sphere, it is highly proper that they should have the opportunity. I would take the liberty of supporting the proposition made at the close of the Report, namely, that when we are carrying out the instructions which it is in contemplation to give, our preaching should be on the influences of Popery, and especially on the growth of that monster evil on the Continent; and that we should accompany with the instructions which we may give to our people on that occasion, the opportunity, so far as they are inclined to avail themselves of it, of contributing to this most important object. There is just one thing that I would state in connection with this, and that is, the encouraging circumstance that a door is now open; but in the providence of God, so far as we are able to read it, it is not an improbable thing that ere long that door may be shut. There is a mighty conflict arising on the Continent between those two great powers, Popery and infidelity; and however much they may stand opposed to each other, they both meet on the common ground of enmity to God's truth; and when we consider that there seems at present on the Continent to be a spirit of love for the truth of God, we cannot doubt that these powers will combine their force, so that, if by possibility, they may crush it. Our brethren on the Continent are deeply apprehensive of that at the present moment; and it is clear, therefore, that if we have it in our power, we should avail ourselves of the door now open to us, so that, by God's blessing on our humble efforts, we may be the means of carrying the word of truth into some ears and hearts where it may prove a seed of life, which all the powers of this world or of hell, cannot uproot or destroy. I beg to move the adoption of the Report, and that the thanks of the Assembly be given to the excellent Convener, Mr Lorimer, for the way in which he discharges the arduous labours that devolve upon him, in maintaining the extensive correspondence necessary to give efficiency to the plans and measures of the Committee. (Applause.) Dr CLASON said-I feel myself called upon to say a few words, and they shall be a very few, in connection with the operations of this Committee. The account contained in the Report regarding the valleys of Piedmont was peculiarly interesting to me, because it came out in connection with a subject which I would desire to impress on the attention of the Assembly. The revival in the valleys of Piedmont is in great part ascribed to a library sent out from this country, within the course of the last two years, to our friends in the Vaudois. It is only justice to say, that the funds for getting it established were raised by the efforts of our respected friend Mr Stewart of Leghorn. It is gratifying to find that the result of the library has been what we anticipated; but I mention this circumstance just now, to remind the Assembly that an appeal has been made by Mr Stewart in behalf of the first Presbyterian church in Italy ever erected at Leghorn; and if the members of Assembly who have not yet contributed, would only afford as much to him as he was enabled to raise by his own exertions in behalf of a library in the valleys of Piedmont, they would be doing a good work. (Hear.) In regard to the other branches of the Report, I have a good deal of information which I could communicate, did your time permit. I believe it is all true what has been stated as to the effects of the labours of the colporteurs; but I believe, also, that the importance of a living agency is of higher value still; and I rejoice to think, because I know it from experience, that this Continental Committee merits the high approval, and is entitled to the confidence, of this Church; and that they have succeeded in supplying men suitable for the office-men of high spiritual attainments;-I refer particularly to the pastor recently sent out to Lyons. I regret to find that the funds of this Committee have fallen so very low. I can understand it to arise from various causes. I would humbly impress on this Assembly, that there never was a time-and I say it without desiring to flatter the inhabitants of this country-when the English were likely, in all probability, to have such an influence over the minds of our neighbours in France. There is something in the character of the recent commercial measures, by which this country is peculiarly distinguished, particularly in the south of France. They are willing to communicate with an Englishman upon almost any subject; and even among Roman Catholics, they are prepared to listen to him upon a religious subject, because they esteem us as a successful people just now in this country. (Hear.) That being the case, I think we are called upon solemnly to avail ourselves of the influence which we have. (Hear, hear.) I can easily see why the funds of this Continental Committee do not flourish as the funds of the other Committees do. Distinct information cannot be sent B b home from the Continent, as our missionaries in India can do. You cannot give the names of the agents you employ, because they would be published in the Swiss and other foreign prints, and the honest men would thereby perhaps be exposed to hardship and insult. You cannot, also, print the names of the persons who are disciples, or give indications of concern for their souls, because of a similar reason. In fact, the communication between this country and the nations of the Continent has become so very close, that, great as are the benefits arising from the circulation of knowledge, it is, in the mean time, an obstacle to our communicating so freely in regard to religious matters on the Continent as we can do with the remote districts of India. (Hear.) I state this because I conceive that the Christian public ought to be made aware that this is the reason why we cannot give such distinct information as we would otherwise afford, and which we are sure they would desire. You must therefore just regard the Committee in the light of trustees, and must entrust something to them in the matter. That consideration I would desire to impress on the public, through the Assembly. Another cause, perhaps, for the low state of the funds is, the sort of vague notion that many have, that these people are Christians, and already acquainted with Christian truth; and that it is their own fault that they do not receive it. I do not need to say how far this is just or unjust. Allow me to impress on all who go to foreign countries, either for recreation or for health, the high responsibility which devolves upon them; for if an Englishman or a Scotsman makes light of the sacred day of rest by travelling on that day,-if such a person makes light of those institutions which, either in England or Scotland, are supposed to be sacredhe brings great discredit on divine truth. (Hear.) There is just one other thing to which I would advert, and it is this, that I must demur to the plan which is proposed to be taken of causing the ministers of the Church to prepare and to preach sermons against Popery. I think the Continental Committee deserves to be supported on its own merits; and as to the propriety of preaching sermons on controversial subjects, I have great doubts. (Hear.) I never saw any good result from a hurriedly-got-up sermon on Popery, temperance, or any other thing. (Hear.) Dr CANDLISH said, I trust that the Assembly, either now or afterwards, will give some serious consideration to the question, whether this Church is really, in good faith, to have some hand in the evangelization of the Continent of Europe, and in rescuing souls from the bondage and darkness of Babylon; or whether we ought to give up this undertaking altogether. The matter has come just to this issue. The Continental Committee has been appointed from year to year; it has, however, been appointed without any adequate provision made for its having the means of carrying out its important objects. That Committee has entered into correspondence both with societies, and churches, and individuals on the Continent, most deeply interested in the cause of the Reformation. You have heard, both to-night and on former occasions, of the many openings which God is now making on the Continent, for the spread of Protestantism among many belonging to the corrupt Church of Rome. If we, the Free Church, are to have a hand in this work, we must to-night, or afterwards, determine what is the provision which this Church ought to make for this Committee carrying out the objects entrusted to them. The Continental Committee have not ventured to recommend that they should be recognised as entitled to a seventh collection, or a seventh Scheme of the Church. They have not gone so far; and they have acted rightly, as I do not believe that the Church would have tolerated a seventh Scheme. But what the Committee propose is, if it be the mind of the Assembly, that, some time or other during the year, at some suitable period, the attention of our people should be called to the subject of Popery, especially on the Continent,-to the duty not merely of protesting against Popery at home, but of exerting ourselves to win the people from its influence abroad; and the Continental Committee suggest that that might be a suitable occasion for a collection being made, either at the ordinary diets, or at a special diet, in behalf of the Continental Fund. Whether that may or may not be the best way of accomplishing the object, it is the only practicable method this year. I do not of course propose that the Assembly should now appoint a day; but I take it for granted that the ministers of each Church should, at a suitable diet, it may be, beyond the usual hours of worship, call the attention of their congregations to the subject of Popery. I venture to say that that is almost the only opening which we have this year, at least, for obtaining the means of assisting the Continental Com mittee in their operations. I do not quite agree with Dr Clason in his objection to the proposal. Assuming that it was a right thing to have a diet for worship, I cannot conceive a more fitting opportunity for calling attention to the subject of Popery, especially as regards the Continent, and of enabling the people, at the same time, to contribute in support of the funds of the Continental Committee. I could not make out, from the way in which Dr Clason expressed it, whether it was his own or the discourses of others that would be hurriedly got up—(a laugh),—but I see no reason whatever for any hurried getting up of discourses on that occasion. (Hear, hear.) I cannot imagine that this Church will abandon the glorious work which God has given this Church to do. The eyes of the Churches on the Continent are fixed upon us; the representatives of the Continental Protestant Churches witness here, year after year, that this is the Church to which they turn their eyes; and, in these circumstances, I cannot think that we will abandon this cause. The Assembly will, therefore, I have no doubt, adopt the only practicable method, for this year at least, of supporting this cause. (Hear.) Dr CLASON said,-Notwithstanding all that has been said by Dr Candlish, I must demur altogether to the idea of a Committee of the Assembly coming forward in this way, and by a sort of side-wind calling on us to preach on Popery. I say, in the next place, that it is not for edification that controversial subjects should be brought into the pulpit in an offensive form; and I am convinced besides, that, after all, hasty and unsatisfactory productions will be the result. I maintain that if we are to engage in the work of supporting the gospel on the Continent, we ought to set ourselves manfully to do it. We have also, it should be remembered, to grapple with other influences besides Popery on the Continent; and I do not think, therefore, that we are called upon to act in the way proposed. The General Assembly approved of the Report, and recorded their thanks to Mr Lorimer, the Convener, for his indefatigable labours in the cause. QUOAD SACRA CHURCHES. The MODERATOR handed to the Clerk a letter which he had received in answer to the resolutions sent to the Established Assembly on the subject of Quoad Sacra churches. The following is a copy of the letter:— "Edinburgh, 27th May 1847. “REV. SIR,—I have been directed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to transmit to you their deliverance on the resolutions of the General Assembly of the Free Church, in regard to Chapels of Ease, which you formerly transmitted to me.-I am, Rev. Sir, your most obedient servant, "JOHN PAUL, Moderator. "To the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church." The resolutions containing the deliverance of the Established Assembly were next read. They are as follows: "The General Assembly having maturely considered the resolutions and relative memorial, which were transmitted to them by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church on Friday last, the General Assembly, while they deprecate unnecessary litigation regarding them, they cannot accede to the proposal embodied in the resolutions referred to. They consider themselves to be precluded from entertaining these proposals, chiefly upon the following considerations : "1. The chapel property now under litigation between the Church of Scotland and the Free Church, to which claims have been preferred on the part of the former Church, the General Assembly believe to be secured to the Church of Scotland in perpetuity by irreducible titles. They regard themselves as only trustees charged with the due application of this property to the purposes for which it was conveyed to the Established Church; and they entertain, therefore, serious doubts how far it would be competent to them, under any supposable circumstances, to allow her claim to it to be set aside. "2. But even if this consideration could be waived, the General Assembly are decidedly of opinion that the proposals which have been made to them would still be inadmissible. They cannot allow the assumed inability of the Church to implement the hopes under which the chapels in dispute were erected; nor, considering the present advanced state of the legal proceedings, can they perceive that any advantage is likely to result from any attempt to decide by arbitration the questions which have been raised in the Courts of Law. "3. If, as the General Assembly understand to be the fact, the disposal of the question already raised will rule most, if not all, of the cases as to which litigation is contemplated, they hold that the judgment of the Court in regard to this question can be obtained both with less expense and with less delay than by the proposed arbitral decision provided for, or supplemented, as it confessedly requires to be, by an Act of the Legislature. "4. The General Assembly farther see serious obstacles to their acceptance of the proposal made to them, in the fact that the memorial referred to is the extract minutes of the Assembly of the Free Church, of which we have been furnished with a copy, has already been sent to Her Majesty's Government; they are of opinion that if, under existing circumstances, they were to acquiesce in this proposal, such a proceeding would fairly imply that they admitted the accuracy of the statement which said memorial contained. They expressly deny the accuracy of these statements; nor will they consent to place themselves in the position which would have even the appearance of countenancing the admission which they feel themselves bound to repudiate. "5. While, however, the General Assembly can never agree to the proposal for arbitration, the existence of which would imply the admission of statements which they can show most conclusively to be to a very great extent unsupported by facts, nor recognise the equity of the principle which would oblige the Church to forego claims to property secured to her by titles which they believe remain inviolate, it shall not be their fault if the litigation which, with a just regard to her rights, are forced upon her, shall be unnecessarily protracted, they pledge themselves to use all competent means to bring the question now depending, as speedily and at as small an expense as possible, to a final issue, and fairly to apply that issue, whatever that may be, to the regulation of all parallel cases." The letter and resolutions were remitted to the Committee on Quoad Sacra churches, to report to a future diet. SUSTENTATION FUND. Mr TWEEDIE then gave in the following Report on the subject of the Sustentation Fund : "The topics to be submitted by the Sustentation Committee, in their Fifth Report to the General Assembly, will be brought before them in the following order :"I. A Comparison between the Revenues of 1845-6 and 1846-7. "II. The Stipends due for the year just closed; and "III. The Suggestions of the Committee regarding the year on which we enter. "I. In comparing the year 1845-6 with the year 1846-7, it has to be observed that the sum received from the congregations throughout the Church, from May 1845 to May 1846, amounted to The direct donations for that period were Total revenue for 1845-6, The sum received from the congregations, between May 1846 and May 1847, amounts to Direct donations for that period, £78,861 19 3,820 15 6 £82,681 17 4 £79,926 18 3 3,190 18 7 83,117 16 10 Making an increase in the year of only £435 19 6 "But it should be observed, that while the absolute increase is only £435: 19:6, the increase from the congregations amounts to considerably more than that sum; thus During the year 1845-6, the returns from congregations amounted to £78,861 19 During the year 1846-7, they amount to 79,926 18 3 Leaving an increase upon congregational returns of £1,065 16 2 So that, during the past year, the revenue from the congregations of the Church--the source to which we have always looked as the most permanent and desirable-has increased by the sum now specified. The decrease on direct contributions amounts to £629 16: 11 on the year. "II. As to the stipends now to be paid, the following facts are submitted :The total number of ministers on the rolls, as reported by the Presbyteries, is But deduct professors and others not paid from this fund, Ministers in new charges, Ministers ordained during the past year in old charges, and not entitled to full year's stipend, 10 15 93 590 £45,464 17 6 Leaving ministers entitled to a full year's stipend, To each of these a payment of £50 was made at Martinmas 1846. At this date there is in bank, Add sum paid for outed ministers at February 1847, to establishment But deduct 1,658 10 6 1. Balance due for non-ministerial stations, 3410 3 5 871 0 0 4. Sums payable on account of deceased ministers, and to their widows, 630 0 0 5,602 3 2 £41,521 4 11 Sum divisible among 590 ministers, Leaving for each a stipend (inclusive of Widows' Fund rate) of £70 now payable, and making the stipend for the year £120. "N.B. This division leaves a balance of only £221: 4: 11 to meet contingencies. The Committee beg here to observe, that the large sum of £473 paid from the Sustentation Fund towards Assembly expenses, has materially affected the stipends now declared. "In regard to the supplements paid to ministers, the Committee beg to report the following facts : For 1845-6 they amounted to £24,863 10 8 "It appears that during the past year 478 ministers have received supplements, being twenty-four more than last year. "It is right that the Committee should give some explanation of the very limited increase in the revenue of the Church for the support of its ministry, and the consequent diminution in the stipends now to be paid. They trace it mainly to two causes: first, the state of the country, visited, as it has been, in the providence of God, by a calamity so extensive as to have largely affected all the monetary transactions of the empire. In consequence of that visitation, the revenue from various districts has been very uncertain; and all that the Committee, by its Inspector for the Highlands, could attempt, was to keep up the organization of deacons and collectors, and patiently wait for the time when the pressure shall be withdrawn. And, secondly, the smallness of the increase now announced may be perhaps ascribed to the number of objects to whom the resources of the Church are devoted. At the same time the Sustentation Committee, in common with the entire Church, are of opinion that we have by no means reached the limit of our power to do good in supporting the gospel, whether at home or abroad; and if these resources be gradually drawn forth, they will be found amply sufficient for all the Church's undertakings. "In explaining the limited progress of the year, the Committee cannot overlook the fact, that some of the largest subscribers have passed from among us; and as the Church has been gradually expanding, and new congregations, with newly-ordained ministers, added, all these things tend, in present circumstances, to diminish the revenue of the existing ministers. The congregations now receiving settled pastors are the least productive, in a pecuniary point of view; and if the Church's revenue be not increasing in proportion to the Church's extension, it must be abundantly obvious that the result of such a state of things will be first a stationary, and then a declining dividend. |