Rather unusual 4pp ALS from one of the primary leaders during the time of the Disruption of 1842 and 1843 in the Scottish Church. 

In 1842 and 1843, the dissatisfaction with the Church of Scotland was rather profound. Some found its liturgy lifeless; some found its liturgy stultifying. Those of the latter formed “The Disruption,” which saw people like the Bonars, Thomas Chalmers, etc., separating themselves from the Scottish Church. In another direction, led by D. T. K. Drummond of Edinburgh, there was a move to connect with the Church of England, then undergoing something of an evangelical renewal, sometimes mixed with a return to an enlivened liturgy.  

In 1842, anticipating the Disruption, D. T. K. Drummond resigned his church and founded a Church of England “annoyingly close” to the church he had just left. It was St. Thomas’s English Episcopal Chapel He pastored there until 1875.

The present 4pp ALS involves St. Thomas’s search for a successor to Drummond and his role in aiding that process. His unknown correspondent, but a “Dear Friend” is brought into the loop on the whole process, the importance of his both being involved, but of then being absent to allow for a proper transfer of leadership.

Remains of mount on pages 2 and 3, but still entirely legible.