pressing demand for work at home made both ministers and Presbyteries reluctant to seek openings in England, when God had opened the hearts of so many in Scotland to wait on, and of some to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. For this reason, many ministers declined to go to England, even for temporary supply, on account of their engrossments at home. The fact that so many of our people abandoned an Erastianised Establishment, and adhered to their ministers, formed a strong bond of union between them; it was like a second call, louder and less equivocal than that which at first invited them into the ministry, and which, in the great majority of cases, led to the opinion that ministers could take no step likely to end in a severing of that tie which the force of circumstances had made so close and binding, and the Spirit of God had in many cases blessed. Hence many of the difficulties of your Committee in obtaining ministers for England, and hence many of the charges there continue vacant, in spite of all our efforts and correspondence with brethren in Scotland. "In regard to Brighton, where a chapel was put at the service of your Committee for six months, by the Rev. James Edwards, a Congregational minister of that town, with the view of forming a Free Church congregation there, it may be remarked, that the experiment has so far succeeded that the congregation, a few weeks ago, intimated their anxiety to obtain a stated minister. Some of the friends of the gospel in London are understood to be willing to become lessees of the chapel for a short period; and nothing is wanted but a minister to render that station prosperous as a church. The Marquis of Breadalbane, and other friends of the Free Church who resort from time to time to Brighton, have written urgently regarding it; and in terms of the arrangements proposed at the commencement of the negociations relative to Brighton, your Committee now design to devolve the care of this station on the Presbytery of London, which is at present corresponding with the Rev. Mr Edwards on this subject. "Since last Assembly, it is well known that two ministers, formerly of the Free Church, have been translated to London-the Rev. Wm. Chalmers from Dailly, and Rev. Wm. Nicholson from Ferry-Port-on-Craig-and proposals were made to call others in the course of the past year. These ministers have been blessed, your Committee believe, to aid the revival of pure religion among our countrymen in London; and the hope is entertained that, by the continued blessing of God upon their labours, and the labours of other devoted men in England, the worldliness and the indifference to spiritual things which characterise too many of our countrymen there may be counteracted. "In thus reporting their proceedings for the past year, your Committee would only add that, amid all the difficulties which they have had to encounter, and all the demands for labourers, which they felt themselves utterly unable to meet, they cherish the hope that some good has notwithstanding been done. Christian intercourse and communion have been promoted; and though it has been all too surely the day of small things, He who chooses weak things to confound the mighty, and things that are not to bring to nought things that are, may make it plain at last, that the amount of intercourse thus held may help to prepare us for that great struggle which, in this empire, and throughout the world, has now begun against the enemy of God and man, the Man of Sin. "WM. K. TWEEDIE, Convener." On the motion of Dr CANDLISH, the Committee was re-appointed by the Assembly, with instructions to carry out the objects entrusted to it, as far as circumstances would admit. HOME MISSION. THE HIGHLANDS. Dr CANDLISH gave an interim report by the Home Mission Committee, to the effect that it appeared desirable that, so far as could be done with safety, the regulations as to the course of study should be dispensed with, in several students having the Gaelic language. Application remitted to the Committee on applications from other Churches. CASE OF TRANSLATION OF MR KENNEDY OF ROSEHALL. This case came before the Assembly on an appeal from a sentence of the Synod of Sutherland and Caithness, affirming a judgment of the Presbytery of Dornoch, refusing to loose Mr Kennedy from his present charge at Rosehall. From the statement of parties it appeared, that, at a meeting of the Presbytery of Dunoon and Inverary in May 1844, a call from the congregation of Inverary was laid on the table in favour of Mr Kennedy, which was sustained. The reverend gentleman had also received a call to Golspie. The Presbytery of Dornoch met in July following, and the competing calls having been put into Mr Kennedy's hands, he stated that, while he had no wish to be separated from his present charge, and while he was very sensible of the importance of the call to Golspie, yet that, considering the peculiar circumstances of Inverary, and the extreme spiritual destitution prevailing in the county of Argyle, he could not but look on the call to Inverary as being the more urgent, and that he was willing to go and labour in that part of the vineyard, provided the Presbytery deemed it right to release him from his present charge. The Presbytery did refuse to release him, on which an appeal was taken to the Synod, who confirmed their deliverance, from which judgment appeal was taken to the Supreme Court. The parties having been heard and removed, the Assembly, on the motion of Dr Cunningham, affirmed the judgment appealed from, but in respect of the very peculiar circumstances of the Presbytery of Dornoch, the Assembly recommended the Presbytery to entertain any call that may be addressed to Mr Kennedy by any other congregation within their bounds, and authorise the Commission, at any of its stated diets, to decide finally on any case of the kind that may come before them. The Assembly also expressed their sympathy with the Free Church congregation of Inverary, and in the event of their giving a call to any other person, authorised the Commission in like manner to decide upon it finally. CASE OF MR MACKENZIE OF TONGUE. This was also a case of translation. A call from the congregation of Kenmore, signed by 755 individuals, was laid on the table of the Presbytery of Breadalbane in December last, in favour of the Rev. William Mackenzie of Tongue, assistant and successor to his father, which was sustained. The Presbytery of Tongue, however, refused the desired translation, from which decision an appeal was taken to the Synod of Sutherland and Caithness, who confirmed the Presbytery's judgment, and the case now came before the General Assembly in the shape of an appeal from the Synod's deliverance. Mr Mackenzie had expressed his unwillingness to the Presbytery to be translated at the present time to Kenmore, stating farther, that unless the Church authorised his father to get a suitable assistant, he would, on no account, agree to be separated from him. Parties were heard for the Synod, for the people of Tongue, &c., after which Mr Mackenzie, senior, made a most touching appeal to the members of Assembly, in regard to depriving him of a most valuable colleague, to whom the people were greatly attached, and also of a beloved son. A motion was made to affirm the sentence of the Synod; but, after a long discussion, it was agreed, on the motion of Dr Candlish, to delay giving a decision in the case until the meeting of Assembly at Inverness, in the hope that, in the interval, some means would be devised to satisfy all parties. The Assembly then adjourned till half-past seven. EVENING SEDERUNT. The Assembly met at seven o'clock. The Moderator returned the thanks of the Assembly to Mr Lorimer, the Convener of the Committee on Correspondence with Continental Churches. SUSTENTATION FUND. Mr M'DONALD, accountant to the Church, having read a detailed statement of the Sustentation Fund (the results of which are embodied in the subsequent report), added, that it might be interesting to know, that whereas 200 ministers last year received certain sums in supplement from their congregations, the number had this year increased to 414, while the amount so contributed had also to a considerable extent been increased. Mr TWEEDIE then read the following REPORT. "In submitting their report for the past year to the General Assembly, the Sustentation Committee begin with announcing the sums which have come into their treasury during that period. "I. The amount received in direct donations is Ditto through Associations, L.7,055 10 31 70,575 1 84 Making a total received for Sustentation, from 15th May 1844, L.77,630 12 0 to 22d May 1845, of And this is the sum which, according to the first regulation laid down by last Assembly, is to be devoted to the object of a provision for ordained ministers of the Free Church.' "II. The number of ordained ministers on the rolls of Presbyteries, as reported by clerks, is But deduct Professors, and others not on the Fund, 634 7 And there remain to be paid from the Central Fund, 627 Of these there have been ordained since 15th May 1844, 72 Deduct, as so recently ordained that they do not come on the Deduct then from the total number of ministers, To each of these there was paid at the term of Martinmas last, the sum of L.50, and there remains in bank at 22d May 1845, the sum of. 70 557 L.42,472 12 04 122 0 0 From this sum we must now deduct, first, the amount due to ministers ordained since Whitsunday 1844; 2d, the allowance to deceased ministers or their families, and the balance, as exhibited in the statement read by the accountant, will afford a dividend of to each of the ministers for the year 1844-5. "This sum, of course, includes the rate paid to the Widows' Fund of the Establishment on behalf of those ministers who are on that fund, and the L.5 set apart for a new Widows' Fund for those not on the former. "The dividend for L.122 for the year, thus announced, proceeds on the supposition of an equal dividend (on which point a suggestion will be offered at a subsequent part of this report), and the sum now to be paid to each of the ministers ordained prior to Whitsunday 1844, would, in that case, be L.72, including, of course, the rate to the Widows' Fund, as already mentioned. "III. In regard to the seventy ministers who have been ordained since Whitsunday 1844, and whose stipend falls to be regulated by the rule applicable to their case, laid down by last Assembly, their dividend must be fixed, upon a consideration of their individual cases, after the arrangements have been completed between the Home Mission and the Sustentation Committee, in the way directed by last Assembly. "It will thus be seen that there has been an increase, but, most assuredly, not such an increase as to exempt us from all farther anxiety respecting the support of the Free Church. The truth is, it is only by dint of extreme watchfulness, and incessant appliance on the part of your Committee, that such a result has been attained-an appliance, too, let it be observed, which cannot be kept up, or, at least, cannot be carried beyond a certain point, lest associations should, by inurement, come at length to be hardened against it; or lest it should even offend or annoy the parties on whom it is brought to bear. Meanwhile, the system cannot with safety be left to itself. There is not yet enough of acquired habit, and still less of a spontaneous and inherent principle of action, by which it might be propelled in the strength of its own energies. This propelling force is still very languid and feeble within; and unless applied from without, the machinery of our associations, speaking of them in the general, will come at length to a dead stand, and that Central Fund, on the prosperity and the prospects of which both the maintenance and enlargement of our Church so essentially depend, will infallibly languish back again to its extinction, or to the nonentity from which it sprung, if not placed under the guidance of a most active and vigilant direction, as well as under the guardianship of well-devised, though it may be to some, for a time, unpalatable regulations. "Your Committee are most willing to acknowledge the gratitude which they owe, in the name of the Church at large, to the liberality of your aid-giving Associations; but it must not be disguised that this is a liberality, the continuance of which cannot be reckoned on, unless it be sustained and encouraged by an adequate and corresponding effort on the part of our aid-receiving Associations. Should the latter, in virtue of their dependence on the former, not do all they might, and all they ought, for the General Fund of the Church, it is a dependence that, sooner or later, will infallibly give way under them. There is a pleasure in helping those of whom it is quite palpable and plain that they are doing their uttermost to help themselves; but the effect is altogether opposite, when the parties which require to be assisted forget the duty that lies upon them, of being as little burdensome as possible; or, if insensible to the power of this equitable, and, we will add, most sacredly religious consideration, that there is injury done to the cause of our Lord and Master upon earth, and therefore a grievous offence in the eye of Him who judgeth righteously, should they absorb more than enough of what might otherwise have been expended on the Christian good of localities more helpless and destitute than their own. The goodly system of a compact, yet, withal, extending Church, will speedily be broken up, if the wealthier associations shall be discouraged and repelled from doing so much, because the humbler associations continue to do so little, or remain quite satisfied that themselves shall be eased, to whatever extent others may be burdened. We speak thus plainly, because of our deep conviction that matters are not as they ought to be, when, out of our eight hundred and twenty-three associations, there are fifteen at the higher end of the scale which contribute more than a fifth part of the whole to the Sustentation Fund; while at the lower end, according to the reported number of associations, there are no less than one hundred and seventy-one which contribute less than L.25 a-year; three hundred and seventy-eight which give less than L.50 ayear, of which number no fewer than two hundred and sixty-two are ministerial charges. There is no fund which can long withstand the enormous absorptions consequent on these scanty offerings; and it will indeed prove the cruel disappointment of an expectation which, with a moderate and most practicable effort on the part of all, could be so easily realised, if, in virtue of an inertness and insensibility which all our representations shall have failed to arouse, the farther increase of our Church have an arrest laid upon it,-from which point it will afterwards be sure to retrograde,— and, exchanging the national for the sectarian, will at length shrink and shrivel up within the narrow dimensions of an internal Voluntaryism. For the averting of such a catastrophe, it is of far more importance that the average of the receiving associations should be raised, than that the liberalities of the giving associations should be extended. Unquestionably both are best, and both are, therefore, urgently desirable. But, should it happen to be the fondest wish of any Christian philanthropist to have a church commensurate with the moral and religious wants of all our population, his most vigilant regards will be directed to the state of matters along the outskirt barrier, that he might see whether there be any prospects or openings there for a farther progress among territories still more destitute, and a farther descent among classes of society still more degraded than any which have yet been overtaken. Let us not relinquish the hope, that a result so prosperous and animating as this may yet become the object of a common and combined effort among all our associations, till, in virtue of all, whether high or low, fulfilling their respective obligations, an onward advancement may be given to the cause,-so that not only our own land shall be fully occupied with the blessings of a gospel ministry, but in the exuberance of our liberalities and our means, it shall be found too narrow for us. "Yet let it not be understood by aught that has been said regarding the fifteen associations at the top of our list, or the one hundred and seventy-one at the lower extremity, that we give a discharge in full to those who occupy the middle space. We notice that many strong congregations-strong, we mean, in point of numbers, but whether strong in point of principle remains to be demonstrated-hover on the margin between aid-giving and aid-receiving. We are told, and our returns give verisimilitude to the information, that some just determine to give about what they think the dividend will amount to; and having come near that, or perhaps by a trifle surpassed it, they self-complacently suppose that their duty is done-they are self-sustaining, and that suffices. But have they no sympathy to spare for the poorer districts? Are they reluctant to help on the work of church extension? Have they determined that we shall make no descent into the lower strata of society, where men are living without God, and without hope in the world? We do trust that it is not so, that no congregation in the Free Church will act on a maxim of such calculating selfishness, as just to give what it expects to get, and then, without a sacrifice, or even an effort, reckon itself acquitted of its duty. Rather let the Central Scheme be viewed in its proper light-not as designed for the comfort of any one minister, but for supplying all Scotland with ministers of the gospel, as far as they are needed; and until this view be taken, the efforts of the Church will be paralysed, her hopes will be blighted, and her Sustentation Scheme, now so vigorous and progressive, will be struck with a sore and enfeebling paralysis. "There is another consideration, which, though akin to the one that we have now been urging, is still so far distinct from it as to be worthy of a separate notice, and more especially on account of its great practical importance. We have just been adverting to the evil that ensues from the undue dependence of our poorer on our wealthier congregations,—a dependence which, if carried much farther, will infallibly break up all those promises of a great and growing enlargement, that smiled at the outset on our Free Church. But there is another species of dependence lurking within the bosom of single congregations, and which, if not corrected, will, in a way still more insidious, because less palpable to general observation, undermine the stability of our institute, or gradually contract it within narrower limits than before. What we mean is a dependence by the people at large of a particular church, because of the known liberality of some rich and generous individuals belonging to it. In a few years these individuals will be laid in their sepulchres, and may not be replaced by successors like-minded with themselves; and, accordingly, we could even now, within the brief period that has elapsed since the disruption, report to the loss of a good many annual hundreds, by the death of wealthy and large-hearted contributors, who, under the impulse of that great event, came forth in a style of munificence commensurate with the urgencies of the occasion, and altogether worthy of the cause. But it is to habits, and not to impulses, that we have now to look, even for the continuance, and still more for the extension of our church; and, therefore, the duty of supporting it should be more generalised than heretofore, throughout all the grades and classes of our adherents. To effectuate this, it is the part more especially of our deacons to bestow a cognisance and a care on all the Free Church families of their respective districts-not that they may be led to give beyond their power, or even beyond their disposition, but that each may have the opportunity of giving as God hath prospered them. We shall never regard the sustenance of our Church as placed on a broad or solid foundation, unless based on the offerings of the great bulk and body of our common people. To enlist these, we can imagine nothing better devised than Mr Thomson's schedule, which, besides being carried universally at the first throughout the communicants and seat-holders of every congregation, should be repeated yearly, both for the sake of adaptation to the changes which are ever taking place in the distribution of our people, and also for the sake of those enlargements which |