rate and respectful manner, the grounds upon which he cannot acquiesce in the judgment of the court. Reasons of dissent.-Reasons of dissent are read in open court, but not entered in the record. They lie in retentis.* Instances, however, have occurred, in which reasons of dissent have been re. jected, in consequence of their being so expressed as to be disrespectful to the court, or injuri. ous to individuals.† Dissent and complaint. It is the privilege of a member of court not only to dissent from a judgment with which he is dis satisfied, but also to be able to carry it by complaint to a supe. rior court, where it may be reviewed in all its circumstances. For this purpose he dissents and protests for leave to complain. If, instead of this, he were to protest and appeal as a party, the proceeding would be inept, and his object, to have the judgment with which he is dissatisfied reviewed, would be defeated, be. cause his appeal would be held to be incompetent.‡ The dissent and complaint are given in at the time the judgment complained of is pronounced, and cannot be received at a subse. quent meeting. The complaint is made to the next superior court, unless the general assembly meets before it; in which case the complaint may be carried directly there. Reasons of dissent and complaint must be lodged in due time, that is, within ten days; and these, with all the papers belonging to the case out of which the complaint has arisen, are transmitted to the superior court. Effect of a complaint.-Not only are the proceedings thus brought under review, but, by the complaint, the members who concurred in the judgment, the complainer or complainers, and all parties, are sisted at the bar of the superior court. "It was in my remembrance," says a highly respected authority, " a matter of doubt, whether, if there was no appeal by a party, a complaint from the minority of a court could have the effect of reversing the judgment of the majority. But the doubt has been completely removed by a number of decisions, in different years, conformable, in my opinion, to the nature and reason of the case; and it is now understood to be part of the law of the church, that, upon a complaint from the minority of an inferior court, the court of re. view may dispose of the sentence complained of, in the same manner as if it had been brought before them by the appeal of a party."* The cases marked below are only a few of those in which complaints alone have been the ground of a reversal of the sentences complained of.t One solitary instance is on record, in which a dissent and com. plaint were not held as sisting procedure, and no notice was taken of them in the deliverance of the general assembly.* This omission was the cause of a dissent being entered from that de. liverance. * Act 7, Assembly 1730-Assembly 1813, Session ult. Ogilvy, Synod of Aberdeen. † Assembly 1803, Session 9 and ult. Dickson and Hagart. † Assembly 1827, Session 6.-M'Gillivray, Synod of Argyle. Assembly 1819, Session 5.-Small, Synod of Perth and Stirling. * Hill's View of the Constitution, pp. 101, 102. † Assembly 1784, Session 9-Rose, Synod of Ross. Assembly 1785, Session 8.-Synod of Glasgow and Ayr. Assembly 1789, Session 9, and ult. Taylor, Synod of Glasgow and Ayr. Assembly 1793, Session 4.-Keith, Synod of Aberdeen. Asssembly 1794, Session 6.Chapman and Inglis, Presbytery of Perth. Assembly 1798, Session 8.-Legertwood. Assembly 1815, Session 5.-Frazer, Presbytery of Abertarph. Assembly 1817, Session 7.-Shiells, &c. Synod of Merse and Teviotdale. In judging of a complaint, the first thing to be done is to consider whether it has been rightly made, and whether there appears to have been ground for it. It is sustained or dismissed accord. ingly. Protest. A protest may be taken against the judgment of an inferior court; and it always precedes a complaint or an appeal. But a protest is not allowed to be taken against the sentence of the supreme ecclesiastical court. In some instances, particularly in the noted assembly 1789, members not only dissented, but also protested against the decisions of the general assembly. But in a remarkable case which occurred in the assembly 1770, the prac. tice was declared irregularandun. constitutional. The following is the statement in the abridgment of the acts of the assembly of that year: "Sess. 8. The assembly testify their great dissatis. faction with Mr. Thomas Stew. art, for his immoral conduct, and declare him to stand suspended sine die from the office of the ministry; and strictly prohibit him from exercising the said office, or any part thereof; and approve of the deed now granted by Mr. Stewart, assigning to the Presbytery of Auchterarder the stipend, manse, and glebe, of the parish of Crieff, and oblige him not to reside within the bounds of that presbytery. A protest taken by some of the brethren against this sentence, and dissents entered thereafter by other members. The procurator for the church reserved leave to himself to be heard to-morrow upon the protest. Sess. 9. The procurator for the church heard upon the subject of the protest taken at last diet, and the entering of such a protestation by parties against the judgment of the supreme court declared irregular and unconstitutional." Appeal. An appeal is made to the next superior court by a party who thinks himself ag. grieved by the judgment passed in his case by an inferior court. It is made immediately on the judgment being intimated to him; extracts of the proceedings are craved by him to be forwarded to the superior court: and reasons of appeal are stated by him at the time, and entered on the record, or must be lodged by him in write, with the moderator or clerk of the court appealed from, within the space of ten days after the time of appealing.* It is usual for the court, from which an appeal is taken, to appoint some of its members to answer the reasons of an appeal; and these answers are transmitted to the superior court along with the other papers. * Assembly 1828, Sess. 6, Downie and Munro.-Synod of Ross. All the members who do not dissent from the judgment of the * Act 8, Assembly 1694.-Form of Process, ch. v. 1.-Assembly 1784, Sess. 7.-M'Intosh, Presbytery of Inverness, Sess. 9.-Ilenderson, Presbytery of Lochmaben.-Assembly 1807, Sess. 6.-Wylie, Synod of Angus and Mearns. * Assembly 1824, Sess. 5-M'Farlane, Synod of Glasgow and Ayr. inferior court, or complain of it, are sisted by the appeal at the bar of the superior court, and may appear in support of the judgment appealed from. But the superior court may limit the number of those who speak from the bar either for or against it.* "The appeal, if conducted in the regular manner which the laws of the church prescribe, stops the final execution of the judgment, brings the whole proceedings of the court which had pronounced the judgment under review, and sists the members at the bar of the superior court; that is, they are not entitled to deliberate and vote in the review of their own judgment; but they are called to state, in such man. ner as they think proper, the reasons upon which their judgment proceeded; so that the sentence appealed from is commonly de. fended before the superior court, both by the party who considered it as favorable to his interest, and also by the members who con. curred in pronouncing it." The appellant speaks first, and has the right to reply. Effect of an Appeal. - A proper appeal sists procedure, or at least prevents the final execution of a sentence, till the appeal be dis cussed. Frivolous appeals may be disregarded.‡ In regard to the settlement of a parish, that it may not be unnecessarily delayed, it is especially provided, that, notwithstanding an appeal, a presbytery may proceed to all the previous steps, to take the presentee upon trials, and to serve the edict, leaving only the ordination or admission till the appeal be discussed.* If male appellatum is found, in regard to an appeal, there is no cause before the superior court. If an appeal is found to be frivolous or vexatious, it is dismissed, and the judgment of the inferior court is usually affirmed at the same time. But this does not necessarily take place. The superior court, being a court of review, may consider the case that has been brought before them, and remit it to its inferior, with such instructions as seem to be necessary. If an appeal is sustained, a reversal of the sentence appealed from, or a reversal of such parts of the sentence as appear to be exceptionable, is pronounced. In the conduct of complaints and appeals, law agents, or counsel, are allowed to act, not only in the general assembly, but also in presbyteries and synods. But it is specially provided, that lawyers, who are constituent members of court, are not to act as counsel or procurators in any causes that come before the assembly or the commissions thereof. And a similar rule will hold in the inferior courts. Extracts. Extracts are allow. ed to parties, on their applying for them immediately on the proceedings in which they are concerned being closed. They are not granted at a subsequent time to parties.‡ Hill's View of the Constitution, pp. 99, 100. Assembly, 1798, Session 9.-Orwell, Pres bytery of Dunfermline. * Act 5, Assembly, 1732.-Form of Process, 1783. Whence to be given.-Extracts are given from the minutes, when completed, and approved by the court, and either entered in the record, or ready to be so. Ex. tracts have been applied for from the jottings, from which the mi. nutes are made up. In one case, extracts from the jottings were allowed to enable parties to substantiate their complaints.* In another case, extracts from the jottings were refused to a party, who thought that it concerned his cause to have them produced.† The only difference in the circumstances of the two cases was, that the parties, in the first instance, were members of court. If an opinion upon the point may be hazarded, the second decision mentioned above, refusing extracts from the jottings, is, in all cases, the proper one. The register, when filled up, and signed by the moderator and clerk, as the minutes of all the superior judicatories are required to be, is the only record of the court. It is the province of the modera. tor to take care that it gives an accurate and faithful report of the mind and the proceedings of the court. For this purpose, he causes the minute of every sepa. rate transaction to be read re peatedly in the hearing of the members, till he ascertains that it expresses their meaning; and it is not till the whole of the mi. nutes, written out in mundo, have again been deliberately read, that his signature is attached to them. If the members neglect both their duty and their interest in *Assembly, 1812, Session 9. Bryce and Douglass, Synod of Aberdeen. Matth. xvii. 24-27. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute-moncy, came to Peter, and said, Doth not your Master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings ef the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up: and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. Every portion of the inspired volume is profitable for instruction; and few, indeed, are the pages of that sacred book which have not been subjected to some form of abuse. The passage quoted above has not escaped the attempt to make it serve a purpose with which it has no alliance. The times have been when it was fashionable, as it was safe and profitable, to vindicate the claims of the lords and lordlings of this lower creation as legiti. † Assembly, 1823, Session, 4.-Marshall, Presbytery of Paisley. VOL. I. SEPT. 1831. *Assembly, 1813, Session 4.-Mearns, &c. Synod of Aberdeen. Stewart of Pardovan's Collections, book i. title 16, book iv. title v. 23 mate, regardless of the character of the title by which they reigned, and without allowing much inquiry into the mysteries of the principles upon which they ruled. Are they in possession of power, and, expressly or tacitly, do the prostrated nations yield to the pressure of that power? were the questions, by an answer to which this part of morality was to be settled. Taking an answer to these queries in the affirmative, all inquiry must then be put at rest; and this portion of the history of our Redeemer's in structions and actings was ad duced to establish the right of the actual occupant of the throne, to sway the sceptre of his power over the subjects of his empire. In all this it was taken for granted that the Roman Cæsar, to whose imperial standard the land of Israel was in subjection, obtained and held his title by right of conquest; that the payment of tribute homologated his title; that the tribute paid at Capernaum was civil tribute, exacted by the Roman government, and that the payment of it by Jesus Christ sustained the claim of Cæsar as legitimate. To discuss Tiberius' right to rule in the promised land, or to settle the question, how far the payment of a tax recognizes he right of a conqueror to demand it, is not the business of this pa. per. The time is well nigh past for the principle of such questions to create any doubt. More than half a century has gone by, since thirteen confederate em. pires, in North America, spoke distinctly upon the subject; and in a similar tone, we hear the voice of eleven more distinct so. vereignties now added to the confederacy. In unison with these, we hear Mexico and the empires of the south, together with arisen and arising Europe, arresting the illegitimacy of every power, not sustained by the fair expression of the public will. But from this we turn to our proper subject. I. It is proposed to show, that the tribute of this text was neither exacted by nor paid to Cæsar, and, consequently, to free Jesus of Nazareth from the imputation of having given his sanction to the domination of Tiberius; if, indeed, it should be supposed that the simple payment of tribute necessarily implies the confession of the legitimacy of the power exacting it. In this gospel we have twice a reference to the payment of tribute: the first is in the passage before us; the second is found in chapter xxii. 17. This latter refers to civil tribute, as demanded by and paid to the Roman Cæsar. To the passage in which we have this reference, we may attend at another day. Of the tribute spoken of in our text, we decidedly say, it was paid as an ecclesiastical due, to the support of the temple worship. The evidence of this assertion will be found in the following remarks: 1. In Exod. xxx. 12-16, we find the enactment of the ransom. money, for the service of the sanctuary. Every one, from the age of twenty years and upward, was required to pay into the treasury of the sanctuary a half shekel. In the time of Nehemiah it was reduced, probably on account of the depressed circumstances of the people, to one third of a skehel. Neh. x. 32. |