Protestantism in Scotland - James Aitken Wylie

a protest, which had been prepared beforehand,
was read, in which the Assembly declared that
"sitting in the name and by the authority of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the only head and monarch of
his Church, it could not dissolve." The members
went on with their business as if nothing had
occurred. They proceeded to try the bishops,
fourteen in number, who were charged with not a
few moral as well as ecclesiastical delinquencies.
The two archbishops and six bishops were
excommunicated -- four deposed and two
suspended. Thus the fabric of prelacy, which had
been thirty years a-building, was overturned, and
the Church of Scotland restored to the purity and
rigor of her early days.
When its thorough and memorable work was
finished, the Assembly was dismissed by the
moderator with these remarkable words: "We have
now cast down the walls of Jericho; let him that
rebuildeth them beware of the curse of Hiel the
Bethelite!"
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