bodies in this country that are carrying forward educational efforts. I think it would be unjust and hard that the parish teachers should have their salaries increased, for we may rely upon it, that it will be an increase of salary that will be attempted, and not merely a measure proposed for preventing a decrease-that the salaries of the parochial teachers of Scotland should be increased, while no corresponding benefit will be conferred upon those other parties labouring in the cause of education. It would subject those parties to a great disadvantage, and hinder the extension of sound education in Scotland, and that merely for the purpose of keeping up the narrow, exclusive, and sectarian character of the teaching of the parochial schools of Scotland. On the contrary, if our friends of the Establishment, and of Parliament, would fairly look this injustice in the face, to the extent at least to which we ask them to do in this overture; if they would consider whether the parish schools might not be thrown open, so far at least as this overture contemplates; and that is the very least extent, I suppose, that any of us could be satisfied with. Many of us would desire a still further opening; but this is not precisely the question for discussion now-that is the very least opening that could possibly satisfy us, and it is an opening to the extent of which this whole Church is unanimous in holding as a desirable basis of the education of the youth of the land. We are all agreed that education on the basis of the Bible and Shorter Catechism is a desirable thing for Scotland. Some of us think that national education upon a lower basis might be procured and accepted; but we are all agreed in holding that upon the basis of the Bible and Shorter Catechism the national education of Scotland might be fairly put. I think that is nearly the unanimous opinion of the Church. That being the case, what we say is this: Look in the face at the position in which the parish schools now stand. The striking of the average next year may affect the temporal comfort of the schoolmasters. Look this question in the face. Could you not consent to put these parish schools on such a footing as would secure a cordial and unanimous co-operation in the direction of accomplishing the end you have in view, namely, of improving the comfort of your parochial teachers? I think that this, so far from being a hostile, should be regarded as a friendly ground; and, at all events, it is to my mind a fair and necessary ground in the circumstances, that we should protest against Parliament legislating upon one part of this subject without looking at the whole matter, and that we should set forth our conviction that, before any change is made regulating the financial condition of the parish schools, there shall be an opening of these schools, at least to the extent of admitting sound teachers of other denominations, and that there shall be a general revisal of the system of management and superintendence. I think the proposal, then, that a reform of the parish schools should be made a sine qua non in any new legislation as to their endowment, a fair and reasonable proposal, and not invidious or unfriendly to any party, but rather one which, if we were rightly understood, would be regarded as altogether friendly. In these circumstances, I am quite free to propose the adoption of this overture, and to suggest that the General Assembly, in terms thereof, shall resolve to petition Parliament on the subject, if necessary, or give authority, if you choose, to the Commission to petition Parliament upon this subject, and also direct the attention of the inferior courts of this Church to the subject, in order that, if necessary, occasion may be taken with a view to secure that this advantage shall be improved, for attempting at least to get some improvement of the system parish schools. Dr BEGG said, I am exceedingly glad that the subject of this overture has been brought before the Assembly; and I only regret that it has been brought before us at a time when it is not possible to give that consideration to it which its great importance deserves. It is one of the few subjects about which the people at large will feel a deep interest in our proceedings, -I mean the people not connected with us. I for one am fully alive to the danger which Dr Candlish has pointed out; and my only fear is, that we have allowed the time to pass during which we could have effectively moved in this question. I think the danger is, that Government,-the present Government perhaps, being possessed of a majority in Parliament, shall propose to the Legislature that, inasmuch as there are a great many difficult questions in connection with public education-that inasmuch as all men agree that the present national system of education in Scotland has been to a large extent beneficial to the country; and inasmuch as it is perfectly plain that the teachers must not be allowed to starve in consequence of any mere incidental occurrence, in the mean time their salaries should be augmented, probably doubled; and it is, I think, extremely probable that Parliament will agree to the proposal thus made, and that then our own Education Scheme, and all other educational efforts, will be placed in a most unfair position, and that virtually we shall be defeated in the struggle in which we have been engaged, by the dexterity of politicians. (Hear, hear.) I have held this opinion for years. I regret extremely that the Government of the country has not sooner taken up a measure for public education for Scotland. I think that it is very much to be deprecated that the Government has not long ere this determined, that whatever differences of opinion may exist among the people of Scotland, there shall be some arrangement made by which no child shall be suffered to grow up in ignorance; and I have no doubt that, if Government had fairly tried the question, and grappled in a manly way with it, they would perhaps not have accomplished the object in the way that all of us would have reckoned best, but I believe that they might have substantially introduced a plan which the great mass of the people would have acquiesced in,—a plan which would have been a great boon to the kingdom and Church. I regret that they should have allowed so much precious time to pass away, and such multitudes of people, especially in our large cities, to grow up in ignorance, whilst we were debating generally upon the best possible way of educating the population. I regret, also, in reference to our own Church, that whilst we have been doing a great deal in the way of promoting education, we have been doing comparatively nothing in the way of exciting public attention on the question of a national provision for the education of the kingdom. I believe that the public mind has largely gone to sleep upon that subject, and that now, though we do move, we shall move at the greatest possible disadvantage, in endeavouring to arrest the progress of a great evil, and of what, I fear, unless we do move, and that with great determination, must be the inevitable result. I trust that the inferior courts will take up the question immediately, and that all men desirous of seeing a public provision made for education, and not inseparably connected with the Established Church, will not leave a stone unturned for the purpose of accomplishing the object. And I believe that if our General Assembly, and if our members at large, were prepared to go forward, and frankly to say to the Government of the country that we, if a suitable arrangement were made, will be willing to throw in our 600 or 700 schools as our contribution to the general education of Scotland, that would be one of the best results, in the mean time, of our educational efforts, and that it would go far to command attention on the part of Government, which in no other way we are likely to obtain. (Hear, hear.) For my own part, I am prepared to go as great lengths as I conscientiously can in the way of securing the grand object of having every human being in the kingdom educated. Most anxious am I to see that object attained, not in the way of introducing any irreligious education that is often an intentional misrepresentation of the views which I, along with some others, hold-but in the way of dispensing, as far as we can, with mere legislative arrangements for securing the object. We can see other arrangements by which we have sufficient confidence that that same object will be secured. I have great confidence in the masses of the people of Scotland. I believe that they are most anxious to have, not only an education, but a scriptural education; and I do not think that there would be any real difficulty in the way of having the Bible and the Catechism taught in all the schools throughout the kingdom; but I fear that, unless we set ourselves to work in right earnest, the result will be, that we shall find ourselves in a very false position-that we shall find our best teachers bribed away from us by enlarged endowments to the parochial system-that we shall find ourselves undersold, if I may so speak, in the educational market, and our own schools foundered and defeated, whilst we shall have ourselves to a considerable extent to thank for that result. Having stated these things, I rejoice exceedingly in this movement, and without saying anything about the peculiar wording of that overture, which I am glad to see is sufficiently general to meet with the acquiescence of us all, I have only to say, that I trust, since the matter has obtained so little attention in the Assembly, that will be a stronger reason for its obtaining more attention in the inferior courts. (Applause.) Mr SORLEY thought it was their duty to move in the direction which Dr Candlish and Dr Begg had indicated, and he hoped that the Presbyteries would follow the advice given by their friends upon the present occasion. He expressed his cordial approval of the overture, and the hope that it would soon be brought to a practical working. Mr J. F. MACFARLAN thought they could not act with too much promptness and decision in forwarding this matter. Dr BUCHANAN said, The course proposed is the least thing which the General Assembly can do in reference to the movement which is so certainly to be made in Parliament for an increase of the salaries of the parochial teachers. To go to Parliament merely to oppose the increase of their salaries, would be an invidious-looking thing. We do not grudge the salaries; we do not think the teachers are overpaid at present, or even if they get what they have asked; at the same time, it is quite evident that we cannot look with complacency upon these schools being put in a better position at the national expense in circumstances in which they retain their present exclusive character. It is, therefore, as it appears to me, the least thing that we can possibly do to make an appeal to Parliament upon the subject, and to intimate that, by every means in the power of this Church, we are prepared to resist an increase in their salaries on any other footing than the footing proposed in this overture,-namely, that the schools shall be opened, at all events to the extent that all persons otherwise qualified and prepared to adhere to the Word of God and the Shorter Catechism as the standard of their religious belief and teaching, should be eligible as teachers of those schools. It is the least thing that, in common sense and justice to ourselves and the country, we can possibly do, and I think it is a favourable opportunity of making this appeal. We are enabled, I think, to interfere in circumstances in which we cannot be charged either with selfishness or factiousness. I therefore cordially go along with the proposal. The Assembly approve of the Overture, agree to petition Parliament in terms thereof, and recommend to the Presbyteries of the Church to direct their early attention to the important subject now brought under the notice of the House. The Assembly instruct the Clerks to send down to Presbyteries a special communication, with extract of this deliverance; and further, the Assembly instruct the Education Committee to watch over the matter. SALTCOATS GAELIC CONGREGATION. Dr BUCHANAN gave in a short report from the Sustentation Committee on a particular subject. Saltcoats Gaelic congregation had been vacant since the Disruption, and as long as it was upon their books, they were chargeable on account of it for a payment to the Widows' Fund. It required a declaration from the Assembly that they had surrendered that congregation to relieve them from the payment to the Widows' Fund. He proposed that the subject should be remitted to the Committee upon the Sanctioning of Charges to report. This was agreed to, and the Assembly adjourned till seven o'clock in the evening. EVENING SEDERUNT. The Assembly met in the evening at seven o'clock-the Moderator in the chair. Mr GRAY gave in an additional report of the Committee on the classification of returns to overtures, from which it appeared that there was a large majority of Presbyteries in favour of all the overtures except one,that on the Form of Process, of which twenty-three Presbyteries approved simpliciter, and eighteen disapproved simpliciter. The report was agreed to. FOREIGN MISSIONS. Mr TWEEDIE gave in the report of the Foreign Mission Committee as follows: "The revenue of the Committee on Foreign Missions is already before the Church, in the printed accounts for the past year. The following is a brief abstract of our income and expenditure, omitting the Building funds, and confining attention merely to the current operations and the current outlay : Salaries to missionaries and native preachers at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Poonah, and Nagpur, Travelling expenses for missionaries and families, Books for stations, Salaries to missionaries, &c., in Caffraria, Mission expenses, insurance on lives of missionaries, &c., Interest on debt at Cape, &c., Expenses of General Assembly, Records, office rent, &c. &c., Notices, postages, advertising the annual collection, &c., £7729 4 3 270 8 4 600 414 0 0 112 7 11 108 12 0 242 3 6 66 11 10 49 0 3 35 2 1 16 10 0 59 14 5 997 717 0 1 1600 0 0 £11,451 2 2 So that there was a balance on General Fund, at the close of the financial year, 31st March, of about £720. "Mr Hawkins will report on the progress made in forming associations, with their produce and present state. "Dr Macfarlane will report regarding the missions in Caffraria, so that this Report will contain only the information which the Committee on Foreign Missions think it necessary to lay before the General Assembly regarding their operations in India, and some miscellaneous topics. Looking back on the past year, and solemnly pondering all that has happened to your missions in India during that period, your Committee cannot help asking with gratitude the question, 'What hath God wrought?' It has been chequered, indeed, like all its predecessors, and chastenings have been mingled with blessings. Nor would the Committee entertain any sanguine or Utopian expectations regarding the downfal of superstition in Hindustan. They remember that its deadly influence is mixed up with all the habits,-social, political, and personal,-of India. They do not forget that it has there taken undivided possession of the whole man, and seems to circulate with the very life's blood of the myriads in that land. Nor do the Committee overlook the very feeble efforts that have yet been made by all the Christian Churches to reclaim India to the King of kings. But with all that present to their mind, and in the full consciousness of the gigantic enemies who have yet to be overcome, the Committee have no scruple in saying, that they see the promised day of emancipation steadily, and with somewhat of an accelerated step, drawing on. The grounds on which this conviction is based will appear in the facts now to be laid before the Assembly. But meanwhile the Committee announce it as their conviction, deepening every year, that a mighty work is in progress in India. 'The kingdom of heaven cometh not with observation; and we are not to expect that the eye of the politician, or of the man who lives only for earth and time, will see much to encourage him to hope for India's conversion to the truth. But that conceded at once, the Committee announce the conviction, strengthened and deepened by facts observed, as it is founded on the Word of the unchanging One, that a race is rising up in India to serve the true God there, and be his instruments in reclaiming it from the crushing power of its hoary superstition, to Him whom God has set upon his holy hill of Zion. "With this premised, the Committee now proceed to lay before the Assembly some particulars connected with the various stations in India in the order of their respective ages. "I. CALCUTta. "In one respect, the state of your operations at this presidency may be most briefly represented by a reference to the last annual examination of the Central Institution there. It was the twenty-first that has been held. On the roll there stood the names of 1280 pupils; and the gentleman who presided on the occasion, M. Wyllie, Esq., a warm friend of the missions in Bengal, strongly brought out before the pupils and the audience, the peculiar character of your missionary efforts, the guiding of the young to the Saviour of the lost. That was broadly announced then, as it is in all the proceedings of your missionaries, as the grand result-the terminus ad quem-of all their labours, and aspirations, and prayers. The examination, as described in the Bengal Hurkaru, appears to have yielded great satisfaction to all who were present; and your |