views. (Hear.) But I entirely agree in opinion with my respected father, who has just addressed the Assembly, that in England the whole question of Erastianism is altogether misunderstood; and that the idea of any contending for the entire spiritual independence of the Church of Christ, apart from the Voluntary principle, is a thing altogether new in England, at least in recent days. (Hear.) Now, in these circumstances, it is not at all wonderful that our brethren in England, who hold the Voluntary principle, should hail the movement that has taken place in Scotland, as a step in advance towards the ascendancy of that principle. And we are not required to criticise very minutely the expressions of sympathy they address to us. It is quite natural, quite reasonable-it is altogether in accordance with the frank and friendly interchange of opinion that they should express to us their conviction, that the movement we have made is towards Voluntaryism. At the same time, while we are bound to view these expressions of sympathy with the utmost consideration, and while in return we feel that nothing farther is due on our part towards them than simply to say, that we are thankful for their sympa. thy on the common ground of resistance to "State captivity," I think they call it, we are not bound to say anything in return but just this-that while we are thankful for your sympathy on this ground, we do not see, we never have seen, and trust never will see, that the movement we have made is at all a step in advance towards the Voluntary principle. (Cheers.) But, on the contrary our conviction is, that never in any age of the Christian church has a more decided, a more substantial, a more effectual testimony been lifted up for the duty of the magistrate, the whole duty of the magistrate, in reference to the Church of Christ, than in the recent contending testimony of the Church of Scotland. (Great cheering.) This is all the reply that it is necessary for us to advance to our sympathising friends of every evangelical denomination who favour the voluntary principle. It is to say that we are still distinctly and unequivocally of opinion, as a church, that the voluntary principle is not a principle which this Church sanctionsthat it is not a principle ever maintained by the Church of Scotland, and that we are separating from the Establishment, testifying that the State, in attempting to enslave the Church, as the recompense of her endowing the Church, has sinfully failed in its duty in this respect-sinned both in the attempt to assert an Erastian supremacy over the Church, and in failing to discharge their duty in countenancing and favouring the Church, and leaving her at the same time in the enjoyment of her spiritual freedom. (Cheers.) While this is all the answer we have to return to our friends in England-while the answer given by our respected father is satisfactory as regards them, viz., that we have not meant our movement to be a movement towards voluntaryism that while we regard that question one of Christian economics, and not of Christian doctrine in the ordinary sense of the terms, we still hold it to be a question in which the Word of God has given us the means of judging, and of which the Word of God has left us no room to form any other opinion than that we have ever maintained—while this is our answer to our English friends, I think that the address of the Original Secession Synod should be separated from the other, and sent to the consideration either of the same or of a distinct and separate Committee. (Hear.) That address is one to which we could not listen but with emotions of peculiar solemnity and interest. Great as is our delight in receiving the testimony of foreign churches and churches in England, who claim to be, and as I believe are, the representatives of the Nonconformists, still greater is our delight on receiving, in respect of our recent movement, the testimony of the body in this land, that body which can truly claim to be the representatives of the mind of the Erskines, who originated the Secession. (Cheers.) And I rejoice in that testimony, both on account of the body from which it comes, and the principles on which it proceeds-principles of perfect practical agreement with us in all the fundamental views that pertain to the union between Church and State; and in respect, moreover, to the end to which they point, viz., the blessed anticipation of a complete incorporating union-the letting down and merging of their testimony in the more recent witness-bearing of the Free Church of Scotland. (Great cheering.) And will the Assembly allow me in closing to say, that I trust there will be no mistake

in reference to the sentiments I hold of other bodies of evangelical Christians. My friends will bear me witness that I am the very last person who would stand on the rigid assertion of the mere theory of Establishments, for the purpose of keeping up division or schism in the Church. (Hear.) So far from that, it appears to me that the distinct refusal of the states and kingdoms of this world to recognise the only principle on which we can consent to have the Church established-their refusal to establish the Church of Christ, and to recognise her freedom-leaves to us a very great degree of practical freedom, and a large measure of practical discretion, as to the terms on which we should stand with other Churches. (Hear.) Is the divivision and schism of the Christian Church to be kept up by a question as to the duty of another party over whom we have no control? (Cheers.) Let it be that we maintain our different opinions as to the duty of the State to support the Church, and the duty of the Church to receive support from the State when it is consonant with spiritual freedom; still, shall that question, which has become a mere theoretical question in the Church of Christ, and which, so far as we can judge, seems destined to be a theoretical question till the time when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ-shall that question prevent cordial co-operation and harmony among ourselves, and our united action in defence of our common Protestantism, against the common foe? (Great cheering.) The questions that remain among ourselves may stand in part as an obstacle against the union of incorporation; but I rejoice to adopt the words of my respected father, and say, that they do not for a moment stand in the way of the union of co-operation. (Cheers.) And that union is, in the meantime, in my opinion, more safe, and more likely to be attended with happy and salutary results, than a premature attempt to accomplish the union of incorporation. (Cheers.) Our intercourse with our friends in England will have much reference to two questions that seem destined to agitate the churches in England-the claims of Popery on the one hand, and the claims of the Church's spiritual independence on the other. I believe that to a great extent the ascendancy and prevalence of the voluntary principle in England may be traced to a conviction that the Church of Christ as established, cannot be left spiritually free; and that the standard raised in England, having emblazoned on it the rights and spiritual freedom of the Church of Christ, would supersede the question of its relation to the State-that it would raise the general question, Ought not the Church of Christ, whether State-established or not, to be wholly spiritually free? and my impression is, that that question will yet be found in England practically to supersede all others, especially when brought into conflict or opposition with the gigantic claims of a modified and disguised Popery. (Cheers.) We have seen, during the last year, how the claims of semi-Popery, with regard to education, could unite the whole Dissenting Protestantism of broad England. And if this could be accomplished by the claims of semi-Popery in regard to education, how much more would it be so by the claims of Popery in regard to the direct endowment of the damnable errors of that accursed system. (Cheers.) That will indeed be the signal for a rally—a union among the Churches of the Reformation in this land, on these two great principles, that the Church, whether established or not, must be wholly free, and that Popery is a system of anti-Christian superstition, to support which is sinful. On these two principles, I have no doubt we can yet cordially unite with all Dissenting brethren, and all true Protestants, whether in England or Scotland; and these practical questions will supersede and set aside altogether our theoretical and speculative opinions. (Cheers.) I move that the addresses be remitted to a Committee to prepare answers, and to take measures for sending them forth to the Christian people; and that the address of the Original Seceders be sent to a distinct Committee to report to a future diet of the Assembly. (Cheers.)

The motion was then agreed to.

DEPUTATION FROM GENEVA.

The Assembly then agreed to hear the Rev. Dr Malan as a deputation from the Church of Geneva.

Dr MALAN, who was loudly cheered, said-Here we are a General Assembly here below; but consider how much higher a privilege it will be to be a member of the

General Assembly and Church of the first-born above. Consider that there is not one of you but professes his hope and expectation of being a member of that glorious Assembly. O take care that it be so in truth. See what is the word of the blessed Lord Jesus whose name is so precious to his people. He says, in

the chapter that was read to us this evening, "I am glorified in them," and surely the glory of the Lord consists in this, that his love is felt through the whole of his Church; and accordingly when in Switzerland, and especially in Geneva, we heard of the movement that was taking place among you, our prayers and our iterated prayers, ascended on high that you might be encouraged and strengthened, and stimulated in the path of duty; and is not this the love of Christ, and glorifying Christ in our love to his people? But, dear friends in the Lord, as we have passed through the same path in Switzerland five and twenty years ago, and have continued so from that period down to the present day-not, indeed, upon the same grand scale as you have done for we are but a handful, you are the full sea-we know something of your trials; and it is because your servant who is now speaking to you has passed through the same trials, that he now ventures to address you, from the heart to the heart, a few words of counsel and of comfort. The Lord Jesus Christ must be glorified in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. If the Lord Jesus Christ be not glorified in your Church, your Church will not be glorified in heaven; and now your Church will not glorify the Lord Christ, if you, fathers and brethren, do not attend to your duty in the course of your ministrations. Therefore I wish to address a few words, first to the ministers of the Church, and then to those that are under their care. Fellow-brethren and labourers, three things are required of you that the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified by you, and these three things are-first, faith; second, humility; and, third, courage. First, then to speak of faith. Be aware of Popery; and now I do not speak of that Popery which can be touched with the finger, but be aware of the spirit of Popery in your hearts and feelings. Keep to the standards of your faith-preach Christ the Saviour and his atonement solely for the Church-solely for the Church-solely for the Church; for Popery says that his atonement is for all men, which is a lie. Christ is a Saviour, and not a helper. He has not two wives-he has only one, which is the Church. He has not two bodies- he has but one beloved one, chosen for him of the Father. Oh, ye ministers of Scotland, have you some men among you who would listen to the doctrines of Arminianism? God Almighty forbid. The truth which has made the Church of Scotland so conspicuous, is the truth that Christ is God indeed-that he is a Saviour indeed; that he never died for those who are lost that those for whom he died he has saved fully and for ever. These truths are brought out in your symbols; they are embodied in your standards-for I have signed them. Therefore I advise you to stand firm in the faith which was once delivered to the saints that Jesus is the Saviour indeed. Oh, preach the creed of the Reformation, that Jesus is the Redeemer, and that justification is solely by faith in his blood. Do not allow the free-will to chain in any way the good will of the Lord. Ministers of the Church of Scotland, I beseech you, with all my heart, as in the sight of our glorious Lord, to be aware of the spirit of Popery-to be aware of the spirit of Arminianism; so will you have your Church built upon the rock which is Christ. In faith you will also preach Christ Jesus as King, as God and King, as the supreme, the infinite, the everlasting, the glorious King; and you will keep all the commandments of Christ; specially, I entreat you that you will keep holy the Sabbath day. Oh, Scotsmen, beware lest you give up a spark from the sun of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is one of your towers-the Sabbath of the Lord is the covenant of the Lord-the Sabbath was instituted before the fall, and it was written on the first tables of the law. Oh then, keep the Sabbath of the Lord, that the Church of Scotland may be established in obedience to the Lord. Again I beseech you, ministers of Scotland, to be aware of Popery in the guise of formalism which is encroaching in England and also in poor Switzerland. Be aware of Puseyism, which is Popery. What is formalism, where the Spirit of God is not-what is it but a dead statue? Is there any life in the statue more than in the quarry stone? Oh, my brethren, be aware of forms. In the time

of revival-in the time of a disruption, when we are doing something-when we are exerting our strength, putting ourselves forward on platforms, and standing up before men-ah, it is easy to misunderstand the will of the Lord, and to mix up our own excited feelings with the still small voice of the Spirit of God. Ah, let us be humble-let us not forget that Christ's love for his Church is more than our love for her; let us not forget that we are nothing-nothing but unworthy instruments in his hands; and let us not prefer our own sect to that of others. I know that when we had our revival at Geneva, we had some few words with those who differed from us in judgment, who did not leave the establishment when we left it-who thought it their duty to remain in a Socinian Establishment, though they were no Socinians themselves. I remember that our words were then keen and sharp; but we have since seen cause to bless the Lord that he has kept a minister of the gospel in a corner of the vineyard, containing hundreds and thousands of souls, which we could not have supplied. It is not for us to say that the Lord has done wrong. Let us then be humbled before him, and never forget that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Therefore, I would counsel you, while you are pure in your lives, to be humble in your hearts. My third counsel is, couragewhich is now necessary to keep the Church in the right way. I know something of these matters; and I know that to leave house, and land, and comfort, and affluence, is not so difficult; and I think I can understand how it is that martyrs go to the stake, under the influence of excitement, guided indeed by the Spirit of the Lord. But I am sure those who have forsaken their houses and their mansions, and everything that is dear to them, will say as I say, from experience, that that is not difficult, because there is along with it a happiness, and a joy, and a blessedness from above, which makes it rather a delight that we are honoured so far as to do these things for the Lord. But the courage that is required is, to be able to persevere in these things under scorn and contempt, and when we have no assistance and no help. In some places you go, you may have to sow in tears, and see no earnest of your labours, and you may presume that the Lord despises your work. Be perseveringbe courageous-go on in the glorious work of the Lord; do not seek for success, seek rather for duty, which is far better. (Hear, hear.) Therefore, be of good courage; be consistent; and, understand that what I said about faith joined with humility, will give you courage. I address myself especially to you, my young brethren; be courageous, for when we are in our graves, it is you that must fight the battle. And now, my friends, the flock of these ministers, I turn to you-be not flatterers, I beseech you, my dear brethren, be no flatterers; you do not know the power and the creeping evil of flattery. I beseech you, be men and women of prayer, pray for your pastors-love your pastors-provide for them in all things, consider that they are now in a difficult position; and deal with your pastors as you would deal with your chief pastor. If Christ Jesus were to come and to take the lead in your families, how would you deal with him? You would love-you would reverence him— you would address him without flattery; you would submit yourself to his teaching in all things here below. Therefore I entreat you all, that you love your pastorsthat you would support them with your prayers-that you would be teachable under their exhortations; that you would go with them under the staff of the good Shepherd, in the strait path to eternal life. Then shall you be free indeed, and firm indeed. Be aware of the spirit of Popery, and of Arminianism-be firm in the Lord and in each other; and be courageous unto the end. May the Lord and his Spirit direct your hearts unto the love of God your Saviour. Amen. (The Rev. Doctor resumed his seat amid great applause.)

Dr HENDERSON, after some preliminary remarks, said it well became that Assembly to take the solemn admonitions which had been so ably and affectionately given them by one who had gone before them on the same path, who had told them that twenty-five years ago he bad, as they had, given up all from the same causes, and in defence of the same principles. Even at present the Church at Geneva, which had remained connected with the state, was suffering so much from the interference of civil power, that they were longing to be released from their connection, as the only hope left of avoiding the taint of Popery. To the church of Christ at Geneva the

church in this country had been very much indebted, and they ought therefore to feel towards it and its pastors the utmost attachment. Dr Malan, one of these pastors, had been a faithful counsellor to them: he had not flattered them, and he was their best friend who did not do so. Many were at times led to exalt themselves above measure, and even in the discharge of their duties were apt to let a feeling of selfadulation interfere. They were, therefore, all deeply indebted to their reverend father for the words of admonition which he had addressed to them, and he hoped they would all lay them to heart. He concluded by proposing the thanks of the Assembly to the Rev. Dr Malan for his expressions of Christian sympathy, and his excellent inculcation of Christian fidelity. (Great applause.)

The MODERATOR, in addressing Dr Malan, said, they hailed affectionately his appearance among them on this occasion, and they took in good part, and with deep gratitude, the admirable counsel which he had imparted to their ministers and people, in the sincerity, the warmth, and the affection of his heart. He had been long known in this country-throughout the world-and they were well aware he would not flatter them. He was known as a man of enlarged faith, of genuine piety, and deeply devoted to the cause of his great Master. Like themselves he had experienced persecutions and trials of no ordinary description. He had told them so, and

they were fully aware of the fact; but amidst all his trials he had maintained a stedfast attachment to the Lord Jesus Christ; he had declared amidst friends and amidst foes, in good report and in bad report, in prosperity and in adversity, that he gloried in nothing but in the cross of Christ. They had now the testimony of their venerable father, and of many other good and excellent men, to cheer and refresh them in their struggles, and to show them that they were not overlooked or neglected, but that their Church and its principles were cared for by the people of God in all parts of the world. If they had the Christian people of other churches to cheer them on-if they had their good wishes and their prayers, it would be far more im. portant in their estimation than almost any other encouragement they could receive from them. The good wishes of other churches were to them like good news from a far country, and which they would value more than the applause of multitudes. The prayers of the servants of the Lord were more to be valued than all the exertions of the great and powerful on their behalf; and with such good wishes and prayers they could go on rejoicing, having nothing to make them afraid. The reverend Moderator concluded by addressing himself to Dr Malan-You now feel the grey hairs of age gaining fast upon you-and your views are directed to a better world and a more glorious inheritance, and my prayer to God is, that the nearer you approach the end of your earthly career, your views of the heavenly kingdom may be more clear, your prospects more bright, your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ more confident and enlarged; and in the meantime may you, by the grace of God, be enabled to maintain your stedfastness, and continue to show, as you have hitherto done, that you are not afraid to stand by the cross of Christ. As you have prayed for us, we pray fervently for you, that God may continue to be your protector and your comforter through life, and your exceeding great reward for ever and ever.

This address excited deep interest throughout, and particularly towards the close; and at its conclusion, when the venerable stranger, who had spoken from the farther end of the platform, made his way to the chair with feelings which it was impossible for him to conceal, and grasped the hand of the Moderator, the applause became enthusiastic. It was indeed a most touching scene. Two venerable fathers of the church of Christ, whose grey hairs bore testimony to their long service in the cause of their Divine Master, were seen extending to each other the hand of Christian fellowship, and, as it were, representing in their own persons the union of principle and sentiment between the free continental Churches and the Free Church of Scotland. After conversing with apparently deep feeling for a brief space, the Moderator suggested that the Assembly should join in prayer: and he accordingly called on Dr Makellar, who offered up a most solemn and appropriate prayer.