Series 3 > Court book of the Burgh of Kirkintilloch 1658-1694

In ecclesiastical affairs, the Churches tried to sort out the
confusions that the Disruption had created. They felt
authority slipping from their grasp, social and educational
issues had got beyond them and the old unitary parish
organisation had been broken. Control of poor relief
passed from the Kirk-session to the Parochial Board—the
temporal authority alone could deal with social and
economic ills such as poverty. The Free Church attacked
the bothy system, said to be responsible for Scotland
having the highest illegitimacy rate in Europe ; but its
main efforts were towards alleviation of moral ills, not
prevention.
In education, the universities now had General Councils
and at Edinburgh the professional classes brought about
the election as Chancellor of the radical lawyer, Lord
Brougham, as against a Tory landlord, the Duke of
Buccleuch. Here again the same forces were at work.
When in a few years they gained political supporters, then
would come the long-delayed impact of Scottish opinion
and leadership in the political affairs of the United Kingdom
and the Empire.
The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the
President.