Unhappily, the Act which established the Presbyterian polity had not defined the extent of the power which was to be exercised by the Sovereign over the Spiritual Courts.

No sooner therefore had the dissolution been announced than the Moderator requested permission to speak.

He was told that he was now merely a private person.

As a private person he requested a hearing, and protested, in the name of his brethren, against the royal mandate.
The right, he said, of the office bearers of the Church to meet and deliberate touching her interests was derived from her Divine Head, and was not dependent on the pleasure of the temporal magistrate.
His brethren stood up, and by an approving murmur signified their concurrence in what their President had said.

Before they retired they fixed a day for their next meeting.