M'Michael, agreed to adopt the Report, directing it to be printed, and enjoined Presbyteries to see that returns were sent in from the various congregations within their bounds not later than the 1st of February.

From this it will appear that the Committee have at length all but conquered the difficulty, and that they are very near completing their task. It hence appears, that in proportion to the number of churches, the increase is considerably less than that reported by the Baptist Churches of England. We do not forget, however, the difference between Presbyterianism and Independency, whether as to Baptist or Pædobaptist fellowship,a difference which results in the fact, that in the Presbyterian Body, the church. forms a vast majority of the entire assembly, while in the Congregational Body, the church forms a small minority. We only state the fact, as this is not the place to enter into any discussion concerning it. We consider there is not a more improving body in the land than that of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, who are otherwise rapidly pressing on the heels of the Free Church. We cordially wish them God speed, and pray that the Lord may multiply them a thousand fold. There is much besides, more especially regarding the subject of Missions, the liquidation of chapel debts, and the support of the Aged Ministry, on which we could like to dwell, but space prevents. We commend the whole to the solemn consideration of all whom the matter doth or may concern.

FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. It is not our purpose to expatiate on the merely denominational affairs of the Free Church, neither to touch upon anything that does not bear more or less directly upon other communities, and supply practical suggestions for the improvement of the character and working of our English Nonconformist Institutions. The first point of importance, which was brought forward by Mr. Jaffray, was what is called the "Schemes," and the following is the substance of his communication:

The contributions on behalf of the various Schemes of the Church, showed that for the six Schemes proper of the Church, and the Building Fund superadded, · that is for the seven Schemes, there had been raised the sum of £42,010 88. 3d. The Report ending 31st March last showed, in regard to these seven objects, a marked and most gratifying increase. contributions were, for 1849-50, £42,010 Ss. 3d.; and for 1850-51, £50,868 188. 3d., showing,

The

therefore, an increase in regard to all the seven objects of £3,858 108. The Home Mission, for example, including both the Highlands and Lowlands, received last year £5,592 9s. 10d.; this year, £6,083 12s. 5d. Then the Education Scheme, including also the Schoolmasters' Sustentation, received last year £11,196 15s. 5d., this year it was £13,906 13s. 10d. The Sustentation Fund of the College received last year £3,491 38. 9d.; this year the sum was £3,671 48. 9d. The Foreign Mission Scheme received last year £12,328 11s. 1d.; and during this year it received £17,264 28. 8d. Then the Colonies last year received £3,686 15s. 9d.; this year £4,900 11s. 8d. ;-the Jews' Conversion Scheme last year £4,250 58.; this year £5,671 128. 9d.;-the Building Fund last year received £8,144 158. 7d.; this year it had received £3,365 68. 4d.;-so that on all these seven Schemes there was a substantial increase, rising, as contrasted with last year, from £42,010 to £50,868, being an increase of £8,858 10s. But, then, there were other objects in their own nature missionary, that had also been associated, in reviews like the present, with the statement in regard to the Schemes proper of the Church. Every special effort made on behalf of any of the Schemes of the Church had in the Assemblies preceding been uniformly reported; so that last year there were superadded to the £42,000 to which he had referred sundry contributions in regard to the various Schemes, thus swelling the missionary total to a very large sum. In the Home Mission department there were contributions from associations in the Highlands and Lowlands, by which sums were raised in addition to what was obtained from other sources by the people themselves, for the maintenance of ordinances amongst them; and these sums in 1849-50 amounted to £1,996 18s. 9d. Then there was the collection on behalf of quoad sacra churches,—a special effort,-which amounted to £5,230 88. Then there were the contributions for the School Building Fund, £2,031 12s. 7d. Then the contributions to the College Building Fund were £2,352 18., making a total for that year of £53,621 88. 7d. Then, in addition to all this the sum of not less than £12,500 had been contributed by a benevolent and large-hearted individual, and that sum fell last year to be held as part and parcel of their missionary accounts. The total for 1849-50 thus swelled up to the large sum, from all sources, including the co-operating Associations, 0 £67,162 188. 1jd.

It will be observed that this does not comprise what is designated the "Sustentation Fund" for the support of the Free Church Ministry, which is altogether a different affair. This matter of sustentation is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable in connection with Ecclesiastical economy in modern times. For the last seven years we have heard constant predictions that it could not stand, that it was falling off, and would soon come to an end, and so forth; but so far is it from falling off, that there has been a constant increase of demands

upon it, and a constant increase of the means of meeting those demands. Nevertheless, the present system is not, in some respects, quite satisfactory, and it is contemplated somewhat to modify, with a view to improve it.

The speech of Dr. Buchanan, on presenting the Sustentation Report, is admirable for its depth, pertinence, and devotion: the following are among its gems:

The

That there are still multitudes in the Free Church,-not adherents merely, but Church members, who contribute to this Fund at a rate far below their means, and multitudes more who do not contribute to it at all. returns which have been made to the inquiries of the Committee on these points painfully prove that both of these statements are only too true. I am well aware that more than one cause has to do with such results as these. The low state of personal religion among too many of our people, there can be no question, has much to do with them; and the want of an enlightened and energetic management, on the part of many of our Deacons' Courts, has much to do with them; and the unfaithfulness of us ministers has much to do with them. The Fund still refuses to rise; and the inequality in point of labour and liberality is not sensibly diminished. It was in 1846 that, in his "Earnest Appeal," Dr. Chalmers publicly proclaimed the deliberate conviction of his farseeing mind that, on the principle of an equal dividend, a stipend of £150 never would, or could be reached. The five years that have since elapsed have only too well confirmed his sagacious conclusion. It is well known that it was his dread of the mischief which a rigid adherence to the equal dividend system would entail upon the Church, that led him to institute his plan of giving to each congregation, for the support of its minister, a half more than the sum it contributed, up to the limit of the minimum stipend of £150. That scheme, which was put in operation in the case of all charges sanctioned subsequently to the Assembly of 1844, was set aside upon the Report and recommendation of a special Committee after its author's lamented death. I am not inclined to restore it. I think there are objections to it, in its rigid and naked form, sufficient to justify its discontinuance. At the same time, everything that has happened since it was set aside has been of a nature calculated most powerfully to proclaim the necessity of having some such stimulus as the "half-more" system provided. I will now submit a few statistics on this point to the consideration of the house, which appear to me to be full of significancy. In the year 1847-8 there were sixty-eight congregations on the "half-more" system,

which are now on the system of the "equal dividend." In the former year, and under the former system, these congregations contributed to the Fund £5,125, and they received from the Fund £7,321, which was, of course, the full amount of the burden they entailed upon it. In the present year, and under the present system, these congregations have contributed to the Fund £4,579, which is £546 less than they contributed under the former system; and they

will receive from the Fund £8,364, which is £1,042 more than they received under the former system. In other words, the transferring of these sixty-eight congregations from the "half-more" system of Dr. Chalmers to our system of an equal dividend, costs the Fund at present £1,588 a year, and takes nearly £3 per annum off the stipend of every minister who was on the equal dividend previous to 1848. In this case, as in every other in which general results are concerned, there are of course honourable exceptions. There are twentythree of the sixty-eight congregations in which the change of system, instead of injuring, has benefited the Fund; and there are a few also, perhaps, in which the loss which has followed upon the change is not fairly attributable to the change. Nothing of the kind, however, can be said in regard to the overwhelming majority of the cases concerned. The falling off, I fear, is no otherwise to be accounted for than by the absence of that stimulus which the former system supplied in its principle of a proportion between the getting and the giving. My own conviction, as I have already hinted, is that the mode of applying that principle in the "half-more" system was too sweeping in its range to be safe or salutary for a Church like ours. I am, however, every year more thoroughly convinced that, within certain limits, the principle is just and wise, and that, if not speedily introduced, our Fund, instead of increasing, will begin, ere long, to decline. We have now had eight years' experience of the working of our Sustentation Fund. It is manifestly the dictate of sound policy to make use of that experience by removing, without undue delay, whatever defects in our present system that experience has discovered, and by placing it on such a footing as will commend it increasingly to the sympathy and the confidence of our people. At the same time I would entreat this house, and the office-bearers of the Church at large, to bear constantly in mind, that no system, however excellent, will succeed, unless it be faithfully and assiduously wrought. I have always said, and my growing acquaintance with the subject is only lodging the conviction deeper and deeper in my mind, that the strength or weakness of this Fund will be found to lie in the state of our Deacons' Courts. rule may admit of exceptions; but the rule is this, where the Deacons' Court does its duty, the people, in at least equal proportion, do theirs. It is true, and it is a truth never to be forgotten, that it is God alone who can impart and sustain that spirit of self-sacrificing liberality that is never weary of devising and of doing liberal things. It is only when men come personally to know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that they will adequately realize the duty and the privilege of upholding His cause, and of counting all that they can do or give for that cause as infinitely too little to testify their sense of obligation to Him who loved them, and who gave himself for them. After all, therefore, the grand source and secret of lasting prosperity for this Fund, and for every other fund of the Church, will be found to lie in our being visited with times of spiritual reviving and refreshing from the presence of the Lord. If the inner life of the Church be vigorous and strong, her outer life will flourish too: If, on the contrary, her

The

inner life decline,-if the fire of Divine life burn low and feeble in our breasts,-if we become cold and secular in our spirit and aims,-if our people lose their relish for Divine things,-if our elders and ministers cease to watch for souls as they who must give account,-if our Church become indifferent to her great and glorious mission, and cease to go forward to reclaim the waste places of our own land at home, and the desolations of the heathen world abroad,-all her institutions will go to wreck or ruin. It is a very solemn thought, that our very existence as a Church may thus be said to be inseparably bound up with our efficiency and fidelity in the service of our blessed Lord. If, indeed, like the Church of Rome, we were to turn God's house into a market-place, and to make merchandize of men's souls, we might go on, even in a state of spiritual death, increasing in all worldly abundance. It cannot be so with a Church which has nothing to offer but the simple worship and the sin-condemning doctrines of the gospel. But if we preach that gospel with the earnestness and devotedness of men who have entered into the bowels and compassion of Jesus Christ, and who feel in their own souls that it is the wisdom of God and the power of God unto salvation,it will open, by the Divine blessing, a fountain in the hearts of our people of gratitude and love to the Lord that bought them, that will flow forth in perennial streams of genuine liberality to His glorious cause. Even as regards material prosperity, we shall then "have all and abound;" and our Church, disestablished though the be, and disowned and frowned upon by the princes of the earth, will prove "an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations." True to her ancient symbol-the burning bush will not be consumed. These statements will commend themselves alike to the head and the heart of all reflecting and devout men. Dr. Buchanan rightly judges that, without piety, the revenues of the Church will soon fall off, while he holds, on the other hand, that without system as to revenues, piety alone will not suffice to accomplish the object, and that, instrumentally the doings of the people will very mainly depend on the energy and enterprize of the deacons-positions confirmed by the voice of universal experience. "Like priest, like people" in things spiritual, and "like officers, like soldiers" in things temporal, are adages, and ever will hold true while man is man.

Dr. Buchanan was followed by Dr. Pattison, of Glasgow, whose speech concludes thus:

In his opinion, the Lord had done this with a view to dissipate the prejudices of rulers, and to set an example to all those fetter-bound Churches to declare themselves free, and to acknowledge no other head than the Lord Jesus Christ. When he considered that this was the great end for which he believed they had been set up, there was much more to be wrought out than they had yet seen. Who were to be the antagonists of Popery? Would it be another party contending for earthly supremacy in the

Church? He believed there was nothing which the wicked one hated but the truth of God and, therefore, when they saw the progress of the aggressions of Popery in this land, he would say, where else is the party to contend with them? (Applause.) They would have a glorious reward if they followed up this distinction. The Lord had pointed to the mission given to this Free Church; and terrible were the things denounced against them, if they sunk down at the very moment when the enemy was coming in like a flood. Was it to be imagined that this glorious scheme set up in our land for such a purpose, was to be perilled for want of resources, by the people keeping back from the Lord those pounds, shillings, and pence which, after all, no man has himself, but with which the Lord has prospered him. If they were willing to give it to the Lord, then should they have the Lord's blessing for their work and labour of love; therefore, he would say to the poor, that when the Lord overlooks his treasury, he would be pleased with the smallest mite; let them give as the Lord hath enabled them. He was perfectly sure that there could be an immense saving on luxurious and needless expenditure and for what had they to give? Christ "was rich, and for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich.' He hoped there would be great advancement of His cause; and he was sure that, if all would put their hand to the work, and give as the Lord had prospered them, there was no fear at all for the Fund, for God would bless his own work. (Applause.)

Dr. Candlish, with characteristic ability, exhibited the subject in all its bearings, showing where it was necessary to revise and to modify, with a view to correct the abuses which are so natural in all such matters. There was, also, in

the speech of Dr. Candlish, much which would merit our notice were there any probability of the subject being practically dealt with in England; but we are afraid the day is distant when such a consummation can be expected. On the subject of ministerial support, in relation to the Sustentation Fund, he seems to have profound and accurate ideas on the subject of the minimum and the maximum-a minimum below which no congregation could fall, and a maximum to which every congregation might rise. This, he thought, would check abuse on the one hand, and encourage a systematic liberality on the other.

The spiritual condition of the students was discussed with the solicitude which the subject demanded, and is one of the most pleasing features of the manifold proceedings of this great gathering. The subject of the piety of the Free Church community was also discussed in a feeling manner, and strong complaints made of the predominance of worldliness-a complaint in which the Free Church is

not alone. There seemed to be, on the part of the speakers, an earnest longing for the vigorous piety of an earlier day. The report of the College Committee was interesting, showing the vigour with which College matters are being carried on. The number of Theological Students enrolled in the New College for the last session, was no fewer than 258, being the largest since the disruption. About 30 of these speak the Gaelic languagea fact of great moment, both as it relates to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and to the native Irish. In addition to this, however, there are 39 students n an institution connected with the Free Church in Aberdeen, making a total of 292, from which it will be seen that nothing is being left undone to diffuse religion in connection with that community on every side, both at home and abroad. Considering the number of churches in that community, the number of students is unparalleled, and must end instrumentally in the rapid diffusion of the community. There are some good examples connected with this matter; one of these is that of a donation of the sum of £4,000, by Henry Miller, Esq., a retired London merchant. It is to be wished that this London merchant would bite a few thousands of his brethren, that, if possible, he might impregnate their spirits with a portion of the noble element which animates his own; and we very much wish that a few of our English "retired merchants," both at home and abroad, would remember the Colleges of England, and in particular Cheshunt, Rotherham, and Western Colleges. This money is vested in land, and is intended to provide four scholarships of £40, annually, to be enjoyed by the students, to be obtained by competition, for two years. This is the best sort of monument-worth a pyramid of marble! We commend the subject to the opulent men whose eyes may fall on these pages. scholarship scheme will be the making of the Free Church. It has been in operation for six years already, and during that time upwards of £2,800 have been applied for the support and encouragement of young men of ability, candidates for the ministry in the Free Church. No fewer than 139 scholarships have been awarded for vigorous and competitive trials.

This

A good deal more was done in the course of the sittings of the Assembly, which would supply materials for profitable reflection; but our space forbids

VOL. VIII.

comment. We must here terminate our record and remarks, which we do with a reiteration of our admiration of much that is contained in the Free Church system, and a recommendation of it to every section of the Church of God, as supplying lessons by which all may profit.

Such then are the results of the pecuniary efforts of a body of Christians with only 728 ministers, and as a whole, by no means opulent. The Free Church consists, with a small minority of the aristocracy, mainly of the middle and lower classes of Scottish society. When the ministers came out at the great disruption, they left behind them the bulk of the wealth, and brought with them the bulk of the piety. These stupendous pecuniary results, therefore, are not to be set down to the score of extraordinary wealth, but to that of a large amount of true and zealous godliness, with not more than the usual amount of alloy in all such matters. But from what came out in the course of the above discussion, and from what has often come out in the course of the reports of the Presbyteries and the Deacons' Courts, even the Free Church field is by no means yet fully brought into culture; not only, it appears, are there many not doing what they ought to do, because not doing what they are well able to do, but multitudes are doing nothing at all, besides boasting of the Free Church; they deem it enough to be profuse in good words and fair speeches. The Free Church, therefore, upon the whole, would seem to fall as much below the true standard of universal conscientious contribution, as she excels all other communities of Christians. That she may reach the proper standard, she must outstrip herself, and still much further out-distance all other sections of the Christian world. Till this be done, her high mission will by no means be fulfilled. We commend the whole to the solemn consideration of our own denomination. With the wealth and numbers of our people who can tell what they might achieve with Free Church system, energy, and perseverance? But notwithstanding all their wealth, and all their numbers, how comparatively feeble are they, simply for the want of union, in several chief departments of Ecclesiastical effort! If Independency is to take the place, which, from the intelligence and the piety of its people, and still more, from its glorious principles, belongs to it, there must be union, strong, general union, throughout all its borders, such as the

2 c

bulk of its people have never yet dreamed of. There must be hearty co-operation without pitiful jealousy, and with perfect heart, in all matters which are common to all churches. Independency must put on its strength in relation to the work of Gospel diffusion, both at home and abroad, or betray the trust reposed in it by the Head of the Church. But without union, this is utterly impossible. Disunited, isolated, it must remain for ever a feeble thing, boasting glorious, heaven- descended principles, but doing very little effectually to propagate them! There must be union, cooperation, associated action. The good of our country, the salvation of men, and the glory of the Son of God, all unite in the imperative call for union! The only aspect in which our Denomination can be contemplated with some measure of satisfaction, is, in its relation to the London Missionary Society. In that direction, there is, at least, some small approach to the thing that is right, and the result is full of encouragement to proceed in the same direction in respect to other matters. What is wanted, is a vast increase of effort on behalf of the London Missionary Society in all churches now associated with it, and the imme

diate association of all that are in whole, or in part, not so associated, and a speedy bringing up of British Missions, the Home, the Irish, and the Colonial, to a corresponding position. It is impossible not to feel grief and shame when we look at the doings of the Free Church on all these and other matters, and compare them with those of our own Body, so much more numerous, and so much more wealthy, and enjoying such advantages and superiorities. But we see abundant reason for hope for the English Nonconformists. We by no means despair. On the only solid foundation, a beginning made, and it now remains to follow up what has been so happily begun, till every church of the Independent Body, whatever its age or numbers, shall hold its honourable place on the roll of the supporters of all these Institutions, joyfully proving the power of union, and incontestiby demonstrating the force of numbers. To effect this may require time-it need not, it should not-and it may require, on the part of the more enlightened minority, not a little patient labour. But the result, when once realized, will show, that while the time has not been lost, the labour has been nobly rewarded.

As Statistics are the source of all true economic wisdom, we shall again treat our readers to a few, relative both to our own and other countries. The first respects

POOR RELIEF IN SCOTLAND.

A return has been printed, by order of the House of Commons, relating to population, poor relief, &c., in Scotland, from which it appears that in the Highland counties of Argyll, Inverness, Ross, Caithness, and Sutherland, the annual value of the property rated to the poor-rate is £680,137. The expenditure for the relief and maintenance of the poor in 1848 was £49,770; being at the rate of 18. 54d. in the pound on the value of the rated property. The total number of paupers relieved, including casual poor, was 15,229, being in the proportion of 4.5 per cent. to the whole population. In 1849, the expenditure for the relief of the poor had increased by about £600, and the proportion of paupers to population had increased to 4.6. Last year the expenditure for the relief and maintenance of the poor had increased to £53,158, or about £3,388 more than in 1848. The number of paupers, &c., relieved, was 15,894, or 4.6 per cent. of the population (according to the census of 1841). The rate per head of the expenditure in poor relief was £3 6s. 10d. In the rest of

Scotland the annual value of property rated to the poor was £8,640,646. The expenditure for poor relief was, in 1848, £494,564, or 1s. 1d. in the pound on the value of rated property; in 1849, it was £526,670, or 1s. 24d. in the pound; and in 1850 it amounted to £528,394, without any increase being made in the rate. The number of paupers relieved, including casual poor, was 212,346 in 1848, 186,264 in 1849, and 138,630 in 1850; being, in proportion to the population, according to the census of 1841, 9.3 per cent. in 1848, 8.1 in 1849, and 6.0 in 1850. The rate per head of the expenditure on paupers increased from £2 6s. 6d. in 1848, to £3 16s. 23d. in 1850.

So far, then, as things have gone, this Table speaks but ill for the social condition of the North, and it would seem events are rapidly going on in the channel which Dr. Chalmers predicted; for that great man never ceased to warn his countrymen against the introduction of a Poor-Law, as a thing which would certainly go to depress the spirit of selfrespect, self-reliance, and independence among the Scottish people, precisely as it had done under the old Poor-Law in England.