Anointed. Let us break their bands asunder, and cast their cords from us,' seems no inappropriate motto for many of their cherished principles, and much of their past history. We here chiefly allude to the unmitigated Erastianism exercised over the suffering, sinking Church of England and Ireland-the blasphemous usurpation of supremacy in matters ecclesiastical, the monarch being reputed the supreme head in earth of the united Church, and holding as annexed to the crown of this realm, all jurisdictions and authorities to the said dignity of the supreme Head of the Church appertaining.' Now the condition of these churches, especially of God's people still in their communion, has unquestionable claims on the sympathy of all Christian men. And the heaven-daring supremacy asserted and exercised by the state, loudly demands the indignant denunciation of all who love the souls of men, and bear true allegiance to the King of Zion. Nor do we consider this iniquity extenuated, nor the duty of Christ's loyal subjects to denounce it one whit diminished, but rather, indeed, enhanced and rendered more imperative by the lamentable fact, that these Churches seem so insensible to the vassalage that enervates and degrades them, that they passively submit to be denuded of their best rights, and are consenting parties to the dishonour done to the church's exclusive Head and Lord, and appear wholly unaware of the anti-christian character of the dominion to which they bow, and also of the constitution, under the stringent provisions of which that dominion is guaranteed to their oppressors, and that vassalage rendered an essential condition of their existence as the established church. With a state so involved in guilt, and so exposed to wrath, it is surely sinful and unsafe to be identified. We bless the Lord you are no longer as a church connected with it; not that we estimate lightly the importance of a national establishment of the true religion on a Scriptural basis; for this, through all vicissitudes, we have endeavoured faithfully to contend. do we undervalue the sacrifices you have made. We are astonished at them. in your sacrifices for the obtaining of freedom to serve our common Lord, untrammelled by a state connexion, which you have found neither honourable nor safe, we can all the better sympathise with you, because, by the help of God, we have ourselves continued to this day enduring privations, and poverty, and reproach, rather than enter into ensnaring connexions with an Erastian civil government, or place ourselves in any relation to the state, which might in the slightest degree tend to hamper us in bearing an explicit testimony for any part of God's truth, or against evils of whatsoever kind they might be, or among whomsoever they might be found prevailing. We thought, and we still think, that in consistency with covenant faithfulness, and indeed with ministerial freedom, we could not accept of emoluments from a state founded on the overthrow of the covenanted reformation, and exercising over a large proportion of the inhabitants of these lands a blasphemous supremacy in matters of religion. We have, therefore, kept carefully aloof from a position which would be defiling to our consciences, and which might possibly give to our exhibition of truth, or administration of discipline, an aspect of ungraciousness towards those on whose bounty we might be even partially dependent. To all parties, we think the past may well appear pregnant of evidence that, for purposes of good, a church in connection with a corrupt state is, to a mournful extent, inoperative, whenever the good she would effect contravenes, in any way, the political designs of the existing administration, or appears charged with any element which, if permitted to move on unimpeded, might give promise of enlarging the Church's liberties, and of enlightening the national mind on matters about which an Erastian civil government must always desire the people to be ignorant or indifferent.

Nor And

"We heartily bless the Lord you are delivered from Moderatism, not inaptly described as 'the very Babylon, the Assyria, and the Anti-christ of the Church of Scotland; yet Moderatism, with all its abominations, is, in our apprehension, the fruit of Erastianism, and has sprung from the connexion of the Church with an Erastian state. The express injunction of an Erastian civil ruler forced upon the church at the revolution evil men and evil measures with respect to them; and thus Erastianism originated what Erastianism has sustained-that medley of soul-ruining error of slavery and despotism-the Moderatism of the Church of Scotland-the present Established Church. Regarding this establishment as one of the props.

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and pillars of Anti-christianism in these lands, we fervently desiderate its speedy and irreparable overthrow. We long for the time when this foul stain in Scotland's escutcheon shall be blotted out for ever.

"Deliverance from the contamination of Moderatism is itself worth many sacrifices. All right hearted men must rejoice that you have come out from it. In coming out, you have brought with you all that was worth retaining, and you have left behind you only what, in present circumstances, is fitted to corrupt and ensnare. Egypt you have verily despoiled of all that is truly a treasure; you have come forth laden with all her precious things; you have shorn her of her strength. Her really mighty men are all with you. With you are truth, and principle, and honour, and loyalty to your King. A nation's heart is with you, and with you are the sympathies, and prayers, and best wishes of God's people throughout the earth. Heartily do we rejoice that so many of the precious truths of our common faith are made through your instrumentality to stand out in bold relief and practical exemplification. We rejoice that God has raised up so many illustrious, holy men, and strengthened them with might, and placed them in a position so favourable for resuscitating great principles that had been permitted to fall into comparative oblivion, or which, at most, seemed to be regarded in the light of parts of a system, beautiful indeed, and scriptural withal, yet impracticable and Utopian. The lovers of the covenanted Reformation in this land, and we are convinced in your own and in England, in the colonies, and in the American states, look to you and your movements with hope. We know their principles will lead them to desire, as we ardently do, that the mantle of our fathers may descend on you—that you may be endowed with a double portion of their spirit, and that, by the Divine blessing, you may be the honoured instruments by whom Jacob may yet arise. Although you have not yet as a body taken under judicial consideration the national covenant and the solemn league, -although their perpetual moral obligation on the souls of all who were represented in them has not yet been discussed in your Assembly, yet much of their substance, and many of their indestructible principles have been revived by you; and we confidently anticipate the time is not far in the future, when the servants of our gracious Master, our dear brethren in Christ, will acknowledge these national deeds to be binding, and be led to perceive the duty, and honour, and privilege of covenant renovation. We rejoice to have on record the testimony of one of yourselves in favour of such a blessed consummation. The gifted author of The History of the Church of Scotland' writes respecting an instance of covenant-renewal since the Revolution, when the Church was in no such favourable circumstances for performing the duty as now, that it was one in which it would have been well if the whole body of Scottish Presbyterians had joined.' We believe that in this sentiment numbers of his brethren coincide.

"Your secession from the Establishment gives promise of many reforms which must precede the state of things we contemplate. Throughout the parishes which have long suffered under the deadly influence of Moderatism, as well as throughout all the land, the people will now have the free and unfettered choice of all their office-bearers; evangelical preaching and pastoral faithfulness will be everywhere enjoyed; personal, family, and social religion will, we are persuaded, greatly revive; and now that your church courts are no longer shackled with the difficulties arising out of Erastian control, and the corruptions of Moderatism, a higher amount of Christian knowledge, and a higher degree of Christian character, will be deemed essential for admission to sealing ordinances, and generally, we trust, the godly discipline of Christ's house will be righteously and faithfully administered. After all these preparatives have been realized, and through the divine blessing, followed by their legitimate effects, men's minds will be in more propitious circumstances for entertaining favourably the question, of the continuous obligation of our fathers' covenants, and the duty and propriety of a hearty renewal of them in a bond suited to the altered circumstances of the church and nation. In the mean time, dear brethren, we bid you God speed. We bless the Lord, that without any compromise of truth or faithfulness, we can cordially recognize you as rapidly regaining the characteristic features of Scotland's covenanted Zion; and as bidding fair for carrying forward your reforms

under the auspices of your divine Head, till, as the Church in the purest times of reformation, you shall look forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. Whatever our testimony in your favour is worth, we most heartily give it. And we would cheer you on in your godly enterprise. What a cloud of witnesses-what a noble host of Scottish worthies invite your imitation, and beckon you to follow them as they followed Christ. The handful of corn on the top of the mountains,' which they sowed with unsparing hand, is now promising to shake with prosperous fruit like Lebanon. The time in which you are called to sow the good seed of high and holy principle may be troublous, but oh! they are sun shine, and calm, compared with the times of the Martyrs of the Covenant. They regarded not the wind. They sowed in the face of the tempest. They sowed the good seed in the halls of nobles, and in the palaces of princes; they sowed it in the council chamber, in the camp, and in the battle-field; and round the scaffold and the stake of their glorious martyrdom, they scattered it largely, and bedewed it with their blood. While we eat the pleasant fruits of this plant of renown, we ought to venerate the memory, and cherish the principles, and copy the character of Scotland's martyred host.

"Fathers and brethren, you have done nobly. As far as the spirit of the age would bear, or rather, as far as the Church's Head would permit, you have been persecuted, but the God of our fathers has bestowed on you a large portion of their self-devoted spirit; and we trust and pray He may more and more highly advance you,-more and more abundantly bless you, and make you the harbingers of unnumbered blessings to your native land, and to the church of Christ at large. Babylon must fall.

"Prone to the dust, oppression shall be hurl'd;
Her name, her nature, blotted from the world."

And you, we doubt not, will contribute extensively to realize this well-founded, be cause scriptural expectation. Come that blessed day, when every stay and buttress of the antichristian superstructure shall prove unavailing to prop up the tottering fabric-when the earth shall be lighted up with the glory of the mighty angel, who shall proclaim, Babylon is fallen-is fallen. You have given prominence to two master principles, which cannot fail, if faithfully retained and acted upon, to expedite this glorious era. These principles have been authoritatively announced from the chair of your Assembly, by the illustrious man on whom the Redeemer has conferred by far the greatest honour which has ever yet adorned him, in calling him to moderate in the first Assembly of the Free Protesting Church of Scotland. One of these principles is, 'The authority of Christ over the affairs of his own church,' rather than compromise which, you have forfeited the countenance of men in power; the other is, the authority of Christ over the nations.' We use the Moderator's own words, 'Beware of compromising another of your doctrines, even the authority of Christ over the kings and governments of earth, and the counterpart duty of these governments to uphold religion in the world.' The maintenance and practical application of these two doctrines must promote the best interests of immortal souls, secure the Church's well-being, and the peace, and prosperity, and true glory of the nation. These blessings you are labouring with self-denied devotedness to impart to the Church and to the country. And though we were well assured, from our knowledge of the pure and peaceful principles you profess, and the character which even your bitterest enemies concede, you maintain, that there would be an utter absence of sympathy on your part with the demagogue and agitator of the day,' yet we are glad that the weak and silly charge of rebellion has been met by your indignantly disclaiming all fellowship with men who, under the guise of direct and declared opposition, left a menacing front against the powers that be, or, disdaining government and im patient restraint, manifest a spirit of contention and defiance.'

"Fathers and Brethren, notwithstanding the sacrifices you have made for the glory of Christ and your country's weal, and just because you have made these sacrifices, you have been heartlessly assailed, and opposed by many, who, from their high station, had they only loved their native land, would have been foremost to encourage your hearts and strengthen your hands. Apart altogether from the power of godli. ness, the principles of an enlightened policy would have dictated both to the Scottish

aristocracy and the civil authorities of the kingdom a very different line of procedure; but true wisdom and ungodliness are never associated. The great ones of the land seem given up to blindness of mind, and it is well if perilous times are not at hand. On contemplating the aspect of affairs-the coalition of parties hitherto deemed mutually repellent-the contemporaneous expansion and concentration of antichristian interest and power-the falling into line of those, who seem all ready to do battle in support of despotism or of anarchy-and in either case, of irreligion and licentiousness, we are compelled to concur in sentiment with those who apprehend the proximity of days of trial to our common Protestantism. The too long divided friends of the Saviour seem, on all sides, to feel the necessity of union. The exigencies of the church-the promotion of genuine piety-the Redeemer's glory-the best interests of the British empire-the spread and the prevalence of gospel truth throughout the world, all demand this union. The wisdom of our fathers, under the blessing of the Spirit, has supplied in the Westminster Standards a sound, safe, and scriptural basis, on which, we trust, ere long all true Presbyterians, at least, will be united. This we would regard as the auspicious precursor of those blissful days, when all denominational differences among the lovers of Christ shall be merged into harmonious and holy co-operation, in carrying forward and completing the glorious mission on which the church has been sent forth, to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

"Fathers and Brethren,-Your position is suited to exert a mighty influence for good upon all evangelical churches. Upon your faithful, scriptural administration of the momentous interests committed to your management, very much depends, involving the glory of the Church's head-the good of innumerable souls, and the well-being of the world. Our prayers are fervent, and our hopes are high, that you will continue stedfast and immoveable, and that, in becoming contrast with the corruptions from which you have escaped, you will neither, with regard to the ministry nor the membership of the Church, build the wood, hay, stubble of ungodly, and, therefore, unprofitable and unsafe accessions; but that you will, in the exercise of the pure wisdom that is from above, make in all things righteous application of the measuring reed of the sanctuary.

"In conclusion, we deem it right to say, that, in addressing the Free Protesting Church of Scotland, we have felt ourselves as if in our father's house, communing with beloved friends and brethren in Christ Jesus; and if in any respect we may seem to have taken unwarrantable liberty, we beg you will in charity attribute our freedom to the fulness of our heart's affection to you, and to the good of our Divine Master in your hands. And now may the God of all grace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

"Signed by order of Synod's Committee of correspondence,
"WILLIAM TOLAND."

(ANSWER.)

"COMMITTEE ROOMS, 7 NORTH ST ANDREW STREET, "16th December 1843.

"The Committee appointed by the late General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, to answer addresses and congratulations from other Churches, beg leave respectfully to acknowledge the receipt of the brotherly communication from Mr Toland, in name of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod of Ireland, dated Brookville, Ballymoney, 17th October 1843.

"The interest which the members of your Synod have taken in the struggle in which the ministers and other members of our Church have recently been engaged, and the gratitude and Christian joy which you express for the self-denial and fidelity which, through grace, we have been enabled to evince, afford us the highest gratification and encouragement. We know well the importance which the Church to

which you belong has at all times attached to the fundamental doctrine of the supremacy of Christ as King of nations, and King of saints; and though we have not advanced so far in the defence and application of that doctrine as to be altogether one with you in regard to it, we could not doubt of your approbation of the course which we have pursued, and the sacrifices which we have made in so glorious a cause. We thank you for your letter, and for the frank and unreserved manner in which you have expressed yourselves. May we 'stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.'

"We have the strongest grounds of hope that your expectations of good to the people of Scotland, from the recent disruption, will be abundantly realised. The interest which the people, in most of the parishes of Scotland, have taken in the principles and actings of the Free Church, is truly marvellous. A great door and effectual is opened' to us for the preaching of the gospel of our blessed Saviour. We believe it to be the doing of the Lord; and though there are many adversaries,' we feel assured that the door has not been opened to us in vain.

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"Continue to pray for us. In return, we assure you of your interest in our supplications.

"In name and by appointment of the Committee,

"Rev. WILLIAM TOLAND.

"PAT. M'FARLAN, Convener."

No. XXII. From the Oxford and West Berks Association.

"WALLINGFORD, 20th October 1843. "DEAR SIR, I am charged with the duty of communicating to you the following resolution of the Oxfordshire and West Berks Association, passed at the last meeting. I had to leave before the meeting terminated, and, in consequence, a considerable time elapsed before it was transmitted to me. It may not be irrelevant to state that, since the accompanying rules were printed, several other ministers and churches have been added to our list.

"At the half-yearly meeting of the Oxfordshire and West Berks Association, held at Chinnor, Oxon, on the 5th and 6th of September 1843, the following resolution was passed:

"That the members of this Association, while holding sacredly and zealously their well-known sentiments on the unhallowed interference of human governments in matters of religion, cannot but express, with devout thankfulness to the Infinite source of all gracious influence and holy energy, their deep sympathy with their brethren in Scotland, who have recently left the religious Establishment in that country, and thus have been enabled to make so decided and noble a stand for the inalienable rights of conscience, and the independence and purity of the Church of Christ.

"It is our earnest prayer that our dear brethren may be divinely upheld and comforted under the sacrifices and self-denials to which they have submitted rather than dishonour their heavenly Master's cause ;-that their Christian and ministerial labours, with a view to the entire evangelization of their beloved country, may be rendered eminently successful; and that abundant peace and prosperity may attend the course of the Free Presbyterian Church.

"That the above resolution be communicated to the reverend the Moderator of that Church. I beg to be considered, dear Sir, yours very sincerely.

"WILLIAM HARRIS, Secretary."

"To the REV. DR CHALMERS.

(ANSWER.)

"COMMITTEE ROOMS, 7 NORTH ST ANDREW STREET,

"EDINBURGH, 16th Dec. 1843.

"The Committee appointed by the late General Assembly of the Free Church