over which the Holy Ghost hath made her overseer, as well as to those of this nation, in which God has largely blessed her, resolves, through grace, to spare no efforts for promoting a devout and increased respect for this loved and blessed institution, reminding the people of her communion that they who are guilty of its violation are liable to the discipline of the Church in the same manner, and to the same extent, as those who are guilty of transgressing any other commandment of the moral law. The Assembly remit to the Sabbath Observance Committee to prepare the drafts of a memorial to the Postmaster-General, and petition to Parliament on the subject of the Sabbath, to report to a future diet of this Assembly." An overture on the subject was read from the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, which concluded as follows: "It is therefore humbly overtured by the Free Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, to the venerable the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, to take such steps as to her wisdom may seem meet, not only to declare to the Church and the world that she maintains her ancient allegiance to the Lord of the Sabbath, but that, cherishing a holy and enlightened zeal for His honour, and an affectionate regard to the best interests of the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made her overseer, as well as to those of this nation, in which God has so largely blessed her, she is resolved, through grace, to spare no efforts for promoting a devout and increased respect for this holy and blessed institution; and that the time is come when she feels bound to remind those in her communion, that they who are guilty of its violation are liable to the discipline of the Church, in the same manner, and to the same extent, as those who are guilty of transgressing any other commandment of the moral law." The latter part of the overture appeared to meet with general approbation. MANSE BUILDING FUND. Mr R. Paul, banker, brought forward the Report of this Committee, and read lengthened extracts therefrom. The amount of subscriptions for the past year had been £16,835, which was within £3000 of the expected amount, the shortcoming being chiefly owing to the want of sufficient local agency for collecting subscriptions, and also to the extraordinary crisis through which the country had just passed. Besides the income, there was a balance from the account of last year of £14,594. Mr Paul then read a detailed account of the expenditure; the amount paid for grants for the erection of manses, was £16,825, miscellaneous expenses, £536. In the mean time the Committee had a balance in bank of £14,748, but which was not more than would be required to meet outstanding claims. There had been 241 manses built and inhabited, or at the point of being so, and 53 were in progress, while the Committee hoped that in nearly all the cases admitted on the third year, to whom they had determined to give grants, 87 in number, manses would be built in the course of the present year. Not a single application in behalf of a minister" outed" at the Disruption had been refused, while the number of those ministers still destitute of manses did not exceed 60-all of whom the Committee hoped ultimately to aid. Dr Macfarlane moved the adoption of the Report, and that the thanks of the Assembly be given to the convener (Mr Paul) and the vice convener (Mr Meldrum.) Dr Robert Buchanan seconded the motion, which was unanimously agreed to. CASE OF MR ANDERSON. In this case Mr Alexander Anderson, minister in Old Aberdeen, having professed his rejection of the doctrine that the infants of Church members ought to receive baptism, was declared by the Presbytery to be no longer a minister nor a member of the Free Church. Against this decision, Mr Anderson appealed to the Assembly. Mr Anderson appeared for himself; Dr Brown, Mr Murray, and Mr Simpson appeared for the Presbytery. Parties having been heard. Dr Candlish moved that the Assembly dismiss the appeal, and confirm the sentence of the Presbytery of Aberdeen. Dr Cunningham addressed the Assembly at some length. As mere matter of feeling, he thought that the Presbytery might have contented themselves with declaring Mr Anderson "not a minister," without adding that he was "not a member of the Free Church of Scotland." But he could not take on himself now to object to this part of the sentence. All parties bore the strongest testimony to the Christian character and worth of Mr Anderson, and expressed their deep regret at the step which he necessarily laid upon them. MONDAY-MAY 29. The Assembly met this morning at ten o'clock, and remained in private conference on the arrangements of the Schemes until twelve o'clock, when the chair was taken by Dr Sieveright of Markinch, the ex-Moderator. REPORT ON THE STATE OF RELIGION. Dr M'Farlane of Renfrew, as Convener, read the Report of this Committee, which recommended the holding of stated meetings for conference and prayer by presbyteries and synods, at convenient periods, by which means the question of the state of religion would be better promoted than by the labours of any general committee. The Report, after a short discussion, was approved of, and ordered to be printed and transmitted to presbyteries for their guidance. THE WIDOWS' fund. Professor Macdougall gave in the Report on this subject, from which it appeared that there were connected with the Fund, at Whitsunday 1847-congregations, 446; ministers not attached to particular congregations, 6; professorships, 3; ministers who had ceased to be ministers of the Church, 5-making, in all, 460. When the accounts were closed at 31st March 1848, the accumulated funds were-of the Widows' Scheme, £10,888: 17: 1d.; of the Orphans' Scheme, £3734: 18: 3d.-making a total of £14,623 : 15: 4d. A discussion of some length ensued as to the expediency of admitting missionaries, &c. to have an interest in the Fund; but Professor Macdougall and Dr Buchanan were both of opinion that such a step was impossible. The subject had been under the consideration of the Foreign Mission Committee, and they were unanimously of opinion that it would not be expedient to put them on the Widows' Scheme. On the motion of Dr Candlish, the Report was approved of, and a remit was made to the Committee to consider how the rights and privileges of the ministers of the Free Church and their families, who remained on the roll of the Widows' Fund in connection with the Established Church, should be best protected. THE TREASURERSHIP. Mr Bonar, from the Committee on this subject, reported that they had appointed Mr John Macdonald treasurer of the Church, at an annual salary of £420.-Approved of. REPORT ON PUBLICATIONS OF THE CHURCH. On the bringing up of this Report by Dr Candlish, who expressed his regret in not being able to lay before them a more favourable account of the progress made during the past year, several suggestions were thrown out, and warmly received, that Confession of Faith and the Standards of the Free Church should be printed in such a form, and at such a price, as would enable the poorest amongst their people to have them on their shelves. Dr Cunningham called attention to a new edition of Mr Gray's Catechism, and suggested that the Assembly should approve generally of the same, as a true exhibition of the distinctive principles of their Church, and an excellent textbook for their young. After a short discussion, this was approved of, and the Committee re-appointed. QUOAD SACRA CHURCHES. Mr Gray of Perth, in bringing up the Report of this Committee, said, that, in accordance with certain instructions given at last Assembly, the Committee had collected a great deal of information regarding the number of quoad sacra churches in connexion with the Church before the Disruption, &c., and having received full details from nearly all the Presbyteries regarding the present position of these buildings, have to report that there are in the hands of the Established Church 146; of these, there are 25 not used as places of worship. Seventeen were used as preaching stations before the Disruption; 33 are now so used; 82 are in the hands of the Free Church, but of these 45 are not secured by any legal tenure. Mr Gray then went on to state, that, in accordance with their instructions, a deputation from the Committee had proceeded to London, and put themselves in communication with Sir George Grey in regard to this matter on behalf of the Government. He was sorry to say that no prospects were held out to them of the success of any measure which might be in troduced into Parliament for the settlement of the question. All with whom they had had communication admitted that it was a case of great hardship, even Sir George Grey himself; but still he could hold out no hope of the legislature interfering in any way which would tend to remove their case out of the hands of the Courts of Law in Scotland. They urged on the Home Secretary that a precedent had been established in the passing of the Dissenters' Chapels Bill; but this, they were told, presented no analogy; and they had, in fact, met with little favour in any quarter where they had applied for redress. Mr Gibson of Glasgow addressed the Assembly on the subject, and exposed several of the gross mis-statements which occurred in the "Remarks" which Dr Simpson of Kirknewton had published on the subject, and which the Establishment had sanctioned. Dr Begg said they were all aware that the memorial which had been referred to was full of the most random statements. The Assembly were aware that the pretence on which the people had been robbed, and were attempted to be robbed, of this vast amount of property was, that the Establishment could not allow the places of worship to be applied to any other Church than the Establishment. Now a case occurred the other day which proved that, whilst this feeling was very strong against the Free Church, it was not so strong against other parties. There was a society in one of the principal towns for building and buying places of worship, and they had purchased an old church. After the Disruption the Establishment claimed it, on the ground that the funds of the society had been collected for, and the church had been bought for, the Established Church. After a slight struggle their friends gave in; and what took place next? Why, that place was sold to the Morisonians, and sold by the very parties who wrested it from the hands of the Free Church, on the ground that it never could be used for any other than an Establishment purpose. Very many cases of great hardship had occurred in connexion with the conduct of the Established Church in these matters. There was a chapel in Scotland, not far from Edinburgh, which was relinquished not long after the Disruption, in connexion with which a spire had been built, and a bell hung therein. The spire had been paid for, but the bell had not. By and by an account came to one of the members of the Free Church for the bell, with an intimation that he must pay it. He was told he must pay the bell, and at the same time that he could not remove it, because it was a fixture; and in point of fact, the worthy man to pay £16, and two of his elders an equal sum, as the price of the bell, after they had left the Church. When they had stated their case in London, the Englishmen, and indeed all men, seemed prepared to admit that it was a very great hardship; but many seemed to fear that nothing could be done to obviate the difficulty. The deputation appealed to the very strong measure of the Socinian Chapel Bill, as a case where legislative interference had taken place. But they said there was a distinction adverse to us-the principle established by the bill being simply to fix a right by the occupancy of twentyfive years. The deputation, in reply, said they did not need to establish such a principle as that, as they had the identical men who built the churches alive, and prepared to depone as to their object in building them. The deputation got no very distinct answer to that; but one member of Parliament stated, that it was a great pity they were not Socinians or Papists, as they would have had a better chance; for he declared they hated us more than the Socinians and Papists. He (Dr Begg) had no doubt but that honest man stated a fact. It was certainly a great evil that a multitude of persons in this country should believe that they were plundered, it might be by law, or at least by civil courts; but the impression would go abroad, and the feeling would rankle in the minds of the people of this country, that they had been robbed of their churches without any protest being taken on the part of the respectable laymen of the Established Church. It was somewhat remarkable, that while men would not sanction or approve of in the market-place they would sanction and permit in another place, a principle that would not stand the test of the Word of God or the test of the rules which regulate ordinary society. For his own part, he thought the Committee should be continued, leaving it to their discretion what kind of effort should afterwards be made. prove of the Reports of the College Committee, and of the Sub-committees on Scholarships, and on the building of the New College; also that the various proposals of the College Report, as to the curriculum, &c., should be sent down as an overture to presbyteries; and that the chair, vacant by the resignation of Dr Candlish, should be filled up at the August Commission-all of which was agreed to. SITES. Mr Hog of Newliston read the draft of petition to Parliament in favour of the Sites Bill, and thereafter various particulars were stated by ministers from Forfarshire, as to the cases of site-refusing by Lord Panmure in that quarter. Mr Nixon wound up by an eloquent and energetic speech, which he concluded as follows: "So opposed is the conduct of this nobleman on the site question to his general proceeedings, as well as to his professed principles, that but for the evil counsellors to whom he listened, his course might have been a very different one indeed, with reference to the Free Church. At the Disruption, from what I knew of the liberality which, when he took a fancy to any object, he was ready to manifest, it was actually a question with me whether he would not take the outgoing ministers and people by the hand, and not only give them sites, but build churches, and manses, and schools too, upon his property. It might not be easy formally to prove the causes that operated to call forth his hostility rather than his friendship. But I assert only what is perfectly well known, when I say, that at the Disruption, and subsequent to it, moderate ministers, by their selfish and malignant calumnies and activity in evil, took upon themselves a principal part of the guilt of all the injustice that then began, and has since continued to be inflicted, on his Lordship's extensive property. But whatever be the secret of the treatment which we have experienced, whether it be owing to open enemies or faithless friends, it is high time that the facts were proclaimed, and that the lessons which they teach were read and pondered. It is to be hoped that this night's discussion will find its way through the public press to the notice of members of the Legislature, and that the cordial expression which this Assembly is now giving of their deep interest in this subject will not be without its effect on the minds of some of our statesmen. The conduct of which we complain, the treatment with regard to which we seek redress, is such an outrage on the rights which, as creatures, we have from our Creator, on the rights which we have by the constitution of the country, and on the rights which we have from the Word of God, that if we only persist in openly exposing it, and in protesting against it, and claiming redress, relief cannot be always, or long withheld, unless our rulers and great men are infatuated to their own destruction. For what is in reality the doctrine which they avow, and on which they act? Why, it amounts to this-that if they possessed not merely a parish, but a province, they would drive us from it; and if they possessed the whole country they would drive us from it; and if they possessed the whole earth they would drive us over the outer edge of it. And is this a doctrine for men in their condition to avow and carry out? If they appeal thus not to truth, or Scripture, or reason, or conscience, but to mere power, to physical force, why, there is an array of mere physical force among the masses at the other extreme of society, with which, in the providence of God, they may soon find themselves in conflict. And though I trust and believe that a Church like ours will never be found resisting the violence of her oppressors by similar violence, yet we may have to behold the retribution which these men deserve overtaking them at the hands of those masses whom they will not allow us to evangelize, and we may thus be made to see and to acknowledge that verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. In thus resisting our claims to spots of earth on which, wherever we have congregations, we may have a right to places of worship in which to observe the ordinances of religion, they must imagine, and, indeed, they scruple not to assert, that we are a disloyal and dangerous people. But I am sure, and we are entitled and bound to declare it, that we are politically and morally the healthiest portion of the inhabitants of the country; that there is not a body of more devoted subjects in the dominions of our Queen; and if the United Kingdom were fuller of such subjects, the Crown would sit more safely and comfortably on our sovereign's head. I know no body in the country more likely than our Church to stand between her very oppressors and the dangers which may yet stare them in the Dr Cunningham proposed that the Assembly should ap-face. Nor would I be surprised to find that, ere long, they After farther discussion the Committee was re-appointed. THE COLLEGE. have to fly to us for shelter from the violence of which they set the example, in which they are but too readily and faithfully imitated by the unreclaimed masses, and by which their criminal conduct to us, and to the claims of true religion, is providentially retributed. I hope, moderator, that good will come of the manner in which the Assembly has this evening shown its irrepressible interest in this matter. I hope it is a renewed pledge that this cause will be taken up and carried forward with increasing vigour, until our end is gained-involving, as the object which we aim at plainly does, the peace and prosperity of our country, as well as the spiritual and everlasting interests of men. So manifest, indeed, have the justice and eventful importance of our claims become to all classes, that even our site-refusers cannot but feel the false position in which they have placed themselves; and a bill would probably be as welcome to most of them as to ourselves, by which they would be relieved from that position. On all these accounts, I think we ought to rejoice in the manifestations of feeling which the Assembly has now given, in the effect which it is fitted and ought to have on the legislature, and on the determination which it implies to persist in our claims till they are granted." EDUCATION. Dr Candlish then gave in the Report of the Education Committee. The total grants made out of the Fund during the year amounted to £4,752. From the commencement of the Scheme in 1844 till the present time, £35,595 had been raised, of which sum £6,305 had been received during the past year; that was to say, that of the £50,000 which they proposed to raise in five years, £35,595, instead of £40,000, had been raised at this time, being the end of the fourth year. Taking all circumstances connected with this fund into account, they had reason to be thankful that the collection was so good. In regard to the schools, they were in a state of great efficiency, and the 'number of children in attendance upon them, so far as could be estimated from the returns as yet obtained, amounted to £41,060. The Report then alluded at length to the condition and prospects of the normal, grammar, missionary, and agricultural schools; and concluded by stating that the Committee were not yet prepared to propose an Inspector of Schools, in room of Mr Gibson, who had resigned on account of his being appointed Inspector under the Government Education Scheme. The Committee suggested that this matter, as well as the details connected with the salary, should be remitted back to them, and that they should, in the meantime, take such steps as would enable them to propose a suitable person for the office to the Commission in August, who should have power to affirm the appointment. The Report, after some discussion, was agreed to, and thanks voted to Dr Candlish, the Convener of the Committee. Dr Candlish moved the transmission of the overture on the Constitution of Schools to the Presbyteries of the Church. Mr Moncrieff of Kilbride moved a counter motion, to the effect, that it was unnecessary to exact from the teachers subscription to the Confession of Faith. Mr Wood of Anstruther seconded the motion. After a good deal of discussion, Mr Moncrieff withdrew his motion, and Dr Candlish's passed without a vote. The Committee on Letters from American Churches gave in a short Report, and draft of a letter to one of the Churches. The Assembly then disposed of some miscellaneous business, including Report of sanctioning of new churches. The Assembly adjourned at half-past one, till next morning. TUESDAY-MAY 30. The Assembly met to-day at eleven o'clock. UNIVERSITIES AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS. Dr Begg, in introducing the overtures on the present state of the universities and parish schools, said that he had always been of opinion that it was the duty of the Free Church to take up a decided ground in reference to these institutions. He did not sympathize at all with the idea that their taking up this ground would interfere in the slightest degree with their efforts, as a Church, to educate the children of their own people, in so far as they were able to do it. He did not desire that they should rest from their own educational efforts; but when they saw the unsatisfactory condition of public education at this moment, he thought they would be bound to give effect to the principle which they had already embodied in the act of Assembly, in reference to the universities and the parochial schools. The Act of Security had been destroyed in so far as the Church Establishment was concerned; and the result of the violation of that act which had taken place was, that they had been driven out of the Established Church. The only thing that remained of that act was the requirement that all professors and teachers in public and parish schools, should subscribe a formula, declaring their adherence to the Established Church, and that they would in practice conform to that institution. The act itself, in every other respect, had been violated and trampled in the dust; and this fragment of it was kept in existence as a means of persecuting-for he could not designate it by any other name and excluding Free Churchmen and other Dissenters from the parish schools and colleges of Scotland. They knew what had already been the effect of its operation in reference to the parochial schools. The men who adhered to the Free Church had been driven forth from them; and in regard to the colleges, they were aware that an attempt had also been made to drive forth from them those connected with them. He however rejoiced to say that in this they had not succeeded. They had still their excellent friend, Dr Brown in one of the universities; and they had Sir David Brewster at the head of another. Still, however, they saw that if matters were left to stand on their present footing, while the respected brethren whom he had named would be allowed to remain, no one else would be allowed to be inducted. They had lately seen a member of the Free Church (Mr Macdouall) elected by public competition, as the best qualified candidate, to the Hebrew Chair, and yet he was rights, because of the existence of this remanent portion of the at that moment excluded from the chair and deprived of his Act of Security. In these circumstances, he held that it was the duty of the Free Church to give forth their views on the subject, and to do what in them lay to remedy this state of the law. With respect to schools, they knew that in the poorer districts of the country, where the people were unable to build an additional school, the utmost possible hardship resulted from the operation of this law. He knew of one case, at least, where the people had been able to build a Free Church school; and what was the consequence? Why, the parish school was empty-so that the money expended on it was thrown away for the purpose of upholding a functionary who was altogether useless, but who might be rendered useful if the law was changed, as he proposed it should be. There might be, and gard to the general subject of tests; but upon this subject there he believed there were, different opinions among them in rewas no difference of opinion, namely, that they held it to be criminal on the part of the nation, and unjust towards all out of the Established Church, regarded in every point of view, to compel public teachers to adhere to an institution which this Assembly believed to be thoroughly corrupt, to be entirely changed from what it originally was, and placed in a position subversive of the original constitution of a Church Establishment. The Assembly would be prepared to take, at least, the step of affirming the principles contained in their judgments in 1845, in so far as applicable to existing circumstances, and to appoint a Committee to consider the means that ought to be taken for the purpose of carrying them into practical effect at the earliest possible period, authorizing them to report to the Commission at any of its stated diets should they see and grant power to the Commission to do in the matter as to them may seem best. He concluded by moving accordingly. cause, Professor Fleming seconded the motion. Dr Candlish suggested that the motion to be adopted should also embrace a reference to the resolutions of the Assembly in 1847, as well as in 1845. The motion, with the suggestion made by Dr Candlish, was then agreed to. TESTIMONY OF THE FREE CHURCH. An overture on this subject from the Synod of Perth and Stirling having been read, Dr Candlish moved, and it was unanimously agreed, that the time of the Assembly would not admit of such an important matter being taken up at present, but that it be remitted to the Committee formerly appointed, with peremptory instructions to report to next meeting of Assembly. HIGHLAND DESTITUTION. Dr M'Kay of Dunoon, Convener of the Highland Destitu tion Committee, after adverting to the Committee having merged itself in the Relief Board, said, that in consequence of their having ceased to administer relief, some of the people in the Highlands and Islands had been led to suppose that the Free Church was indifferent to their sufferings. In these circumstances, it appeared to the Committee that it would tend to comfort and encourage the hearts of their Highland brethren, if a deputation of Lowland ministers were sent in the course of the ensuing summer and autumn to inquire into their state, and to show that the Free Church continued to take an interest in their temporal as well as in their spiritual interests. After some conversation, it was agreed that instructions should be given to the Gaelic Committee, as in former years, to name certain Lowland ministers to proceed, in conjunction with an equal number of Highland ministers, to certain districts, to take steps for manifesting their interest in the temporal as well as in the spiritual interests of the people. Evening Sederunt. Mr Davidson, Convener of the Sabbath Observance Committee, read the draft of a petition to the Postmaster-General on the subject of the operations in the post-office department on the Sabbath-day; and also the draft of a petition to both Houses of Parliament, praying them to pass an Act prohibiting the sale of spirituous liquors on that day. Mr Tweedie then addressed the Assembly on the present state of this country and the nations of Europe, and concluded by proposing that a Committee should be appointed to prepare a pastoral address thereanent, to be circulated among the people of this country, and also among Protestants on the Continent, as opportunities presented themselves. The motion was unanimously agreed to; and the Committee appointed for the purpose were instructed to submit the address to the Commission in August before issuing it. Mr Dunlop then proposed that they should appoint that the next Assembly should be holden on Thursday, the 24th of May, 1849, which was agreed to. The Assembly was then addressed by the Moderator, who, at the conclusion of his address, declared the Assembly dissolved, and appointed the next Assembly to be held on Thursday, the 24th of May, 1849. At the close of the business on Tuesday, the Moderator addressed the Assembly as follows: REVEREND FATHERS AND BRETHREN,-The business of this General Assembly being now disposed of, it only remains for me to close your proceedings by a few parting words; and I must begin by a renewal of my heartfelt thanks for the honour you conferred on me, by calling me to preside in your Assembly-an honour the highest that you can give, or that one who loves the Church can receive from his fellow-men. In the present case, this mark of your respect and regard has to me been greatly enhanced by the gravity and Christian forbearance with which your whole deliberations have been conducted. In an Assembly so large, where every one is bound to express his own individual convictions, and where the points to be decided afford ample room for difference of opinion, there must sometimes be animated debates; but it is gratifying to state, that in no one instance has the warmth of your discussion led to sharp contention or personal invective, and that you can part, as you met, with warm feelings of brotherly regard for one another. This is as, I trust, it will ever be; for then we shall justly win and possess the respect and confidence of every congregation and member of our Church. Permit me to add, that if in aught I have been deficient in the duties devolving on me as your Moderator, I ask your forgiveness; and I can the more readily crave your indulgence, because conscious of the goodness of my intentions, and that I have been zealous for the honour and dignity of your Assembly. Reverend Fathers fand Brethren,-There is much in the aspect of the present times, and in the condition of the Church of Christ over the world, that renders it of the highest moment for us to adhere to and maintain those great principles for which our Church has been recently called to contend and suffer-I mean the two great scriptural truths, that Christ is the alone King and Head of his Church, and that he is King of nations, the Prince of the potentates of the earth. To the first of these our forefathers bore witness for more than a century, often amid severe and scorching persecution. But our full testimony includes both of them. It is our obvious duty to keep these two great principles before the world at this time-it is due to ourselves that we should do so-it is due to the ministers and members of the Establishment we have left it is due te the people of this land, and to other branches of the Church of Christ, and to the generations that shall follow us. And I think we can easily do all this without arrogance or bigotry, but in such a spirit of meekness as may truly convince these who differ from us, that we love the men, while we renounce and reject their errors. Possibly it may seem to some of you a needless waste of our time and strength to be always expatiating on the doctrines to which I have now adverted, and that, having spoken plainly to the rulers and people of this land, and having made our sacrifices in proof of our sincerity, we ought to be content, leaving facts to speak for themselves. My answer to this is, that even if there were none in our day who called in question these scriptural truths, it is still our duty to hold them up conspicuously before the Christian world for the sake of future times. But who does not see that, even in our own day, and in our own country, there is much for repeated and oft-reiterated witness-bearing. Take, for example, what is usually called, in the language of divines, the Headship of Christ over his Church; and if you will look abroad on the world you will see how heinously this part of the divine truth is trampled upon, even in those countries where the Scriptures are recognised as law, and the Church of Christ is professedly established and fostered by the State. As surely as Christ ted and rose again, so surely is he exalted to reign; if he is a Priest, he is also a King; and if a King, he must have a kingdom, the subjects of which are bound, individually and collectively, to render fealty to him -a kingdom to be regulated by his laws, and governed by those whom he appoints as subordinate rulers under himself. These are plain Scripture doctrines, which, we think, no one who takes the Word of God as the standard of his faith and practice can ever call in question; and yet we do not need to go far to look for evidence how often they are set at nought by the rulers of this world, and how unworthily the usurpation of the civil magistrate in things sacred is acquiesced in by those who ought to regard themselves as the constituted guardians of the prerogatives of Christ. If you cast your eyes on Switzerland, and particularly the Canton de Vaud, you see a government professedly zealous for the establishment and maintenance of civil liberty, in its blinded zeal intruding into the sanctuary of God, and seeking to render those whom Christ has constituted rulers in his house obsequious to its bidding in things sacred. And why is it that Protestant Britain, that has a voice which can be heard over Europe, when she is pleased to use it, has not lifted up her loud protest against encroachments alike dishonouring to the Saviour of men, and in the issue so surely subversive of civil liberty? Alas! the sad transactions that have recently taken place in our sister kingdom, and within the pale of a Church which, I fear, would count us presumptuous if we claimed her as our sister, afford a mournful answer to this and all such questions. You must not wonder at what is passing in other lands, for it now turns out that the Church in our own country which is most distinguished for her wealth and influence, and which, as we think, often boasts with more zeal than prudence of her apostolical character and descent, is fettered in her most sacred acts by civil enactments and penalties, and invests with the highest of her offices at the beck and bidding of the courts of law. In the temple of God the ceremony is begun, and it is ended amidst the laughter and jesting of the heedless assembly; and the thing is forgotten it gives place to the event of the succeeding day. No patriot or Christian voice lifts up a loud protest against the repetition of such profane mockery, for "the people love to have it so, and what will the end thereof be ?" If it be said that these are matters foreign to ourselves, and with which we have little or no title to interfere, my answer is, "Distant be the day when the Protestant Churches of Switzerland shall be regarded by us with indifference; let our right hand forget its cunning, if our hearts cease to beat in sympathy for the wrongs of the Free Church in the Canton de Vaud. Distant be the day when we shall have no title to name the Church of England within these walls, or when we shall cease to pray that she may be purified, and henceforth prosper." We are Presbyterians, not Prelatists; but we are not, therefore, sectarian. When the ministers of the Church of England preach Christ, we do rejoice, and will rejoice the more that it is so. When sinners are converted within her pale, we magnify the grace of God in them; and there has been heard among us the voice of joy and thanksgiving because men of God and of enlightened faith have been recently called to occupy some of her highest places. And because these are our feelings, we deem it all the more our duty, in the discharge of a brotherly debt, to say how far she is wrong in suffering the divine prerogatives of the Redeemer to be tampered with and trampled upon by those who are bound to foster and protect them. We are aware that our testimony to the kingly authority of Christ over his Church is feeble when compared with the forces that are mustered against us; if heard at all, it will sound uncouthly in the ears of men of might, and will only serve to provoke the smile of dignified self-complacency, or it may waken the echoes of that cry of rebellion against the law of the land, which the wise and learned among us have so strangely allowed to slumber since we left to them the emoluments of the Establishment to be henceforth in all respects under their sole and indisputable control. But if we know that the doctrine we maintain is indeed the truth of God, let us be stout-hearted, let us keep in mind that He sets a mark on the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done in the land-that He often works his own ends by the feeblest instruments, and to silence the gainsayer, and stay the hand of the oppressor-let this be inscribed on the banner we display: "Loyalty to our Queen, and loyalty to Christ our Lord." But it becomes us also to keep before the Church and the world the kindred truth, that as God is the governor among the nations, it is the duty of the rulers and mighty of the earth to do him homage by seeking to promote the gospel of his Son, and to secure the Church of Christ in the full possession of her privileges. And it is the more needful that we should speak plainly and intelligibly on this head, because the neglect of this fundamental principle is working such fearful havoc in our own day. The spirit of persecution against the Church again stalks abroad, borrowing, as in former days, the garb of an angel of light, and seeking to screen its wickedness and to palliate the enormity of its deeds by fixing the mask of political disaffection on the victims of its fury. The ministers of the Free Church in the Canton de Vaud, who have been seeking to model themselves and their Church according to the divine Word, have, in treading in the steps of the apostles, been called, like them, to "make up that which is behind in the sufferings of Christ for his body's sake;" and it is well for us to know that they have taken joyfully the spoiling of their goods. We have been called during the sitting of this Assembly to give a sad welcome to one of these-a man of whom I forbear to speak, because he is still among us, and because the privilege is mine to call him my friend; but enough it is that he is here, because he has been banished from the sweets of home, and from the flock over which the Holy Ghost appointed him as overseer. And why is it, you may again ask, that this country, the ancient patron of the persecuted Vaudois, has not already startled and scared the oppressor from his mad career? Let this question be answered by others that bring us nearer home. Why is that we have among us the indiscriminate patronage of truth and error by those in high piaces? Why is it that that is given to clamorous urgency that is withheld from the cause of justice and truth? And, in fine, why is it that so many of our own congregations and our own pastors are treated as if they were the pests of society and the enemies of their country? Let the fact that we are suffering from the neglect of what we hold to be a sacred truth only make us the more earnest in maintaining that truth, that those invested with power are bound to support the Church of God. Man's extremity is God's opportunity; and the day may not be far distant, when the voice of Jehovah shall be heard, in accents too loud to be disregarded, uttering the words, still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted on the earth." "Be But, my reverend fathers and brethren, there are unquestionably duties of a more private and personal kind to which it becomes us to give earnest heed. Our witness-bearing for the headship of Christ over his Church will not avail us, unless we have evidence that we are truly his disciples and subjects. Our testimony before men will be as the sounding brass and as the tinkling cymbal, if we are deficient in those varied pastoral duties which, as office-bearers and rulers in the house of God, we are bound to fulfil. The fearful charge would in that case, rest on us that we have been made keepers of the vineyard, and yet our own vineyards have we not kept. Much need have we to strive and pray that we may be diligent and faithful in the work of our great Master, and in tenderly watching for the souls of our fellow-men. If our Church is truly to grow in the right sense, it will not, and cannot be by the increase of numerical strength, but by the assiduity and fidelity with which we that are ministers of the Word of God prepare for the manifestation of divine truth-the ardour with which we are embracing the manifold opportunities of doing good in this, which is specially the day of Scotland's visitation, and the zeal with which our ruling elders seek for the fruits of the preaching of the gospel among the people. This is an age of bustle and activity. Whatever men undertake, they must needs be in earnest, if they would wish to succeed; and surely, when we consider the end and aim of our high calling, the Master we serve, and what we owe to him, and the account we must soon give to him of our stewardship, it well becomes us to vie with the men of this world's business, in doing with all our might whatever we are called to perform. The growing intelligence of the age, and the very efforts that our Church is making to afford to the people of this land a higher style of education than they had ever yet had, and our dark uncertainty as to coming events, all concur in rendering it needful that we should maintain a high tone of pulpit preparation, and that we should do our utmost in the service of that Master who sends no man on a warfare on his own charges. Again, as those who have been called to bear witness for the honour of Christ in this day and age, we are bound to maintain the purity of that house over which he has called us to rule and watch, for to act otherwise were to belie all that we have hitherto professed and done. If the ignorant, the ungodly, and the profane are freely admitted to sealing ordinances among us, then the eye of Him who looks upon us records much against us, and we shall cease to be the Free Church of Scotland, bearing witness to the kingly glory of Christ our Lord. Permit me, in conclusion, to say one parting word on the various matters that have been brought under the notice of this General Assembly. Most, if not all of these, have been interesting and important; but it seems to me that the time has now come when we are loudly called on to seek to consolidate and strengthen our Church at home, to provide for the more ample support of our ministers, and for the extension and enlargement of the means of education for our people. No one can accuse us of selfishness if we do so, for, should we prosper in these departments, we are prepared, under God, for prosecuting with increased success all our schemes of enlarged philanthropy. It was little to be wondered at that, when the tidings of the Disruption reached our countrymen in other lands, they should have eagerly sought for the visits of our ministers, and for aid to help them in kindling the fire on their altars, and it would have ill become us to be regardless of such calls. But the sufferings of our own ministers, too long disregarded, must now gain our attention, and to our countrymen the appeal will not be made in vain. The great cause of the sustentation of our ministers, the bequest of that illustrious man, now no more, has been intrusted to one who, by the eloquence and power with which he has pleaded in its behalf at one of our recent meetings, has appropriately followed up his exertions in this good work during the preceding year. Let us fervently hope that nothing will be wanting on the part of any one of the office-bearers of our Church to crown his labours with still greater success during the year on which we have now entered. Finally, brethren, farewell. Let us watch and pray, that, when our Master comes to reckon with us, as his servants, we may receive the approval and the reward of those who have been good and faithful. Reverend Fathers and Brethren, as this Assembly was constituted in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sole King and Head of his Church, I now dissolve it in the same great name, appointing the next General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland to meet at Edinburgh, on Thursday the 24th day of May, 1849. Printed by JOHNSTONE, BALLANTYNE, & Co., 104 High Street; and published by JOHN JOHNSTONE, 15 Princes Street, Edinburgh, and 26 Paternoster Row, London. And sold by the Booksellers throughout the kingdom. |