public resources than the present law allows, to the exclusive benefit of teachers connected with the Established Church.

"That your Petitioners, therefore, entreat your Honourable House to take the subject into your serious consideration, and to pass such measures as may appear in your wisdom well fitted at once to advance the interests of education and religion in Scotland, and to admit to the charge of our Parochial Schools, all those Teachers, who, being possessed of the requisite literary qualifications, are bona fide willing to own the Word of God and the Shorter Catechism, and to give religious instruction accordingly. "And your Petitioners will ever pray.

"Signed in name and by appointment of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, the 1st day of June 1852 years, by

"ANGUS MAKELLAR, Moderator."

SPIRITUAL INTERESTS OF STUDENTS.

The Assembly took up the report by the Presbytery of Aberdeen relative to the Spiritual Interests of Students, transmitted to the Clerks, which having been considered, was remitted to the Select College Committee.

SUSTENTATION FUND.

The Assembly having resumed consideration of the matters connected with the business of the Sustentation Committee, the following deliverance was pronounced :

"I. The General Assembly approve of the report of the Sustentation Fund Committee, re-appoint the Committee, and while they regret to observe that there is this year a decrease in the income of the Fund, they are gratified to observe that the decrease has arisen almost entirely from a falling off in the donations and individual subscriptions, and that as regards the produce of the Associations which constitute the ordinary and permanent support of the Fund, the income of the preceding year has been all but fully sustained.

"II. That the General Assembly, deeply regretting that the provision for the ministry of the Church is still so inadequate, and strongly adhering to the views they have so often expressed as to the urgent necessity of endeavouring to provide a more sufficient maintenance, instruct the Committee to continue to give its best attention to the state and working of the Associations throughout the Church, to prosecute the system of visitation of congregations which has been for some years in operation, and to take all proper and prudent measures at the filling up of vacancies, to secure that congregations, in obtaining leave to call ministers, be impressed with a right sense of their duty towards this Fund, and to ascertain that they have taken the necessary steps to enable them to discharge it.

"III. In reference to the remit of last General Assembly on the subject of a modification of the existing plan of distributing the Sustentation Fund, the General Assembly approve of the diligence of the Committee in preparing and sending down to the Presbyteries of the Church a scheme of distributing the Fund as directed by the Assembly; and in terms of the Committee's report, the Assembly authorise the Committee to communicate with Deacons' Courts and Congregations in reference to the said Scheme during the present year, and to report to next General Assembly; and that certain ministers be requested to lend their services to the Committee, if called on, to carry out this resolution.

"IV. That the General Assembly, taking into consideration the resolutions of the Assembly of 1851, by which it is ruled that in no case whatever shall more than one stipend be paid out of the Sustentation Fund on account of one ministerial charge;' and that it shall be the object of the Fund for Aged and Infirm Ministers to supplement the half-stipend payable to the original minister of the charge,' the General Assembly recal the instructions of the Assembly 1848, in so far as it directed that no part of the interest accruing from the Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund be disbursed until the Fund shall have reached the sum of £20,000, and authorise the Committee to appropriate annually such portion as may be necessary of the said interest in supplementing the half-stipend of ministers who may be allowed to retire from their charges as ministers emeriti, or to whom colleagues and successors may be appointed, and who may be entitle to participate in the benefits of the Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund."

The following ministers were requested to lend their services to the Committee, if called on, to carry out the resolution relative to the Scheme of distributing the Fund as directed by the Assembly:-Dr Hetherington, Dr Candlish, Mr Lewis Irving, Mr James C. Burns, Mr Thomas Pitcairn, Mr W. B. Cunningham, Mr Patrick Fairbairn, Mr James J. Wood, Mr Patrick Borrowman, Mr Thomas B. Bell, Mr John Thomson (Paisley), Mr William Laughton, Sir H. W. Moncreiff, Mr Andrew B. Parker, Dr J. G. Lorimer, Mr David Brown, Dr Roxburgh, Dr Buchanan, Mr William Arnot, Mr Robert Craig, Mr Duncan Macnab, Dr Beith, Mr John Ferguson (Bridge-of-Allan), Mr D. R. Clark, Mr Thomas Dymock, Mr John W. Thomson, Mr Adam Cairns, Mr Angus M'Gillivray, Mr John Ainslie, Mr William Wilson, Mr John Laird, Mr William Nixon, Mr James Lumsden, Mr John Adam, Mr Alexander Spence, Mr George Moir, Mr John Mathieson, Mr Joseph Thorburn, Mr Alexander Fraser, Mr Donald Kennedy, Mr John Kennedy, Dr Charles MacIntosh, Mr Charles Thomson, Mr William Sinclair, Mr George R. Kennedy, Mr Alexander M'Kenzie (Nairn), Mr David Sutherland, Mr Alexander Gregory, Mr John Alexander, Mr Donald Ferguson, Mr William Buchan,

The Assembly add the names of Mr George Barbour and Mr John Wilson to the Sustentation Committee.

DUTHILL.

On the report of the Sustentation Committee under the instructions of last Assembly, the Assembly declare that Duthill, Presbytery of Abernethy, does not now exist as a sanctioned charge of the Church.

FOREIGN MISSIONS.

The Assembly agreed to the following deliverance anent Foreign Missions:

The General Assembly having resumed consideration of the report on Foreign Missions, approve of the same, and re-appoint the Committee, Mr Tweedie, Convener. They at the same time record their thanks to Almighty God for the spirit of liberality imparted to so many of the people of this land, for the measure of success which has attended the labours of the Missionaries, and for the progress of truth amid so many obstructions, and especially the progress made in training a native ministry for India. And while they rejoice to hear of the measure of health enjoyed by some of the brethren, the Assembly express their sympathy with those who are left, by the sickness of their colleagues, to bear the burden and heat of the day, as well as with those whose labours have been interrupted by the ravages of war.

And in regard to the erection of Mission Buildings at Calcutta, while the Assembly recognise the necessity of these for the extension and the permanency of their missions in Bengal, they hereby instruct the Committee to adopt the means which may seem most likely to promote that result with as little delay as possible.

The Committee are also again instructed to adopt all right and competent measures, on the occasion of the Renewal of the East India Company's Charter, with a view to secure, to the largest possible extent, all encouragement and protection, whether to those who proclaim the truth, or to those who embrace it, in all parts of Her Majesty's Indian possessions.

Farther, in regard to the application for 'fraternal intercourse' with the missionaries of the Church, on the part of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, as mentioned in the report, the Assembly heartily approve of that proposal, and instruct their Committee to intimate this to the missionaries, and also to the brethren in Wales.

In regard to the associations now in course of formation throughout the Church, in terms of past deliverances of the General Assembly, while they rejoice that, irrespective of the Synod of Perth, about one hundred have been formed during the past year in the Synods of Angus and Mearns, Fife, Stirling, Lothian and Tweeddale, Merse and Teviotdale, and Glasgow and Ayr, and that others are in course of formation within these bounds, so that in consequence the revenue of the missions has already been greatly increased, they hereby recommend the ministers and Presbyteries of this Church to proceed with as little delay as possible to complete that work, that by the blessing of God an income may be secured somewhat more adequate to the greatness of this department of the Church's labours, as well as more commensurate with the

remarkable openings and facilities which Providence has of late years furnished towards its successful cultivation.

And finally, the Assembly record their regret to learn that the affairs of the mission at the Cape of Good Hope have not yet been definitely wound up, and again instruct the Committee to lose no time in accomplishing that result in the manner and with the view pointed out by former Assemblies.

The draft of a memorial to Government relative to Education in India not having been submitted, the Assembly order the Committee to prepare the same, and authorize the Moderator to subscribe it in name of the Assembly.

The Assembly add the name of Mr John Wilson to the Foreign Mission Committee.

DELIVERANCE ON POPERY.

The Assembly having resumed consideration of the report on Popery, express the very solemn obligations under which this Church is laid to bear a faithful and stedfast testimony on behalf of the truth against every form of Popish error, and the urgent necessity which is laid upon it at the present time to resist the encroachments of the Man of Sin.

The Assembly have heard with satisfaction of the works issuing from the press in defence of Protestant truth. They instruct the Committee carefully to watch the progress of Popery, and give them full powers to adopt such measures to resist its inroads as circumstances may from time to time seem to demand; and farther, they earnestly recommend the Ministers of the Church to keep this subject before their people, and, in particular, to take means to impart to the youth under their charge an accurate acquaintance with the soul-destroying errors of the Romish system. The Assembly add certain names to the Committee on Popery.

The Assembly having called on the Popery Committee to report relative to a petition against Maynooth, a draft was submitted, which being approved of, was ordered to be subscribed by the Moderator, and transmitted to the Marquis of Breadalbane for presentation to the House of Lords, and to Mr Charles Cowan, M.P., for presentation to the House of Commons.

DELIVERANCE ON REPORT ON THE HIGHLANDS.

The Assembly resumed consideration of the report of the Committee on the Highlands, and agreed to the following deliverance :

The Assembly approve of the report, record their thanks to the Committee, and to Dr Mackay, Convener, and re-appoint the Committee, Dr Mackay, Convener.

The Assembly deeply feel and deplore the spiritual destitution that prevails so extensively in various parts of the Highlands and Islands, and would earnestly encourage the Committee in their endeavours to deal with it effectually.

In regard to the suggestion in the report, as to the application of a portion of the funds of this Committee for the purpose of a stimulating aid-fund towards the ordaining of pastors in destitute and populous districts, the Assembly remit the same for farther consideration to the Committee, authorising them, if they see cause, to confer thereanent with the Sustentation Committee, and to submit a more definite proposal to the Commission at any of its stated diets, which is hereby empowered to dispose of the

same.

The Assembly authorise the Committee to confer, if they see cause, with the Colonial and Continental Committee, on the subject of the urgent spiritual necessities of the Highlanders congregated in Victoria Province, Australia, with a view to direct the attention of the said Committee to their case.

The Assembly authorise the Committee, in terms of the arrangement made by the Assembly 1849, when this Committee was constituted as a distinct Committee from that of the Home Missions, to draw upon the collection to be made this year, for the Home Mission Committee, to an amount not exceeding one-half of the said collection, that amount to be repaid out of the Committee's next biennial collection.

And the Assembly approving generally of the object contemplated in the Committee's proposal for raising a permanent fund towards the partial endowment of certain charges in the Highlands and Islands, remit said proposal to the Committee with authority to mature the same, if they see cause, and lay it in a more definite form before the Commission at any of its stated diets, which is hereby empowered to give such instructions or such sanction as may seem meet.

HOME MISSIONS.

The Assembly having heard a Supplementary Report from the Home Mission Committee relative to the distribution and remuneration of probationers, the Assembly approve of and adopt the same, and order the report to be kept in retentis.

AMSTERDAM.

The Principal of the New College having stated that he had received a communication from the Rev. Mr Swartz, one of the Missionaries of this Church at Amsterdam, conveying an offer of certain buildings and other property at Amsterdam to the Free Church of Scotland, with a view to the establishment of a Theological Seminary there, the Assembly remit this matter to the Committee on the Conversion of the Jews and the Colonial and Continental Committees, instructing them to report their opinion thereon, and to suggest what measures they may consider advisable to the Commission in August, or at any of its stated diets; and the Commission is hereby empowered to dispose thereof, as they may see cause.

DELIVERANCE ON COLONIAL REPORT.

The Assembly having resumed consideration of the business of the Colonial Committee, resolved as follows:

That the Assembly have anew heard with gratification and thankfulness of the attachment of their countrymen in other lands to the principles of this Church, and of their increasing desire to enjoy Divine ordinances in connection with its communion.

That the Assembly rejoice to notice in the present prosperous state of various influential Churches in the British Colonies, and especially of the Collegiate Institutions which have been formed in some of them for the training of a native ministry, the fruits with which God has been pleased to bless the labours of this Committee.

That the Assembly, alive to the additional responsibility entailed on this Church by the present extensive emigration to Australia, approve of the proposal of the Committee to send out a number of ministers simultaneously to that important colony, and of their intention to raise a special fund to aid in this work; and the Assembly instruct the Committee, in sending out ministers, to have respect to the urgent necessities of the Gaelic-speaking emigrants in Victoria.

That the Assembly approve of the steps taken by the Committee to erect a Church in Gibraltar, and rejoice that, in a position which may become so important as a centre of missionary operations, there is the present promise of a permanent and vigorous congregation.

That the Assembly recognise and acknowledge the duty of this Church to avail itself of all openings for spreading the truth on the Continent of Europe and in Popish countries, desire to sympathise with those Churches and Societies on the Continent which are labouring to disseminate among their Romish brethren the knowledge of the grace of God, and very earnestly commend them, especially in their present dangers and difficulties, to the prayers of the members and congregations of this Church. That the Assembly regret that while inviting opportunities of usefulness, and pressing applications for help, are multiplying upon this Committee, its revenue has during the past year sustained some diminution, and specially commend its various important objects to the liberality of the Church, so that it may be enabled more extensively to promote the maintenance of pure gospel ordinances throughout the world.

MODEL TRUST-DEED.

The Assembly took up the overtures anent the Model Trust-deed from the Presbyteries of Edinburgh and Glasgow. With the leave of the House, said overtures were withdrawn.

Adjourned, to meet at seven o'clock evening.

EVENING SEDERUNT.

The Assembly again convened, and having been constituted with devotional exercises, the minute of last diet was read.

UNION WITH ORIGINAL SECEDERS.

[The proceedings in this case will be found in the Appendiz.]

COMMISSION.

The Assembly then appointed a Commission, consisting of the members all of the House, with the representatives of the Presbytery of Kirkcudbright, whose commission was rejected; and, at the Moderator's desire, the Assembly add the name of Dr Robert Gordon of the High Church, Edinburgh.

The Assembly appoint a Committee to name ministers to preach on the Sabbaths of next Assembly.

A Committee was appointed to revise the minutes and print the Acts of this Assembly.

Protestations were called for, but none were given in.

The minute of this diet was then read.

On the motion of Mr Dunlop, the Assembly appoint the next General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland to be holden at Edinburgh on Thursday, the 19th day of May 1853.

The MODERATOR then delivered his concluding address, as follows:

FATHERS AND BRETHREN,—We are now come to the close of our Assembly, and to the conclusion of our proceedings. At the commencement of these, we were led devoutly and dutifully to seek that our God might guide us in the right way, and prosper the work of our hands. And now when they are come to an end, have we not reason to say, "Verily, God hath heard us; He has attended unto the voice of our supplications?" When we review the course of our proceedings, and consider not only the great importance and deep interest of the matters that came before us, but, in many cases, their variety and intricacy, have we not reason to adore the goodness of our God, who has not withheld from us the wisdom that is profitable to direct?

No doubt there is to be found with us no small portion of talent, and energy, and experience, in the management of difficult matters, and in the adjustment of intricate affairs. But have we not seen cases where the desired result was so sudden and satisfactory, as to warrant the conclusion that the hand of God was there? Let us, then, not be wanting in rendering unto Him the tribute of our gratitude and praise. Let our language ever be, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be all the praise."

If any one were to inquire at us what was the character of this Assembly, we should be ready to answer, that it was one of the best we have ever enjoyed.

It is true, indeed, that, in regard to excitement, and lively interest and lengthened discussions, and spirited debates, it might not be equal to some others that went before it; but in the amount and quality of business done, in the wisdom and propriety of its plans and the reasonableness of its measures, it has been honoured to do much to promote the stability and prosperity of our beloved Church, and the glory of our God. We, the members of this Assembly, must be filled with gratitude and wonder when we think of the