BELFAST.

This congregation dates from 1746, and was conjoined with Templepatrick and Lisburn. It adhered to the Antiburghers in 1747, and in due time became a separate congregation. It was torn to pieces in the Regium Donum conflict. Those who adhered to Mr Bryce's party received occasional supply from Mr Bryce till preachers were licensed.

1st Minister.-REUBEN JOHN BRYCE, LL.D., from Killaig, of which his father was minister. Formerly master of the Mathematical and Mercantile School in the Belfast Academy, and after his ordination Principal of that seminary. Ordained 1824. Had the degree of LL.D. conferred upon him by the University of Glasgow in 1830.

Author of "Elements of Latin Prosody," 1820; an edition of "Sallust," 1827; "Sketch of a Plan for a System of National Education in Ireland," 1828: from which publication arose the Queen's Colleges in Ireland, through the efforts of Thomas Wyse, Esq., M. P., Waterford, afterward Sir Thomas Wyse, British Minister at Athens; "The Irish Colleges Bill Examined in its bearings on the Educational, Religious, and Financial Interests of the Country," in three Letters to T. Wyse, Esq., M.P., 1845; "Practical Suggestions for reforming the Educational Institutions of Scotland," in two Letters to Viscount Melgund, 1852; Lecture on the "Moral Influence of Modern Prose Literature," in "Collins' Select Library.'

The congregation called Mr James S. Rae to be colleague to Dr Bryce, 17th April 1872, but the call was declined.

BOVEEDY.

At an early period in the history of the Secession, there were representatives of the principle in Boveedy. For a long time the congregation held fast the doctrine "that any alliance with or dependence upon the kingdoms of this world is unworthy of the Church of Christ, and a violation of her duty to Him." During the ministry of Adam Boyle, ordained 1782, and who laboured there for more than fifty years, the Regium Donum was accepted first by his son, and then by the father himself. Mr Boyle had been a student of John Brown of Haddington. He was greatly respected by his people; and though they were opposed to the Donum, their dissatisfaction with their minister's acceptance of the grant did not assume any decided shape. They took care, however, on appointing his successor, to call one opposed to the Donum, who was soon translated to another charge. The congregation then applied to the Associate Presbytery, having been defeated in their overtures to have a minister after their own heart from the Presbytery of Ahoghill. The Rev. James Fleming of Cullybackey was sent to preach to them on Sabbath, 30th July 1845, from which the cause may henceforth be dated. For a time the congregation received supply every alternate Sabbath; and after they obtained a settled pastor, his labours. were divided between Boveedy and Knockcloughgorm, 12 miles distant, so that sermon continued to be given at Boveedy each alternate Sabbath till 1832.

In 1847, the church, capable of holding 250, and costing £102, 45. 10d., was erected, but without seats for the worshippers. It was opened on 5th September 1847, by Rev. David Thomas of Mauchline.

Ordained pastor of Boveedy

1st Minister.-JAMES FITZPATRICK, from Killaig. and Knockcloughgorm in 1846. Became sole pastor of Knockcloughgorm in 1862. The congregation called Messrs C. Squair, James Graham, and James B. Whyte. 2d Minister.-JAMES CLARK BALDERSTON, from Paisley (Oakshaw Street). Ordained 12th January 1865. Translated to West Kilbride, May 1868.

3d Minister.-WALTER BUCHAN, formerly of Sixtowns. Inducted 23d June

1868.

SIXTOWNS.

This congregation, on the borders of Derry and Tyrone, originated as a mission church to the Irish-speaking population. The station began about 1847, and was largely aided by John Henderson, Esq. of Park.

Minister.-WALTER BUCHAN, from Glasgow (John Street). Ordained 12th December 1865. Translated to Boveedy, 23d June 1868.

PORTADOWN.

Several persons impressed by a sense of the need of church extension, and specially of evangelistic work in Portadown, applied in 1866 to the United Presbyterian Presbytery of Ireland for supply of Divine ordinances. The special need arose from the great increase of population, the town having nearly doubled its inhabitants in a few years, the population in 1861 being 5000, and in 1866, upwards of 9000. Work people employed at the factories which had been started came from all quarters, and many of them were living in the total neglect of Divine things. Nominally they were styled Protestants and Presbyterians, but they never entered a place of public worship. The design sought in opening a station in Portadown was, if possible, to reach such a class and bring the Gospel to their doors. Prior to the application made to the Presbytery, a hall had been rented and service conducted in it once each Sabbath, principally by a retired missionary who lived in the neighbourhood. After the Home Mission Board and Presbytery had sanctioned the station there was a regular supply of preachers sent to Portadown.

The station was congregated on 4th September 1867, with 16 members. In February 1869 the erection of a church was begun, and the building was opened for public service on the 8th August, by Rev. Dr Joseph Brown, Glasgow. The church cost £900, and is capable of seating 350 persons.

The congregation called Mr James U. Blackwood, who accepted Keith, but died before receiving ordination.

1st Minister.—WILLIAM CUTHBERTSON, from Abbey Close, Paisley. Called to Shapinshay and Portadown. Ordained 15th July 1868.

PRESBYTERY OF KELSO.

The General Associate (Antiburgher) Synod formed a Presbytery of Earlston from the Presbytery of Edinburgh, in 1758. This Presbytery in 1786 removed its seat to Kelso, and took the name of the Presbytery of Kelso. It was suppressed at the union of the two great branches of the Secession, in 1820, and the congregations of which it had been made up were divided among the Presbyteries of Coldstream, Newcastle, and Selkirk. The Associate (Burgher) Synod in 1782 formed a Presbytery of Kelso from the Presbytery of Edinburgh, which removed its seat to Coldstream in 1797, and was called Coldstream Presbytery. The Relief Synod in 1821 formed a Presbytery of Kelso from the Presbytery of Edinburgh. This Presbytery comprehended all the Relief congregations south of Soutrahill. It was suppressed at the union of the Secession and Relief Churches in 1847, and the congregations of which

it had been made up divided between the Presbyteries of Coldstream, Berwick, and Selkirk. The United Presbyterian Synod formed a Presbytery of Kelso in October 1847 from the Presbytery of Coldstream and Selkirk (now Melrose), which from that time took the name of Kelso Presbytery.

MOREBATTLE.

Morebattle is a village in the parish of the same name, Roxburghshire, 4 miles south-west of Yetholm, 9 south-east of Jedburgh, and 7 south of Kelso station.

On the 3d September 1723, a presentation from the Duke of Roxburgh to the Rev. James Christie, minister of Simprin, to the parish of Morebattle, was laid before the Presbytery of Kelso, together with a letter from Mr Christie, leaving the case in their hands. The Presbytery appointed Mr Christie to preach at Morebattle eight days from that date, and intimation to be made to the heritors, elders, and householders of the parish, to meet with a committee of the Presbytery, on the 24th of the month, to concert measures for the settlement of the congregation. At this meeting the committee, after intimating the presentation and expressing very great esteem for Mr Christie, inquired whether the persons present concurred and were satisfied. The heritors present and those represented by commission, answered in the affirmative. The elders unanimously declared in favour of Mr Andrew Tait, probationer, and against Mr Christie. When the heads of families were asked whether they concurred in the presentation, such confusion and tumult arose, that the committee deemed it inexpedient to proceed, and concluded the meeting with prayer. The Presbytery at its next meeting, on the 8th of October (1723), "not being willing to determine rashly in a business of such consequence, wherein there were such difficulties, delayed its consideration." Nothing further was done in the business till the 1st of October 1724, when a pro re nata meeting of Presbytery was called, to receive a petition from one of the elders, many of the principal tenants, and heads of families in the parish, craving Mr Christie's settlement. The Presbytery appointed two of their number to meet with the heritors, elders, and others, to ascertain if they concurred in the petition. At this meeting, when the purposes for which it was called were announced, there arose such a noise and confusion, that the committee found it necessary to close the meeting. At the meeting of Presbytery, November 3d, there was presented a commission, signed by many heads of families, to certain persons to prosecute the settlement, and a petition from the elders, craving a fair choice of several, out of which to elect a minister. The Presbytery, from the weightiness of the affair, delayed consideration of this petition till December 1st, when, seeing no probability of greater harmony, they sustained the call to Mr. Christie, and resolved to proceed to his settlement; whereupon Mr William Oliver, one of the elders, protested and appealed.

No objections having been offered when the edict was served, the induction was appointed to take place on the 4th of March 1725. The following minute of Presbytery affords an authentic account of the proceedings on the occasion: "This day all the brethren of the Presbytery met at Morebattle, to admit the Rev. James Christie, minister there, with all the usual solemnities, according to former appointment and intimation thereanent. But to our great surprise and sorrow, a rabble of profane and furious people, from several corners of the country, violently kept the Presbytery and congregation from meeting in the church; and even when Divine service was begun in the churchyard, they fell upon the ministers, and particularly

upon the minister who was to preach the admission sermon; after he had sung several verses of a psalm, obliged him and all the rest to retire, and not without blows as well as opprobrious language: whereupon the Presbytery found themselves obliged to meet here (the adjoining parish of Linton), duly to consider what was to be done in such a singular case. After enumerating all the steps they had taken, the Presbytery constitute and appoint the Rev. Mr James Christie minister of the Gospel at Morebattle, and admit and presently receive him a member of the Presbytery of Kelso, and ordered him to take his place accordingly; whereupon several persons, in the name of the heritors and others of the parish of Morebattle, took him by the hand as their minister, which many others would have done that were present at Morebattle, had they been apprised of the Presbytery's meeting at Linton for this effect." *.

Subsequent minutes of Presbytery indicate the continuance of hostile feeling on the part of the parishioners of Morebattle towards Mr Christie, notwithstanding his settlement among them, some of which are here transcribed, and the substance of others given :-"July 6th, 1725. On a report that, with one exception, none of the elders of Morebattle attend their duties, nor wait upon public ordinances, the Presbytery command them to account for this strange piece of conduct." "July 22d, 1725. A letter was written by the Presbytery to Mr Noble, minister of Eckford (the parish adjoining Morebattle on the west), desiring him not to admit any of the elders of Morebattle to communion, nor any of the parishioners, without certificate from Mr Christie." "August 3d, 1725. The elders compeared, and assigned as the reason for not officiating, nor worshipping in their own parish church, that Mr Christie was not their minister." After several months' delay, a commission was appointed to supply their place in disposing of matters of discipline at Morebattle. "December 7th, 1725. The elders being again cited and dealt with, adhered to their refusal to wait on Mr Christie's ministry." The Presbytery (January 26th, 1726) chose others in their room. "April 5th, 1726. "April 5th, 1726. Messrs William Oliver and William Marshall, two of the elders of Morebattle, appeared before the Presbytery to crave liberty to seek church privileges from other than Mr Christie." "May 3d, 1726. Being cited, all the elders appeared, and after a long process, were deposed for deserting their office and withdrawing from their own parish church; against which decision they all protested and appealed." The Synod of Merse and Teviotdale, before which the case thus came, "recommended the Presbytery to remove the sentence of deposition on the elders judicially demitting their office in relation to the parish of Morebattle, in present circumstances, and likewise to declare judicially that no neighbouring minister shall be called to account for administrating the Lord's Supper to them; and lastly, that the Presbytery shall appoint some of their number to dispense baptism to their children, when application is made for that object:" all which was done by the Presbytery, April 19th, 1727.

These concessions, however, had not the effect of reconciling the offended parties to Mr Christie's ministry, but rather to confirm them in their dislike to it, for Mr Noble of Eckford, upon whose ministrations most of the reclaiming party afterwards attended, testified from the pulpit against all intrusions of ministers into parishes against the will of the people, and had practically acted upon this principle by abstaining from taking any part in Mr Christie's induction to Morebattle, and his

The leader of the opposition was called "Nub of Bowmont," from his having a club-foot. By melting the lead that secured the iron stancheons of the windows, the band obtained access to the kirk, from which they kept the Presbytery at bay. The ordination took place at Linton, a mile distant. -EDS.

frequent reference to this matter led the people to cherish their hostility to the intruder into their own parish. When the Assembly, 1732, restricted the right of electing ministers to vacant parishes to heritors, elders, magistrates, and town councillors in Burghs, and heritors and elders in land-ward parishes, Mr Noble was one of the 42 protestors against the decision, and otherwise took part in the movement which led to the Secession, but did not himself secede. In 1733 fresh excitement was produced in this district by the intrusion of an unacceptable minister into the parish of Stitchel, 10 miles distant. The Secession of "The Four Brethren" having taken place while this case was pending, a strong impulse was thereby given to the movement of the people in support of their Christian rights, and a rallying point afforded to all those who coincided in the principles on which the Secession was founded.

It was not, however, till February 1736 that the Associate Presbytery agreed to grant supply of sermon to parties seceding from the Established Church; and it was not till 18 months after this that the reclaiming parties in Morebattle and Stitchel resolved on availing themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them for procuring a dispensation of religious ordinances in a manner agreeable to their views of Scriptural order. At the meeting of the Associate Presbytery in Dunfermline, 12th July 1737, there were presented from the parish of Morebattle and adjacent societies (Stitchel, Eckford, and Linton), a representation and petition "declaring their adherence to the Judicial Act and Testimony, their accession to the Presbytery, and begging relief in their lamentable circumstances, and that the Presbytery would appoint a day of fasting to be observed in their bounds." The Presbytery agreed to take them under their inspection, and delayed the farther consideration of their petition till afterwards. The Rev. Messrs Moncrieff and Fisher preached by appointment of Presbytery at Morebattle, as the most central place for all the members of the Association, on the last Wednesday of September 1737, and constituted a session, with two elders who were among the Seceders. A number of persons residing on the English side of the Tweed then gave in an adherence to the Presbytery, and the whole were united into one congregation, under the designation of the United Societies of Teviotdale and Northumberland. On the 5th of March 1739, a committee of Presbytery met with the parties specified above in order to fix the boundaries of the congregation, and arrange other matters previous to the call for which a moderation had been granted. "The Correspondence of Morebattle and Stitchel' being present, a question was moved anent the extent of the charge of the person they had moved to call to be their minister, and the said Correspondence being heard on that question, the committee proceeded to take the same under their deliberation; and considering that the Presbytery have fixed two places for public worship in the following manner, namely, that for ordinary there shall be sermon at Morebattle two Sabbaths, and at Stitchel one Sabbath in the month, the committee agreed that in the present circumstantial case, the bounds of the United Congregation, on the south side of the Tweed, should be 8 miles south-east and west from Gateshead (one mile from Morebattle), the place of meeting for the southern portion of 'The Correspondence' (and where the place of worship was first erected), and to the river Tweed on the north, and that the callers in said bounds shall attend for examination where the minister that is to be called shall appoint; and farther, that the bounds on the north side of the Tweed shall be 7 miles north and east from Stitchel and to the river Tweed on the south, but with the express limitation that 'The Correspondence' in said bounds shall attend, for examination and other church pri