prospect of ever being, in this world, much better than the old and clouted shoe."" After proclaiming the vanity of all efforts to improve fallen human nature, he asks, "What else can he say of it but what is hinted in his text, 'old shoes, old and clouted ?" Then seizing on the term "clouted," and putting it in italics, by way of emphasis, he lustily expounds and exposes the "political," "economical," and "educational" "patches" or clouts, with which men seek to mend the "old shoe" of human nature. Refusing to part even yet with the old and clouted shoes, he next declares them to be "a counterpart and illustration of the present state of law and government in every nation under heaven." Nay, he has a still farther use for the "old and clouted shoes," for he declares them to be a "description of the Church itself in these days," and illustrates his assertion, (modest man as he is!) by exhibiting not only the "Episcopalian" clout, but the two "Presbyterian patches," which he denominates "the Voluntary and Free;" while he shows here as well as elsewhere, which part of the shoe he feels to be most pinching to himself, by meekly declaring of the brethren from whom he has gone out, that "they look ever and anon as if they would like to place once more the foot of the priest on the prince's neck." His third text, the "hole in the wall" of the temple, seen by Ezekiel, is employed by Mr Cochrane as a befitting emblem of the "hole in the wall of our personal piety, our domestic religion, and our national Christianity." The "nine-and-twenty knives," mentioned in Ezra i. 9, according to him, not only point to "sacrifice as an ordinance of God," "to the multitude of sacrifices of ancient times, and, through these, to the one great propitiation they shadowed forth," but intimated that, "in subsequent ages, fury, violence, and even bloodshed, would still be rampant and prevailing," and remind us that each of the "nine-and-twenty" may easily find a representative in the various modes of violence so prevalent around us," as "in the knife of public and international warfare," the "knife of intestine animosity and private malevolence," and "the knife of misrepresentation and slander." The "nine-and-twenty knives," it seems, are intended to teach still farther, that “pain, and affliction, and distress, are the ordinance of God." With regard to his fifth text, "The devils in the swine," while he has no doubt alluded to some of the lessons which, as every one may perceive, that narrative teaches, he has overlooked one of the most important and melancholy lessons which it conveys, viz., the debasement which depraved intelligences will court, in order to accomplish their designs of mischievous and malignant hostility against the kingdom of God. In his sixth text, however, "a time to dance," instead of overlooking anything which it contains, he finds in it, as in most of the other texts, much which it does not contain. For here, according to Mr Cochrane, we are led to contemplate "the world as a ball-room floor, the inhabitants as the performers and spectators, and the ages of the world's history as their time to dance."" Carrying out this figure with exquisite truthfulness and taste, we have "the dance of conquest led off by an Alexander or a Napoleon; the dance of opinion among philosophers and theologians led off by an Epicurus or a Plato, a Luther or a Calvin; the dance of superstition led off by the Crusaders; and the dance of Atheism led off by the directors of the French Revolution." And after classing Luther and Calvin in this manner, we have, amongst other equally appropriate reflections, the following: "Truly the entire epoch of the world's history has been a time to dance. Men have been forgetting the one thing needful, and been expending on folly and the levities of time that energy which should have been devoted to eternity. They have been toiling and sweating, leaping high, and bounding with force inconceivable; and all the while doing nothing. They have made a spectacle of themselves before men; they have danced themselves into notoriety, and that is all." Having set himself in motion by the descriptions which he is giving of the movements all around him, he then ascends above and beyond this sublunary region, and describes "the celestial dance of the hosts of heaven-those starry worlds which people immensity." He next descends as far below the present world, and describes "the infernal dance of Satan and the powers of darkness," and warns us against being "led by Satan to join the dance of delusion and error, or of intemperance and sensuality, or any one of the many dances besides, which Satan is leading off." We have next an account of "the frivolous dance of earthly politics." Then we have "the dance of Protestant Churches" described, especially of the more active of them, and “the fear" expressed "that the music they dance to comes from a very different quarter than heaven." Nay, their activity likens them, in Mr Cochrane's eyes, to "so many mad Oriental dervishes," greatly offends him by its love of "publicity," and plainly proceeds from "pride and self-sufficiency." So that this strange compound of Evangelism, and Moderatism, and Millenarianism— this curious exemplifier of the charity about which he prates this select specimen of the dignity, good sense, and good taste of High Churchmanship, can really get no rest from the "hubbub, dust, and confusion" of the "Protestantism" that surrounds him, except in the assurance, that what he elegantly calls "the dumbfounding uproar of the spiritual revelry now going forwards" shall soon be silent, and that "the dance of sectarianism shall not endure for ever." Having in this rather questionable way regained "the calmness and self-possession of the sober-minded," and also a "meek, a forgiving, a charitable disposition," he winds up his sermon by an account of "the dance of death." His seventh text is "The Unturned Cake." If he has not succeeded in "making a nose of wax" of this and one or two other texts in the lot, we have to ascribe this not to his own judgment, but to the impossibility of even a somewhat stupid and perverse mind, and a thoroughly coarse taste, being able to twist such passages from their plain and obvious meaning. Even on this text he has, however, contrived to let out a portion of the rancour of the doughty Churchman. Alluding to the activity of the Churches, he scruples not to declare that their dependence is not on God, but on money, combination, and agitation." But although he includes all Churches professedly in the charge, yet as the Establishment is notoriously inactive at least in the way described by him, he, of course, mainly refers to other Churches rather than his own. Now, we have just to remind Mr Cochrane, that when, in the judgment of most men, the principles of the Church of Scotland were driven out of the Establishment, and nothing but the endowments remained, he remained long with them-that the Establishment is leaning | more manifestly and exclusively on human strength, an arm of flesh, than any other professedly Christian Church in the land-that if its friends are anxious to abstain from agitation, it is because they know too well that their concern could not stand it; and that, therefore, it is rather a foolish occupation for any one like him, living in such a glass house, to be throwing stones. Another of his texts is furnished by "The Borrowed Axe," lost by one of the sons of the prophets; and this text, the author tells us, conveys to us the solemn admonition "that our very life is borrowed, that our substance is borrowed, and that our various talents and opportunities, our endowments, friends, and privileges, are all borrowed." For such a use of such passages of Scripture there is no excuse. It is to trifle with the Word of God, to indulge a vain curiosity at its expense, and ultimately to sap its authority over the minds of men. The author tells us, that "he selected such texts with a view to demonstrate that glorious Protestant maxim, that the whole Word of God, down to the minutest clauses and expressions, is instinct with gospel instruction." Such an assertion, in the sense meant by the author, instead of being a maxim of Protestantism, is the stupid imagination of his own blundering yet self-complacent mind, and ranks him, not as he so vainly supposes, among the expounders of "glorious Protestantism," but rather among those spiritual Quixotes whom Fuller describes as building the gospel on the ruins of common sense, and fancying they can see a castle where every other person can only see a windmill. He gives a much more suitable account of the origin of such a mode of applying Scripture, when he tells us, that "it was an object with him to attract attention." We have no doubt of it. We have no doubt that it was too much his object; and that he has been tempted to endeavour to accomplish it in a very unjustifiable manner. If he cannot attract audiences by a more legitimate use of Scripture, it will be safer for them, and for himself too, to let them find instruction elsewhere. What will his audience still remember of the clouted shoes? They may think of the preacher who made them his text, and discoursed at such length upon them. But, surely, they will think of little else besides, except the coarseness of the preacher's taste. Nor will they misjudge in that particular. For the man that could speak of the devils in the swine as " doomed to grunt and wallow with these filthy animals," and "gratified to grub and grovel with unclean animals," and that could so often employ language of a similar character, has really a taste which is only equalled by his frequent manifestation of such a want of common sense. These may be considered harsh expressions: we think they are called for. Mr Cochrane has talents, theological knowledge, and command of language; but his judgment is so defective and so warped, his mode of expressing himself is so coarse and grovelling, and at the same time his self-confidence is so great, that nothing but a second revolution in his intellectual and moral nature will make him either an agreeable and useful preacher, or a pleasant and profitable writer. SERMONS FOR SABBATH EVENINGS. By Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland. Edinburgh. THIS is a most valuable volume. The title explains its object, viz., to supply the families of our Church with a series of short sermons suitable for family reading on Sabbath evenings. We cannot quite concur with Robert Hall in the opinion that public services on Sabbath evenings are an "invention of the devil," for the purpose of leading away gospel hearers from the practice of family piety and devotion. Still we doubt not there is much truth in the view which led him to deliver himself on the subject with so epigrammatic an emphasis. A quiet Sabbath evening devoutly spent and enjoyed at home in the bosom of a family, is, of course, much more influential and helpful in the way of cherishing the growth of personal religion, than attendance on a crowded church for the purpose of hearing a third sermon, followed by that sense of exhaustion and repletion which is almost an invariable consequence. This volume is just the sort of book, the reading of which will assist a family to spend the Sabbath evening profitably. The sermons are by Drs Clason, Grey, Sieveright, Candlish, Buchanan, Begg, Mr Guthrie, Mr Tweedie, Mr Gray, the late Mr Stewart of Cromarty, &c. They are short, vigorous, practical, earnest, spiritual; and what could we say more in their praise, or to show that they accomplish admirably the end at which they aim? We have read them all; and while they have, of course, different merits, there is not one which is unworthy of its companions. Notes of the Month. THE SITE QUESTION-THE WITNESS AND DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH-REV. DR ALEXANDER. WE are glad that the Site Question is now receiving that serious attention, on the part of the Legislature, to which its importance entitles it. A bill to remedy the existing evil has advanced several stages, and although we do not expect such a measure to pass the House of Lords at present, it is clear, either that the recusant proprietors must give way gracefully, or be, ere long, compelled. This conviction is forcing itself upon their own minds, and hence a sudden change of tactics. Formerly they pretended to maintain a dignified indifference to all the charges of hardship and cruelty preferred against them. Now they are most captious. A mistake into which the Witness newspaper has been most innocently led, is attempted to be magnified into a crime of the most formidable dimensions, and this apparently for the purpose of leading away men's minds from the great question at issue. So far as the Free Church is concerned, she is, of course, not responsible for any statements or mis-statements which appear in the Witness or any similar periodical. She owes much, very much, to that paper for the singular ability and brilliancy with which it has defended and illustrated her principles, and watched over her inte rests; but she is no more responsible for its statements and views, than for the statements and views of any single individual among her members. Then, so far as the Witness is concerned, we know not whether any newspaper that ever existed, especially if the difficulty of its position be considered, has ever made so few mistakes in matters of fact. Indeed, we do not remember one ever made by the accomplished editor himself; and in regard to the mistakes of others, what is an editor in certain cases to do? He cannot go personally to all parts of the country to verify every statement sent to him, and must, of course, rest satisfied with what appears to him good authority. He gets a paper from one highly respectable man, and is assured that it is written by another equally respectable, and thoroughly cognizant of the facts stated-which in themselves, besides, are by no means improbable. This is published, of course, and the moment it is found to be incorrect, it is withdrawn, and regret expressed for its insertion. Is there a vestige of ground of serious blame in all this? Far less is there any reason for thinking one jot less of an individual to whom the Free Church of Scotland is as much indebted as to any one of her ministers or members, or one jot more of the Duke of Buccleuch and his underlings. Even in Yarrow, is it not certain that the Duke contumeliously refused a site to his own tenants, by the sweat of whose brow his glory is maintained, and that, but for the kindness of Mr Johnstone of Alva, the people of that district, like those of Canobie, would still have been worshipping on the road-side? Besides, this sudden breach of silence on the part of the Duke's agents, must force the conclusion that they have heard all the many and heavy charges brought against his Grace in regard to site-refusing, and its consequences in other parts of Scotland, and that they are all true to the letter since none of them have been hitherto contradicted. We are entitled to hold them all to be true, and beyond controversy now. And, moreover, what has recently taken place will help to stamp with infamy the conduct of other site refusers and persecutors of our people, who drive them from their dwellings and from their bread, simply because they will not conform to a degraded Establishment to which these very tyrants do not themselves conforin. One of the most painful things which has recently taken place in the controversy, is the publication of the following most extraordinary manifesto, of which Dr Alexander has now avowed himself the sole author. It was published in name of a body called "The Scottish Board for protecting the civil rights of Congregational Dissenters," immediately before the second reading of the Sites' Bill, and whilst almost the only persons present seem to have been two members of Dr Alexander's congregation. It is rather odd, that this is the only movement in the same direction in the United Kingdom; and that, by the merest accident, of course, the Duke of Buccleuch's agent happens to be a member of this same congregation. It was resolved : "1. That this Board, being decidedly opposed to the use of all compulsion in the service of the Church of Christ, and regarding the Sites for Chapels Bill of Mr Bouverie as proceeding upon the principle that, in certain specified cases, the holders of land may be legally compelled to furnish sites for the erection of places of worship, are constrained to express their disapprobation of said Bill on this ground; for whilst they admit the obvious difference between compulsion when used to effect the sale of land, and compulsion when used to effect the payment of money for the service of the Church, they are, nevertheless, of opinion, that in neither case is such compulsion compatible with the spiritual nature of the Church of Christ. "2. That whilst maintaining that every holder of land is morally bound in the sight of God, the great Proprietor of all, not to prevent any body of Christians from worshipping God according to the dictates of their own consciences, by refusing to sell them a portion of the soil on which to erect a building for that purpose, and whilst deploring and condemning the conduct of those proprietors who have so acted in reference to any body of Christians, as well as sincerely sympathizing with those who have recently been exposed to suffering on this account, the members of this Board, at the same time, think that this claim should be enforced by moral means alone; and as regards their own denomination, would rather that it should continue to suffer (as in times past it has repeatedly suffered) inconvenience and injury from the refusal of sites for chapels, unwilling landlord by the strong hand of the civil power." than be armed with authority to extort this right from an The It is scarcely possible to characterize in suitable terms this extraordinary specimen of Voluntaryism run mad. The case stands thus :-The right to worship God is an original and inherent right. All pretended rights that make this impossible are usurpations. To clear them out of the way, therefore is not "compulsion in the service of the Church of Christ," but a mere undoing of existing bad legislation. Besides all toleration is a matter of law-theRevolution Settlement is a law-all the past struggles of the Congregationalists since the days of Cromwell have been to secure the repeal of bad laws, and may be equally called struggles to introduce "compulsion into the service of the Church of Christ." abolition of the power of "pit and gallows" was a similar kind of compulsion. One Duke has all Sutherlandshire. Suppose another had all MidLothian, and that the inhabitants could only worship by his permission, or by rights to be enforced "by moral means alone,"-how should we like it? or how would the system work? But this is precisely the case in the half of Skye, and in the Uists, St Kilda, and Canobie. How is this state of things to be overthrown except by an Act of Par liament? Let Dr Alexander point out how this moral machine of his is to work in the way of securing sites. We have tried it for five years in vain, and have got no help all that time from Dr Alexander. We shall have rather more confidence in his advice when we find him dunning the Duke of Buccleuch, if he will not dun the Legislature, with petitions on behalf of his oppressed fellow-Christians, instead of only coming forward when he can retard and hinder the only measure likely to secure the object in view, not merely on their behalf, but on behalf of all the Christians in the kingdom. GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. THE General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland commenced its sixth session in Canonmills' Hall, Edinburgh, on Thursday, May 18th, at twelve o'clock noon. There was a large attendance of members and of the public. The Rev. Dr Sieveright, Moderator of last General Assembly, preached the opening sermon from Lam. ii. 14: "Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee; and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens, and causes of banishment." From the text Dr Sieveright deduced generally the doctrine that for the public teachers of religion not to discover iniquity, nor to testify against it, and when judgments are abroad in a country, to ascribe these judgments to other than causes in Divine Providence, is a delusion and a snare; observing, that the very statement of this doctrine is calculated to awaken those to whom the charge of souls is committed to a sense of their responsibility in not warning men against their iniquities. He then proceeded more particularly, and with great effect, to apply the declarations of the prophet to the duty of ministers of the gospel in reference to various prevailing errors, and the peculiar exigencies of the times. The Assembly having been constituted by prayer, Mr Pitcairn, the clerk, read the commissions and roll of members. Thereafter Dr Sieveright proposed the election of Dr Clason as Moderator of Assembly. The nomination having been unanimously agreed to, Dr Clason was introduced by Dr M'Farlan of Greenock, and Mr Pitcairn; and having taken the chair, shortly addressed the Assembly. After referring to the signal blessings which had hitherto been vouchsafed to the Free Church of Scotland, he continued: "Reverend Fathers and Brethren,-We are now met in the name of Christ, and in the presence of God, to deliberate about the affairs of his Church; and He before whom we now are requires both inward reverence and outward respect. I would not speak in this case as one invested with any authority over you; but would rather give utterance to those convictions that are deeply seated in the breast of every one here present. The matters to which our attention is to be directed are the most important that can occupy any council of men. Surely it is meet that in such a case our minds should be seriously exercised, and our hearts often raised to God for direction; and that our whole spirit and demeanour should be grave as becomes an assembly of Christian men. We meet at a time when there are many among us hungering for bread, and many more perishing for lack of knowledge. We meet at a time when the nations around are shaking, and the counsels of the wise have been brought to nothing, and God has made bare his holy arm before the kings and rulers of the earth. Earnestly do I pray that we may be enabled so to conduct ourselves as becomes men engaged in a great work in which the Lord is upholding us; so that those who are admitted to be spectators of our proceedings may see that He is with us, and we may be enabled to speak with those enemies who have risen up against us, unashamed, in the gate." The Assembly adjourned at three o'clock. FRIDAY-MAY 19. The Assembly met at twelve o'clock, and in accordance with previous arrangements, the forenoon sederunt was spent in devotional exercises, which were led by the Moderator, and the Rev. Mr Burns of Kilsyth. The Rev. Mr Gray of Perth, thereafter addressed the Assembly on the past history and experience of the Free Church, the lessons to be learned from these, on the special dangers of the Church, and on the aspects and duties of the present time. The address produced a powerfully solemnizing impression. We extract a passage referring to the duty of the Church to the ignorant and irreligious masses of our home population: The "The claims of that portion of our fellow-countrymen are daily becoming more urgent. Judging by the ascertained rate of increase for previous years, the number of 30,000 persons has probably been annually added to the inhabitants of Scotland since the Disruption, making altogether an increase of 150,000. The Presbyterian population of Australia, including New South Wales and the adjacent colonies, with Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand, is somewhere about 30,000, and that number has been added to the population of our native Scotland since last General Assembly! Presbyterian population of the British North American colonies amounts, perhaps, to from 150,000 to 200,000, and a number exceeding four-fifths of that whole population has sprung up at home within the last five years! Twenty churches of the average capacity are needed every year to meet the annual increase of the people; or rather, let me say, twenty new congregations of the average size should be formed every year out of that increase; and a hundred new congregations should have been formed out of the increase that has taken place since the Disruption; or if we hold-what is certainly too favourable a supposition-that one-half of the increase has hitherto been absorbed into existing congregations, there ought to have been ten new congregations every year since the Disruption, and fifty altogether. How many, in point of fact, have there been? If we except congregations that have been formed out of other congregations, and cannot therefore fall into the present category, has there been so much as one in all the land besides our own West Port? But, granting that the efforts of the various Christian Churches have produced halfa-dozen, which we do not believe, what are half-a-dozen to the necessities of a case that demanded more than half a hundred? And what is such a state of things to end in? What sort of an issue for this country does it lead to? About 400,000 nonchurch goers among us five years since, risen now to half a million, and rising, rising still! Is the multitude of our population to grow for coming years and generations as we have seen, and are we to meet this great exigency with one West Port every five years? The Church will speedily have to take up this inquiry with an earnestness and a prayerful energy which she never applied to the same matter before. With such a call to evangelistic work as the state of the population is addressing to us, it may have to be considered whether from the very heart of the masses themselves, where the evil to be dealt with chiefly is found, an order of evangelists ought not to be drawn, who-with personal experience of the popular forms of ungodliness and scepticism-qualified by natural aptitude and suitable training to grapple with these-fired with unquenchable love to the souls of that vast section of the community to which they themselves belong, and undistracted by ulterior views towards a different mode of life-might go down, in the spirit of a holy and self-denying enthusiasm, and literally dwell in the very centre of the darkness, making their light incessantly to shine there, and holding forth the word of life, from Sabbath to Saturday, and from January to December, in the cellars, and the garrets, on the very stairs and the landing-places of the crowded homes of the unbaptized and benighted thousands of our land! Had we two or three hundred such devoted crusaders, clothed in the panoply of God, and armed with the love and the power of the gospel, to throw themselves into every West Port in the kingdom, and, meeting the prejudice, the passion, and the scorn of these haunts of unbelief and wickedness, with the long-suffering and gentleness of Christ, to lay siege to the hearts and consciences of men and women, old and young, on every side-might we not hope that the blessing of Heaven would cause the Church, our mother, often to exclaim, Who hath begotten me these? Gad, a troop cometh-a troop, a multitude, cometh, to fill the Lord's house, and to serve the Lord's Christ!' Oh for a Scottish John Wesley, to blow the trumpet in Zion, and gather out, and organize, and direct a body of evangelists, for the work that lies before us! We fear that home missionary labour, and the ordinary duties of a congregational ministry, are too unlike to each other, both in their nature and in the qualifications they require, to warrant us in hoping that Home Missions will be attended with any considerable success, while left to the leisure which pastors and elders of congregations can command, or mainly intrusted to those who are preparing for the pastoral office. To have a reasonable prospect of accomplishing much in the field of heathenism at home, perhaps there should be men who are specially commissioned and consecrated to it, and who give up all for its sake, just as it is felt and acknowledged that there must be in the case of the field of heathenism abroad. It does not seem clear that the latter field needs more of the spirit of devotion and selfsacrifice than the former. And we ought not too hastily to conclude that, if men dedicated themselves to the evangelization of the Cowgates and Saltmarkets of Scotland, as Williams with his predecessors and coadjutors did to that of the islands of the Southern Pacific, and as Moffat has done to that of the tribes of South Africa, the results would, in the long run, be less remarkable and cheering. But we may not now pursue this subject further. It may be that we have indulged in a dream that cannot be realized. The General Assembly will forgive it." The Assembly again engaged in devotional exercises, which were led by the Rev. Mr Laird of Montrose, and then adjourned till the evening. Mr Topp of Elgin to preach in the forenoon. BOARD OF MISSIONS AND EDUCATION. Dr Mackellar and Mr Jaffray gave in the Annual Report under this head. They stated that there had been a considerable increase in the funds of the Schemes. The particulars of the revenue were: Congregational Collections, Individual and Miscellaneous Donations, £21,063 0 64 6,121 19 6 126 19 6 6,346 12 1 408 5 0 846 1 6 1,328 11 8 Total, £56,756 3 2 Then there fell to be added, contributions raised by sundry societies, auxiliary to the Schemes-the Ladies' Association for Female Schools in India, and for the Education of Jewish Females' and the Colonial Association; and in addition to these, sums contributed by friends in India for the mission, and disbursed there. These put together amount to £7,000; so that the total for this year appears to be £63,756. In this state, in regard to the Home Mission, no notice was taken of the sums raised from non-ministerial associations, which amount to the very considerable sum of £2,283, which was excluded also from the account of last year. In regard to the juvenile contributions, there is a small decrease. The sum obtained last year for the six Schemes of the Church, from the children of Scotland, was £880, 8s. 3d. This year it amounts to £864, 5s. 10d. But when the contributions for the Central Building, Continental Churches, Ladies' Female Education in India, Orphan Refuge in India, the Church at Leghorn, the Sustentation Fund, and the Ladies' Jewish Female Education, are taken into account, the total from the children is £955, 4s. 3d., while last year it was £971, 9s. 84d. Dr Robert Buchanan, after expressing the gratification which he felt, and in which he was sure the whole Assembly shared, at the state of their missionary funds, moved the approval of the Report, and that the thanks of the Assembly should be recorded to Dr Makellar, and also to the ladies whose special effort this year on behalf of the funds had proved of such signal service. CONVERSION OF THE JEWS. Mr Moody Stuart, Convener of the Assembly's Committee for the Conversion of the Jews, gave in the Report from that Committee. The Assembly was afterwards addressed by Mr Allan, the Free Church missionary amongst the Jews at Constantinople, and Mr Schwartz, the Jewish missionary at Berlin. As the Report and addresses will appear in the Missionary Record for the month, we do not deem it needful to give an abstract of either. THE SCHEMES OF THE CHURCH. Dr Candlish proposed the following motion :-"That a committee be appointed to take into consideration the present arrangement of the Schemes of the Church, and the several departments of business therewith connected, with a view to such an adjustment as may be essential to the position which the Church, in the providence of God, has now reached, and to promote the permanent prosperity of the various undertakings in which she is called to engage; and that the committee report to a future diet of the Assembly." He proposed that this committee should be a large one, consisting of about ninety members of the Assembly, selected just from the various presbyteries of the Church as they occur, and embracing as large a representation as could well be got of the business habits of the Assembly; and he would propose that that large committee should meet immediately on the rising of the diet, with a view to the appointment of a small committee to mature matters. He believed this to be one of the most important pieces of business which the Assembly had to transact, at least in so far as the outer affairs of the house of God were concerned; and therefore it was that he desired that matters should, first of all, be a little matured by a small sub-committee, and that they should submit their Report to a large committee, and afterwards, perhaps, to a conference of the whole House. "It becomes extremely important (said the Rev. Doctor) that we should arrange and economize our collections and our appeals to our people, so as to give them thorough confidence in contributing to the objects which the Church is seeking to promote. Let us remember the Schemes which we inherited when we came forth from the Establishment; but let us make our arrangements so that our people may be secured from indefinite appeals to their liberality. I cannot but take this opportunity of saying, that with all the satisfaction with which I listened to the Report which was laid on your table of the funds of the Mission Schemes, I freely warn the Assembly that they will have to look in the face, before they rise, certain embarrassments and certain difficulties under which more than one of the Mission Schemes at present labour; and that it is not enough just to be satisfied with a very flourishing account of the state of our finances, in a missionary point of view, as a whole. We should be prepared to look somewhat more in detail as we proceed." Mr Tweedie seconded the motion, which was unanimously adopted. The Assembly then adjourned. SATURDAY-MAY 20. The Assembly met at eleven o'clock, and after devotional exercises took up the subject of THE RESIGNATION BY DR CANDLISH OF THE OFFICE OF PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE NEW COLLEGE. Mr Pitcairn, the clerk, on this subject read the following documents-1. Letter from Dr Candlish; 2. Memorial from the Kirk-Session and Congregation of Free St George's, Edinburgh. The letter from Dr Candlish was couched in the following terms: "Edinburgh, May 18, 1848. "Reverend and Dear Sir,-Having been appointed by the Commission in August last to the office of professor of theology in the New College, I beg leave, very respectfully, to resign the said office into the hands of the General Assembly, and to intimate my desire to be relieved from the duties of the chair, with a view, if it shall please God, to the continuance of my pastoral labours among the people who first called me to minister to them in holy things, and who have expressed their wish still to retain my services.-I have the honour to be, reverend and dear Sir, yours very truly, "ROB. S. CANDLISH. "To the Reverend the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland." The memorial of the congregation stated, that This is a very peculiar case; that the tie between pastor and people had not, in the singular circumstances that occurred, been practically severed; and that now that the congregation unanimously and earnestly desire to have restored to them the pastor to whom they are affectionately attached, and in whose faithful and fervent ministry they have been so long privileged, it is humbly hoped that no difficulties in point of form will be permitted to frustrate or postpone the arrangement by which the Rev. Dr Candlish may again become, with the sanction of your venerable House, the settled minister of the congregation of Free St George's." The various parties appeared at the bar of the Assembly and were heard. |