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and deserving of the deliberate consideration of the Church. His friend Mr Gibson, he was rather afraid, in order to make a fair comparison of the students, would require to take into account the whole Free Church students attending the University of Edinburgh. In regard to the supply of students, it was enough that they were producing every year twice as many students as they required for their own vacancies. (Dr Cunningham resumed his seat amidst great applause.)

Dr CANDLISH did not admit the construction put upon his motion by the Principal. He did not admit that it was a mere abstract declaration of what might be carried out at any time, neither did he admit that his motion implied that it was impossible for the Church to carry out either the raising of the curriculum at Edinburgh, or the extension of theological education. The motion pointed to the appointment of a Committee, evidently implying that it was in the compass of the Church to aim at both these objects.

The roll being then called, and votes marked, there voted for Dr Cunningham's motion, 189; for Dr Candlish's, 126; majority 63.

The case of the disjunction of the congregation of Whithorn and Isle of Whithorn, and application of Mr J. B. Caldwell, student of divinity of the Established Church, to be admitted into the Free Church, were referred to Committee on Sanctioning Charges, and admission of ministers of other Churches. The Assembly then adjourned.

THURSDAY, MAY 25. 1848.

Reasons of Dissent given in-Speeches of Mr Gibson and Dr Cunningham-Constitution of Schools-Speech of Dr Candlish-Testimony of the Church-Speech of Dr Candlish-Report of Colonial Committee Speeches of Dr Willis, Mr Monteith, and Mr Macnaughtan-Report of Committee on Popery-Speech of Mr Tweedie Overture anent Translations of Ministers -Speech of Dr Brown-Report of Foreign Missions Committee-Speeches of Dr Macfarlan, Mr Wilson, Mr Barclay, Mr Macnaughtan, Mr Willis, Dr Smyttan, Dr Candlish, Mr Dunlop, Mr M. Crichton, Mr Tweedie, and Mr Campbell, Monzie.

The Assembly met, and was constituted as usual with devotional exercises. The minutes of last diet being read and approved of, certain members of Assembly signified their adherence to the dissent from the judgment of the Assembly last night. Dr Brown gave in and read Reasons of dissent from said judgment, which the Assembly ordered to be inserted in a separate record.

REPORT OF COLLEGE COMMITTEE.

Mr GIBSON said-There were several matters of very great importance connected with the Report of the College Committee, which had not yet been taken up, and he would like to know when these matters were to be disposed of. With the permission of the House he should notice the matters to which he referred. On page second of the Report submitted to the House there was this statement:" As the Committee have executed the instructions of last Assembly, in regard to these two subjects of the extension of theological education, and the constitution of the New College, and as these subjects, and the views of the Committee regarding them, have been for some time in the hands of the Church, the Committee do not consider themselves called upon to offer any further observations with respect to them." It would be observed here, that the important subject of the constitution of the College was still undisposed of, and that was a matter involving principles of very great moment, both as to the constitutional principles of the Church, and as to the doctrinal principles of the Church, and must in some satisfactory way be taken up and disposed

of.

There was another matter of very deep interest to which he thought he might have an opportunity of referring when the matter was brought before them in another shape, he meant the mode in which the property of the College was to be vested, whether it was to be vested in trustees, according to the model trust-deed, which, he apprehended, did not vest it in any respect as bound to the principles of this Church, as presently professed by it. He was not going to enter into the question, but simply to state the necessity of having it duly considered, that the members

of this House, and the country, should know the actual state of the case. This was a matter of deep importance, that must be immediately attended to. He presumed from the vote of last night, and from what was indicated in that vote, that something very decided must be done in regard to the mode of instructing their young men at certain university seats. He hoped this part of the Report was not approved of, and that some immediate arrangement would be attended to. It so happened that he was Convener of the Committee appointed by the Glasgow Presbytery to superintend the theological instruction of the students who studied under the Presbytery of Glasgow, the thirteen students referred to last night. There was a statement in this Report to which he must also call attention, and which he hoped would be duly considered. On the fourth page of the Report it was stated :-" The Presbytery have acted in this matter in accordance with an understanding which has generally prevailed in the Church, but which does not seem to be explicitly sanctioned by any law or regulation of the Assembly. The Committee would recommend that the Assembly should give their sanction to what has hitherto been done in this matter by the Presbytery of Glasgow, and issue some directions for the future regulation of this subject." Now, what he demurred to was this, that the Presbytery of Glasgow was to be brought to the bar of this House, or at all events subjected to the discussion of this house, and possibly to a judgment of this house, for having acted in this matter irregularly, or without any authority at all; for so far as he could see, the question to be submitted to the decision of this house was, not whether they were entitled to act as they had done, but whether or not they were liable to the censure of this house, and whether or not those students whom they had superintended for several years were in reality students at all. That was the point raised in this statement. He had no objection that the subject be raised, discussed, and settled; but he took leave to remind this house that those students, and the mode in which they had been instructed, stood on the very same authority that the appointment of certain professors stood. And in order to make that clear, he would refer the house to the Acts of Assembly for one moment. Before he proceeded to read the passage, he would take this opportunity of saying, that he concurred entirely in certain remarks made in this house in regard to the mode in which those matters had been transacted; that was to say, that there had been a whole College instituted, and professors appointed, and sundry other matters of importance transacted, without being submitted to the judgment of this Church at all in any regular constitutional shape or form. He said, in matters of such vast moment, it was high time that these practices should be put an end to. Till that was put an end to, he would claim the same indulgence for the students under their care that had been extended to their superiors, the professors. Having made this statement, he now proceeded to read the passage to which he referred. Of course, he could not produce an act of Assembly, for the very simple reason, because these matters were not transacted by the Assembly, but by the Commission, and this was in the proceedings of the Commission. He trusted, therefore, this matter would receive due attention. At Edinburgh, in the Commission of Assembly in August 14. 1844, "A Report from the College Committee was given in and read by Dr Welsh. The Commission approved of the Report, and, in terms of the recommendation therein contained, did and hereby do appoint Mr Patrick Campbell Macdougall to the Chair of Moral Philosophy in connection with the New College. The Commission farther empower the Committee to appoint a Classical Tutor, agreeably to the terms of the second branch of their Report, and they authorized the Presbyteries of the university seats to follow out the recommendation contained in the Report relative to those students who may not be able conveniently to attend on the instructions of the professors in Edinburgh." This was the whole which related to this matter, so far as he could find; and it was an extreme inconvenience that matters of this importance could only be discovered by searching the Reports referred to, and that they could not find them in the Acts of the Church. He had searched the Acts of the Assembly from beginning to end, but he could find nothing to direct him in this matter beyond this passage. If it were that the Presbytery of Glasgow had been acting through sufferance, and that they must now submit to a judgment of this house for something like an act of indemnity, he would like to have an express act of Assembly regulating this power exhibited in these minutes of the Commission. He for one

would not submit to have the Presbytery of Glasgow submitted to the judgment of the Assembly on a report of the College Committee. If it should be found that there was an express act of this Assembly, shewing that they had taken up that matter proprio motu, or without authority, he was quite willing that something should be done. In the extract he had read from the minutes of the Commission, they saw exactly what were the terms upon which the professors were appointed, and these terms were not in accordance with any act of Assembly that he knew of. They would never have presumed to have acted as they have done without authority; and he maintained that their authority in this matter stood on as solid a basis as anything that had been done in regard to the appointment of professors alluded to in the extract which he had read. He trusted, therefore, this part of the Report would be departed from, and that the Presbytery of Glasgow would not be called to account. Then, as to the manner of dealing with students hereafter, he trusted that would be determined, and not only that, but that another point also should be determined, Whether or not their 200 students were to be left without any religious superintendence of an authoritative kind at all. This was a matter seriously involving the whole question raised last night. Matters of very serious importance were involved in this. Those 213 students must be left without any authoritative superintendence at all in regard to religion, or the Church must adopt some more permanent mode of carrying their superintendence into effect. It would not do to make Edinburgh responsible, not only for the religious superintendence of the students, but for the mode in which there was to be any connection between theology and religion in the teaching of those students. That was a subject demanding immediate attention. It would perhaps be out of order to go farther into the matter, otherwise he would have added this, that they might rest assured, that if their theological students had nothing to influence them and to guide their principles in the large University, where there were students of all kinds to influence their minds, as he could shew from recent facts, they left them in a very precarious condition indeed.

Dr CUNNINGHAM said he would only say in general, in reply to Mr Gibson's remarks in regard to these matters, that they must, of course, be brought under the consideration of this house. The Assembly had given no deliverance whatever on the College Report, except in regard to that part of it which explained the curriculum. There were a number of other things in the College Report which must come before the house, and be sanctioned by them.

Mr GIBSON said, as Dr Cunningham was not present when he began his statement, he might explain that he did not say the matters had been decided, but that they must be decided, and he wished to ask the house how they were to be dealt with.

It

Dr CUNNINGHAM said, if that was the only question, then a time must be appointed for considering them by the Committee for managing public business. was quite plain that they must be considered and disposed of. In preparing the Report he acted on the feeling that very considerable changes might be made in managing their collegiate matters, in things necessary, if they resolved to establish an efficient theological hall. There were a number of things in the Report which would require to be brought up next year, referring to the theological halls at Aberdeen, at Edinburgh, and at Glasgow. He believed that matter in reference to the students at Glasgow could be very easily explained, and if any change in the form of expression seemed to be fairly warranted, he had no objection to it. He might say, in general, it was somewhat under the impression the Report was written, that an act passed in 1846, on the recommendation of his friend Mr Andrew Gray, had the effect, and was intended to have the effect, of putting a conclusive end to all these understandings and regulations as to the irregular modes of conducting the studies of the students, which had been acted upon from the time of the Disruption. How far that act of 1846 had the effect contemplated he was not aware, nor was he prepared to speak, but he thought ethat was a matter which might be very easily adjusted. Having examined the Acts of Assembly, he said he had no doubt but the act of 1844 did fully warrant the course pursued by the Presbytery of Glasgow. That act had not been revoked, and it was quite clear that their procedure had been thoroughly legal, and did not require the sanction of the Assembly. That of course must be kept in view when the General Assembly came to dispose of the recommendations in the Report of the College Committee.

X

REPORT ANENT THE CONSTITUTION OF SCHOOLS.

Dr CANDLISH, in giving in the interim Report on this subject said, I have to apologise, not so much to the Assembly as to the Committee of which I am Convener, that, on account of the pressure of business, I have not obtained a formal meeting of the Committee on this point; but I have taken the liberty of just laying on the table the amended overture in regard to the Constitution of Schools, which has been carefully formed, not merely during the sittings of the Assembly, but carefully considered previously by the Committee in connection with the returns we were favoured with by the clerks of Presbyteries of the opinions of the various Presbyteries; and as this is an amended overture, I do not call for any discussion upon it just now, but mean to reserve the discussion on it, should it give rise to any discussion, till the evening of Monday next, when probably the Education Report will be received. I think it of less consequence, therefore, to observe the mere form of passing it through the Committee, and the more rather, because all the important suggestions of the Presbyteries have been carefully weighed, and have been adopted, as far as possible, and embodied in the amended overture. I will explain in a The oversingle sentence or two, the principal alterations made in the overture. ture was sent down to Presbyteries, in terms of the Barrier Act, by last Assembly, and very numerous returns from the Presbyteries have been received. We have received in all fifty-three returns from Presbyteries. These returns, as the Assembly will remember, were at a former diet remitted to the Education Committee, that that Committee miglrt bring up what I now hold in my hand,-the amended overture. In point of form, the overture sent down to Presbyteries, in terms of the Barrier Act, stands disapproved of. We have only one Presbytery of the Church approving of it as it stands. The only honourable exception to the general mass of Presbyteries, all of whom thought fit to cavil at this admirable document, was the Presbytery of Chanonry. That Presbytery approved of it out and out as it stands, and thus showed more than the usual amount of discernment. At the same time, I am very glad also to report, that, in substance, all the fifty-three Presbyteries approve of the overture. In the main substance of the overture we have the approval of all the Presbyteries. All of them suggest amendments and alterations; and as far as possible, and as far as they were consistent with one another, and considered expedient, we have adopted them in this amended overture. I am in hopes, therefore, that we may be in a condition in this Assembly, not merely to retransmit the overture, but to pass it into an interim act; but that, however, will be for the Assembly to decide when the subject comes again before them. I think it is unnecessary to give any detail or any statement in regard to these returns, or on any point of the constitution, excepting one. There is one question of principle particularly raised in the overture, namely, as to the way in which the teachers are to be tested by the Presbyteries as to their soundness in the faith. The overture sent down to Presbyteries ordained that teachers should be tested as to their soundness in the faith, according to the judicial Standards of this Church, in the following manner, namely, by their being examined as to their soundness in the faith accordto the Standards, and declaring themselves amenable to those Standards, and by their having this recorded in the Presbytery books. The question then raised in the overture was, Is this a sufficient mode of testing the soundness of the faith of the teachers? Now, the returns of this question I think it right to lay before the General Assembly. Thirteen Presbyteries are in favour of the overture as it stands. One is in favour of leaving it to the discretion of Presbyteries, to determine in what manner the soundness of the faith of the teacher should be tested according to the Standards of the Church,-whether by a subscription on his part, or by the Presbyteries declaring themselves satisfied. Three Presbyteries are in favour of a teacher being required to adhibit his subscription to the Shorter Catechism. One Presbytery is in favour of the teachers being required to declare their willingness to subscribe the Standards, whenever they may be called upon; and thirty-six Presbyteries are in favour of the teachers being required to subscribe the judicial Standards of the Church at the time of their examination by the Presbytery. It is right also to state, that I have fifteen returns transmitted to the Education Committee by the Presbytery Clerks, and ex gratia, I take the liberty of laying them before the As

sembly. In sending them to the Committee, probably the Presbytery Clerks thought that was sufficient for the Assembly, and neglected to send them up. Five of these are in favour of subscription, and ten in favour of the overture as it stands. Thus we have thirty-six formally given in to the Assembly, and five returns given in to the Education Committee, which we may regard as substantially given in to the Assembly, making in all forty-one Presbyteries returning their opinion in favour of subscripion to the Standards; but without counting the five which we are not entitled to take into consideration in point of form, the thirty-six constitute a majority of the Presbyteries; and if we take into account the other five, there is a very large majority, forty-one; while, on the other side, we have in favour of the overture as it stands, thirteen formally before the house; and taking into account the other ten to which I have referred, makes twenty-three. So that the exact return as it at present stands is forty-one in favour of subscription, twenty-three in favour of the overture as it stands, three in favour of subscription to the Shorter Catechism, and one in favour of the discretion of the Presbyteries in the matter. In these circumstances, it does not appear that any further discussion of the subject is necessary so far as we are concerned; and I for one am quite prepared to move in accordance with the return of the majority of Presbyteries. I am not going to discuss the matter. If it were necessary, I might go into some explanation of the reasons that led me on former occasions to be rather in favour of the overture as it stood last year. But holding that so decided and unequivocal an expression of the mind of the Church ought to settle the matter, I am disposed to propose that we send down the overture amended in terms of this resolution of the majority of Presbyteries. (Hear, hear.) This is the only matter of principle involved in the overture; and I will just lay on the table the amended overture, and propose it to lie on the table, to be called for. I feel so certain that the principles of the overture in other respects are unchanged since last year, that I do not think it necessary that it should be printed and put into the hands of the members of the house. (Hear, hear.)

The Assembly ordered the draft of said overture to lie on the table, till the Report of the Education Committee was given in.

OVERTURES ANENT THE TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH.

The CLERK then read certain overtures from the Synods of Argyll, Perth, and Stirling, anent the testimony of the Church.

Dr CANDLISH said,—I do not know whether any one else is prepared to make a statement on these overtures. They relate to an important subject,- -a subject which may well deserve a larger share of the time and attention of this house than on this day, exhausted as we are by yesterday's proceedings, it is likely to receive. The overtures referred to relate to the best means of keeping up and maintaining in the present generation the testimony of this Church, and prominently bringing before the minds of men the great principles for which we are called upon to contend. There is very great danger, as years roll on, of our ministers and members forgetting somewhat the sacredness of these principles; and hence the necessity of taking such precautions as will keep them prominently in their mind. (Hear, hear.) I observe one of the overtures touches on the point of maintaining our principles and our testimony in high places, and calls upon us to testify on their behalf before kings and rulers; and, in particular, to renew our testimony to Parliament,-to the Parliament of this kingdom,-that is to say, to bring before Parliament again and again from time to time our Claim of Rights. Of course, that Claim of Rights we still persevere in maintaining. We have never let it drop,-we have never abandoned our Claim of Rights. It is still our solemn protest to the Legislature of this great country, that we have been unconstitutionally cast out from the Establishment; but though I do not see any practical good which would accrue from renewing our claim in Parliament, yet it is an important object to bring before our people the sacredness of those principles for which we contended and left the Establishment. Last year an act was passed in reference to this subject, enjoining, among other things, that ministers should preach upon this matter, or should call the attention of their people to it on some convenient occasion. Unhappily the time was left somewhat indefinite, and hence, as what may be done on any Sabbath is apt to be done on none, I believe the act was not complied with. It so happens, however, we

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