Moncreiff, in regard to the kindness manifested by the Committee in the discharge of their duties, and the prudence and wisdom with which they had conducted the duties and correspondence which had been committed to them. Not a few ministers had gone to their congregations and made it a distinct ground for urging that their manses should be proceeded with, that certain sums would be received from the Central Fund. These expectations on the part of the ministers were well founded, and it was an exceedingly awkward and disagreeable position for them to be placed in, to be obliged to say afterwards to their congregations, that, owing to certain failures, the expectations which they held out could not be realised, and that what they had said could not be complied with in consequence of circumstances over which they had no control. And not a few ministers had incurred legal obligations for sums which, under these expectations, had been got for the erection of manses, and if called upon at this moment to meet these obligations, many of them would be placed in extreme difficulty. (Hear, hear.) Stringent measures, he thought, should be taken to enable these ministers not merely to avoid evil,-for evil they had not committed,-but to place themselves before their congregations in such a way as that they could not be charged with even the appearance of evil, by strengthening the hands of the Committee in demanding the realisation of the subscriptions from such as were able to pay. For those who had fallen into bankruptcy, or were unable to pay from circumstances over which they had no control, he would have the greatest pity; but for those who were able, he would urge strongly npon them the necessity of doing so. He regarded these subscriptions as far more binding upon parties than common commercial transactions. Power therefore should be given, he held, to this Committee to use the most stringent measures in order to induce those parties in arrears, and who were able to pay, to fulfil their obligations. He would not use legal means, but the names of the parties whose subscriptions were outstanding should be made known to the various ministers over their Church. (No, no.)

MR HAWKINS Sympathised very much with Mr Jameson's remarks. He was quite satisfied that many who had subscribed were in a condition to pay up their subscriptions, but never gave themselves any trouble about the matter. He could testify to the truth of the statement in the report, that many ministers were not only kept out of money, but called upon to pay interest, and placed under pecuniary obligations of a very serious character. As to the moral compulsion hinted at by Mr Jameson, it would perhaps be prema ture to adopt any measure of that kind; but he did hope that the publicity given to this discussion would lead to the desired result, and that by next General Assembly they would hear of no more parties in arrears who were able to pay. (Hear, hear.)

The Assembly then approved of the report, recorded their thanks to the Committee, and especially to the Convener, for their valuable services, and re-appointed the Committee.

FOREIGN CHURCHES.

The hearing of the foreign deputies was then resumed, when

Mr DURAND from the Presbyterian Church in Belgium was introduced to the Assembly by Mr Bonar, Glasgow. He mentioned two facts, which, he said, ought to interest all true Christians in the cause of the gospel religion there; the first of these was, that for more than two centuries, and after it had been occupied in good part by Protestants, their country had been shut against the preaching of the gospel; and the second was, that he

represented in this Assembly not all Protestant churches, but the new reformed churches, the members of which were almost all converts from Popery, and were acting in Belgium as missionaries for the Protestant faith. Popery in that country was not different from or more tolerant than the Popery of other countries. In Belgium there were two political parties, nearly equally strong-the liberal party, and the clerical or Catholic party -the aim of the former being religious liberty, and that of the latter the opposite of that. They were therefore indebted to the strongest of these parties, the liberal party,-for the modicum of religious liberty which they enjoyed. Concerning their churches, he would say, that in almost all of them the members had increased during the past year, and numbers of converts had been made-facts which he was sure would be cheering to this Assembly. A good number of Catholic boys were attending their schools, the desire of the parents to send their children there having overcome the aversion of the priests. Their churches, not being supported by any body of old Protestants. were necessarily self-supporting; but in consequence of their want of wealth, they had been unable to send ministers to various places where hundreds of persons were eager to listen to the preaching of the gospel. A distinguished Catholic in Belgium, whom he visited some weeks ago, told him that they (Papists) were glad to see Protestants making progress, because it was only when they had a strong Protestant Church in that' country that many of the abuses of their Church would be modified; so that even Catholics were desirous that the Protestant cause should prosper in that country. He concluded by expressing a hope that the Assembly would accept the Christian and fraternal salutations of the New Reformed Churches in Belgium. Their prayer to God was, that He might abundantly bless this Church in all its ministers and in all its members. (Applause.)

Mr BERNARD DE VATT VILLE from the Evangelical Society of Geneva was next introduced to the Assembly. He could have wished that the Evangelical Society had had a better speaker to represent them at this Assembly than he was. (Applause.) It would be his duty, he said, to give a brief account of the working, in France as well as in Geneva, of the Society which he had the honour to represent. The Theological School in Geneva had now been twenty years in existence, and it could now be proved by its fruits. More than 100 faithful ministers of the gospel had been sent forth by it, thirty of whom had been engaged in France; some had gone to the east, where in India a reverend brother had died some years ago from jungle fever. It was an interesting fact, that this School had actually been the means of providing Belgium with ministers; for, of the thirteen or fourteen working in that country, ten had been students at Geneva. This institution had been, in the hands of God, the means of reviving the Piedmontese valleys, and of calling forth in that Church a new missionary spirit. No fewer than seven ministers were labouring there, the fruits of this school. Two of them were at Turin, and another at the town by which the Vaudois had been so cruelly treated for a long time. The colporteurs was another branch of the Society's operations; and it had fallen to their lot to be the very first who used that agency to any extent. This work had been somewhat impeded by measures of the Government; and controversial tracts were not now permitted to be sold or circulated. But still the work was going on. One very gratifying circumstance connected with their converts was, they generally came, not from infidels or enemies of the priests, but from pious people; and altogether the work was going on steadily and regularly. At one of their stations, where, a few years ago, the meetings only

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numbered about eighty or ninety, they could now count about 300 regular attendants; and so it was with the attendance at their schools. Might he be permitted to say, that in their opinion the Evangelical Society must avoid the idea of merely Protestantizing children, and keep in view that their object was to evangelise them,-to bring their immortal souls to the life of the gospel,-from death to eternal life. Their mission to the occidental part of France had been attended by the blessing of God. At one of their stations there, thirty Papists had, on the 1st of April last, publicly renounced their creed; and more than thirty were expected to do so at some future period. One interesting feature in this work was, that in this province they held it not only as a privilege, but as a command,—that which was conveyed in the words of our Lord," wherever two or three are met together, there will I be in the midst of them;" and accordingly they united weekly in the evenings after their work, for prayer, reading of the Bible, and for singing. They met again once a month, and spent a whole day; and over the province they had public and private meetings once in three months in some central place, and remained together several days; and this organization was the means of holding them together in the bonds of Christian fellowship. This was a hopeful token, especially when he was told that in this country the life of a Church was always indicated by the rise and fall of local prayermeetings. Another of their fields was in Drome, where a great many Christians had sprung up, and were now labouring in other parts of France. One of these labourers, a very remarkable man had been, in the hands of God, recognised as a spiritual father to at least 100 really converted Christians. The work here had been somewhat impeded by what was called kidnapping, as well as by the last troubles which had occurred in France, and by which one of the best labourers had been driven from his sphere of labour. Mr Vatt Ville then proceeded to give a short account of religious and ecclesiastical matters at Geneva. Geneva was the place on the Continent, he was convinced, where the true orthodox principles of Christianity were maintained with the most firmness, and especially the Divine inspiration and authority of the Bible. It was viewed by the Catholic party as Protestant Rome; they were making immense efforts to get the better of this city, and to make it a school of Rome; and if they had to look only to the arm of flesh, they had reason to be afraid of the future, because annually the proportion of Catholics in Geneva was augmented by immigration of French working people. At present there is building at Geneva a beautiful Catholic cathedral, for which money is being gathered all over the world, The Pope had subscribed largely to it, which showed that by their enemies Geneva was regarded as a place of very great importance. But they must look to God for assistance in their work. About two years ago the independent Protestants, and those who till then remained in the national Church, united into one Church, and had more than 1000 regular communicants. This, in connection with about 18,000 Protestants in Geneva, was certainly a beginning; and Geneva might, by the blessing of God, be the means of accomplishing a great deal of good. Some dangers hang over their work of evangelisation in France, but now was the time to labour with more zeal, and with all the energy which they could command, because the Reformed Church of France, had in her past history been always a suffering Church;it had been an element of her strength to be suffering for the cause of Christ; and they knew that there were now a great many Christian Churches in that country able to bear persecution. He was sure it was not among English or Scotch Christians that the thought would spring up that in the moment of trial their helping hand would be withdrawn from them. (Applause.) At

Geneva they were in more favourable circumstances than their brethren elsewhere. They were not in a position to ask for any help. They maintained their Church at home, and were able to contribute to foreign work; but still, they must say that the evangelisation of France belonged to England and Scotland, as well as to a handful of Christians at Geneva-(hear, hear)and that in going thither with the gospel, they would hope to meet again at least with a token of the sympathy and fellowship of this Church. (Applause.) He had heard a prayer offered once by a Scottish minister thus:"Oh! Lord, bring down the Pope;" and now, he would say to this Assembly, in conclusion, "Come and help us to bring down the Pope." (Applause.) Mr THEODORE RIVIER of Lausanne next addressed the Assembly. Although he had at present come from France, where he had been labouring for some time, he would be able to give them some particulars with reference to the Canton de Vaud. He was happy to state that in this canton they had lately got access to the enjoyment of religious liberty. The laws still remained which prohibited all religious meetings except of the Established Church, but they were not put in force. Some of their congregations, who held hitherto their meetings for worship in private houses, were now either building, or about to build, public places of worship. Four congregations had already got places of worship. The attendance on these was, on the whole, good; there being, however, as was always the case, a great many more hearers than members. After giving some further particulars respecting their operations and numbers, he expressed how thankful they ought to be, first towards the Lord, and, secondly, towards the Lord's children in foreign countries, for the generous sympathy they had met with among them, especially among the venerable fathers and brethren of the Free Church of Scotland. He hoped that this Assembly would not forget its little sister Church of the Canton de Vaud. (Applause.)

The Rev. Mr WILLIAMSON of Louvain referred to the eminent importance of that town as a Protestant missionary station. This importance arose from a double consideration,-its being, on the one hand, the principal ecclesiastical community in the country; and, on the other, its population having so long lain and suffered under the all but disputed sway of Roman superstition and tyranny. The first of these considerations of itself, it would be evident to every one, invested this town-town of churches and colleges, convents and cloisters, priests, professors, and monks-with an interest altogether peculiar. In such a place it was a most desirable thing that a just and worthy representation of Bible Protestant worship and Bible Protestant character should be set forth in a fair and public manner. This had been happily so far accomplished in the securing of a church (granted to them by the favour of the Town Council), and in appointing to it all the machinery of a well-constituted mission. Mr Williamson then referred to the various public services connected with his difficult charge, the French, German, &c., being undertaken by himself; while the Flemish, which, in some respects, is the principal part of the work, is discharged, under his superintendence, by an evangelist whose labours among the commoner classes of the town population had been signally blessed of the Lord. Mr Williamson alluded feelingly to the sufferings which the converts had endured in consequence of the public profession of their faith which they felt called upon to make. He noticed, in a few spirited remarks, the persecuting, satanic malignity of the Jesuits, so keenly felt by the little flock of converts at Louvain and in its neighbourhood, within the last six months particularly; a persecution, however, which, in scattering these faithful

members of Jesus Christ's mysterious body, had, as in other ages of his suffering Church, been the means of only spreading elsewhere the knowledge of His saving truth,-sending out, as it did, voluntarily or involuntarily, just another missionary, another faithful witness against the soul-destroying delusions of Antichrist. Mr Williamson concluded by commending to the venerable Assembly such a work as he had had the privilege of bringing under their immediate view. It was an honourable work, a fair and noble work, and, above all, a work which had been eminently blessed of God, to the conversion of many souls, and the strengthening of the faith and the hopes of still more. He besought that venerable Assembly to extend to it some consideration and sympathy. In the providence of God, he had been called to enter upon it, arduous and responsible as it was, altogether single-handed; and for nearly two years had been struggling single-handed with difficulties, and called to encounter trials, of no ordinary character of severity. It was a post of much responsibility, demanding talents of a very varied kind: and was altogether a position which pled strongly, on many accounts, for the encouragement, and claimed largely the sympathy, of the Assembly and the Church in general; and, beseeching this sympathy, and pleading for this encouragement, he commended it to the interest and prayers of the friends of Christ's cause in these anxious days for his Church in all lands.

Monsieur TURRETIN of Geneva, who spoke in French, apologised for his inability to address the Assembly in English. He urged on the Church here that they were all engaged in a common work; and in the present day, the peculiar sphere assigned to the Protestant churches was to wage war on the Papacy; and he appealed to the Assembly if the battle with the Papacy was not to be fought chiefly on the Continent of Europe, in Switzerland, in France, in Belgium, and Italy. In this point of view, he urgently pressed on the Assembly the importance of Geneva as a central place of operations; and her evangelistic institutions were now offered to the Free Church of Scotland as an instrument which, under the blessing of God, might be wielded with powerful effect against the enemies of the truth.

Sir GEORGE SINCLAIR said, The Assembly were now met for a very high and noble purpose, namely, to welcome men distinguished not less for their attainments than for their sufferings and services in the cause of truth; and he wished that, in expressing their sympathy for them, they would not confine it to a mere expression of it, which was a cheap mode of disposing of them; but, as what the women of old did to our Lord and Saviour himself, minister to them of their substance. He could not withhold a feeling of admiration for men who, like their friends, had borne the burden and heat of the day. It was one thing to encounter danger in the field of battle, and it was another to occupy a prominent place in the arena of a parade or review; and these men were contending against principalities and powers, with their hearts thoroughly in earnest. (Hear, hear.) He trusted, therefore, that their sympathy would not terminate with their respect, but that they would come forward as a Church, and come forward as individuals, to order to do what in them lay to increase their means of carrying on the warfare openly, zealously, and, he was sure, triumphantly and successfully, against the great enemy of God and man, in whose downfall this Church was as much concerned as they were. (Cheers.) He begged to move that an expression of the sympathy of the Assembly be conveyed to their foreign brethren now in attendance. (Applause.)

The motion having been agreed to unanimously,