE CHURCH.follows,* " But Oswald and bis companioTis, dur-ing his Exile in Scotland, were Baptized andbrought up in the Christian Beligion, accordingto the Brittis'h (Celtic) Institution, as it diflFeredfrom the Roman, and being settled on his Throneby Cadwallian, sent to Scotland for Doctors toConvert the remainder of his Subjects ; to thatend Aidanus and Finnan and Diuma are sent, whowere Monkes of a Brittish isle belonging to thePicts (lona) who bestowed the same on St. Col-umbanus (Columba) who built a monastery there* * where the Abbot was Superior to all theClergy of those parts and to the Bishop himself^and the Rites and Customs of the Brittains weremost strictly observed and kept to the last."When it is remembered that the Abbot or Presi-dent of the College of lona was a simple Elder,it is plain that Prelacy was not a part of those" Rites and Customs," for we have here a Pres-byter ranking a Bishop in authority.Of this mission of Aidan, he says, f that heand " Holy King Oswald, were the Chief Authors

and Instruments under God of the Conversion ofthe English to the Christian Faith over all theLand, not only in Northumberland, where theyReigned and resided, but over the rest of theEnglish Heptarchies." Again J he speaks of*p. 2fi6. tP. 2G9. tP-390.


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CULDEE PRESBYTERIANISM. 45"the Ancient, Apostolick, Brittish Faith, whiclithe Scotch and Irish defended with us heretoforeagainst Monk Augustine and planted among theEnglish, before he and his Successors sowed theirTares among them."*Here then we have the candid testimony of a

learned clergyman of the Church of England,that "the Conversion of the English over all theLand," was due to the Culdee missionaries of theScottish Church, an admission which only thetruAh could have extorted from the Royal Chap-lain of the Duke of York. Hence unless thechild can be older than its mother, it must followthat the Anglican Church cannot claim as high anantiquity as the Scottish, and that those who tracetheir orders to that Church, have certainly noright to contend for an Apostolical source anybetter, if as good, as those who derive their suc-cession from the Church of Scotland.We now inquire what were the doctrines of thisCuldee Church 1 The facts already cited, provethat they were not Romish, but so antagonisticas to be incapable of coexisting with those ofRome. Whether they were Prelatic, or Presby-terian, is a point that has been disputed, and itmay be sufficient to give the conclusions to whichlearned men in the English and other Churches

* Jones's Rome, No Mother Church to England, London, 1679


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48 THE CULDEE CHURCH.most conformable to the expressions of Bede,*the earliest authority on the subject. The. smalland barren island of lona, after this, soon becameillustrious in the labours and triumphs of theChristian Church, and the Culdees, animated withthe zeal of their founder, not only devoted theirefforts to enlighten their own country, but becameadventurous missionaries to fields the most dan-gerous and remote. It is gratifying also to observethat with all the disputations as to their form ofChurch government, there is a general agreemeutas to the purity and simplicity both of their doc-trines and lives. Even Bede, though indignantat their rejection of the authority of the Romanbishop, testifies, that " they preached only suchworks of charity and piety as they could learnfrom the prophetical, evangelical, and apostolicalwritings." Of the care with which they weretrained to be the guardians of learning andinstructors of the people, we may form some ideafrom the fact that eighteen years of study werefrequently required of them before they wereordained." On p. 233, it is also said, "the Eng-lish writers of that age, nevertheless, bear testi-mony to the purity of their lives, and the zeal oftheir apostolical labors, while they denounce theirexclusive devotedness to the authority of Scrip-

Hist. Ecc, lib. HI, c. 4.


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CULDEE PRESBYTERIANISM. 49ture, their rejection of Romish ceremonies, doc-trines and traditions, the nakedness of their formsof worship, and the republican character of theirecclesiastical government." D'Aubigne says," lona, governed by a simple elder, had become amissionary College. It has been sometimes calleda monastery, but the dwelling of the grand-son ofFergus (Columba) in nowise resembled the Popishconvents. When its youthful inmates desired tospread the knowledge of Jesus Christ, theythought not of going elsewhere for Episcopalordination. Kneeling in the chapel of Icolmkill,they were set apart by the laying on of the handsof the Elders ; they wexe called Bishops, but re-mained obedient to the Elder or presbyter oflona. They even consecrated other Bishops; thusFinan laid hands upon Diuma, Bishop of Middle-sex. The British Christians attached great impor-tance to the ministry, but not to one form in pre-ference to another. Presbytery and Episcopacywere with them, as in the Primitive Church,almost identical."* Prof. Ebrard, of Gi-ermany,one of the latest and most learned investigatorsof this field, in his recent book on the CuldeeChurch, after thoroughly sifting the testimony,comes to this conclusion, " The true explanationof the fact is this : By ordination, a man became

Hist. Ref., V. 36, 37.


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60 THE CULDEE CHURCH.a presbyter, a presbjterate was the sacred office,tlie sacerdotal order. A presbyter who presidedover a monastery, was the abbot or father of thatmonastery. But in cases where a monastery, bymissionary labour, succeeded in forming congre-gations of Christian converts in the surroundingcountry, the spiritual oversight of these congrega-tions was undertaken either by the abbot himselfor by some other of the presbyters, who wasnamed to that office. The holder of this officewas called a bishop."* This is precisely thedoctrine of the Presbyterian Church in her pre-sent standards.

Mr. Jamieson, in his History of the Culdees,says, "After the most impartial investigation ofthis subject of which I am capable, I have not founda shadow of proof, that any of those sent forthas bishops from that island, were ordained by suchas claimed a dignity superior to that of presby-ter." Michelet says, "the Culdees recognizedhardly more of the hierarchical state than themodern Scotch Presbyterians." Many other tes-timonies might be added to these, but they willsuffice to prove the proposition which we laiddown, that the early Culdee Church, was in itsChurch government and doctrines not Popish andPrelatic, but essentially Presbyterian, and in the

Brit, ami For. Ev. Rev. LV, 183.


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52 THE CULDEE CHURCH.

CHAPTER v.HEIGN OF POPERY IN SCOTLAND.

Stru^arlc between the Church of Rome and the old Church of Scot-landThe Culdee Church " cast down, l)ut not destroyed"Im-probability of such a destructionProof of its existence duringthe Romish Usurpation.Having given evidence to prove that Christian-

ity was planted in Scotland very near. to, if notduring the lives of the Apostles, and from anAsiatic and not a European source, from theChurches ministered to by Paul and John, andnot the Church of Rome ; and that this primitiveChurch of the Culdees, was not Popish or Pre-latic, but essentially Presbyterian, actuated bythe same spirit, and holding substantially the samedoctrines and order with the Reformation Churchof Scotland, we wish now to trace its existenceduring the reign of Popery in Scotland, and toshow, that there is good reason to believe thatthis old primeval faith never died out among the peo-ple of Scotland, and that this fact alone can explainthe peculiarities of their history. We have tracedthis primitive Presbyterian Church down to thedate of its contact with Popery in England,whence it was expelled by force, only to renew


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54 THE CULDEE CHURCH.maintained against the doctrines and pretensionsof the Romish Church ; and for this purpose, allthose means by which a religious body may be an-nihilated, were systematically resorted to. By cor-rupting those who could be tempted by the bribeof ecclesiastical rank and wealth, by expellingfrom their monasteries those who obstinatelyadhered to the belief and practice of their fathers,by yexatious and iniquitous law suits, by dazzlingthe eyes of the people with a more splendid rit-ual than that followed by the simple presbytersof the Columba order, by calumniating theircharacter, and affecting a superiour standard ofmorals,in short, by all the means by which anadroit, determined, and unscrupulous party mayenfeeble the influence and paralyze the resolutionof a sect it had resolved to destroy, did the adhe-rents of the Romish Church labour to sweep fromthe land all vestiges of the Culdees. It was not,however, until the thirteenth century that theyentirely succeeded, and even then they only sup-pressed the Colleges of the Culdees and dispersedtheir members. The latter still continued tolabour as individuals, and in many remote partsof the country, kept alive the flame of pureChristianity, long after the whole land seemed tohave sunk under Papal darkness, so that, to use


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REIGN OF rOPERf IN SCOTLAND. 55the words of Dr. Smith,* the reign of terror inthese lands was very short, and the darkness ofits night was intermixed with the light of manystars.'The mere efforts of ecclesiastics would proba-

bly never have succeeded in suppressing this toughold Church. It was done at the last by Scoto-Saxon kings, and by English influence. MalcolmCanmore, who ascended the Scottish throne inA. D. 1058, married Margaret, the daughter ofWilliam the Conqueror, a religious zealot, whowould probably have been an abbess had shenot been a queen. She determined to do forthe Scottish Church, what her father had donefor the English people, and as her husband hadbeen educated in England, she found no difficultyin using him in her proselyting efforts. She pro-ceeded with great craft and perseverance, con-cealing her real object from the people, and pro-fessing only to desire a reform in some subordinatematters. She succeeded in persuading the peopleto make some changes. No effort was made tointroduce Prelacy, until after her death, A. D.1093, when her sons determined to establish it.In doing this, it is a suggestive fact mentioned byMcLauchlan,t that "with the exception of one ortwo of the earlier and less prominent bishops of

*Life of Columba, p. 163. tP- 418.


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56 THE CULDEE CHURCH.somewhat doubtful identity, we do not find onenative Scot, accepting, or being received into thenewly constituted offices. Bishops and monks arealmost all importations from abroad ; some fromEngland, and others from France. The wholeEomish system was to be introduced into Scot-land, and the men who had to organize it, had tobe introduced with it." The suddenness of theestablishment of the Scottish hierarchy shows thatit was done by force, and not by persuasion.Every diocese in Scotland but one, was foundedbetween A. D. 1100 and A. D. 1153; the splendidabbeys, whose ruins are all over Scotland, werebuilt at that time, hordes of foreign monks wereintroduced and planted all over the land, and thestrong arm of royal power was wielded to crushthe Culdees. What could these poor Culdeepresbyters do against such an army of monks andprelates, backed by the army of the King and thepowerful influence of England 1 They were atlast driven out of their colleges, the last one be-ing the Culdee institute of St. Andrews, whichwas suppressed A. D. 1297, for resisting theclaims of the prelate of that see. From this datethe old Culdee Church, as a visible organization,disappears after one of the noblest and braveststruggles in all history, a struggle running throughfrom five to seven centuries, in which every inch


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REIGN OF POPERY IN SCOTLAND. 57of ground was disputed with the tenacity of aThermopylae, and given up at last because theywere overpowered, not conquered.Now we put it to any one who knows the work-

ing of human nature, whether it is likely thatthis old, unconquered faith that had battled for athousand years, first against Paganism, and thenagainst Popery, was likely to become extinct be-fore a foreign religion, imposed upon a reluctantpeople by the sword ] That foreign faith was notonly to them an unscriptural one, but the faith oftheir enemies; the religion of Kome, to whoseyoke their brave forefathers had never bowedwhen Rome was mightiest ; the religion of Eng-land, that had never ceased to endeavour to bringScotland into subjection, and never ceased to meeta stern defiance that chose death to subjugation.Was it likely that they would ever all submit tothis foreign religion] Was it likely that thenational spirit which shrined Wallace and Brucein its heart of hearts, and flamed out so grandlyon such bloody fields as that of Bannockburn,would ever cordially receive a religion forced onthem by English rulers and English prelates?Surely it requires but a small knowledge of theineradicable laws of human nature to infer, thata religious conquest of that kind never couldwholly supplant the old religion in the hearts of


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58 THE CULDEE CHURCH.the people, except by exterminating them, as wasnot done, in the case of the Scottish people. Noreligion ever has been destroyed by persecution,if the people professing it were not destroyed.Suppose in our country, the government were toforce a religion upon us by the bayonet, would itever take a deep root? We might submit to it,because we could not resist it; but would we loveif? Would we adopt it in our hearts'? Wouldwe not continue to cherish the old and persecutedfaith of our fathers in our very inmost heart, witha fidelity all the more undying because of thispersecution? Would not that proscribed religionretire to the inaccessible fastnesses of the moun-tains, and there look and long for its day of deliv-erance? Would not its kindling memories ofheroic endeavour and cruel persecution be whis-pered from sire to son, until its very sufferingswould become hallowed, and the blood of its mar-tyrs would be the seed of its Church ? Then whyshould it not have been so with this old, invinci-ble religion of the Culdees? Why should theScottish people be less tenacious of their ances-tral faith than we would be of ours ? Have theyfrom the very earliest times been a fickle people,given to change, and capable of being moukled inthe way thus described ?Hence were there not a particle of evidence as


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REIGN OF POPERY IN SCOTLAND. 59lo the continued existence of the ancient Culdeefaith in the rural and mountainous districts ofScotland during the occupation of Popery, wewould infer the fact from these unchangeable lawsof human nature, which are certainly not weakeramongst the Scotch than amongst other races.But we are not wholly without evidence on thispoint. That evidence must be imperfect, for inan age when there was no printing, no free inter-course between the Highlands and Lowlands, fre-quent feuds and civil wars, and where the avowalof Culdee sentiments would certainly expose topersecution, we cannot expect any fulness of testi-mony as to the existence of sentiments which thoinstinct of self-preservation would lead men toconceal, and the profession of which could issuein no useful result. The same persecution whichtended to perpetuate the hidden faith, would alsoprevent the record of any evidence of its secretexistence. But that it did exist is the conclusionof the ablest scholars who have looked into thehistory of that period of darkness and confusion.There were Reformers before the Reformation innearly every other country in Europe, and it waspassing strange if they did not exist in that coun-try where the last and longest protest againstRomish usurpation existed ; in the country wherethe pure and primitive faith of the Apostt)lic


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60 THE CULDEE CHURCH,Churcli had maintained an unconquered existencefor nearly a thousand years. That such witnessesfor the truth did exist in Scotland, the continua-tion of the old Culdee Church, is the testimony ofthe most impartial judges.

In the History of the Lollards, published bythe Religious Tract Society of London, a bodywhich it would be ridiculous to suspect of Pres-byterian predilections, or of sectarian bias of anykind, we have the following statements.* "InScotland, as well as in England, the glad tidingsof salvation through Christ Jesus were madeknown by the Apostles, or more probably by theirimmediate disciples." Then follows an accountof the early Scottish Church precisely as we havegiven it from other sources, and need not thereforebe repeated. After reciting the struggle withPopery in England, already described, it isadded,! "I^ England, the Romanists speedilyprevailed ; but their encroachments, which includedseveral other points, were more firmly resisted inScotland; many left the North of England, wherethey were settled and took refuge among theirScottish neighbors, rather than give way to suchproceedings." Matters went on from bad to worse,till at length, by degrees, in Scotland, as in othercountries, " darkness covered the land, and gross*P. 334. t P- 336-


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REIGN OF POPERY IN SCOTLAND. 61darkness the people." A number, however, stillwere found who refused to bow their knees to theBaal of Romish superstition and power. PopeJohn XXII., in his bull for anointing King Rob-ert Bruce, A. D. 1324, complained that there weremany heretics in Scotland. Some, as Alcuin andothers, resisted the doctrine of transubstantiation,and the Popish errors in general, and were de-clared heretics after their decease." * * * "Thescattered remnant of the flock of Christ was theneubjeoted to persecution. Historians do not fur-nish the full particulars, but that such a peopleexisted, is clear from the evidence even of Popishwriters, who, in their account of the Waldenses,relate, that individuals in that sect, and followersof WickliflF, were found in Scotland, as well as inEngland, doubtless they experienced similar treat-ment." After an account of the martyrdom ofJames Risby, A. D. 1422, and Paul Craw, A. D.1431, for holding these doctrines, it is added,*"The romantic mountains and valleys of Scotland,however, afforded shelter to a scattered remnantof God's heritage. In their glens, as well as inthe valleys of Piedmont, small assemblies werefound, who looked to Christ Jesus as the onlyMediator between God and man. In the year1494, thirty persons called "The Lollards of

*P 337.


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62 THE CULDEE CHURCH.Kyle," a district of Ayrshire, were accused ofvarious heresies before the King, and his council,by Blacater, Archbishop of Glasgow." Thenames and doctrines of these persons are thengiven, from which their identity with the CuldeeChurch of other days is very clear, after whichthe history is carried on to the establishment ofthe Reformation in A. D. 1550.

Hetherington, in his History of the Church ofScotland, * gives the facts at some length, and states .as the conclusion to be drawn from them, that"Popery had not been able wholly to exterminatethe purer faith and simpler system of the ancientCuldees, especially in Ayrshire, and perhaps alsoin Fifethe districts adjacent to St. Andrews andlona,the earliest abodes and the latest retreatsof primitive Christianity in Scotland," * * *and that, "the doctrine of the Culdees continuedto survive long after the suppression of theirforms of Church Government."fMcLauchlan, the latest and perhaps ablest his-torian of the Culdee Church, states as the conclu-sion of the whole investigation so exhaustively setforth in his pages, "It requires but little ac-quaintance with Scottish history to observe thatthe principles of the old Culdee Church neverwere eradicated ; that during the reign of the

"i-1 and 2. IP. 22.


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REIGN OF FOPERY IN SCOTLAND. 63Roman Church in the kingdom, they continued toexist, exhibiting themselves occasionally in suchoutbreaks as the letter of King Robert Bruce andhis nobles to Pope John, on the uprising of theLollards of Kyle, and finally culminating in theevents of the Scottish Reformation. Those prin-ciples had regard, above all things, to the inde-pendence of the ancient Scottish kingdom andChurch. They exist still fresh and vigorous asever in the Scottish mind ; nor is it easy to sayfor how much of what now distinguishes Scotlandecclesiastically, she is indebted to the ancientCuldee Church. One thing is plain, that notwith-standing the claims of the Church of Rome andits hierarchical organizations, to antiquity in Scot-land, she can only claim four hundred of the eigh-teen hundred years that have elapsed since theplanting of Christianity in the kingdom, viz : theperiod between A. D. 1150, when David estab-lished her, and A. D. 1550 when his establishmentwas overthrown by the resuscitation of the oldScottish principles at the Reformation."*

Alexander, Jamieson, and other historians,make similar statements, but these will probablysufl&ce to show, that the ancient Culdee faith, afterits long and gallant struggle with Rome, did notcease to exist, but, after >he throne had forced

p. 440.


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TBE REFORMATION IN SCOTLANO^ 65

CHAPTER VI.THE REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND.

Difference between English and Scotch Reformations the 'nttersimply the re-appearance of the primitive Culdee taithHenceits tenaciouB vitality.The next link in the chain of this argument,

brings us to a historic period, too wide to enterupon fully, but so well known that this fulness ofdiscussion is not needed. Hence, the only pro-position which we need maintain is, that the ScoUtish Reformation was the simple reversal of the royalestablishment of Popery in Scotland, being forcedon the throne by the people, as that was forced on thepeople by the throne.

This is a fact so familiar to every one, that weneed adduce no proofs. Every one knows the re-markable difference between the English andScottish Reformations in this particular. TheEnglish Reformation was forced by the Court onthe people ; the Scotch, by the people on theCourt, There is no good reason for believing thatwhen Henry VIII. broke with the Pope, that hemight divorce his queen, a majority of the Eng-lish people had any sympathy with his movementnor indeed considering the cause of it, had they


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66 THE CULDEE CHURCH.any motive for that sympathy. It is a curiousfact that the religion of England has generallybeen the religion of the throne. It was Paganunder the Komans, Christian under the Britons,Druid under the Saxons, Papal under the Nor-mans, Protestant under Henry, Popish underMary, Protestant under Elizabeth, Independentunder Cromwell, Prelatic under Charles II., andso continues. When no political questions wereinvolved, the Court has never had much difficultyin securing a pretty general conformity in thematter of religion. But it has been otherwise inScotland. It has always been strangely unman-ageable in this matter. For some reason the factis apparent, that the Scottish people have alwaysclung with a wonderful tenacity to their religion.Hence the Reformation with them was forced bythe people on the Court. Queen Mary used everyagency that art, beauty, and power could wieldto crush the Reformation, but although backed bythe powerful aid of France, she failed, and theReformation was forced upon the throne by thepeople, and became the recognised faith of therealm.What made this striking difference between the

Reformations of England and Scotland ? Pre-cisely the facts that we have been describing.This old, ancestral faith of Scotland still lived


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REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND. 67among ber hills, and only awaited an opening toflame out as it did in the mighty outburst of theReformation. The religion of the throne was thereligion of their ancient hereditary enemies, ofthe men who had banished and butchered theirgallant and godly forefathers, of whom the worldwas not worthy, whilst the religion of the peoplewas the religion of the

** Scots wha had wi' Wallace bled,Scots wham Bruce had often led,"

the old, unconquered faith of their Culdee fathersthat had never bowed the knee to Baal, or ac-knowledged the claims of Rome. Hence althoughthis ancient faith had been overpowered, ithad never been overwhelmed. Like the sun-clad woman of th Apocalypse, she had fledfrom the dragpn into the wilderness, and wasnourished there for a time and times and a half-time : at the appointed hour the deliverancecame, and a voice rang among the hills like thatwhich sounded at the grave of Lazarus, "Looseher and let her go." And at the sound of thatvoice the lonely glens and heathered hills of thebrave old land awaked like rough Benledi's craggyside at the whistle of Roderick Dhu, when,

" On right, on left, above, below,Sprung up at once the lurking foe,


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68 THE CULDEE CHURCH.And every tuft of broom gave life,To plaided warrior armed for strife ;'*

for like some mighty gathering of the clans,* They came as the winds come when forests are rendedyThey came as the waves come when navies are stranded;'*and in spite of beauty, and rank, and riches, androyalty, this old ancestral faith of lona demandedits long invaded rights, and Scotland wheeledinto line a part of the sacramental host of theChurch of Reformation. "Was this a wonderfulthing? "Was it not the same old story that "truthcrushed to earth shall rise again," and that

"Freedom's battles once begun,Descend from bleeding sire to son.Though often lost are surely won."

The same fact explains the tenacity with whichthe Scottish people clung to their ancient and simpleCuldee order against the efforts made by Englandto force Prelacy upon them. For a whole centu-ry that struggle continued, and was only termi-nated by the accession to the throne of "William ofOrange, a Dutch Presbyterian, who terminatedthe struggle and allowed the Scotch to enjoy theancient forms of their choice. This stern resist-ance to Prelacy was not a spirit of political radi-calism ; for when England bowed to the sword ofCromwell, Scotland took up arms for Charles II.,


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REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND. 69and with his characteristic perfidy, was rewardedfor her fidelity by one of the most cruel persecutionsrecorded in history. This terrible persecutionextended to every rank, age, sex, and condition,from the kingly Argyle, who said as he walked tothe scaffold, " I could die as a Roman, but Ichoose to die as a Christian," to servant-maids,peasants, shepherds, and even children, who werebutchered by the brutal dragoons of the bloodyClaverhouse, as remorselessly as the wild beast rendsits prey, and with a more remorseless cruelty.The sufferings of that "killing time," when everyspecies of torture, indignity and oppression wereused, are only written fully in the book of God*sremembrance. That weather-stained stone in theold Greyfriars church-yard, which records the sufferings of the Martyrs in its quaint and simpleverse, states that **from May 17th, 1661, whenthe most noble Marquis of Argyle was beheaded,to the 17th of February, 1688, that Mr. JamesHenwick suffered, were one way or other murderedand destroyed for the same cause about eighteenthousand ;" and yet this covers only about' one-fourth of this period of struggle, and representsbut feebly the agonies of unnamed and unnum-bered sufferers who chose spoiling of their goods,loathsome dungeons, the boot, the thumbscrew, anddeath in its most terrible forms, rather than aban-


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7U THE CULDEE CilUKCH.don the old and simple faith of their fathers, andaccept the stately Prelacy that the iStuarts wishedto force upon them.Now we do not refer to their, long and memora-ble struggle to discuss the right or wrong of eitherpersecutors or persecuted, but to show that theremust have been some very deep cause at work togenerate a tenacity so unyielding as that. Whydid Scotland cling to its simple, Presbyterian faithwith so much indomitable firmness? How camethis system to have its roots so twined around theScottish popular heart that a hundred years ofpersecution could not tear them out? Not lapseof time, if this system arose with the Reforma-tion, for the first General Assembly only met A*D. 1560, and the "tulchan bishops" were ap-pointed in A. D. 1572, from which time the struggle against Prelacy never ceased until the accessioaof William and Mary in A. D. 1688. How coulda new and unknown system take such root in sobrief a time ? You may uproot with ease themushroom growth of a Jonah's gourd whichsprings up in a night and perishes in a night, butwhen you find some gnarled and knotted athleteof the forest that has wrestled a hundred winterswith the hurricane and remained unmoved, youhave found the brave old oak that has been push-ing its twisting roots around the granite ribs of the


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REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND. 71earth for a thousand years. Nothing but timecan ever generate such growths. Had the seedsof this Presbyterian system been planted amongthe hills of Scotland by the hands of Wishart,Knox, or Melville, it had yielded at last to theglaived hands of the sons of Anak who sought touproot it, for there were giants in those days. Nostripling of the forest could have retained itshold on the soil for a hundred years of suchgigantic efi'ort. But this was no stripling of yes-terday. Its acorn had been planted on her mistyhills by the hands of men who gathered it fromspots where Paul planted, Apollos watered, andJohn garnered the increase ; and it was lodged ina soil that was untrodden and unsubdued by thetramp of those mailed legions of Rome that hadalmost conquered the world. Its stalwart trunkgrew on apace, although "the boar out of thewood did waste it, and the wild beast of the fielddid devour it," though the fierce storm of perse-cution wrestled with its boughs and snapped manyof them with a martyr's bloody fate ; though theaxe was laid at its root again and again, and twiceat least was it hewn to the very ground by Saxonand Anglo-Saxon hands, yet the root still lived,and put forth its undying vigor with a greenergrowth by this terrible pruning, until it standsto-day, the brave old Charter-oak of Christendom,


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CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 73

CHAPTER VII.CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS.

The Apostolicity of the Presbyterian ChurchSimple test of Scrip-tural claimsUnworthy abandonment of those claimsRule thatdon't work both ways Plea for more tidelity to this old, battle-scarred Church of our fathers.Our object in the preceding line of historical

argument has been to prove, that the PresbyterianChurch of the present day is a true and regularsuccession of the Apostolical Churches. Thishistorical proof, however, is not essential to thevalidity of this claim, for it rests at last, not onHistory but on Scripture, All true Protestantsagree with the sixth of the 39 Articles of theEpiscopal Church, that " Holy Scripture contain-eth all things necessary to Salvation ; so thatwhatsoever is not read therein, nor may be provedthereby is not required of any man, that it shouldbe believed as an article of the Faith, or bethought requisite or necessary to Salvation."Now in conformity with this Article, we hold,that if the doctrines and order of the Presbyte-rian Church can be found in the Scriptures, thatis sufficient ; they are Apostolical, the doctrinesand order that the Apostles ordained. If they


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74 THE CULDEE CHURCH.cannot be found in the Scriptures, we give tliemup. Now on this point we suggest a very simpleand easy test, that demands no deep scholarship.What is the Presbyterian Church ? By its name,it is a Church governed by elders, in contradis-tinction from a Church governed by Pope, Pre-lates, or the Brotherhood. It is the Church of theEldership. Now the test we suggest is to take aConcordance, and under the word Elder, examineall the texts, and see whether this is not the one,solitary feature that is common to the Church inall its dispensations. Sacraments, ritual, priest-hood, prophecy, miracles, all have changed, butfrom the earliest trace of a Church in Grenesis tothe last in the Kevelation, it is a Church governedby Elders, i. e. a Presbyterian Church. Theoldest form of government on earth is the pat-riarchal, which is a government by elders, and thetraces of this fact are found in all languages,where official titles embody this fact. Senior(Latin for elder,) is found in such titles as Senate,Senator, Seigneur, Sieur, Sire, Senor, Signore,Monseigneur, &c., &c., while alderman, (elder-man,) Sheikh, (Elder,) and other titles of honor,all carry us back to this patriarchal fact of gov-ernment by the eldest in age, which was theprimitive government by elders. When this sys-tem was supplanted, and qualifications, not years


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CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 75were the ground of bestowal, the name remained,and the gravest and wisest, whatever their agemight be, were chosen to rule, and called elders.Now let the ordinary reader take a Concordance,and he will find upwards of one hundred textsspeaking of government by elders, running throughthe entire Bible. Eliezer, who is called "theeldest servant of the house of Abraham," (Gen.xxiv: 2,) is in the Hebrew, called, "his servant,the elder of his house," i. e. the ruler of his house.We read of the elders of Egypt, and Pharaoh'shouse, called senators in Ps. cv : 22. The openingof the Exodus discovers to us elders who governedand represented the people, and through the fortyyears, Grod and Moses always dealt with the peo-ple through their representatives, the elders, andnever in their primary capacity. After their set-tlement in Canaan, the whole people were gov-erned by national elders, each tribe by tribeelders, each district and city, by their elders, andthrough the Psalms and Prophets this fact iseasily recognized. The government of the OldTestament Church was by elders, i. e. Presbyte-rian. When the New Testament opens we findthis system still existing, and every synagogue,(which was the parish church among the Jews,)governed by elders. Hence when the ApostolicChurches were founded they were framed after


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76 THE CULDEE CHURCH.the synagogue model, (as the first scholars of theEnglish Church admit,) and governed by elders,^nd when Peter and John speak of themselves intheir old age, they call themselves elders, (1 Pet.v: 1 : 2 and 3 John, v: 1,) as if this was theirpermanent title of office, the highest one knownin the Church ; and when John caught a glimpseof the Church in heaven, (Rev. iv : 4, &c.,) he.saw four and twenty seats around the throne andupon them four and twenty elders, correspondingto the twelve tribes of the Old Testament Church,and the twelve Apostles of the New, as if to inti-mate to us this truth, that the only invariable fea-ture of the visible Church on earth, the oneunchanging fact found in every form of it is, thatit is the Church of the Eldership ; and whereinthis differs from saying that it is a PresbyterianChurch, we are not well able to see. Here thenis a simple test of the scriptural character of aPresbyterian Church, which any one can apply.All that we ask is, that the test of Scripture beapplied and abided by, when made. Surely thisis fair. When we wish to know whether an indi-vidual is a true Christian, we do not consult hisgenealogical register, to know whether his ances-tors were all Christians, we simply compare himwith the marks of a Christian found in Scripture,and if he has them, we call him a true Christian.


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CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 77So when we would know whether a Church is atrue Church, as it is simply a corporation ofChristians, we pursue the same course and enquirewhether it has the marks of a Church found inScripture ; if it has, we call it a true Church. Ifwe have all that the Bible requires, we are satis-fied, and if we have as the very distinctive featureof our Church, the only invariable feature of theChurch of God since it was organized, in govern-ment by elders, it is certainly a curious use ofterms to say that Presbyterianism or governmentby Presbyters, is a novelty.But as there are some who think that we under-value this historical connection with the Primitive

Church, because we do not possess it, we havegiven the facts on this point, known to the well-read theologian, but unknown to many others."We do not need in our relation to other Protest-ant churches to go further back than the Reforma-tion, for our succession is to say the least, just asgood as theirs; and when they have settled this ques-tion with the Church of Rome, we will settle itwith them. But we have another reason for notfeeling anxious about this question, viz : our suc-cession runs back, independent of Rome entirely,and can be traced to the very days of the Apos-tles. This we have done in the preceding investi-gation. We have shown that Christianity was


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78 THE CULDEE CHURCH.planted in Scotland near to, or during the lives ofthe Apostles, by Eastern and not Western Chris-tians; that its forms and doctrines were essentiallyPresbyterian, and Protestant, a government byelders, and a resistance of Rome ; that after astruggle of five hundred years, it was driven outof its ancient seats in the centres of populationand power, and Popery forced on the people bythe throne ; that it still continued to exist in therural and mountainous districts during the fourhundred years of Romish occupancy; that itcame forth at the Reformation and reversed theestablishment of Popery, the people forcing theReformation on the throne ; and that in its strangetenacity of these ancient and simple forms andtenets, it exhibits traits that can only be explainedby the admission of the fact, that this old, uncon-quered and unconquerable faith of their fathersnever died out of the Scottish heart, and that hencethe Reformation Church of Scotland, and all off-shoots from that of like faith and order, are sim-ply productions of that ancient, primeval Chris-tianity that was planted in Scotland during Apos-tolical time, by Apostolical men, and that there-fore we have a historical, as well as a scripturalright to claim to be regarded and treated as anApostolical Church. In making these claims, wehave no word of disparagement for any other Chris-


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CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 79tian Church, or any desire to detract from theirclaims to honour and love. Indeed we have usedtheir testimony in establishing these claims, andhave peculiar pleasure in being able to show thatwe make no historical claim for our brave oldmother Church of Scotland that has not been con-ceded by the ripest scholars of her younger andstatelier sister, the Church of England.We have presented this historical argument atthis time, because we believe there is a specialneed for it. There is a growing tendency amongstour people, and especially our young people, togive in to the exclusive claims of other Churchesto Apostolical authority, and to concede somespecies of inferiority to the Presbyterian Churchin this matter, that is working us serious injury.Much of this is our own fault in not asserting ourrightful claims as others do, and in acting on aspurious liberality that is not genuine liberalityso much as indifference. It is a curious fact, thatwe have, with a large part of the world, the nameof being exclusive and bigoted, and yet so littleof the reality, that we suffer both from the nameand absence of the thing which it designates. Ifwe were really bigoted and exclusive, we wouldhave the benefit that results froi* banding togetherand giving each other mutual support, and mightpatiently submit to the name, f*-om the usefulness


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80 THE CULDEE CHURCH.of the reality. But tte fact is well known toevery intelligent member of our Church, that wehave less Church feeling, less esprit-du-corps, lessof that cohesive loyalty to the Church, which hasevoked such noble activity in other Churches,than any family of Christians in the visibleChurch. Other Churches set us a praiseworthyexample in this respect. They cling together,and grow, because they do thus hold together.When they can attend service in a church of theirown faith, they usually do it, many of them al-ways. But in many places our Presbyterian peo-ple, if their own church building is closed, feelno such obligation, but almost seem to prefer toattend some other denominational service, andsanction their children doing so, by which tastesare often formed, which in the end lead thosechildren away from their own Church. OtherChurches take special pains to invite strangers totheir services, and show them that they are wel-come, but a stranger may come to some of ourchurches for months, and never receive a sol-itary intimation of welcome, or a single assurancethat he is not regarded as an intruder. OtherChurches support their own schools, and otherChurch institutions, more faithfully, we appre-hend, than is done by our people. Our childrenare sent to schools, Sunday and week-day schools,


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CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 81uader other denominational influences, where theyare not trained to love their own Church,and perhaps trained to exactly the reversetaught insensibly, if not intentionally, to ad-mire and love other religious forms, and thenwhen it turns out that they desire to unite withother Churches, we are very much surprised thatthey have become just what they were educatedto be, and that the tree has inclined just as thetwig was bent. Other Churches are careful aboutthe reading that is given to their children. Ourpeople are so confident of the power of truth,that they do not take the trouble of even seeingthat it is sown in the minds of their children, andexpect a harvest, without sowing the seed. OtherChurches demand of their members that theirbest and first energies be given to them, and onlywhat is left to the outside claims, but many ofour laymen are so absorbed with outside work,that they have hardly any time left to the peculiarwork of their own Church. In thes3 and a hun-dred other ways, the high claims of the Churchare lowered and set aside, and she sufi'ers fromthis indifference severely, and pays the penalty inan annual drain of members drawn off to otherChurches, not from conviction, or change of opi-nion, but from mere sentiment and accidental as-sociations.


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82 THE CULDEE CHURCH.There is another form of this practical surren-

der of our Church claims, that is becoming so im-portant a matter, that it is high time for some oneto speak out, an-d call attention to it. The RomishChurch requires that in mixed marriages, theProtestant must promise to allow the children tobe trained in that Church. Among Protestantsthe practical rule formerly was, that in such casesthe wife went with the husband, as the head ofthe household, unless she was a communicant andhe not, in which case the practice was variable.This rule of give and take was one of mutual con-cession, and on the whole worked fairly. Butfor years a silent and almost unobserved changehas taken place, by which the practical rule is,that the Presbyterian must always give up, andthe concession be made only from the one side. Theresult of this is that in many cases, one by one,our best young men, as well as women, are drawnoflF from our communion, because they are unwil-ling to take the firm stand about the matter ofChurch, which is taken by the other party. Theextent of this drain on our Church would s-tartleus were the facts brought out in detail. Weknow a single church, that is probably a fair sam-ple of the whole, where we can count more thanthirty of such marriages, in which the non-Pres-byterian party has steadily refused to come over,


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CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 83and in more than half the cases, the Presbyterianhas yielded, either sooner or later, and gone overto the other Church. Now here are upwards offifteen families from one congregation lost to thePresbyterian Church, not by change of opinion,but by other causes. Probably if every church inour connection were examined^ in many of themnearly the same proportion would be found to exist.Now when we remember that each of these familieswill in a few years represent growing circles of chil-dren, and that here is a loss for which we have nocorresponding gain, the aggregate becomes verylarge,' and it is time that we examine into thissteady and silent drain of our very best blood, thatis quietly going on all over our territory.We are aware of the practical difficulties thatsurround this matter, and how painful it mustsometimes be to take a decided stand. But we in-sist, that in view of existing facts, fidelity to ourholiest relations demands that we take this stand,and maintain the equality of our Church with allothers. Surely it is unreasonable and wrong tosanction this one sided and unequal rule of action.If it is a matter of conscience, must the Presbyte-rian only have, no conscience 1 If a matter of con-cession, why must the Preisbyterian always be theone to succumb 1 Are we faithful to our Church,if we allow a seeming stigma like this to be placed


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84 THE CULDEE CHURCH.upon her ? Ought we not to stand up as firmly forour old, ancestral Church, as others do for theirs ?"Were this a mere matter of expediency, we wouldsay nothing about it, but, as it stands, it rises to amatter of principle. It is simply the practicalquestion whether the Presbyterian Church standson an equality with other Churches. If it does,we have a right to demand reciprocity, and whenthat reciprocity is refused, we are bound, by themost sacred of all ties, to vindicate our old motherChurch from this implied allegation of inferiority.If members of other Churches think that changingChurch relations is wrong, it is just as wrong inus. as it is in them, unless we concede that ours isnot so really a true Church as theirs. If it is aright and noble thing in them to be faithful to theirown Church, is it not equally so for us to be faith-ful to ours 1 Do we not then inflict a wrong on ourChurch, by thus abandoning her so easily 1 Do wenot sanction an unscriptural principle in so doing ?Has not the time come when Presbyterians oughtto take the same stand that other Churches havedone, and keep it, until the old rule of recip-rocity is resumed ? Are we not doing the cause oftruth and charity a real wrong, by sanctioning suchconcessions? and does not self-respect, demand ofus that we claim our Church rights in this matterjust as others do, and give no sanction to the im-


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CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 85plied ascription of inferiority? Will not themembers of other Churches respect us more forbeing faithful to our Church than for abandoningit so easily? We do not blame them for thestaunchness with which they cling to their Churchesindeed we rather admire it, but surely their fidel-ity in this matter puts our laxity in any thing buta favourable light, and raises a serious question ofprinciple, which we ought carefully to ponder. Ifthey are right, we are wrong ; if they are wrong,we can hardly be right in yielding to what is'wrong. On either horn of the dilemma our prac-tice cannot be justified.

The point which we wish to press home on theconsciences of our people is, that the time hascome when we must be as faithful to our ownChurch, as other Christians are to theirs, or be re-creant to our obligations and to our history. OtherChurches are waking up to an activity and earnest-ness that is making the work of the Lord prosperin their hands, and are lengthening their cords andstrengthening their stakes. We rejoice in thisawakening, and thank God that his people are nerv-ing themselves to come up to the help of the Lordagainst the mighty. But shall we be laggards inthis glorious onward movement 1 Shall this oldbattle-scarred Church, that has borne the brunt ofa thousand well-fought fields, be found in the rear X


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86 THE CULDEE CHURCH.Shall this blue banner that has streamed in the forefront and smoke of the conflict, in other days, befolded and lowered nowl Never! never! Everyinstinct of the heart, every memory of the past,every exigency of the present, every hope of thefuture, call upon us to awake and do our duty asour fathers did in days gone by, that our childrenmay have no more reason to blush for their siresthan we have to blush for ours.What then must we do 1 Do, as was done on that

.bloody field, when as the shot and shell ploughedgaps in the advancing columns, the only commandthat was heard above the roar of battle was thesteady order, " close up the ranks." We mustclose up the ranks, keep together, move together^not get out of supporting distance, be shoulder toshoulder in this glorious work of winning theworld for Jesus, that " no man take our crown."

AYe have given these historical statements verymuch for the benefit of the young, that they mayknow what a noble heritage they have in this old>unconquered Church of their fathers, that hasnever bowed the knee to Rome. We do not wishyou, young friends, to be bigots, to disparage ordislike other Churches. We would have you lovethem and honour them to the last claim they pos-sess, and we would not rob them of a single laurelwhich many of them so worthily wear. But we


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CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 87would have you know how much your own motherChurch has a right to your love, and we wouldhave you love her, and love heivbest, because she isyour own. We would have you love her best, asyou love your own mother best, because she is yourown, and loving her thus does not detract one lineof loveliness from the face of any other who iscalled by this sacred name. Then be true to- thatChurch, as long as she is true to Christ. GriTC herthe unwasted strength of your youth. Add somenew leaves to that unfading chaplet which she hasworn these many generations, and "the Lord shallcount, when he writeth up the people, that thisman was born there. As well the singers as theplayers on instruments shall bo there; all mysprings are in thee."


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