PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FREE CHURCH

OF SCOTLAND.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1860.

The

THE General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland met in the Assem bly Hall on Thursday, 17th May. The hall was crowded to excess. retiring Moderator-the Rev. Principal CUNNINGHAM-preached from Gal. iv. 4, 5.

The Assembly was then constituted with prayer; and the roll being made up,

The retiring MODERATOR rose and said: FATHERS AND BRETHREN,―The Assembly having now been constituted by prayer, and the roll of members having been read, my duties are come to an end, and I have only to resign into your hands the office and honour which the last General Assembly conferred upon me by calling upon me to fill this chair. The state of my health during the sittings of the last General Assembly rendered me unfit, in a great measure, for the discharge of the duties of this office, and never probably were these duties more inefficiently performed. I am fully sensible of this; and the kind indulgence which, notwithstanding, I received then, and have received since, only confirms my sense of the very peculiar depth of obligation I ought to cherish on account of everything connected with my appointment to the office of the Moderator. It has been the practice for the retiring Moderator to propose to the Assembly some one to succeed him in the chair. In quiet and peaceable times, when matters in this respect go on smoothly and harmoniously, the virtual concurrence of the Church in the proposed nomination being already secured and ascertained, the practice does seem a proper and becoming one. Accordingly, on this occasion, I have very great pleasure in proposing for my successor one who is thoroughly well known to this Church, whose claims to this honour, and to any honour the Church can confer upon him, are of the highest order, and are generally recognised and appreciated. Dr Buchanan of Glasgow-(loud applause) has for more than a quarter of a century occupied a very prominent and honourable place among those public benefactors who, in

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addition to the faithful and conscientious discharge of the duties of their own immediate situations, have been able and willing, have received from Providence both the capacity and the opportunity of rendering important public services, and of doing much for the advancement of Christianity and the general welfare of the community. Occupying an influential position in a very important community, Dr Buchanan was able, during the whole period of the ten years' conflict, to render very important public services, both in connexion with Church extension and Church defence-in carrying out measures for providing means of grace for the population, and in expounding, defending, and applying the principles for which the Church was called upon to contend. And when that conflict came to a close, it was with the cordial concurrence of those who had been most closely associated with him that he undertook to write its history-(applause)-the history of transactions in many of which he himself held an influential and honourable place. I need not tell you what a success that history was. It is enough to say here, that it was worthy of the subject and worthy of the occasion-(applause)— and to remind you that, in its literary qualities, it obtained the high commendation of the most eminent critic of the age. The preparation of such a history of such a subject, by one standing in such relation to the transactions recorded, was a very great public service,—a very great boon conferred upon the Free Church, and a very great advantage to the principles for which we have been called upon to contend. It will be a permanent service, and a most important permanent boon. (Applause.) You all know that, since the Disruption, Dr Buchanan has done a great Ideal for the Free Church in connexion with all its councils and all its actings, that he has devoted much time and high talents, the results of great experience, unwearied zeal, and indefatigable activity, to the service of the Free Church-and that by doing so he has established for himself the strongest claims upon our respect and gratitude. I need not dwell upon his extraordinary and long-continued services in connexion with the great Sustentation Fund. These have all along, and ever must be, strongly and vividly present to your minds. There have been some questions connected with this subject on which we did not, and do not yet, all see eye to eye; but I am satisfied that there exists no difference of opinion amongst us upon these points-that Dr Buchanan has given much time and strength, and rare talents for business, to the service of the Church in this matter; that he has rendered most important services to the Sustentation Fund in several important respects, where there was not, and could not be, any difference of opinion; and that that great Fund is in no inconsiderable measure indebted, under God, to him for the measure of prosperity it has enjoyed. (Applause.) I need not dwell farther on Dr Buchanan's services, talents, and qualifications; you all know them as well, and appreciate them as highly, as I do. I would only further say one thing in conclusion. Whereas it has sometimes happened that the Church has been pleased to place in this chair men whom, for some reason or other, on some ground or other, she wished to honour, to whom she thought it proper to pay some mark of respect, without having much regard to their fitness for the special duties of the office of Moderator,-I am sure you will agree with me in thinking that you will have in Dr Buchanan,-if it is your pleasure to appoint him to this office,-not only a man who, on many grounds, is well worthy of

any honour the Church can confer upon him, but one who will also discharge the duties of the office with admirable propriety—(applause)— who in all respects will be a model Moderator. I beg to propose that Dr Robert Buchanan be elected Moderator. (Loud applause.)

Major-General ANDERSON seconded the motion. He believed that in raising Dr Buchanan to this position they were conferring a great honour upon themselves, and that, under the blessing of God, it would confer much good on the Church. It was affecting to think that many of their fathers and brethren, who had formerly enjoyed this honour, had fallen asleep; but it was satisfactory to think that God was raising up men of talent and ability, and possessed of all the gifts and graces of the Christian character, to fill their places. It would be bad taste in him to dilate upon the obligations which the Free Church owed to Dr Buchanan, and he therefore begged to second the motion. (Applause.)

Dr BUCHANAN then took the chair amid loud applause, and delivered the following address :—

FATHERS AND BRETHREN,-My first duty, in taking possession of this chair, is to offer you my humble and heartfelt thanks. In calling me to preside over this General Assembly, you have conferred upon me the highest honour our Church has to bestow. It is the greatest distinction that I can hope to receive on earth. I value it much for its own sake, but I value it unspeakably more as an expression of your personal esteem and regard. Next to the love of God, the love of those with whom I have been so long associated in the service of our common Lord and Master, is the treasure dearest to my heart. It is my earnest desire, as it is also my sincere and fervent prayer, that in this exalted position I may not prove myself unworthy of the confidence which your generous kindness has prompted you to repose in me. In this view it is my best comfort to believe and be assured that you will not only sustain me by your sympathies and your indulgence, but that you will ask for me the aid of that wisdom which cometh from above.

When I think, indeed, of the sacred character of this Assembly, and of the momentous nature of those numerous and varied objects for which it is annually convened, I deeply feel how needful, not for myself alone, but for us all, are the presence and power in the midst of us of God's Holy Spirit.

We are not here as a mere casual assemblage of Christian men, seeking simply our own personal edification by mutual conference and prayer; we are here in the far more responsible capacity of men appointed to bear rule in the house of God. We are met and constituted in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the supreme court of that branch of His Holy Catholic Church to which we belong. We are charged with the solemn obligation of exercising its authority and administering its affairs in sole subjection to His will, and with a single eye to His glory. We have to handle questions of spiritual legislation, with a view to the carrying out, scripturally and efficiently within our Zion, of the laws of Zion's King. We have to handle questions of discipline and government, affecting purity of morals, doctrine, and worship among the office-bearers, members, and congregations of that Church of which the Holy Ghost hath made us overseers. We have to handle executive questions, bearing on the practical management of those great affairs and interests connected both with the outward and

more secular business of God's house, and also with the inward and more spiritual concerns belonging to it, on the wise regulation of which so much of the usefulness and practical efficiency of every Church must always depend. With a trust so weighty resting upon us, with duties so difficult and so delicate before us, which of us, in taking his seat in this Assembly, does it not become to be asking himself, as in the sight of God, "Who is sufficient for these things?"

To the Free Church itself the meeting of the General Assembly is the great event of each revolving year. Among the members of our own communion, from the Shetlands to the Solway, it is contemplated with feelings akin to those with which the great annual religious festivals were regarded in ancient Israel. If our people cannot all gather to it personally, the best and holiest of them never fail to gather, for its sake, around the throne of grace, and to invoke in its behalf the blessing of the God of their fathers. In it they expect to see upheld that banner which has been handed down to us from the glorious era of the Reformation, and through many a dark storm of persecution, to be displayed because of truth. And, perhaps, at times when some angry controversy has been spreading among us, and threatening to mar the Church's unity, and to endanger her peace, many of these gray-haired patriarchs, kneeling far away at their own family altars, or wrestling in their closets, have been trembling lest here some evil might befall the ark of God. How fitting is it that, while they are thus mindful of us, we should be as mindful of them. Nothing, let us be assured, tends more to gladden the hearts of our people, and to stir them up, and cheer them on in every work of faith and labour of love, than the spectacle of a wise, and harmonious, and well-ordered General Assembly. The spirit that reigns here never fails to tell powerfully on the Church at large. And just as certainly as a high-toned piety prevailing in this House conduces to elevate among our people the standard both of personal religion and of congregational effort in Christ's cause, so certainly would the exhibition here of a contrary state of things fall upon them with the weight of a great calamity, making their hands to hang down and their hearts to fail, and doing deep and lasting injury both to the prosperity of our Church, and to the progress of vital godliness in the end.

Nor is it merely by a regard to the interests and the honour of our own particular communion that it becomes us to be affected, in addressing ourselves to the work before us. If it be true within the limits of each individual Church, that when one member suffers, all the other members suffer with it; it is hardly less true that when one Church suffers, all the other Churches suffer with it. There was a time, indeed, and perhaps it is hardly yet altogether passed away, when the mean and miserable notion was only too prevalent, that the success of one Church could be best promoted at the expense of the hurt and damage of others. If an enlightened political economy has, in these latter times, exploded that base idea in its application to the prosperity of nations, enlightened views of the gospel ought long ago to have exposed its utterly false and despicable character in its application to the prosperity of Churches. (Applause.) Jurists have learned to speak of what belongs to the comity of nations; and it is surely high time that divines were learning to speak of what belongs to the comity of Churches,-of what belongs to their mutual duties and to their common claims.

In the apostolic epistles we see how, in primitive times, the graces of one Church stirred up other Churches to increased devotedness; the love and liberality of Achaia were, for this very purpose, boasted of by Paul to them of Macedonia; the zeal of Corinth provoked very many to similar efforts; and the faith of the Roman Church,-alas that it should be so far otherwise now!-was then spoken of throughout the whole world. It is well that here, in this General Assembly, we should have respect to that beautiful law of Christ's kingdom, and that we should vividly realise the solemn and momentous consideration, that our proceedings, according to their character, must tell either for good or evil on many other branches of the Church of Christ. If aught be said or done here fitted to bring reproach on His holy and blessed name, we shall have struck a blow more or less hurtful to the spiritual welfare of other Churches far and near. If, on the other hand, by God's help and blessing, we shall be enabled to be true to our great trust, then shall it have to be said that from you, Fathers and Brethren, sounded out the word of the Lord, and that in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad.

Nor is this all. There are other onlookers who will be affected by the character of our proceedings, besides the members of our own communion and those of other sections of the Christian Church. The world, too, will be looking on. It seldom fails, indeed, to turn a keen and critical eye upon the public movements of those who profess to act in the sacred name of religion. Nor have we any right or cause to complain of this scrutiny. Even if the spirit that animates it should be somewhat censorious and unfriendly, we should desire rather than deprecate the attention the world may bestow upon us and our affairs. It is to this very end that the Christian Church exists, that it may draw upon it the observation of men, and that they, seeing the good works of the Lord's people, may glorify God in the day of their own visitation. But woe to us if we shall give occasion to the enemy to blaspheme; if, through any fault of ours, through any want of Christian courtesy and mutual forbearance, of soundness and sobriety of speech, of consistency and integrity of conduct, we shall cause even our good to be evil spoken of. The command of Christ to all His followers, and pre-eminently to those who are set in the high places of His Church, is to walk in wisdom towards them that are without-to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. "By this," especially, said the Lord Jesus, "shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

In the view of such considerations as those to which I have now alluded, it is surely not unsuitable that we should take home to ourselves those words of an inspired apostle,- "Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Yes, our only safety, and all our sufficiency, will be found in looking unto Him. He has His chosen place in the very midst of the golden candlesticks; and it is our comfort and our confidence to know that He holdeth the stars in His right hand. From His throne in the heavens His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men; and those eyes, which are as a flame of fire, are bent especially and with sleepless vigilance upon His Church. His memorable epistles to the seven Churches of Asia would seem to have been dictated and recorded with