LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
SCOTTISH CHURCH PROPOSALS.
[To THE EDITOR OP THH "SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—The Moderator of the Church of Scotland has been pleading at great length for union, but the Presbyterians out- side say there is not one practical proposal in all that he has said. Accordingly, the Free Church has again voted for union and freedom by 473 to 88, and the working men of Paisley have rushed more than ever for religious equality. But is there not a door of hope—or at least a window—in the following sentences of his fine address ?—" The United Presbyterian Church (Voluntaries) would crown the splendid service already done to Scotland by joining a United Church on the same terms on which it was prepared to join the Free Church, viz., by leaving the whole question of the civil Magistrate in relation to religion an open question With the view of preparing the way for future legislation, a Royal Commission might be appointed to take the whole subject into consideration, to hear what all parties have to say, to bring clearly out the feeling of Scotland, and to arrange for a redistribution of the Church property for the benefit of all holding by the national creed."
If, as Dr. Macgregor again and again asserts, the Church of Scotland does not want any more privileged position in the new union than its brethren are to have, may there not be, on the above terms, a modus vivendi ? Or do I rightly understand
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