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'Auld Lichts' and 'New Lichts'
The Act of Union of 1707, protected the polity of the Presbyterian Kirk, but the Patronage Act of 1712 restored the right of lay patrons who were heirs of the original donors of ecclesiastical properties to present ministers of their own choice to vacant parishes. Patronage was accepted by the 'Moderate' core of the Kirk, but an Act of Assembly in 1732, giving the power of election to heritors and elders when a patron did not exercise his rights under the 1712 Act, brought about a secession. A further secession occurred in 1747 over the Burgher's Oath, which required holders of public offices to affirm the religion 'presently professed in this kingdom'. Ramsay of Ochtertyre thought that: 'To a sober Presbyterian, no proposition seemed more self-evident', adding: 'Yet by means of perverse ingenuity in torturing words, did these wrong headed men insist that it was inconsistent with their principles and professions'. The two parties formed independent synods, which bitterly hated each other. The Burghers later divided on the issue of civil compulsion in religious affairs, those who held to the obligations of the Solemn League and Covenant seceding as 'Auld Lichts', while the majority, willing to modify that commitment, were known as 'New Lichts'. Apart from organisational differences however, the 'Auld Lichts' were more orthodox Calvinists, enthusiastic for original sin, election and predestination, while the 'New Lichts' tended to be more 'liberal in their theology and moralistic in their preaching'. Burns, of course, was on the side of the 'New Lichts'.
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