were about to build a College at Montreal. When he asked a gentlemen in Montreal how he meant to educate his son, "Oh!" said he, "I am just waiting till the Jesuit College is opened." The object of Rome was to put the entire control of the education of the rising youth, in connection with the Romish Church, under the influence and tuition of the Jesuits. This was the policy that was now being adopted by the hierarchy of the Romish Church. These being the difficulties, where were labourers to be found? Mr Stewart had appealed to licentiates, and he had complained of the response to that appeal. He did see insuperable difficulties to that land being supplied with ministers of the gospel from the native country. He thought there was much to encourage the people to look to home. Was a road or canal to be made? they would say, "Pray! what may we expect from the home Government?" They expected every thing from home. There was a strong feeling, which he would designate a colonial feeling, which had reached the Church, but he was afraid they were looking for a supply whence it would not be obtained. He was fully persuaded that the country was to be supplied with efficient and energetic ministers, connected with the colonies,-young men of gifts, trained up for the associations of the people, knowing the difficulties of the country, and being prepared to conform with the habits of the people. The ministers must be supplied from Canada. He would only add, in conclusion, in reference to the means to be employed, there were few qualifications he would think more necessary for ministers for Canada, than to be able to meet the Jesuits. The young men who went there to take charge of congregations would require to be well trained in the Popish controversy. The Scriptures were their weapons. The King of kings and the Lord of lords would defend His own cause, and advance the interests of His own kingdom, agreeably to His promise, that all nations should know the Lord, from the least even to the greatest. They were discouraged by the strength of Popery; but let them remember the promises and predictions connected with that gigantic system of error, its days were numbered in the Word of God.

On the motion of Dr CANDLISH, it was agreed to delay the farther consideration of the Report of the Colonial Committee, and in consequence of several distinguished strangers from the Continent being present, who could not remain longer than to-day, that they be heard upon the state of the Continent.

CONTINENTAL COMMITTEE.

Mr LORIMER, the Convener, said, he did not think it would be for edification to bring forward the Report of the Continental Committee at this time, and would delay doing so till another diet, that the distinguished foreigners now present might have this opportunity afforded them of bringing their important statements before the Assembly. He hoped that while the Committee gave way, in so far as the report was concerned, just now, that the House would afford a favourable opportunity for its consideration at another diet. (Hear.) All that he had now to do was the agreeable duty of introducing to the Assembly their foreign friends, whom he was persuaded they would welcome with all Christian cordiality and love. (Applause.) To many of them these distinguished individuals were already known, both by name and character, but they would rejoice to meet with them now in person. (Applause.) For several years past their hearts had been gladdened by visits from friends on the Continent,from France, Holland, and Switzerland, and he was sure he expressed the sentiments of this House when he said they welcomed their friends with the same cordiality as their predecessors. (Applause.) They were not only agents for evangelical societies; they were also pastors of flocks; and he was persuaded that the information they would communicate would be of the most interesting character. Mr Lorimer concluded by introducing to the Assembly the Rev. M. Audebez of Paris, Rev. W. Napoleon Roussell, and the Rev. M. Cordes of Geneva, whose names were received with applause.

M. AUDEBEZ said,-You are aware I am a Frenchman and a foreigner. Unaccustomed to speak your language, you don't expect, of course, to hear a fine speaker; and I trust you are prepared to bear kindly with my peculiar phraseology, as well as my very defective pronunciation. (Cheers.) I, by the grace of God, am your brother in Christ, and it suffices me to be sure of your brotherly indulgence. It is impossible for me, looking at the watch there (turning towards the clock), to lay before you the very extensive work pursued by the Evangelical Society of France. I must

confine myself to one part of that work in which I have myself been particularly employed. My dear friend M. Roussell has been engaged in the same cause, and he will, I trust, lay before you the department in which he has been himself employed. That Society, as you already know, is an Evangelical one. It is neither more nor less. Its only object is to cause the gospel, in all its purity, to be preached every where, and to every one in France. That Society has now existed fourteen years, and, by the grace of God, has made great progress. We have already 159 stations-places of worship open, where the gospel was not preached before; and if we had enough of men first, and money afterwards to support them, I daresay we would have open 500 such places of worship. I myself, with the privileges I enjoyed, and extended field of labour, would have opened 500 such places of worship, and I am sure my friend would have done the same. I was called two years ago to preach to twelve persons in a town seventy miles from Paris. Instead of preaching to twelve persons, I preached to 356. It was upon a Friday. Next evening at 9 o'clock, the same hour as on the former day, I can't number those who attended. It was in a dancing room that I preached. It is very fortunate that in that country they like to dance-(laughter)—because I could have had no other place. Next day, Sunday, I preached three times-morning, afternoon, and evening; and when I saw a good disposition, and a great many people there-although my intention in going there was to pass through-yet I took root. (Great laughter and applause.) I said, my friends, if you are desirous of the gospel, you shall have it; and then I addressed the Mayor to have a much larger room. He accepted my proposition, and gave me the Palace of Justice, a property of the town, and formerly a part of the Archbishopric adjoining the Cathedral. Now, I preached during five weeks in this chapel, which is separated from the Popish cathedral but by a single wall. It is so near the palace of the Archbishop, that if he had been desirous of it, he could have been one of my hearers. (Laughter.) But so far from desiring to be edified—(a laugh)—he, hearing that the gospel was faithfully preached, used all possible means to stop me, to impede my going on; and by dint of intrigues succeeded, not in stopping my work, but in depriving me of the old Palace of Justice. I was too generous a neighbour for him. (Laughter.) I must confess myself I was embarrassed some time, because I had a numerous people, and had no place to assemble them. Popery was then triumphant, but his joy did not last a long time. Having found out at last another dancing room, capable to accommodate 500 people, I hired it; and, at the same time, being determined to secure the work, and to carry it on, I determined to build a chapel; and although I had not a penny in my pocket-(laughter)—I did not hesitate to buy very suitable ground in the centre of the town, being persuaded that it was the will of God. And, my dear friends, after five months, I had the extreme joy to open a pretty chapel, fit to accommodate 800 or 900 people, with two school-rooms for children, and a house for the lodging of the master and mistress. The expense of the building amounted altogether to £2000, which a merciful God gave us in due time. (Applause.) And now where there were formerly no Protestants, there is a very flourishing, and I hope, Presbyterian church-(cheers)—and two flourishing schools, and the number of true converts is increasing constantly. For I must tell you, as I am very desirous to let you know, we don't intend to make only Protestants. Ah, friends, it is not a religious name, if the gospel is not written on the table of the heart, by the hand of the Holy Ghost. (Hear, hear.) We intend to make Christians,—to make faithful disciples of the gospel, as we pay great attention to the effects produced by the preaching of the gospel. It is not our interest merely to see crowds hear the gospel, but we follow carefully the effects produced on the heart-on the soul; and I can tell you that the number of true converts is very much increasing. But this is not all. While a friend of mine came there to help me, I did not lose any time. Having been most earnestly invited by the surrounding towns and villages to go and preach, I could not resist their appeals, and in the extent of seventeen miles 1 opened, in the course of the six following months, twenty other places of worship, in each of which many souls have already received the bread of life, and are growing in knowledge, grace, and Christian experience. I can assure you, ladies and gentlemen, and dear Christian brothers and sisters, that the department where I laboured is a very large one. The population amounts to 365,000, who are quite ready to become Protestants, and to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. (Cheers.) Yes, the greatest part of France is in the same

disposition. I remember, my dear friends, during ten weeks that I passed in the south of France, where I was a pastor, having my house surrounded by five, six, and sometimes by seven and eight hundred people, crying, "Down with the Protestant minister,"" To death with the Protestant pastor." During these ten weeks I was in great danger, but now in many places of France it suffices to be known as a Protestant to be welcomed. There are great facilities for evangelizing my own country; but unfortunately we are stopped, as you yourselves are, for want of good and gifted men, and more so with us than with you, for want of money. I will give you an example of the attention with which these people listen to the gospel. In the Palace of Justice, there was an old man so anxious to understand and retain all my words, that he was thoroughly absorbed during the whole time that I was speaking. One evening as he was waiting for sermon, he took a pinch of snuff-(laughter)—and at the very moment that he directed it to its destination-(laughter)-my voice reached his ear, stopped his hand-(great laughter)—and his arm, half stretched out, remaining in that position (showing it) during ten minutes without fulfilling its duty. (Renewed laughter and applause.) Another fact, it will be the last to-day. A lady, well dressed, and very respectable looking, whom I had observed in the crowd, came to visit me in my hotel; on drawing nigh to me, she said, "Sir, I am very desirous to become a Protestant, and come to you in order that I may be made so by you. The priests have deceived me, I cannot bear them, I hate priestcraft and juggling; but the simplicity and clearness of the doctrines which you teach attract and chain my heart. Pray, acknowledge me, admit me as a Protestant." "Madam," I exclaimed, “I exceedingly rejoice to hear you speaking so, but I must tell you that it is not in my power to make you a Protestant. You can by no means be of my religion, unless you undergo a new creation, for Christ has declared that 'except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Now, dear madam, buy a Bible, read it, pray before reading it, pray during reading it, and pray after reading it, and trust in God, and he will make you a true believer, and a happy member of his family." She appeared deeply struck with these words. She said she had bought a Bible the first evening after that I preached, and had been busy reading it; and after giving me her address, she retired. But I had not as yet had time for visiting her when she came again, and her enlightened face told me afar off that she was quite another person as regards the heart. "Oh! Sir," she exclaimed, " I know now, I understand, I feel what is needful to become a true Christian. Oh! what a stupid,—what a sinful creature I was. I desired to become a Protestant; but, indeed, I was so a long time ago. It was a new heart that I wanted, and, by the grace of Cod, a renewed mind, in order to know, fear, and love Him." (Great applause.) The words by which that lady was reluctantly struck were these,-"You must be born again.' (M. Audebez resumed his seat amidst applause.)

M. CORDES said, he had the happiness to stand before the Assembly to present it with the Christian greeting, the expression of fraternal affection, of their brethren in Geneva. He could wish that, embodying the hand of their Christian brethren of Geneva, and presenting it as he now did, he could receive in the city of Knox the hand which they stretched out to the city of Calvin. (Cheers.) He proceeded to acknowledge the aid they had given to the Evangelical Society in Geneva during the past year, and gave some gratifying accounts of its progress, describing the high efficiency of the Theological Institution, at the head of which is Dr Merle D'Aubigné, and the successful prosecution of the labours of its agents in France. He referred especially to the value of the unpretending labours of the colporteurs in circulating the Bible, observing that it had been stated that the Pope was more afraid of an army of colporteurs than of an army of Cossacks. He mentioned that although the Continent was suffering from the scarcity and dearth which prevailed there, as here, the income of the religious institutions had not been diminished during the year; on the contrary, the Evangelical Society had received 20,000 francs more this year than the last. He stated, in conclusion, that Geneva, in addition to what it had collected for its own poor, had sent over something to Scotland, to show that they were not insensible, amidst their own wants, to the country that had so often relieved their privations. (Cheers,)

M. ROUSSELL mentioned some facts illustrative of the satisfactory progress of the Evangelical Society in France. He stated that he had endeavoured to extend his

ministrations to the Romish priests, to two thousand of whom he had made a communication on this subject, and had received two hundred answers, many of them assuring him that if he could give them occupation, they would come to him in crowds. He was at present corresponding with twenty priests, who were anxious to know the truth, and two of whom had been converted. He showed the importance of endeavouring to evangelize France through means of Paris, where all national influence is centred, and whence it extends to the provinces, and to the Continent of Europe at large.

Dr CANDLISH suggested that the Moderator should be requested to convey the thanks of the Assembly to their esteemed friends from the Continent, for the interesting statements which they had made to the house.

The MODERATOR, addressing the members of the deputation, said,—You have been pleased to tender the salutations and paternal regards of the Churches from which you come, carrying them, as it were, tangibly and visibly in your hand. If I could conceive myself able to communicate the like sentiments in the manner you have expressed, I am sure that it would be the desire of the Assembly that there should be delivered to you, their sentiments of cordial respect and brotherly love, and their sincere and earnest wish that they may continue to receive your salutations, and to hear accounts of your promoting the great work in which you are engaged. To hear of its success must be exceedingly refreshing to our souls. To hear of your discouragements may well grieve us. But we have these also. Where are they not? "In this world we must have tribulation," said our great Head and Master, and we must not consider pecuniary pressures as forming a chief part of the tribulalations which Christ assigns; for it is not so done in the Gospel. In the New Testament, how seldom do we find the difficulties of the Church connected with pecuniary difficulties. There must be something greatly wrong in the condition of the Church, when it is necessary to make the pecuniary argument so much a question in our religious assemblies. The silver and gold are the Lord's; and that should be a sufficient inducement for us to go forward in His work, and to devote our substance to the advancement of His cause. We have reason to rejoice that the cause is in his own hands; for otherwise amidst our shortcomings, and the difference of our views, it would be greatly perilled indeed. The cause, however, is Christ's; therefore it cannot fail. You come from countries distinguished in many respects. France, especially, is the centre of the civilization of the world. Would to God that it were the centre of its evangelization also! That consideration has been pressed upon our attention, and well pressed, at this time; and we will not, we trust, forget that much is due to that country. It has been terrible in wars; but, if once Christianised, it will fight no more. Christians do not fight with one another. The armour of God has nothing connected with war. But in the meantime there is a great war of principle, and that nowhere rages with greater fierceness than upon the Continent, and in France and Switzerland above all other parts. There the Man of Sin has in a manner pitched his throne. There emanates from France floods of error which overflow the most distant nations of the earth, reaching to the distant isles of the Southern Ocean, and there damaging a cause which has been dear to the hearts of the Christians of this land for many years. Unless that flood be stayed, and the progress of Popery be arrested,—and Popery cannot be arrested but in the same manner by which it has been propagated, namely, by zeal, and, in addition, by prayer to God, and by using all the means in our power in behalf of the Protestant, or rather of the Christian cause, unless we do so, we cannot morally expect that the errors of Rome shall cease to provoke all the neighbouring, and distant nations too. France was once honoured with many martyrs. Much blood has been shed in it, not only in the cause of Christ, but in many bad causes. Happily, however, that country has been restored to peace; but it is not free from the elements of confusion, and nothing but Christianity, received and propagated in that country, can prevent it from becoming again the Scourge of Europe, and to a greater degree than ever it has been, for it has gathered strength during the last thirty years. There was once a true and reformed Church in France; but we fear that they have forgot some of the great principles of the gospel, and have become too much alive to political causes, and have fallen from the spirit of devotion,; and you are aware that where that spirit decays religion must of course decay. The Church of Rome has derived much of its great influence from its

apparent devotion; for even although it be a devotion that is simulated,--although it be characterised by a want of Christian principle,—although it be a devotion not to God, but to the pretended mother of God,-still the very appearance of devotion is enforced upon the ignorant. Now, if the appearance of devotion be so influential, how much more influential must that devotion be which is true and genuine. It is an encouraging feature of your reviving Churches, that the spirit of devotion prevails. Their vitality is shewn in that respect. You are not confining your energies at home any more than we are ourselves, but are sending forth your missionaries. We trust that you will return in safety to your own country, and that you will carry back the most sincere testimonies of our respect and sympathy for your brethren and people in the Lord, and that you will express to them that we are desirous for an interest in their prayers, that we may not fall from that high position in which the great Head of the Church has placed us. It is one fruit of that position that we have the privilege of seeing representatives from foreign Churches amongst us. May peace be with these Churches, and with all the people of God! Amen. The Assembly then adjourned.

EVENING SEDERUNT.

The Assembly met at seven o'clock, and soon after proceeded to business.

EDUCATION COMMITTEE.

Dr CANDLISH said, that before the Report of the Education Committee was submitted to the Assembly, he would recommend that, though not in the strict order of business, their respected friend Mr Macdonald of Blairgowrie should make a statemeut respecting the Fund which was really and truly entitled to be called his own. (Hear.) The Assembly would remember that, in October 1843, the plan of Mr Macdonald was sanctioned at Glasgow; and under the circumstances, he felt assured that the present Assembly would be happy to hear Mr Macdonald's statement first. (Applause.)

Mr MACDONALD, said he thought he would be enabled to state as much as would lead them all to "thank God and take courage." It was peculiarly gratifying, in regard to the School-Building Fund, that during the period that had elapsed since its commencement, upwards of £30,000 had been received. That was a large sum, but not nearly equal to what was subscribed; yet there was no room for disappointment or discouragement. In the country, at the outset, some of the original lists had been lost, in consequence of congregations not doing the work congregationally. Not a few of their friends who entered heartily into the work when first proposed to them, were now removed from time to eternity, had fallen asleep in Jesus, and were now rejoicing in the joy of their Lord; and some, from change of residence, had been lost sight of; so that the full subscriptions had not been fully realized. Great and pressing claims had also been made on the liberality of their people last year; so that, taking all these considerations into account, the result was remarkably encouraging. And, what was still more encouraging, a large proportion of this fund had been subscribed by the poor members of the Church, thus shewing their liberality and abiding conviction in the principles of this Church and this fund. (Applause.) Another thing he felt to be encouraging. He addressed a letter in the beginning of the year to several friends in the rural districts particularly, from which he would read an extract :

"I am about to visit, God willing, those congregations, chiefly in the rural districts, who have hitherto contributed nothing to the School-building Scheme, and I think it possible to get from them perhaps £5000 for this important object, were the following plan adopted as an encouragement to their liberality.

"Let one hundred friends agree to offer one pound each for every £100 these congregations might contribute, till the amount contributed reached £5000; in other words, let these hundred friends, by their one pound each, make up and offer £100 on this condition, that these congregations make up among them a similar sum. This offer would imply a promise on the part of each of these friends of £50, or one pound