of it; arrogating to themselves the power of sending back to their parishes, to their communes, the ministers or elders found officiating, and the right of committing them, besides, with the master of the house where the meeting took place, to the tribunals of police, to be fined, according to the gravity of the case, with a fine not less, for the first offence, than three pounds, nor more than twelve pounds. Under the operation of this interdict six pastors were separated from their flocks by an administrative sentence of Government, but no law-suit was instituted. The interdict expired on the 31st of December. A fresh and similar one was enacted on the 28th of March last; and already at least four pastors have been in virtue of it sent away from their dear flocks. I am one of them, as my dear friend Mr Gray told you. On the 22d of May, the day before Easter, I was worshipping, with about thirty people, in the house of Madame Vinet, the wife of the celebrated Professor. The meeting was found out, denounced, and dissolved by the police. Eight days after, I received my sentence of relegation to the place to which I belong,-an Alpine country. I hold the said sentence in my hand; besides which, both Madame Vinet and myself were handed over to the tribunal of police of Lausanne, as having contravened the interdict,-myself by officiating, and she by lending the house of prayer. A little more than a fortnight ago we appeared, and were fined each three pounds for our offence. This was the first time that Government instituted proceedings before a tribunal under the interdicts; and there was a most singular providential coincidence during that week, with events full of the most painful recollections for Madame Venet. The day the meeting was dissolved in her house was the day when her dear and venerated husband left his town dwelling for the country, never to return to it; the day she received the warrant to appear before our judges was the day of her husband's death; and the day of judgment the day of her husband's funeral ;-so that that dear friend of mine has been the first female in our Canton called to suffer for that cause of religious liberty to which Professor Vinet devoted his invaluable life. Such, Moderator, are some of the outward difficulties and dangers by which our faithfulness is tried. Let me turn now to the encouragements we have received under this distressing state of things. They have been great and many. I can only allude briefly to them. We received the chief and the best directions from the hand of our gracious God. The Disruption, and the trials which followed immediately, have done, under God, much spiritual good to many,-I might say to most, if not to all the pastors and ministers of the Free Church. We felt as if a new life, a new peace, a new cheerfulness, had pervaded our souls and our ministrations. Some actually received the gospel fully only during that time. I know one who says he never was really a pastor before. Most have enjoyed greatly the testimony of their consciences, and it has been to them more precious than all their troubles have been painful. We have felt it a blessing and an honour to suffer something for Him who has suffered all for us. We have learned, under our trials, patience, submission, meekness, self-denial, and we have not paid too dear for those blessed graces of the Christian character. We have been led to enter more truly in the spirit of the exhortation of our blessed Lord, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for those who persecute you." I verily believe, generally speaking, irritation against our adversaries has been a stranger to our hearts. By all this we have been greatly comforted and encouraged. I can truly say, as to myself, that, notwithstanding all this, I have never, at any period, been more happy in my soul in my ministry. Then, it has pleased God, in many instances, to bless peculiarly our ministrations. Some striking conversions have taken place during that hour of trial. Many have become serious, felt the reality and power of true religion, the value of their souls, the blessedness of the gospel. Our worship, though so modest, deprived of all outward solemnity and human eloquence, has been more sweet, more real, more elevating, more refreshing, more intimate with our God and with one another. Then, again, a feeling of Christian union between pastors and flocks, and between members of the same flock, has made its appearance. We never had flocks before, we had large congregations, and friends and brethren in the midst of them. Now, we pastors have flocks, who love us, and whom we love. They have chosen us freely for their pastors, and they are dear to us, and we to them. When I left Lausanne, a most affectionate letter of

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sympathy and affection was sent to me, signed in a few days by nearly four hundred people. I might also mention many facts to show that a feeling of Christian fellowship, formerly unknown, does now exist, and show itself in a variety of ways, some of them most affecting. I know a gentleman and his wife who, since the 24th of November, the day of the interdict with penalties, determined to have, on every Lord's day, three or four members of the Church, chiefly poor, to dine with them, in order to show them kindness, and to get better acquainted with one another. Another encouragement has arisen from the fact that we have seen many laymen experience an interest and manifest an activity totally unknown before in our Church affairs. They have felt that they were now something, and could do something good for the Church. In some parishes deprived of their pastors some months since, the grace of God has raised elders, feeling their responsibility, and anxious to do what they could for the good of the people. In most churches so tried, Divine worship has not been interrupted. Some elders have, in faith and simplicity of heart, occupied the places of their beloved pastors. To give you an idea of the state of some of the churches, I beg leave to communicate to you the report of a pastor who visited two or three of them in the mountains in the month of February. He went first to his own small flock. "Thanks be to God," says he, “I have found my parishioners firm in the faith, full of love to Christ, and affection for me. They have thanked me much for the pastoral letter I have addressed them since my departure from among them. I had written to them at Christmas time, to encourage them to receive the Lord's Supper together if they felt the need of it, and could not have a pastor to administer it unto them. Most of them have done so with great blessing, under the direction of our brother V- elder of that church, to whom the Lord has given to be very zealous and active during my absence. flock is very thankful for the services of their elders, and has not, till now, lost any of its members." The same pastor visited another church in the mountains of the Jura. CC I went," he says, "to an elder, and learned with pleasure that the whole church could be collected for seven o'clock in the evening; and that, generally speaking, since the pastor has left, that church meets regularly for worship in their ordinary place, at ten and at two, every Lord's day, without ever being prevented from so doing. The enmity in that locality was chiefly directed against the pastor. The perturbatories had declared that if he went away, they would leave the religious meetings undisturbed; and they have kept their word. The meeting called together for that very evening on account of my visit, was chiefly composed of men, the night and the bad roads preventing women from attending; so that my congregation consisted only of about fifty or sixty people. But what seriousness! What hunger and thirst for divine things! What appearance of firmness and decision! Everybody must have come there well disposed; for the Lord did strengthen and help me so marvellously, that I was now and then pierced to the heart by the things that He gave me to say, and we were all deeply sensible of his presence, and drawn to him by invisible cords of love. We have also derived great encouragement from men, for which we are thankful to God and to our brethren. Small, unworthy, as we are, we have received, from all parts of the world, testimonies of love, approbation, sympathy, which have at times greatly comforted and supported us. From Calcutta, from Bengal, from England, where 400 ministers of the Establishment wrote to us an encouraging letter, from all parts of Germany and Switzerland, from many churches of France, from the National Church of Scotland, who sent us many letters and a generous pecuniary aid for the demissionary pastors, we have received favours, for which we are deeply thankful. But it is you members of the Free Church that we count for our best, our dearest friends and supporters; chiefly because you have been to us most persevering and indefatigable friends. At every time of need, at every new storm, you have been ready to extend to us the hand of fellowship, in a variety of ways, too numerous to be mentioned here. Your sympathy has not been that of a moment. You have never forgotten, never deserted us. It has done us more good than it would be in my power to mention here. We bless you, and we pray God to bless you for it. Indeed, though we are deeply thankful for all the testimonies of your sympathy, we do not wonder at them. You are so richly favoured with religious privileges, and with the fullest religious liberty, that you can and must feel much for those who,

like us, are more or less deprived of those precious boons of heaven which you enjoy so plentifully. It is therefore with full confidence in the bonds of Christian love that exist between us, that, thanking you for all the past, I commend our poor afflicted Church to your persevering brotherly affection, and, above all, to your persevering prayers. We never needed them more than at the present critical time. Now, Moderator, one word about our prospects, and I have done. As far as we look to man, and to passing events, and to present circumstances, our prospects are, if not very dark, at least very obscure, very uncertain, and, to some extent, very threatening. Hostility, instead of relaxing, seems to increase, so that, in our country, we have little to hope from men. But it is one of the benefits of our situation, that it has long ago taken away from us all human props, and constrained us to look up simply, entirely, continually, for help, support, and deliverance, to God alone. I trust to his mighty grace, that he will make us to continue to look up to Him, who alone can and will deliver us, when it seemeth good unto Him, and will till then give us to cast all our care upon him, to overcome both our outward and our inward difficulties. Among these let me just mention, in conclusion, that our finances are very low. But it is not to be wondered at; the general state of our country is not favourable at present to money collections; and, besides, our Free Church, which is composed of thirty-seven churches, which has forty-two pastors to provide for, numbers, comparatively to other churches, a very small number of members. In order, therefore, to provide for the wants of such a Church, they should make extraordinary efforts, of which they are hardly capable now. But the smallness of our Church does not diminish the importance of keeping it up. It is a witnessing Church. It is a leavening Church. I thank you for your patient hearing; and pray the Lord to bless more and more the Free Church of Scotland. Mr LA HARPE, from Geneva, having been introduced by Mr Gray, came forward and said, I feel very much that I appear before the Assembly under every disadvantage. It is a disadvantage to come before such a meeting as this, when one has been all the day on the railroad; and it is a disadvantage to be taken at so very short notice, as I was not aware, when I arrived in Edinburgh, that I should be called on to address the meeting to-night. It is a very great disadvantage to come after my beloved brother, M. Scholl; for I feel, that whatever be the interest of those things I may bring before you, yet there is a peculiar interest in the things you have just heard,--the interest attached to the sufferings of the faithful servants of Christ, against which I have no set-off to make. But, notwithstanding, I come forward, trusting in your Christian love, and a renewal of that interest which the Society of Geneva has already experienced at your hands. The principal duty, in coming here to-night, laid on me by my friends in Geneva, is to return most hearty thanks, both to this meeting and to the Free Church of Scotland, for their support, for their interest, and for the help they have lent us in the work given us of the Lord to do. We are thankful,-and it is our wish to be thankful,-holding this not to be a matter of form, but a Christian duty, for the very persevering help given us in our labours for the evangelization of France, and in upholding our station, particularly in the department of Saint Croix, where there are several churches already well known to you, and which have been visited by some members of the Free Church of Scotland. I am directed by my friends in Geneva to say, that it is their wish that you should make yourselves acquainted with the manner in which things are carried on, and that you should see yourselves the use we make of those funds which you place at our disposal,-that you can yourselves, as much as is consistent with our mutual edification, have the direction and spiritual overseeing of those places. But I have, besides, to give those persons or associations who have undertaken during last year to support several of our colporteurs, our deepest thanks. We have seen, by the mercy of God, good and abundant fruits of those labours; and we hope to be enabled, by the mercy of God, to go on with those labours and to make them more and more expansive and fruitful. But, Sir, since I had the honour to address this meeting two years ago, the world has seen many great and wonderful events, that have introduced on the Continent of Europe new situations, new positions, and new relations. Therefore, those who at that time laboured with some ease, at present feel sometimes very heavy under the task laid on them. We do not distrust. By the blessing of God, we have always some of that confidence of which M. Scholl

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was speaking, because we have the same God and the same faith, and we believe He is faithful to his promise in one country as well as another, at one time as at another, to one of his people as to another. But, Sir, in looking at our position itself, -in looking to the labour before us as our peculiar task, we see that many changes have taken place, and that, consequently, we must make new efforts, and new endeavours, in the prosecution of the same work. Perhaps it is unnecessary I should refer to the consequences of the political events among us; but you can scarcely form a just idea of these consequences in the way of breaking down the position of those that were considered the richest and strongest in the land, bringing to the very verge of pauperism at that time, some of our most devoted friends, who had stood by us for many years, but who were obliged to say, "We have nothing more for you but our prayers." It is such a position I am delegated to lay before this venerable Court, and request that you will continue that help you have afforded us in past years. The efforts of the Evangelical Society of Geneva in the spread of the gospel have come before your Committee, which is at present occupying the attention of this house; but I cannot speak of the peculiar position of this Society without using strong expressions, which I never had occasion to use before. Formerly we had friends who came forward and made the necessary advances of funds, which, however, were subsequently repaid, so that in the end nothing was lost. I trust you will be our assistance still; but we feel it impossible to go on in the way we have been accustomed to do, for we could find no more advances at the moment I am speaking of. The consequence was, we ran into debt; and when we saw those debts were increasing, we were obliged to consider what was our duty in such a discreditable position. We wrote to our beloved friends and our agents, stating, that on the 20th of June next, at the end of the quarter, every one of them would be dismissed, and the work broken up, unless we could find means to carry it on. The Evangelical Society of Geneva, which had laboured for eighteen years in the spread of the gospel, was threatened with falling down. And what I ask of you, my friends, is, that you will not allow this to happen; and that you will assist it for the sake of our Lord and the name of Jesus Christ. I may be called on to give some particular accounts of the state of our Society. The three departments in this Society are, the Colporteurs, the Evangelization, and our Missions and Theological School. We have thirty-six colporteurs, one-half of which were supported by this country. Each of these costs about £20 for the season; during the last year this has been a blessed work. The number was formerly larger, but we found it could be reduced with advantage. At that time we had about eighty; but we found they were not so efficient as could be wished, and they were therefore reduced to the present number, and the results have been very satisfactory. The end attained by these colporteurs is not only Bible-selling, but they are also enabled to carry on our work of evangelization. When their Bibles are refused, they offer tracts, and sometimes read a portion of the Word of God, and expound it. In the second part of our work, the Evangelization, the labourers are more like missionaries, proceeding to those places where the Bible has already found acceptance. They teach and preach to as many as they can possibly collect together. These are prepared in our school of theology. Altogether the machinery of this Society is the most complete of anything of the kind on the Continent for the spread of the gospel among men. We have on the one hand every thing that is required for the preparation of new congregations, and on the other hand, everything required for the preparation of new ministers,-and we have, above all, an organization to bring congregations together, and to provide ministers for these congregations. It may be considered the centre of action for preaching the Word of God where the French language is spoken. I will ask you to think what would have been the feelings of this country, if a minister from Geneva had arrived in this country in the days of John Knox, and entered the General Assembly, and addressed Knox, and requested from him assistance? Would not Knox have reminded you of what you received from Geneva? (Cheers.) What Geneva was in times of old it is to this day. When it stood alone at the head of French Protestantism against kings and armies, and, when besieged, and terms of capitulation were proposed, these it refused, saying, we will rather die than give up the cause of the Lord. (Cheers.) I know, my friends, that times are changed, and though there is reason for sadness,-reason to look down with some degree of confu

sion, there is also reason to look up with some degree of boldness; for if times are changed; why, they may change again, and we may again see the return of the days of Calvin or of Knox. I do not ask for any very greater exertion, I ask for the continuance of your affections, and your interest, and your help. It is not as a foreigner I stand here,-it as one of the heavenly family, belonging, it is true, to another of the dwellings of our Father's house, but yet belonging to that family. (Cheers.) I come unto you from our brethren abroad, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; and in his name have I spoken now; and may the Lord himself occupy your hearts with interest in the subject I have brought before you. (Cheers.)

Dr CANDLISH said,—It would be altogether out of the question to detain the Assembly, because of the lateness of the hour, and because of the impossibility of doing anything like justice now to the sentiments which we cherish and desire to express towards our brethren who have now addressed us. We are very emphatically reminded to-night of the twofold position of our Church, as part of the Church Catholic, and as a testifying Church in particular. We have here representatives from many of the soundest portions of the Protestant Church abroad; and we have been addressed in broken terms, it may be, but yet terms which all the more come home to our hearts. (Hear, hear.) We have been addressed by brethren from Belgium, from Switzerland, and France, from Geneva, Paris, and the Canton de Vaud. We have been reminded of the vast responsibility lying upon us as a Church, especially in these times. It has often struck me as remarkable, since these movements began on the Continent, and more particularly since the effects of these movements on the Protestant Church on the Continent began to be manifested, that surely there was something providential in the position which the Free Church is called upon to occupy in reference to the Protestant Churches of Europe. These churches on the Continent, the daughters of the Reformation, may be said almost to be in a state of fusion. In France,-I suppose I am right in saying so,--in Prussia, and elsewhere, we see the Churches of the Continent thrown upon their original principles, and called to deliberate, not on matters of mere routine or administration, but virtually on the reorganization of the Protestant Church on the Continent. We cannot but be struck with the fact that we have been addressed to-night by a brother from the Canton de Vaud, who tells us that the last time he was in Edinburgh he was present in the General Assembly to witness the deposition of the seven Strathbogie ministers. (Hear, hear.) And going beyond the range of the brethren who have addressed us to-night, we cannot forget that one brother has been called, as we have been recently informed, to take an influential part in the councils of Prussia in reference to the Church of that country, who was with us several years before the Disruption-I mean Mr Sydow-(hear, hear)—who so ably vindicated, in a work on the subject, the principles of the Free Church, (Hear, hear.) Taking a view of these things, I am sometimes inclined to think that our Church at this moment is called upon to lift up a standard in the sight of all European Christendom,-of all the daughters of the Reformation,-of all the Churches of Protestantism. It has pleased God to signalise the Free Church of Scotland, and I say not this in a spirit of boasting, but rather under a deep feeling of responsibility,-by making that Church the depository of a larger measure of Scriptural principles than any other Protestant Church in the world; and we cannot but be struck with the fact that God led us into the position we now occupy, immediately before these convulsions and changes began, which appear to be resolving the Protestant Churches of Europe into their elements. We have been brought into a position in which we were led to adopt the title of the Free Church of Scotland, rejoicing in our freedom, yet without, in one single particular, or by a hair's-breadth, deviating from our alliance to our Sovereign Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and our attachment to the old Standards of the Church of our fathers. (Cheers.) We cannot shut our eyes to the risk and danger, it may be, on the Continent of Europe, to Churches unaccustomed to liberty, -not familiar, as we have been for a long time, with freedom of internal administration, and familiar with the benefits of creeds and confessions such as ours, Churches which have lost the exercise and power of discipline, having been under Erastian fetters and restrictions,-when such Churches suddenly regain their freedom, I cannot shut my eyes to the risk they incur of departing from the old rallying ground of the Reformation. (Hear.) And it would be a noble thing in this