ly so called, or the planting of new charges. Now, it is plain, that this will make it necessary for the Home Mission Committee to make a more strenuous appeal to the Church than has yet been made, for the funds necessary to carry out these objects entrusted to it. So long as its duties were confined to the bringing forward of young men for the ministry, a small sum accomplished all that was desirable; but now that the Home Mission Committee will have to provide, in the first place, for the employment of catechists and probationers, and, in the next, for the aiding and assisting of weak congregations, it will be necessary that a larger sum should be placed at its disposal than has hitherto been done. Allow me a word in reference to the manner in which these functions may be discharged. In the first place, the Home Mission Committee has to provide for the bringing forward of young students for the ministry. But the house will recollect that the indiscriminate aiding of students would be the most dangerous of all plans; it would be the most likely to bring forward unworthy men for the ministry, and would be placing a bounty on supply which would soon lead to disastrous consequences. The house, therefore, I have no doubt, will regard the duties of aiding these young men as a business which must be managed with the greatest caution. Again, it is not easy for any committee sitting in Edinburgh to form a judgment as to the character and talents of the various young men throughout the country who are preparing for the ministry; but the plan proposed is this, that whatever sums may be left at the disposal of this department of the Home Mission Committee, are to be given in the shape of bursaries. These bursaries will be of larger or smaller amount, and they will be competed for by students of good character, undoubted piety, and respectable talents. Of course, this rule does not apply to those students who have already received aid from the committee. It appears that to a certain extent the committee holds itself morally bound to continue its aid to them. But in future the assistance will be given in the form of bursaries. For example, if L. 1000 are provided for this object, there shall be set apart sums of L.10, L.20, or L.30, during the session, to be competed for by students of certified character, talents, and piety; and if this amount be not sufficient, then it is left to Presbyteries and congregations, who desire to promote the studies of promising men, to do so by exertions of their own. If there are L.20 or L.30 at their disposal for a bursary, the committee will give it to the young man whom they consider deserving; and if a promising young man cannot get a bursary, then his Presbytery may apply to the congregations to send him to a college at their own expense, and by this means the congregations will be more interested in the progress of these young men whom they themselves have sent, than if they received aid from any central fund. The second branch of the committee's duties is the aiding of weak congregations; and it will at once appear to the Assembly that something of this kind is necessary, when the house bears in mind that there are 100 charges sanctioned and allowed to call ministers, who are not yet supplied with ministers. It is understood that when ministers are ordained in any of these charges, after this date, they come under the regulations of the Sustentation Committee, which were agreed to the other night, and which provides that an association so situated, gets what it gives, and a half more. Now, this regulation may apply to several of those ministers who may be ordained during the next year; and the Home Mission funds may, to a certain extent, supplement the sustentation of such ministers. Further, the Home Mission Committee's funds will be available for the payment of probationers and catechists; and I may also mention, that it is proposed that the sums contributed by the several districts which are not yet supplied with ministers, will be expended in the payment of probationers or preachers who may be appointed to labour in these districts; that the Home Mission will be supplemental to the Sustentation Fund, in the supplying with presentees those districts which are not yet provided with stated pastors; farther, the Sustentation Committee shall organize new associations or districts where they do not already exist, with the view of ultimately planting ministers amongst them. I have thus, Sir, endeavoured to explain as clearly as I could, the arrangements for the ensuing year; and in order to carry them into effect, some such deliverance as the following will be necessary :"1. That the charge of regulating the distribution of probationers throughout the

several Presbyteries of the Church, as well as the manner of their remuneration, be committed to the Home Mission Committee, in conjunction with the Sustentation Committee, or such sub-committee of their number as they may appoint for that purpose, which committees shall have power to determine what preachers and catechists shall receive payment, and at what rates; it being understood, that while the committee shall have full power to fix the proportion in which the preachers and catechists shall be allotted among the several Presbyteries, and to remove them from one Presbytery to another, they shall be under the spiritual and ecclesiatical · superintendence of the Presbytery within whose bounds they labour.

2. That the regulation of the employment and payment of such catechists, whose remuneration is to be provided from any central fund, be under the charge of the same committees."

Much was done during the past year, and done most beneficially, by the division of labour between the Highlands and the Lowlands, and it is plain that there must still be separate agencies for looking after the interests of both the Highlands and the Lowlands; and with this view I would suggest, that the Home Mission should have two conveners,-the one, Mr Charles J. Brown, for the business which refers to the Lowlands; and the other, Mr Elder, for matters concerning the Highlands. This, I believe, will secure a regularity, so that the business of the Home Mission Committee may be transacted under Mr Brown and Mr Elder, with that efficiency which the vastly important nature of the subject demands. The reverend Doctor then proposed the following motion, which was agreed to:

The General Assembly having heard these reports, approve of the same, and direct the thanks of the Assembly to be given to the several conveners of the joint-committee, and instead of re-appointing the committee on the plantation of charges, and the Gaelic Committee, re-appoint the Home Mission Committee, with instructions to re-assume the functions which it exercised before the separation from the Establishment, in aiding congregations, employing probationers and catechists, and assisting students with a view to the ministry,-it being provided, that in aiding congregations, and employing probationers and catechists, this committee co-operate with the Sustentation Committee, or sub-committee thereof, Dr Makellar being convener, and Mr Elder and Mr C. J. Brown, vice-conveners, instructing the said committee to appoint a Gaelic sub-committee, and remitting to sub-committee the suggestions contained in the reports now submitted, especially empowering said committees to correspond with Presbyteries, with the view of obtaining the services of such ministers as they may call upon, and for such time as they may think fit to appoint, in destitute districts of the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland; and for carrying into effect the suggestions relative to the setting apart of charges, the Assembly appoint the following committee:-Robert Johnston, Esq., Alex. Dunlop, Esq., J. G. Wood, Esq., P. Dalmahoy, Esq., and the Clerk of Assembly; Mr Johnston to be convener, with instructions to receive applications for new charges on or before the 15th April, and to prepare them for the Assembly."

Dr CANDLISH then gave in a further report from the committee, to the effect that the services of the convener of Synodical Committees would be no longer required, upon which

Dr BROWN of Aberdeen remarked, that as they had been under great obligations to the probationers of the Church, several of whom had constantly preached since the disruption, he thought it was due to them, that the Assembly should give expression, in some way or other, to its approbation of their conduct, and express gra. titude for the same.

Mr GRAY of Perth said, before the Assembly pass from the matter, there is one individual to whom the Church ought, on this occasion, to express her most grateful acknowledgments. The debt of obligation under which Dr Candlish-(loud applause) has laid us, I do not pretend to be able to estimate; but I am sure that it will be for the lasting advantage of the Church that that highly gifted and devoted man has presided over this committee for the last twelve months. I cannot trust myself to enlarge upon the services he has rendered, and I will therefore say no more than that I think the most emphatic way is, upon this occasion, not to indulge in

many words, but to propose that the thanks of the house be expressed through the Moderator, to Dr Candlish.

GRAHAM SPEIRS, Esq. seconded the motion, and proposed that the thanks of the house be also given to Mr Elder, the convener of the Gaelic Committee.

The MODERATOR, addressing Mr Elder and Dr Candlish, said-I have much pleasure in according to you the thanks of the Assembly, for the active part you have enacted in the different committees with which you are severally connected. I know from personal observation, that Mr Elder has been unremitting in his exertions; and I also know that Dr Candlish has benefited the Church not only in respect of his services in this particular way, but in innumerable other ways. (Applause.) We thank God, who in his good providence has raised up such instruments for the forwarding of His own cause, men so famed for their piety, and zeal, and devotedness, as those whom I now address. (Applause.)

ACTS OF THE ASSEMBLY.

Dr CLASON then read the following deliverance and recommendation of the Law Committee in regard to the Acts of the Church, which was unanimously adopted :"The General Assembly having had transmitted to them by their Committee of Bills the petition of the Rev. Henry Moncrieff of Kilbride, and others, members of the Church Law Society of Edinburgh, setting forth that it is of great importance that our various Church Courts should possess copies of the Acts of Assembly, with a view to the regulation of their procedure, in conformity with the laws of the Church;' and considering that a work containing the Acts of the General Assembly from 1638 to 1842 has lately been published by the Edinburgh Printing Company, under the superintendence of a committee of the said Society, with the express view of accomplishing this object, the General Assembly approve of the object contemplated in the said petition, and earnestly recommend to all Synods, and Presbyteries, and Kirk-Sessions of this Church, who are not already provided with copies of the Acts of Assembly, to purchase a copy of the said work without delay."

THE FORMULA.

The Assembly then called for the report of the committee appointed to consider what alterations it would be necessary to make in the Formula of the Church.

Dr CUNNINGHAM, in reporting on this subject, stated that the only alteration requisite was the substitution of the term Erastianism for Borignionism, and congregation for parish; and the addition of a question expressive of belief that Jesus Christ is the only King and Head of the Church-that the civil magistrate has no right to interfere in spiritual affairs—and an explicit avowal of the principles contained in the Claim of Rights and Deed of Demission.

The Assembly unanimously approved of the Formula as amended by the committee, and agreed to transmit the same to Presbyteries for consideration, and convert the same into an interim act of Assembly.

The Assembly then adjourned at five o'clock till seven.

EVENING SEDERUNT.

The Assembly met again at seven o'clock. After engaging in the usual devotional exercises, and reading the minutes of the previous sederunt, the Assembly called for the report of the committee appointed to consider the whole matter of

THE TRUST DEED.

Mr BEGG gave in the following report, which, on the motion of Sheriff Speirs, was unanimously approved of :

"Your committee have had several meetings, and deliberated very fully on the whole subject remitted to them, and they unanimously approve of, and recommend the Assembly to adopt the third or intermediate plan recommended by the commission of Assembly, viz. :

1. That the property of each place of worship be vested in trustees, chosen by the congregation, to be held for the congregation, in communion with the Free Church, as attested to be so by the Moderator and Clerk of the General Assembly; that Church to be identified, as in the model trust-deed; the management of the property to be in the Deacons Court,-all, as nearly as possible, as under the first plan

2. That in the event of a certain proportion of the ministers and elders, members of the Church Courts, separating from the general body, and claiming still to be the true bona fide representatives of the original protesters of 1843, and to be carrying out the objects of the protest more faithfully than the majority, then, whatever the courts of law may determine, as to which of the contending parties is to be held to be the Free Church, it shall be competent for each congregation, by a majority of its members in full communion, to decide that question for itself, so far as the possession and use of their place of worship, and other property are concerned, with or without compensation to the minority,-such compensation to be settled by arbitration. "It being understood that a disruption of the Church, in the sense referred to in bis extract, shall consist only in the simultaneous separation, that is, the separation at once from the general body, or within a period not exceeding three months, of at least one-third of the ordained ministers of the Church, having the charge of congregations in Scotland; and that such separation shall take place only on the professed grounds stated in the said deliverance of the commission of Assembly: And it being farther understood, that in order to determine who are members of the congregation entitled to dispose of the property in such a case, a roll of all the members of the Church, in full communion, shall be kept in each congregation, and annually attested by the Presbytery of the bounds; and that all such members, and such only, shall be entitled to vote in regard to the disposal of the property as have had their names on said roll, for at least twelve months previous to the separation of the said onethird of ministers from the general body. "JAMES BEGG, Convener."

The Assembly remit to the Committee to prepare deeds in conformity with the principles of this report, and to report either to the Commission, at its stated meeting in August, or at a special meeting to be called for the purpose.

The Assembly next called for the overtures on the state of the Church of the Waldenses, and of the state of Christianity in the Turkish empire, which having been read,

DR CANDLISH, in reference to the overture, begged to address a few words to the Assembly, bearing in mind that the business before the House was very various, and much of it still remained to be disposed of. It was the less necessary, however, for him to enter into any lengthened remarks, as the Assembly would be moved after they had heard their brother from Paris, to appoint a Continental Committee to assist in resisting the efforts which Popery was now making, and to promote the interest of the Reformation. As to the Waldenses, the Assembly could not fail to recognize their obligations to look to the state of that interesting people It was enough for them to remember that within the last year or two, a very material change had taken place, and as in our own country, things were coming back again, in the valleys of the Waldenses, to the time when the power of those in high places was put forth to attempt to crush the progress of vital religion. It was lamentable to think, and must excite the sorrow of every British subject, that we were not now in circumstances when we had a government who would interfere in behalf of Protestantism throughout the world. Had there been a prompt government, the mission of the South Seas would not have been so easily put down, and the breach of the treaties with the Waldenses would not have been so easily submitted to. But in these days, as it has been said, there was a return again to the principles of olden times. At the instigation of Rome, proceedings were still carried on against this poor people, and in such circumstances, the Assembly were entitled to address the government of this country on the subject. No doubt, they could not expect much in the way of interference, but still, and this was the main object of the Synod in transmitting the overture, they must look to the Church being stirred up to her duty toward their suffering brethren. This was their duty; for they must remember that if one member of Christ's body suffered, all the members suffered with it. The sufferings of the

Waldenses had attracted the notice even of the Episcopal Church of England, and how much more did it become them as Presbyterians, to express their sympathy, and strive to do good to them as they had opportunity.

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Dr WILSON said, for the reasons now mentioned by Dr Candlish, in supporting the overture in behalf of the Waldenses, I shall not occupy much of the time of the house while directing its attention to the overture respecting the protection of Christians and Christian converts in the Turkish dominions. The subject to which that overture refers, however, is one of the greatest importance; and it is one which has very forcibly presented itself to my own view. In the providence of God, I was lately called to pass through the Turkish empire from the Straits of Bab-el- Mandel to the defiles of the Carpathian mountains; and on several occasions, and at different places, I heard complaints, more or less well-founded, from many bearing the Christian name, as to the treatment which they receive from the adherents to the faith of Mahommed,-complaints which I shall have no hesitation in expressing in any quarters where the mention of them may secure either sympathy or assistance for the sufferers. To two causes I conceive the sufferings of Christians, under the dominion of the Sultan, are to be ascribed. One of these is, that the Turkish government in some provinces is really inadequate to their protection. Of its weakness in shielding them from evil, we have an example in the case of the Nestorians, of whose melancholy fate we have all heard, and of whom, according to a letter from Pesth, received by the Secretary of our Jewish Committee this very day, founded on the testimony of three deputies from the Nestorians now in Hungary on their way to this country, no fewer than four thousand have been cruelly massacred by the Kurds. (Hear.) The savage tribe which has been instrumental in the destruction of these Nestorians had, it is understood, no countenance or support from the government in the advance which it has made against them. The other cause of the sufferings of the Christians in Turkey is to be found in the bigotry of the followers of Mahommed. That bigotry manifests itself both in depressing Christianity and opposing its progress. The Turks refuse to grant any new sites for places of Christian worship, as they have done in the case of the Episcopal Church at Jerusalem. They confine their toleration of church building to the repair of old fabrics, or the erection of new fabrics on old foundations. The abandonment of the Ma. hommedan religion the Turks consider a crime punishable by death. (Hear.) In the month of November last an Armenian, who had formerly embraced Mahommedanism, but who, having become penitent, had returned to the profession of Christianity, was condemned to death for his penitence, and actually executed. On this occasion, Sir Stratford Canning, the British ambassador, acted a part worthy of himself, and most ably, strenuously, and perseveringly pressed upon the Turkish authorities, and even the Sultan himself, the propriety and necessity of the repeal of the law according to which this atrocity had been committed. (Cheers.) He was joined in his remonstrances,-which went so far as to threaten to advise withdrawment from an alliance with Turkey in the case of its proving obstinate, by the representatives of France and Prussia; and he was successful in the object which he had in view; and penitent apostates are now to be spared, a matter of no small consequence, as many of the weak-minded Christians of the East have been forced to abandon the profession of their faith, and would be glad to return to it with the prospect of protection. The Russian ambassador stood aloof from all the (negociations on this subject; but I cannot but think that in the circumstances of the case there has been what may appear a very striking retribution of Divine Providence. Russia sets herself forth as protector of the adherents of the Greek Church; and in this capacity she is to a considerable extent recognized by the Turkish Government. Now, that fanaticism which she shrunk from attempting to suppress and subdue, has burst forth against the members of the Greek Church in the province of Albania in the most dreadful manner. I have lately heard tidings on this subject, which, were I to communicate them to you, would make your ears to tingle. I content myself by reading a few sentences from a letter from Constantinople, dated in the end of March, which has appeared in the public prints (the Morning Chronicle.) "It is impossible for me to find words sufficiently strong to convey to you an idea of