an overture which came before the Scottish General Assembly of 1766, and was produced by alarm at the rapid spread of secession. The overture affirms that a hundred and twenty meeting houses had been erected, and raised the question, What shall be done to remedy so great an evil? also, whether a committee might not be appointed to correspond with presbyteries and gentlemen of property and influence, and report? The overture was rejected by a vote of 19 to 85. The argument turned chiefly on the law of patronage.