II. NEW COLLEGE BUILDING FUND. RECEIPTS. I. Balance at 31st March 1847, £2637 4 11 II. Contributions, being Instalments received in course of II. Law-Agent's Account for Proceedings before Dean of Guild Court in regard to Erection, 500 0 0 16 7 6 III. Balance in Bank at 31st of March 1848, 8 18 1 520 13 1 III. Proportion of Assembly Expenses allocated on this Fund, 3 18 8 32 17 10 TOTAL PAYMENTS, £722 17 0 REPORT AND SPEECHES ON THE SUSTENTATION FUND. Thursday, May 23. 1848. DR BUCHANAN rose and said- Moderator, with the leave of the House, I will read only a small part of the Report which I hold in my hand : "In laying their Annual Report before the General Asembly, the Committee begin, as usual, with a statement of the revenue for the year, and with some brief notices of its past progress. "Received from Associations, ... from Donations and Subscriptions, £86,796 179 2,199 11 8 "To exhibit the progress of the Fund since its original institution in 1843, the following statement is subjoined, :— "Total revenue for 1843-4, £68,704 14 81 for 1846-7, for 1847-8, 83,117 16 10 Comparing the revenue of the first with the revenue of the last of these five years, the increase at this date amounts to no less than £20,291: 14: 8. (Applause.) This statement, however, does not bring out the full amount of progress which the Fund has made. The sum stated above as the revenue of 1843-4 included the contributions, not of twelve, but of fourteen months, the Fund having been commenced in March 1843, and the revenue of that year having included all that was received up till the 15th May 1844. The actual sum received from all sources during the first twelve months of the Fund, that is, up till the 30th March 1844, was £61,096: 2:10. Comparing this, which is the real amount of the first year's revenue, with the revenue of the year 1847-8, the difference in favour of the present year is no less than £27,900: 6:63. (Applause.) There is still another circumstance connected with the progress of the revenue of this, to the Free Church, all-important Fund, which the Committee think it due to state. It has been felt all along and was felt by none more than by the illustrious founder of the Fund-that its real strength lay, not in the donations, but in the produce of the Associations. (Cheers.) The donations could be regarded only as a casual and uncertain source of income. The true index of the prosperity of the Fund must be looked for in the steady advance of the ordinary contributions derived from the Associations. Contemplated in this point of view, the state of matters is highly satisfactory. There has indeed been a great falling off, as was from the beginning expected, in the sum obtained from donations and special subscriptions. For whereas, in the year 1843-4, this branch of income yielded no less than £16,178, 7s. 6d., it has produced in the year 1847-8 only £2199: 11: 8. But, on the other hand, turning to the Associations, this truly gratifying result appears, that whereas, during the first year of the Fund, the Associations yielded £44,917 15:44, they have this year contributed £86,796: 17: 9. (Applause.) I have now shortly to state the charges against the Fund for the year now closed, and how these are to be met. The number of Ministers on the roll of Presbyteries is 693 Total number of Ministers receiving stipend from Central Fund, 684 The following statement will shew the amount payable to these Ministers for the year 1847-8 : 1st, Balance at Whitsunday 1847, 2d, Total revenue for year 1847-8, 3d, Interest on Bank account, Deduct, Total Revenue of the year, £ 63 15 2 88,996 9 5 737 12 1 £89,797 15 10 1st, General Expenses, including books and papers furnished to the Congregations, &c., 2d, Proportion of Assembly Expenses, &c., 3d, Produce of non-ministerial charges payable to Home Mission, £1591 18 8 4 2537 15 8 4,914 1 8 } £84,883 14 2 Total Amount available for payment of Ministers' Stipends and Deduct, 1st, Amount paid to Widows of Ministers who have died during the year, £240 0 0 2d, Paid at Martinmas last to 67 Ministers settled under the Act of Assembly 1844, 3635 6 6 3d, Amount due to said Ministers at Whitsunday, their number being increased to 77, Total Amount available for payment of Stipends to the Ministers entitled to the equal dividend, Of the whole number of Ministers entitled to the equal dividend, 11 have been ordained in the course of the year 1847-8, and the amount necessary to pay the proportion of stipend falling due to them is 552 0 0 Leaving as the balance due to the 596 Ministers entitled to a full } £76,330 4 4 To each of these 596 Ministers the General Assembly will now, accordingly, have the satisfaction of declaring a stipend for the year 1847-8 of £128. Of this stipend, there was paid at Martinmas last to each Minister £60. Total revenue, including balance and interest, 6th, To Ministers on the regulation of Assembly 1844, £89,797 15 10 £1,591 18 8 784 7 4 2,537 15 8 240 0 0 126 0 0 7,635 9 10 552 0 0 76,288 0 0 Balance at this date, 89,755 11 6 £42 4 4 (Applause.) And now that I have laid before the Assembly the financial statement, I hope the House will bear with me, upon an occasion so important in the |