On the motion of Dr Macfarlan, the thanks of the Assembly were communicated to them by the Moderator, who concluded by praying that the Lord would prosper them in the various spheres in which they were called to labour.

CALL TO MR MACNAUGHTAN OF PAISLEY.

In this case a call had been presented to Mr Macnaughtan of Paisley by the congregation of Rosemary Street, Belfast, of which Professor Gibson had formerly been pastor. Mr Macnaughtan accepted the call-his congregation opposed it; and the Presbytery, deeming the case as one between the Presbyterian Church of Ireland and the whole Free Church of Scotland, had referred it to the Assembly. Parties were heard at considerable length. Professor Gibson urged the vast importance to Ireland of having an eminent Free Church minister in Belfast, and, in addition to the call, which was signed by 300 individuals, read a memorial signed by 1407 leading members of the various Presbyterian congregations in Belfast, earnestly praying the Assembly to agree to the translation. Mr Brough and Mr Macalester, elders of the Free High Church, Paisley, remonstrated against the translation as calculated to be deeply injurious both to the locality and to the whole Free Church. Mr Macnaughtan again formally accepted the call, and while stating his reasons for doing so, said "I found it was not the case of the High Church against a church in Belfast. No; the claims were those of Ireland of the country that has called so long, so loudly, for our assistance, pleading now that she would be advantaged by the settlement of a Free Church minister. It was the Presbyterianism of Ulster declaring that she desiderated an infusion of Free Church blood and energy; and to that plea I could not turn a deaf ear.

Parties being removed,

Dr Candlish moved that Mr Macnaughtan should be removed from his present charge. He founded his motion on the decided acceptance given to the call by Mr Macnaughtan. Apart from that, he could not have brought himself, for a moment, to think of agreeing to his translation. Dr Patrick M'Farlan seconded the motion.

Mr Robert Paul, elder, entertained different views from those which had been expressed, and could not refrain from bringing these before the house. He cordially agreed with all that had been said in regard to the sister Church; but, at the same time, he did feel that, in the present circumstances of this Church it was not right to allow our distinguished men to be taken away from us. He had an overpowering sense of the spiritual destitution in our manufacturing towns; so great was it that they could not spare these men. He regretted exceedingly that already so many distinguished ministers had been translated from the Church of their fathers, and from spheres far more important than those they at present occupy. He did not say that Belfast was not of great importance, but Paisley was surely of at least equally great importance; and no such strong case had been made out as, in his mind, to lead either Mr Macnaughtan or the Assembly to say that he should leave his present sphere of duty.

Mr Gibson of Glasgow said, there seemed to be some confusion in the minds of the parties who had spoken from the bar, in regard to the importance of the west of Scotland and the sister country. If the question was to be decided as for the general good of the Church, to say the least of it, the Free Church of Scotland's demand for the labours of Mr Macnaughtan were fully as great as those of the Church in Ireland. He trusted that the General Assembly would bear in mind the condition of the large manufacturing towns. Any one residing in these towns must be aware that the misery which exists in them is not less than in many of the districts in Ireland, and far greater than in the province of Ulster, or in the town of Belfast. Take into consideration another element, not less important, namely, the infidelity which prevails in this country at the present moment. It was a solemn and serious thing to contemplate such a state of matters as now exist. In the city of Glasgow, which was almost joined, he might say, to the town of Paisley, he was sure he was within the mark when he stated that there were not less than 150,000 capable of attending the house of God, who attended no place of worship whatever. He believed there were not ministrations for them, if they did not take into account Popery and other forms of error. But let it be borne in mind that the

west of Scotland is constantly liable to a large influx of the very worst portion of the Irish population. He believed that if Popery was to prevail in the British Isles to the extent anticipated, it would be, if he might use the expression, by colonizing Great Britain from Ireland. Viewing the question relatively, they were bound to consider the case of those large towns. He trusted the union of the two Churches was already cemented, and already based upon principles and elements far more enduring than the labours or the life of any man, however important these might be, and none held Mr Macnaughtan in higher estimation. With these views, Mr Gibson begged to move that the translation do not take place.

Mr Archibald Gardner, elder, Paisley, seconded the amendment.

The vote being taken, the amendment was carried by a majority of 150 to 69.

The Assembly then adjourned.

Comparing the revenue of the first with the revenue of the last of these five years, the increase at this date amounts to no less than £20,270, 13s. 24d. This statement, however, does not bring out the full amount of progress which the Fund has made. The sum stated above as the revenue of 1843-4 included the contributions, not of twelve, but of fourteen months, the Fund having been commenced in March 1843, and the revenue of that year having included all that was received up till the 15th May 1844. The actual sum received from all sources, during the first twelve months of the Fund that is, up till the 30th March 1844 - was £61,096, 2s. 104d. Comparing this, which is the real amount of the first year's revenue, with the revenue of the year 1847-8, the difference in favour of the present year is no less than £27,873, 5s. Od.

"There is still another circumstance connected with the progress of the revenue of this, to the Free Church, all-important Fund, which the Committee think it due to state. It has been felt all along-and was felt by none more than by the illustrious founder of the Fund-that its real strength lay, not in the donations, but in the produce of the Associations. The donations could be regarded only as a casual and uncertain source of income. The true index of the prosperity of the Fund must be looked for in the steady advance of the ordinary contributions derived from the associations. Contemplated in this point of view, the state of matters is highly satisfactory. There has, indeed, been a great falling off, as was from the beginning expected, in the sum obtained from donations and special subscriptions. For whereas in the year 1843-4 this branch of income yielded no less than £16,178, 7s. 6d., it has produced in the year 1847-8 only £2,199, 11s. 8d. But, on the other hand, turning to the associations, this truly gratifying result appears, that whereas during the first year of the Fund the associations yielded £44,917, 15s. 44d., they have this year contributed £86,774, 16s. 3d. I have now shortly to state the charges against the Fund for the year now closed, and how these are to be met:The number of ministers on the roll of presbyteries is Deduct professors and others not on the Fund

Total number of ministers receiving stipend from Central Fund

693 9

684

£63 15 88,974 7 1 737 12

89,775 14 4

2,537 15 8

4,914

Total amount available for payment of stipends to the ministers entitled to the equal dividend

Of the whole number of ministers entitled to the equal dividend, 11 have been ordained in the course of the year 1847-8, and the amount necessary to pay the proportion of stipend falling due to them is

Leaving, as the balance due to the 596 ministers entitled to a full year's stipend on the equal dividend

84,861 12 8

7,973 9 10

76,888 2 10

552 0 0

£76,336 2 10 "To each of these 596 ministers the General Assembly will now, accordingly, have the satisfaction of declaring a stipend for the year 1847-8 of £128.

"Of this stipend, there was paid at Martinmas last to each minister £60.

"The exact amount, therefore, still due to each of the ministers is £68.

Dr Buchanan then adverted to the efforts which had been made during the year to increase the fund so as to afford a minimum of £150 for each minister. He gave a detailed account of the steps which, as Convener of the Committee, he bad adopted, with this view, and of various difficulties with which they had to contend. He continued:

"It were most unreasonable and unjust, however, not merely as regards the Committee, but as regads the presbyteries and congregations of the Free Church, not to notice what has been unquestionably the main difficulty * with which this movement has had to contend. That difficulty has been the extraordinary pressure of the times. The judgments of the Lord have been abroad in the earth, and by terrible things in righteousness he has been causing his forgotten voice to be heard. At the date of last Assembly, no man, not even the most clear-sighted and calculating, dreamt of such a crisis in the affairs, not of this country only, but of the whole world, as even then was already at hand. On the contrary, the prevailing impression was, that, instead of entering, we were emerging from the cloud. And it was undeniably in this belief that, with so much heart and hope, we addressed ourselves to the great enterprise which this Report describes. It was well for us that in this, as in other things, the future lay hidden from our view. Á single glance into that dark period of overwhelming disaster that was about to overtake the whole commercial and manufacturing, the whole monetary

bability have sufficed to make us lay our whole intended efforts aside. And what would now have been the inevitable consequence? Had the season of distress and difficulty come upon us at a time when the mind of the Church was to a large extent asleep as to the claims and exigencies of our Central Fund, is not too much to say that, instead of being occupied in accounting for a limited increase, we should at this moment have been considering how we were to face a seriously diminished revenue. The Committee feel, and they doubt not the Assembly will sympathize in the feeling, that the guidance and the goodness of God have been most abundantly manifest in those leadings of his providence under which the Assembly were led last year to adopt those measures which have served, by his blessing, to avert from us so great a calamity. To that circumstance it is mainly due that, in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of our people's joy, and their deep poverty have abounded to the riches of their liberality. For in the case of not a few of the Committee can bear record, like the apostles of old, that 'to their power, yea, and beyond their power,' they have been willing of themselves, refusing to allow their temporary straits to stint their contributions, and embarrass the Lord's cause. But I am bound to say-duty to the Assembly binds me to say -the great cause which this Assembly has committed to my hands binds me to say-that the pressure of the times will not avail to justify all the shortcomings of the year. It is gratifying, indeed, to be able to state, that 534 ministerial charges and 94 stations have this year increased their contributions. But it is not gratifying to be obliged to add, that while so many have been going forward, no fewer than 163 ministerial charges and 73 stations have been moving the opposite way. Had these 236 congregations done no more even than maintain their former ground, the total increase for the year would have been, not £5856, 11s. 1d., but £9293, 16s. 84d. And, further, had they advanced even to the extent of one-half of the same ratio with the others, the actual increase would have amounted to no less a sum than £12,040. The Committee are well aware, and wish it to be distinctly understood, that in the large backgoing list now alluded to, there are cases in which the falling off can be both explained and justified. The death or removal of one or more of the class of larger contributors may have diminished the total sum collected, while yet among the existing members of the congregation there may have been an actual increase both of contributors and of contributions. But this, the Committee are bound to say, they consider to be the exception, and not the rule. Among the great majority of the congregations in the backgoing list, the Committee can discover nothing whatever to hinder their progress, which might not be pled with at least equal force by many of those that have been going steadily forward. These things ought not so to be. It is wrong in itself, and it is altogether discouraging to those congregations that have been nobly striving to do their part in that great work which the Church has in hand.

Professor Miller moved the approval of the Report, in a lengthened and eloquent address. As we understand that a report of his address, and of the others delivered in connexion with this subject, is being prepared with the view of being extensively circulated, we give but two passages as specimens:

"Let us remember that ministers, to be useful in preaching the gospel, must be unencumbered with the cares of this world-must not be borne down and racked by anxiety for the maintenance of themselves and families. In the old dispensation, we know that it was otherwise arranged, and that the Levites were left free to devote their whole time and labour to the service of the sanctuary. And we also know that our blessed Saviour, on both occasions of sending forth his disciples to preach the gospel, enjoined them to "provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in their purses," no change of raiment, "nothing for their journey, save a staff only," for "the labourer is worthy of his hire." And we should do well to ponder the dialogue on their return: "When I sent you without purse and scrip and shoes, lacked ye anything? And they said, Nothing." Would that the preachers of the same gospel could now say that from us they have lacked nothing. We have heard of the oppressions of the rich and powerful in the land

falling heavy on the heads of some of the devoted men of this Church-and it may have been thought that more than one may have thus been pressed into an early and apparently untimely grave; but, sir, it is a solemn question which each one of the laity within our Church may well ask himself, Have I no blame in the sickness, and decay, and death of godly men? Are my hands clean in this? Had I been more true to myself and to the principles I profess than to the Church, and to her great Head, might not there have been less privation, and less distress among the outgoing tenants of the manse? Have I left them to suffer all in worldly things, and refused to take my own share? Is it that the men who fought and nobly won the battle, have been left to defray the expenses of thecampaign?-a thought from which even the honest pride of the worldly man will recoil. A heavy responsibility weighs on us in this crisis of our Church. Would God that we could all realize it; and when we have to give in the final account of our stewardship here, we may be able to say that we sought anxiously to know our duty, and that, when known, we were enabled to perform it! And oh, sir, let us have a jealous care least in any way, even though the temptation come to us in the disguise of zeal and enthusiasm in the cause, we endanger that Fund whose stability and advancement should be our chief care. Let us hold all private and personal considerations wholly subdued and out of the way. 1 Let us beware of tampering with, and innovating rashly on that machinery which has worked well hitherto which has brought this Fund to-day to more than £20,000 more than it was on the first year after the Disruption. Let us, above all, avoid prayerfully whatever may possibly lead to disunion or disagreement among ourselves. Let us be ready to sacrifice rather all personal convictions, however strong, if they be but in minor matters of mere detail. For what responsibility can be imagined more fearful than would be that of him who, in this our Church's crisis, should rashly or even inadvertently throw the apple of discord in the midst, now when union and united effort are especially required! Oh, sir, let us seek rather to be of one accord, and of one mind,' remembering the injunction, Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.' 'Let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.'

"There is but one point more to which I would allude, one which has been spoken of before by others more competent, but one which, from its paramount and pressing importance, surely cannot be brought too prominently or too often under our notice. I allude to the vital necessity of doing all that is in our power, in regard to this Fund, with the view of securing a future ministry of high standing in this Church, both as to social position and mental accomplishment. Piety and zeal are very essential we know, in the minister of God's word; but, we know also, that they are not enough of themselves. He must have a good report of them which are without.' The first preachers of the blessed gospel of Christ were indeed the poor and illiterate fishermen of Galilee, but they were chosen, be it remembered, while the great Master was himself with them, to guide and instruct; and it was not until they had passed through a course of theology, such as can again fall to the lot of no mortal man-three years, night and day, witnessing his bright example, and learning of his wisdom; and not even then, not until, besides, what may be termed a wondrous amount of classical attainment had been conferred on them in the gift of tongues at Pentecost-then, and then only, were they sent forth on their apostleship. And still more forcibly it cannot fail to strike us, that after our Saviour's ascension, when he would himself elect an apostle for a special end, it is not now from the poor, illiterate, humble, labouring class-all honour to them notwithstanding-that the selection is made; but it is said, the well-born, the eloquent, the talented, the learned in all the knowledge of the time, brought up at the feet of Gamaliel-high in class, high in natural gifts, and high in mental accomplishment. It is he who so successfully becomes all things to all men,' and is the very chiefest of the apostles. Let us remember the high status of ministry which we have had transmitted to our care, as if the providence of the Disruption had said: Such is the Free Church, see that such it is maintained.' And as we value the services of these men-the Disruption-men- and would fondly hope for like favour to our children and their sons, let us see to it that suitable endowment be provided and established now

-that there may be no apology for worldly parents or guardians of youth, holding back the talented and welldisposed of all ranks from devotion to this ministry-let the incomes of our clergy be respectable and sufficient now at once-not as a lure to draw men to the pastoral office on that account, but that their scantiness may be no impediment in the way of those who otherwise might and ought to have come."

Dr Cunningham and Mr Makgill Crichton having thereafter addressed the Assembly, the following deliverance was come to:

"The Assembly having heard the Report, approve of the same, and record their thankfulness to Almighty God for the measure of success which, during the past year, has been vouchsafed to this important scheme of the Church. They at the same time declare, in terms of the report, that the stipend payable to each of the ministers entitled to the equal dividend at Whitsunday 1848, is £68 (or £128 for the year), subject to the reservations and conditions of the Act of Assembly, regulating the Widows' and Orphans' Fund of the Free Church of Scotland. In reference to the ministers of new charges, the Assembly sanction the payment of their stipend, in terms of the regulations of 1844, applicable to their case, subject as above to the reservations and conditions of the Widows' and Orphans' Fund Act. And further, the Assembly resolve as follows:-(1.) That the movement for increasing this Fund, so as to secure for it a minimum stipend of £150 to every ordained and settled minister of the Free Church of Scotland, be immediately and vigorously prosecuted throughout the bounds of the Church. (2.) That every presbytery, at its first meeting after the General Assembly, should take up this subject; that all those presbyteries in which conferences were held with the representatives of the Assembly's Committee during last year, should resume consideration of the minutes and resolutions then adopted, and take such measures as may seem best fitted to secure, in the course of the present year, the attainment of what was then proposed in the way of increase to the Fund. (3.) That, in particular, presbyteries at the foresaid meeting, should appoint certain of their brethren, within one month thereafter, to address the several congregations within their bounds upon the Lord's-day, at one of the ordinary diets of divine worship, upon this subject, expounding it from the Word of God, and at the close of the service reading the deliverance of the Assembly thereanent, and commending the cause to their sympathy and their prayers. (4.) That the brethren appointed to this work should further meet with the deacons' court and collectors of each congregation, ascertain the state of the working and agency of the association, and endeavour to engage the court in a systematic and strenuous effort to realize at least the amount of contribution to the fund which had been suggested by the conference. And further, that in this dealing with the deacons' court, they should seek the assistance of one or more of the leading office-bearers of the presbytery. (5.) That the presbyteries that were not visited by the Committee should follow, as far as possible, a similar course, endeavouring in every case to bring the deacons' courts and congregations to an understanding as to the sum in the way of increase which they would make an effort to raise. (6.) That where the assistance of one or more brethren may be required by any presbytery beyond their own bounds, said presbytery should direct their clerk to communicate immediately with the Assembly's Committee on the Sustentation Fund, in order that the assistance sought might be provided without delay. (7.) That the brethren appointed as above to visit the several congregations, deacons' courts, &c., should be instructed to report to their respective presbyteries, at a meeting to be held not later than the first week of August, and that a copy of said Report should be immediately forwarded to the Committee on the Sustentation Fund. The Assembly record their warmest thanks to the Committee, and especially to Dr Buchanan, their Convener, for the ability and zeal with which he has prosecuted the business of this great Fund."

The Assembly adjourned at half-past twelve.

(To be concluded in our next.)

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The

that it contains much positive belief, and even zeal, in favour of Romish superstitions. The question then recurs, in so far as the infidelity of France does not serve to explain how that country has escaped the intellectual blight that accompanies the presence of Antichrist in other lands, What effect should its intellectual condition have in modifying the opinion generally prevalent among Protestants, that Popery overlays and smothers a nation's intelligence? One fact is sufficient to destroy a theory. In so far as France is really Popish, and at the same time really educated and civilized, its condition limits the application of the general formula, as to the necessary effect of that superstition upon the understandings of men. We apprehend that at a certain stage in the progress of the Romish superstition, the stream divides; and we ought to acknowledge the existence, and trace the windings of both branches. alternatives are, abject ignorance, and an intelligence dissociated from moral restraints. Popery-the existence of the superstition in a positive charactereither extinguishes or perverts the intellectual in a nation. A nation or an individual may be highly cultivated, though steeped in positive Popery; but a nation highly cultivated, and yet retaining the beliefs of Rome, we apprehend, must be eminently dangerous to itself and its neighbours. In short, a nation, where Popery really thrives, must, more or less, according to modifying circumstances, be either a Spain or a France: so ignorant, as to be unable to do good to any, or evil to any but itself; or so wicked, so seared in conscience, so nursed in deceit, and hardened in cruelty, that in proportion to its power, it must become its own and the world's tormentor. We might suppose the spirit of Antichrist gliding down the stream, and on approaching the point of divergence, being altogether indifferent how many of his victims shall take the right, and how many the left. We may suppose him giving his instructions to his agents: One of two things must be done either put out the light, or lure the multitudes by its blaze to a deeper destruction. If we were obliged to make our choice between evils so great, we would rather have a people whom Popery has kept in intellectual darkness, than a people who, with a bright intellectual light shining around them, have swallowed the whole system of Romish superstition and wickedness. The process of accepting the irrational superstition, where the reason has been cultivated, is so violent, that it must wrench out of its place conscience, the ruling power in man. It is more subversive of the moral in men, than to leave them in nature's ignorance. Austria, if let alone, might have lain for generations like a clod on the earth-a burden to it, but nothing more; but France must, as if by a necessity of nature, start up from time to time, by an internal and spontaneous movement, to act the fiend among the nations; scattering firebrands, arrows, and death a while, with an unearthly energy, and then falling down foaming at the mouth, and lying as if dead.

We proceed now to notice a series of facts and features that preceded, accompanied, or followed, the late French Revolution. We are not in circumstances to complete the lesson. The object is too large and too near for being thoroughly surveyed in all its bearings. We may, however, observe and register certain prominent points, in the hope that they may form, in part, the materials of a riper judgment, when we see in that matter the end of the Lord.

As to its condition immediately preceding the Revolution, let it be remembered that France had, in a very remarkable degree, given her strength and power unto the beast. She had become the right arm of Antichrist. From the statistics given by the Evangelical Society of Paris, it appears that enormous sums of money have annually been contributed in that country for Popish missions throughout the world. France has greater resources than any other country that owns the authority of the Pope, and these resources seem to have been lavished on his cause. Prosecutions were carried on against the Protestants, in name of the laws, and manifestly contrary to their spirit, even in the provinces of France; and wherever she had power in other parts of the world, she appeared at once the servant of Rome and the foe of humanity. At every step we meet with anomalies inexplicable except by the light of divine truth.

No nation in modern times has so zealously employed her power to extirpate Protestants beyond her own soil, as this free-thinking, infidel France. No nation in modern times has outraged humanity so much as this refined and hyper-civilized France. No nation in modern times has been so much disgraced by base deeds in her highest places as this proud, chivalric France.

The crusade of the great nation against the poor Christians of Tahiti is fresh in the memory of the public yet, in all its disgusting details. So also are the shouts of triumph that rung through her capital when intelligence arrived from her valiant armies that they had succeeded in roasting alive a tribe of Africans who had refused to surrender their native land. Her deeds of shame in high places, we would hope, for the honour of our common humanity, are altogether unparalleled among civilized communities. What a succession of atrocities was paraded before the eyes of the world on that blood-stained scene, as if to usher in, with fitting accompaniments, another grand crisis of the mighty tragedy! A wretch, moving in the very highest rank of nobility, murders his wife for the sake of a paramour, and then is permitted to poison himself in prison to avoid the disgrace to his order of a public execution. A judge in one of the highest courts is tried for crime, and condemned in the very court in which he had presided. The highest ministers of state are convicted of selling public offices for money, and plead in justification, that their predecessors had done the same before them. The monarch meanwhile proves himself worthy to be the head of such a gang. By a series of beastly negotiations-which, from their very filthiness, journals of character cannot print-carried on between himself and his ambassador, he sacrificed a helpless Queen to his own ambition-bartering away the rights of an independent nation, prostituting the institution of marriage, and plunging a defenceless woman into certain family misery. As an appropriate close to the abominable transaction, the ambassador who had been employed as the tool, thrown aside, as might have been expected, when the dirty work was done, in a fit of compunction, cut his own throat. Such a series of base and tragic deeds you may meet with in the pages of ancient romance, or perhaps you may find them enacted yet in the court of some Eastern sultan; but we are not aware of anything similar among civilized nations in modern times. Surely that nation was ripe for destruction.

When the new revolution was effected, the world